good afternoon. i'm dan ashley. larry beil is off. >> i'm ama daetz. for the second time this year, a san jose police academy has fallen far short of recruiting goals. >> only 24 recruits will start training tomorrow when there is capacity for 60. >> abc 7 news reporter david louie is live at san jose police headquarters with what this means for an already short-staffed department. david? >> reporter: well, san jose police have a lot of catch-up to do especially with officers already working overtime just to meet basic patrol needs. and with other cities offering recruits, better pay and benefits. the challenge for san jose police is that more officers are leaving than being recruited. that makes it difficult to keep the ranks of full authorized

strength of 1109 officers. when you factor in disabilities and military leave, the department is roughly 200 officers below that, and it's expecting to lose well over 100 sworn officers this year from resignations and retirements. >> it means less officers on the street, more overtime for officers, higher response times, higher crime rates. >> reporter: the outlook of catching up is not good. a new police academy class starting tomorrow has a capacity of 60. the city made 29 job offers but five took jobs elsewhere and one was a no-show. that will mean the class will have 23 recruits, plus one who was previously hired. residents of west san jose tell us they don't see many officers on patrol, and they already know the consequences of short staffing. >> we are having break-ins, you know, a good amount this past summer. which never happened. i have been living there for 16 years and i hear if you were to call 911 and ask for police, it would take 20, 30 minutes for them to get out. >> reporter: the issue of a safe

city is part of the san jose mayor's race. both candidates think the academy numbers can be boosted even as a third recruit class is planned for next year. >> the wage issue is something i think we can work on. you can't do anything about the pension issues right now. they are locked into the city charter. but we can certainly work with them on wages and give them second thoughts about going somewhere else. >> we have now come to agreement we start at 11%, that's kicking in, will kick in fully by next year. as that pay restoration comes on board, as we continue to accelerate the hiring by adding that police academy each year, we are going to see the numbers rebound. >> reporter: in san jose, david louie, abc 7 news. in boston, a haz/mat crew removed five people from a united arab emirates flight today. they all showed flu-like symptoms. none had been in west africa but they will be tested as a precaution. at least three people have already been tested for ebola in boston this week. one patient showed up at a hospital yesterday. he was checked and cleared. in dallas, hospital officials are struggling to

explain how ebola was transmitted to a 26-year-old nurse who treated a patient who died from the disease. >> that's right. records obtained by the associated press say about 70 staffers were involved in the care of that patient. >> doctors have to figure out why they failed to contain this deadly virus. >> abc news reporter marcy gonzalez has more. >> reporter: we are told the dallas ebola patient is awake and talking to loved ones from her isolated hospital room using face time. >> she is a person that's dealing with this with a heroic and graceful spirit. she is incredibly concerned. we are all incredibly concerned. >> reporter: a full investigation under way into how, despite wearing full proeffepr protective gear, she contracted the virus from treating the patient who died here last week and if she's the only one. >> if this one individual was infected and we don't know how,

within the isolation unit, then it is possible that other individuals could have been infected as well. >> reporter: officials saying other than health care workers, there is no threat that anyone else was infected. though one person believed to have had contact with the patient after she started showing symptoms friday is in isolation as a precaution. her dog is also being monitored, her home decontaminated. as the cdc says, changes are being made and more training is being done at this hospital. some experts question if it's enough. >> i'm concerned about the current approach to treating patients with ebola, and the idea that any hospital can do this safely. it takes a lot of work to use this protective gear properly. >> reporter: today for the first time we are hearing from the american journalist being treated for ebola at a hospital in nebraska. he tweeted today he feels like he is on the road to good health. marcy gonzalez, abc news. starting today, an

experimental canadian-made ebola vaccine is beginning clinical trials on people in the united states. it will be tested on healthy people to see how well it works, whether there are side effects and what the proper dosage is. the vaccine has done well in tests on primates. it has prevented infection when given before exposure and actually increased survival chances when given quickly after exposure to ebola. there are daily developments on this ebola crisis. get alerts on that and other breaking news with the abc 7 news app. we will keep you up to date. it's free to download on apple's app store, from google play and we have more information at abc7news.com/apps. an american airlines flight from san francisco to dallas this afternoon had to turn around and land again at sfo because the cabin was losing pressure. the faa says it was american flight 2293 and it happened about 2:15 this afternoon. nobody was hurt. now the airline and regulators are trying to figure out what

