rita williams spent the day in marin county where she spent the day on what happened. >> reporter: this san rafael dining room became the impromptu command center for news about the ship. steve grisies wife is one of six bay area people including color purple author alice walker on board. >> yeah i'm concerned. i've been concerned from the beginning because they've been making threats of violence. >> reporter: why didn't you go on board? >> because i'm a coward. >> reporter: marin music teacher jewel stayed behind to be the coordinator of the trip. and several hundred activists who say they want to deliver aid to the palestinian people. >> indeed it's political. it's about the human rights of the people of gaza. >> reporter: the u.s. ship audacity of hope left with great fanfare earlier today from greece. only to be escorted back to shore a short time later after a brief send off at sea. the ship is carrying thousands of letters of well wishes to the people of gaza. >> we're the mailman. >> reporter: last year's flotila ended with commandos stopping the fish to seize what they called hu

reporting live, rita williams, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> three san francisco giants fan are recovering from injuries suffered from a flying bat. they were behind the dugout, watch this, when sandoval's bat slipped out of his hands. the bat bounced off the bug utoutand -- dugout and hit three fans. one suffered from a head injury, one person was hit around the eye and a second in the shin. >>> the suspence is over, the olympic committee announced the host for the 2018 winter games. >> pyeongchang. >> you could hear the crowd. the announcement was made in south africa. it was considered a favorite. more than 90 committee winners picked the winner in one round. >>> an alternate juror in the casey anthony murder trial says he thinks the 12 made the right decision. jurors found casey anthony not guilty of murder, manslaughter and child abuse in the death of caylee anthony. he says the prosecution did not meet its burden of proof. >> a lot of resinable doubt there. didn't show us the evidence that, you know, good enough for a conviction. >> he said he was surprised by the amount of media att

ktvu's rita williams tells us, people she talked to on the streets this evening they didn't hold back about how they feel. >> what's going on in washington seemed ludacrist to some back home. people squabbling on how much the the government can go into debt. >> they're being paid to do something and they're not able to accomplish it. >> i think we need to get rid of the politicians up there and put real people in congress. >> reporter: at the white house last night about raising the debt limit. now at $14.3 trillion the president reportedly walked out. >> you know i think some people were surprised by how blunt i was. >> reporter: in this interview with our washington correspondent today, the president said he and democrats want to raise some taxes. >> you can't ask for sacrifices from working people who haven't seen a raise in some cases for a decade. and not ask anything from folks like myself who can afford to do a little bit more. >> reporter: republicans want to cut spending not raise taxes. and they say the president's bullying them by saying the government won't be able to send

ktvu's rita williams tells us, people she talked to on the streets this evening they didn't hold back about how they feel. >> what's going on in washington seemed ludacrist to some back home. people squabbling on how much the the government can go into debt. >> they're being paid to do something and they're not able to accomplish it. >> i think we need to get rid of the politicians up there and put real people in congress. >> reporter: at the white house last night about raising the debt limit. now at $14.3 trillion the president reportedly walked out. >> you know i think some people were surprised by how blunt i was. >> reporter: in this interview with our washington correspondent today, the president said he and democrats want to raise some taxes. >> you can't ask for sacrifices from working people who haven't seen a raise in some cases for a decade. and not ask anything from folks like myself who can afford to do a little bit more. >> reporter: republicans want to cut spending not raise taxes. and they say the president's bullying them by saying the government won't be able to send

in berkeley, rita williams, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> a federal court is leveling the playing field aroundoakland's so called bubble law regulating protest outside of abortion clinics. the 2007 ordnance was enacted to keep anti abortion activists from harassing and counseling patients. >>> a major marijuana bust, how the grow was concealed and why authorities had to bring a bus to the site today. >>> and i'm back here in less than 10 minute, i have the friday forecast, it includes some warming. i will tell you which cities warm the most. >>> why and repairs begin at the severely damaged santa cruz harbor. why workers are finding that it's actually a mixed blessing. >>> six people are in the hospital tonight, one of them in critical condition after a tow truck smashed right into a japanese fast food restaurant in l.a.'s korea town. the fire department says the truck caused so much damage to the building that they had to evacuate a dental office on the second floor. at this point the cause of the crash is still under investigation. >>> there was a major pot bust in the central valley as sher

