>> reporter: i just spoke to the manager of the walgreens, not too far from lake merritt. he wouldn't comment on what happened last night. he said i had to go to oakland police. i did go down here and there is a lucky and they said they were were robbed by a guy that o rdered $00 money order. there sa a -- $00 money order. there is a satellite down there. witness and surveillance c ameras, that's what police and walgreens hopes will help them with the investigation. police say a masked men entered the walgreens on east 18th street around 8:00 last night the store is located a few feet from lake merritt. the man accosted the cashier and demanded money. a man walked in and saw what was going on and he left i mmediately. now, the gunman left the store. it's not known if he left with any money. police are looking at the surveillance tape. it's not clear if they are able to i.d. the suspect since that person wore a mask. there are plenty of signs out there that say "recording in progress," well those signs as well as being a warning might have tipped off the person r obbing the place. maybe that's why he wore a mask before he came in here. i will contact the police again to see if i can get some more details. kraig debro, ktvu channel 2 n ews. >> thank you, kraig. 7:02. well, all of the east coast major airports are up and r unning again this morning. some had to be shut down because of this week's huge snowstorm back there. it will probably take days, three, four days for all of the strand the passengers to get aboard a -- stranded passengers to get aboard a flight. we're hearing flights are booked solid and most flights are o verbooked with standby lifts with as many as 50 people on them. the airlines are trying to accommodate pretty frustrated passengers. >> i'm trying to get home. i was here for christmas vacation. i was supposed to fly out yesterday. it got reboughted -- i root r erouted. i have to fly to d.c. on a little plane and then to white plains and then take the train home. >> now, from the carolinas all the way up to maine, i don't know how many people are digging out after the big holiday blizzard. in all, the storm forced the cancellation of 7,000 flights, costing the airlines an estimated $100 million. the storm has moved on. but it dumped as much as 29 inches of snow. we're gonna brick you the -- bring you the more on this coming up. arson investigators are looking into an early-morning fire on potrero hill. just hours ago, a christmas tree was set on fire outside the door of one of the apartments on wisconsin and connecticut streets. several residents were trapped inside but neighbors say they helped each other get out. >> it was flamed out, coming out of the door and they had to -- some guy had to drop babies out of window -- window. the fire department broke the gate off the door. >> everyone was able to make it out of the apartment safely. so far no arrests have been m ade. the fleet of military ships beneath the benicia bridge is about to shrink again. it will be moved to b.a.e. systems in san francisco. it will go into dry dock and be cleaned before it's sent to virginia where it will be dismantled. time now, 7:04. well, today at&t will announce the opening of what it calls a wi-fi hot zone along san francisco's embarcadero. at&t has operated a network of hot spots in hotels, airports and other indoor locations for years. but this will be the first public outdoor space where wi- fi is available to subscribers. at&t is expanding the hot -- expanding the hot zone to time's square. both san francisco and new york customers are pretty heavy use yers of that data -- users of that data. it's 7:05. we want to check in with sal castanedo. he's taking a look at commute, which is pretty quiet, right, sal? >> it is quiet unless you are in the east -- on the east coast. if you are driving in, let's s ay, berkeley any time soon, it should be a nice drive for you heading out to the mack care ther -- macarthur maze. in the south bay, it also has been light. a couple of times, there have been some slowdowns here and there. but for the most part, it's much lighter than you are used to. 7:05. let's go to steve. we have cloudy skies. mostly cloudy. pretty picture, we do get a break in the morning. there's been some light rain in the morning. but we're waiting for the system to come in tonight. it's gonna have a good punch. one to three inches of rain l ooks likely. so monterey has issued a flash flood watch in the north bay. cloudy today and then light rain comes in later on, a flash flood watch comes later on. tonight, heavy rain and also windy and then turning colder overnight into tomorrow. we'll have to deal with showers. cloudy skies, there's been light rain. 40s to right at 50, oakland san francisco, low 50s. concord, livermore, san jose, all 48. the rain comes in tonight. by 6:00 to 10:00 there will be a lot of wind an rain could produce some totals upwards of about 3 inches