Transcripts For KNTV NBC Bay Area News At 5 20151216

Children through the same . Reporter interesting to note that the l. A. Superintendent who made the call, ramon cortines, was a former superintendent here in San Francisco and also a former superintendent at the schools in san jose and one other big city, he ran the schools in new york city. Reporting from San Francisco, mark mathews, nbc bay area news. Schools in the east bay also took note of the threat in l. A. , but they say the scare did not reach a level that called for any extra safety measures. We get threats here in the school district, bomb threats and other threats, that we vet out over the course of the school year. We handle all the threats as if theyre a viable threat until we determine they are not. There wasnt anything that caused us a concern here. Still ahead on nightly news who may be responsible for all of this and how such threats have become the new normal for americans. Nightly news begins at 5 30. Only on nbc bay area the photo that made national headlines. Here it is. You remember this, a beam slid off of a big rig and went right through the windshield of this bmw. All of this happening on 280. The driver not only survived, but now hes sharing his story with us. Nbc bay areas Marianne Favro is with the exclusive interview. He cheated death by just a few inches. Reporter he certainly did. Don lee told me hes convinced hes been given a Second Chance at life. He says he still when he looks at the photos just cannot believe that he survived this. Last friday he was driving south on highway 280 in san jose when a huge metal beam flew off a truck in front of him and sliced through his bmw like a rocket. 66yearold don lee says as he watched the beam head straight toward him, he felt a surprising sense of calm before it hit. It was a huge impact when it hit. I just couldnt believe that. Yeah. Reporter amazingly don suffered only a few scratches op his arm but had his car been an inch or so to the right he would have died. He used to build and drive race cars and credits that experience with helping him stay focused behind the wheel. The beam hit his car so hard it cut the engine. Don has a wife and two kids and he tells me that he feels like hes already received his Christmas Present a little bit early. The gift of life. Reporting live in san jose, Marianne Favro nbc bay area news. Thank you. New details tonight about a man police shot and killed in gilroy. His family says he was not armed. It happened in an apartment complex right behind Gilroy High School last night. Police responded to a 911 call about a man attacking a woman. Family members tell us that man was 19yearold hector alvarez, he was arguing with his girlfriend. Officers say it appeared he was searching for a weapon while coming toward them and thats when ans officer opened fire. The officer was retreating when he fired his weapon trying to get away from him and move to a position to kind of demonstrate that officer is trying not to be forced into this situation, but in the end he had no other choice. Police say they did not find a weapon on the scene, but that does not mean the suspect was not armed. Investigators say the officers were wearing body cameras but arent sure yet and are not saying whether they were turned on during the shooting. Honoring a fallen officer, San Jose City Council Members voted to place two memorial signs on highway 87 for San Jose Police officer michael johnson. Johnson was killed in the line of duty this past march responding to a 911 call. He was a san jose native and an sjpd veteran more than a decade. Expect to see the memorial signs up next spring. The dead lie shooting of kate steinle is back in the news. Defense attorneys continue to insist the shooting was not a crime, rather an accident. They want the homicide charge against Juan Lopez Sanchez dismissed. Previous expert testimony concluded that the stolen gun sanchez fired was aimed at the ground and the bullet actually bounced off the concrete pier striking steinle. This happened in San Franciscos pier 14 in july. I have never seen in 25 years of being at the hall of justice a murder case based on a ricochet. His attorneys admit Lopez Sanchez fired the gun but it was accidental. The judge continued todays hearing until next month. Buyer beware, a warning about a popular holiday gift item. An east bay family is the latest family to see their new hoverboard burst into flames, at least the 12th time one of these boards have gone up in flames recently. Nbc bay areas Jodi Hernandez is live in brentwood where federal agents are investigating. Jodi . Thats right. An investigator from the u. S. Product Consumer Safety Commission just came out here to this house in brentwood and took away that charred hoverboard. It is on its way to maryland where it will be tested at a national laboratory. With hoverboards being a hot item this holiday season, investigators are very kerpd for the publics safety. His is whats left of the battery. Reporter aliyah shows us the charred remnants of the hoverboard she says exploded in her Brentwood Home last night. Her 15yearold sister had just charged her early Christmas Present when she says it went haywire. She unplugged it from the charger, turned it on and then she stepped on it. Right when she stepped on it it started popping and sparking. Reporter she says her sister tried to carry it outside but didnt quite make it. She let go right before it exploded. Reporter the board burst into flames. Cringing part of the wall before the girls uncle put the pire out with a pot of water. If she hadnt moved it off the carpet the whole carpet would have been up in flames and