oakland. witnesses say the pilot appeared to be trying to save others before the crash. more problems with southwest airlines. another plane makes an emergency landing overnight as more flights are about to be canceled today. a scary wake up call in redwood city. how one family managed to escape an early morning fire. morning news continues. good morning. thank you for joining us on this monday april 4th. i'm pam cook. good morning. i'm dave clark. let's check your weather and traffic. here's steve. pam and dave, thank you. we have mostly clear skies. little high cloud around but no big deal. it will clear out. but not before we have upper 30s and 40s. sunshine today. 60s by the coast. kind of looking for maybe north- northeast breeze for about a day. that will allow temperatures to warm up today to low and mid- 70s. big changes as we head towards thursday. we'll get to our five-day forecast in about five minutes.

now update on traffic. getting busier out to the maze although no accidents or stalled vehicles reported on this stretch. also the morning commute looks okay on northbound 101 approaching the 80 split in san francisco. 6:00 let's go back to the desk. well, this morning federal investigators will look for answers in a small plane crash near the oakland airport. ktvu's kraig debro is now at the crash scene in alameda. kraig, what have you been able to find out? >> reporter: good morning, pam. i wanted to show you just how close the airport this crash was behind mes is the north field at the oakland airport where the plane took off yesterday afternoon around 3:30. over here is the crash scene considered alameda. if you look off in the jetty off in the distance you can probably make out the light colored piece of metal sticking up out of the ground. you can barely make out that plane off in the dark and in the distance. this morning alameda county coroner's office identified the pilot as 73-year-old richard manuel of redwood city. the cause of death appears to have been the result of the

crash. people we spoke with yesterday with knowledge of planes say the kind of plane that crashed was relatively easy to fly. according to the same witnesses the problem seemed to be a stalled engine and not pilot error. investigators with the f.a.a. conducted the preliminary investigation at the scene. this morning the ntsb will take the lead. witnesses say they heard the plane's engine stop just seconds before the crash. then the pilot took the plane into a steep dive. according to those who knew him he was president of a local flying club, those people suspect manuel went into the steep decline in order to gain speed and come out of the stall. >> he obviously did everything he could do to keep the airplane away from people and ended up with him going in nose first. >> reporter: the area where the plane is this morning is courted off not only by state police but officers themselves. we were asked to step back. officers told us the reason for

that was they expected federal investigators to be bringing in equipment later this morning to continue their investigation. reporting live in alameda. kraig debro, ktvu channel 2 news. time now 6:02. for the third day in a row southwest airlines is canceling flights after a five foot long hole ripped open during a sacramento bound flight on friday. ktvu's jade hernandez is live in oakland airport right now to tell us how many southwest flights are canceled there and what passengers are saying. good morning, jade. >> reporter: good morning. we contacted southwest airlines earlier this morning. we're live at oakland international waiting to hear back from a spokesperson. so far this morning the departure board at the southwest airlines gate says there are eight cancellations so far. only one arrival has been canceled. now all of this due to this plane. this boeing 737 ripped open in flight and was diverted from sacramento to yuma, arizona. the plane left from phoenix and

on its way to california when a section broke open in the section of the plane. no one was hurt but flights were canceled over the weekend for inspections. as of yesterday 19 southwest planes had been inspected and returned to service. small cracks are found in three planes. the f.a.a. is no longer speaking on this matter since it's been turned over to the ntsb. this is what we know this morning. when we arrived we found a couple of flights which were supposed to leave at 7:30 to las vegas and oklahoma city both were canceled. altogether the board shows eight departures canceled. only one arrival from portland was canceled. that plane was supposed to land at 7:50. there are still people who say this morning they're sticking with southwest. >> we've been flying on southwest forever. no problems. there's never been any problem with the plane. i think it's still good. >> reporter: the ntsb says boeing is sending a service bulletin to other airlines on how to check their planes for similar cracking.

