and you smell gas, your first step is to get out, travel to a safe distance until you can't smell the gas anymore, and then call 911. the first responders will come out, and they'll make it safe for you and your community. ♪ san francisco mayor ed lee dying early this morning at zuckerberg general hospital at 65 years old. >> we are joined by abc 7 news anchor carolyn tyler who has been covering city hall for a number of years. carolyn, we will talk to you in just a moment. let's first see this video of mayor lee who was at an event just yesterday. he looks well, smiling, shaking hands, he spoke for a time and there was obviously no indication of what would happen later. this is the statement that came

from city hall very early this morning, it says, it is with profound sadness and terrible grief that we confirm mayor ed lee passed away on tuesday, december 12th at 1:11 at zuckerberg san francisco general hospital. family, friends and colleagues were at his side. our thoughts and prayers are with his wife anita, his two daughters, brianna and tania and his family. according to the city charter board of supervisors president london breed is now acting mayor of san francisco and that is effective immediately. she was at the hospital overnight and we know that she is going to be at city hall later this morning and going to be holding a news conference there. she finds herself in an incredible position of having to now transition after a shocking and sudden death of our mayor, only 65 years old. >> very, very stunning and our hearts go out this morning, definitely, to mayor ed lee's wife, anita. he talked about her all the time. she was the love of his life.

his daughters. very is it under this morning to get the call about mayor ed lee. just yesterday he was out and about doing what he does as mayor, fulfilling his duties, and then to hear about this news this morning -- >> and you talked to mayor willie brown. >> yes. >> -- early this morning. what was he able to share with you about what exactly happened? >> he did not want to really go into a lot of details. he was deferring to now acting mayor london breed, president of the board of supervisors. he just said that ed lee had been out grocery shopping at his neighborhood safeway in dimon heights and it was around 10:30 last night when he suddenly collapsed. he had a massive heart attack. he said that the first responders did everything they could, but they were unable to save him. >> and then of course pronounced dead at zuckerberg earlier this morning. >> yes. >> according to amy hollyfield when he arrived at the hospital he was still speaking at the time, was still verbalizing, surrounded by family and

friends. i know you've followed this -- you've followed city hall, followed the mayor for a long time. 5'5", very mild mannered. >> yes. >> what are you remembering about him this morning? >> well, he was sort of an improbable mayor, i guess you would say. he made his mark as a bureaucrat, really, in city government. he was with the department of public works, he headed that department for many years, then he became a city administrator, which is really the second in command, that's the person who handles the day-to-day operations of san francisco city hall, which is a huge bureaucracy, like a small city into itself, and then being tapped to be really a caretaker mayor is what he was supposed to be when he took over as interim mayor when gavin newsom became lieutenant governor. he was just going to fill out that one remaining part of the

term. >> right. >> all of a sudden he found himself running for mayor. i don't think it was something that he really wanted to do. he was quite reluctant about it. ed lee is not a flashy kind of guy. he did not -- >> he is the opposite of his predecessor in a lot of ways, right? >> absolutely. >> gavin newsom and ed lee, not the same style at all. >> gavin newsom with a lot of charisma and really loving the limelight. ed lee not like that at all. very self-effacing, very unassuming. really the bureaucrat that he was used to being did not have the sort of political wizardry like a willie brown, either. so he was sort of the man in the middle, but that's why he had been tapped to fill that interim spot. >> it's easy to forget that mayor ed lee is not from here.

he made the bay area his community and san francisco his home to such a large extent, embraced by the community in chinatown, embraced by rose pack who helped convince him to run when he was so reluctant and he broke his promise to the board of supervisors that he would not run as a result of convincing from her and others. born in seattle. the son of immigrants, four out of six children. >> yeah, he was raised in the housing projects in seattle and when he first came to san francisco he was a housing rights activist and he led the fight to make housing better for residents in chinatown and so when he became the first asian mayor of san francisco it was a huge, huge big deal in this city which is at least one-third asian-american. >> absolutely. >> is that going to be, do you think, his legacy is housing? it obviously has become such a hot button topic in san francisco and that was a lot of his push was in housing and in

