>> breaking news that we're following right now. the strike signs they are ready and tonight it appears a b.a.r.t. walk out is inevitable. >> in less than an hour from now at midnight b.a.r.t. workers will see their current contract expire and they are poised to hit the picket lines. ktvu's deborah villalon has moved from where the negotiations broke off and now she joins us from the b.a.r.t. workers union hall in oakland with the latest, deborah. >> reporter: that's right there was nothing going on at the talks as we've been reporting. they ended about two hours ago so we came to see what the

union members are doing now and what their plans are. we're with josie munoz, tell me who you represent. >> we represent technical workers and clerical workers as well as utility workers etc. >> reporter: that's pretty much everybody by the station agents and train operators. your have broken talks as the unions wake out. >> that's completely untrue. we were told by management that they would have no new proposals for us on our new two central issues. one is the safety of the riders and of the workers. also an economic proposal that puts workers no further ahead in four years from now than they are currently today. >> reporter: you took a strike vote a week ago, almost a week ago. and it seems nothing has been

accomplished in the negotiations since that time. >> i would not say nothing has been accomplished. but b.a.r.t. has failed to approve workers concerns with safety. also, because these workers have had no wage increase in the last four years, and made $100 million of concessions in the last four years, we can't accept a contract that would, for four more years not give us any wage increase at all. we're concerned our families and we're concerned about the public and we will not settle a contract that does not address our safety concerns. >> reporter: and the last offer was a 2%? >> that's also not true. they've offered no guarantee wage increase for the workers at all. there is no proposal on the

table that guarantees workers any kind of economic package. >> we're an hour away from a strike deadline. will the strike happen? >> we're still here waiting to see whether or not b.a.r.t. management will send over a different proposal on safety which we could then review. maybe a strike could be averted: i don't think so at this late hour. the fact is we received no new proposals from them in the last 24 hours, and the proposal that we got from them last night took 36 hours of our waiting around to get. so they've been stalling the talks. we believe that they intended a strike all along. and we regret this deeply. because we know of the inconvenience that this will impact both our members and their families and the riding public. >> so picket lines go up? >> picket lines will go up if there's no new proposal that we received by midnight. once the b.a.r.t. trains are put to bed. >> that's about 1:30 this

morning right. >> might be 2:00. yes, but it'll be sometime early morning this evening and then the picket lines will go up then. >> the trains have 100,000 more people riding each weekday then they did during the last strike in 1997. this is going to be gridlocked beyond what we can probably imagine. >> well, we deeply regret that b.a.r.t. management has failed to negotiate fairly with us and provide the opportunity to come to a resolution. >> they're not going to come to this union hall with an offer. so is it going to be a phone call, e-mail, text that's going to bring you back to that building or do you think it really is a little too late. >> we've advised both management and mediators we would be here to take any negotiations they would offer us. >> after midnight you will not look at a proposal. >> well we've advised them so they can make alternative

plans tomorrow. for our members and their families they need to know not to come to work. i believe that management is forcing the union to go out on strike. >> reporter: the last strike was six days how long do you think this one might go? >> there's no way of telling but the -- the union would love to go to work sometime tomorrow. >> reporter: we shall see. we're here at the hall and they do plan an announcement at midnight. at that point we should know for sure. but all signs indicate there will be a strike tomorrow, certainly not the news we wanted to hear. thank you very much debra. it looks like there will be a strike. read between the lines there's no reading between the lines she pretty much said it. >> she did. in fact, she said union leaders saying they don't think a strike is unavoidable tonight. >> all right. well, make plans it's going to be a rough morning commute.

we'll be on the air early for that at 4:00 a.m. we'll be back at 11:30 in about a half an hour for another update a -- as we get closer and closer to the time of that strike. >> you can get mobile ktvu updates so be sure to stay with ktvu and ktvu.com for the latest on the looming b.a.r.t. strike. >> let me go and enjoy my day in peace and i appreciate your patience, thank you. >> reporter: that is all that the reporter had to say. her husband remains on death row where there are no conjugal visits. she wore traditional white. he pressed prison denim. it was a brief ceremony with a short kiss and a lot of hand holding. psychologists say that many

women are attracted to prison men for attention. and for him? >> she says she's a virgin. that's what ramirez says that he's attracted to. >> at the time of richard ramirez death, his wife doreen hand visited him in five years. >> four condemned inmates talk about what it's like to live with a death sentence over them. you kids should count yourselves lucky.

