tv ABC7 News 400PM ABC December 16, 2020 4:00pm-5:00pm PST
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>> most of the bay area region already had stay at home rules in place but as of 11:59 p.m. tomorrow, the entire bay area including san mateo, solano, napa and santa cruz counties will be under stricter rules. that means many more small businesses will be forced to pivot or close down again unfortunately. cornell bernard talked to some business owners in san mateo county. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: you can usually clear clara net music coming from this barbershop in san francisco. the claranet is how he spends time between haircuts but soon, he'll have to close shop again due to the pandemic. >> i've been here 15 years. i've built up a great clientele more like a family, and i'm losing that. >> reporter: starting friday, san mateo county is mandated to
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join the state's stay-at-home order due to a spike in covid rate. >> san mateo county seen the hospital with a zero percent capacity. all the beds were full in the icu. we're surging like you can't believe. >> reporter: the surge means a 10:00 p.m. curfew and no more outdoor dining. >> it's a hard pill to swallow but better for the future just to stop this from going any worse. >> it's obviously nice to be around with family and friends and to be able to eat outside and all of that but we have to think about trying to prevent this outbreak from going longer. >> most restaurant owners here knew outdoor dining was likely going away. they will do takeout from here on out and hope for the best. >> we're set to close outdoor dining but the safety of the city and county are more important. we know it's our responsibility to make sure safety protocols are fulfilled. >> look, my heartbreaks for the
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small business owners but we're in life saving mode right now. >> reporter: james hopes for better times ahead, a chance play his clarinet again. >> we want to go back to playing music and just having a great time. >> reporter: in south san francisco, cornell bernard, abc 7 news. >> marin county is feeling the impact of the rising number of covid cases there. health officials say they have now run out of icu beds in hospitals county wide. this is forcing them to switch to their surge plan to try to take care of everyone who comes in. >> what that means is they are looking at patient to staff ratios, they're looking at how they might be able to reallocate staff from other departments to support a larger icu operation than normal. so we're not turning patients away. >> marin county is expecting nearly 2,000 doses of the vaccine today.
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they'll send half of the doses to hospitals. the other half to skilled nursing facilities and start giving shots tomorrow. california continues to set some grim records with the daily numbers coming in including more than 53,000 new cases reported today. the previous high was under 36,000. i'll repeat that. we were at 36 peak, now we're at 53 plus 17,000 per day. there were 293 deaths reported in the past 24 hours, record number of patients currently hospitalized. nearly 15,000. santa collar rlara county has t with 51,000. that includes people that recovered but health officials say the county is seeing more cases now every single day than at any point in the pandemic. >> we're averaging over 1,000 cases a day for a comparison back in july when we thought things were pretty bad we were seeing maybe 300 cases a day.
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we've tripled that. >> the county has about 15% of the icu beds still available and officials are asking people again and again and again not to gather with others and please not to travel over christmas. well, there was clapping, cheers and a few tears in concord as the first of the health networks front line workers received their first dose of the covid vaccine. laura anthony was there. [ applause ] >> heroes and sheroes since the beginning of march through this incredible effort. >> reporter: ten months into a battle they have been fighting, these health care workers were among the first to get the covid vaccine. >> this is going to be, you know, the start and hopefully, the turn of the corner. >> reporter: joe anderson leads a team of respiratory therapists who work in very close contact with the sickest of patients. >> i worked all over the country. this by far, by far the worst that i've ever seen the biggest
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impact in health care and obviously, i don't have to say it, the community. >> reporter: these people know better than most that like any shot, this one could come with some mild side effects. >> there is a very low chance they won't get any serious side effects compared to covid end up having icu or serious stuff in your lungs, you know what i mean? >> reporter: so far john muir received 5,000 doses and over the next three weeks, plans to give the first of twoshots to that many front line staff. >> when the vaccine arrived yesterday, it became so real. from the very first day of this pandemic, protecting our teams was the most frightening part of it. >> reporter: fortunately, ten months in, very few john muir front line workers have actually gotten the coronavirus. still, getting this vaccine today not only gives them physical protection but a strong measure of psychological comfort. >> so now knowing the front line
