investigator broke the news of mayor liccardo and his possible violations. let's bring him in in san jose. whaels t what's the latest? >> reporter: mayor liccardo said he and his family spent thanksgiving dinner on his parents house outside on their patio. but the mayor is now admitting and acknowledging that he still broke state health guidelines by gathering with seven members of his family from five different households. you might remember we're only supposed to gather with up to three different households when getting together outside. that's according to the latest guidance from the california department of public health. the statement that liccardo issued today apologizes essentially for preaching one thing and then doing another. his thanksgiving gathering comes just a couple of weeks after governor gavin newsom had to apologize for his own out of bounds dinner at the chic french laundry restaurant in napa

valley, which public health experts and physicians now believe may be hurting the effort to have the public comply with health orders. >> well, what it's doing is it's giving people the license to do the things they know they shouldn't do. that's contributed a great deal to the problems we're witnessing right now. >> reporter: now, in a statement today mayor liccardo said, quote, i understand my obligation as a public official to provide exemplary compliance with the public health ots and certainly not to ignore them. i commit to do better. now, the mayor's apology today comes as a bit of a reversal from his office. when we first found out about the dinner on thanksgiving, we repeatedly asked for details about that gathering. how many people were there. how many households were represented? what kind of safety protocols were put into place? but the mayor's office declined to offer any of those specifics. that is, until today.

>> so we're talking about mayor liccardo, governor newsom and now mayor london breed. this centers around a dinner party at the french laundry. the mayor attended a birthday party dinner with seven other people. it took place in a partially enclosed room. at the time san francisco was in the yellow tier with lower covid transmission. napa county where french laundry is is located in the orange tier. both indoor and outdoor dining were allowed at the time. the mayor's office released a statement saying she has always been cautious when she is dining out. now, with cases rising and bay area counties moving back into the purple tier, she is once again limiting her actions and is encouraging all san franciscans to do the same. just hours before that news broke mayor breed gave a very direct warning about the covid surge we're all seeing around us, saying san francisco could implement tighter restrictions as soon as tomorrow. so what would that mean? what is it going to look like?

nbc bay area scott budman has some answers for us. >> reporter: tonight some are questioning whether san francisco's mayor is practicing what she's preaching. on the same day mayor london breed issued new warnings about possible rollbacks here, there are public reports that she recently gathered with half a dozen others for dinner at the french laundry. with covid cases having tripled in three weeks and hospitalizations doubling in just three days, mayor breed didn't waste time. >> our dangerous winter has arrived. >> reporter: laying out why she plans to put further restrictions in place as early as wednesday. >> let me be clear, as clear as i can be. it's not good. cases are spiking, hospitalizations are increasing quickly. our infection rate is higher than it was at a point during the summer. >> reporter: new restrictions that could impact travel, indoor activity and a further reduction on group gatherings of any kind.

>> we're feeling the pain. we're being impacted. >> reporter: restrictions that already have local restaurants, like oren's hummus concerned. >> we're being just hammered. it's really difficult as a restaurant in san francisco just to be surviving this right now. >> reporter: and with more rollbacks on the way -- >> the actions you take or don't take can impact you, your family, your friends. it's that simple. we are all at risk for this virus. >> reporter: it won't get easier any time soon, even if the message may be overshadowed by the mayor's own questionable decisions. in san francisco, scott budman, nbc bay area news. >> well, here's a closer look at what san francisco's top health officer is so worried about. this chart shows the number of covid patients in the hospital over the past month and a half. on october 15th there were 25 people in the hospital. since then you can see the number steadily increasing. just before halloween, 40

patients in the hospital. now take a look at this spike at the ending of november. 91 patients in the hospital in san francisco. that's more than three and a half times the number of people since mid-october. new cases are also surging across the state and in the bay area. take a look at the latest numbers here. 12,221 new cases reported in the past 24 hours. in the bay area, contra costa county saw 439 new cases there. the warriors are the latest bay area sports team to be hit by the pandemic. today general manager bob meyers announced two players have tested positive for covid-19. neither player has been identified. the start of training camp will be moved from this sunday to next monday. the warriors first exhibition game is scheduled for saturday, december 12th, right there at chase center. the regular season of the nba scheduled to tip off christmas week. the next three weeks the 49ers at least will have a new home in arizona. the team takes off tomorrow afternoon to set up shop and all

