for the past 25 months, several of those including residences of san francisco and los angeles county, the retired fbi chief of los angeles, has been covering most of southern california. they have been attending many meetings and reporting to the commission, to the chiefs of police and their top management teams that they have repeatedly choose-chosen to not investigate. why did the fbi ordered the investigators to halt their investigations of the army's special forces. enclosed are copies of the letters plus a list of exhibits including a copy of each exhibit that we delivered and we had many different people here who copied this. why a my san francisco friend, christine harris, has been hit by electronic weapons numerous times in your city by a an officer. you have refused to investigate the crimes. we'll go into great detail. the bottom line is that the chief's deputy assigned two detectives to help us solve these murders and these crimes and yet the detectives refused to contact us for months and so they assign someone else to investigate. why are they covering this up? >> thank

. >>> a man after two los angeles county student was shot at their school. nother teenager was shot near his school. the teen is expected to survive. >>> also in los angeles county, police say two more students were arrested today in connection with yesterday's accidental shooting at gardena high school. two students were seriously wounded when a gun in a backpack went off. the students arrested today helped the teenager who police say brought the gun to school. the law enforcement source told the l.a. times that teenager stole the gun from his stepfather. a 15-year-old girl that was shot in the head remains in critical condition. >>> and today, schools will begin text a tip. the idea came from the national football league. ktvu's jana katsuyama has our report and it -- >> reporter: at many high schools, many teens are about texting. that's why schools are launching a new program called text a tip. which allows the community and students to text tips. >> actually took it from the nfl. they implemented text messaging in many of their stadiums these days so tha

. >>> a man after two los angeles county student was shot at their school. another teenager was shot near his school. the teen is expected to survive. >>> also in los angeles county, police say two more students were arrested today in connection with yesterday's accidental shooting at gardena high school. two students were seriously wounded when a gun in a backpack went off. the students arrested today helped the teenager who police say brought the gun to school. the law enforcement source told the l.a. times that teenager stole the gun from his stepfather. a 15-year-old girl that was shot in the head remains in critical condition. >>> and today, schools will begin text a tip. the idea came from the national football league. ktvu's jana katsuyama has our report and it -- >> reporter: at many high schools, many teens are about texting. that's why schools are launching a new program called text a tip. which allows the community and students to text tips. >> actually took it from the nfl. they implemented text messaging in many of their stadiums these days so th

los angeles was the first to move and riverside county signed off on $155 million. fremont, $140 million and sit russ heights, $60 mill yichblt critic says they're an attempted end run and only subsidize developer autos they're saying we'll leave it to the rest of to you figure out how to solve this crisis. we think that is a cullus approach. >> and oakal leaders point to the revitalization of old pasadena and old turf. >> if we don't have the tools to do improvements in area autos brown says having used such money himself as the mayor to restore the fox theater. >> i'm sure glad i got it built from the budget that came out. and brown isn't sure of the rush approveal skpez wants to eliminate redevelopment agencies altogether. >> thank you. >> and san jose leaders are holding a meeting to talk about this issue. and coming up at 6:00 showing you plan that would let them keep their millions. rin-controlled house voted to repeal the health care reform bill signed last year. and that fulfills a promise made during last fall's political campaign. this bill now moves to se

the assembly were jim neilson of tahama county spending more than $10,000, isidore hall of los angeles county spending more than about $6,700, dan logue of yuba county spending about $6,400 and in the senate, dean florez of kern county spent more than $7,000, dave cogdill of stanislaus county spent more than $6,000 and leland yee of san francisco spent about $5,300. santa monica-based consumer watchdog group says that these types of unlimited credit cards are just unacceptable at a time when parks are being closed and people's healthcare is being taken away. >> thank you, sonja shin in emeryville. >>> aides to president obama say he will lay out his ideas on creating jobs and strengthening the economy in tonight's state of the union address. the president's plan is expected to center around five pillars: innovation, education, infrastructure, deficit reduction, and reforming government. in a nod towards civility in light of the tucson rampage, at least 60 democrats and republicans say they will sit next to one another instead of across the aisle. >>> our live coverage of the state of the unio