inspections are expected to be done by tomorrow. that's according to southwest airlines' website. 300 flights were canceled across the country yesterday. live from oakland international, jade hernandez, ktvu channel 2 news. all right, jade. another southwest flight that took off from the bay area had to make an emergency landing. the flight was from oakland to san diego. it landed safely in los angeles last night after reports of an electrical burning smell in the plane's cabin. 142 people were on board. no one was hurt. this emergency landing is said to be unrelated to the cracks that forced friday's landing in arizona. in redwood city overnight a mother and her four children safely escaped a fire that destroyed their home. it happened about 2:00 a.m. this morning in the harbor village mobile home park on bay shore road. firefighters say the mother woke up, she found the flames. her screaming woke up her 17- year-old son and he helped get the other children out of the house. the red cross is now helping

them all find a place to stay. firefighters say it appears the fire started near a drier in the home. vallejo police are looking for suspects in a shooting that seriously injured a man. that happened shortly before 1:00 a.m. yesterday on amelia street. police say the victim was shot multiple times and underwent surgery. he is listed in critical condition. so far no word on a motive for the shooting. if you have any information, please call vallejo police. two people are recovering from injuries this morning after a highway patrol officer crashed into their car. it happened yesterday in fremont at dakota road. the highway patrol officer was in the middle of a high speed chase with a motorcycle when it ran a red light and crashed into a honda accord. that honda spun out of control and hit another car. two people in the honda had to be taken to the hospital with minor injuries. time now 6:06. a month long campaign targeting

distracted bay area drivers begins today. the chp says it's pretty easy to spot those drivers talking or texting while they drive despite california's hands free cell phone law. chp says both are dangerous. we talked to one driver who says there's a reason he does not obey that law. >> i'm a little hard of hearing and i can't use the blue tooth. i can't hear. >> reporter: what about not using a phone at all? >> those days are long gone. >> chp says it will be issuing tickets during this crack down along with reminder about the dangers of driving distracted. well, testimony resumes today in the trial of two men charged with killing oakland journalist chauncey bailey. the trial was delayed last week because of a sick juror. pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter for killing bailey is expected to continue his testimony this morning. last week he testified the defendant, the leader of the

former your black muslim bakery, ordered him to kill bailey to prevent the journalist from writing a critical article about the bakery's financial problems. in san mateo county the sanity phase of the trial against a teenager accused in a pipe bomb attack at his high school starts today. last week jurors convicted the 18-year-old on six of seven counts. but they deadlocked on one. investigators say he planned to kill two school staff members during an attack at hillsdale high school two years ago. prosecutors have dismissed his insanity defense. they say he was responsible for his actions. all right. 6:08 is the time right now. back over to sal to check in on the commute. sal. pam and dave, i like the way this is starting on a monday. kind of ease back into it. let's go to the live pictures and show you traffic on highway 24 looks pretty good. chp's not reporting collisions or stalled vehicles along the way as we keep watching the chp

lists rather closely. it's nice and empty for the most part. move along and take a look at the westbound bay bridge. there's a small delay. i would say maybe a three or four minute delay getting into san francisco before you pay the money and another ten minutes on the bridge. and the morning drive is okay in concord and walnut creek if you are driving down to the hayward union city and fremont area so far it looks good on interstate 880. a little bit of crowding now on 880 heading north from union city to hayward. 6:09. let's go to steve. thank you, sal. very good morning. we have clear skies. mostly clear. few high clouds. they'll clear out. it's chilly. rather brisk out there. but today -- that's today. today temperatures will warm up. 60s and 70s. this is the warmest day of the week sure looks like. last week remember monday all the way into thursday we just kept right ongoing. record heat. that will not be the case. this week we will go from mild to warm to very cold for this time of year. by wednesday system drops out of the gulf of alaska. it's more of a cold system than it is rain system but clouds will start to return by

wednesday. it will be cooler and breezy and that cold air really moves in on thursday. this morning though up towards the north bay i've seen some upper 30s here. st. helena and kenwood both 37. and north napa right off, well, in between yachtville and napa 32. there are some 30s this time of year. colder by the end of the week. this morning after we have a chilly morning we will start to see warmer temperatures. high pressure's building in. little north wind might kick in as well. that will help. 41 at the napa airport. 44 san raphael. 44 livermore. 44 redwood city. santa rosa close. 46 concord. 47 at the oakland airport. san raphael starting at 4 this morning. it will be a sunny and nice day. by noon 64 and 72 for a high today. san raphael has everything goes up and over. you can get to see just the leading edge right there coming right down out of the gulf of alaska. that will start to push everything our way and that's really the source of our cold air.

