>> state senator yee is in federal court now facing a seven-count felony indictment of gun trafficking and political corruption he represents half of san francisco and his stunning arrest happened this morning as the fbi raided multiple locations. good afternoon. i'm dan ashley. >> we know federal agents swept five locations in this corruption bust

we saw yee's home, his legislative office in sacramento, the chinese free mason lodge in chinatown, headquarters of bay steel in the bay view sdriblth, and a home in san mateo. >> the indictment was just unsealed and it spells out charges against yee of conspiracy to traffic and firearms without a license. and six counts of a scheme to defraud citizens of honest service. >> we are live in san francisco. he appeared this afternoon. vic? >> reporter: 19 of the 26 people charged in this complaint appeared in court this afternoon. you heard the counts against state senator yee. they're shocking. charging he conspired with a close associate, a man helping raise money for campaigns and with a former notorious chinatown gangster who told me he turned his life around.

a man that goes by the nickname shrimp boy. >> and the chinese frees masons were looking for evidence looking to the arrest of raymond chow known as shrimp boy. chow serves as a chairman of the free masons. he is charged with money laundering and dealing with stolen property the big fish was state senator leland yee >> i can confirm state senator leland yee is a part of the investigation taking place at this time. >> yee arrested in his home in the sunset district this morning driven to the federal building where he was booked on public corruption charges including bribery and weapons trafficking the fbi and sacramento sek

cured the office in the capitol. he is also a candidate for secretary of state. the raids involved fbi eshgs other federal agencies and local police. >> this morning fbi executed multiple arrests and search warrants. >> hundreds hit homes and buildings in san francisco and this building in the bay view. federal agents carted off boxes of evidence one target was this home on 42 nd avenue. agents seized marijuana plants and other evidence from the house which one source says was a site of a pot grow. those arrested appeared in court today to be arraigned. one of those arrested is keith jackson, a well-known political consultant, and former school board member whose most-serious charge is murder for hire. in all, 19 people were arrested. a source says many are key members of an organized crime

group. >> yee is actual hi a child psychologist by training. he was a member of the san francisco school board eight years, starting in 1988, in 1996, yee elected to the board of supervisors. >> he was elected to the state assembly, then elected to state senator. ran for mayor in november, 2011 and came in fifth. >> abc7 news profiled raymond chow, known as shrimp boy in may, 2012. our cameras caught up with him as he worked with children telling them the importance of staying in school. chow was the enforcer of chinatown's most notorious street gang in the 1980s he admits he ran prostitution rings smuggled drugs and extorted thousands from business owner buzz during ab interview chow told abc7 news reporter allen wong he put his criminal past behind him. >> i want to do something for

the kids, the community. myself. i don't want to be home, useless i know i can do something in my life. >> in that same report we learned from police sources that chow was still being followed by authorities who were not cop vinced he changed his ways. >> you can imagine, yee's arrest has everyone talking at the state capitol. >> we'll go live to sacramento to get reactions from lawmakers there oochl we got much-needed rain in the bay area this morning but not enough to help with the drought. this tree came crashing down this morning. morning commuters had wipers on today this, is how the drive looked along 280. kind of strange for this time of the year. we're getting a break now but don't put away umbrellas. spencer christian has a look at the totals today. >> quite a bit of rainfall here considering lack of rain.

it's tapering off as you can see. here is live doppler 7 hd. not much happening now just light scattered showers but we'll have a powerful thunderstorm over in the sacramento valley in glenn county as a matter of fact, a tornado warning is in effect for this area. the thunderstorm is located, the cell, north of willows and southwest. it's in effect until 4:45. expected to move through the area in the next 17 minutes the national weather service tweeted a brief funnel cloud in east contra county so there is no tornado there. moving back to the bay area, well east now, now just showers towards the bay area. widely scattered and generally

light. an inch of rain at mount st. helena. and here is a forecast looking eastward from our south beach camera looking at clouds moving through the bay area skies. scattered showers this evening. showers tomorrow morning and a chance of showers is a pattern we're going to have where the next big wave areeves later. >> you can get power outage information there as well. >> public memorial took place today for a deputy in fort bragg he died during a shootout with a kidnapping suspect last week attending high school in napa before spending 26 yearsqwl worg