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teams are getting this vaccine and within weeks we'll have a higher level of protection. we'll be sleeping better. >> reporter: in concord, laura anthony, abc 7 news. the vaccine arrive in several other bay area locations today. in marin county, matt willis wished everyone happy holidays as he opened the first box packed with the pfizer vaccine. those 1,950 doses were quickly moved to an ultra cold storage unit. those doses were then brought to kaiser permanente in san rafael where two front line health care workers received the first doses. applause followed each inoculation. kaiser says the first doses will go to physicians, nurses and respiratory therapists. ucsf received 975 doses today and began administering them. the doses went to front line health care workers. ucf is expecting 9,011 doses by
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the end of december. solano county is receiving 7900 vaccine doses. 3900 from pfizer and 4,000 from moderna pending fda authorization. people in health care and long-term care settings will go first. health officials say as the vaccine becomes more readily available, they will work with advisory groups to ensure equatable distribution. >> officials in santa clara county are preparing to vaccinate staff members at long term care facilities hit hardest by the pandemic. chris nguyen tells us these facilities account for nearly 45% of colorado related deaths county wide. >> reporter: with the arrival of the covid-19 vaccine in the bay area, work is underway to deliver it to the populations who need it most. in santa clara county, the publishing health department says that staff members in long term care facilities will get first priority. >> the thing that has been the most stressful and the most distressing to me as a daughter
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has been the isolation of my elderly father. >> reporter: the news comes as a relief to san jose community leader kelly snider whose father lives in a family care home and interacts with staff on a daily basis. >> i think the workers in these facilities are heroes. >> reporter: there are 6,000 people who work at long-term care facilities in santa clara county. on thursday, the county will begin vaccinating those who opt in ahead of hospitals expected to receive their vaccine allocation from pfizer at the end of the week. residents in these facilities will be offered the vaccine later in the month through a separate state program. >> trying to be as i cequatable the vaccine. >> reporter: dr. moldonido says companies are making tough decisions on distribution. >> based on the diversity of our population and economic status of our populations to make sure every single person has access
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to this vaccine if they want it. >> reporter: county officials are investigating two significant covid-19 outbreaks at facilities in san jose including skyline health care center, which has a reported 212 positive cases since the start of the pandemic. amberwood gardens has 195 cases. alarming numbers that contributed to prioritizing this sector in the first phase. >> i'm so thankful we have this vaccine coming and i hope it means i can visit my dad again soon and see him and give him a hug. >> reporter: chris nguyen, abc 7 news. >> want to know where you fit in the vaccine line? check out the vaccine planner tool on abc7news.com. so just answer the questions like where you live and what you do for a living for instance, a construction worker living in, let's see, let's choose none of those for now, right? in terms of where you live, the county, right, alameda county, you'll find out approximately
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how many people are in front of you and which phase you might be. the percentage of those who will get the vaccine before you. so in this case, they tell you probably fourth group, phase three. which are young adults, children, other critical risk workers. this takes just a few seconds and gives you a good idea. >> it's a really interesting tool and you can find, okay 12 million people are ahead of me. something like that. check it out. >> congressional leaders close to finalizing a $900 billion covid-19 relief bill expected to include another round of stimulus checks. they would be around 600 to $700 per person. the measure expected to include an extra $300 a week in jobless benefits and more funding for the paycheck protection program. it may not include new state and local aid. oakland mayor libby schaaf addressed it today on "midday live". >> i want to see progress to help the most vulnerable residents are suffering, small businesses, but let's be clear
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cities are more important than ever. we are helping people through this crisis. we are the 911 responders. we are the ones that are keeping vital services going during this pandemic. >> now it's still not certain when congress will actually vote. the first shots, it's been 24 hours since health care workers got the vaccine in the bay area. how are they doing today? vaccine ethics, the questions raised by the rush to vaccinate. lighting thi make your holidays happen... at ross! surprise! ahhh! yes! i love it! you don't have to spend a lot to give a lot to the ones who mean the most. you've got the holidays, and we've got you, with the best bargains ever... ...at ross. yes for less!