the assembly were jim neilson of tahama county spending more than $10,000, isidore hall of los angeles county spending more than about $6,700, dan logue of yuba county spending about $6,400 and in the senate, dean florez of kern county spent more than $7,000, dave cogdill of stanislaus county spent more than $6,000 and leland yee of san francisco spent about $5,300. santa monica-based consumer watchdog group says that these types of unlimited credit cards are just unacceptable at a time when parks are being closed and people's healthcare is being taken away. >> thank you, sonja shin in emeryville. >>> aides to president obama say he will lay out his ideas on creating jobs and strengthening the economy in tonight's state of the union address. the president's plan is expected to center around five pillars: innovation, education, infrastructure, deficit reduction, and reforming government. in a nod towards civility in light of the tucson rampage, at least 60 democrats and republicans say they will sit next to one another instead of across the aisle. >> i think anytime when you're talking about s

reports that the thieves hacked into people's debit card accounts during a blitz of atms in los angeles county this month. it's estimated they got away with more than $150,000. >>> a mother was forced off a plane at sfo for trying to put her baby into a child seat. melissa bradley was told to leave her united flight to honolulu on wednesday after she took a picture of an airline row too narrow to fit the infant carrier. federal aviationization officials urge parents to put infants in child seats but bradley says this is the second time in the past month that airlines have told her not to do it. the [ pause ] >>> we'll be right back. ,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, >>> we're going to go to washington, d.c. now. i believe the white house press briefing room where robert gibbs has just begun to speak. >> president mubarak about these issues. >> let me start by giving you a little bit of a rundown in the president's briefings thus far today. overnight, received a memo from the national security advisor on the latest situation. i think you all have been briefed on the fact that the president's pdb was about 40 m

what else landfill serves after los angeles county about seventy eight cities and five point two million people one has landfill takes and has permit at about thirty thousand two hundred tons per day what that accounts for is if you take a football field from post to post fill it up with waste about ten feet higher little over three meters that's how much waste is accepted here a death. in the united states in europe the glue is tough to plaster through where it is simply buried. thousands of bottles and bags end up in this type of tip every year. between them the two continents buried four to five million metric tons of plastic in two thousand and seven. in the face of this exponential consumption the infrastructures can't keep up. only five percent of the plastic used in the world is recycled and the west the main consumer does not even have the means to deal with. this is the port of chinari in india part of our recycled waste ends up here by the container full. hidden from european eyes all rubbish is treated behind these doors which are usually kept closed. you see containers that t

the grapevine section of i-5 was closed through the mountains of los angeles county until late this morning. blowing snow, low visibility and slick pavement caused numerous minor crashes and led to the closing. hundreds of people returning from the new year's holiday found themselves stuck on the road, which is about 70 miles north of los angeles. some had to spend the night in their cars. >> we are trying to make the best of it. never know, we might be stuck another night. >> stuck in bumper to bumper it took us about three hours just to get here. >> even las vegas get got in on some of the snow action. gamblers to on the vegas strip woke up to flurries. sin city receives measurable snow about once every other year. >>> the way patrol says traffic deaths fell statewide during the new year's weekend this year but they were up in the bay area. on roads patrolled by the chp across the state, 16 people died compared to 26 a year ago. in the bay area, five people lost their lives over the new year's weekend compared to one last year. the chp says it arrested 961 people for dui. last year the co

. >>> and there was a rather unusual sight in los angeles county today. snow falling just 30 miles north of downtown l.a., shutting down parts of interstate 5. several inches are forecast in the hills there. in lower elevations, rain could cause big problems in the same areas that were saturated by last week's big storms. >>> and now to a plan from one of the world's biggest stars to protect some of the world's most vulnerable people. george clooney knows a little bit about being hounded by cameras. this new project he's launching flips the script, using satellite cameras to hound mass murderers. here's nick schifrin. >> reporter: actor george clooney is trying to prevent mass murder. using satellites as a threat to expose fresh attacks on ethnic minorities in sudan. clooney calls the satellites anti-genocide paparazzi. >> we feel like this was a chance to be able to stop -- stop a war before it starts. >> reporter: they are looking for troops massing or populations fleeing. next week, people in southern sudan are expected to vote to secede, and are afrai

