level of partial reopening. the governors of maryland pushing back. >> delusional to make statements li avy o testingis say the aren't doing our job is just absolutely false. >> officials in 12 states tell abc news they are confident they can begin opening by may 1st. the rest say it's too soon to tell or wouldn't give a target date. mike pence says we're conducting about 150,000 coronavirus tests in the united states daily. kumasi, back over to you. >> thank you, jobina. happening this morn, a california state lawmaker is leading a charge to make sure state funding is being used appropriately. represents part of san francisco and san mateo counties and looking like the california's rainy day emergency fund may need to act like a more rainy day season.

et to start at 10:00 this eng morning with social distancing restrictions. in washington, congress is working on a federal emergency spending bill to get billions of dollars flowing again. the loan for small businesses ran out a few days ago. andrea has more with the crucial negotiations happening today. >> reporter: america's businesses are taking a big hit. many about to close for good. >> the money is out and i better stop my business. >> reporter: the rescue loan fund and the program maxed out days ago but help could be coming. the trump administration asking congress to approve an additional $250 billion. this bipartisan deal would include funding for small business loans, plus billions more for hospitals, disaster loans and covid-19 testing. the latest report shows 5.2 million americans file for unemployment for the first time just last week. that brings the total to more

than 20 million people who applied for unemployment amid the pandemic. >> some economists that i have been speaking with our national unemployment could go as high as 13% by july. >> reporter: the downturn has hit all sectors of the economy. high-end retailer neiman marcus preparing to file for bankruptcy while macy's, jcpenney and nordstrom are scrambling to avoid the same fate. but walmart looking to hire 50,000 employees on top of the 150,000 they just hired and other stores are adapting to the crisis. some whole foods in new york city and baltimore are now open for only online orders to speed up grocery deliveries and prevent shoppers from packing into the aisles. one industry group claims 85% of customers are not practicing social distancing in the stores. homeowners, renters and small businesses may get some financial relief in richmond. tomorrow, the city council will

consider an emergency order to suspend rent and mortgage payments. its supporters say it's not fair to expect people to pay their largest bills while they can't work. the proposed order calls for establishing a city service to assist small businesses and landlords that are filing for government assistance. the city already has a moratorium on coronavirus-related evictions. starting on wednesday, alameda, contra costa and marin will be enforcing ordinances that require you to wear a face mask like a scarf or mask when you leave the house. abc7 was along san francisco's embarcadero this morning when we saw people with their faces uncovered. here's the thing, you don't have to wear a covering when you're exercising outdoors, but you do have to have one with you. >> so, we feel like if we can do our little part to help keep this from spreading. >> we do what we can. >> of course, we will.

>> i usually wear it if i'm in close quarters with people but if i'm out on a run and not next to somebody for a while, i won't wear it. >> now, you have to wear a face covering if you enter any essential business like a grocery store or a bank and you still need to practice social distance and stay six feet away from other people. it's 4/20 but with the shelter in place celebrations will not look like year's past. amy hollyfield joins us live unsan francisco where the mayor and other people are telling everybody to just stay home, right, amy? >> hi, good morning. that is right, kumasi. the mayor haez said do not come here to goldb gate park and emphasized that point. look what we have here this year. a sign that says this park is closed at hippy hill. fencing around it. the mayor does not want you here and she asked a well-known rapper to help spread the word for her. e40 is telling people to stay home this 4/20.

usually attracts thousands of people to celebrate smoking pot. such a huge gathering, the city has recently permitted it and brought in sponsors to help pay for fencing, security and cleanup. the e-40 told us yesterday in an instagram interview yesterday that seven people close to him tested positive. >> a lot of people know a lot of people that tested positive and has it. i know people that know people that die. my boy scarface. he had. platinum, legendary recording artist. emcee 8 got it. >> mayor breed said san francisco police officers will be patrolling the park and they will hand out citations if necessary. the cannabis is encouraging people to buy from a nearby dispensary with a curbside pickup and f avirtual