rita williams, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> california has cut the number of state vehicles by thousands but has more to go. the number of vehicles in the state's fleet has been reduced by $3, 3,800 with the goal being 4,500. >>> top negotiations are ahead in washington, d.c. as republicans and democrats tackle the nation's debt crisis. president obama met with leaders today and they plan to meet again on monday. on the table are the tax system and benefits program. >> i want to emphasize that nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to. and the parties are still far apart on a wide range of issues. >> house democratic leader nancy pelosi says her party will oppose any cuts to social security or medicare benefits and republicans are adamantly opposed to any tax increased. >>> the plan calls for building a tunnel to take nummi cars into china town. >> reporter: frank, i read the 58 record, one thing that jump out is that they say that for every foot of this construction project on stockton it costs $176,000. and the grand jury says that's too much. >> stockton street is one of the

rita williams tells us lawmakers are getting swamped with angry messages from all across the country. >> reporter: from coast to coast today voters gave congress an ear full. >> there's always compromise, these idiots won't compromise at all. all they want is their way. >> okay, thank you. >> reporter: so many angry callers phone or e-mail congressional offices. >> people want things done. they don't want gridlock they want things done. >> reporter: that by this afternoon it was eeriely quiet. switchboards and e-mails flooded, lawmakers got the message that people want solutions. >> social security is our life. we will not give up this fight. >> reporter: these san francisco demonstrators don't want cuts to social security or medicare -- >> they say cut those back, i don't know what i'm going to do. it's literally a matter of life or death for me. >> reporter: but others say the country is heading for a european style government with more people getting benefits than paying taxes. >> today 51% of working americans have no federal income tax liability. today 70% of americans take more

rita williams, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> california has cut the number of state vehicles by thousands but has more to go. the number of vehicles in the state's fleet has been reduced by $3, 3,800 with the goal being 4,500. >>> top negotiations are ahead in washington, d.c. as republicans and democrats tackle the nation's debt crisis. president obama met with leaders today and they plan to meet again on monday. on the table are the tax system and benefits program. >> i want to emphasize that nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to. and the parties are still far apart on a wide range of issues. >> house democratic leader nancy pelosi says her party will oppose any cuts to social security or medicare benefits and republicans are adamantly opposed to any tax increased. >>> the plan calls for building a tunnel to take nummi cars into china town. >> reporter: frank, i read the 58 record, one thing that jump out is that they say that for every foot of this construction project on stockton it costs $176,000. and the grand jury says that's too much. >> stockton street is one of the

rita williams tells us lawmakers are getting swamped with angry messages from all across the country. >> reporter: from coast to coast today voters gave congress an ear full. >> there's always compromise, these idiots won't compromise at all. all they want is their way. >> okay, thank you. >> reporter: so many angry callers phone or e-mail congressional offices. >> people want things done. they don't want gridlock they want things done. >> reporter: that by this afternoon it was eeriely quiet. switchboards and e-mails flooded, lawmakers got the message that people want solutions. >> social security is our life. we will not give up this fight. >> reporter: these san francisco demonstrators don't want cuts to social security or medicare -- >> they say cut those back, i don't know what i'm going to do. it's literally a matter of life or death for me. >> reporter: but others say the country is heading for a european style government with more people getting benefits than paying taxes. >> today 51% of working americans have no federal income tax liability. today 70% of americans take more

but as rita williams reports, the defense team is calling the verdict a victory against the media. >> reporter: cable shows and three networks carried it live. >> we the jury find the defendant not guilty. >> reporter: casey anthony also not guilty of manslaughter and child abuse in the death of her 2-year-old daughter caylee three years ago. she was found guilty only of lying to police. with credit for three years time served, anthony 25 is expected to soon go free. >> we're disappointed with a verdict today and surprised because we know the facts and we put in absolutely every piece of evidence that existed. >> reporter: the little girl's remains stuffed in plastic bags weren't found in these woods for six months. her mother didn't report her missing for a month. >> casey did not murder caylee. it's that simple. >> reporter: the harshest words were put aside for entertainment media and so called loud mouths. >> now you've learned a lesson, my colleagues from coast to coast and border to border have condemned lawyers getting on television and talking about cases they don't know a dar

