three gift cards at $1,000 each. a few hours later the scammers called dr. tomasini to get the code numbers from the back of the cards and then the reality hit. >> i was at work and my sister called and said oh, my god, dad just got scammed out of $3,000. >> reporter: her father then filed a police report with the oakland police department and his case is not the first. in fact, best buy has posted warnings about this scam on its web page, but inside the emeryville store at the register we found no such warnings. >> best buy knows about the scam and the real corker is best buy keeps the money because the cards cannot be converted to cash. they can only be used at best buy. so my money goes back to best buy. they buy goods and then they sell them on the black market for whatever they can get. >> reporter: best buy says it works closely with law enforcement once a crime has been reported and its employees have been trained to spot seniors buying large dollar amounts of gift cards, but no one stopped dr. tomasimi. >> i work in the hospital, so i deal with a lot of elderly people and i was surprised how many of them said they'd gotten the same phone call. >> reporter: best buy released this statement, "we certainly feel badly that mr. tomasini appears to be a victim of this scam. we have warned customers and worked hard to train our associates about these scams for months. at the emeryville store this year our associates have helped more than 20 customers from becoming victims." best buys it does post information how to avoid this scam and others on its web page. unfortunately it doesn't have that information at the register. they urge all customers to look at this information on the web page and they're also trying to inform their employees about this type of scam so it doesn't happen in the future. in the east bay, juliette goodrich, kpix5. mayor's ed lee's sudden death is still sinking in for a lot of san franciscans. a growing memorial blankets the steps outside city hall. mourners have left flowers and notes to the late mayor and his family. this photo reads thanks for your service, san francisco, best mayor, ed lee. city officials announced plans to honor the mayor. the official viewing is scheduled friday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. the mayor's body will lie in repose at the rotunda in san francisco city hall. on sunday a memorial ceremony will be at 3 p.m. also at city hall. the city moves forward under acting mayor london breed. kpix5's phil matier joins us now with her first public event held today. >> that's right. events like this are not new for supervisor london breed, but now she has a new job and possibly a new future ahead for her and we're seeing a change already. supervisor london breed made her first appearance outside city hall today as acting mayor to promote a gun buyback program this weekend by the united players, an anti-gang violence group, and she got a bit personal. >> sadly, i grew up in a community where gun violence was a normal thing. >> reporter: she spoke of her feelings about her new job following the unexpected death of mayor ed lee as well. >> mostly felt sad. during this process i haven't felt anything but sad and also, of course, an incredible responsibility and just definitely up for the task. >> reporter: and how she sees the new job. >> continuity of government, assuring the public that we will continue on, insuring the public we will continue to take care of the city. the police department will be out there. the buses will run. the fire department when called will be there. so that's really my no. 1 priority. >> reporter: supervisor jeff shehee agrees. >> they should have confidence things are functioning and people are doing their job. >> reporter: but she also showed her professional side. >> i do feel qualified and prepared to do this job. >> reporter: when we asked her if indeed she was going to try to make the job permanent and run for election come june, she got political as well. >> i haven't even thought about that, phil. it's, you know, again i'm here to do this job and do it well and that is at the forefront of my thoughts. >> reporter: she has thought about doing it, as have a number of other politicians at city hall including a couple of her fellow supervisors, possibly dennis herrera, city attorney, state assembly man david chiu. the question is will they let her stay on in all three roles? at 6:00 we'll talk about the political back room movements that are being made even as we speak. >> that's the thing, the political wheels don't stop turning. thank you. our top national story, republicans another step closer to their goal of a massive tax overhaul. >> gop lawmakers in the house and senate today reaching an agreement on a consensus bill. our veronica de la cruz on what is in this final version. that's what everybody wants to know. >> that's right, ken and liz. republicans say they hope to finalize the plan this weekend and hold a final vote next week in both houses. the details are starting to trickle out. the newest plan drops the corporate tax rate to 21%. it's currently at 35%. it also lowers the top individual tax rate to 37%. right now that is at 39.6. it allows deductions for state and local income or property taxes up to $10,000. it also allows