celebration streaming online and celebrate that way and just stay home. reporting live in san francisco, amy hollyfield, abc7 news. >> all right, thank you, amy. neighbors in the south bay already have enough to worry about from the pandemic. well now flash flooding and possible tornadoes. this is in the south, excuse me. creating life-threatening situations. an east bay little league dealt another big set back to a postponed season. why volunteers are asking for your help. checking in with meteorologist mike nicco. this weekend was really nice. i went out on sunday because it was really sunny outside and i took a nice walk and it felt really good. >> that's nice. i'm glad you were able to get out there and clear your mind and maybe get a little exercise. i saw quite a few people working in their yards parents along with their kids. that was pretty cool to see. our coolest day today waking up this morning. we're pretty cloudy and look how uniform the temperatures are on the peninsula.

53 to 54 and to 55 in san bruno and low to mid 50s on the coast side. los .re's a bridge f the warm toll plaza where it's cloudy right now at 55 degrees. a slight chance of a spotty shower today and we have caution in there and mass transit cool much of the day and breezy out on the water. temperatures in the 50s with mostly cloudy skies in the east bay valleys until about 11:00 and then low to mid 60s with few peaks of sunshine this afternoon. random shower possible. 58 through 11:00 and then mid-60s around 2:00 to 3:00. 58 at 7:00 and our last stop will be on the peninsula. we're in the 50s through 1:00 and low 60s for a couple hours and then 57 at 7:00. random showers possible here also. let's talk more about the essential commuters and what to

expect this morning and the essential workers, too, jobina. >> thank you, mike. good morning to you. good morning, everyone. things are looking good on the road right now for our essential workers and for you to head out the door. what i'm seeing is just a number of different road construction projects and make sure to slow down for our other essential workers on the road. if you're with us on friday you remember we had two very bad crashes. please, slow down. that's a big issue that the chp continues to report. we will take a live look right now and showing you the san mateo bridge also a reminder, if you rely on mass transit, we have a number of changes to b.a.r.t., muni, ferries, you name it. continue to check those schedules to see how your commute will be imed. we will b

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you're never more than seven minutes away from your accuweather forecast. >> this is abc7 mornings. >> welcome back. let's open up the weather window in san jose where it is mainly cloudy. our best chance of a random shower reaching the ground from now through about 7:00, 7:30. clouds and sunshine the rest of the day, a random shower possible when we get the heating of the day. which won't be much. barely in the 60s. speaking of the coast until 11:00 this evening, beach hazard statement north, northwest facing beaches and you can see scattered valley rains across

the entire state and mountain snow. not a big storm, just kind of annoying storm. kumasi? >> thanks, mike. parts of the south are on storm watch right now as flash flooding and possible tornados are creating life-threatening situations in alabama and mississippi. >> reporter: overnight, dangerous storms sweeping the south. in mississippi, emergency crews worked into the morning. rescuing drivers trapped in windshield deep flood waters. while in alabama -- >> the road is just completely washed out. >> reporter: torrential rains made some streets completely impassable. >> that's payment down there. >> reporter: this comes after a day of treacherous weather in the area. >> i darted in the house to grab safe. >> reporter: heavy winds bringing town trees and smashing trucks and even ripped the roof right off of this firehouse. >> we are in the middle of trying to secure the building as

much as we can. >> reporter: the powerful storms seen from above rolling out of louisiana, straight into mississippi, where the high winds created chaos on the highways. >> the man who was driving this truck lost 18-wheeler and traveling on interstate 25 and fell 25 feet to the road below. >> reporter: luckily that driver escaped unharmed. an east bay little league is asking for your help after being hitting twice by fees. players for the treeview little league were bummed because their 2020 season was postponed but then about a week ago somebody broke into the clubhouse and stole all of their snack bar food and a few days after that, the thieves hit again. this time they took all the league's equipment including the players' uniforms. the league's president said this has really been a hard blow to take. >> we work hard for our community and we try really,

