you're watching kpix 5 news at 5:30. right now on kpix 5 and streaming on cbsn bay area, a look at our top stories at 5:30. >> bizarre testimony in the nia wilson murder trial today when john lee cowell, the man accused of her murder took the stand. he claims he hears voices from his head coming from alien technology and insisted the wilson sisters were aliens who are threatening him. his lawyers claim he's not mentally competent to stand trial, but a court psychologist disagrees. and santa clara supervisors announce the end to a backlog of untested rape kits.

now they're fast tracking the testing to find potential suspects. >> in oakland's china town, fear of the coronavirus is taking its toll on businesses. one local cafe and the chamber of commerce says people are staying indoors and avoiding contact with each other for fear of getting sick. a workshop to answer questions is being held in the community tonight. now our original series project home. all around the region people are building in-law units or granny flats to help with the housing crisis. >> new state laws make them easier to build. but susie steimle shows us a growing problem. small landlords that already own the units but are struggling to legalize them. >> reporter: in the walls of this victorian home could talk, they'd had quite the housing crisis problem to share. >> we liked the charm to it. >> we have a space that can really feel like hours and like a home. >> reporter: this is what affordable housing should look

like in san francisco. it's a beautiful home in a nice neighborhood. the rent is below market rate, the tenants and landlord all actually like each other, and everyone wants to stale put. but because of conflicting city laws, this is all about to come apart. >> it's a total catch 22. >> reporter: eric is a small landlord in san francisco. this is his only rental property. upstairs in a 2 bedroom are 2 couples including brittany and frank. down stairs in a studio are matt, his girlfriend, and their dog banksy who crashed the interview a couple of times. matt's apartment is the apparent problem. >> i was pretty shocked when we heard why it was considered an illegal unit. >> reporter: the ceiling is off by a couple of inches. so are the floorboards, and ground water access isn't ideal. all of which make this unit technically illegal. something they only found out about after a neighbor complained. >> they could continue to fine

me i think it's $250 or $350 a day for not legalizing it. >> reporter: to legalize the unit, eric would have to tear up the sidewalk out front which would cost at least $50,000. and the excavation work needed to raise the ceilings would cost more than $200,000. it's work tenants don't think needs to be done that eric can't afford to do. >> it's extremely frustrating for someone who doesn't have deep pockets like me. >> reporter: his other option is taking the unit off the market and displace all 6 tenants. >> it's a very scary situation. >> my hope is that the city finds ways to help make it easier to make any accessory dwelling unit be permitted to be legal. >> reporter: 2 conflicting san francisco laws are at play here. the first is david chu's ordinance from 2014. that ordinance allows land lords to bring illegal in-law units onto the market without

a permit. a second law that passed in 2016 makes it difficult for landlords to remove any unit, legal or not, from the market. so eric would have to be granted a hearing by the planning commission to remove the illegal unit, which is something he's been waiting 2 years for. >> dealing with the planning commission and the planning department at this point in san francisco's history is sort of like playing russian roulette. >> it's incredibly difficult to be a small property owner in san francisco. >> reporter: daniel is an attorney who regularly represents small landlords. he says he regularly hears stories of mom and pops being confused and then deciding renting here is not worth the hassle. how many small property owners have you seen choose to leave the market due to complications like this? >> i would say dozens. dozens. >> reporter: and are we at risk of losing more is this. >> i would say yes. >> reporter: as he points out, eric is taking a legal risk either way.

if he continues to rent an illegal unit, his tenants could sue him. so the safest legal option would be to displace tenants even though he doesn't want to do that? >> well, you're between a rock and a hard place. >> reporter: so what's a small landlord with happy tenants in a city experiencing a housing crisis to do? it's a house of cards, and whether it falls hinges on eric's decision to break the law or find a way around it. >> what i would say to the planning commission is if you really care about the housing crisis and providing affordable housing to the citizens and residents of san francisco, help me legalize this unit. >> at lest check it does look like eric is going to have to remove that illegal unit. he now has a meeting with the planning commission on april 2nd. sending your stories and ideas to project home and

