Transcripts For KNTV Today In The Bay 20240713

Only this morning, but into the afternoon, were going to have a soggy day ahead. Well talk about how much rain we may measure, coming up in about five minutes. Vianey, youre tracking a big Traffic Alert in oakland. If youre commuting through oakland listen up. I want to start you out with a wide look. Everythings okay in the rest of the bay area. Right to the sig alert, this is going to impact your morning commute for both the westbound and eastbound lanes. There was a crash involving multiple vehicles along westbound 580 just east of lakeshore, and right now several lanes remain blocked originally all lanes were blocked and traffic was being diverted off grand but the latest chp report shows they will be opening up one lane on the eastbound side. Our very own bob redell is headed to the scene. You can see the live picture we have right there, its basically at a complete standstill, and he is about a mile away from the scene, so were going to get to him hopefully coming up in the next report but actually okay hes ready to go live. Bob, how is it looking out there . Reporter well, vianey, weve been in the backup here, eastbound 580 like you said about a mile to halfmile from the scene of the accident. Its hard to tell you about a weve been in this backup i would say for what do you think, past 15, 20 minutes and weve only moved about ten feet. Chp did come by on the Left Shoulder about ten minutes ago to try to get to the scene, but the eastbound direction here and i dont know how far the backup goes, but i look in the rear view, definite anily as far as the eye can see, tremendous backup, no traffic moving in the eastbound direction. You see the headlights headed westbound, theyve already gotten past the scene. Im not quite sure what the diverse is on the westbound direction. Eastbound shut down here, we believe this is closer to the lakeshore exit, because of this fatal accident that happened around 4 00 this morning. Our understanding is a pedestrian was hit in the road. We dont know if the pedestrian was somebody who was already in the freeway or perhaps somebody whose car was stranded and they got out and unfortunately got hit. Reporting live here on speak of the devil, here we are, starting to move right now. This is again eastbound 580, traffic starting to move. Reporting live here in oakland, bob redell, today in the bay. All right, wow, its really opening there. Well keep checking back on that situation. Breaking news were following this time on capitol hill, the house will vote on the impeopachment of president trum. At 6 00 a. M. , nbc news will begin its live coverage. All of us this comes after President Trump sent a scathing letter to House Speaker nancy pelosi. Today in the bays tracie potts live for us in washington where the showdown gets started very soon there, tracie. Marcus and laura, the showdown has been going on for weeks, but now really the final leg of the relay as the impeachment debate and final vote get under way. The letter President Trump sent and nancy pelosi was scathing, accusing democrats at the last minute of openly declaring war on democracy, and hes asking pelosi at the last minute to call it all off. Rallies across america on the eve of a vote to impeach President Trump, on abuse of power and obstruction of congress. I have not seen it. Look, its a hoax, the whole impeachment thing is a hoax. Reporter his comments follow a scathing letter to House Speaker nancy pelosi, demanding that she immediately cease this impeachment fantasy. Arguing more due process was afforded to those accused in the salem witch trials. Pelosi called the letter sick. Hes going allin and its going to be hard. Its going to be fast. Its going to be ugly. Reporter todays schedule, six hours of debate, with a vote likely early evening. Unknown, will republicans use procedures to delay . The legacy of the 116th congress will be defined by their hatred for President Trump. Reporter the new year defined by a trial expected to begin in early january. I think this things dead as Fried Chicken in the senate. Reporter Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell has rejected democrats request to call witnesses. Im not impartial about this at all. Do you want someone who proudly says they are not impartial to be on a jury, judging high crimes and misdemeanors . Reporter President Trump almost certain to be cleared by republicans controlling the senate, after becoming only the third president ever to face impeachment. Tracie potts, nbc news, washington. Coming up on today in the bay at 5 45, scott mcgrew will have much more on the Impeachment Vote in his checks balances segment. Well bring you the special report as soon as that vote comes in right here on nbc bay area. We are watching and expecting that special report to come in at 6 00 this morning and thats when we will hear more information about whats going on with the impeachment hearing so stay right here with today in the bay, as we continue to update you on that information. Cupertino leaders are looking for answers in americas vaping epidemic. Today theyll talk about ways to cut teenage vaping. Today in the bays kris sanchez joins us live from cupertino with more on that and a look at new legal action against one of the largest ecigarette makers. Kris . Reporter hi there, laura. President maker also feel a lot of pressure from communities coming at them from different angles from banning the sales to taking the makers to court to looking for more medical research. I want to start you off here in cupertino, there is a meeting tonight. The community