today on getting answers. reparations for black californians takes another step forward with three key bills advancing in the assembly. we'll speak to the senator who authored the bills and learn more about how the laws could rewrite centuries of wrongs. then we take a look at a rental scheme in san francisco that could be costing you hundreds of dollars more in rent. our media partners at the sf standard are exposing the tactic, sharing the story of two sisters that got got and giving you the information you need to know to protect yourself. but first up,

a sitting president's child is convicted of a felony. what we're learning about hunter biden's conviction and the potential impact on the presidential race. you're watching getting answers. thanks so much for joining us. here i am julian glover. president joe biden is in delaware, where this morning a federal jury found his son, hunter biden, guilty on all three federal felony gun charges, concluding that he violated laws meant to prevent people addicted to drugs from owning firearms. this is video here for the president departing washington, heading there to delaware and joining us live now with insight is abc news political director avery harper. avery, we always appreciate you being here. thanks for joining us. thanks for having me. let's start with the question that so many americans are probably thinking about wondering right now, what's the likelihood that hunter biden will actually be incarcerated, see any jail time over this conviction? >> well, the charges he is facing could put a person behind bars for up to 25 years. but legal experts that i speak to are saying that they don't

believe that he is going to see any jail time. you have to remember that oftentimes as a judge considers what to sentence somebody with, they also look at a person's previous criminal history. he does not have a previous criminal history. and so we could see him not go to jail or go to prison for these charges. we just have to wait and see. >> and of course, this being a nonviolent conviction too, we know hunter biden's conviction comes just weeks after former president donald trump was convicted of nearly three dozen felonies. we don't want to conflate a former president, soon to be presidential nominee being convicted and a president's son being convicted. but i want to bring you the latest poll numbers. we're seeing here on the latest survey conducted this past weekend by morning consult pro shows the race in a virtual dead heat, with biden showing a one point lead with 44% of the total vote. 5% of all voters still remaining undecided. avery will this conviction tip the scales, in your opinion? will voters be able to separate the president's

son from the president himself? >> well, i don't think this is going to move the needle in terms of biden's support. you know, at the end of the day, hunter biden is a private citizen, and he is not running for president. so this case and even the tax trial, he's going to face later on this year in september, closer to the election election. i don't believe that that's going to weigh heavily on how people vote. i do think, however, that the trump campaign and trump's allies are going to try to take advantage of legal developments around uh- hunter biden in order to further their baseless claims about the justice system being rigged against them. we've seen that already today in the trump campaign statement about this verdict. they called this verdict a distraction from the real crimes that they baselessly , baselessly accuse the biden family of. and so i think we can expect to see more of that as we head toward november. >> and we've also heard some of that rhetoric from mike johnson,

speaker of the house today as well. how do you think those in trump's orbit will use this, this news of hunter biden being convicted to try and stoke up support within their base. >> right. like i said, i think they're going to continue to talk about legal developments around hunter biden to try and further their claims that the justice system has been weaponized against former president trump in a way that it's not against anybody else. i mean, this conviction would fly in the face of that conventional wisdom would say, but still, we've seen those around. former president trump. you know, you mentioned the speaker of the house, mike johnson. but also, you know, there's a republican congresswoman, nancy mace. she also said today via a post on x that, you know, that folks should not be fooled by this quote, a veil of fairness. uh. she says this again without any evidence, but that is an attitude that we're seeing in conservative circles. does that garner former president trump

any additional support? i don't think so, but it could galvanize those folks who are already supporting him to turn out in november. >> do you think this could also cause some people that are in the middle, that 5% that we were talking about in that most recent poll, who were still undecided to maybe stay home, motivate them less, to actually turn out to the polls? those people that could potentially vote for the president. >> you know, turnout is something that we have to wait and see in november. you know, who actually ends up coming out to the polls. but i think that there are other issues that are going to weigh more heavily in how folks are going to vote. when you look at our latest abc news ipsos poll or abc news ipsos poll that came out back in may, we asked folks about the issues that they care the most about. when it came time to voting, it was issues like the economy and inflation. it was issues like crime and safety. those are the kinds of kitchen table issues that folks are voting on. these other issues, these court cases. i don't believe that they're going to

