Commute. It is. Aside from the hour, i know, of sleep. Kari showed you the fog socked in at the bay bridge at the Golden Gate Bridge across the bay but peninsula 101 looks clear and easy. Same as the drive. Green sensors all up 101, 280. South bay no problem from the south county into silicon valley. Trivalley at speed except for the Altamont Pass. We know well see that slowing for west 580. A little blip shows up here highway 4 into concord. So far no problems getting toward the bay bridge. Back to you. Thanks, mike. Its a big day on capitol hill, a few hours the nation will get a firsthand look at the impeachment process. Jay gray this morning has a closer look at what we can expect today and what we should look out for, too. Jay . Yes, youre absolutely right, laura. Good morning to you. Look, today marks a big real shift with this historic process, but its also a big test. Does the public care . Are they as interested as intensive as lawmakers have been over the last couple of months when it comes to this impeachment . . Just hours the impeachment investigation goals public. I think its very important to tell the story to tens of millions of americans who have not yet heard from the witnesses themselves. Reporter the first two witnesses are bill taylor, americas top diplomat in ukraine, and george kent, the Senior State Department official in charge of policy involving ukraine. President trump continues to label the process a hoax and witch hunt. Going absolutely nowhere. Dont worry about it. Reporter overnight, democ t democrats and republicans huddled behind closed doors working through lastminute strategies, questions and talking points. Gop leaders challenging the process. They dont have the right to stop us from speaking, even though they changed the rules to deny us the right, even though they changed the rules to deny us the right to have witnesses. Theres more evidence to prove that the president attempted to bribe or extort ukraine than there is evidence to support the idea the sun will come up in the east tomorrow, period. Reporter as the sun comes up this morning over capitol hill, the impeachment inquiry enters a new and both sides agree critical stage. The public hearings continue friday and we learned last night, laura, there will be at least three more public sessions, tuesday, wednesday and thursday of next week. Okay, public sessions for us to watch but only lawmakers asking the questions during this . No, actually we are going to hear from lawyers, staff lawyers on both sides of the aisle, republicans and democrats. Theyve been involved in this process from the start. Theyve done some questioning and private depositions so well hear from them as well. In fact, democrats saying you may hear more from the lawyers than you do the lawmakers in this process, which is very important, because its got to be relatable to the public thats watching. If its too much legal jargon, it may bog down people, may get people confused and thats a big concern. Thats why so many were meeting last night to make sure they worked that out. Exactly, clarity is so important. Jay gray, live from washington, thank you so much. Yes. You can watch the hearings from the beginning until the end, right here on nbc bay area, our special coverage will begin at 7 00 a. M. , right after today in the bay. And coming up later this morning, scott mcgrew will take a closer look at who is actually testifying today. We talked about it a little bit with jay. Join scott for his checks balances segment at 5 45. Happening now, Vice President mike pence arriving in california for a jampacked visit. First hell visit santa ana, then head to monterey. Then he travels to the south bay tonight with a planned stop tomorrow at Nasa Ames Research Center in mountain view. Thats where hell tour the facility and speak to workers before heading back to washington. One mans trash is turning out more and more to be everyones problem, and later today, leaders in the east bay will announce a new program to fight Illegal Dumping. Today in the bays bob redell live for us in walnut creek, and bob, i know this is a big problem not just for the east bay, but really throughout the bay area. Reporter correct. Sadly especially over the past few years its become more and more noticeable under and around interstates, rural roads, different spots throughout the city so marcus, later this morning, the district attorneys for both Contra Costa County and Alameda County along with other state and county leaders, theyre going to announce a 750,000 Pilot Program funded by the state that will help Law Enforcement go after people who dump their trash illegally on the sides of roads and other places where they arent supposed to. To give you an idea, talking about Contra Costa County, in 20172018, Illegal Dumping cost Contra Costa County 600,000 in cleanup costs. Compare that to just 200,000 in increase, a 200,000 increase from the year before, gives you a sense of how much more dramatic the problems become. This is according to the think tank, a group that includes representatives from the d. A. s office, the Sheriffs Office and public works. Take oakland as an example. In 2016, that citys Public Works Department cleaned up around 29,000 piles of illegally dumped trash. Thats double the number of pickups from five years before. Thats according to the city of oakland. And pickups are expensive. It cost public works here in coco county around 260 to pick up a cubic yard of illegal trash. If that person had just taken that same pile of garbage to the dump, it would have cost that person around 32. Reporting live in walnut creek, bob redell, today in the bay. Certainly the thing that people are talking about and they dont want it to be around where they live or work. Hopefully there will be a solution soon. Thanks, bob. 5 06 for you right now. Thousands of university of California Service