your realtime captioner is linda marie macdonald. i mean, it has to be done. it's the law. you go to jail for anything else. >> silicon valley taking on hollywood. the internet blackout today over free speech rights. and the cruise ship disaster the setback today and the new threat rescue divers are facing. and good morning, every. it is wednesday, january 18. i'm frank mallicoat. grace has the day off once again. it is really early, 4:30. [ laughter ] >> and it's cold. >> we made it here on time. >> halfway there. >> how's traffic? >> now is the best time to be

on the freeways. >> i bet it's slow. >> it is. the only thing we're looking out for is roadwork out of marin county so we'll update you on that and some roadwork later on, on the bay bridge. >> rain is on the way. first we have to get through these cold temperatures. check the temperatures now across the bay area. 35 san rafael, 33 napa. a lot of spots at or below freezing. we have a freeze warning this morning for santa clara valley so again that includes san jose and yes, as gianna said the rain is coming. a light chance of rain later on this afternoon in the north bay then real rain tomorrow so we'll tell you more coming up. >> thank you. >> i bet the people in fairfield are happy today. it was 19 there yesterday, 31 today. >> balmy practically. >> thank you. it is 4:31. some of the most popular websites are not online this morning and it's their own doing. anne makovec joins us now to explain why wikipedia and some

of the other big sites are shutting down today. >> reporter: it has been described as a battle between old media and new media and today a lot of websites are making their concerns known by making themselves unavailable. this is the front page of wikipedia now saying, imagine a world without free knowledge. and then it has information about contacting your local congressman to complain about the bills. they are called sopa, stop online piracy act, and pipa, the protect ip act, aimed at helping hollywood and other big content providers battle online privacy. if passed, the bills would give the government and content cree iters new powers to block websites containing copyrighted material. that legislation is also supported by the cbs corporation, parents of cbs 5. now, popular websites wikipedia and read it are going dark today. other sites like craigslist and google are posting informational notices on their home pages but they are still available for users.

these bills are in part about protecting intellectual property but opponents say they interfere with free speech. >> really i think this act is going to hurt intellectual property because it's trying to break the internet and stop the dissemination of what should be free. >> it has to be done. you go to jail if you break the law. >> reporter: the blackout of these websites will last until midnight tonight. both of these controversial bills were scheduled for votes in committees of the house and senate later this month. but now it looks like both votes will be delayed. frank? >> see if it works. thank you, anne makovec. "occupy" protestors are planning a shutdown of their own here in the bay area today this friday. they will plan to protest outside of offices of bank of america and goldman sachs in san francisco. their goal, to disrupt business as usual at the financial institutions. the protestors accuse the

companies of mishandling foreclosures, violating labor rights and war profiteering. it is 4:33. new develops in the domestic abuse charges against sheriff ross mirkarimi. court documents suggest new year's eve wasn't the first time neighbors saw an argument between the sheriff and his wife. mirkarimi's arraignment on misdemeanor charges is scheduled for tomorrow. his arrest warrant affidavit says two neighbors reported fighting at least twice last year one neighbor videotaped a bruise on the wife, said she came from a new year's eve fight from her husband. lopez told the neighbor she asked mirkarimi if they could visit her family in venezuela after his inauguration. she said he went ballistic yelling, you are trying to take theo, their son, away from me. the other neighbor said 2-year- old theo talked about seeing the new year's eve fight

saying, daddy made a boo boo on mommy's arm. governor brown will deliver his annual state of the state address this morning in sacramento. the governor has not provided any details in advance of the speech but it is sure to include plenty about the budget battle. the address begins at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning and right after he begins a two-day swing in southern california. there, he will try to generate support for a november ballot initiative to raise taxes to help reduce the state's deficit. hundreds of oakland city workers will find out today if they are losing their jobs. pink slips will start going out to more than 200 workers because of the $30 million cut back in state redevelopment funds the city uses to pay salaries. the city says employees with seniority could later be transferred to other departments. layoffs will only make up for part of the funding loss. big shake-up in the silicon

valley this morning. yahoo cofounder jerry yang is leaving the company. yahoo said yang is stepping down from the sunnyvale company's board. he didn't say why. but the move launched a lot of speculation about yahoo's future. >> personally, i'd be very surprised if there isn't an announcement pretty soon, within maybe a week or two, about yahoo being acquired or some sort of majority stake deal. it's hard to imagine jerry yang leaving yahoo while the company was still independent. >> yang cofounded yahoo with david filo in 1995 when they were graduate students at stanford. yang took a lot of criticism from shades of as ceo in 2008 when he -- from shareholders in 2008 when he blocked a takeover from microsoft. elizabeth has the forecast. >> we're all getting excited about the rain. we need it. today is going to be dry for the most part but we are

