>> the idea was so new with high-speed rail.perts were either in california or held federal offices. it was frustrating for him to get interviews. after a while, we could easily get them. >> each of you to stay -- did stand-up. did you do just one take? >> we did a lot. always the liked was wrong or someone was in the background. we did a lot of standoffs and picked the right one. ups and picks the right one. >> you used a lot of statistics. what statistic impress you the most? used -- we used a lot of money for -- >> you had an interesting experience getting down to washington. tell us about that. >> they did not have enough flights. air traffic controllers. >> because of sequestration. >> so we ended up taking high- speed rail. it took four and a half or five hours. the argument made in the video is that if people had access, they would take it more often. you can get from connected to washington in 45 minutes on the train. was it worth it? >> yes. if you take into account that this tax and security at the airport -- accounted

the high-speed rail line was part of the futuristic package. the local government offered a very generous incentives to move in. >> of the first one was support, the time for moving. the second was the assistance of a technical university. the connections to that effect. >> what about this bill being -- >> [indiscernible] this is not that far off what they had and spain before high- speed rail, so the savings and a journey times were huge. far higher in the u.k. that is already well connected. that is why labor government said such a scheme was not worth the cost. economists say they are lucky to get to firms in london. finding in a clear evidence that that is what would happen is difficult. spending like this, $34 billion did not create some jobs in places like manchester, but if rebalancing the geography is the objective, with the money be better spent? openedthe great gatsby the film festival. the film and an amazing $51.1 million the first weekend, but revenues have been lukewarm. behind gatsby. >> she just wants to run away. she wants to l

captured plenty of pat trio tichl, pastoral views, high-speed rail is viewed as a boondoggle.hat was before tutor perini, a group that ranks dead last but had the lowest bid. >> it made a lot of sense to choose the contractor that we did. we're saving the taxpayers a lot of money. the first leg was going to be about $1.5 billion and the contractor came in and said that they could build it for 9.8 million. >> awarding the contract was mostly about cost efficiency but also about skill, says high-speed rail authority richard. he noted any of the final five candidates were qualitied. >> we had five international bid teams. they had to go through two technical levels before they could make a bid on the money side. so nobody was in this process who isn't highly qualified to build this. >> but whether you think the selection was the right choice or not, one fact is indisputable. the rail authority changed its criteria forbidde bidders midwa through the selection process. >> it has not been transparent. that's been a concern. that's been a concern not only on behalf of frustrated taxp

must find a way to catch up to the rest of the world's high speed rail program. ron deradon says california in particular needs new clean mass transit systems, including high speed rail to keep up with the growing population. he says the u.s. will find it difficult to compete with japan, germany, taiwan and other countries that already have bullet trains. he's chair of the u.s. high speed rail association board. >>> george gascon is working to reduce the theft of stolen metal but instead of going after the thieves, the city has filed a $10 million lawsuit against a scrap metal recycler. prosecutors say j and s recycling directed employees to destroy computers and filing cabinets full of records after learning about a subpoena. its warehouse on third street was vacated in a hurry back in march and a large metal container is gone. >>> in alameda, a u.s. coast guard cutter was turned over to the bangladesh navy in a solemn ceremony with salutes and i signatures, the cutter jarvis was demissioned to make room for new cutters. the 378-foot ship was renamed. coast guar

.$5 billion and spend senator 50 million not on bridges but high-speed rail? what is going on?it is a misallocation of resources and u will see a lot of talk in the weeks to come withphotographs of the sunken bridge and people in washington saying we're not spending enough money on it transportati i guarantee that is happening. you point* out a good example wre aot of the money is wasted. we know high-speed rail will not cover very many writers most projections show it will force huge operating subsidies and it should have went to repairing the ridge so it would not collapse. dennis: almost 30 percent of the brids are in bad shape does it turn out when politicians received from washington they spend it on a shy new projects than the boring stuff of fixing a decrepit bridge? >> craig point. there is nothing that i have discoved the politicians love more than the ribbon cutting ceremony for as a new raillproject or a statue or of building so you nail that there is not a lotf? appeal to fill the potholes and repairing the th bridges but there is to the high-speed rail projects and

