The sentencing hearing, which is still taking place on the second floor of the hall of justice behind me here in San Francisco was just in recess. It is back in session. It is expected that the judge will sentence Jose Ines Garcia zarate to the maximum three years in prison after being convicted of a firearm possession in the death of kate steinle. Again, that sentencing has not taken place yet, this is what legal experts are expecting. Hes likely fulfilled that sentence given time served. Zarate was acquitted in the 2015 shooting death of steinle at San Franciscos pier 14. This is after the jury decided he was not guilty of murder and manslaughter charges. This morning, his defense team will argue for a retrial on that possession conviction. His lawyers claim the jury was not informed about transitory possession, thats the idea that Garcia Zarate held the weapon briefly but not long enough to call it possession. The prosecution filed a motion this week arguing that that claim is bogus, especially since zarate threw the gun he had just found into the bay. We just spoke with San Francisco public defender who does not think the judge will order that retrial that his office is asking for. Zarate still faces two federal charges of weapon possessions related to the steinle murder after a grand jury indicted limb last month. The public defender finds it shocking the fed are bringing these charges two years after the fact. Its political vindictiveness. This is an Attorney Generals Office who is now saying theyre going to prosecute states who have legalized marijuana and along with that comes this charge which, you know, should not have been filed. Its a direct result of the verdict. Reporter if zarate, again, is convicted to that maximum threeyear term and has fulfilled it with time served, it is expected he will eventually be transferred to federal custody. Reporting live here in San Francisco, bob redell, nbc bay area news. All right. Thank you, bob. We have continuing coverage of this hearing on air and online. You can head over to nbcbayarea. Com to our indepth stories and download our nbc bay area app to get the updates right on your smartphone. Of course if we have any decision from this hearing, we will bring that to you live. Also this morning, just in, three jail guards who beat a Santa Clara County inmate to death have been sentenced Rafael RodriguezMatthew Farris and last year they were convicted of seconddegree murder in the beating death of this man, michael tyree. Tyree died in his cell in 2015 at the countys main jail. His death sparked massive reforms in Santa Clara Countys prison system. Our report robert handa is there. Hell have a full wrap up at 5 00 and 6 00. Our other top story this morning, the rain rolling into the bay area, maybe even rolling over the bay area. We definitely need the rain but we also like to know timing of it. Thats right. A live look now at San Francisco in the upper left screen. There you see there on the right, live dopplar radar. Meteorologist kari hall has been tracking this storm sin since it showed up. The rain has come, gone, whats going to happen next . We can see its parked in parts of the bay area. Not all of us are seeing the rain all at once. Earlier today it was the north bay right now and it has shifted a little bit farther to the south with some light rain over San Francisco, but mostly the peninsula extending over towards the east bay. We can see that rain moving into pif ka, Half Moon Bay and over towards san mateo and going across the bay to hayward and moving up all the way towards brentwood. Thats where were seeing those scattered showers now. As we go into the next couple of hours, some of the rain starts to shift slowly to the south. Well see it moving into the south bay by early afternoon. This is going to be some very hit or miss activity. You may be able to spend several hours outside without seeing any rain while under areas are under those showers for several hours. As we look at our timeline, by 5 00, we will start to see some of the heavier rain moving into parts of the east bay and the south bay. Where we do see the yellows and the reds that indicate some really heavy rain. And as we go into tonight, still may ruin your outdoor plans if youre going out for dinner and will be out late this evening, we could still see rain across parts of the south bay. Ill continue to watch this and a bigger storm system for next week. Thats coming up in the microclimate forecast. Thank you, kari. Happening now, at least 24 flights have been cancelled at sfo because of the Winter Weather gripping much of the country right now. The flight boards, you can see them right there. There are nearly 100 flights delayed. Airlines warned travellers and the people picking them up from the airport to check with the airline before you head to the airport to learn of that flights status. Here is the reason, freezing temperatures continue to grip the northeast this morning. The massive winter storm is impacting airports and flights all along the east coast and the south. Passengers in the region affected by the cold temperatures are wondering if there is an end in sight. We sat on the tarmac i think for Something Like 4 1 2 hours. If we were to fly out, we would be stuck here until saturday. Now, the airlines have waived their ticket change fees because of a, quote, act of god. Passengers must pay for their own hotels. They hope to be back in full recovery mode over the weekend. And just in, the raiders new head coach will be john gruden. The rumors have been swirling all week long and