demonstrations to counter a right wing rally is about to begin. people and police are gathering at civic center plaza in san francisco to begin a weekend of political protests. i'm kristein sze. thanks for joining us. the unite against hate rally is set to begin at noon. that's the one san francisco leaders are urging people to attend to make a statement against the patriot prayer rally at crissy field tomorrow. abc 7 news reporter matt keller is live at civic center plaza. matt, how is it going so far? >> reporter: kristen, we just got word from the mayor's office that mayor ed lee is at the

office of emergency management going over plans for this weekend's rallies and protests. after that he'll come here at noon to be here at the steps at city hall for the unite against hate rally. he's going to be here with community leaders and others for this rally being touted as a way to peacefully celebrate san francisco's values of compassion, love and inclusiveness. a lot going on this morning. it was a normal morning though at crissy field. although some signs of tomorrow's freedom rally hosted by patriot prayer and counter protests were popping up including barricades together at parking lot entrances and saw crews putting up a giant chain link fans and some streets in the harrah will be closed starting tonight at 9:00. more rallies and protests are being held here at civic center tomorrow. just be aware there's no street parking around the plaza or in the garage. san francisco police may decide to close streets if they deem it necessary. basically the message for you, if you don't need or want to be here, don't be here.

reporting live in san francisco. matt keller, abc 7 news. >> matt, thank you. once the rally at civic center plaza wraps up, two more events are scheduled in san francisco tonight. organizers are calling the two vigils a stand against hate. the first one starts at 5:30 at congregation emanu-el on lake street and another vigil starts at 6:30 at the chinese culture center on kearney street. counterprotest events will start at noon at civic center and at harvey milk plaza and similar demonstrations are set to begin at crissy field at 1:00 p.m. and then also at crissy field, the patriot rally, prayer rally is planned from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. public transportation including major bus lines will be impacted big time tomorrow. sfmta is stopping service through the presidio and other parts of town because of the crissy field rally and the agency is switching out all historic street cars and cable cars with rug buses to cover those routes. they say the older cars are harder to maneuver in an

emergency. some tourists say not having access to the trolleys tomorrow is disappointing. >> lock at the mom here sitting waiting and the imposition it's going to put on them for saturday. all the plans, their chick the money that they have spent already to be here. it's just not fair. >> be prepared for the possibility of road closures, too. san francisco police could block off streets if they feel there's a safety issue. b.a.r.t. service though will not be impacted. to reiterate what mate mentioned, heads up if you're planning on visiting the golden gate bridge this weekend. starting tonight at 5:00 south parking lots will be off limits. they will remain closed until 8:00 p.m. tomorrow night. parking restrictions will also be placed on the north end of the bridge tomorrow and sunday. access will be limited to tour buses. in the civic center area, parking will not be allowed on all streets around the plaza. the underground garage will be closed. sfpd officers will be on site to direct traffic. the other big rally this weekend happens sunday in berkeley. the permit for the so-called

anti-marxist event at civic center plaza was denied, but people say they will still show up anyway. the city cited lack of security arrangements. the police chief is asking the public to stay away from the civic center area on sunday. extra officers will be on duty around the event and will try to separate protesters from counterprotesters if the rally turns violent. >> just recognize separation is very important when two groups come to fight. it's something that we've worked on in the previous demonstrations and will continue to work on. >> we have to take a stand against this. we have to, you know, show, perkily is not about hate but is about tolerance but not allowing hate speech. pthat read berkeley stands unitd against hate hoping they spark peace, not violence. that rally against marxism at civic center park is scheduled from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. sunday. counterprotests are set to begin at 8:30 a.m. as crescent lawn and at 11 a.m. at ohlone ohlonee

download the abc 7 news app to get breaking updates. enable push alerts to get the latest news as it happens. new this morning, the alameda county sheriff's office is investigating after an inmate reportedly killed a fellow inmate minutes before he was scheduled to walk free. it happened at the santa rita jail in dublin. the sheriff's office is just making the news public even though the killing happened on july 6th. it 2-year-old james hunter is accused of killing 27-year-old antonio rodriguez in his cell. hunter was set to be released that day after serving time since august 2015 on charges of attempted murder. millions of people along the texas coast are bracing for hurricane harvey to make landfall. mandatory evacuations are now under way in seven counties in the lone star state. president trump tweeted this morning i've spoken with governor abbott of texas and louisiana governor edwards.

closely monitoring hurricane harvey developments and here to assist as needed. abc's elizabeth hur has more on the preparations happening now. >> reporter: with-hour kay harvey slowly gaining strength and kicking up winds and already dumping heavy rain overnight, millions in the storm's path are bracing for the worst. >> this is the line to get gas. absolute insanity over this hurricane. >> reporter: lines for gas hours long. > there's no more water. there's no more bread. the sbraed already runni the bread is already running out. >> reporter: residents stocking up and local home depots are without many supplies as well. >> i'm afraid people of may not be taking this storm seriously. they may not be heeding the

warning, and, again, that window to evacuate is coming to a close. >> reporter: voluntary and mandatory evacuations are in effect. a state of emergency declared for parts of texas and louisiana with those images from nasa showing the massiv size of the hurricane. forecasters say it is possible even after harvey makes landfall that it could stay inland for up to three days, dumping up to three feet of rain in some area causing devastating gloods and storm surges up to 12 feet. and here's another concern. the entire country could be affected by this hurricane, and that is because one-third of the country's oil refineries are directly in the path of of this storm and some will be shut down until harvey passes, and that could mean higher gas prices for all drivers. elizabeth hur, abc news, new york. >> meteorologist mike nicco is tracking hurricane harvey as it is barrels towards the coast. mike is here with another look.

