the coast guard to rescue a chopper headed to are bracing not injured boaters in the pacific ocean. the challenges that the crew faces in this morning's rescue. family and volunteers will not allow for missing teenager how the search for sierra as breen a community together. no drop out for the gop race for the warehouse it is 8 30 it on sunday april 1st thanks for joining us. we have a lot of news to cover in the next hour. the first lady is in the bay area for a big fund-raiser and at the event and alameda. the search for sierra

continues people started meeting at 8:00 a.m. this morning at the elementary school with the latest on that but first developing news off of the coast of san francisco. the coast guard cutter try and help injured sailors 4 mi. off the coast of california. the 67 ft. yacht lost its steering mounting and communications equipment after a large wave crashed on top three members of the 13 member crew are believed to have back and read and pelvic injuries they were taking part in and around the road race headed from china to san francisco. the coast guard cutter nows the helicopters on board and they're headed to the yacht to help out with the rescue efforts. we also have a camera crew on board. right now high surf warning in the bay area coast is a the waves crashing yesterday awarding extends from the north bay to the big sur coast.

that will be challenging rescue and bookkeeper ion it. in the meantime let's take a look at the weather. skies are clearing up it's still pretty lumpy and the offshore waters of the sea. a high serve warning will be up into tomorrow with look for the seas to be out of the west 20 to 28 ft.. caution around the beaches as always the could be sneaker waves and strong rip currents out there. need to give yourself a lot of room as these conditions will likely prevail and to the beginning of the week. the rain is gone for now with more details coming up and the complete forecast in a few minutes. hundreds of people are meeting at the summit school in morgan hill to help the search for the 15 year-old sierra. hundreds continue the search for

her and the rain yesterday including the forty-niners quarterback alex smith. her case its home for teens and parents. 500 volunteers gathered in morgan hill for still another search for the missing teenager sierra. several hundred folks showed up on friday. the committee has been extremely supportive of the searching the volunteers took coming in. british investor on for school march 60 that has not been seen since. notice giving up but some fear the worst. all my friends are talking about her not coming back and how she could be out of california by now. we don't know what happened to our and it's scary all of us have our guard up walking around town. even the boy is in not wanting to walk alone the community is upset and angry. the mother of the murdered teenager said she is here for her family.

my daughter did no. but she stern school months before my daughter was murdered and a just can't imagine the family has got to have peace and they won't have peace unless she gets home and she's found. until my daughter to be your angel. for of the effort little has turned up. there's no evidence in the case so far with looking for anything 15 year-old mike where weather clothing or jewelry or shoes. disappointed but not discouraged the volunteers say they won't stop to the printer home. on wednesday state health officials will decide which counties will be a pilot program to combine medicare and medicaid. 10 counties competing to be

among the four chosen. the state wants to merge the two health-care plans into a single managed health care system to go to streamline care for help and a low-income people and save money. the health insurance premiums a lot rise today for 4 million policy owners of small business owners. premiums will rise an average of 15 to 20%. small businesses covered bed at nubble the hikes of 94%. other increases are planned made for customers of health net's and united healthcare. on to our campaign 2012 coverage mitt romney appears to be in good shape heading into wisconsin's republican primary on tuesday. and a poll shows that he has seven point lead over his closest challenger send form. yes 40% from 33 and ron paul 11 in new gingrich trailing at 8%.

a second poll was conscious that are made up by five percentage points. mitt romney now taking aim at president obama's economic policies. his recovery has been tempted and underperformed in part because what he has done has made it more difficult for the economy to recover. elect to take great applause for his stimulus but the stimulus protected government that the american people. heading into tuesday's primary is a total five and a taxi to the kids with a half way to the total he needs to clinch the nomination. history and making today for the southeast asian nation. pro-democracy leaders may have won a seat in prom. unsung as water district and that victory is yet to be confirmed.

after some dramatic reforms 66 year-old decided to run there are some concerns about the survival of a party because her health is failing i think this country and very well survive without the have found the people have the right spirit to survive the had the guts and the commitment. she is a noble nobel peace prize winner she won an election back in the '90s but the military and government put her under house arrest for 15 years. a powerful and popular ally of the campaign trail still to come. first teachers and parents rally in the school board meeting their demands over the schools on the chopping block. look at the people and issues behind powerful protests the bay area exhibit integers

the next generation in the year 1968. clear to breezy run up a this morning with the warming trend carrying us into the beginning of the week details coming up.

