it gives the green light to cities to sweep homeless encampments. what does that mean for san francisco? and pride weekend is here. we've got the scoop on what you can expect for sunday's parade in san francisco. direct from the hosts

of our coverage. but first, democrats in panic mode after last night's presidential debate as their candidate, president joe biden turns in a performance so shaky it overshadowed donald trump's many lies. you're watching, getting answers. i'm kristen sze. president biden and former president trump talked about the usual things the economy, immigration, foreign policy and the unusual things insurrection, stars and golf handicaps. but it wasn't the substance that made the most headlines. it was style. in particular. president biden's week stumbling delivery and inability to counter trump's non-factual attacks. and now the democratic party faces some tough questions. president biden and donald trump are back on the campaign trail. the president, addressing supporters energetically following last night's dismal performance during the presidential debate. >> i don't know what you did last night, but i spent 90 days, 90 minutes on the stage to debating the guy who has the morals of an alley cat. it was

the biggest political stage yet in the race for the white house, and president biden's performance is fueling concern and panic among his party. >> after the 81 year old struggled at times to articulate his thoughts on key issues that are at the heart of his campaign. >> making sure that we're able to make every single, solitary person a eligible for what i've been able to do with the with the covid excuse me, with, dealing with everything we have to do with, look, if we beat medicare, trump questioning president biden's mental acuity, i really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. >> i don't think he knows what he said, either. >> over the course of the debate, trump repeated his frequent election denialism and hedged on whether he would accept the results of the election. this time. if it's a fair and legal and good election , absolutely. >> i would have much rather accepted these. but the fraud

and everything else was ridiculous. >> it was the first time the two candidates have come face to face in four years, and they traded their usual blows and sparred on key issues, including abortion rights. >> if i'm elected, i'm going to restore roe v wade. >> every legal scholar wanted it that way. >> the war in ukraine, that's a war that should have never started. and trump's legal battles. >> the only person on this stage is a convicted felon is the man i'm looking at right now. >> at one point, the two oldest candidates in history bickered over their golf game. >> i told you before, i'm happy to play golf. if you carry your own bag, i think you can do it. >> that's the biggest lie that he's a six handicap of all. >> it's like, is that for real? all right, so what's the impact of biden's very, very bad night? and is there new life to the previously dismissed notion of swapping biden out for a different democratic candidate? even after he's won the nomination? abc seven news insider phil matier is here now with me, along with politico's california senior political reporter melanie mason. phil and

melanie, thank you both for being here. i mean, were you guys like, is this for real? we're talking about golf handicaps and arguing about that. what is going on? like, is this a real universe here? >> it is the real universe. and it's one that a universe that the democrats are now grappling with today. it's been a flurry of calls across the country. i think melanie's been getting them and hearing about them as well. people concerned supposedly. can we approach joe biden and ask him to withdraw? should nancy pelosi and chuck schumer exert their leadership and go to the white house and say, it's up, you're just too old. it's time to make a path for a new candidate. the short answer to that is no. no one's going to do that. it's not going to happen. that's not the way the game is structured. that's not the way that this team plays. melanie have you heard anything different? >> i absolutely agree, phil. i think that people have this kind of house of cards idea that there are these party bosses that can come in and say, like all right, joe, it's time to go. but that's just not the way that the democratic party is set up these days. there's a lot of

chatter. there's definitely a debate hangover among democrats right now. and obviously there's much more sort of open panic about this age question than we have seen coming up to this. but ultimately, this conversation is going to depend on where president biden and his wife, jill biden, come down on this. i think you can have as many sort of folks from the peanut gallery saying what they want to think, but the idea that they're going to be able to oust him from this role is just exceedingly improbable. >> right. and there's no indication that jill biden is going to say such a thing to her husband. and there's no indication from his rally this morning that he plans to do that. but but the debate had real impacts on voters and let's just take a look at a poll. the new one from cnn. it was a flash poll conducted right after the debate, and it shows 57% expressed lack of confidence in biden's leadership abilities, compared to 44% for trump. so viewers are more confident in a convicted felon who, you know, if not encouraged, at least certainly didn't discourage the january sixth riot. like how it's simple to a lot of voters

out there, like it or not, january 6th and the star payoff is not that big a deal. >> they look at a border where they feel that immigration is coming unhinged, illegal immigration is unhinged. they go to the grocery store and see the prices going up and up, and they hear the media and the democrats talking about a star payoff. and january sixth, with which many of them was, is way in the past. right now. that's what it is. it's all of these are issues, but it's where they are on your on your scale. and melanie, what do you think? have the democrats been swinging at a false ball pitches or are they actually i think that there is a lot to be said about reminding voters about trump's negatives. >> i mean, i think that trump has really benefited from the fact that he was in a courtroom, sort of sequestered away. he hasn't really been yes, he's been on the campaign trail, but it doesn't really feel like he has the same visibility that he did when he was president, where, quite frankly, he was very unpopular as president. and democrats, i think, want to be

