and round the clock partnership from comcast business. see why comcast business powers more small businesses than anyone else. get started for $49.99 a month plus ask how to get up to an $800 prepaid card. don't wait- call today. from cbs news bay area, this is the morning edition. i am gianna franco and we continue to talk about this major transportation disruption in the bay area. >> let's begin with breaking news. a couple of bay area highways are shut down this monday morning by protest. 880

, a palestinian protest has traffic gridlocked. this is video from our photographer who got a look at what is causing the traffic backup. according to chp the protest blocks traffic about 6:30 this morning. the protest was in the area of fifth avenue according to reports. chp is confirming their about 15 protesters blocking northbound 880. >> we jump lied to the golden gate bridge where are chopper is above a second protest. this is forced all southbound lanes on the golden gate bridge to close. vern glenn is right there, right before going into the robin williams tunnel trying to head into san francisco. we know chp is responding and you see flashing lights on the truck. it is slow going to get to where the protest is happening to clear them. >> that is a big problem for

commuters this morning. with the closures on the golden gate. and closures on 880. let's talk about for anyone making the ride out of novato into san rafael. you can see north 101 and i am showing you a map of the area. all of the red, north of the golden gate indicates speeds under 25 miles per hour and it is crawling along. you want to stay with the richmond-san rafael bridge or public transit to get into san francisco this morning. not just southbound lanes, northbound lanes as well. all lanes completely shut down at the golden gate bridge. i want to show you a a live look at 880. this is the nimitz freeway northbound for commuters trying to work their way out of a word, san leandro, oakland near the coliseum. this is how far this backup is . because of the lane closures on the northbound side of 880, near 980. the barrels and the protesters are in lanes and this has been going on for several hours.

they are allowing big rigs and larger trucks to use 580. they don't typically do that because of weight restrictions but today, just to get traffic moving, people can use 580 are traveling in larger big rigs and trucks. 880 northbound backed up well into san leandro and you can see 580 is taking a hit as well for all the commuters, potentially using that. we see all of this on highway 13 as well and maybe trying to get toward 24 and toward the bay bridge. travel times are hefty. well over two hours to try to work away from 238. try to avoid the area if you can, if you trying to get here to the bay bridge, you can see traffic is busy but it is coming off 880 and westbound 580. the trying to get to hear, stay with those areas to try to get into san francisco. do not use northbound 880 . it is a troublesome commute and you see other bridges are available for commuters like the san mateo bridge if you want to use that

to get to san francisco. maybe your commute take you to the city of this will be another way to get around this huge mess happening on 880. we want to show you video. of earlier. this is from chopper five. we took this earlier in the protesters, it looks like they are stock. the barrels on the ground and chained inside the barrels. >> their arms are linked inside the barrels which makes it tricky to cut the barrels loose. you think, let's talk about what this bridge. forgiveness, that video as an expletive. let's get off of their with respect to our viewers. that is on 880 and this is the situation on the golden gate bridge. let's talk about what this is about . similar to november when protesters targeted the apec conference, when the eyes of the world were on san francisco, these protesters are once again using our bridge systems, our commuter systems to send a word that they are protesting the war in gaza. that is why they are out in this coordinated move to shut down always -- our way of life. nicole, as you look at

the bridge, the golden gate bridge, it does not look like there is any hope that this will be open and flowing anytime soon. >> this is reminiscent of what you brought up during the apec conference and that took several hours to clear. they used their vehicles to stop traffic and whether it is throwing the keys out, you have to wait for the tow trucks to come in and you have to clear the protesters, arrest the protesters and what is concerning is you go back to those protesters , 98% of them, really got off with just five hours of community service. if you are looking to protest and you're looking at what the ramifications during the apec summit were, you think, the penalty is not that harsh. i am most concerned what is happening on 880 because of those barrels . you can see caltrans out and it has been several hours. it does not seem as if the barrels are being removed from the pavement, gianna. >> this is taking a long time for this to happen in the problem is, i am curious and

