you're watching cbs 5 eyewitness news in high definition. >> we got our first blast of winter weather tonight. how low will the temperatures go? >> a firsthand look at the revolution and the message from protesters. >> demand way up and so are the rent all over the bay area. the creative way that some landlords are cashing in. good evening. >> and i'm dana king . it is the first big chill of the season. >> a freeze warning is in effect for the north and east bays. juliette goodrich is in pleasantton where the temperature has been dropping all night long. jewels. >> how low can it go? we're in the mid 30s right now. it is chilly. it's going to dip into the freezing temperatures. we're in a freeze warning. the california emergency management agency urging residents to accelerate winter weather preparations.

there are many warnings, carbon monoxide poisoning. the cold weather threatening pets, plants, pipes, and people. a lot of folks bundled up tonight. >> it's definitely freezing. definitely getting colder, it seems like. arctic blast. >> so what does she have on to keep warm? >> she has long sleeves, she has a jacket. spandex and hat. >> she's all good to go. >> according to the state's emergency management agency, there is a california freeze plan and some tips include to get ready for winter season, check your home heating system. make sure your home is properly insulated. weather strip windows. inspect and flush your water heater. and also replace batteries in smoke detectors and cover pipes and should they burst, know how to turn off the water in your home. again, mid 30s here in the east bay. expected to go into the freezing temperatures and find

out more as we get to weather. that's the latest here in the east bay, cbs 5. >> all right, let's do that. checking in with lawrence now. >> we have temperatures developing. the air is dry. freeze warnings in red. showing up in the north bay valleys. frost advisories continuing into parts of the east bay. temperatures tonight expected to get very, very cold. especially in the north bay. where mid 20s, probably going to be calm there. probably looking at 30s as you make your way into the east bay. a lot of 30s around the bay right now and it will get colder as low temperatures expect to plummet. 4:00, 5:00 in the morning. right now, it's 38 degrees. hovering above freezing at 34 in fairfield. and 36 degrees right now in santa rosa. the exact lows, back to you. >> thanks lawrence. it began one year ago.

after sweeping through, the winds have changed have come to syria. its people are taking to the streets calling for the dictatorship to end. it's more than 40 year rule. clarissa is one of the western journalists to see the fighting firsthand. >> for month, this is what is seen of the revolution in syria. cell phone video of demonstrations met with bullets from security forces. to meet the people holding those cell phones, we entered the country as tourists, carrying only a small camera. an opposition activist. she insists on using her real name. the regime already knows who she is. she isn't hiding to avoid arrest. >> are you scared? >> who is not? but we have to continue. we decided to start our revolution. this is what we have been dreaming of long time ago. >> she took us to the suburb

of duma. to the funeral of a 16-year-old boy these people say was shot by security forces that have protested the day before. men and women poured in by the hundreds. their grief tinged with defiant. >> this is real, okay? if you come, you will see real bodies. they are not strong. they are real bodies. >> they want international military support. and they say they will not give up their protests until the regime falls. there's a special graveyard for protesters who have been gunned down. here they are called marters. there are 60 graves. in early november, 4,000 people have been killed. activists tell us the number is much higher. just outside of suburbs, people

are out here every single night and demanding homes for the regime. what is your message to the president? >> leave. leave now because you know you will leave at the end. but with more victims and more suffering of the people. so just leave and leave us to start our new future. you have enough of our blood. >> in the last couple of days, two well-known activists have been arrested by security forces in syria. really highlighting the enormous risk that these men and women take by speaking their minds. clariss ward, cbs news, new york. >> now that herman cain is out of the presidential race, the spotlight is focused on the new front runner for the republican nomination. newt gingrich was in new york today meeting with donald trump. two polls show gingrich leading

in iowa. political analysts believe it is now a two-man race with mitt romney. the former house speaker says he is confident he can reach out to all voters. >> we're going to compete in all 50 states. i don't believe in a red versus blue motto. i believe that we are 100% american. >> questions about gingrich's past are already being raised. speaker nancy pelosi implied she might reveal details of a 1990s ethics probe against him if he becomes the republican nominee. gingrich responded that he has nothing to hide. >> governor jerry brown is pitching his tax hike plan to voters through his website. he posted an open letter to californians today asking them to approve five years worth of tax increases to benefit the schools and public safety. the plan includes a half cents sales tax increase and income tax hikes for people who make more than $250,000 a year. if it's approved, the proposal

would raise about $7 billion a year. >> tonight, the piedmont city council is listening to public comments on whether they should proceed with a controversial sports complex on the border. mark on the plans for that complex that have been scaled back because of objections from both neighbors and environmentalists. >> it may not look like a traditional park. there are no picnic tables, but this is piedmont's blair park. it's just to the south of the avenue. now a private group wants to spend $6 million to put in the new sports complex here for local kids. >> piedmont like every other city in the east bay short of field space. >> piedmont leases some recreational space from other cities, but while this expansion plan has been discussed off and on, pheers opposition. the current plan has been scaled down and features just one large field, but still requires significant work. >> they are going to cut down