is going to talk about adding additional tobacco policies, just last month the city outlawed the sale of flavored tobacco. The city is considering a possible ban of vaping and ecigarette products similar to the one that Santa Clara County passed recently. If you want to weigh in the meeting is at 6 30 tonight at Cupertino Community hall. Bans like that one could keep ecigarettes and vaping products out of the hands of teens whose marijuana vaping rates doubled between 2008 and 2019, according to new analysis published just today in the journal of the american medical association. When we researchers polled High School Seniors why they vaped the number one reason was that they were curious but others said its because they were hooked. The second one most frequently cited for them, vaping, is because they like the taste and then we are seeing a doubling in the number of teenagers that are taking, telling us that they are vaping because they are hooked to it. Reporter some Bay Area School districts are also taking on vaping but from a different angle. Districts in san mateo county, San Francisco and livermore are suing juul, one of the biggest ecig create makers to force them to stop marketing to kids and recoup some of the money the districts are spending on vaping prevention like buying vaping detectors. We reached out to juul and their response to us is that they do not intend to market to young people, that theyre not in the business of attracting underaged users. In cupertino, kris sanchez, today in the bay. Thank you, kris, for the very latest there. Its 5 08 right now. We have a followup for you, Sonoma County supervisors approved an Emergency Declaration to assist a Homeless Group living along the jo rododa trail between santa rosa and sebastopol. One idea to open a shelter at the county fairgrounds. The board will hold another meeting next monday with an idea of nailing down a solution which they hope to have in three months. Transportation leader also discuss an express toll lane for 880, running northbound and southbound for more than 20 miles between oakland and fremont. The northbound direction will end at lewelling, southbound end at hegenberger. They are considering toll lane policy changes increasing minimum charges. The meeting starts at 9 00 this morning, at the Bay Area Metro Center in San Francisco. A live look in san jose, and this is the kitchen at Sacred Heart Community service. This is where one of the bay areas largest food giveaways is happening today, that center is handing out holiday food boxes filled with either frozen turkey or ham, along with all the fixings for a holiday meal. That giveaway really helps families in need this Holiday Season but thats not all. On christmas eve, and christmas day, they will actually hand out more than 18,000 toys to south bay young people and yes, theyre still taking donations. Its great to give. Well, Mother Nature giving us some rain. A lot of rain. Thats right, a lot of rain. Could be a pretty tough commute as you head out the too this morning, giving you different perspectives as you can see from our network of cameras out there, rain coming down, soggy streets. We already heard there was a shutdown at 580 this morning. Well check in with bob redell for more on that on lakeshore. Meteorologist kari hall, this is a series of a couple of storms . Yes, so were going to see the first wave of rain coming in today and then again on saturday, the next round of rain comes in. As you get ready to head out weve seen the downpours rolling in, with the system that will bring us some off and on showers today. Even a slight chance of thunderstorms. Well watch out for that. Otherwise expect some showers, even through 10 00 to 11 00 as we head through 2 00 and 3 00, still some showers and as we go into tonight we start to see that activity tapering off, and then well dry out for tomorrow as well as friday. So ill have more updates on that in just a few minutes. Vianey has been tracking the Traffic Alert, and whats going on right now in oakland . We still have several areas that are very slow along westbound and eastbound 580, and thats because theyre just starting to reopen what appears on it one of the lanes on the eastbound side so just to give you a little bit more of an update if youre just joining us, a sig alert in oakland, a crash along westbound 580 involving multiple vehicles. Theyre calling it a possible ped acc, a pedestrian was involved. Its unclear of the nature of the accident but several lanes remain blocked. Traffic diverted off at grand so we are starting to see a little bit of the red turn orange, headed into the eastbound lanes and i know bob redell is still headed to the scene. Back to you. Thanks, vianey. 5 11. A major break in a series of car breakins across northern california. Ahead at 5 25, at rest just made that police say are tied to at least 100 cases. Plus, a shocking admission, forget texting. You wont believe how many people admit to shopping while driving. Wherever you are, facebook knows where you are even when you turn Location Services off. That has the attention of congress . And trending this morning, expecting parents put an all new spin on that gender reveal trend. Well tell you all about it, is it a girl . Is it a boy . Who knows . Well tell you, when we come back. Youre watching today in the bay. Baby yoda. [ electrical buzzing ] [ dramatic music ] ahhhh ahhhh elliott. You came back itheres my career. s more to me than hiv. My cause. And creating my dream home. Im a work in progress. So much goes into who i am. Hiv medicine is one part of it. Prescription dovato is