2025. the conservative policy plan worked out by former trump advisers, has a vision of america that democrats and never-trumpers consider authoritarian. but is anyone paying attention amid the spotlight on president biden's ability to run wine producing california is coveted around the

world. so why is a major portion of this year's grape harvest going to waste? and have you checked airline prices lately? they are very high. what's driving that trend and how you can score the best travel deals this summer and beyond? you're watching getting answers. i'm kristen z, thanks for joining us. before we get to those stories, though, let's get you a quick look at the weather heading live outside temperatures are quickly climbing in parts of the bay area. abc7 news meteorologist lisa argen tells us. when the peak heat will arrive. >> triple digit heat today. tomorrow. we get some relief as soon as friday, and we're looking at cool conditions at the shoreline with the sun and cloud mix, but getting mostly sunny towards the later afternoon and then breezy and cooler over the weekend. with sunday being the coolest day. so the winds, they will be out there anywhere from 20 to 24 miles an hour throughout the late afternoon. so that is going to save san francisco, the coastline. but our fire danger index puts everyone in a moderate risk throughout the

east bay today. this is where we have our excessive heat warning. and look what happens for your thursday. it gets to the high area. we've got relative humidity down to 20% into the teens in the upper elevations throughout the day today and tomorrow. but we will see the comfortable readings at the shoreline. here's a look at our inland valleys. we'll see about 104 to 108 for thursday, dropping off just very ever so slightly on friday. and then it's the cool down saturday and into the second half of the weekend. the south bay well low 90s today, mid 90s tomorrow. and we'll be looking at that drop off. so many of you climbing anywhere from about six to maybe 15 degrees today for those afternoon highs compared to yesterday. so as we peak tomorrow things are going to start to feel a little bit better on friday. look at all the 80s around the bay from oakland to fremont, palo alto and san mateo, low 80s to upper 80s. and then we'll get into some 90s by your thursday upper 90s in santa rosa, 103 in

concord and livermore, and fairfield, looking at about 100 for antioch. you know, the marine layer made its way all the way out to cordelia. this morning. so it is really retreated quickly. it will continue to do so. and we'll have some baking hot temperatures inland for sure, 60s overnight with not a whole lot of cooling, except if you're a closer to the bay. the accuweather seven day forecast. so the heat is back today, dangerous heat tomorrow. and then looking at a couple degrees improvement on friday. and then it's behind us by the weekend. >> today more democratic lawmakers and a famous donor came forward questioning if president biden can win in november. abc news reporter perry russom has the latest response to biden's run. >> democratic donor and actor george clooney now calling on president biden to drop out of the race with an opinion piece in the new york times, clooney, who hosted a fundraiser for biden last month, writes, most of our members of congress are opting to wait and see if the

dam breaks. but the dam has broken. we can put our heads in the sand and pray for a miracle. in november, or we can speak the truth. the biden campaign not directly responding to clooney, but pointing to biden's comments that he's not leaving the race today. more democratic lawmakers speaking out, worried about biden's electability. >> i am deeply concerned about joe biden winning this >> this morning, former house speaker nancy pelosi on msnbc. >> it's up to the president to decide if he is going to run. we're all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short. >> meantime, the biden campaign is contending with another hit. a passer by on the streets of new york asked abc news anchor george stephanopoulos, who had interviewed president biden last friday, whether he thought biden should step down in the secretly recorded audio that got published, stephanopoulos seems to have said, i don't think he

can serve four more years. stephanopoulos issued a short statement on tuesday saying, earlier today, i responded to a question from a passerby i shouldn't have. and abc news has stated, george expressed his own point of view and not the position of abc news here. now to talk about the dynamics between the party and as president and about the just adopted republican party platform and its overlaps with something called project 2025. uc berkeley herman royer, professor of political economy sean gilmore, professor gilmore, thanks for your time. >> thank you. >> i want to start with the challenges facing the democratic party, the split in the ranks on whether president biden should remain as nominee. of course, he's won the nominating process, but the polling doesn't look good. and the gap has only widened since the debate. so now we kind of have this unprecedented tension and power dynamics, if you will, between a party and its president. talk about how that's being tested or changed. >> yeah, it's kind of the worst case scenario for democrats at