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[ applause ] cheers as dr. sergio gets contra costa county first covid vaccine yesterday in contra costa county. he joins us live this afternoon with dr. antoinnio gomez who go one in san francisco yesterday. thank you both, doctors for taking the time out with us today. good to see you. i'll start with you, how did you feel, it's been a day. any side effects? how are you feeling? >> none at all. you can count a slight pain or tenderness in the arm but not dissimilar to influenza. i feel great. i've been working hard all day. a lot to do. >> i trust it's the same with
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you, dr. gomez? >> yes, a little soreness at the injection site and do what i normally do every day. >> dr. gomez, how does it feel to be the first in san francisco? >> you know, a lot of mixed emotions with it. i think we all feel excited honored. at the same time, i work in hospital and available beds available in the city and region and state so it can change very quickly and excited to receive the vaccine. >> doctor, is it the same for you? i want to know from you is for nine months you've been going out there facing exposure and risk to your family just doing your job. armor for
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make you feel more confident to do your job? >> we have to balance my feeling like i have a suit of armor gets a little more every day and repeat dose in 21 days and more armor. this is the most important time for us not to not let our guard down and not feel overly confident how we're handling this. fund mentally dealing the same problem with icu beds today and trying to figure out how to put more patients in hospitals. this is really feeling good in terms of my going home to family, gives me a little confidence but nothing changed today and we still have to keep our vigilance. >> i can see your smile even through that n 95 mask. were you excited? your heart going? >> i won't lie. i was thrilled not only to try to set a good example about the safety and effectiveness of this
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vaccine but just what it means in a historical context. my sincere hope is that we will look back on yesterday and see it as the beginning of the end. not the end but the beginning of the end. >> dr. gomez, what would you say to folks still skeptical about the vaccine? >> yeah, i would say that it's very safe. it very effective. just based on the data i have available to us, i trust in the experts nationally and experts of my local facility. we evaluated it and gone through the data and, you know, we're confident that it's safe. itfe it's effective. i would urge anyone with hesitations to take it when it becomes available to them. we know there is limited supply but eventually, it will become available to you, maybe not this version, maybe a different version but take it. >> this is for either one of you how long before the immunity kind of kicks in for you. i know you got the shots just
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yesterday and also, how long will it protect you for? >> i'll try to take that one. i don't think anyone really knows the answer to either of the questions. i think that if you look at the available data, most people will start to develop immunity at about a week or so but how durable that immunity is nobody knows hence the second injection three weeks later and after that, we don't have enough followup data on the folks that enrolled in the trial to be able to say you're going to be protected for your life or six months or what not. that's an open question. >> bottom line, this doesn't really change much for you, right, in terms of how you will behave and the precautions you take, both of you? >> no, we still made it very clear to the staff while we're encouraging everyone to get the vaccine, we still have to wear ppe and roll model that and do everything we did yesterday today and, you know, slowly but
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surely marching that sense of normalcy a little bit forward every day. >> all right. i know you both check in with your colleagues who have also gotten the vaccine at this point. is anyone showing any severe reactions, you know, side effects to this or is it just pretty much the soreness in the arm? what is there? >> for us thus far, arm soreness. none of our folks had any reaction whatsoever. it's quite reassuring and makes me feel good about being the first in contra costa. >> dr. gomez, the final word, a message to all of us in the bay area as we face the stay at home restrictions and the surge even with hope coming with the vaccine. what would you tell us? >> yeah. i would urge everyone that while there is hope, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and feels like we turned a corner. i want to echo what the doctor said we have to maintain vigilance and still have to wear masks when we go out and stay at
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home as much as possible and limit any unnecessary movement as much as you can. if you feel sick, get tested because contact tracing can contain the virus now until we can get everyone vaccinated. please protect yourself. >> dr. antonio gomez and sergio, thank you very much. congratulations. we're glad you got the vaccine. now the rest of us await and we'll all try to be responsible as we wait. >> thank you. >> thank you. that was a fantastic interview and some great insight and information from both doctors there. amazon in san francisco new plans that might bring a facility here. i'm spencer christian. our next storm is just hours away. i'll show you what's coming our way and when to expect it in
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>> a new report says amazon wants to bring a massive distribution facility to san francisco. the online retailer wants to build a three-story 500,000 square foot building on seventh street not far from the caltrain station. the distribution center would include ten loading docks, a logistics facility as well as office space. that six-acre spot was once earmarked for housing. let's turn to the forecast. kristen, another dose of rain coming. >> you can see it's cloudy already. it feels that way, spencer.
