japanese american culture includes parades, floats, live music, and food. >> we came for like from about an hour away, but it was totally worth it. like this mochi. this mochi was really, really good and i also got some of the matcha ice cream. >> more crowds are expected in san francisco's japantown next weekend. the cherry blossom festival wraps up this coming saturday and sunday. people planning a trip to yosemite national park will now need a reservation. the entry request system went into effect at the park on saturday. the hopes of cutting down multi-hour lines at entry stations from now till june 30th. you'll need a reservation on weekends and holidays. then you'll need one every day starting july 1st to august 16th. reservations go back to weekends only. august 17th, interstate 80 and the golden gate bridge at a standstill as protesters block two bay area highways. >> the regional impact it's having on traffic and what protesters are demanding.

>> then jury selection begins for the first ever criminal trial of a former us president. we'll talk live with a legal analyst about the charges. former president trump is facing, which include falsifying business records in connection to hush money. >> plus, san francisco jails on lockdown following a violent weekend. people are getting hurt. >> it's extremely violent. >> the reason officials say the siation could have been avoided as several deputies working in the jails are being attacked by inmates. >> life from jack london square this is mornings on two. >> the night. >> welcome to the nine, a site you don't often see at 9:00 on a monday morning. extremely quiet here at the toll plaza on the golden gate bridge as protesters have blocked traffic in the southbound direction. they're calling for a free palestine. this means no one is coming from marin county down into the city. this is a live picture here, one of two major actions in which

demonstrators are calling for an end to us support of israel. we'll continue our breaking news coverage now as there are protesters still blocking the northbound lanes of 880 through oakland. >> this is part of what they're calling an economic blockade expected in cities across the world today. >> ktvu reporter amanda quintana joins us live from oakland with what we know about the protest and the attempts to clear the interstate. and it could be a while. right. amanda >> yeah, it really could be a while, because we have been here for more than two hours and we still have not seen anyone be arrested or removed, there are about six or so protesters. you can't see them from this angle because they're sitting down and they are attached to these big oil barrels. so that is what's taking so long. we've been watching police, with jackhammers, trying to get those oil barrels out of here. it seems like they must be filled with concrete or something like that. but the drivers here are starting to get pretty antsy because they've been sitting here for more than two hours, a

lot of them getting out of their cars, going up, trying to get pictures and see what is happening, but this is all part of a planned effort today with the goal of disrupting the global economy and oakland is just one of 56 cities across the world where groups plan to create these blockades. it's a coordinated effort. they're calling a 15, referring to april 15th, and it's meant to jam up trade choke points and disrupt economic logistical hubs. the participants in these the protesters, they say that the global economy is complicit in the ongoing genocide of palestinian people in gaza. of course, we have seen many of these protests over the last few months on the bay bridge. now we're seeing one on the golden gate bridge. we've seen them try to shut down the port of oakland, but on their website for this, a 15 effort, they say there's a need to shift from symbolic action to those that cause pain to the economy. so

that is really what today is all about for them. there are three other california cities on the list of cities where they plan to have these blockades, long beach, orange county and san diego. but obviously this expanded because it started here around 630. that's when they shut down 880. and then just after 8:00, that's when they started to shut down the golden gate bridge. so this is expanding, we're going to remain here to show you what's going on, but it seems like this is going to continue for a while as they try to get those people out, try to somehow cut them, from those big barrels, and then remove them here from the freeway. live in oakland. amanda quintana ktvu, fox two news. >> amanda, thank you from that live picture, we're going to go show you what it looks like on the traffic maps because the commute in the east bay has been a mess all morning because of this closure of the northbound lanes of 880 at embarcadero, you can see it on the map there, and a number of crashes in the east

bay and a lot of heavy traffic on westbound 580 as people try to get and avoid 880. in fact, chp is allowing big rigs to drive westbound on 580 just during this closure because they can't get around this way. so let's show you the other side of the bay. and that's where you see this closure of the golden gate bridge. also because of a similar pro-palestine protest happening there. mid-span in both directions, north and southbound of the golden gate bridge are shut down because of the protests there. and you see a big backup developing on 101. all the way into marin county. here's a live picture of 880 in that northbound direction, going past the coliseum. the backup goes beyond here, almost all the way to san leandro. so if you can avoid 880 in the east bay, i would advise it if you need to get from the east bay over to san francisco, take bart. the bay bridge toll plaza looks okay even though there is a backup there, but it's not as bad as it would be, because a lot of that

traffic volume that would normally be coming from northbound 880 is at a stop at embarcadero. >> we have some more breaking news to tell you about this morning that the bureau of prisons says it is going to shut down the federal corrections institute in dublin. the women's prison has been the subject of sexual abuse allegations in ktvu. james torres is live from the correctional facility in dublin, breaking down the reasons for the closure and explaining what will happen to the inmates at that prison. james >> yeah, andre, we've talked to a number of lawyers, attorneys who represent women inside this prison who have been involved in some lawsuits surrounding the prison, saying they're pretty shocked to hear the news this morning. there are about 600 inmates at the all female prison that sits right behind me here in dublin. some have already been transferred out of here. the rest could be moved to other facilities by the end of the week. the prison says it won't tell us when or where those women would be going out of security and their own safety. now, for years, fci dublin, they've been making some headlines, especially for its waves of sexual abuse allegations. to date, eight correctional officers, including

the warden, have been charged with sex crimes, seven have already been found guilty, most recently, a federal judge assigned a special master to the prison to oversee operations. it's not clear what the special master role will be now, but in an emailed statement to ktvu, the bureau of prisons says it is working on deactivation and says the closure may be temporary and will result in a mission change. we asked an attorney suing the bureau on behalf of incarcerated women about how to interpret that part of the statement. >> not exactly sure how to interpret that. i don't know what that type of mission change could look like, or what temporary closure would be. you know, what's clear is what's gone on at fci dublin and what continues to go on violates the constitution. and violates the rights of everyone inside. and so the only just outcome here would be closure of the facility and significant releases of everyone inside that has had to experience these constitutional violations.

