vicky nguyen investigates. >> can i ask you a few questions this. >> no, thanks. >> reporter: that's fallon mitts. we contacted him after a viewer called with questions about his organization. >> who are you with? >> gift the vet. >> reporter: mitts and a man who identified himself as bob told our undercover cameras how gift a vet helps veterans. >> what we'll do is help with security deposits for veterans. we'll take them to the va, get their paperwork done. >> reporter: the men set up in front of these grocery stores six days a week, next to an american flag and an ammo box for donations. >> in the average box is roughly $200, $250 on the weekend. >> the majority of the funds that go into this box will provide outreach money to get to veterans who are living outdoors, to the va. >> i think it's a scam. >> reporter: bill hampshire isn't buying it. >> i don't understand how it can be anything but. >> reporter: the retired major served in the air force 20 years and began questioning mitts after his wife, also a veteran, gave the men some cash. >> the first guy had said that almost 100

. >>> i'm vicki nguyen, more on what happened with a little girl and how they tried to save her. we thought we'd be ready. but demand for our cocktail bitters was huge. i could feel our deadlines racing towards us. we didn't need a loan. we needed short-term funding. fast. our amex helped us fill the orders. just like that. you can't predict it, but you can be ready. another step on the journey. will you be ready when growth presents itself. realize your buying power at open.com. many say -- is failing our community. we expose the foster vicky, nguy . >>> tonight, we have a rare behind the scenes look at a system that many say is failing our children. we look at a foster system that some say abuse children. >>> and our investigative reporter vicky nguyen looks into the system and wonders what is watching these children. >> you will meet people who open their homes to children in need but you will also hear their frustrations on how they tried to do the right thing for a 4-year-old girl, only to have the reports go nowhere. we also want to warn you some of the pictures in this sto

i'm investigative reporter vicky nguyen. up next. a federal investigators shows what happens when he blew the whistle on the whistle blower protection program. >>> the landmark law that has a handful of california high schools looking for new mascots. >>> a big deal for dell. dell's latest move could mean bad news for the silicon valley. employer because he was worried about public safety. iroca >>> he blew the whistle on his employer because he was worried about public safety. ironically, he investigated whistle blower cases for the federal government. >> investigative reporter vicky nguyen first brought you the story of an osha employee who raised red flags. what's the latest, vicky? >> reporter: darryl whitman put his career on the line to expose what he called dysfunction within osha. he said the agency is hurting the very people it's supposed to protect. workers fired for reporting safety problems that can harm the public. now we've learned that whitman is the one out of a job. >> whitman calls it retaliation. he says he was fir

i'm vicky nguyen.recast with anthony slaughter. >> good morning. we're looking at clouds building across the area. we have a cold front that's going to slide through later on this morning and that's going to trigger a few areas of showers mostly for the coastline. you can actually see the showers are very light in nature. so a lot of this stuff that we do see this morning will be light and probably just enough to get the ground wet. so we're not expecting a whole lot in terms of rainfall. nonetheless, any accumulation.

i'm vicky nguyen. up next, why whistleblowers say the program created to help them does more to harm them. >>> plus a critical new report on the shooting down of a jetliner over ukraine. the terrifying final moments of flight mh-17. the drought is affecting all of us. at pg&e we've definitely put a focus on helping our agricultural customers through the drought. when they do an energy efficiency project and save that money they feel it right in their pocket book. it's exciting to help a customer with an energy efficiency project because not only are they saving energy but they are saving water. we have a lot of projects at pg&e that can help them with that and that's extremely important while we're in a drought. it's a win for the customer and it's a win for california. together, we're building a better california. whistleblowers? federal laws are supposed to protect them from retaliation >>> is the government turning its back on whistleblowers? federal laws are supposed to protect them from retaliatio

