Transcripts For KTVU KTVU 20240703

A new chapter for the Oakland Police department. Chief Floyd Mitchell officially steps into his new role. Well examine his plans and priorities for the east bays largest city. Plus, tragedy in contra costa county, a five year old boy dies after being pulled from the waters of bethel island. The warning from First Responders as summer is just around the corner. Live from Jack London Square this is morning time two. The night. Well, todays monday, may 13th. Youre looking live from our emeryville camera at the bay bridge and San Francisco skyline in the distance. And you can see right there. Yeah, weve got some cloudy skies that were dealing with. Were going to check in with roberta gonzalez. Shes in for steve. Shell give us an update on how long this weather will be sticking around for us today. Jay. Well, triple a is predicting close to 44 Million People will be traveling for memorial day weekend. This years numbers is a 4 increase since last year and closely matches 2005 record travel. The motor Club Association projects 38 million will travel by car, while airports are expected to see 3. 5 million travelers that weekend. Experts say drivers leaving thursday or friday should hit the road early to avoid mixing with commuters and travelers returning sunday or monday should avoid the afternoon hours when returning from their trips, because that will be during the peak of travel time. All right, we want some viewer reaction now. Your reaction this morning we are asking, do you plan on traveling for memorial day weekend . Your options . Yes, im driving. Yes. Im flying. No, im staying at home and you can see what we have so far now. No, im at home is in the lead with 61. Second is. Yes. Im driving 26 and yes, im flying 13. Just scan the qr code on the top right of your screen or go to ktvu. Com vote. Wed love to hear your thoughts on what you plan to do. Welcome to the nine this morning. Anyone planning on going out of town . Ill be out of town. Oh you will, are you. Are you driving . Flying, sailing . Im flying. Oh, youre going big. Im going big. Going all out okay. Yes. Do you factor that . Its memorial day and everyone else is. Ill be honest with you. I didnt even realize when i booked it. It was memorial day weekend. Yeah, yeah, but it just made me happier that im like, yes, yeah, yeah, youre out of here. You know, theres a special kind of elite when everyones leaving and youre staying at home, right . And the neighborhood is quiet. I always have this joke, like, ive never been to burning man because i like to stay when the city empties out. Oh, yeah. It just kind of hang out, let all those people go, and im going to be at home, you know . Im going to get parking. Im going to get restaurant reservations. Right . Yeah, exactly. Hes living his all the things you couldnt get when everyones here. Yeah, right. Well keep peeking in on that poll and discuss your plans throughout the newscast. First, though, well start in oakland here as oaklands Newest Police chief is officially on the job today after more than a year without a permanent head of opd. Ktvu james torres live here in oakland with what the mayor says is the First Priority for the chief, and also why some oaklanders already appear to be skeptical. James garcia today, Long Time Coming now oaklands police chief, Newest Police chief Floyd Mitchell now officially first day in office on the job. As of today, this is where he came from. Lubbock, texas, as the police chief there. And the city reports that he has more than 30 years of Law Enforcement experience. Now, chief mitchell, he was shang taos selection for the job, the mayor, of course, making that selection a year, about after a year, a years long search, i should say, to replace former chief lauren armstrong, mayor tao fired armstrong in february 2023 after reports said the former chief did not properly handle cases of misconduct within the Police Department. The mayor has since said his attitude during conversations about that misconduct made her less confident that he could do the job. Armstrong has since filed a lawsuit against the city, the new chief coming in at a time when crime and Public Safety has been a wide concern for the city of oakland mayors office. Although reporting assaults, homicides and burglaries are all trending down, robberies are still on the rise. We spoke to one man this morning in oakland. He says hes lived here since the 50s. He thinks having a police chief hired from out of town will be a challenge. Youre going on paperwork. Youre going on what somebody didnt told you or passing on to you. But if you were down here in the roots with the other, with the people you would know the peoples. And so you know how everybody respond. The mayor says chief mitchell has been prepping for weeks. Hes been meeting up with the interim chief and getting up to speed on many of the Police Programs in the city, like ceasefire that helps fight crime. Over the weekend, chief mitchell attended the Graduation Ceremony of the latest police academy. As a result, 12 more officers now added to the force, according to the city. That brings the tally up to 716 sworn officers in oakland. Just a few more than what the city says it is budgeted for. But thats something they say theyre allowed to do, so long as they get an approval from the city administrator. Now, when chief mitchell was first hired, he said in a statement his focus was to, quote, promote safety, prevent crime and pursue justice. Well hear a brief statement from chief mitchell for the first time in his official capacity a little later this morning. Thats coming up a little more than an hour from now. However, a Police Spokesperson tells us we will not be able to ask the chief any questions. Well be working on getting a one on one with the chief in the next coming weeks. Now we expect the chief to be in this official capacity today. His official public swearing in ceremony is a date. The Police Department is still working to figure out. Were live this morning from oakland. Im james torres, ktvu, fox two news. James, thank you. Oakland police say a family narrowly escaped injury in a frightening weekend shooting. Investigators say