went wrong before the plane is put back in the air. check out this building demolition in san francisco that could have ended tragically this morning. look at this. tearing down a building on pine street when the facade fell forward. it was not supposed to do that. the bricks crushed a wood barrier set up for pedestrians. luckily, no one was walking along the sidewalk at the time. you can see from sky 7 hd that the debris extended on to several lanes of the street. the crews tore down the remainder of the building and then cleaned up the mess on the street. sky 7 hd shows you where a natural gas leak forced evacuations in san francisco's visitation valley for a short time. the trouble started when a car ran into a house and severed a gas line just after 10:00 this morning. good news is no one was hurt. firefighters decided to evacuate people within a 100-foot radius of that leak on argonaut avenue. crews capped the leak within an hour's time. authorities have identified the san francisco man who died this weekend after being swept

into the ocean. a coast guard crew spotted jimmy chiu floating in the water yesterday afternoon. he was fishing with another man during high surf conditions. the second person survived and is recovering at a local hospital. the coast guard is waiting for the results of drug and alcohol tests from the crew of a packed ferry boat that crashed into pier 41 in san francisco. it happened just before 6:00 last night. ten people on board the blue and gold ferry were sent to the hospital, mostly minor injuries. the coast guard ruled out mechanical issues and is looking into whether human error is to blame. the boat is back in operation today. a record-setting pumpkin squashed the competition at the world pumpkin weigh-off in half moon bay this year. check out this beast. it weighed in at 2,058 pounds and destroyed the runner-up by 300 pounds. the pumpkin is the largest ever on record in north america. the winner grew the pumpkin alongside five others in his

front yard in napa. he says there was a lot of time, effort and luck put into growing it. you can see him there. he is the winner. the winning pumpkin was one of two that weighed more than a ton growing in his yard. believe that? he will use the $13,000 prize to make repairs to his home. >> he was speechless. >> he was. pretty much. that is one gigantic gourd. let's talk about the weekend weather forecast we enjoyed and what's happening this week. >> spencer christian is here with a look at whether it will start feeling like fall at all coming up. >> it's going to start suddenly and very soon, as a matter of fact. here's live doppler 7 hd. it doesn't feel like fall yet. warm day, especially in the inland locations, as you can see. bright and sunny over the bay and inland. we do have clouds at the coast. those clouds will cover much of the sky by this time tomorrow. here's a look from the east bay hills camera westward. you see low clouds at the coast.

just a few high clouds in the sky at the moment. 63 degrees in san francisco right now. we were up near 80 earlier today. it's cooling near the coast. 81 san jose. 87 morgan hill. 63 at half moon bay. how about this view showing clouds, low level and midlevel clouds beginning to push over the bay right now. the temperature readings, 82 in santa rosa. mid to upper 80s in petaluma, fairfield, concord and livermore. live view at the golden gate bridge where you see clouds hovering just around the top. we will see clouds increasing tonight and a few showers developing tomorrow. dan and ama? >> thank you, spencer. still ahead on abc 7 news at 4:00, another bouncy house horror story. this one injures two young brothers. plus, the simple request from a u.s. soldier that was denied. how other passengers helped out and what the airline is saying today. and they don't agree on everything. new at 4:30, the issue that got the support of nearly all the top contenders in oakland's

mayoral race. 7 on your side's michael finney is taking your questions on twitter and facebook. he will answer them live a little bit later. let's take you outside now to san mateo bridge as you look live on this monday afternoon commute. so far, so good. moving smoothly in both directions. , , , now, americans everywhere are discovering that galbani ricotta

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seven new jersey high school football players are due in court this week accused of sexually assaulting younger teammates. the sayreville war memorial high students were arrested last week on sex crimes charges. the assaults happened during an alleged hazing incident. in light of the arrests, some anti-bullying advocates say new jersey's anti-bullying laws may need to be rewritten because the statutes don't specifically address teen sports. instead, it leaves the matter up to individual schools. in new hampshire, two young brothers are hospitalized after a terrifying ordeal over the weekend. they were in an inflatable toy house when a powerful gust of wind suddenly sent them 50 feet up into the air. abc news reporter susan sulney has the story. >> reporter: it's a high-flying horror becoming far too common. a bounce house filled with children inside taking flight. now it's happened again, this time at what should have been a fun fall festival at a new hampshire farm. >> a bouncy house has blown away and landed back down.

