happening right now, bart's ambassador program is under way. what passengers are saying. new testimony from nia wilson's sister about that horrific day on bart, a day in court ends in tears. a massive tree still lays on top of the home in oakland, and in alameda, three men recover after being swept into the bay. also new tonight, frustration and a frantic phone call. why an alamo county is upset over what happened to a family pet. longer, thinner and lighter. how bay area engineers are helping nasa stay ahead in the race for space. and the combo. why a couple is very proud to be selling it. >> now news to build a better bay area from abc7. >> bart's new team of ambassadors is now on the job. the men and women operate in

pairs and just started working three hours ago. this is the first day. their main job is to respond if riders need help. good evening. i'm dan ashley. >> and i'm kristen sze. thanks for joining us. they'll be patrolling trains to help passengers with problems and to de-escalate situations. >> anser hassan is live from the west oakland bart station with details on the new program. >> good evening. bart's police chief says the new ambassadors will be the extra eyes and ears of the department. ten new ambassadors patrolling the platforms and trains seven days a week. they're not police officers, but they are here to help passengers feel safe. >> they will be riding the trains and being more visible, having high visibility on the train, patrolling and de-escalating situations where we don't necessarily have to call the police. >> latifah davis is one the new ambassadors. the ambassadors will patrol in pairs of two and monitor the

busiest lines between 2:00 p.m. and midnight seven days a week. >> if that's helping with the direction on which bart to get on, if they need help with their clipper card and where to go, that's where we're there for. >> bart official says the ambassador program is in response to passenger feedback demanding more safety on the bart system. >> i think it's good to have some presence around the stations, because i'm -- i want to be safe and secure on bart. >> however, some passengers say they worry about more surveillance and police presence on trains and on the platform. but bart officials point to the anti-bias training that the ambassadors get and that they will be unarmed. >> i believe that unarmed staff members in our system create increased safety. >> this is a ten-month -- a six-month pilot program. bart officials say if it goes well, it could be extended or more ambassadors added. reporting

>> heartbreaking testimony in the man accused of killing nia wilson at the macarthur bart station. nia was at the bart station with her two sisters. letifah, who was also staffed broke down in sobs on the stand as she described the attack. she then became sick and had to be supported to walk out of the courtroom. nia's other sister also broke down in tears when she testified. earlier prosecutors showed the entire surveillance tape of nia's ride on bart before she was killed. >> i would never imagine that my daughter's last moments would be filmed all the way to the demise of her life. so terrible. >> suspect john lee cowell was not in court for the second day, but his absence was not explained. his attorney says he is mentally ill and killed wilson while he was suffering from delusions. cowell is expected to take the stand tomorrow. more damage today from the windstorm that's hammered the bay area the last two days. it was intense, wasn't it?

a tree came down on a home along skyline boulevard in the oakland hills. >> you can hear a crashing coming towards my house, and i didn't think to get up or to do something else. and the tree crashes into my bedroom. it was shocking. and i hear -- i can see the ceiling start to crack and the branches coming through. >> despite the damage done, it could have been much worse, obviously. fortunately no one was inside the house that was injured, and if the tree had fallen a few feet farther to the right, the whole roof could have caved in. the high winds created dangerous conditions in alameda. the police department had to rescue two people in the water. two people were quickly found drifting two hundred yards from the beach in the cold, cold water. a third person was found a few minutes later. the three men were exhausted but they were okay. police were called in to remove potentially dangerous large debris from the waterways. all's well that ends well there yesterday's high winds led to hundreds of calls for service,

including 50 for downed trees like this one at the foot of grand street at shoreline. fortunately, no one was hurt, but easily someone could have been. abc7 news meteorologist sandhya patel is here with more on the wind advisory that's still in effect? >> absolutely for the north bay mountains, dan. let's take a look at that advisory. wind gusts 50 to 60 plus expected. there is still a possibility of some wind damage from downed trees to power lines and power outages. so be careful out there. current wind gusts up to 48 mt. saint helena, mt. diablo as we check out the record temperatures. same wind direction bringing us records. sfo 72. 70 at oakland airport. both new records for today. 76 at napa state hospital, and that was a record that was tied. you will notice how warm it was elsewhere. santa rosa, 79. not a record. 72 soeban jose. 74 in concord. i'll let you know about some change that are coming up later this week in just few minutes. >> thank you so much. san francisco's public works

