most consequential news conference of president biden's long career begins in a half hour. will it determine whether he remains as the democratic nominee for president? embattled oakland mayor shantel, under recall and tied to a federal investigation, talks to abc seven news. we ask her how she plans to govern and get the city through a financial and public

safety crisis, and crowdfunding has been used for medical expenses and launching businesses. but for building affordable housing, if you live in the bay area, you may be asked to support the effort. this november. you're watching getting answers. i'm kristen z. we'll get to those segments in a moment. first, though, the heat wave returned today with a vengeance. let's take a live look. outside several places. temperatures are rising, especially inland, where the highs could reach 108 degrees. abc7 meteorologist lisa argen has the details. air quality is really not good. >> hopefully tomorrow. no spare the air alert, but we are looking at the relief from the heat by saturday and sunday. here's a look at concord where you'll notice you could be as high as 108 today and then 101 tomorrow. here comes the trend. it looks encouraging, doesn't it? 90s on saturday, 80 on sunday. and that's where we'll kind of settle santa clara with the poor air quality today. you know why? upper 90s very light

winds and not a lot of mixing going on at all. we're actually getting the heat from the upper elevations, mixing down to the surface, but no real onshore flow. 93 for you tomorrow. and then 80s to low to mid 80s elsewhere around the south bay. how about 105? in los gatos, morgan hill 106. those are some hot places 87 in menlo park, redwood city, climbing into the mid 90s. today, while pacifica briefly could be at about 70 degrees. san francisco about nine degrees warmer than yesterday. hazy though out there 77 and in the north bay. widespread low one hundred's from novato, 102 sonoma. napa getting close in the upper 90s and right here on the east bay. it's a warmer day with 85 in oakland, 88 san leandro, castro valley and fremont into the mid 90s. but you head inland and this is where we're looking at that dangerous heat 106 in pleasanton, 107 in concord. you're going to stay warm overnight into the 70s in our inland valleys, low 70s and livermore antioch 74. but as you

get closer to the bay, we'll get some cooling back into the 50s. the accuweather seven day forecast hot. the next couple of days inland. and our excessive heat warning continues through 8:00 friday night. and the advisory along the bay shore looking at a cooler afternoon on the weekend saturday, and then noticeably cooler on sunday, settling into a real comfortable pattern into next week. back to you. >> now to the news conference that could make or break president biden's 54 year political career in a half hour, he is set to hold his first news conference since his disastrous debate against donald trump. you can watch it right now on abc seven, and you can bet democratic lawmakers will be watching closely to determine if they stick with him as the party's presidential nominee. abc's em nguyen has the latest. >> president biden meeting with ukrainian president zelenskyy on the last day of the nato summit. biden trying to show strength amid the chaos from within his own party, made it clear russia will not prevail in ukraine

today. the president, opening the floor to questions from reporters for the first time in eight months, many eyes watching his solo press conference from allies to donors to political enemies all deciding their next step. it's a discussion democrats on capitol hill can't avoid. >> those conversations have been candid, comprehensive and clear eyed. and they continue. >> it comes as the first democratic senator, peter welch of vermont, is now calling on biden to step aside the president's campaign meeting today with senators to quell concerns for biden's reelection bid and stave off any more defectors. >> i really think that he has to convince not only members of the senate, but the people of america. >> all right. joining us live now to talk about biden's press conference and his future, san jose state political science professor and dean of undergraduate education, melinda

jackson. professor jackson, thanks for joining us. >> happy to be here. >> so how crucial is this press conference for biden's future? >> yeah, i think it's make or break. it's been two weeks since the debate. he has not been able to effectively calm the concerns that have been raised in that time. and a press conference, especially at the end of a three day uh, you know, serious summit, is going to be draining and he's going to have to show that he had that he can think on his feet, that he can answer questions effectively. and i think a lot of us are really watching to see whether that happens, there are a lot of doubts about his capacity to continue, for another four year term. and we see that in the number of, democratic elected officials and donors, and who

are coming out and joining the public chorus to urge him to reconsider. >> right. so any misstep could certainly hurt him. but as i was coming down for this show to do this interview with you, professor jackson, this literally just came in where biden met with ukrainian president zelensky, and he seemed to have made a mistake in how he referred to him. let's listen. >> and now i want to hand it over to the president of ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination. ladies and gentlemen, president putin, president putin, you've got to beat president putin, president zelensky, i'm so focused on beating putin. we got to worry about it. >> i mean, yeah, well, it's shocking. i mean, it really is. and he caught it, right? he he recognized right away the slip. i mean, we all misspeak from time to time. we say the wrong name. you know, we mix things up. >> his opponent trump certainly