we do know that the raiders have scheduled a News Conference for tuesday. Gruden coached for the raiders from 1998 to 2001 and has been working as an espn analyst since then. There are reports that gruden was a that he will be paid 100 million for ten years. That got audible gasps in the newsroom. New at 11 00, San Francisco neighborhood is getting back to normal after a suspect barricaded himself inside a home in the sunset district. Here is a look at the scene from earlier this morning. A lot of Police Officers there. You can see the police tape with streets shut down. Police say it started around midnight when the suspect threatened a person who was walking by. When officers arrived on scene, the suspect then ran into a home. Negotiators were brought in and tried to wait out the suspect and talk with him, but police say around 7 30 this morning, the suspect assaulted a negotiator and thats when police say they used a less lethal device to take that suspect into custody. No word yet on what charges that man might face. In about an hour we expect to learn more details about the suspect accused of the attacking of a south bay teacher inside her own classroom. Last night San Jose Police announced the arrest of that man seen in the Surveillance Video right here. Weve been telling you about this Sexual Assault and robbery at Harker Academy middle school. This is in san jose. All week long. At noon, the police chief is set to give an update. And happening today, the man accused in the pier 39 terror plot is due in court. 29yearold efr let jameson is set to be arraigned in fresno this afternoon. The u. S. Attorneys Office Released the incident which now includes a bomb threat. Bomb charge. According to the court documents. Jameson intended to use homemade pipe bombs to follow people on to pier 39 on Christmas Day so he could then shoot them. Jameson was arrested after talking to undercover agents about this plan. And today is the day blockbuster sales of the tellall book about the white house. The book, fire and fury went on sale in all bookstores over the United States this morning. The white house threatened to block its sale and claims that the author is just making up all of the facts of the book. Scott mcgrew has that. Reporter yeah, good morning. The books author Michael Wolff was on the today show a short time ago talking about his book and answering accusations made by the white house. He didnt have access to the people he says he did and accusations hes manufacturing the stories in his book. To clear this up, because the to clear thisigub its full f lies. That you didnt have the access you said you had. You know, i think one of the things we have to count on is that donald trump will attack, he will send lawyers letters. This is a 35year history of how he approaches everything. Now the book was not supposed to come out today, but the publisher moved that release date up after the white house threatened to stop it the publication. Thats a major sin in the legal world. Its called prior restraint. Its a big deal. Here is the White House Press secretary defending that threat. The president absolutely believes in the first amendment, but as weve said before, the president also believes in in making sure that information is accurate before pushing it out as fact when it certainly and clearly is not. The white house saying it is a stickler for the facts. Meanwhile, the New York Times is reporting this morning President Trump told one of his personal lawyers to urge attorney general Jeff Sessions not to recuse himself from the russia investigation. Saying he needed his attorney general to protect him. That could be construed as obstruction of justice. The times says special Counsel Robert Mueller is aware of the president s order. Back to you. Well, as scott mentioned, fire and fury is in high demand at book stores. Out of curiosity we checked with our local libraries. As of 10 00 this morning, there were nearly 150 holds on the title at the San Jose Public Library which doesnt even have it on the shelves yet. Remember, it was released a few days early. They hope to have 40 copies on the shelves by the end of the month plus ten digital copies. There are 500 holds on San FranciscoPublic Libraries 110 copies. Oakland dont list any copies yet. The u. S. Attorney general is setting his sights on marijuana just days after it became legal here in california. A brewing fight between the golden state and the feds. Plus, if you are hitting the gym in this new year, you will notice something missing in some california gyms. The distraction you wont see while youre on the treadmill. There we have it, the opening bell at the new york stock exchange. Right now the dow dropped jumps, rather, 100 points. Heads for the best start of the year since 2006. A lot of investors are still feeling good even though the jobs for december were a little bit lower than expected. Looking live now at the bay bridge toll plaza. Looking a little sparse this morning as the 3 toll hike on bay area bridges is looking like more of a sure thing for the june election. Transportation leaders will hold a final vote next week, according to the mercury news. As we have previously reported, if voters approve it in june, the toll hike would roll out in three phases and tolls would go up by 1 next year, theyd bump up again by a buck in 202 and once again by a dollar in 2025. This applies to all bay area bridges except for the Golden Gate Bridge which is not owned by the state. California state senate is considering two bells on Net Neutrality. To still adhere to the