zi look and there's -- right now at 11:00 friends and neighbors recall the moments when two men were critically burned in a san francisco house fire. and the investigation into a christmas day break-in. >> which stores have been open. >> peggy bunker is off today. i'm laura garcia cannon. we're learning more about the massive fire that severely burned two men overnight. the men were pulled out of their home on baker street between

full ham and mcalister street in san francisco. that's where chase cain is joining us live this morning. we understand you just talked to neighbors and friends. >> laura, i did, and they tell us that these two men are still in very bad case. they are in intense i care this morning after being rushed to the hospital last night in critical condition according to firefighters. at one point there were 115 san francisco firefighters out here. you can see the victorian home is very los to the homes next door, and even though you can't really tell from the front, there is significant damage to the back of this house. >> reporter: firefighters kept watch all night making sure flames didn't spark up again in this home on baker street after an intense fire erupted just before 9:00 last night trapping the homeowners inside. >> they're the sweetest. rapid where i and patrick were just -- patrick is like the most helpful, kind guy.

he is just like -- is he the type of neighbor that would give you a cup of sugar when you need it, so i hope here doing all right. >> reporter: the couple was found just inside the front door apparently trying to escape, but instead severely burned. neighbors say this home was the pride and joy of the couple who have been working for the past five years to fully!w/ restore four story victorian. >> christmas is very sad. very beautiful house. this couple here that lived here put a lot of work and a lot of time, a lot of love into that house. it's really sad to see this happen. i hope they're okay. >> by day break today, fire investigators and building inspectors began their work figuring out what caused all this as friends just hope for the best. >> it's devastating. i hope it's not too damage and they're not too damaged and they can bring it back to the level in which they had it. >> fire investigators have been in and out of the house all

morning long. of course, the task for them now is to figure out exactly what start this fire. of course, there are questions about that because the two men had been working to restore this home for some time. the hope from everyone here in the neighborhood is that the two men will make it out and they will be okay and at some point they may be able to get back to the work they were doing on this house. chase cain, nbc bay area news. >> let's hope they're okay. thank you. happening now police are looking for this man, 21-year-old ernesto rodriguez. authorities say a woman was found dead in his family apartment overnight. apartmen&háhp &hc&t. from a year ago. he may look a little different today. the victim 21-year-old alma ortega was found dead on kelton drive in the apartment near santa theresa boulevard. their son, rodriguez, was missing. ortega did have a restraining order against rodriguez. police say he may be armed with a knife and is considered

dangerous. two people were shot just miles away. the first shooting happened just before 2:00 near deer valley road on rock island drive. main was shot in the chest when three men tried to rob him. an hour later suspects in a car shot a 26-year-old man in the leg as he walked on west 19th street. those victims were taken to the hospital. police in newark are asking for the public's help finding a person who broke into a family's home and stole a christmas present from under the tree. it happened mere bailon drive not far from newark junior high school. the family didn't realize the gifts were gone until the family's two children woke up christmas morning and they rushed to the tree. newark police pulled together $100. the police delivered the money to that family yesterday. family members could decide

whether to appeal a judge's decision allowing children's hospital oakland to take 13-year-old jahi mcmath off life support. the family wanted to give the teen as normal a possible christmas. they put a christmas tree and presents in a hospital room. the teen has been on a ventilator -- a judge is ordered oakland's children hospital to continue life support for jahi medical 5:00 p.m. on monday. happening now, a judge is hearing arguments to keep city college of san francisco accreditation intact. attorney dennis her air wra and the confederation of teachers want injunctions to keep the school from losing its accreditation. if the requests are not granted, the college will be deaccredited next summer. the accrediting commission wants to revoke ccsf accreditation because it says the school hasn't done enough to fix financial and educational problems. a well known homeless center in san francisco is looking for a new home of its own this morning. after 12 years of helping young

people in need in the city's ashbury neighborhood, the homeless youth alliance shut its doors. the landlord decided not to renew the lease and gave it 60 days. it's now looking for a new place to set up the shelter. >> we've been in this building for 12 years, and it's possibly the most stable and consistent thing -- you know, so losing has been mother thing that's being taken away. about 5,000 kids count on that center every year. the holiday shopping season has been touted as the worst since 2008. according to data published by master card spending polls, holiday sales between november 1st and december 24th rose 2.3%. that's up from .7 last we're. officials at master card advisors told reuters that jewelry was actually the best performing category during the season.