in law enforcement. a police officer shot and killed a gunman today's storm the flight supposed to carry governor brown and attorney general harris for the fallen deputy. >> we're getting a look now at a suspected drunk driver accused of histing and killing a fremont motorcyclist this week. the 23-year-old is due in court tomorrow, facing dui charges. police say he was intoxicateed and plowed into a 23-year-old andrew silva. the accident killed silva, a father who just returned afghanistan a month ago. >> a congressman asking the fbi to reduce the backlog of rape kits by stream lining the process congressman mike handa wants the

fbi to allow private labs to help with testing. it's an issue the i team is reporting on for months they revealed hundreds of kits have gone untested throughout the bay area and asked alameda county to serve as a pilot region. >> the construction worker explains his split second decision to jump from a balcony of a burning apartment complex. also... >> l need to repair a dam. is this the right time to drain a major reservoir during a drought? the story is still to come >> why today's efforts to find any sign of malaysia airlines flight 370 left search teams frustrated. >> michael finney is taking your questions and will answer them here, live just a little bit

later. >> taking a look at traffic now this is highway 101. you can see headlights on the left-hand side of the screen. traffic headed north, sunny skies in san rafael. abc7 news at 4:00 continues right after this.

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hey. hey. anywhere in your home. [doorbell rings] hey. hey. so you won't miss a minute of ncaa march madness. call now to get a u-verse bundle for the same great price for 2 years. guaranteed. we want you to hear from a construction worker that found himself in the middle of an apartment complex burning down. a huge fire today curtis says he

made a decision to jump from a balcony on the verge of catching fire because there was no other way to get out. >> smoke getting heavier. just trying to get air. so i have to get air. and... at this point i just said, i'm going to die, here. the god you've got to help me. help me here. >> the balcony collapsed seconds later. firefighters extended a ladder to bring him down safely. he walked with blisters on his hands, that is it. >> remarkable. >> a grim search for victims of the massive landslide continues in washington state. 24 people confirmed dead but the number expected to climb this, is how conditions look up close new video of the initial search efforts shows a team rescuing a 4-year-old boy but the search is taking an emotional toll on

first responders. >> we're humbled in this county. we've received, um, it's very humbling and we're very grateful. >> days of searching. the grim results caught up with john pennington today the head of emergency management choking up as he described the grief shouldered by the small community. >> they're hurting very, very badly now. >> crews on their fifth day, combing through debris using sonars and cameras to search for bodies in thick mud. this video illustrates those conditions. the first responders swooping in to save a 4-year-old boy. >> they're getting sucked, sometimes up to the waist. >> among victims identified a veteran navy commander and husband. linda mcpherson, a former

librarian. christina was a dental office manager and mother of three. >> our community is devastated. >> dan rankin is the mayor in the town east of the landslide where many grieve. he says the community is desperate to find closure but with so many missing they haven't even begun the healing process. >> it's such a large thing at this point. that we're going to need help. >> with all of the resources in place for that difficult search, officials here are now shifting attention to emotional support. they've established a crisis hot line and brought in mental health counselors to help all of the first responders dealing with this stress. >> michigan governor says the state will not recognize 300 same-sex marriages performed last weekend. the announcement closes the door to certain benefits granted to

michigan married couples a day after an appeals court stopped any additional same-sex marriages. the stay means the ban is back in effect. >> it appears investors don't have a sweet tooth for the game candy crush. king digital made it's public debut but shares went south the stock fell 15.5% and analysts say the disappointing start shows concern about the company's future growth. >> 11 eyes strauss announced naming rights of the 49ers stadium in santa clara. the cuts include management positions and what it considers dupe ply kit roles.