for adults who are starting hiv1 treatment and who arent resistant to either of the medicines dolutegravir or lamivudine. Dovato has 2 medicines in 1 pill to help you reach and then stay undetectable. So your hiv can be controlled with fewer medicines while taking dovato. You can take dovato anytime of day with food or without. Dont take dovato if youre allergic to any of its ingredients or if you take dofetilide. If you have hepatitis b, it can change during treatment with dovato and become harder to treat. Your hepatitis b may get worse or become lifethreatening if you stop taking dovato. So do not stop dovato without talking to your doctor. Serious side effects can occur, including allergic reactions, liver problems, and liver failure. Lifethreatening side effects include lactic acid buildup and severe liver problems. If you have a rash and other symptoms of an allergic reaction, stop taking dovato and get medical help right away. Tell your doctor if you have kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis b or c. Dont use dovato if you plan to become pregnant or during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy since one of its ingredients may harm your unborn baby. Your doctor should do a pregnancy test before starting dovato. Use effective Birth Control while taking dovato. The most common side effects are headache, diarrhea, nausea, trouble sleeping, and tiredness. So much goes into who i am and hope to be. Ask your doctor if starting hiv treatment with dovato is right for you. Right now at 5 15, rain moving over the Santa Cruz Mountains and will be in cupertino within the next four minutes and reaching san jose at 5 43. Well continue to track the rain, coming up in five minutes. Were continuing to track the sig alert in oakland from an earlier deadly crash, eastbound lanes and westbound lanes remain entirely blocked. Traffic is being diverted off at grand. Well have an update coming up. And good morning to you. Very happy wednesday. Stocks started trading tuesday at new records so any positive number means more new records. Pg e has gotten the judges approval on a settlement over the fires that still need governor newsoms okay. Roku fell even on a positive day. I told you this would happen before it happened yesterday on today in the bay. A bunch of Government News in Business News because we have so much to talk to you about in in politics at 5 45. The house passed a Government Spending bill, even as it tries to impeach the president. One glaring omission, an extension to the electric car tax credit. Tesla was hoping to get the government to raise the caps on the number of cars sold that qualified from 200,000, which teslas already blown through, to 600,000. Buyers of fords, nissans and audis can get the full credit. They havent crossed the cap. A House Committee approved the usmca the new nafta, setting up for tomorrow, the day after the impeachment. Facebook is trying to explain its Location Services to congress after a letter from two congressmen asking why facebook tracks you even after you turn off tracking. The company says it still knows where you are based on the connections to the internet and if you tag yourself in the pictures. It uses that extra data to serve you locationbased ads explaining if it didnt do that, people would get ads for restaurants in london when they were in new york and vice versa. You probably notice od on vacation, ads in spanish. How did they know i was in mexico . Locationbased ads are crucial to these companies otherwise youre getting stuff for a dodge dealer in florida, doesnt do you any good. Exactly. Interesting. Well a lot of people i guess like to shop while they are of Course Online but what about texting and dialing and shopping while youre driving . Believe it or not, shopping behind the wheel is actually a big trend right now. All according to a new holiday distracted driving report finds 45 of shoppers admit to shopping behind the wheel. Half of all men admitted to doing it while only three in ten women do. We hear santa plans to leave his phone at the north pole when he heads out christmas eve. He gets the little elves to help. Or has the voice activated y. E, i dont know. Tyou, a family in oklahoma using their Christmas Lights for more than just some holiday cheer. A couple east of okc synced up their decorations to reveal the gender of their second lights. Asks if the baby is a boy or a girl and the garage counts it down. Oh, the big reveal and it is a girl a girl a girl there you go. I guess in the background they play music, they play my girl. My girl by the temptations. My Favorite Male Group of alltime. Thats pretty cool. Thats pretty elaborate. You could find out everything. Mom and dads are engineers or something, i dont know . The popping the balloon thing i guess is out. We got to go big now. Stepping it up. All right so look, we dont need a reveal to tell us about the weather. Its a girl no, im wearing pink today Mother Nature so it is a girl, working hard. More rain coming in today as we look at storm ranger, our mobile doppler radar, we are seeing off and on showers moving through and its getting a little bit heavier for parts of the east bay as well as the north bay. I wanted to give you a closer look from st. Helena toward napa. We are seeing that wave of rain coming through, just now getting ready to clear sonoma, and so as you look out and the door and window in richmond, it is pouring right now. Give it a few more minutes. That rain will be moving off towards the east and bringing some more heavy rain over toward concord. Were also seeing some rain over toward san