we've been talking about. cbs reporter nancy cordis on the progress or lack thereof in washington. >> reporter: in his saturday weekly address, president obama signaled he is open to making cuts on programs like medicare and medicaid if republicans agree to raise tax rates for the rich. >> i'm willing to find ways to bring down the cost of healthcare without hurting seniors and other americans who depend on it. and i'm willing to make more entitlement spending cuts on top of the $1 trillion in spending cuts i signed into law last year. >> reporter: his remarks came one day after house speaker john boehner announced the talks were stalled. >> well, this isn't a progress report, because there's no progress to report. >> reporter: his democratic counterpart, nancy pelosi, blames boehner for the stalemate. >> what they offered in return was an empty letter, lacking in specifics. >> reporter: such is the state of negotiations 23 days before the deadline, when federal income tax rates will revert to higher clinton era levels, 2% payroll tax cuts will expire, and long-term unemployment benefits will dry up for over 2 million americans who have been out of work for six months or more. on saturday, boehner did not allow a compromise on tax hike for top earners, somewhere between today's 35% rate and the clinton era's 39.6%. >> there are a lot of things that are possible, but to put the revenue to the president seeks on the table. >> reporter: even if the two sides are making progress behind the scenes, no one expects them to admit it until the last minute. but the office of management and budget has asked federal agencies for a list of possible cuts, just in case there's no deal. nancy cordis, cbs news, the white house. >> the fiscal cliff is also the topic for discussion on "face the nation." that starts at 8:30 a.m. on cbs 5. now, what may be a boost for american businesses, a brisk holiday shopping season and it's under way now. fedex is gearing up for its busiest day of the year. a record 19 million packages are expected to be shipped tomorrow. that's more than double the amount handled in a typical day. fedex says most of the increase in shipments is because of a big jump in online holiday orders. another holiday tradition, red kettles and salvation army bell ringers. >> both at the center of a controversy at uc berkeley. cal students are calling for a ban of the salvation army on campus, after allegations of being insensitive to lesbians and transgenders surfaced online. student leaders passed a billow posing the organization. university officials are considering a campus-wide ban of the group. the salvation army denies all of those allegations in recent statements. funeral services are being held this weekend for two teenage girls shot to death in east oakland. 15-year-old raquel gerstel and 16-year-old bobby sartain were best friends. they were shot two weeks ago near brooke dale park. police have not made any arrests. services for raquel happen today at 11:00 this morning at cooper's mortuary on fruitvale avenue. the man accused of killing sierra lamar will be arraign order new charges tomorrow. antolin garcia-torres has now been accused of three other attempted kidnappings. the 21-year-old was charged last month in connection to those assaults. the incidents took place back in 2009, all in safeway parking lots. garcia-torres was employed at the safeway in morgan hill. in a brash home invasion in san francisco's richmond district, three men with a gun chased a woman into her home near the intersection of 31st avenue and clemente street last night. a neighbor tells us when the woman's father got to the house, she screamed, don't come in! but it was too late. robbers got away with a wallet, diamond earrings, watch and gold chain, but no one was hurt. union workers at the port of oakland have voted to ratify a new contract. >> more than 200 people went out on strike last month, disrupting operations at the port. electricians, security personnel and janitors now have approved a contract that includes a 2.5% cost of living raise in 2013 and 2014. the board of port commissioners still has to approve the deal, however. and a north bay oyster company is fighting an eviction order by the federal government. a 40-year agreement between the park service and drinks bay oyster company expired last month. the park service says the company's operations threaten endangered species in the area. but now the owners have filed a complaint in court saying the interior department's denial of a permit extension violates federal law. but meanwhile, oysters are turning up in a surprisingly new place. >> about a hundred of them were discovered in the vallejo municipal arena. as don ford tells us, it is a sign the ecosystem there is starting to recover. >> reporter: the city of vallejo was dredging their public marina when they dug something up. something no one expected. something odd, says marina manager. >> i've been here since 23 years and i've never seen these guys before. >> reporter: california oysters. although small and not too many, these oysters are sensitive to water quality. folks here believe it's a good sign. >> obviously, the water's getting better. quality's getting much improved, which is very nice. >> reporter: this hasn't always been the case. for over a hundred