it's expected to save the company $100 million a year. >> water agencies rrt the rain has not done much to raise the level of the reservoirs >> there is talk of draining the largest reservoir to do a retro fit. >> david louie is live at the anderson reservoir in morgan hill with a story. david? >> well, i am standing on top of anderson dam. it could crumble and send water over to this side into a populated area of morgan hill. anderson reservoir is a sight to behold from sky 7 hd and holds $27 trillion gallons of water. when full, it stores more water than santa clara valley water district's nine reservoirs combined. when they built it they thought it was on top of bed rock and

thought two faults were inactive. they were wrong. regulators ordered the dam retro fitted however, this will require draining the water. some can be used to reef charge ground water supplies. but in a drought draining water seemed to send a wroeng message. under the plan, draining would start next year. >> there may be ways we can stage construction so that we could do some of the most essential parts like downstream enbankment before upstream. and downstream won't require emptying reservoirs. >> any delay raises potential of a catastrophic event. an earthquake rocked morgan hill in 1984, sending goods flying with morgan hill having three earthquakes today, 11 in the past week and 549 in the past

year. >> a lot of seismic activity lately. in different places. so it might make sense. if it happens here, a lot of people are going to die >> the water district continues to weigh options as conditions remain unchanged. >> well, we've been getting rain. we can see the dark clouds behind us but not that much. >> no. it's nice to see. spencer christian is on the roof. spencer you know it's a good smattering of rain around the bay area. >> yes. last 48 hours, totals look good. we're in a lull. we have widely scattered showers, not only over the bay area but approaching from over the ocean waters. this morning a spotter cited a funnel cloud in antioch. it dissipated quickly. there was thunderstorm activity that way.

it's now moving out into the central valley. you can see this is our pattern, little areas of light showers into ourym direction. here is a great view of the sky looking at western sky. some large puffs of clouds drifting over the bay. we'll see showers overnight. scattered showers tomorrow. heavier rain likely late friday into early saturday. here is a look at active pattern out to sea. active storm track. lots of activity moving towards bay area series of storms. but for this evening, we just have more showers. let's start our forecast, sierra snow, first a winter storm warning in affect until 11:00 tomorrow morning. we're just 3 to 7 inches, gusts could be up to 45 miles per hour. so chain controls are possible. now back to a forecast starting friday afternoon into saturday

morning. saturday moderate to heavy rainfall. and our 10-day outlook taking us up to april 5th shows heavy rain over much of northern california including the bay area. tonight, scattered showers and tomorrow, scattered or occasional showers with high temperatures ranging from around 60s on the coast to mid-60s inland and near the bay. here is the accu-weather forecast. showers likely friday. heavier rain overnight friday into rainy day saturday. partly cloudy skies and dry sunday more rain likely monday. showers tuesday, partly cloudy skies wednesday. and beginning to look like january here. >> finally, huh? >> yes >> coming up, we all love food at the ballpark. right? >> but you'll find out what is new on menus next time you head

to at and t park. then, after 4:30... >> so here in oakland with my friends we're here at we day california. >>

so i was basically uninsurable. now that i've got coverage, my doctor is a phone call or an e-mail away. i'm in. [ female announcer ] everyone deserves health insurance. are you in? find free, confidential, local help at coveredca.com. today we take a look at the new eats at at and t park. >> if you don't want standard hot dog and garlic fries you have options how about a beer brat on a pretzel bun? >> get it in slide pickle chips. and how about beer? this is the guiness beef pie. >> if you like a break from

baseball there is a goth yam club. is it's a private speakeasy social club for season ticket holders and fees start at $2500. >> why do you want to bowl? there is a game going on. come on. >> i know. watch the game, eat. >> march madness is the talk of stanford campus both cardinal teams are chasing dreams. >> they'll host penn state sunday. winner playing either south carolina or north carolina for a trip next tuesday. >> if we play, we know we can win. >> i'm glad we'll be able to have fans here. you know? i think that you know, you don't want your players to feel like this is a home game.

it's not. >> that is exciting >> lawmakers reacting to one of their own. >> frustrating day for search teams scouring the indian ocean for sign of the malaysia airlines flight 370. >> reports of bad behavior by secret service agents protecting president obama overseas oh, look. we have a bunch of... announcer: babies who are talked to from the time they're born are more likely to have a successful future. talking and reading to children in their first years has a huge impact on what they do with the rest of their lives. the fewer words they hear, the greater their chances ofool and getting into trouble. talk. read. sing. your words have the power to shape their world. learn more at first5california.com/parents

