lena howland, abc seven news. >> lena. thank you. today, the senate will hold more confirmation hearings for president elect donald trump's cabinet nominees. gloria is at the live desk with who we're going to hear from today. and the dramatic hearing we saw yesterday. >> good morning to you, reggie. today, president elect trump's pick for attorney general, pam bondi, will face the senate committee on capitol hill. she is likely to face questions over trump's pledge to use the doj to seek out revenge on his political enemies. bondi's hearing comes after pete hegseth confirmation hearing yesterday. he's been accusef sexual misconduct, financial crimes and excessive drinking, which may impact his confirmation. there were some very tense moments between hegseth and democrats as they faced scrutiny from former combat veterans on his shifting views on women in combat roles. >> you say you care about keeping our armed forces strong and that you like that our armed forces meritocracy. then let's not lower the standards for you. you, sir, are

live in studio lena howland, abc seven news. >> all right, lena, thank you. the fires in los angeles are forcing the nfl to move monday's wild card game. you can see how smokey practice was yesterday for the l.a. rams. instead of playing at home on monday, the rams will face the vikings in glendale, arizona. you can watch the wild card playoff game right here on abc seven. coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. monday, and we are tracking wildfires statewide. and you can, too, see fires and air quality at a glance. go to abc seven news.com/fire map. >> some good information there. okay. 5-10 this morning. over the past week, because of these wildfires, we've been throwing out a lot of numbers. so it's good to put this all into context. the two largest fires currently burning right now, the palisades fire and the eaton fire, have currently burned a combined total of about 33,600 acres. to put that in comparison here, locally, that is more than the entire area of the city and county of san francisco. so san francisco is about 30,000 acres in size. it's like these wildfir

lena howland, abc seven news. >> thank you. lena. oakland fire stations will close on monday because of the city's budget cuts. that's according to the firefighters union. they are stations 25, which is located on butters drive, and 28, which is on grass valley road. station ten is already closed for remodeling and it won't reopen. firefighters plan to hold a news conference monday morning at city hall, as the city council is scheduled to hold a meeting. the union plans to demand the stations reopen because of the impact the closures could have on public safety. >> new this morning, a dramatic scene playing out in south korea overnight as the country continues to face chaos following the president's declaration of martial law last month. police tried to arrest the president for insurrection as thousands of supporters were gathered outside the presidential palace. they ended up leaving after being met by hundreds of soldiers and guards protecting him. you may remember shortly after the president declared martial law, members of parlia

lena howland abc seven news. >> lena. thank you. >> former 40 niners star dana stubblefield could be released from prison this week after his 2020 rape conviction was overturned. stubblefield's attorneys filed a motion to have him released from prison. a hearing could happen later this week. the court overturned his conviction last week, saying the prosecution violated the state's racial justice act, which makes it illegal to convict someone on the basis of race, ethnicity or national origin. the santa clara county da's office put out a statement saying that it is studying the opinion. and this morning, the california department of fish and wildlife announced crabbing season can officially start january 5th. commercial dungeness crab fishing will be allowed from the sonoma mendocino county line to the u.s. mexico border. fishing zones north of the sonoma mendocino county line to the california oregon border will be delayed a bit longer. that won't happen until january 15th. the bay area rings in the new year with some spe

lena howland, abc seven news. >> all right, lena, thank you. before the inauguration ceremony, mayor elect daniel lowery will take part in a few more events at 730. the mayor elect will volunteer at saint anthony's. then at 815, he will walk through the tenderloin to the cable car turnaround at powell and market streets. there he will ride the cable car to ghirardelli square to get hot chocolate with his family. the inauguration ceremony starts at 1130. then tonight at 530, as lena mentioned, that chinatown market and community festival, this is on grant avenue between sacramento and jackson streets. there will be food vendors, activities and performances, including san francisco native and grammy nominated edm artist zoo. >> here's a look at some of the road closures because of today's inauguration. these are the streets closest to city hall and civic center plaza. some don't reopen until 5 p.m, so it's best to avoid driving in that area until after that. stick with abc seven news for complete coverage of laura's swearing in. our coverage star