>> now, it's not exactly clear what will happen next to the building of fci dublin attorneys and inmates speculated it could be transformed to a men's prison, but the bureau has not confirmed that with us at this time. now we've learned the closure shouldn't affect any employees of the prison. they will still plan to keep their jobs. the bureau did say it would try to keep the women as close to their release locations as possible, but we're already hearing from at least one inmate within the prison saying some of those women have already been transferred far out of state. of course, this is very much a developing story. news that just broke about an hour or so ago this morning. once we have more updates, we will bring them to you. for now, we're live this morning in dublin. i'm james torres, ktvu, fox two news, james thank you. >> in san francisco, two jails went on lockdown over the weekend after sheriff's deputies say they were attacked by inmates. the san francisco deputy sheriff's association reports at least nine of their own deputies and jail staff have been attacked by inmates in the

last three weeks. on friday, the union reports some of its deputies suffered dislocated shoulders. they were punched or even bitten by inmates, the union's president says there is a significant increase in violence at the jails, adding that it's happening. they believe because of a lack of urgency in addressing staffing levels. >> the deputies to be there for backup for emergencies and you need deputies for you know, command presence as a deterrence and all that's being whittled away and our staffing is thinning out and there's no aggressive hiring. the union wrote a letter to mayor london breed, sheriff miyamoto and other city leaders to bring in the national guard, the san francisco sheriff's office responded to that request, saying that bringing in the national guard to address staffing levels would be premature at this point. >> they add that the agency is trying to address the problems and has a plan to, quote immediately address the increase in assaults on our members. >> high school students

nationwide say they want to learn about personal finance in the classroom, but many lack access to such courses. a new survey from intuit finds. more than 80% of students say they try to discuss finance with their parents, but the parents typically aren't comfortable having those conversations with their children. data show 34% of adults can pass a basic financial literacy quiz. meanwhile, nearly 90% of parents say that financial education should be taught in schools. what do you think? do you think teens should be taught finance in school? your options are yes and the yes. vote has it here with 100% of the vote no. do you think it should be optional? scan that qr code, head to ketv.com/vote or click the viewer poll button on the right hand side of our home page, and you let us know. i've been saying for years i wish that was taught in. >> we talk about this all the time because your parents don't necessarily know they weren't ever taught it, so how can they pass along to you? so school is where you can learn. and you know, kids sometimes will take it back to their parents and say, i learned this in school

and the parents might learn something in return. >> the poll is pretty unanimous there, but my question would be in what subject should it be taught? >> is it a math class? is it part of a math class? i think it's a separate thing. civics class. right? >> i think it's a separate class, but trying to carve out a whole new class in, you know, a school schedule is that's the challenge there. >> but i agree it should be part of a public education. >> i say before high school for sure. >> oh yeah. yeah, yeah, yeah. you know, you get get it ingrained in them, you know from a young age that it's part of life. and then maybe, you know, it will help in the future. just in general you know so much debt that we have it can't hurt. you know these credit card companies are racking up so much cash on people like us. >> yeah, they keep balances. >> all right, let's move on to this story now. the trial of former president donald trump finally kicking off coming up on mornings on 2 to 9. we're talking with an expert about the historic moment in legal history. as this hush money case gets underway. and here's a live look from 80 from our chopper this morning, where protesters who are protesting the war between israel and hamas have

taken over northbound 880 in oakland, right now. and we also have law enforcement in riot gear. we're trying to make out what they're doing there and whether they're surrounding some of the protesters who have been involved here and shutting down traffic, keeping it at a standstill right next to the coliseum. this has been going on since just after 6:00 this morning right now. and drivers are just tu in

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oakland and on the golden gate bridge will start here on a 880. here, the southbound lanes, this situation sort of bubbled up around 6:00 this morning. here we are, more than three hours in protesters blocking southbound 880 right near the oak street off ramp, calling for a free palestine. we've seen law enforcement move in. we know that chp is mainly in charge of what's happening here. oakland police say they're on standby in case there are any medical calls or similar needs. the traffic has been at a standstill there on the roadway, and we can see that situation hasn't changed much. the situation essentially sat down, linked hands, then used those plastic barriers over their hands. so they pretty much know what they're doing here. and of course, law enforcement is working to unwind that situation. this is one of at least two major actions here in the bay area. >> the other one being on the golden gate bridge. and you can see right now from this live picture, the traffic just stopped there on the bay bridge. any traffic coming from marin into san francisco not that is