homelessness. >> housing and minimum wage, right? >> well, homelessness is one of those intractable issues that no mayor has been able to solve. what ed lee has said he considered his legacy project was the warriors arena when the warriors decided to move to san francisco and they were first going to rye to build there on the waterfront he said, this is my legacy project, and now of course they are moving a little further off the waterfront, scheduled to open 2019/2020, and that is still a major big deal for had i'm. >> especially the way that was financed. >> yes. >> right? >> privately. >> to have a private financed stadium is a rarity in these times. can i switch topics and talk about london breed. >> yes. >> here we have a woman who is finding herself with this enormous responsibility on her shoulders and she's been in san francisco her whole life. >> born and raised by her

grandmother. also a product of public housing. she is someone who is ready for the job. she was planning to run for mayor anyway when the mayor's term expires and now finds herself in this position, not a position that she would want by any stretch of the imagination, but i believe she will be ready to step in and fill those shoes. >> she has quite a distinctive style from ed lee as well. >> very outspoken, very brash. yes, she's quite a fire brand. she has really grown into her job as president of the board of supervisors. she has been tapped on many occasions when ed lee has been out of town to come in and serve as acting mayor. so she's used to that sort of responsibility. she would now become the first african-american woman to head

up the city and she would be right there along with city administrator naomi kelly who is also african-american, so that would be a first for san francisco as well. >> do you think that -- we talked about how mayor ed lee was kind of the unlikely mayor. >> uh-huh. >> did he have political ambitions beyond this office? he was halfway through his second term. was this going to be it for him? >> i think so. >> you do? >> yes. >> carolyn tyler, we appreciate your insight. this has been helpful as we talk about mayor ed lee and what's next for the city as we have a supervisor that some people are familiar with, but we're going to learn a lot about her in the next few days and this gives us a good way to start. thank you. >> and, again, our condolences to mayor ed lee's family. such a tragedy. >> absolutely. way too early. >> the predominant emotion is shock this morning and we have team coverage, jessica castro continuing that live at city hall. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the whole crew there in the

studio. i was just listening to carolyn talk about how this was is up a sudden passing here of mayor ed lee and there's proof of that here this morning at city hall where things are running as they would as any other particular week. you see a worker here cleaning the streets right in front of city hall, something that they do regularly, and the evidence of that shock that people are not out here quite yet. this is still very early, city hall only opens at 8:00 this morning and right now things are quiet. the flags are not lowered yet as we expect them to do later today in respect of mayor ed lee's passing. this happened in the middle of the night as we've been mentioning around 1:00 this morning and, therefore, people are simply waking up now and learning of the passing of mayor ed lee who was mayor here in san francisco since 2011, leaving behind a long legacy as carolyn just talked about, so many different positions here and of

course there's going to be a big transition here inside the halls of city hall as the board supervisor, london breed, takes over as the new mayor, but still no evidence here of that this morning. again, no people out here quite yet and we will stand by and see if that starts to change as the morning and the sunrises. reporting live from city hall, i'm jessica castro, abc 7 news. >> thank you. it's going to be a tough day there, no question. we will stay on top of this breaking news on our abc 7 news app. you can download it right now, enable push alerts. as soon as we have information we will pass it along to you. sad way to start the day. good morning, everybody. patchy dense fog across the north bay and temperatures running from 26 to 34 so there is the possibility of black ice through 9:00. if i hear of anything i will let you know, especially through social media.

please let me know the same way. the visibility has been going between 9 miles in santa rosa to a had a of a mile. the fog is moving around and there is not a lot of it. if it does touch a bridge or overpass it could congeal into black ice. here is a look from mt. tam this morning. air quality forecast on the left, those are your zones, on the right is what we're dealing with right now and that is good to moderate, however, we are under the burn ban all the way up until we get to midnight because of the spare the air alert. the north bay, the coast and the central bay are the areas that could have the boar pair quality. temperatures, we're 37 in union city, fremont 36, 41 hayward and castro valley to 45 in berkeley, alameda 47, right now in san francisco it's about 50, 41 in san jose, 30 right now in santa rosa. here is a look at san rafael on the bay today an offshore

