Transcripts For KNTV Today In The Bay 20151115

Modesto, but we have another band moving through alameda, oakland and fremont and san jose in the next hour or so. The heavy rain with us until at least about noon. It is going to get very windy. In fact, temperatures today going down from where theyre at now because a cold fronts going to move through this afternoon. Were talking wind gusts up to 50 Miles Per Hour possible even at the coastline today. Well talk more about the wind, how much rain we got and there is snow falling across the sierra. Well show you the sky cams for that and winter storm warnings posted. Lots to talk about this morning. Very exciting weather. I did see some pictures on twitter this morning of people sharing snow up in the sierras. Snow in reno. Yeah, theyre expecting another foot. Well look forward to your full forecast in just a minute. Thanks. New developments to tell you about this morning in the terror attacks in paris. Authorities have detained seven people in belgium believed to be linged to the attacks. This is coming from a belgian official who asked not to be identified saying also two of the seven attackers who died friday night were french men living in brussels. Meanwhile, the stories of terror continue to come out of paris this morning. They were not stopping. They were reloading the guns. And they were very heavily armed. Frances president calls the attacks an act of war and vows to a merciless response after the terrorist group isis claimed responsibility. One of the terrorists has been identified by french politicians. His namemael mustafa. He most likely traveled to syria where he joined the ranks of the Islamic State. His body was found at the bataclan music hall. Officials are saying that three teams of terrorists acted at nearly the same time. A french Prosecutor Says seven of those attackers are dead. All wore suicide vests carrying an explosive called tatp. It can be made from nail polish remover, hair bleaching products and acid. It is the same explosive the socalled shoe bomber was convicted of using in an attempt to blow up an American Airlines flight back in 2001. At least three people have also been arrested after searches in belgium. Officials have not said how they are linked to the attacks. More arrests are expected. In total, 129 people are dead. With more than 300 wounded. We are also learning more about an american killed in the terror attack. 23yearold nahimi gonzalez, a junior at cal state long beach was studying design in paris. Friends and family called her mimi and said she had worked for months to make her dream of studying abroad a reality. Her cousin is in disbelief. This is really happening. This is happening. Theres nothing i can really do to bring her back. She is just one of the 129 people who lost their lives. And as victims are slowly being identified, those still searching for their loved ones are turning to social media, posting pictures and details of their last known location with the hashtag that means search paris. More than a million tweets in 24 hours. Irm pray for paris is a worldwide sentiment. Here in the bay area, spontaneous vigils are allowing people to do just that. The collection of flowers, candles and notes continues to grow outside of San Franciscos french consulate. As more people gathered last night for a candlelight vigil. Voices were quiet but the messages they left were loud and clear. They came to show their support and pay their respects. My best friend that died and yeah, rest in peace. We just wanted to show to the kids that people care about what happened in paris and that we care, too. There will be a gathering with the French Community later today at San Franciscos city hall. That is still lit up in the colors of the french flag. The warriors also honoring those who were hurt and killed in paris after a moment of silence. The French National anthem played in oracle arena. You can see the scoreboard lit up in Frances National colors. Now, if you are headed to the raiders game today at o. C. O. Stadium, the league also recommends that fans not bring bags of any type to the game. That will help to avoid long thorough search procedures. The nfl says safety plans have been certified by the department of homeland security. The attacks in france have organizers of super bowl 50 also examining their plans to prevent an act of terrorism. A Million People are expected to participate in the festivities surrounding the event at levis stadium in february. Some think it could be a prime target for terrorists. We are learning new details by the minute to stay informed, you can get all the updates and alerts right on your smartphone. Download the nbc bay area app. Irmts and new this morning, president obama has arrived in turkey for urgent talks with world leaders. The g20 summit already under way is being held in antalya, turkey, where several suspected isis militants were recently detauned. Just a few mondays miles from the syrian border, security is expected to be tight as the leaders gather for two days of talks. The deadly attacks in paris are expected to dominate the agenda. President obama says the focus is to boost efforts to prevent the Islamic State from doing