old regulations scrapped late last year by the fcc. The paper reports that the fcc says it would fight any attempt by a state to try to create its own Net Neutrality laws. The rules meant that companies werent legally required to treat all online traffic equally. The chairman of the fcc says that he is cancelling a planned visit to the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas Next week. Tech news site recode says that he is backing out because of security concerns. According to sources, recode reports he has received debt threats over that decision. Typically the fcc chairman, whoever it is, participates in the keynote. Just days after california legalized Recreational Marijuana there are growing questions whether federal authorities are gearing up for a pot crackdown. Under federal law the attorney general Jeff Sessions says that pot sales are illegal everywhere, but does that mean pot shops like the ones springing up here in california could be raided by the feds . For that, for all of the states that have legalized pot, that is the billiondollar question. Here is nbcs gadi schwartz. Reporter its week one of legalized marijuana in california and while sales have been nonstop the excitement is through the roof. Reporter a decision by attorney general Jeff Sessions is casting a haze over the future of pot. Here we are having this Wonderful Party and he wants to rain on our parade. Reporter dina is the coowner of a local dispensary and the inspiration behind the hit show weeds. We have so many people who voted for this. Reporter sessions dedecision rescinded an obama era moment on releasing pot to the states sessions, an outcome spoke critic of marijuana now taking this views on pot a step further. This drug is dangerous. You cannot play with it. Its not funny. Its not something to laugh about. Good people dont smoke marijuana. Reporter sessions says pot is still illegal everywhere and they can enforce federal law wherever prosecutors want, sending shockwaves through a growing marijuana sector. Stocks in companies dealing with pot down some in the double digits. Investors spooked by the possibility of raids on Companies Operating under state laws. Senators like republican Corey Gardner blasting the issue. Thats what makes this issue important. Our states were designed to be lantorys of democracy. Reporter sessions might be add odds with President Trump during his Campaign Said he wouldnt use federal laws to shut down state pot sales. I think its up to the states, yeah. Im a states person. I think it should be up to the states, absolutely. Reporter as for dispensaries like this one, says the public has spoken they arent going back and that sets the stage for a possible showdown. He doesnt realize by shutting down legitimate businesses like we are here, youre going to create the black market. Gadi schwartz reporting. Now the department of justice is expected to leave it up to federal prosecutors on which cases to take to court. Marijuana advocates say the prosecutors might have trouble convincing a jury to convict for pot in states where the voters decided it should be legal. Well, new at 11 00, some gyms in california wont be playing cable news anymore on their televisions. Thats because so many people were getting worked up while working out. Lifetime gym says many of the members requested to move the channels. The deleted channels are cnn, fox news, msnbc and cnbc. Big screen tvs throughout the clubs are now going to air usa, a e, discovery and hgtv in addition to local tv stations and espn. Many people are afrauding the companys decision. A cleanup is reportedly expected to ramp up from last years north bay fires. Thanks no part to a recent 475 Million Contract for the debris removal company. It is believed crews may be able to complete that cleanup operation within two months. Happening today. If you see smoke in the north bay, dont be alarmed. No need to call nine. Marin county firefighters are conducting a controlled burn as part of their plan to prevent widespread wildfire in the future. Now the controlled burn is planned for the area of lucas valley road near big rock. You might smell or see smoke between 10 00 in the morning and 4 00 in the afternoon. Also, homeowners in the north bay may be having a hard time finding home insurance. The california state insurance commissioner yesterday reported that Insurance Companies refused to renew thousands of policies in 24 counties in 2016. These are counties that are considered to be fire prone. That refusal rate, though, jumped 15 last year. You can only imagine how much higher its going to go this year after the massive wildfires that we reported on. Our Investigative Unit has been looking into the states efforts to prevent mega fires. You can see liz wagners full report on whats being done or not being done. Head to our website, nbcbayarea. Com, and click on the investigations tab. Well, when it comes to the weather, meteorologist kari hall has been investigating all of what we can expect. Youve been telling us about the rain. The rain still coming down behind you in San Francisco. In San Francisco its raining in san jose its still dry. Theyre like what rain . All you have to do is a little bit of driving around the bay area and much different weather as you travel on this friday. You can see on the radar what it looks like as weve seen some of that rain continuing to move through. We will be tracking that rain as we head into the rest of the next couple of hours at least. Then well start to see some of the rain tapering off. As we get a closer look at