not happening right now, including traffic heading from san francisco into marin county as well. the protest is also taking place there. as you look live at the toll booth at the golden gate bridge, no cars driving through. it is nine 3915 in the morning and usually see this area packed with cars. you do not see it right now. you might remember just a few weeks ago, these same demonstrators or protesters that were protesting the israel-hamas war tried at that time to shut down the golden gate bridge. this is maybe a month ago, if you remember correctly, but that one was quickly squelched. it came shortly after the bay bridge protests back in november of last year. and now it seems that they're successful in getting this one to stick this time as they shut down the golden gate bridge. right now, we don't know how many people, how many protesters are involved or where police are in their activities to try and get this broken up and cars moving again. we'll of course keep following the story for you. both issues here on both sides of the bay and have updates throughout mornings on two and of course on the fox local app and ktvu dot com as

well. >> and this of course has had a regional impact on traffic. it's these two protests blocking two major thoroughfares have had an impact on traffic throughout the bay area. so if you need to get over from the east bay or from the north bay to san francisco, taking public transit is your best bet. well, from the traffic impact, let's switch gears over to weather. after a very cold and wet weekend, steve paulson tracking a gradual transition in our forecast. >> a little bit better here. slowly, but there's a big fog bank out there now. the fog reducing visibility at one time. santa rosa, napa, petaluma and also novato were zero visibility. petaluma still says a quarter at the airport in napa half mile, but mostly it's a low cloud deck. rainfall over the weekend all about santa cruz mountains, ben lohman and boulder creek over to mount tamalpais, inch and three quarters san anselmo, tilden park in saratoga hills, inch and quartered about over an inch and a half. other rain totals include some pretty good totals here for this time of year. sleepy hollow alum rock over an inch, castro valley, konocti, oakland, santa rosa, san francisco, san jose, half inch

to 84 100, and other locations. i try and represent everybody as much as i can. la honda cazadero good rain, vallejo, pleasanton, brentwood, napa, livermore. peninsula did not get much, only a quarter inch. since december, we've only had nine consecutive days without rain. december 8th to the 16th and march 13th to the 21st. might this be the ten days without rain? maybe. kind of. maybe this morning was cold. santa rosa great and occidental, 39 sonoma, glen ellen, san anselmo, petaluma and west healdsburg 40 to 41 upper low churning on its way out in the four corners now. so it's we're on the drier side, 40s, 50s on the temps. i think we'll be gradually warming up. high pressure looks like it will be our fair weather friend, but it's not really that strong. but it is going to deflect everything. so low clouds, some sun as we get to today. more north and east than south. there's just too much fog there. gradually warmer you guys, as we go into midweek and overall we're trying to kick in those clouds away. but it's a tall order. but eventually we'll get there. temperatures bumping up a little bit but still cool. >> 5060s steve. thanks. the

first ever criminal trial of a former president has begun with jury selection starting in the new york hush money case against donald trump. he's accused of falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment to adult film actress stormy daniels. ahead of the 2016 presidential election. so joining us now for more insight on today's legal proceedings and the trial as a whole. is professor david levine from uc law, san francisco. david thank you again for joining us here. all right, so just a quick update here. the day began with the judge denying the defense request to recuse himself from the case and expand the questionnaire filled out by jurors. can you explain what all this means to us now? >> sure. well, the trump defense has been to try to delay, delay. and so they would love to get rid of the judge because it would take months to put a new judge on the case. no surprise that that motion was denied. the questionnaire has to do with getting information from this large number of potential jurors in as efficient a way as possible. i understand that they called at least 500 people to the court today, and it's going

to take quite some time to sort through all of that. so it's a question of how do you get that information? so sometimes using a questionnaire is a quick way to do that. you have people just fill out different questions about where do you get your news from this kind of thing. >> so the this is just jury selection. does the president have to be there for this? >> yes. i guess at this point maybe he doesn't. absolutely. but but certainly he intends to be there. and typically criminal defendants are there the whole time. >> all right. and does he when the trial does start, will he be required to be there for that as well? >> certainly, yes, certainly. he should be there unless he let's say he was specifically excused for something. but by and large, i think we expect that he's going to be there every day. >> we call this the hush money trial, but it's not specifically about paying stormy daniels or karen mcdougal any money at all. this is about the cover up of the payment. can you explain that a little bit to the viewer who's trying to understand what this is all about? i mean, we say hush money, but, you know, it's a little bit removed from

that, right? >> exactly. think of it as three steps. first step is, yes, that money was paid to these, at least to these two women. and maybe there was somebody else, a doorman. but the particular focus, of course, is stormy daniels. is nothing wrong with that. if you want to give money to friends, sure. that's okay. you want to send me money, it's okay with me, number one. number two, the charges have to do with falsifying records. and that's illegal under new york state law. and specifically, the scheme was michael cohen sent a false invoice in mr. trump sent a check under false pretenses. >> cohen paid stormy daniels first, right? yes yes, he paid stormy daniels first. right. and then he's like, all right, well, now you have to give me the money back, right? for me paying stormy daniels to keep quiet about this whole thing. that's right. and this is where we are right now. >> that's exactly that's exactly right. so that michael cohen then sent a false invoice for legal services rather than repayment for this money that allegedly went to stormy daniels . and then check was written and then it was booked as a legal

payment. none of those things were true. then the additional level that turns this from misdemeanors under new york law into felonies is that the argument is from the prosecutor is that it was done in furtherance of another crime here, specifically violating new york and federal law regarding elections. >> okay, here's the thing that i'm trying to understand here. if you okay, michael cohen paid stormy daniels off with the money right then he said trump, according to the documents, you have to pay me back. can he can trump not do that? pay his attorney back for help for paying stormy daniels? what was the issue there by recording it as a legal retainer when there was no such legal retainer agreement, it was booked that way to apparently to bury it. >> and particularly around the election. that's the problem. if it had been recorded as payment for stormy daniels, then it wouldn't necessarily have been so bad. it's not really a business expense. it's a

