abc7 news interview with president biden. >> reopening in orange, rules in effect. ♪ every patient will be careful in a time of need ♪ okay. a group of doctors do not want you to miss your shots, the hamilton-inspired video they put together. >> st. patrick's day and we go to meteorologist mike nicco. hi, mike. on this st. patrick's day we'll see a lot of gray. the storm will bring us rain as early as tonight. right now, enjoy dry conditions as you can see. here's a look at our roof camera. it's 45 degrees in the embarcadero. 32 to 41.

another chilly morning. low to mid-50s at noon. some upper fist of the upper fi 4:00. things will be getting back to normal. starting today people can be inside restaurants and places of worship and bars can open up. reporter amy hollyfield has more. >> reporter: the bars can now open outdoors, so big news for them. restaurants won't need them as much because they can open more indoors. a lot of change coming to san mateo county. it's the first one in the bay area to hit the orange tier. restaurants will now be able to fill up half of their dining

rooms, half of of of of of rooms. good news. gyms are allowing 25% more capacity. indoor dining. laser tag and bouncy houses. businesses are thrilled. they told us this shutdown has been tough on them. this allows them to bring back some employees and hope it will bring them much needed business. it's another step getting back to normal as the number of covid cases continue to go down. live in burlingame, amy hollyfield. san francisco is expected to hit the orange tier yesterday. mayor london breed said the orange tier rules may stricter than the state's guidelines. more details will be announced tomorrow. you can see where your

county stands in the reopening process anytime on our website. this map shows what's open in any tear. the covid-19 variant first discovered in the uk was discovered in contra costa county. health officials said there are likely many more cases that have not been detected. the variant is more than others and possibly deadly. dr. anthony fauci will testify before a panel on vaccinating americans. it will include cdc director rochelle walensky. president biden wants all americans to be eligible for a vaccine by may 1st. authorities are trying to figure out

deadly shooting at three massage parlor parlors. eight people were killed and six of the victims were asian- american women. they have identified a suspect as 21-year-old robert long. police said they are increasing patrols around similar businesses. this morning we're hearing from the victim of attack on an asian-american. 59-year-old danilo yu chang was attacked. chang believes he was targeted because he's a chinese filipino man. police said there's in evidence of that. chang said he now fears san francisco and is looking to move out of state >> san francisco is deteriorating now. it's all gone and it's a

dangerous place to walk. it's not safe anymore. >> police have arrested 32-year- old jorge davis milton in connection to the case and a stabbing in san francisco's mission district. part of building a better bay area is fighting for racial and social justice. the woman who caught sneaking on to planes in the be a area and across the nation is at it again. she was taken into custody at chicago's o'hare airport. she has been arrested numerous times. this morning the situation at the southern border is getting worse. the homeland security chief said they are bracing for more migrant as children overrun facilities designed for adults.

now president biden is responding in an interview with abc news. what is the president saying. >> reporter: the president is telling migrants not to come, putting it just like that as they grapple with the humanitarian crisis at the border. the white house refusing to allow journalists inside to see the conditions but two lawyers who were let in are painting a picture of inhumane conditions. some being forced to sleep on floors. others haven't showered in a week. president biden said this also happened during the trump presidency. >> first of all, there was a surge in the last two years in '19 and '20. >> this one could be worse. >> it could be. first of all, the idea that joe biden said come because i heard

the other day they're coming because they know i'm a nice guy. >> they're saying this. >> yes. well, here's the deal. they're not. >> reporter: the biden administration is bringing in foam a to help and open new facilities that will be temporary including the possibility of housing some at moffitt field. coming up on gma, george stephanopoulos asks the president what he would say to people refusing to get the vaccine and whether he thinks new york governor andrew cuomo should resign. financial sanctions were announced against 24 chinese officials for undermining democratic freedoms in hong song. tony blinken said it was in

response to rewriting election laws and it's a violation of the agreement it made with china in 1997 when hong kong, a british colony, was returned to china. coming up, the man chosen to lead san jose's police department. plus, an investigation underway in southern california. what officials say caused this deadly blast. >> it as partly cloudy on the peninsula. your outdoor activities today, temperatures mainly in the 50s to 60 with

you cop common fuse this for tahoe but it's actually

santa clara county rounding by snow. isn't that absolutely gorgeous. did you know mount hamilton ow m averages 17.7 inches of snow per year. a record. that's pretty impressive. all right. let's take a look at the valley. the 40 in san jose. we've got low to upper 30s. mid to upper 30s in east bay valleys. upper 30s around the bay. so thursday and friday, rain and then showers. a little more in our hills. breezes around 25 to 35. here we go. .5:00 in the morning most of the steady rain will be in the north bay with drizzle and patchy rain. that will increase as we head throughout the day and into the evening hours when this becomes moderate. then it transitions to showers.