especially t owards the santa cruz m ountains. this is a forecast model projection on rain total. now there's not really much here in the morning. there will be light rain in the north bay but watch out at about 4:00, 5:00. you start to see the rain totals pick up and easy over 2 inches of rain, 2 to 3, nearly 2 for napa and over for ben lomond. san sanfrancisco/oakland and over an inch for livermore, you know this system has a lot of energy. that will be with us tonight and tomorrow. there is also a wind advisory. southerly wind will pick up 30 to 50 miles an hour. the rain right now, we're just in between, this is the warm overreturnings we like to call in advance of the system we have a while before this thing moves in. the rainfall will start to move in in the north bay. watch how this slides south, 6:00, heavy rain from about san francisco golden gate north with snow developing in the mountains. and then by tonight -- that's very rain over us. we have a storm warning out for the mountains and then the cold air comes in and that could give us a round of showers tomorrow but it will be mainly tonight into early tomorrow morning. another system looks like iten whats to move in on thursday. that's very cold air in mendocino county and lake c ounty. we're in for a couple of days here. that's one forecast model. it may be less, a little more. but it's very bullish. sierra nevada, tahoe will focus ton light snow today, heavy snow and wind tonight and turning colder so winter storm warn something out for him. cloudy, windy, heavy rain, by tonight, only starting off 40s and 50s. we'll go cloudy until about n oon. and then we start to pick up up the wind. rain heavy at times. get where you need to go because it could get really dicey around here. 50s on the temperatures. most of that will be later on this afternoon into tonight t urning much colder with an o ff- and-on showery pattern. it looks like we'll get a break on friday. with that storm moving in later today, crews in mill valley and other prone - -- flood-prone officers. they took advantage of y esterday's dry weather to survey yesterday's work. they did what they could to diminish the risk of slides. >> we actually do tree hazards and take down trees and trains stay in front it. but in storm situations you try to keep up with it. crews in mill valley, say they have bulldozers in case h illsides have way. in case steve mentions there is a flood watch for rain totals with about 2 to 3 inches. emergency pothole repairs continue in sonoma county. the work started early yesterday morning in the high of -- after calls started coming in about a giant crater damaging cars. but as soon as that one was f ixed, other potholes popped up and they needed attention. what was supposed to take a couple of hours turned into a marathon paving session. caltrans says potholes start out with little cracks and they fill up with crane and -- rain and they expand and blow up as car and trucks drive over them. 7:10. find out why a michigan fan m ace -- man faces up to five years in prison for reading his wife's e-mail. a legal decision has been made, it's the potential sale for state windings -- state buildings. cloudy skies. we did have a little bit of light rain in the north bay. the breeze will start to pick up later on. highs will be in the 50s. by this evening, moderate to very heavy rain. the flash flood watch out for the north bay starts at 6:00. here's dave. 7:12. and new this morning, iraq's prime minister making his most definitive statement yet about the future of american troops in his country. alison burns is live in our washington, d.c. newsroom. you have details on when the prime minister says american troops need to go. good morning, allison. >> reporter: good morning to y ou, dave. prime minister al-maliki did a two-hour interview with" the wall street journal "and says the united states must stick to its plan to pull the troops out of iraq by the end of next year. he said the last -- this is the last -- he says his country and security forces are capable of confronting any remaining t hreats to iraq's security and the insistence that iraq would not be pulled into alignment with iran. a majority of iraqis have a ssumed that u.s. presence would last beyond next year. the obama administration says the u.s. is on track to meet that goal of withdrawing troops but a robust security operation will remain at the u.s. embassy in baghdad. reporting live from washington, d.c., alison burns, ktvu channel 2 news. thank you. alison. 