wondering how they even started this closure and what a dangerous thing for people to walk in the roadway during a very busy time on 880 and these cars, coming in at 60 or 65 miles per hour having to stop so quickly to avoid hurting anyone , just walking onto the freeway. it started at 6:30 this morning and you can see people are still on the roadways , stuck to the barrels. you have so many first responders on scene. trying to figure out how to remove all of this out of lanes and in the meantime, it is causing a huge mess for commuters. he has a lot of big rigs trying to get to the port of oakland or travel along 880. big rigs in larger trucks use 880 often to head through. because they cannot use 580 which they can now. because of the closure. >> we are showing you the situation on 880 and over on the golden gate bridge but you can imagine people who are hearing us and heeding the warning to get often find

other routes, the surface streets are likely messed up. he saw the video of police with protesters . in earlier reporting coming out of the apec protest that shut down the bay bridge, if you're wondering why are the police just picking them up and arresting them? the government has a certain amount of prosecutorial discretion in terms of whether it will arrest people, whether it will say go home or allow people to leave . there's all sorts of latitude and discretion at various parts of the process. that came from a professor of law you see san francisco. she said in terms of the first amendment question meant, they upper permitted to say move the sidewalk or and your protest. you see the zip ties and that looks like arrest to me. >> definitely. with them doing this on 880, you have the closure across the golden gate bridge where they parked their cars. and what was on the bay

bridge months ago during the apec conference, throwing keys into the water to make it very difficult for first responders to do their job and get these cars out of the way. it looks like they are trying to get things moving in trying to get things cleared out of lanes but in the meantime it is causing a huge mess for a lot of people. people who work with us. kind of show you how bad the backup is. it's well beyond sausalito. trying to get into san francisco. his commute takes you out of marin county, as you head into san francisco. i want to show you are maps to show you how bad the backup is. it is well beyond sausalito. if anyone is listening you are getting ready to get on 101 making the ride out of non--- nevada or san rafael come across across the bridge, stay with public transit or the ferries to get into san francisco this morning because you will not be able to cross the golden gate bridge because of that. look how far the backup is on 880. this is near the coliseum. it is a good amount of ways from where the protest and the closure is

happening. this backup goes well beyond this point all the way into san leandro. for anyone commuting through that area. reader nicole, this is one of the busiest mornings. it is monday and people are trying to get to work at school. by 9:00 the lanes should be clear and wrapped up in traffic should be moving on a regular monday. but not today. this may be some dashed surprising for some people heading out the door. >> it is no coincidence it is happening during rush hour traffic as they tried to get the message heard but you think about those that are stuck in the traffic , going back to the apec summit, you remember the story of the donor, the organ donor that was in traffic. there are people that have serious emergencies and they need to get to places and unfortunately, everything is gridlocked. >> this is on live chopper. chopper 5 over the 880 gridlocked. speaking of people affected by the protest, so many people are backed up and in the middle of the backup you see the protesters. starting

to think that five or six protesters who got their hands in barrels could cause this for so many people in the bay area. into your point , nicole, they chose this time of day knowing that morning shows would be on the air and the choppers would be deployed for traffic reports. this is by no coincidence, as you say. this is the situation on 880. gianna, we had an opportunity to look at the video and the backup over on the north side , going into the north bay. video from vern glenn, our producers says to go to that. this is the backup going into the marin headlands and going through the robin williams tunnel. the backup, gianna, you say past sausalito. >> well beyond that. probably connecting at this point. i will check my maps. i think we have vern glenn on the phone . is he available ? i know he is in this backup , for anyone commuting into san francisco.

you can see the bus, transportation bus just trying to get people into the city. they use that a lot for golden gate transit. for commuters. that backup , well beyond sausalito i am sure travel times are incredibly , incredibly long for anyone trying to make that commute and we will see a ripple effect on the richmond-san rafael bridge. we are starting to see things getting busy at the bay bridge for people trying to go westbound 580 on the richmond-san rafael bridge. we are starting to see things getting busy at the bay bridge for people trying to go westbound 582 get over into san francisco that way to avoid northbound 880. even the closures, cause a huge problem. i think we have vern. can we check in with you? you are in the backup right now. >> i am with you. we are not even at the robin williams tunnel. we are southbound 101. i can see the tunnel in front of me and we are just creeping. it is like a parking lot. on 101 south. i have a young lady in the car with me, she has a 10:30 flight. she is booking herself on a later flight. it is impacting a lot of people. and i think this was