breeze, chilly to mild if you're exercising on our beaches it will be some of our warmer temperatures once again. a quick look at my 12-hour day planner, temperatures already in the low to mid 60s by noon, still there at 4:00, but low to mid 50s by 7:00. let's see if sue has any good news on that sig alert. >> i do, actually. the good news is that it's finally been cleared out of lanes. we are talking about northbound 680 in concord near 242. chp just now clearing out of lanes. it was an suv flipped on its side, glass in the roadway. the fire department has cleared it out of lanes, everything has moved to the right shoulder. that is much better news and traffic as we zoom in with our 3-d look the volume is pretty much mimicking exactly what is on the roadway, so both northbound and southbound 680 moving nicely from concord, pleasant hill into concord. fog advisory on the antioch bridge. an accident with the big rig in the middle of lanes, this is westbound 580, this is about to gum up your commute out of the central valley just after for actual la.

we will have an update on this when we come back. our coverage of mayor ed lee's unexpected death continues. he passed away at san francisco general hospital at 1:11 this morning. >> carolyn tyler talked with former mayor willie brown who says mayor lee suffered a cardiac arrest. we will be talking with carolyn throughout the morning who has

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breaking news this morning, san francisco mayor ed lee has died at the age of 65. >> what a shock. the mayor's office making the announcement early this morning that lee passed away just after 1:00 a.m. at zuckerberg san francisco general hospital. willie brown told abc 7 news lee suffered cardiac arrest while

grocery shopping at his neighborhood safeway last night. he leaves behind his wife and two daughters. >> a lot of people wondering what happens next at city hall. immediately board of supervisors president london breed has become acting mayor. here is what we know about her, she is a native san franciscan. she is a graduate of galileo high school. she was the executive director of the african-american art and culture complex. >> she was elected to the board of supervisors in 2012, representing district 5 which includes the fill more, western edition, hays valley, japan town, north of panhandle, coal valley and inner sunset neighborhoo neighborhoods. she was elected president of the board in 2015 and carolyn tyler telling us she had ambitions to become mayor eventually and was perhaps planning a run for later down the line. >> which is something she will have to continue to think about as this is just going to be an interim term. congressman eric swalwell

offering and condolences, rest in peace, mayor, wishing ed's family piece while they grieve. he was a devoted servant san francisco needed. >> katie tanb tweeting holding on to the happy memories, mr. mayor. mayor lee seemed in good health while on the job. yesterday he tweeted, today we introduce legislation to recoup cost landlords who house people in unsafe dwellings, with he need to continue to build safe housing at all income levels. as a child growing up in public housing, certainly potentially one of the legacies that he will leave behind in this city. >> the same goes for his successor. bringing in mike nicco to talk about what we face weatherwise today. >> such a sad morning. >> it is. >> yeah, he was so upbeat, he was so positive and so loved this city. >> oh, yeah. >> it was so infectious. >> you could tell. you could definitely tell that his heart was here. he wasn't born here but he spent

a long time here, went to berkeley for law school. this was his place even if as carolyn said he didn't necessarily intend to become mayor all those years, here he was and he was an ambassador for the city. >> i remember when he flip-flopped and i was like what about this ed lee guy, then you saw how he treated the city and his engagement and his willingness, it was just amazing. such a sad morning. we will switch gears and talk about the weather. hi, everybody. what we're going to start off with is 280 and 17, open the weather window in san jose. what you're seeing is clear conditions. it is going to be brighter today, not as many high clouds, still a touch of haze out there, a spare the air alert day. that means the wood burning it's illegal to do it until midnight. clear tonight, chilly just like this morning and one model got two medium range models, three times we use and one of them is a 30% chance, it's hinting at it next week. right now on doppler 7 it is clear and bone dry out there.

the air is so dry it's hard for frost to form in some of those neighborhoods that are dipping below 32. there definitely is some, i found some on my car early in morning. 70 in san jose, ukiah 71, look at santa cruz, 76. that's down from yesterday where you hit 78 degrees. we've got 69 today and morgan hill, half-moon bay 68, 66 in san francisco, 65 in oakland, 65 also in concord and about 68 in santa rosa. tule fog possible tonight. there will be patchy fog room around santa rosa this morning. we will be close to freezing in the san ramone valley tomorrow. palo alto at 37 and about 40 to 45 for the rest of the bay until you get to richmond at 38. upper who is along the coast and san francisco. wednesday morning and afternoon, there you go, there is your one chance of wet weather. it's a storm coming from alaska.