personal expense. but that's what that's the misdemeanor level, because it sounds pretty trivial, right? >> i mean, on the face of it, it doesn't really say. i mean, it's just like, you know, it just sounds like, you know, whatever. >> right? but there are tax consequences to recording something. one way or the other. but the bigger issue is the connection to covering this up to affect the election. >> that's that's the issue. >> that's what bumps it up to a felony. >> okay. he did this to cover up and say, hey, i don't want this affecting how people vote for me. and that's where this trial comes in. that's where we are right now. this felony case. >> this is what the new york da's theory is, right? right now. this is all allegation, right? this has not yet been proven. all everything we've said is allegedly this is the district attorney's theory. mr. trump will, of course, will have a theory going the other way. but this is what the prosecutor will be will be telling the jury 34 counts that he's facing right now of the counts are is there a count that's stronger, stronger than the others that are on the books right now? they're really all the same, andre. they're really the same. because what happens is that there were 11 payments, 11 or 12 payments. and

so each payment has been recorded by the da as actually 3a3 crimes. wow. okay. so invoice number one, let's say for january, that invoice is a count. gotcha. the check for january is a count booking. it is a count. let's go to february . same thing 123. right. so when people say oh there's 33, there's 34 counts. it really sounds worse than it is now. it's serious, if this is proven because in court they have to go through each of those things and the jury has to hear each of those, each of those three things, 11 times. >> sure. >> but it's not going to take that long, right? >> sure. >> to go through 11 records. and just as we you know, what's the punishment for something like this, if it's a felony, it's a class e felony in new york. and theoretically, you could get 1 or 2 years for each count. but i think nobody expects that this will actually lead to jail time. maybe probation, a large fine because he would be a first time offender. >> gotcha. all right. david levine, thank you so much. we appreciate your time. anytime you're inside, all right. still to come on mornings on two and

nine, we continue to follow that breaking news on the 880 in oakland and the golden gate bridge. protesters shutting down both over the war in gaza. right now. we will have much m on th do you want to close out? should i? normally i'd hold. but... taking the gains is smart here, right? feel more confident with stock ratings from j.p. morgan analysts in the chase app. when you've got a decision to make... the answer is j.p. morgan wealth management. okay everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. yay - woo hoo! ensure, with 27 vitamins and minerals, nutrients for immune health. and ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. (♪)

and 880 both shut down right now . you're looking live at 880, where traffic is backed up for a very long time. this is in oakland right now, and there protests that is taking place.

people who are opposed to the war between israel and hamas, they have been staging these demonstrations for the last few months across the bay area. this one is part of a nationwide effort, an economic blockade, as they call it here. and traffic in the northbound direction on 880 has been pretty much just like this, next to the coliseum for some time, right by the embarcadero exit. there some 40, many protesters have chained themselves together on the highway right now in about 40 police officers reportedly on the scene in riot gear trying to deal with that situation. but it's unclear how far they're getting in terms of getting the protesters off the highway. and traffic moving again for so many people who are stuck in it. but as you can see here from the scene, it is a complete mess for drivers, as these protesters try to get their point across here, we understand that according to reports, that truck, brought these barrels that the protesters have chained themselves to on the highway. so this is going to take some time to unchain them from these barrels and then clear up this

roadway, for movement. you can see southbound is moving again, but but the northbound is really, really affected by this. the protesters are protesting the israel hamas, war right now. >> and this is not the only place where this type of protest shutting down a major freeway is happening. take a look at the golden gate bridge. this is a live picture. mid span, similar protest also by pro-palestinian protesters who are calling for an end to the israel-hamas war. they around 8:00 just before 8:00, set up on the middle of the golden gate bridge. and so now both directions of the golden gate bridge, north and southbound are at a complete standstill and shut down to traffic. and this is a rare view of the golden gate bridge toll plaza, where you see no one coming in, no one leaving, heading into san francisco. so there has been a region wide traffic impact because of these two protests, which is what the demonstrators would say is the point of their protest and their operations today. so again, you're looking live at the middle of the golden gate bridge traffic is stopped in both

directions because of a protest happening in the middle of the span. this is very similar to what's also happening in north bound 880 at embarcadero, where protesters set up their first and stopped traffic on that major thoroughfare. and then a short time later, we found out about a simultaneous protest over the same issues happening on the golden gate bridge. and so you're taking an aerial view from a chopper looking at northbound 880, where you see a it looks like chp and police officers standing in front of a group of about 40 to 50 protesters in the middle of the freeway. and in the meantime, northbound traffic on 880 here not getting through. and it hasn't for about three hours now. >> this has led to a lot of frustration among drivers in the heart of the morning commute on a monday. this has been the situation. two major scenes developing throughout the bay area morning commute. >> well, one of the protests has the southbound lanes at the golden gate bridge, as we mentioned just a moment ago, blocked. the other has been

blocking northbound lanes. you see here, 880 and ktvu. >> amanda quintana is there at that protest with the latest information on what's happening there and how long it's going to take to reopen that freeway. >> so we actually just in the last 10 or 15 minutes, saw one person be removed from the freeway, be detained by police, but it took two hours. they came out here, trying to cut people out of those big oil barrels around 7:00. so it's been two hours of trying to get that person. did from the big oil barrel. so, what these protesters are doing, there's about six of them, and they're sitting and then both arms are attached to an oil barrel each. it seems like they're, full of concrete or something. that's making them very heavy, we've been watching police come in with jackhammers, trying to get them detached from that to then get them off of the freeway, and then the people that you see