and Health Care Workers plan to walk off the job today. The union accuses uc of outsourcing jobs to pay lower wages. Earlier this month, the uc spokesperson told the mercury news the union wont budge on its wage demands. This will be a oneday strike. Uc leaders say critical operations will not be affected, and no patient appointments are in jeopardy at its medical facilities. A live look this morning at sfo, and thats where in a few hours the International Terminal departures hall will be named after ed lee. Lee was San Franciscos first asianamerican mayor. He served from 2011 until his death from a heart attack in 2017. Current mayor london breed is expected to attend todays dedication ceremony. She took over for lee, following his death and recently won reelection. A new chance at a restart, for former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. After walking away from the 49ers after the 2016 season, kap got a chance to show nfl teams if he still has what it takes. Today in the bays kris sanchez joins us live at levis stadium this morning. Kris, do we know why now . Reporter its a really good question. Its been three years since Colin Kaepernick was in a 49ers uniform and seems like this offer from the nfl to play in front of the general managers and the owners of the teams came as a bit of a surprise to kap and his team as well. In a tweet he writes i am and just getting word from my representatives that the Nfl League Office reached out to them about a workout in atlanta on saturday. Ive been in shape and ready for this for three years. Cant wait to see the head coaches and gms on saturday. The nfl set up saturdays private workout in atlanta and invited all teams to show up to watch the 32yearold quarterback run through a workout, also answer some questions. While kaepernick says hes ready, hes been working out five days a week for the last three years, that really is not a lot of notice for the coaches and the general managers, most of whom have sunday games to be ready for. At this point, it is not clear which of the 32 teams are going to attend this private workout. Here is some back story. Kaepernick opted out of his contract with the niners at the the end of the 2016 season, hasnt played since. He was criticized and praised for taking a knee during the National Anthem to protest Police Brutality and social injustice. In 2017 he sued the league for cluding to keep him from playing again and earlier this year he and the nfl settled out of court. We dont know if this workout is part of that settlement or part of the nfls show of good faith to him but espn reports there have been teams that have been asking about his availability as we get into the deeper weeks of the nfl season, some teams may be looking to make some changes. Were certainly going to follow this story for you. We know it is interesting. We want to know what you think, too. Ill put up a poll on my twitter feed and ask the question on facebook, what do you think of Colin Kaepernicks next best chance . In santa clara, kris sanchez, today in the bay. Well see how it ends and who bites. Thanks, kris. Bitter cold continues to grip twothirds of the nation, from the midwest to the south, and up and down the east coast. Chicago dropped to 7 degrees in indianapolis 8 degrees yesterday. Des moines minus 1 degree. As you can imagine, people there is a theyre miserable. Some im used to but first snow and all the traffic out here, its kind of rough. This is the first time ive seen snow this bad this early. Okay those people are tough. That guy was wearing a hoodie, the other had a hat on. There were so many crashes on the ohio turnpike, interstate 76, its a major highway there. 50 cars, trucks and big rigs all slamming into each other. Unfortunately, some people were seriously injured. Michigan stadium in ann arbor looking like a winter wonderland. The hope is all that snow will melt away just in time for saturdays game between michigan and michigan state. Okay. The snowplows are out. Meteorologist kari hall, folks dealing with the freezing temperatures. My mom texted me, it was 21 degrees in memphis. Is she okay . Cold but okay. She needs to come to california. Show that does. Tell her to visit because we are seeing some much warmer temperatures here. The problem is not that its so cold, but its so early. Its still fall, and were talking about ten degrees in detroit right now. It is 19 degrees in little rock, and this cold air is making it all the way far south, were below freezing this morning in atlanta. While we are one of the few places where we are seeing some warmer air in the low 50s now. Thats what we are seeing as you head out the door, and this is warmer than a lot of spots will get for the High Temperature for today. 50 right now in concord, and 51 in oakland. And then here is a look at our highs, so marcus, call your mom and tell her its going to be 73 today. Ill let her know. 75 in antioch and we have mid70s for the north bay. We do have some changes ahead and ill talk about that, and mike, youre tracking one issue in Contra Costa County. Yes but im watching for this from marcus. 