when they come from alaska they usually don't have much rain and more of the moisture is going to fall in the sierra if it happens which is great news for the snow pack as i will show you coming up it's pretty dismal. 60s and sunshine through monday. how about an update on the sig alert. >> let's go back to concord, northbound 680 first chp said it was all cleared, now they're saying not quite yet. we will put this back on the map with sig alert northbound 680 before 242, it's an suv on its side. was in middle lanes, glass all over the roadway, got the fire department on scene, swept up the glass pretty rapidly but apparently the suv is still out there. tow truck trying to get it out of lanes. i'm not seeing any slow traffic. let's zoom in with our 3-d shot. looks like because it's early enough traffic is getting by northbound and southbound 680 through concord into pleasant hill and walnut creek. a couple other issues, we will quickly talk about fog at the antioch bridge, heads up there.

and an accident with a big rig, this one cleared off to the right shoulder, westbound 580 after portola but still slow off the altamonte. >> we are tracking the shocking breaking news this morning, the passing of our mayor ed lee.

good morning to you. we're covering this breaking news. san francisco mayor lee has died. >> he was only 65 years old. he died early this morning just

after 1:00 at the san francisco general hospital. carolyn tyler is also here this morning to talk about her years covering him and also covering city hall. we will be speaking with her in just a second. she spoke to willie brown overnight as this was all unfolding. amy hollyfield is live downtown speaking to the former mayor right now. fwoor good morning, amy. >> reporter: good morning. yes, former mayor willie brown with me right now. ed lee worked in your administration, you've known him for years, we're just looking for your thoughts and your reaction this morning. >> ed lee lived a really great life. if one has to pass on, it's better to do it when there is no real suffering. the lord bless id him in that way, but it's harm for the city because ed lee was different from any of the rest of us holding public office. he literally had nothing except great respect from everybody and it was not respect earned by

politician, it was a respect earned by public servant. >> and you said you were so shocked, you just saw him you were telling me. >> he just introduced me at an event, it was an event where london breed president of the board introduced him, he introduced me and i introduced malia cane. as usual we were all in hijinks and ed lee was leading the hijinks because his comments and his humor was never as biting as most of us because he really didn't have a negative thing to say about anybody. >> vibrant and healthy until the end. can you walk us through what happens next at city hall, what kind of reaction you are expecting, what happens for the city going forward and how we mourn and remember him? >> well, the city has precedent in that dianne feinstein became the mayor of the city at the

assassination of george moscone who was then the mayor of the city. london breed will become the acting mayor of the city and it's all by our charter. ultimately the interim appointment may come from a fellow supervisors, but until then she is the acting mayor. so the city is really organized in such a way that it doesn't miss a beat or a step no matter what occurs with reference to any individual. there will be obviously a service. he is the head of our city and i'm sure that acting mayor breed is going to have him lie in state at city hall. people will have the opportunity to come sign a book of their own remembrance of him and there ultimately will be an appropriate service planned and executed by his family. > reporter: thank you so much. we appreciate your time. i know you have a busy day ahead of you. so good to see you. always enjoy seeing you.

reggie and natasha, going to throw it back to you. great to hear that the city will really be rallying around the mayor's widow anita and his daughters. they will be feeling a lot of love as people remember and respect mayor ed lee. as i was talking to mayor brown this morning he was talking about the legacy that he leaves behind for his family to be proud of. this city will truly be rallying around them. reggie and natasha, back to you. >> thank you, amy. by all accounts a family man, has been married to anita since the '8 09s, th >> must be so odd for mayor brown to be speaking of a passing of a man succeeding him. >> the two were friends. they had a different kind of relationship. mayor brown definitely the more outgoing, but mayor ed lee did have his own sense of humor, a little more low key, but little more low key, but definitely they had a friendship