behind the protesters, those are drivers that have, i guess, kind of getting getting antsy. they're out of their cars taking video, some of them, it seems like, are connected to the protesters because they're yelling things at police. but it seems like most of them are drivers that are stuck, again, this is part of a planned effort of the day. the goal of disrupting the global economy, oakland is just one of 56 cities across the world where groups plan to create these blockades. obviously, expanding that onto the golden gate bridge this morning as well. but this is a coordinated effort. they're calling it a 15 for april 15th, it's meant to jam up trade choke points, disrupt economic logistical hubs, because these participants, these protesters say that the global economy is complicit in the ongoing genocide of palestinian people in gaza. and we've seen many of these protests here in the bay area over the past few months at the port of oakland, at the bay

bridge. now we're seeing one on the golden gate bridge, but on this, a 15 website. they said right now that they have a need to shift from symbolic actions to those that cause pain to the economy, so that is really what today is all about. that's what this whole effort is. there are three other california cities on the list of where these blockades are expected to happen long beach, orange county, and san diego. so again, it took two hours to get one person removed. there are at least five other protesters that are sitting there, so this could take a while. it could be hours of these drivers sitting there and hours of these police trying to cut through those barrels and remove these protesters live in oakland. amanda quintana ktvu, fox two news. >> amanda, you've been there for three hours now, watching as this protest goes on, the backup grows. have you been able to talk to any drivers, maybe

taking that side street just through a window about what they're thinking and feeling? >> so a lot of these drivers are pulling over, unsure what's happening here. and they're going to take photos. you know, they're asking us what's going on here because the hard part is you can't see the protesters. so usually, you know, if you go by a protest, you see people standing with flags and signs. you can't see them because they're all sitting down and they're attached to these barrels. so people are kind of confused about what's happening here. you just see a lot of police, a lot of, you know, these big busses that i assume that they're going to put these protesters in once they remove them. so a lot of people unsure what's happening and kind of asking us what is going on here. but clearly these people who are coming on this road understand that 880 is blocked and they're just trying to find another way to get around it. >> amanda, i'm curious here, can you tell it looks like the protest group is relatively small? i mean, how many people would you say are taking part in the protest right now? >> so from what i see, there's

six, five are still there. one was removed. we did have somebody that went on the other side of the freeway and showed us pictures from that end. so it looks like six people. and then each of those six people has one of those big oil barrels on their right side attached to their right hand and their left side attached to their left hand. so that's kind of how they're sitting is lined up six people with those oil barrels. >> and amanda, when this happened on the bay bridge back in november, the protesters parked their car cars on the bay bridge to block traffic. is that is there any indication that that happened this time around? >> yeah. so that's interesting because we were thinking that too. and we've been looking at these cars that are at a standstill here. it doesn't look like they belong to any of these protesters. so we've been trying to figure out how they got here. and then also it had to be some kind of big truck to carry all

these heavy oil barrels if they're, you know, filled with concrete. so there had to be some kind of truck that stopped, got these people out, you know, took out these oil barrels in the middle of the freeway and then took off because the cars in the very front all have drivers in them, and it doesn't seem like they're connected to the protesters. maybe one car has been yelling things at police, but it seems like all of the other people here are just drivers kind of stuck here. >> the six people who are have their arms locked together. the six initial protesters connected to those barrels that you mentioned. is there a separate group of any other supporters nearby with with flags or signs or anything kind of separated from that initial group of six, or is it just the six in the middle of the highway? >> it just seems like the six there is one woman that's in a car, towards the front that has been yelling at police, you know, kind of leave them alone, you know, wanting to know who the police are. that kind of

thing. but it doesn't seem like there's anybody else that is, you know, part of this pro-palestine group. they. when we initially got here, just before seven, there were flags, and there was a big sign on the side of the freeway, but police and, took that down in the very beginning, and there hasn't been any other flags or signs that have shown up or people, you know, putting outside of their car. we haven't seen any of that. so it really does seem like it's just these six people that came with these big barrels. >> this is much smaller than than what we saw on the on the, on the bay bridge, and, you know, so it's interesting that they were able to do that and, amanda, i wanted to ask you another question here. the bay area news group is reporting that, in regards to those big, containers that the protesters are chained themselves to, that there was a u-haul truck that might have dropped them off, at that location and then left the scene. you're on the perimeter road to 880 here. is there anything like that? did you see

anything like that when you got to the scene, earlier this morning, we did not see a u-haul truck, but that completely makes sense because that's what me and my photographer have been talking about. >> there had to be some kind of truck. something that brought those big oil barrels, you know, those aren't just going to be in the back of regular cars. so that does make sense. but by the time we got here, this started at maybe 630 and we were here maybe 15 minutes later, but by the time we got here, there was no u-haul truck. it was just the protesters in the road with police, and police were quickly arriving at that point. >> that's pretty amazing that they were able to do that without anyone getting seriously hurt. if you think about a truck , you know, 880 northbound during the heart of the morning commute that is a workhorse of a thoroughfare and a freeway with lots of traffic, heavy traffic, and to be able to stop and do something like that, it's a pretty fortunate that none of those protesters were hit by a