>> now back to our top story about the massive fbi operation that led to the arrest of leland yee and two dozen others. >> yes. sacramento just realing from this. the feds conducted raids in several locations this morning at headquarters of the chinese freemasons in chinatown, at yee's home, and this home in san mateo. >> yee and reputed san francisco gangster raymond clifrp boy chow were arrested today. >>w wes were also raided. >> hi, dan. in a stunning press conference,

in a show of unity, no fewer than a dozen state senators gathered here to demand the resignation of senator leland yee if he does not step down on his oevenlt -- own, they say they will move to suspend him. >> the fbi moves potential evidence, his colleagues express shock and disappointment over the arrest this morning in san francisco. >> by the way i thought if the senator's family. >> tom amiano knows yee both personally and professionally. >> very caring about minority students and services they got. he was a member who went to schools and visited schools and people were very impressed by that. and over the years, you know, he has climbed that electoral

ladder. >> this senator says he'll reserve judgment until all facts are known but worries yee's problems might erode the public trust of lawmakers in general. >> when you have these serious accusations, it's got to erode the public's confidence in us. >> the senate president pro tem gave his reaction. >> we express our anger, and our revulsoin. we royce anyone accused of a crime is considered innocent until proven guilty. yet, this indictment is sickening. >> steinberg says he and his colleagues will have to work hard to regain the public's trust, as the scandal continues to unfold.

at the state capitol, abc7 news. >> now, lelandy is one of three senators facing charges. ronald calderon of montebello has also been arrested, and rodrick wright of inglewood found guilty of eight felony counts for lying about where he lived we ran for office. if you'd like to read more on charges we have the indictment on our web site. abc7 news.com under see it on tv. >> another day of searching for malaysia flight 370 turned up nothing. rescue teamed spotted three objects but have yet to find that large field of debris seen in satellite images. devon dwyer has the latest. >> reporter: searchers returned empty-handed. >> this turned out to be marine

mammal activity. >> frustrating after a satellite spotted objects. most of the debris was gone when they got there. >> it's an agonizing wait. some relatives in denial the mean crashed 18 days ago. >> why would you conclude that no one survived? one man asked. investigators are eager to provide proof, and today, got help from the u.s. navy which send a submersible black box like this one. >> operators will sit in front of the screen listening for indications that pinger is heard the pinger underwater sounds like this. >> but first, search teams made a big break. boxes now two miles deep in an area the size of alaska. until found what brought the plane down will remain a mystery.

. >> i don't think we can rule anything in or out until we have more information, we don't know. >> experts say it could take weeks or months to narrow down the search area after batteries will run out teams are preparing to use sonar in a visual search of the ocean to find the plane and any human remains. >> a jury today convicted osama bin laden's son-in-law of conspireing to kill americans by serving as al qaeda's spokesman after the september 11thth attacks. jurors returned a verdict against him in federal court in manhattan. he was captured in jordan last year and brought to new york for trial he is the highest-ranking al qaeda figure to face trial since the attacks on u.s. soil. >> three agents of the secret service are accused of taking part in a night excessing drinking on the job. one found passed out in the

hallway where the president was set to stay. the three part of an elite military-style combat unit trained to fight back in the event of an tack. two years ago a number of agents caught in a prostitution scandal after drinking in columbia. >> the transportation security administration is recommending armed law enforcement be present at airport security check points during peak hours following a review in response to last fall's shooting at lax. before the shooting officers roamed terminals instead of standing at check points the head of a union representing tsa officers says the report does not go far enough in addressing threats. >> kids don't like going to the dentist but this is extreme tooth pulling. one father's way to get that wobb wobbly tooth out. >> i'm still taking your questions on twitter and

facebook. you can contact me on twitter and i'll answer your questions here live in just a moment. >> i'm spencer christian. lots of blue in western skies but there is still clouds around, more showers approaching. i'll have the accu-weather forecast in just a moment. >> and from showers to approaching the bay bridge. here is a look at the san francisco skyway. sticky in both directions. stay with us. abc7 news at 4:00 continues right after this.