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>> yes, it's getting wet in some spots. northern california, almost in the bay area. you can take a look on the satellite radar looping image. you can see that rain associated with the storm is pushing into areas to the north right now. here is the view over san francisco from sutro tower. oakland 58. low 60s san jose and morgan hill and 54 half moon bay. a nice view of an increasingly cloudy sky from the east bay hills camera. 49 santa rosa. mid 50s at thnapa. looking across the embarcaderem increase in clouds. these are the forecast futures. light to moderate rain. brief downpours will occur overnight, late night into the early morning and dry and milder this weekend. the approaching storm ranks one on the abc 7 storm impact scale. so for tonight and tomorrow morning, look for light to moderate rain generally but briefly heavy downpours.
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rough and dangerous surf also will continue along with this storm. here is the forecast animation starting at 7:00 this evening. early evening, light scattered rain in the north bay but just before midnight, we get a surge of more extensive, more wide spread and heavier rain pushing through the north bay first and sweeping quickly to the south and east and the bulk of the storm will be out of the bay area before the morning commute begins but trailing showers and of course, wet pavement, which will be slippery and potentially treacherous so bear that in mind. the storm will be completely out of the bay area by midday tomorrow but will move into the sierra where a winter weather advisory will be in effect from 9:00 tonight to 10:00 tomorrow morning. we're expecting eight to 12 inches of new snow. overnight lows will be on the mild side comparatively speaking to most recent nights. upper 40s to around 50. highs tomorrow in the afternoon once the bulk of the storm is gone, only mid 50s on the coast
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and mid to upper 50s around the bay shoreline and most inland areas in fact only one or two spots will reach 60 degrees tomorrow. here is the accuweather seven-day forecast. again, early morning rain could be brief heavy downpours and ou pas partial clearing by afternoon. on friday mainly sunny and dry day, not much warming will occur on friday but over the weekend, a little bit of a warming trend will begin under mainly sunny skies that will continue through monday, which is the winter solstice, monday is not the solstice, monday is the first day of winter. the solstice occurs at 2:02 a.m. on monday and then we'll get into midweek next week with a little increase in clouds. kristen? >> all right. thanks, spencer. the fiz
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we are at a crucial point in the covid-19 pandemic. now that a vaccine is finally in use. abc 7 news is dedicating this entire week to what you need to know right now. by this time next week, moderna's covid vaccine could be shipped across the country and pfizer's could be on its way. as well. we compare the two vaccines. how are pfizer and moderna similar? let's take a look. both you will need two doses. for pfizer, they will be 21 days apart, for moderna, 28 days apart. both of them have mrna the blueprint for the vaccine to trigger your body to protect you from covid-19 without infecting
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you. now both of them are effective across genders and races and both of them are about 95% effective. there are some key differences, though, i want the tell you about. both of the vaccines are stored below freezing but pfizer's requires special freezers to keep the vaccine at negative 94 degrees. now moderna can be kept in a regular freezer because it only needs to be scored at negative four degrees. the other difference, pfizer got authorization for people 16 and up and moderna 18 and up. the side effects. they're mostly the same. they are temporary and minor pain at the injection site just like the flu shot. also a headache, fever, fatigue, chills, muscle and joint pain. moderna is advising people to even take off of work after that second injection because that's when they say most people saw side effects. so what do we need to know? we need more data on children and pregnant women and one thing a lot of people are asking is can you decide which vaccine you
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want to get? the abc news team says that at this point, you can't. the brand of vaccine that you will get will be determined by where you live and what medical facility you go to. kumasi aaron, abc 7 news. >> let's continue the vaccine conversation with professor of medical an tho an tho an it raises some ethical issues. what do you think of the government's plan starting with the health care workers and people in facilities and so on and so forth? >> larry, first, thank you very much for the invitation to join you at kgo. i'm ldelighted to do that. the government's distribution plan does make a lot of sense. it was very, very carefully put together. it was organized first by a group of experts at the national academy of medicine and it's
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really meant to keep us from having, being in a chaotic situation and not having a clear plan. this week at ucsf we're starting the first part of the plan by immunizing health care workers so basically, the plan is organized around a series of principles and those principles include things like making sure that we decrease the amount of death and serious disease to preserve functioning society and to reduce the extra burden covid is having on people that already face health disparities and also to increase the chance for everyone to enjoy health and well being and in particular, the people who develop this scheme thought a lot about the questions of justice and questions of the need for transparen transparency. so we started rolling it out to help health care workers in the category 1 a.