. >>> this summer a new exhibit at the los angeles county history museum will have kids going prehysterical. get it? the word here, dinosaurs. >> reporter: there's long been a pair of dinosaurs to greet visitors in the lobby, but they were your run of the mill giant prehistoric specimens. get ready. the l.a. county natural history museum dinosaur institute has been working behind the scenes and in the lab and on location collecting and assembling the cast of bones and fossils to pop late what they say will be the dinosaur hub of the west coast. wherever there are dinosaurs, there will be kids. >> we wanted to use the appeal that dinosaurs have as a vehicle for teaching about the nature of science. >> this is tommy the t-rex. he's been here a few years now. but this little guy is about to steal his thunder. the youngest known t-rex in the world. estimated to be about three years old. >> and they have very small lining. probably weighing, i don't know, eight pounds, ten pounds. not different from the weight of one of our babies in 20 years or less, which is roughly about the same time that it

right now interstate 5 between bakersfield and los angeles county is still closed. no traffic is allowed on val road. the road was shut down yesterday afternoon when cars starletted sliding on the icy roads. chp can't tell when the road might open. drivers are encouraged to delay their trips or use highway 101. people on the southern side of the grapevine are happy to see the snow. it would give kids a chance to build a snowman without going past their yards. it only lasted a few hours. >>> san francisco police say a vandalism incident lead to a bold escape attempt. 33-year-old brian jenkins kicked out the window of a place car and ran away in handcuffs following his arrest early yesterday morning. officers arrested him a few blocks away and took him back into custody. he said he used a raiser blade -- razor blade to cut up posters inside a bar. >>> it provides billions of dollars of financial aid to the first responders who became ill after working in the ruins of the world trade center towers after 9/11. they say their health has not been the same since. a lot of

a los angeles county sheriff's captain says 27-year-old earnie lloyd of los angeles turned himself in to officers at the hollywood police station saying he seen himself on the news and knew he was wanted. the "l.a. times" reports lloyd is described as suspect number one in images released by the sheriff's department. officers say they believe lloyd is part of a group of ten men who allegedly videotaped the sexual assaults on disabled women. >> these victims are severely disabled, many of them appear to be unable to move, and most of them are wearing diapers. >> they cannot fight off an attacker. they don't have the ability to consent to this kind of activity. >> detectives say the images came to them anonymously with a note from someone who says he got a computer from a man who wanted the hard drive wiped clean. >>> still ahead on "today in the bay," more on the arizona shooting rampage and why some say inflammatory language on sarah palin's website put a target on the congresswoman. what one law maker who herself survived an assassin's bullet pretending to be dead says about the horr

in los angeles county, or new york, these are essentially sold for campaign contributions. or used in a discretionary manner, such as the one that martin luther king mng applied for. after a bombing of his house in 1956, he applied for a permit and it was designed for, i think, what are pretty plain reasons given the atmosphere in alabama, under their discretionary permitting system. so if it's from having no right, or is it a right that can be refused in an arbitrary manner, how is that constitutional or defensible? >> i guess my answer is supposed to be briefer than the question. but that's a little bit of a challenge. the point i was trying to make about loughner is that the nra's program is to eliminate law enforcement discretion over who gets a permit. so that if you pass a background check, and he did, when you say he lied on the form, it's not at all clear to me that he fell into one of the prohibited categories. the point is, the nra says if he passes a background check, and he's a legal gun owner, they don't even want to impose an additional permitting requirement.

los angeles county sheriff lee baca says he is signing on with the harris ideas. >> we're going to try and make up for the differences between the lack of education and the ability to survive in the streets in a way that doesn't involve crime. >> reporter: the new attorney general may end up using the pulpit of the office, but given the financial realities today, she isn't going to have the money to spread around for programs locally, even if they do work. live in sacramento, jim vargas, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> camela has been a prosecutor for nearly 20 years. raised in the east bay, she attended howard university and then the university of california hastings college of law. after graduating, she took a position in the alameda county district tosh's office where she served as a deputy district attorney. in 1998, she was named managing attorney of the career criminal unit in the san francisco district attorney's office. in december of 2003, harris was elected as the first woman district attorney in san francisco's history. she was overwhelmingly reelected to a second term in november