able to remind voters of that. but that's why biden's performance yesterday was so calamitous. he missed that opportunity. so not only did he reinforce the fears about his own ability to do the job, but he lost the chance to really, like, make a cogent pitch about why january 6th should disqualify trump, or why the fact that he's a convicted felon. i was actually quite surprised watching that he did not have pithier one liners ready on these kind of gimme issues. these are issues that were about he prepped for a whole week. >> now. he might have over prepped and been you know, shifting between his answers and been confused because sometimes he started answering one question and then wound up shifting over to another topic. you know, president biden's state, physical and mental, is going to continue to be an issue. and while today no one is going to openly say anything to him or go, aside from pundits in the chattering class, there is a question about what happens in three weeks, four weeks between now and the convention. if he

does, he stay the same? does he revive revive himself, or does he decline anymore? or have another moment like we saw tonight that would change. that could change the equation and lead to him possibly deciding to bow out? >> you're right, but not a lot of opportunities for him to prove himself right, because there's not another debate until september. maybe that won't even happen. but hold your hold your thought, because i want people to listen to what governor newsom said last night. as you know, he was a surrogate for biden. and this is kind of what they're all saying about biden today. >> i spent a lot of time with him. i know joe biden. i know what he's accomplished in the last three and a half years, i know what he's capable of, and i know his vision, and i have no, no trepidation. >> i was sounding that note of confidence. and also, president obama issued a statement as well saying, hey, bad debate nights happen. trust me, i know and true, he had a bad first debate and then he bounced back. but it's different for biden, isn't it? >> well, the fact that they're making public statements about

it is you've never heard that before. you just never have. you've never i've never heard people say it was a bad night for our candidate, have you? it's always like, you know, a missed opportunities. you could have done better. i've never heard them just come out and say it's bad. that means it's really bad. >> well, they had to be blunt, right? because everybody watched it. i mean, i think that there was really this overall sense that this was just not a good performance. but the difference between obama's bad first debate performance in 2012 and last night is that nobody thought that there was there was not any preexisting notions that obama was not up for the job. this was damaging because it reinforced perceptions that voters already had. and i think that what's going to be difficult for biden is that you can't just chalk it up to, i had a bad night. the truth is, is that he is old and that is something that they have to figure out how to talk about. bluntly, i know he tried to do that today in his rally in north carolina, and perhaps we'll see some more of that. but he is now basically on this high wire act that he cannot have another senior moment. he cannot any, any, any halting gait or anything is just going to

reinforce these perceptions. >> that's so right. and we saw that with gerald ford when he stumbled literally going into an airplane. and that became the butt of the jokes. and every time you stumble after that, it reinforces. yep. now speaking of out of the gates and such, governor gavin newsom, the chief surrogate for the biden campaign, he's actually he's going to come back to california for, i guess, to have a shower and shave. and then he's going to hit the campaign trail for biden again. and so he is really putting himself out there on the national stage. now, this election is turning into like, gavin what, gavin's prep run. why why him? >> well as you know. right, melanie, there are a lot of people who don't want it to be the prep run. a lot of people are hoping that perhaps if there is a swap, joe out movement going on, that he could be the guy the question is, would he even want to be the guy? should we reach that point where joe biden or president biden talk and they decide it's time to bow out, which is highly unlikely, but would gavin even want it? or is it more advantageous to save it for 2028, him or gretchen

whitmer or any of them? >> look, i mean, this is such unprecedented territory, but i do think that we should state the obvious. it would be exceedingly difficult for if there was a new democratic nominee for president, for somebody to run that campaign in such a condensed amount of time and be successful. so, yes, if you're somebody who has your eye on the white house and they offer you like, here's your chance, but you've only got four months to like to, to run. i don't i don't know if that would be something that you would want to do. but look, i think that for newsom right now, he wants to look like a good team player. i think he can keep reinforcing the fact that he sees the stakes of the election as very high and that if he sort of frames this as, again, this binary choice between biden and trump, then that he's able to reinforce this narrative and maybe keep his powder dry for 2028. >> and let's not forget the stark political reality. if president biden decides to step aside, it's not going to go to gavin first. the first right of refusal is vice president kamala harris. that is the way it goes. and so that is. so let's just