i'm vicky nguyen. let's take a look outside at san jose. a chilly start to your morning. we've got upper 50s in most places right now. but we're looking at a beautiful day across the bay area. take a look at those temperatures. san jose hitting 78. redwood city, you'll get to 77. and out in san francisco, you're looking at low 70s. let's take you to the north bay now. napa is looking at a temperature of 81 degrees. santa rosa, 85. in oakland, you're seeing 77 and a little hotter in pleasanton at 83 degrees. >>> new video this morning, a spectacle in the sky. we want to show you this storm that rocked the east bay from antioch to benicia. several cities saw a show of lightning, heavy rain and big am boos. this happened from about midnight till 2:00 this morning. pretty incredible there. >>> and incredibly strong winds across the bay area as well. doing some damage. check out this tree that came down on a car in the town of inverness. that's happening in marin county. there is also damage in san francisco and the east bay. there's that tree we want to show you. a high wind

i'm vicky nguyen hosting for robert handa this week. military intelligence service and its historic learning center. we'll talk with community leaders and veterans about this project in san francisco that tries to make the public aware of the secrets but crucial contributions by japanese-americans during world war ii. >>> it's almost time for halloween and halloween candy. our guest from pediatric dentistry of palo alto is here with more on a candy buyback program. we'll see why it's so important to children's health and how the treats are put to very good use. >>> and we wrap up our show with the return of one of the most popular guests, the dance company. we'll leap into filipino-american history month with high fashion and a live dance performance in our studio. >>> well, the military intelligence service or mis was an important resource during world war ii and one of the most critical contributions by japanese-americans. many who stepped forward after being put in internment camp. now our guests want to make sure those contributions

investigative reporter vicki nguyen is investigating the national data what happens when people officially blow the whistle. >> good morning. we looked at the comthat came in for the past ten years for the federal whistleblower program and we're seeing for the first time when the government finds in favor of workers who report concerns about public health and safety. not often. we learned fewer than 2% of the cases osha investigates actually result in a positive finding of merit for the whistleblower. 22% of cases resulted in settlements osha calls those outcomes favorable. but we talked with more a dozen people who say osha unfairly dismissed their complaints or dragged out their cases. these people work in industries that affect all of us. airlines nuclear plants, food safety. and we found whistleblowers wait long time for resolution. in 2014, the average case took osha more than a year to investigate. not the 90 days or less as the law requires. critic saz the whistleblower program needs major reform and should be removed from osha. no one from osha would talk to us, but in a memo direc

i'm vicky nguyen. let's get a check of that microclimate forecast with anthony slaughter. >> good morning. we're looking at clouds building across the area. we have a cold front that's going to slide through later on this morning and that's going to trigger a few areas of showers mostly for the coastline. you can actually see the showers are very light in nature. so a lot of this stuff that we do see this morning will be light and probably just enough to get the ground wet. so we're not expecting a whole lot in terms of rainfall. nonetheless, any accumulation. so temperatures today will be coming down because of that cold front moving through. no 80s for the bay area. just the tri-valley. upper 70s. mid-70s for east bay and 60s for san francisco. a little drizzly early in the day and then we'll see a few clouds towards the afternoon. but again, a good mix of sun and clouds as that front moves through. temperatures coming down. very fall-like this afternoon. we have another chance of rain in the forecas

i'm vicky nguyen. let's get a check of that microclimate forecast with anthony slaughter. good morning to you. >> good morning. a little drizzle this morning. mostly cloudy skies overhead but some areas with a little sunshine kind of like what we saw yesterday. overall you'll notice big-time thunderstorms erupting across parts of the central valley. we are not going to see anything like that, but the core of low pressure is actually sliding overhead right now. so that's going to trigger off drizzle and keep clouds in place through the day. so it won't be overly sunny. a good mix of sun and clouds through the afternoon. temperatures, because of the cloud cover, will be held down into the 70s across the bay today. i don't think we'll see any 80s today so nice and comfortable and get outside and enjoy. light northwesterly breeze will really make it feel like fall today. we do have a warming trend headed our way over the next couple days with the return of 90s. we'll show you that coming up in my next report. >> thank you, anthony. >>> happening right now in the south bay, pol