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also in that category of 1 a are individuals in long term care faciliti facilities. at the moment, we have an allocation of vaccine at usf so we're starting with health care workers first. >> all right. so let's fast forward a little bit going down the inoculation path because there are inequalities throughout the health care system and there is a concern rich people or powerful organizations, companies will jump ahead in line. are you worried about that? >> i am worried about it but i think well do everything we can to keep that from happening because of the fact we're thinking about these justice principles most importantly. the other worry was the issue of rushing the clinical trial and i don't think that happened.
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i think we can be pretty clear that things are on the up and up. for example -- >> what do you think -- >> no, i was going to say what would we do if for example a donor wanted to our institution wanted to get immunized and jumped the queue. i think we would not do that. we would be very careful. so i think i can -- we're in good shape. >> okay. you used to be a pediatrics nurse. would you have any hesitation about taking the vaccine? >> i would have absolutely no hesitation about taking the vaccine at this point because i know our system of vaccine evaluation is the best in the world. the cdc and the fda have been working around the clock to make sure that all the raw data from the initial clinical trial gets
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very carefully evaluated. there is one small concern that the safety has not been eval -- can't be totally evaluated because the clinical trials have not yet -- are not yet complete because what we have in effect now is what's called an emergency use authorization meaning that based on the need, we're moving forward even though the clinical trials to test the effectiveness of the vaccine in both cases, the pfizer and moderna have not been completed and they need to be. they need to be completed. >> sure. we appreciate your time and insight and so many questions about the vaccines and distribution. thank you for sharing part of your afternoon with us, doctor. >> you're welcome, thank you very much. all right. coming up at 5:00, our vaccine week coverage helps developing countries get access to the
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satchel paige was still. dominating batters at 59.at 52 celia cruz was still winning grammys at 77 john wheeler illuminated our ideas of the universe at 70 and roger crouch was 56 when he first went into space your best is yet to come time for the four at 4:00. ama and spencer here for the conversation. the nation dipped below 15% in icu capacity.
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you heard that today. capacity is 12.7%. so most of the region adapted -- adopted a stay-at-home order early on but now all counties will have to. they have to be required to shut down by 11:59 tomorrow night so napa, san mateo, santa cruz and solano counties must close hair salons, nail salons, museums and other businesses and end outdoor dining. as of tonight. 39 million california residents will be under stay at home. only rural regions are still not. spencer, i suppose it is not a surprise but when that moment comes it is still hard. >> yeah. that's exactly right. it not a surprise. it painful we have to make these sacrifices but we're talking life and death here and i don't know what more we can do but, you know, abide by the more stringent guidelines. >> ama does this affect you greatly or were you already
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doing those anyway given so many bay area counties were doing it? >> if i could sit inside of a restaurant to eat, i wouldn't. i would do outdoor dining if that was still available. i don't feel comfortable being in someone's house without a mask. i spoke to a friend with a small business in a county that was still open and will shut down and she said it was inevitable. you know, so they knew it was coming. it not great but we are where we are. >> what's scarier is that christmas is coming up. people will gather again. we're seeing the spike from thanksgiving. i'm not sure that we've learned enough to discipline ourselves to not gather but we'll see. hope for the best. major league baseball taking a historic step finally to mark the 100th anniversary of the negro leagues that are reclassifying it as a major league and count statistics and