way worse than it ended up being. Reporter the u. S. Consumer product Safety Commission says this is the 12th hoverboard to catch fire. They say figuring out why its happening is a top priority. This is a high priority investigation and our job is to give consumers answers and were working to do that as soon as we can. Reporter its really not worth putting your familys life in danger to buy one of these cool gifts thats really popular. You never know which one is going to explode. Reporter now the Consumer Product Safety Commission says if youre mapping on buying a hoverboard as a gift this holiday season, theres some things you should look out for. Buy it from a reputable established company. They say dont buy it from a kiosk at the mall and check the battery. Make sure it has a label indicating that the battery has been tested and certified by a national laboratory. Reporting live in brentwood, im Jodi Hernandez, nbc bay area news. Thats very good tips. New video of todays emergency in contra costa county. A lot of people were alarmed to see this smoke and flames pouring out of the tesoro refinery. This is near martinez. A generating unit actually shut down right before noon. Now a Health Advisory was issued for the surrounding areas for about two hours. Now you can see here from our nbc chopper, the fire is out. No more smoke. That generating unit is back up and running. Tesoro is working with the county to investigate what went wrong. There were no reported injuries. S also tonight we investigate what happens midflight. Smoking, drinking and even having sex on commercial airplanes. A number of these incidents are on the rise pap whats being done . Reporter Stephen Stock is with us. Steven, are there legal consequences and whose j jurisdiction is this . Absolutely and its the federal government in charge. We discovered the number of complaints about this type of misbehavior has gone up in the last few years. While the number of the legal actions taken by federal authorities has gone down, believe it or not. Unruly passengers can cause headaches for travelers and for airlines. Our investigative uit it in combed through years of flight records and we found a dramatic increase in the number of complaints against unruly passengers. Disrupting a commercial flight is a serious federal crime, but as our unit discovered many of these rowdy passengers are then set free after the incident without facing any criminal charges. Right now, too many times, on an international flight, a passenger is disruptive, ruins the experience for a lot of people around that passenger, the plane lands the passenger walks away. Reporter its not just international, its also domestic. One of the reasons for all this misbehavior at least according to pilots and flight attendants i talked to, is because more and more people are flying and in means cases more and more people are being crammed into the back of small spaces like the back of airplanes. Coming up tonight at 11 00, we investigate a loophole in the system that many times lets these unruly passengers off the hook legally and what one group is doing about it to crack down on this threat thats actually a threat to the safety of anyone who flies. Thats tonight at 11 00. Well see you then. All right. Well see you at 11 00. A tip for Stephen Stock regarding this story or any other story, give us a call at 888996tips or send us an email directly to the unit at nbcbayarea. Com. Prosecutors believe a south bay man killed at least four cats and that man appeared in front of a judge today. Im Michele Robertson. Coming up hear from some of the owners of those cats. And good afternoon. Im meteorologist jeff ranieri. Were tracking several systems in the pacific. When we could see some of the rain moving our way in my micro climate forecast. And thats the point where i was like oh, my gosh, i could be the group thats helping lowincome children discover how powerful their voices can be. Its a story that will make you bay area proud. Youre looking at a man who prosecutors are calling a cat killer. And today the case against him grew. The Santa Clara County District Attorneys Office now say hes. This man prosecutors say is a cat killer an the case against him grew. The District Attorneys Office says hes killed at least four cats and may have tortureded several more. Nbc bay areas Michele Roberts was in the san jose courtroom today. This is getting even more disturbing. Reporter yeah, it was. He was expected to enter a plea but that did not happen because the d. A. Entered six new counts, bringing six victims, all cats, the owners said it was difficult to see him face to face in court today. He was a fun little animal. Reporter june says her cat traveler went out one night in september and never came home. He was special to me. He was my family. Reporter she assumed he was lost until investigators say they found his black and white collar in robert farmers car alongside a dead cat she had never seen before. I didnt know i could hate, but i do hate him. I hate him. Reporter june still doesnt know exactly what happened to traveler, but today she and other victims spoke out on the stops of the courthouse. All because of what he did. Reporter mariannes cat was last seen in this Surveillance Video where hes seen trying to catch him in the front yard of the san jose home. Based on the killing complaint. Reporter the 24yearold faced a judge while his lawyer accepted new charges filed against him. In total he faces ten felony animal abuse charges and one misdemeanor for being under the influence of meth when arrested. Outside. Farmer needs to be punished. Reporter animal lovers and grieving met parents are