an attack like this again. Eliminate daish as a force that can create so much pain and suffering for people in paris and ankara and other parts of the globe. The president will also be stopping in the philippines and malaysia during his trip for two asiapacific summits. To decision 2016 now. Where last nights democratic president ial debate in iowa began with a moment of silence for the victims of the attacks in paris. Isis, terrorism and Foreign Policy dominated the debate from the start. With Bernie Sanders challenging Hillary Clinton on her vote in favor of the war in iraq when she served in the senate. He says it was one of the worst Foreign Policy blunders in the history of the United States. Clinton dismissed the claim and called on other countries to take a stronger role in the fight against isis. This country will rid our planet of this barbarist Organization Called isis. It cannot be contained. Must be defeated. Isis, make no mistake about it, issen an evil in this world. There is one moment of levity when sanders said he was glad the focus was off clintons emails and she said i completely agree. Much more ahead on today in the bay. Coming up, a terrifying bus crash in a Popular San Francisco tourist spot sends 20 people to the hospital. This morning, the Tour Bus Company responds. And caught on camera. Police officers beating a man with their batons. How they ended up in this San Francisco alley and details on the investigation thats now under way. Lets give you a live look outside right now at the golden gate bridge. You can make it out. Our camera covered in water from the rain last night. It is rainy and slick out there. So if youre heading outside, be careful. Pack the galoshes and the umbrella. The roads are definitely slippery. New details now on the victims of the terrifying bus crash at a Popular San Francisco tourist spot. Four of the adult victims remain in Critical Condition this morning. Six others are recovering from head, rib, arm and leg injuries. The doubledecker tour bus hit a bicyclist, then slam into cars and pedestrians near union street on friday. The bus driver was also hospitalized. Investigators will talk to him and 30 other witnesses to see what went wrong. The Tour Bus Company issued this statement. We are cooperating with the authorities to determine how this happened. We pray that everyone involved recovers fully and quickly. Shocking and brutal. Those are the words public defenders are using to describe a Police Beating caught on camera. A warning the video youre about to see is graphic. This happened early thursday morning in San Franciscos mission district. In the video, you can see officers taking a man to the ground and then beating him with their batons. The officers are from san leandro. Thats where police say the suspect allegedly stole a car and led police on a chase all the way to San Francisco. This video was released on twitter by the San Francisco public defenders office. The Alameda County Sheriffs Department is now investigating. Still ahead on today in the bay, a chunk of the bay bridge blown up. This morning, we will show you what you didnt see in the demolition. Anthony. As you mentioned, the heavy rain is falling right now. Thats going to clear out by this afternoon and its going to get very windy. Were talking gusts in excess of 50 Miles Per Hour. Hopefully youve got that Patio Furniture in. Well talk more about this rain coming up after this. Why let someone else have all the fun . The sometimes haphazard, never boring fun. The why cant it smell like this all the time fun. The learning the virtue of sharing fun. Why let someone else have all the fun . Thats no fun. Unleash the power of dough. Give it a pop. Your time now is 7 14. Were giving you a live look outside from our sky camera camera in emeryville. Very gray, wet and slick outside. Anthony slaughter says that rain is going away but heavy and strong winds are going to replace it later this afternoon. And hell be by in a moment to tell you where and what is happening. Well, it took only six seconds and 600 charges of dynamite. As we first showed you yesterday morning, crews detonated an underwater pier of the old bay bridge. The demolition was two years in the making. Amazing video. Caltrans kept delaying the project so it could come up with a plan to minimize the impact on marine life. Environmental consultants designed a socalled curtain of bubbles around the pier to keep underwater marine life away. Still nearly 1800 endangered fish were expected to die in the demolition. Caltrans says it cost about 20 million. They say it was a cheaper option than dismantling the pier piece by piece. If we had come into the bay with the mechanical means to bring down this structure, we would have had to build another structure, a coffer dam. So we would have ended up with two structures in the bay. We would have been ear a longer period of time, months, potentially years, and we would have spent approximately 100 million more dollars to do it. 15 minutes before the demolition, all traffic was kept off the bay bridge. B. A. R. T. Service was also stopped through the transbay tube, but that would be a great spot to get a view of what happened. Take a look at this, a photo of the usgs website right after that demolition. That Little Orange dot popped up. The force of the demolition was so strong, it registered as a magnitude 2. 