good afternoon, live here in los angeles, where a bail hearing for johannes mehserle is set to get underway. >> we will show you how police get ready for that hearing. >> plus the wrecking ball drops, demolition is underway.

those stories are next here. >> complete bay area news coverage starts right now, this is ktvu channel 2 news at noon. >> good afternoon, topping our news this noontime, former bart police officer johannes mehserle is going back before a judge in less than two hours, asking to be released on bail while he appeals his conviction of shooting oscar grant nearly two years ago. claudine wong is live in l.a. to let us know what will happen at this hearing. good afternoon. >> reporter: good afternoon, tori, yes, this hearing is set to start at 1:30 here at the l.a. courthouse. his attorney says his expects it to last half an hour to 45 minutes and when he is done he is hoping his client will be headed home. despite plans for a protest at the courthouse this morning by supporters of oscar grant the plaza was quiet. today the judge must decide if

he should be granted bail. >> the grounds for our motion are essentially that he is not a flight risk, has never been a flight risk and is not one today. he is not a danger to the community. >> he remains in jail serving out his two year sentence, but his attorney says with good behavior he only has about six months left and wants bail granted because the appeals process takes time. >> i think ultimately we will prevail open on our motion to have the conviction set aside and since he should have it set aside spending six months or six minutes more in jail when he should not be spending any time in jail is too much. >> but the big question is how much. >> i think we will have less bail. i don't know what amount will be. clearly if the judge sets

another very high bail i am going to recommend that he not post bail, that he just remain in custody and finish out his sentence, which is really less than six months at this point. >> prosecutors have filed a motion asking the judge to deny bail. their argument that the defense doesn't have a strong legal argument to appeal the conviction already on the books. now, this morning i talked to the attorney for the family of oscar grant. he says family members will attend today's hearing. we are getting word that protesters may show up in the next half-hour or so in advance and following the hearing as they wait for a decision. in the meantime media will be checking in to the courthouse on the 9th floor here in less than an hour. as we have seen through the trial sentencing is limited seating but we will be in there and keep you updated. >> meanwhile, back here in the

bay area police are preparing just in case there is unrest after this hearing. christien kafton joins us with that story. >> reporter: you can see commuters are coming and going. they are keeping an eye on it. also keeping an eye out is a contingent of bart police officers. oscar grant supporters have already said they will protest here if he gets out on bail. passengers streamed in and out of the station this morning, the station where johannes mehserle shot and killed oscar grant. they are pushing for bail while they appeal and they are

keeping an eye on the proceedings. >> i hope they don't protest because i don't think people should vandalize people's property because of mistakes li that. >> other passengers say they want to see an end to the violence. >> everybody else is. >> they announced they would protest if the judge grants bail. some passengers are hoping it will not disrupt their ability to travel. >> i hope it doesn't. last time it did. i had to catch a bus over here, so i hope it doesn't. >> a number of bart police officers patrol the area around the bart station this morning but bart's chief spokesman says they are treating this like any other day. >> our police officers and operations staff have plans in place to keep the trains running, keeps everybody safe and keep everybody on time and

allow them to exercise free speech. >> as we told you yesterday some businesses are taking precautions, looking out for a protest that could turn unruly, you can see another bart police patrol vehicle. there are two other officers attached to that vehicle in addition to the other vehicle earlier, so they are certainly telling us that they are keeping an eye on the situation here. live in oakland, christien kafton,. >> the san francisco medical examiner has identified an 18- year-old oakland man as the victim of a fatal shooting in visitation valley. officers responding to the sound of gun shots and 911 calls yesterday found him in the 1400 block of visitation avenue. he was pronounced dead at the hospital. witnesses reported seeing three or four young men at the time of the shooting running from the area. police have not made any arrests in the case. president obama surprised

the troops in afghanistan with an unannounced holiday visit to the war zone. he flew there today while it was still dark for a tightly guarded six hour visit. he stood before 3500 troops to thank them for their efforts and to assure them of their success. >> i have no greater responsibility than keeping the american people secure. i could not meet that responsibility. we could not protect the american people, we could not enjoy the blessings of our liberty without the extraordinary service that each and every one of you perform. >> came up with a manly man t- shirt. >> president obama planned a face-to-face meeting with president karzai but that took place by phone due to rough weather. day 2 of a hearing in washington on the debate of weather to repeal the don't ask-

don't tell policy and today while two military leaders say whe it is inevitable it should not be done right now. >> all i am asking is the opportunity to do that at a time and choosing when my marines are not not tightly focused on what they are doing. >> i would not recommend going forward at this time given everything the army has on its plate. >> yesterday defense secretary gates and joint chiefs of staff pushed senators to repeal the ban before it heads to court. they said wartime is ideal. the latest job numbers came out showing a surprise increase in the unemployment rate. the labor department reported the jobless rate rose to 9.8% last month. for the previous three months