calling for justice. As they mourn the loss of go go, champagne, shibly and traveler. You cry and you begin to think about what might have happened to that animal, you know, what this guy might have done to it. Reporter farmers attorney did not comment today. Farmer will be back in court next month. His bail is set at 175,000. Reporting live in san jose, Michele Roberts, nbc bay area news. San franciscos union square has a new plan to get the homeless off the streets. At a News Conference today, city leaders and businesses in the area have hired an outreach worker to help connect those in need with city services. Theyve also createsed a phone number. Anyone can call if they see a homeless person in need of help. Businesses are putting up 100,000 to help deal with the citys homeless problem. Being a good debater is a useful skill. Ask any of the republican president ial candidates debating as we speak in las vegas tonight. One group thinks its a skill that shouldnt be reserved for high powered politicians. Tonights bay jar proud. Ja nell the National Urban Debate League has 20 or so leagues around the country. One of their newest set up shop in Silicon Valley last year and already they say they are seeing great success. The number of schools they work with is growing, as is the confidence of the students. Reporter dough bait the way most of us think of it is a tool used to change minds. This story is about how debate is being used to change lives. You will hear young people talking about impacts of the plan. Reporter like it did for dimitri. I really think that the negative. Reporter and shantrees martin. Each in very different ways. For dimitri it happened during an interview for his first teaching job. The principal called me into his office at the end of the interview day and he said youre teaching these four classes and the debate coach and that was my introduction to the debate. Reporter for shantrees introduced to debate in college it happened when she realized she could win fights with her words, and not hers fists. Thats the point where i was like oh, my gosh, i can do this for life. This is really great. Well start on this side. Reporter from very different beginnings, though, dimitri and shantrees have found themselves in the same place running the newly formed Silicon Valley urban Debate League. Debate classes and competition for lowincome schools that usually have no tradition of debate. Theyve signed up five schools in the peninsula and south bay, in just twos years, with a waiting list to join. One of the things were really trying to do is enable young people who are kind of at the bottom of the social ladder to have the skills and the encoura encouragements not only to climb up for themselves but heal the whole system. Reporter the first step, they say, is convincing the students they not only have a voice, but one that matters. Not something many of them are used to hearing. Seeing them take on their power and realize oh, my gosh im brilliant, now i can change something. Reporter it is something shantrees says she has seen so many times. They gave no real information. Reporter most recently with East Palo Alto sophomore bonka. It gives me like the motivation and voice to advocate for my people and myself. Reporter blanca walked away with multiple awards from the most recent debate championships and a newfound confidence that words can make a difference especially hers. Like the smile there. Good for her. This is the pretty big deal when you figure a lot of the issues that we face in the country right now are about people who dont feel like theyre being heard. And what theyre saying is, were giving those people the ability to speak up and the best way to craft the argument so they are heard and give their voices power and its been very successful and something the country needs right now. What a great program. Thanks so much, garvin. A lot of heated debates in the newsroom. Garvin and i go back a lot. You seem to win a lot of those debates, raj. Our chief meteorologist is talking about our weather. Heated debates in the room, see on the sky camera, Clear Conditions across all of our micro climates from the south bay to peninsula, back to San Francisco an also for the north bay with temperatures in the 50s. Those clear skies will allow a lot of radiational cooling tonight. Any kind of heating, the little bit we had today will be able to escape in the upper atmosphere will allow temperatures to drop for tomorrow morning. Lets give you the latest on how cold its going to get and you can see in the north bay down to an average of 32 degrees. San francisco feeling the chill at 44. East bay at 35. For the south bay 36. We have pinpointed some of our coldest locations so i want to get to that next. You can see napa down to 30 degrees, san jose 35, morgan hill 30 and gilroy one of our chiliest temperatures at 28. As youve been saying wear those layers it helps to trap heat next to your body and well definitely keep you warmer. So what happens after we get over the cold air tomorrow morning. High pressure remains offshore. And this is the same area of High Pressure while its keeping storms away right now, its continuing to wrap this chilly air around the backside of it so once we get over that cold start for the morning hours, sunny skies to finish, overall a nice day, keep that jacket handy. Lets get a look at the micro climate forecast as we head throughout wednesday. You can see what i mean here. San jose, just with a high of 58 degrees. Cupertino 56, for the peninsula, follow suit with the cooler temperatures in the mid to upper 50s. San francisco heading over towards the marina 54 and sunny skies and a little bit warmer in the financial district. For the north bay, east bay and trivalley, sunny skies up into napa with 57 degrees. For the east bay, walnut creek coming in at 56. Oekz a little warmer by the bay with 59 and throughout the trivalley livermore at 54 degrees. Weve been talking about these changes coming our way and that potential of rainfall and looks like while we may have showers developing in the north bay by friday evening its all about Early Saturday Morning for this next storm system to arrive with rain and also wind. About a half inch, maybe an inch with that. Then potentially, from this upcoming sunday, through next tuesday, a series of disturbances lining up that we could have fourday rain totals anywhere from 1. 