the numbers are still climbing. just because the holiday is over, doesn't mean holiday shopping has to come to an end. marianne favro shows a steady stream of shoppers flocked to san jose before the sun was even up. >> reporter: when kohl's opened at 5:00 a.m. this morning, they had customers. what could be worth getting up before sunrise. >> i'm just here to get the $10 off. >> they had a shopping quest planned and then offered other benefits. >> i wanted to miss the shopping crowds, and that's why we came out here so early in the morning. >> reporter: according to shop trek weekly in store retail sales declined the two weeks before christmas. now retailers are hoping to lure people in who received holiday gift cards. a target spokesman says this is the single most popular day to redeem gift cards.

of course, cash from generous relatives. >> i have some extra money in my pocket. >> so today shoppers hope the post-holiday sales will leave them with more money in their pockets too. in san jose, mary ann favro, nbc bay area news. >> the holiday shopping season was good to on-line retailers as well. amazon said in the third week of december alone more than one million people became new amazon prime subscribers. amazon prime membership saw for a unlimited free two-day shipping for $39 your. on cyber monday nearly 37 million items were ordered. that is 426 items per second. that's a lot of shopping. officials at ups and fedex say that increase in on-line shopping is at least part of the reason why they couldn't get all their holiday packages delivered on time. a spokeswoman for ups said it is all hands on deck at the

processing centers today so the company can deliver the log swram of holiday gifts and other packages. many of the, workers at the company's international air hub in kentucky worked through the night to get packages ready for delivery. mad to having more packages to deliver, officials said bad weather and fewer shopping days this holiday season also contributed. >> it's an unfortunate situation, and we know how important the holidays are to our customers and how important it is to receive your packages in time, and we are sorry, and we're working around the clock to get this resolved. >> ups says it increased the number of drivers on the road late on christmas eve to try to deliver some of those last minute packages. neither ups or fedex is saying just how many packages were delayed, but the company says it took a small share given the volume this holiday season. a bay area follow-up now. nearly all of the 11,200 toys collected at lefty o'dual's last

chance toy drive are now in the hands of grateful children this morning. firefighters, police officers, and other volunteers worked around the clock to deliver those toys to less fortunate children. the animal toy drive collected thousands of toys in less than 24 hours on christmas eve. organizers hoped to beat last year's reported of 10,000 toys. still ahead, how this woman's honesty paid off. first, an american contractor kidnapped years ago resurfaces in an al qaeda video. coming up, his message to president obama. and we are climbing out there. attorney general today slated to smash records for this date. we're talking about the 70s. we'll let you know if your city might just break a temperature record. unfortunately, the air quality is not that great, but there is improvement on the way. your full forecast when today in the bay comes right back.

new at 11:00 a u.s. government contractor kidnapped more than two years ago in pakistan appeared in the new 13 minute long video message. in it warren weinstein called on president obama to negotiate with his captors to secure his release. al qaeda said one would be released in the u.s. stopped air strikes in pakistan, somalia, and yemen. this video of weinstein is the first released since september of last year. he was abduct from his home in pakistan in 2011. at the time he worked for a u.s.-based firm that advises the range of pakistani business and government sectors. snow is falling today in areas where residents are still waiting to get their power back following a weekend ice storm. utility crews are working for fix the problem, but they worry that the weather could set back those efforts. officials say thousands of homes and businesses, the main should get power back by tomorrow. it's already been difficult for crews because cool temperatures are keeping the ice from melting off power lines and tree