several bullets crashed through the front window of their home. A young child was inside the house at the time of that shooting. It happened yesterday afternoon on east 32nd street, just one block south of interstate 580. One neighbor was working at home when she heard the sound of gunfire. Then first we can heard the gunshots. First we think about fireworks, but they continue on and off for almost more than ten shots. So we all know thats a gunshot. The same witness took these photos of a man and a woman running away from the home moments after that shooting, but so far there is no word of any arrest in this case. Well, protesters gathered in palo alto on mothers day to bring more attention to the moms and their babies suffering in gaza. Right now, at the corner of El Camino Real and embarcadero road, people gathered at the weekly vigil for gaza with a special focus on what they say. Mothers in gaza are doing or going through right now. As a mom, the stress of having a newborn baby in normal times, its a lot for any mom, to do that during war and during whats happening now, like in rafah. I mean, no one has housing. The group says it started a Mothers Day Campaign to raise 5,000. That money will help fund a new Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for premature babies in the kuwaiti hospital in rafah over the weekend, propalestine protesters targeted graduation ceremonies at universities nationwide. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld was greeted by boos and cheers. Some students walked out before he delivered the keynote speech at duke university. Seinfeld has been an active supporter of israel throughout the war. I totally admire the ambitions of your generation to create a more just and Inclusive Society sacrifice. There were also protests at the university of wisconsinmadison and the university of texas at austin, where Students Holding palestinian flags were cleared out in tel aviv, israel, relatives of hostages lit candles and stood in silence as israel marked its memorial day for Fallen Soldiers and victims of the attack by hamas back on october 7th, 1200 people were killed and 250 others were taken hostage. Hamas still holds about 100 people captive, along with the remains of more than 30. We are here every day to accompany the families in their plight, for the hostages, for asking from our government to release them as soon as possible. Every day that passes is a matter of life or death for them. Since the war began, more than eight months ago, more than 34,000 palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children, according to local health officials. You can find complete coverage of the war in gaza and the reaction from here in the United States online. Just go to our website ktvu. Com. Well, California State Parks and cal fire will begin a series of prescribed burns at Mount Diablo State Park on ten plots of land. The burns will take place during the next month in the Mitchell Canyon area. On one or more days. The exact burn days will depend on the weather conditions, the planned goal of the prescribed burns is to reduce the risk of wildfires and restore natural ecosystems. And certainly on cool days like this, i feel like its money in the bank when it comes to weather and hopefully preventing terrible fires later on in the summer. Roberta. Oh, excellent point there, garcia. Good morning everyone. With that in mind, lets start off with our typical averages this time of the year. 75 in santa rosa, 64 in San Francisco, mid 70s to the east and mid 70s to the south in san jose. And look at our average rainfall. Were actually slightly above average for this time of the year. And thank goodness for this. Right here it is may gray. Its that return of the low clouds, the patchy fog in fact, that marine layer is down to 600ft now. So its going to be slow to clear. Its keeping our temperatures capped into the 50s this morning, except for fairfield. Up to 63 degrees. Winds will be breezy today out of the west, 10 to 15mph that ushers the pollen around. That remains on the medium to high side. Meanwhile, you can see that gray slate lining the Pacific Northwest into the state of california and beyond. Up to the north. We have this trough, and what this is doing is enhancing that marine layer. And as it does so with that cooler air aloft, its pushing into the bay area. So were keeping the coast today in the upper 50s with the gray slate. Meanwhile, along the peninsula, youll see the clearing of the skies into the 60s. And 70s pretty much the same story around the central bay and east of the bay. 74, in hayward, into san leandro and san lorenzo. Outside number today 83 degrees in fairfield and in travis otherwise low 80s to the north, 82 degrees morgan hill and gilroy, 79 degrees cupertino and in campbell. Heading out to the ball game tonight. Boy, its the beginning of a three game fun series. The dodgers are in town. A bit of a brisk wind at 58 degrees, which means you do need to dress in layers, bundle up for the game, and have a good time. Oh, by the way, its an earlier start at 645. Please be mindful of that. And heres your extended forecast. I think youre going to enjoy it. Its a stagnant, benign weather pattern. Were talking about pretty close to seasonal temperatures each and every day. Im even tossing in the extended outlook for next weekend, because it will make it two weekends in a row in which we will experience not a raindrop in sight. How about that, guys . I get to get out and garden. All right. Yeah. Sounds good to me. Roberta. Coming up on mornings on two. The nine tragedy in the east bay. A five year old drowns while visiting his grandparents. The warning from First Responders as we inch closer to the summer season. Also ahead, the port of baltimore could soon return to normal as crews prepare to demolish a key portion of the Francis Scott key bridge. Im Matthew Rivera in wa ingt hey its your dry skin. Every day we lose ceramides i need to seal in moisture. Cerave delivers three essential ceramides to help restore my barrier, so i can lock in moisture, feel hydrated, and look healthy. Cerave facial moisturizing lotions. Fine lines . Make an appointment with this. Hyaluronic