9.6%. they only added 39,000 must less than the 150,000 anticipated new positions and a sharp drop from the 172,000 jobs created in october. a deficit cutting plan failed to get enough votes from the budget commission today to move the plan into congress. the plan needed 14 out of 18 votes for approval but it only got 11. it would have trimmed 4 trillion dollars from the budget through a combination of changes to social security changes and other changes. brown is organizing a budget forum to be held in sacramento next wednesday to talk about the state's $25 billion budget shortfall. the entire legislature is invited as well as various government officials and the media. two more forums on education and health are also in the works. brown will be sworn in on

january third. phillip garrido's mental state comes into question again. what a judge ordered during a recent court hearing for jaycee dugard's accused kidnapper. we are seeing sprinkles but will it be a wet weekend ahead. >> they are dropping the ball literally, what will take its place? we will answer that question for you coming up.

the man accused of sexually assaulting a two-year-old girl in a store is set to appear especially court. despite having a previous history of sex crimes some of his neighbors are shocked. kraig debro has the story. >> reporter: as shocked as the victim's family maybe there is intense surprise in the suspect e's neighborhood. >> no -- >> reporter: the man who police say raped a two-year-old girl lives on a cul-de-sac with his parents. his neighbors say they only had a vague idea about the first time ramos was accused of a

horrible crime. >> they bought the house 2007. one officer he just warned me just be careful. >> did he tell you why? >> he told he raped somebody. >> all he said was that do you know the people that moved in your house is a sex offender? >> the picture of the man was already on the website. he was convicted in 2007 of trying to rape a seven-year-old girl. until his parole expired he was required to give detailed specific information on his whereabouts. >> that person was on probation or parole but still required to register as a sex offender within five days of their birthday annually. >> the victim was shopping with her grandmother and aunt at this dollar tree store when she was raped. the grandmother and her aunt left the girl to return something to a shelf, when they went looking for the girl they saw something very few people want to see. >> as the grandmother rounded the corner she saw that a male suspect unknown to them had

pinned the little girl to the floor. >> two good samaritans chased and held him until police arrived. she said she told her neighbors about her son's past. neighbors deny that. >> when we tried to look it up that house had never been marked. he is set to be arraigned this afternoon. but even with stricter reporting resecurities it requirements it is hard to see how they could have prevented what happened. >> a judge in eldorado county has ordered a second mental evaluation for phillip garrido. that came as another expert is about to wrap up his assessment of his mental state. his attorney argues her client is not competent to stand trial. the judge said the second doctor is an expert in

determining if subjects are faking mental illness. the wrecking ball is working its magic starting the demolition of the old transbay terminal late this morning. in its place is a fancy new building billed as the grand central of the west but a lot of work needs to be done between now and then. tara moriarty joins us with more. >> reporter: people have been stopping on the sidewalk all morning long and taking pictures and gazing out of windows of these big huge office buildings that you see here. all to witness a piece of san francisco history become history. you could hear and feel from it several blocks away. the demolition of the old transbay terminal building made the ground shake. [ cheers ] >> i walked by here and saw that half the terminal is gone.

>> reporter: she remembers the building from her childhood. >> i spent a lot of time there taking the bus to the east bay and i didn't realize what a beautiful building it is inside. >> reporter: she and hundreds of others snapped photos and gawked at the wrecking ball. >> kind of a groundbreaking and bringing this facility back to the future of san francisco. >> reporter: the $4 billion project is expected to take six years to complete and will serve as the hub for cal train buses and high speed rail. crews smashed the lower portion of the 71-year-old structure. they will crush 6500 pounds of concrete th reuse it for the new modern terminal dubbed the grand central station of the west. >> the existing facility had really kind of outlived its usefulness. it was designed originally as a rail facility when there was rail on the lower deck of the bay bridge and had not been modernized or updated since the

