Crying. He said mom, its really, really bad. He said theyre saying that i killed a cop and then the phone just went dead. Whoa. It was really awful. I dont think ethan and i could stand for quite a long time after that. We both sat here on the floor in this room and just cried and cried and cried. How did this happen, they wondered . The parents were involved in both their childrens lives as they grew up in this San Francisco neighborhood a few blocks from the pacific ocean. We took family walks. We have sunday family dinners. We were very involved in sports, you know, pta at his middle school. Ethan coached soccer, helped to coach baseball. So we have been and are still very close. Their son fin went to rome on Summer Vacation after wrapping up his first year at san diego mesa college. He met with his old friend, gabriel natale. Gabe tried to buy cocaine but a pusher gave him italian tylenol instead. Offduty cops broke up the transaction. The Young Americans ran away, fin grabbing the backpack of the man involved in the deal and the boys later demanded money to return it. The backpack owner arranged to meet gabe and called police. C carabinieri and his partner arrived at the location. The officers were not in uniform, had no Service Weapons or badges, and there are questions whether they properly identified themselves as police. The elders defend fins actions at selfdefense. At 3 00 a. M. He was jumped from behind, thrown to the ground by a man 100 pounds heavier than him. He was being strangled. He was choking him and pinning him down. Finnegan thought he was in mortal danger. He feared for his life . He thought he was fighting somebody who was trying to kill him. And he was not letting up. Fin pulled out this knife, a u. S. Marinestyle combat weapon called a k bar. He told police he slashed at the officer until he let go. Rega died 45 minutes later at the hospital, leaving behind a widow he had married just the month before. The carabinieri leaked this photo that fin had on his cell phone of him in San Francisco before the trip with what appears to be the same knife. Had you ever seen that knife before . No. No. No. You can go to big 5, and there is rows and rows of camping knives. Did it surprise you that he traveled with that . Yes. Yes, it did. Police held a News Conference saying the americans were the aggressors, but a source has given me quotes from fin elders interrogation that day. He said we didnt know that they were policemen. When the investigator asked, what do you mean, they attacked you . Fin answers like walked up close and just grabbed me and threw me to the ground. The bigger guy was on top of me. He started hitting me and started strangling me. I thought i was going to die. The elders tell me they waited for officer tulela rega to die before visiting in this prison. The International Media swarmed. They refused all interview requests until. Now describe that moment when you saw fin for the first time in prison. My heart was broken. The loss of officer rega, and i walked back in, and it broke again. Seeing your boy . Seeing my boy. We hugged. We kissed. We told each other we loved each other. He was shaking. I would feel how much physical contact he needed. So i just touched him the whole time and held his hand. His parents tell me fin hasnt had problems with other inmates. Some call him california boy. Leah and ethan elder are draining their life savings to pay attorneys here in rome. Fins trial on aggravated murder and attempted extortion charges starts next week, seven months to the day since the officer died. This is not an easy question to answer, but what words do you have for officer regas wife . Im just so heartbroken. Im so heartbroken that her husband was here and now hes no longer on this earth, and i feel just an immense amount of pain when i think of her. Not a day goes by that we dont that we dont reflect on him and their lives. Everyone who loved him. Just as we love our son. Its just a tragedy. There is so much more to the story. Now that interview is part of an hourlong abc7 originals documentary that airs this sunday at 7 00. Its called 32 seconds a deadly night in rome. It will be streamed tonight at abc7news. Com and on amazon fire tv and the abc7 news bay area Youtube Channel. Now here tomorrow at 6 00, i interview the mother of the other suspect. For the first time in public, she talks about her sons role in the killing, such a terrible night, and seven months later going to trial. And elders parents, you can just feel their heartbreak and how drained emotionally and sounds like financially theyre draining their accounts too at this point. Why did they decide now to speak out . All the cards are on the table. Its now or never. The trial is srting on wednesday. They really want to try to stem the tide of these stories that in their minds have been planted by the prosecutors and the police and the italian media. They now want to get their side of the story out. Their main defense point saying that fin didnt know that these people were police officers. He was trying to save himself. Thats the point they want to get out. There is another young man involved facing charges. Right. Are those parents talking both parents talking with each other about what happened . Its really interesting. Early on fin elders mom leah reached out to the other mother who well hear from tomorrow. They had some conversations back and forth, actually planned a meeting, but then the lawyers stepped in. I see. And they stopped that meeting because this is so sensitive. Its kind of a shame that theyre both in the same situation, but they cant really console each other because of the legal case thats moving forward. Dan, youve done such great reporting on both sides of the atlantic on this. I