plumping water cream by loreal. With micro hyaluronic acid. Hydrates better than the 1 hyaluronic gel moisturizer. In 2 weeks, lines are visibly reduced. Plumping water cream by loreal. Were worth it. Island, a diver found the boy in the water inside a cove. They believe he was in the water for about 15 minutes. Rescuers performed cpr and rushed him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Authorities say the child got to the water through a backyard next to the shoreline. I havent really noticed whether there could be better security measures. To tell you the truth, i think its, you know, most of the most of the most of it is really up to the homeowners to sort of make sure their particular areas are secure. The boy was reportedly visiting his grandparents on the island at the time. As we head into the hot summer season, families are reminded that it only takes a moment for a mistake to happen. An estimated 1000 children a year is set to die from drowning. To keep your children safe, put them in swimming lessons. Keep a close eye on them near the water and always prepare for an emergency. If you have a life jacket on a child, absolutely arms reach at all times. And then the other thing. Get them in swim lessons. Get them, get them comfortable in the water. Make it enjoyable, do swim team, build your skills, those kind of things. But parental supervision, on top of lifeguards that are on site is huge to water safety. Children between the ages of one and four are at the highest risk of drowning. Many deaths can occur when children have unexpected access to water. New. This morning, federal Highway Safety investigators are taking a closer look into amazons selfdriving robotaxi fleet after two small accidents. The incidents involved two amazon vehicles in autonomous mode. Amazon says the cars suddenly braked and were rear ended by motorcyclists. Both motorcyclists suffered minor injuries. A new investigation will focus on the automated driving system during the crashes. That system is developed by zoox, a Company Based in foster city. If selfdriving cars became more popular on the roads, we may see a change to a number of traffic laws. One idea thats been floated around is a possible fourth traffic signal. That fourth traffic light would signal Autonomous Cars to get the right of way. Another option would be red and green flashing lights with no yellow. Its likely none of these changes could come unless half of all vehicles on the road are selfdriving. Now to baltimore, where the Francis Scott key bridge removal was rescheduled for today following weather concerns over the weekend. As Madeline Rivera reports, the operation could soon return the port of baltimore back to normal operations. Nearly two months after baltimores Francis Scott key bridge collapsed, crews are demolishing a key portion of the structure on monday. The operation was initially scheduled for over the weekend, but bad weather and rising tides forced crews to reschedule safety in this operation is our top priority. Weve gotten to this point without a single injury. We plan on continuing this mission without a single injury. The coast guard says controlled explosives will split the bridges remains in specific locations, allowing salvage teams to use cranes and barges on scene to remove the debris. That will then free up the cargo ship that ran into one of the bridges columns in march, forcing it to fall into the river. Once the ship is removed, officials hope maritime traffic will return to normal. It had large Economic Impacts really throughout the midatlantic and even throughout the country in terms of the port closure, we have to get that port reopened and then we have to build rebuild that bridge as soon as we can. Six construction workers died in that collapse. There are multiple investigations taking place to determine what went wrong and who is responsible. On wednesday, transportation officials, as well as members of the coast guard and army corps of engineers, will testify at a congressional hearing about the response to this tragedy. Officials say members of the ships crew will stay on board throughout the demolition, but will have a safe place to shelter in washington matter. Rivera ktvu fox two news. Efforts are underway to make new plans for the oakland waterfront. Now that the as ballpark deal has fallen apart, city leaders have struggled for years to create a Long Term Development plan for Jack London Square in the port of oakland. The as decision to move to las vegas has put an end to plans for a new ballpark, and thousands of waterfront homes at howard terminal. Now, oakland leaders are exploring new Development Options for the area. The plans are likely to encounter a new round of legal, regulatory and environmental hurdles. Coming up on mornings on two the night, a community unites in the wake of devastation, the aftermath of a fire that ravaged a church in oakland. As many hold on to hope for the Historic Buildings restoration, then a monumental shift in the bay area transportation. Well speak live with the San Francisco bay ferry about its 2050 service vision, which includes more Service Throughout the region finally yasso a ridiculously creamy, dipped, chipped, sandwiched, ice creamlike experience thats super snackable and made with greek yogurt. So ice cream, get the whoop out of our freezer yasso. Love it or its free. After cooking a delicious knorr chicken cheddar broccoli recipe you will want to close your delivery apps. Because nothing beats a perfect combo of sweet tomatoes, and smooth silky zucchini. Make your own knorr taste combo. Its not fast food, but its so good. Ahh taking the time to savor thomas crunchy yet soft bagels. Thanks, tom. This is nice. Its thom, actually. Right, so, tom. No. Thom. Tom . Thom. Tom. Thom thom. Daughter tom. attempts accent tawm . Its thom. Tam. whispers its thom. Tam. Tam. Not tam. Thhhom. Are you doing that on purpose . Huzzah a toast to breakfast. Its your time to cache in. So dont just play. Stay at northern californias premier casino resort. Book your getaway now. At cachecreek. Com. Community members gathered at lake merritt amphitheater to remember the lives of peggy moore and her wife, hope