>> reporter: this morning, two toddlers are injured, one critically, after strong wind launched an inflatable house they were playing in as high as 30 feet into the air. then it traveled about 50 feet before crashing down in this apple orchard. >> there were multiple patients. one is unconscious. >> it kind of flipped and came straight down. >> reporter: a 2-year-old boy was airlifted to a boston hospital. his 3-year-old brother is also hospitalized. the bounce house owner says it wasn't secured to the ground because it wasn't ready to be used. >> he was in a restricted area, it wasn't open to the public. >> reporter: the father of one of the injured boys says there was no sign that the bounce house was not open. >> there was no indication it was closed. like i said, i asked how much was it and he said it was free. >> reporter: this is yuft the latest accident. earlier this morning, surveillance video in china captured a bounce house flipping over, injuring 14. in july, a dust devil in nevada launched an inflatable slide 300 feet, injuring two.

experts say these popular children's' attractions must be supervised and always securely staked to the ground. abc news, washington. u.s. airways is apologizing after one of its flight attendants refused to hang up a soldier's uniform during a red-eye flight last week. an airline spokesman says the company simply did not get it right. when the first sergeant asked to hang his uniform jacket in the closet, the army ranger said he didn't want it to get wrinkled. the flight attendant told him the closet was for first class passengers only. one passenger said the soldier deserved better. >> he had a chest full of medals, many deployments. all she had to say was yes but she kept saying it's against company policy. >> a passenger in first class ended up taking the jacket and hanging it behind his chair, giving it back to the soldier once the plane landed. >> that person did the right thing. >> they absolutely did. let's focus on the weather forecast. gorgeous out there today.

what about the rest of the week? >> spencer christian's here with the accuweather forecast. >> looks like the weather will do the right thing. we need some rain and there's some coming our way. maybe not a lot but a change in the current pattern nonetheless. live doppler 7 hd, as you already know, mainly sunny right now over the bay and inland but we do have clouds at the coast and the clouds will increase during the overnight hours. here's a beautiful view from the rooftop camera, blue sky over the bay. these are the forecast features. spotty drizzle overnight, some light scattered showers during the day tomorrow, giving way to steadier, more widespread rain overnight tomorrow night into wednesday morning. then we get a bit of a break on thursday and a wet, unsettled pattern moves in again for friday and saturday. it's beginning to look and feel like fall. here's the satellite image showing high pressure weakening as the cold front that's bringing us showers and drizzle approaches so we get rainfall and cooler weather coming our way with this approaching storm system and a pattern of unsettled weather. here's the forecast animation overnight into about 5:00 tomorrow morning. we will see gray, drizzly

conditions tomorrow morning. the drizzle may not be widespread but there will be some wet spots and that's a cautionary note for early morning commuters. later in the day, we will see some widely scattered showers developing and then that more concentrated area of rain starts to push in tomorrow evening. that will continue in through wednesday morning and start to break up by about midday wednesday. the rain total forecast animation, starting 1:00 tomorrow afternoon going to 1:00 wednesday afternoon, by early afternoon wednesday, the wetter spots in the bay area will probably not have received more than a quarter inch. generally between a tenth of an inch to quarter of an inch. some locations may not get measurable rainfall at all but we welcome whatever we can get at this point. overnight, again, spotty drizzle, low temperatures generally in the upper 50s, then tomorrow, in the south bay, we will see mainly cloudy skies, a spot or two of light shower activity. highs tomorrow mainly in the low to mid 70s in the south bay, up to about 72 at san jose. on the peninsula, we will see highs of 70, san mateo.

