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>> he had put a gun two inches from my cheek and just told me get in the truck right now, or if you don't get me out of here right now, i'm going to kill you. >> an exclusive interview you will see only here on abc 7 news. the ups driver who was taken hostage and forced to drive miles at gunpoint is breaking his silence tonight. >> mitchell le ellerd was worki route in san jose when a man and woman approached him. the incident ended with a man shot dead by police. >> amanda del castillo sat down with him for an exclusive one-on-one interview. she is live in san jose. >> i met with mitch ellerd for about three hours today. the man police praised for his calmness and quick thinking kept that demeanor as he recalled some of the most terrifying moments of his life. >> i just remember seeing -- >> reporter: valentine's day. ups driver mitch ellerd was filling in for another driver on vacation. he was talking with his wife and two kids, talking about

valentine's day cards for dad. >> all i had was that little area in communication hill. and that's when i met them. >> reporter: suspects joanna mae macy-rodgers and mark morasky. >> she had come up too, and he had gotten close. and he said i'm telling you, you're going to get me out of here and you're going get me out of here now. they were very direct. i was just take the truck. when i said take the truck, he had put the shotgun two inches from my cheek. >> reporter: the hostage-taking began. as he jumped into the seat, he heard sirens, the sound inching closer. >> i told them, i said hey, there are cops everywhere. he said just theyl llhtby. thsky. he was forced on to southbound 87. it brought the first moment he thought to bail. >> when i started to make the right-hand turn, i was going to jump out of the truck. when i was making the turn, i had reached over with my left hand and i was trying to unbuckle my seat belt.

well, he caught me, and he got pretty upset, very upset. >> ellerd continued driving, suspect morasky keeping a grip on his seat belt. behind a sea of patrol cars. >> when i saw that many officers behind me, it was kind of like i'm in trouble, because i figured this guy did something pretty bad. >> ellerd's only thought, keep driving. >> i figured as long as we were driving, we're okay. we're okay for now. >> the scene surrounding el letter and the suspects like something straight out of the movies. >> when you're in the driver's seat, and you're the one that's driving away from them, it is -- it's undfrtable. >> el letter stayed under 50 miles per hour, purposely hitting spike strips. thtrk cop at and miles ay, north street and trimble road. macy-rodgers surrendered, leaving the two men inside the truck.admitted he had nothing to lose. >> he had started stressing out about his daughter, how he is not going let his daughter be a

part of this. and he had -- he had looked right at me, and it was the one and only time he had done this. he looked at me and he said this is why i'm not going back. i'm not going back. i'm not dealing with all this. and he looked at me and he goes today we die. >> morasky emotions everywhere. >> he was just crying. he was balling. and i was just sitting there quietly. and he just randomly asked me, he said hey, can i show you a picture of my daughter. that's what he asked me. and i said yeah, absolutely. . >> ellerd's release came shortly after one last exchange. >> i said can i show you a picture of my daughter. >> ellerd and his wife michelle have two young children, kids who are excited to have their dad home and close until he eventually returns to work at ups. now shortly after ellerd was released from the truck, you'll remember that suspect morasky ran from the truck, gun in hand

before he was shot dead by a police officer. back to you. >> amanda, the whole thing sounds just terrifying. it sounds like the two men actually bonded briefly about their daughters. did ellerd talk about what else they may have talked about during the drive? >> ellerd admitted that he didn't ask any questions to either suspect during that drive. he did admit that morasky made several call, including calls to his father, a few friends, and he tried to reach his daughter, calling the mother of his child. i'm in san jose tonight, amanda del castillo, abc 7 news. >> all right, amanda, thank you. new developments. new zealand's prime minister announced sweeping changes to her country's gun laws, outlaug assault weapons similar to those used in last week's attack on two mosques. in san francisco, people gathered for a vigil to honor the 50 lives lost during last friday's massacre in christchurch. tonight's speakers including both religious and elected leaders.