car as they were trying to set this up. you're taking a live look at northbound 880. this is where amanda quintana has been telling us about this protest, pro-palestine protest that's been happening since about 6:00 this morning that has shut down all northbound lanes of 880 at embarcadero. in the right top of your screen, you see the live picture of 880 by the coliseum. this is the backup that has developed because of that hard closure and shutdown of the freeway several miles north of that picture, and the backup goes all the way down to san leandro. so let's show you the regionwide traffic impact this has had, because it's been a pretty significant one. so there you see where you see that exclamation mark. that's where the protesters are. that's where the road northbound 880 at embarcadero is shut down throughout the morning. we have seen heavy traffic on westbound 580. and one of the reasons for that, usually big rigs are not allowed on westbound 580. but today, because of that closure of northbound 880, the chp has

allowed big rigs to transport their goods across westbound 580. just because 880 is not an option for them. then we tell you, we take you to the other side of the bay, and that's where on the golden gate bridge, a protest just before 8:00. similar protest pro-palestine protest, people calling for an end to the war between israel and hamas that broke out in the middle of the golden gate bridge, blocking the bridge in both directions. and you see the backup going all the way past sausalito. because of that, chp does not know when either of these thoroughfares and these highways will be back open. so for now, if you need to get into san francisco from the north bay or from the east bay, taking public transit is really your best bet. because of all this. in the upper right hand of your screen there you see the middle of the golden gate bridge. mid-span is where this second demonstration is taking place, shutting down both directions of the golden gate bridge. there you see a live picture of the golden gate bridge toll plaza

with no traffic coming in or out into the city. and again, chp is warning that the golden gate bridge is completely shut down to all traffic because of a second protest that started there just before 8:00 this morning. >> all right. we want to get now back to 880 here. we have another crew at the scene there over at 880 and seventh street. so this the initial protest is by 880 and embarcadero and then closer to downtown, this is the area where you see a lot of semi trucks get off of 880 to head to the port. so that's where this protest is taking place as well. these, pro-palestinian protests matters. not this necessarily, but the one further up on 880 that's blocking all that traffic. but this two might be an extension of that, i want to read you what the organizers of this, sent out a message. this is a highly organized effort here. and they asked for a proposal to coordinate a multi city economic blockade today in solidarity with palestine, the

proposal states that in each city, they will identify and blockade major choke points in the economy, focusing on points of production and circulation with the aim of causing the most economic impact. so that is what this is about. the port of oakland is one of the main reasons why they have seemed to have chosen 880 here. and you can see they've set up right by one of the entrances to the ports, where the semis normally get off. and when you get off this, when you're heading north on 880 and you get off of this exit, you would make a left and go into the port and you'll see a lot of semis going in and out of that area with their with their cargo. and sometimes they're even lines because they're backed up in terms of picking up or dropping off some of the items. but it appears that these protesters are getting what they want here, impacting the economy of the bay area of oakland. the shipping port is a major area, and conceivably many people in this traffic and this traffic is backed up for miles here. we're heading to work today, and

that's now on pause because this protest is happening. and to think just a handful of people are causing this much different, much more organized, it would appear than what we saw back in, in november on, on the bay bridge. and then several weeks later when these protesters tried it on the golden gate bridge, it was not as successful either. they were on the bridge only for a few minutes before chp came onto the golden gate bridge, and removed them. in this case, though, what's happening here on 680 started about 610 this morning. and at the golden gate bridge started just after 8:00 this morning and it is still going on all this time, so they can clue you in to just how sophisticated and how organized they are now in in shutting down traffic and bringing attention to their cause here, oakland. it was one of the cities, obviously, where they were calling for this economic blockade, so-called economic, major choke point blockade here. the other one was in melbourne, australia as well. we haven't seen any pictures come out of that area, just yet, but we are have our hands full

with what's happening here along interstate 880 in oakland. >> let's go several miles to the north here and give you another live look at what's happening or not happening on the golden gate bridge. both directions of that bridge shut down. now due to protesters from the same group calling for a free palestine. and it's interesting because here, if you're in this live picture, you're stuck on a bridge. you can't just turn around and take the side street and maybe go the wrong way off and exit, etc. like maybe some people in oakland are thinking about doing. but pretty much you are locked in and this is a situation that started developing more than an hour ago. so certainly it's a different approach for protesters. of course, for drivers who find themselves stuck in it and for authorities who are trying to clear the roadway. we'll mention here quickly that the sidewalks are closed here on the golden gate. no pedestrians, nobody on a bike allowed, for obvious reasons. chp is on the scene, and it's interesting when they say there is no estimated time for reopening. i mean, when we saw something similar play out during the apec summit back in november, that took hours and there were many people stuck in the back up, and it was just such a process of having law

enforcement clear the bay bridge. so, you know, number of vehicles wise, of course, the golden gate isn't where the bay bridge was. however, this is quite a chore because deputies have the fact that this is a bridge to deal with. again, there's no really easy on or off. so again, we're staying on top of these protests here to major scenes playing out in the bay area. the one in oakland started a little bit before this one here on the golden gate. that's smaller right hand corner picture shows no one's coming through the toll plaza there. so you're not going from marin county to san francisco or the other way around. keep that in mind. let's get back now to the situation in the east bay with amanda quintana. >> yeah, well, still, only one person has been arrested, so we've been watching closely to kind of see what police are doing. but really you just see them kind of using jackhammers, trying to trying to cut these protesters out of those oil barrels. so that's the main action that is taking so long. that's the main thing that is taking so long, the first person

