Transcripts For KTVU KTVU Mornings On 2 At 7am 20171207

30,000 people from four different cities are under evacuation orders. 150 homes have burned. 12,000 other buildings are in the path. In Los Angeles County the skirball fire is at 5 containment. This fire started yesterday around this time and is burning near the mansions in bel air. A neighborhood that has not seen a major fire since 1961 one 500 homes burned. This time, four homes have been destroyed. 700 homes and apartment buildings and a school in West Los Angeles have been evacuated. Officials cannot say how many people have been affected. The creek fire in Los Angeles County has burned about 20 square miles. 150,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes. Four buildings have been destroyed and 2500 homes and businesses are threatened because the wind has been pushing the flames and carrying the embers into the hills where they set new fires. The problem is worse because of extremely low humidity. It is drying out the grass and brush. Crews have made progress fighting the right fire near the Magic Mountain Amusement Park. It is 10 contained. Officials say that it will take until next thursday at least to get the rye fire 100 contained. 5000 homes are in the path of these flames. Crews were able to make progress against the fire when the wind settled down for a few hours yesterday. We saw aircraft dropping fire retardant and water drops. We expect updates on these fires in the next hour. We will bring that to you as we get it. Steve paulson is talking about how they have their hands full today. The october november stretch was the warmest ever. Remember the first game of the world series over 100 . To be honest it has been since february where they have had significant rain. Vallejo the current condition is 50 with seven mile per hour winds from the northeast. Lets take a look. 51 in martinez. Berkeley at 55 yet san ramon and dublin at 32. If you get the northeasterly breeze then there it is. Fairfield northeast at 9, napa airport 14. American canyon is near 50 degrees and we have a little bit of wind but because this system here with the dry air spilling in with highpressure to the surface they are getting that northeast breeze. I should add there is a slight southerly component to the breeze for Central California and a little bit of the smoke could make it northward toward the monterey peninsula. In the malibu hills, 8 relative humidity with wind up to 61 Miles Per Hour. There is a high wind warning with the fire danger off the scale. It goes to purple which we dont have. 50 to 80 Miles Per Hour through 8 00 pm on friday so it is a long haul. 32 santa rosa with 60s on the san mateo coast because of the northeast breeze at Half Moon Bay. Half moon bay around 61 degrees. We have our own offshore breeze coming from the Oakland Berkeley hills at 25 Miles Per Hour which is something to watch. There is no hope for anything as far as rain until the 21st in Southern California. They could have high clouds but they wont be getting help from rain. 60s on the temps. 7 05 how about the roads . We have developing news not far from the studio at Jack London Square. The roof camera is giving us a live look here at this fire that is burning right underneath 880 just north of the 980 interchange and we are told this is a homeless encampment that caught fire this morning. The specific address will be near the intersection of sixth and brush street. We know that the fire is burning underneath the freeway and right underneath the tracks running through the area on the way to the west oakland station. One of the more busy stations. We dont know if this is impacting bart trains but we do know that oakland firefighters are there and we did see a lot of black smoke a short time ago. We do not have as much smoke now so maybe they have gotten this taken care of. Again, a fire burning underneath 880 in oakland this morning and there you go. You can see the train moving through. The train is moving to the area to and from the west oakland bart station after a fire there. Here is a live look at the san mateo bridge and the westbound traffic. Unfortunately, it is not good. It is moving slowly because of an earlier crash on the high rise and this accident is still blocking the slow lane headed west across the span to the peninsula. Factor that into your commute. There is a crash on the high rise in the westbound direction on the san mateo bridge. Finally here is a live look at the bay bridge toll plaza. Not a pretty picture despite the beautiful sunrise. The backup at the toll plaza is significant. It is backed up through the maze and the east shore freeway is jammed up solid. It is backed up all the way into albany and possibly richmond. It is a solid backup trying to get to the toll plaza and into San Francisco. Give yourself extra time on this commute. Back over to the desk. Breaking news in San Francisco where there is a serious medical problem resulting in the death of one person. The Carbon Monoxide is involved and several other people need medical treatment. Christien kafton is there. What have you found out . Reporter one person is confirmed dead at the scene. One at the hospital and four others needing medical care. You can see that the door is opened. That is the unit that investigators are inside trying to determine what the source was for this Carbon Monoxide. There are pg e workers working with authorities to determine how this happened. Jonathan baxter joining us a live to give us a sense of how this unfolded. Lets start from the beginning. This started with a call this morning that the residence knew that something was wrong. At 4 26 the residence were here at this singlefamily residential unit broken up into two actual units. The occupants of the above floor heard their Carbon Monoxide detector going off. They also had some symptoms of being exposed so they called 911. When the first units arrived they went upstairs and they were speaking with the occupants and their alarms went off showing we have low levels of Carbon Monoxide within the upper unit. We evacuated the upper unit and started treating occupants. We noticed we have a lower unit. We asked if there was anybody who lived there and there was an elderly couple in there. We could hear the tv in the background. We try to knock on the door and we had to force entry to the unit. The Fire Department immediately located an elderly female unconscious. She was rescued given advanced life support and care and then transported to a local hospital. We had to use the hyperbaric chamber. Crews also located another elderly male subject who was in the rear bedroom unconscious without a pulse. Crews initiated advanced life support including cpr for up to 45 minutes and unfortunately we were not able to save his life. He was pronounced deceased on the scene. We have pg e working to find the source. As of a few minutes ago it was isolated to a water heater unit and the actual heater unit. Pg e is asking us to share important information. If you are going to start your water heater or your heating sources or gas, anything with a gas appliance. Before you do it, call pg e so they can come check all of your appliances to make sure they are safe and that number is one 800 743 5000. We want to commend these residence residents as they had the working detectors. They called 911 and the individuals upstairs, they saved the life of the elderly female. If she had been exposed to the Carbon Monoxide gas she could very well have been a deceased victim as well. At this time we are on scene clearing this out. We were able to reoccupy the building with occupants chick and those individuals were treated on scene with oxygen and other measures given information on what to do if they need to go to the hospital. They signed a release form and they are back in the residency. Jonathan baxter, thank you so much. That message is so critical, as we enter the coldweather methods months make sure you have Carbon Monoxide alarms and pg e will come check your appliances. To sum it all up, the call came out first from the upper unit, firefighters arrived and saw there was certainly some indication of Carbon Monoxide poisoning and then the upstairs unit notified them there were people in the lower unit and that is where they found the elderly couple. Jonathan baxter told me earlier when they approached the door they could hear a tv with no response so they burst into the area and rescued the one woman. They said there was a working Carbon Monoxide alarm going off in the lower unit but that is how bad it can be. It can put you out so you are not aware the alarm is going off. It is critical you have the alarms make sure they are working and it is just really amazing lifesaving work. Back to you. It is California Law for each unit and each home to have a working Carbon Monoxide detector. So that is a good reminder for all of us. Reporter absolutely. One final note. The Fire Department is telling me we have to know how to place them. Your detectors go up in your home or unit. Carbon monoxide sinks so they need to be lower because the Carbon Monoxide can sink and fill up your home. Think of it as invisible water. It can fill up your home. It is important you make sure those are