absolutely, 100%, well-planned by these protesters. to take this morning and shut it down. mission accomplished. we are right in the middle of it . >> the ramifications are so real for the people and the person in your car right now who booked and paid for a flight. you are watching what is going to be a national news story. you don't often see in the united states of america major thoroughfares and major cities shut down in protested the war in gaza but you see it in the bay area. vern, the question i have for you, i would imagine in order to get the freeway cleared and to get people off the bridge, you need police officers. are you seeing any police officers able to get through the traffic? >> reporter: i just shot about 10 seconds of video of a chp officer trying to weave through this parking lot . he has his christmas tree lights on his car and , good luck, buddy. good luck getting through this. he is trying . he is actually

in the robin williams tunnel right now, trying to get through to the other side. everybody is having problems. no matter who you are. >> if law-enforcement officials are having a difficult time weaving through, think about those that are having life-threatening emergencies that need to get help. and they are stuck in the gridlock as well. >> vern, how long have you been on the freeway? >> reporter: i got on the road maybe 40 minutes ago or something like that. we've got plenty of time to get to the airport. right as we were driving uphill , 101 south, right around the spencer avenue exit in marin, if folks are familiar with marin county, that is when we were like, i see brake lights. i see stopped traffic and just my luck, i was just too far to take that exit to weave around ago northbound and circle around

the other way may be headed toward the richmond-san rafael bridge to get this young lady honor flight. but, no . maybe going three miles an hour, if traffic moves. >> the protesters, you see the sign on the golden gate bridge. stop the world for gaza and it is a pro-palestinian protest. what you are also seeing in addition to all the ramifications, the traffic backup and the difficulty for first responders and police to get through to get them off the bridge. they are breaking the law but you are seeing an emerging political narrative that people who are running for office, will be hearing about. this is something that is happening in the bay area. but protests around the united states are coordinated such as we have seen on social media, coordinating this one. right at peak travel time and this is not going to start to shape the narrative the politicians will have to respond to .

>> i will show you the traffic maps because you asked him for the backup is. almost to mill valley. a lot of people realize the closures and sometimes when these things happen, they will put up the caltrans signs off to the side of the roadway to alert people. use the richmond-san rafael bridge. use an alternate because of the closure at the golden gate . hopefully, that is happening. if you take south 101 from the richmond-san rafael bridge over into san francisco, that is about a 15 minute ride. right now it is 62 minutes ago from 37 in novato to the golden gate bridge. that is one hour for anyone making that ride. if you have to get through this area , richmond-san rafael bridge will be your alternate or potentially public transit. as we heard from vern, trying to get someone to the airport, there are probably a lot of people in similar situations trying to travel on some of these major freeways this morning. the thing with the golden gate bridge, the span is not very long. it is very easy for them to close it quickly and traffic moves a lot slower.

we have shifted over to a live look at 880 where you can see their working to separate these protesters from these barrels that they apparently chained themselves together through holes they made off to the side. this is not easy. >> we have seen for the last 45 minutes or so, paramedics are on scene because gianna, to your point, we don't know how these people are change to these barrels and how somewhat of a tube there that maybe barrels, if they are cemented to the ground were somehow fixed to the ground. they have paramedics on hand and you can see the barrel looks like it is almost completely dismantled but i see somewhat of a tube that maybe they put a chain through, connecting their hands . >> there is something inside the barrel. i don't know what it is but it looks cement colored to me. they have the barrel cracked open. how are they secured with their hands inside the barrel? we don't know. we will find out. you are looking at protests, pro

their back with the handcuffs palestinian protest right now on the 880. these are live pictures coming in from chopper 5. with a helicopter pilot and you see the person's hands behind her back with handcuffs. now being lifted to be arrested. what is interesting to find out, when the bay bridge were shut down in november during a pack and people were arrested, some 80 people in the end , five hours of community service and they were let off . the question this morning i am sure a lot of people are boiling like vern glenn who is there with the young lady who has to take a flight and cannot take the flight, is the slap on the wrist incentivizing protest like these. >> it is not scaring them away. look at the debris on the ground is from the removal of that one barrel. there are several more barrels to go. you can see the protesters are secured to them with what we think and it is reported to be chains. chains inside of the barrels with some sort of tube or contraption . they are having to solder or melt off . this will take a very long time

to remove this entire chain. >> they do not have that apparatus on the bay bridge. do you remember how long that went on during the apec summit? >> like four or five hours to get traffic moving again. we had all the people on the bay bridge but there were more people than we see today but you had the parked cars and they did not have keys and they had to bring tow trucks. the tow trucks had to get through the backup. there were hundreds of cars in the back up and you see this happening, likely, at least at the golden gate bridge with the cars . this is one barrel they are moving at this moment. imagine how long it will take to do seven in total across north 880. this is in oakland and in an area where it is heavily, heavily traveled for the commute. even on a weekend this is an area where you see so many cars. and big rigs. travel trailers and larger trucks traveling through this area. a lot of times they cannot access 580.