7:14. india is under a nationwide terror alert this morning because of threats of a major attack over the new year's eve weekend. police have been going from door to door searching for four men in from a pakistan-based militant group believed to be linked to the plot. they also tighten security on city streets, beach resorts and transportation hubs. indian officials say they've taken every threat seriously since the 2008 mumbai attacks which left 166 people dead. we're now learning that the u.s. embassy in london was one of the targets of a group of men a rrested last week in britain. british police arrested 12 men on december 20th and what british authorities say were counterterrorism raids to protect the public from the threat of attack. the u.s. state department confirms that the american embassy was on the list of targets along with the london stock exchange. heartbreaking story, firefighters in new orleans plan to use cadaver dogs trying to find more possible victims in a tragic warehouse fire. eight homeless people were kimed in this fire overnight hours -- were killed in this fire overnight hours ago. officials say the home also were burning wood trying to -- h omeless were burning wood to try to stay warm. they were young people in their teens and 20s from out of t own. in florida, five teenagers died inside after hotel room from carbon monoxide poise -- carbon monoxide poisoning. the car they drove to the hotel was giving them mechanical problems so they jump-started the car and -- >> they left the engine running, the garage door closed, the room probably got filled with carbon monoxide poisoning. >> now the hotel maid found the men dead in their hotel room. it is 7:16. a santa clara police officer is facing new charges for allegedly providing confidential information to a member of the hells angels. charges have been filed against clay rojas. he's already facing state c harges for giving dmv records to hells angel betancourt. rojas is a five-member police department -- five-year member of the police d. the-- the police department. a michigan man faces up to five years in prison for b reaking into his wife's e-mail account only to find out she was having an affair. he's been charged with a felony. walker maintains his innocence, saying he shared the computer with his wife. his wife, though, says the computer was hers alone and that she kept the password a secret. well, it appears governor schwarzenegger will not get to see the sale the office buildings before he leaves office. the state has put a hold on this plan to sell these buildings. the court will not take up the issue again next month after the new governor, governor- elect jerry brown, is sworn in. now, under the proposal the state would sell 24 government buildings for more than $ 1 billion to try to help close the state's budget gap. president obama's expected to announce his close for his top economic adviser when he comes back for his vacation in hawaii next week. the replacement for lawrence summers will have a guiding hand in almost every economic decision the max will make. but for now, the president is -- the obama administration will make. but for now, the president is taking it cool in hawaii with his vacation. you can see the president here having some shaved ice. i can taste it right now. we also know he's been playing a lot of golf. he's been working out with the first lady and playing some basketball, even bowling with his daughters. shaved ice is quite a del kasi in hawaii -- delicacy in hawaii. a deadly fire claims the life of a bay area man who we've learned is a world war ii veteran. plus the criminal act in the east bay a has a -- that has a little league team frustrated on the field. if you are driving on the east shore freeway, certainly there are people out there but it is lighter than it normally is. we'll run down the normally commute and have a look at t he -- have a look at the forecast straight ahead. it is 7:216789 it's believed a space heater -- 7:21. it's believed a space heater is the blame for killing a man who was a world war ii veteran. firefighters say there was so much smoke in his roof when they arrived. they cut a hole in the roof to get it out. it's believed keith brooks may have died from smoke inhalation. his wife died six years ago. he leaves behind two grown sons. the san jose mer rue -- mercury news said they police think they may know who the pit bulls are that attacked the woman who has muscle and nerve damage to her arms. a san lorenzo little league baseball team wants help in cha catching the vandals who keep trashing trashing their ball field. the field behind edenfield middle school is covered with garbage, graffiti, condoms and needles. they spent most of their saturdays repainting and c leaning up. but days later, the field is usually trashed all over again. the league is asking residents in the community call the police if they see anything suspicious. drivers in from montwon't be able to use part of one road today. stevenson boulevard will be closed between civic center drive. the closure begins at 9:00. the work is expected to be finished by::00 this afternoon -- 3:00 this afternoon. while the road is in place, place. it's been pretty quiet but sal tells us there is a problem in hayward. sal? >> that's right. southbound 880 on "a" street there is an armed car that g ot -- armored car that got