the chp says the highway is cled from los angeles, kern county line to 20 mights south of bakersfield. no major crashes are reported. snow is accumulating as low as 1500 feet,nd between four and eight inches is expeed in some areas this evening. >>> abc-7 meteorologist frances dinglasan is following the storm as it passed through california. let's talk to h about that. >> frances: it leaves the bay area, starting to hea toward southern california, bringing them se of the more severe weather. so here is a look at the satellite radar image in california. the low moving in, that's going to bring wet and cool weather to southern california. see the areas of white. that's snow over parts of the grapevine. here in the bay area, we're at the top end of the system, and you notice the wrap-around moisture bringing us some light showers. areas of light br -- light blue and light green. just a scattered shower or two expectedhrough the evening. then we're going to clear out, possible light rain falling on the dumbarton bridge and parts of san jose. tomorrow, wake up to dry days. cool but i'll te

now a hollywood star is showing her support for a similar demonstration in los angeles county. st night daryl han that attended a candle light vigil. the demonstrators say they are determined to stop developers from cutting down some century old trees. but county demolition crews say the tree sitters will not stop them from finishing their job. >>> all right. time now 6:56. sal, there's a crash in oakland. what happened? >>> that's right. it's 880 southbound reported at 23rd. one of our news crews happens to be stuck in the back up. one of our news crews told us northbound is getting into the act with slow traffic near 23rd. so if you're driving on the freeway heading south or north in this area of 23rd there is a crash. a couple trucks got into it and left lane blocked southbound but northbound traffic also slow. let's move along news chopper 2 has an accident in morgan hill where a car ran off the roadway here. news chopper 2 looking at the live picture of the tow truck trying to get the cable onto this car. looks like highway 101 nearby in morgan hill is not effected too much

many of you in this room know him best for the betty ford clinic and the los angeles county jail. please welcome robert downey jr. >> pretty rough. what you didn't see there is robert downey jr. calling gervais' jokes mean spirited while he was on stage. meanwhile, gervais is now explaining why he was missing from the stage for more than an hour. there were rumors he was pulled off the show. he says there was supposed to be that long of a gap in between introductions. he says the atmosphere after the show was great. >>> thank you for joining us this morning. >> the "today" show is coming up next. we'll have a local news update in a half hour. [ wheezing breaths ] [ woman ] the first time i smoked, i was 13. i was in a hurry to grow up and wanted to look cool. big tobacco knew it, and they preyed on me. i'm here to tell you that big tobacco hasn't changed. they continue to profit... by selling kids the same lies... to get them to use... the same deadly products. don't be big tobacco's next victim. leftover desserts, boardroom, now. and hurry before the interns get here. thanks but

reports that those thieves hacked into people's debit card accounts during a blitz of atms in los angeles countyhis month. the victims use electronic benefit transfer cards issued by the state. authorities believe the total haul more than $150,000. >>> in-n-out trying to make the restaurant more appetizing to neighbors in the east bay. a smaller restaurant is called for the in the border of pleasant hill and walnut creek. fewer outdoor seats and more parking. plus the drive-through lane and menu board would be moved farther away from houses near the property. residents have resisted previous plans saying the restaurant would bring traffic, pollution and rowdy crowds. >>> uc-berkeley has been named the world's greenest university by a school in indonesia. the index ranks cal above university of nottingham in the uk and northeastern university in boston. researchers measured the energy efforts of the schools as well as transportation and water use. >>> it is 5:22. get a manicure while waiting for the train. why bart stations may look more like shopping centers in the near future. ,, [ announcer ]

chronicle" reports thieves hacked into people's debit card accounts during a blitz of atms in los angeles county earlier this month. the victims used electronic benefit transfer cards issued by the state. authorities believe the total haul was more than $150,000. >>> 6:13. a california student taken to court over a wrestling move. why the battery charge against him though has been dropped. >>> plus, a makeover in the works for bart stations. the revamped look adding everything from bookstores to even health clubs. >>> and you might want to use bart to avoid delays on the bay bridge. we have an accident. i'll have details in less than five minutes. ,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, stories: >>> good morning. it's friday. you finally made it! all in all it was not a bad week. we are seeing a cooldown as we start friday with the fog inland. 44 degrees the warmest temperatures. 35 and chilly in some areas. fog advisory interior valleys as well as at the coast. be cautious. mild at the coast and the bay but everything is about to change, warmest areas 66 degrees as a daytime high. yesterday in the low 70s partic