operations near phoenix. the 49ers will practice and stay at the renaissance hotel next door to the cardinals stadium in glendale, arizona. after practicing daily at the hotel, players will go back to their rooms when they're done to minimize contact. they plan on staying there through at least december 21st. however, if santa clara county doesn't allow them back at that time, coach kyle shanahan is making plans for christmas in the desert. >> i just try to tell our guys that i don't care what happens, we're not going to spend christmas without our families. we'll figure it out. that's really what i try to give to everyone just so they can say that to their families because i think that is the concern. >> it is a concern. family time is so important. coach shanahan says the team will fly families out to arizona if needed. the niners, by the way, host the buffalo bills not at levi's stadium but in arizona on monday night football next week. the stanford football team

is also leaving town. like the 49ers, the cardinal cannot hold practice in santa clara county, so next week stanford will travel to corvallis, oregon, to prepare for its game against oregon state. that game was originally scheduled for stanford stadium. one of the east bay's largest school districts is planning to send students back to class next month. they plan to reopen january 25th. it would be a phased reopening and only if alameda county is out of the purple tier. they plan to bring back small groups in pre-k through second for two days of in person classes each week. grades 3 through 12 would return in february. older students like 6th and above would remain largely virtual. attorney general bill barr is undercutting president trump, declaring he has seen no evidence of widespread voter fraud. that contradicts the president's

claims made since the november election. barr says the fbi has followed up on many complaints, but have found nothing would change the outcome of the election. president-elect joe biden focused on the economy again today, still struggling under the increasing spread of the coronavirus. he promised more attention on american families struggling to put food on the table and to the business community, which continues to see shutdowns. >> our message to everybody struggling right now is this, help is on the way. >> after months of a stalemate, there are no signs of progress over that new covid relief bill. house speaker pelosi is negotiating with treasury secretary steve mnuchin for the first time in weeks. on capitol hill, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a $900 billion compromise, but majority leader mitch mcconne mcconnell --

>> a south bay church in trouble for continuing to break the rult rules. why the pastor could be arrested if he keeps holding services. the city of berkeley gives crews a new deadline to tear down an under construction building that burned for days. and we're seeing big waves still out on the coastline, but the rain associated with those storms still bypassing the area. we'll let you know if we see any changes aed in your forecast when we come back. when we welcome our west coast viewers, where the line forms for covid vaccinations. the government making critical decisions about who will be the first to receive the shots. and after ill-advised thanksgiving travel and the lines growing for covid testing, the latest on nbc nightly news.

a south bay church has become the poster child for defiance, refusing to follow the county's health order. today a judge ordered cavalry chapel to stop holding large indoor services or else. the county has fined the church $300,000 but the services continue. today that judge issued a preliminary injunction. marianne favro is in san jose to explain what that means. >> reporter: the judge's order goes into effect immediately, forcing cavalry chapel san jose to adhere to the public health orders. but attorneys for the church tell me they plan to appeal. when cavalry chapel san jose held indoor services with hundreds, with many not wearing masks or social distancing, it violated santa clara county's public health orders. the county issued fines and went

to court to get a temporary restraining order, trying to get the services to stop. but the county says the church held indoor services as recently as thanksgiving eve. today they took the added step of asking a judge to grant a preliminary injunction to stop the gatherings, citing a public health threat. the judge agreed and ordered the church to comply with county health orders immediately. >> the orders are unconstitutional because as the supreme court affirmed, you can't treat religious services differently than essential businesses. >> reporter: attorney for the church also argued a recent supreme court decision barring restrictions on religious services in new york bolsters their case. she said the church is already facing huge fines. >> the church has already received almost $800,000 in fines. >> reporter: the county has argued it's a matter of

protecting people from a deadly virus. county officials declined to comment on camera today. on december 8th, a judge will decide if the pastor of the church, mike mcclure, will be held in contempt of court and subject to arrest. we reached out to him for comment but have not received a response. in san jose, mary ianne favro, c bay area news. a big construction project in berkeley that caught fire last month will now be torn down. the seven-story building caught fire on november 21st. flames burned for several days. city engineers now say the top of that building, made of wood, is unsafe so it has to come down by the end of the month. the bottom two floors are concrete and are okay to stay for now. still no word on what started this fire. making it in the bay. the financial struggles of the pandemic are becoming more evident. every tuesday and thursday cars line up at the alameda county fairgrounds in pleasanton where open heart kitchen partners with

tri-valley haven to offer groceries to about 700 families. this giveaway is not about christmas or the holidays. >> this is not, it's just your everyday food. like i said, they get a box of dry goods. that could be spaghetti, tuna, canned tuna, spaghetti sauce and a produce bag, so pears, oranges, celery, kale and today was eggs. >> people struggling to make ends meet. on this giving tuesday, organizers hope they will get some support from those in the community who are still working and can afford to donate a little bit. >> today is giving tuesday. we invite you to join the comcast nbc universal bay area family to support your favorite charity. we're also helping make a wish greater bay area. text "wish" to 91999 and donate any amount to bring joy to a child. again, you can text "wish" to 91999. a defection from silicon

