live where you this, this is abc 7 news. >> in the coming weeks, i will be resigning as member of the united states senate. >> resigning under pressure on a day that he's calling the worst of his career. senator al franken making that announcement on capitol hill this morning, just a day after members from his own party joined forces adding to the calls for him to step down. thanks for joining us today, i'm reggie aqui. kristen sze will be with you later today. the controversy with senator franken stems from accusations of sexual misconduct. abc news reporter serena marshall is live on capitol hill with this morning's new developments.

>> reporter: the second lawmaker forced out. senator al franken from minnesota announcing he will resign. >> this decision is not about me. it's about the people of minnesota. it's become clear that i can't both pursue the ethics committee process, and at the same time, remain an effective senator for them. >> reporter: the decision comes amid growing calls from his own party. >> enough is enough. >> believe that it is probably in the best interest of a rotlof people that he resigns. >> reporter: democratic senators have spoken out. the deluge of calls started with prominent women in the senate, one after the other taking to social media. at least eight women have claimed inappropriate sexual conduct by the minnesota senator, the first radio news anchor leeann tweeden who released this photo and just yesterday two new accusers speaking out. one reportedly says franken t tried to forcibly kiss her and he told her, it's my right as an

entertainer. franken called that allegation categoringly not true and preposterous. franken has apologized for his behavior when the first accuser came forward. >> i am embarrassed. i feel ashamed. >> reporter: one unlikely ally, former speaker of the house, republican newt gingrich. tweeting, "minnesotans picked him for senate in 2014. 30 self-appointed peer senators won him out. what happened to popular vote?" but the help from across the aisle not enough. as democratic minority leader chuck schumer spent the past hours making a case to franken he should step aside. an overture he answered today. the democratic governor of minnesota would likely pick any possible franken replacement. on top of that short list is likely the democratic lieutenant governor tina flint smith. serena marshall, abc news, capitol hill. >> senator franken may be resigning his post but he's not going down without a fight.

this morning he used his platform on the senate floor to call out two other very high-profile politicians. >> i of all people and aware that there is some irony in the fact i am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the oval office and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the senate with the full support of his party. >> franken not naming names, but he didn't really have to. the president was repeatedly accused of sexual assault during his campaign. meanti meantime, roy moore who's running for office right now faces accusations that he pursued relationships with teenagers while he was in his 30s. so far, moore and president trump have not responded to franken's criticism today. meantime, franken promised to still be an activist once he steps down. we do have breaking news out of new mexico.

where three people are dead including the gunman following a shooting at a high school. and police say the two vibctims are students. pictures coming into the newsroom show the heavy police response. no word yet on what led up to the shooting. if investigators give us an update during this newscast, of course we'll bring it to you. developing news in san francisco. firefighters are trying to figure out what caused a carbon monoxide outbreak that killed one person and sickened others. live 7 over the scene in bernal heights before first responders were there at dawn. they may have a lead on what went wrong. matt keller live for us. matt? >> reporter: reggie, pg&e just wrapping up here at the scene. firefighters cleared this home. they say carbon monoxide levels are at zero. the people who live upstairs are back inside their home. this midday. but this is obviously a morning they will never forget. carbon monoxide is called the

silent killer, but it was a loud detector that may have saved several lives this morning. it was going off at this home in the bernal nights neighborhood in san francisco before 4:30 this morning. one of the four people living in the upstairs unit called 911. they were evacuated and treated by paramedics at the scene. they were okay. but downstairs where an elderly couple lives, firefighters heard a television but no one answered the door. >> so we forced entry into the building where we immediately located an elderly female unconscious near the front door. she was given advanced life support care and transported to st. francis hospital which has a specialized hyperbaric chamber which is essential to treating carbon monoxide exposure. >> reporter: the woman is currently in serious condition. her husband was found in the bedroom unconscious and without a pulse. firefighters brought him out of the home and tried to save his life but he died at the scene. >> pretty tragic to watch him die pretty much. >> reporter: sarah says the