an exhibit at the oakland museum focuses on one fateful year in american history 1968 to june with our real medical helicopter in the middle of a mock living room. the chopper rebooked this week from vietnam veterans there's a difference of memories for americans to lift to the time to go to war. we're the protest and bring my draft card. it brought people back protest against the war back power from the black panthers and chemist demonstrations and the assassinations of martin luther king jr. and senator kennedy. including pictures from a train carrying kennedy's body across the country. i checked it out is today it was fascinating and i would definitely recommend it. looking like awful good weather to the upside today as

opposed to yesterday. looking at lots of sunshine still breezy but the temperatures will gradually warm into the beginning of the week. the rain is gone for now and look for the trend to prevail to the rest of the week a few chances of showers mistake but it won't amount to much. by pressure returns into the area for warm and dry pattern to carry as the most of the week as we look at the high surf warning up for the central california coast the waves and the west 28 ft. caution is advised that their strong recurrence give itself a lot of room between the way of life and the beach as receive the 24 are rainfall totals anywhere from half to three-quarters of an inch tapered off to a third of an inch by the timing of the south bay which brings us totals for the year up into the 60s to 70%

range for making up the little round this time of year still well beyond behind normal as we see the strong pattern out across the pacific responsible for the big waves out there was well in the waters. pretty uniform this afternoon and tomorrow as a chase front clears the area and the next one to arrive mid week will bring a slight chance of showers to the area. more cloud cover than rain out of that system. conditions clearing this afternoon remain in that way tomorrow and it should warm back to near normal with to the upper 60s to the '70s across the interior. a slight bump today into the mid to low sixties for the interior still at the upper 50s to the coast and the bay area with temperatures just below normal for this time of year.

last year at this time ever setting records in the mid to late '80s a far cry from where we're this year. the '60s to the upper 50s for most locations gradually warming through the week back into the normal temperature ranges princess in the upper 60s to the '70s with a slight chance of showers by midweek and think that will be a non-event for us as the conditions would try at the end of the week into an through the weekend continuing spring pattern into next week and beyond. will the oakland school board closing five elementary schools. despite the opposition from parents and teachers and despite the improving financial picture for the district. so why is it happening? this morning with the question to the school board member. unfortunately remember and a positive financial situation is because for having to close five schools.

that's part of it. it's sort of a false victory than that or balancing the budget if it means closing schools where we closing the schools? primarily its financial reasons we look at an open if 37,000 students and one of the 101 schools. a similar school area long beach unified 95 passes students and 80 schools. we have 2 1/2 times less with more schools and financially the can't afford it. in 2001 we had 55,000 schools of the oakland unified school district to a record 7000. financially we cannot afford to keep this in the schools open. who want to put up the list of the schools on the chopping block that will be closed next year in june they're on the screen.

these school's mean so much of the parents and children and teachers that have been there the out point of support the school board meeting this week was standing 10 people were arrested. it's completely unfortunate i was a teacher for a long time in oakland and the finest in that the school or parent of course i'm very upset at my school on a supportive but on a district level the school board is in charge the educational policies of the school's the number to they're in charge of the finances. unfortunately i cannot allow a personal feelings to get into that. a little while ago the man he mentioned as a statistic that may be at the core of this. you've had 20 as a drop in the number of students but where they going? there are a number of places number one san francisco not as many students in the city tenner 15 years ago the moving up to the suburbs.

they're leaving the city in number to we have a growth from 2003-2009 who are under state control school board are $100 million in the state than a state trustee covenants basically called the shots and he allowed for a number of tourists was to grow within the city there public-school but they're not under the control of the school board to affect roughly 35 to order schools that means 9000 students live in oakland going to charter schools. if we take a lens and pullback closing public schools but the to of the schools of grown so was the actual number of schools in oakland increased or decreased? since to with charter schools that her to say with closed a lot of catholic schools in the city probably it roughly the same amount of schools. people opting out of the oakland school system and to

close these elementary schools people will feel more alienated because the donor of the neighborhood schools for archer contributing to the problem? in oakland we have open enrollment so many students going to these school's caribbean closed don't necessarily live in the neighborhoods. a number of our schools the vast majority had been rerouted to different schools and many take cases closer to their home. are trying to off camera and said when you have the charter schools drawing people the way to you have people moving out of the oakland school system but people from oakland linen oakland actually in the the school high-school leaving the district to go to the media and berkeley and other school districts. they're caught in this spin around and i'm not sure how they're going to put out of it because as more people leave people take a look of the schools and decide to go to.