years, a shipyard operator across the river. and legend has it once in the 1940s, the water caught fire. that, combined with agricultural runoff in the napa valley created nasty water. downriver, matthew sears manages the 112-year-old vallejo yacht club. he says wildlife is returning. >> we get the seal, little juvenile seal who is constantly using our harbor for fishing. he gets the salmon, the striped bass, and they don't have a chance. he gets them every time. >> reporter: there's still a lot of work to be done, but these small critters are making a big splash. while these oysters are a good indicator that the napa river is getting better all the time, i still wouldn't eat 'em. in vallejo, don ford, cbs 5. san francisco's top cop testing the political waters with a new stun gun proposal. >> and a new challenge to the people's initiative to limit property taxation. we're talking about prop 13. state senator mark leno joins us next. >> our slogan in the churches was vote for l or go to hell! . >> mixing the pulpit with politics. what he did that changed everything for people barely making entdz meet. >> and in the weather department, a lovely start to sunday morning. looks like the next couple of days are going to be good, but changes are coming midweek and we'll set them out all in good order. but first, let's take a break. ,,,, ,,,,,,,, fierce fighter. but as cbs . 7:41. when it comes to farm worker rights, cesar chavez was a fierce fighter, but as cbs 5 sharon chen reports, north bay farm workers have had their own faithful friend for the past 30 years. this week's jefferson award winner. >> reporter: 60-year-old sanchez has a place to call home. he spent many years homeless and nearly four decades as a migrant worker in the napa valley vineyards. [ speaking spanish ] >> sometimes lived in the car. >> reporter: or in the fields. [ speaking spanish ] >> he's very, very hard. >> reporter: at the river ranch farm worker, he and 60 other laborers get bedrooms, three meals a day, and hot showers. [ speaking spanish ] >> he rests much bemplet he doesn't really worry. >> reporter: the workers give thanks for father john brinkle, a champion of farm worker housing for nearly 30 years. >> this valley is so darn prosperous. it was a scandal having them sleeping in cars. >> reporter: when he first came to st. helena catholic church in 1983, father brinkle immediately noticed the plight of the farm worker. in fact, at night, he would see up to 40 of them crowded onto the church porch to sleep. >> when i went to bed in my warm bed, i felt very uncomfortable. >> reporter: at first, father brinkle offered showers and meals at his church and set up a tent city. and he organized a committee of growers, farm workers and community leaders to create long-term housing. in 2002, they helped pass measure l, the ordinance allowing land owners to donate less than 40-acre parcels for farm worker housing. >> our slogan in the churches was vote for l or go to hell! >> reporter: father brinkle's leadership gave rise to three county-owned farm worker centers that house nearly 200 napa valley workers. river ranch is one of them. laborers pay $12 a night to cover half the $1 million operating costs. a voluntary tax on businesses runs the rest. angel calderon runs the centers. he says the 81-year-old priest created a model. >> i don't know anyone else in this valley doing that much for the farm workers. >> reporter: father brinkle also cofounded a nonprofit that helped develop more than 900 affordable housing units. >> as i look back, i have a sense of peace and satisfaction. >> reporter: so for his tireless fight for farm worker housing, this week's jefferson award in the bay area goes to father john brinkle. sharon chen, cbs 5. >> and you can nominate your local heroes for a jefferson award online at cbssf.com. click the connect button at the top of the page, then jefferson awards to find out e-mail nomination form. well, a lot of folks are going to be heading out to candlestick. >> and more sunshine is expected today, huh, brian? >> got to be as good as it gets, don't you think? in all of the contests being played across all of the country, this is not bad. we get sunshine, a little windier today. other than that, lots of sun around the bay area and the temperatures, unseasonably warm, 5 degrees warmer than average for this time of the year. we are off to a chilly start. in santa rosa, 37 degrees. concord, 44. livermore's got 42. already in the city, 52 degrees, lots of blue up there. we still have some high clouds floating overhead here and there. here's what we'll be expecting next. few high clouds today. don't forget the winds out of the northwest, kind of a dry direction. chapped skin kind of weather. lots of sunshine. next rain coming in on wednesday. and the time lapse here, you can see what's unfolded over the last 24 hours. low pressure is just climbing over the top, over british columbia. for us, sunny and breezy today will do it. over the rest of northern california, if you're heading out, dense fog advisories posted until 9:00 this morning from the southern end of the sacramento valley, right down through the san joaquin valley. 