scattered showers near the coast. coastal highs mainly in the mid 60s tomorrow, 64 in the sunset district, downtown san francisco, a high of 66 tomorrow. up in the north bay, we will probably see a bit more shower activity down in the south bay or a greater chance for it. highs in the north bay tomorrow only in the upper 60s to maybe about 70 at napa. east bay highs, 69 in oakland. 72 at fremont. in the inland east bay, mainly cloudy tomorrow with highs in the mid to upper 70s, about 75 at walnut creek up to about 78 at antioch. here's the accuweather seven-day forecast. again, maybe light scattered showers during most of the day tomorrow but the more concentrated widespread rain comes in tomorrow night into wednesday. that breaks up by wednesday afternoon. partly sunny to mainly sunny day on thursday, then rain by friday evening into early morning saturday and a chance again late sunday into monday. so this is truly developing into a more autumn-like pattern,

certainly an unsettled pattern with periods of wet weather. that's just what we need. dan and ama? >> thank you, spencer. this friday marks 25 years since the loma prieta earthquake struck. 15 seconds that changed life here in the bay area. this friday evening at 6:30, we look back at that day and look forward to see how lessons learned from loma prieta have made the bay area a safer place to live. remember this scene of the bay bridge? abc 7 was the first bay area news organization to reveal the extent of the damage on october 17th, 1989 in the moments after the earth shook. we have one memorable moment here as abc 7 news anchor cheryl jennings spoke with the late pete wilson on the field at candlestick park. >> and we now have pete wilson standing by live at candlestick. pete, go ahead. >> cheryl, this is an extraordinary scene out here. >> loma prieta struck moments before game three of the world series between the giants and the a's. it caused a ten-day delay. this friday, abc 7 news anchor

cheryl jennings takes a look back with the abc 7 special "15 seconds, 25 years later, the loma prieta earthquake." we hope you can join cheryl for this in-depth report. it's really remarkable stuff. up next, physical setbacks. the aches and pains that come with taking part in "dancing with the stars." new after 4:30, fast food obsession. behind the scenes at how mcdonald's prepares its food and how it is reaching out to consumers. giants fans, we want to see your team spirit. e-mail your photos to kgo-tv.com.

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but it will be a lot more if they are autographed by former players. they will be even more special. the couples remaining on "dancing with the stars" will look a little different tonight. it's the week of the switch-up. >> we have more on the aches and pains from the dance floor. ♪ >> reporter: when it comes to the aches and pains of dancing with the stars, sadie robinson has a pain in -- >> my neck. definitely. yeah. hurts so bad. >> reporter: but she's not alone in her agony. physical setbacks are just part of this process. everyone is hurting somewhere. >> my left big toe has been killing me since we did the samba. i get a lot of treatment. >> reporter: finish this sentence for me. the body part on me that hurts the most is? >> my feet. like the arches of my feet. cramping. >> oh, my tailbone. yeah. absolutely.

i got to put some ice. my lower back. >> reporter: three other stars, including leah thompson, all feel the same pain in the same place. >> my heart. >> every bit of this 6'5," 51-year-old frame feels perfect. it's happy. it loves what it's doing. my heart's hurting a little bit right now because i wanted to nail that dance. >> my heart. >> reporter: why does your heart hurt? >> losing my girl for a week. >> that's why i love him. >> reporter: rehearsing clearly puts a toll on the body. but the competition puts a toll on something else. >> my brain. there's a lot of stuff to learn. >> reporter: we'll see a wide variety of distanances tonight switch-ups. abc 7 news in los angeles.

>> almost everybody who does that show loses weight. still to come, a rare show of solidarity between the top candidates in oakland's mayor race. the issue they all agreed on today. plus the big turnout for this year's dream force convention in san francisco. what it's doing for the local economy and city traffic. and later, keeping the history in san francisco. one supervisor's plan to keep legacy businesses open.