complete a lot of these parents and students and teachers are having that there's not enough public process here that these decisions are being made behind closed doors. they're basically sour grapes that's what he said. its transparent until it doesn't go your way and then of a sudden so i think it's been very much open and up front and recovering at the unfortunately for the parents situation hasn't changed the don't have the money and they don't have the students. the first lady played a major role on a husband's quest for second term in office.

michelle obama making an appearance of the kids choice awards in los angeles last night presented the country music star with a big help award. the sam makes the point of giving back by fighting bullying and donating books to schools across the country. her charm offensive is proving to be an asset for the president's reelection campaign. up only in terms of her policies and personality, bringing in the money for the campaign. to take a look at the first lady returned to the former mayor brown and send to discuss chronicle reporter former owner her trip she surt and gets

around including on the fund- raising circuit. 42 fund-raisers in 10 months more than joe biden she is the superstar fund raiser of the obama's campaign she's everywhere on tv doing pushups with alan on with letterman next week she's gonna have the biggest loser she is going to tap into pop culture better than just about any national political figure right now. it's not unusual it's just simply because she doesn't have to make any of the decisions she's on an observer and believe me your popularity can remain aeons higher than ever if you make no decisions. she is the quiet when the shoes out there raising the money and how much democratic money is there in the bay area in california and they keep coming in and collecting. unlimited we have to raise

$1 billion as democrats in order to offset the super paths and offset all of those crazy guys to of all that money that they inherited and never earned and a trend away give away. we have to offset it and we have to do it nickel and dime. she's got to raise $175,000 for 25 minutes of work this weekend. the world of politics just think about the republicans hold an event and 20 of them in the same room at turns out to be $7 million. travel questions raised and going on a number of shows how is it that she's managed to stay above even the paparazzi frame she has not been one big gap. she was in a sack race and in with the and the white house with jimmy fallon.

she has an ability about her shoes and every person. this is also an unusual human being she's an athlete with a brain. and that's an incredible plus. would can't just praise her we have to remind you of this little issue the first place said central fens aflutter kantor trip to london in 2009. a spontaneous have cut with the queen of england wrote etiquette dictates the queen that the textile she reaches out first. buckingham palace had to issue a statement to, the royal watchers say the queen was not offended. if that is the worst after almost four errors in the white house your doing pretty good. laura bush was very quiet emergency much of her shoes thick on libraries michelle obama commissioned the coast

guard cutter are eager as well this weekend. yes today in the pouring rain but she really is an everyday type of woman she unawares brands from target should early planners of out there as one of us. either she's got it or handlers' credit the they certainly have opposed the popular culture in america. coming up some other things to take a look at. continuing to follow coast guard rescue going on right now of the coast of san francisco. people are injured in the middle of the ocean and the fall that coming up. dozen people at the streets for an unearned tutor that were shot and killed in florida. high surf advisory out for the bay area coast line coming up.

bay area ! here's big news from verizon wireless

>> a coast guard rescue is happening right now hundreds of miles off the san francisco coast. what they were doing before the big wave crashed on to their vessels >> no arrests in the case of

trayvon martin, the unarm teenager shot to death. >> a mega millions boost for a lucky bay area stores. welcome back to the early edition. it is april 1st, april fool's day. >> thanks for joining us. i'm glad you did not win because you might not be here otherwise >> still, some people got some money out of this deal but you need to double check your tickets. >> first we're following developing news off the coast of san francisco. >> a coast guard cutter is trying to reach injured sailors about 400 mi. off the coast of california. >> to 67 ft. yacht lost its steering mounting and some communications equipment after a huge wave crashed on top of it. it is now moving west using

secondary steering. three members of the crew are believed to have significant injuries to their back ribs and pelvis. there were taking part in and around the world race. a coast guard cutter now has a helicopter on board to help with rescue effort. right now we are under a high surf advisory warning along the bay area coast. these are the waves crashing near pacific yesterday. jim bernard is telling us what we can expect as that continues. >> the atmosphere is clearing out but the ocean remains rather rough. a remnant of yesterday's frontal boundary that brought rain to the area. we do have high surf warnings up for the central california coast through a 11:00 a.m. monday morning.