1 earthquake. El nino rain is likely on its way to the bay area this winter. Here is another reminder to be prepared. San franciscos public works and Public Utilities commission are teaming up to host two sandbag saturdays to prepare residents for the winter rainy season. They start giving away sandbags this weekend to protect properties that are prone to flooding. If your home has been prone to flooding in the past, theres a chance that theyll flood again this time around. If your home hasnt flooded in the past, theres a very good chance its not going to. So were hoping people are just thoughtful about it. We do have sandbags for people who need it. If you think you do, come down and get it. San francisco residents can get up to ten free sandbags. They will be handed out at five different spots next week from 9 00 to 2 00. Or you can stop by the public works operations yard monday through friday 8 00 to 3 00 p. M. From rain to snow this weekend ski resorts in tahoe opened early for business for the first time in years. Heavenly kirkwood and northstar are all already for skiers and snowboarders. Opening day coming several weeks earlier this year than last. Lets get a check now with anthony slaughter looking at that weekend forecast, the week ahead. And we woke up to some really heavy storms this morning. Oh, yeah. In fact, the heavy rain still pulling through right now. I want to stay on the theme of snow. Ski resorts across the sierra. Here is a shot this morning from northstar. You can see snow on the ground. Elevation about 8600 feet up. You get a little higher and the squaw valley, a really nicelooking picture here. You can see some of that fall foliage 9,000 feet. We go to 10,000 feet, heavenly ski resort, and this is where theyre expecting the most snow at 10,000 feet, seeing almost 16 inches of snow. We, we have Winter Weather warnings posted for the sierra. They are expecting 6 to 12 inches above 5,000 feet. You get way up there near heavenly at 10,000 feet, theyre expecting the potential of 16 inches of additional snow. Great news as we get going with this rain and snow season. Look at this. We have rainfall across the north bay this morning. Measured up to a little more than quarter inch. Even near dublin, a little more than that. Belmont almost a half inch. Same for palo alto. Blossom hill, a little less than a quarter inch and way south we take you down towards monterey. More than a quarter unch there. Capitola and santa cruz close to a half an inch. Decent rainfall and its still coming down. Were going to see another burst of heavy rain moving through livermore now, dublin, fremont, towards san jose, downtown and los altos. Finishing up with that showery activity. Once this main band of rain pushes through, were going to be done with the heavy showers and things will start to clear out by this afternoon. Effort its, though, will be cold. Were talking about a very strong cold front thats going to move through. Our temperatures today will only stay near 60. And it is going to become very, very windy. Were talking gusts in excess of 50 miles an hour at the coastline. And those valley floors could see winds up to 30 to 40 Miles Per Hour. Its all because of this cold front making its way through. Theres the rain ahead of it. As this thing continues to slide through, again, that winds going to kick up. Skies will start to clear out by 1 00, 2 00 and then well see a little sunshine. Take a look at the winds. Right now not bad. As we get towards noon, things really start to gust. Were talking gusts anywhere from 25 to 35 Miles Per Hour around lunchtime. Then this evening, it really starts to get gusty. Look at that Half Moon Bay close to 50. Even San Francisco for a moment, youll be near 40 Miles Per Hour this evening. And in san jose, livermore, arin arinda. The other thing to keep in mind as we move through the day, skies start to clear out. That cold air starts to move in. So tonight temperatures for our inland valleys back into the 30s for some of us. And thats going to lead for a very chilly week ahead. Were not looking at 70s until about friday. This week ahead, very falllike very cool. Showers move through, they end today even at the coastline. San francisco in the 50s today. Staying in the low 60s each and every day this upcoming week. So fall is here. And were happy that we finally got that rain that weve been looking for. Back over to you, vicky. Anthony, thank you. We are happy indeed. Today in the bay is back in two minutes with bay area proud. Wonderful people in this community have come out of the woodwork to help us. After helping thousands over the years, good karma bikes needed a little help itself. Well show you how the idea of what Goes Around Comes Around worked out for this nonprofit. It can be a dreaded task. But when a south bay helping a friend move, it can be a dreaded task. But when a south bay man needed help mauoving, there were plent of volunteers. Garvin thomas has thissings bay area proud. Jim gardner founded good karma bikes with the belief a bicycle