couple has lived at this home for a long time. pg&e shut off the gas and firefighters ventilated the home. firefighters say the most likely cause of the carbon monoxide was the water heater. carbon monoxide detector was also going off inside the downstairs unit. firefighters aren't sure why the couple didn't call 911 or leave their home. >> it the fire department was telling us a lot of people don't have carbon monoxide monitors. if you guys don't have them, you should. you never know, right? >> reporter: two firefighters were treated at the scene for carbon monoxide exposure. they're going to be okay. in fact, they were able to walk away from the scene earlier this morning. firefighters are also recommending for people out there to call pg&ers and get a p free appliance check chup,up, a service you can get inside your home. we set that information unon abc7news.com. >> such a shame this had to happen. matt, thank you. take action right now to make sure your home is not at eight of carbon monoxide trouble.

install a carbon monoxide detector in the hallway near every bedroom of your home. never burn charcoal inside your home or garage. and never leave a car running in your garage. even if the door is open. also, don't use gas appliances like your stove to heat your home. for more safety tips, log on to our website, abc7news.com. we have posted a full list. developing news now about those wildfires burning out of control in southern california. concerns over strong winds running higher than ever today. authorities are watching to see if the santa ana winds take things from very bad to even worse. as we're learning relief might not be in sight until the weekend. abc news reporter marcie gonzalez has the story now in sylmar. >> reporter: hi there, yes, minor containment at a couple of the fires but north of here the biggest fire burning right now has grown yet again. the massive thomas fire in ventura county spreading out of control. more than 96,000 acres now

burned, the monstrous flames coming over hillsides, charring more homes near ojai. in all, this fire already destroying more than 150 buildings. >> i never seen a fire like that before. >> reporter: the flames fanned by intense santa ana winds, gusting in some places at hurricane force. >> it's dangerous out there. >> reporter: thousands of new mandatory evacuations ordered. >> blankets. my paperwork. all that stuff? there. >> reporter: residents taken out of this nursing home one by one as several other wildfires burn across southern california. >> wow, look at this. >> reporter: firefighters gaining some ground on this fire in los angeles, burning right 7: along one of the busiest free y freeways in the country, the 405. >> really frightening. there are a lot of homes here. >> reporter: and ravaging multimillion dollar homes. >> there hasn't been a fire here since i think '61. >> reporter: at the creek fire in los angeles county, this horse saved from a ranch where nearly 30 others died. >> when they pulled him out, was

stable was on fire. >> reporter: in other communities, residents returning finding utter destruction and small signs of hope. don myers digging his wife, julie's, wedding ring out of the rubble of their home dropping to one knee and proposing again. some residents are still waiting to be allowed back in to check on their homes and their vehicles. while others who have not been forced to evacuate are being told to be ready because that could change today depending on the winds. marcie gonzalez, abc news, sylmar, california. talk more about those winds right now. firefighters are saying today could be one of the worst days and part of that is because conditions are just so dry. mike has been talking about this for several days now. we're facing it here. they really don't need to be facing it there because they're trying to set up the fire breaks. that's making it more difficult. >> it's jumping them in most cases. look at the winds, reggie. hi, everybody. they're even faster than they were this morning, especially ventura. look at that, gusting to nearly 50 miles per hour right now. simi valley, 20. san fernando, 33.