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records of the 3400 players as part of the history. we're talking about legends, josh gibson, cool papa bell. the league is correcting a long-time oversight in the game's history excluded in 1969 on baseball records. spencer, i know you were an avenue raid baseball fan and have been for decades. we should applaud the guest finally but my goodness, 75 to 100 years late depending when you want to talk about these players. >> yeah, no, you're right about no doubt about that, larry. i'm happy to see this happen even though it is so late. i can't harbor any bitterness about it. i was born in the year jackie robinson broke the color barrier and you and i both know, anyone that knows baseball and the history of this county knows some of the greatest baseball players in the history of the game were in those leagues not allowed to play in the major leagues because they weren't
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quite and it's about time they get recognized and the players that went from the negro leagues into the major leagues, it's time their stats from the earlier play get included with the stats they accumulate when they play in the majors. >> uh-uh. better late than never. >> i was going to say real quick, the next thing they have to take on is less less less les major leaguers are black and that number is dropping and getting that number back up again is something that needs to be addressed. all right. tom cruise takes covid rules seriously. the actor launched an expletive rant at colleagues on the "mission impossible" movie after he spotted two workers failing to abide by social distancing rules in the audio. you can hear the actor warning his crew they will be fired if they are caught not staying six
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feet away from each oether. he's concerned crew members can't pay bills if the movie gets shut down. ama, i listened to the whole thing. did you? >> i didn't. were there a lot of expletives? >> oh, gosh, yeah and he was just ripping the guy a new one. i thought good for you. i mean, he is extreme and kind of odd in someways, a lot of people criticize him for that but in this case, so many jobs are on the line and the industry had that exception to make these movies and they already had a shutdown to that set "mission impossible" before. so i was thinking good for you. >> i would say i think good thing he's taking it seriously. again, i didn't listen to it but perhaps maybe the expletives weren't -- maybe that wasn't necessary but am i the only one that pictures him doing this while jumping on a couch? i always go back to that for some reason. i can't help myself. >> in just an oxford shirt and tie. >> i got to say, i listened to
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the audio and at first i thought somebody secretly recorded me in the sports department. no, okay, it's tom cruise. i'm good. i'm good. this week we're looking at some of the holiday favorites and today we're talking movies, classics like miracle on 34th street to "elf" and the eternal question is "diehard" a christmas movie? it's not because they had other diehards not released at christmas. you can reach me on twitter if you have a problem with that. bha what's your favorite movie to curl up to and drink hot cocoa? "four christmachristmas" is gre. there is one scene where i laugh. i fall down laughing every time even though i know what's coming and john who is an established director actually plays a part in this movie and he is unbelievable. who wants to go first?
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ama? want to go first? >> okay. so i'm going to say, you know, i like some of the modern classics like "elf crist hhristmas va ho home alone." my husband will add to that "gremlin ". "trading places" and "diehard" it a holiday party, larry. come on. >> you know what? john has my number. if he has a problem with me, he knows how to reach me. >> oh, he'll reach you. >> spencer? >> my favorite christmas movie of all time hands down is "love actually." i love british comedy and actors in that film and the love stories that are woven together. "love actually" for sure. >> i -- this is not a classic but i recently watched "dash and lily." i think on netflix. super cute. it's like seven episodes so you watch it like bing watch it in two days.