branches. now forecasters expect to see two to six inches of snow and crews worry the additional weight on branches and power lines could actually hamper those efforts. an oklahoma woman down on her luck and about to get evicted stumbles upon a purse full of money, and credit cards and valuables. christmas miracle, right? instead of using the money, she chose to return the purse. courtney francisco reports, he was met with generosity from strangers. >> never let them see you sweat type girl. if that makes it work -- >> she's been working her weekend makeup job to catch up on her rent for months. >> and this an eviction notice. pay $670 by friday or get out. >> it was just kind of like --

in fact, i will just deal with it. >> all the while dean held the key to dealing with the eviction. a coach purse she found in a parking lot. >> it was just laying right here. >> instead of stealing the money from the wallet, she returned it to the rightful owner, barbara canon. >> it wouldn't have made me to spend measure money or swipe her card. >> a decision so touching viewers are calling and e-mailing asking to help dean with her rebt reality. one viewer, whose identity we promised not to reveal, showed up with her hard-earned cash all for dean. >> oh, wow. >> $800. >> oh, wow. wow. >> you know you have people that don't even know you who do things for you. you know? and bless you and i've always been a giver, and, you know, it's different. it feels different to receive, you know. >> and counting the money, she

says this to the mystery donor. >> thank you so much. if it was placed on your heart and fallen through, imforever grateful. i'm very thankful. >> it's in giving you receive. that's a great turnaround story. that was courtney reagan, courtney francisco reporting. loif those great holiday stories, don't snu. >> i wish we had more all year-round. you know what, we're going to keep the gifts going for today and tomorrow. yeah, if you wanted to hit the beach, it's not even lufshlg time yet, and you are at 65 degrees in santa cruz. you could hit 80 degrees there the day after christmas. a very warm day as we head throughout the afternoon. temperatures mostly in the 50s. san jose at about 57. we're at 56 in livermore. comfortable conditions for today. then as we head throughout the remainder of the week, tomorrow into the weekend, we have changes i want to tell you about. 65 degrees, san francisco. later on today 72 degrees. p 0 in the south bay, and, yeah, about 77 degrees on the way to santa cruz as we get into this afternoon. it is going to be toasty out

there. at the end of december. this is actually the first official thursday of the new season, which is winter. doesn't feel like it out there. hazy sunshine. it's a spare the air day. tomorrow we'll likely be sparing the air as well. we have an area of low pressure that's going to come tloo lute the second half of tomorrow into the overnight hours. this is going to provide quite a bit of moisture to the bay area. also, it will kick up a little bit of wind, and this is really needed right now for better air quality. we are looking towards better air quality as we head into the upcoming weekend. want to point out what our temperatures are going to be like. you don't have to wait for your seven-day forecast. it's scrolling throughout all my weather broadcast. 67 in san jose for your saturday. 67 by sunday. losing a little warmth. we'll be out of the 70s and still nice and comfortable. here's the good news. that area of low pressure comes through, then a lot of people have been complaining. they have asthma or respiratory issues. we're going to see much better air quality as we head through saturday and sunday, and that's when we should not be sparing the air. laura, back to you. >> all right. thanks so much, christina.

this morning there is growing confusion about who will be getting health insurance starting january 1st. it comes after the obama administration relaxed a sign-up deadline that was supposed to end earlier this week. nbc bay area's daniel lee is in capitol hill where lawmakers are returning to work after the christmas holiday. this morning it's not entirely clear who will be receiving health care from the federally run exchange and wind. >> blue cross and -- >> everyone else starting the sign-up process today can expect insurance in february. insurers say who enrolled is just as important as how many. >> the success of health reform depends on having broad participation in the marketplace, getting younger and healthier people to purchase coverage to help balance out costs. >> advocacy groups are intensifying with catchy adds.