but not today. today high pressure says i'm going to win out. so it will to give us a warmer monday. but it won't last long because that system coming in on wednesday and thursday is very dynamic and very cold. and our temperatures last week they went up. this week they will go down, down, down especially towards wednesday and thursday. today looks good. chilly. brisk there in the morning. it's a layers morning. by noon everything looks good. warmer on these highs. 60s by the coast around the bay and some low 70s. but then some mid-70s inland. san ramon, danville, all around 75, 76. san mateo to mountain view 72 to 74. morgan hill 76 to 77. mostly sunny tuesday and cooler weather on wednesday. much colder on thursday with more rain. more scattered showers probably. this is not a rain system. we'll get a little out of it. showers linger into friday but look at the lows. lows will take a plunge late friday into early saturday. the weekend will be sunny. well, sonoma county is considering whether or not to allow the construction of a

power plant powered by manure. the santa rosa press democrat reports the plant is being proposed for a 6.5-acre site off skyline boulevard in sonoma. it would use waste from local egg farms to generate methane gas. that gas could then provide power for up to 2100 homes. the sonoma county board of supervisors will consider the proposal at its april 19th meeting. contra costa county supervisors are considering changes to 26-year-old regulations for wind turbines. tomorrow the board will discuss changing the rules about the distance required between the turbines and the road. right now there's a proposal to replace hundreds of older turbines with ones that are more than four times as tall. now some supervisors worry that the bigger turbines could be a distraction to drivers. time now 6:12. some marin county residents are just ditching their cars. they're getting some fresh air and exercise instead. the department of transportation now says more people are walking and cycling

in that county. cycling during the period increased 29% between 2009 and 2010. and the number of walkers also increased during that same period. sausalito, san raphael and mill valley had the highest number of walkers and cyclists. >> very nice. well, people running for higher ground. new fears of a disaster similar to japan's in another part of the world. also just a couple hours ago president obama made it official. he is running for re-election in 2012. why some of his critics say his timing is off.

good morning to you. welcome back. time now 6:15. president obama officially launches his re-election campaign today. ktvu's allison burns live in our washington d.c. newsroom on why the president's critic says his timing is inappropriate. allison. >> reporter: dave, with the government shut down looming, this weekend the u.s. now engaged in a military operation in libya, president obama's critics say this is not the time for him to be launching a re-election bid. but that is just what he did this morning with this video. it's on barack obama.com. the president does not speak in the two minute video. the theme is it begins with us. it includes a montage of his supporters and the goal is

clearly to energize them. >> for not leaving it up to chance. we're not leaving it up to the incumbent type of thing. it's an election we have to win. >> reporter: president obama has no public events on his schedule today. he will officially file with the federal election commission. he's sending out tweets and fund raising e-mails. he hopes his first major fundraiser in chicago in less than two weeks. the campaign's goal is to raise $1 billion. we are now 20 months away from election day. reporting live from washington d.c., allison burns, ktvu channel 2 news. time now 6:17. well, today the obama administration launches a new effort to fight sexual violence in high schools and universities. vice president joe biden and education secretary duncan will announce a new push to educate schools and universities on their obligations to prevent sexual violence and also properly investigate claims of sexual assault. studies show that one in five women are victims of sexual

assault in college and more than one in ten in high school. time is running out, again, for congress to avoid a government shut down. congressional staffers worked over the weekend to try to hammer out a spending bill for the remainder of this fiscal year. the latest deadline is this friday. republicans are demanding $61 billion in cuts. so far democrats have agreed to about $33 billion. but analysts warn a shut down could cost more than any savings from spending cuts because of penalties for breaking contracts. a tsunami warning is now over in indonesia. that's after an earthquake shook the country. the magnitude 6.7 quake hit early this morning about 200 miles away from the country's main island. the quake sent thousands of people rushing for higher ground. but those people soon returned home after the tsunami threat passed. in yemen today six anti- government protesters were killed and more than 30

wounded. witnesses say thousands of protesters were marching towards the main square in southern city when soldiers on the street and on rooftops opened fire. the protesters are demanding the resignation of yemen's president who has been in power for 32 years. time now 6:18. customers of walgreens along with several other major companies now being effected by a breech of data that was first announced last friday. tivo, city group, td ameri trade and best buy are some of the countries whose information was stolen by hackers who broke into the marketing company. students for the board may also be effected. right now it's not clear how many people's e-mail addresses were stolen. all right. time to go back to sal to check in on traffic. how does it look? looks okay right now. all over the bay area we did get a couple of new things. first of all go outside and