director resigned today as he fights public corruption charges. mohammed nuru and lefty o'doul's owner nick bovas were arrested last month. nuru was placed on paid leave. the fbi says he tried to bribe an airport official into giving bovas a license for an eatery at the airport. layer london breed said nuru was not immediately fired because the city had to follow legal procedures. an alameda county sheriff's deputy is now suing the president of the toronto raptors for allegedly shoving him during the team's celebration last june. masai ujuri was trying to make his way on the court. the deputy tried to stop him because he didn't have the proper credentials. things apparently got out of hand. the sheriff's deputy says he was hit, suffered a concussion and severe emotional and physical distress. well, students at berkeley high school walked out of class today, upset over the way the

district handled the report of an attempted rape. sky 7 showed you the group that's demanding changes now because a former student said the school failed to react after she reported a classmate tried to rape her. she now suing the district. students want changes in sexual harassment and abuse policies on campus. the school district spokesperson says officials are committed to working with students to try to create a safer culture. an east bay family is upset and speaking out tonight after losing their beloved german shepherd to a christmas morning choking incident. the family believes cora would be alive today if their 911 call had been routed to the right agency. abc 7 news reporter laura anthony. >> i needed manpower. i needed help. >> reporter: she and her daughters were set to open presents christmas morning when the 3-year-old german shepherd cora started choking on a ball that popped out of a larger toy. she tried to dislodge the ball, her daughter frantically called

911, on a cell phone, that went into the chp dispatch center in vallejo. >> dispatch told her they would not come out on a dog, but they were transferring her to animal control. >> a contra costa animal employee got on the call but told them they should take the dog to the vet. they hung up and raced cora here to this vet emergency clinic in walnut creek. it's more than ten miles from their home, a trip that took nearly 20 minutes. >> and what ended up happening? >> we lost our dog. >> san ramon valley fire station 32 is less than a mile from their home. >> we have different sizes face masks that we can put on the different types of pets themselves. >> like all san ramon valley crews have a special emergency kit just for pets. >> we get public service calls for animals frequently, and the levels of distress are varying on depending what the call is,

ducks in storm drains, cats in trees. we go on all types of calls. >> except san ramon valley never got the chance to help cora because the 911 call was never routed to them. the commander of the vallejo dispatch center told abs o abc7 news that we're partnering to come up with a plan so we're all educated what resources are available should a situation like this ever occur again. what is your hope at this point? >> that someone else doesn't have to go through this in a time in a life-and-death situation when they need it for their pet. that when you call, they come. >> in alamo, laura anthony, abc7 news. well, still to come here, the u.s. goes after four chinese hackers. >> this was one of the largest data breaches in history. >> how four men took down equifax and stole the personal information of nearly half of all american citizens. maybe you. plus downloading your oscar favorites. there is a new warning about why you should hesitate.

and the bay area celebrates after history is

this theft not only caused significant financial damage to equifax, but invaded the privacy of many millions of americans. >> the department of justice has charged four members of the chinese military with this massive equifax data breach of 2017. >> it compromised the personal information of 145 million americans. >> 7 on your side's michael finney is here with that. that is just a staggering number. >> it is a staggering number. it's amazing. authorities say these men exploited a software vulnerability and used 34 servers in 20 countries to gain access to equifax's computers. "the new york times" says the indictments suggests the breach was part of a series of thefts by china to target american officials. hackers stole names, birth dates, and social security numbers of nearly half of all

americans. data that could be used to access information like medical histories and bank accounts. authorities say the men also accessed some of equifax's sensitive trade secret, including database designs. the retail apocalypse is continuing with no letup in sight. more sear's and kmart stores are set to close in the next couple of months. going out of business sales at nearly 100 locations are expected to wrap up in the next few weeks. usa today says this isn't the end of it, either. other liquidation sales are on the schedule and will continue into march. don't fall for free down loads of oscar-nominated films. those offers could really be malware. cnet says if you want to catch up on all the oscar nominees and winners for 2020, just make sure you do it legally. cyber security researchers have spotted hundreds of websites promising free downloads of this year's oscar winners, but there is a catch.