that they were able to arrest, it took about two hours to cut them out of those oil barrels, we're assuming there's some kind of concrete in the barrels, but they did. oh, it looks like. yes, it looks like a second person might be being removed right now. and that's kind of what we're watching for. we're on the side of the freeway, and these people are sitting attached to these oil barrels. so it is kind of hard to see, but it does look like a second person, has been arrested. and again, there were six people from the pictures that we've been looking at, six people sitting there with oil barrels attached to them. so that is what has been happening here, on northbound 880. it does look like they're now removing that person and removing that barrel as well. but this could continue to take a long time as they remove the other protesters as well. >> so amanda, so you saw the

first one that was taken into custody earlier. how long ago was that? because it seemed like it was a while ago before they just got the second person, moved off the road. >> yeah. so it took about two hours. so it happened maybe just before nine that that first person was cut out and removed. so all of that time, all that time since then, they've been working on this second person. and it does take a long time because these barrels are filled with concrete or something. that's making them very heavy, you see them bring a jackhammer over and then you see kind of some sparks fly. they're trying to cut that barrel open. and then it's unclear how the people are attached to the barrel, but it seems like their hand is inside the barrel. so maybe some kind of chain or some kind of handcuff also has to be cut. so that's why it's taking such a long time. >> so ali, i remember when you were covering the bay bridge protest, you mentioned a device that some of these protesters

were using to lock themselves together. tell us a bit about that. >> i'm wondering if what the protesters here are using is something called a sleeping dragon. it's like a plastic pipes that you're arms are kind of locked into. once you put your arm in, you can't physically yourself take your arm back out. and so that's how during the apec protest on the bay bridge, that's how the protesters kind of locked in, chained themselves together. >> i'm wondering if they did the similar thing with these concrete, the barrels on top of that. >> and, you know, one thing i noticed in some of the video from amanda and chip at the scene when they kind of focused in on some of the law enforcement officers, you could see what looked like maybe sawdust or something. so when we talk about removing and unlocking these protesters who have linked arms through this device, that literally means like sawing the plastic pipe that their arm is stuck into to get them removed. so that may be what is taking so long in getting protesters off of this

part of the freeway. amanda, do you see? you can't get a good look other than the barrel of what kind of device they may have or what the law enforcement officers are doing to remove the protesters from one another. can you. >> yeah. so, ali, that that pipe that you talked about, i think that could be it because we did have someone that was on the other side of the freeway. so got just a different view, he came to show us some pictures, and it looks like that could be the same thing that you are talking about. so we can't see in the barrels, but we do see when they take someone away, it looks like an empty barrel is what, you know, police are removing from the area, so somehow they are cutting through all of these levels. you know, the barrel, and then whatever is inside the barrel and then maybe that pipe. so that's why this is taking such a long time to get these people removed. >> and just to be clear, when we talk about police cutting the protesters devices, we're

talking about the device that their hands are locked into, not physically sawing or hurting them, at least not in that. yeah. >> so we've actually so actually we can see the police are holding up like it looks like a blanket, but some kind of, way to protect the protesters when they are cutting, because you could see sparks flying, but they're also holding up some kind of, like, blanket to protect the protesters from those sparks when they are cutting the barrel. >> amanda, you have the best vantage point for all of us, and we're essentially seeing this happen through your live pictures. when it does come down to law enforcement becoming face to face with the protesters, does it appear to your eyes contentious? i mean, obviously the protesting group knows what it's doing. obviously, law enforcement has experience with this. you know, when that moment of meeting happens again, is it contentious? have there been skirmishes or it's sort of like, all right, we both know what happens next. >> so to be honest, it's kind of quiet. >> you know, you usually go to

protests and they're chanting and yelling, but there are only six people there. and from all the views that we've kind of seen, it looks like they're silent, and i also, you know, this is this is the a 15, effort that they're a part of this april 15th effort. when you look at their website, one of the things they say about today is not to talk to police, that this is kind of a in solidarity. you don't say anything to police. so i think that might be part of it. they're really just sitting there like there's no there's no yelling at police. there's no police yelling back. and then you saw it live when that person , that second person was detained, it doesn't look like they're you know, fighting back or resisting at all. they kind of are just like going with police, you know, they came here with the barrels. once they're cut out, then they're removed. >> and it looks like perhaps the number of looky loos is growing as we see more people kind of standing up along the chain link fence and walking over to see

what's going on. >> yeah, and people getting out of their cars, you know, just trying to maybe stretch and go see what's happening, what's taking so long. i'm sure a lot of these people are very frustrated, but we've seen a lot of people get out of their cars and go up there, trying to get pictures, trying to figure out basically what has them stuck here. >> and it looks like traffic in the southbound direction is at least moving somewhat or moving more than it was, because we can see the traffic moving in the foreground of this live picture that you're showing us of the scene. so at least maybe people may be getting the message to just avoid this section of 880 altogether. we do still see that very heavy backup in the northbound direction. so with that, let's check in on the traffic impact, sort of region wide, because this has had a major effect. we can go to our traffic maps and show you what this all lks like out on the roadways. there. you see, it's long past what would typically be the morning commute. but the effect of this hard closure of

