[ chanting ] >> whose streets! >> our streets! >> today's action is the latest development in the "occupy protests." that's our top story. good afternoon. i'm tori campbell. the general strike of oakland is underway at this noontime. thousands of people are gathering at frank ogawa plaza for rallies and marches today. these are live pictures right now from newschopper2. this, i believe, is the

intersection of 14th and broadway, which, as you can see, is completely blocked off to traffic with with hundreds of people -- traffic with hundreds of people milling around there with signs saying "death to capitalism." we have live team coverage and we begin with kraig debro at 14th and broadway, which is the central staging area for the strike. good afternoon, kraig. >> reporter: actually, we've been pushed down from there. this is frank ogawa plaza. there are police out here. they are not wearing anyune forms. so far none -- any uniforms. so far none of the bad things

have happened. [ chanting ] >> reporter: city workers are attending. >> so far, less than 5% of the city employees have taken advantage of their floating holidays or float r furlough days. >> reporter: strikers all have something in in common. the oakland association is just supporting the strike. >> we need to go back to the social services and get the money back to the people. >> our school was on the closure list but we got off because we had so many people fighting to keep our school open but we could have been closed and that was related to not having enough money for the school industry. >> reporter: a family doctor we talked to said lobbyists killed any chance of a healthcare system at cheaper rates.

>> how the lobbying has been strong by those individuals is why we all suffer. >> i think they are afraid to do this but i think the 1% is afraid of us to unite. but this is the beginning and i think it's not gonna end. is happening all over the world. it's a beautiful thing. >> reporter: the came nurses' association is also supporting the strike and is encouraging its members to join its noon rally at both stages, a labor rally scheduled for 5:00 p.m. you can probably see not only at 14th and broadway, but the gathering directly in front of frank ogawa plaza. we'll have reporters all over this. so tune into the news at 5:00. reporting live from oakland,

kraig debro, ktvu channel 2 news. the traffic and buses are being diverted in the downtown area because of the march and protest there. the main protest there as we saw in kraig's report is frank ogawa plaza. that's normally a busy bus transfer location, and ac transit buses are being rerouted. police say they are -- they will not bother the protesters as long as the demonstration remains peaceful. >> the oakland police department is prepared to respond to protect life and property. the oakland police department will continue to place the highest value on policing in a manner that is both constitutional and ethical. >> the police -- the oakland police department has been under intense scrutiny for the tactics it employed during a demonstration a week ago. during that protest, police fired tear gas, bean bag round and other nonlethal projectiles. b.a.r.t. is also increasing security due

to the general strike in oakland. there are extra officers at b.a.r.t. stations and more police are riding b.a.r.t. trains. the group "no justice, no peace" has cancelled plans to occupy b.a.r.t. today. the protesters taking part in the general strike in hold are blocking some banks -- in oakland are blocking some banks in the downtown area. tara moriarty is live to explain what's happening at a bank protested by targetters in the last hour. >> reporter: that's right. protesters said they would be targeting banks and one of them is the wells fargo, off 12th and broadway, wherein they were about an hour ago and they've since moved on down the street where kraig is now. they have a march planned and then another at 2:00 in front of banks they say are part of the 1%.

[ chanting ] >> their goal is to shut down the city of oakland. parents, teachers, and students let the banks hear their voices loud and clear. >> reare the 99! >> reporter: extra -- we are the 99! >> extra security was visible in front of the banks we saw. >> you can disregard our humanity but there's something that we have that you care about and that's buying power. >> reporter: and that's exactly what businesses that are small in downtown oakland are afraid. many didn't open their doors. >> i didn't open the door today. >> reporter: recently this man says his business has taken a 60% hit. >> one day is a small -- is a small drop in the bucket compared to what this government and what our economic system has brought. >> reporter: while pollard sympathizes with the movement, he says he is the 99%.

>> i can't do this -- do this. it's not just one day. this has been going on for two weeks, three weeks. >> reporter: now, streets around pollard's store have been shut down. many of them, he said, those those other bizs wouldn't come anyway. protesters are quick to find out that many businesses have strike protesters in their windows and many have brought down food as they continue their strike. live in oakland, i'm tara moriarty. the protesters are expected to make their way to the portland of oakland. the strike comes as the port is dealing with other issues. some dock workers are refusing to unload certain ships due to the fact that certain refrigerators from vietnam could explode. combustion has already killed three workers at other ports.

there was an long line of strucks -- durings lying to unload -- trucks trying to unload goods today. they fear the strike could be more stressful. >> it will affect us. >> you guys come every day? >> every day. >> and then they -- >> everybody shut down. nobody is moving. >> the truckers say any loss of work is hard for them at this time of year. they will lose more days of work with thanksgiving, christmas and new year's approaching. is some teachers are using the strike as a lesson plan for students -- students. >> it's a kindergarten through 8th grade school through the oakland unified school district. some people are scrapping the usual lesson plan and replacing it about a lesson on strikes -- it with a lesson on strikes. >> we felt like we wanted to be

here. any day that a student misses is a day they are not getting their quality education. also, we feel like this is the best place and opportunity for them to get a comprehensive understanding of what's going on. >> classrooms lessons focus on the similarities and differences -- differences between today's strike and the 1946 oakland strike. >> stay with us. we'll come back to the general strike shortly. you can always find updates on ktvu.com and mobile ktvu.com. still ahead, two bay area men were among those who received a long, overduhonner today. our camera was there that happened in washington, d.c. mark tamayo says the bay area is headed for a cooldown. he has of specifics -- just ahead. >> reporter: we're in napa county where crews are all -- where -- where crews will be here all day puts out hot spots.