look forward to the documentary this week. Thank you. Happening now, a meeng for parents following the abrupt closure of Mcclymonds High School in oakland because of groundwater contamination. How much damage does this pose as a health ricketts . Laura anthony has been on the story and joins us live from oakland. Laura . Well, hi, ama. That meeting just getting under way at the Taylor MemorialUnited Methodist church. Thats for parents and mcclymonds parents and students and for this larger community. Im sure there will be lots of questions about how we got to this point and about what happens next. Teachers and staff at west oaklands Mcclymonds High School were removing plants, animals and their own supplies now that the school is closed, a reality that may last beyond this week due to concerns over a chemical discovered in the groundwater. What were doing is we are exercising extreme caution here because some testing that we did on an unrelated matter that turned up what is call tce, tricholesterol ethylene. Its a chemical used for metal processing. The tce in the groundwater was discovered last friday while tests were being conducted near the football on an unrelated matter. The concern is its vaporizing and creating a Health Hazard for students and staff. According to local and state officials there are several sites near mcclymonds that could be the source of the tce, but it most likely is an old plating plant, lane metal finishers a few hundred feet away. Thats a major concern. Reporter telani Kings Daughter is a senior at mcclymonds. Missing one day of school, a few hours of school is detrimental to their future. The tce incidents just the latest scare for the community in and around mcclymonds. Over the years testing has found high levels of led around the school. And in 2017, east bay mud found lead contamination in the Drinking Water from dated metal fixtures. Things have happened in the past here. We have had very high profile cases of cancer on this campus. Those include ramon sanders, a mcclymonds graduate who died of cancer last november, and another mac football player, darryl akins, who died from leukemia in 2017. Tierra barker is his mother. Whats your reaction on what you just heard . Very heartbreaking. Its sad and kind of has your mind wondering. Could be a possibility it has something to do with his diagnosis. Now the sign says the school will be closed today and tomorrow. We heard from School Officials today that that closure will extend at least at minimum into next week. Local officials urgently trying to get the state department of toxic substances to come here and determine the source of the leak or the contamination because its clearly not coming from this property. There will be more testing this weekend, and then decisions made about when and whether to open mcclymonds, and whether to have the 350 students from this campus take their classes at another campus within the district. Live in oakland, laura anthony, abc7 news. Laura, thank you for that update. There are a number of developments about coronavirus happening in the bay area. A Santa Clara County coronavirus patient has been released from home isolation after covering from the mysterious illness. Two San Benito County patients have been discharged from ucsf after treatment there. Meanwhile, a diamond princess cruise ship evacuee has been hospitalized in San Francisco, suspected of coming down with the virus. Humboldt county is reporting its first case, a close contact of that patient is also showing symptoms. Worldwide more than 76,000 people have been sickened. The death toll stands at more than 2200. One of the Biggest Challenges to building a better bay area is housing, as you know. The high prices have contributed to the homeless crisis, which is all governor gavin newsom talked about in his state of the state speech yesterday, his focus. Today action is being taken in the bay area to make it better. Abc7 news anchor eric thomas is live to explain. Eric . And dan, Affordable Housing is a crisis here in berkeley. The mayor, a millennial says he doubts hell ever be able to make enough money to buy a house. Thats why hes proposing an ordinance that he hopes will lead to more Affordable Housing in the city. We need to do more to protect existing tenants and keep housing permanently affordable. Topa when this Apartment Building went up for sale late last year, tenants decided not to just accept it. They bought the building as an investment in Affordable Housing. The Northern California land trust and city of berkeley combined forces to help the tnants make the purchase. Now the mayor, who knows something about the cost of renting himself, wants to make it law. And i rely on rent control, and i rely on having roommates to be able to afford to live here in the city of berkeley. He is sponsoring an ordinance, the tenant opportunity to purchase act, or topa. It would give tenants the right to make the first offer and right of first refusal if the landlord puts the building up for sale. It would be the first ordinance of its kind in the state. You look around, think its a white thing, a black thing, a chicano thing, no its not. Its a money thing. Since 1970, berkeley has lost more than half of its African American population. So there is an emphasis on helping minorities, and help is what drew Dominique Walker here. You may remember her as one of the moms for housing who took over a vacant home in oakland and forced a court battle. Thats so special to me for folks to organize, because we know when we organize, we win. Meantime, state senator Nancy Skinner of berkeley has introduced a bill in sacramento that could target vacant homes for Affordable Housing. She mentioned it in this tweet. It reads proud today to reduce