they're fake and the downloads are actually malware. there are also phishing sites offering movies in an attempt to dupe users into entering credit card numbers and other sensitive information. the cyber security firm cap percent ski says the film "joker" was the film most commonly used to lure in victims. >> diabolical criminal. >> it works. thanks, michael. the korean film "parasite" took home four oscars last night, including the big best picture, the first foreign film to win in that category. and here in the bay area it wasn't just korean-americans celebrating. as kris reyes reports, film industry veterans are very excited about a global cinema finding a mainstream audience. >> "parasite." >> big win for the cast and crew of "parasite." but just as big for ed oh kim and clara lee, who held their

own little oscar party to root for the movie. >> we were jumping up and down. a really exciting time. >> as korean americans, it's special to us, because we understand and really respect our korean culture. it feels like a marriage of those two cultures that were so strongly tied to. >> here is another of the masters of korean sin may, at sfo film they've been championing foreign cinema for a long time. they're thrilled the oscars are finally taking notice. >> what is so special about this win, this is a film that succeeded with audiences because it was very much of itself. it wasn't trying to be a korean version of an american film. >> at queens in the inner sunset, you can even get a taste of the movie. >> this is the "parasite" combo. >> what does that mean? >> so essentially, in the movie, they highlight this specific dish. combined. >> "parasite" cheat sheet, for someone who hasn't watched the

movie, what it's about? >> it's about a family that are down on their luck economically that insinuate themselves into the home of a well to do family. >> it's kind of this crazy thriller that takes you on definitely a crazy roller coaster ride. at the end, the climax blows your mind. >> for the cast and crew, including director bong jun-ho, the one word to describe the night likely unbelievable. but in a few words for his christine americ korean-american fans. >> we're super proud. >> kris reyes. >> abc news. >> it's exciting. everyone is talking about it. >> you have to see it. you won't regret it. time to get back to sandhya, talk about the weather. >> the wind has finally died down. >> it is unbelievably warm outside for this time of year. still gusty in the hills, kristen and dan. i want to show you a lovely view from our emeryville camera. the sun has been out. santa rosa, airport was up to 79 degrees. a good 19 degrees above average for this time of year.

sure felt like summer in santa rosa. for other parts of the bay area, you can pretty much mix up the seasons and figure out what it felt like in your area. san francisco for example, felt like fall. i want to show you the temperatures. 66 in the city. it was 75 in santa rosa. 72 in napa. nice around concord, brentwood, san jose, in the upper 60s and 72 degrees in read wood city. compared to 24 hours ago, double-digit gains around napa, 11 degrees warmer. concord up 10, compared to yesterday at this time. take a look at a live picture from our east bay hills camera. you can see mt. diablo. visibility is good. live doppler 7 showing the absence of rain. i want to show you why we have not been seeing the rain. southern california got some showers with a upper-level low, but high pressure has been blocking the storm track. so everything has been diverted up to our north, except for that system that dropped down the sierra into southern california. we are expecting this ridge to continue to control our weather for most of the workweek, but i

will tell you one computer model is hinting at maybe a few showers saturday night into sunday. not a widespread event, but the possibility is there. the first ten days of february have been dry. we're looking for rain, and hopefully we get some. because when you look at our rainfall deficit, san jose about 5 inches. over 6 inches for many other locations. we are falling behind. kgo roof camera, a legal breezy on the embarcadero. sunny and warm again tomorrow afternoon and cooling closer to average for the end of the week. here is a look at the winds. they will remain gusty going into later on tonight. over 30 miles an hour as we head into tomorrow morning's commute. still gusty over the hills and the lower elevations through 8:00 a.m. before the winds really die down. tomorrow morning we'll call it windy in the hills. temperatures 30s, 40s, under clear skies. and then tomorrow afternoon, it's going to be another warm one for february. 72 concord. 66 in san francisco.

75 santa rosa. 66 in half moon bay. accuweather seven-day forecast. gusty morning followed by plenty of sun and warmth. but by midweek we're talking about a cooling trend. starts on wednesday. it will be a lovely day for valentines, but way down in terms of temperatures. closer to average for this time of year. we're going to cloud it up for the weekend, and there is a chance, like i said. one of the computer models hinting at the possibility of some showers. >> okay. >> perhaps saturday night north bay. sunday for other parts of the bay area. >> thanks, sandhya, very much. the mission to the moon and mars. testing is ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ we need someone to lean on the new xc90 available with six seats. xc90. recharged. ♪ ♪ save up to $2,000 in allowances

on select new volvo models through march 2nd. visit your local volvo dealer. mik'mike will get it done?'n, ok, let me tell you what the 'it' is. as mayor, i expanded healthcare coverage. as president, i'll build on obamacare because healthcare is a right. i created nearly 500,000 jobs in new york city. as president, i'll build an economy that delivers good jobs with higher wages. i'll take on the gun lobby and save lives. and i will stop trump's assault on women's reproductive rights. i've got a record of doing things. i've got the resources to take on this fight. as mayor, i held myself accountable for results. as president, i'll offer common sense plans and i will get it done. so let's stay on the offensive, and let's win.