20-28 ft. waves, use caution. possible strong riptides and sneaker waves. again, we did see some rain yesterday morning. the rainfall totals look like this. a third of an inch in the south bay. up to three-quarters of an inch in the north bay. it is gone for now and we should be warmer and drier through the beginning of a week with a chance of showers on wednesday which we will talk more about coming up. >> the absence of rain will help volunteers who are continuing to search for a missing morgan hill teenager, sierra lamar. it will be meeting this morning at burnett elementary and morgan hill. nearly 500 people have been looking for any sign of the 15 year-old yesterday. the day before, close to 700 people came out to help. the mother of a murdered morgan

hill teenager also joined in the search >> my daughter did not know her but she started school one month before my daughter was murdered. i just can't imagine, the family needs peace and they will not have peace unless she comes home or is found. i prayed to my daughter to guide her home, beat her angel >> forty-niners quarterback alex smith was among the volunteers looking for her yesterday >> in the latest demonstration surrounding the shooting death of trayvon martin, thousands of people including influential leaders marched this weekend demanding an arrest but the focus of the rally's is starting to change. >> hundreds of demonstrators marched on the police department over the shooting death of trayvon martin and a decision not to charge george zimmerman. >> there needs to be an arrest

in there needs to be a fair trial because this is america >> the case has become a national flashpoint >> all of these killings are hate crimes. all of these killings, we have become as a nation much too violent >> civil-rights leaders believe protests will pressure the special prosecutor to bring charges >> the reality is that this prosecutor, we have faith in the we're watching him >> the focus was on justice trayvon martin and demand that george zimmerman be arrested. some speakers urging protesters to turn their outrage to political action >> marches, rallies, and speeches are fine. but where you going to do at election time! >> rev. al sharpton urges economic pressure on companies that support florida's standard

ground self-defense law. the naacp says there are no plans of a boycott of sanford businesses. they all agreed that demonstrations will continue as long as george zimmerman remains free. >> san francisco law enforcement agencies are getting a free surprise from a surprising source, the u.s. military. over the past two decades the police and sheriff's department have got $1.4 million of equipment free of charge from the department of defense. s.f. state dot com says it includes infrared devices, vehicles and combat helmets. more downsizing for the u.s. postal service. this time is to bay area process enters on the chopping block. distribution centers in burlingame and petaluma are among the locations around the country that could lose and

could wind up closing. it is all expected to save the struggling postal service about $3 billion. the move will practically eliminate overnight mail and also means that regular mail could take at least one extra day to arrive. on the internet, yahoo! is expected to start laying off thousands of employees next week. silicon valley sources say that the layoffs staff in production research and marketing areas and that they will then announce how plans to restructure. it is expected to change its focus to media advertising and other unnamed future initiatives. if they have not come forward just yet, the people who have the three winning tickets in the latest mega millions lottery drawing. there are probably sitting there going is it really us? >> making a plan to get out of dodge because they will have every random person they ever met coming to them. it makes it easier if we focus

on the bad things they're going through so we are not so jealous. >> in the bay area >> 5 stores sold mega million tickets worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. here is a look at the lucky locations. tickets spotted these stores matched five of six numbers. each of them is worth $228,000 which is significant. a total of 29 were sold in california, one of them on fox liquors in the tenderloin. the store's owner says the winner has yet to come forward. >> congratulations to them >> the owner says he will find out tomorrow exactly how much you get for selling that winning ticket >> even if you did not hit the winning ticket, double check because you might get five

numbers. another investigation into the shooting death of trayvon martin >> another perspective from san francisco da george gascoigne coming up >> hundreds of people got to see the first lady in alameda this weekend >> extreme warnings go out with a goal of saving lives in the middle of extreme weather. we will talk about a coming up.