>> you could see four barrels remaining and they are cleaning up one of the barrels and what looks like a substance inside the barrel like a cement like substance. >> we have been covering this for an hour and a half maybe two hours. they only have one barrel cleared and they have four to go with protesters. they have their arms in what looks to be a large pvc pipe that runs between the barrels and inside the barrel, whatever the substances that you see, police having to shovel out of the roadway. listen, this will be the big story of the day in the bay area and this will not wrap itself up soon. you will not see roads open likely for many, many hours. message anybody who might be in this or who got through it before all of this happened and say, deep breath, bay area. we have to find alternate routes and this is not going to be an easy or fast commute day. >> looking at this live image you can see the cars that are parked diagonally and you wonder how this was orchestrated. probably very

similar to what we saw with the bay bridge . they all stopped their cars at once. i would assume they could have abandoned the keys at that point . there was a truck and you wonder if those containers were in the back of that truck and all of his cars are stopped. >> that is a scary thought in the sense of how fast traffic is traveling along 880 at 6:30 in the morning and what they had to do to slow traffic down and cars coming in really hot and fast and probably having to slam on brakes, really dangerous situation when they started probably blocking roadways. i got some new information about the closure along 101. you are looking live at the golden gate bridge where the second protest is happening . all lanes are shut down and we are hearing their trying to divert vehicles off at the sausalito exit and turn them around to head northbound on 101. you don't have a lot of options when you get a little closer to the span of the bridge getting into san francisco. a lot of the cars

that our stock will take them longer to get out of the way or get -- or at least find another option to get around that. this is a live look at the toll plaza. it is 9:20 in the morning. the golden gate bridge. not just for commuters but tourists and people who come to san francisco to visit our area , our city, will not have an opportunity to do that this morning and you are not seeing any cars travel across the span. this is kind of rare to see at 9:20 on a monday morning. unless there is something big happening on the bridge. and with the closer it will be like this for some time. >> gianna, i see this and we know the golden gate bridge is shut down. and i think, what if ? what if there were a larger emergency. we live in earthquake territory. what if the bridge needed to be cleared fast? you have so many people that are hovering over the water on the golden gate bridge. that is one of the ramifications of this protest that is now shut down the golden gate bridge. gummed up

880. the fact that emergency personnel cannot or could not in the worst-case scenario get through to access to help people and so many people would be stuck in that situation. that is likely what prosecutors will have to face when they look at new charges for those who will likely be arrested. >> vern glenn who is stuck in the traffic reported to us that he watched law enforcement officials struggle to weave their way through traffic. about the stores that came from the bay bridge , that protest months ago and how there was an organ donor that was affected by that. sat in an ambulance for hours. >> that is what is so scary and unfortunate about these situations with the shut down these freeways. it takes so long to clear everything and to make the arrest and to get the tow trucks out. that was traffic on the golden gate. they are holding traffic on the san francisco side and not allowing cars on the northbound side. that is causing a huge

mess on surface streets in and around the presidio near marina greens or anyone who potentially make the ride over into marin county. today is one of those days if you are watching and you have to commute in and around these areas, public transit will probably be the best way to do that right now because the freeways are so backed up as well as surface streets in and around these areas. >> you are getting a look inside of the barrels that we see on 880 and people had chained their arms inside what looks like , a large pvc pipe. some sort of the tube. they are using various tools to deconstruct whatever this arrow is filled with and remove the debris. this is just one of what looks have been five or potentially six barrels that have been on the 880 with people chained to them for close to three hours. >> you see them having to run an extension cord to the reciprocating saw to cut the protester out of the barrel .