65 degrees in monterey, 67 and sunny. out of the bay area, mostly sunny skies at the airport, winds out of the northwest to about 30. new york's got rain. but for the rest, just clouds in denver and chicago. chicago, just 34. los angeles at 73. back in the bay area, the numbers today look nice. mid-60s will do it. 63 at pacifica, 64 for san jose. 66 in santa rosa. how about the extended forecast? next chance for rain for the bay area coming in wednesday. not a big rain maker. showers could linger into thursday. latter half of the weekend, you have to stay tuned, because right now some of the models are saying we'll get more rain on thursday, friday and saturday. some say we're not. so we're going to broad brush it and say partly cloudy skies. we will get wet on wednesday. we will have more details in the next 30 minutes. in the meantime, let's get the latest from phil and anne. we're going to move from the weather in the bay area to the weather in sacramento politically. with this democratic supermajority now in session, changing proposition 13, the people's initiative to limit property taxation as it's called, has been on the books since 1978, but state senator mark leno here, who joins us, good morning, and some of your colleagues in the assembly are talking about changing it. >> well, keep in mind for the first 99 years of our state and our state constitution, local elected bodies, like city councils and school boards had the authority to raise taxes by a vote of their own council. >> right. >> prop 13 took that away from them and gave it to the people, only to the people. we also think of prop 13 as keeping grandma, grandpa in their home by capping-- >> because local jurisdictions were taxes grandma and grandpa out of their homes. >> that's right. capping at 1% the amount of property tax anyone pays on the assessed value of their home. so there are a lot of different pieces to it. the piece that i picked up is that prop 13 said to pass a special tax for schools, for example-- >> or libraries. >> or libraries or parks, two-thirds is the threshold that voters must support is for it to be enacted. we're suggesting, well, that was 35 years ago. let's revisit it and lower it to 55%. this past november, there were 27 parcel taxes for schools on the ballot. 17 passed, which means 17 got to two-thirds, but 10 did not. of those 10, seven got more than 55%, but failed because the current threshold is 66%. >> so you want to drop it down, okay. but again, when it comes to homeowners and the idea of prop 13, even that's changed a bit. it's older homeowners now that benefit from it and younger homeowners are saying i'm paying this and you're paying not. do you feel that the mood has changed on the overall idea, prop 13? >> the difference between someone who supports it and doesn't support it is about five years of homeownership, because it does shift over time. initially, it benefited everybody on the block. but as properties started to change hands, for example, i've been in my home 30 years. next door neighbor on left and right pay about 10 times in property taxes what i pay. the question is, is that equitable? >> why hasn't that translated into a political force in sacramento over the years? >> i think we do reach a tipping point at some point. but again, not to get anyone nervous, no one is suggesting that we should be adjusting how residential property taxes-- >> no, but they are suggesting about commercial property. >> correct. >> commercial properties often don't get sold outright. they get transferred when companies sell each, get bought and sold. >> which means they are not reassessed, which means those commercial properties are not paying higher taxes. they are paying the same taxes they were 40 years ago. and the -- this is the most dramatic view of it. in 1978, 60% of all property taxes in the state were paid by commercial property owners. 40% by residential. it's now flipped. we residential owners are paying 60% and the commercial 40. and so we're subsidizing very large corporations who are not paying their fair share. >> now, changing that rule is changing the language, could be done by the legislature, redefining what transfer is. >> there are a couple of ways-- >> your initiative would go to a vote of the people, to drop the -- from 65 to 55. >> because the people put it in place. >> this could be done by the legislature. do you see the legislature taking on commercial interests because they are big bank rollers in politics in california? >> yes, they are. there are a couple of ways of doing it. one would be to make it clear that prop 13 does not cover commercial property that. would have to go back to the voters. that's called split role. and our former assessor has been leaking that charge. my colleague has been trying to clarify what the definition of transfer of property is, because unlike homeowners, there's usually one, maybe two owners to a property, but for commercial property, there could be seven partners. and as long as no more than 50% of the shares change hands, there is no transfer. and so commercial properties continue to increase in value, but we the people don't see any benefit in the amount of property taxes owners pay. >> now that the democrats are in control of both houses and a democratic governor, last question, quick, what are the odds of us seeing a change in the next two years? >> depending upon which of these different pieces we're talking about, i'm hoping we could get