senator jd vance for the office

of vice president of the united states of america. >> day one of the republican national convention is underway with big news. former president trump has chosen his running mate, a us senator who once lived in san francisco, worked as a venture capitalist and was mocked as a, quote, san francisco elitist. good afternoon. i'm kristen sze. jd vance joins the republican ticket just two days after the failed assassination attempt on former president trump. here's the latest on the investigation. the fbi says it appears the shooter, 20 year old thomas matthew crooks, acted alone. crooks was a registered republican with no known history of mental illness or criminal activity. the motive is still unknown, two law enforcement sources tell abc news the building from where crooks opened fire was the staging area for a local police tactical team. so it's unclear how crooks gained access. the investigation is unfolding as republicans gather in milwaukee for the

party's convention to officially vote for trump. as the republican presidential nominee. abc's mary alice parks has more. >> republicans gathering in milwaukee to formally nominate former president donald trump as their gop presidential candidate this just two days after he survived an assassination attempt at a rally in pennsylvania. the roll call is a formality. >> the great state of iowa proudly cast all of its 40 votes for president donald j. >> trump, as the former president, clinched the nomination in march, and we now know who will be running alongside trump as his choice for vice president trump, choosing ohio senator jd vance as his running mate. security at the rnc, a top concern after the assassination attempt this weekend. but secret service says they do not anticipate a change to their security plan. now, in that announcement on truth social, trump talked about senator vance's work in the senate as a businessman and of course, his book, hillbilly elegy. maryalice parks, abc news, milwaukee. >> so trump is running with a

yale law school grad with deep ties to silicon valley, and who is just 39 years old. >> joining us live now to talk about that choice and the convention, former democratic presidential candidate and founder uh- founding co-chair of the forward party, andrew yang. andrew, welcome back to the bay area. >> it's great to be here. kristen. thanks for having me. >> i know you're watching this very closely. what happened in the convention today? what do you think about j.d. vance's pick as a vice presidential running mate? >> no, it's a pick that some saw coming. jd is a very, very talented figure. i will say that jd uh- in a time when a lot of people were trying to reduce the temperature in the wake of trump's shooting, came out and put the responsibility on democratic rhetoric and the biden campaign, which i think is something of a traditional attack dog role that a running mate might take. but it's something that, in my mind, was really counterproductive to the moment the country is in right now. >> does it say anything to you about the dynamics of the presidential race, especially after the assassination attempt

that he picked vance? >> well, i think it's a confident pick in the sense that it's not someone who tries to draw in moderates the way a glenn youngkin or even a nikki haley might have. it's not someone who brings with them a swing state population, though. j.d. vance is from ohio, which has some overlap with michigan, wisconsin, pennsylvania in terms of the nature of the issues. but it's a confident pick. i think it really signals a belief in j.d. vance as a carrier of the message. >> so do you think also that the assassination attempt changed the presidential politics dynamics, the race, everything? how much did it change? >> well, i think the jd vance pick was in the works for a while because that stuff tends to be days in the making. so it's not like it affected that particular decision. but people believe including in democratic circles, that it's going to strengthen trump's hand because there's a natural rally around the flag uh- type impulse. when you have an event like this, i mean, i've been deeply saddened,

as i'm sure most americans have been, and that this does signal a rise in an era of political violence here in the us, which has been building for a long time. if you look at threats on members of congress, threats towards judges. but now we've reached a whole new level in terms of how we get there. >> that's like a whole nother story. and i know you just wrote a blog post on it, which i think people should take a look at. but for almost a year now, you've been trying to get people's attention on something else. and that is the top of the democratic ticket. as you know, even before this attempt on trump's life, he was leading in most of the swing states that biden carried in 2020. you warned that the democrats really need to make a change. so here are a couple clips from your previous appearances here on abc seven. >> i think that joe biden should step aside and make way for a new generation of leaders, or have a real primary with debates and competition and say, i'm willing to debate all comers. it could be dean, it could be gavin newsom, it could be gretchen