>> hi, kristen. we'll show you what's going on with satellite and radar to give you an idea of how gynormous this storm is. nearly 415 miles across as it goes from the rio grande irveil all the way up to almost baton rouge, louisiana. rainfall estimates already, about 8.5 around the center to 4.5 in bay city which is well far away from the center there in the upper center part of your television screen to nearing an inch in core puts kristi, and those are going to rapidly increase. right now the storm surge is about 2 feet. it's going to get up to about 12 feet, and it's expected to stay elevated for days. fresh water flooding because of the possibility of up to 35, nearly 3 feet of rain and tornadoes are going to be possible also. there are going to be towns that are going to be you be inhabitable for days to even weeks. the storm should crash sometime during our evening, say around 7:00 to 9:00 with major, major hurricane force winds of around

115 to 120 miles per hour. it's going to be awful, kristen. >> mike, thank you. we'll keep watching that. happening today, the first official regular run of the long-awaited smart train is about to begin in the north bay. at celebration this morning kicked off the era of the new commuter service. abc 7 news reporter amy holly field is live in santa rosa where, amy, people are very excited. >> reporter: yes, they are, kristen. they are checking out the train behind me and getting a chance to actually get to see it, the ceremony just wrapping up. there's a lot of enthusiasm for this train. they had 500 t-shirt, flow t-shirts and 200 flow bags to hand out. those were all gone by 9:30. a lot of people showed up to celebrate. you know that's a party when a mariarchi band shows up. what might surprise you this is all for or train i can't believe it and see the free food in orange juice and coffee and people in lines, it's pretty

exciting. drawing a crowd. but this had has said they have badly needed this train for years. >> you can see it's a problem on the freeway in the morning just trying to get south. >> reporter: commuters wanted to use the tehran this morning. a couple of commuters shoipd hoping to ride the new smart train, are including a man who wants to get from his home in santa rosa to his job at marin general. >> trains are going to be running august 25th, and the schedule says, you know, 5:30. got to go. >> reporter: service does start today, but after the party. >> the schedule shows that the trains leave hat 4:19, but for the purposes of our grand opening we wanted to have a big celebration and a community party. the smart train will run from santa the rosa to safe rall yale. you know it's a big idea when officials in the cities north of here come to the party. >> we do need this, absolutely. it's the door dore that we need

north and south. we need this. this is a nice option. >> she says the if they find the money the train is expected to get there by to 20. now, this train will start running today officially for its 12:49 departure out of the airport at santa rosa. ride today will be for free and then half price next week. reporting live in santa rosa. amy hollyfield, aches 7 news. >> amy, thank you. if you plan often riding the estrain go to our wednesday seven news app. seven things to know before catching a ride. >> still to come this midday. controversy in levi and honoring an east bay sports great. tribute happening this weekend

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i think about my own kids. they're the reason that i want to protect our community and our environment, and if me driving a that truck means that somebody gets to go home safer, then i'll drive it every day of the week. together, we're building a better california. in the south bay a car was left mangled after a violent crash in san jose this morning. take a look. the dodge plowed no some trees on north bascomb and mcdaniel avenue around 2:30 this morning. incredibly, the driver walked away from this. officials say when they got there, they actually found the driver signature on the curb talking with people.

>> he was transported to the hospital for minor injuries just to be checked. and it's miraculous and i don't use that word lightly. that's miraculous that he walked away from this accident. >> police are talking with the driver to determine the cause of the crash and whether choul was a factor. levi stadium will not play host to late-negotiate concerts after santa clara city leaders refused to lift a week night curfew. the niners who hoping for exceptions, four of them in particular you can to the 10:00 p.m. curfew a year including a coldplay concert in october but our media partner "the mercury news" say the city denied the request. extending the curfew would be unfair to residents bought of the noise and traffic. >> got plans for the weekend. details on a foodie frontsy.

we'll tell you when and where to raise as glass. checking out diablo there, you can see it's clearing up. we have a warmer weekend a

let's jump into the big story other at home, and that's how hot it's going to get this weekend. excessive heat warning issued earlier this morning. highs 95 to 100 and lows in it the 60s and 70s in the south bay, north bay and inland east bay valley. all the areas that you see shaded in orange. that's where heat illness is most likely. from sunday at 9:00 a.m. to