in an accident. the armored car has leaked about 10 gallons of diesel on the side of the road there and now they have to get out there with the fire crews to put some absorbent on the roadway. fortunately traffic is lighter than it normally is so it's not a huge deal but there will be some slowing. >> let's take a look at the bay bridge westbound, very light coming into san francisco. this morning in marin county, southbound 101 also looks good from novato to san rafael. i also got a tweet about why can't it be this light all the time? well, i guess it could but i wouldn't have a job, right? >> you would have a job sal. i would hire you. >> yes. thank you. i do notice it's lighter on the roads now. everything is okay now. but by this evening, it will be a mess. we do start out with cloudy skies. temperatures upper 40s, low firsts. cloudy right now, rain develops and then windy at times. heavy rain comes in tonight. 1 to 3 inches of rain looks likely as this system comes in and the cold air arrives tomorrow. by about 6:00 to 10:00 we could be looking at bursts of very heavy rain and snow up in the mountains as this system packs a good punch. southerly wind picks up. the wind advisory -- it will be very gusty, especially along the coast in some of the higher elevations. we could easily have gusts over 50 miles an hour later on. so the system is -- we had a little band go through this morning. santarosa, lake county, mendocino county. but the bulk is still developing off the north coast. lake tahoe forecasts, light s now. winter storm warning starts up there at 4:00. it will go into wednesday when the colder air goes in. for us, cloudy, breezy and by tonight, heavy rain. so a wind advisory as you saw. but a lot of low 50s for o therrers -- for others. 1 to 3 inches of rain as it comes in. showers, tolder on wednesday -- colder on wednesday. another system clips us. we get a break on friday. i will tackle the weekend as we get closer to it. dave and tori? >> sounds like a lot. >> well, an emergency fix in marin county may not be enough after a lot of raw sewage s pilled last week. what officials did that's being criticized by some of their own. and find out what will happen now to a rescued sea lion found injured on a sausalito beach. newschopper2, showing a fuel spill. the armored car with the f lashing lights. southbound 880. spilled fuel. they actually had to respond another armored car. there are a lot of police officers there for obviously reasons. going to have to make sure the load is secure. southbound 808 traffic may be a little bit slow heading down to highway 92 when you normally thought it was gonna be light this week. this is a fuel spill. here comes the armored truck. that truck is obviously d isabled. so we'll keep on top of that for you. let's go back to the desk. as steve's been telling you, we're on storm watch. you better gragg an umbrella. rain is coming back to the bay area. jade hernandez is live in crockette where there is a problem right now. what's going on, jade? >> reporter: well, i can tell you crews are working to fix this problem, and dave, what it is this offramp right here in crockette has been closed for 12 hours. this pothole is causing issues and it is located around eastbound i-80 on the comings sky offramp. the contract in charge of that area and project is adding an additional lane to 80 and they had to be contacted because the hole is so large. the closure will remain in place until the hole can be repaired. we contacted the department works department. the department's main office and dispatch won't be in for a couple more hours. we will keep you posted on when drivers can expect to see this gone. ktvu also followed mill valley's fire captain as he identified splits in the ground that could become mudslides because the preparation for the storms means preparing for more than just rain. the works department is trying to identify problems. the issues with sizes, they are unpredictable. they start slow and they grow. stopping one area sliding is one thing, stopping another -- >> you have the open soil, it's disturbed. you get additional water going through there, it tends to make it -- you know, it starts to slide and move. >> reporter: rangers told r angers to use a bulldozer to r emove debris from the mudslide. slides and downed trees kept crews very busy. crews we're told will be on standby until the rains are expected to end later this week. this onramp is closed and has been closed since last night around 7:00. we'll keep you posted on when crews will get out here and start working again. reporting live, jade hernandez, channel 2 news. >> thank you, jade. it's 7:31. one of the pipes that spilled raw sewage in marin county last week has been replaced. some critics wonder how long this will last. the ross valley sanitary district replaced the faulty pipe with a smaller one. a man who we signed from the district board earlier this y ear, told the marin