northbound 880 has really had a ripple effect throughout the east bay in particular. so you see a lot of heavy traffic still on westbound 580. chp is allowing big rigs and container trucks to drive on westbound 580. normally they are not allowed on that highway. they have to take 880. but because 880 northbound is closed traffic, there's more traffic on some of the other freeways. and we just saw right here the traffic icon popping up, this is typical anytime you have a major thoroughfare completely backed up and in this case closed, you see a lot of fender benders and other minor crashes that happen in the backup behind a major incident like this. so now let's go to the other side of the bay, because, as you know, we've been showing you where amanda is. and northbound 880 shut down because of a protest there. there is also a similar protest happening at the golden gate bridge that is blocked traffic in both the north and southbound directions. there is a lot of heavy traffic behind it all the way into marin

county. and this where you see that's the span of the golden gate bridge and no traffic being allowed in either direction because of a similar protest happening there. this is an aerial view of the golden gate bridge mid-span, where you see a number of vehicles stopped at a standstill. we can't make out from this picture where their protesters are now, remember, amanda said over at 880, there's about six protesters who use this device to lock arms together and shut down all traffic in the northbound direction. i'm looking carefully through the monitors to see if we see something like that here in this picture. it may be if it's just a handful of people, and it does look like you can see what looks like a banner that the protesters have sprawled out across. what is, i believe, the southbound direction of the golden gate bridge. and some cars stuck behind it so it doesn't look like there's a mass of people in either freeway of demonstrators who have shut down the bridge. but just a coordinated,

calculated effort to have a handful of people doing a few things to make sure that traffic comes to a standstill. >> all right. a third protest is a traffic stop at 880 in west oakland. right now, this is at seventh. this is separate from the other two we've been covering this morning. ktvu tom vacar is live at that scene with what is happening there. tom okay. >> well, what we have here is seventh street is a active blockage of the port to keep trucks going into the port. you have about 30 protesters and about 20 bicycles and that is enough to stop. now. you also have some police officers here, making sure that this does not get out of hand. but what you also have here is a pretty broad avenue here. and there are trucks and other traffic coming up down here. so everything has to be done very carefully, but the situation very clearly is if you look, that's the way you get onto the freeway to get to the

880. and it's also the way you get into the port down the road. and basically it is effectively blocked off. so i've seen a number of trucks come by and those trucks want to make it right here to get on the freeway. cannot do it. got to keep going on, the situation also is that, you know, the weather's good. so, so it's not a, you know, issue here with people being cold or any of that stuff. so this could go on for quite some time. and there are about another 20 or 30 standby people that are probably relieving those folks, as they get tired or want to go to the bathroom or something like that. so that is the situation here. effective blocking of a major interstate at, by about 20 people, 20 bikes and 30 people. that is the situation we'll keep an eye on it. back to you, tom. >> can i ask, you showed us or your photographer did the police vehicles just off to the side. do you see any like we don't see any direct contact between police and protesters. do you

see that where you are? is that happening? >> when i say that, say that once again, because it's awfully loud out here. go ahead. >> do you see any direct contact happening between police officers and protesters at this point? >> absolutely not. in fact, i think the everybody's trying to, there's no group of police officers in any kind of riot gear or anything like that that would want to be used if you had to take these people out by arresting them and doing all of that stuff. nor are these folks being terribly provocative in the sense that they're not chained together. anything like that. they're just standing there. so as these things normally go, this is about as peaceful as it gets. and because of that situation, there really is no trouble here. and in fact, it's worked so well that as we were pulling up here, i actually saw about ten, 12 people leaving with their signs. and i don't know where they're going, but they certainly decided not to stay here because they were definitely walking from this location, because if you just go

off here to the right and up the street, the big post office for oakland is up there and then the bart station, which you can see the bart crossing over, is just right up there at west oakland bart. so this is a key key entrance and exit to the port of oakland. and right now it is effectively blocked. >> and, tom, to be clear, there are other entrances, for semis to get to the port. this is a, you know, the main one because it's right off the highway. but there are other areas where these, pickup and delivery drivers can go. >> yeah. when we crossed the bridge that. well when we came from station, there's a bridge that goes over into the port that is completely open, and that leads to a, a, an entrance to the freeway not more than a mile from here. so it's not a complete shutdown of the port entirely, but from here, no trucks are getting in or out. and that's the situation. so you only have so many people and they can only block so many

things. and as long as the port keeps in some level of operation, you're not going to have tempers flare like they normally would if the whole thing is blocked off, because now you're blocking livelihoods and you're blocking people that have strong feelings about this. and that's just not the situation here whatsoever. tom thank you so much for that report, amanda quintana. >> just giving us information right now that one lane is opening at 880. this is by embarcadero and fifth right on 880. if you're heading northbound, hopefully we can check in with amanda again. she's been watching there as police, try to, cut loose the protesters who had chained themselves to maybe concrete barrels or barrels with concrete in them at the scene. amanda what can you tell us right now? what can you see? can you describe it? >> yeah. so they are opening one lane. this literally just happened in the last minute, you can see police are trying to get really one car at a time to go to that very left lane, the fast

lane to get through and those. that's where the first two protesters that were taken away were initially sitting. so it seems like they've cleared at least two protesters from that lane and now are slowly trying to get people through which this is a good sign for these drivers that have been sitting here since 630 this morning. and it's almost ten. so good news for them to at least get moving a little. we saw them, make sure everyone got back in their cars. and now there is some movement. this is the first movement that we have really seen in hours. >> amanda, for the drivers you've been able to talk with briefly, i'm sure their driving by or you're just here on the