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. right now at 11:00, we're following two breaking stories in the south bay. a second hospital in crisis mode dealing with a cluster of covid cases in its er. a number of staffers testing positive. now, could these cases be linked to the christmas day outbreak as

the san jose kaiser? we have answers for you. but first counting continues at this late hour. and one of the two races was just called in georgia. the entire nation waiting for these final results of these two critical senate races. it is now just after 2:00 a.m. in georgia, and they are still counting those votes, but minutes ago a major update. we do have one winner. nbc news now projecting democrat raphael warnock has won the senate runoff against incumbent republican kelly loeffler. the reverend from atlanta leads loeffler by a thin margin but it's enough to call this race. again, warnock the presumed winner. about 45 minutes ago warnock says he's proud to be georgia's first black senator. >> i am going to the senate to work for all of georgia. no matter who you cast your voted for in this election. >> we're going to win this election. we're going to save this

country. >> senator loeffler there remains optimistic but again nbc news now calling that race that warnock is the winner. the other race, here are the latest numbers, also razor thin. democrat jon ossoff is trying to unseat republican david perdue. they are virtually tied. you can see that 50% for both candidates with 98% of the vote in. and also just a few minutes ago ossoff took a slight lead, this was according to nbc news. now, the democrats feel they are on the verge of sweeping both of those runoff elections in georgia. if they do sweep, the democrats would control the senate and the house. so what happens as we head into tomorrow? here's nbc bay area's ian cull. >> reporter: the balance of power in the senate is on the line, and tonight it all comes down to georgia, republicans fighting to protect incumbent senators david perdue and kelly loeffler while democrats hang their hopes on challengers jon ossoff and raphael warnock.

if both win, the senate is tied with vice president-elect kamala harris casting any tie breaking vote. >> georgia voters have never had more power than you have today. >> you know the american dream is on the ballot. >> reporter: more than $500 million was spent on seemingly endless tv and radio ads. money has poured in around the country and so has support for a particular junior of san jose and his partner drove across the country to georgia two weeks ago to canvas for the democrats. tonight they're on their way back. >> something that is more important than our time to relax with our families and spend time with them during the holidays is knocking on doors and talking to voters every single day every morning. >> she spent time in an atlanta suburb and says there were dozens of other canvassers from the bay area. the reaction from voters was mixed. >> some people said get off my property, some said absolutely

not. but we received absolutely a lot of people saying we're going to flip this seat. we're going to flip the senate. >> reporter: political analysts say turnout is the key factor, and tonight the republican turnout was lower than the democrats compared to the november election. the winners in it two races will be sworn in when their victories are certified. ian cull, nbc bay area news. >> a lot happening right now from that race. it appears georgia will not only have two democrats but its first black and first jewish senators. our political analyst larry gurston staying up late with us. how did the democrats pull this off, and what does this really mean for joe biden? >> credit stacey abrams. she is a masterful organizer. she brought out 115,000 people who have not voted in the general election, registered them. they were young and they were anxious to be part of this.

and let me tell you when you're talking about thin margins like we've seen tonight, they made the difference. >> stacey abrams really getting a lot of credit. could she now have a role in the biden administration? >> if she wants one, she can have won. y she ran for governor and she lost in a controversial election. my guess is likely she'll run again perhaps against brian kemp. and with a lot of bad blood going on in the republican party in georgia she puts herself in a pretty good position. >> thank you, again. it looks like at this late hour both the democratic candidates there in georgia appear to be on track to win and sweep that election. and there's more here. president trump is tweeting an invitation to show up at the capitol in the morning for a rally. he plans on speaking at this rally. congress will certify the electoral college results. tonight pro-trump demonstrators rallied while the president continued to put pressure on vice president pence who will preside over tomorrow's certification.

president trump claims the vice president can reject the electoral college results. constitutional experts say that's simply not true. at least 13 gop senators and more than 100 house republicans do plan on rejecting joe biden's win. that will slow down the process tomorrow, but it's not going to change the results because enough republicans have said they will certify joe biden's victory. we're also following some breaking news now in the south bay where a second hospital is reporting a surge in covid cases within its emergency department. st. louise hospital in gilroy says 10% of its er staff has tested positive in the last week. this comes on the heel of an outbreak at the san jose kaiser emergency department, which grew to 60 staff members today testing positive. this was a story we broke over the weekend, and it continues to snowball. here's nbc bay area terry mcsweeney. >> reporter: st. louise hospital in gilroy tonight confirming 8 of its 80 emergency department