two-thirds of the legislature to put this idea of lowering the threshold specifically for school parcel taxes on the ballot. let the voters decide. >> okay. >> with regard to the redefinition of transfer, that's going to be a little more difficult, but i'm also also remaining hopeful we can do it. it's good public policy. >> doesn't necessarily mean it's going to work. >> you're right. and business interests have a lot of power in sacramento, yes, you're right. >> take a look at anybody, including democrats' financial statements from where they get their campaign contributions and you'll see that. okay. thank you for stopping by. >> always good to be here. >> this will be going on for many years. we'll be back with more news in just a minute. stay tuned. boxing...another showdown before supervisors calls for . the debate over tasers is recharging again in san francisco. a new proposal before supervisors is calling for some officers to carry stun guns. >> and it's going before the police commission as well. that's why we turn to former mayor willie brown and san francisco police chief greg surf. and our first question to the chief is, okay, you're advocating these tasers. do you have any experience in have you ever been tased? >> i have actually when he was mayor, we were looking at it 10 years ago and i volunteered. i'm telling you, it works. >> okay. so why the objections at the board? >> well, there are some people that just believe that under every single circumstance, that you can resolve the situation and that you would never, ever, ever have to use some sort of weapon to defend yourself. and that just hasn't proven to be the case over time. >> now, every other city around has gone with tasers. what is it about san francisco that mass it so resistent? >> i think the people in san francisco object to tasers, are firmly of the opinion that you would sell them, use your fatal weapon, your weapon could end newspaper a fatality, but you would use your taser every 30 seconds, every opportunity you have. >> okay. is he right? does it increase the high visibility of use? >> i would say the tests over time nationally show that's the case when you outfit an entire police department at the same time. that's not what i am asking for. what we're suggesting is that we give it to essentially 5% of the police department, the most well-trained to deal with those in crisis and those most reticent to use it, so it really would be a last resort short of a gun. >> the most deadly weapon is the gun. >> yep. >> everybody's got that. but only 5% -- but only the best trained get something less deadly. >> for starters. for starters. >> that's politics. >> but if-- exactly. i'm trying to ask for something that has been shown nationally right for a slow rollout. and the officers that want it, they will have to go to training that otherwise they might not take. >> that's politics. >> no, not really, phil, because you see-- >> that's san francisco. >> the -- the opportunity presents itself to stabilize the situation until one of your specialists arrives, then you would properly use the well-trained guy, period. >> or not. or not. >> that's correct. >> and in the meantime, it's people with guns that are going to have to make a split-second decision. >> seems like they are kind of slowly wading into the waters of this. >> they are. and they have for the last couple of years. i mean, san francisco, this has become a debate hot point for a lot of other issues. just like over in alameda county, we'll be talking a little bit later about drones, the use of drones by law enforcement, by the sheriff's department, also bringing in a bit of a controversy. by the way, the police department is set to hold a community meeting on the stun gun pilot program on january 9. >> that will be your chance to weigh in, if you're interested. coming up in our next half hour, we are going to go more in-depth into the debate over drones in the east bay. >> and now san francisco muni system also wants to change the way riders pay for transit. how it all may be tied to your paycheck. >> and 14 grand for a car and it can't even be registered at the dmv? the snafu turning bay area buyers and sellers into big losers. we'll be right back. ,,,,,,,,,, [ crickets chirping ] [ traffic passing ] ♪ [ music box: lullaby ] [ man on tv, indistinct ] ♪ [ lullaby continues ] [ baby coos ] [ man announcing ] millions are still exposed to the dangers... of secondhand smoke... and some of them can't do anything about it. ♪ [ continues ] [ gasping ] the first time. . a breakfast reception for midnight weddings. the state where same-sex couples tied the knot for the first time. >> and we've got a beautiful start to our sunday morning. yet something wicked this way comes. we'll tell you what and when, in a few minutes. >> now, you can measure public reaction in the middle of your debate! you can actually have people tweet in and responding on the floor. >> checking the pulse of california voters. the new poll that shows things are looking up for the golden state. welcome back to eyewitness news this morning. it's 8:00. it's december 9th, and i'm phil mateer. >> i'm anne makovec. thank you for joining us this morning. lot to talk about in the next half hour. a new legislative session has begun. new legislators being sworn in next week. we'll