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gi extra. get extra. now from abc 7, live king news. >> good morning to you, all of us waking up to the shocking news that mayor ed lee of san francisco has died at the age of 65. >> i know carolyn tyler joining us now. you spoke to willie brown as this was unfolding overnight. what information did he give you as to what the circumstances were? >> he said that mayor ed lee was doing some grocery shopping at his neighborhood safeway store in dimon heights around 10:30 last night when all of a sudden he collapsed and went into cardiac arrest. crews tried to give him cpr, but they were not -- wasn't really successful, though he was still alive when he was taken to sf general hospital where he passed this morning around 1:11.

our hearts are going out to his wife, his daughters and the whole city family. this is just very stunning news this morning. we saw him just yesterday, abc 7 news, he was doing a recycling event, which is part of the sort of duties of the mayor and as a former director of the department of public works that's sort of the thing that he would have wanted to be doing and just really a shock this morning. >> it's really amazing to think that it's been so many years since the city has really been in a position like this where there has been an unexpected death of a mayor, then a transfer of power. now we have london breed who was a supervisor of the city and finds herself as the mayor of san francisco. the last time we saw something even close to this happening was 39 years ago and that's when

george moscone was assassinated at city hall along with supervisor harvey milk. they were killed by former supervisor dan white. this is where politics of san francisco gets so interesting and intertwined. dianne feinstein was the one who announced that the two men had died and she would of course take over as san francisco mayor and then she would have a long political career that would take her all the way to congress and then what's interesting about dianne feinstein is she would become an instrumental part in mayor lee becoming the mayor of san francisco. >> correct. >> because she would be one of the forces pushing him to take that office. he found himself in such an unexpected position because as gavin newsom was leaving to become our -- >> lieutenant governor. >> -- lieutenant governor she was saying, hey -- >> ed lee, i mean, what an unlikely mayor. he made a promise to the board of supervisors that he would not

run for mayor. >> he told everyone that he would just be a caretaker, which is what they were looking for, someone to keep the ship sailing smoothly during that period of time. there was about a year that had been left on gavin newsom's term and he said, sure, i can step in and do that. he was the city administrator at the time so he knew the ins and outs of city government. he said, okay, yes, i can do that, but then once the term was up others were pushing him to go back on his promise and run for mayor. very controversial move. a lot of people felt like he broke his promise, which he did. they felt betrayed. but there were so many people who wanted him to run, many people in the asian-american community as he was the first asian-american mayor. people in the tech community, he had a lot of friends there as well. former mayor willie brown among

those folks as well as dianne feinstein wanting him to run. they had a run, ed, run campaign. >> i remember that well spearheaded by rose pack. his connection with the chinese community, the bay area in san francisco more than a third of our population is of asian african-american descent. one of the largest family associations in the chinatown area has embraced and adopted him especially recently. that run, ed, run campaign spearheaded by rose pack probably instrumental in his decision to go for it. >> she was quite the power broker. she died not that long ago and they were friends and then enemies and then friends again, but, yes, she said this would mean so much to that community and really help propel him into office. as mayor he has really bureaucrat that he always was.

not a flashy guy. not one to toot his own horn. seemed uncomfortable at times in the spotlight and speaking. not the kind of guy who liked to go to the symphony openings or the ballet openings, more comfortable being at home with the wife and family, but took over the city trying to steer it to the best of his action. one thing he did was he created a department of homelessness, a separate department. that's the first time that's been done as he tries to -- tried to tackle the issue of homelessness, which never seems to go away in san francisco. that will be part of his legacy. the controversial twitter tax breaks that brought some of the high tech companies into the city, into the mid market corridor, that will be part of his legacy. >> it was a balance, right, of courting and embracing the tech boom here in the bay area and

also dealing with a looming housing price is that perhaps no mare has successfully fully been able to tackle in the city. >> because part of that housing crisis has to do with middle income housing. you have housing for low income and you have of course the very wealthy hoougs but how do you embrace middle income housing for teachers, nurses firefighters, that sort of thing. that was one of the things he was trying to work on. >> you have london breed now taking over. >> yes. >> where do you see her as she gets -- as this torch is passed on to her unexpectedly, there has been a push for navigation centers, i know london breed has been vocal about wanting to at least entertain the idea of having safe injection sites at places throughout the city. where do you see her making her mark? >> well, i think those things are going to be important to her. i think she will continue to push for those. in particular the safe injection