155 trees and dig 80 feet into a hillside and build a huge retaining wall along moraga avenue that would be an unsightly thing. >> directly across the street from the proposed park is another field. but both sides disagree on the safety of having children crossing the street. >> obviously if the child got hurt crossing the street, that is terrible. >> we are not concerned at all for the kids crossing street. this project has more than 1,000 pages of environmental analysis behind it. we feel positive about this project. >> backers say they hope to begin construction by april of next year with completion by september. i'm mark sayer, cbs 5. san jose police are short staffed these days because of budget cutbacks and now a new report is out showing a big increase in officers calling in sick. a mercury news investigation fopped found that sick calls

are up 40% this year. it's been a tough year with layoffs, officer scandals and pension reform. a policy allowing officers to cash out unused sick leave at retirement could be taken away. but the union denies that there's a sickout protest. >> guys work sick all the time. what they are getting now is, if they're going to take it from me and no one appreciates what i'm doing, i don't feel all that well today and normally i may have worked through it, i'm not going to. i'm going to call in sick. >> city council will vote on a pension reform proposal for the june ballot. a change in sick leave policy will probably be a part of it. other bay area headlines now. the search for a suspected gunman put a san jose neighborhood into lockdown mode for much of the afternoon today. at one point, officers shot concussions into a home that they thought he had taken refuge in. the man is wanted next a

shooting at a business early this morning. two men were wounded, but are expected to survive. more than 100 workers at the american licorice plant in union city are out on strike. they walked out over complaints related to staffing, pay, and benefits. american licorice is best known for manufacturing red vine candy. oakland just got a multimillion dollar boost in this battle to curb crime. the city reopened its police academy today thanks to a $10 million federal grant. it's been shut down since a round of police layoffs. the new officers will be posted near several schools in high crime areas. you can add a cupertino high school senior to the list of brightest minds in the bay area. she won a $100,000 scholarship

from seaman's. created a particle that could one day be used to deliver cancer drugs directly to a tumor without affecting the healthy cells around it. zang says her research was driven in part by her grandfather's death caused by lung cancer. bay area rents are skyrocketing. >> 25% higher than they were a year ago for the same unit. >> and the new way landlords are cashing in. the anatomy of a temper tantrem. the best way to silence the screams. >> u.s. postal service delivering bad news. why you'll have to send those bills earlier. ,,

when it comes to children's temper tantrams, there's a method to the madness. a new study shows trantrims follow sad sounds mixed with peeks of anger.

that's according to u.s. researchers who wired toddlers with sound and analyzed it. they say the trick to ending a tantrem is to do nothing until anger has peeked. when sadness is all that is left, kids reach out for comfort. >> they will be mad because they can't find a rental that is affordable. similar to the bidding wars for home buyers before the bubble burst. vacant apartments are getting multiple offers these days. >> julie explains how some landlords that figured out a way to capitalize on that. >> this is a one bedroom apartment for $24.50. >> not only is he certain he'll get that price for the rental, the san francisco broker will have to turn people away. >> we have multiple applications at prices that are 25% higher than they were a year ago for the same unit. >> and many forme homeowners are flooding the rental market, it's a good time to be a

landlord. >> any place that seems half way decent and really nice, there's been hundreds of people at showings. so packed that you can't even get inside. >> apartment hunting for over a year and she has seen the cost of apartments skyrocket. the average price is up 13% to 1792. and in san francisco, the average rent is more than $2500. but, before the rent comes the application fees which can be pricey themselves. >> because the market is so competitive, they are willing to pay just for the chance to get in. >> application fees can run anywhere from $20 to $45 and some landlording finding creative ways to line their pockets. >> i heard of some people holding open houses that are only 15 minutes long. that's one way that a landlord could get 200 applications because everybody sees all the other people who are standing around looking at this apartment and they might say,

i'm going to get my application in right now and not follow up. >> 200 applications at $40 a pop can be a good chunk of change for a landlord. what many applicants don't know, a landlord can't keep your money unless you spend it on reference checks and credit reports. no more than 4206. if you ask, they must give you a copy of your credit report and an itemized receipt of their expenses. and if they rent the apartment before processing your application, be sure to ask for your money back. >> if only a small fraction of them call back and say, i want my $40 back, then that small fraction will be the only ones who get their money back. >> julie watts, cbs 5. u.s. postal service is about to deliver some more deep budget cuts to avoid bankruptcy and that will result in slower service. the u.s. postal service plans to close nearly half of its 500 mail processing centers.

this means starting this spring, first class mail delivery will take two days. >> i'm going to have to go elsewhere. it does happen. >> more than a dozen post offices in the bay area could close. they include five in san francisco, two in oakland. one each in daily city and south san francisco and san jose. >> scientists at nasa have found the goldy lox of planets. one that is not too hot or too cold to support life. this is kepler 22-b. it's orbit ago star similar to our sun and estimates surface temperatures hovering around 70 degrees. there is even a gad chance that it has a rocky surface with water. but don't expect to visit it. it's about 600 light years away from earth. we have some temperatures near 70 degrees today. now they are falling like a

rock. how cold it will get in your neighborhood coming up. ,,,,,, keurig has over 200 varieties from 20 leading brands,

including tully's. it's the way to brew everyone's favorite cup in under a minute. way to brew.