take a look at what to expect in the months to come. >> and debate over drones, the flying objects that you can remote control, alameda county sheriff's department wants to use them. the big question, is how should they be used? we'll have an expert on privacy coming in and talking about that. meanwhile, a recent effort to provide free muni passes for low income school children in san francisco has provoked a lot of debate. >> now muni officials are talking about another idea that could turn the fare system upside down. muni riders have plenty to say on the plan to base fares on their ability to pay. >> reporter: the san francisco municipal transportation agency is thinking of changing the way you pay for transit. instead of basing fares on age or disability, muni is thinking of basing prices on a person's income. >> well, that makes sense. >> i make less money, so i feel all right about that. >> i think that's great. >> reporter: muni has been talking for months about allowing low income use to ride for free. this would go well beyond that. >> we would have to work on exactly how this would work, but there would be some sort of financial record that would have to be proven to get a discount like this. >> reporter: riders have mixed feelings on that. >> no one wants to give up records. >> the government has all the records of what i make anyway. so it's one other branch of government having the records of what i make. >> yeah, i don't want my information scattered here and there. i don't know where they end up. >> reporter: a muni spokesperson thinks the program would be a wash financially, while some pay more, while others pay less. >> we might see an increase in ridership and that might help. >> reporter: seniors would still get a discount of at least 50%, which is federal law. right now, the discount is more like 56%. the bay area's lead transit planning body is already conducting a study on the issue, which means it could go beyond the muni, possibly to bart, all facilitated by the new clipper card system. but right now, it's muni that's full steam ahead. >> we are one of the largest transit agencies in the country and we would be one of the first to look at something like this. >> mta staffers will be drawing up a plan to give to the board of directors early next year. if approved, the system could be put in place that same year. well, here's another story about public money, but with a different twist. some power players in san jose are rushing to pay back santa clara county for taxpayer funded meals. the board of supervisors paid with many meals with county-issued credit cards. now the mercury news say eight people who ate with him in those meals have reimbursed the county for more than $1600, including a council member, a political consultants, and a deputy police chief. a four-hour standoff between an armed man and police in a jack in the box is officer. the man took two women hostage and tried to rob the restaurant. after four hours, police shot him. both hostages made it out safely. the suspect was taken to the hospital. sacramento county sheriffs deputies believe road rage may be to blame for an early morning shooting. officers tracked down a vehicle matching a victim description and found two women in a nearby car with a relative. police arrested him for the shooting. today, an american doctor who had been captured by the taliban last week was rescued in afghanistan. american and afghan forces carried out an early morning operation outside kabul. the u.s.-led coalition says the rescue was ordered after intel gains indicated that the doctor was in danger of being physically harmed. he had been abducted five days ago. and the president of pakistan has made a visit to a 15-year-old girl who was shot in the head. the girl traveled to a british hospital where the school girl was being treated. the president met with doctors, as well as the girl's family. she was shot by the taliban while in pakistan back in october, where she was campaigning for girls education. and police in britain are talking to australian authorities about a prank call that took a tragic turn. >> a british nurse died on friday, three days after she accepted a call from two radio djs in australia who were impersonating queen elizabeth and prince charles. the nurse transferred that prank call to the ward where kate middleton was recovering from morning sickness. there are unconfirmed reports that the nurse killed herself. australian police confirm they have been contacted by police in london and the company that owns that radio station that started the prank says it will cooperate. wedding bells are ringing in washington state, as couples lined up at midnight to get married. >> same-sex couples gathered to say "i do" as early as 12:01 this morning. hundreds of couples picked up their marriage licenses on thursday, but had to wait until today to officially get hitched. washington became one of the first states to pass same-sex marriage by a popular vote. a south bacon signment car sales lot once full of bmws, mercedes and lexus cars is suddenly empty. the car owners are now looking for the dealer who can't be found. cbs 5 consumer watch reporter julie watts on the dealership that disappeared under the cover of darkness. >> reporter: the business is gone, along with the cars. >> tow