right now at 5:00, the bay area in for quite a downpour. overnight, what you can expect straight ahead. a historic day in congress since the senate overturns don't ask, don't tell. hear from bay area supporters of the cause next. 9 dream of becoming a u.s. citizen just got further away for thousands of young undocumented immigrants. the new app that has people saying adios to their spanish/language dictionary. good evening, i'm gavin thomas. we begin tonight with team coverage on this weekend's wet

and windy storm. nbc bay area's kimberly terry is live in the santa cruz mountains. first, let's check in with nick o'kelly in the weather center. >> we've seen a few breaks in the actitou tday. especially in ean ie s c s sla valley. as you take aook at doppler radar. you can see is ne a rais i picking up,s we are in for round two of possibly five rounds of heavy rainfall over the next several days. what can you expect overnight tonight? rain, rain and more rain interestingly. temperatures are not terribly cold out there, mid to upper 50s to low 60s with the south-southwest winds. what are we watching? we have me heavy rainfall headed our way overnight. also pretty gusty winds. things have been tough on bay area roadways, we're going to send it to kimberly terry in the santa cruz mountains where it's been coming down hard at times. >> it just started coming down really hard. this is highway 17, despite the

heavy rain and fog, can you see it's moving slowly. it was an easy ride to the summit here from san jose, we'll have to see if it continues this way once nightfalls. this series of storms has people bracing for the worst, and residents are gearing up, buying wet weather supplies, heaters, firewood, rain gear, that kind of thing. at a mission in ben loman, there's been a steady stream of residents coming to fill the sandbags and take them back to their homes. residents say if it stays like this, they shouldn't have any problems, but they also don't want to take their chances. >> looks like people are fairly well prepared for it. but, yeah, everyone does -- when we get that first big storm, they definitely come in, and get that last minute stuff to be prepared for the storm. because, yeah, if we do lose power out here, it can be four

days at a time. >> city and county public works and other water management agency as cross the bay area are preparing for storms all week. making sure there aren't any blockages in the waterways that can increase the risk of flooding. water levels are something both crews and residents are obviously watching very closely. and bent san lorenzo river is on the rise. it's been a while since residents have any problems with it as far as flooding goes. a live look at highway 17, where visibility has gotten significantly worse in the last hour, but so far, traffic still moving very smoothly, and we have not heard of any problems. california highway patrol does want to remind people to be extra cautious and to avoid distractions while driving in this kind of weather. live in the santa cruz mountains, kimberly terry, nbc bay area news. >> thank you. now to our other big story, the landmark decision in the

senate today over the military's don't ask, don't tell policy. senators voted 65-231 toover turn don't ask don't tell. this means gays will be allowed to serve openly in all branchs of the armed forces without fear of being kicked out. the president praised the move, saying the policy did nothing but undermine american national security and violate the ideals that members of the arms services risked their lives to defend. many senators stepped forward to echo those sentiments. >> we're going to be true to what america is supposed to be about. it's about not who you are, but how you do your job. gay and lesbian americans in the military will not be seen as gays and lesbians, they'll be seen as what they are, american soldiers. >> but some argue today's move will cause soldiers to be distracted. it amounts to putting a rock in the bottom of a soldiers' already heavy backpack. >> they have a different view that this is about effectiveness

on the battlefield at a time of war, not about civil rights. >> nearly 14,000 service members have been dismissed under the don't ask, don't tell policy since it was put in place in 1993. here in the bay area, supporters of the repeal gathered to watch the debate and witness the final vote. >> the motion to concur is house amended to 2965 is adopted. >> among those who met in san francisco's lgbt community center was zoe dunning who lives in san francisco. she spent two and a half years battling don't ask, don't tell in court. today she choked back tears explaining what the vote meant to her. >> just ecstatic to be here today witnessing history, surrounded by colleagues and friends that i've been working alongside for many, many years on this issue. to share this experience with

them is priceless. >> she says the lives of those 14,000 people discharged under the policy were derailed for no other reason than discrimination. one of those 14,000 dischargees joins us now live from our newsroom. paul crockett was an air force intelligence analyst before he was discharged under don't ask, don't tell. >> thank you. >> we heard your reaction, saw is the reaction of people up in san francisco today. now, a moment to talk to you. what did you think? what was your emotion when you heard about the repeal? >> i was glad to see that this is something that finally took place, something that should have been repealed a long time ago. but my reaction was, a lot of relief that, you know, people finally stepped up, and made this happen. >> now, you said this should have been repealed a long time ago. that said, did this take longer or did it take less time than you thought to actually become a reality? >> well, to be honest with you, i think it actually happened quicker than i would have