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here are your headlines at 4:30. a 26-year-old nurse in dallas has been confirmed as the first person to contract the deadly ebola virus in the u.s. abc news sent this tweet today. family identifies nina sam as texas health care worker with ebola. the president met with a senior aide today to discuss the latest ebola case. now lawmakers are pressuring the president to put someone in charge of the response. world news tonight tweeting pressure mounts for president obama to name ebola czar. in san jose, the police department appears to be struggling to bring in new recruits. the new police academy starts tomorrow and only 23 of the 29 job offers were accepted. that's less than half of the capacity of 60. five prospective recruits decided to take jobs elsewhere. the police officers association says it's a manpower crisis.

in oakland, the mayor and several other candidates for mayor came together today to support prop z, which would fund the police force there. abc 7 news reporter laura anthony is live in oakland with more. >> reporter: there are 15 candidates running for the next oakland mayor's seat. five top contenders were here today and those there were some awkward moments, when it comes to measure z, they were united in one message. >> one thing we can all say is we all agree on measure z. >> reporter: the oakland mayor and four of her rivals in the campaign to become the city's next mayor stood shoulder to shoulder for a time this morning to show their combined support for measure z. >> i want to encourage everyone to please vote yes on measure z on your november ballot. it will guarantee that we will have officers assigned to neighborhoods. a vote against measure z means you want to roll back public

safety resources. >> reporter: measure z is basically an extension of the current parcel tax to provide funding for public safety programs, including 50 police officers. candidate joe tueman supports the measure but thinks it doesn't go far enough. >> it's regrettable unfortunately that there was not a commitment by the city to a larger number of police officers. >> this is brian parker, oakland mayoral candidate. i'm actually calling you today in support of measure z. >> reporter: after the joint press conference the candidates worked the phones. though it's an extension of a current tax, measure z still requires two-thirds approval by the voters. laura anthony, abc 7 news. sales force.com's dream force convention opened today in what has grown to become one of the largest software events anywhere in the world. the chairman and ceo along with house democratic leader nancy pelosi and san francisco mayor ed lee kicked off the festivities this morning. the convention brings with it a lot of cash.

visitors and celebrities and of course, some traffic. abc 7 news reporter amy hollyfield has more on what you can expect this week. >> reporter: when the world's largest software conference comes to town, local businesses roll up their sleeves. >> for a couple days it almost looks like manhattan down here with people walking through the intersections here. it's great. it's good for san francisco. it's good for the local businesses. >> reporter: the grove restaurant has increased its staff by 25% this week and expects everyone will work overtime. >> they don't even have room to store all the eggs they think they will need to serve all the visitors from this week's dream force. >> we actually have worked with some of our vendors so they would deliver to us more often so we would have even enough space in our walk-in cooler. >> reporter: sales force' annual convention has 130,000 registered participants this year, the largest number ever. there is so much money downtown, ride share has people dressed up as pink bears to try to attract

business. >> going to be huge. my idea is come out in a pink bear suit. if you associate this with lift, which i hope you will, get ahold of us. i want as many drivers out here as possible. >> reporter: of course, this means gridlock. howard street between third and fourth is shut down all week. sales force's ceo responded to complaints with a tweet saying sorry, san francisco, for all of the awesomeness. the conference not only has an impressive lineup but also focuses on philanthropy. the entry fee is to donate a can of food. >> it's not just about the technology. it's really about delivering back to the community in san francisco as well. >> reporter: they are hoping to donate one million meals. hillary clinton is expected to speak. bruno mars is set to perform. you can still attend if you would like to sign up. if you want to avoid all of this, howard street will be closed until friday. in san francisco, amy hollyfield, abc 7 news. isis has moved less than ten miles from iraq's capital of

baghdad and the u.s. has responded with helicopter attacks against the insurgents. part of the battle centers on the syrian city of kobani. 200,000 people have streamed across the border into neighboring turkey. the u.n. has warned of a massacre for anyone who hasn't escaped the advance of isis. american commanders admit air strikes have done little to stop isis. >> isis is blending in to parts of the disenfranchised sunni population and they will be harder to target. they know how to maneuver and how to use populations and concealment. >> military leaders from 23 coalition partners will meet with president obama and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff in maryland tomorrow. likely the president will ask them to do more. the sentencing phase in the homicide trial of south african olympic runner oscar pistorius got under way today. he was convicted of culpable homicide for the negligent killing of his girlfriend last