ramon. That will be pushing off towards the east, and then as we get a look at the south bay, some bright reds here indicating some heavy rain on the dumbarton bridge, and so if youre driving across there within the next few minutes, expect some puddles on the road. A wide view of the storm system as it moves through, still the center of low pressure off the coast and all of this has to work through the bay area before we see this wrapping up later on this afternoon, but thats a live look at the Golden Gate Bridge right now. You can see the water standing on the roads, so just watch out for those puddles, and also make sure those windshield wipers are working well. As we go into this afternoon, still looks like well see some scattered showers passing by. There will be some breaks in between even for the evening commute were pretty wet. By later on tonight were starting to dry out. There may still be some lingering north bay showers headed into tomorrow, and thats where some of the highest rainfall totals will be. Most of us getting about a tenth to quarter inch of rain and more rain headed for the weekend. The next storm system comes in saturday afternoon, rain off and on throughout the day on sunday and this gradually tapers off on monday. Here is a look at the sevenday forecast showing some upper 50s in the forecast, dry tomorrow, and friday, afternoon rain, most likely in time for the end of that 49ers game, and then scattered showers continuing into sunday. Vianey, youve been tracking a Traffic Alert. Is it improving now . Well were still dealing with the major track backup. A wide look at how the rest of the bay area is doing. The south bay is doing okay. The green you see on the map is the rain. The same radar that kari uses just overlaid over the traffic map so you could see that rain will play a factor this morning so please be mindful of that. Check your tires as you head out the door, make sure your windshield wipers are working. Headed to oakland or from oakland, lets get to the sig alert. As i was making my way out here a couple more accidents popped up behind the original crash westbound 580 near lakeshore. All lanes remain blocked on the eastbound side and we have several lanes blocked on the westbound side, appears to be a crash involving multiple vehicles and details of possibly a pedestrian involved as well. So far the traffic is diverted off at grand. Your best bet is going to be to jump off, take the surface streets at broadway and if youre headed in the westbound direction stake the surface streets starting at coolidge, you may want to ache macarthur because the backup is really bad. Thanks for the update. A serious and deadly wrong turn during one holiday delivery. Next here on today in the bay, a fedex driver turns the tables on a man robbing his truck. Details on that deadly confrontation. A deadly front frontation last night in philadelphia a driver was making a delivery at a home when police say he was approached by a robber, who then shot the driver, but the driver was armed and returned fire. Police found the injured robber in an alley, and he later died. Fedex is not commenting on whether workers can be armed on the job. Modesto police shout down a car burglary, officers arrested four suspects, linked to more than 100 car breakins over the last month in modesto and surrounding areas. Police say officers recovered stolen electronics and other vehicles. In florida an am bert alert for two siblings who disappeared. The two have been found safe. The children disappeared after wandering away from their home a few miles from where the searchers yesterday heard those childrens voices coming from a runned down pump house. Coming up next, breaking news, a Traffic Alert to tell you about, interstate 580 brought to a standstill in the east bay. Well have a check on your morning commute with a live report next at that crash site. Plus the clock is ticking for a group of seniors in Contra Costa County, suddenly facing eviction. Mike bloombergs never been afraid of tough fights, the ones that make a true difference in peoples lives. And mikes won them, which is important right this minute, because if he could beat americas biggest gun lobby, helping pass background check laws and defeat nra backed politicians across this country, beat big coal, helping shut down hundreds of polluting plants and beat big tobacco, helping pass laws to save the next generation from addiction. All against big odds you can beat him. Im Mike Bloomberg and i approve this message. Right now at 5 30, breaking news, another historic day set to play out on capitol hill. A live look outside of the chambers there. This morning lawmakers on both sides of the hill already weighing in. Two more storms taking aim at the bay area, rain is back, storm ranger is scanning the skies. Kari hall is tracking how long the wet weather is going to last, as you take a live look at your doppler radar. Good morning and thanks for joining us. Im laura garcia. And im marcus washington. Waking up this morning to wet roads, the rain is coming in. Meteorologist kari hall was telling us all about that. Kari, you delivered yet again. Another wave of rain, good to see this coming through, especially in the middle of the week. Well have some more rain this weekend, that second storm rolling in, storm ranger tracking it all for us, with the heaviest rain pushing through parts of the north bay, over toward the east bay, and now approaching san jose. Ive been showing you the rain hitting richmond very hard, about to start to lighten up a little bit there. Move over toward concord within the next few