President Obama heading to the Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO

The president is coming here for two days of fundraising and to also highlight an administration priority.

But if you're not paying the big bucks to hear the president speak, or even more money to meet him, then you're probably most concerned about the president's impact on traffic. And if you plan on driving in the South Bay or Peninsula Thursday, you could end up in the thick of it.

People lined the sidewalk as the presidential motorcade left the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose last June. It should be a similar scene this evening.

San Jose is one of four stops President Obama will make in the Bay Area Thursday and Friday. Also Moffett field, Los Altos, San Jose, and finally Mountain View on Friday.

Air Force One is scheduled to land at Moffett Field just before 4 p.m. Thursday.

The president then heads to a private event at the Los Altos, the home of Anne Wojcicki. She founded the human genome research firm 23andMe. A group of about 30 paid more than $32,000 each to attend.

But the big haul comes Thursday at 6:30 -- a fundraiser at the Fairmont Hotel. About 250 people are expected to be there. Tickets cost between $1,000 and $32,400. The event is co-hosted by Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer. And was originally supposed to be at her house, but it got too big.

The president was in Los Angeles Wednesday night. He received an award at the 20th anniversary gala of Steven Spielberg's USC Shoah Foundation, which is dedicated to preserving accounts of the holocaust. There were plenty of celebrities there including Bruce Springsteen, Barbara Streisand, Samuel L Jackson, and Conan O'Brien.

At the gala in L.A., the tone was somber as he talked about current international atrocities.

"Every day when I wake up and I think about young girls in Nigeria or children caught up in the conflict in Syria, when there are times in which I want to reach out and save those kids," said Obama.

On Friday morning, President Obama will talk about the importance of energy efficiency at a Walmart in Mountain View. This is the president's 17th trip to the Bay Area.

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