the high-speed rail authority hopes to begin work this summer on the high-speed rail line using federal money. >>> today artemis racing held a private ceremony in honor of their teammate who lost his life. he was killed when the catamaran capsized. representatives from all four teams entered into the america's cup throw a brief into the water. the team wrote on their website bart, may you rest in peace. the italian team could decide tomorrow whether they will remain in the competition. this is a photo last month. tomorrow the owner of the team plans to come to san francisco to decide whether they are going to stay in the america's cup later this summer. >>> the warriors will need all 19,500 of their fans to cheer tonight. the one word they don't want to hear starts with the letter "e." we will have a live report. >>> a neighborhood on edge, the brazen crime that has parents concerned. >>> complete bay area news coverage starts right now, this is ktvu channel 2 news at 5:00 p.m. >>> terrifying is what people are saying about what happened to a woman who was pushing her baby in a stroller

the july groundbreaking for california's $69 billion high- speed rail project may not happen. a trial begins in sacramento today that could throw out a $10 billion voter-approved bond. opponents say since voters approved the bond in 2008, costs have now doubled for the project. yanking the bond won't kill the project. the high-speed rail authority will have to come up with the money in another way. >>> time now 6:10. president obama teams up with college students. how he is hoping to ease the pain of student loans. >> and a plane crashes into apartments, landing into family's living room. what happened in the moments before the plane went down. >> and poisonous letters sent to the president and new york's mayor. what we're learning about the man police are now questioning. you kids should count yourselves lucky. we didn't have u-verse back in my day. you couldn't just... guys... there you are. you know you couldn't just pause a show in one room, then... where was i... you couldn't pause a show in one room then start playing it in another. and...i'm talking to myself... [ male

connell: high speed rail, which i was on in china.oke. >> it's like you float lo the air. >> enbelieveble. you have the business brief, and what's coming pup up? >> mortgage rates at record lows, and apple dodging a massive tax bill, and alcoa's investment in tennessee. connell: welcome aboard. >> thank you, thank you. connell: we'll have after your brief, the travel reports, and a wait at the airport, a way to enjoy that and get something done before your flight so if that sounds like a story for jeff flock, and he'll have it from the airport, and new york city, still, the most popular tourist attraction in the world. more with that, and more on the business of travel coming up on fox business. ♪ ♪ ng thing is how like us these chimpanzees are. [ laughing ] [ woman ] can you hear me? and you hear your voice? oh, it's exciting! [ man ] touchdown confirmed. we're safe on mars. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ hi. [ baby fussing ] ♪ [ male announcer ] from the way the bristles move to the way they clean, once you try an oral-b deep sweep power

former state senator and early architect of high speed rail has filed suit over the priority establishedy the rail agency and the federal government saying the 130 mile central valley corridor ain't going to serve anyone. combined you put these things together and it is a lot of opposition. >> let's talk about the person who wants it, governor jerry brown. he was in china riding their bullet train. he is very high on this. how is this going to turn out? >> the jury is out on jerry brown's influence on this and so many other things. he is taking flack on prison realignment which critics say is shifting many costs to counties. his k-12 education funding report proposal is catching all kinds of flack. and the peripheral tunnel which is resisted by environmental groups, they are giving squeeze ft. governor. you put it all together and even though jerry brown is very popular with the voters he is not making many friends in the legislature or some of the state's most powerful interests. until he does look for the status quo to remain in place on the railroad and other issues stacking up on the

the high speed rail project is already a year behind schedule. >>> now 4:37. we want to go back over to sal. if you are just waking up and joining us, big problem for the morning commute. effecting bart but people on the roads as well. >> that is right bart has damage to the third rail inside the transbay 2. that means that one of the tracks is not usable this morning. bart will be single tracking inside the transbay 2 between oakland -- between west oakland station and embarcadero. bart system will still be returning it will be way behind. if you want to get on bart you should get on early or if you decide you want to stay home and work from home, that will be a good idea. or get out on the roads early. let's go to the bay bridge toll plaza. it's still nice and light although we might see people getting there early and spreading out the commute. this could turn into one of the things everyone hears about it and they will make adjustments. we'll see what happens and how early the bay bridge toll plaza gets busy. san jose happily far away from this. now back to