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doctors are watching the two girls, the twinses who were separated -- twins who were separated yesterday. this is the first day apart for these san jose twins. they were joined at at abdomen. if all goes well in their recovery, the girls will home in less than two weeks.

firefighters are dousing glowing embers and spot fires in napa county following an overnight wildfire that destroyed one home. crews hope to have all of those hot spots out by the evening. as noelle walker reports, those in the path of the fire, they were taught an important lesson of life. >> reporter: you get to know what's important when you look into what goes into a hastily- packed suvs. >> passports, baby pictures, that's what we felt we couldn't live without. >> reporter: she didn't wait firefighter fire evacuation -- she didn't wait for fire evacuation orders. she slept in her car last night. >> we are good. we're grateful. firefighters, we're so amazessed. >> reporter: crews will be working all day to put out hot spots and make sure nothing spots a repeat of last night. 90 acres burned as firefighters

fought humidity. the fire destroyed everything that made this house a home. a few hot spots that continue to glow are like insult to injury. there's nothing left to burn here. >> this fire spread very, very rapidly. >> reporter: all that's left of this home is the foundation and the chimney. this fire burned so hot and so fast. firefighters had to make some really tough decisions. >> reporter: unfortunately the home that was lost was fully involved by the time it was discovered. there was obviously no chance for us -- for to us save it. so we had to focus our resmoreses on -- resources on those that we could save. >> reporter: and many firefighters are volunteers. >> a lot of them just left their job to come here. it's a great sacrifice for them to do that. we rely on them heavily. >> reporter: they are part of the reason that pam has a bead rather than a car seat to sleep in tonight -- bed rather than a car seat to sleep in tonight.

noelle walker, ktvu channel 2 news. a tree limb fell on fires on 27th and logan just after 10:00 last night. firefighters had to monitor the situation until pg&e crews arrived. some 2,000 people in oakland lost power overnight. but service has been restored. >> strong winds are also blamed for bringing down trees in san leandro. alameda county worked clean up the limbs that fell. there are no reports of any injuries. wikileaks found founder, julian assange lost his appeal to avid extradition. a -- avoid extradition. a judge in london roomed earlier that he will have to return to sweden to return to -- ruled earlier that he will have to return to sweden. he told reporters he's not been charged with any crime and

insists the case is politically motivatessed. if he goes back to -- motivated. if he goes back to sweden, he could be handed back to the united states to face prosecution. later today, president obama travels to southern france for the g.-20 summit. protesters are already gathering near the site of the summit. they will hold two days of meetings in cap tomorrow and friday -- in canne, tomorrow and friday. a row volt could scuttle plans for -- a revolt could sutt -- scuttle plans for a referendum regarding the greece government. the nisay veterans were honored today. 330 of the surviving japanese

american servicemen were awarded the congressional gold medal. all of them served in special segregated army units including combat and intelligence groups. among those honored among those honored today were lasan kai and frank yamamoto and ashana yamamoto. more sunshine, warm temperatures. here's the live camera looking out towards the san francisco bay. a beautiful wednesday. enjoy it today. we have big changes in store. right now on the maps as you can see, mostly clear skies with clear skies offshore but out to the northwest and west we're tracking some developments out in pacific. for today, major cooling. showers will return. this weekend a cool pattern will stick around we have to also bring in more shower chances especially for one part

of the weekend. here we go with the current numbers and warmest locations already up back in the 70s. oakland right now checking in at 70. and the upper of os -- and in the -- just a few high clouds moving into northern california. thankfully the winds have backed off quite a bit. the red flag warning has been allowed to expire. here's the weather system i'm tracking out to the north and weather -- north and west. you can see the cold air signature and you will see the cold air for tomorrow and you may be dodging a few raindrops as well. as far as our forecast. it's dry. look what happens. we'll take this into thursday morning at 8:00 and there is the chance of a light shower or a sprinkle but the main impact some cloud cover and then look what happens we begin to increase the shower chances somewhat, especially up in the north bay and a better bet for the rest of the bay area as we head into mid -- as we head

into the mid to late afternoon. maybe a few lingering showers into your friday morning. as far as temperatures. it's a warm one. santa rosa, 74. san francisco, lower 70s. san jose tops out right around 75. san mateo at 74. here is a look ahead. your extended forecast with your weekend always in view and some big changes with more cloud cover. the chance for more showers. look at friday. the warmest locations only in the upper 50s. not even making it to 60 degrees. that cool weather pattern will stick around as we gradually thicken you the cloud cover for saturday and there's that chance noria few showers. could be develop -- for a few showers. could be developing for saturday evening and maybe some showers sticking into saturday. this is the weekend we change the clocks and we fall back. >> fall back one hour. >> that's the good news. we get to gain an exdra hour of sleeve -- extra hour of sleep. a red tail hawk is flying