5 to 3 inches, from saturday right through next tuesday. Who would get that highest potential of rainfall . Lets go ahead and take a look. Youre going to be able to see the bulls eye no doubt up into marin, napa an sonoma counties. 2 to 4 inches. South of the Golden Gate Bridge we look solid now for at least 1 to 1. 5 inches. Well track it. Its still an early estimate. We will be here each and every day to let you know whats happening. Thanks. Still ahead, whats in a name . The powerful change facebook made today garnering praise from the lbgt community. A fiery end to a police chase. The troubling discovery officers made inside of that car. Come on in pop pop. Happy birthday. I just had a heart attack. And now i have a choice. For her. For them. And him. A choice to take brilinta. A prescription for people whove been hospitalized for a heart attack. I take brilinta with a baby aspirin. No more than 100 mg. As it affects how well it works. Its such an important thing to do to help protect against another heart attack. Brilinta worked better than plavix. And even reduced the chances of dying from another one. Dont stop taking brilinta without talking to doctor. Since stopping it too soon increases your risk of clots in your stent, heart attack, stroke, and even death. Brilinta may cause bruising or bleeding more easily or serious, sometimes fatal bleeding. Dont take brilinta if you have bleeding, like stomach ulcers. A history of bleeding in the brain, or severe liver problems. Tell your doctor about bleeding, new or unexpected shortness of breath, any planned surgery and all medicines you take. I will take brilinta today. Tomorrow. And every day for as long as my doctor tells me. Dont miss a day of brilinta. Into a geyser todayit new at 5 00 a deadly crash in the east bay causes a fire hydrant to turn into a geyser today. It happened after a highspeed pursuit that began in oakley and ended in antioch. This Morning Police say it slammed into a power pole and the car burst into flames. The driver tried to run away but investigators caught him. Investigators saw a body in the chard car. Theyre investigating including the chp. Palo alto are looking for a man who followed a young girl home and forcibly kissed her. It happened in the victims tamland drive apartment complex. The 12yearold told police she was on the phone with her parents when a man put his hand over her mouth an kissed her on the cheek. She rhe ran away. The girl was not hurt. Guy and less gee yan activists are praising facebook. Famed cross dressers the sisters of perpetual indull against played a change in this. Facebook apologized for blocking several of their accounts. Transgender people and Domestic Abuse victims use alternative names to hide from abusers. Facebook is giving more scrutiny to reports of fake names. The gay and Transgender Community complained those who reported them for name violations used the complaint process via facebook as a bullying tai tactic. Police officers who took a break from the streets to spread christmas cheer. Great change comes from doing the right thing. Like the radical idea that health isnt an industry. Its a cause. So we do things differently. We combine care and coverage. And believe prevention is the most powerful of cures. So forgive us for not going with the flow. We just think the flow should go with us. Which makes us rebels with one cause. Your health. Take vo a jet skids off the runway in nashville. We tonight at 6 00, trouble for southwest airlines. A jet, a southwest jet, skids off the runway in nashville. Well have the latest from the scene coming up on our 6 00 news cast. Sometimes santa does wear a badge. You can call this an undercover santa. Chief sellers traded his Police Uniform for a red coat to surprise children in the pediatric ward at Kaiser Hospital in santa clara. Santa brought cheer along with presents which were provided by the elves with the Santa Clara Fire Department is. Cute to see that baby. I foe. How happy the kids are, they need holiday cheer. Thats very nice. Thanks for joining us here at 5 00. Up next, nightly news with kate snow. Hope to see you back here tonight at 6 00. Good night folks. Tonight, a Massive School scare shutdown in los angeles. Threats to new york and l. A. Trigger the sudden closure of hundreds of Southern California schools now being called a hoax. Did l. A. Officials overreact . Is this the new normal after San Bernardino . Fight night in vegas. Trump versus cruz. Cruz versus rubio. And fireworks on the strip, as National Security takes center stage. Targeting brain cancer. A new device thats prolonging lives. Doctors calling it the most promising treatment for brain tumors in years. Weather whiplash. Record snow in the west. Record heat in the east. Businesses hit hard. And a major lawsuit over a hugely popular line of hair Care Products endorsed by celebrities, now hundreds of women say it severely damaged their hair