expected. when i got out in 2003 i was thinking maybe 50 years from now this would be something that is taken care of. i am surprised it happened this soon, but i'm glad it did. >> tell us what, from your perspective as someone who is gay serving in the military, and you said you came out and it was still a couple months later that you were actually discharged by the air force base, according to you, they say they tried to get you to recant and pretend that nothing happened. >> what change if any will we see in the military with the repeal of don't ask, don't tell. >> i don't think you're going to see too much of a change at all, and here's why. in 2003, nobody had a problem with this that was in the military. anyone who was in my unit knew, my commanders wanted me to rescind my resignation, put all this off the record and, you know, continue to serve. it wasn't an issue back then. it's certainly not an issue seven years later now, you know, the study that was just done,

for example, we have 70% of the troops, you know, want this repealed. 72% of the american population does. even 58% of conservatives do. there's an overwhelming majority of people who have wouldn'ted this repealed. >> paul, thank you very much for coming in and sharing your thoughts on this today. >> thank you. still ahead at 5:00. >> somehow think that beginning next january 5th, we will all love one another? i don't think so. the warning republicans have for democrats looking for a speedy revival of the dream act. and homeless advocates take to the streets of san francisco's contentious law goes into effect. another round of heavy r coming our coming our way overnight tonight. your forecast coming up.

the dream act died in the senate today. the bill would have given illegal immigrants a chance to become citizens if they joined the military or went to college. president obama called the vote incredibly disappointing. many democrats say they will continue to push the issue in the new congress next month. >> america is a country where dreams are made, not crushed. and today dreams were crushed. my message to these people,never fear, we are not going anywhere. we are going to fight, because this is is the right thing to do. >> but the bill faces greater odds of passing when the new congress takes over in january.

the house and congress will have a greater say. hundreds of people stood up for the right to sit down today in san francisco. the city's controversial sit/lie law went into effect on friday. the police department says it will first develop a training program to make sure officers understand the law and enforce the it fairly. the law was approved by 54% of voters in november and makes it illegal to sit or lie on public sidewalks between 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. police plan to start enforcing the policy in february. still to come at 5:00, the perfect play list for your holiday road trip. and it took just one day for it to become apple's most popular app. what no self-respecting globetrotter can do without.

if you've ever run into a language barrier, you know how frustrating it is. sometimes a menu, sometimes a street sign. now, apple's latest iphone app is breaking down that barrier. scott bud man shows you how. >> reporter: take a walk with octavio good and you'll see he doesn't use his phone like most of us do, he points it at things. like this bank sign, now it's in engli english, now it's in spanish. it's a new iphone app called word lens. and it's got people saying sos from english to spanish or

spanish to english as fast as you can read it. > back in their small office, octavio and his partner react to the amazing response from the app's first day. >> i got ten messages a minute. this is nuts, i've never seen anything like this before. >> the number one app on apple's itunes. not bad for an idea hatched on a trip. >> the story is, i was in another country a few years ago, i couldn't read some things in a book store. i thought, why doesn't my cell phone do this for me? >> reporter: it's catching on rapidly. >> you try to buy all this knowledge we have of making video games, to language translation. it sounds kind of ridiculous, but i think it works.

>> it works. just ask their fans with more languages on the way. in san francisco scott bud man, nbc bay area news. >> the app itself is free, the software isn't. you'll need to download language to language software of about $4.95. black friday, cyber monday and free shipping friday have all come and gone. but shoppers were out in force for super saturday. the last saturday before christmas. many stores, including some in san francisco rolled out new deals for last minute shoppers. retailers expected big turnouts. because according to the national retail federation, close to 17% of people still haven't even started shopping for the holidays. if they haven't started now, it's a good bet that between now and christmas, if they do shop, it will be raining on them. it's raining today, it's raining

tomorrow. it's raining for the rest our lives. >> rubber stamp forecast all the way through. we'll start with doppler radar, showing the rain. it's been mainly lig to moderate through the day today. the winds have eased, that's been s lewhatpleasant. the rain has accumulated on roadways, and with some ofseho t leaves blocking the drains it's treacherous in some spots. the bulk of the heaviest rain has shifted down to our south.ho from san luis obispo. it's a mess on highway 101. and the sierra snow continues to pile up. there's going to be a lot of fresh powder. south-southwest winds throughout the day have kept temperatures relatively mild. rainfall totals by the way, have ranged between a half inch in the santa clara valley up to 2 and a half and three inches through the santa cruz and santa lou chia mountains.