that is likely connected to a generator. from that cord all the way back to even get electricity , to get the power tools to get them out, these protesters knew this was going to be like this and they knew it would backup traffic like the sign says, stop the world . >> this i like the second barrel they are removing. if you go to the top of your screen, you can see the imprint, the first barrel left. we did see them taking away one of the protesters already. but several more protesters sitting chain. >> that is a look at the freeway and an impact to traffic along northbound 880. it has been out there since 6:30 this morning and we go close to three hours. even when they get the lanes opened up it will take a while for things to get on track and get situated for anyone making the ride

along 880. and the ripple effect on the other roadways near here for surface streets, for 580 and highway 13 and anyone headed through that area and the backup will be on that point . i will tell you there is no closures in the bay bridge and no closures on the san mateo bridge . the richmond san mateo bridge is open and clear. commuters, if you're listening or traveling today, you have the option for public transit. watching from chopper 5 how long it is taking to remove the protesters and separate them from the barrels. this could take at least if you are hours to get that done. >> you see all hands on deck. law-enforcement officials, you have chp, you also have caltrans. emergency responders and so many different people. there is a lot of unknown. when you remove a barrel and a human is attached to the barrel and you had no idea what is inside of the barrel , you really want to make sure you are doing it as delicately as possible. and at times that you did -- time

sensitive situation where people are backed up. it is a nightmare situation. >> the eyes of the world or on the police and how police are responding to this. you know such scrutiny has been leveled against police for how they de-escalate the situations. they are being watched by the entire united states of america. this will be a national story today. as you go to the golden gate bridge as you think about the hundreds of people who are affected who are backed up and whose lives are affected , if the protesters really will be currying favor with anyone . is this an effective way to protest? we are looking at the golden gate bridge right now. >> it looks like we have a photographer on scene. this is our photographer shot. >> to finish what i was saying, you have to wonder for those

caught up in this traffic, does this curry favor for the cause of those who are shutting down our world? in the bay area from a transportation standpoint or does it cause more frustration, is it worth all of this to do this? >> i am sure there are so many commuters who are incredibly frustrated and we heard from vern trying to get someone to the airport this morning for a 10:30 flight. that is not happening. you can see the toll plaza. what we saw from the photographer was a san francisco side of the golden gate bridge and they are blocking traffic. also, not just on the north end where it is closer to where the protest is happening, but on the southbound, southside as well for not allowing any vehicles to get onto the golden gate bridge. you can imagine the frustration of anyone trying to commute in and around that area as well and you can see we turned the camera around and you have the perspective coming off of 19th avenue highway 1. you have the connector toward marina boulevard. people are getting out of their cars. >> not advisable. >> not a good idea to get out.

they are parked on the roadway. and probably unexpectedly. unless they had a heads up as they walked out the door this morning. you are seeing a huge impact from both directions for coming out of san francisco, coming out of marin county and we saw the backup well into mill valley which is a pretty substantial part of 101, southbound, especially for anyone trying to get to this point across the golden gate. they are diverting traffic in sausalito and that is not easy to do. sausalito is hard to navigate with not a lot of larger roadways. >> you can see a fire truck making its way when we first took the live feed we saw an ambulance making their way onto the golden gate. you do wonder if anyone is having a life-threatening emergency, how they are able to get to that person and remove them from the bridge. from everything we are hearing, it is completely gridlocked right now. >> going to the 880 and we see

what the situation is and it continues to be what we have been telling you all morning long. traffic at a complete standstill. by the way, to the question, does this curry favor for the cause of the protesters? please sound off and let's continue having this community conversation on social media. use #kpix and we would love to hear from you this morning. about yours perspectives on the situation. what is interesting to me , it looks like traffic has been pushed back a bit from the area of activity where police are now trying to get the protesters out of the barrels. the contraptions they have created. it looks like cement , into the barrels. >> for safety reasons, to keep people further back beyond that point for safety purposes. just to see the closure , looks like it is affecting one of the ramps trying to access 880 this morning. you have people as well. when we saw the area where the barrels were set up, it looks like maybe seven to

10 people. you can see even on a side street, it looks like one of the ramps, hundreds of people. someone is being arrested, as well. >> we have been talking about other ways to get to work and we know that we have a ferry system. it cannot get a lot of people through. one person saw this and jumped on a very. can you hear us? >> i can. >> you saw this was going on and you chose to get on the ferry. what are you seeing? his impact ? news. they jumped on the ferry to diverted, as did i. so we just pulled back will be about 20 minutes. get across the day over to the ferry building and not sitting up on top of sausalito there and, uh, that