minutes, and were also seeing heavy rain on the dumbarton bridge moving into union city and pushing off towards the east. Expect more of this the rest of the day going into this afternoon. Off and on showers. Vianey is tracking the Traffic Alert. We have that sig alert thats going out but as you head out the door i want to make sure i give you an overall look at the bay area. If youre commuting to the south bay youll be okay, slow it down. I am starting to show some slow spots it might be due to some of the ponding water because of the rain so slow it down out there. Lets get also right to that sig alert, because now theres an additional crash just behind that, it could just be related to the stop and go as the traffic begins to move westbound and eastbound near lakeshore at 580, and oakland. Several lanes remain blocked, traffic is diverted off at grand due to a crash involving multiple vehicles, possibly even a pedestrian. Bob redell is live at the scene with more details. Bob . Reporter good morning to you, vianey. Right now were on eastbound 580 just past the lakeshore accident. You can see theres only one lane open, its the far left lane, the number one lane because of this fatal accident and they expect the other lanes to be shut down at least for another hour and you can see the headlights on the other side, those are heading westbound. You can see that more lanes are open there. They expect to have all of westbound open shortly. What happened, there was an accident on westbound 580, around 4 00 this morning, chp told us they do believe this is all weather related because you can see the roads are wet. There was a mercedes, solo spinout, and then a pickup truck came and collided with the mercedes. The driver of the pickup truck and mercedes were fine at the time. Unfortunately the driver of the pickup truck, against advice of chp would tell you, got out of his vehicle, was on the passenger side, when a third car came, hit his truck, the truck hit him, and launched him here across the median into the lanes of eastbound 580, were at right now. His body is still out in the middle of the road. The coroner is out there, why all the lanes are shut down and as i mentioned, chp estimates probably another hour before the coroner is able to do their job and before theyre able to get these lanes open. Again, you can see how wet it is out here. This is a reminder to drive slow, to leave space between you and the car in nt from of you, and again, if youre ever in an accident, chp advises if you can, get to the median, and if the conditions are not safe, do not get out of the car, keep your seat belt on and of course call 911. Reporting live in oakland, bob redell, today in the bay. All right, bob, scary scene there. Thank you for that. 5 34 for you right now. The suspect arrested in connection with an amber alert this week may soon be in court today. Investigators say Victor Magana took his 2yearold daughter after stabbing her mother near san jose state. Several hours later his vehicle was spotted at a gas station, in San Luis Obispo county. The toddler was not hurt. At last check, her mother is in critical but stable condition. In San Francisco, a heated debate at a packed meeting on the recent Police Shooting that critically injured a burglary suspect. Police last night presented video of its incident, which happened 11 days ago in the mission district. It started when two officers tried to question 24yearold jamaica hampton. The video shows him lunging at the officers and attacking one of them with a glass bottle. Moments later he appears to charge at the officers, who then opened fire. Last nights town hall the sfpd also showed photos of the bottle and the injuries one officer had to his face. Some still believe that this doesnt add up. Doesnt look like there was enough for mr. Hampton to be aggressive to the officers. These people, this system, you all with your guns, 20 times on a young man with a bottle. You are the problem. The suspect is still in the hospital. The d. A. s office is still investigating if the shooting was justified. New for you this morning, a 50yearold san jose lyft driver is behind bars, accused of arranging to have sex with a 13yearold boy, but it was actually a sting, detectives say the suspect, kevin snyder, contacted the boy on a dating app grinder, but it was actually an undercover San Jose Police officer. Snyder then explained that he worked as a lyft driver and could pick up the boy in his car. Snyder is expected to be in court later today. The clock is ticking for a group of seniors in Contra Costa County suddenly facing eviction. Last month about 80 elderly residents at the brookdale assistant living facility in san pablo received eviction notices effective january 31st. At the same time residents of a smaller nearby apartment complex received 30day eviction notices from a different landlord. Those residents moveout day is this sunday, three days before christmas. Today people from both Properties Plan to voice their outrage and their demands. New details on a critical step in goingments downtown expansion. It involves people who will are already do live in that area. The project spans 80 acres downtown in the area around diridon station. According to the east bay times negotiations will begin next month focusing on the impact of nearby residents. Google will negotiate with city leaders on Affordable Housing and also talk about protecting nearby residents from evictions and creating jobs for locals. Talks should last through next summer. Today you will have another chance to weigh in on b. A. R. T. s future gm robert powers has been