whitmer. the point is that the democrats aren't having a healthy process to determine who the strongest nominee would be. >> when you said those things last september and january, i think what is the word? were you shunned? were you shushed? what did anybody listen? >> well, most people agreed with me. it's just they kept their mouths quiet because of the political incentives that keep so much of our political class from telling us the truth. and the truth came out in the debate stage, which i'm going to suggest is about seven months later than you'd want it to. i mean, there was a democratic primary. you could have had a very, very different lay of the land. and this is still on the table. i am part of a group of people that think the democratic party should upgrade from joe biden as the nominee. it's true now, especially because you're looking at house races around the country that could get decided by the top of the ticket if anyone wants to sign a petition to have joe step aside, it's passed the torch. biden comme think joe's done a lot for the country, but the biggest thing he can do right now is

step aside. as the democratic nominee. >> and you've always said to you personally, having trump win a second term would be catastrophic. i think, in your words, or something to that effect. right. >> i see donald trump as an accelerant to the deterioration of many of our institutions. and i think that if he does return to the oval office, that's what we will see. and it does make me sad, because right now he's the favorite, in large part because the democrats are not feeling, in my opinion, the strongest candidate against him. >> so you really think it's not too late? i mean, even with the boost that trump is currently getting from the attempt on his life, well, you always have to operate to maximize your probability of winning. >> and the fact is, even a close race would be a very different picture than a blowout loss in terms of the house of representatives and maybe the senate, though i think the senate is probably going to go to the republicans regardless. but the house is winnable, or at least it was and would be if you had a strong democratic ticket. if you run with joe, you're going to see all three branches of government essentially go to trump. >> all right. well, so getting

back to the how do we get here as a nation. what the temperature is so hot and so polarized. you wrote a political thriller called the last election. you explored a frightening scenario of what could happen if the polarization continues, do you think i mean, that's a hyperbole, right? this is not the last election, in your opinion. >> i think there's a very high stakes election. it's one reason why i've gone so hard at trying to upgrade the nature of the candidates in it, and i'm very, very frustrated with the democrats who are saying, hey, wait till 28, because as a country, we will have four years of accelerating decline of various, forms of trust and we deserve better. i am not looking forward to saying we're just going to be able to turn the page at some point, because this entire system is eroding before our eyes. >> okay, so how would you fix this? andrew >> the way out is for americans to say, look, this two sided machine isn't working. what it's doing is it's inflaming and

aggravating us. and you need a third party that's up the middle, which i'm the co-chair of. we are the third biggest political party in the country by resources, though that's not saying as much as i'd like it to, but i'm joined by figures like governor christie todd whitman of new jersey, lieutenant governor kerry healey, who was mitt romney's lieutenant governor. if people want to check that out, just go to ford party com, because that is the only way out of this mess. kristen this blue versus red is has led us to this point, and it's not going to lead us where we want to go. >> all right. andrew yang, co-founder of the forward party, thank you so much for coming on the show today. >> it's always great to be here. i'll come every time i'm in the bay. >> seriously. all right. sounds good. it's a date. all right. coming up, live coverage of the republican national convention kicks off tonight at 7:00, right here on abc seven. which means you'll have to wait to catch wheel of fortune and jeopardy until 10:00. and speaking of elections, we've got a big race in the bay area this november for mayor of san francisco. this week, we'll talk with the top contenders up first, bay area philanthropist and nonprofit leader daniel lurie. he joins us

next to share his vision for the city. also, the latest brazen crime caught on camera in oakland. the damage left behind by the thieves at the a heatwave, it's kinda chilly in here. oh, that's because i'm pre-cooling the house with the ac before 4 pm. then i'll turn our thermostat to a comfortable 78 or higher that way i could stay cool later. ooh, what about me? you're never cool. oh.

francisco mayor's race will impact not just the city, but the entire bay area. so we're talking with each of the five top mayoral candidates. all this week on abc7 news at three. join us today. founder of the nonprofit tipping point community, daniel lowry. daniel, thanks so much for making yourself available and coming on the show. >> thank you, kristen, for having me. >> just a nice to have you. and just to let our viewers know,

since you're the first one to kick this off, i'm going to ask several questions that are going to be the same of every candidate, starting with why do you want to be mayor of san francisco? >> oh, kristen, i love that question. i love this city. i'm running because i've always been proud to call san francisco my home. my wife and i were raising two young kids. we have a 13 year old daughter, a ten year old son, and i want them to always be as proud of this city. i want all of our kids to have that same sense of pride that i've always had, and simply put, the direction that our leaders have taken us leaves me worried. kristen, we know this. we tell people when we're traveling that we're from san francisco. people used to say, oh, greatest city in the world. now they say, are you safe? are you, are you okay? and i don't make you know, i'm not trying to make light of it, but we have taken a huge reputation. hit, reputational hit. and simply put, we need accountable leadership. and we need new ideas. right.