73. Yes. Hello . Right over here, hello bay area. Looking at a smooth drive through the maze. A gathering at the bay bridge toll plaza but Contra Costa County one other slow spot, highway 4 westbound theres an issue at port chicago highway, a disabled vehicle, reported out of lanes but you see the slower drive approaching. Well double check that in a few minutes just to make sure things pan out per usual coming out of antioch, pittsburg and bay point. Anywhere south of there and thats pretty much most of the bay, green sensors all around and that is great news. Well take a quick look at fremont, the volume is light right now. Back to you. Coming up on today in the bay, join us on the phone with marcus mom. Just kidding. We have californias new law calling for wage and benefit protection for gig workers. The group of workers now suing to stop the rule from going into effect. In business news, ill tell you about something nobodys going to watch. I just guarantee it, and the dow is doing something kind of funky. Well take a look. Not looking for love but looking for a bestie instead. Theres a Company Helping people become friends but it aint cheap. The cost of a friendship, coming up next. Ok, network inspection. Ok. Connected to wifi, protected from threats. Thermostat connected, protected. Speaker, space vacuum. [ whispering ] connected, protected. Shh. Eh, this is not connected or protected. But, thats a family heirloom. And, its a family security breach. Its gotta go. With xfinity xfi, if its connected, its protected. Pull the truck around. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Get more out of your inhome wifi experience with xfinity internet and ask about enhanced Network Security for all your connected devices. Click, call or visit a store today. Right now at 5 16, lets get a look outside in fremont. We are seeing all clear conditions, no fog here, although weve seen it in parts of the bay, and starting out well see a few clouds, temperatures in the low 50s, heading up to 68 degrees at noon. We are still in for another nice and warm day. A few changes ahead, and if you want to know what the weather is going to be like for the next two weeks, hang out for five minutes and well talk about it. And 15 is the number for the drive from highway 4 to the bay bridge, thats starting to get a little more crowded, not yet crowded at the richmond to san rafael bridge. Theres look that person at the toll plaza, has it all to themselves. Well show you where thats not the case, coming up. And good morning to you. Very happy wednesday. Here is something you do not see very often, i kind of love this. The dow ended up right where it began, like a coin flip that ends up on its edge. This almost never happens. Doesnt mean anything. I just think its kind of fun. Tesla says it will build a car factory in germany. San franciscos 89 bio sank a bit in its first day of full trading. San francisco Business Times counted it up, 34th bay area ipo this year, tying last years number. All eyes on the impeachment hearing of course today. President trump spoke to the new York Economic Club on wednesday, told people who know a lot about the economy that the government had predicted a lousy economy ahead before he was elected. In 2016, the department of labor predicted that americans would continue dropping out of the workforce in record numbers. They predicted and projected a decade of sluggish growth, and they expected unemployment over 5 and really 6, 7 and in some cases 8 for years to come. Mmm, that led us back into the records. The department of labors bureau of labor statistics does make tenyear predictions, but it sounded strange an economist would make such a wide guess from five to eight. We found the actual numbers, the president was correct about one thing, people predicted to come out of the labor force because america is growing older, retiring. The six, seven and even as high as 8 , well that was nowhere to be found in the actual data. Fed chairman Jerome Powell will speak to Congress Today in a hearing that no one will watch. Id be surprised if the members of congress at that hearing are going to watch, because of course today is the first day of public impeachment hearings. Powell testifies at 9 00 a. M. Our time. The impeachment hearings start at 7 00 a. M. Our time. Laura . Thanks so much, scott. Its 5 18 right now. The state of california now facing what is believed to be the first large scale lawsuit challenging recently approved wage and benefit protections for socalled gig economy workers. California truckers are the ones suing. The new law will make it harder to classify workers as independent contractors. It takes effect next year. The Truckers Association says it would reprieve 70,000 independent workers and truckers of their ability to work. Rideshare companies are vowing to fight it on the ballot if they cannot work out a compromise. I dont know about this next story but might work. They say the best ships are friendships, in one washington, d. C. , based company is trying to capitalize. For fees starting at 900, people can be set up with others looking for friendship. We know what youre thinking, but the company insists that this is only a plutonic situation. Each client is interviewed on topics like life, values, and interests. They are then introduced to up to six potential friends. Thats a lot of money to make a new friend. Whatever happened to just going out and just talking to people . Oh, talking aboutfacetoface . People, interaction . Thats a novel idea. You dont have to pay for that exactly. Ill be your friend for a lot cheaper than that. 900, hmm, ill get back to you on that. All right, so hopefully youll make a new friend today, but we know that carl the fog hanging out here, our friend to the Golden Gate Bridge. Were going to see the low visibility lingering for a while, if youre driving out there. You know the drill, its been like this for a while now. And so we are going to see our temperatures today headed into the low 60s. Mid70s in santa rosa today. Up to 75 in livermore, and in antioch, with san jose reaching 73 degrees. Now as we look out two weeks, the Climate Prediction Center gives us an idea of how the weather will shape up, and we can see that on the computer models as well. Looks like we still continue with well below average rainfall, and it looks like things could change for southern california, and areas just off to the east, with some cooler air moving in, while we stay warm, and also once again no rain. Thats the weather weve seen lately, mostly because High Pressure has been in the way. But then well start to see it moving off towards the east,