. >> i have come up through los angeles, east county, san jose and seen the power of libraries like this one. >> reporter: fiction, nonfiction, even dvds, and the new facility even has brand new computers it cost $14.8 million. the question now, will the community here in east oakland use it? >> young people are begging for centers like this. >> reporter: congresswoman barbara lee attended the ceremony. >> there at a huge disinvestment in their lives by the federal government, i know, and so it's just important that our local government pick up the pieces where the feds dropped the ball. >> this branch's personality will be made by the people in the community here. >> reporter: amy sunny works with oakland's youth, and she said getting teenagers to put one foot into the library will take them off the streets and open their eyes to the new technologies and dreams. >> a lot of my kids don't have dreams, and i hope the dreams start here. >> their families cannot afford high-speed internet, and this is their window on the world. >> reporter: the public library is attached to the elementary a

los angeles, we get on the schedule. if there was a lunch it was a good day. and in los angeles county department, he passed out, seniors were gathered. people running scams on their seniors. they ask where you are from, where you are born and when you came to los angeles. how many children do you have? what do you do for a living. fortunately either -- they threw on state dinner, or whatever. i don't know what the reason was. it was a casting call like auditioning. then i narrowed it down to these three. protagonist be possible people you'd never heard of. you see what they have gone through. one would represent the east coast and the other one in the middle and the one that is obviously near and dear, many people in texas, no people in los angeles or other parts of california because it is constant back-and-forth. it was less written about so i need to find three people and each of them to have left in different decades to get a sense of the scope of this migration. also people of different classes because there are differenceses even among people who had been a caste system. there w

. >> i've come up through east los angeles, orange county, san jose and i've seen the power of librariesn communities like this one. >> a lot of my kids don't have dreams, so i hope dreams start here. >>> the new library was a nine year city vision. >>> because of the olympic break last year the national hockey league did not hold an all star game. well the game is back this year but with a first time format. team captains point their fingers and choose up sides for today's 1:00 day. now boyle was selected by lindstrum. and boyle took a test, he did help his team earn a point there. >>> super bowl is set to kick off in just about one week. but today the nfl returns to hawaii for the 2011 probowl. the niners and raiders had a few players selected to play this year. including justin smith and zack miller. you can watch the probowl at 4:00 p.m. right here on ktvu channel two news. >>> time now 7:48. getting ready for war is never easy. but hundreds of military men and women took part in a military training. these are real bombs being dropped and it's part of war zone scenarios that have bee

travelers going to los angeles, orange county, long beach and san diego can park up to 72 hours in the daily lot. the offer lasts between january 4 and february 10. it is expected to save you up to $66. to take advantage, registration is required through the oakland airport's website. >>> you hear us say it almost every day. if you have a consumer problem phone our hotline at 1-888-5- helps-u. but do you ever wonder what happens to the people who call? on the consumerwatch, julie watts shows us some of the problems we have solved this week. >>> reporter: when phillip neal moved into his fremont apartment the weather was warm and he had no need for a heater. it wasn't until thanksgiving he noticed that the heater didn't work and his new home was extremely drafty. when he notified building management, he says they did agree to fix the heater but they said he would have to pay to weatherproof the quarter inch gap around the door. so he called consumerwatch and we called corporate. not only did they reimburse him $611.50 for his weeks without heat, but they agreed to fix the draft too. >>

northbound traffic is being diverted, and southbound traffic is closed from the los angeles kearn county line. there is no word when it may reopen. >>> it's still raining in parts of the bay area right now. mark has the very latest from storm tracker 2. mark. >> ken, the bay area storms today eventually becoming a southern california storm for later on tonight as we head into monday. as far as rainfall totals over the past 24 hours, you can see santa rosa nearly a quarter of an inch and san francisco, .62. the focus of all this activity is mainly the southern half of the bay area closer to gilroy. you can see topping an inch. this is the activity that pushed through the bay area this morning and into the afternoon hours. right now on the maps on live storm tracker 2 this is the loop over the past two hours. get an idea of the overall movement, moving in from this direction, it's all rotating around an area of low pressure. that area of low pressure is heading to our south. here is a closer inspection right now for the southern half of the region. you can see the coverage for at least sou