placed properly. Thank you christien kafton. Meantime, much more coverage on the Southern California wildfires. They are burning out of control. One death has been reported in the thomas fire in Ventura County which doubled overnight. Lets go live to the fire lines with a closer look. Reporter we got that update within the last 15 minutes. The Ventura County Fire Department tells us chp is investigating the death of one woman found in her car. It appears to be a solo car accident in Wheeler Cavett canyon on the other side of this ridge. It is the First Official death. Behind me is the active flames that are burning inching closely to this community where we are. Those flames and the smoke are massive. Within the last 30 minutes they have really picked up and now it is creeping closer to homes. Within the last two hours fire crews have been here trying to protect the homes. They were able to save five homes and they were able to save an avocado growth and one of the abandoned homes burned down because a decade ago there was a mudslide in this area that destroyed several of these residencies. People in this neighborhood are used to tragedy, they are used to packing up and getting out now here we are with another devastating fire. This is a community where one neighbor said he got on his roof and started watering down his fire with a hose. We were on my neighbors house next door. My house has a metal roof thankfully. I was on my neighbors roof with a hose. Everything is blowing up in front of us and to the left and then we saw an ember spark behind the eucalyptus trees. So we thought lets go. Reporter the fire is growing as we speak. The latest update is that it is at 96,000 acres. Only 5 contained and the number of structures destroyed is rising. One woman was found dead in her car in the community of ojai as well as this area. The fire has moved west along the Santa Barbara county line and now there are evacuations for other communities nearby. This fire is fastmoving. There is ash and smoke all over with very Poor Visibility and low air quality. That is the latest from Ventura County. Cristina rendon on, thank you. Mixed reaction from President Trumps decision to recognize jerusalem as a capital of israel. We will show you the protest that is coming now. Al franken is now facing more accusers. What will the minnesota democrat do . Im doug luzader in washington with more on that just ahead. Sfx tinny headphone music sfx feet shuffling life can change in an instant. Be covered when it does. With a health plan through covered california. We offer free expert help choosing the best plan for you. And all of our plans include free preventive care. Financial help is available, so check for yourself to see what savings you qualify for. For Health Insurance starting january 1st, enroll by december 15th. Because you never know when life. Will change. Get covered today. Minnesota senator al franken will be announcing if he will resign. This announcement comes after more women came forward accusing him of sexual misconduct. Doug luzader with more. Al franken has not decided as of last night but we do expect an announcement now after his seventh and eighth accuser have come forward. Whatever senator al franken is thinking, he is keeping it to himself. Many of his Senate Colleagues have largely abandoned him. I do not feel you should continue to serve. Congress is coming forward to call on franken to resign. Detail allegations from a seventh accuser now, another story of an eight. If franken resigned it could have a lot to do with john conyers who was forced to resign this week after numerous Sexual Harassment allegations. Some of his supporters suggested there was a double standard as long as franken clung to his seat. In both cases, democrats. 2 President Trump who has faced his own accusations of Sexual Harassment. And then there is roy moore, the Alabama Republican Senate candidate could win the special election next week after numerous allegations of Sexual Harassment and assault moore would put republicans in a bind and would certainly become the subject of an ethics investigation and a potent weapon for democrats. A recent poll suggested the alabama race is very tight. President trump has come out in support of roy moore but many republicans have not. In washington doug luzader, fox news. Lets get to the question of the day. Do you think senator al franken should resign . Yes or no . Vote on twitter and leave comments on facebook. Thank you for using our hashtag. Alex savidge is watching the commute and you are right there. How is the san mateo bridge . First, here is an update on the fire we just told you about right underneath interstate 880 in oakland. We have video just into the newsroom and you can see oakland firefighters are putting out the fire at a homeless encampment and clearly it is directly underneath the freeway and right underneath the bart tracks from downtown oakland over to the west oakland station but it does not appear bart service was affected. Fire crews got everything knocked down and no word of anyone being hurt. Now we will take you and show you a live look at highway 24 in the east bay where we have a slow commute headed westbound on 24 getting out of walnut creek and southbound 680 showing some slowing all the way over to the tunnel but we dont have any crashes on that stretch. On the maps we have a crash you should know about on northbound 101 just north of sfo. The accident appears to be blocking the fast lane so bear that in mind as you move up the peninsula. 7 22 is the time. Steve paulson it is all you. We have a dry pattern, although this is not uncommon. Pretty calm conditions for some but rather windy for others. It is a good little breeze coming. We have this offshore breeze from around San Pablo Bay and the delta to the city and san mateo coast. We have a dry pattern and it is sunny for all including some warm areas. The last rain was saturday the next hint would be thursday december 21. I feel pretty good about the pattern changing. We are in a weak la nina system. Winter starts december first. For our purposes it is december 1. Is a dry pattern during this kind of storm is very common. Using climate data having a la nina having 19 or 21 dry days is not rare at all. Even during the rainy years we get stretches of weeks of dry weather so this is not uncommon but we hope it breaks down and does not return. The offshore breeze will be wrapping up in Southern California. Numerous reports of 60 Miles Per Hour. Teens to the Single Digits malibu at 8 gusting up to 61. Nothing good today for them we have a high wind warning with high fire danger continuing through friday. They have a long way to go unfortunately. 30s on the temps, 40s and 50s with 60s on the san mateo coast. 29 in gilroy, 31 Boulder Creek and santa clara at 32. The Northeast Area in Half Moon Bay gusting up to 32. Moss beach and Half Moon Bay are in the 60s. Clear for us with no change as everything is up and over the ridge of High Pressure. 60s with the warmest temps in pacifica near santa cruz. Except for some patchy fog it is going to be dry and sunny. Bonuses despite a bankruptcy. Coming up, who is getting the big payout at toys r us . It feels good to be back. Welcome back to mornings on 2. In your money visits news, the fires in Southern California are affecting stocks. Pam cook is back in her studio to explain. Shares of Edison International have dropped to 15 as investors are worried the power lines may be responsible for starting the fire. Similar to pg e. In the opening bell greeted with job cuts from General Electric and other utilities getting hurt, ge says 12,000 jobs will go due to a drop in business for cold and natural gas. Currently ge is up a little bit since investors like cost cutting measures. Since jobs are getting cut all three markets are gaining ground. A bankruptcy judge has approved 16 million in bonuses to its top executives. Under the plan toys r us will pay 17 executives 16 million in incentive bonuses as long as the Company Reach the earning targets. It would encourage executives to drive up sales. Toys r us filed for bankruptcy protection in september. Rallies are planned at Verizon Stores nationwide including the bay area to protect net neutrality. The fcc approved restrictions on companies that include verizon, comcast and at t. The rules prevent companies from deliberately blocking or slowing down Broadband Services from certain websites and potentially charging more. The current chair of the fcc wants to roll back the rules and say they are overly regulating. The fcc will be voting next week december 14. Back to you guys. Thousands of oakland employees at the Unified School District had money deducted from their paychecks and take accounts that should not have happened. Coming up we will tell you who is to blame and why some teachers say that any attempt to try to fix it may be too late. 7 31 it is thursday, december 7 im gasia mikaelian. Good morning im dave clark. We are following the wildfires in Southern California. In Ventura County the thomas fire doubled overnight. Ellison barber is back with us live with the latest. Reporter good morning you guys. You can see there as part of this fire burning. This is part of