weigh as heavily in terms of how people vote, or if people decide to come out and vote at all. >> sure, that conventional wisdom of it's the economy. stupid, right? still ringing true today in what so many americans are saying are their top issues that they're thinking about heading into the polls in 2024. i want to talk about jail time, and we did learn that the former president trump had that pre-sentencing interview with the new york probation office that took place monday. any early indications of what could happen with trump, including the consequences that he could be facing as a result of these 34 felony convictions? >> well, we're going to have to wait until july to see exactly what the judge decides to give former president trump as far as consequences for those 34 felony charges. but look, i again, you know, when you talk to legal experts, uh- folks do not end up serving jail time or you know, time in prison for class e felonies in the state of new york. and so it's unlikely, given the age of former president trump, given the fact that he is a former president,

and also the fact that he does not have any previous uh- criminal history, that he is going to be put behind bars for these charges. again, we have to wait and see what other kinds of consequences he might face. again that that sentencing is happening july 11th. >> what do you think there is to be said about the fact that at very least, the former president, donald trump, is maintaining his support, some polls even showing maybe a slight uptick in support. >> we've seen that influx of donations right from his supporters since he was convicted on those 34 felony counts. for many of the people, this would be a career ender. this would be it. pack it up, go home. but for donald trump, you know, i don't want to use the phrase teflon don, but he just keeps ticking. it doesn't seem to have fazed him or his supporters. what can be said of that? >> right. you know, i think that has to do with the fact that this has really been the crux of his campaign from the very beginning. this claim that he again, baselessly this baseless claim that he is being

politically persecuted, that he's being unfairly treated, has been something that has been a boon to his campaign throughout the primary season. it is why he is, you know, a big part of why he is going to be named the republican nominee come november , and, you know, after this verdict that we got. yeah, we saw the trump campaign raise million of dollars and they are counting on it to, galvanize supporters for him to, you know, boost folks coming out to fundraise for him and to donate to his campaign. but when it comes to november, it is more than just trump supporters that vote. and you don't vote with fundraising dollars. you vote with ballots, in november. and he is not only going to have to convince the folks who already support him, but he's going to have to convince independent voters and dissatisfied biden supporters that, you know, that he is the person to, to vote for and i don't think with that group of folks, that a felony

conviction is going to help him earn more support. >> looking ahead to november, and this will be the final question here. avery, is there anything that you think could serve as a real october surprise? right, that could shake up this dead heat o political race that we're currently seeing right now between the former president donald trump and president biden? >> well, i don't have a crystal ball, and they call it an october surprise for a reason. but, you know, i think if there is some sort of serious health issue that either of the candidates face, we've talked a lot about the ages of both candidates, you know, that could be something that could shake up the race, i think if there are other legal developments around former president trump, which i think are highly unlikely that we'll see any of these other cases tried before election day, but if there's other developments, maybe that could impact how folks are going to turn out, but again, that october surprise, we call it a surprise for a reason. so we'll have to wait and see.

>> we will wait and see right along with you. avery harper, political director over at abc news. we appreciate you joining us. thanks for being here. >> thank you. >> coming up next on getting answers, we take you to sacramento where three important votes on reparations for black californians took place today. the impact of those b

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california, but across this nation. >> that is state senator stephen bradford, speaking before the california assembly judiciary committee today. senator bradford was there presenting three key reparations bills that have been approved by the senate. all three of the bills made it out of the first committee today and are that much closer to becoming law. joining us live now is state senator steven bradford of southern california. senator bradford, we appreciate you being here. >> thank you for having me. >> you're coming off a pretty successful day in the assembly with all three of your bills moving out of the judiciary committee. we'll walk through each of the bills, starting with the bill to create a freemen affairs agency to oversee reparations created by the state. i know this is more than a year in the making for you. how would this work if it does pass the full assembly and is signed into law by the governor? >> uh- sb uh- 1050 i mean, i'm sorry, sb 1403 would set up the infrastructure for the freedmen american freedmen's affairs bureau, similar to what we had in 1865 after emancipation

proclamation to oversee whatever reparations is of helping to uh- determine in the communities of eligibility, eligibility those individuals who qualify for reparations. and again, if reparations is going to lead to homebuyer assistance meting out all of those programs that need to be addressed. so it's going to be the infrastructure. and we can't do it without it. so i'm excited that it moved along today, and i'm excited for the next chapter as we move that bill forward. >> so that was 1403. i want to now talk about the second bill that would create a fund for reparations. that one is 1331 for the fund for reparations and reparative justice. now, i know when the bill was first introduced in the senate, it would have received 6% of the funds from california's rainy day fund. but the bill was modified, so there's currently no funding mechanism. i imagine this was a strategic choice here, but why was that change made, mainly because of the deficit. we find ourselves in