sites, she has gone to can could you ever which has one and has taken a look at that. i think that she as president of the board of supervisor, which is a position where you are appointed by your colleagues, that shows that she can work well with other members of the board that she's a consensus builder. so i think that she will continue in that role as well. >> we have talked about how mayor ed lee was an unlikely mayor to take that spot, to continue on for now expecting to live out the two terms, only ended up being one and a half. is london breed the type of person that you think has political ambitions that go beyond city hall like mayor ed lee? >> that's a tough one. she definitely has political ambitions, i don't know how far down the line she's looking, but i know that she has surrounded herself with a lot of people who can consult with her and give her good advice and she is in a

position now where all eyes are on her as she becomes the city's first african-american female to take the reins of a major -- of this major american city. a young woman who was born into poverty, lived in public housing, raised by her grandmother. she has really come into her own as president of the board of supervisors. she has been used to being called upon as acting mayor whenever the mayor has been out of town or out of the country. she knows how to handle that responsibility. >> and she wants to be mayor. >> yes, she does. >> she has made that clear. >> right. >> so this is someone that we are going to potentially have around for perhaps a while, i don't know who else has those ambitions that could be a competitor to her. >> well, state senator mark gleno has tossed his hat into the ring. she does have some competition

but now she will have a bit of a head start with this. i'm sure not the way anyone would want to have that position, but she does have that now as interim mayor and as mayor willie brown says, this is the first person who has died in office, not, you know -- moscone was assassinated, but died like this. we are entering new territory. it's been a long time. this is a shock to the system, a shock to the city family. everyone is going to have to figure out where do we go from here. i don't think this is a time for a lot of politicking right now, it's a time for grieving and for celebrating mayor lee's legacy and what he did for the city. he gave a number of years to san francisco in various departments before he became mayor and i think that deserves --

>> absolutely. >> -- our respect and grieving this morning. >> our thoughts go out to his family. we will cover much more on this breaking news right after the break. we alerted you to this news just after 2:30 this morning. we've been sending out updates all morning long. to continue t breaking news as it happens download the abc 7 app and make sure to enable push alerts. let's switch gears and talk about fog. it's forming around 101 and 37 right near novato. could be pretty thick and the temperatures getting near freezing there, so again, there is the potential for some black ice. that's the only place we're seeing fog right now. let's talk temperatures. we've got 32 in novato, 30 petaluma, rohnert park 29, 30 santa rosa, guerneville 32, ukiah 31, almost freezing cold in napa at 33, american canyon 36, mid 40s around tiburon and mill valley and san rafael. 47 in alameda, redwood city 43,

newark 37, 41 san jose, fairfield at 30. here is a look at the san matteo bridge. we are looking westbound. taking the ferry today, no advisories, a nice day, a lot more sunshine than yesterday. mass transit chilly this morning, dress this layers because it's going to be mild this afternoon and on the roads there's just that limited fog across the north bay. let's break down my accuweather 12-hour day planner. 34 to 46 at 7:00, 61 to 65 at noon, rapid warming today. we will hang around the low to mid 60s at 4:00 and then 48 to 52 by 7:00. quick look at the peninsula, 43 at 8:00 this morning, by noon, 60, topping out at 64 at 2:00, still 62 at 4:00, and then 57 to 53 by 6:00 and 8:00. small chance of rain i'm tracking for next week, we will take a look at that coming up in the accuweather seven-day forecast. first i want to bring sue in.

still out in concord. a live look at walnut creek, those head lights in the northbound direction, taillights in the southbound direction. caltrans is on scene. it is just out of scene in the northbound direction near 242. they needed to do a full freeway closure on the northbound side to clear up glass and get the suv out of there. you can see some slow traffic right at the 242 junction and at least let's zoom in and take a look at the volume there. you can see it is slowing in the northbound towards 680 and 242 is looking pretty good, but as soon as they get that accident out of there, it's been there since 4:30 this morning, we should have smooth sailing from concord, pleasant hill into walnut creek. 238 northbound before 880 accident just cleared to the shoulder but you are slow from the castro valley y and 580 approaching 238 and 880. 880 is not looking too bad. a new accident to report in san francisco north 101 after the 280 split. it looks like roadway is now clear with the accident off to