month. he faces up to 15 years in jail but a judge could suspend the sentence or impose a fine. today, a social worker assigned to assess a suitable punishment in the case called pistorius a broken man. he recommended house arrest for the crime and no prison time. >> let the accused be placed under house arrest for the duration of his sentence with due consideration of his cooperation in general and other elements in order to bring home the element of punishment. >> prosecutors say pistorius shot reeva steenkamp during an argument on valentine's day last year. he claims he mistook her for an intruder. an autistic teenager bullied is feeling much better. riders organized a special ride in pennsylvania in honor of the 16-year-old. about a week ago, police say his soccer team duct taped him to a goalpost. he has been avoiding his

classmates ever since. the bikers say they want him to know he is not alone. a message that helped him work up the courage to go back to class today. >> i'm feeling pretty good. i'm thankful for the support of people i don't even know. and people i have known for quite awhile now. >> his parents say they don't think they have gotten the full support from austin's school. they still want an apology. coming up on abc 7 news at 4:00, the airline making it easier for families and couples to travel together. i'm michael finney. today's 7 on your side's q & a is just ahead. i'm taking your questions on twitter and facebook. you can contact me right now. i will answer your questions here live a little later. i'm spencer christian from the east bay hills camera, we can see low clouds have arrived. high clouds and showers will be next. i'll have the accuweather forecast coming up. beautiful look outside.

now we are looking at the golden gate bridge. your traffic at 4:35 on this monday flowing in both directions. traffic on the right-hand side is heading over to the north bay. stay with us. and the doctor saw a i weblemish on my cheek.ter, he told me it was skin cancer. i was in shock. i wasn't covered with any health insurance. but once i got covered through covered california, i was able to go get the surgery that i needed. and it was a lifesaver. others. now, americans everywhere are discovering that... spoon after spoon... dish after dish... time, after time, after time again... deliciously creamy galbani ricotta inspires meals, and moments, that are simply better. mmm, galbani (sfx: kiss). italy's favorite cheese brand. now, america's number one ricotta.

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look at this. stunning. a dark beautiful image from deep space. this picture from the hubble telescope shows what's called the bug or butterfly nebula. the intermediate mass star is in

the death throes and is expelling clouds of super-heated gas into space. it's classified as a bipolar nebula that lies 3800 light-years from us in the milky way. incredible. moon lighting and a table for champagne. the skies may be getting friendlier for couples. thompson airways is considering adding family booth style seating on airplanes. it would look something like a restaurant booth with kids and parents facing each other. the airline's also looking at something for couples that would include the moon lighting and a beach snack bar in premium cabins. the changes will include a kids' club with trained crew on board to keep children entertained with arts and crafts. even people without kids will appreciate that. >> when my kids were teenagers i would have loved a bubble like that with someone else. put them with some other couple. let's talk about the weather one more time. >> hi, spencer.

>> i didn't hear mention of a wine bar. >> that's right. >> i guess i won't be flying any time soon. here's live doppler 7 hd. we have mainly sunny skies right now over the bay area although low clouds are at the coast. these are sunny conditions, they won't last very long. first a look at tomorrow's national weather picture across the 48 contiguous states. lots of wet weather in the eastern third of the country, especially the upper midwest, over the great lakes and down into the southeast. mainly sunny over the western two-thirds of the country. however, it will be showery in the pacific northwest near seattle and portland and in the northwestern corner of california tomorrow. look for a line of showers pushing through as well as some scattered showers developing along the central coast. that's where we are, tomorrow. meanwhile, interior sections of the state will be mainly dry. so for the bay area tomorrow, look for some early morning drizzle, spotty showers during the day giving way to more widespread showers and rainfall tomorrow night. in the afternoon tomorrow, we will see high temperatures anywhere from mid 60s at the

coast to low 70s around the bay to mid to upper 70s inland. it's going to be a wet, unsettled week ahead. dan and ama? >> spencer, thanks very much. we appreciate it. still ahead on abc 7 news at 4:00, the new technology developed by bay area scientists to make your electronic devices safer. plus how mcdonald's plans to give customers a happier meal. we will take you inside the fast food giant's massive operation. i'm 7 on your side's michael finney. are you seeing ads out there about the president waiving about the president waiving re-fi requirements?

trying to mislead you about the effects of proposition 46. , , , , , , , , , well here's the truth: 46 will save lives. it will save money too.