that's why this entire area, 8.7, nearly 8.7 million people under critical fire conditions. that red flag warning for extreme fire danger from the border with mexico, all the way up to slow. this is going to last not only today, but tomorrow and also most of the day saturday, reggie, until 8:00. evacuations, there could be more coming. >> we'll continue watching it, mike, thank you. world news tonight anchor david muir is going to have coverage of the wildfires live from southern california. catch his reports today at 3:30 then again at 5:30 right after abc 7 news. today on abc 7 mornings, we watched live as fire burned underneath b.a.r.t. tracks. it was an unusual sight. so we thought. abc 7 news reporter amy hollyfield found out these kinds of fires are popping up more often in oakland. amy? >> reporter: yeah, right here in a homeless encampment, reggie, look behind me at the damage done to the belongings of some homeless people. this is right near the west

b.a.r.t. station. now take a look at the flames. this fire started around 7:00 this morning underneath the b.a.r.t. tracks here at market and 5th streets. the b.a.r.t. tracks and the trains are okay. they were not damaged in this fire. and firefighters say no one was here when they got here. so no one they know of us huwas. we noticed a trend in oakland. firefighters have noticed it, too. take a look. we have video from a number of fires at homeless e lesless enc. counted half a dozen this year, alone. firefighters say this is a relatively new problem for them, not something they've dealt with in the last ten years like they're dealing with it now. they say these tent cities are popping up everywhere and they are dangerous. one fire they say was started from someone cooking outside a tent, another was an arsonist they believe was to blame. others they haven't figured out the cause and that's the case in this morning's fire. back here live, take a look at this tent city.

the extent of it. look at all of this debris that is piled up here on this street. this is just one tent city. all of this, you know, possible kindling for a fire. so firefighters say they are now talking more and more about how to prevent these and how to react to them. as this becomes a common occurrence. reporting live in oakland, amy hollyfield, abc 7 news. >> no one should be living in or around conditions like that. amy, thank you. we all know the bay area commute can be a real drag. there could be an answer. talk s of a new bay area bridge in the works. the plan that could have commuters digging deeper into their pockets. also planned school budget cuts are he's keend of famous. >> why? because of that fabulous head of hair. >> next "right this minute."

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happening now, day three of that strike in oakland. 3,000 city workers continue to take a stand as their union lobbies the city for a new deal. the oakland city council planning to meet behind closed doors once again today to try and agree on terms. all nonemergency city services remain closed. tonight oakland school board is inviting the public to join them to discuss plans for a $5.5 million budget cut. outraged parents and teachers packed a special school board meeting last week to fight cuts. the board says the money would come from a central office. the plan would also eliminate funding for school supplies. a meeting to discuss the cuts will take place at 7:00 tonight at the committee room at la

esquelita elementary school on 2 bd avenue in oakland. if you're tired in sitting in traffic on the bay bridge every day, listen up, there's a plan to solve that congestion. it involves building a very expensive new bridge. w0u here's, of course, the live picture of the current bridge on our emeryville camera. senator dianne feinstein is backing the new bridge. proposal comes as the bay area will soon be voting on regional measure 3, which is a proposed toll increase. b.a.r.t. service is expanding, but it's going to cost you. how much riders might have to pay to get across the bay. plus, bonuses during bankruptcy? what? toys "r" us still prepared to hand out giant bay days to some top executives. the one thing th must do so they get that payday. and good morning, i want to open up the weather window again from emeryville and show you a couple of things that are going

to affect us now. see some haze developing there. the winds are shifting and the smoke from the southern california fires are going to come to our neighborhoods. along with some warmth that could push to near record levels again today. i'll tell you how long those record levels are going to hang around and when the spare the

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now your accuweather forecast with mike nicco. >> good morning again, i wanted to talk more, right off the bat, haze we're starting to see in the south bay as some of the smoke is starting to leak up into the bay areas. the winds are shifting this morning. look at the top of your screen, 280 at 17, see the haze that's going to become more predominant

as he head throughout the next several day, possibly five or six days. here's a look at temperatures right now, already 70, look at that downsloping wind over there on the coast. half moon bay. all that sunshine. 54 right now at gilroy to 358 in san jose. 58 in oakland, cool spot. livermore, concord, 61 along with vallejo. cooler in santa rosa, 52 degrees now. here's a look from the east bay hills, gives you an idea how hazy it's getting outside. high clouds mix in with the haze and record highs possible today. mainly clear tonight except for the haze tonight and seasonably cool. nothing but warm sunshine throughout the weekend except for of course the haze. the high pressure moved to the north. with the clockwise flow, we're getting on the bottom end of that, some is starting to come up our way. see high clouds there, too. starting tomorrow, we have a string of possibly four, five days of spare the air alerts for the fine particulate matter in