conducting what he calls a listening tour. This morning, hell hear from riders at the walnut creek station and later at 4 00 p. M. Visit San Franciscos 16th Street Mission station. Our Investigative Unit is taking an indepth look at the issues happening on b. A. R. T. You can watch that entire series right now on nbcbayarea. Com. Its 5 37. We want to get a check on the morning commute. Weve had some problems out there on 580, vianey. Thats right in the eastbound direction of 580, right near lakeshore, and the scene of a deadly crash. Unfortunately there were multiple vehicles involved and apparently bob redell is out there at the scene, he got the latest details, because of that earlier crash, somebody did pass away and right now they opened one lane of the eastbound side, and several lanes of the westbound side, but as of right now, ill step out of the frame, it still remains a very active scene. Well have more updates coming up shortly. Now lets go ahead and take a look at how the maps are doing for the rest of the bay area. Now we havent seen any major accidents out on the roads, but it is raining, so please slow it down. I did notice there was a crash just behind that sig alert. A new crash that popped up and the chp reports there was some flooding out on the roadways so that could be the cause of the additional zepts just behind that sig alert, westbound 580 from 238 to the bay bridge youre looking at 23 minutes. Again, they have reopened some lanes but if you can, go ahead and take 808 but even that as you see live on the camera there is still pretty close. Be careful out there. A couple of storms hitting the bay area, and we get a break before the weekend . We get, well the first storm is today. The second storm is saturday so that could affect a lot of the weekend plans and lets look at how youre seeing that rain falling and where were seeing it right now, falling the heaviest in parts of the north bay and the east bay. So here is storm number one rolling on through, and the next one comes on saturday afternoon. And so well be tracking that for the 49ers game, it looks like by the end of the game, we could see some of those showers moving through and its going to be cool out there, all throughout the day, as we see our temperatures only reaching the mid50s. Saturday once again off and on rain, starting in the evening, but then we will start out with some sunshine for the morning, and temperatures reaching up to 58 degrees, and then by sunday, waves of rain coming in, looks pretty soggy on sunday. If you plan on going ice skating on saturday, just a heads up there will be some rain moving through, possibly as we go into the late morning and early afternoon hours in San Francisco. For the trivalley, were looking good on friday, with a high of 63 degrees. Thats the best day this weekend, before we start to see that rain coming in. Ill be tracking it on storm ranger, well take another look coming up in about three minutes. Thanks, kari. Its 5 40 right now. A new deal giving new hope for wildfire victims. Still ahead on today in the bay, pg e agrees to a massive settlement plan. Well have details on that legal decision that could finally pave the way for an agreement. Plus, rolling full speed ahead in california, how soon driverless trucks could be delivering packages to your home. And its t looks like today is the day. Today the third time in American History a u. S. President will be impeached. And leave it to mom, trending this morning, the unique solution one parent came up with to help keep her baby from crying when she leaves the room. [ electrical buzzing ] [ dramatic music ] ahhhh ahhhh elliott. You came back good wednesday morning. 5 43 its a soggy start to the day. A live look outside in palo alto. Wet roads and temperature also stay cool as we go throughout the day. Well also see off and on showers and some heavier rain approaching brentwood, within the next 30 minutes. Ill have another look at this forecast and storm ranger coming up in about five minutes. And we continue to follow the sig alert in oakland, a deadly crash westbound 580. Chp now reporting that all lanes on the westbound side have now reopened. Two lanes remain blocked on the eastbound side, expect heavy delays, traffic is being diverted off at grand. Well have another update coming up shortly. Today if things go as scheduled, the house will impeach the president of the united states. It is december 18th, 2019 and for just the third time in American History, impeachment. Andrew johnson, bill clinton, donald trump. Johnson barely held on to his office. Clinton found not guilty, we expect the senate will clear trump. But that comes later. Today the house is expected to vote on impeachment. Debate starts in about 15 minutes. Youre looking at live coverage here right now. Nbc bay area will carry the whole thing live. Here is the president from the white house on tuesday. Im not saying, look, its a hoax. The whole impeachment thing is a hoax. We look forward to getting on to the senate. Were not entitled to lawyers, were not entitled to witnesses. Were not entitled to anything in the house. Its a total sham. The president sent a long letter to the speaker of the house, nancy pelosi. Several News Agencies including nbc will walk you through the inaccuracies in the letter. There are more than a dozen, including even the number of electoral votes trump got in his own location. He says 306. It was 304, but the gist of the letter is anger. He says he doubts pelosi prays for him. He says the impeachment is an unconstitutional, though impeachment by definition is constitutional, because thats