really hard to give kids an opportunity to grow. we developed such skill sets that you only get in the baseball environment. >> the league set up a go fund me page to cover the cost of the uniforms and equipment. you can find a link on our website, abc7news.com. in the east bay an oil refinery with 470 workers is pausing production this morning because of the plummeting demand for gas. the marathon in the martinez area says it's not sure how long it will remain idle, but executives say demand for gas has dropped by 60% since our shelter-in-place orders cut many people's needs to drive. hundreds of contract workers will lose their jobs. full-time employees will switch to maintenance work. happening today, michelle obama is back. she's starting a children's read along called mondays with

michelle obama. storytime with the former first lady is at 9:00 a.m. and it's live streamed from the pbs kids facebook page or on on their youtube page. she is joining the growing list of celebrities doing kids reading time during the quarantine. others include jimmy fallon, tom hardy and betty white. mondays with michelle will go every monday through may 11th. i was so excited when i heard about this. i was ready to figure out where i was going to be at 9:00 so i could get in place and get ready for story time with my tea. >> isn't that conveniently our lunch break at 9:00 in the morning. >> this will be like a monday tradition. >> i could get used to that. look forward to that. one of the only reasons to look forward to a monday. that is one of them. unless those who are not working are dieing to get back to work. let's look at what is going on with live doppler 7.

thanks, kumasi. showers out there and the air is very saturated at 14,000 feet, but right below that from 4,000 feet to 5,000 feet, really dry and evaporating a lot of this moisture. so far none of this has hit a rain gauge yet. don't be surprised if you get a few sprinkles this morning. maybe even need to use windshield wiper once, but not much rain out there. as we head to the afternoon hours, a few random showers especially across the north bay. temperatures in the middle to upper 50s along the coast and san francisco and parts of the peninsula and then the rest of us in the 60s. tonight cooler and less cloud cover and a little fog possible in the north bay and south bay temperatures run from 42 in santa rosa to about 50 in, excuse me, in oakland. here's a look at future radar and as we head from 5:00 on all the way up until the afternoon hours, you can see that area of low pressure, you see a little curl in the radar returns. it kind of falls apart and there you go, by the afternoon hours,

we're seeing more sunshine and any threat of weather. overnight, the breezes kick up along the beaches and you can see it remains pretty clear during the overnight hours along the coast and that means not much fog in the way after the sun rises tomorrow. here's a quick look at some chances of wet weather. a couple hundres of an inch if you're lucky. my accuweather seven-day forecast which just jumped ahead on me. let me jump back up just a second. back to average tomorrow, above average wednesday and the warm peaks friday and saturday. back to you. >> all right, thanks, mike. crime has fallen sharply in some bay area sharply since the stay-at-home orders went into place. san bruno police say some of them involve property taken from unlocked vehicles. police say you still have to be vigilant for yourself and your neighbors and make sure your vehicle locked. now, we know a lot of you have questions during these unprecedented times and we are

here to help you out. a special section on our website abc7news.com/help. answer questions on the new mask orders to what places are open to information about local food banks and how you can help out. we also have a really fun guide to the virtual entertainment that we're seeing all over the place online. there's also a link to just ask for help. head to abc7news.com/covidhealth. a new website to help track coronavirus and new york is now letting you say i do on zoom. here's techbytes. >> instagram's co-founders launched a tracker. the first product since leaving the facebook-owned company. shows how fast the virus is spreading in each state. a group of workers in southern california is really working remotely. the nasa scientists and engineers are working from their homes and controlling the cure yausly rover on mars 140 million

miles away. to program the rover it could take 20 people working together while staying apart. a new purpose for video conferencing. zoom and other services can be used to obtain marriage licenses and it doesn't stop there. clerks are also allowed to conduct marriage ceremonies remotely. zoomnuptuals and then honeymoon at home. would rather just bytes. wait. but to each his own. the shelter-in-place order is forcing the cancellation of the city's block parties but the fun is not stopping. the "american idol" dream of two bay area singers is still alive. ♪ >> the latest in their journey to stardom coming up next.

