West Coast Wrap Thursday, 11/5/2026

I'm in shock, I'm in shock, good for her, congratulations, congratulations. Reaction pouring in tonight after the closely watched race for mayor of Los Angeles has been called with voters. Forcing out incumbent Mayor Karen Bass. And good evening, everyone. Welcome to West Coast Wrap. I'm Alex Savage. City Council Member Nithya Raman will become the mayor of the nation's second largest city. Raman is backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, and she is part of a trend of young progressive leaders across the country. Let's begin our coverage here with Fox 11's Cristina Gonzalez, who joins us now live from L.A. with more on this new era coming for the city. And Cristina, I understand that the incoming mayor spoke just a short time ago. Yeah, here at the farmer's market, it was an impromptu last minute thing, but we did manage to get her. And first, one of the big things she wanted to talk about is being an immigrant here and being picked and voted for as the mayor. Listen to what she had to say. The city has given me and my family so much. And at a time when, in the federal government, over the past two years, we've seen the A country that has rejected immigrants and in so many ways the immigrant dream, I'm an immigrant to this country. And this is a city of immigrants in so many ways, whether they came from across America or whether they came from across the world. This city has opened its arms to people to come and build their dreams here. And the idea that Angelinos voted for an immigrant to be their next mayor at this moment in American history is so deeply moving to me. And I want to tell every single Angeleno out there I am going to work so hard and everyone behind me is gonna work so hard to earn your trust, to earn your trust and to make people believe in Los Angeles again, to make people believe in its city hall again. One of the first serious questions, though, she had to answer right away was whether she indeed, as she has hinted during the campaign, was going to fire Chief of Police Jim McDonnell. As we're getting ready for the Olympics, she's talked about defunding the police. There's been lots of concerns from the police union. Here's what she had to say when she was asked, listen. You know, I have spoken to leadership at LAPD already. In fact, I'm speaking to Chief McDonald. I spoke to him earlier today and it was one of the first calls that I made because public safety is the most important service that the city is delivering to its people. It is hands down the most important service. And I want to make sure that whatever happens over this transition that we are prepared to deliver that service. At the level that Angelenos expect when I take office in mid-December. And I know Chief McDonald's committed to that, I'm committed to that, and we'll continue those discussions. They'll continue the discussions and I have a feeling we're gonna hear a lot more about that because it is an ongoing concern. We'll have to see what happens with that. But literally a lot of congratulations, a lot of surprise. Keep in mind, it's been 20 years since a mayor here in Los Angeles didn't win. They didn't go on to win that second election, so quite some time. So a lot of people were surprised, they were thinking Bass was gonna pull through. But as you said, a new wave of young people taking over, we'll have to see what happens. Live in Los Angeles, I'm Cristina Gonzalez, back to you guys back in San Francisco. Yeah, and Cristina, before I let you go, are we hearing anything from Mayor Bass's campaign? She said anything about these results? I know she did concede the race. Yes, she did consider it, she made no appearances on camera, she did put out a statement saying thank you to her supporters. But more importantly, saying that as much as it was not what she expected or what her team expected, that she is listening to the vote of Los Angeles and that she has reached out to Nithya Raman and is promising a smooth transition. But nothing in front of camera or social media as of right now and not expected so tonight. But she is saying she's And she will work with Nithya in whatever way she can. All right, Fox 11's Cristina Gonzalez live for us tonight in LA. Cristina, we appreciate it. Thank you. All right, we want to turn now to another race we are closely following, and that is the U.S. Senate race in Alaska. Tonight, the ballots still are being counted, and the race is too close to call. Now, here's a look at where the vote stands right now. The Democrat Mary Peltola is in the lead over incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan by only several hundred votes. So it's still very tight. Fox's Sarah Allegra is in Anchorage tonight to explain how the way the votes are being counted is stirring up. Even more controversy in this race. Well, it could be a matter of weeks until we get those official results here in the state of Alaska. Right now, we've got Democratic candidate Mary Peltola. She's leading this race not too far behind her. Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan. I mean, the two are neck and neck, only separated by a few hundred votes right now. And with neither of these candidates topping 50% of the vote, it could come down to voters' second choices here. Alaskans can rank four candidates in order of preference. This is rank choice voting. If no one gets more than half, With the vote the candidate in last place is eliminated, those votes then go to the next choice listed on each ballot and that process continues on until someone has a majority. The system itself is also on the ballot this year with Alaskans divided over whether to keep it. Don't be fooled. I mean, it's a ridiculous voting system and hopefully we're gonna prevail this year and basically we won't have to do this again. It's definitely something that I find a lot of value in because you can choose not just one candidate, you can choose multiple candidates so you're not stuck with one specific candidate Ranked Choice puts new attention on two other names in this race that Republicans argue are pulling thousands of votes away from the incumbent. Republican Gerald Hikes has nearly 5,000 votes and Dan J. Sullivan, the so-called decoy Dan, has more than 3,000. He shares a name with the incumbent senator and days before the election, an explosive New York Times report raised questions about whether or not Democratic aides from Peltola's campaign helped recruit him to siphon votes away Now the FBI is investigating investigating issuing dozens of subpoenas. There's no real dispute that he was put on the ballot for the very purpose we're talking about. And the question really is, what will the investigations uncover? Will there be any conspiracy? Will there be a perjury? Alaska still accepting mail-in ballots and rank choice counting won't begin until November 18th. Now, those results wouldn't be certified until likely November 25th, the day before Thanksgiving. In Anchorage, Alaska, I'm Sarah Allegra for West Coast Wrap. So it could be a while before we get final results in Alaska. In the meantime, the Democrats' sweeping wins in the Senate and the House races have prompted new questions about how the Trump administration is going to govern over the next two years. There could be a large number of Trump appointees leaving the administration either by force or by choice. Longtime San Francisco attorney Harmeet Dhillon resigned earlier today from her role leading the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. And Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is facing a bipartisan impeachment threat over the Iran war and its impact on fuel prices. Also, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is reportedly considering resigning as he mulls a presidential run in 2028. We'll either be blamed rightfully or they will take kind of the grenade for him. So this is not a good moment. And especially entering a lame duck session, it's hard to see all but the hardest core MAGA rallying around what is left of the remnants of the party. House Republicans also are bracing for investigations led by Democrats in this new Congress. Majority Leader Steve Scalise sent a letter today to House Committee chairs warning them to quote, maximize their remaining days in power to prepare for what is coming. And it was a big sell-off on Wall Street today. Stocks tumbled with declines, largely tied to investors' concerns about possible moratoriums on AI data centers. This, of course, a big issue in the elections. Today's losses erased those gains. From yesterday's post-midterms rally. Now, the Dow today plunged, shedding more than 1,800 points. The Nasdaq dropped 5.5%, closing at about 24,000. And the S&P 500 lost more than 300 points for its worst single-day decline since April of last year. Here. Today, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced he intends to commute the death sentences of all of the state's 548 death row inmates to life without parole. This comes as the death penalty is under renewed scrutiny across the country after that failed execution of Krista Pike in Tennessee. Let's bring in KTVU's Heather Holmes, who is here now with more on Governor Newsom's decision. Yeah, this is a big announcement from the Governor Alex. Governor Newsom put a moratorium on executions in place back in 2019 and no one has been put to death in California in 20 years due to legal challenges over the state's lethal injection method. Today, the governor's call to commute hundreds of death sentences is stirring strong debate. So the founder of the California non-profit Crime Survivors called the governor's decision offensive and outrageous. San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in Marin County houses the state's death row. Among the most notorious convicted killers there are Richard Allen Davis, who kidnapped and murdered 12-year-old Polly Klass in Sonoma County in 1993. The American Civil Liberties Union applauded Newsom's announcement. The ACLU is leading an ongoing legal challenge to the death penalty, calling it racially discriminatory and unconstitutional. Now, the governor says his decision comes after nearly three decades of opposing state-sanctioned executions. The governor adding in his statement, quote, I take this action because I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California's values, undermines the foundations of our legal system, and diminishes each of us. Today, we spoke with San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaff, who described his reaction as, quote, disgust. Saying that California voters have twice approved the death penalty. If we truly are a democracy, if we truly are where the people of the state get to decide. And I don't fault a governor if he has a case he says, I just don't have trust in the outcome. But to sweep with the broad brush that occurred here, that bothers me. I don't think that's democracy at work. Now, the state constitution requires the approval of the California Supreme Court to grant clemency to anyone convicted of a felony more than once. So that means the court would have to approve nearly 400 of those commutations. This all comes on an unusual day when three U.S. states all held executions, Alex, including