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rethink possible. welcome back to a second look. tonight the inmates at death row in san quentin.

since the state has reinstated the death penalty, more inmates have died of illness. >> reporter: there was no protest, in this case it was not lethal injection more like old age, natural causes that killed drax quatermaine. 25 years ago quatermaine used cocaine to lure a man they wanted killed. >> he was a hit man. he had done some hits, he said for $55,000 he would solve their problem with their partner. >> reporter: it was here on a bluff overlooking the pacific ocean where drax quatermaine earned his faith pumping four bullets into the man that

either fell or was pushed into the bay. a jogger found his body four hours later. the conviction was later turned out but martin murray sent him back to death row where he died before dawn today. >> closure is good. whether he dies in the gas chamber or by lethal injection or natural causes. he's a man that should have never been out on the street again. >> of the five death row inmates to die today only one donald beardsley was executed. last year the first condemned woman to die here carolyn john subbcome to kidney failure. statistics show that inmate. >> mark: die before they ever enter the gas chamber. >> a scandal that victims wait so long for justice in these

cases that it takes 20 to 25 years for a family who's looking for closure to actually see it. >> when the state is taking someone's life we're going to demand more assurance because we cannot make a mistake. one inmate who died of natural causes spent less than one year in prison. the sausage king died. jaramillo was there when he was set to die. and john sasaki has our report from the day alexander died in prison 10 months later. >> at the time and on a day to be fixed by order of this court and it plays within the state

prison system at which time and place you shall be put to death the defendant stewart alexander. >> in october, jurors convicted alexander of three counts of murder for killing the inspectors to invest allegations of food safety allegations. this is surveillance video that alexander himself turned on at the plant showing the shootings. killed were gene hillary, tom quatros of hayward and bill shalin of san leandro. today family members packed the courtroom, several of them asked the judge to give alexander the maximum time. >> my mom is gone and she is not coming back. no more phone calls, no more visits, he deserves nothing less than death. it is time for mr. alexander to take responsibility for hisas. to be accountable for what he

chose to do. >> i wanted him to go through the who process and take responsibility and face up to his actions. in one way yes and in one way this is fine too. like jason said, he's gone. he can't do any more harm. and that's mainly what we want. >> barbara warner is days from having her second child with husband jason. >> i think it closes one chapter for sure. but every day we deal with the fact that james is not sheer. our daughter and soon to be new baby boy on the way will never get to see her granddaughter. >> reporter: the 44-year-old alexander who had been having problems with meat inspectors critical of his methods snapped. the crimes were caught on a surveillance system that he had just turned on just before

opening fire. the killings stunned this quiet community. cabral were long time friends of alexander and his family. >> i feel sorry for him and his family. i also feel sorry for the family that he did that to them. so in other words, all of us suffer from something that probably could have been avoided. >> alexander was found unconscious in his cell early this morning and that he had gone on suicide watch christmas eve because of recurring mental health issues. >> the author immediately summoned medical assistance and alexander was quickly removed from the cell and taken to a near by treatment center. on grounds of san quentin where all efforts to revive him failed. when we come back on a second look, they are waiting to die. four condemned men talk about what it's like to live under a sentence of death. and a bit later, how a former marine ended up on california's

death row and his plea to be spared execution. ♪

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in california today there are 734 inmates condemned to die. 714 of them armen, 20 are women. most have been on death row for years while their cases go through automatic appeals. in some cases they've been there for decades. back in 1992, just after the execution of robert alton harris i talked to four of them about what it's like living on death row. >> i don't want to be killed. nobody wants to be killed. >> personally if i had my choice i would probably pick a firing squad. >> i told jury if you think i'm guilty i will take the death penalty. >> is it more of a general fear for people on death row? i think yeah. >> reporter: all of the executions in california have been here in the gas chamber. every day they can see the exhaust pipe from the gas chamber. they also know that right next

to the prison is boot hill where many of those executed were buried with only the simplest of gravestones. >> do you think it'll ever come to you being put to death. >> i hope not but if it does there's nothing i can do to stop it. >> we all are born, we're all going to die. you know what i mean, it's just a fact that what way you die you have fear of. but eventually you die. >> what goes through your mind when you think about hey, i could be executed right here and i know exactly where it'll be. >> i always say to myself, well i could have died on the streets just as easily. especially nowadays, i could have gotten aids, i could have gotten cancer. anything. >> reporter: the harris execution however prove that is the state is now prepared to actually carry out death sentences to matter how long it takes. most inmates though seem to have taken harris' death pretty much in stride. >> he was getting ready to eat breakfast. and i got the news.