can change a person ace life. For someone of little means, it can mean the difference of holding down a job and gettin t an education. In order to help others, jim recently needed a little help himself. Reporter for the past six years, good karma bikes has been great news for san joses needy and homeless. Providing literally thousands over that time with reliable twowheel transportation and the skills to keep it that way. Its a privilege to do. Reporter jim gardner started good karma bikes out of the trunk of his car. I think i can fix it. Reporter as his nonprofit grew, jim soon upgraded to a van and in 2013, good karma bikes got its first home on san joses sanole avenue. But now its time to move again. And heres the problem. For all the great things jim says you can do with a bike, theres something you cant. Bicycles are wonderful. They roll and they move, but they dont stack well. Reporter and thanks to their success, good karma now has more bikes than ever but not enough in the moving budget to pay someone else to move them. So the nonprofit that has helped so many put out its own call for help. And boy, did they get it. A literal parade of volunteers showed up this past saturday to walk each and every one of the hundreds of bikes to good karmas new home. A slowspeed procession to preserve a muchloved mission. Ty thompson took them two at a time. I think as soon as the word went out that they were moving, people just wanted to be a part of something positive and something big, bigger than themselves, right . Reporter some who showed up had never worked with good karma bikes before. Just heard they needed a hand. Others like Vince Dickinson felt the need to pay back a good deed good karma did for him. Because it might happen for me again, or Something Else might happen down the line. I might need their help again. Reporter and many hands, it turned out, made smooth rolling. And within a couple of hours, all the bikes were in their new home. Jim ready to leave his empty warehouse with a full heart. Ive said it all along. Theres so many wonderful people in our community. So many wonderful people. Reporter moving the bikes wasnt the only challenge good karma bikes has. The new facility is smaller, but they say the new location on san joses lincoln avenue is much more high visible, and they expect to keep continue growing. Garvin thomas, nbc bay area news. If you know of someone doing something nice for others, garvin would love to hear from you. Just go to our website, nbcbayarea. Com and search bay area proud. Still to come on today in the bay, we continue with our coverage of the terror attacks in paris. We spoke with a french journalist who is in the bay area and watched the attacks unfold from thousands of miles away. Plus back in january, a judge threw it out. Why . The true answer is we dont know. A judge throws out a redlight camera ticket. Now questions about the timing of traffic lights leads to more. The investigation that forced one city to tear up a half Million Dollars in tickets. Thats right after this break. Take a live look outside. San jose adlib good sunday morning to you. Lets start you out right now with a very wet sky camera look out at san jose. Raindrops covering the lens. And if you werent awakened by the rain this morning, you will be when you step outside. Thanks so much for joining us this sunday. Im vicky nguyen alongside anthony slaughter standing by with a look at that microclimate forecast. Heavy rains overnight. You said we actually might see clearing by the afternoon. Yeah, already starting to see blue skies across tiburon. Its moving through quickly. Now our winds will start to guest. Thats going to be the next part of this storm as it moves through. Winds will gust up to 50 at the coastline. Up to 30 to 40 later on this afternoon. Right now the heaviest part of the rains moving through the trivalley down near fremont and san jose. Once this last batch of rain pulls through, skies will start to clear out. In fact, by this afternoon, well see a good mix of sun and clouds but its going to be very blustery. Winds and well see sunshine but its going to be a little deceptive because temperatures will be on near 60. We talked earlier about the ski resorts opening this weekend. Weve got snow starting to fall across the sierra and talk more about their next chance of rain, if there is any coming up in the next report. Well look forward to it. Yeah, the ski resorts all saying this is the first time theyve opened up this early in years. Yeah. Even you go to their website, and the original opening day is december. And theyve got it crossed out. Right. This weekend. Very exciting. Theyre excited. Were excited. Finally were getting the rain that we need. Thank you. New developments in the terror attacks in paris this morning. Authorities have detained seven people in belgium believed to be linked to the attacks. This coming from a belgian official who asked not to be identified, saying also that two of the seven attackers who died friday night were french men living in brussels. Meanwhile, the stories of terror continue to come out of paris this morning. They were not stopping. They were reloading the guns, and they were very heavily