lena howland, abc seven news. >> all right, lena, thank you. stick with abc seven news for complete coverage of lurie swearing in. our coverage starts today at 11 a.m. wherever you watch abc seven news. >> and now a live look at washington, d.c, where former president jimmy carter is lying in state at the capitol rotunda. this is the same building where he took the oath of office in 1977. his casket arrived at joint base andrews in maryland yesterday to a 21 gun salute. and then he was taken to the capitol, where lawmakers honored his life. abc news reporter nicole d'antonio is in washington with a look at the remembrance events planned to honor carter. >> this morning, the nation gathering to pay their respects to the late president jimmy carter, the 39th president lying in state at the united states capitol. the longest lived president arriving in washington, d.c, tuesday afternoon. an air force flight. special air mission 39 carrying the 39th president to the nation's capital. the motorcade first making its way to the u.s. navy memorial, a p

live in studio lena howland, abc seven news. >> thank you lena. we are staying on top of all the developments coming out of the wildfires in los angeles county. get updates as they happen at abc seven news.com and the abc seven bay area app. >> let's talk about those conditions around the wildfires right now. current winds have increased over the past couple of hours. you can see some areas gusting over 30mph right now. and that is why we do have the red flag warning in effect. here it is. it is being called a particularly dangerous situation. we talked about this a lot. it's only for the most extreme cases when it comes to these gusty winds. we have fires currently burning. the winds are picking up and the humidity is very low. this area in purple, this is where firefighters are watching very closely. this is where that particularly dangerous situation is focused. the attention in parts of ventura and northern l.a. county does include santa clarita, simi valley, thousand oaks, oxnard and this is an area that is hilly terrain, some of the stronges

lena howland, abc seven news. >> thank you. lena. today, the senate will hold more confirmation hearings for president elect donald trump's cabinet nominees. gloria is at the live desk with who we're going to hear from today. and that dramatic hearing we saw yesterday. >> good morning, reggie. today, president elect trump's pick for attorney general, pam bondi, will face the senate committee on capitol hill. and she's likely to face questions over trump's pledge to use the doj to seek out revenge on his political enemies. bondi's hearing comes after pete hegseth confirmation hearing yesterday. he's been accused of sexual misconduct, financial crimes and excessive drinking, which may impact his confirmation. there were some very tense moments between hegseth and democrats as he faced scrutiny from former combat veterans on his shifting views on women in combat roles. >> you say you care about keeping our armed forces strong and that you like that our armed forces meritocracy. then let's not lower the standards for you. you, sir, are a

lena howland, abc seven news. >> thank you lena. now we are going to take a live look at bourbon street in new orleans, and as you can see, it is still shut down to pedestrians coming in and out of there, just emergency vehicles and others. abc news reporter christiane cordero is live in new orleans with what we know about the investigation and the details emerging about the suspect. christiane. >> hey there. reggie aqui. so between the sugar bowl and the new year, there was so much to celebrate here in the french quarter as there often is. but this morning, as you mentioned, bourbon street is quiet and shut down. this morning, police vehicles and crime scene tape mark where new year's day celebrations came to an end just after 3 a.m. wednesday. investigators are combing through evidence trying to figure out how the driver of this pickup truck caused so much carnage, and why police have identified the suspect as 42 year old shamsuddin jabbar, a us born citizen from texas and an army veteran. >> the fbi also reported to me that mere

lena howland, abc seven news. >> all right, lena, thank you. this morning, a massive winter storm is hitting washington, dc. just as congress is set to certify donald trump's win in november's election. gloria, this is the last step before trump's inauguration. and security is extremely high. >> today it is amanda. for the first time ever, the certification of the presidential election has been designated a special security event in washington, dc at the request of the city's mayor. and this is all part of an effort to prevent violence like we saw four years ago from ever happening again. fencing is up all around the u.s. capitol building. the national guard is in place, and about 4000 additional police officers from around the country have been brought in as support. overnight, the u.s. attorney's office revealed it is evaluating whether to bring charges in roughly 200 new cases from january 6th, 2021. nearly 1600 people have faced charges so far. president biden is urging newly elected members of congress to stand up for democracy now! >> it'

lena howland, abc seven news. >> all right, lena, thank you. now, even with winter here, we need more snow in the coming months. that's the word from state water managers after their first snow survey of the season. yesterday, they measured the snow pack at phillips station, south of lake tahoe along highway 50. they found 24in of snow. it's 91% of average for this time of the season, but only 37% of what's needed by april 1st to supply the water that's needed in much of the bay area. officials say the northern part of the state has been a lot more wet this season. >> central and southern sierra, we need some help. we need above average accumulation for the remainder of the winter to really catch back up. >> besides providing water for us to drink, the snowpack also creates runoff that keeps our forests greener in the summer months, which can help reduce wildfires. the next snow survey is set for february 3rd. >> we're doing so much better this year than last year. last year we were had about 35% of our average snowfall for the state. so the si