we have several commutes that will be wet. let's talk to jobina about what she's seeing. hi, jobina. good morning. unfortunately, we have development in geyserville. it's not a primary commute but we have a sig alert, so please avoid it. this is northbound 101 at the t geyserville on-ramp a deadly crash there. moving to san jose another crash before taylor street that was causing an earlier slowdown that appears to be clearing. we'll check out the live camera. metering lights are not on yet. it's beginning to get a little snow as you can see there. ones you get through the lights and on to the bridge asasasas checking in further, walnut creek at 69 680.

we expect to hear from san jose's new police chief this morning. anthony mata is holding a meeting with city council members many he will take on his new role monday. he's been with the department for 25 years. he addressed the council yesterday afternoon. >> i'm really honored and beyond words, i'm just grateful for this opportunity to lead the workforce and to make our communities safe. >> mata beat out three other finalists. earlier this week abc7 news spoke with the former police officer who's a transgender woman. she worked with mata sending a letter saying that he is transphobic. he replace eddie garcia who retired last year before

becoming the police chief in dallas. still ahead, doctors are urging people to not throw away their shot. a look at the hamilton-inspired video. and we are getting into the st. patrick's day spirit with these viral dancers. the moves are

this morning federal officials are joining an investigation into an explosion of fireworks in southern california. the blast caught several buildings including two homes on fire mapped two people were killed. neighbors described feeling what felt like small

earthquakes. >> fire shooting everywhere. people started running. >> the fireworks blowing across the street. we heard a big bloom. every single window is out. glass is everywhere. >> place say it could take up to four days to declare this hear safe. in the south bay, employees with the vta have begun getting their vaccinations. 100vta employees who work on location got their shot at the fairgrounds. >> it's been a long time coming. i'm glad to be here and be part of the process, anything to help the public. >> educators from across the county also received it at the fairground. we are going to shelter in place. those earlier evidents were held by dr. sara cody. she said that was one of the

easiest decisions she had to make since the start of the pandemic. >> we had enough signals that we were in trouble and not enough tools to address. it so the shelter in place was the one thing we knew we could do to protect people. i don't think we ever, ever imagined that we would be sheltering as long last we did. >> dr. cody and her family have dealt with multiple threats over the past year. >> i feel like things are banning to ease as we gettings vaccinated. our case numbers are coming down. to me, it feels like much of the economy is open. i desperately hope that our kids get back in school and see their teachers in person. so i hope that that sort of threat will subside. it certainly feels like it's beginning to subside a little bit. >> dr. code dip and her family

remains under protection of the santa clara sheriff's office. well, today is st. patrick's day, usually known for parades and parties but the pandemic puts a damper on everything, including this. experts remind us to be careful because when you drink, you let your guards down a bit. bit. wearing masks, social distancing and avoiding crowds still applies. if an entire group has been vaccinated, then you don't have to worry as much. >> the cdc came out in support of that as well. we'll continue to see more that vaccinated people are more likely to transmit a virus at all, but as we're learning that, we're recommending vaccinated people to follow the precautions. >> if you still don't have your vaccine, maybe outdoors is the

place to hang out. a group of dancers in ireland have been getting a lot of attention ahead of st. patrick's day. okay. this is the dance group in ireland. they've gone viral on for their mashup of irish dance. they will be live on gma on cliff. >> was it the cliffs of moore? >> yeah, that one. >> if a been there. >> have you? >> fascinating. yeah, before the pandemic, we went over to ireland land isn't a week there. it really, really -- the food is a lot better than it used to be. i recommend it. we walked the cliffs of moore. because it's so windy there,

the water falls were actually going up the cliffs instead of down the cliffs. it was really neat. i would recommend it. let's take exploreatorium. brighter spring warmth that builds through the weekend. let's the take a look at the area of low pressure. that is well off the coast, about 800 miles but it will be bearing down in ththth clouds. so just increasing clouds cooler than average. 54 at half moon bay and morgan hill at 62 degrees. around the state clouds will take over, 50s and 60s until you get down to the mountains where it will be quiet until 12:00. noon for about 36 hours.