the city of bell in los angeles county was engulfed in scandal last year when the astronomical salaries of city officials were exposed. bell is on the brink of bankruptcy. >>> 8:24. we want to check in with sal. traffic's been pretty busy out there. >> it's been pretty busy out there. one of the things that i want to mention is things seem to be improving a little bit. as i look at the chp board, we still have problems t there. >> this is at 237 westbound, as cross 880. the traffic continues to move along relatively well. this morning's commute on 280. this has been the slow commute 80 coming up into downtown san jose and then getting up t o -- getting up to the valley. we had a had a couple problems there. finally, southbound 80 -- 680, that looks pretty good from from montinto the south bay. >> let's go to steve. >> if you have some weather information -- the tweeters are out in force today. light rain, cold not as -- it's cool out there. sp weather. right there our system is coming in. tweets are coming in from san jose thatis cold, cold and cloudy. that system will keep us under clo

los angeles. 3.9 million registered voters. kind of a big difference, isn't it? a lot of big difference. it would take 930 of the smallest countieshis country to equal los angeles. 930 counties. that is an awful lot for just one jurisdiction. what is interesting, in looking at the election administration, is looking at the difference in terms of the number of jurisdictions and the size, the number of registered voters. if you look at it from a schematic, you see the difference was less than 1000 persons in a jurisdiction, there is almost 5000 jurisdictions in the country, with less than 1000. but it all on it -- but it only amounts to 8/10 of a percent of the nation paused registered voters. one of the keys is that a lot of -- of the nation's registered voters. one of the keys is that a lot of the district have a small number of voters. you can summarize it this way. 340 jurisdictions over 100,000 registered voters, but that is 60% of the nation. 60% of the nation paused registered voters are in 340 jurisdictions in this country. a big difference. that big difference is what presidential candidates looked at. indeed, if you were

good day but i was on the schedule and before me on the schedule was a representative from los angeles county department of aging and he passed out brochures to the seniors who had been gathered there and he said we are getting reports of our seniors being taken advantage of. there are people who are running scams on our seniors. they will ask you all kinds of questions about yourself. they will ask you where you are from, where you were born, when did you come to los angeles? how many children do you have? what did you do for a living? [laughter] and he passed this out and then said next stop isabel wilkerson will be here to talk with you. fortunately many had not been listening because they were focused on the state dinner or they found me to be trustworthy or whatever, i don't know what the reason was that i was able to talk with them. that is what i did for many months. does kind of a casting call, kind of like the addition and then i narrowed it down to these three on the three were people i needed to have three protagonists, people you have never heard of so you could see yourself in th

really a remarkable site in northern los angeles county, we had snow down to 1300 feet, the area thatad not had snow since 2008. bunt personally, folks are stranded in traffic. what's your last name? >> martinez. >> reporter: you are trying to go from where to where? >> from san diego to b akersfield. >> reporter: and you -- you had a big party, right, over the t wo-week vacation and you were just trying to get back home and you didn't expect that this was gonna happen? >> yes. we never thought it was gonna snow and get stranded. >> how long have you been w aiting? >> since 2:00 a.m. hundreds more stories just like that. i spoke with the chp and caltrans guys. they tell me they are gonna assess the situation, still t rying to de-ice the grapevine and then they are gonna try to run escorts up the grapevine but they are estimating they won't be able to open the grapevine until at least two hours from now. so a little bit for those -- a little bit longer for these folks to wait. bakersfield, not that far so u nfortunately for these folks, not very far to go the they have a lot longer to