11:00 p.m. monday. most of us are seeing sunshine and warmth. partly cloudy and comfortable tonight. in the extended period, all of us will have above average heat every single day. right now we're nearing 880 in san ramon and 72 in san jose. nato about 66 degrees. let's see what's going to happen, doesn't that look great, heading down to santa cruz on a friday afternoon with sunshine. temperature down there will be about 74 had. our 12-hour day planner, 60s and 70s, and then you get to the 4:00. you can see the separation develop. 60s at the coast and up every 70s around the bay and 80s inland. a very comfortable evening. 50s, 60s and 70s at 8:00 and 50s and 60s if you're out at midnight. let take a look at what's going on tonight. it's italian heritage night. i don't think i would look good in that, but i still think it's pretty cool looking. joey wants me to talk like a normal italian and use my hands and i'm not going through that

stereotype. forget about it. 7:05 at 64 degrees and down to about 60 at 10:00. have fun. let's talk about the forecast for today. 66 at half moon bay and near 70 in san francisco and sausalito. mid-770s to 80s around the way. low to mid-80s in the north bay and low 90s, so warming begins. here we go tomorrow. things jump tremendously. 4:00 to 10:00 warmer and the heat builds and peaks most likely monday with mid-90s in the north pay and south bay and hundreds in the east bay. low to mid-80s around the bay and even san francisco in the mid-to upper 70s. good news at night. we'll fall back into the 50s to low 60s. a quick look at what's going on at tahoe. 821 tomorrow and 838 tomorrow and about 85 for sunday with no chance of rain. temperatures warmer than average there. look at the stretch of warm weather. 90s and 100s every single day in my accuweather seven-day forecast for the inland neighborhoods.

80s around the bay, and even some 70s trying to work towards the coast saturday. if you're looking for one of the sunny days, that could be it. >> that's fantastic. i'm going to talk with my hands for you. how is that, mike? >> just don't hit me in the head. >> that's great. >> all right. this weekend is tailor made for food and art lovers. reggie aqui from abc 7 mornings has some idea for fun from our partners at who hadline. >> so many restaurants and so little time and so hard to get a reservation. our partnes at hoodline are showing us the perfect solution. it's all the food and drink. well, all the things under one roof. it's called evening drink sf, basically your foodie fantasy. 30 restaurants at each tasting and dozens of bars, wineries and breweries show up at ft. mason and you're left to graze on all of it. this happens friday, saturday and sunday. get your tickets in advance because it does sell out. the next event hassed to in the

title, but it's more of an art show which funny enough isn't in the title. it's called pancakes and booze. so it's a carvy, drinky, artie kind of thing where you can look at and buy art and watch people become art through body painting. it's going to be a beautiful weekend so go outside maybe to treasure island. they do a big flea market the last weekend of every month with food trucks and bars, and it's pet friendly. in fact, they are doing a whole dog theme this weekend slow bring your pooch. this is the last weekend in august so make it count. for the details on everything i just mention had had go to abc7news.com and we'll link you up with hoodline. reggie aqui, abc 7 news. former oakland a's pitcher and hall of famer dennis eckersley is getting a special honor today. the a's will name the d gate at the coliseum after him. the six-time all-star closed out the 1989 world series for the a's. the celebration for eckersley will stretch into tomorrow night as well.

that's when he'll throw ow the ceremonial first pitch and the first 15,000 fans will get a bobblehead. it's finally friday. you know what that means. it's time to meet our perfect pet. mike will be back to introduce us to

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francisco boxer passing on lessons in the ring to help keep kids off the street. meet this abc 7 star. now it's time for another star, our favorite segment of the week, mike. or is it the pet? >> i think it's the pet, absolutely. our perfect pet today is an adorable cat coming to us from the east bay spca. let's introduce you to lillian rose, a domestic short hair cat, approximately 2 years old. volunteers at the shelter say lillian rose can be a little bit shy at first but once she warms up to you she's a spunky playful girl. looking for a forever home for too long, since april. visit lillian rose at the spca adoption center in oakland to set up a visit or make her part of your family. call the number on your screen, 510-5669-0702. it's a shame, sometimes the shy ones, don't warm up to people fast enough. she sounds like a great cat.

>> an introvert's dilemma and beautiful. >> absolutely gorgeous. >> all right. call now. i file like we'ring to a game show. call now. from all of us at abc 7 news, thanks for joining us. "who wants to be a millionaire" is next. we leave you with this gorgeous shot of the santa cruz beach. bye-bye.

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>> hey, everybody, on today's show, we've got some great contestants, great questions, and a great deal of money on the line. and it's all starting right now. this is "who wants to be a millionaire." [dramatic music] ♪ hey, everybody, welcome to the show. are you guys ready to play "millionaire" today? [cheers and applause] wow, fired up. let's do it. our first contestant left a ten-year career working in news to become a driver. luckily, he still remembers all the facts and stories he covered. from decatur, georgia, please welcome joe mattern. joe, what's up, buddy? good to see you. they are fired up in the "millionaire" arena today. >> i am too. >> i don't know what they're serving, but it's good. it's all about you winning a million dollar