>> you've criticized the current administration for, quote, failing on public safety. you're talking about that now. so what specific measures would you implement to improve public safety and reduce crime in the city? >> first, you have to be for public safety throughout your term. and you can't just be for public safety during an election year. and that's what we've gotten from this administration. and frankly, the one before it as well. we need a fully staffed police department, a sheriff's department and a 911 dispatch office. we also need to make sure that we get our police out of the business of being our homeless outreach workers and our mental health counselors. i want a trained clinicians going out onto the street and working with people that are in mental health crisis or in the throes of addiction, bringing those people into 24 over seven crisis centers and making sure that we get them the help that they need. that way, we have officers able to go walk the beat out on patrols. we need our officers to

be able to do their jobs again. >> all right. i also want to touch on housing affordability since you already kind of talked about homelessness. just now, but how do you plan to increase the housing supply and ensure affordability for all income levels? >> kristen, we need to build housing at all levels as you just said, i'm the only one in this race that's actually done it. i've built housing on time under budget, with good paying union labor, we need to make sure that we unlock the potential, that is sitting there. we actually have 70,000 units that have already been approved. we need to unlock that, and simply put, the city hall insiders have not gotten the job done, and they've had decades of experience. and look at where it's led us. i've actually had a lot of conversations today talking about middle income housing, our workforce, our police officers, our firefighters, our teachers, our nurses can't afford to live in the city. 80% of our police

officers and our firefighters, 80% of them live outside of san francisco. because there's no chance of them being able to afford to live here. we can change that. we need to build more housing. and i've done it. and so i'm confident that we can accomplish this. other than housing, certainly more jobs, economic development and vitality. >> what is your pandemic recovery strategy? what are specific plans for economic growth and job creation? >> it starts with public safety and clean streets and inviting businesses back to san francisco. i was proud to be asked by mayor lee to bring super bowl 50 here. i led the bid and the host committee for that. we brought $240 million worth of economic revenue to san francisco and to the bay area, proud to have led that effort, and also involved and engaged with bringing uh- world cup is coming here. we just had a weekend full of soccer tournaments across this world. and, and super bowl 60 is coming

here and we have the nba, nba all star game coming in 2025. so we need more of that. but it starts with making sure that we invite business back to san francisco. small businesses and big business, i have a plan to do it. you can go read more about it on my website at daniel lurie.com. >> all right. i realize there's a board of education, so a mayor can only do so much, but what initiatives would you support to try to improve education and devote resources at a time when extreme budget cuts are forcing school closures, and also you have low test scores? >> it's a really important question. and you're right, the mayor doesn't have direct control. but you have the megaphone. as mayor, you can make sure to speak out about making sure that student outcomes are at the heart of everything, that we take care of our teachers, but we also have to make sure our schools have the resources that they need for the whole family, for the parents as well. we need to surge resources to our schools. you have department of children, youth and families. you have the

muni budget to make sure that kids can get to and from school safely and efficiently. so there are other tools that your disposal. as mayor, i'm going to speak out and speak up, because for us to have a world class city again, for us to be that world class city that we all know that we can get back to, we need a world class public education system. and i will speak out on that every single day. as mayor, i think. >> all right. many people know that you are an heir to the levi strauss fortune, and you are extremely wealthy, and you are also coming from the nonprofit sector. right. leading that. none of those are bad things. but what i'm trying to say is there are people who wonder about your relatability to everyday citizens. and do you really understand both how city government can work to solve their problems and the challenges they face? >> i've worked with every mayor since mayor newsom through to this current mayor on issues of poverty. at every turn in my life, kristen, i have been in service to community. i understand that people have

questions about my background. i'm going to ask people to look at the choices i've made with my life, and it's always been about service. i've helped house over 40,000 people who were homeless over the last nine years here in san francisco and the bay area. i've built housing on time and under budget, 145 units of affordable housing. and on the reliability thing, i'm a father. i have a 13 year old daughter, a ten year old son, kristen. you know, as a parent, when your child struggles with a health issue, which my daughter did recently, last year, it put things in perspective for me. and so i've committed my life to serving this community. i'm a father that cares deeply about the health and wellness and the happiness of my two children. and i guess i'm going to leave it at that. and i'm going to let the voters choose, but my commitment has always been to

this city, and it will be as your mayor. >> we'll have to leave it at that because we're out of time. but, san francisco mayoral candidate danielle lowry, thank you so much for coming on the show. >> thank you for having me, i appreciate it. >> our interviews continue tomorrow. incumbent mayor london breed will join us in the studio, followed by former mayor mark farrell on wednesday. and supervisors asha safai and aaron peskin on thursday and friday. and in september, abc7 news and the san francisco standard are joining forces to co-host a live debate with the top candidates. watch it live. on september 25th at 6 p.m. still ahead, the damage left behind after a break in. caught on camera at an