staff have tested positive for coronavirus over the past week. a spokeswoman for the santa clara valley health and hospital system says personnel in the emergency department are being tested more frequently, at least every three days as a result of these recent cases. we will be also implementing daily rapid testing of personnel before their shift begins. over the weekend nbc bay area learned of an outbreak at kaiser san jose's emergency department. on christmas day an employee wearing an air powered tree costume walked the hallways of the emergency department. kaiser says that costume likely is responsible for 60 employees getting covid including a registration clerk who died sunday. some nurses question whether kaiser could have done more to keep them safe. they say before the outbreak they were not tested regularly. >> i feel this could have been either prevented or really minimized had testing been done prior. >> reporter: some experts say the public may be surprised by

the infrequency of normal hospital testing. >> one thing i have to say is health care workers have not been tested routinely. i think that's a misconception by the public like teachers that have gone back to the workplace have. >> reporter: kaiser says it's testing all its emergency room employees as part of the investigation of the outbreak. a nurse who did not want to go on camera tells nbc bay area some of the health care workers at kaiser during it outbreak also work at st. louise hospital. a st. louise spokesperson says she's not aware of any connection of the cases at the two separate facilities. also new at 11:00 governor newsom sending out an sos. the office of emergency services is asking the feds to deploy hundreds of medical personnel to help. could it soon be happening here in the bay area? here's nbc's cheryl hurd. >> reporter: as the covid crisis hits a boiling point in southern california, medical experts here

in the bay area are watching and holding their breath. >> so what goes on badly in southern california will eventually get here, and we may need their help one day. >> reporter: the california governor's office of emergency service asking for help. for nurses to be deployed into nursing homes and hospitals where a third is taking place down south. the usns mercy hospital would be called into service in a situation like this to create beds for patients sick with the deadly coronavirus. but right now it's under mandatory maintenance and unavailable. ucsf professor of epidemiology dr. george rutherford says help is coming from all over the state. >> the national guard which has help from northern california as well as southern california is an obvious thing to be deployed

that's already happened. there are active duty service personnel we could put in place as well. >> reporter: the medical officer at marin health medical center is watching southern california closely. >> based on the forecast model we won't approach anything as dire as los angeles, but of course i don't have a crystal ball so i'm crossing my fingers. and we're constantly reviewing our resources. >> reporter: resources here in the bay area remains steady, but things could possibly change with the post-holiday surge possibly coming in the next week or so. cheryl hurd, nbc bay area news. >> take a look california reporting more than 31,000 new cases. health leaders are concerned we won't start seeing the full effect of the holiday season surge for another couple of weeks. our positivity rate or the percentage of californians testing positive is now the highest its been since the pandemic began. look at that graph there.

it continues to spike upward, and that's not good. in mid-october we were at 2.5%. tonight our positivity rate stands at 12.7%. vaccinations will get us out of this pandemic, so how many shots have actually been given here in the bay area? take a look. santa clara county has administered the most shots, 90,000. alameda county second on the list there with 40,000. contra costa, san francisco and san mateo counties all between 20,000 and 40,000 doses. sonoma, solano, marin and napa counties have administered less than 20,000 shots. those numbers were compiled by mercury news. governor newsom says statewide we've administered only about a third of the available doses. as millions wait to get their first dose, some are receiving their second dose. the second round of vaccine shots started today at the marin

health medical center. about 1,800 people there have been vaccinated at the hospital so far with the if i saider vaccine. well, could a single dose speed things up? the stanford doctor working on a new and faster way to produce vaccines. his big idea just ahead. and just into our newsroom, the frantic search for a dog at this late hour after a woman says she was attacked and robbed on the streets of san francisco. i'm chief meteorologist jeff ranieri, tracking rain tomorrow. i'll have my full time line coming up in about 6 minutes.

new at 11:00, a woman attacked and her puppy stolen. this is chloe. she's a gray french bull dog. sfpd says the woman was walking chloe when she was approached by three men. one of the men hit her in the face several times, took the dog and jumped into a car and took off. this happened on vallejo and

hide earlier this evening. if you see chloe or have any information you're urged to call sfpd. another story getting international attention. the family of hana abe is expected to arrive in the city from japan tomorrow for a vigil. abe was one of the victims of that deadly new year's eve hit-and-run. this is turning into a political debate about the three strikes law. >> we have to demand accountability. >> reporter: looking for answers. san francisco supervisor catherine stephanie sent a letter to the district attorney, police chief and others demanding information about serial repeat offenders who were released from custody and then involved in deadly crimes. >> the tragedy that occurred on new year's eve did not have to happen. >> reporter: stephanie is talking about the killing of 27-year-old hana abe and 60-year-old elizabeth platt. records show sfpd arrested

mccallister several times in the months before the deadly incident but he was not charged. from japan abe's brother says while the family is heartbroken by abe's death, they don't blame mccallister. they blame a system that let him down. in court today mccallister pleaded not guilty to two counts of vehicular manslaughter and other charges. stephanie says it's not the only deadly incident involving a repeat offender. she says 19-year-old kelvin chuu was shot and killed last year by a man arrested but not charged in a weapons case. to get a better idea of how the criminal justice system is working as some violent crimes are trending up. >> they're up for homicide. they're up for arson. they're up for a lot of things, and we have to understand why. >> while elected officials look for answers, a community is preparing to remember the new year's eve victims.