where the idea of impeachment comes from. He also says hes not accused of a crime. Weve been over that one many times. Impeachment is political and crimes can be charged but theres no requirement of that. He also writes hes been denied the right to present evidence, have my own counsel present, and to call and crossexamine witnesses, but he was offered that opportunity during the recent hearings but the white house turned that offer down. Debate today should last all day, with a vote possibly this evening, and a reminder, and i know you know this, but impeachment means youve been accused. He will not be thrown out of office today. President trump will be at a rally in michigan tonight, described as a christmas rally, and if the debate in congress runs long enough, it is entirely possible he will be impeached while at his own rally. Lester holt will lead our coverage of the impeachment of donald trump coming up at 6 00 a. M. Right here on today in the bay. Thanks, scott. 5 46 for you right now. Cupertino leaders are looking for answers in americas vaping epidemic. Today theyll talk about ways to cut teenage vaping. New data will show us how serious the problem is. Today in the bays kris sanchez joins us live from cupertino with more on that and a look at new legal action against one of the largest ecigarette makers. Reporter hi there, laura and marcus. Cigarette make irs feel a lot of pressure from communities coming from courts and city leaders. Just last month the city outlawed the flavored tobacco sales, now theyre considering a possible ban of vaping in ecigarette products similar to the one passed in Santa Clara County. The meeting is at 6 30 tonight at Cupertino Community hall. Bans like that could help to keep ecig represents and vaping products out of the hands of teens whose marijuana vaping rates doubled between 2018 and 2019 according to new analysis published today in the journal of the american medical association. When researchers polled High School Seniors about why they were vaping the number one reason is they were curious but others said they liked the flavor of the flavored tobaccos and others said they were hooked. Some Bay Area School districts are taking on vaping from a different angle, districts in san mateo county, San Francisco, livermore, they are suing juul, one of the biggest esit receiptmakers to force them to stop marketing to kids and recoup money for vape detectors. Juuls response is they do not intend to reach out to underaged users and attract them. In cupertino, kris sanchez, today in the bay. Thank you, kris. 5 48. Selfdriving delivery trucks will soon begin an openended testing phase. The dmv says it will start approving permits in just a matter of weeks. Also trending this morning, something sometimes all you need is mom, even if it isnt the real thing. Yes, one father noticed his 1yearold son whenever the mot wasnt around so he created a genius solution. The lifesized cardboard cutouts of mom, the father placed them around their home in japan to soothe the baby. Moms always there. Thats a good christmas why isnt she moving . I dont need you to move. I just need you here. You know how it is sometimes. You always need your mom, very important. So lets move over toward rain in the forecast today, as we check out storm ranger, were going to see off and on downpours today, as storm ranger tracks it for us, weve seen some reallrough parts of the no and we are catching a break in petaluma but its about to start to rain once again, as we come in to San Francisco, we can even come down to vestreet level. Storm ranger we can see its raining in chinatown and get lighter within the next few minutes but moving over the bay bridge. Also seeing some heavy rain just starting to move out of union city toward sunol and pleasanton and rest of the trivalley and heavy rain moving through much of Contra Costa County, as we are going to see the waves of rain coming through especially early today, but we do still have all of this that has to come through the bay area, before we catch a break and thats later on this evening. So were looking at some off and on showers, not only this morning, but here is the time line, were going through 6 30 and seeing for the evening commute some rain rolling by and by tonight we start to dry out for most of us, there will still be showers in parts of the north bay, but in all were looking at about a tenth to a quarter of an inch. There may be up to an inch of rain, close to that in parts of the north bay. So we have this first storm moving in, the next one comes in on saturday evening. It looks like by the end of that 49ers game, well see that rain rolling in, off and on rain throughout the day on sunday, and then it tapers off on monday. There will be some more downpours in the forecast on christmas day, as we will also see some more sierra snow and our temperatures stay cool as we get off and on rain not only for the next seven days but even beyond that, still looks pretty busy and so well have more updates on that. Vianey, youre tracking the morning commute and the rain falling down. Rain may have played a factor in this mornings breaking news. We have a sig alert and i have an update as far as the lanes being open, that crash was along westbound 580 in oakland. Chp now reporting the westbound lanes are all open now, but the eastbound lanes, lanes one and two remain blocked. Traffic continues to be diverted off of grand as they continue their investigation out on the roads. Could you see the red has turned yellow but if you want to avoid that entirely, you could still exit off before coolidge and before