truck just came in and towed them off. >> reporter: also missing? their money? >> drove by here every single day to make sure my car was still here. >> reporter: sunnyvale motor cars has disappeared, leaving an empty lot and a lot of angry customers who trusted the business to sell their cars on consignment. >> it's theft. >> reporter: todd parsons is out $28,000. he says the lot took his car and gave him a bad check. >> it was all a scam. >> reporter: kristy wanted to eliminate a $600 car payment, so she left sunnyvale her vw. >> the dealership said they would pay off my car once the car was sold. >> reporter: abe sharp says he's now stuck with a vehicle he can't register because there's a lien on it. >> we don't have a valid registration. >> reporter: and there are dozens of similar complaints online. adding to the frustration, these folks say so far, neither insurance companies norsuny vail police have been any help. >> i don't think they have even assigned an officer to this particular case. >> my insurance agent said he had never heard of this. >> reporter: sunnyvale police tell us it's complicated because the customers had a contract with the dealership, which could make this a civil case. and customers fear that could mean a long road to recovery. >> i feel a little naive, a little stupid that i let this happen. >> reporter: on the consumer watch, julie watts, cbs 5. >> what a mess. now, the property owner says sunnyvale motor cars also skipped out on the rent. customers who have lost money can apply for reimbursement through a special state automobile recovery fund. for more information, go to cbssf.com/consumer watch. mini spy planes flying over the bay area. >> that's right. the tug of war over public safety and privacy rights. a digital activist from the electronic foundation joins us next. >> and cozy enough? imagine a home with only 200 square feet. the tiny housing trend going big around the country. >> and sunday's on to a beautiful start in the bay area. take advantage of it. a few high clouds. other than that, we'll be out the door with plenty of sun. changes coming midweek. we'll have the forecast, as we look live over the shadow of the transamerica, casting a long shadow over the city. hey, that means there's sun out there! see you in a minute. ntry. ,,,,,,,,,,,, both: we're the fruit guys! back in 1998, we had this idea to deliver fresh fruit to offices in downtown san francisco. we built these wooden crates, filled these with fruit in my one-bedroom apartment. the fruit guys has been with bank of america since they first started. we work with them to help them grow and succeed. we're coming up on 50 employees and delivering to thousands of companies every week. i would definitely say this is a fruitful business. in washington dc, three buis are designing mini houses ia downsizing is catching on across the country. in washington, dc, three builders are now designing mini houses in a vacant lot. the houses are more like boxes, averaging about 200 square feet. they believe these tiny homes are great for someone who wants to live simply, but they aren't the only ones with this philosophy. big cities, like here in san francisco and new york are experimenting as well. >> they are more about experience than they are material things. they like their space, but they like the street theater, the street, the cafes, those become our living rooms. >> so in san francisco -- actually, in dc, the developer is opening 100 compact apartments on the city's waterfront. he believes the housing market is being driven by a new generation. but, yeah, they are talking about doing this in san francisco as well. mini apartments. a whole new form of cozy. >> exactly, because the idea is people will then go outside on the streets. so if i was in a small, one of those little box apartments and i wanted to step out into my living room, the bay area, brian, what will i be facing? >> transition master here. >> long one, but he got to it! >> nevertheless, beautifully done. we have a beautifully done sunday, too. let's head outside. numbers this morning mostly in the 40s and 50s. yet, santa rosa's got 37 degrees and a few high clouds up top. winds will be picking up today. that's probably the big difference out of a dry direction, the northwest. northwest means we'll not have much fog around in the bay area. look for today to be sunny and breezy. lots of sunshine through tuesday. next rains come in on wednesday. between now and then, got a lot of sunshine. time lapse shows high clouds spilling into a short wave trough that moved into northern california. that will leave us behind. we'll be sunny and breezy for the most part. let us quickly recap where we are on the rainy season. by the way, remember last week at this time, what a difference a week makes. we're now at 150% of average around the bay area, even more for santa rosa as we look at the rain totals since the rain season began back on july 1st. numbers for the bay area, we'll be looking at readings in the mid-60s for the most part. 65 in santa clara. 65 for sunnyvale. 