>> warmer temperatures on the way and we still have a high surf warning for the beaches through tomorrow morning

>> 10 minutes after 9:00, the man suspected of killing five people in san francisco last week appeared in court it. the judge ruled the public defender's office cannot represent bihn thai luc because the office represented his brother in a recent case. the judge then appointed a private attorney to represent him and delayed his arraignment until april 5th. the rest of bihn thai luc for those brutal murders has focused attention on u.s. immigration and deportation policy. why wasn't he deported after serving prison time for violent crimes in the south bay? one legal expert says there was no way vietnam would take him back to that country >> in mid 20th-century war is still having ramifications

today. >> the problem with him goes back that he is from vietnam and it goes back all the way back to the vietnam war >> we ask a law professor to help explain why bihn thai luc was not sent back to his native vietnam serving time for robbery and attempted robbery in san jose. he says up until six years ago the a bomb was more likely to say no then yes >> because we were not on a great diplomatic terms with vietnam we cannot automatically send someone back to that country. they have to agree to accept those individuals >> and issue them passports which vietnam was reluctant to do with refugees who fled the communist regime but in 2006, things changed in vietnam began allowing citizens back in if they left the country after 1995 but bihn thai luc left before 95 >> big feel they are products of the u.s., they entered here as

infants and toddlers in grew up here and that they're criminality has little to do with them being vietnamese >> and has more to do with them growing up in the u.s. >> in vietnam would respond by saying he is your problem, not ours. he is a product of your environment. >> the professor says the supreme court ruled 11 years ago that immigrants cannot be held indefinitely >> the supreme court said that after 180 days you need to give these individuals a chance to show that they are rehabilitated or on the path to rehabilitation and if it is reasonable you need to laugh let them out >> he says bihn thai luc most likely did. thousands of immigrants are released in the u.s. every year after serving prison time >> a vast majority of these folks don't commit crimes again but when they do, in hindsight you wish that maybe the person had been treated differently

>> the professor says there will be pressure for vietnam to issue travel documents quickly and one reason it might do that is because vietnam wants to be the next country to see manufacturing explosion following in the steps of china and india. >> the national weather service is hoping to actually scare people into taking shelter from tornadoes. they're kicking off a warning experiment next week in the midwest. will start sending out impact based warnings during severe weather. these messages will actually talk about how much damage the storm could cause. for example, the warning could say complete destruction of the

entire neighborhood is likely or, mass devastation is highly likely, making the area unrecognizable to survivors. if that does not get through to you, i am not sure what will >> when i grew up in wisconsin and i saw the sky turning green, you didn't need to tell me to get in the basement. our weather around here is very mild compared to that >> get outside and enjoy it. what the blue sky across the bay today. it will be a couple of days before the clouds return it as we look for a warming trend to carry us into the middle of the week. wind out of the north keeping a bit of the chill in the air but generally speaking we will be warming up for the next couple of days. scattered showers are gone for now and we will look for high pressure to rebuild across the region. a slight chance of showers shows up in the middle of the

week but the main weather note today is a high surf warning. swell's have built to the west at 20-28 ft. which is very high. caution is advised as possible storm recurrence and it speaker waves. we see this pattern in the offshore hours resulting in big waves. breezy and warm into the middle of the week as we look for the next frontal system to arrive by wednesday. it could bring a chance of some light showers to the region. expected to clear out through the day with just some high cloud cover moving into the area and temperatures gradually warming.

we look for mostly sunny skies across the area today. upper 50s back at the bay and the beach. we will see that a warming trend continue with a gradual cool down by the middle of the week as a few more clouds arrive. los 60s should cover us today both across the east bay and the north. we will see another brief bump tomorrow into the upper 60s. a slight chance of showers on wednesday and then we dry out and warm up again through the end of the weekend into the weekend. it looks like we are back into regular spring pattern. >> first lady michelle obama help kristen a new coast guard strip into service. she did it under pouring rain

yesterday addressing a few hundred people. the ceremony formerly commissioned a cutter into duty, a 418 ft. boat honoring captain dorothy stratton who directed the coast guard's women reserves. it will likely make its first deployment in the eastern pacific. coming up, san francisco da george gascoigne. >> one of the various items from the titanic goes on the auction block.

>> a first-class menu from the titanic net to about $120,000 at an auction. that menu is dated april 14th 1912 featuring the last meal serve to first-class passengers on board. that is the same day the cruiser hit an iceberg and fell to the bottom of the atlantic.