the thomas fire that has burned at least 96,000 acres and is only 5 contained. When we arrived this entire area was covered in flames and firefighters were going in and out trying to get it under control. They have been able to get a handle on this section but further back you can see in the mountains and hills around the corner there are other small pockets of the fire that have popped up. That is really what firefighters are up against today. They are trying to deal with situations where the work gets undone either immediately or next to what they tackled. The wind moving through is making that incredibly difficult. Do we know if those strong winds are enough to prevent helicopters from going up to fight the fire from above . Reporter they most likely will depending on the wind gusting. They are predicted to get 80 Miles Per Hour but it does not feel that bad right now. The air tinkers and the helicopters typically cant go in the air when the wind is over 30 Miles Per Hour. More likely than not what officials are expecting is that they wont be able to make a lot of progress. To give you a sense of what is going on, there are firefighters down here. I asked one of them and he said he has been up since 7 00 yesterday morning. These crews are working hard but we heard from the chief of cal fire, he said a lot of today will be evacuating. So their firefighting wont necessarily take place like typical and large part it is because of the wind. When you go into town, is it like a ghost town or are people doing their daily business . Reporter there are not a lot of people and initially we were in the city of ventura and we moved because the smoke was bad. Any hotel we went to, it was difficult to breathe. There are some people in these neighborhoods where they have chosen to stay in their homes. Most seem to be leaving the areas where they were told to leave. There are people driving around the city but anytime anyone was out walking they had a mask. Anytime we left from the car to the hotel it felt like you needed a mask because it was difficult to breathe. You would look out and see nothing but haze. There was no sunlight or anything it was just smoke filling every part of the city. Ellison barber, thank you. This leads us to Steve Paulson with the latest on the weather. There is still some gusting up to 80 Miles Per Hour above 2000 feet. It is going to be a long couple of days. For us we have a decent breeze but there is the offshore direction. You can see this short wave on the water vapor loop. That is why the wind is increasing. Because of this little system that came from the north. High pressure is following so you can see the dry air spilling in which is reinforcing the offshore breeze. Most of the humidity is Single Digits. 61 Miles Per Hour for the wind at malibu hills. It is just bone dry and that is the problem. October and november was the warmest ever in Southern California and the second driest ever. The moisture is about 5 to 10 so there is nothing good. Everything is pointing toward a tough couple of days. 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s. 33 menlo park. Woodside 34, palo alto 35. Los altos hills 49, montero 64 degrees. Moss beach 61. Northeast gusting up to 32 at the san mateo coast. We could have some fog with high clouds but everything looks to be breaking down. 60s for your temps. 7 36 and what is going on on the roads . We have a lot of people. Everyone seems to be hitting the roads at the same time. We have very slow traffic around the bay area and we will try to show you the worst spots. Here is a live look at the san mateo bridge and the traffic headed westbound is bogged down getting to the peninsula. There was an earlier crash at the highrise which has been cleared from the westbound lanes but we still have residual slowing so that is a tough ride if youre coming across highway 92. Let me show you what it looks like at the bay bridge toll plaza. It is jammed up and has been for the last couple of hours. This morning you have a lengthy backup all the way through the maze and as a matter of fact, westbound 80 is extending back into el cerrito and richmond. Finally let me show you this problem we are tracking in the south bay. This is the crash that just popped up. There is an accident on northbound highway 17 in the Santa Cruz Mountains at bear creek road. There is a car overturned blocking one of the lanes and you can see a pretty significant backup. Give yourself plenty of time if you are coming up and over the hill to get into san jose. There is a wider picture of the commute in san jose with northbound onetoone traffic very slow especially near mckee road. Back over to you, dave. Back to the wildfires, steve told us the wind is the biggest concern for firefighters. The top firefighter in the state says the santa ana wind could be the worst Southern California has ever seen and they could make the fires uncontrollable. This huge fire in ventura is not the only battle for firefighters. The fires in Los Angeles County are raging this morning. At the last report, the skirball fire is 5 contained. It is burning near the Community Center which closed its doors as they are trying to protect works of art. Four homes have burned. 46,000 people have been ordered to evacuate. Ucla canceled classes for the day because of power outages. In Los Angeles County, 20 square miles have been burned in the creek fire in the northern san fernando valley. 150,000 people have evacuated. Four buildings have been destroyed with 2500 homes and businesses in danger. Firefighters have been treated for injuries. Finally the rye fire burning your Magic Mountain Amusement Park is now 10 contained. Firefighters may not fully contain it until next thursday. 5000 homes are in danger but firefighters made progress because the wind died down for you while. We are waiting for updates from cal fire and the Los Angeles County Fire Department to get all of the newest details on how the fires have grown and developed overnight. Oakland city workers are on the picket lines this morning for the ford third day of the strike. Lets go to the Maintenance Service center to talk about sticking points in negotiation. Reporter this is one of several picket lines in the city. Behind us are a few members of the union that has called the strike. Altogether there are about 3000 workers across the city who are affected by this. The city council will meet again today at 1 00 for a closed session to continue contract talks with the union involved. Yesterday at 1 00 they met for three hours with no resolution. That is why the strike is continuing. This is a local member who has been working for the city for 30 years in street maintenance and repair. What are the issues for you as a member of the Bargaining Team and a member of the union . We would like to see an ending to the mistreatment of 911 and fire dispatchers. We would like to see a pathway to the ending of the use of temporary employees to the tune of more than half of our workforce. So along with the issues you have been negotiating our wage increases but you think the more important issue is hiring more staff and fulltime workers and relying less on mandatory overtime . Give us some examples of the overtime conditions. Lets just say a mother with three children could be tapped on the shoulder the last minute of her shift and be mandatory to stay another eight hours. This has occurred three or four days in a row which makes carpal tunnel syndrome twice the national average. It wreaks havoc on the personal life and medical. The city says hiring full time workers is expensive. The mayor talked about how pension costs will be rising for 50 of the next five years. As well as those Healthcare Benefits they are expensive as well. We find there is some truth in that but the city can prioritize in a manner that is conservative enough but can also help us. As well as the mayor should not be going out and laying off an employee for doing the right thing. There are 350 fulltime positions that the city carries that they do not fill up and we think it is a travesty that they come on tv and talk about laying off employees in order to do the right thing. The mayor yesterday was talking about how if she had to give you a concession she says she would have to fire 200 full time employees. When you speak truth to power and do the math, if she had to lay off 100 major employees, she has 350 budgeted fulltime positions she does not fill and these are the same employees who during the Great Recession came through for the city and gave back days and pay to save the city. This is no way to treat your city or your workers. Reporter Dwight Mcelroy a member of the Bargaining Team and a 30 year employee with the city doing street maintenance and repair. The next step is a closed session at city council at 1 00 this afternoon. The hope is that resolution can happen so this can come to an end. The mayor libby schaaf is joining us this morning in house so certainly we will be talking about this. Still ahead, one of the two men who escaped from a palo alto courthouse makes his first court appearance. Coming up, what officers told him when he was finally caught. Well its a perfect nespresso hold on a second. Orge. Mmm. [mel torme sings comin home baby] hey there. Want a lift . Where are we going . No dont tell me. Let me guess. Have a nice ride. How far would you go for coffee thats a cup above . I brought you nespresso. Nespresso. What else . Palestinians are protesting this morning against President Trumps recognition of jerusalem as the capital of israel. Palestinians leaders called for three days of rage. This is new video this morning of protesters burning tires and throwing rocks at Israeli Security forces in bethlehem. In israel the announcement was celebrated. Pictures of flags lighting up the walls. This decision reflects the president s commitment to an ancient but enduring truth to fulfilling his promises and to advancing peace. This is not by President Trump. This is one of the most irresponsible decisions taken by an american president. World leaders have condemned the actions calling it a blow to peace. The Saudi Arabia Royal Court called the move unjustified and irresponsible. Theresa may calls for the president decision unhelpful in the pursuit of peace. Here at home it is a sign of the high cost of bay area housing. The median price of a Single Family home last month in four bear area counties was 1 million or more. According to core logic real estate the median price of a home in Santa Clara County reached a new high. 1. 