i'm vicky nguyen alongside anthony slaughter.nks so much for waking up with us this morning anthony, the weather looking good. >> yeah, just sprinkled a little bit yesterday, enough to get the ground wet. big-time thunderstorms across fresno. the core of low pressure is sliding overhead now. it will trigger a few areas of sprinkles this morning. but otherwise we are expecting to see another day like what we saw yesterday. a good mix of sun and clouds by the afternoon hours. more cloud cover than anything, and that's going to keep our temperatures down. we're talking about 70s bay areawide. at the coast, a few 60s but overall very comfortable. room temperature across the bay area today. but again, more cloud cover like we saw yesterday, vicky. keep in mind, it's not going to be overly sunny but again it's not going to be completely cloudy all day long if you're headed to levi's stadium, expect sunshine for the game. >> sounds good. we like that, room temperature. thank you, anthony. >> for sure. >>> we begin with a developing stor

vicky nguyen exposed this story last night.nd there were deeper concerns at this local agency. >> for the past two years, the santa clara department of social services were aware of their problems all laid out in a comprehensive audit. but until now, few of us knew what it was like for the children suffering abuse and the caregivers trying to get help. we want to warn you some of the content is very difficult to see but we want to show you what the social workers are accused of ignoring. >> bruises, bite marks, somebody tried to choke her. >> they are the pictures no mother wants to take. images of unspeakable cruelty to her daughter, a 4-year-old girl. >> as a mom, did you think something was wrong? >> yes. >> reporter: we're calling her anna to protect her identity. she lost custody of her five children in 2013 after their father was accused of physically abusing one of the children. she says and police records confirm the little girl suffered severe abuse in her new foster home. bitten, burned and beaten, all of it captured

vicky nguyen analyzed the data to see what really happens. >> we asked the feds for all of the complaints filed with osha's whistle blower program nationwide. these come from industries that affect all of us, airlines, nuclear power plants, food safety. in 2014, it took them more than a year to investigate and close out most complaints. the law says it's supposed to be done in 90 days or less. we learned fewer than 2% of the cases osha investigates actually results in a positive finding of merit for the whistle blower. critics say the agency is ill equipped to do its job. >> the national level, the osha program has been so counterproductive that i view it as a trojan horse. it's an agency we warn whistle blowers about. >> osha declined to be interviewed, but the director wrote we are focused on improving the efficiency and quality of our investigations. he says the agency has worked for more than a year to better train its investigators. up next at 6:00, hear from a whistle blower investigator who was fired for speaking out about the program. what he said whistle blowers need to know, and

vicki nguyen accepted the award on behalf of our team. >> we want to dedicate this to the whistleblowers. you know, our job is public service and we provide a voice for the voiceless and it means the world to us when people trust us to tell their stories. >> a big moment in the spotlight for a story that significantly changed our community and the way that company does business around the country and across borders. like many, that story came from a tip. now, if you have a tip or a story for us, we invite you to call our tip line at 888-996-tips or send an e-mail to the unit @nbcbayarea.com. >>> we thank you for joining us tonight. you are invited to join us regularly right here on nbc bay area. why you ask? because we investigate. i'm tony kovaleski. goodnight. it'll be here before you know it. hello, halloween. it's the one night when everybody dresses up. and that includes dinner. unleash the power of dough. give it a pop. it's always worth remembering... that icing the cinnamon rolls is a privilege not a right. unleash the power of dough. give it a pop. the khloe takes la mar pack an

vicky nguyen is with us this evening, and foster care abuse is not uncommon, and in this case, there were so many breakdowns. >> raj, one child advocate we spoke with said we know there's eveling in the world and children are abused, but it's what we do when we find out about that abuse that matters. in this case, the mother's testimony and the series of reports show the santa clara department of social services did not do nearly enough. and the 4-year-old girl almost died. we have learned this agency in charge of protecting 1300 children in foster care in santa clara county has a history of ignoring abuse reports. an audit of the santa clara department of social services revealed it failed to answer 41% of the calls that came into its abuse and neglect hotline. the leaders refuszed to answer our questions about what the agency is doing to improve though numbers. meanwhile, this mother says that she wasn't the only one who tried to alert social workers about serious injuries she saw on her daughter's body while she was in foster care. >> 100. more than 100. >> more than 100 photos? a