tracks were taken off in 1958. >> reporter: the new million and a half square foot facility will have a five acre park on the rooftop. >> i needed one more because i was good. i set up across the street. >> reporter: he was forced to move his floral business around the corner once the demolition began. >> once it is done a lot -- i think the business is going to increase. >> reporter: are you sad to see it go? >> not really. it was kind of a scary place there towards the end, so -- [ cheers ] >> reporter: the new hub will cut back commute times and provide transportation to 40 million people each year. tara moriarty, ktvu channel 2 chose. >> if you want to see more go to ktvu.com we have put up more video of the wrecking ball. an early morning fire damaged five boats in eastern contra costa county and the

sheriff's department and cost guard had to rescue two people. the fire started on 2:00 a.m. on one of the boats moored. no one was injured although one person was treated for smoke inhalation. the cause is still under investigation. let's check in with mark tamayo for a look at the forecast and cloudy out there. >> yeah, that's right, tori, the clouds have been with us all morning long and a few breaks right now. there is still a chance of a few sprinkles or light showers but not much to show you on the radar. here is a look at the clouds, the satellite, you can see the clouds over a good portion of the bay area. a look outside, we can show you the view in oakland, 56 degrees and still mostly cloudy skies with high clouds moving in. current temperatures across the rest of the region, santa rosa 52, livermore 53, san jose 57, fairfield lower 50s. rain showers last night into earlier this morning. not much happening right now. a band of high clouds out there

in the pacific. kind of different segments of the weather pattern, still lingering high clouds tomorrow this weather system approachs that could generate light showers. the next deal that could generate significant rainfall is set to move in by sunday, especially by inside to late afternoon and into the evening hours, that will be on sunday. if you are heading to the mountains weather weather advisories have expired for today, mostly cloudy skies. there is a chance of a shower for saturday and sunday for the sierras but snow levels pretty high. a few sprinkles targeting the north bay neighborhoods tomorrow morning maybe a chance. and there is that chance tomorrow afternoon but then into sunday look what happens, those rainfall rates do pick up. here is a plan for this afternoon. partly to mostly cloudy. for this evening more clouds, a chance of a sprinkle. here is a look at your

forecasted highs, in the 50s, warmest locations in the lower 60s for san jose and also morgan hill. here is a look ahead. your five-day-forecast. tomorrow is probably the best day of the upcoming weekend with that chance of a sprinkle or light shower. by sunday we increase the rainfall probability, especially by mid to late afternoon. we could be talking about heavy rain by sunday evening. tori if you are getting tired of the rain it looks like a dry weather pattern for monday and tuesday of next week. >> thank you, mark. >> sure. >> the bands are warming up and organizers are putting the final touches on floats for tomorrow's holiday parade in oakland. the 11th annual parade features 22 marching bands and nearly 50 fictional children's characters. it will start at 2:00 p.m. from 11th street to 20th street. they expect 100,000 to attend. if you cannot make it watch the parade here on ktvu on saturday, december the 18th and on kicu on sunday, december the 19th.

the parade will air on both stations on christmas day. up next how the oakland as brought holiday cheer to some bay area children.

tickets for some of next year's giants games went on sale today. a limited number of tickets available for 35 games. those ticket sales will end december 12th and will not resume until later. you can buy your tickets on line and several other places. the oakland as community fund treated ten children from oakland to a shopping spree this morning. pitchers brett anderson, trevor hill and tyson ross escorted them to the target store, where they had $200 gift cards to spend. the children were chosen from the salvation army's garden center shelter. >> it is all about the kids out here. we are just trying to help them out and give them an early christmas gift and show them a good time. >> after the trip the children were scheduled to have lunch where the players would sign autographs and take pictures with them.

the government may soon require new cars to have technology to prevent drivers from accidently hitting someone when they back up. most car makers would meet requirements by installing rear mountedded video cameras and video displays inside the vehicles. the changes would be phased in during the 2012 to 2014 model years, the national highway transportation safety administration says nearly 300 people are killed each year because of these type of accidents and nearly half are children under five. some nevada residents are raising a stink as a nearby treatment plant tries to fix an odor problem. the $90 million plant on davidson street is finished and has been opening in stages but some neighbors say the smell can be so bad they don't want to go outside. air quality officials say they will be doing a complete inspection next week. plant managers say they are committed to resolving the problem and will be talking to homeowners about it next tuesday. coming up on ktvu channel 2

news at 5:00, in just a few hours a l.a. court will consider weather to let oscar grant's killer out on bail. the lawyer for johannes mehserle is asking the judge to release his client during his appeal. we will have live coverage from southern california and here in oakland. that story and more up next on ktvu channel 2 news at 5:00. thanks for watching. have a great weekend. send comments to comments@captioncolorado.com captions by terry james, caption colorado, llc.