. >> i was talking to rita williams and she said, i grew up in texas and we have seen that there. >> we have a cooling trend to talk about. right now i can show you this on live stormtracker 2. it is pretty dense and wit that we are expected to drop off in disabilities. that kodak will continue to be an increase -- visibilities. that cloud deck will continue to be on the increase. away from the bay, temperatures inland up to the 90s today. but things will be changing. in the extended forecast, war fought and temperatures will continue to drop box. at most area starting out thursday morning in the 50s and right around the baby could have partly cloudy skies. high pressure we have been talking a lot about this. it is family beginning to weaken and move of town -- finally beginning to weaken and move out of town. it looks like sunday will be the coolest day of the upcoming weekend. fog first thing tomorrow morning. a few patches into the day and we should have mostly clear skies inland. we can still have some leftover patchy fog fog for the beaches -- for the beaches. the warmest locati

but as rita williams reports, the defense team is calling the verdict a victory against the media. >> reporter: cable shows and three networks carried it live. >> we the jury find the defendant not guilty. >> reporter: casey anthony also not guilty of manslaughter and child abuse in the death of her 2-year-old daughter caylee three years ago. she was found guilty only of lying to police. with credit for three years time served, anthony 25 is expected to soon go free. >> we're disappointed with a verdict today and surprised because we know the facts and we put in absolutely every piece of evidence that existed. >> reporter: the little girl's remains stuffed in plastic bags weren't found in these woods for six months. her mother didn't report her missing for a month. >> casey did not murder caylee. it's that simple. >> reporter: the harshest words were put aside for entertainment media and so called loud mouths. >> now you've learned a lesson, my colleagues from coast to coast and border to border have condemned lawyers getting on television and talking about cases they don't know a dar

in berkeley, rita williams, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> a federal court is leveling the playing field aroundd's so called bubble law regulating protest outside of abortion clinics. the 2007 ordnance was enacted to keep anti abortion activists from harassing and counseling patients. >>> a major marijuana bust, how the grow was concealed and why authorities had to bring a bus to the site today. >>> and i'm back here in less than 10 minute, i have the friday forecast, it includes some turn left. you have arrived. sweet belt. e-reader for textbooks. gps. hd video cam for lectures. game pad. have you ever considered this ? it's got all that and more than 200,000 apps. technology to learn and play on-the-go. only at verizon. buy one droid 3 by motorola, the thinnest full qwerty smartphone ever for $199.99, and get another one free. we are this close... to making history... this close to changing the world. we are this close... we are this close... this close... to making sure no child suffers a crippling disease ever again. we are this close to ending polio. ...this close to ending polio. all we n

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reporting live at ocean beach, rita williams, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> we have an update tonight on that story about a burned bodiy discovered in oakland's up scale rock ridge neighborhood. the authorities identified the woman as 21-year-old monica rodis. the body was found early yesterday just a short distance from highway 24 off-ramp. investigators suspect the woman was attacked elsewhere and dumped in the street and set on fire. they say that she had been living with relatives in union city. she is survived by a young son. >>> the first of more than 100 surveillance cameras made its debut in the fruit dale neighborhood. cameras set to be installed in 35 locations along the boulevard in an effort to detour crime. business owners agreed to share the foot annual with the police if a crime considers. the first cameras are where robbers shot and killed the owner, campos back in april. >> three months my father was murdered, unjustly, the restaurant was robbed, yet again, and third, a man was shot outside of the restaurant. >> reporter: most of the 120 cameras are expected to be installed i