does. but absolutely talk about this coming after the debate. >> yeah. he had one job in that debate to convince voters that he was still, you know, physically and mentally, capable of serving another four year term. he did not do that effectively. and since then, we haven't really seen anything, to repair that damage. you know, it just really feels like the momentum is building toward, a decision to step down. >> right. and he's speaking to, i imagine, first, the domestic audience, which includes his party, the democratic lawmakers, and then also then the international community, which will handle in a second. but i want to focus on the party house democratic leader hakeem jeffries today saying internal conversations are candid and ongoing. uh- notice, he is saying it's ongoing. a few days after biden issued the letter saying it's over. we need to stop talking about it now. we unify, so read between the lines

here. what is happening? what are the democratic lawmakers saying? >> yeah, i think it's not too difficult to read between the lines. i think they're saying, would you like to reconsider that answer, mr. president? right, you know, they are continuing the conversation there, turning up the dial in terms of the pressure, the public pressure. and again, i mean, we haven't seen anything like this before, you know, it's got to be extremely difficult for, president biden to, you know, to hear that message. but, i think that is what's happening behind the scenes and more and more in public, and the sooner, a decision is made, the better for the democrats. the republicans have their convention next week. the democrats, next month, but if there is going to be a change, it really it would be best for it to happen before the

democratic convention so that another nominee can be confirmed. at that time, no doubt. >> and abc news has now confirmed that the biden campaign is quietly, apparently testing vice president kamala harris in a match up against trump. what does that tell you? >> yeah, i think it means they're being pragmatic. again, they're considering the very real, the very real possibility that, harris may be the democratic nominee, you know, another decision if biden does, agree to step down, is will he endorse, vice president harris or will there be a more open kind of contest for the democratic nomination, but, you know, taking it one step at a time, as i've been observing this over the last couple of weeks, i really just feel like we are moving toward that announcement, you know, probably within the next week. >> all right, well, we'll see. i mean, certainly the tide seems

to have shifted, you know, first in the direction of more solidifying behind biden, but now looking like it's going in the other direction. look, this is all happening with the backdrop of the nato summit, talk about what what it means for the nato, us partners as they watch this. they've got to be somewhat nervous and uncertain. >> yeah. again, this is a high stakes election and, you know, the polls are showing us that it is virtually tied even, you know, looking at biden versus trump. it's a dead heat, things have shifted a little bit towards trump, but, you know, it's still within the margin of error. and, the whoever, whether it's biden or a different democrat, versus trump in november, that's going to be a very different approach to our international relations. and, and alliances such as nato. biden and the democrats, of course, are supportive of those long standing, relationships.

and trump has cast a lot of doubt on whether the us would continue to, you know, be a strong ally to our nato partners. >> got to imagine those countries are, you know, fearing whiplash, not knowing how to shape their own policies internally, not knowing where the us is going to stand relative to them, so, all right, you mentioned next week the republican national convention, of course, where trump will be nominated. he hasn't announced his vp pick yet, kind of letting the democratic, you know, situation play out right now, kind of staying in the background. he is saying a lot of things in his rallies that's, you know, some people really be stunned by and may consider when they decide who to vote for, but none of it is getting covered. so, you know, does this put more pressure on the democrats and biden to figure it all out as quickly as possible? >> yeah, it really does, having the main story for the last two weeks be focused on, on biden's, you know, fitness for office is not helpful. and, you know,

trump's debate performance also left a lot to be desired. there were many false statements that he made, but that hasn't gotten as much attention because, you know, really the surprisingly poor performance from biden, was, you know, a bigger story. i do think moving into the general election mindset as we head into these last few months, yeah, the democrats really want the focus to be on the contrast and the policy differences and the character differences and right now, you know, we're seeing just a lot of concern about whether whether biden is the right candidate at this time. >> right? i mean, you know, trump's issues overshadowed right now by this. so no doubt democrats would like to, one way or another, remove that shadow and put the spotlight back on trump again. so we'll see how they resolve that. but thank you, professor melinda jackson. >> you're welcome. >> you can watch biden's news