1 million which is up 19 from october of last year. Sale prices were up 11 last month across the ninth area counties. Lets get you out the door. It has been a busy commute. It certainly has. Not so many crashes just a lot of people on the roads at the same time. Certainly what we would expect. This is a sense of the commute tried to get out of antioch and pittsburgh. Here is a live picture of highway 4 and the traffic on the left is the westbound traffic coming through bay point and it is still very slow right now. We are not tracking any crashes in the area which is good news but we do have heavy traffic in that part of the bay area and this is a live look at the Golden Gate Bridge where this has been one of the better spots for the morning. The commute out of marin county has been relatively problem free. No problems getting from marin into San Francisco. Here are the maps and you will get a sense of how busy it is across the east bay especially. I have been tracking very slow traffic with westbound 24 at walnut creek very slow. Also, interstate 80 westbound in the east bay, you can see the westbound traffic is very slow along the east shore freeway and there is a significant backup at the maze. 7 49 is the time and Steve Paulson is here talking about chilly temperatures for some and mild for others. That is correct. Certainly at the bay and at the coast we have 50s and 60s but 20s and 30s inland. We have no cloud coverage may be a few high clouds over the next few days but things are looking quiet. We have hints of a change around the 21st. Nationally if there is High Pressure in the west there is cold air and you can see where it is going down into texas eventually into the deep south. Much of the country will be very cold with teens for denver and omaha. This is the precipitation forecast. This is no forecasted in Southern New Mexico and southwestern texas into the Higher Elevations of mexico. Look at that all the way down. That is very rare to see. There is a possibility of snow or kind of freezing rain for much of the deep south with snow for atlanta and eventually the cold air will move into florida. Lows for the weekend are in the 40s at tampa bay. That is where the active weather is located but there is not a lot of precipitation. This High Pressure is deflecting to the north. You can see this shape they usually last about three weeks. Humidity in the teens with Southern Californias Single Digits and teens gusting up to 80 in the Higher Elevations. 54 to 61 at the malibu hills. 8 humility humidity. It is not good for the next couple of days with no help. The wind died down a little bit yesterday but now it is picking up. The fire weather warning is out with the high wind warning. There is extreme fire danger in purple and they have never issued that. I believe that is the first time it has been issued. Extreme fire event issued which would be the color purple. Because you never see it i have to show it to you. 30s 40s and 50s for the temps. The warmest at the coast with others cold. Occidental 29, American Canyon at 50. If you get to the breeze the offshore breeze it will feel pretty decent from the oakland hills. Also above the oakland zoo it is headed over to the coast. Truckee at 9, las vegas at 44, 30 in ukiah. Lake tahoe at 14, tahoe city 28 and inclined at 27. I do think this pattern will be breaking down but currently it is locked in and you can see the moisture diving south into el paso. There is not a lot of moisture it is more just cold air. 60s for us with the warmest temps along the coast. Bodega bay into santa cruz around 70 degrees. There is enough of the offer breeze where the warmest temps are by the water edge. We could have high clouds with patchy fog but there is no rain. The oakland Unified School District says that human error caused a paycheck for thousands of teachers and tuples and other employees to be deducted from their bank accounts. The School District says an employee accidentally deleted the december 1 direct deposit paychecks and the problem had nothing to do with the current budget crisis. The district says the paychecks have been reissued but some teachers say the damage is already done with some accounts already in the red. The district will be contacting banks so that employees wont be hit with overdraft fees. An increase in surveillance cameras found at airbnb residence. We will tell you where these cameras were discovered and why the hosts are putting up the cameras. A warning for women if you take Birth Control pills. A new study shows a connection to cancer cases. Hows it going down there . Thats good. Lica misses you. Im over it though. laughter thats fine. I miss her more than you anyway. Hey, my window is closing. Yeah thats okay. Alright miles. I love you. phone hangs up yeah i love you too. Tthose of us who go out theree to with a sense of wonder. Ed. Bridging worlds,finding delights in our differences. If youre one of us, and you want to explore more of this great planet, were ready to take you there. Widen your world. Turkish airlines Birth Control pills are presenting a higher risk of breast cancer. Modern pills have fewer side effects than past oral contraceptives but a Study Suggests it does raise the risk of breast cancer. Researchers who followed 1. 8 million women say the increased risk is small. It is estimated for every 100,000 women Hormone Contraceptives cause an additional 13 cases. Women should balance this against the known benefits of the pill. Six women who have accused Harvey Weinstein of Sexual Harassment filed a classaction lawsuit against him and his former businesses. In the lawsuit they say Harvey Weinsteins brother bob as well as other members of the board on the Weinstein Company knew what he was doing and did nothing. They say actresses and other women in the industry were lowered into industry events and hotel rooms including wednesdays home under the pretense they were going to discuss a project. The lawsuit names the Weinstein Company and miramax. A former assistant to warren moon is suing him for Sexual Harassment. The woman is from california. She says along with assaulting and harassing her, moon drugged her during a trip to mexico. Moon is taking a leave of absence from his job. He has yet to respond to the allegations. As oakland City Employees continue to strike teachers say they will be protesting today. Coming up, the possible budget cuts that are fueling the situation and if classes will be affected. Another Armed Robbery in berkeley. The similarities between the incidents that are leading police to believe the same people may be responsible. We are here in the city where the thomas fire continues to burn. Evacuations are underway and one person has died. Carbon monoxide poisoning killed one person and sent several others to the hospital. More on what happened inside this home. This is ktvu mornings on 2. Good morning Everyone Welcome back it is thursday, december 7 im mike mibach. Im gasia mikaelian, lets get you out the door. Good morning, it has been very busy across the bay area and we want to talk about some spots where we have slow traffic this morning. First here at the toll plaza it has not been a pretty sight throughout the commute. We have seen a major backup all the way through the maze and the east shore freeway has been just as bad. Very slow traffic all the way into richmond on westbound 80 trying to get to the toll plaza. Further to the south we will talk about the san mateo bridge which is very slow moving into the 8 00 hour. We had an earlier accident on the high rise but it has since been cleared there is residual slowing so it is a tough ride westbound to the peninsula. Finally in the south bay we will tell you that the chp is dealing with what appears to be a serious crash on northbound highway 17 at bear creek road coming up and over the Santa Cruz Mountains trying to get to the south bay. This is the area to avoid with the