>> we come here united for love and united against hate. our heartbreaks for you, christchurch. >> the crowd cheered at the end of the vigil when news about new zealand's ban on assault weapons was announced. at least one speaker called for a similar law here in the united states. >> abc 7 news is committed to building a better bay area. it means we look at the big issues and what's being done about them. >> we do. and tonight we're talking about housing in silicon valley. the south bay tops zillow's listing for the highest home values and highest rent in the entire country. >> medium home price in los altos hills over $4 million. itednen there has almost doubled in the past ten years, and most people simply can't afford that, including many teachers. >> now a mountain view school district is trying to fix that. it wants to build teacher housing within walking distance to its schools. kate larsen spoke to the

superintendent whose pioneering ways to house his employees who can't afford to live where they work. >> i share my two bedroom apartment with my daughter, my son-in-law, and my two grandchildren. >> because of her family's tight living quarters in sunnyvale, nancy rodriguez, an administrative assistant for the mountain view school district is moving her family to hollister, where she can afford a house. but it puts her 60 miles away from work. zoe sharp and natalie la rose is a are elementary school teachers in the same school district. they're also roommates, along with three other people who all share a rental house in cupertino. >> living with four other people, although it's fun, i think i'm outgrowing it. >> at the moment, it's her only option. >> i don't think i could affor on my salary to live in a one bedroom. >> it's the first time a school distri developer to build housing. >> a developer bought this apartment complex around the corner from the school district office which will be torn down and rebuilt.

rudolph is proposing the district lease 14 units of affordable housing in the units for school teacher and employees. in 2018, the average rent for a one bedroom here was $2500 a month. at the proposed school district apartments, a one bedroom would cost a teach were a starting salary of $64,000 a year about $1500. that's a $1,000 savings per month. >> i'm excited about it because it creates a solution that could be replicated across the state. bt really, it creates a solution that retains teachers for our community, to make sure that we have top-notch schools. >> the school board will vote to approve the project on thursday. kate larsen, abc 7 news. >> we spent an entire week digging into the issues that school teachers face all over the bay area. all of our stories are on abc7news.c abc7news.com. search for building a better bay area teachers in order to find it. looking for a new place to live after the city voted to ban rvs and other large vehicles

from parking on the street. neighbors and politicians say the rvs were becoming a public health and safety issue. to help alleviate the problem, the city created 60 safe parking spots at community centers and churches where people can park. finding solutions to the bay area's housing issues can come in many forms, of course. share your ideas and see what other people are thinking. join our better bay area facebook group. palo alto police hope you can help them catch an intruder who broke into a home in the middle of the night, sat next to a woman on her bed and tried to talk to her. take a look at a sketch of a man who got inside the apartment on el camino real early stunning morning. the victim escaped from the man unharmed. she said the man carried a flash flight, wore a hooded sweatshirt and gloves. he is described as being 5'8" and weighing about 180 pounds. gray whales were spotted frolicking in the water. >> so far the bay has seen record numbers of the giant creatures. cornell bernard is live in san

francisco with more on that. cornell? >> yeah, ama and dan, san francisco has become a hot spot for gray whales. in the past month, experts have counted ten of them. historically, we see two or three. and today some new arrivals were spotted not far away from here. >> you can see right there. >> it's become the bay area's own version of a celebrity sighting, only better. gray whale, out and about near alcatraz. >> we think there are two. >> sky 7 was over the bay as one of the whales put on a show, breaching the surface of the water and just hanging out. >> i think it's fabulous. i've never seen them this close to the shore. so i picked a good time today to come out. >> this cruise ship managed to steer clear of the magnificent animals. >> one of them, i don't know if he was slowing for fish or whatever it was. but just a lot of activity in the bay today. >> expert says the gray whales migrate north in late winter and early spring. but this year they've seen high numbers of grays entering the bay, some staying longer than

years past. there is lots of food to eat and a safe place for young calfs. but last week two gray whales were found dead near angel island. one whale was found to be malnourished. experts say these whales seem to be doing okay, delighting locals and tourists who came to check them out. >> pretty cool, right? >> yeah, it was amazing. a great way to end our san francisco vacation. >> boaters are being asked to steer clear of the whales if they see them. one of the whales is about 30 feet long. the big question, are they overnighting near the bay here tonight? we may find that out tomorrow. live in san francisco, cornell bernard, abc 7 news. >> thanks, cornell. it's been dubbed a public nuisance. we get an exclusive look inside the infamous flintstones house. hear what the owner has to say to her critics. who needs a lawn mower. see where these goats are being put to work in tay area.d pareng to hire a part-time nanny, but there is an unusual catch. and there is a catch to our

weather as well. you're in for a break, but it's not going last long. i'll let you know when live doppler 7 will be tracking our next level 1 storm, coming up. >> thanks, sandhya. tonight what is coming up on jimmy kimmel live after abc 7 news at 11:00. >> thanks, dan and ama. watch this if it's the last thing you do. >> nobody wants to have a selfie with me, clearly. >> you know what i'm going to do for you? i'm going