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good morning. it is now 5:46. we are covering the death, the unexpected and sudden death, of mayor ed lee of san francisco. he passed away early this morning. >> the mayor's office releasing this statement saying lee died just after 1:00 a.m. at zuckerberg san francisco general hospital. former san francisco mayor willie brown says that lee suffered cardiac arrest while grocery shopping. he leaves behind his wife and two daughters. government officials are mourning the death of mayor ed lee, congresswoman katy tang tweeting out just moments ago -- rather congresswoman barbara lee tweeting i'm deeply saddened to learn that san francisco mayor ed lee an unshakeable force for good in san francisco and the bay area has passed. my condolences are with his

family, friends a, loved ones and the people of san francisco during this difficult time. >> this from former san francisco supervisor david compose, it says sad to hear of mayor ed lee's passing, our thoughts and prayers with are with his family and loved with un. >> here is katy tang tweeting out holding on to the happy memories, mr. mayor. sending all my love to his beloved anita and daughters. >> you can see mayor ed lee and they are running on a track there and he has his hands up in the air. new york city mayor de blasio offering his condolences saying deeply saddened to hear of the death of he ed lee, he was a good friend and tireless fighter for the people of san francisco. our thoughts are with his family. our colleague carolyn tyler is here, carolyn, you have so much more experience talking to ed lee than i do, but i remember the first time i met him was in philadelphia for the democratic national convention and of course you are in philly, you have every single democrat you have ever heard of in the building and they all have these

bombastic personalities and they are very political and they have these teams around that you are very concerned you are going to ask the right questions to their political leader and mayor ed lee couldn't be more different than that. he was completely approachable, very easy to talk to, unlike every other politician i talked to, he had time to talk to you, you know, he was going to take more than just your one question and move on. >> very gracious man. >> he was. and just humble. when you spoke to him it didn't seem like you were speaking to the mayor of san francisco. >> i don't think he viewed himself that way, you know, he was not that kind of politician. he was more just a down to earth guy, he was a family man, he loved to play golf, he liked ping-pong. just, you know, kind of an average guy. he grew up in seattle, the son of immigrants. he came to this city as a political activist fighting for housing rights for chinese

americans in chinatown trying to get better housing conditions for them. that was his passion and his desire before moving into city government where he also wanted to do good as a department of public works head and later as the city administrator running the day-to-day operations of the city. >> but never a supervisor, which is interesting. >> no. >> where we often get a lot of our political leaders in san francisco. >> he did not have that kind of drive. that's what made him the surprise choice when -- maybe not a surprise, but because they wanted a caretaker mayor when they decided let's get an interim mayor, someone to sit in once gavin newsom who was the mayor was elected lieutenant governor of california, they wanted someone who would step into that role, keep things running smoothly but someone who did not have political ambition. >> right. he was a placeholder.

>> a placeholder. exactly. >> but became mayor for two terms. >> after holding that spot then he was convinced to run and he did. >> our abc 7 news reporter amy hollyfield was speaking to willie brown earlier this morning just about, i don't know, 35 minutes ago or so and he was saying that san francisco has never seen a mayor like mayor ed lee. may never see a mayor like him again and that he never had an unkind word to say about anybody. that he had his own sense of humor. >> he did. >> he was not one to talk trash about anyone. >> no, he wasn't. not even reporters, which some of the mayors would, they would see you coming and would grown or try to go the other way. mayor ed lee was not like that at all. when i had my knee operation and could not really get around as well as i would like he'd say, oh, you can't chase me around now. he would just tease me, but he was always very welcoming and, like you said, gracious.