put that off to the side right now and get back to as it is right now, which is the democrats are are stunned. but i'm not sure he lost any votes among the base. no because this whole thing is being framed as we have to vote against some. your both sides are voting against each other. i didn't get a lot of vote for me last night. >> yeah, i mean, and he needed to do some pickups, the ones who really don't want to vote for trump. but they were looking for a reason to, you know, for biden to say, okay, i can vote for this guy. >> so, melanie, what do you think this did for momentum within the democratic party? because, you know, this isn't it's not just a presidential election you keep an eye on here in california, the congressional races and such like that. what what does what does this sort of thing do for that? >> what i will be keeping an eye on is what we see from these democrats in these swing races. did they start putting a distance themselves between them and biden? you know, we always talk about the republicans in these congressional seats in california and how they have to

relate themselves vis a vis trump. but now we have a question of is there a biden drag? are we is there a concern from the democrats that perhaps that it could damage them down ticket. and so i will be watching to see. so far we haven't necessarily heard much from them at all, whether it's like a fulsome support or trying to cast him overboard. but again, it's more data starts to come in more polling. perhaps that might be some cues of where we might see a break from the president and the down ballot democrats. >> all right, melanie and phil, thank you both so much. interesting conversation. i'm sure we'll h

ban on sleeping in public and fines and penalties for those who violated the court's

conservative majority decided measures to fine unhoused people do not necessarily equate to cruel and unusual punishment under the eighth amendment. this ruling comes as san francisco continues to fight an injunction that blocks the city from removing homeless encampments in the streets. if there is not enough shelter beds available, here's mayor london breeds reaction. >> with this opportunity, we'll be able to do more to clean and clear our streets, especially for those who are refusing shelter and services. with the city joining us live now to talk more about the ruling's impact on san francisco is city attorney david chu. >> david, thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me on, kristen. >> i know you had filed a friend of the court brief, amicus brief in this case urging for this exact outcome. why and why is this ruling good for the city of san francisco? >> so there was this prior case called grants pass that the supreme court was considering and just ruled on, that had really made it very difficult for our city to address the

complexity of issues that we see on our streets. we've spent billions of dollars in recent years providing shelter and services with a compassionate approach, but we're trying to balance that with keeping our streets clean and safe and unfortunately, the grants pass decision by the ninth circuit had made that very difficult. today, the supreme court overturned that understanding that cities like san francisco, we address a complexity of issues on the ground. we need more flexibility in how we address what's happening on our streets. and that's something that will be permitted under the case that was decided today. >> all right. so mayor breed also said this will help san francisco manage public spaces. so given the new law, what changes in enforcement do you expect? >> well, i think it's going to make it more efficient for our city workers to do what they need to do because today they spend a lot of time making sure that we are in compliance with really complicated legal standards, rather than focusing on getting services and shelter to the folks who need them. this is also going to help us address some of the most challenging

encampments where you see services that are refused, where there are encampments, which is someone's told you can't put a tent here, and then they just go down the street and put up their tent there, it's going to take us a little bit of time to figure this out. we're analyzing the case as we speak, but there will be policy changes in line with the supreme court case that was just decided today. >> so any idea yet how that might shape up those policies? >> we'll see, as i said, we're analyzing it right now. we're having conversations with policy makers, and i expect us to in the near future, see some changes on the streets, okay? >> and engage with advocates as you're doing this, certainly. well, we can only engage with the advocates who sued us through the courts, but our office will be taking the legal, necessary steps to make sure that the litigation that we're in reflects the latest supreme court decision. >> you're talking about the lawsuit the coalition on homelessness has against san francisco. can you talk about how this ruling, you can see it shaping up and impacting what's going on there?

>> well, a major portion of the ruling hung on this ninth circuit precedent. the grants pass case that was just overturned today. the homeless advocates had said that the eighth amendment prohibited what we were trying to do on the streets. but now that the supreme court has clearly said that we are allowed to enforce laws that regulate camping on public property, that changes dramatically what this lawsuit is about. >> okay. of course, critics say, look, this is not going to solve the root cause of homelessness, lack of affordable housing, being one of them, you know, and that's something that both of the mayor's opponents and the mayoral election pointed to as well, not asking you to get political here, but do you think that component is very much true? and if so, what else needs to be done? >> well, we all know that homelessness is really complicated. there are many issues that we need to address, and the city has spent enormous resources trying to get folks the help. the shelter, the

assistance that they need. unfortunately, this lawsuit for the better part of a year and a half has made it very difficult for the city to really get those help and services and shelter to people because so many folks were refusing them, there was an awful lot of energy spent trying to come into compliance with all of the legal requirements that had been set up, because in part of this grants pass case, now that that grants pass case has been overturned, that should change things quite a bit, and we'll certainly be having a lot of conversations in the coming weeks and months on how that happens. >> all right. city attorney david chiu, thanks for joining us to explain the impact of this ruling today on the city of san francisco. really appreciate it. >> thanks for having me on, kristen. >> up next, san francisco's pride parade is almost here ahead of the big weekend. we're catching up with the hosts about all the excitement that's in st