this point, because there's kind of a slow trickle of party officials and elites and media allies starting to say, oh, maybe the president should drop out or maybe the president needs to change directions, and the president really doubling down and saying today, quite defiantly, i am absolutely staying in this race, answering that call definitively and saying, so. so what the party really wants to be able to do is coordinate at this point on a single, coherent message so they can all get behind it. the time is running short to do that, and this kind of slow trickle back and forth isn't really helping that process. right? >> of course, that is so hard right? ideally, you'd be behind closed doors. everybody gets to weigh in freely and nothing gets leaked. and then you have a decision. but that's not that's the opposite of what's happening right now. so you're right. it is a bad situation. but let's say, you know, a tipping point is reached. let's say i mean, this is a huge if and it doesn't sound like it's going that way. if president biden does decide to step aside, given your research on electoral

accountability, how do you think voters might respond to this late stage change in the democratic nominee? >> well, what we know is that, you know, huge share of voters will decide based on their partizanship. so that's already locked in. but what's happened to president biden since the debate is really unprecedented, we've never seen a debate. so consequential in terms of its effect on opinion. uh- now, to be clear, there's still a massive share of voters who are simply going to vote for the democratic nominee, no matter who it is. and the same for the republican nominee. so there is a boundary or there's a limit on how much this is mattered, but it is really had a big consequential effect on how people are evaluating the democratic candidate. and it will have effects downstream as well. and that's what's really starting to get the attention of the rest of the democratic party. >> do you mean like the down ballot candidates and whether voters exactly vote for them? >> exactly. so these are the

coattails that the president has, and they sometimes are very long and sometimes they're very short. but the effect the performance of the president at the top of the ticket has effects on every other candidate running in the president's party down the ticket. if people are mobilized to vote for the president of their party, they come out to vote and they tend to vote across that ticket. so there are effects up and down that will ripple up and down every national race, control of congress, state level races. they're potentially really big ripple effects, i see. >> and of course, that might explain why the democrats, you've heard publicly so far tend to be the ones from races where they're kind of in a tight battle themselves, and they may not win their race, and they need a big boost, really, if you will. not a drag down. >> that's exactly right. they are really seeing the alarm. they're seeing private polling that we can kind of infer what they're seeing from the fact that, you know, who is speaking up about this. they're seeing public reaction in their own private polling. that, and none of it is looking good. okay. and yet they're not able to get this kind of dam broken to get

coordination by the party. on what to do next. >> so while this is happening, democrats are desperately trying to get people to redirect their attention away from biden and toward project 2025. if you haven't heard of it, it is a conservative policy platform intended for the next republican presidential administration. the lincoln project, a political action committee founded by former republicans who opposed trumpism, put out this video warning of a second trump presidency. let's look. >> trump seizes control of a divided government, signing hundreds of executive orders, implementing project 2025. trump replaces over 50,000 civil servants with hard line maga loyalists. the federal oath of office now requires declaring loyalty to the president, not the constitution. >> okay, tell us what you know from your reading. what are the key goals of project 2025 and to what extent it aligns with the republican party platform that the republican national committee actually just adopted yesterday? >> that is really the key point,

is that project 2025 is a uh- policy vision, a blueprint of the conservative think tank, the heritage foundation. it is not a republican party document. it is not a trump campaign document. although there are alliances and overlaps between the people involved. the, the former president trump, the candidate trump has not endorsed the document. so it's not entirely clear how much of this will become part of the vision. but it also is kind of tough reading. if you go to the website for project 2025, you know, it's this kind of massive, ponderous book you have to read to figure out what are they on about. and it's like, as exciting as reading you know, the end user agreement for your cell phone. and so that's really created an important strategic communications advantage for democrats. and critics of former president trump, because they get to define what is this about? what are they trying to do, the essential points of project 2025 are reform of

policy in a conservative direction and reform of administration, and especially as gridlock continues to grow in congress control of the administration, meaning the massive bureaucracy under the executive branch that defines policy proposals and implements them, has a huge effect on the content of public policy. we've seen a lot of that in the last ten years through immigration reform, student debt relief, things like that. those are all through the executive branch. so being able to influence and control that policy apparatus is really important. that's a big part of what is the core of project 2025. >> so are you saying that this would shift a lot more of the power when you look at the balance of power to the executive branch, the president? and if so, can you talk about whether there are any constitutional concerns for you? >> for sure, that what they're trying to do is shift power, really within the executive branch from the career staff and the bureaucracy to be further centralized in the white house. this is a trend that has been going on for decades. project