take a look at what we have now with a look at highway 24 westbound. looks okay coming up to the pay gates there -- sorry, to the tunnel. no major problems there coming up through the oakland area. also the morning commute looks all right if you're driving at the bay bridge toll plaza. that traffic is moving along nicely. no major problems coming in to the city. i want to mention that if you're driving on the in the meantime freeway southbound and northbound 880 traffic is getting busier by the minute. and now there's a new crash westbound 92 at mariner's island boulevard which is just off the san mateo bridge. looks like they're sending paramedics out there to check on someone westbound 92. this is almost to highway 101. we'll let you know if this crash does effect people driving west just off the san mateo bridge. at 6:20 let's go to steve. sal, thank you, sir. shaping up to be a beautiful day. little chill in the morning air. a little bite. some upper 30s towards the

north bay. mid-40s elsewhere. high pressure will be our fair weather friend. it will help us out today by warming us up. after today we start a little cool down tomorrow and then a big cool down by the end of the week. some of these lows checking in in the 40s. i did see upper 30s especially towards st. helena and cool toga and may computer stopped. maybe it's in one of those 30s. i don't know what's going on. i don't know what's going on. so you'll just have to take my word. i'm going to send back to pam and dave because it will be sunny. today highs in the 70s for many. all right. thank you, steve. well, this morning another bankruptcy at your local mall. sobarro owes money to about 10,000 creditors. several extensions of the payments but the final grace period ended on friday. they have more than $486 million in debt with $471 million in assets. restaurant executives say sales slowed and costs especially for

cheese have risen in the last year. 55,000 pounds of frozen raw turkey burgers are being recalled after 12 people including some here in california became sick after eating them. the recall is effected jenny-o meat sold only at sams club stores. it's sold in four pound boxes with 12 individually wrapped burgers. anyone who has one of the boxes should return it to a sam's club store for a refund. all right. time now 6:22. wendell we have breaking news. this is just coming in. live picture look at that plane right there. we're watching this plane. this is a united airlines flight from new orleans. it was heading to san francisco, but it returned to new orleans airport just a couple of minutes after taking off. there was some light white smoke coming from the engine of this plane. now they say the plane was rocking back and forth in very

strong windy weather and never really gained much altitude. now this was flight 497. and they're telling us as soon as it was back on the ground the flight attendants started shouting leave everything, get out, get out. it was actually an associated press reporter on that flight. and said passengers -- the reporter said we're looking at people the door is open. it looks like some of the luggage is coming off right now. but that reporter that was on the flight said that passengers slid down the front and backslides. there's the front slide right there. reportedly there was no announcement over the overhead speakers. no interior lights or seat belt announcements were turned on. but, again, this was a flight that was going from new orleans to san francisco. it had a problem. there are reports of light smoke coming out of it shortly after taking off. it was rocking in strong winds. it returned to new orleans. you see it on the ground right there. and we're told the passengers

came off the flight down the chutes. we're looking at live pictures you see people standing in the doorways, they're removing some -- looked like some luggage. we don't know exactly what it is but you're seeing this as we see it. we'll bring you more details. again, this is in new orleans. it was headed towards san francisco. we'll get you more details on this breaking news story as it comes in. pretty scary. >> yeah. well, now red cross needs help. after being stretched thin by two natural disasters, the surprising group of people promising to rescue the red cross in santa cruz. also a month of madness comes to an end tonight for college basketball fans. northbound 101 san francisco looks pretty good approaching the downtown area. straight ahead we'll look at bay area bridges.

good morning. right now westbound bay bridge getting a bit of a back up here westbound. it's backed up to about the middle of that parking lot. and some of those lanes. but no problems on the bridge. it's a nice dry commute over into san francisco. now let's go back to the desk. businesses are hoping to bounce back following two natural disasters. warm weather did help bring out

a lot of people over the weekend, but restaurants and shops are still hurting. and they're not the only ones. last month's tsunami and the santa cruz harbor and recent flooding in capitol a drained the budget of the local red cross. one woman who was displaced by flooding says the agency has been a huge help. and it's time for people to return the favor. dozens are still staying at a hotel with help from the red cross. 6:28. madness is finally coming to an end. college basketball fans nationwide getting ready for tonight's men's ncaa championship game. big east conference champion uconn goes for its third national title. the huskies will face the butler bulldogs after butler ended the cinderella run of vcu. time now 6:28. we're going to bring you an update shortly on developing news. a plane bound for san francisco. that one right there. a live picture. it just made an emergency landing just a short time ago.

in oakland this morning new information about the fatal crash of a pilot from redwood city. what friends are saying about him and the plane he flew. and we're looking -- dunkin' donuts coffee -- want some? [ whoosh! ] i'd love some. one taste, and you'll understand. delicious dunkin' donuts coffee. pick some up where you buy groceries. america runs on dunkin'.