lanes blocked northbound 17 at bear creek road and further to the north you have very slow traffic on northbound 101 all the way across san jose and into sunnyvale. Lets send it back over to the desk. A San Francisco man is dead and his wife is in the hospital after a case of Carbon Monoxide poisoning in the city of bruneau heights. Christien kafton is joining us live from the neighborhood with more. Reporter a tragic story so far this morning. Lets walk you through where this happened at 301 mole tree in bruneau heights. The man who died lived in the lower unit below with his spouse. Upstairs is where the emergency call came from. In the last 30 minutes we spoke with a resident of there who described the smoke alarm was going off this morning and she is crediting that with saving her neighbor. She says it is critical that people have those Carbon Monoxide detectors in their homes. We just got it installed in october so we are really thanking the universe and the Management Company for installing that justintime. We are alive and healthy so hopefully she is okay. Reporter lets walk you through what happened. The neighbor says the elderly couple in the lower unit, that is where the majority of the Carbon Monoxide pulled. The call came in this morning and firefighters arrived on the scene and talked with those neighbors. They did detect there was evidence of Carbon Monoxide building up in their unit. They then went downstairs to the lower unit and that is where they found an unconscious woman. A older woman in the front part of the home. She was treated and taken to the hospital for Emergency Care following severe Carbon Monoxide poisoning. They found the older man in the rear part of the unit. They worked on him for 45 minutes trying to resuscitate him, but unfortunately the efforts were not successful. There were very high levels of Carbon Monoxide in the building. At this point firefighters and investigators are trying to determine what the cause was. They have pinpointed it to a faulty water heater. We had a Carbon Monoxide detector going off on the lower and upper unit. Essentially the individuals upstairs who called 911 because the detector was going off, they saved the life of the elderly female who is still alive. If she was in there for a few more minutes she could have potentially been a victim as well. Reporter certainly a tragedy. Firefighters say that it couldve been worse if they did not have a working detector and had they not called 911. You might be able to see pg e workers here as the investigation is still underway. At last report the Fire Department said they believe this was pinpointed to a faulty water heater. They are trying to make sure people check their water heaters and their heaters as we enter the colder months. They want people to make sure their water heaters and heaters are functioning properly and the message they want to get out is that people need to have a functioning Carbon Monoxide detector at their home as well. It can absolutely be a lifesaver. The Fire Department described for me how these fire detectors work together. They say that when you have a Smoke Detector you wanted off high because smoke will rise. Carbon monoxide is heavier and will sink. If you have a detector you want that lower in your home to detect. We will continue to monitor developments and find out more details about how this unfolded. Back to you. Tristan captain, thank you. Back to the Southern California wildfires. Crews are battling more than flames. They are fighting high wind. Yesterday fire crews started to get containment around the big fires burning in los angeles and Ventura County. The thomas fire has burned 150 square miles since monday night. The trend 12 and rye fire are burning in Los Angeles County. Also the creek fire. The gusty winds are forecasted for at least today. Officials have issued the purple wind warning which is a new level that means crews will not be able to control the flames until the wind condition changes. Lets bring in Steve Paulson. When i think back to the north bay fires we got a break with rain and it was a gift but they are not getting anything. The difference is that we have had some rain since then. However, they have nothing. They have not had any rain since february or march. The soil moisture content is only 5 to 10 . Combined with the offshore wind youre asking for a tough day. Yesterday the wind died down for the most part. Today it is picking up because of this shortwave. Looking at the water vapor loop you can see it right there. The dry air is spelling and with the highpressure. There is gusting already to 60 and 80 Miles Per Hour in the Higher Elevations. Malibu hills we have 54 to 61 Miles Per Hour with 8 humidity. 11 at the canyon everything in the teens or Single Digits with the wind north or northeast. Temperatures are bumping up as well. 58 in la, they are looking at 78 today with 80s possible for burbank and into the weekend there are hijinks highs of 82. That will make things worse if the temperatures continue to warm. The situation is looking tough going into friday night 50 to 80 mile per hour gusts. Back home 36 in sonoma this morning. There are some areas that are cool. Napa 35, American Canyon at 51. If you get the easterly breeze you are cooler. The big news is on the san mateo coast at montero and Half Moon Bay at 65 degrees because of the easterly breeze so it is not as strong here but it is still in place making things mild by the coast. The pattern is locked in and is not breaking down for you while. 60s and the warmest area is the santa cruz coast. One death is being reported in the thomas fire in Ventura County which grew overnight and those gusty winds are pushing flames into areas that have not burned in years. Cristina rendon is live where one fire has shut down the highway. Within the last hour this just reopened which is good news for the commuters between Santa Barbara and ventura. This is why it was shut down. The flames burning on this hillside as you can see these flames are going very high. They are several feet in the air and really it has been a concerted effort all morning by firefighters to try to save the homes that are very close to the community. You can see these are the firefighters and those are the homes at the base of the hillside. Firefighters were able to save four homes overnight as well as an avocado orchard. One abandoned home burned but one man says he stayed behind trying to save his home. At one point the flames came within five feet of his house. He said that it sounded like a Freight Train rolling through. He said he has never heard anything like it. It just showed up so we took action and saved our house. My wife right to know, she couldnt bear the thought of seeing this place. She loves this so much. This is a Little Community where it is a little paradise. Reporter the man was very emotional when he was talking to us but he is thankful firefighters could save his house. Now this is just a shot of the sun burning orange with the flames. That fire came from an ember that came downhill and that one is near the Railroad Tracks and highway 101. Again, highway 101 reported closed this morning is now back opened to traffic. The concern is how many other structures could burn. 150 in total but the number is surely going up. This thomas fire is now at 65,000 acres and one person has died. We learned within the past hour a woman was found in her car. Her death is the First Official death of the thomas fire. I noticed how smoky it is behind you and with the sun coming up have you noticed the air attack getting underway in that area . Reporter not at all. We have not seen anything from the air. The smoke is so thick it could be thick enough to where they cant fly because we are in the majority of the flames on the western side of Ventura County into the Santa Barbara county line. We have thick smoke with lower visibility and no air attacks. Cristina rendon, thank you. One of two men who escaped from a courthouse made his first court appearance. John bivins did not enter a plea yesterday. He was arrested november 27 as he was leaving a hotel in san leandro. Officials say that he resisted arrest and told officers to kill him as he was being taken into custody. He and another man escaped november 6 as they faced trial on Armed Robbery charges. Morgan hill police are looking for possible victims after arresting a 36yearold dance production worker for molesting children. Kevin cole is accused of inappropriately touching two dancers as they changed costumes. He was hired to help with sound and lighting. Police now say that he worked with south valley ballet, hip hop craze, music in motion and the Charter School of morgan hill. Police suspected an Armed Robbery in berkeley could be connected to a string of robberies from last month. The latest tuesday night on vine street. A man was getting out of his car went to met people approached and grabbed his backpack. He was then shot in the leg. Five robberies in november had similar circumstances. Two suspects are targeting pedestrians traveling alone. A change in venue for a town hall meeting being held today regarding an officer involved shooting. We will tell you where to go for more information about the