today. i made a strong argument that it should be 6% of the reserve, not 6% of the general fund, but of our reserve. if there's no reserve, there would be no money set aside. the 6% was also based on the current population, or percentage of the population of african americans in the state of california. we thought this was a fair approach, but being the fact that we do find ourselves in a deficit, we've now set up a program that will authorize grants to be received, be it from the federal, state, local or private entities to help fund reparations going forward. >> so essentially, this bill then creates the checking account, right. but there's nothing currently in the checking account, so to speak, you mentioned briefly how you hope reparations will be funded by grants, perhaps even donations. how exactly would that work? are there businesses that you're hearing that might want to donate into such a fund, or there specific grants that you have in mind that might be coming from the federal

government? >> i mean, there's philanthropic organizations have already lent their voice. so hopefully now they'll lend their money as well, we know there will be, opportunities for federal money. i mean, we continue to receive federal dollars to fund projects such as the high speed rail. that's now well over $130 billion. so i hope we can make this a priority and show the importance of this and that not only our federal government but our like i say local, philanthropic groups and national philanthropic groups, will see fit to lend some support in helping us stand this agency up. and again, i'm not going to walk away from the possibilities, that again, if we find ourselves in a better position financially as a state of california, that we do set a percentage of our reserve aside to help fund these programs. >> okay. we do want to note that this has not all been smooth sailing, right? the funding bill did receive some opposition from at least one republican on the committee. in the judiciary committee today, i want to play a sound bite from assembly

member kate sanchez. >> i recognize and acknowledge the painful part of our history. the pains of our past should not be paid by the people of today. the majority of our state is latino and asian, making up 55% of our population, most of them, like me, are second, first, second or third generation immigrants who had nothing to do with slavery, discrimination, jim crow laws, none. nothing. it is fundamentally unfair to force these people to pay for this. and because of that, i will be opposing today. >> senator bradford, what's your response to the assembly member who basically argues that the people alive today didn't commit the harm, so they shouldn't be responsible for paying the tab? what's your response to that? >> i find that laughable. i mean, again, it's many people who are benefiting from the sweat, the toil, the anguish of african american slaves that were, you know, enslaved in this country for over 250 years. and

as i often say, if you can inherit generational wealth, you can inherit generational debt. this is a debt that is old, that was promised, and it's 160 years overdue. so you know, we have found ways to make our brothers and sisters who suffered during world war two, the japanese americans not i won't necessarily say whole, but we compensated them. and a lot of us wasn't here. like president reagan apologized, and he surely wasn't a president at that time, but he saw the need to make this amends and fix this situation. so the same thing applies here, because this country would not be the leading country that it is if it wasn't for almost 300 years of free labor by african american slaves. so, they do owe a debt. and it is our responsibility as a whole, whether you were here or not, to , try to rectify this. wrong. >> the last bill that passed out of the senate judiciary committee today would compensate families for racially motivated land takings. sb 1050, how do you hope it will begin to make

families whole, as you saw the day we had, miss jessie johnson, a senior who was here and had her property taken over 60 years ago here in california. and what was russell city that's now part of hayworth. there property was taken by eminent domain and then, annexed into the city of, hayward, we have hundreds, if not thousands of examples as you well know, in 2022, i authored the bill to return the property in manhattan beach to the bruce family, heirs bruce beach was a african american resort that was established in 1912. but the city, of manhattan beach, because of their hatred and racial, animosity, used eminent domain to commit a crime and steal the property. there's hundreds there's thousands of examples we just learned about, silas white, who was african american business person in santa monica who had his property taken today, and they

took it under the guise that the city needed a parking lot in 1960. well, there's a four star hotel that sits on that land that still owned by the city of manhattan. i mean, santa monica, which they're receiving rent from every day. that money should be going to the, white air. so there are many examples like that. so we want to where those opportunities exist, we want to either compensate those individuals if it's still under state local control. we're not talking about taking property that is now in private hands, but where we can find examples where bruce's beach, where it's still controlled by a governmental entity, we want to return that property or provide some type of financial compensation to these individuals. so that's what sb 1050 will do. >> senator bradford, need a really quick answer here. we know that these bills now moved from the senate judiciary. excuse me, the assembly judiciary committee now to the appropriations committee, then to the full assembly for a vote after that, it would be up to governor gavin newsom to sign or veto these bills. how likely do you think it is that the governor will sign these three