. >>> a july groundbreaking for california's $69 billion high- speed rail project may not happen. a trial begins in sacramento today that could throw out a $10 billion voter-approved bond. opponents say since voters approved the bond in 2008, costs have doubled. yanking the bond won't kill the project. the high-speed rail authority will have to come up with money some other way. >>> the feds want strict rules for the self driving cars. california, nevada and florida are allowing tests but a driver has to be on board. the national highway traffic safety administration wants the drivers to have a special license and training. the feds also want the vehicles on test roads only for now. >>> business now. asian stocks rebounded from big losses thursday as investors re- entered the market. tokyo's nikkei jumping more than 2%. hong kong's hang seng added a fraction. wall street stocks ended higher on investor expectations that the fed will continue its efforts to bolster the economy. the dow up 21 points on the close yesterday. the nasdaq gained 23 points. >>> u.s. is trying to calm fear

he they did not use it for infrastructure, they diverted it to high speed rail.ve got an infrastructure problem. interesting story. we're coming up on the opening bell, about 90 seconds to go until we start trading this friday morning. come in, scott shellady. i'm looking at the futures. i'm looking at a 60 point drop for the dow roughly. why are we down today? >> i think that weeks are ringing the register and probably going to do that going into the weekend. fundamentally, economically speaking, nothing has changed. we have the 7.9% unemployment rate and the only thank that's going to kill the rally 2% or lower and 48 million people on food stamps how are we going to say we can afford to take away the punch bowl. stuart: you think if we get inflation, this rally is over because the fed will say enough with the money printing, that's your scenario? >> yes, historically speaking that's the number to look at. that's when we see the inflation number start to spike and that's killed bull markets in the past and that's going to shut it down when we get here. stuart:

high speed rail u.s.board. >>> time now 5:16, something just happened in san francisco, you have been watching this. >> that is right, no injuries and that is closed and they will move it to the front of the hall of justice and they will move this car out of the way and right now the ram am on southbound 101 to east 880 is quickly backing up and should be backed up to market street soon and they should be opening until the livermore valley and it is an overturned box truck and westbound may be slowing to take a look at the activity on the other side of the freeway. bay bridge is light and no problems on the approach to san francisco, let's go to steve. >> let's take a look at this textbook low, it probably will go but they get the cool air windy at times, and if you have an early flight, winds are out of the west gusting to 35 miles per hour. maybe that will cut right through you, you don't need coffee for that. it may modify but we don't neat tiny and there is a little bit of a low. lows are below averag

barring also known as are a robust city they have high-speed rail coming into their city. we're looking at the this we're linked to an infrastructure. i want to thank the council general and being here and have such great service i want to thank the deputy chief and the fire folks and i want to say they have some great deputy mayors. of course, i'm wanting my deputy mayor. you can hear the enthusiasm as they approach san francisco. you know, we are all been looking at europe as a whole continent. and i believe that the investments this barring also known as are doing now are so cutting-edge. they know that 21st century - we can't rest on that being the only thing we do. similar to san francisco we're a beautiful city but we have got to deal and create a public relationship. i know they're working with any silicon valley and san francisco-based companies to evolve this city. i know that the colleague is a medical doctor. you you know what we're doing in mission bay people's approach sometimes and oftentimes reflect their professional out along on things. i want to acknowled

two states trying to build high speed rail, california and texas.ly winning? why is it winning? that's coming up in our brand new hour of "varney & company," but first, grover norquist, washington's leading washington crusader, a divided g.o.p., and he responds to republican critics next. we went out and asked people a simple question: how old is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and had them show us. we learned a lot of us have known someone who's lived well into their 90s. and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer, one thing that hasn't changed: the official retirement age. ♪ the questi is how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years. ♪ stuart: thursday, they second. the man who hates any and all tax hikes. grover norquist is here. the man who told the truth. he has been handing out food stamps for decades. he is here also. the man who exposed him is. he brings with him another case of disability abuse. ♪ ♪ stuart: right off the top this hour. the internet sales tax may be

to give you an update on the carl moir program has some funding for your high speed rail program and there are 2 measures that are identical that is toextend fees of the carl moir program as well as other fuel filter programs. the first measure ab 8, it passed out of the public transportation committee last night. it's companions or look alike sb 11, did pass last week and it set for a hearing this afternoon. it's been a tough push in the senate. there is a lot of concerns raised by the senate analysis but i think it will pass today based on the vote count that we've been putting together. several bills to note. a b 164 adds performance bonds for local private partnership. you will impose that because it will increase the cost unnecessarily. it has not been set yet and it is a referred to the assembly local government committee. they are sort of running out of time for action this year but we'll be monitoring that in case it does get set. mr. blooming field on page four of your matrix extends hov access for green and white sticker plug in hybrids and electric vehicles to 2025. that's