free this afternoon after it was treated for a nail in its head. the hawk was released about an hour ago in golden gate park. it was captured last month. the bird spent ten days recovering after being spot in the head with a nail gun. a $10,000 reward is being offered leading to the conviction of the person who harmed the hawk. the mayor of san jose wants pot clubs to pay for the election. chuck reed is asking the city council to increase the tax on marijuana dispensaries from 7% it 10%. the money could pay for new measures. the rememberer endumb would -- referendum would cost a million dollars. we want to go back to kraig debro and our top story. kraig? >> reporter: i'm here in front of frank ogawa plaza.

i'm getting there's at least 500 people. we shot this video within the past ten minutes or so. new time is one of the -- noontime is one of the two times you have a lot of rallies and speeches scheduled. one in front front of the plaza and we -- front of the plaza and we understand that robert rice, from the clinton administration, is probably on stage now or is about to be on stage at 14th and broadway. as far as the police are concerned, we didn't en -- we have not seen one. i've been out here since 4:30 this morning. the opa came out. no police in sight. no problems all morning. it's been a peaceful gathering, thus far. but we have a ways to go. at 5:00 p.m. there's another round of teachs -- speeches and we should start to see a lot more movement in

terms of rallies. that's the story if here -- from here. we'll have full coverage at 5:00. kraig debro, ktvu channel 2 news. thanks for the update, kraig. still ahead -- we will tell you what the head of the fed said today that caused a lot of reaction on wall street. and actress lindsay lohan just learned if she will go back to jail. dancer? no, i'm a quarterback. oh, a quarterback. mrr. i'm a robot. mm, mm. ee, er, ee, er. get out of here. [ male announcer ] aaron rodgers got his. how about you? rodgers! discount double check! [ male announcer ] get to a better state. state farm.

we want to take you live to a press conference with mayor jean quan. >> since there are a lot of people visiting in downtown today, we hope that they will help hout the local merchants and -- out the local her chances and stores -- local merchants and stores. most of the stores seem to be open and we hope that people will help them out. >> as i reported this morning it appears that city services were only impacted on a limited basis. we have about 200 people participating in today's general strike. so we are open for business, our parks our libraries and our business offices are open as well as the downtown appears to be open and providing business services. we do encourage people to shop oakland and enjoy the many businesses downtown. thank you. >> good afternoon. so nar we've estimated -- so far we've estimated the crowds

to be 1,000 people. everything appears to be peaceful. we anticipate that will that will -- that will cone. there are no arrests. i do -- that are -- that will continue. there are no arrests. however, i do have concerns about one crowd looking for a confrontation with the police. we ask the rest of the people to try to continue to report this to us so we can prevent this from turning into a hostile crud situation. >> yes. i'm from the pert of oakland. on -- port of oakland. on behalf of the port of oakland, everyone's safety is the most important thing. all of those who may participate in the marches today, all employees and at this point, the port is open. jack london square, all of the tenants at jack london square as well as our marine terminals and those at the airport. the port is open today. we'll provide further updates

to the extent that state tis changes throughout the -- status changes throughout the day. >> want to say anything? >> no. >> we do have larry reed here, councilman, supporting -- >> we appreciate that. we do continue to have traffic blockages in and around 14th and broadway. we anticipate that those blockages will occur periodically throughout the day, different kinds of traffic disruptions that we can anticipate. ac transit is rerouting around 12th -- 20th and broadway. those buses are being rerouted around martin luther king boulevard. we do advise people to check 511 because we know the traffic and transportation conditions could change rapidly. with that i'll take some q and a and our next briefing will be at 4:00 this morning. so a couple of questions and we'll get back upstairs. if you could state your name.

go ahead. >> i have two questions. you said there were some troublemakers that you were concerned about. [ inaudible ] >> thank you, bobby. we've not put any label on them. we've not identified what group they are with. we just know there are some people in the crowd that are looking to force a confrontation with the police at this time. >> go ahead. >> go ahead. >> mayor, with the march -- [ inaudible ] >> we're gonna continue to meet with them. we started to meet with them. we're gonna continue to do that. today we want to make sure that things are safe. today we've made a lot of arrangements for transportation

groups to make sure people can still get to downtown. we expected that to -- that would be the intersection. we've been planning for several days a.c. transit and b.a.r.t. how to get people downtown. we continue to do so. staff, they have my personal cell phone and we're in constant contact with them and to let them know what was gonna happen. i was talking to chinatown chamber which is also close by. so far they've been happy, at least that the city is trying to keep in contact with them. so i've been talking to them constantly. >> chief, can you talk about what the police presence will be like? are you gonna send more officers out there? >> as far as our police presence, yes, you are correct. it is minimal. we are facilitating their right to assemble,