tonight more rain. you'll hear the winds picking up. tomorrow more rain, locally more snow in the sierras. mond possibly a few breaks. you get to dodge the showers, we're going toeep kis rainfall going affeend on throughout the next several days.he 'srewhy, a bigre's aa of low pressure, sliding down through a f alaska. that's aiminghe jet stream ri t gh lit cafornia. yocau noticosic mt of the west coast is seeing at least some precipitation right now. it's going to be a very active pattern for the next several days. how much rainfall? that's a big question. we put the computer models into motion. i think for the lowest elevations, we're talking about between a half inch and inch of additional rain by this time tomorrow. getting into the high country. and up into the hills around the bay area, that could easily be 2 and a half, maybe 3 inches. localized flooding could be an issue. tonight temperatures won't fall very much, we're talking lows about 50 degrees, tomorrow, well, of course, we're not going to warm up much, in could be a couple isolated thundershowers

mixed in with the rain. readings could be in the mid-50s for san jose, los gatos. above 1,000 feet you're going to see the gusts to 30, 35 miles an hour. maybe an isolated thundershower popping up around concord or oakland by tomorrow afternoon. into the north bay, santa rosa, mid-50s tomorrow, same thing, you're going to see in san rafael and sansom mow. how about that seven-day forecast? mid-50s all the way through. how about a chance of dry weather. i think monday you'll catch some breaks, also toward the end of the week, thursday and friday there's a chance for dry weather. and then on christmas day, i think we're looking at possibly more heavy rain. >> and a lot of snow in the sierras. >> we had relatives passing through on the way to the sierras today. they're not sure how long it's going to take them to get there. >> it's going to be a while.

stanford has a visit to the heart land? >> yeah, in a place where basketball is treated like a family member about. >> the true hoops cathedral. a trip to indiana has them taking trips up and down the floor. >> guess how many schools are having close games this year? 46. one of college football's greatest players ever is getting ready to black hole mtt black he in oakland. we're back in a moment.

stanford men's basketball facing butler. you'll remember butler started the ncaa tournament here last season after making a run to the national championship game.

they're still running the cardinal out of the gym today. norman dale would have been proud of the ball movement. all you need to know about today's game, not too much fun to watch for stanford fans. jeremy green led stanford with 16 points. stanford showing very little discipline in an 83-50 loss. bulldogs butler yet to avenge the loss to duke. johnny dawkins will have to do. other games in the bay area going better for the devils. at the john wooden classic in anaheim, the gails pull away from long beach state 82-74. the raiders host the bruins tomorrow. a much awaited starting debut is in store. denver fans clamoring for the

dawn of the tebow age. kyle orton has been nursing some sore ribs. sec road games were hostile environments and he enjoyed it. college football has begun with 35 bowl games on tap this postseason. that's 70 teams in action. i multiply it by two. the national championship game is 20. today we kicked off the very first one. 70-48. byu against utep with the minor fending off cougars. even pulp fiction gone wild or today's bowl. four touchdown passes in the tradition of young detmer mcmahon and bosco. the utep band plays the marty robbins song el paso after minors touchdown.

they didn't play it much today. destiny, it's the cougars with the 52-24 win. finally the humanitarian bowl on the smurf turf just wrapping up. it's not looking good. presidenter in state was put in a hole that they haven't emerged from. right now in the fourth quarter, running down late northern illinois leads 40-10. >> the coach running away from gatorade bats, that wasn't very dignified. >> no. >> bronco mendenhall, take the gatorade. >> thanks very much. still ahead at 5:00. what happens when one company promisespr tpi cle a list of the best road trip songs ever and not one is from this decade. people! look at you!

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♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] now everyone can explore the world from home. at&t is making high speed internet more affordable than ever at only $14.95 a month. one-year price guarantee. more than 92 million americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home for christmas and new years. 9 out of 10 will drive. what's a road trip without

music? one company asked people their favorite road trip songs of all time. "highway to hell." "i get around" "born to be wild" and the number one song is "on the road again." just a hunch, but it seems mom and dad have control of the music selection as well as the car. >> the car wheels on a gravel road. >> they all have a really identifiable theme. >> i would not pick them. that's the theme i have. >> everything but number five makes you think of nice sunny sunset drives. that's not what we got. here's your extended forecast. i want to remind you, you can get continuous updates at the weather channel. you'll see similar information as you're getting here. lots of rain. more heavy stuff overnight tonight. maybe a couple breaks on monday. and then we'll go for