reparations bills into law? >> i hope it's very likely. we've had a great communication with the governor's staff. again, he supported the task force, that established this by the secretary, uh- weber. uh- ab 3121. so this is the culmination of that work, that two years that i served on that task force. and this is one of the 115 recommendations. so i would think it would make it all for not if we were now to move legislation forward. that embraces what the task force reported back and not be supported. so i'm hopeful as, doctor martin luther king said, we have to have accept finite disappointment but have infinite hope. so i'm hopeful. >> senator steven bradford of southern california, we really appreciate your time. thanks for being here. thank you. i've been following the push for reparations for several years now, and earlier this year, i released an in-depth look at the work of the reparations task force and examine the package of proposed laws in the abc seven originals documentary, california's case for reparations. it's now streaming on demand on the abc seven news bay area app. we'll take

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tenet was charging them much more than he paid in rent. so how common is this, and is it legal? and what can renters do to ensure they're not getting overcharged? our media partner, the sf standard, has some answers and a new article, a rent scheme cost these sisters thousands. now they're fighting back and joining us live now standard business reporter jillian d'onofrio. jillian, thanks for being here. >> thanks so much for having me. >> okay, so tell us the story of these sisters, alexandra and marjorie. they thought they were getting a really good deal on this apartment in the mission district. and then they found out that the master tenant was overcharging them. how much money? >> yeah. so $700 a month more than he was paying the landlord. whoa. >> that's a lot of money. how did they figure this out? and what's the legal recourse that the sisters have to try and claw back some of this money?

>> yeah, so it was kind of a wild situation. they actually ended up meeting the apartment owner, and she brought up in conversation how much she was charging for the apartment. and then they countered with how much they were paying. and by their description, the landlord's jaw dropped and so that's how they found out about the discrepancy. as far as legal recourse, it's actually a little bit complicated. there are different protections for folks who live in rent controlled buildings versus non rent controlled buildings in san francisco, a legal rent gouging is easier to go after if you live in a rent controlled building. in the case of these sisters, they're taking him to small claims court versus going to the sf rent board to deal with their issue. >> so in san francisco, real estate complicated. never would have guessed it right, what did you hear from the master tenant when you reached out to him? what did he have to say about the situation? was this all a big misunderstanding? in his view? >> yeah. so he responded through his lawyer and his take was that there was no wrongdoing and that he looks forward to having the day in court where they're going

to argue that everything that he did was above board. >> we'll have to see what the small claims court judge has to say about that. your article also has some really good advice for tenants out there. a one tip is to find out the year the rental was built. why does this matter and how can people save money by doing this? >> yeah, so as i said before, there are different protections for san francisco renters based on whether they live in a rent controlled or non rent controlled apartment. so if you look up the date of your building and it was built, before june 1979, then you're in luck. your building is rent controlled and there are a lot more protections for you. you can reach out to the san francisco tenants union to learn more, and if it's not, it is harder to feel protected as a as a sub tenant in san francisco. so i think a great first step is finding out whether or not you do fall into that rent controlled category. >> that's really good advice right there. and lastly, only a few seconds left here, jillian.

but what did the sisters hope to achieve by sharing their story of how they were taken for this ride of $700 a month in extra rent? >> yeah, they really want to spread awareness. they want to make sure that other renters know how to protect themselves and learn their rights. >> so it's a really great reason to do it. and hopefully folks watching right now learn something from this so that this does not happen to them. jillian donofrio standard business reporter we really appreciate you joining us. really good advice here. >> thanks so much. >> you can check out more of the san francisco standard's other original reporting on their website, sf standard.com and abc7 will continue to bring you more segments featuring the standards city focused journalism twice a week right here on getting answers at 3 p.m. and remember, abc seven news is streaming 24 seven. get the abc seven bay area app and join us whenever yo

answering questions with experts from around the bay area. world news tonight with david muir is up next. tonight, several breaking stories as we come on the air. hunter biden guilty on all charges. tonight, two jurors now speaking to abc news. what they reveal inside the jury room. jurors split right down the middle at first. also, the stunning images coming in, the rush hour bus hijacking. and the secret recordings of supreme court justices tonight. the audio, and what it reveals. first tonight, the historic verdict. hunter biden guilty on all three coun counts. inside the courtroom, the moment the verdict was read. and tonight, we take you