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it's the hillsborough house that's gained international fame and has now sparked a lawsuit. tonight in an abc 7 news exclusive, abc 7 news reporter vic lee goes inside the infamous flintstones house. he met with the owner, and got her reaction to the growing controversy. >> thank you to give me the chance to tell my side of story. >> that's the voice of florence fang, owner of the unique colorful home dubbed the flintstone house. she declined to go on camera, but gave us an exclusive tour of the new controversial hillsborough residence. it's a three-bedroom, 2700-square-foot home built in 1976. what's most striking, there are no square rooms, only curved

lines everywhere. in thent yard, a life-sized statue of fred flintstone. he joined by his wife wilma and pet dinosaur dino, and of course dinosaur eggs. and let's not forget flintstone's friends, the rubbles. in the backyard away from the public street, large dinosaurs, a giraffe, and even big foot surrounded by colorful mushrooms. this is florence fang's favorite room, the conversation pit. it's peaceful. it's private. but the view outside also reminds her she is not isolated from the world, or from the complaints of some residents in the city of hillsborough, which is suing fang for what it calls a highly visible eyesore. fang thanks her many supporters who have contacted her through socialdi>> i'mot the only one as fighting for the legendary flintstone. it is truly an american memory. that makes the people smile and

make them feel good about themselves. >> she says the house and fixtures make her happy. it makes her grandchildren happy as well. >> let's keep fred and dino alive and working together to keep our smile. >> a message from fang to the city. >> i will fight the best i can. stay tuned. >> oh, and one last thing. >> yabba-dabba do! >> vic lee, abc 7 news. >> this wasn't our first time in the flintstones house. abc 7 news also toured the house in 1987 when it was on the market. we posted this video from our archives at abc7news.com, along with the entire tour of the house today. well, spring has all the rain has brought plenty of new growth around the bay area. >> and that's why caltrain enlisted the army of goats to help prune the weeds near the tracks in san francisco's bayview neighborhood. >> passengers hoping to see the goats in action still have a chance. the transit agency says they're on the job all week. i'm going to get those for my

lawn. >> i bet they do a good job too. all right. let turn to our weather. >> yeah, more rain is coming. meteorologist sandhya patel is tracking it for us. >> people are saying enough is enough with the rain, so i thought i would show you something different. this is the view from our emory camera. it was a stunning sunset, the first sunset of spring. 7:21 tonight. we had a little mix of sun, clouds, as you recall earlier in the day. we did have some rain, and the rain amounted to anywhere from about .2 to .8 for most of you. check out this time lapse. it's the last supermoon of 2019. the clouds moved away just long enough for me to capture this. and hopefully you got a chance to see the super moon. if you didn't, there are viewers like bob sending in this picture. an amazing photo. we encourage you to send your photos in as well and hopefully you can feature them. a quiet picture right now. those temperatures in the 30s to the 50s. and just in case you're thinking

all right, when is my next opportunity to wash that car, you have a chance tomorrow. but just know that mother nature will wash it for you on friday. so take a look at the temperatures tomorrow around the bay in the morning, in the low 50s. climbing up to the mid-50s. a mix of sun and clouds for you. and as far as our rain chance we have opportunities friday and then again sunday night. a live look right now from our exploratorium camera. it's a lovely view of salesforce tower. here is another stunning view from our emeryville camera looking towards the eastern span. sun and clouds in the afternoon. next storm is coming in friday and is going to be mainly dry for the weekend, except sunday night. watch out for some patches of fog tomorrow morning. 30s to 50s for your temperatures. so, yes, you'll need a light kragh layer. for the afternoon, 50, 60s. could see a few sprinkles over the higher terrain. a light level 1 system for friday on our storm impact scale. light to moderate rain, quarter to three quarters of an inch.