talking about cold temperatures again. much of the bay area or at least one spot in the bay area is under a freeze warning. looks like it's the santa clara valley including most of the south bay, san jose, morgan hill, temperatures there going to be in the 20s to low 30s so yeah dipping those temperatures once again. temperatures outside right now at or below freezing in some spots. check the north bay valleys. napa 33. fairfield 31. it is going to feel a little warmer out there this morning than yesterday, but it's obviously still cold when you're dealing with at or below freezing temperatures, you still want to bundle up. 40 oakland. 34 redwood city. we have one more dry day with the high pressure system and then rain is moving in inching closer just off to the west of us now. we'll tell you much more about this rainy forecast coming up. in the meantime, let's hit the roads with gianna. >> so far, so good. no major accidents. along 101 near 380 in san bruno

you can see light traffic. heading towards 280 things look good in both directions. live look at the bay bridge, very light this morning no delays off the eastshore freeway. roadwork later on on the lower deck from the skyway to treasure island starting at 7 a.m. northbound 101 through marin, highway 37 to atherton only one lane open so expect slight delays. back to you. >> thank you. today crews off the coast of italy suspended their search for missing passengers of that cruise ship disaster. rescue workers put their efforts on hold because of the damaged ship shifting on the rocks raising safety concerns for divers and other folks that are helping in the search. at least live pictures as that boat sits right off the coast of italy. more than 4200 people were on board that ship when it struck a reef on friday evening. 11 people are now confirmed dead, 22 are still missing. prosecutors are expected to file criminal charges against the ship's captain in the

coming days. 4:38 now. san francisco residents are fuming over some new parking meter plans. the city's municipal transportation agency plans on installing 5,000 meters in the mission bay and the dogpatch neighborhoods. people will have to pay 25 cents an hour on these new meters. the agency will vote on final approval on the parking plan at its next board meeting san francisco is boosting a transit and bike option for america's cup to keep as many cars out of the city for next year's boating contest. the plan calls for increasing muni service and creating new bike routes without construction work. a.c. transit will add more service lines between the east bay and treasure island. san francisco 49ers are just a win away from the super bowl. we are expecting a big rush for tickets to sunday's big game against the new york giants. those tickets go on sale to the public this afternoon. gil diaz is down at candlestick

park with how much people are going to have to pay to get a glimpse of that nfc championship game. >> reporter: the funny thing that people will shell out a lot for these tickets. now, the season ticketholders will get first dibs at those tickets starting at 10 a.m. as you mentioned, frank, then the general public will be able to get the tickets starting at 1:00. a company that analyzes game ticket prices says that the average cost of a ticket for had sunday's game will be $743. but there are extreme prices already being offered online as we found already. the cheapest seats so far just over $300 for a seat in the 17th row, top level section. the most expensive, get this, $20,000. but it's a sixth row on the field level at the northern end zone. one possible reason for the price gouging, this is the 49ers' first nfc championship game since 1998.

the best way to score tickets is to score them for free. 9ers owner jed york had a twitter contest which ended yesterday afternoon. he asked fans, tell me why you deserve four free tickets plus pre-game field passes. and vince kava won by tweeting this: my first child was born during saturday's game. the doctor let us watch the game during labor. it would be awesome to go see the nfc champs and, of course, if you are vince's best buddy i'm sure you're jumping for joy this morning. all the tickets will be going on sale through ticketmaster and it's going to be a maximum of 4 tickets per person. back to you. >> i think they also got field passes, too, not just the tickets but they get to go pre- game on the field so that's cool, too. >> reporter: exactly. it's going to make their sunday for sure. >> i wonder if they named the kid alex or something. [ laughter ] >> we'll find out, gil.

thank you. 4:41. the white house is on lockdown. the dangerous device thrown during an "occupy" protest. >> harsh talk on the campaign trail days before the critical contest in south carolina. i'm terrell brown in washington. the latest on campaign 2012 coming up. a daring motorcycle chase in southern california. how it all came down to a very surprising end. we have that and much more coming up. stay with us.