a lot of perfect conditions happening right now to make it so cold. and all coming together. we select any kind of spray with water. >> nice. >> we have to tell them first before we did that one. if you're heading out of the bay area, it's cold outside. we have clear skies out there right now and some very dry conditions. that offshore wind continuing to blow expowdz outside and that is giving it the perfect condition. temperatures falling in a hurry tonight. the coldest numbers, already seeing some 30s beginning to show up outside. 38 degrees right now in livermore. 36 in santa rosa. but you get the idea. cold air already in place. huge dome of high pressure made for a beautiful day today. the next few days looking spectacular. this ridge bringing offshore wind and that is pumping in cold, dry air into california. looks like that ridge starts to break down the next couple of days. temperatures going to bottom out tonight and bottom out they

will. 25 degrees in santa rosa. 27 degrees. freeze warnings are up in the north bay. a hard freeze there. 29 in the napa valley. 30 in concord. plenty of 30s in and around the bay and patchy frost inside the bay overnight tonight with 40s out toward the coastline. not bad by day. temperatures up in the os and some 60s by the afternoon. so should be comfortable in the daytime. but boy, night very cold and tomorrow night will be cold, but not quite as cold as tonight. temperatures cooling off and as we head toward the weekend, don't want to think about rain just yet, but the pattern is just about to change. >> and dry. >> yeah, we've been very dry for a long time. >> keep away from the hose. >> thank you. what is the one promise that barack obama did not keep? i'm dennis o'donnell, here's a

hint. >> playoffs? are you kidding me? playoffs? ,,,,,,,,,,

♪ [ female announcer ] during the holidays, there's a lot to get done. and safeway select appetizers help you rise to every occasion. ♪ from delectable to amazing. there are over 20 affordable safeway select appetizers ♪ to make all of your gatherings just as merry as can be. ♪ only at safeway. ingredients for life.

finalist this afternoon, and d-htting andrew luck was named one of five heisman trophy finalists this afternoon and faced a hard hitting question

after practice. >> do you want to win the heisman trophy? >> do i want to win the heisman trophy? absolutely. >> hello, luck is hoping to become the first quarterback to win the heisman since jim plunket. coach david shaw took issue with other colleges making heisman promises to lure players. >> there are high schools that say that, just like they'll say they can produce trophy winners. it's all a sham. you have to earn it. you earn it on the field and the voters have to recognize you and give you the vote. the fact that i know firsthand that a lot of other people use those in recruiting. it's just bogus because they don't have a vote. they can't get a kid anything. >> republicans, are you fed up with obama care? the president did not close guantanamo bay? well, barack obama's biggest

failure in his first term is much greater. in fact, i argue it's a matter of national security. >> we should be creating a playoff system. eight teams. that would be three rounds to determine a national champion. it would add three extra weeks to the season. you could trim back on the regular season. i don't know any serious fan of college football who has disagreed with me on this. so i'm going to throw my weight around a little bit. i think it's the right thing to do. >> this was obama's plan. stanford would play oregon round one of the playoffs. 7th ranked boise state. did he deliver his promise? no. today another coach tore into the bcs system. >> i'm really tired of the bcs name. i think everybody is just very tired of the bcs. i mean, i think that's the

bottom line. i mean, everybody is frustrated. nobody really knows what to do anymore. it doesn't make sense to anybody. i don't think anyone is happy. the whole thing needs to be changed. there's no question about it. >> amen to that. forget politics. phillip u rivers and the chargers against the jags on monday night. throws touchdowns to malcome floyd. san diego wins. they are two games behind denver and oakland in the afc west. >> be spontaneous. >> so, let's celebrate. >> very spontaneous speech. the 49ers clinch the division for the first time in 2002. it's especially gratifying for the york family. team president was the junior at notre dame the last time san francisco played in the post season. >> it feels great. i don't know that it sunk in for everybody yet. but i asked the guys and said

this isn't the last half. there's a long way for us to go and there's a lot of work we need to do. >> isn't that interesting? if you would have said in the beginning of the season, if they made the playoffs, everything else is icing on the cake, now the bar is raising. >> it's strange. there was a time twenty years ago when raising the playoffs was a conclusion. wouldn't question it. >> if they didn't get to the nfc championship game, the season was a failure. >> exactly. >> but there are peeks and valleys. as richard nixon once said, you never know how great it is to be on the highest mountain top unless you have been on the lowest valley. >> that's the second president you have quoted tonight. >> we'll be right back. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

all right, we're coming back tomorrow. in the meantime -- >> david letterman is up next with jonah hill. >> she's funny. good night. >> night.