i'm vicky nguyen alongside with anthony slaughter who is standing by with the microclimate forecast. it's going to be nice. big changes are in the works? >> by wednesday chance of rain. until then all about the heat. temperatures nice and mild this morning starting off in the 50s and 60s. clear skies. no fog like we saw yesterday. today expect a lot of sunshine. 70 degrees for san francisco. that would be really bad. big time winter storm. 85 degrees for san jose. 83 for the north bay and mid-70s for the east bay and the peninsula. we're talking about the chance of rain that moves in wednesday night into thursday and another big system moves in next weekend with two chances of rain. we're really excited. we'll talk more about that. >> we love the southern of that. thank you. >>> members of the california national guard served our country with honor. now some tell nbc bay area that they have been been betrayed by their leaders. this is a story about critical medical benefits and those that have waited for years for help. >> reporter: they want that answer from this man general baldwin

vicky nguyen investigating the issue for months. new data about what's happening to whistle-blowers. >> not a lot. the federal whistle-blower protection programs full of reports of workers across the nation fired for raising red flags about public safety. critics say most reports get dismissed even when they shouldn't. now we're seeing for the first time just how often the government finds in favor of whistle-blowers. >> reporter: from airlines to pipelines, they're the workers on the front lines who speak up when systems break down. the government built a safety net for whistle-blowers who get fired for raising red flags about safety issues or illegal activities. the whistle-blower protect program and it's run by osha. >> whistle-blowers don't have a fighting chance when they seek justice at this agency. >> reporter: tom has testified before congress and helped pass national whistle-blower laws. now helps defend employees against retaliation. >> the program has been subcounterproductive but i view it as a trojan horse. an agency we

vicky/cu i'm vicky nguyen... >>> good morning to you.ow is 6:26 and we want to start you off with a beautiful live look out at san jose. you can see a sliver of a moon in the upper right-hand corner. thanks so much for joining us. here one day gone the next. president obama just wrapped up his whirlwind fundraising trip to san francisco. thousands of people lined the streets to get a glimpse of the commander-in-chief as he hopped from one part of the city to another. the president started his day downtown at a fundraiser at the warfield theater before he took the stage mr. obama got a warm introduction from oakland's mayor and the nba champs the golden state warriors. >> thank you very much for having us. >> you recognize him? that's stef curry. crowd of about 1300 welcomed the president on stage. his 20-minute speech was light hearted but it did take a serious turn when the president touched on gun control. >> we don't have to have young boys in oakland getting shot every day. we don't have to have kids in classrooms feeling threatened

. >> investigative reporter vicky nguyen dug into the department of social services to ask who's watching out for these kids? we have to tell you some of the images in the story may be a bit hard to see. >> reporter: we reveal a broken system few have seen up close. you'll meet people who open their homes to children in need, but you'll also hear their frustrations about how they tried to do the right thing for a 4-year-old girl only to have the reports go nowhere. we also want to warn you some of the pictures in this story are very hard to see. but we are showing you these images that reveal the abuse that so many people tried to report. signs are everywhere in the house. >> they're all good kids. >> reporter: what was built as a retirement home for two turned into a crowded situation. >> we had them going on for three i years. >> reporter: four growing children. >> it changed our lives totally. >> these are my four kids. >> reporter: after raising her own family ysabel wanted to give back. she and al went through the process to become emergency foster care parents. when asked to take in

i'm vicky nguyen. we have some breaking news to tell you about in the south bay.he south bay sparked evacuations at a mobile home park. the flames erupted shortly before 3:00 this morning at a strip mall in san jose. this is all happening on center road not far from the coyote creek and highway 101. several stores are up in flames. the fire also threatened surrounding apartments and mobile homes. falling embers caused the evacuation of several of those homes. just take a look at those flames. no word yet on any injuries or the cause of this fire. stay with us as we will continue to bring you updates as we get them. >>> strong winds have caused damage across the bay area. check out this tree that came down on a car in the town of inverness in marin county. there's also damage in san francisco and the east bay from these winds. a high wind advisory is now in effect for the bay bridge and san mateo bridge. that also applies to the north and east bay hills above 1,000 feet. in san francisco near golden gate park, yesterday's winds blew down metal gates near the music