incident. Senator al franken expected to make an announcement this morning amid more allegations of misconduct. Who would fill his spot if he resigned today . Slow traffic across the bay area as you would expect at this time. We will tell you about the slower spots and a couple of crashes we are tracking that could impact your commute. Safe to say there is no rain for you while but there is a wide variety of temperatures. We will check those out coming up. For mildtomoderate eczema . It can be used almost everywhere on almost everybody. The arm of an arm wrestler . The back of a quarterback . The face of a fairy . Prescription eucrisa is a nose to toes eczema ointment. It blocks overactive pde4 enzymes within your skin. And its steroidfree. Do not use if you are allergic to eucrisa or its ingredients. Allergic reactions may occur at or near the application site. The most common side effect is application site pain. Ask your doctor about eucrisa. Minnesota senator al franken will announce if he is resigning in a speech set to take place in 30 minutes. This comes after his seventh woman came forward yesterday accusing franken of inappropriate sexual conduct. A former congressional aide says that he tried to forcibly kiss her in 2006, hours after that a number of Democratic Senators at least it women called for resignation. You need to draw a line in the sand and say none of it is okay or acceptable. We should be held to a higher standard. If he resigns the governor will appoint his Lieutenant Governor tina smith to al frankens seat. Question of the day, do you think senator al franken should resign and 66 say yes. 34 say no. Tell us what you think by voting on twitter or ktvu. Com. Some airbnb guests have reported finding hidden cameras in their rental homes. There have been two cases since october. One guest found a hidden camera and a motion detector in a bedroom. Airbnb says that cameras are never allowed in bathrooms or bedrooms and the host have to tell guests about any cameras ahead of time. You can have them outside of your home and income in areas like the kitchen or living room. A spokesperson told Buzzfeed News hidden camera issues are incredibly rare and the hosts who violated the rules have been banned. We are closely watching the roadways with alex savidge. Good morning. We are tracking a new problem in the east bay. This just popped up. The chp is dealing with a crash. A car hit a pedestrian on westbound 92. This is in hayward at westbound 92. Again, a car hit a person on the roadway so you have a big investigation. This is an area you want to avoid. Now this is a live picture of highway 4 in the east bay around bay point. You will see what the traffic looks like. It is very slow coming out of antioch and pittsburgh. We have a crash on westbound highway 4 at bailey. Then you crashed just popped up and it is blocking the fast lane. Finally this is a live look at interstate 880 in oakland with slow traffic northbound past oracle arena. You will be backed up pretty solid from 237 all the way north on 880 until you get into the downtown oakland area. Here is Steve Paulson with your forecast. Clear skies for a while unless we have patchy low clouds. Otherwise clear with a breeze from the northeast. The warmest temps are by the coast. As you get the offshore breeze, we have 60s with warmest temps in the 60s, near 70 by santa cruz. The big news is the reinforcement of the wind in Southern California as they have a system coming by picking up the windspeed again. That will be offshore, it is either the northeast or east and that is not changing. In fact, extreme fire danger which is rare. We have a red flag warning up to 80 Miles Per Hour going until friday night. 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s. Cloverdale 38, mill valley 39, 51 American Canyon and for vallejo 49. Loss altos proper 33 and 65 in montero with moss beach at 63. There is the easterly wind gusting up to 30 for Half Moon Bay. We have a east breeze which could bring some smoke down toward the monterey peninsula. Overall except for a high cloud or two the highpressure is not going anywhere. 60s for the temps with mid sixties near the coast with the offshore breeze. Temperatures will be continuing to stay like this may be even warmer as we move into the weekend. Personal information stolen. Next, details on a Fraud Investigation underway in the north bay targeting victims of the october wildfires. [vo] the season of audi sales event is here. Audi will cover your first months lease payment on select models during the season of audi sales event. Well its a perfect nespresso hold on a second. Orge. Mmm. [mel torme sings comin home baby] hey there. Want a lift . Where are we going . No dont tell me. Let me guess. Have a nice ride. How far would you go for coffee thats a cup above . I brought you nespresso. Nespresso. What else . The north bay wildfires and recovery. The amount of insurance claims from the north bay stands at 9 billion as of december 1 which is triple the original 3. 3 billion amount announced in october. The insurance commissioner dave jones says these claims include 15,000 damaged homes and 5700 more houses that are total losses. Claims were filed for 3000 businesses and 6000 cars. 44 people died in the north bay wildfires making them the deadliest in california history. More information on a Fraud Investigation tied to fema claims in the aftermath of the fires. Fbi agents have flagged dozens of applications that were not submitted by the actual homeowners. This is one of the streets that neighbors described someone identifying themselves as being from fema came to their door asking for personal information. The only problem, none of these homes were affected by the fire. I came home and got this letter. November 3, one month after the wildfires. Somebody applied for a loan. Dear applicant you registered with fema for assistance with your disaster losses. I was suspicious. For rachel clark or home was not even affected by the flames. No homes were within a mild but letters and femur inspectors were showing up. It have been to several neighbors. Her friend kathleen around the corner. We went to fema and they said yes, someone has applied for funds. With limited personal information the napa County District Attorney Says fema will send out a 500 check. Fraudsters get the money by opening up a new bank account using a money pack card or stealing mail. It is difficult because these people are not local. They could be out of the country. The deputy da says if you think you are a victim check or freeze your credit and file a police report. He warns of scammers posing as fema inspectors going door to door. They should never show up unless you applied. What is your message . We are aware of what is going on and we will find them. The fbi has set up a task force to investigate and prosecute potential scammers. There has already been an Alarming Number of duplicate claims. We have seen hundreds. Personal information did not come from data hacks and oftentimes the information is sent electronically. All of those agencies will have a uniform and a proper identification. An inspector should not be asking for a Social Security number. Right or bank information. For many the first sign is this letter from the us Small Business administration. It is important that homeowners report potential fraud. Someone was trying to cash in on neighbors living in napa. It is hard to steal from the government. It is easy to try but difficult to go through the process. The fbi would not say how much money has been defrauded but they did say a fraud against the government is now open. It is startling how many people can have their identity stolen. Neighbors are desperate to get the word out. Really it hurts my heart. They are hoping those responsible are brought to justice. A roadblock for the oakland as plans for a new ballpark. Coming up how the front office is now responding. Also, the latest from Southern California as firefighters worked to get containment on four major wildfires. We will have an update in just minutes. When you have doctors working as a team for your health, you get the care you need to help you thrive. Visit kp. Org to learn more. Kaiser permanente. Thrive. Tthose of us who go out theree to with a sense of wonder. Ed. Bridging worlds,finding delights in our differences. If youre one of us, and you want to explore more of this great planet, were ready to take you there. Widen your world. Turkish Airlines Welcome back to ktvu mornings on 2 im gasia mikaelian. Good morning, im mike mibach. Lets say hello to Steve Paulson. We are stuck until the 21st. 14 days from today but dont worry the pattern will be changing. There are hints of it toward the end of the month into january. Until then it is going to be tough to budge this High Pressure. Clear skies breezy at times with the warmest temps at the coast. Near 70 for some certainly around montero and santa cruz. A weak system so you could see we have a shortwave right there and that is all it takes. It is reinforcing and it will be a couple of tough days gusting up to 60 or 80 Miles Per Hour. It is 54 to 61 with 8 humidity. Humidity in the teens or Single Digits. The extreme fire danger is now purple which is a color we never use. This will take it through 8 00 on friday. It will be tough. 