valley is surprising many tonight. hewlett-packard enterprise is moving its global headquarters from san jose to texas. nbc bay area was there in 2015 when hpe first split from the original hewlett-packard. then ceo meg whitman said the new company would focus on data and cloud computing. since then it's reported declining revenue in all but one quarter. the company reports it's already building a state-of-the-art campus for its 2,600 workers that are already there. no word on how many people this move affects locally. a warning tonight from state fish and wildlife. stay away from the fish in a handful of south bay creeks and reservoirs. the agency says it's found high levels of mercury in fish found in these bodies of water. you can see them highlighted in blue there on our map. among them almaden reservoir. mercury is a metal released into

the environment from mining and burning coal. it accumulates in fish and when eaten can cause damage in the brain and nervous system. okay, let's get a check of our forecast. rob mayeda is here again. so nice to see you. another cold morning but beautiful afternoon. >> yeah, cold morning with a little bit of fog. we saw a lot of that lingering around san jose and the north bay with those very chilly temperatures. it was a bit of a challenge for anyone trying to drive around because we had a little ice on the roads due to the fog in the north bay so that is our short-term concern. the foggy start, chilly temperatures, more high clouds during the day tomorrow. then as we move forward, this dry weather could bring up the issue of december fire danger, especially for southern california later this week. we'll look at that in a moment. let's take you outside to those temperatures where after the day that was mainly in the 60s, now cooling back into the 50s. 58 in walnut creek with mostly sunny skies. a similar view in san jose, 59

degrees. eventually we will see low temperatures tonight dropping back into the 30s and low 40s. still some haze out there with the skies. we have moderate air quality levels around the bay area, so not wintertime spare the air alert levels, it's just without a lot of wind and high pressure lingering, this is part of our weather pattern until we get the rain to make a comeback. some of those hazy skies at times. what you're seeing in the futurecast, those are high clouds passing by for the morning so we'll get a chilly start with 30s and 40s, watching out for patchy fog, especially near the north bay valleys and peninsula and koechcoast. temperaturewise maybe just a little cooler tomorrow. we've got increasing high clouds. no rain from that. what that will do at times is filter the sun a little bit so may not be quite as warm as today but most places climbing in the low 60s. remember we did have a beach hazard statement just yesterday but it's been renewed for tomorrow through thursday. some strong storms in the gulf

of alaska sending a big swell to the west-northwest facing beaches of the bay area so watch out for rip currents and sneaker waves. the breakers by thursday afternoon could get to 14 to 18 feet. so big surf, just no rain to show for it. those storms giving us waves well away from the bay area, up toward the pacific northwest. the forecast moving forward looks unusually dry. this is the first week of december. this is one of the biggest months for rainfall. to the bay area, northern california and just like a big shield that's parked to the west of california, those storms are moving to the north. if you look closely, oregon and western washington too missing out on some of that rainfall. as we take things out a little farther into time, we go all the way through december 11th and we're still not seeing any real signals of strong rain making its way below mendocino county. so mid-month things could be dry, imagine after.

half a december without rainfall. we'll take a closer look at that coming up but in the meantime your short-term seven-day forecast is more of the same. chilly mornings, and next week more 70s could be possible. shouldn't be happening this time of year. the really is really gorgeous, but the lack of rainfall, though, we need it to come back. i know it's hard not to like the sunshine at times but we'll take a closer look at that extended forecast at 6:00. back to you. >> janelle, you need to do a rain dance or something okay, i'll get my moves out. up next here at 5:00, late today a key vote about the rollout of the covid vaccine. who's going to get it first? jessica joins us next with the details. ahead for us, where the line forms for covid vaccinations. the government making some critical decisions about who will be the first to receive the shots. and after ill-advised thanksgiving travels, the lines growing for covid testing. the latest on nbc nightly news.

we have the power to harness california's abundant solar and wind energy, but it's not available all day long. use less energy from 4 to 9 pm for a cleaner california.

no one sees you need help. no one knows you're not okay. so when someone recognizes the importance of mental health and offers a hand, it means everything. my illness may be invisible. but thanks to covered california, i'm not. all covered california health insurance plans are comprehensive - with mental health coverage,

and financial help for people who need it. covered california. this way to health insurance. enroll by december 15th. ♪ ♪ heart monitors that let your doctor watch over you, just like you watch over your best friend. another life-changing technology from abbott, so you don't wait for life. you live it.