i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message. the crew of the alameda-based coast guard cutter monroe off-loaded nearly 20,000 pounds of cocaine in san diego today. it has a street value of $338 million. it was seized dur an operation from drug smuggling cartels.

president trump delivered next year's budget to congress and it includes a 12% increase for nasa's mission to the moon and mars. >> one beneficiary would be the 3,000 employees at nasa ames at moffett field. abc 7 reporter david louie got an understand look at the testing being done to get the mission done by 2024. >> a critical aspect launching astronauts back to the moon is the performance of the space launch system, or sls. engineers at nasa ames research center are subjecting this model to winds up to 2,000 miles an hour inside a 9 by 7-foot supersonic wind tunnel. the model is covered with pressure sensitive paint. it produces colorizations to show low or high pressure. high pressure is yellow, low is blue. fluctuations can lead to instability or damage to the bay load. data is transferred to a super computer at the marshall flight

center. >> putting it on the supercomputers, they can log on and see the results once we have produced them and ask for change, and we can have a turnaround for the next day it's ready for them to look at. >> with the clock ticking to land on the moon by the end of 2024, congress is being asked to boost nasa's budget to $25 billion. so far it appear there's is bipartisan support. >> if you don't have bipartisan support, then you will change from either one side to the other as our country changes its leadership and it's really difficult for nasa to get anything substantial done if you have to keep changing directions. >> nasa ames will get a substantial portion of the $25 billion being budgeted for the next year. but how much is it going to cost to get to the moon and then to parse? the projected cost will be $35 billion. a key goal will be to find ice at the south pole of the moon that will provide water for the astronauts and even hydrogen

molecules. at nasa ames, david louie, abc7 news. >> so exciting. well, still ahead, what may have been one of the best accidental art capers ever and now it has a happy ending. but first, we want to thank ron for this image of the san mateo bridge. this is an angle we don't often see. share your pictures with us with the

>> i'm ama daetz. coming up on six, our bay area impacts the closure one firehouse had on response times, and why city leaders say yesterday's emergency won't change anything. also -- >> you never think something like this is going the happen when you're just on vacation. >> from vacation crews to total nightmare. bay area residents tell us what it's like to be quarantined aboard a cruise ship where dozens have the coronavirus.

all that plus much more coming up in just a half an hour on abc7 news at 6:00. dan, kristen? >> thanks, ama. we'll see you then. finally tonight, praying, hoping and searching really paid off for a san francisco woman. >> shaina luliz is back in possession of her late father's artwork. last week thieves made off with a u-haul packed with more than 100 pieces her dad created. >> the truck had been parked outside the metro hotel in the haight that the family owns. they had planned to display the artwork inside. >> the people that took the truck probably weren't stealing it for art. i think they thought there might be something else of value to them. it was interesting and ironic that it was equally as worthless to the criminals as far as the street value as it was priceless to the people they took it from. >> that is ironic. >> according to barnes, police found the truck on friday. and when they opened the back, all the artwork was still inside. >> what's more, all the pieces were in perfect condition. so nothing was damaged.

it's just a great ending to the story. "world news tonight" with david muir is next. we appreciate your time. i'm dan ashley. >> and i'm kristen sze. thanks for joini grand now we have to deal withed us this.rs. climate change is an emergency. that's why i wrote the nation's most progressive climate law. and that's why i'm endorsing tom steyer. because when big oil tried to stop our clean air laws, he led us to victory. same with the keystone pipeline. when tom says we can save the world and do it together believe him. i'm tom steyer and i approve this message.

tonight, the growing emergency. after the deadliest 24 hours so far. the families reportedly pulled out of their homes and taken to be quarantined as the coronavirus worsens. the deadliest day yet, 97 dead in 24 hours, and authorities say now this could be the tip of the iceberg. and the cruise ship, americans infected, at least 23, as hundreds of passengers including americans say they're trapped on board and fear they'll be infected next. also tonight, the deadly shooting at a walmart. a man opening fire, two officers hit. one in surgery tonight. in new york city, the mayor calling it an assassination attempt on the police. two officers shot, two separate locations. the surveillance showing a man entering a precinct and opening fire in all directions. ne