we're looking at the possibility of 18 inches of snow and gusts up to 50 miles an hour. mid to upper 40s when we become a one on the storm many act scale because of the light to moderate scale that will plague us. friday morning turns over to showers. it will be less rain coming down but a lot of leftover rain still on the roads. look at the sunshine starting with astronomical spring. temperatures back to average. by the time we get to tuesday, away from the coach, we're looking at 70s. get ready north rain. kumasi, reggie? >> ginger zee has a look at what's ahead. coming up on gmgmgmgmgmgmgm jackson, mississippi, tupelo in

the risk for storms and george stephanopoulos going one on one with president biden. and what he's saying about governor cuomo and his

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all right. let's take a look at the san mateo bridge. pollen will be high today, to pollen, cedar, oak, juniper and point air quality will be good to moderate but mainly good the next couple of days. here's a quick look at what ginger was talking about a risk. the south bracing for deadly tornadoes. reggie? with the vaccine finder

app will locate vaccines given near you. apple maps is marking covid testing sites. this comes after facebook debuted a locator on its platform. we've been waiting for this. the broadway musical hamilton gets special treatment some doctors in vacaville. ♪ i'm not throwing away my shot ♪ >> so members of the group -- okay, i was man. this is the group vaccin eight. they said it took them four months to produce the song and

the video. worth it. >> this is really -- really good. >> i'm amazed. >> complicated edits. the whole setup at home. i like it. lights. thank you for telling me top stay out of that man's business. >> his stood out. i felt like he could be somewhere on the stage, just the way he was doing that. >> i would like to see more. >> coming up next at 6:30, a desperate move to win homecoming queen. what investigators said a mom in florida and her 17-year-old daughter did that got them in trouble with the law. signatures are due in the

building a better bay area for a safe and secure area, this is abc7 news the mayor just issued a statement on the rising concerns of asian-americans being attacked across the country. >> the latest on the recall of governor gavin newsom and the governor's response. i can't keep keep keep working >> the county reopening orange tier. >> good morning, everyone. it's wednesday, march 17th. we'll start with mike and his green. hi, everybody. let's see if the weather will help you out and it should. we're looking at a quiet

doppler. pretty clear, a few clouds dotting the sky over san jose. about 40 degrees. so it's definitely chilly this morning. low to mid-50s with increasing clouds with low 50s at the coast, upper 50s for the rest of us at 4:00. 48 to 54 under cloudy conditions when the sun is setting. future radar. we'll take a look mat it and time out our storm. that's coming in tonight. here's reggie. more businesses, including bars, can reopen in san mateo. it's the first local county to reach the orange tear in recent months. abc7's amy hollyfields had more on what is now allowed. hi, amy. >> reporter: good morning. big news for restaurants. they can welcome in more people from these outdoor areas. really good news for bars. they are now allowed to offer outdoor surface san mateo is the first county to hit this

orange tier this year. restaurants can now fill up to half of their dining room. gyms can fill up their capacity. indoor entertainment companies like laser tag, those bouncy houses can open up to 25%. they said the shutdown has been tough. they hope this will bring them much needed business. it's a step toward getting back to normal. reporting live in burlington, amy hollyfield. with the county now in the orange tier, the bell month school district will be moving forward with both hybrid learning and distance learning. preschool and second graders will be returning to campus.

after spring break third grade through fifth grade will be returning to the classroom on monday april 5th. mt. diablo will hybrid learning model. the plan calls for students to learn remotely during the morning. for afternoon classes students can choose to come into the classroom for part of the if it's ratified, the school board will ally it on friday. there will be a special clinic that's already booked up. they expect to have another one on april 14th. in oakland, the coliseum is giving out second dose. it's one of two federally supported sites in the state. the other is in l.a the

vaccination site at san francisco's city college is expected to reopen today. it closed yesterday because they ran out of vaccine. we're learning ucsf study. participants will undergo blood draws to determine baseline levels. >> what we know from the flu vaccine is that stress dampens the immune response i think getting seven hours a sleep at night is critical but especially around the vaccination period. >> the boost study is looking for a diverse group of participants who will be paid.