>> i wonder if they ever found the deck chairs on that boat because you always hear that expression, rearrange the deck chairs on the titanic and i wonder if someone owns one. the shooting death of an unarmed teenager in florida continues to spark protests around the country. the shooter george zimmerman has not been charged or even taken into custody and his claims so far has been self- defense. that is one of the questions we asked san francisco district attorney george gascoigne who has also been a police chief. our question is, do you think what happened in florida and how it was handled? >> i don't have inside knowledge but it appeared it was very poorly handled from the beginning. i think that this case was one that obviously needed to be aggressively investigated early on.

the prosecution and police needed to work together closely. if the prosecution needed additional information the police would need to get it >> when you make your decisions, sometimes it is like catching a ball on the run. you're still working the cases and it is interesting how much is coming out even months afterwards. now you hear about witnesses, conflicting and this and that. >> you're always catching the ball on the run but that is not but the question is, you know that that comes with the territory. is the following good investigative protocol continuing to work the case aggressively and following through on all the things that need to be followed through? >> in san francisco we have just at a recent mass killing. you have already made the decision not to seek the death penalty. you will get some heat for that. i know that is a san francisco standard but how you work that? >> number one, clearly it is a

community standard here and one that i endorse. when you engage in death penalty prosecution it will take decades to have a result. you're spending a great deal of money and wasting a lot of resources and we can ensure that justice to the family and the community is served if in fact he committed the crime and get life without possibility of parole >> in your experience, when it comes to pressure, where did you feel the most, as police chief or as district attorney? >> i think it really depends. you have a mayor that is putting pressure on you and a lot of other people. if you stick to doing what you're supposed to do you will be ok. >> it would be naive not to think that there is political

pressure on someone like the district attorney whether here or in florida. they do come up for reelection and they do face the public and what the public says or does not say means whether or not they have a job >> he is against the death penalty and will not see fit although we took a survey that shows most and franciscans do want him to seek the death penalty. >> the question is how strongly they want to do it and whether that applies when the case comes up but he has made the call and we will take it from there >> coming up, a look at today's top stories >> including a rescue call hundreds of miles off the coast of california, when we come back.

>> rainy weather could not keep this guy away, the easter bunny. dozens of families came out in morgan hill to enjoy easter festivities. the annual spring festival was held at the community and

cultural center. live entertainment, games and balloon animals and in easy easter egg hunt. how much easier can you get? make those kids work! >> we will take another look at this morning's top stories >> we've been following a developing story all morning, a coast guard cutter trying to reach a yacht in distress 400 mi. off the coast of california. the boat was hit by a wave sweeping away its steering mounting and injuring three crew members who were taking part in a race. >> in the south bay the search continues for a missing morgan hill teenager, sierra lamar. the girl went missing on march 16th and volunteers will be meeting again at burnett elementary school. nearly 500 people spent hours missing, searching for the missing teenager >> we are under a high surf warning extending from the north bay to the big sur coast.

everyone is a buys to be aware around here, the rain is gone but it is a little chilly out there >> it will be warming up in the next couple of days. we saw some moderate to heavy downpour for a couple of hours. it did clear out nicely by late yesterday and it just scattered shower activity remained into the early morning. today we're looking at blue skies and temperatures will gradually warm. strong northerly wind across the bay and as mentioned, we do have a high surf warning up for the central california coastline with waves that 20-28 ft.. >> we have the river cats on display in the bay area

>> i laugh when you read it because this is not your type of story but it might be mine. today was the first of the crow canyon cat club cat show in san mateo. more than 200 cats competing for best in show. including this thanks, eight of weird hair list reads. not a huge fan. proceeds support northern california rescue efforts. i don't think my cats would do very well but i think they are cuter than any i have seen here >> they seem awfully quiet for a whole room of cats. you'd think there might be some screeching going on >> and you don't know about cats >> i admit that! >> thank you for joining us for the early edition and enjoy the rest of your lovely sunday. the next newscast coming up at

530 tonight. bay area ! here's big news from verizon wireless and xfinity from comcast. now get the xfinity triple play and verizon wireless together. call 855-704-7400 to sign up and get a free smartphone. choose one of our hottest phones. verizon wireless and xfinity. tv, home phone, internet and wireless together.