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be allowed to contact consumers by email, text messages and even social media. now if that sounds a bit inasive, consumer reports says some tips to help manage collection communications. social media connects billions of people with family and friends but soon, you might get a message from someone you'd probably rather ignore. a debt collector. >> a year from now when this new rule takes effect, debt collectors can send an unlimited number of text messages, emails and hit you up on social media as much as they want as well as call you up to seven times a week and sometimes more. >> beginning late next year, collection agencies can greatly expand the way they contact you and 70 million people have a bill in collections, this change affects a lot of people. while trying to collect legitimate debt is legal, the industry has a history of aggressive tactics sometimes trying to collect money from consumers who don't owe it. >> the problem is, debt
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collectors are notorious for hounding consumers over debts that were paid off or never owed in the first place. >> the collection agency welcomes the change saying it is a significant step forward in updating outdated collections practices that hurt small businesses and left consumers in the dark. even with these changes, there are still consumer protections to guard against aggressive unfair and even illegal collections. for example, consumer reports says if a debt collector contacts you, request verification of the debt. you can expect to receive information on the debt in the mail within about five days after your request. >> and many states have a statute of limitation how long debt can actually be collected upon. typically between three and six pafter which, you no longer nee to pay on it. check the laws in your state. do not pay any part of the debt until you are certain that you
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owe it otherwise you can accidently revive old debt you no longer owe. >> if you don't recognize the charge, get a copy of the credit report to make sure you weren't the victim of identity theft. you can get free credit reports. if you do owe the money but can't afford to pay, try to negotiate a lower repayment amount and a payment plan you can afford. facebook, which also owns instagram told consumer reports in a statement we are in the process of reviewing this new rule and will work with the consumer financial protection burro over the coming months to understand it's effect on the people who use our services. twitter did not immediately response to a request for comment. larry, kristen, can you imagine finding out you have a debt just signing on trying to see what your cousins or nephews are up to? >> that's a hard no. no. not what you want to see.
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all right, michael, thank you. well, counting down to christmas. >> three, two, one. [ cheers ] >> the south bay family lighting up the holidays. the special appearance tonight on abc 7. dan is here with what is coming up on abc 7 news at 5:00, dan. >> a restaurant owner shares her struggle to survive during the shutdown. >> our neighbors have been very supportive since we've reopened this time. >> new at 5:00, the san francisco neighborhood showing support to keep a neighborhood business in business. concerns over distribution disparities involving covid-19 vaccines. a potential lingering crisis that won't recognize borders. and the power of a pet. the amazing response when a pet owner shared his grief online after his dog died. those stories and more when
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tonight on abc 7 it's the great christmas light fight starting at 8:00 followed by "for life" at 10:00. then stay with us for abc 7 news at 11:00. tonight's two-hour great christmas light fight includes a bay area home. it features thousands of lights, hundreds of yards of decorations and decades of memories. abc 7 news south bay community journalist dustin dorsey takes you up close at at at at at lights.
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>> reporter: here in san jose we take christmas displays seriously. houses, neighborhoods, even public parks transform every holiday season. but no one does it quite like the matos family orchard. >> we have a traditional mixed with a light show display which is more unique and getting more popular because you have that christmas tradition along with the fun lights and music. >> about three years ago i kind of stopped counting but i know i'm over 100,000 lights and i'm over like 200 globals. there's a lot to see. and we're spread out throughout the orchard. you're going to have to drive up and down the street a few times, walk around to see everything. my personal display normally takes me about three weeks to put up. my display is divided up into lands. you're kind of like at the north pole and santa's like factory. my personality light section i pride myself most about is the tree farm. i go by j.r. but my real name's john and i'm the fourth.
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and my son's the fifth. and all five of us have an elf in that section, which is pretty cool because it has my great grandfather, my grandfather and my dad also. being on the christmas light fight is amazing. i've been lucky enough to be in the audience a few times in the past and for it to be my chance to be on it was pretty incredible. and the experience that night and my whole family, my kids will never forget being on the christmas light fight. it's been really cool to continue on with the family tradition that my family always decorated the orchard for years and then i kind of took over with my grandfather and we kind of went crazy but then i took over solo and went beyond crazy and turned it into what we have now, which was good enough to be on the christmas light fight which i think is actually good enough to win the great christmas light fight. >> you can catch the mattos family tonight on the great christmas light fight with a two-episode special starting at 8:00 p.m. right here on abc 7. in san jose dustin dorsey, abc 7
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new covid restrictions are going into effect in several bay area counties. what it means where you live. >> i see light at the end of the tunnel. words of hope from local health care workers. we are there as an east bay hospital begins vaccinating its workers. [ cheers and applause ] cheering as covid vaccinations begin across the united states. but there is growing concern that at least 70 countries could face a long wait. and the struggle to stay in business. a locally owned restaurant in san francisco is pulling out all the stops to try to stay afloat. abc 7 news at 5:00 starts right now. >> announcer: building a better bay area for a safe and secure future. this is abc 7 news.
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