wood, who were killed friday night in a crash in san diego county. Both built solid ties in oakland and beyond, working with former president barack obama, advising former oakland mayor libby schaaf and even starting their own Political Consulting firm at the candlelight vigil, former colleagues remembered their work and kindness. Just came out to take care of each other, talk to each other and remember their love and their contributions that they made to all of us individually, but also to the city. Peggy moore was 60 years old. Her wife, hope was 48. An update on an evacuation at a hotel in San Franciscos russian hill. The fire prompted evacuation at 6 00 yesterday morning. One person experienced minor injuries but did not need to go to the hospital. Firefighters stayed on scene for several hours after the fire was out watching for hotspots. Surrounding streets were reopened about two hours after the fire started. The cause of the flames still under investigation. A lithium battery plant fire at the port of oakland sent a plume, a large plume. In fact, the smoke rising over oakland sunday afternoon. The Oakland Fire Department says it was quickly contained. No injuries reported. Still no word yet on what caused the fire in west oakland. The community is reacting to a weekend fire that badly damaged a church. This happened friday night at the Saint Andrews Missionary Baptist Church at 27th and west street. More than 60 firefighters battled flames for hours. Investigators say the fire spread from a vacant home near the church. Many Church Members say they hope the Historic Building can be rebuilt. Its sad theres a lot of history here. Like i said, i spent the first 15 years of my life here at this church and. And, im glad to see you survived. Although it was a lot of damage. Firefighters say no one was hurt. The cause of the fire is being investigated. Grand jury transcripts are providing new details. In the case of a los gatos woman charged with hosting alcohol fueled sex parties for teenagers, 49 year old Shannon Oconnor remains in jail awaiting trial on more than 20 felony counts. More than 2000 pages of transcripts were released friday. They include the testimony of more than a dozen teenagers who attended her parties. They said she invited them to her home as part of her effort to make her teenage son more popular. The teenagers say they were encouraged to drink alcohol and engage in sexual activity. They also said she often tried to hide these parties from her husband and her neighbors in los gatos, nearly half of illegal fentanyl seized by us Law Enforcement now comes in pill form. Thats according to a new federal study that says its concerned because fentanyl in pill form often look like common prescription pills, increasing the risk that people will knowingly take the powerful synthetic opioid that thats the leading cause of fatal drug overdoses. 49 of fentanyl intercepted by Law Enforcement in 2023 came in pill form, compared to 10 in 2017. Illegal fentanyl is also sold in powder and liquid form. The pivotal witness in former President Trumps criminal trial has taken the stand next here on the nine why analysts say testimony by former President Trumps former attorney could be a game changer with insights into his personal and business dealings. Also ahead. Boeing facing more scrutiny the sec reportedly launching a new investigation over the companys statements about its own safety practices. Were talking live with the aviation expert about the continued turbulence for boeing feeling claritin clear is like. [cat meow] is she . Letting her imagination run wild even though she has allergies. Letting her imagination run wilyeah. N though i was like shaking you know, i was so scared. When i first reached out to jacoby and meyers. I didnt know if i had a case or not. As soon as i got a hold of my attorney, she was very, very nice, very kind. Because of jacoby and meyers, i dont have that pressure to worry about a medical bill or things like that. If i know of any accident, im like, call jacoby and meyers, theyll help you. The east bay and beyond. Look, of all the things two people in love discussed before getting married. Hopes. Dreams. Finances. Children. Orange juice brand tropicana says pulp or no pulp is a key question. Tropicana says when it comes to shared interests, a preference of orange juice can be very telling. So tropicana capitalizing on the Summer Wedding season with a new Marketing Campaign called a pulp prenup. The survey tropicana claims 1 in 4 people do consider pulp preference when choosing a partner. Ive never had this discussion at all, and were doing fine. I know, but but if you if you had to say either way, are you pulp or no pulp . I mean, im no pulp, but it doesnt. Its not a deal breaker. No. Come on. Theres way other way more things out there that youre going to have to come to agreement on besides pulp. This is one of those things, i think, that you find out as your relationship goes on over the years. Right. Just a little something. Oh, i didnt know you. You know, i think tropicana is smart, even though i dont think its a real controversy. Right. Theyre getting some press about this. Yeah. And thats exactly what theyre talking about. Thats exactly what it wants, right . Yeah. Even though come on, its silly, but now were talking about it. But its working. Yeah. All right, lets peek back at a poll weve been asking you throughout the night here. Weve asked if you plan to travel for the upcoming memorial day weekend. Youve been scanning that qr code at the top right of the screen. You have been heading to ktvu. Com vote, and youve been telling us that you are staying put. Almost two thirds of you say, nope, im staying home. 14 say youre flying, 23 say youre driving. Will keep peeking in on this poll throughout the day. Now to the news. Here is prosecutors have called their star witness in the criminal trial against former president donald trump. Its his former attorney, michael cohen. Ktvu Amanda Quintana joins us with details on what could be amanda, a dramatic day in court. Yeah, its already shaping up to be this morning. Now, michael cohen, trumps former attorney and ally, is on the stand still right now. Hes expected to deliver critical testimony today. His value as a witness is that he was involved in all aspects of trumps business and personal life, and allegedly knew all of his secrets. In cohens autobio. And today he said that he has bullied, lied and mocked the rule of law to serve trump. He says he facilitated the 130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels on the orders of trump last week. Daniels, a former adult film star, testified about the money she received in 2016. Trump is accused of improperly accounting for that payment. Cohen will detail the alleged scheme by former President Trump to both pay off daniels and reimburse cohen for paying her so that the news of trumps affair wouldnt damage his 2016 campaign. Trump addressed the media before walking into the courtroom this morning, first, about current poll numbers and complaining that his supporters arent allowed near the courthouse. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies having an affair, got no evidence and im innocent. This is a political witch hunt and nobodys ever seen anything like it. And its i tell you what the Appellate Division on the judges should step in, because what this judge is getting away with is disgraceful. Trumps team will try to discredit cohen. He will likely face an intense crossexamination since turning on trump, who was his mentor, he has tried to monetize his story with a book, including one called revenge, along with podcasts and tv appearances. Trumps team will paint cohen as an unreliable witness whos trying to get payback. Cohen has also lied in the past. He went to prison for making false statements to congress, Campaign Finance violations and tax evasion charges. So all of this means it could be a make or break day for this trial. Garcia, back to you. Amanda thank you. A new report says downtown san jose is one of three cities leading the country when it comes to a postpandemic downtown recovery. San jose ranks number three nationwide after el paso, texas and las vegas. I hope youre with us. In the past hour, when we spoke live with san jose mayor matt mehan, we asked, whats the secret to success for downtown san jose . Well, you know, it really starts with getting back to the basics. We focused on creating a downtown that is safe, clean and welcoming for everyone. Weve expanded police foot patrols. Were adding Community Service officer bike patrols later this year. Weve partnered with our Downtown Association to expand our groundworks team, which responds to Illegal Dumping and graffiti. Typically, the same day, if not within within an hour. So were really pushing on those foundational issues that allow for the rest of the economy to be successful. Mayor mehan said hed like to see all cities in the bay area be successful in their recovery, and that he hopes san jose can be a model for other big cities. Two east bay cities have formed a partnership in their effort to combat homelessness. City leaders in san pablo and el cerrito plan to share the rising cost of providing services for the unhoused in their communities, they say teaming up is an effective way to continue to help People Living on the street at a time when budget deficits are growing well. Boeing is under investigation over its statements about its own safety practices. The securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether the plane maker violated sec rules following the midair door plug mishap on an Alaska Airlines flight back in january. This comes as former quality manager for a major supplier of boeing 737 max planes claims he was pressured to downplay problems he found during inspections. Joining us now is ross sagan, who is an aviation consultant and a retired airline pilot. Ross, thank you so much for joining us this morning. Good morning. All right. So ross, the secs main focus here is investigating market manipulation. Right, wall Street Market manipulation. Do we have any idea what this could be about though . Well, they they have a mission and that obviously theyre following it to protect the shareholder and protect the investors. But really, the safety role belongs to the faa. And i think thats where the major responsibility lies. What do you mean in terms of when you have this sec investigation . Well, the sec is doing is performing their mandate, but the faa needs really the faa is the safety overseer for the system. And the problem is that the faa has a dual dual mandate. One is to promote air air commerce, and the other is to protect air safety. And its a difficult role to provide both both responsibilities at the same time. Russ, i want to jump to some of the incidents that weve seen take place here. I have a list that i want to show folks of all the incidents that were at least most of the incidents that have happened on these planes lately here, june 5th, of course, we had the Alaska Airlines incident that happened in portland, oregon. Then june 18th, one of the engines of a 747 cargo plane operated by atlas air failed after takeoff from miami. January 23rd. A delta airlines, plane lost its nose, lost its nose tire while taxiing in atlanta. And then on march 7th, the japan bound United Airlines plane lost a tire at lax. March 11th, a flight from sydney to auckland, new zealand went into a dive. Latam airlines, who was operating that aircraft, says this was a technical issue. And april 7th, a Southwest Airlines boeing plane returned to Denver International airport because of an issue on board as well. It seems incredible that all of these are happening. Now. My question for you, though, are more incidents happening or have there always been issues . And were just now noticing because of that door panel incident on the Alaska Airlines flight . Well, i was i was, in the Airline Business for 41 years, and i can tell you with assurance, those incidents occur on a daily basis, and there are literally hundreds of incidents that go on, the some of these are absolutely routine. When you when youre launching 5000 flights a day in an airline, youre going to have some operational incidents. A couple of them though, are, are critical issues. For example, the door panel that was clearly, an oversight issue. And the