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east oakland. abc7 news anchor amanda delcastillo has details on the latest issue, which follows a string of recent crimes at the location, and it's left the spca looking to the community for help. >> reporter a major setback during what should be a monumental 150th year for the east bay spca in oakland. surveillance footage captured early sunday morning shows the moment a blue hatchback rammed into the back gate, taking it off the track, bringing it down and giving way for someone to hotwire the agency's largest transport vehicle. >> for the big critical piece of work that we do getting animals from overcrowded municipal organizations that don't have the ability to care for them, to get them here, where we can provide them the medical and behavioral support they need. that's our one van for that. >> carolyn. erin, now the shelter's vp of operations, explains this isn't the first time criminals took the 2010 ford econoline. and over the last six months alone, the facility has been the target of

various crimes. >> our large transport van has now been stolen twice. we have had our gate damaged and rammed in two times, so we've had to repair that. we also are frequently, victims of graffiti where people come and paint all over our buildings. and then we need to spend funds to repair that paint job without factoring in the cost of the stainless steel extra galvanized gate, which was only installed in november for more than $54,000. >> erin now says the van alone is about a $90,000 loss. painting over the graffiti, she mentioned $15,000. it's all money. the independent nonprofit says should instead go to benefiting the animals and the community seeking shelter services. >> so all of that adds up and takes away from the important work we're able to do for the community. >> it's no secret the surrounding community along the hegenberger corridor has been met with challenges. we are in an area that we feel very committed to. >> we are in east oakland. this

is a bit of a resource desert, so we want to be here for the people and pets that need us and need our services. also, we know that this can be a difficult area to do business in and we're seeing businesses leave, but not enough to shutter shelter business. >> still, officials here are hoping the community will come through and assist monetarily so the shelter can reach additional monumental anniversaries in the future. in oakland, i'm amanda delcastillo, abc seven news. >> starting today, you'll notice more chp officers if you live in the east bay. last week, governor newsom announced he's quadrupling the number of officers in the oakland area to help crack down on crime. at least 20 chp officers will now be there seven days a week. remember, abc7 news is streaming 24 over seven. get the abc7 bay area app and join us whenever you want. wherever you are, we'll be right

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have been down since june 29th, when hackers hit the telco with a ransomware attack. the bank says customers money is safe. the ceo says its members still don't have access to mobile deposits or electronic statements, but they will have visibility into transaction history. crews across california are fighting multiple fires sparked by lightning this weekend. firefighters in yosemite are putting out nine new fires, all started by lightning. fortunately, they're all small firefighters in the tahoe national forest counted 126 lightning strikes saturday, and yesterday, starting four fires. containment is improving on all of them. we keep an eye

on every wildfire across the state thanks to our abc seven news data team. you can use the same interactive tool by heading to our website. it also gives you an idea of fire warnings and air quality. it's right on the front page of abc7 news.com. if you have plans to take a hike on some of the many trails around lake tahoe, this fall, you may need to watch out for more than just wildlife. federal officials have approved a controversial plan to allow electric bikes on some trails under the plan, 106 miles of trails would be open in the u.s. forest service's 154,000 acre lake tahoe basin management unit. the plan includes building 45 miles of new trails, the forest service is finalizing the environmental assessment document, which is expected to be released next month. the rule change could take effect as soon as september. e-bikes are currently not allowed on tahoe trails because they are motorized. of course, regular mountain bikes are, so this could be a big change coming their way. all

right. thank you so much for joining us. that's going to do it for now. world news tonight with david muir starts right now with coverage of the republican national convention. and of course i will be back here with larry for abc7 news at four. have a great day. tonight, from the republican convention, breaking news. our interview with former president trump on the assassination attempt. trump on the images of the bullet coming so close.