live in studio lena howland, abc seven news. >> lena thank you. of course, we are staying on top of all the developments coming out of the wildfires in los angeles county. get updates as they happen on abc seven news.com and the abc seven bay area app. >> 509 this morning in the accuweather forecast. we'll take you outside a live look at the exploratorium camera. clear skies across the board and calm winds. look at the wind speeds right now. very light everywhere, and we do anticipate light winds throughout the day today, so it's a nice looking forecast. the start today is one of our colder starts this week. we're in the 40s right now and a lot of areas it's clear and calm out there. expect a warm afternoon. we'll see some isolated areas getting back into the low 70s. so certainly above average for this time of the year. the red flag warning across southern california has now been extended. it was set to end today. they've now extended it until tomorrow evening, because we're going to see another pulse of some offshore winds, not as strong as the

abc seven reporter lena howland. she's live in studio this morning with the story of these unharmed but shaken people. lena. amanda. >> that's right. we talked to a marin county firefighter who happened to be in town for a firefighter union convention. he told us he wanted to stay out in the french quarter a little longer on new year's eve, but instead, they opted to go back to the hotel, which could have been a life saving decision. firefighter john aguilar took these photos in new orleans yesterday, showing not a soul in sight on new orleans bourbon street, just outside of the crime scene area that is still closed off. aguilar remembers hearing a tremendous amount of sirens. once back at the hotel, but at the time, he thought it was just a large fire somewhere out in the neighborhood. it wasn't until he woke up when he found out a man mowed down people in a pickup truck, fired shots into the crowd, and eventually opened fire on officers. >> we worked our way back at about 115 or so in the morning and cut straight th

live in studio lena howland, abc seven news. >> all right, lena, thank you. fire officials are encouraging people here in the bay area to make sure you're ready for a wildfire. abc seven news reporter tim johns has some tips to ensure you remain safe. >> the devastation in los angeles continued to unfold thursday. entire neighborhoods destroyed and homes reduced to rubble and ash. the horrifying scenes serving as a reminder for many in the bay area of steps they should take. if a similar disaster were to happen here. some of the things you can do for your home are outlined by cal fire. in the case of a fire emergency, the agency recommends shutting off your gas, propane tanks, and even air conditioning if you have time. officials say moving objects that may burn easily into the center of the room, away from windows and doors, could mitigate loss. cal fire also recommends turning off automatic sprinklers and any running water as they help preserve resources for firefighters. steps also recommended by san francisco fire rescue captain justin shaw. >> i haven't

lena howland, abc seven news. >> thank you lena. for our abc seven mornings advancer a preview of things happening in the bay area. >> first, the big conference kicking off in san francisco today, and a special guest will be attending. first lady jill biden is the keynote speaker at the j.p. morgan healthcare conference. she will discuss the white house initiative to advance women's health research. mrs. biden is expected to arrive in san francisco today, but is not attending the conference until tomorrow. >> today, zuckerberg san francisco general is celebrating this year's hearts in san francisco public arts project. every year, the hospital commissions heart sculptures by local artists, then auctions them off to raise money. this year, there are two new large hearts and 20 smaller ones. they'll be on display at the ferry building starting today. that goes through february 3rd. >> professional wrestling comes to san jose today. wwe monday night raw live is happening at the sap center. it starts at 430, so be aware there could be c

lena howland, abc seven news. >> all right, lena, thank you. this morning, a massive winter storm is hitting washington, d.c, just as congress is set to certify donald trump's win in november's election. and, gloria, this is the last step before trump's inauguration. and security is extremely high today. >> it is. amanda, for the first time ever, the certification of the presidential election has been designated a special security event in washington, d.c, at the request of the city's mayor. this is all part of an effort to prevent violence like we saw four years ago from ever happening again. and fencing is up all around the u.s. capitol building. the national guard is in place, and about 4000 additional police officers from around the country have been brought in as support. overnight, the u.s. attorney's office revealed it's evaluating whether to bring charges in roughly 200 new cases from january 6th, 2021. nearly 1600 people have faced charges so far. president biden urging newly elected members of congress to stand up for democracy. >> no