the san francisco police officer association says there will be a vigil here tomorrow at second and mission. abe's mother from japan is expected. jean elle, nbc bay area news. a bay area grocery store is under fire this evening after hosting an employee holiday party without proper covid protocols. raley's says its store in bunesia made a mistake when it held a christmas party employee meal. not wearing masks and not social distancing. a few days later one person tested positive for covid. customers say they're troubled. raley's say they're making every effort to be safe and transparent. >> we hope to regain your trust and recognize we made a mistake and we're doing all that we can to be diligent and keep up on the situation. >> they say rigorous safety measures are in place and the company says it encourages

everyone to wear masks. we are surrounded by a lot of grim numbers but also a lot of hope. tonight a promising development at stanford. dr. peter kim is pushing for a new and faster way to produce vaccines by creating a vaccine that oonly needs one shot. he says the goal is to have this vaccine able to be shipped and stored at room temperature without requiring any refrigeration. one of the concerns from other medical professionals is the safety of administering a single dose into someone's body instead of breaking it into two smaller doses. well, how about this? quick thinking and some determined workers helped avoid a potential vaccine disaster. a hospital in ucaya found out yesterday its refrigerator holding 850 moderna vaccines failed. the fridge broke. that left 2 1/2 hours for the shots to be given out or they would be ruined. officials at the medical center quickly came up with a plan to give those doses away to a nursing home, county workers,

jail inmates and the general public. 40 nurses and doctors jumped into action to administer the shots. a couple hours later all the vaccines were administered. so good news and quick thinking there. let's bring in jeff ranieri here as we bring in maybe some more rain tomorrow. how's it looking, jeff? >> it looks pretty good, raj especially up into marin, napa and sonoma counties. areas to the south not quite as strong as those rain chances. as we bring you outside to our live high definition sky camera network here in san jose we do have limited visibility at the lower levels. those city lights shining bright and as we roll through tomorrow, get you ready for the day we do have those clouds returning with a storm off to the north at least at the morning hours. then as we roll through tomorrow the afternoon is going to have our best chance and looking at a second chance as we move into friday. so starting off the day in the morning it will be chilly again. widespread 40s here for the

south bay, peninsula and tri-valley and also more of those 40s coming back from the east bay, san francisco and the north bay. have you down to 42 degrees here for the north bay. an overall look at the time line and how things are going to play out for us and you can see the cloud cover very widespread here at 7:00 as that system approaches, but this is going to be a very quick moving storm system. 1:00 in the afternoon, the cold front drops down over the north bay and you can see those areas of yellow and orange will get heavier rainfall for the 3/4 bay. that's when we'll pick up on some of these totals, but this really starts to fall apart as it moves off to the south. spotty rain chances over the east bay and peninsula and little to nothing left down there for the south bay, unfortunately. daytime highs as the system rolls in will be in the 50s tomorrow. cooler with 53 in santa rosa, 55 in napa and when we have a lower chance of rainfall ewe're a little bit warmer here with 59

degrees in san jose and also 59 in morgan hill. so chance of rain tomorrow and then we'll see that second chance as i talked about on friday. looks like another event where most of us will get that rainfall, also snow for the sierra, but this is also slow moving and lacking any kind of major moisture source. so we'll get some rain from this, but it's not going to be anything to put a dent in our rain deficit running 4 to 9 inches behind. so for the north bay you can see that yellow color about a half to close to three quarters of an inch, santa rosa to gurnsville. i've dried it out this weekend and also looked dry into early next week in san francisco. 50s to low 60s for highs. and for the inland valleys we're also in the 50s for next several days. so while we start off next week dry, it looks like at this point, raj, extreme long-range data continues to show the end of thep month into the first week of february.

we could start to pick back up with more wet weather, and well, we could use every drop we can get at this point. >> we like to hear it. it's a good way to start the new year as well. still to come, you want to get away well there's been a change. what you need to know before you book your next airbnb. and happening now thousands of out of work californians are likely wondering where their unemployment benefits are. last week the edd suspended checks considered high risk for fraud. the agency is now contacting those affiliated in order for them to get their checks they'll have to verify their identity beginning tomorrow. we're back in a moment. tasha, did you know geico could save you hundreds on car insurance and a whole lot more? hmm. so what are you waiting for?

hip hop group tag team to help you plan dessert? ♪ french vanilla! rocky road! ♪ ♪ chocolate, peanut butter, cookie dough! ♪ ♪ scoop! there it is! ♪ scoop! there it is! ♪ scoop! there it is! ♪ scoop! there it is! scoop! ♪ ♪ shaka-laka! shaka-laka! ♪ shaka-laka! shaka! scoop!. ♪ ♪ choco-laka! choco-laka!... geico. switch today and see all the ways you could save. ♪ sprinkles!