armed. Frances president calls the attacks an act of war and vows to a merciless response after the terrorist group isis claimed responsibility. One of the terrorists has been identified by french politicians. He is ismael omar mostafi. He lived in france until 2012 and most likely traveled to syria after that where he joined the ranks of the Islamic State. Officials are saying this morning that three teams of terrorists acted at nearly the same time. A french Prosecutor Says seven of those attackers are dead. All wore suicide vests carrying an explosive called tatp. It can be made from nail polish remover, hair bleaching products and acid. It is the same explosive the socalled shoe bomber was convicted of using in an attempt to blow up an American Airlines flight back in 2001. At least three people have been arrested after searches in belgium. Officials have not said how they are linked but they do expect to make more arrests in total. 129 people are dead with more than 300 wounded. We are also learning more about an american victim. 23yearold nahimi gonzalez, a junior at cal statelong beach was studying design in paris. Friends and family called her mimi. They say she had worked for months to make her dream of studying abroad a reality. As victims are slowly being identified, those still searching for their loved ones are turning to social media. Theyre posting pictures and details of their loved ones last known locations with a hashtag that means search paris. There have been more than a million tweets in 24 hours. Pray for paris is on the minds of many following the friday attack including mourners here in the bay area. The collection of flowers, candles and notes continues to grow outside of San Franciscos french consulate as more people gathered last night for a vigil. Voices were quiet but the messages they left were certainly loud and clear. These people came to show their support and to pay their respects to the hundreds of victims. There will be a gathering with the French Community later today at San Francisco city hall. It is still lit up in the french flags colors. A french journalist who would have been covering fridays attacks in his hometown got stuck here in the bay area instead. Roma ari lives in the paris neighborhood where much of the terror unfolded. He told us despite the horrific tragedy, he cannot wait to get home. One of his friends was among the dozens of concertgoe killed at the bataclan theater. Ari was here on assignment for the french canal plus tv network. His new assignment to document how American Media like ours is covering the attacks back home. We all feel traumatized by the attack in january of charlie hebdo. This time its different. It could have been me. It could have been anyone. I dont know what im going to be feeling when i go back to paris, but things have changed. I think its a milestone. Hary is traveling back to france today. He says his behindthescenes piece on American Media coverage of the attacks is expected to air later in the week. We are learning new details by the minute. To stay informed, can you get all of the updates and alerts right on your smartphone. Just download our nbc bay area app. You may be off the hook for running that red light. Now a bay area city is voiding hundreds of tickets all because we uncovered a problem with those redlight cameras. Tickets are being ripped apart and money is being refunded. Chief Investigative Reporter tony kavaleski. At first the city of san mateo told us it did nothing wrong. But our questions didnt stop. And thats when we discovered the problem. Is it difficult to do this interview right now . Its always difficult to talk about mistakes that have occurred. Reporter hes trying to explain why the San Mateo Police department missed it. It had been nice for us to have caught it ourselves. Reporter and hes trying to understand why the citys Public Works Department also didnt catch it. The problem, this traffic light and this traffic light. And these red light cameras. I opened and the first thing i saw was the 540 price. And i didnt know what to say. I was kind of shocked. I didnt have the money for that. Reporter the story starts with andre klemmen and this ticket for running a red light back on january 13th of this year. At this intersection across the street from the San Mateo Police department. And there was a picture on that ticket. There was. And it was it was clearly me. Reporter thats andres picture on this 540 ticket. Instead of paying the fine, he decided to fight. I won because i presented my evidence. I backed every single one up. I had proof. I signed everything. I did the job the officer should have done. Reporter he gathered records from the city, reviewed video and argued they were both invalid. He told a judge the city failed to measure the average speed leading to this intersection and with no documented speed survey the citys timing of the yellow light was not accurate. What did the video showed . Three seconds and two frames which translates to three seconds, 3. 066 seconds. Reporter state regulations show the yellow light should have lasted at least 3. 