the number of vacant homes in california and give tenants the right of first refusal to buy foreclosed properties. So skinners bill would give local cities and counties the power to take vacant homes that have been vacant for an extended period of time and turn that into Affordable Housing, would also give tenants right of first refusal to make a bid on those homes if theyve been vacant for a long time, and they would give cities and counties the opportunity to find corporations who own those homes and keep them vacant. By the way, oakland is now considering as well an ordinance similar to the one propose heard in berkeley about giving tenants the right to buy the building they live in if the owner decides to sell it. Live in berkeley, eric thomas, abc7 news. Eric, thank you. The bay areas housing crisis affects all of us, and its why we dedicated a week of coverage to that topic. From issues for renters to homeowners to solutions for the future, you can find all of these stories online at abc7news. Com better bay area. Well, starting next week, we are dedicating our building a bay Area Coverage to bart. We did it last year. Youll see whats changed and what hasnt since then. Our coverage begins on monday. President ial hopefuls are getting a lot of attention leading up to californias primary, which is less than two weeks away. But dont forget about local politics. Next, the battle over prop c in the south bay. Im spencer christian. It looks like our dry pattern will continue with the slight possibility of some light sprinkles. Tomtrump on the economy. Ald his people over profits plan makes a living wage a right. Creates thousands of good paying green jobs in california. And provides a 10 tax cut for everyone making under 250,000. Toms plan also makes health care a right, by adding a public option to obamacare. Protects union negotiated plans. And ensures californians can make their own health care choices. Im tom steyer and i approve this message. Doprevagen is the number oneild mempharmacistrecommendeding . Memory support brand. You can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Voters in santa clara face important decision on the ballot whether to cut the number of City Council Districts in half. Some argue it could increase the number of minorities elected, while others believe it will make it more difficult. Abc7 News Reporter david louie looks at both sides of a controversial proposal. Raj shahal is the first minority ever elected to the council which is a major victory after a judge two years ago ordered the city to switch from atlarge elections to six council districts. Measure c would reduce the Six Districts to three after a Citizens Group studied the issue. Mayor Elisa Gilmore told abc7 news it was written by a group of Diverse Group of Santa Clarans for Santa Clarans. Its being opposed by the 49ers who want to control the city council. They had experts that came in and talk to them. And one said there is the possibility you might actually get more diversity by having the three districts with multiple members in each. Asian american, African American, hispanic and other groups opposed measure c because they believe it will make it difficult for minorities to get elected. About half of santa claras 127,000 residents are minorities. Diversity is often a catalyst for new solutions and innovation. Everyone loses when we are represented by a monolithic leadership. The city is appealing the court order to have Six Districts its creating more friction. The team has pumped about 300,000 into the campaign to defeat measure c. A Team Spokesman said measure c threatens to disenfranchise minority communities and strip them of equal representation in our local government while simultaneously ignoring a court order. Secretary of state alex padilla has joined past and current leaders in opposing state c. The restrictions are going from atlarge elections to district elections, its for the purpose of allowing historically to disenfranchised committee to have their proper say what who their representatives are. Voters will decide at the ballot box. David louie, abc7 news. Hart to believe, yes less than two weeks away from the california primary on march 3rd. In our latest episode of our abc7 news originals, chasing california, we go oneonone with pete buttigieg. Here is a sneak peek of that episode with abc7 News Reporter liz kreutz. Sanders has a huge staff. Bloomberg has a ton of money. Can you compete . So i dont have the personal fortune of a billionaire or the email list youd have if you had run for president before, and yet weve been able to go from nothing over the course of the last year to now being able to succeed in the first two states. And believe we can do the same here in california. Buttigieg is fighting to win over the moderate vote, but so are several other candidates. Chronicle insider phil matier says he may stand a chance. The fact that he is in the final six is big. The other candidates are strong presence because everyone is tuned into this race. People are paying attention. Its not like any race weve seen before. You can find all the full episodes of chasing california at abc7news. Com. It is also available on the abc7 news app, amazon fire tv and our Youtube Channel as well. I think youll find them very informative. Absolutely. All right. Spencer also very informative. But any rain to inform us about . Ill inform you of whats coming our way. Outdoors from our rooftop camera across the embarcadero under high clouds, but bright skies. 61 degrees here in the city. 66 in oakland, redwood city. Gilroy, 64. Half moon bay, 54. Now look at whats left of the sunset. Looking from the east bay hills, what a stunning view that is. Currently 62 degrees. Petaluma 59. Napa and fairfield