64 for san jose. east bay, nice, temperatures in the low to mid-60s. napa, 64. here in san francisco, 64 degrees and 65 at alameda, going to be nice. extended forecast, expect a little bit of rain for the bay area on wednesday. latter half of the week looks iffy. right now, we'll say partly cloudy. but on that, one must stay tuned, because we could get rain thursday, friday and saturday. take a bit to clarify that. meantime, sunshine looks good and now let's get the latest with phil and anne. >> thanks, brian. well, there's a drone war being waged in alameda county. >> the sheriff's office there says it needs one of the pint size spy planes for public safety purposes. critics worry big brother might just hop on board. >> having a device like this that we could look into that area prior to serving the search warrant would be very helpful. >> a decision on whether or not to buy a drone for the sheriff's office was sent to committee for further study. a public hearing is expected in january. if approved, it will go back to the board of supervisors for final approval, this after the sheriff voluntarily pulled the item from last tuesday's agenda. so there are several steps before this actually comes to fruition. the delay came after concerns from privacy advocates, including the ucla and the electronic frontier foundation and a member of the eff at that meeting, parker higgins, joins us live now. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> your main concern about this? >> well, it's privacy concerns. and there are safety problems, too. but we feel that if, if police are going to be acquiring technology like these drones, there need to be clear rules in place about them getting warrants, too. >> and the sheriff says there would be clear rules, that they would be using them only for specific purposes, natural disasters, to find exit routes out or standoffs in which they need to gather intelligence on where a suspect is. >> and in this case there is a a bit of a word game here, because that was the justification he gave to the city council. but then when you look at the application at documents acquired by us at eff and the aclu, he gave different purposes, things like surveillance and crowd control and that's the sort of thing we're concerned about. >> why? >> why are we concerned about this? >> right. if a police officer is there, they have eyes, doing the same thing. it's a question of where they are. crowd control, if you have a drone overhead and the police are better informed as to which way the crowd is moving or a protest is going down the street, what's bad about that? >> well, we view, we feel that having a little bit of judicial oversight on that is not going to be a problem. but that the cost of flying a drone, of sending it up in the air and observing, really conducting surveillance constantly would be low enough that police might be tempted to do that if there aren't -- if there isn't a requirement for warrants in place. >> okay, but we're talking about this surveillance. let's say, if it is demonstrations, those are on public streets. that's motte covered by privacy. anybody with a camera could get up on a rooftop and be shooting that. i mean, so what you're saying is what you want is -- are you saying that the police shouldn't do what the private citizen can do? >> well, no, but there have to be restrictions in place. this is the same sort of issue that we've seen the supreme court address this year. for example, a police officer, a group of police officers are allowed to follow you in your car. without a warrant, you're on public streets. and so they said, well, then we should be able to drop a gps device on there and monitor you constantly. it's no different from what we could do. and the court said there is a difference. there is a substantive difference when it's, you know, a $300 device that you can leave there for months versus a team of six agents, 24 hours a day. and that is really where the idea of a reasonable expectation of privacy comes into play. people may understand other people have cell phones, could be an officer in a crowd, but you don't expect a robotic camera flying above you 24 hours a day. >> so let's not throw out the baby with the bath water here. are you willing to talk more with the sheriff's office about some applicable rules at your group and the aclu? >> sure, definitely. and we think there should be restrictions in place, but it doesn't mean there should be no cameras or no drones. there are absolutely good reasons for environmental or-- >> what about just using them as a patrol vehicle? if you're out in alameda county and somebody's got a meth lab or various other things going on out there, this thing would be flying around and checking places out. are you opposed to that as well? >> well, it separates us from the idea of an officer in the patrol vehicle. and that's a little alarming. there's been some -- for -- as long as there have been patrol vehicles, there's been that kind of discretion put in place by the fact that there has to be a person there. so, yeah, it's what a person can see from public streets. and i think that this idea that a camera would be gathering all that information constantly without a person, and you could imagine if it's not just one drone. these are relatively cheap to acquire, cheaper than an officer, and could fly constantly. >> that's one of the reasons they want them, because budget cuts. >> cheaper than officers. >> we don't have the officers. it's going to be an interesting debate. and i was talking with supervisors in alameda county and it's very up in the air as to which way they will go. parker higgins from the eff, thanks. >> thank you. we'll be right back. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, francisco police and the 49s . today, a nonprofit is teaming up with the san francisco police and the 49ers to collect toys for kids. volunteers from operation dream will be collecting new and unwrapped toys at the gates of can stick park. no toy guns will be allowed, though. volunteers will have buckets in the parking lot to accept cash donations, too. it's all part of an annual drive to distribute gifts to thousands of children. and of course you can watch the 49ers game against the dolphins right here on cbs 5, followed immediately by the 5th quarter. things may be looking up for california. >> that's right. the latest poll show voters actually feel more optimistic about governor brown and the wake of proposition 30. 48% approval rating for governor brown. all right. that's pretty good. nearly half think the state is going in the right direction since prop 30 passed as well. but 94% of those polled believe the state's fiscal future overall is still a problem. so with that in mind, we turn to former mayor and state assembly speaker willie brown and san francisco chronicle political reporter joe gayre foley. our first question, it appears that happy days are here again for california voters. why are they feeling so good? >> they are feeling better. they are not still -- not a majority of people are feeling good, but they are feeling more optimistic. part of it is the stability they feel after prop 30. they said the state's in better financial footing. >> now, when you're up in sacramento, they read the polls all the time. did you ever take stock when the public was feeling better or feeling worse? >> no, are you kidding me? [ laughter ] >> i'm more concerned about my 41 votes. i'm not concerned about the public, period. the public was basically in second place. i had to make sure the leadership was able to do what the leadership needed to do by first, surviving, and then working on product. period. and believe me, in the old days, we didn't have any way to measure instantly public reaction. now you can measure public reaction in the middle of your debate! you can actually have people tweeting and responding on the floor as you debate. that's horrible! >> well it, is interesting, the polling that goes on and the amount of polling. it used to be just during elections. now it is nonstop. >> it's 24/7. there's constantly polls in the field. how are people feeling about prop 30, feeling about prop 13? there is instant analysis constantly. and that leads to a little paralysis, don't you think? >> it's totally and completely removes the delivery process. in many cases, people express themselves in the polls have no idea what they are talking about. they don't know the comprehensive nature, don't know how it affects modesto versus, you know, st. marys. >> i give, i give! >> that must be tough for the leadership. >> absolutely. >> now you're making my point for me. i want to make sure my member understands that i'm equal to that lobbyist. >> okay. >> that's the only poll that matters? >> knocking on the door with a wad of cash -- [ laughter ] >> sad, but true. coming up, one more look at this morning's top stories. >> and that includes the deadline for the so-called fiscal cliff, the possible compromises from both sides of the aisle. >> we'll be right back. ,,,,,,,, more back and forth on how o avert the . welcome back. let's take a look at this morning's top stories. >> more back and forth on how to avert that fiscal cliff. we are just 22 days before the deadline. president obama says he is willing to cut some entitlements and speaker john boehner is not ruling out a tax hike for top earners. and muni is contemplating changing their fare to be based on a person's income. the bay area lead transit body is conducting a study on the issue due to riders' mixed feelings. and "face the nation" is coming up next on cbs 5. for us, we move over to the cw, where salmon have suddenly appeared after a 50-year absence. channel 44, cable 12, starting at 8:30 a.m. >> what are we supposed to do? we're supposed to swim upstream. we forgot about that. >> well, right now, no water to speak of in our skies. >> and probably a well-deserved break. as we have a look outside, it's going to be sunny and breezy. northwesterlies kick up, a dry direction, kind of chapped lips weather. feferlts, plenty of sunshine. temperatures are going to be in the mid-60s on average in the bay area, going to be nice. next chance of rain coming in on wednesday. >> we'll concentrate on the sunshine in the meantime. thanks for joining us this morning. enjoy the rest of your sunday. we're jumping over to the cw and "face the nation" is next on cbs 5. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, >> schieffer: today on "face the nation," will they really let it happen? will political gridlock force us over the fiscal cliff and into a new recession with higher taxes for everyone? house speaker john boehner called it another wasted week. >> well, this isn't a progress report because there's no progress to report. > report. >> schieffer: the president won't budge. no deals unless it includes higher taxes on upper