2 seconds. A judge considered andres evidence and dismissed the ticket. That ticket back in january, a judge threw it out. Why . The true answer is we dont know. Reporter nbc bay area has learned the San Mateo Police department never investigated the reason the judge dismissed andres ticket. 0. 66 seconds. Reporter instead it continued issuing redlight tickets at that same intersection. Is it acceptable for the city not to make changes after you won in court . Theyre breaking the law. Theyre charging us 540 a ticket for it. Its absolutely unacceptable. Theres no justification for it at all. Reporter mr. Clement argued in court that that light was not timed properly. And he won. Okay. Reporter should you not know why he won at this point . We can only speculate because we dont have the judges comments. Reporter how unusual is this kind of result . I think without an attorney, this is a very unusual result. Reporter Community Activist jay bieber has helped end redlight camera programs throughout california. He also helped andre prepare for his court appearance. Well, i think its uncon shonnable that the government knows theyre doing something wrong. Its been shown that theyre wrong. Its been shown that their yellow light time is not correct, and yet they continue doing this day after day, week after week, month after month. Before we started asking questions about this ticket, was this department looking into the issue . No. In fact, we appreciate the fact that nbc brought this back to our attention. We thought we were in compliance. Reporter and that confidence in the timing of this redlight camera diminished when nbc bay area sent this records request. A series of questions about the citys redlight camera operations. Embarrassing to have to admit you made a mistake . Its always difficult to have to admit that we made a mistake. Whats important to us is how we fix it. Reporter and during the past three months, our investigation also discovered inconsistent yellow light times at the intersection where andre got the ticket. Thats where all four of these times are different. And were trying to ask why. Like i said, thats worth looking at for us. Reporter responding to our questions, the city started looking closer. It suspended the redlight cameras for two days. Checked the timing and found two lights mistimed, out of compliance, in violation of state regulations including the intersection where andre got his ticket. Whose mistake is this . Is it a Public Police take . Is it a public works mistake . I can tell you that when mistakes happen as a city organization, we take that as a team. Reporter san mateo ultimately discovered nearly 1,000 invalid redlight camera tickets issued since august 1st at this light at saratoga and hillsdale and this light at hillsdale and norfolk. The city now tearing up the tickets because the yellow lights did not meet new state regulations. Cycling too fast, requiring the city to tear up the tickets and refund more than 500,000. Whats that say . Its unfortunate, but its something that we cant go back in time. Its something that were going to have to move forward and put measures in place so that it doesnt happen again. Reporter so the city has refunded all tickets issued after august 1st. But questions still remain about the tickets the city issued during the month after andres january ticket and before the city corrected the record on august 1st. Can you tell nbc bay area that youll investigate the timing of his ticket . I can tell you that we have already investigated the timing of his ticket and that everything in compliance at the time. Reporter but a judge threw it out. As i said, the timing was in compliance both before and after, and we have documentation that shows that. Reporter so heres your takeaway. The city has thrown out nearly 1,000 tickets, but there may be questions now about thousands of others regarding those inconsistent times at the intersection and the yellow light times before and after Andre Clements ticket. If youve got a refund or have learned the city has dismissed your ticket, contact us here at nbc bay area. Wed like to talk with you. The city now also promises to investigate all tickets thrown out by a judge. With the investigative unit, im tony kovaleski. If you have a tip for our investigative unit, call 888996tips or send us an email to theunit theunit nbcbayarea. Com. Coming up, the warriors perfect record was in serious jeopardy against an unlikely opponent. You dont want to miss how the dubs avoided their first loss of the season. Your sports highlights are next. Game today at o. Co coliseum be prepared to wait in long if you are headed to the raiders game today at o. Co coliseum, be prepared to wait in long lines. The nfl issued a statement saying although there are no known threats against league stadiums, they will be increasing security both inside and outside of the game. The league also recommends fans not bring any bags to the game. It will help you avoid long, thorough search procedures. Okay. To the warriors now. Conventional wisdom says that theyll eventually lose that zero in their loss column this season. But last night was not supposed to be the night that happened. The Brooklyn Nets had only one win going into the game. The dubs were missing the other slash brother, klay