2025 certainly represents an important acceleration of that trend. the reason why this becomes so important to a policy planner allied with a would be republican president is because the usual process of legislatio, of developing major policy through legislation passed by congress is becoming more and more difficult, more and more broken, and gridlocked. that means that kind of the locus of policy change and policy development is increasingly entirely within the executive branch. so there are major constitutional implications of this. and as well as just general normative implications about how policy development works, it's intended to be a consultative process, building shared values across the country when it concentrates on the executive branch. that process is increasingly broken, there are constitutional questions involved in the unification of the entire executive authority under the president. it relates to a theory of how to interpret

the constitution, called the unitary executive theory. some scholars hold that all all authority in the executive branch is already vested in the president. others hold that it's up to congress to shift it around, and that this kind of maneuver represents a seizure of power. >> all right. a lot to think about. professor sean gilmore, uc berkeley professor of political economy, really appreciate your time. >> thank you. have a great day. >> wine grape growers in california say they're having a hard time selling their fruit. we'll learn why and look into the impact it could

problem, oversupply and a major portion of this year's california wine grape harvest could go to waste. joining us live now to talk about this kyle collins, manager of operations for allied grape growers. thank you so much for joining us, kyle. appreciate it. >> well thank you i appreciate you okay. >> so how bad is the situation of oversupply. what are we talking about here. how much might go to waste. >> that's really difficult to say at this point. and i think it would be disingenuous to say that there aren't challenges at the moment as it relates to oversupply, especially in the interior of the state. but, with in regard to what's going to go on harvest or what might go to waste, it's difficult to say at this point until we have a real good feel on the crop size. >> okay, you mentioned the interior. are you talking about livermore? what about our napa sonoma areas, >> no more from the san joaquin valley through lodi, and then certainly the central coast and livermore, part of that, and in sonoma and napa as well. they're facing market challenges that we feel throughout the state. okay. >> you know, we talked about how

the weather was perfect. great. so there's a lot groan, when you have oversupply, though, it could either be too much supply or also too little demand. can you talk about all the different factors here, whether it's, you know, imports or, you know, prices or talk about all that? >> well, they all kind of interplay together a little bit. and i think that's the nuance in this discussion that it's hard to put a finger on. we are in the midst of a historic global wine glut. across the world. we see wine demand and case good sales declining as part of a broader decline in alcohol consumption. but in the state of california specifically, we are in an oversupply position in terms of just vineyards in the ground, we have more vineyards in the ground than the market can carry at the moment. and so the degree to which that is still somewhat to be seen, but it is an issue and it is one that is being addressed and has been over the last few months. >> so what are growers having to do? are they lowering in prices? are there other alternative things they're doing with the grapes or we'll have to.

>> it's a combination of all those things. certainly we are feeling some downward pricing pressure throughout the state. and that's true regardless of the growing region that you're talking about, but the other part of that is physical vineyard removal, and those are beginning and going on in earnest in the san joaquin valley and up into lodi, and will probably rear their head in more premium grape growing regions that we think of, like paso robles, the central coast, and in spots of sonoma and napa county as well. >> okay. but that's kind of a long term thing, right, and i imagine planting decisions might be different in the future as well, based on this. >> yeah. that's correct. and planting decisions are are impacted by a variety of factors, one of which is actual demand for the grapes to make the wine. but the other is also the cost of physically putting a vineyard in the ground. and what we've seen over the last probably 5 to 10 years is a drastic increase in that input cost. and so that in and of itself is going to act in, to a degree, as a natural barrier to getting back to where we are today, simply because it's so

costly to put vineyards back in the ground relative to where we were, say, 20 years ago. >> right. can these grapes that are not going to be purchased by vintners be repurposed? i mean, you know, i'm no expert, but could it be used to make grape juice? you know, other things? >> well, one thing is certain about the california wine industry and, and farming in general is they're a resilient and creative bunch. and so where there are alternatives, i'm sure we will find them. i'm, i'm sure there are people innovating in the place of making raisins, that sort of thing. but wine grapes are specifically made to grow and to make wine, and in some cases brandy. and so the primary driver of this is still going to be wine in a bottle, but i'm eager to see the types of innovations that come out of this. >> so how is your group helping in terms of coming up with solutions, you know, solving the short term problem and also setting them up for a good financial future? >> yeah. so that is the key role of our organization. and our primary function is really to try to represent our grower members as a marketing association and matching them with ideal winery partners, or

purchasing partners. and so we put a lot of work into making sure that the right growers and the right vineyards are fit with the right vintners to help them continue making world class wines that we're so familiar with here in california. >> all right. i got to go, but i'm wondering if this will mean lower wine prices or higher for consumers. >> well, one thing that it will mean is that the wines that you're drinking today, regardless of price point in california, are going to be excellent wines. the 2023 vintage is going to be remembered for all the right reasons. and so good, as you're going out to buy wine for dinner, know that when you open a bottle of california wine, it's going to be an excellent quality product. >> all right. kyle collins, manager of operations for allied grape growers, thanks so much. ready for a summer vacation? how about a round trip flight to kona, hawaii? for $207? we get some money saving travel tips from a pro next