reporting live from the news room rita williams, ktvu. >>> and plans for the high speed rail to be on track for the peninsula bay area, they are working together to develop a proposal to present to the state's high speed rail authority. the authority recently scaled back planning efforts because of a lawsuit and strong opposition from some of the residents. the council is calling for reducing the train speeds and scaling back construction plans. >>> and a big name in san francisco politics pushing mayor lee to run for mayor of san francisco, even though he promised earlier he wouldn't run. earlier, diane feinstein encouraged him to run for the job he was appointed to last year. the leader of the run ed run campaign says that feinstein's endorsement is huge. >> he will bring together women to support him. it brings political factions to support him. and she brings together san francisco outside of the grass roots effort. >> lee is on vacation this week, and has until august 12th to file. they considered earlier to replace mayor newsom, who said he wouldn't run. >>> and hundreds got a u

astronauts also installed a robot and ktvu's rita williams tells us that in a sense that robot may putts out of a job. >> this is like the last space walk of the shuttle mission. >> reporter: with wide eyed wonder, space watchers watched another last. today's walkers were from the international space station but it's the last time they would see a shuttle launch there. >> the shuttle program for all that it was was a very expensive way to put things into space. >> money is not everything you know. >> reporter: but money is one reason space walkers installed an experiment for a robot to repair and refuel satellites. >> we're getting to that point where robots may be doing more of the stuff that humans used to do. >> reporter: some campers at the space and science center worried that might ruin their dream. >> when i grow up i would like to be an astronaut and go up to space. >> if we didn't study space how would you know what's up there. >> reporter: no wonder why there's so many want to be astronauts here with experiments like this. behind blasting bottle rockets almost into space. >>

ktvu's rita williams shows us how the effects are being felt here in the bay area. >> so we're just goingnstitute this x with two. >> reporter: at 38 years old, eugene akino says it isn't easy to be back in school but he says that's what he has to do to get a job. >> all i know is forklift driving and not a lot of people are hiring for that right now. >> reporter: akino is one of 5,000 people who used to build cars here at the nummi plant before it shutdown last year. >> everybody thought they had a job for last. >> reporter: so now he's preparing for a test that will admit him into an it course. smith is training for a technician job for less pay. >> not as much as i was making at nummi but it'll pay. >> the recession cost us more than 8 million jobs, and that means that we still have a big hole to fill. >> the president always tells us he inherited a bad situation. i can see the point, but he has made it worse. >> reporter: while politicians debate the problem, these laid off united auto workers have something most job seekers don't. federal and state money for retraining. >> they'll st

ktvu's rita williams shows us how the effects are being felt here in the bay area. >> so we're just goingtitute this x with two. >> reporter: at 38 years old, eugene akino says it isn't easy to be back in school but he says that's what he has to do to get a job. >> all i know is forklift driving and not a lot of people are hiring for that right now. >> reporter: akino is one of 5,000 people who used to build cars here at the nummi plant before it shutdown last year. >> everybody thought they had a job for last. >> reporter: so now he's preparing for a test that will admit him into an it course. smith is training for a technician job for less pay. >> not as much as i was making at nummi but it'll pay. >> the recession cost us more than 8 million jobs, and that means that we still have a big hole to fill. >> the president always tells us he inherited a bad situation. i can see the point, but he has made it worse. >> reporter: while politicians debate the problem, these laid off united auto workers have something most job seekers don't. federal and state money for retraining. >> they'll stil

rita williams says how it's also a remind eve of what it means to be an american. >> reporter: there was plenty of patriotism today. ♪ [ music ] >> reporter: faces of some of the people out of 7 billion in the world who call the united states home. >> we are probably the most fortunate on this planet. >> just great to be an american. you can do whatever you want hard work and effort you can achieve whatever you want. >> reporter: and you don't have to be born here. >> i feel i'm part of the america because -- i'm an american citizen. >> reporter: 235 years ago our four fathers declared independence from great britain. >> i don't remember what happened in 1776. i don't remember what happened in 1978. >> reporter: but she remembers this is her 92nd independence day. >> i think it's a wonderful country. i'm glad i'm in it. i'm glad i'm inin it. >> reporter: for joe it means fighting in world war ii. >> i have a lot of pride that i had a chance to serve the country. we fought for freedom. >> i'm proud to be an american. >> reporter: and a woman pushing a cart who calls herself sparkle ta