live in studio lena howland, abc seven news. >> thank you. lena. oakland is going through a leadership change this week at a special city council meeting yesterday. council member kevin jenkins was selected as interim mayor. jenkins is oakland's third mayor. in just the past month after voters recalled shengtao. he replaces interim mayor nikki fortunato bass, who will be sworn in as an alameda county supervisor today. jenkins will hold the office until the city's special election in april. former congresswoman barbara lee has taken a formal step to running for oakland mayor. she filed paperwork with the state. a spokesperson tells the chronicle an official announcement about that decision is coming later this week. >> san francisco is just a little more than a day away from having a new mayor. daniel lowery will be sworn in tomorrow ahead of the official inauguration events. celebrations begin tonight. abc7 news anchor dion limb walks us through a jam packed schedule that's full of historic firsts. >> this is a microphone check here in san francisc

lena howland, abc seven news. >> thank you lena.t's time for our abc seven mornings advancer a preview of things that are happening here in the bay area. >> first, the big conference kicking off in san francisco today, and a special guest will be attending. first lady jill biden is the keynote speaker at the j.p. morgan healthcare conference. she will discuss the white house initiative to advance women's health research. mrs. biden is expected to arrive in san francisco today, but is not attending the conference until tomorrow. >> today, zuckerberg san francisco general is celebrating this year's hearts in san francisco public arts project. every year, the hospital commissions these heart sculptures by local artists, then auctions them to raise money. this year, there are two new large hearts and 20 smaller ones. they'll be on display at the ferry building starting today through february 3rd. >> professional wrestling comes to san jose today. wwe monday night raw live is happening at the sap center. it starts at 430, so be aware the

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lena howland, abc seven news. >> a man convicted in a notorious kidnaping in vallejo a decade ago is now facing some new charges in a third bay area county. the contra costa sheriff's office is charged matthew mueller in a never before reported home invasion robbery that happened in san ramon. detectives say it happened in 2015, just two weeks after the case that made national headlines. that's the one we've reported on extensively, involving denise huskins and aaron quinn. mueller broke into the couple's vallejo home in march of 2015. he drugged them, tied them up before kidnaping and then sexually assaulting huskins. vallejo police falsely accused the couple of making the entire story up, but mueller was later linked to the crime and convicted. and now today, investigators have revealed they believe mueller committed his first kidnaping and sexual assault at just the age of 16, back in 1993. that case still under investigation. >> he had all the markers of a serial predator, and it's unfortunate that it's taken this long to be able to really give some better clarity and hopefully s

we sent abc seven news reporter lena howland to the zoo to find out how the monkeys recovery is going so far, and what it will take to get her in top shape. >> signs of recovery and healing for a spider monkey found in a bizarre dui case monday night. >> it will take months and months and months for her to return to a normal body condition. >> she was recovered by chp officers during a traffic stop of a rolls royce in madera. the driver was caught speeding, driving under the influence, and he also had this spider monkey, which is illegal in california. not to mention a critically endangered species. >> it's really horrible. you know, it will traumatize her for the rest of her life. you know, she she will never, you know, be able to live a normal life as a spider monkey. she'll never have, you know, the family bonds that you know, she would have had if she was able to stay with her family. >> she's now in the care of the oakland zoo's veterinary hospital. but colleen kingsley, the oakland zoo's vice president of animal care, conservation and research, says she has a long road of recove

abc seven news reporter lena howland tells us the leadership changes come as the city starts implementing budget cutting measures, including one today that impacts fire safety. >> this is all happening only hours after the city closed two fire stations. here's video of crews leaving fire station 25 minutes after they took down the american flag out front. station 25, along with station 28, closed at 8:00 this morning. the oakland fire chief says this is a brownout process that will keep the stations closed at least six months and save the city $5 million. only a small portion of the $129 million budget deficit. in response, the firefighters union held a press conference. they're calling on city leaders to reopen the stations and stop a proposal to close four more stations next month. >> cuts in emergency services don't mean these calls will go away. it means we will have to travel farther to reach those in need, increasing response times. it also means that dispatchers will have to prioritize calls, which could further impact our response times. these cuts are a tragedy waiting to happen.