just a gracious man. >> he had a family who i know they are grieving this morning as well as his staff members of course and much of the city and city hall. what can you tell us about their relationship, his relationship with his family? >> with his family i know his wife anita was, as we said, the love of his life, he talked about her all the time and his daughters he was very proud of them. he was more of a homebody. he really did not partake in a lot of the flashy things that you can do as mayor of san francisco. he was more -- >> he wasn't hanging out with elon musk over the weekends or anything like that. >> on somebody's yacht. no, even though he had those sorts of friends and contacts, especially in the high tech world which really courted him and he was part of that also, but not really. that was not -- that was not ed lee. >> carolyn tyler has really been helping us to understand what

this mayor was like personally and professionally. we really appreciate you being here. of course, very early in the morning. >> yeah. >> you didn't expect to be. >> no, to get that call this morning was just such a shock because he seemed so vibrant and healthy and we just saw him yesterday at that recycling event. so to get that news this morning, our hearts go out to his family and to what they call the city family, all those employees who are grieving this morning as well. just blessings to them and prayers and there's a book of condolences that will be set up at city hall. former mayor brown was telling us how that's going to work and at some point there will be a public service so that the entire city can come together and grieve this mayor. >> it's going to be a tough day and tough weeks to come for sure because i know a lot of people are shaken this morning, absolutely. >> carolyn, thank you so much.

we appreciate the context. i want to turn to meteorologist mike nico. certainly a shock, mike. >> absolutely. i just loved his infectious enthusiasm for the city and for taking care of the people of the city. he really wanted to do that. we're going to miss that smile, too. here is a look at what's going on, let's switch gears and talk about that offshore breeze, you can see at the ferry building. that's why we will have sunshine, a little haze today, it is a spare the air day. unusually warm. clear and freezing cold in our valleys tonight. the pattern ma i shift next week for a slight chance of rain. let's take a look at the breezes, you can see they're calm to light offshore, that's why we're going to hit to mid to upper 60s in most neighborhoods once again. 70 in san jose, ukiah 71, check out santa cruz, 76 degrees. tonight you can see the tule fog in the central valley, we will keep an on on that for antioch and concord. 40s around the bay, low to mid 40s and upper 40s along the coast and san francisco. more of the mid to upper 60s and dry weather and sunshine through

monday. sue, you have a new accident. >> i do. in the vacaville area, if your travels take you 80 westbound past the nut tree, left lane is blocked with an accident, you can see the red sensors where 505 and 80 merge in vacaville. heads up if you're coming towards the obamacare from there, you will find slow traffic. this is very slow on 242 at 680 northbound, we had an earlier crash right there, the suv on its side, it was a sig alert for quite some time, we zoomed into our 3-d map and traffic is getting by there without delay. on 238 towards 880 we had an earlier accident there. slow traffic towards 880 from the castro valley y. 880 southbound towards 92 also slow as well. when we come back we will continue to cover this break another 2am stroll, huh? i'm worried. i have this medical bill... dave, you have anthem and they have people to talk to

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we are tracking this breaking news. san francisco waking up to such sad news this morning that mayor ed lee has passed away at just the age of 65. >> former mayor willie brown says lee suffered a cardiac arrest last night. mayor lee died at zuckerberg san francisco general hospital around 1:00 this morning and he does leave behind his wife, anita and his two daughters. also we are tracking other breaking news overnight in the east bay, a fire in the oakland hills. >> this is what it looked like on snake road just before midnight. the fire department tells abc 7

the fire started near a home under construction. the wind picked up, the embers, and then spread that fire to at least five other homes. extensive damage in this neighborhood. firefighters quickly called in backup. >> given the wind conditions, given the potential that you have when something like that takes place and with the gusts that we have right now, it certainly factored into the need to call for additional resources. >> people were evacuated from about 50 homes. firefighters still mopping up the fire this morning. no one was hurt and the cause of

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breaking news is the sudden death of san francisco mayor ed lee. he died of an apparent heart attack overnight at the age of 65. of course this morning we are bringing you live team coverage of this sad and sudden news. >> what a shock. abc 7 news anchor carolyn tyler, you have been covering mayor ed lee for years, providing us with invaluable insight this morning about what has set him apart from any other mayor that we have had in san francisco before. we will speak with you in just a moment. we do want to start with abc 7 news reporter jessica castro who is live at city hall with what we are learning about lee's untimely passing. good morning, jessica. >> reporter: it is certainly doing to be a tough morning at city hall and no doubt the passing of mayor ed lee is going to be on the forefront of everything today. abc news has learned that he went into cardiac arrest last night while shopping at a safeway store. he was mayor of san francisco since 2011, was jooes recently