30s 40s and 50s with lower 50s for some and upper 20s in a few areas. The biggest difference is over montero. 66 with moss beach 63. We have the offshore breeze into the oakland and berkeley hills. It is more localized and that is why we dont have the warning. Again it is offshore but nothing compared to what they have in Southern California. The pattern is locked in and this is the omega block. 60s for your temps. 60s near 70 along the coast. 8 32. They will last about three weeks. We are one week in so the pattern should be changing. December 21 it is marked on my calendar the potential for rain. The commute is continuing to be tough across the bay area even as we move through 8 00. This is a live look at the bay bridge toll plaza. Things are not looking good but maybe some slight improvement with the backup. We are talking 25 minutes well through the maze. Very slow traffic westbound on interstate 80 along the east shore freeway. I will give you a live look at the drive trying to get out of walnut creek and concord. It has been bogged down and very slow throughout the morning heavy traffic all the way into this area before the tunnel. Finally on the maps i will give you a look at the westbound drive across the dumbarton bridge. It is a solid backup trying to get into east palo alto. That is a tough commute. Further to the south you can see the big picture at san jose but we dont have any major crashes just very slow traffic especially northbound highway 101 coming into downtown san jose. 8 34 is the time. Firefighters in Southern California have a long and windy day ahead. Late yesterday fire crews made some progress around the four big fires. The thomas fire is burning in Ventura County and is by far the biggest. Also the skirball fire and rye fire as well as the creek fire is burning in Los Angeles County. There is one death related to the rye fire. It is 96,000 acres and has burned from central Ventura County all the way to the ocean. Flames have moved northward and are now in ojai north of ventura. 30,000 people from four cities are under evacuation orders with 150 homes burning with 12,000 other buildings still in danger. The skirball fire is also at 5 containment. The fire is burning near mansions in bel air, a neighborhood that has not seen a major fire since 1961 one 500 homes burned. The latest report from the la county Fire Department says that as of right now four homes have been destroyed and 11 others have been damaged. 700 homes, one apartment and a school have all been evacuated. Class at ucla has been canceled. The campus is not in danger but power is intermittent. The la creek fire in san fernando has burned 12,000 acres. 150,000 people have been ordered to evacuate. 2500 homes and businesses are threatened a strong wind carries embers into the dry grass and brush. Crews have made progress against the rye fire near Magic Mountain Amusement Park. The fire is 10 contained. Officials say that it will take one week until next thursday to get it all contained. 5000 homes are in the path of the flames currently. Crews were able to make progress against the fire when the wind settled down for a few hours yesterday. The wind has started kicking up and officials warn there could be Hurricane Force winds before tonight. 3000 oakland city workers are on strike for the third day today after the union could not come to an agreement yesterday afternoon. Allie rasmussen joins us live from Oakland City Hall with the latest. Reporter there are several picket lines throughout the city. This is the City Office Building across from Oakland City Hall. This building houses workers from the parks and Recreation Department and 100 employees with the head start program. Both of those services are unavailable because of the strike along with public works and another nonemergency office. Earlier this morning we were at the Maintenance Service center where public works employees were picketing on edgewater. Most nonemergency City Services shut down for a third day because of the strike. There was hope this time yesterday there would be a resolution with the city council joining negotiations around 1 00. They met for three hours with representatives and had no agreement. Everyone will be back at the table today at 1 00 in city hall to continue discussions. Some of the sticking points are on wage increases. Members of the union Bargaining Team told us they are upset about the city relying on temporary parttime workers and mandatory overtime instead of hiring more fulltime employees. Yesterday afternoon the mayor libby schaaf says the city would have to lay off 180 workers if they gave the union the concession it wanted. Union members accuse the mayor of trying to intimidate them. How do you say that when you have 350 or more budgeted positions that are not filled. The citizens pay for that. Reporter city leaders point out hiring fulltime workers is very expensive because of rising pension and healthcare cost but they say that is one of the issues they are negotiating and discuss. Discussing. City council will be back at the 1 00 meeting closed door session happening at city hall scheduled for later this afternoon. In the meantime City Services shut down and the picket lines continue with the strike carrying on. Back to you. We have some questions for the mayor and she will be joining us coming up. Oakland School Teachers are planning to protest for possible budget cuts. They plan to pass a School Board Meeting tonight. The unified district has a proposal to cut 15 million from the budget after overspending for the past few years. Members will be distributing leaflets and holding rallies outside of their schools. Class will be in session as scheduled. The board will be voting on what to cut december 13. The hearing continues for the men charged with Involuntary Manslaughter in the ghost ship warehouse fire. The two have been charged with 36 counts of Involuntary Manslaughter in the fire, one count for each person who died. A musician who was at the warehouse testified yesterday that the fire created peer chaos. He says people brought objects into the warehouse for the party including a large projection screen that blocked people from getting out. Attorneys say that that testimony helped the defendant. That has nothing to do with my client and the codefendant. These people came and placed these items there. That helps us. A preliminary hearing will last five days. Prosecutors expect to call 20 witnesses. In the end of the judge will rule if there is evidence for the case to go to trial. Police are holding a town hall meeting to give more information to the public about last weeks deadly officer involved shooting. Officers shot and killed a 24 yearold last friday after he got out of a ban that had been carjacked. The townhall meeting was set to be held at the San Francisco Community College southeast campus but it has been moved to the true hope church. The meeting starts at 6 00. The oakland as plan to build a new ballpark but the peralta Community College district of trustees decided to end talks with the team. The School District owns the land where they want to build the ballpark. Laney college came out expressing concerns about noise and disruption. The team hoped to build a 35,000 seat ballpark near downtown oakland. It was not a major factor but for us to look at ourselves and say what do we want and how do we ensure it is the best thing for us. The oakland as issued a statement saying they were shocked by the decision to not move forward all we wanted to do was into enter into a conversation about how to make this work. We are disappointed we will not have the opportunity. The team will examine other sites near Jack London Square as well. The current coliseum site is off the table because it would not create enough revenue. The mayor of oakland coming up in just minutes. Meanwhile, the verdict in the case stanley murder trial cut attention of many people across the nation. Coming up what an alternate juror has to say. Hiring the wrong person. What will have employees regarding a bad decision. We will show you some of the spots where we have backups including the toll plaza and i will tell you about a new crash being worked on in San Francisco. A new survey Shows Companies are losing money over bad hires. Also the fires in Southern California are affecting stocks. Lets bring in pam cook for more. California Edison International has dropped 15 since the fire started monday night. Investors are worrying the power lines could be responsible for starting the fires so not unlike what happened with pg e. The opening bell was greeted by job cuts from general election, ge says 12,000 jobs will go because of a drop in business for coal and natural gas. The dow, the nasdaq and s p 500 are up. Here is the dow up 84 points. The nasdaq actually gaining the most percentage wise,. 75 . A new survey shows three out of four Mega Companies have made a bad hiring decision. The study from careerbuilder says it is an expensive mistake. Companies lost 15,000 on every bad higher that they made. 35 of businesses say the candidate did not have the needed skills but the hiring manager thought the new worker could learn quickly. 