. >>> also this morning high speed rail opponents will ask a sacramento county judge to put a stop to project. quintin cop the former chairman of the prompt will lead the group arguing that all construction plans should be put on hold. he says the project has doubled in costs since voters approved it in 2009. and that ridership estimates have dropped while ticket prices have sored. the high speed rail project is already a year behind schedule. >>> wac to our continue -- back to our continuing coverage of our big bart problem this morning. if you still have to take bart into the city, we are keeping track of how long it might take you. ktvu tara moriarty joins us now. tara, how is it going? >> reporter: we got on the train in lafayette probably we were waiting on the platform around 6:14. took about ten minutes for the train to come. we noticed it started slowing as we were coming out of the tunnel which is not normal according to the commuters. it looks like a pretty normal commute but we know it's anything but. we know we are experiencing major delays. joining me is lisa. she is on h

we begin with high-speed rail. own course, using private investor dollars to fund the project instead of taxpayer money like california and other states. rich edson live from dallas with more. rich? >> ashley the federal government spent more than $10 billion over the last three or four years, much of it stimulus money to try to get high-speed rail going in this country. we're still not at a point anytime soon being able to get on a high-speed train somewhere in one city and then ending up in another couple hours later. so in texas you have only private investors. some $10 billion worth, trying to build a high-speed train between here and dallas and houston. get there anywhere between 70 and 90 minutes. the investors say they are better off without government money. >> we want to serve the community and we believe we are bringing a needed service, but, the market discipline will force us into probably more rational decisions to help make the train cost less to build and come in more quickly on a construction schedu

. >>> this morning high speed rail opponents will ask a sacramento county judge to put a stop to theject. quintin cop the former chairman of the project will lead the group arguing that all conduction plans should be put on hold. now he says that the project has doubled in costs since voters ail proved it in 2009. and that ridership estimates have dropped while ticket prices have sored. the high speed rail project is already a year behind schedule. >>> cal tran is working on removing a crosswalk in vallejo that was hand painted by a man who lives there. anthony was arrested for painting a second crosswalk across sonoma boulevard. police call it an act of felony vandalism. people who live and work in the area say it's necessary because most drivers don't slow down. >> very, very dangerous to cross here. i've been here for a few years and all you see is accidents all day long. >> carr keys in is being held on $15,000 bail. friends say he is a freelance artist known for trying to spruce up the neighborhood. cal trans will grind down and repave the section of the street he painted. >>> 5

the high speed rail project lands in court this morning. today, proponents of the project will be in sacramento superior court asking a judge to stop the project plan. they say that the project is so far off track it needs to be scrap and the $10 million bond measure approved by voters in november needs to be invalidated. the cost of the high speed rail plan has skyrocket ed to $69 billion and it was supposed to break ground in july, but this latest case will delay that ground breaking as well. >>> it is 5:22 and the coffee chain that is about to ban smoking near its stores coming up. look at them kids. [ sigh ] they have no idea what it was like before u-verse high speed internet. yeah, you couldn't just stream movies to a device like that. one time, i had to wait half a day to watch a movie. you watched movies?! i was lucky if i could watch a show. show?! man, i was happy to see a sneezing panda clip! trevor, have you eaten today? you sound a little grumpy. [ laughter ] [ male announcer ] connect all your wi-fi-enabled devices with u-vers

francisco agencies to bring consensus on san francisco input to things that are related to high speed rail and this effects very closely, and given the blended system approach and a slight oversight and the technical support to the subway, and transit center cal tran, and these are three of the significant tough projects in prop k and one of the things that i will mention for this section is a cross sectional effort that we have mentioned a couple of times i think at the board which is providing technology enhancements to stream line grapts management and oversight those for authority and project sponsor and being done through a web based port tal and capitol projects is leading that primarily with the technology services section. okay, the other section, defies my ability to speak quickly and so i will continue here it is a very full work program for the planning section. you will see here almost every study, whether we are lead or co-lead, we are working in close partnership with the relevant city and sometimes private entities and sfmta is frequently our partner and this will be a big y

. >>> funding took center stage during today's hearing in mad era county on the high speed rail project. the cost of that project has ballooned from $33 billion to 68 billion since voters passed proposition 1a in 2008. but today the chair of the rail authorities said the he is confident the project will get private investors. >>> the city moves forward with a pilot program to improve parking conditions. tomorrow is one of the last public meetings for residents to voice concerns about this proposal which would affect the elm wood, downtown and south telegraph neighborhood. right now the city is considering two options, one with increased rates during peak times. business owners in the impacted neighborhood say the plan drives customers away. >> i think they're going to kill the businesses out here. because there are similar shops down the street away from downtown. offering similar services. people will spend their money there instead of getting tickets here. >> the city council is expected to discuss the plan in 2011. the program is federally funded. >>> it's a tax expected -- we'll tel