broadway, and take the surface streets and just avoid that area entirely. Again, westbound lanes now have reopened along 580, near lakeshore. Marcus . Thanks, vianey. Happening now, australia experiencing its hottest day on record and temperatures are expected to soar even higher. Temperatures soared to 108 degrees in birdsville. Breaking news, history being made in washington, d. C. We have a live look at the capitol, where the important vote happening soon in the impeachment of donald trump. Welcome back. Here are the top stories. As we begin with today in the bay an historic day about to get under way at the house of representatives on capitol hill. Just a few minutes the debate will begin on whether to impeach President Trump over his phone call with ukrainian president. You can watch it live right here on nbc bay area. Lester holt, nbc news team is picking up coverage just moments from now. Breaking news, lanes are back open in the east bay, this is after a deadly crash. Today in the bays bob redell is close to the scene of that crash, happened on 580, on lakeshore avenue in oakland. Bob, whats the latest . Reporter laura and marcus, both directions of 580 were shut down for some time, id say within the past ten minutes all lanes both directions eastbound 580, westbound 580 here in oakland have been reopened after the fatal crash that happened around 4 00 this morning. The driver of a pickup truck, he was involved in a minor collision. Unfortunately, he did get out of his vehicle, was hit by another car, that car hit his pickup truck, which flung him into the opposite direction, the opposite lanes of eastbound 580, where he was declared dead, the coroner has since removed his body. We did speak with chp, they do believe these collisions were definitely rain related so i bring that up if youre driving in to work this morning, the roads are wet, you want to be careful out there, watch your speeds, distance between you and the driver in front of you and also the chp officer sergeant also said if youre ever involved in an accident on the freeway, you want to try to get to the median, and stay in your vehicle, its not safe to get out. Keep your seat belt on and call 911. Reporting live in oakland, bob redell, today in the bay. Thank you. Pg e now appears to be a step closer to paying out wildfire victims after a decision by a federal bankruptcy judge. The judge yesterday approving two massive settlements, 11 billion cash deal between the utility and private insurers. Separately the same judge authorized a recent 13 billion settlement plan for wildfire victims. Governor newsom last week came down against the deal believing it violated california wildfire laws. He agreed to not oppose the legal ruling which should allow pg e to emerge from bankruptcy next year. Dramatic new video from last night of a house fire that seriously injured a 71yearold man. It happened yesterday afternoon in belmont near carlmont high school. The flames were intense. Some neighbors heard an explosion before that house just burst into flames. Investigators are looking into the cause. New details now, the brentwood on ice is back up and running. This is after vandals melted away the ice over the weekend. It was originally supposed to stay closed through the end of today, but teams worked around the clock to finish the repairs yesterday. Its a good thing because this is just in time, 400 girl scouts are planning to lace up skates for a nice event today. Good thing theyve got a cover on the ice now. Its pretty rainy across the bay area. Be careful as you head out the door. This is a look at our cameras across the bay area, to give you that perspective from San Francisco, san jose, san rafael, rain pretty much covering every inch of the bay area right now, as you take a live look at our doppler radar. The first two storms coming over . Yes the first one coming inned too, the next one arrives saturday afternoon and of course thats in time for a lot of outdoor activities, as we get closer to the holidays. Were seeing some of the heaviest rain moving through the north bay, as well as the east bay. Check that out, its really pouring right now in parts of the trivalley and you can download the nbc bay area app to get the latest. It can be dangerous out there on the roads as well. Unfortunately weve already seen a deadly crash early this morning. I have an update on the situation, we had bob redell out there as well. Ive seen a couple of fender benders, one popped up in cupertino as i was making my way out on this report but it appears all lanes have now reopened from that earlier crash along westbound 580, near lakeshore, again traffic is recovering. I see it getting much better through there, the red has turned yellow but along 880 now, i did see reports of a fender bender and a lot of ponding water im seeing on the chp report which means flooding on the side of the roads, slow it down. Ive seen a couple of spin outs as well when we can expect to keep the san mateo bridge as well a little bit of a stop and go but gotten smoother in terms of that commute. You could stay on top of all the weather and traffic wlfr you go, just download our free nbc bay area app so you can keep up to date whats going on. Thats a look at whats happening today in the bay. Up next the historic day about to get under way in washington, d. C. , where house lawmakers led by House Speaker nancy pelosi about to begin that process of impeaching President Trump, their attempts to. The vote is likely to take place this afternoon or this evening. This is lawmakers held a vote, our coverage continues on nbc news with lester holt