more information is on abc7news.com. today is the day for a a group to submit its recall signatures. >> reporter: the group needs 1.5 million signatures. the organizer said they have exceeded that with 2 million signatures but hundreds of thousands must be validated by election officials on monday. newsom depicted them as political extremists loyal to former president donald trump and said the given unfair advantages. >> they believe we should microchip migrants. they were aided by a judge and new by the rnc, that's the

second largest contributor to this effort. >> reporter: meanwhile former republican congressman doug ocey has entered the race. he joins the former mayor of san diego and businessman john cox. >> we have information on how the recall works. it takes you through it step. it's available for roku, fire tv and android. at the point at which the restrictions of california have in place not only a lack of compelling justification but to be doing arm, they should in the continue for another day. >> assembly member kevin kylie of rock and plans to introduce

a resolution. some lawmakers blame newsom for the slope return of in-person learning in california. still ahead, a reminder to check your bank account. why many people may be seeing some extra green on this st. patrick's day. >> taking a look at the big board, up by 35 points. another update next. a mother-daughter duo in trouble with the law. the lengths they went to make sure the queen won the homecoming crown. >> why must they be from florida? why? >> it's either there or texas when it comes to clear leading and homecoming. i've seen these movies before on lifetime. >> not lifetime. >> i'm not sure where it was but i've seen this movie before. doesn't end well. it just doesn't end well. can we not learn from people's

past mistakes. all right. let's take a look. happy st. patrick's day. get to wear green, the first time in years. that's our spread across san francisco. look at that. 33 in pet that houma. 39 up in the east bay hills. we'll use this clean backdrop and almost cloud free. it's nice. it will be dry all day. light breezes. it's cool, cold this morning. cool this afternoon thanks to the hear of high pressure, but tonight and tomorrow it will bring us light to moderate rain and some leftever showers for friday. you can see the line moving into the north bay by 5:00 with the rest of us some drizzle to some spotty light rain. that will continue through

9:00. as we head into the afternoon and evening hours yellow shows up. then it turns into showers a we head through thursday night no friday morning. then as we head no friday afternoon and evening there may be a rogue shower across the north bay and monterey bay. three quarters of anen in the north bay. up to an inch and quarter in the mountains. so food healthy rain. hi, jobina. >> hi, mike. we have an update in geyserville. according to chp there was drinking. that's northbound 101 at the geyserville on-ramp. there's in backup because this is not a primary corridor but heads up if you move through the area. i want to show you the bay

bridge toll plaza. metering lights came on at 6:20. i also want to check in on another spot outside so you can see what the conditions are like on the san mateo bridge, definitely slow as well as you make your way

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we have developing news on a shooting spree in atlantament eight people were killed when someone opened fire on three massage parlors. >> reporter: atlanta's mayor just released a new statement on this. she's saying that quote, a crime against any community is a crime against us all. police said six of the the the

victims are of asian descent. all three of the massage parlors were owned by asian- americans. the shooting started about 5:00 local time. four people were killed. about an hour later four more people were killed in at two other massage parlors. police arrested 21-year-old robert long. president biden has been briefed on the shootings. there has been an increase of attacks on asian-americans, many tied to the racist believe that they are somehow responsible for the coronavirus. agencies across the country have stepped up patrols in asian communities in response to what happened in atlanta. >> thank you, jobina the lawyers for the former police officer who killed george floyd have asked a judge

to bring up the the the trial. derek chauvin's attorneys want to argue that he is partly responsible for his own death. the prosecutor argues that which you vin's attorney is trying to smear floyd. homecoming hockey. a mother and daughter in pensacola, florida, are accused of rigging the homecoming. laura rose carroll daughter emily rose grove did that. carroll logged into the account because he is was the assistant principal at another school district. the whole this morning came as

a shock to the community i didn't think anything of this until i was put into the office. the other girls that could have been one of the runnerups, i feel bad for them because that was an opportunity that they lost. >> car rom and grover face felony charges. grover got expelled from school and carroll got suspended from her job. you might want to call it the luck of irish because your stimulus money may arrive today. this is according to the trade group that handles the processing. that means any pending status that people saw over the weekend could be officially cleared. all right. let's take a look at the new york stock exchange as trading gets underway this morning. we are still up by almost 100 points. honda said supply complain issues are causing them to

production. officials blame the pandemic, congestion at various airports and a microchip shortage. a 102 grandma from arizona and her great grandson reunite after being separated for a year. watch as they cecece dance party. after and love and lot of smooth moves as julie joins brody. brody's mom said she was going to introduce her to the first grade class but she didn't do. it julie just jumped right in. you can see the great grandson loses his footing for a second and falls to the floor but grandma just keeps on going. there it goes. >> and i'm back up. i'm back up.