Indiana, Alabama, and Florida. Florida has carried out now a record number of executions under Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who could be a contender for the White House in 2028. with Democrat Governor Newsom. Yes, certainly a lot of debate about Governor Newsom's decision today. Okay Heather, we appreciate it. Thank you. Now other governors have granted broad clemency to all death row prisoners in their states. Colorado Governor Jared Polis did this back in 2020. And then Governor Kate Brown of Oregon did something similar in 2022. Let's talk more about the legal questions surrounding today's decision by California's governor. And we want to bring in Professor David Levine from UC College of the Law in San Francisco, professor, we appreciate the time tonight. So does the governor of California have the authority to commute prisoners death sentences in this kind of sweeping fashion? Well, as Heather said, the answer is yes and no. As to about a third of these prisoners, the governor has the absolute power under the California constitution to commute now remember it's life without parole without possibility of parole. So in a way the prisoners lives won't change because we already had a moratorium imposed by Governor Newsom on actual executions. So it's somewhat more form over substance. Now as to the rest and as Heather said, there's quite a few if they have been convicted of more than one felony, then what the governor has to do is recommend to the state Supreme Court. That those sentences be commuted from death penalty to life without parole. And we don't know exactly what the California Supreme Court will do. Will they wanna take them up one by one? Will they agree to make a sweeping decision as Governor Newsom did? So that all remains to be seen. Yeah, what should we know about that review process for the California Supreme Court and how it's likely to play out? Well, they could play it one of two ways. They could say, we agree with the governor that as a broad brush, we should just sweep these away. That as a practical matter, nobody has been executed in California more than 20 years. And nobody is about to be executed in California because of Governor Newsom's moratorium that he imposed shortly after he came into office. He dismantled our death chamber at San Quentin. And Governor-elect Becerra has indicated that he would maintain that same policy. So one is they could say, okay, we just agree and they're all out. Or they could go one by one and they could decide, well, there are certain crimes that are so heinous that those people should remain on death row. That's another possibility. All right, talk to me about the legal challenges that obviously we expect to come here after the governor's decision. Opponents are likely to argue that the governor... Violated the law with these blanket commutations and that he has to consider each case individually. Talk to me about the arguments you expect from opponents of this move. Well, as you said, what they can do is say it shouldn't be done in a wholesale fashion. That the idea of the governor use of his pardon power, his commutation power, is that it should be done on an individual basis rather than something more sweeping. I doubt that that's going to succeed. Think about, as you said, that in other states there's been these sweeping Think about Mr. Trump on his first day in office when he commuted all the January 6th people without regard to whether they knocked all those cases out completely. Here again, we're only talking about moving from the theoretical possibility of somebody being put to death. And again, I say theoretical because of the moratorium, because of the legal complexity of doing that versus putting them in jail without possibility of parole or the court I could say, well, they do have to be done individually, and there needs to be some weighing, something like the way a parole board works, where they look at each case and they say this person is deserving or not deserving of some relief. So the court could go either way, but I would guess that they're going to allow this sweeping use of the governor's power because it's pretty unfettered, I think. And then the separate question of whether the state Supreme Court, when its turn comes, whether they will choose to go individually. Hopefully, which is a whole lot more work than just saying, yes, we agree with a sweeping decision. But we'll see. All right. Yes, obviously a lengthy legal fight in front of us here after this decision from the governor of California. Appreciate the time tonight. David Levine from UC College of the Law in San Francisco. Thank you. No, Alex, I can't hear you. Oh, we just wrapped up there, David. We appreciate the time. I lost sound from Alex. All right. David's lost the connection here, but we appreciate him offering his perspective tonight. We'll move along here. Coming up on West Coast Rap tonight, arraignment for a man who's accused of sexual assault and kidnapping. What we're learning from the family of the victims. Alex, we're taking you to Northern California. This is the area of Pacifica, which high today was 68 degrees. Looks pretty nice out there. If you can see through the darkness, but looks can be deceiving. We'll talk about it when we come back. The Oregon man who's accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl and beating her 12-year-old sister with a hammer was arraigned earlier today in Clackamas County Circuit Court. 