your screen. actually, that might be on your left. you'll see a clock counting down to sunday's parade. okay, it's my left. it's your right. there's now just one day in about 18 hours to go, but the sm pride party got started earlier today on abc seven at seven. here's part of the conversation with all the pride hosts. >> i'm so ready to join you and pearl and carolyn. y'all are such a fantastic group. and what am i thinking about most while i'm new to the panel, i'm not new to sf pride. i've been marching in sf pride ever since i was a teenager in 2001. i've never missed an sf pride parade since i started. that's wild. so this year marks my 24th consecutive year of being engaged with the sf pride parade and celebration, and i'm so excited to bring all that experience and knowledge and history to amp up the broadcast team this year. and just make quite a splash next to you all. >> that is a really long time. so let me follow up on that,

because i'm curious that first year that you were marching in the parade, what were you marching as like were you with a contingent and what did that feel like? >> sure. the very first time i marched in 2001 was with the gsa network. gsa stands for gay straight alliance. that year, i had founded the gay straight alliance at my high school, westmont high school in campbell, california. it was magical. i loved marching down that street, feeling the joy and unconditional affirmation from the million spectators that were lining market street and me as just a young gay, be still in his teens. it was wild just to be around all of that love, and i love that it was. it's just about love. this year's theme of sf pride, as you know, is beacon of love, and we will be bringing the love. >> yeah, i like that. caroline. i'm wondering about what your pride origin story is. >> oh my, my pride origin story. i think we've talked about this and it's so, so traumatic. drew and reggie, why do you bring it up? my first pride was in long

beach with, like, this woman that i was dating and i didn't know. >> not an ax. >> and she made me go. so it's an x story. of course it is. it's me. of course it's an x story. >> well, carolyn, it might be traumatic, but aren't you glad that that at least kickstarted your pride journey? >> you know, thank you for helping me see the bright side. you know, there's always a bright side when you just leave them behind. and, you know, that's part of the pride story, too. so yay me. >> yeah. hey, look, carolyn, every, every pride, there's always tons of future x's surrounding you. >> yeah, that's what i was going to say. that's, you know, i'm going to be i'm not going to say that. i say that happy pride. >> happy pride. you can say anything and it can be absolutely ignorant. you can be burning down the house, but as long as you end it with happy pride, happy pride, then you're fine. >> everyone wins. >> okay. all right, pearl, i want to know your your pride origin story. >> my origin story. oh my god. yeah

>> for pride. like, what was your first pride? >> my first pride. i mean, i remember seeing, like, the parade, maybe when i was, like, younger, like a kid, but, like, my first pride. like myself, like as an individual showing up and deciding to be there myself. i was probably like 18. a little fresh thing in college, running around with my college friends and, yeah, that was a different time. that was. did you have fun? what did you think? i definitely had a ball, honey. at times. yeah and look at you now, because pearl is not only hosting the pride parade with us, but she is also going to be performing saturday on the main stage. >> yes, pearl, i'm so excited. >> it's going to be so much fun, i'll be on the main stage. i think the time you can see me there is around like one. so i mean, if you're there any other time outside of that, i'm sure it'll be a great time. i won't know about that, but you can catch me. >> oh, no, bro, you're killing me. wait, tell me a little bit

about your performance. what do you have planned? >> i mean, i'm you'll see a little body. you'll see a little hair. you might see a little backup. you might see. you might see a little something, a little magic. >> will we get a preview of that when you're hosting the coverage at the parade, or are you going to save all of your special tricks? well she's performing for saturday, and then she comes to us sunday. oh. got it. >> yeah. >> well, bring some of that energy to us. i want to see it. >> absolutely, absolutely. >> and you can watch the parade live wherever you are. abc seven is the official station for the san francisco pride parade. our coverage kicks off sunday at ten. the parade starts at 1030. see it wherever you watch abc7 news. we'll

in san francisco, live at levi's stadium in san jose, live in oakland. >> yeah, you're watching abc seven news live anytime, anywhere. we are, we are, we are, we are, we are, we are where you are. >> never miss a moment of the news that matters to you. download our abc seven bay area streaming app. join us and start watching. >> thank you for watching. getting answers. we'll be here every weekday at three, answering questions with experts from around >> whit: tonight, president biden's first comments after struggling on the debate stage against donald trump. the supreme court ruling potentially affecting hundreds of january 6th rioters. and severe storms threatening record holiday travel. first, president biden less than 24 hours after his poor debate performance, fired up on stage in north carolina