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all right. here's a look back at what we're dealing with. you can see that little curl in the atmosphere before the last frame went a little wonky on us. an upper level low that will bring us enough energy for some random showers this morning and much cooler conditions. that is the bigger story today. we're anywhere from 4 to 11 degrees below average with 57 in san francisco to about 66 in concord. and this is going to be kind of a one and done day with the chance of showers in the cooler weather because drier weather and warmer weather is on the way. in fact, i'll give you a sneak

peek at the weekend coming up next. kumasi. facebook is launching an app for creating and watching live game play. they intended to launch it in june because moved it up. more than 700 million of facebook's 2.5 billion users will play games and they'll make money by taking a cut of stars which fans can buy and send to gaming streamers. walmart is looking to hire 50,000 more workers with people stuck at the house, sales of household items are up significantly. walmart is one of the few big box retailer open during the pandemic. it has already hired 150,000 new workers. abc7 is partnering with iheart radio to help support local businesses being hit hard during the pandemic. thousands of bay area stores and services are still open offering to help with essential needs and a lot of them are hiring. go to abc7news.com to find

resources and then a tab you can click on that is called support the bay. america has picked the last of the top 20 contestants on "american idol" and a tough choice between lor >> the person who will continue on and take the last place in the top 20. >> i love you. >> i love you. >> grace, congratulations. >> okay, grace. so, she isn't the only singer from the bay area to make it to the top 20. francisco martin has been a frontrunner this season. ♪ i've been roaming around always looking down at all i see ♪ ♪ >> i just like she is like, yes. sing.

takes on the kings of leon hit. katy perry said she sees him in the top ten. "american idol" will return with a virtual competition and you can watch and share on both francisco and grace sunday nights at 8:00 right here on abc7. this is so cool, mike. both of them are so talented and i love they're representing the bay and just moving forward and shining. >> yes, we'll keep watching them as long as we can. hope they would make it into the top ten and five. that would be so nice to see. here's a look at the golden gate bridge. you can see it looks a little damp from a few sprinkles earlier this morning, but definitely not very foggy out there, nor breezy. that will change. the breeze will as we head into the afternoon hours. high amounts of tree pollen and cedar, juniper and oak and

moderate amounts of grass pollen and the uv the lowest this week. moderate. here's a look at friday. look at the temperature in fairfield. 88 degrees. in fact, low to mid80s in the east bay valleys and the south bay up into the north bay and 70s reaching san francisco and if for some reason you can't get outside and enjoy that friday, we'll do it again saturday. sunday, though, the sea breeze starts to come back and temperatures mid 60s san francisco and mid 70s and even a few 80s lingering inland. we'll pay or be rewarded for all that cool weather last week, kumasi. pretty warm the rest of this week. >> i like that. we deserve that reward. thank you, mike. the shelter in place order has stopped the sunday stroots in san francisco, but it doesn't mean you can't enjoy the fun. sunday streets returned as a virtual event over the weekend. so, of course, you know, we're not able to roam the streets, but look at this, people got some of that same entertainment

and community interaction. offered everything from live movement classes and cooking demos and virtual dance parties and interactive pet parades. where's the pet parade? i want to see this. you get it. this was a lot going on online. it looks like a lot of fun. sunday streets was hosted live on facebook and zoom. nice. well, coming up next at 5:00, lighting up the night in purple. the landmarks that are changing colors this evening. books bringing people around the globe together. a local teacher's mission to connect with his class is reaching an

that could mean an increase byin energy bills.. you can save by setting your heat to 68 or lower... unplugging and turning off devices when not in use... or just letting the sun light your home. stay well and keep it golden.

now your health, your safety. this is abc7 news. now at 5:00, a test for everyone. a small bay area community will be one of the first in the world to check all of its residents for covid-19. we are live at the set up that is happening right now. good morning, everyone. it is monday, april 20th. happy monday, reggie aqui. >> hello, kumasi aaron, how are you? >> well, we're getting through it. we're going to make you, mike? >> i'm doing great. thanks. really settling into this working at home thing. this is getting to be pretty cool. unfortunatel