highest in six years. but rest assured, there are deals to be had. you just got to know where to look. joining us live now to share the latest travel bargain hunting tips. katie nastro from going.com uh- katie you guys of course identify and send the best flight deals to your users. so glad you're here to share it. how's it going? good to see you. i am in person. >> yeah. yes that's right. i'm so happy to be here. thank you for having me. >> all right. well, let's talk about this because prices seem super high this summer. certainly anecdotally, a lot of people are saying that. but the picture is really quite complex, isn't it? >> yeah. you know, other areas of the economy might feel the pinch from inflation, but travel is actually one of those areas that's seen some relief looking at average price of airfare. just just at average price of airfare, we're actually down 6% year over year. we're actually down almost 20% from where we saw it at its peak in june of 2022. cost of hotels are actually down in the last six

months, as well as rental cars. those rental car prices are nowhere near where we saw them in 2021, when it felt like you couldn't get a rental car for 100 or $200, or more than or excuse me, for at least that. >> so you're seeing the overall picture is not bad, although there are select spots that everybody seems to want to go to right now. we're up really high. exactly. >> and you know what? that's that's the key to the story is summer has always been historically pricey. and, you know, a lot of people are still looking to go to those summer hotspots like southern europe. so, you know, if you are looking to book really last minute, like next week, you're definitely you're most likely to come or to encounter those higher prices for sure. >> but you want to highlight a few deals for us. and i think this will really help people get a sense for what's possible is exactly what i'm trying to do is, you know, if you haven't booked your last minute summer holiday, there are still deals available at the end of august. >> you can head out to denver for only 137. you can head to kona in hawaii for 207. or if you want to take those bucket

list trips, you can get to europe 561 over to copenhagen, or you can get over the pacific. take advantage of the strong dollar and head to tokyo for only 766 all round trip, all on full service airlines available at the end of summer. but don't wait to book those deals. you want to snag them now, right? >> okay, which brings me to this. can you use price tracking tools and deal alerts and what would you suggest? >> yeah, for sure. deal alerts like going and you know, just even using google flights to track your flight after you've booked it can really help you save even more. so a lot of a lot of carriers actually did away with change fees during the pandemic, which is great because if your flight price does drop, you can call the airline, rebook at that lower price, get the difference in a travel credit, which is now good for five years, according to the new dot regulations. now, this is only if you book a main economy ticket, unfortunately not for basic economy. so you're going to have to pay pay the difference. but for most ticket

types you can take advantage of that. so it definitely, definitely pays to keep checking back. and this goes for hotels too. most hotels you don't have to prepay. you can just book the hotel and then call if you see the or cancel or call cancel and then rebook at that lower price without having to lose any money anywhere. >> yeah, i know usually people stop looking once they booked. yes, but your message is keep looking, keep looking. >> you can still save even after the fact. >> okay. what about credit card and loyalty programs? any ways to use them, to leverage them to maximize your savings or perks? >> right. so when it comes to credit cards, you really want to think about what type of spend you're going to be putting most on that credit card. you know, if you dine out a lot, you're going to want to look for a credit card that gives you 3 to 5 times the amount of points on that type of spend. you know, if you're in an area where you have one specific type of carrier. so if you're in a delta hub or an american hub or like san francisco in a united hub, you know, it definitely pays to join

a loyalty program for free to take advantage of some perks as you book with them. but the biggest message that we always say going is if you want to travel affordably, don't be loyal to just one airline. be loyal to cheap flights. you know you can take advantage of the fact that you can book a one way on one carrier and then come back on another carrier and sort of combine your own round trip to take advantage of the savings on different carriers. >> okay, in this case, i think the f word is important in getting the best deals. that's flexible. don't get nervous. i'm thinking flexible, right? with carriers, with daetz, all that, all that. all right katie nastro with going.com. thank you so much. >> thanks for having me. >> all right. remember abc seven news is streaming 24 seven. get the abc seven bay area app and join us whenever you want. wherever

from around the bay area. world news tonight with david mitchell coming up next. and i'll see you back here at four. tonight, breaking news as we come on the air. the tornadoes touching down here in the northeast. tornado watches and warnings across multiple states, right now through midnight. also, in new york city, the nypd recruit dying. authorities pointing to excessive heat. also tonight, the breaking news involving president biden. what former house speaker nancy pelosi said today that immediately sent shockwaves through washington. and now, george clooney's plea to the president tonight. first, multiple