live in studio lena howland, abc seven news. >> thank you. lena. we're staying on top of all the developments coming out of the wildfires in la county. get updates as they happen at abc seven news.com and the abc seven bay area app. >> five this morning in the accuweather forecast. we'll start you out in southern california this morning where the winds are ramping up over the next several hours. we're seeing gusts right now 20 to 40mph right now. so we do have that red flag warning continuing throughout the day and into tomorrow evening. that red flag warning again, gusts over 45mph. and we have that tag on it. it's a particularly dangerous situation because of the ongoing fires and the strong santa ana winds picking up. so looking at the fire risk forecast today, we have this area highlighted in purple. that includes oxnard, thousand oaks, santa clara, santa clarita, acton. this is an area where we have some of the higher elevations, the higher terrain, the canyons as well. and those santa ana winds come out of the northeast and they race down the

in pleasanton, lena howland abc seven news. >> right now, the j.p. morgan healthcare conference is getting underway in san francisco. it's one of the biggest conventions held in the city, and city leaders and business owners hope it will bring a boost to downtown. just like at dreamforce, city leaders say convention goers will wine and dine and visit local businesses. there will be plenty of security, including san francisco police ambassadors. the conference is being held at the westin saint francis hotel in union square. >> the j.p. morgan conference is one of the most significant conferences that we've had. it's one of our longest lasting partnerships. >> the conference is estimated to generate more than $90 million for san francisco's economy, including small businesses, restaurants and hotels. after the break, our coverage of the southern california wildfires continues as we take you live to altadena for a report on the situation there today and the happiest place on earth you'll find all kinds of happy you can find the my-dream-is-finally-comin

lena howland abc seven news. >> turning to the weather is another dry, warm one in the bay area. here's abc seven meteorologist drew tuma with the weekend forecast. >> the accuweather headlines calling for another warm day. records are possible this afternoon. we do have a windy day on the way tomorrow. 30 to 50 mile per hour winds and again next seven days. we're not finding any significant storms on the horizon. let's talk about the warm temperatures. this was just in from the national oceanic and atmospheric administration this morning. the continental u.s. just had its warmest year on record temperatures. the average temperature across the united states was 3.5°f above average. that is a record. and the records go back to 1895. it's not just the u.s. it's also across the globe. we are setting new records. so this warming climate for the u.s. last year, we had $27 billion weather and climate disasters in the united states alone. globally, last year, 2024 was the warmest year on record. not surprising, 2023 was the previous record holder, and this is an important stat that i re

. >> abc seven news reporter lena howland has a look at the big sink. >> in a move to improve safetyuce waits for transfers between bart and other systems. bart is shifting departure times. the goal is to align with the golden gate ferry system, caltrain, smart train, and valley transportation authority. >> it's a great example of the many different transit agencies working as one, so that way we can increase ridership and hopefully prove that we should get more funding so that we can make even more improvements. >> the big sink is also kicking off a long overdue construction project to replace bart's train control system, which is more than a half century old. right now, bart runs trains on a fixed block system, meaning only one train can be on a section of track at a time. soon, the agency will use a modern communications based train control system. >> the trains will actually run close together and communicate with each other the entire time. so what that means is we can run trains closer together, which means you'll get to where you want to go faster. >> this billion dollar proje

live in studio lena howland, abc seven news. >> thank you lena. we are staying on top of all the developments coming out of the wildfires in los angeles county. you can get updates as they happen at abc seven news.com and the abc seven bay area app. >> 609 this morning in the accuweather forecast. a live look from the exploratorium camera. clear skies out there. calm winds. we are in store for a warm afternoon, but it is chilly first thing this morning. right now, temperatures in the 30s and 40s. but look at the payoff this afternoon. sunny skies and those temperatures into the 60s and lower 70s. i want to get you an update on the drought monitor. this was just released in the last half hour across southern california. the drought has worsened. los angeles and san diego are now in severe drought. the last time those areas were in severe drought was in 2022. across northern california, we are in good shape here locally in the bay area, parts of the inland east bay are a little dry. this is not considered drought by any means on the drought monitor,

lena howland, abc seven news. >> certainly wishing for speedy recovery for that spider monkey there. that'll do it for abc seven news at three. thanks so much for joining us. world news tonight with david muir is up next. i'll see you right back here for abc >> mary: breaking news as we come on the air. moments ago, authorities revealing disturbing new details behind the explosion of that cyber truck in las vegas. president-elect donald trump ordered to appear in court for sentencing. and the massive winter storm moving east. >>> first, late today the fbi and police revealing new details about the suspect that blew up a cyber truck outside the trump hotel in las vegas. new images of the driver. the highly decorated soldier leaving behind a haunting note, calling his actions a wakeup call. mola lenghi in las vegas. >>> following the deadly attack in new orleans, the fbi issuing a nationwide bulletin about possible copy cats. investigators trying to determine if the terror suspect was radicalized before or during a trip to egypt. what his half-brother is now saying tonight. >>> and the