>> back up. >> that's cute. >> i kind of thought we were going to get a third st. patrick's day look. are you saving that for the and of the show? >> yes. >> okay. we'll wait. >> okay. looking forward to it. >> i hope it's worth it. got a lot to live up to, now. we've got some new video, severe weather blowing through the dallas-fort worth area. here's a look at when the power went out as of 5:30 this morning. 30,000 people were in the dark. you can see the gusty winds out of the strong to severe thunderstorms. they are marching across the east texas all the way up to arkansas, stretching through st. louis. this is the beginning of what could be a very dangerous outbreak that only happens two or three times a year. we get a high risk of violent

conditions coming together to create long track tornadoes. ginger zee will be in the beginning of this on "good morning america." we're watching this cold front. it's spreading high clouds today but rain, that comes in tonight. so for our highlights below and average highs. light rain, which becomes moderate tomorrow afternoon. wednesday we get into the weekend, we'll have 70s in the forecast. today mid to upper 50s. 57 to 62 around the bay and inland. 50s at 5:00. we'll stay in the fit fist everywhere except for the coast where we fall into the 40s. tonight you'll see we flip over to a light storm with drizzle to light rain with temperatures in the mid to upper 40s. the rain will get heavier. it will rain for several hours

anding with some showers friday morning. by tuesday 60 at the coast and near 70 for the restrestrest be careful. kumasi, reggie? an evident to stop oakland's schools from having in-person learning. there will be a car caravan. organizers believe covid transmission rates are still too high and families would lose unemployment benefits if campuses were to reopen. they want teachers to vote no. oakland leaders are trying to bridge the digital divide. 97% of oakland's low income students are students of color. >> we have taken this month, found a silver lining in the

tragedy of covid to close the digital divide for good, forever. let us get rid of the digital divide in oakland. >> the mayor is crediting credi team oakland undivided. yesterday the team delivered the 25th 25,000 25,000 25,000 2 the san francisco board of supervisors could have opted to have the attract removed. the ferris wheel was put in to celebrate the 150th anniversary but the pandemic hit so it had to be shut down. now it's staying until 2025.

in the absence of burning man, this project has been promoted as a surreal camping and arts festival. organizers plan for up to 15,000 attendees. now they say there are safety initiatives in place but the permit to hold the event got denied. plans to scale down are now underway. although tickets are on sale in san francisco. no announcement has been made. the websites had opened ticket sales. the lineup will be the from when it was canceled. >> things are opening back up. >> i guess they are. can we get back to a little place called florida? >> yes, we can. >> now i assume you know all the people in florida.

did you know this girl running for homecoming queen? >> yeah. >> you talked to her. >> she thought she had a good shot but she wanted to call in all ore resources. >> the theme for glitter under the sea, you never ge glitter out it's everthere, not to cheat. lose your job and get kicked out of school. the crown is not worth it. >> coming up, the seven things you need to know today. >> you can get breaking news, weather and more on apple tv, fire tv and roku. >> now taking a look this is a no-nonsense message from three. small business insurance is usually so complicated, you need to be a lawyer to understand it.

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it is 6:54.

here are seven things to know. police arrested a man on a string of shootings. >> number two. do not come. president biden with a message for bidens fleeing the border. what else he's been saying in an exclusive interview with george stephanopoulos on gma. number three, san mateo becomes the first to move foot orange tier. number four, today deadline for organizers in the governor newsom recall effort to submit signatures. organizers say they have over 2 million. >> number five, this time tomorrow morning it will be raining for most of us. that will continue throughout the day into friday. it's a one on our

>> number six, we have a backup. everything is at the limit on the bay bridge. number seven, since it's st. patrick's day we want to show you this group. they've gone viral for their mashup of traditional irish dance and modern music. they will be live on gma, which is coming up right after our show. >> please welcome mike mcnicco. mcnicco. i like that. i do have irish in me. it's hard to tell. do you like this one? >> that is the best of them all. >> that's the combo. do it all. >> put the tie on. >> do it all. does it say kiss

>> yes. >> you have won official

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charger or a $500 pulic charging credit. see your volvo retailer for details. good morning, america. abc news exclusive. one-on-one with president biden as the new president faces a pandemic still ravaging the nation. when is everything going to be normal for americans? >> the growing crisis at the border. a lot of the migrants are coming in saying you promised to make things better. do you have to say quite clearly don't come? >> and news this morning about vladimir putin. do you think he's a killer? >> uh-huh, i do. >> also what he's saying now about governor cuomo. if the investigation confirms the claims of the women, should he resign? and his message for americans refusing the vaccine. >> i can hug my grandkids now. >> the candid interview with a brand-new president as he grapples with some of the biggest problems in generations.