i'm bob pack, and i'm fighting for prop 46 because i lost my two children to preventable medical errors and i don't want anyone else to lose theirs. the three provisions in 46 will reduce medical errors and protect patients. save money and save lives. yes on 46. stanford university scientists have developed a smart lithium ion battery that can warn users before it overheats and burst into flames. it is on top of a conventional battery separator, the white square you see there. that layer then acts as an early warning system to tell users when a lithium ion battery in

their device is overheating. a new warning from the state department of public health over a pesto sauce that could cause botulism. officials are asking consumers not to eat the williams sonoma pumpkin seed pesto sauce. the product may have been improperly produced. it is a seasonal item. it comes in eight ounce glass jars with metal lids. the sauce may have been contaminated with the botchulim toxin. throw out the product right away. mcdonald's is taking dramatic steps to bring transparency to how its food is made. we got unprecedented access inside the fast food giant's massive operation in the central valley. >> reporter: it's that iconic burger joint. mcdonald's serving millions of americans for more than 70 years with that famous smile. but for long, some customers haven't been smiling. questioning how their food is produced, a process most of us

have never seen until right now. >> so this is the first time you are letting any television crew in here. >> yes. this is the first time. we are making history. >> reporter: we are walking into one of mcdonald's top secret food plants in fresno, california. here you are opening your doors to us. >> yes. >> reporter: why? >> well, we are starting on a journey called our food, your questions, and we want to open up the doors and let our customers ask us any questions they have and give them the answers. >> reporter: it won't be easy. americans have had tough questions for the mega-fast food company. those questions right in mcdonald's latest commercial, launching today. >> i think it's disgusting. >> mcdonald's even sell real food? >> reporter: we suit up in sterile wear to see for ourselves. >> this is what we call beef trim. >> reporter: okay. >> it comes from familiar cuts you may know like chuck and round and sirloin. >> reporter: mcdonald's says the patties are 100% beef. the recipe they say is nothing more than a blend of leaner beef trim and fattier trim.

>> like you would get at the grocery store, you buy an 80/20 blend. >> reporter: the beef is ground, blended together, made into the famous patties, letting the public see this can be risky. with so many people on social media able to affect a company's image, experts say transparency is key. >> i think mcdonald's is deciding to lift the curtain because of market share. millenials are now driving the food bus. they are heading straight to establishments that are offering better, healthier fare. they are trying to catch up. >> reporter: this morning we go right to the chief brand officer for mcdonald's. do you think that now this is perhaps something that's being done to improve those earnings? >> it's not linked to the business performance at all. it's linked to making us feel our kucustomers truly know the story about mcdonald's food. >> reporter: there will still be people that say the food at mcdonald's is just not healthy enough. i won't feed it to my kids. what do you say to that?

>> i say don't judge us before you know us. >> mcdonald's wants consumers to send them questions on facebook and twitter and it may cause other restaurant chains to reveal more about their food items as well. 7 on your side's michael finney is here answering questions sent to him by facebook, twitter and e-mail. our first question, i just got a phone message claiming that it's a final notice and we are being sued by the irs and need to call a 202 phone number which is washington, d.c., of course. what should i do? >> not dial the number. whatever you do, don't dial the number. this is a huge scam that's getting bigger and bigger and bigger. started off kind of a normal size scam and apparently it's working. the irs will never contact you by telephone. unless it's prearranged. so if they are doing an audit, if they are going to sue you, all that stuff comes by mail. not even e-mail. they don't do e-mail either. it is by snail mail when they

start a process. if you are going back and forth potentially you will make a phone call but do not call them back. if you are really paranoid, call the irs. go to irs.gov, get their telephone number. i don't want to give you -- >> don't call the number -- >> don't call that number. you will get on a sucker's list. stay away from it. >> as the president waives re-fi requirements, what does that mean? >> a lot of it's just an advertisement come-on. some of it is outright fraud. some of it is actually referring to the making home affordable program. they moved into a new phase of the program. before they were looking for people that hadn't made their payments in months. then they were looking for people slightly behind. now what they're looking to do, the people that are making their payments every month but having a hard time with everything else, food and sending their kids to school and gas money and all of that. so there is a new big push by the federal government through making home affordable but there's a lot of schemes and