friday, a few showers may develop. but it's really 7:30 to 10:00 a.m. that the thundershowers will be moving in on friday. and then steadier, heavier rain friday night going into the late night hours before this system winds down in time for your weekend plans. here is look at the accuweather seven-day forecast. dry tomorrow. level 1 system on friday. saturday most of sunday is dry. sunday night some showers. and then another system for monday going into tuesday and wednesday. download the accuweather app. you can check out live doppler 7 and track those temperatures any time you want. a little confusing weather, right? shades, umbrellas, which one do we need? keep them all handy. >> thanks, sandhya. tomorrow on "good morning america," "queer eye's fab 5" i

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all right. here is a help wanted ad. a british family is looking for a nanny who will act like a disney princess while caring for 5-year-old twin girls. if you're interested in the job, you'll have to take on the character of a new princess every month. the family admits it's not a normal request, but they believe a princess nanny would provide their daughters with, quote,

strong yet relatable female role models. so there you go. >> it's an interesting job description. >> what are they paying? >> the manny. they could use a manny. >> i've helped raise two girls. i can do this. >> in a princess outfit? >> i don't know if anybody really wants to see that. the ncaa tournament really begins tomorrow. it started tonight for ex-warriors star chris wait, xfinity lets crazy fast internet speeds, and pick the types of channels i want?

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. abc 7 sports sponsored by river rock casino. >> japan is 16 hours ahead of us in california. instead of opening your season in the middle of the night in u.s., you could have scheduled that game for noon tokyo time, still had a sellout and actually had tv viewers here. a's and ms. it's so simple in prime time in tokyo, which is ansoci marine third. domingo santana feeling grand. grandosuramo in japanese. bottom three, khris davis, 48 homers last year.

this is his first of the new season. a's down 5-4. i don't know what the unwritten rules are in japan, but tim beckham is flipping his bat, because he has liftoff. the a's drop their opener 9-2. they'll play game two in just over nine hours in japan. giants/indians cactus lead. drew pomeranz five no-hit innings. the giants have had zero offense all spring, apparently saving it for this game. brandon belt taking out the belt, aloha. bases loaded for pablo sandoval, who may or may not be on the bubble on this roster. a double off the wall brings a bunch of guys home, and the giants explode. look at this. 13-0. ncaa first four action tonight. chris mullen coaching his first tournament game, st. john's versus arizona state early on. shimori. built out of granite or something, scoop to the

he had21. lawrence a tough three late as arizona state sends mully home. 74-of 74-65. north carolina central taking on north carolina state. late second half, jordan perkins, nice pass to larry mcknight general. eagles go up by go. a minute left, north dakota state's tyson ward, the spin move. lays it in. and then out of my way. he had 23. north dakota state advances 78-74. they'll face duke next. usc's pro day highlighted by this montson, the blind long snapper, 17 reps on the bench at 225 pounds. he was lifting to raise money for charity. out of sight faith, which helps people who have lost their eyesight due to cancer. and the big man raised $50,000 today. abc 7 sports sponsored by river rock casino. we think we have difficulties in life or whatever?

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where the vinegar zings and the dijon zips knowing that our flavor dreams should always be giants but our footprints should not. kettle brand chips. no small flavors. no small potatoes. that is our report. reappreciate your time. i'm dan ashley. >> i'm ama daetz. for sandhya and larry, tv's number one daily viral video show, "right this minute."

just off the right and over there. >> imagine trying to spot two missing kayakers. >> about two miles off the coast. >> how some sharp-eyed heroes made a miracle happen. >> oh, yeah. turning a frozen lakebed into a racetrack. see the guys brave enough to try it. >> oh! a driver stunned to realize -- >> he picked up a hitchhiker. >> why he might have to fight somebody for the front seat. and the right and wrong way to wear a hat. >> you wear your hat like this, you're my papa, you're 80 years old. >> one dude's tutorial for the hits and misses of 2019. >> this is 2013? >> i have some brothers that can pull this off. you can wear your hat how you want to. these people rushed into

action after they got reports of screaming near the pier. >> come but they can't get the life boat into the area, so they toss out a line. >> okay! im! kick your arms and legs, mate, you've gone under. >> what if they can't hold on to the line, they notice the person starts to go under the surface of the water, so they have to move faster than they are. one of the volunteers jumps in without a helmet. >> that water is murky. he has to look for him. once he goes under, you don't know where he is. >> that's a dangerous situation for the rescuer to be in now, too. >> the person starting to bob up and down, they got him. now with a lot of communication and team work -- >>