little bit officials say the 8-year-old guided his buddy to a remote section of the pen where rocky destroyed a web camera. no one seemed surprised that it happened. >> we know that they will test and they will find a weak link in the chain. so we opened early so we'd have an opportunity to do that. while... the orangs could still explore. >> officials say visitors were never at right after this sxk moved to the dolphin building while staffers went looking for them the new $26 million exhibit is huge, larger than two football

fields they destroyed these security cameras. >> for again ragsz parents used various measures to pull a tooth ready to come out. attach a string, slam the door trick comes to find. >> one father in dublin ireland tied floss around the tooth at the other end of a toy helicopter. >> that chopper was sent into the air. and out came the tooth. he showed off the smile, but he was okay the tooth was not found. no word if the tooth fairy came. >> i'm sure she did. tooth fairies are amazing. >> i don't recommend that. >> probably not. >> clouds are ominous. >> they are. that is a a case of the tooth, the whole tooth and nothing but the tooth. >> oh, brother. >> we have scattered showers

headed our way. things are quiet now around the bay area. taking a look at live doppler seven hd. however, things anything but quiet in glenn county. we have a tornado warning now because of this thunderstorm. again, that warming in effect for about a half hour, 35 minutes from now. that storm rumbles east. you can see eastward movement of the areas of scattered showers moving across the bay area now. approaching us from the sea as well. thunderstorms down in the lower mississippi valley and along the gulf coast. plains are quiet with the southwest, showery in the pacific northwest. showers over much of the northern 2-thirds to three-quarters of california.

here point bay area, scattered showers and overnight hours and into daytime hours tomorrow, ranging narrowly from low to mid-60s inland. and showers have not ended widely scattered showers and potentially locally heavy in spots. >> thank you for the whole tooth, spencer. >> okay. >> still ahead at 4:00 life-changing decision made by the family of an 8-year-old after officials called her a distraction. plus... >> made me feel proud and like i can be a role model to them. >> a local high school team scores a home run with a group of very special little leaguers. >> i'm michael finney. can you save money by using your man appliances at specific times of the day? the answer next in my q and a

family of a little girl pulled her out of a christian

school after add minute stators complained she didn't appear feminine enough. it bothered administrators so they sent a letter home stating chas mates were confused whether she was a girl or boy and if she didn't follow the bib bli cal standards she'd be refused enrollment next year. her grandparents immediately pulled her out of school. >> how do you tell a child she wants to wear pants and play in mud and so forth how do you tell her no? you can't you have to wear a pink scomboe let your hair grow long how do you do that? i can't do that. >> they say sunny crime krooiz because she misses her friends. but they have no plans to reenroll her at that school. >> a memorable match up left kids beaming in the east bay. >> the challengers program for

kids with a wide range of special needs. >> what the coach did to make the season opener unforgettable. >> delivered and it's chopped towards second. bounces over second baseman's head. >> the high school's varsity team is used to dominating the baseball field. on sunday asked to play a different role. >> i couldn't think of anything better to do. >> all 25 came to a challenger's game to act as mentors the little leaguers have various disabilities. some, in wheelchairs. others like ryan have autism. >> i'm good at batting. >> each challenger paired with a varsity player. what is created was magic. >> to see my son glowing his brother engaged in the day was

really special. >> very emotional. hard to hold back tears. >> sunday was special for the team manager because a 17-year-old was once a challengers little leaguer. >> made me feel like i can be a role model for them. if i want to be on the high school team, this kid got to be on the high school basketball team. >> the fields were filled with pride sunday would be an understatement because bringing these groups of people together to play ball has left a lasting affect. senior is now working with a special ed class in his high school, volunteering to go to prom with one student. >> it's helped me see not everyone can do what you do. you're lucky. >> these are my baseball hats >> for this 11-year-old sunday created a deeper connection to a