>> they don't care. like, they're going to have to -- until you need it, and then -- >> industry consultants warn that in many cases those who are enrolled can't relax just yet. >> lots of people have signed up. they believe they've got coverage. there are still lots of errors. now it comes the difficult task of making sure all those applications are correct. and processed. in washington i'm danielle lee, nbc news. happening now the man accused of opening fire inside l.a.x. killing a tsa agent. last week he was indicted on 11 federal charges, including murder. prosecutors say he walked into the busy airport, pulled a semiauto mosquito from his bag and opened fire.

one agent was killed. three other people were hurt. >> taking a look at this -- bomb officers say a 72-year-old man trapped inside his burning car on the 405 in southern california. the driver crashed the mercedes benz station wagon before 2:00 a.m. and -- he is also expected to be okay. still to come, husk wriz and cougars take over at&t park. coming up, college football players come from afar to help the bay area's less fortunate. how you can help next.

seth curry taking a break off of court today to help families in need. curry and his family teaming up with a feed the children to give food to 400 oakland families today. occurly will personally hand out the food and other personal items at the the ooept is part of the mba cares season of giving campaign. >> last week the sharks released their holiday video, but this morning we're getting a look at something special. the never before seen sharks christmas vio bloopers. taking a look. >> they actually invented electricity. >> i'm sorry. >> my favorite player's turtle. okay? >> the turtle zoosh yeah, turtle. >> that's hurdle. >> i'm not a cat person. hopefully somebody else -- >> admittedly that was a great

one for the outtake reel, right? that's how we think ahead. >> that's why we usually like them deleted. college football players leave their helmets at home today to attend this year's fight hunger bowl. this weekend the washington huskies will take on the byu cougars. the fight hunger bowl donates one meal for every ticket sold to the game, and while the players are in town, they'll spend some time doing charity work. the fight hunger bowl will be held tomorrow night at 6:30 at at&t park. tickets range from $25 to $85 and can be purchased on-line at fight hunger bowl.com. a mystery customer may have started a whole nutrition at starbucks. we're going to have details next. ♪ ho ho ho

[ female announcer ] at 100 calories, not all food choices add up. some are giant. some not so giant. when managing your weight, bigger is always better. ♪ ho ho ho ♪ green giant tomato florentine soup, it took a little time to get it just right. [ ding ] ♪ but finally, it happened. perfection. at progresso, we've got a passion for quality, because you've got a passion for taste. i love holiday feel-good stories, right? >> probably one of the best examples of that holiday spirit since early tuesday every

customer driving through the starbucks, they found their coffee order was paid for by the person ahead of them many line. will 450 customers have paid it forward by the time the shop closed at 5:00 on christmas. customers say it felt great to do a favor for a stranger. >> there's nothing like the christmas time to spread some christmas cheer, and you never know, somebody could be vague horrible day, come and get coffee, and then, you know, just that little bit of something they didn't have to worry about and something nice may just make their day that much better. >> that's great. it's starbucks employees said $45 was actually left over at the end of the day. the first several orders this morning were also free. even the starbucks employees gave up themselves. they could have kept that in their tip jar. it's an easy thing to do if you go through a drive-through today. eating fast food, not a bad thing after all. snoo no siree. not at all. we should go. we should go right now as well. have a great day.

it's so sweet of you to walk me to work today. you're my girl, right? and i take care of you, huh? who knows? maybe we'll see natalie morales, you know? that little firecracker, she gets my blood running south of the border. that is less sweet. i'm gonna stop by tonight. maybe i'll, uh, pick up some chinese. aw, you said "chinese" instead of something offensive. i told you, losing you last year, changed me, huh? it made me more, um...more mature. come here. [chuckling] ow, that really hurts, dennis. [beeping] you're back with dennis? yeah, i'm back with dennis. don't look at me with your eyebrows all up. it's so annoying. oh, yes, i'm annoying, not the man who honked your boobs on the jumbo screen. that was before. and it was the playoffs.