locked down after a smoke bomb was thrown onto the la all calm again at the white house this morning. it was briefly locked down after a smoke bomb was thrown on the white house lawn last night during a "occupy" protest. at one point there were over 1500 demonstrators on pennsylvania avenue. president obama and his wife though were at a nearby restaurant celebrating the first lady's 48th birthday. nobody was hurt. and nobody was arrested. on capitol hill today, a key vote in the house regarding the national debt ceiling under

a bipartisan agreement reached last summer, the debt ceiling is automatically raised when the government gets close to the current $15 trillion cap unless congress votes to deny the increase. the house is expected to approve a measure to deny that increase but it's unlikely to pass the senate. vice president joe biden will be in the bay area today set to attend a big democratic fundraiser here in san francisco. it starts at 11:30. admission prices range from $2,500 to $10,000, which is a little cheaper than those 49ers tickets gil was talking about. as for the republican presidential primaries it's just three days until the primaries in south carolina on saturday. terrell brown reports the spotlight is still shining on front-runner mitt romney and his personal income taxes. reporter: mitt romney's personal income taxes have become the latest joke on the campaign trail. >> we're now call my 15% flat tax the mitt romney flat tax.

>> reporter: in south carolina tuesday, newt gingrich poked fun after the gop front-runner admitted he pays less taxes than most americans. >> what's the effective rate i have been paying? it's probably closer to the 15% rate. >> reporter: romney, whose estimated worth is $270 million, says his income is mostly from developments which are taxed well -- from investment which are taxed well below the 35% the nation's top earners pay. he leads in saturday's primary in south carolina but that doesn't stop the others from trying to push each other aside. >> consolidating into a gingrich candidacy would in fact virtually guarantee a win on saturday. >> reporter: gingrich wants santorum to drop out and endorse him. he says the former house speaker should back down. >> you have newt who is bold but all over the place attacking capitalism, supporting capitalism. >> reporter: perry isn't giving in, either. >> rick santorum is a good man, a good father, a good catholic.

but he hasn't always been a good conservative. >> reporter: but a romney alternative might not always be the gop's best bet. romney may be the most likely republican to beat president obama. terrell brown, cbs news, washington. congressman ron paul is take the day off from campaigning. necessary washington for today's vote on whether -- he is in washington for today's vote on whether to raise that national debt ceiling a homeless student has been invited to the state of the union speech. samantha garvey will attend with congressman steve israel. she was named a semifinalist in a prestigious science competition this month. she is up for a $100,000 school lar ship. israel called garvey an inspiration. he said he thought her presence would be an important influence on the attendees at president barack obama's address next week. 4:47. listen up. how your ipod might be hazardous to your health. it's almost straight out of the movies. the grim discovery next to the famed hollywood sign.

coming up. >> the real challenge it getting it there, having it fresh and especially the pride. >> the new spin burger king is putting on fast food service. that story and much more coming up. p-g-and-e now admits it incorrectly classified more than if you step outside right now you will notice it's chilly. in fact, one part of the bay area is under a freeze warning this morning. plus, we are tracking the rain. we'll break it down for you time it out do all that after the break.

we are back now at 4:50 on this wednesday. pg&e now admits it incorrectly classified more than 300 miles of its natural gas transmission lines including the same type involved in the deadly san bruno explosion back in september of 2010. pg&e ransom segments at a high -- ran some segments at a higher pressure level than recommended by federal

regulations which call for higher safety standards in densely populated areas to minimize chances of another explosion. l.a. police say two women were walking dogs in the hollywood hills yesterday when the dogs began playing with something. it turned out to be a human head. it was in a plastic bag. investigators say is wasn't in the area for very long. police plan to resume the search for clues this morning. elsewhere, in l.a. county a police pursuit did not end well for a motorcyclist here on the run and he has a passenger. police say chp -- police and the chp, rather, began pursuing the couple because the motorcycle had been stolen. the bike crashed in hacienda heights. no major injuries. bay area once again bracing for a lot of cold weather. the northwest is getting hit with a major snowstorm today. the city could get up to 10" of

snow today making roads extremely treacherous. this is up in i believe in the seattle area. snow has already been falling in parts of western washington and oregon since this weekend. alaska airlines has decided to cancel 38 flights into and out of seattle. and a little south in portland, oregon as well this morning. the airline is waiving change fees for customers traveling through tomorrow in those cities. so a big mess up north and got a bit of a mess on its way here. buckets of rain on the way and it's still cold. >> it is. that system is moving through seattle now. we are going to catch the back end of that by tomorrow so yeah, for right now, though, clear and cool. here's a live look. i think it's from our roof cam of the moon. waning crescent moon. two thumbs up. beautiful out there tonight. but it is definitely chilly. in fact, we have a freeze warning in effect for the central santa clara valley. so here's a look at temperatures outside if you are stepping out the door.