♪ atst fwa.ean ougog t bk. wi cseuidesi yr arho, u stnaa cte,hise a de. ougog t bk. wi cke sp rwd yr arho,

good morning. thank you for joining us here on the ktvu morning news. it's monday april 4th. i'm dave clark. good morning. i'm pam cook. time now is 6:30. we do have developing news that we're following for you. a san francisco bound flight this morning had to make an emergency landing in new orleans. we're looking at live pictures there. it's a united flight. it had to return to new orleans airport within minutes after taking off this morning. we understand that white smoke was reported from -- coming from one of the engines. now the plane was also rocking back and forth in windy

weather. never gained much altitude after it took off. an associated press reporter was actually on board that flight and says passengers had to slide down the front and backslides. right now again we're looking at live pictures. that plane still on the runway. we just saw a short timing a luggage being taken off the plane. so it sounds like everything's okay as far as the passengers are concerned. but we'll get an update as soon as we can. also this morning there's the important new information about a small plane crash near the oakland airport. ktvu's kraig debro is at the scene of that deadly crash in alameda. kraig, what can you tell us? >> reporter: good morning, pam. we've got some new information on the pilot of that plane. but later this morning we're anticipating the arrival of the ntsb. they're going to be trying to figure out how this plane which took off from the north field of the oakland airport over there, crash landed just a few yards away over here. you see it off in the distance you might be able to make out the white tail over there.

you can see it crashed into a jetty over there in alameda. >> it would be just like rich to keep his airplane away from people to protect them and to do his best to you know make sure that the other people were safe. >> reporter: the alameda county coroner identified the pilot who died in the crash as 73- year-old richard manuel of redwood city. friends say he was born in south africa but became an american citizen. those same friends say the plane manuel piloted is a manifestation for his feelings of this country. it's called an o17. used the plane during the korean conflict. he just had the plane painted with the usaf markings of the united states air force within the past year. >> it's easy to fly. it's easy to fly than riding a bicycle as a matter of fact. they make you look like a good

pilot these airplanes. >> reporter: the cause of the crash is under investigation. according to people who knew him they say richard manuel was an expert flier. in fact, he was president of his flying club nearby. we're trying to pin down where exactly that was. and even get the name. it's unclear if manuel had any relatives in this area. if he was marry and had had a family, we're still trying to get information on that. and when the ntsb gets here probably within the next hour or so we're going to have some questions for them as well. live in alameda, kraig debro, ktvu channel 2 news. well, passengers flying southwest could face more delays today. that's after more of its jets are checked for cracks. now we're going to go live to the city where all of this trouble began. that's coming up at 6:45. your time now 6:34. in redwood city overnight a frightening way to wake up this morning for a mother and her children. they escaped a fire that raced through their mobile home. ktvu's tara moriarty's in redwood city with the details on how they got out safely.

good morning, tara. >> reporter: good morning. the family just took off to stay with relatives this morning. and firefighters say they are lucky to be alive. take a look at what was once their home here in this mobile home park. completely gutted. the last crews pulled out of here about a half hour ago. now that the sun is coming up the fire marshal will begin his investigation. but it does appear this fire was accidental. now it broke out some time around 2:00 this morning here in the harbor village mobile home park off bay shore road. here's how it unfolded, the mom and five children were asleep. the mother woke up and crews aren't sure if she was having a bad dream or what but intuitively she just woke up. she didn't hear any alarms or anything. she started to look around and spotted flames. but she was unable to get to her children because the fire was so intense. so she started screaming. and that woke up her 17-year- old son. >> woke up little after 2:00 this morning, looked out the window and flames were shooting out the side of the house over here, got the girlfriend and