other one was the nosedive issue. Those are where the safety regulator really needs to be heads up. And i think thats thats where one of the major responsibilities lies. So you think the fault really lies in the federal regulators in this case and for missing, the Safety Inspection process here, more so than boeing, yes. Because, the faa, the safety overseer, has transferred a lot of the, oversight to the manufacturers and to the airlines themselves, and theyve delegated that responsibility. And i think that thats been wrong. So it should youre saying this should go back to the faa not delegating it to these contractors, i guess, of the airline. Right. And weve seen it over and over, for example, with the max eight, the mcas problem, weve seen that it goes back, for example, just look at the columbia disaster in the in the Space Shuttle program. Its the lack of oversight and the transference of control to the manufacturers and to the operators. Its really the fox guarding the henhouse. The faa needs to take back their control. How did that happen, though . I guess this is a question. How did you end up handing the safety aspect of things . The oversee is supposed to be the federal government, but somehow it gets handed back to the companies themselves. That seems like its a recipe for disaster. Well, it does have obviously have problems. And we see that in the numbers and in the incidents that have occurred. But this is the you know, its a long process of cost cutting and delegation due to the huge job that the faa has and a lot of, influence from the industry on, on the regulator and on the, on the government. So, ross, we listed all of those incidents that that happened, in the last several months or so, how was the average traveler supposed to feel when going onto an aircraft, though . What would your advice be to them . Well, im planning some trips myself and its not going to keep me from flying, but i do. I would, i would say to travelers, be wary, fly mainstream carriers, top tier carriers, carriers that have an obvious safety, mandate and safety culture. Those airlines that have spare planes that dont have to fly that plane. Otherwise the whole system falls apart. Those types of things, dont bottom feed. Sometimes the lowest fare isnt the best way to go from a risk standpoint, but quickly. Last month, we saw a whistleblower testify before a senate committee, about boeing putting defective airplanes out, i dont know if you heard that testimony. And if you did, did anything catch your eye . About what . That whistleblower was saying in that testimony to the senate . Well, whistleblowers, you know, play a very important role. And the, the, the obvious response is always, well, they dont really know what theyre talking about. And, its really not as big a problem as we thought, etc. And i think it all a lot of it goes to how we define safety is safety. The lack of an accident or is safety reducing the risk. And i think its the latter. Its reducing the risk is how you look at it. All right. Aviation consultant ross sagan, thank you so much for joining us. And providing your insight, still so many people are surprised to see this, many incidents, these many incidents that are happening on planes and watching to see what happens next with with boeing. We appreciate your time. Thank you sir. All right. Coming up on mornings on two, the nine rents across the bay area reportedly cooling off. Now well take a look at the factors behind the shift and how it could affect your housing search. Then major changes ahead for bay area commuters. Well explore the San Francisco bay ferries 2050 service vision, which sets the state for electrifyin and its your time to cache in. So dont just play. Stay at northern californias premier casino resort. Book your getaway now. At cachecreek. Com. The Marin County Sheriffs Department held its annual peace officers memorial ceremony. Law enforcement from across the region honored men and women who sacrificed their lives in service of their communities. This mornings tribute to those officers included a flag raising ceremony and moment of silence. U. S. Attorney general Merrick Garland honored our nations fallen heroes. Garland kicked off National Police week by paying tribute at the national Law Enforcement officers memorial in washington, d. C. A wreath was laid to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice to our nation. The Memorial Wall recognizes the service and sacrifice of federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal Law Enforcement who died in the line of duty. The names of more than 23,000 officers have been carved into that wall, with new names of fallen officers added each spring to coincide with National Police week. Marin countys Election Agency is working to certify signatures collected by a tenants rights group in larkspur. The group wants to place a new rent control ordinance on the november ballot. The initiative would cap annual rent increases in larkspur to 3. The group says its collected more than the 900 signatures needed to qualify. The county is required to certify the signatures before june 18th. Real Estate Companies say bay area rents are on the rise, but in parts of the east bay, rent prices are actually falling. Median rent in contra costa and alameda counties dropped down 1, sitting at a little less than 2,400 a month. The decline is driven in large part by prices in oakland, according to apartment list, the average price of rent in oakland fell 10 from last year. Housing experts say vacancy rates and new apartments are fueling the price drop in the city. Meanwhile, a new study from uc berkeley confirms that rent in San Francisco is unaffordable for most people, a new study shows. Only 35 of california households could comfortably afford San Francisco rents. Housing is usually considered affordable if its less than 30 of someones income, the new report from the Terner Center uses an inclusive affordability method to evaluate costs. Researchers took into account what percentage of households across the state could live in each county, compared to the percentage of people already living there. A major leap forward for the San Francisco bay ferry, the board