see all of our reporting on our website. an atherton couple could face the longest sentences yet in the college admissions scandal scheme. >> they reportedly gloated about working with ail fixer to cheat on entrance exams for their daughters, and they say she and her husband cheated on more standardized tests than anyone else involved. prosecutors are asking for 26 months in prison for elizabeth enriquez and 18 months for their husband manuel. they reportedly paid $50,000 for test cheating and $400,000 for bribing a tennis coach to admitting them. in test cheating for their

younger daughter, manuel reportedly used his influence at north eastern to ensure another student would get in. it says they allowed their children to become complicit in their crimes. the couple pleaded guilty back in october to fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering charges and will be sentenced the first week of march. all right, liz, thank you. italy tonight is calling it quits after the owners announced they're liquidating the company. the company previously offered 4 flights a week from sfo to milan.

if you booked a ticket with air italia, flights will be run by her airlines. the next time you fly southwest, pay attention to what the flight attendant says right after the safety demonstration. southwest will now ask passengers to report what it calls unwelcome behavior to a flight attendant. a spokesperson for southwest confirms the language has been added to the preflight briefing to quote ensure a safe and welcoming environment at all times. >> twitter says it's expanding business outside of the bay area. coming up, more on the fate of the company's san francisco headquarters. >> and the flip phone making a comeback. a look at the new samsung foldable phone. >> new at 6:00, a group of bay area tenants haven't paid their rent for months and don't plan to. >> we're at a point of escalation. we've tried various different tactics to get where we are now. >> the ultimatum they're giving their landlord. as soon as i started talking about

putting term limits on congress, washington insiders went crazy. they said term limits are bad,

that they'll break government. what a joke! congress is working fine for politicians and corporations, but it's not doing anything for real people on climate, health care or gun safety. the only way we get new ideas is electing new people, including a president willing to shake-up washington. i'm tom steyer and i approve this message. when mike first became mayor, there were places where black and brown children hadn't received an education for 30 years.

mike said, "those are the kids i want to give an opportunity". he increased teacher's salaries. he increased the graduation rates by 40%. he made schools safer all over this country. children aren't getting a quality education. mike is going to fight for all the children. i saw him do it in the largest school system in america. he's going to do the same thing in this country. i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message. tackling the long stalled subject of how to govern the operation of autonomous vehicles with some 80 companies across the u.s. now testing hundreds of the self-driving cars, congress knows it needs to find a way to let the technology move forward while keeping the public safe. among the speakers today, the new head of the san francisco municipal transportation authority who's equally

concerned about hackers. >> what happens when av's experience a disruption, and i have 6,000 on my street and they all come to a stop shutting down all traffic in san francisco? >> senator dianne feinstein is one of the lawmakers demanding rigorous safety standards on autonomous vehicles. san francisco-based twitter may try a new trend when it comes to hiring. ceo jack dorsey saying the work force concentration in the city isn't everybodying its purpose. they'll begin following the lead of other tech companies hiring people that work remotely outside the bay area, but that doesn't mean san francisco will stop being twitter's headquarters, saying, and i'm quoting here, san francisco will be where the majority of our employees will be based for the foreseeable future. there's incredible talent around the world, and we have to work in a way that supports them as employees regardless of where they live. the stage is set for a

megamerger in the wireless industry. a federal judge okayed the deal between sprint and t-mobile. t-mobile says that the deal would make it a stronger commit competitor, but a group of states including california argues that it would lead to higher prices for consumers. the california attorney general tweeted quote, even in the face of powerful opposition, we won't hesitate to stand up for consumers who deserve choice and fair prices. we'll stand on the side of competition over megamergers every time. news of the deal sent sprint's stock soaring up more than 70 percent today. t-mobile's stock went up 11 percent. overall the stock market was quiet. forget the flip phone. samsung wants to offer you a phone that bends. the galaxy z unfolds into a full sized smart phone. it can open at different angles like a laptop and you

can even take a photo with the phone closed. the front is made of durable, flexible glass. the release follows the latest tech trends that bend. >> it's really about reigniting the excitement for people, feeling like they want to be the first person on the block with one. >> samsung started selling the galaxy fold last year, and that was followed by the motorola razr flip phone. we can expect a lot of experimenting over the next few years with all the new technology. the always versatile and flexible brian hackney. >> everything old is new again. >> isn't it? >> including me. [ laughter ] >> yeah, that flip phone. i'm looking for the palm pilot to make a comeback. >> the palm pilot! >> tonight we have beautiful sunset, a rose glow out there. in the southwest sky venus is appearing and below venus is