baby up. ran outside and the whole family had come out the back windows. they were screaming call 911. >> reporter: now the 17-year- old who was able to help the other children escape through the windows firefighters are calling him a hero. there were five children in the house total, four of them belonging to the mother. one was a friend. they ranged in age from 7 to 17. now firefighters estimate the damage here to be about $135,000. inspectors say it appear that is this fire actually started near the drier which is located on this side of the house toward the middle. you can see that the flames were so intense that they actually melted off part of the vinyl siding there on the mobile home next door. live in redwood city, tara moriarty, ktvu channel 2 news. the barry bonds perjury trial begins its third week this morning. prosecutors wrap up their case today as drug testing expert takes the witness stand again. the jury will also hear a transcript of part of bonds'

federal grand jury testimony from 2003 when he said he never knowingly used performance enhancing drugs. after the prosecution testimony ends, the defense will begin its case. time now 6:36. a $10,000 reward is being offer today catch the men who attacked a san francisco giants fan outside of dodgers stadium. 42-year-old bryan stowe, that's him in the middle, of santa cruz, was badly beaten thursday night. he remains in a medically induced coma in an l.a. hospital. a fund is now set up to help pay his medical bills. so far no one's been arrested in the attack. the los angeles police released these composite sketches of the two suspects. city officials from both los angeles and san francisco along with the dodgers and the giants released a statement condemning the attack. you see it on your screen. it reads in part "this attack is unconscionable behavior that will not be tolerated in either of our ballparks or in either of our cities."

they also say that once they're captured, the attackers will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. 6:37 is the time. let's go back to sal to check in on traffic. sal, how does it look? pam, it is getting a bit here and there out there. let me fix my collar. my goodness. all right. traffic getting a little busier out there. traffic on 880 north and southbound looks okay. southbound on the left getting a little busier driving to hayward which is not unusual as we get closer to 7:00. the morning commute is going to be okay at the bay bridge toll plaza. it has been steady for the last 20 minutes or so. just about there. it's about a five to seven minute delay getting into san francisco. and if you're driving on the peninsula westbound 92 mariner's island boulevard an accident off the san mateo bridge. not causing a big back up so far. so far highway 101 looks all right. 6:38. let's go to steve. sal, thank you, sir. mostly clear skies. it will be a lovely day. last week remember we had 60s and went to 80s by the end of

the week setting record highs. that will not be the case this week. this looks to be the sunny and warmest day of the week. tuesday might be about the same but cool down on wednesday. a cool morning. some upper 30s. yeah, i know. it's getting late in the season. but we have some this morning. sunny and warmer. mostly sunny tomorrow. mild to warm but by wednesday we start a cool down and much colder air, yes, colder air moves in with highs in the 50s by thursday. we'll drop about 20 degrees. and some rain returns but this is more of a colder system than a rainy system. and that will carry into friday as well. today though we do have some clear skies and upper 30s especially towards the north. i've seen around napa, north bay, 37 to 45. kenwood st. helena around 37 north napa 39 degrees. so there are some chilly readings for a few. and high pressure's built in. but we had that cool little air mass settle in on sunday. lose the breeze and that's allowed temperatures to drop off. they're in the 40s for many here on this panel. one 50. that's at san francisco. but 41 napa airport.

44 san raphael. 44 livermore. 44 redwood city. and 44 san raphael will give way to 60s later on today and a high of 72. but 44 little chill in the morning air. 64 by noon. then 72 for a high today. high pressure though is here today. and then about half of tomorrow -- get out of the way so you can see it. cold low will come in. it looks like it will travel over land more than water. so therein lies the colder air mass. not so much a rainy pattern. that won't be until the end of the week or thursday. today though sunshine, warmer weather takes over. maybe a northeast breeze which will help as well. after today temperature starts to go down and really goes down into wednesday and thursday. but today sunshine and warmer weather after a chilly morning. so layers out there. but by noon should be good to go with a lot of 60s. 60s on the coast, low 70s around the bay. mid-70s for inland areas. concord 75. go 76 san jose. redwood city 74. pleasanton 76. santa cruz 72 beautiful

degrees. mostly sunny on tuesday. cool down on wednesday. then a big cool down thursday with scattered light rain. nothing too heavy and then showery and cold. yes, cold on friday. the good news is the weekend will be sunny and warmer but it will be very brisk saturday morning. all right. today the federal government will launch a major new program to repair and replace old gas and oil pipelines. it comes in response to two recent catastrophes 3,000 miles apart. the u.s. transportation secretary will make the announcement in eastern pennsylvania where five people died in a pipeline explosion in february. that was five months after the pipeline disaster in san bruno that killed eight people and destroyed dozens of homes. our time now 6:41. as the u.s. debates giving weapons to libyan rebels, the information some members of congress say they want to know first. and more delays for southwest as planes are inspected for cracks. we're going to go live to the city where the trouble all began.