mortgage interest deductions on loans up to $750,000. the tax bill repeals the obama era penalties for people without health insurance. >> we want to give you, the american people, a giant tax cut for christmas and when i say giant, i mean giant. >> but this cal state university economics professor warns those cuts will have to come from somewhere else. alabama's >> government will have to borrow some of the money that it's giving away in order to maintain its spending. >> in the meantime democrats are criticizing the gop for rushing the bill to a vote before alabama's just elected senator doug jones is seated. california senator kamala harris is among those calling for a delay, but it's looking unlikely. the president said he wants the bill on his desk ready for signature before christmas. new questions this evening surrounding special counsel robert mueller, text messages slamming the president surfacing from two fbi agents who were former members of mueller's team. cbs correspondent weigia jiang is live on capitol hill. republicans are aiming their fire at the deputy attorney general today. >> reporter: that's right. the justice department actually invited reporters to a viewing of hundreds of these text messages which is unusual, but the deputy attorney general says the information was appropriate for public release and now they offer up a brand- new line of attack for those who are critical of the russia investigation, especially president trump. members of the house judiciary committee pressed deputy attorney general rod rosenstein about whether special counsel robert mueller should continue to lead the russia investigation. >> the reason we have special counsel is because of a conflict of interest and then lo and behold, those who were supposed to make sure there are no conflicts of interest seem to have a few of their own. >> reporter: republicans are questioning mueller's political leanings after hundreds of text messages surfaced tuesday between two former members of his team, fbi agent peter strzok and fbi lawyer lisa page. in a text from 2015 strzok calls bernie sanders an idiot like trump. in march, 2016 page wrote god, trump is a loathesome human. strzok responded yet he may win. strzok was removed from the russia probe when the texts were first discovered over the summer. by that time page had already left. rosenstein said there's no reason to fire mueller. democrats questioned rosenstein about president trump's role in the investigation including his firing of former fbi director james comey. they also asked about the possibility of arresting the president on allegations of sexual misconduct. >> i would have to know the facts and i would have to evaluate the law. i've never prosecuted a case like that in federal court, congressman, but if you have an allegation by any person at any time, you should feel free to submit it. >> reporter: the fbi has launched an internal investigation into the anti- trump text messages. rosenstein said that he is completely cooperating. he was asked by democrats about the president's favorite name for the russia investigation and he insists it is not a witch hunt saying that the integrity and the independence of the investigation remains no matter what anyone says about it. liz? >> yeah. democrats pressed rosenstein about whether the president intervened in this investigation. what did they go on to say about that? >> reporter: rosenstein wouldn't reveal any details about conversations he's had with president trump, but he said no one has encouraged him or ordered him in this process and he was asked about james comey's testimony, that the president asked him to take a pledge of loyalty. rosenstein said he hasn't taken any pledge except the oath of office. >> thank you. coming up a brutal beatdown caught on camera, this clerk left unconscious and all for what? what the attacker made off with. >> plus our first look at the movies starring northern california heroes who prevented a terror attack in europe. >> and still some holiday spirit in a north bay neighborhood destroyed by the wildfire. attack inside a petaluma 7-eleven. watch as the s >> closed captioning for this newscast is sponsored by living spaces. new video captured on surveillance camera showed a violent attack inside a petaluma 7-eleven. watch as the suspect on the left takes a swing right there, hits the store clerk. the man delivers that sucker punch knocking the clerk unconscious. that was brutal enough, but then get this. all this suspect walks away with is a cup of coffee. ld dale ostrand after looking at the tape officers immediately recognized the suspect as this guy, 37- year-old dale ostrand, a well known homeless man in the area. >> some of the other clerks that have worked there longer recognized the subject, mr. ostrand from previous times he'd been in the store. this clerk was simply stalking a shelf. >> the victim laid on the floor until another employee came to work and found him. the clerk ended up needing 15 stitches behind his ear. it is the holiday season. that means a new wave of package thieves. concord police posted this video on facebook today. you can see from this surveillance camera a woman walks up to the front door, takes the package and leaves. officers using the video as another warning to be