conference right here on abc seven live starts at 330, right after getting answers. we will also be streaming it live on the abc seven bay area news app. a new budget crime concerns an fbi raid and a recall effort. oakland's mayor has major challenges on her hands, and she answers

problem for her, the fallout from the fbi raid on her home three weeks ago as part of a political corruption probe centered on her partner andre jones, and a campaign donor, the duong family. today, my midday

co-anchor julian glover and i talked with tao for the first time since the raid. >> we want to start with the new reports that say the fbi investigation is focused on your partner, andre jones, and the duong family that we've been reporting on for weeks now. are you aware of any specific actions or decisions that may have raised concerns about their involvement in your administration? >> you know, my relationship with andre jones is personal, and i'm not his spokesperson. i am here to today to discuss the work that i'm doing as mayor and any questions regarding the case they can that's connected to the investigation. i can't comment on that. and of course, we all have a lot of questions. so if you do want to know more about the investigation, i have to implore you to ask the fbi and the u.s. attorney's yourself. >> we all do have a lot of questions about the ongoing case, mayor. and you know, obviously, i can speak as an oakland resident as well, what is there to be said about this ongoing investigation? you have to be able to tell us something about this. this is a top concern for oakland residents. was there any wrongdoing in your

mind? >> well, what i can tell you from my part is that i can't again, i can't comment on matters ongoing to the investigation, but i can share is that i am not the subject of this investigation. i have done nothing wrong, and i expect that there will be an opportunity to say more. but now isn't the time and that i am fully cooperating with the investigation and look forward to the opportunity to vindicate myself. but my administration has been and will continue to be singularly focused on the city of oakland and addressing the needs of our communities, building off of the great success we've already had in a short 18 months that we've been in office. with that being said, i am concerned about the timing of the recall. as i stated in my, my media, press conference, and i think it has created a suggestion of wrongdoing in the face of an election where i have done nothing wrong. >> well, let's talk about that. i know you want to focus on the work, but the question i think, on a lot of residents minds is, can you do the work, given the

scope of this investigation, like the sitting, having to turn over paperwork? there's a hearing today right? or the deadline today, there's a recall effort. the folks are having a press conference as we speak to talk about how, in fact, they say the election is going to be held on november 5th for the recall. but you're saying the date has not been set with all this happening, how do you reassure people that you are able to effectively do your job as mayor? >> absolutely. you know, and i can tell you that this is exactly what we're focused on. again we are cooperating. we do multiple things every single day as we are doing this job as mayor of oakland and as the as the executive branch of the city of oakland. and so what i can say is that there is no doubt in my mind that my team, my whole team and it's just not me and myself, right? my whole team and i, that we can do this work 100% moving forward. and we are we're getting our winds. we just passed an amazing budget. we're actually doesn't cut, public safety so deeply that it's going to harm us. and so in regards to

the recall, let's be clear. this recall campaign was set in motion before i was even sworn into office. and i think it's incredible disservice to our democratic process, to the voters and to oaklanders and our city. and this is a distraction and a significant waste of taxpayer money, money that we simply can't afford in this budget climate. i mean, this recall effort has the potential to cost oakland taxpayers upwards of $10 million, with each opd as an example, with each opd officer budgeted for $325,000, that's roughly 31 officers that we could be utilizing that funding for. and again, i remain focused on doing the job of oakland mayor, these this is what the oakland voters have elected me to do. and we're doing great work from raymond park in west oakland, getting that develop immediately, taking down the largest encampment in northern california at wood street, you know, selling our half of the coliseum to the african american sports and entertainment group so it can finally be developed. politicians have come and gone,

and nothing has been developed there, because at the end of the day, we need economic vitality, and that means that we must develop these areas so that we can continue to get new resources, new monies, so we can pay for the public services that we so need, like our police officers, firefighters, dvp and cleaning up our streets. >> can you put a percentage on it? how confident you are about the sale going through? because the newly approved budget depends heavily on the $63 million expected from that, and if the sale doesn't go through by september 1st, it's not a lot of time. then the city faces significant cuts, significant cuts, including to police. what plans do you have to ensure public safety will not be compromised at a time when the city needs it so much? >> well, i just want to applaud to that point. that's exactly why i proposed my budget. my budget is the public safety budget. you know, i want to applaud the five council members who voted for that budget because the other three council members wanted to actually reduce the number of officers. right now we have 710 officers.