(soft music) hey dad, i'm about to leave. don't forget your hat . good morning. how can i help? i need help connecting with my students. behind every last minute save, ok, that works. and holiday surprise, thank you! a customer service rep is working unseen, making it happen. and at genesys, we're proud to help them help you everyday.

a new requirement for people booking rentals through airbnb. you've got to fill out a new form before booking anywhere in california. that form asks you to attest that the stay is permitted within local guidelines. the move follows a five-day shutdown of new reservations in the lake tahoe area last week. officials there raised concerns about tourists booking short-term rentals through airbnb. the company seds tays the goal help inform guests and hosts on pandemic related restrictions. here's a change the road to the sap center in san jose will have a new name, barack obama boulevard. the san jose city council voted today unanimously to rename a downtown corridor to honor the 44th president. the plan has been in the works for three years. the stretch of road that's going to change -- here it is. actually, it has three names right now. it's bird avenue right off 280 straight down to the shark tank, bird, south montgomery and autumn street will all become

obama boulevard. check your tickets. no jackpot winner in tonight's mega millions drawing but a winning ticket for $1 million was sold in california. maybe it was you. here are the numbers. 20, 43, 51, 55, 57 and the mega ball is 4. since no one won the jackpot it goes up to $490 million. there's another huge jackpot at stake tomorrow as well. the powerball is at $410 million. plenty of people stopping by ernie's liquor in san jose tonight to get their tickets. why ernie's? because ernie's has sold winning tickets before. the drawing happens at 8:00 p.m. tomorrow. we're back in a moment with the hall of fame finalists and it includes a member of the raiders. stay with us. cyber attacks are relentlessly advancing.

to end them, cybereason built a cyber security solution so advanced... it can end attacks today -- on computers, mobile devices, servers and the cloud. and deliver future-ready protection, keeping you sharp for tomorrow. join us, the defenders, in our mission. cybereason. end cyber attacks. from endpoints to everywhere.

well, let's have some fun here. it's one of the most recognizable and prestigious awards in sports. the heisman trophy was awarded tonight to the best player in college football. usually it's that big ceremony in new york city. tonight, though, it was all virtual, of course. and for the first time in nearly 30 years a wide receiver wins. there he is, alabama senior

devonta smith led the nation in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touch downs. congratulations to him. we now know the 15 finalists for this year's pro football hall of fame class. among them 49ers general manager john lynch who had a stand out career as a safety with the bucks and broncos. also making the cut, this guy. charles woodson, the headliner this year is peyton manning, he's going to get in for sure. former niners patrick willis and bryant young did not make the final list. up to five players will make this year's hall of fame class. they'll be announced the day before the super bowl. we're back in a moment with our breaking news out of georgia.

i just lost my job. with the kids at home and less money coming in, there'd be no way we could afford health insurance. my kids think i'm a superhero. but even superheroes need help sometimes. we found help at covered california. and not just us. 9 out of 10 people who enrolled got financial help. covered california. this way to health insurance. enrollment ends january 31st.

for members like martin. an air force veteran made of doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. ♪ usaa

it's been an active few hours and a very active few minutes. just into our newsroom, the new number said out of georgia, democrat jon ossoff building on his lead. he's trying to unseat republican david perdue. ossoff now has 50.1% of the vote. it is tight. perdue, 49.9%, less than 10,000 votes separate the two but it is trending in ossoff's favor. and about 40 minutes ago we told you nbc news projecting a winner

in the other race, democrat raphael warnock beats incumbent republican senator kelly loeffler. it appeared the democrats have swept both runoffs and will control the senate and the house. like many of us now governor newsom staying up late watching the results come in. he tweeted this just about 40 minutes ago, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell has a nice ring to it, and that's because mitch mcconnell would be the minority leader instead of the majority leader in the senate. so all eyes on georgia and washington, d.c. it's going to be a long night and going to be an active morning tomorrow, a busy day on capitol hill with the certification of the electoral college. stay with us for the very latest, and thank you for joining us tonight. be safe. i'm raj mathai. [ cheers and applause ♪