of directors has adopted its 2050 service vision, aiming to electrify and expand Service Across the bay area with us now for more insight is thomas hall from the transit agency. Thomas, welcome. Its exciting to know that we will have more Ferry Service in the future. Thanks. Good morning sal. Its very exciting times for the bay area. We hear from so many folks in communities that dont have Ferry Service right now, how much they want it, and so were really excited to have a plan to bring that to more communities in the coming 25 years. Where will Ferry Service expand . Right now we have Ferry Service from alameda, oakland, vallejo. I think we have a berkeley one as well. Ive never taken that one, but we do have Ferry Service. Theres one on the peninsula, so there is Ferry Service on this map were looking at where do you see new lines drawn . Yeah. So we do have a Ferry Service right now from richmond to San Francisco. Berkeley would be one of the expansion opportunities. Were working closely with the city of berkeley on design and Environmental Review at this point. The other three expansion opportunities in the near term are redwood city, Treasure Island, and mission bay, where were working with the port of San Francisco on a Ferry Landing that would be right across the street from chase center, providing a good connection for folks that work in that area at ucsf and other employers, in addition to folks looking to get to warriors games. So what does it take to do this . Obviously, this all costs money. Wheres the money coming from and how soon will you be able to start working towards this goal . Great question. Work is ongoing on a lot of these projects as i mentioned, were making great progress on berkeley and redwood city, Treasure Island and mission bay. There are a number of sources of funding. Were were very resourceful in terms of finding avenues to Fund Expansion projects and enhancement of our existing service, regional measure three, which voters graciously approved in 2018, provides a substantial amount of both capital and operating funding for Ferry Service deep into the future, were very grateful for voters for doing that. Thats why were able to have this sort of expansion vision at this point is really up to the grace of the local voters that approve that measure. In addition, were were working to electrify the system, and there are a lot of state and federal grant opportunities to decarbonize transportation. And that includes electrifying the ferry system. So thats something that is going to, frankly, cost a lot of money. But is really important to the future of the planet and the region. And that were working very hard to make progress on how close are we, thomas, with electrified boats, you know, is it farther than the prototype . Is that operating somewhere right now . There are, relatively few electric fast ferries operating nation or, im sorry, across the globe. None in the United States that operate on the type of speed or capacity that we would require for our service, theres one in norway thats sort of the prototype, and we expect to deliver our first 1 in 2026 and put it into service shortly thereafter, the thing with electric ferries is you cant just build an electric ferry and thats it. You have to build the infrastructure, land side, to be able to support that. With charging infrastructure. You want it to be able to charge during the day so that it doesnt just do a couple of trips in the morning and then park it overnight. And so its a huge undertaking, especially developing along the bay with, sensitive, ecosystems that we need to, to work with. And obviously, all of that, everything that that entails, is a lot of work. And so 2026 is when we expect to have our first battery electric ferry that would potentially operate, from downtown San Francisco to either mission bay or treasury. All right. Thomas hall from the sf bay ferry. I do say for me, its a lot of fun to take the ferry and instead of taking the car and its a beautiful trip across the bay. Thank you for joining us. Thanks, sal. Coming up on mornings on two. The nine, a groundbreaking use of Artificial Intelligence to enhance workplace safety. How a bay area based company is revolutionizing Safety Analytics using ai and security cameras hey its your dry skin. Every day we lose ceramides i need to seal in moisture. Cerave delivers three essential ceramides to help restore my barrier, so i can lock in moisture, feel hydrated, and look healthy. Cerave facial moisturizing lotions. Fine lines . Make an appointment with this. Hyaluronic plumping water cream by loreal. With micro hyaluronic acid. Hydrates better than the 1 hyaluronic gel moisturizer. In 2 weeks, lines are visibly reduced. Plumping water cream by loreal. Were worth it. My late fatherinlaw lit up a room, but his vision dimmed with age. He had amd. I didnt know it then, but it can progress to ga, an advanced form of the disease. His struggle with vision loss from amd made me want to help you see warning signs of ga, like hazy or blurred vision, so its hard to see fine details, colors that appear dull or washed out, or trouble with low light that makes driving at night a real challenge. If you think you have ga, dont wait. Treatments are available. Ask a retina specialist about fdaapproved treatments for ga and go to gawontwait. Com clean energy. According to the global electricity review, a record breaking 30 of the worlds electricity generated last year came from Renewable Energy sources. Global levels of Greenhouse Gas emissions reached a record high of 2023. However, climate experts say the recent numbers reflect a crucial turning point toward clean energy. We will go through several decades of transition where we will have to make concerted efforts to rebuild our infrastructure, our to support electrification. The milestone is also a significant step towards reaching 60 renewable electricity by 2030, which Scientists Say is crucial to meeting our Global Climate goals. The Biden Administration reportedly plans to crack down on some new technology from china tomorrow. The Biden Administration is expected to announce new tariffs for electric vehicles from china. The current tariffs of 25 