thompson. He sat out with back stiffness. Lets go right to the fourth quarter. Warriors in trouble, down three with just seconds to go. Bam. Finals mvp Andre Iguodala hits the three, sending it into overtime. Golden state showed their championship pedigree in that extra period. They dominated the final five minutes. The warriors remain undefeated at 110. They win 10799. Close one, though. To the ice now. Sharks in buffalo taking on the sabres. This game also went into overtime. Patrick marleau scores the game winner. San jose wins, 21. Their first win in buffalo in ten years. Up next on today in the bay, harmony at the state capitol. Political analyst larry gerstin joins us live to discuss why lawmakers from both sides of the aisle appear to be in lockstep and what congress could learn from these guys. Congress may be locked into endless bickering and partisan gridlock but t well, congress may be locked into endless bickering and partisan gridlock these days, but the California State Legislature is operating in a remarkably calm state. With republicans and democrats often on the same page. So what accounts for this unusual era of good feelings . Nbc bay areas legal analyst im sorry, political analyst im turning you into a legal analyst now, too. Im getting a new job. Larry is here to weigh in with his thoughts. This is a much different picture than what we saw in the California State Legislature just a faw years ago. Its freaky. Its not california any way we usually know about this state. Thats all there is to it. The fact of the matter is, it just wasnt that long ago, you know this, i know this when the democratic leadership kept the doors locked to force votes on budgets and when the republicans were screaming about bills, they rammed down their throats. Those days, well, its not the same. You know, and nowadays, these days, the state legislators are pretty much working together on all kinds of matters in a very civil way, producing results on a variety of issues. Now, of course, yeah, there remain philosophical differences. There are going to be always between democrats and republicans. But the fact of the matter is that theyre reaching compromises more than they have in the past. Last years agreement on a 7. 5 billion water bill, that was contentious. Boy, was that contentious. But the fact of the matter is they came together, came together one way or another, kicking and dragging perhaps, but they came together and worked it out. We talk about better leadership maybe coming from the top down, shorter term limits, people rotating in and out. What do you think attributes to all of this and caused this change in mood . Those were a couple of things, and probably a combination of a few other factors as well. First look at budget surpluses. You know, when theres enough money around, it is just amazing how pleasant people can be with one another. Second, recent change in the state constitution allows now the budget to be passed with a simple majority instead of that onerous twothirds vote. It must be passed by june 15th or guess what, legislators lose their pay. A lot of resistance goes away when youll lose your paycheck. A third, with term limits now enabling legislators to spend as much as 12 years in a single chamber, either the assembly or the state stat, for example, legislators now are becoming better at their jobs. Theyre more aware of the issues, more willing to work with each other. So yes, there are some changes. Right. I said shorter term limits. I meant longer term limits so wed have more continuity. It is a big turnaround, but we have major issues were facing in california in 2016. Larry, talk about some of the things that might craft the good will and the cooperation were seeing right now. Yeah, there are lots of issues. A couple formidable challenges. This year among them, legislators are grappling over the best way to enact a 3. 6 billion bill on road repairs, specifically where will they get the money from, from who, how its going to be spent and also the Legislature Must come up with a billion dollar for medical programs. Those two alone are about 5 billion, 6 billion and theyre really having a hard time, but were hopeful. Why do you think these issues in particular have the potential to kind of derail and divide the parties . One word. One word. Taxes. Both of these are taxrelated issues. That require that twothirds vote in each chamber, and thats where you have that big fundamental difference between the democrats and republicans. And despite their large majorities, the democrats, theyre still two votes short in the assembly. One vote short in the state senate from having that for managing to meet that twothirds threshold. So if the legislators can find some Common Ground on these iss issues, maybe they can then turn to some really big issues like tax reform, pension reform, longterm water management. You know what, the futures a little brighter these days than its been in the past. Quickly, i want to turn for a moment to paris. This is the worst adrcrostrocite world war ii for france. What do you think American Voters need to hear from the candidates right now about how they would prevent this from happening here on american soil . Two problems. One, voters want to feel safe, but at the same time, they dont want to get caught in some long intractable war like we have been in the repeat past. Thats one. The second problem, the candidates themselves have to decide whether theyre going to go. And we saw a great conflict between rand paul and marco rubio. The republicans particularly are fractured over this. Some want to get much more involved. Some candidates want to get much less involved. And you know what . Thats been very interesting for the voters to watch as it gets closer and closer to the nomination. Larry, thank you so much. And please stay with us. Well be back. Anthony slaughter will have a look at the Rainy Weather were experiencing now and the changes ahead. Welcome back here on this sunday. 