. >> the critical hearing that could determine if california high-speed rail system wil >> abc7 news starts right now with breaking news. >> good morning, at 5:00, the breaking news is on the bart system. >> the transbay tube is making the commute a big challenge. leyla gulen has been following this all morning. >> good morning, everyone, at 5:00, we have transbay tube delays. two maintenance vehicles collided in the tube and damned

funding should go to sustainable communities and clean projects including rail modernization and high speed rail programs and transit oriented development we will keep an eye on this and report back to the finance committee next month, this plan will be presented to the legislature on april the 25th. for the parkway, it continues to move a pace within a couple of important milestones in terms of notice to proceed in the last couple of months, in late march, the link, the concessionaire for the project assumed operation and maintenance while the people may not realize that they are maintaining even one of the facilities that was built by cal trans and operating and maintaining phase two once that is built. and now phase two construction is under way and so the stuff going on above and below ground and you can see it as well as the work to stabilize the soils in order to build the tunnels we have a lot of information and photos on the website, www.precidio parkway.org. >> the park stationary circulation study has finished the effort to collect the data on existing conditions and work with the othe

the towers, so look out for that that is going to be a such an exciting welcome toth for the high speed rail and as that as a transit hub with all of the connection that is it has to the rest of our 70. we spoke a little bit already about our water front. and we she know that peer 70 is where we are going to make it happen with s f made manufacturing where the covenant we have four thrive companies manufacturing already -- in san francisco from the -- that i chocolates that i just presented to mayor khan to everything from wood shaw bags to do do case which are the upper covers to ceramic and is so many other thing being made here and assist in shipping out those products to the port of oakland to the rest of the world. we are creating for our local manufacturing companies a sense not only that they can manufacture here in a good business climate, and establish those plans here in san francisco at peer 70 and other places but that we will help them as a city to create international market. we are not just satisfactory with national markets, technological expects pharmaceutical company and is

in fact, the thing that prompted me about this was when i read about the high-speed rail in californiaade rail system will be there in china or japan. >> wow. that's really good. why would we want a rail system that's better in the wrl. that can be condition. so i thought about it, and i think it could be done for probably a tenth of the cost than of the high-speed rail in california. so it would be a lot less intrusive into people's lives for the travel. i think we're better on all count, but it's brought better receipts. >> elon, just changing the subject. you are very adept to dealing with washington and you work in regulated areas and a lot of attention was drawn up to the fact that you resigned from mark zishgberg's fwd lobbying group on immigration and a lot of people would like to know exactly why you did that and what the implications are for getting what you want in washington. what can you tell us about that decision? >> you know, i didn't really want to make a big deal out of it, and the reason i joined in the first place was i think it is important that we have immigration

lunacy is wind turbines and we're also opposed to something called hate chess two which is high speed rail which is costly and ineffective ok one thing you haven't mentioned is the economy and surely people are really concerned about economic matters yet you keep solution that. well what we believe is that they do have to be cuts in the economy and that the public sector is bloaters we also want to see a fairer and simpler tax system a flat tax if you like whereby everybody on minimum wage could be lifted out of tax altogether what we think is that that would kick start the economy but equally we want to reduce the cost of foreign aid we want to come out to you which will say fifty three million pounds a day beyond around two hundred billion a year it's estimated and that will allow us to trade and signed our own free trade deals once again and we want to reignite our commonwealth ling's we can choose like india which alone is projected to be the largest economy in the world by two thousand and fifty raise plenty of points there but how are you going to gain momentum now because surely mos

to get under way in sacramento this morning that could delay july's groundbreaking of the high- speed railto throw out a $10 billion voter- approved bond. they say since voters passed that bond back in 2008, costs have doubled. >>> stay with us, traffic and weather coming up. ,,,,,,,, >>> good morning. well, moments ago, we just got word from bart that they are expecting to restore full service by late morning or early this afternoon. in the meantime, ferries, ac transit and muni are all offering extra service during the major delays in the transbay tube. getting a quick check of the bay bridge toll plaza, it is a busy morning. not "friday light" at all. everyone hitting the roads instead backed up through the macarthur maze. here's lawrence. >> reporter: all right. lots of sunshine around the bay area to start out this friday. what a day it's going to be weather-wise! going to start getting hot in spots, though, in places inland. a lot of sunshine warming these temperatures up starting out mainly in the 50s now but by the afternoon, 90s showing up in some of the valleys. 70s and 80s insid