kept chinese evs out of america. Now, those tariffs could increase to as much as 100. Reports add the new tariffs are also expected to include chinese semiconductors, solar equipment and medical supplies. Recent advances in Automotive Technology could lead to some dramatic changes for traditional traffic lights. Researchers at North Carolina state are looking into how to tap into new Smart Card Technology to make americas Traffic Signals more efficient. The goal is to improve Traffic Control and reduce congestion, especially in big cities. There could even be a fourth traffic light, a white one, to help direct selfdriving cars through busy intersections. Happening today, Rideshare Companies uber and lyft are going on trial in massachusetts assets. The state attorney general is asking judge to rule that rideshare drivers are employees. Under state law, and not independent contractors. If the judge rules against the Rideshare Companies, drivers would be entitled to benefits from the Rideshare Companies. Say if the judge rules against them, they may be forced to close or cut seats or close operations in those states. California courts made a ruling on a similar case last year, allowing Rideshare Companies to continue to treat its drivers here as independent contractors. New College Graduates will be going into the summer looking for jobs, but many of them are entering a job market that is less promising than a year ago. A recent report showed employers plan to hire 5. 8 fewer grads from this years class than they did in 2023. Employers recommended new grads work their network, clean up their Online Presence and offer to do working interviews when they get your foot in the door. Artificial intelligence is being used in the Safety Analytics space to help reduce accidents in the workplace, and Workers Compensation claims. Claudia cowan has more. Artificial intelligence is now being used in factories and warehouses to help protect people who work around forklifts , conveyor belts and other heavy machinery. We checked out the system being used at gerlinger steel outside sacramento. Software made by San Francisco based comp science processes. Video recorded on the companys existing security cameras and then highlights potential dangers. The colored boxes show where a worker almost tripped over steel beams or got too close to a moving forklift. Its given them something obvious to look at a true example, rather than someone like me just going and saying, hey, you know youre not supposed to be standing next to that lift while its moving right . The software can also see if a worker risks hurting themselves, for instance, from lifting heavy loads the wrong way. A set of tools that help Companies Understand the risks that their employees are exposed to and really engineer that risk out of the facility to prevent accidents from happening. The technology scans thousands of hours of visual data and then offers recommendations on ways to improve safety. Theres no facial recognition involved. The idea here isnt to punish anyone, but rather to reduce accidents and lower workers comp claims. Depending on the size of the area being monitored, the price tag ranges from a few thousand to a few hundred thousand dollars, but some workplace accidents like a back injury, can cost more than that over time, and a workplace death can run into the millions. Employees we spoke to say they appreciate this added level of safety information. They say they can see where the hidden dangers are and learn how to avoid them to get home safe after work in los angeles. Claudia cowan, fox news. A woman who underwent surgery and then lost her voice can now speak again with the help of ai. Last summer, doctors removed a life threatening tumor from alexis bogans brain. A month later, bogan realized her voice was gone. She tried rehab with very little success. Then last month, she got her voice back. But it was not her real one. Its an ai generated voice, trained on a 15 second video of her teenage voice. It feels amazing to get my voice back because almost like a part of my identity was taken away when i lost my voice. Bogan uses openais new text to speech model voice engine to create this synthetic voice. This voice Engine Software is not widely available yet. Openai worries this type of technology could be used to create deepfake robocalls and other scams. I do worry about that. Okay, thats already happening for sure. I mean, someone could just take your voice and have it say things that you know might get you canceled, right . Right. Or whatever. Well, with all the with benefits, theres always a drawback and that is one of them. But we cant lose sight of the benefits its providing for people like her. Right . I mean, thats one of the things that we have to Pay Attention to and do more to curb the illegal use of the technology. All right. So, i mean, they even used like, you know, they could have like the grandmothers voice calling their nephew, say, hey, i need help. Or elderly people are susceptible to that. Theyre doing that now. All right. Here are the results of our poll so far that we mentioned earlier this hour. We asked, do you plan on traveling for memorial day weekend . And here are the results. Now im staying inside 64. Yes im driving 23. And yes, im flying 14 of you casting in that poll. You can just scan the qr code at the top right hand corner of your screen, or you can head to ktvu. Com vote, and you too can cast your vote in our poll as well. Staying home. People are coming in strong. Yeah, they are great. Well see them at the pool and at the beach and all those places around town. Its not a its not a bad home to stay at, if you know what i mean. A quick reminder that we appreciate you always joining us here on the nine. You can tune in on your tv or your smart tv, watch our live newscast, get stories on demand. There is so much more on streaming this is through amazon fire, apple tv, roku. You can search for the fox local app and choose ktvu. T nk you were gonna have a real good time feel good time spreading love and joy and laughter all over the place were gonna have a real good time were gonna have a good time it will be so legendary sherris got you feeling