mercury, and they neptune as well. but you won't be able to see neptune without a strong telescope. mercury is hard to see too. right now it's 76 concord, oakland 74, livermore 69. same for san francisco and san jose 70. warmed up in santa rosa to record levels. 81 never seen on this date in historic times. at least in recorded history for the bay area. the record high was set back in 2016 of 72, and we smashed that record today. san francisco at the airport tied a record set back in 1996 when sfo hit 74. there were other records today too at richmond and napa. tonight we get down to 45 in santa rosa, so things will cool into the mid-40s, but the air has been so warmed up today it won't get that cold tonight. 47 overnight in san jose.

high pressure is sending clouds up into the pacific northwest. no rain up there. in fact check the current. it's clear from crescent city in the north to bakersfield in the south. the strong high will give way though, and as a result we get a few clouds and cool down to near seasonal by the time we get to, a bit later in the week like thursday and friday. in the meantime rain chances, at least there's a hint of a few sprinkles sunday when things cloud up a bit. but we need a big rain maker, and it doesn't look like that's on the way. we continue unusually warm even for tomorrow. san francisco hit 64, 4 degrees warmer than usual. and ditto for oakland. san jose and concord and 69, well above average for the middle of the february. high temperatures for tomorrow, it's going to be mostly sunny with 60 in pacifica and sunshine in morgan hill, and 69 degrees. east bay beautiful for

wednesday. 69 pleasant hill and brentwood. up in the north bay the numbers in the low 70s, and santa rosa tumbles down to 72. meanwhile ukia swelters at 66. in the extended forecast, we get more clouds this weekend. the numbers come down to what we expect, at least in the vicinity of what we expect in the middle of february. but just as we might get a sprinkle or two on sunday, we turn it around with more sunshine for montgomery and tuesday. and if those aren't enough numbers for you, ken bastida has a few more. yeah, i'm at the live news desk, and the polls have closed now in new hampshire. so let's take a look at what we've got in terms of who's leading the primary there. and it is bernie sanders i believe with a commanding lead right now. the numbers are coming in. and pete buttigieg also has some numbers there. there we go. 28 percent, buttigieg at 22 percent, klobuchar your top

3 at 20 percent. a big gain for her. also elizabeth warren who finished down the list a bit spoke to some of her supporters a little earlier. here's what she had to say. >> the fight we're in, the fight to save our democracy, is an uphill battle. but our campaign is built for the long haul, and we are just getting started. >> so elizabeth warren going to finish with 9 or 10 percent in new hampshire as will joe biden. here's the real news though. late word is that michael bennett has just dropped out of the democratic race and michael wang has also announced that he suspended his campaign. we'll have more on that coming up. at the live news desk back to

growing up in a family that struggled economically powerfully influenced my values. bernie sanders he's fighting to raise wages. and guarantee health care for all. now, our country is at a turning point. hard working people, betrayed by trump, struggling to survive. in this moment, we need a fighter. bernie sanders. we know he'll fight for us as president because he always has. i'm bernie sanders and i approve this message.

the coronavirus outbreak starting to take a toll on tech. cnet senior editor claire riley joined us to talk about how manufacturing shutdowns in china could impact the products we have here. >> companies like apple say their components come from places like wuhan, so that's starting to impact the products that actually come

into stores because if you can't get the components, you can't make the devices. >> absolutely. okay, so here in the silicon valley we're talking at facebook, apple as you mentioned. what kinds of effects might wee see around here? >> well, apple said that they have components for their products, and there's speculation these could impact as many as 45 million pairs of air pods. now they've asked suppliers to ramp up manufacturing, but if they can't get the components because the factories are closed down, and they have been for a number of weeks now, that's rolling on and immaterial impacting other things. nintendo's switch is manufactured in china, and there's a bunch of companies. companies like nissan that's co carps, so that's impacting their production. of slow