good morning. traffic is getting a little bit busier around the bay as we look at a live look at interstate 680 in walnut creek. tell you more about the morning commute.

good morning to you. welcome back. quick look at stories we're following for you right now at 6:44. president obama made it

official hours ago. he is running for re-election in 2012. the big announcement came in an e-mail and web video sent to his supporters. just within the hour there was this. a united airlines plane bound for san francisco after taking off from new orleans it was forced to turn around and go back to new orleans. some light white smoke was reported in the cockpit. the passengers on board evacuated on the emergency slides in the front and back. no injuries have been reported. and a month long campaign starts today to keep bay area drivers focused on the road. chp and other law enforcement agencies throughout the bay area they'll be on the look out for drivers talking and texting on their cell phones. safety inspections will continue today for southwest airlines' fleet of boeing 737 planes after one had to make an emergency landing in yuma, arizona, on friday. we're live in yuma this morning with more on the inspections.

what have you heard about the inspections? how are they going? >> reporter: well, pam, they're rolling right along. that plane you talk about that made the emergency landing that has created so much national attention right back here behind me in yuma where ntsb investigators have been hard at work all weekend working closely with southwest airlines' maintenance personnel. ntsb has a team in dallas, texas, by the way pouring over this plane's maintenance records. and investigators yesterday cut away and removed a large piece of the plane specifically around the ripped area. and they're sending that off to washington d.c. for analysis. investigators also tell us that they have found what is called pre-existing fatigue and cracking in this particular boeing 737 300 series airplane. but they say it would not have been visible to the naked eye which is perhaps why it missed visual inspections and was flying in the first place. they're not sure how long the cracks had been there, but fox

news has obtained some f.a.a. records that indicate back in march of 2010 multiple cracks were found on this particular airplane but were reportedly fixed by southwest airlines. of course, the goal here is to try and figure out what caused this plane to literally split open 18 minutes after it left phoenix bound for sacramento friday evening as it cruised along some 36,000 feet above the arizona desert, pam. >> this is pretty scary for anybody flying. and i know that they want to make sure it's all safe. but people are also concerned about delays. what is southwest now saying about how many flights will be cancel and had how long this could last? >> reporter: well, you know, almost immediately after this happened the discount carrier said it was grounding 79 of his boeing 737 300 series aircraft. they operate many different types of boeing 737s. and over the weekend, boy, it was a mess for the traveling

public. about 600 flights canceled nationwide as the inspections happened on those particular planes. today southwest airlines says that it's canceling about 100 flights as they have put about 19 of the planes that have passed inspection back into service. but quite frankly the discount carrier saying they don't know how long this is going to take before they're able to get fully back up and operating. but, of course, safety is key here. and you know you talk about how scary this was. we heard from a lot of passengers over the weekend who say that people lost consciousness when this plane opened up because they were at such a high altitude. it got extremely windy in the cabin. and they could see the clear blue sky and the sunshine through this five foot long hole and about a foot wide hole in the plane. you know it's just really difficult to wrap your mind around and just miraculous really that no one was

seriously hurt. only one major injury reported, a flight attendant reportedly fell and hit her head. but just incredible that this plane made it safely on the ground. and a lot of credit being given to the pilots. of course they train for things like this, pam. >> boy. that is incredible when you hear that. thank you so much casey there live in yuma, arizona, where those inspections continue. well, the u.s. has agreed to a nato request to continue air strikes in libya through the end of today. now the u.s. was scheduled to hand over that role to britain, france and other nato allies yesterday. meantime u.s. lawmakers say they want to know more about the rebels fighting against moammar gadafi's forces before providing them with weapons. there's concern that there could be members of al qaeda among the rebel forces. time now 6:49. new this morning the operators of that damaged japanese nuclear power plant plan to release more than 11,000 tons