careful about home deliveries. sonoma county deputies just released this video of two suspects breaking and entering in this bodega bay restaurant. officials say they stole a cash box and other items. if you recognize these people, call the sonoma county sheriff's department. the bay area couple who had their brand new car stolen was in for a pretty big surprise when it was finally found. hayward police found the white honda with lyft stickers on the windows and get this. the car had 11,000 extra miles on the odometer. the vehicle was so new when it was stolen four months ago it still had paper dealership plates. lyft said they can't match the car to any account. the company said there's not enough information. signs inside one building at uc berkeley are loaded with fake braille offering no help to visibly impaired students. take a look at this. you see the dots, but they aren't raised. they're just painted on. so visually impaired students can't even use them. they're useless. the signs are inside chu hall posted on placards in front of classrooms and some study rooms. some students say it's discriminatory. >> a blind person clearly wouldn't be able to see this. so why would they think just drawing or printing that on there makes sense. >> cal officials say the signs are only temporary because chu hall just opened five months ago. there's no clear timeline when those signs will be replaced with real ones. you're looking at live pictures of teachers in fremont protesting right now. they say they can't afford to live in the city where they teach. they're trying to call attention to a breakdown in contract talks. we have the latest coming up at 6:00. mean while the northern california man who stopped a terrorist attack on a train in -- men who stopped a terrorist attack on a train in europe are making their hollywood debut. ill play themselves in clint eastwoods... "the 15-17 to paris." the title is a nod to the train bound for paris... spencer stone, alex scar dlottos and anthony sadler will play in clint eastwood's 1570 to paris. the three sacramento men stopped a terrorist attack back in 2015. the film hits theaters in february. people planning to enjoy crab with their christmas dinner may need to come up with another alternative. the commercial crab season along the northern california coast has been delayed till december 31st. that's because state officials say the popular seafood just isn't ready for harvesting. >> right now there's not a lot coming in. people are even bringing their gear in now because they don't think it's profitable. >> many stores are not even taking orders for christmas and those that have crab are selling it at a much higher than normal price. those who lost everything in coffey park aren't letting the wine country wildfires brag their christmas spirit, kpix5's -- ruin their christmas spirit, kpix5's emily turner with the story. >> reporter: there's another crew that comes in with lights, christmas trees and a lot of holiday spirit that they're giving to the folks who live in coffey park. it is burnt and charred by day, but by night coffey park is something else entirely. thanks to ronnie duvall and his crew, the neighborhood is illuminated and festive even if it's residents don't quite feel that way. >> that actually brings a little bit of hope and joy. i have not been able to get into the christmas spirit at all. i'm trying to because i have an 11-year-old son, trying to make it as normal as possible for him, but we haven't even really gotten a tree or decorated. >> reporter: ronnie lost his home. he used to live in coffey park. >> you can burn down our residences and take our effects, but you don't have an ability to steal our christmas spirit. so this is a way to show that we are coffey strong. we are sonoma county strong and we are people that will rise above these ashes. >> reporter: what started with 30 strands of lights a few days ago has now become a full blown holiday affair. more than 30 dreams have been donated for vacant lots. 500 plus strands of lights are hung and even the most devastated survivors admit -- >> it helps. >> reporter: it starts up at 5:30 when the sun goes down. with each twinkle and each tree neighbors say they've been given a gift that's far more valuable than anything they could open on christmas morning. >> coming down here last night i was in awe, brought tears to my eye, but it was tears of joy, feeling like we as a community, as a neighborhood have band together and tried to make what's best of a horrible situation. >> reporter: back here live you can see some of the lights have started to come on. they should all officially be on by 5:30. as soon as we get off the air, we'll shoot video and round that up for you so that you can see the full effect at 6:00. if you want to help with time or donate lights, you can go to facebook.com/christmasincoffeyp emily turner live from coffey park, kpix5. live weather tonight in union square in san francisco, the second night of hanukkah and the menorah is being lit as we speak and we also have the beautiful christmas tree here. will we see any rain in the month of december? your updated seven-day coming up. >> a bay area father and son going all out for the new star wars movie with a tribute you can only see from above, the story