astronauts also installed a robot and ktvu's rita williams tells us that in a sense that robot may puta job. >> this is like the last space walk of the shuttle mission. >> reporter: with wide eyed wonder, space watchers watched another last. today's walkers were from the international space station but it's the last time they would see a shuttle launch there. >> the shuttle program for all that it was was a very expensive way to put things into space. >> money is not everything you know. >> reporter: but money is one reason space walkers installed an experiment for a robot to repair and refuel satellites. >> we're getting to that point where robots may be doing more of the stuff that humans used to do. >> reporter: some campers at the space and science center worried that might ruin their dream. >> when i grow up i would like to be an astronaut and go up to space. >> if we didn't study space how would you know what's up there. >> reporter: no wonder why there's so many want to be astronauts here with experiments like this. behind blasting bottle rockets almost into space. >> three, two

ktvu's rita williams joins us now with what happened with this issue in sacramento today, rita. >> reporter: gasia at the state capital today california took a tiny step on the long road toward killing the death penalty. >> california's death row is the largest and most expensive in the united states and it is not helping protect our people. it is helping to bankrupt us. >> reporter: supporting the bill to abolish capital punishment is lorane taylor who's twin sons were shot to death a decade ago. >> the case has remained unsolved. i think the death penalty is another act of violence. >> reporter: california voters approved in 1978 restoring the death penalty even switched sides. >> i fervently believe that capital punishment should be abolished. >> reporter: but a republican assemblyman who was a police officer countered the life without the possibility of parol is not a deterrent for many criminals. >> i've arrested 100 different people that have gone in and out of prison, in and out of jail and they could care less. that's where most of their friends are. they don't have to work, they ge

rita williams says how it's also a remind eve of what it means to be an american. >> reporter: there was plenty of patriotism today. ♪ [ music ] >> reporter: faces of some of the people out of 7 billion in the world who call the united states home. >> we are probably the most fortunate on this planet. >> just great to be an american. you can do whatever you want hard work and effort you can achieve whatever you want. >> reporter: and you don't have to be born here. >> i feel i'm part of the america because -- i'm an american citizen. >> reporter: 235 years ago our four fathers declared independence from great britain. >> i don't remember what happened in 1776. i don't remember what happened in 1978. >> reporter: but she remembers this is her 92nd independence day. >> i think it's a wonderful country. i'm glad i'm in it. i'm glad i'm inin it. >> reporter: for joe it means fighting in world war ii. >> i have a lot of pride that i had a chance to serve the country. we fought for freedom. >> i'm proud to be an american. >> reporter: and a woman pushing a cart who calls herself sparkle ta

rita williams. >> new, california's presidential primary is moving from february to june next year to savor the state monday yes. the governor signed a bill making official. it is expected to save california $100 million. it means the statewide primary and presidential primary will take place on the same day. it's a reversal from a few years ago when california tried to increase the political clout by moving it's primary to super tuesday in february. >> the man first named as the suspect in the beating of brian stow is speak out tonight. he was cleared last week for the attack after two other men were arrested. many are president is in state prison on a parole violation but released a statement. >> he states that more than anything i'm upset, not for myself but for the grief and embarrassment that my friends, family and loved ones have been put through. >> ramirez was arrested in may, police say they found a gun in the apartment where he was living so he was sent back to prison for ten months for violating his parole. on wednesday his attorneys filed a request to try to get him out. >

rita williams. >> new, california's presidential primary is moving from february to june next year to savor the state monday yes. the governor signed a bill making official. it is expected to save california $100 million. it means the statewide primary and presidential primary will take place on the same day. it's a reversal from a few years ago when california tried to increase the political clout by moving it's primary to super tuesday in february. >> the man first named as the suspect in the beating of brian stow is speak out tonight. he was cleared last week for the attack after two other men were arrested. many are president is in state prison on a parole violation but released a statement. >> he states that more than anything i'm upset, not for myself but for the grief and embarrassment that my friends, family and loved ones have been put through. >> ramirez was arrested in may, police say they found a gun in the apartment where he was living so he was sent back to prison for ten months for violating his parole. on wednesday his attorneys filed a request to try to get him out. >