of water contaminated with a low level of radiation into the pacific ocean. tokyo electric power says it has to release that water contaminated with the low levels of radiation just to free up storage space for water with much higher levels of radiation. the water to be released is about 100 times more radioactive than the legal limits. all right. 6:49 is the time right now. sal, what are you keeping an eye on? oh, sal, can't hear you. little microphone problem. he's checking the button. >> this is what i call a sal alert. you know he was watching this traffic out there. >> yes. >> there he is. >> all right. the battery fell out of my microphone here. there we go. put a new one in. northbound 280 traffic is moving well. i started to say and i missed it at the beginning that we are watching the corner of 51st and broadway in oakland. as we look at the sin ole grade

getting some late information that there could be a protest there near the freeway this morning. our news chopper 2 is on the way to see if that's going to effect traffic. also moving along at the bay bridge westbound bigger back up now than there was even just a few minutes ago. remember i showed this to you i guess the last traffic report was maybe eight minutes ago. and it was only backed up to the middle of the parking lot. now it's backed up beyond the 880 overcrossing and doesn't look that good. all of a sudden we have a lot of slow traffic. again, as i was mentioning, getting some developing news here that there could be a protest in oakland. intersections could be blocked. we're on it. we'll let you know. this is news chopper 2. thank you guys. brought it right up here. we don't see anything now. we will let you know if this develops. protest is supposed to start in a little while. news chopper 2 is going to it. let's go to steve. sal, thank you, sir. it's going to be a beautiful day. mostly sunny. it will be sunny. i mean a few high clouds.

start off with some 30s. 30s and upper 40s. end up with 60s and 70s. high pressure though is saying not today. everything stays to the north and temperatures will come up as a north wind kicks in. low 40s, mid-40s to near 50. that would be san francisco. there are a couple other 30s. st. helena and kenwood and north napa at 37, 38 and 39. that's pretty chilly for april. chilly any time of the year, steve, but it's really chilly for this time of year. north few high clouds but overall high pressure deflects everything out of our area. today the warmest day of the week. even tuesday will be all right. but then wednesday really drops and thursday much colder air moves in as highs will be only in the 50s. today a sunny monday. a chilly morning but it will be a little warmer today. temperatures 60s, 70s to upper 7 0z. 78 clear lake. 74 sonoma and 70 vallejo with petaluma 74. 77 there's your trifecta pittsburgh, antioch and

brentwood. 76 san jose and couper tino. 72 san mateo. 64 half-moon bay and palo alto at 75. tomorrow about the same. then much cooler wednesday and a big time cool down with possible rain. nothing too heavy. but it will make it on thursday into friday and then the weekend will be warmer but the lows will be very chilly friday and saturday morning. wow. hard to imagine the change. well, rebuilding trust between san jose police and the community. what's being done today to let people air their concerns. also katie couric may soon leave her network news anchor desk and follow the lead of oprah.

welcome back to the morning news. price of oil is up. hit $108 a barrel. despite that, markets are up just a bit. live look at the big board. dow jones up about 12 points. hundreds of community members along with city and faith leaders in san jose will meet tonight with the goal of rebuilding trust between police and people in the community. organizers say the meeting is a chance for people who feel like they're being targeted by police to express their concerns. san jose's assistant police chief and santa clara county's district attorney are expected to attend. it will be held at the first unitarian church of san jose on

third street. that's at 6:30 tonight. cbs evening news anchor katie couric is not commenting but there are reports from inside the company that she is leaving the anchor desk. the 54-year-old is the first woman to anchor an evening newscast by herself. cbs executive who asked not to be identified says she plans to stop anchoring and pursue a syndicated talk show. her contract expires in early june. >> a lot of buzz about it. yeah. >> time now 6:57. sal, you have the chopper busy right? we do. we're looking to oakland right now and looking at some of the freeways here. you can see highway 24 looks okay as you drive up to the 580 interchange. and 580 also looks fine in oakland. let's go to the bay bridge toll plaza within traffic is backed up for about a 15 to 20 minute delay. let's go to steve. sal, thank you. sunshine today. rather chilly this morning with 30s and 40s. end up with 60s by the coast. 70s around the bay. mid-70s. we have big changes towards the

end of the week. get to that on mornings on 2. back to pam and dave. thank you, steve. coming up next on mornings on 2, the discovery of more cracks leads to more delays for southwest passengers and inspections. we're looking live at an airplane -- united airlines flight actually this morning where there are some other problems. more on those stories coming up next. also speaking of planes, what we've now learned overnight about that deadly plane crash right near oakland airport. stay right here with us.