they want to reduce, they wanted to reduce that number to 610. now that's irresponsible. and that is not safe for our city. and let's be very clear, this budget will enable us to maintain the steady and significant progress we've already made in reducing crimes, cleaning our streets and continuing to build off of that work. work that has been an issue for the city of oakland for decades, right? for decades. and so coming in again in the in the short 18 months that we've been here, we have been able to really, bring down not only the crime number across the whole board, but also cleaning up our streets. yes, there's still so much more to do, but we're not letting go of the gas pedal right now. not at all. we're going to continue to do that work, but because it is all dependent on the sale going through. >> how confident are you? like 50? >> i'm very i am very optimistic that it is going to go through. and i can tell you that you'll be hearing about an update pretty soon. >> so we will, of course, bring that update on the coliseum sale

to you when there is news to report. meantime, we'll be right back with a brand new way to fund affordable housing. think kickstarter or go f

housing construction. our media partner, the san francisco standard, explores the issue in a new article. wait, are we low key crowdfunding housing in the bay area? now joining us live is the standard's business reporter, kevin nguyen. kevin, nice to see you. so we understand crowdfunding. you know, like kickstarter, gofundme. but there's a twist. you're reporting on applying it to housing. explain. >> yeah. good to be with you again, kristin. you know, as you mentioned, you know, i wrote about bonds, which are nothing new. voters are used to seeing those, on their ballot every election cycle. but what i'm talking about and trying to evoke in terms of comparing it to go fund me, is that there's an attitude shift going on in terms of how we can pay for said

housing. you know, the bay area has about 40,000 affordable homes that are already approved, but they're just stuck in limbo because, you know, developers can't pay for them. so when the banks are gone and when the state and federal government is gone, the last thing place you can turn to is the voters, the people. >> okay, so i get the need and i get why, you know, you can't wait for developers necessarily. so this fall, i understand bay area voters will be asked to approve a tax tax hike dressed as a loan, if you will, for such a purpose. right. tell us about it. >> right. so, in order to raise money, the only way they can do that through the people is to raise taxes. so in this specific housing bill to fund it, they would, they're proposing to charge a property owners $119 per $100,000 of value. so that means, you know, if you have $1 million house, you should expect to pay $190 more in property taxes if this were to pass. >> okay. so if it's a loan, does that mean taxpayers are getting,

you know, paid back at some point? and if it's like a developer, right, you expect a return on your money. so what's the return here? >> right. so then the, the cities and the governments will act as pretty much a public mortgage lender. and the return after interest is actually going to be double the amount. so if the taxpayers are going to loan developers 20 billion, they should expect probably at least double that, double of that to be paid back into the system over time. >> the system. so not you individually. and then once it's in the system, how does that benefit you? >> well kristen, you could you could argue that, when we produce housing, that's what you're getting out of it as the taxpayers. yeah. so we're we're not just paying into it, we're paying into it. but with the hope that we're getting the housing. we're we're paying for what we need. >> yeah. okay. but who who's got the ownership, if you will. and you know, does this have anything to do with i understand another aspect is the creation of a real estate development agency. >> right. so that a development agency is separate from this bond. that's that's just another

kind of effort happening in the state legislature to, again, shore up where the private markets are falling short. yeah. but anyways, yeah, the taxpayers, issue loan. the government's this money in the form of loans and that's how it goes out to these developers. >> all right. and state senator scott wiener, who is very pro creation of housing, had something to say about this, right. >> yeah. he said, you know, obviously ideally you don't want to be, you know, taking the crowdfunding route. but it's in times like these, you know, it took us decades to get into this housing shortage. you know, it's going to take all the tools we have in our tool kit to get out of it. so if the private markets are suffering right now, the thinking is, let's get the public involved to create housing that isn't reliant on interest rates or, you know, investor returns. >> all right. interesting. kevin nguyen, thank you so much. >> thanks, kristen. >> you can check out kevin's article and more of the san francisco standard's other original reporting on their website, sf standard.com. we'll continue to bring you more segments featuring their city

focused journalism

tonight, breaking news as we come on the air. president biden just moments away from a high stakes news conference, unscripted, live, taking questions with the world watching. president biden, the nato summit in washington, and one more critical test to save his campaign. his first solo news conference in eight months, and we'll carry it live. and the new abc news/"washington post" poll tonight, what it shows in this race between president biden and donald trump. it is a tied race, even with the

.