as we get closer to the distribution of a covid vaccine, today we officially learn who will get it first. the realistic number of doses that can be delivered. jessica aguirre joins us with key decisions made just this afternoon. jessica. >> yeah, they are pivotal decisions, janelle. an advisory panel for the cdc met today and made an important decision on who's going to get vaccinated first. as you might expect, those important vaccinations are going to go health care workers. the panel voting 13-1 that health care workers and those living in nursing homes should be first in line. now here comes the sobering reality of this. those two groups make up roughly 24 million americans. no more than 20 million doses of each vaccine will be available by the end of this year. each vaccine requires two doses, so do the math. it's really sobering. still nbc news science contributor dr. joseph fair says seeing front-line workers get

vaccinated may actually be the key to getting everyone on board of eventually getting vaccinated. >> all i can say is that i hope it will encourage them. you know, no matter what evidence we have presented over the last two decades to the, quote unquote, anti-vax movement that vaccines are not associated with autism and other deleterious effects, they seem to be growing in the movement. so normal vaccines that have been around for some in some cases 50 years, it's going to get those same individuals to want to sign up for a new vaccine. >> so are you seeing the timetable for this vaccine rollout like we were talking about six months ago, that it will be by the summer of 2021 that we'll have most of the country vaccinated of those people willing to take the vaccine? >> yeah, i think it's going to be around summer of 2021 before you know your average american is vaccinated or has the option

to be vaccinated. just because there's a lot of work to do between now and then, both in terms of vaccine production, distribution, who's going to be able to give it, are you just going to give it at the doctor's office or are you going to be able to get this at the pharmacy and things like that with the flu shots. >> so there is some conversation about whether they'll give the vaccine in some nontraditional settings like a dentist's office or eye doctor setting. but dr. fair believes most people will be wary of doing something like that and be more comfortable getting it at the doctor's office or a pharmacy like we're used to. he also said because there is a trickle effect to this vaccine since not everyone is getting it all at once, it will be better for most americans to see other people getting the vaccine. they'll be able to see whether people have side effects or not and that may increase people's likelihood to have everyone get the shot eventually down the road. >> it's going to happen fast.

thank you, jessica. an oscar-nominated performer has come out as transgender. elliott page who's nominated for the movie "juno" says he is trans. his wife, emma portner, a dancer, also announced her pride and support on instagram. well, what about to prowling around morgan hill yesterday? we have an update. that's next. in a land not so far away. people are saving hundreds on the most reliable network with xfinity mobile. they can choose from the latest phones or bring their own. and choose the data option that's right for them. they even get nationwide 5g at no extra cost. and since they are on the carrier rated #1

in customer satisfation, they live happily ever after. again, again! xfinity mobile. your wireless. your rules. your way to stay closer together. click, call, or visit an xfinity store today. i do motivational speakingld. in addition to the substitute teaching. i honestly feel that that's my calling-- to give back to younger people. i think most adults will start realizing that they don't recall things as quickly as they used to or they don't remember things as vividly as they once did.

i've been taking prevagen for about three years now. people say to me periodically, "man, you've got a memory like an elephant." it's really, really helped me tremendously. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

tonight at 6:00, four years later and we still don't know what started the deadly ghost ship warehouse fire, but we investigate and find never-before-seen photos and other evidence that could answer that question. that story and more tonight at 6:00. well, finally at 5:00, a follow-up to a story we brought you last night. a young mountain lion hiding in the front yard of a morgan hill home. >> that cub was spotted yesterday on white cloud drive right near oak creek park. you see all the buzz with the neighbors there. officers with the department of fish and wildlife say the cat may have gotten separated from its mom. you see the cat right there. he or she was just hiding out in that bush. we're happy to report the mountain lion returned to the wild on its own once it got dark

and hasn't been seen since. that's good news. >> yeah. he's like what's all this commotion? give me some privacy. >> lester holt joins you with nightly news and we'll see you again at 6:00. tonight, the critical vote. who should get the covid vaccine first? a cdc panel making its recommendations late today on who should be at the front of the line soon as the vaccine is approved. the white house summoning the fda chief today demanding to know why isn't it happening faster attorney general william barr defying president trump's attempts to overturn the election what he said today that directly contradicts the president's repeated claims of voter fraud. president-elect joe biden officially announcing historic picks for his economic team his promise to struggling americans help is on the way the deadly attack. an suv ramming into a crowd, killing at