behind their giant creation. the allure of california coastal living is under long term siege. we learned a new santa cruz study predicts sea levels will rise more than 5 feet by the turn of the century. >> the next storm, the next high tide, the next el nino are on top of that. >> forcing a city to consider a future without dozens of homes. >> maybe we can't protect all of them, but we can protect some of them. >> expect original reporting from kpix5 news. expect more. my name is valerie decker and i'm a troubleman for pg&e. i am a first responder to emergencies 24 hours a day, everyday of the year. my children and my family are on my mind when i'm working all the time. my neighbors are here, my friends and family live here, so it's important for me to respond as quickly as possible and get the power back on. it's an amazing feeling turning those lights back on. be informed about outages in your area. sign up for outage alerts at pge.com/outagealerts. together, we're building a better california. all right. that time of year, the lights are on behind him. that's a good sign. >> it's so much fun to be on union square during the holidays, all the beautiful lights, everybody celebrating. it's a great feeling. >> reporter: absolutely. people from around the world coming to visit san francisco this time of year and for many reasons. it's the holiday season, which of course, means christmas, but it's also the second night of hanukkah and just minutes ago we had the menorah lit here, of course, the two candles on the right and the middle candle which is always lit for hahn catch we're singing song -- hanukkah. we're singing songs getting into the festive spirit, counting down to the christmas holiday and in the middle of the hanukkah holiday. it doesn't feel like christmas time. we're staying dry in this seven- day forecast, getting cool in livermore 55, concord 55, san francisco milder at 58 degrees, but overnight tonight we drop to the 30s, santa rosa again down near, if not below freezing, san francisco 48, napa 37, fremont 40 and san jose tonight 38 degrees. air quality, seventh consecutive spare the air day. why? not the southern california wildfires, but just the ridge of high pressure sitting over top of us keeping all that pollution at the very bottom of the atmosphere and giving us unhealthy air quality in the north bay, the coast and central bay. this blocking ridge of high pressure which we've been looking at since about the 3rd day of december is still here, still giving us an offshore northeast to east wind. so with the dry air we will stay chilly at night. we will be mild in the afternoon with the dry air, so a wide temperature spread and no chance of rain until that ridge moves. chilly tonight, patch fog, mild, hazy sunshine and looks like we stay dry into at least the middle of next week. those long range forecasts which gave us a little bit of a hint of some rainfall have now gone dry once again. so it might be christmas eve or christmas until we see any marked change in our weather pattern. highs tomorrow in the mid-60s, 63 pacifica, concord 65, san francisco and oakland 64, fremont 66 degrees. your extended forecast, the only change i see is an increase in the breeze. actually we'll call it windy in the hills saturday. toys we stay in the 60s to low 70s inland. we will stay in the low to mid- 60s near the bay and equal temperatures around the coastline under mainly sunny skies till the middle of next week. there are christmas trees and then there's this christmas tree. it looks absolutely spectacular. if you're having a tough time getting into the holiday spirit, come out here to union square and stare at this tree for 10 or 15 seconds. it will get you into the holiday spirit. it's a fun time of year. of course, we could use some rainfall, but the folks visiting don't mind the sunny days. we are sharing photos of how people are decorating their homes for the holidays. patty garrett in san lorenzo said nothing like the scent of an 8-foot noble fir. >> this is the norman temple in oakland, front doors totally decked out in christmas lights. >> share your photos and videos with us on our kpix5 facebook page. we leave you with another look at the holiday lights... at the oakland california mormon te are back in 30 thank you for watching tonight at 5:00! >> we leave you with another look at the holiday light, the oakland, california, mormon temple. >> beautiful. >> allen and veronica are back in 30 minutes. captioning sponsored by cbs ♪ ♪ captioning sponsored by cbs >> i just don't know what the hell to say. >> glor: the political upset of the year. >> i would have liked to have had the seat. >> a majority of the voters in the state chose principle over politics. >> things are looking good for us. >> glor: also tonight, the anti- trump text that got an f.b.i. agent booted from the russia investigation. interest rates are going up. a look at the first billion dollar u.s. embassy. words of comfort for meghan mccain. >> the thing that i found, and beau insisted on, and your dad will insist on, you have to maintain hope. >> glor: and... >> guess who is coming to dinner. >> glor: guess who is entering the national film registry? >> who? >> glor: "die hard" fans... >> do you really think you have a chance against us, mr. cowboy?