the area. even though the north bay may have the worst air quality, most will be under a wood burning ban, probably will start tomorrow. today, we have 70s already half moon bay, exceeded my 68 there. 70 san jose, morgan hill and santa cruz. also up in ukiah. an asterisk around santa rosa, also in concord, and hayward at 67. could be some record-tieing high temperatures. as we look from mt. break down your 12 hour accuweather planner. 59 around the bay. 64 to 68. nice temperatures at noon for our bay -- i should say our inland and coastal neighb neighborhoods. by 4:00 it gets hazy, 60 to 6 2 degrees. 9:00, 47 to 51. midnight, 45 how 49 degrees. 49, san francisco, the warm spot. low to mid 50s around most of the bay. mid to upper 30s in enland neighborhoods. let's take a look at the rainfall outlook for the next 14

days and if the haze does get up here and sticks around as we expect, there's no rain for the next 14 days to clean it out. we're just going to hope there's a wind shift that will take care of that. here's my accuweather seven-day forecast. 60 to 64 at the coast. 66 to 68 around the bay. 68 to 70 land. that means more potential record high temperatures and bone dry air. >> we just don't want another season where it's so dry after having one good season. >> yeah, we had five. >> yeah. >> that were bad. then we had one good, made up for it, now are we swinging the pendulum the other way? i hope not. it definitely not starting well. >> okay. cross my fingers that there's a change. today's morning money report, today b.a.r.t.'s board is expected to set the prices for the new e-b.a.r.t. service. that train will serve riders at stations in antioch and pittsburg. the one-way price is $7.50. from pittsburg, $6.85. it's going to be up to the board

to decide how much a trip will cost and how much to charge for parking at the stations. bankruptcy not keeping toys "r" us from shelling out big-time bonuses. a judge approved a plan for the retailer to pay out $16 million in bonus checks to their top executives. now that is if the company can hit financial targets for the holiday season. toys "r" us is keeping all of its stores open for now despite filing for bankruptcy in september. the

tonight on abc 7, steph curry's better half coming into your living room and kitchen with comfort food in time for the holidays. ayesha curry launches her new project "the great american baking show," she's admitting comfort food is something she knows a thing or two about nursing that ankle injury. >> definitely loves chicken parm, on the menu when i get back home and he gets backkkkk from the road trip. >> ayesha is in new york city promoting her show hosting skills along with spice adams. it turned into a musical affair. the internet was abuzz after ayesha debuted her culinary

rapping skills earlier this year. spice adams dropped a beat and my abc 7 anchor joined in ♪ a bowl of berries and cake ♪ we making fondue ♪ that's right ♪ i got food groups i got to act like i like ♪ ♪ forget the truffle butter ♪ garlic butter is nice >> i've watched that five times. i'll probably watch it again. watch ayesha and spice adam. s on the debut of "the great american baking show," airs at 9:00 followed by abc 7 news at. 11:00. >> i'll be recording that. >> have i told ayesha again i want to hang out with her a

>> hey, everybody. i hope you're ready for some drama. because with $1 million on the line, things around here can get real exciting real fast. this is "who wants to be a millionaire." [cheers and applause] [dramatic music] ♪ hey, everybody! welcome to the show. are you ready to go today? [cheers and applause] i hope so, because this guy is. from chicago, illinois, please welcome back greg peterson! [cheers and applause] what do greg and i have to do to put you in a new car today? glad you got the gray suit memo. [laughter] we look good. >> it's working for me. >> and your bank account looks really good right now. $50,000! [cheers and applause] in our last game, you reached that $50,000