scams out there, too. just go to making homes affordable.gov or call my phone number. we will hook you up. >> here's another one. what happens to frequent flyer miles when someone dies? >> that's interesting. officially, you cannot inherit them. which drives consumer advocates nuts because they are actually worth money. they say no, no, this was a club and it's only for the club member. but if you call up, you will get a completely different answer. some consumer groups have done that in the past. you seem to get the answer changes by whoever you talk to. >> it's worth making the argument. >> absolutely. make the argument. call a couple times. you don't do it, okay, thanks. get somebody else. >> thanks very much. up next, historic businesses disappearing in san francisco. >> what one supervisor wants to do to help keep the legacies going. coming up new at 5:00, how broccoli is giving scientists

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abc 7 is honoring hispanic heritage month through october 15th with posts to our instagram feed. we recognize the mural outside the city lights bookstore, a

recreation of the work of the mexican village. we have new details about the mural's message on abc 7 news bay area. the real estate boom has been a bust for some small businesses. now there's legislation designed to protect those that have been around for decades. carolyn tyler joins us live in chinatown where one institution will soon close its doors. carolyn? >> reporter: that's right, the empress of china restaurant has hosted luminaries for years, including karl malden. our own david louie's picture is on the wall but this place is closing down at the end of the year. another closed its doors today. it's the last day for the mexican salvadoran restaurant. it's been evicted after 23 years, one of more than 4,000 local businesses expected to close this year.

>> the turnover is accelerating in the last two decades and as a result, there is a loss of that neighborhood fabric that people often associate with where they live. >> reporter: his nonprofit helps supervisor david campos craft legislation to register so-called legacy businesses that have been around at least 30 years. the measure calls for a rebate on the transfer tax. if the new owner extends the lease for a legacy business or gives a rebate to the business to buy the building. it comes too late for this institution. the empress of china restaurant which opened in 1966. the building has been sold. the restaurant will close at the end of the year. lombardi sports, a family owned business for the past 66 years, is also shutting its doors. >> these businesses are closing at an alarming rate.

>> reporter: flak's, a family owned business since 1938, may be able to benefit from city incentives. >> we need any kind of advantage we can get such as this legislation might provide. it can only help. >> reporter: the art supply store is a san francisco icon. this photo shows the jefferson airplane playing in the parking lot back in the '60s. the 20,000 square foot space is being sold and converted into condos. but the store will stay open until 2016 and is determined to remain in san francisco. >> we are literally looking in all corners of san francisco. >> reporter: the measure will face hearings at city hall and supporters will have to explain to critics the use of public funds to help private businesses. in san francisco, carolyn tyler, abc 7 news. >> thank you for joining us for abc 7 news at 4:00. abc 7 news at 4:00. i'm ama

went inside. that's where maintenance workers will begin to try to figure out what went wrong. thanks for joining us. i'm cheryl jennings. >> i'm dan ashley. strange story, obviously. let's check in with abc 7 news reporter cornell bernard with the very latest. cornell? >> reporter: yeah, guys, very, very tense moments for passengers on board that plane. passengers noticed a short time into their flight that something definitely was wrong with the boeing 757 aircraft. american airlines tells us there was never a problem with the plane's pressurization system and oxygen masks never dropped. as you can see from sky 7 hd, a tug pulled that plane from the terminal to a hangar after it dropped passengers off at terminal two about an hour and a half ago. flight 2293 was carrying 184 passengers and a crew of six, two pilots and four flight attendants. take a look at some pictures taken inside the cabin. you can see here how part of the cabin wall came apart.

american blames the problem on air ducts inside the plane. passengers alerted flight attendants right away of what they saw and the captain decided to return to sfo over the sierra. san francisco firefighters stood along the runway as a precaution while the jet landed as they do whenever a plane has a potential problem. the good news here, no one was hurt. i talked to the duty manager here at san francisco international a short time ago. they say another plane is en route. passengers will have to wait until tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. to board that flight to dallas. live at sfo, cornell bernard, abc 7 news. >> just nervewracking. thanks very much. sick passengers aboard an overseas flight triggered worries about ebola in boston this afternoon. a medical team dressed in protective suits before boarding the emirates airlines jet at logan international airport. five passengers developed flu-like sym