down. you might have to have some of your devices on back order. it's sort of impacting production now. that could roll on in the pipeline for products. while you might be able to go get one now, it could impact things down the track. i'm elizabeth cook, new at 6:00, a former high school student is suing south bay school employees for knowing a coach had his baby and did nothing about it. plus a sweet reunion after a family was split up for 14 days. we talk to a woman about what life was like after coronavirus quarantine. coming up, a fight for fair rental rates hitting the streets in the south bay. we take you there live next. the white house. rn we all have progressive plans to address the big challenges facing our country. what makes me different, is i've been working

for ten years outside of washington, to end the corporate takeover of our democracy, and to return power to the american people. i started need to impeach to hold this lawless president accountable. i'm proposing big reforms like term lit ..ndg ticssing big reforms like term lit as president, i'll declare building a successfulars international business. so, i can take on donald trump on the economy - and beat him. i'm tom steyer and i approve this message - because there is nothing more powerful than the unified voice of the american people.

othroughout the country for the past twelve years, mr. michael bloomberg is here. vo: leadership in action. mayor bloomberg and president obama worked together in the fight for gun safety laws, to improve education, and to develop innovative ways to help teens gain the skills needed to find good jobs. obama: at a time when washington is divided in old ideological battles he shows us what can be achieved when we bring people together to seek pragmatic solutions. bloomberg: i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message. the battle over rent control is heating up in the city of mountain view as that city tries to define what is fair for renters and landlords. >> kpix 5's len ramirez is live at city hall where

opponents of a new ballot measure are holding a rally right now. len? >> reporter: that's right. measure d is a city hall backed rent control measure, but it's not backed by these folks. there's in fact a lot of pushback happening now at city hall. that's because these folks say that measure d doesn't go far enough to protect renters. one thing just about everyone in mountain view can agree on is that people are struggling. many are living in rvs and high rents are a big reason why. >> higher rents are driving essential people out of our community. >> reporter: but the battle is over how to fix the problem. city hall is backing measure d, what it calls reasonable rent control. it would limit rent increases to 4 percent a year. harris shipman is a renter and just cast his early voting ballot in favor of measure d. >> on balance it seems like it's going to do the best job for me and not do excessive damage to the people who own the properties. >> reporter: measure d is also

backed by landlords in the california apartment association which said quote, measure d seeks to protect renters, encouragement investment in the community housing units, and ensure a good quality of life for all residents. like others call measure d terrible. >> every year i've been here, our landlords raised our rent by the exact amount permitted by the current rent control, so i have no doubt they'll raise it 4 percent every single year. >> reporter: the city's current rent control law is tied to the consumer price index that averages about 3 percent a year. the difference would be hundreds of dollars out of pocket for this renter. >> that's our kid's day care for a month or several car payments. like it's a real amount of money. >> reporter: opponents also say under measure d, landlords can pass on the cost of upgrades to extend the life of their buildings up to a 10 percent increase. >> and a 10 percent increase would be, like i don't know how we could stay here.

>> reporter: shipman says he doesn't want to pay 4 percent either, but sees measure d as a way to steady the market and create more housing. >> just holding the line on prices is not going to be enough. because we're not building anything. >> reporter: and these folks will be heading into city hall next to bring their protest to the city council which is the author of measure d. that will be decided by the voters next month on election day. reporting live in mountain view, len ramirez, kpix 5. all right, that's it for the news at 5:00. >> kpix 5 news at 6:00 begins now with ken bastida and elizabeth cook. right now life after coronavirus quarantine. a bay area woman talks about her experience after being holed up for 14 days. >> i'm feeling that this is going to be part of my history and it's going to be part of america's history. >> plus a man on trial for killing bart passenger nia wilson rambles on about aliens. his strange testimony.

>> and east bay tenants haven't paid rent in months, and they don't plan to. the ultimatum they're giving their landlord. our top story on kpix 5 and streaming on cbsn bay area, the first coronavirus evacuees from china are out of quarantine. good evening, i'm elizabeth cook. >> and i'm ken bastida. a bay area woman and her daughter are on their way back home right now. kpix 5's kiet do is joining us now with her experience. >> reporter: yes, so at 11:00 this morning, all evacuees had their luggage lined up, temperatures taken one last time, esther got her thank you letter from the cdc, couldn't wait to get out of there, jumped in a car, and she's on her way back to palo although as we speak. esther's husband documented the long drive to the base, and the moment he saw his