36-year-old Vince Edgar Chavez is charged with a number of felonies in connection with that assault in Canby. The girl's grandmother says that Chavez knew the mother of the two girls after meeting her on a dating site, and the mother stopped seeing him after she became Uncomfortable with his focus on the 10-year-old, Chavez has entered. a not guilty plea in that case. People in southwest Utah are dealing now with a new round of flooding. Some of the same homes and businesses that flooded in the community of Bluff last week flooded once again overnight. These are some of the scenes. The water is coming in from swollen river runoff. Water levels are receding tonight. People in this community say they are eager to begin what they know is going to be a very long recovery. Well, there is enough snow sticking in California for Mammoth Mountain to launch its ski season. They're off and running on the lifts there. The Sierra Nevada Resort shared these images of people lined up to take advantage of the opening today. What a beautiful day it was. Parts of the resort have seen up to 20 inches of snowfall already. A lot of anxious folks ready to hit the slopes. Let's bring in KTVU meteorologist Roberta Gonzalez, who is tracking these conditions. And, Roberta, I know you have your eye on a big shift in the weather pattern here in the West in the coming weeks. Absolutely. Absolutely, so enjoy those blue bird skies there. Yeah, they will last long. And keep in mind, Mammoth Mountain is over 11,000 feet. Yeah, it's up there, for sure. They're the first ones to open all the time, and you've got to get those ski legs ready anyway. But we do have a big shift in our weather pattern, as Alex was mentioning. But first things first, let's take a look at the forecast if you're heading over the hill towards the Greater Lake Tahoe area. As Alex was saying, they're making the snow as well, and they can, because it's very conducive temperatures in the 20s and 30s all the way through the weekend. Okay, big shift in the And the plans is first area of low pressure that's now pushing north of the Pacific Northwest. This is kind of falling apart at the seams, but look at the tear in the clouds. Keep that in mind because look at the clouds right there over the Phoenix area. Temperature today, 79 degrees. Then you go all the way into the Pacific Northwest. These are the clouds that we're seeing on our satellite imagery. Today's high temperature, 60 degrees. And then we send you to San Francisco. Yes, still those high, thin, cirrus clouds, all associated with that area of low pressure to the north. 71 degrees with an average high this time of the year, 67 degrees. And in the Bay Area, beach hazard statement has been extended now through Monday. Big waves up to 16 feet, dangerous waves over the weekend up to 20. In addition, the Coastal Flood Advisory has been expanded. Expanded to the Pacific Coast and extended also all the way through Tuesday. Now we head to Santa Monica and in Los Angeles today, it was 80 degrees. It was 70 at the beaches. And again, we do have a coastal flood advisory in effect for Southern California beaches. In addition to a beach hazard statement, I think your big day will be on Monday. All right, check this out. This is our future cast. There goes one storm. There goes another one. It's all riding well to the north of the Bay Area and also to the Pacific Northwest. But then you look at the Look at this right here. See this dip in the jet stream? That's what we call a trough, and it's carving out a path. So these storms are gonna start sagging more to the south and traversing more towards the Utah area and Colorado as well by next week. So they're preparing for more rain in the Utah area, and it's a good idea. Here's the three-day forecast. We're gonna be in and out of the clouds all the way through the period. Alex? All right, Roberta, thank you. Up next here on West Coast Wrap, tonight we'll have the latest on negotiations to bring an NBA team to Seattle. A live look here at the city tonight. After the break, we'll have the details on today's meeting between Washington's governor and the NBA commissioner. We're Sellers Advantage. We want to buy your house. We've become the number one trusted home buyer in California. Let us help you with a proven, honest, no hassle home selling experience with no fees, no commissions and no repairs. Plus up to $20,000 cash advance. Just visit sellersadvantage.com. Turning now to our NFC West report, while speaking with radio station KMBR, 49ers general manager John Lynch said today that wide receivers Mike Evans and Debo Samuel are unlikely to suit up for the team this coming Sunday. Evans has been dealing with Achilles tendonitis, while Samuel has been sidelined after suffering a hamstring injury in week five against the Seahawks. Washington Governor Bob Ferguson says he is committed to bringing an NBA team back to Seattle after meeting with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver today. A spokesperson for the governor says that he and the commissioner had a, quote, good conversation today. Seattle has not had an NBA team since the Supersonics left for Oklahoma City back in 2008. Silver wants the league to make a decision about expansion in Seattle and Las Vegas by the end of this year. And speaking Speaking of Vegas, the NBA's Las Las Vegas expansion bid now is down to two groups, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. One of them is led by Walmart heiress Nancy Walton-Lorey, her husband and Raiders minority owner Egan Durbin. Now, that second group includes Golden Knights owner Bill Foley and former Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo. We'll wait to see what happens there. Let's give you a live look at the Strip in Las Vegas tonight. And you're watching West Coast Wrap.