michael jackson, his mother katherine, brother jermaine, and sister la toya arrived at the los angeles countyhouse. that's where a judge will decide whether the superstar's personal physician, dr. conrad murray, should stand trial for involuntary manslaughter. in their opening statement, prosecutors said murray incorrectly performed cpr, ordered the singer's personal assistant to round up medication and other items, and waited at least 21 minutes to call 911. they said jackson was already dead by the time paramedics arrived. faheem muhammad, head of the security detail, testified the singer's children were aware things were seriously wrong. he said son prince was in the doorway to the bedroom. daughter paris was on her hands and knees, crying. earlier the director of jackson's last tour, kenny ortega, told the court six days before the pop star died he sent jackson home because he was in no condition to rehearse. ortega said, "he appeared really lost. it was scary." the next day ortega says murray told him to butt out, that jackson was physically and emotionally fine. prosecutors have alluded

. >> reporter: the winter storm stretched all the way to los angeles county. enough snow fell for some winter fun. >> my daughter told me it was snowing i was like, you're 6, you don't know. >> reporter: this cell phone video shows snow falling fast in valencia, an area better known for sunny skies. that snow turned into a cold drizzle overnight, soaking an already saturated southern california and renewing the threat of mudslides. east of los angeles, the threat became a reality. >> i'll be here, and i've been here since it started, and i'll stay as long as they let me. >> reporter: neighbors in highland spent the start of 2011 digging their homes out of mud. and reinforcing barriers made from sandbags. in anticipation of more rain. diana alvear, abc news, los angeles. >>> now here is a look at your tuesday forecast. that storm moves east today, bringing several inches of snow to the colorado rockies. snow showers also from michigan to wisconsin. showers and thunderstorms in houston, shreveport, new orleans, and southern mississippi. >> miami warms up to 77.

no traffic is allowed on interstate 5 to the los angeles turn county line. that road was closed yesterday afternoon when cars look at all the people out here. cars started sliding on the icy road. the chp said they will not reopen it until the snow starts blowing. >>> now on the southern side of the grapevine, the snow there was welcome site. the kids and adults alike had a chance to make snow men without having to go past their own front yards. but it only lasted a couple hours then the sun came back out. still the palm trees and the snow made pretty pictures and videos for next years holiday cards. >>> president obama has signed a bill into law tied to america's terrorist nightmare nearly ten years ago. it provides billions of dollars to financial aid to the first responders that became ill. they say their health has not been the same since. many of those rescue workers are from the bay area. menlo park fire chief wonders why it took seven years and two dozen congressional hearings to secure the funds. >> sit a lot of money? yeah it's a lot of money. this

los angeles. 3.9 million registered voters. kind of a big difference, isn't it? a lot of big difference. it would take 930 of the smallest counties in this country to equal los angeles. 930 counties. that is an awful lot for just one jurisdiction. what is interesting, in looking at the election administration, is looking at the difference in terms of the number of jurisdictions and the size, the number of registered voters. if you look at it from a schematic, you see the difference was less than 1000 persons in a jurisdiction, there is almost 5000 jurisdictions in the country, with less than 1000. but it all on it -- but it only amounts to 8/10 of a percent of the nation paused registered voters. one of the keys is that a lot of -- of the nation's registered voters. one of the keys is that a lot of the district have a small number of voters. you can summarize it this way. 340 jurisdictions over 100,000 registered voters, but that is 60% of the nation. 60% of the nation paused registered voters are in 340 jurisdictions in this country. a big difference. that big difference is what presidential candidates looked at. indeed, if you

in los angeles county, or new york, these are essential sold for campaign contributions. or used in a discretionary manner, such as the one that martin luther king mng applied for. after a bombing of his house in 1956, he applied for a permit and it was designed for, i think, what are pretty plain reasons given the atmosphere in alabama, under their discretionary permitting system. so if it's from having no right, or is it a right that can be refused in anrbitrary manner, how is that constitutional or defensible? >> i guess my answer is supposed to be briefer than the question. but that's a little bit of a challenge. the point i was trying to make about loughner is that the nra's program is to eliminate law enforcement discretion over who gets a permit. so that if you pass a background check, and he did, when you say he lied on the form, it's not at all clear to me that he fell into one of the prohibited categories. the point is, the nra says if he passes a backgrnd check, and he's a legal gun owner, they don't even want to impose an additional permitting requirement. tha