one of the first things i did was called over to sam dell who had gone to sleep. and i woke him up to let him know because he asked me to. >> that's it? >> that's about it. then we went on pretty much with our daily routine. >> i just went to sleep, man. and didn't think. because it's like this, alton harris is gone. you know what i mean, and we can't bring him back. >> reporter: it'll likely be some time before another inmate is executed in san quentin. but some of the condemned say if and when their time comes, they would like to decide how they're put to death. >> i would prefer that each person has their choice of naming their own form of execution whatever that may be and having those final wishes respected because there's nothing more personal than your own death. >> the four men you saw on that story from 21 years ago are all

still alive and all still on death row. and this is what they look like today. herbert cottington, and ben shalom. a plea from clemency from a former marine condemned to die. what do you think of this one? ♪ ♪ really? ♪ ♪ what's this? this is a rose i made from a turnip. let's try together.

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we continue our second look tonight with the inmates on california's death row. since the reinstatement of the death penalty, four times as many of those inmates have died from natural causes as have been executed. an among the 13 who have been put to death at san quentin is manuel babbot. his execution came 19 years for the crime he was condemned. >> reporter: manuel pena babbott is spending what could be the last days of his life.

his attorneys arranged a select group of reporters, including ktvu to visit babbott. when we met babbott. he looked much like he did in this plea to the judge. so what does he plan to do knowing he's scheduled to die may four the day after his 50th birthday? he told us quote i'm going to do the same thing in the next 10 days that i do every day. nothing different. when the time comes, i'm not going to scratch the floor begging not to go to the death chamber just strap me in and leave. >> reporter: one of the first questions i asked manuel babbott why he's speaking out now. he tells me he doesn't care whether he lives or dies he says he's doing this to help

his attorneys who has stuck by him through all of this and help his family who he doesn't want to see suffer. to me babbott seemed agitated during much of our interview and offensive. he was ordered to death for the rape of lea shindale. his attorneys say he was suffering from vietnam war stress and ptsd. >> is it possible that he may have beaten shindale and had no memory after he did so. >> yes, it's possible. >> reporter: dr. marmar a veterinary psychiatrist and disorder commented on. stress

>> it's very likely that mr. babbott was in his mind in another place. the context of being in the apartment of an elderly woman who is a civilian may not have well been understood by him that the time. >> reporter: babbott tells us he learned how to read and write during his time behind bars. he is very well spoken now. he says the years in prison have been the most peaceful in his entire life. his family says the last 18 years have been the most horrible of their lives. and they need to see babbott put to death. >> i have been here for my grandmother all my life. if she can't be there, i'm

going to be there. >> ktvu spoke to babbott's brother who watched the execution. >> reporter: a few hours earlier, he watched in quiet agony as his younger brother manny was executed at san quentin. >> i'm hurting. i'm hurting this morning. >> reporter: babbott spoke to his brother in prison for the final time two days ago. they posed for this snapshot together. babbott says it was the last photo of manny taken. >> my words to manny was billy don't beg. don't beg. so my job was, as i sat and watched my brother jerk and twist from the effects of the, of his medicine, i -- i wanted

to hold my head up. to take the high road. >> it was bill babbott who turned his brother in. he says the authorities told him that they would help his brother. surprisingly, bill opposes the death penalty. >> he did not notice my pain. because of political expediency and i feel terrible because of that. >> reporter: laura thompson issued a statement on behalf of her family today. it says we know nothing will bring shia schendel back to us. today is not a joyous occasion, it's not a reason to celebrate. it's the unpleasant but necessary conclusion to a horrible crime that should never and for this

week's second look. i'm frank somerville, we'll see you again next week.

>> we are following breaking news right now. b.a.r.t. employees are set to walk off the job for the first time in 16 years. less than 30 minutes ago, a union leader told our deborah villalon she does not think a strike is avoidable. >> the count down continues as you can see to midnight that is when the current b.a.r.t. workers contract expires. deborah villalon is in oakland. she's been following this all day long. for the last two days and no one is at the bargaining table, right deborah. r