oakland coming in at 40. 30 out in livermore. check out san jose at 32 degrees. so later on this afternoon, we are going to warm up. climbing up to the mid- to upper 50s so it is going to be warmer today than yesterday. a little cloudy and a little sun. kind of a similar story but chilly. big story one more dry day. we have this high pressure system for today but check this rain. it is off to our west and we're going to catch the back end of that system. we could see a few sprinkles, just a slight chance of light stuff. a few sprinkles maybe in the north bay today but the real rain maker that starts tomorrow. and then it could last through the weekend so yeah, we're really watching this storm that could get heavy at times. pinpoint forecast for later on today, enjoy the dry weather. temperatures again mostly mid- to upper 50s.

so we are really closely timing this rain. it looks like for today we are staying dry. partly cloudy skies but then check out our forecast on thursday, friday, looks like the first batch of rain could get here thursday afternoon so after the morning rush. evening commute home tomorrow could be an issue. saturday looks unsettled but we are look at more rain showers late inside into sunday. and for the start of the next workweek it looks like we are finally drying out by tuesday. that is your weather. for a traffic update, here's gianna. >> roadwork through marin county northbound 101 we have various lanes blocked only one lane open between 37 and atherton so slight delays. no word of southbound side troubles out of marin county to the golden gate bridge. very light on the golden gate bridge no delays to report clear all the way into san

francisco. we have an accident on highway 1 at erica road one vehicle involved. it hit a tree on the right side of the row. not blocking roads but may slow you down. roadwork on the lower deck of the bay bridge starts at the skyway over to treasure island various lanes blocked closed from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the toll plaza no delays now. things looking good off the eastshore freeway. 19 minutes from the carquinez bridge to the maze. that's your "timesaver traffic." here's frank. >> thank you. 4:55 now. wall street futures are rising modestly this morning. cbsmoneywatch reporter ashley morrison says world markets are higher today. reporter: in overseas trading this morning, another rally in asia. tokyo's nikkei had its highest finish in nearly two weeks rising nearly 1% while hong

kong's hang seng added a fraction. on wall street investors will get earnings reports from ebay and goldman sachs. tuesday dow was up 60, nasdaq up 17. ed world bank is warning of a global economic slowdown lowering its economic forecast for 2012 by more than 1%. it says worldwide growth is being negatively impacted by a recession in europe and economic slumps in developing countries. kraft foods is preparing to cut 1600 people from its workforce. the illinois-based food maker says the layoffs are due to a companywide restructuring plan. the cuts affect their sales, corporate and business units. none of the company's manufacturing facilities will be affected. if you like your fast food fast, listen to this, burger king testing out a delivery option at some washington, d.c. area restaurants. for $2, customers can have their burgers and fries delivered to their home and

office, placing orders on the web. burger king will expand next week and then decide if it wants to take it nationwide. stay with cbsmoneywatch.com for more. in new yorks i'm ashley morrison. that's scary, the bk thing. talk about couch potatoes. distracted walking could be dangerous to your health. a new study shows wearing headphones while walking increases your chances of getting hit by a car. researchers looked at accidents in the last six years. 70% of the injuries were fatal. they say it's different for most people to listen -- or rather, difficult for most people it listen to what's going on in their headsets and monitoring their surroundings at the same time. >> really can't do both of those things at 100%. >> the study shows a third of the distracted walking accidents involved a vehicle blasting some kind of warning such as a horn but obviously, the pedestrian could not hear

it. it is 4:57. a big scare in the skies. the frightening message passengers heard in the middle of a flight plus explosive allegations against san francisco's new sheriff. the bombshell claims revealed in new court documents. and it has been described as a battle between old and new media. today many websites are making their concerns known by making themselves unavailable. coming up. >> 9ers giants tickets go on sale today but expect to pay a lot for them. coming up we'll tell you how much tickets are going for.

my fashion blog is about my personal style and things that inspire me. i like to think of myself as the voice of real girls. since i post new looks almost every day... i have to shop almost as often. t.j.maxx is great because i can score designer fashion... without spending like there's no tomorrow. that's what it's all about. fashion direct from designers.