7 54. Want to start you off with this shot from dodge ridge ski resort. We are talking about Opening Weekend for the sierra, and weve got snow falling this morning. This is a live look there. Also northstar this morning, a little bit higher up at 8600 feet, snow on the ground there and a little higher up toward squaw valley. You can definitely see the snow coming down. Theyve got snow on the ground, even fall foliage out there and our final stop takes to us heavenly where you can see at 10,000 feet, skies are gray and that snow is moving in and they are expecting more. In fact, a Winter Weather advisory has been posted for lake tahoe. You get above 7,000 feet, winter storm warnings posted. Theyre expecting about 6 to 12 inches of new snow above 5,000 feet. And i wouldnt be surprised if heavenly tops out with 16 inches of new snow. Yeah, get the skis ready. We have the rain falling across the bay area now. And a lot of the heavier stuff has started to push out of the region. Even across parts of San Francisco and north bay, were starting to see our skies clear. One batch of heavy rain pushing through the foothills over towards the trivalley. Thats going to make its way out of the region in just a little while. You can see its raining across parts of the bay, but were already starting to see our skies clear out even from tiburon. You can see beautiful blue sky behind those clouds. As we move through the day, thats going to be the next thing well see. A good mix of sun and clouds. But the other thing, its going to get very, very windy. Were talking winds today up to 35 to 45 in our inland valleys. At the coast, up to 50 miles an hour. As we put futurecast in motion, things start to clear out by 1 00, 2 00. The sierra will be dealing with the snow. If youre doing any traveling, heads up, chains are required. Heres a look at the wind futurecast. This morning, not too bad. Once we get towards about noon, our winds will be anywhere from about 20 to 30 Miles Per Hour, even at the coastline. Look at this. By this afternoon. Half moon bay, close to 50 Miles Per Hour. Wind gusts there. Even for San Francisco, gusts up to 40 Miles Per Hour. And look at that even redwood city, on the other side of the mountains, well still be looking at gusty winds through this evening. Winds subside tonight. Its going to get very cold. Skies remain clear. Temperatures back into the 30s. Near 40 for those trivalley rejr regi regions. Lots of sunshine expected. Temperatures not going to rebound a whole lot. Well stay cool even at the coastline for San Francisco. The showers move out today. And then it will get windy and cool as we move towards the next couple of days. No rain in sight at least this upcoming week. Vicky, the good news, though, as we have been seeing this past november, each and every week, we have had a storm system come through. So while it wont end the drought, its definitely putting us on the right direction to get out of this drought that weve been experiencing. Yeah, we talk about ending the drought. Nothing is going to happen soon on that front. But every little bit of rain helps. Definitely. And it is nice to get out there, ive got to say, put the galoshes on make sure the kids get their shoes on. Theyll have a lot of fun puddles this morning, right . Yes. Hard to drive in galoshes, though, i will say. A traffic mess this weekend. Van ness avenue, a major artery of the city, has been shut down. Youll want to stay away between geary and post streets. Construction crews are working on the tunnel that will connect a future hospital with a New California Pacific Medical center campus. Van ness reopens tonight at midnight. Thanks so much for making us a part of your morning. To 5 00 or 6 00 newscast tonight. Instead it is sunday night football night in america. A special edition of nbc bay area news follows the game at 8 30. And of course, well be on again at 11 00 tonight. Until then, stay up to date on nbcbayarea. Com. We hope you have a great morning. See you. This sunday morning, a special edition of meet the press. Terror in paris. Frances 9 11. How did it happen . What signs did french intelligence miss . Do we need a new way to confront isis . Is there a risk of it reaching the United States . Kel talk to top government officials anden expert on terrorism. Plus, terror in the campaign. The democrats debated last night and jeb bush joins us this morning. Do the Current Events lessen the appeal of the ou