33 say the candidate light about his or her qualifications. Overall a bad higher is someone who does not produce expected quality of work and had a negative attitude. Facebook has named its most discussed moment of the year. It was International Womens day celebrated on march 8. Women around the world marked that day by wearing red back to work and join rallies for equal rights. The day was first celebrated by russian women in 1917. They went on strike demanding bread. A bankruptcy judge has approved a request from toys r us to pay 60 million in bonuses to its top executives despite the fact that the company is in bankruptcy. Under the plan toys r us will pay 17 executives 60 million in incentive bonuses as long as they hit earnings targets. They argue the bonuses will encourage executives to drive up sales. Toys r us file for bankruptcy in september. This season is going to be very important for toys r us. Everybody is watching to see how they do. Maybe they can get a nice gift if they hit those targets. The investors are not very happy. Lets get you where you need to go. Alex savidge is doing just that. It has been slow throughout the morning and it is continuing through the 8 00 hour. We have a new crash in San Francisco. Chp is dealing with a crash on southbound 101 right at cesar chavez. This crash involves three cars and it appears someone may have been injured and the accident is blocking the fast lane. Southbound 101 at cesar chavez is another spot to avoid. Here is a live picture of 880 in oakland where we have heavy traffic northbound coming past oracle arena all the way into downtown oakland. You are very slow there. Finally this is a live look at the bay bridge toll plaza which has been jammed through the entire morning. We are still seeing very slow traffic in the area. The backup is extending through the maze. Era Steve Paulson. We have a clear forecast with a little breeze for some offshore so it is going from land to sea so the coast will be warmer. 60s near 70 at the bay. Midsixties inland so you are starting off much colder inland where it is harder to warmup. Clouds in clearlake with southeast wind picking up in lake county. Clear sunrise over clearlake. She says my garden is so dehydrated i am not a fan of the wind. I would say that most people do not like the wind more than anything else. It can be crazy windy in Southern California. By the way, san jose state meteorology just tweeted out some of this smoke, a little bit because of the southeast breeze has moved to the monterey peninsula and a little bit into the santa clara valley. If you see smoke, that is part of it. The first images of the smoke layer are starting with most of it going offshore. This will get better. A little bit of smoke is now moving northward however. We have offshore wind and the north wind. Malibu hills has seen over 50 Miles Per Hour with 8 humidity. Is a very brutal couple of days. We want to go to the floor of the United States senate where senator al franken is addressing members of the senate. Lets listen in. The moment was long overdue. I was excited for the conversation and hopeful it would result in real change that made life better for women across the country and in every part of our society. And then the conversation turned to me. Over the last few weeks, a number of women have come forward to talk about how they felt my actions had effected them. I was shocked. I was upset. In responding to their claims i also wanted to be respectful of that broader conversation. All Women Deserve to be heard and their experiences should be taken seriously. I think that was the right thing to do. I also think that it gave some people a false impression that i was admitting to doing things that in fact i have not done. Some of the allegations against me are simply not true. Others, i remember very differently. I said at the outset that the Ethics Committee was the right venue for these allegations to be heard and investigated and evaluated on their merits. I said i was prepared to cooperate fully and that i was confident in the outcome. You know, an important part of the conversation we have been having the last few months has been about how men abused their power and privilege to hurt women. I am proud that during my time in the senate i have used my power to be a champion of women. I have earned a reputation as someone who respects the women that i work alongside with every day. I know there has been a different picture of me painted over the last few weeks, but i know who i really am. Serving in the United States senate has been the great honor of my life. I know that in my heart nothing i have done as a senator, nothing has brought this honor on this institution. I am confident that the Ethics Committee would agree. Nevertheless, today i am announcing that in the coming weeks i will be resigning as member of the United States senate. I of all people are aware that there is some irony in the fact that i am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of his Sexual Assault sits in the oval office and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the senate with the full support of his party. This decision is not about me. It is about the people of minnesota. It has become clear that i cannot both pursue the Ethics Committee process and at the same time remain an effective senator for them. Let me be clear. I may be resigning my seat but i am not giving up my voice. I will continue to stand up for the things i believe in as a citizen and as an activist. Minnesotas people deserve a senator who can focus with all her energy on addressing the challenges they face every day. There is a big part of me that will always regret having to walk away from this job with so much work left to be done. I have faith that the work will continue because i have faith in the people who have helped me do it. I have faith in the dedicated, funny, selfless, brilliant young men and women on my staff. They have so much more to contribute to our country. I hope that as disappointed as they may feel today, everyone who has worked for me knows how much i admire and respect them. I have faith in my colleagues, especially my senior senator. I would not have been able to do this job without her guidance and wisdom. And i have faith or at least hope that members of this senate will find the political courage necessary to keep asking the tough questions. Hold this Administration Accountable and stand up for the truth. I have faith in the activists who organized and helped me win my First Campaign and who have kept on organizing and fighting for the people who needed us. Kids facing bullying, seniors worried about the price of prescription drugs, native americans who have been overlooked for far too long. These working people who have been taking it on the chin for generations. Everyone in the middle class and everyone aspiring to join it. I have faith in the proud legacy of Progressive Advocacy that i have had the privilege to be a part of. I probably repeated these words 10,000 times over the years. The famous quote from paul wellstone, the future belongs to those who are passionate and work hard. It is still true and it will always be true. Most of all, i have faith in minnesota. A big part of this job is going around the state and listening to what people need from washington, but more often than not when i am home i am blown away by how much minnesota has to offer the entire country and the entire world. The people i have had the honor of representing our brilliant, creative and hardworking. Whoever holds this seat next will inherit the challenge i have enjoyed for the last 8 1 2 years, being as good as the people you serve. This has been a tough few weeks for me, but i am a very very lucky man. I have a beautiful healthy family. I love them and they loved me very much. I am going to be just fine. I just like to end with one last thing. I did not grow up wanting to be a politician. I came to this relatively late in life. I had to learn a lot on the fly. It was not easy and it was not always fun. I am not just talking about today. This is a hard thing to do with your life. There are a lot of long hours and late nights and hard lessons. There is no guarantee that all of your work and sacrifice will ever pay payoff. I won my first election by 312 votes. It could have easily gone the other way. Even when you win, progress is far from inevitable. Paul wellstone spent his whole life working for Mental Health parity and it did not pass until six years after paul died. This year, a lot of people who did not grow up imagining they would ever get involved in politics have done just that. They have gone to their first protest march or made their first call to a member of congress or maybe even have taken the leap and put their names on a ballot for the first time. It can be such a rush. To look around a room of people ready to fight alongside you. To feel that energy. To imagine that Better Things are possible. You too will experience setbacks, defeats and disappointments. There will be days when you will wonder if it is worth it. What i want you to know is that even today, even on the worst day of my political life, i feel like it has all been worth it