sport he loves and given confidence. >> this won't be the last time the two teams meet up they plan to make this an annual event. >> well, michael finney is here answering questions sent to him and jeb jenny asked why do stores push extends warranties? >> they make a fortune on these a lot of money. it's easy money and an add on. a fast food restaurant saying do you want fries? should you buy one? advice is no unless it's extremely expensive my advice is they're fine for a car to know what it's going to cost to you operate it. because when you get an extended

warranty you're not going to have surprise breakdowns. but have you to negotiate for every extended warranty. >> yes. >> and you should do it when you buy the car. >> if you don't think you're getting a good deal you have 30,000 miles to come back and buy one. check on that before you walk out of the dealership. >> alley wants to know bo do i have to put a return address on any envelopes? >> nope. they've been telling to us do it since around 50s or 60s. they desire and tell us we need to do it you don't have to. the reason, if you want it back. >> at least you get it back. >> i've done that. yes. >> lynn se mailed if you use main appliances at certain times of the day you can save money with pg&e. >> yes. it's true. there is a program, what it says

is that if you will promise to use your big energy users only during certain times of the day. now, mainly talking about washing machines. and driers. it doesn't work for everyone. there is a program and some who sign up it doesn't work that well. best thing to do is call, tell them your needs and wants. and they'll tell if you it will work for you. >> up next, selena gomez and orlando bloom here in the bay area today. >> what brought the star owes oakland and the message for kids. >> coming up at 5:00... university uproar. protest over price in california. and athletes coming up with a victory.

>> here is a look at today's prime time line up. then, join dan and me for abc7 news at 11:00. >> new yorkers can now get a sweet withdrawal of a neighborhood atm. a cupcake atm opened for business. sprinkles is behind this idea. the machine can dispense four cupcakes at a time but only takes credit cards. the cupcakes sell for $4.25 a piece the founder says she came up with the idea because of her late-night pregnancy cravings >> 16,000 students participated in we day. it's the world areas largest

youth empowerment event of it's kind the kids met big stars. we day was mostly teenagers attending but more than that. we day was a chance for students to pat themselves on the back for what they've done to change lives of others. >> you are changing the world i'm not changing the world you're changing the world. that is amazing. >> we met some of the game changers. two years ago started a tutoring service for under served kids. >> we paired with a local library. every week we go in and tutor students. >> the event sponsored by microsoft and unilever projects >> they want to be part of the future. >> other big names came to

encourage these youth to continue to do their local, and global, causes oochl keep going. people judge you, just keep doing you. you. we. us >> if you do enough good things you get to see me in this. to me it doesn't like like a good reward. it's been working. >> this is a fun day for you. >> a word of advice for some who have achieved great things >> if you hook at the world you can do anything you set your mind to. >> abc7 news >> what an event. thanks for joining us for abc7 news at 4:00. abc7 news at 5:00 continues now

with dan ashley and cheryl jennings. >> a bay area state senator charged with wire fraud and gun trafficking. >> it may be appropriate. >> his colleagues are fed up. tonight coverage on the federal raids and a crime ring allegedly headed up by a man known as shrimp boy. >> we've got a good soaker today. >> and more coming up. i'm sandhya patel live on the roof of the kgotv broadcast center. when you can expect the batch and how long you're going to need rain gear coming up. don't burden your colleagues in this great institution with your troubles leave. >> tough talk about this man.

state senator leland yee. good evening, i'm dan ashley. >> those arrests on people in and out of government. agents confiscated computers and other items from yee's home. we have team coverage tonight. let's begin now with vic lee outside court. vic? >> most of the 26 people charged appeared in court this afternoon to face a variety of charges including drug and weapons trafficking and money laundering the complaint says state senator yee conspired with his political consultant and a gangster nicknamed shrimp boy to sell weapons and solicit money in exchange for political favors this caught by an under cover

agent. fbi hit the chinatown headquarters of the xhien ease freemasons looking for evidence linked to raymond chow known as shrimp boy. chow serves as a chairman of the free masons arrested on hooid street and charged with money laundering and dealing in stolen properties. he served 22 years in the federal penn and became active in chinatown politics. >> i up to the path i have done z to try to correct my life. >> but the big fish was state senator yee. >> i can confirm that state senator leland yee is a part of the ongoing investigation that is taking place at this time. >> yee