i have heard that there was tremendous debate in the los angeles county district attorney's office overther to charge second-degree murder or involuntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter won out. it's easier to prove. i think they have already got the evidence to prove it and i think they will. >> put your defense attorney hat on for a second, tom. if you are defending conrad murray, do you put him on the witness stand? >> i think he's going to have to get on to explain why propofol was in the home and why he did what he did. you never know. the defense may think they can win the case on cross-examination and cases are won on cross without clients testifying. my sense at this point is given what i know they are probably going to have to have him testify. >> tom, as always, nice to see you. thank you very much. >> thanks for inviting me. >> let's check on the forecast now from maria larosa, filling in for al. >> good morning. we have snowflakes ahead of the big winter system. by the way, happy australia day. nice summer day. no, you won't find summer temperatures on this map in

in los angeles county, or new york, these are essentially sold for campaign contributions. or used in a discretionary manner, such as the one that martin luther king mng applied for. after a bombing of his house in 1956, he applied for a permit and it was designed for, i think, what are pretty plain reasons given the atmosphere in alabama, under their discretionary permitting system. so if it's from having no right, or is it a right that can be refused in an arbitrary manner, how is that constitutional or defensible? >> i guess my answer is supposed to be briefer than the question. but that's a little bit of a challenge. the point i was trying to make about loughner is that the nra's program is to eliminate law enforcement discretion over who gets a permit. so that if you pass a background check, and he did, when you say he lied on the form, it's not at all clear to me that he fell into one of the prohibited categories. the point is, the nra says if he passes a background check, and he's a legal gun owner, they don't even want to impose an additional permitting requirement.

in this country to sql los angeles. 930 counties.hat's an awful lot for one jurisdiction. what is interesting in looking at affectionate menstruation is looking at the difference in terms of number of jurisdictions and the size come as a of registered voters. if you look at it from a schematic, you see the difference with less than 1000 persons in the jurisdiction. there's almost a dozen jurisdictions in the country with less than a thousand. it's almost less than eight tons of the nation's registered voters. one of the keys here is that a lot of jurisdictions have a very small number of registered voters. so indeed that dichotomy is what governs the election administration process. you can summarize it this way. 340 jurisdictions over 100,000 registered voters effect 60% of the nation. 60% of the nation's registered voters are in just 340 jurisdictions in this country. big difference. in the big difference is that presidential candidates look at. indeed, if you were to look at the poster that we did two years ago in 2008, you see th

is bringing low snow levels to areas in los angeles and san bernardino county.vels at about 3500 feet. the grapevine is shut down in both directions as well as 58 in the tehachapis as a result. the only option to get to the south is 101. this will slide south throughout the day as well and that will leave us with cool conditions to start and a warm day with lots of sunshine. right now as we head through this afternoon, i think you will notice that fog won't be a problem right after sunrise. tuesday, wednesday, abundant sunshine with patchy fog and warmer by thursday. back to you. >> new this morning, congress goes back to work with new challenges for a brand-new majority in charge of the house. republicans want to get rid of president obama's health wear plan and they plan to deal with the federal debt which is almost at the limit. house republicans say they will not waste any time voting to dump health care reform. >> that will happen before the president's state of the union address. >> adding to the deficit by repealing reform. >>> economists say if the gover

los angeles. >>> up next, a winter's tale. how cities are getting rid of all that snow. >>> that's the scene in logan county, oklahoma, not far from oklahoma city as a wildfire raged today in a sparsely populated area. at this point, no towns are in danger, but the fire is three miles long. high winds, low humidity and dry brush all contributed to the blaze. >>> here in the northeast, the forecast is for yet more snow in coming days. even as many cities and towns continue to dig out from this week's big snowstorm. tonight we have the answer to a question on many people's minds -- just where does all that snow go? nbc's michelle franzen takes a look. >> reporter: the big apple looking more like a big snow globe these days. new york city has already received twice the average snowfall this winter with crews working overtime to clear the streets. cities throughout the northeast are facing the same dlem moo, what to do with all that snow. >> it is hard, because it is not just the amount of snow, it is the frequency of the storms. >> reporter: in boston, open lots and park space are now designated snow farms. >> we have a lot of s