chase. make more of what's yours. >> can look at the areas on alert. >> where hours away from red flag warning. where and how long the danger will remain high. cruise for the higher touches on a new cova testing site today. the particular group health officials are called -- are testing. >> i don't think that has been proven. i.t. -- i team. she is fighting for her job and facing accusations of misconduct. governor gavin newsom is the only democrat in the recall election. a look at the nine democrats in the race and the front runner who is a millionaire youtube star. >> building a better bay area.

moving forward, finding solutions. this is abc 7 news. >> pg&e is warning it will likely be forced to cut power and parts of northern california tonight to prevent wire fires. >> customers across 19 counties have been notified, including thousands in the bay area. >> numeral watching abc 7 news at 5:00 live on abc 7, who live and wherever you stream. escalated fire danger starts tonight, strong winds expected and power shut off notices to more than 52,000 customers. >> there is a look where customers could be in the dark tonight. more 334 in contra costa county. 16 customers in alameda county. most of those under the planned power shut off are in butte and shasta county's. >> those numbers and the weather are rapidly changing. to track it all, we have lived team coverage.

let's start with meteorologist sandy a patel. >> the danger is there because the winds will turn gusty offshore, drawing winds prompting the red flag warning. 11:00 p.m. tonight. it runs until 3:00 p.m. tonight. it is until 8:00 p.m. tomorrow. the winds will gust 35 to 55 miles an hour. humanity plunges. any fires that develop will quickly spread, the most critical area will be napa county where the highest threat is expected in the mountains. 4:00 a.m., the winds are gusting 22 to 36 miles an hour gusting to 40 miles an hour as we head into 10:00 a.m.. the fire danger, just running high, especially. given the drought situation. . will be back within our by our look at the rest of the wind forecast coming up. >> thank you. let's check in with news reporter leslie brinkley in contra costa county where there is the potential for a power shut off.

what is the latest you are hearing? reporter: just a couple hours ago, pg&e added contra costa county to their list of potential locations for those psp as power shut off due to the high winds in the red flag warning you just heard about. 334, not many, but but but but residential and business customers in this county have already been notified. but the numbers keep shifting just like the windows. perilous dry brush and drought conditions will be amplified by low humidity and high winds with the red flag warning for the east bay hills, and the north bay. pg&e warned public safety safety power shutoffs where possible. >> the majority of the customers are in the sierra foothills. the north state up in shasta and butte county's. >> over 40,000 customers are facing power outages to prevent

wildfires. in the bay area, things looked tamer in the morning with a few thousand notified in napa county, a few hundred in sonoma and 44 in the llano. by midday, the number soared to nearly 4000 in napa, including anglin and pope valley. over 1600 customers affected in sonoma. 16 added in alameda county. hundreds in contra costa county later in the day. pg&e says they have been able to narrow down the scope of these outages. >> we are not seeing the very large psp has outages we had seen a couple years ago. >> and the oakland hills, the fire department is asking for the public's help. >> port anything you see immediately. don't use power equipment in dry grass. don't sit idle on the side of the road. and potentially cause the hillside to catch on fire. reporter: parched land and intense winds for -- parched a

fire in 1991, nearly 30 years ago, destroying 3000 homes and killing 25. roving fire patrols will be out in the east bay hills overnight . oakland fire says bay area fire departments are stretched extremely thin as an example. they say they usually have a kyle -- a calfire staged up in the oakland hills. at has been diverted and is now up by the dixie fire line in northern california. again, a reminder, those high winds are already feeling them start to kick up, are supposed to be a problem starting at 11:00 tonight, until 3:00 tomorrow. in lafayette, leslie brinkley, abc 7 news. >> thank you for that update. you can track the air quality and winds any time with our real-time weather tracker. this tool is live on our abc 7 bay area connected tv app. download the tv app wherever you stream. >> nuts move on to the pandemic.

a it covid-19 testing site is set to open in san francisco. this is located at seventh and brennan streets in the soma neighborhood. abc 7 news reporter lian menendez shows us the site will be able to administer 500 test today -- a day seven days a week. reporter: by tomorrow, this lot at seventh and brennan streets will start testing hundreds of people a day for covid. the site will be open seven days a week from 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. priority will be given to so-called disaster service workers who have been exposed to the virus. and to community members involved in potential outbreaks. >> when we see an uptick in cases, tcases, t susceptible communities like shelters and skilled nursing facilities. and with school opening monday, we wanted to make sure we had capacity to support. 20 when it comes to testing si according to the mayor's office, the average number of covid cases in san francisco is 230

per day. it dramatic increase since june 15 when the state fully reopened. back then, the seven day average in san francisco was 10. the general public is encouraged to go to their providers. if not, these three sites are available by making an appointment by their website. those who are not vaccinated are told to get tested immediately if they think they have been exposed. >> probate is becoming a vaccine preventable disease. those that are fully vaccinated, while the vaccine is not 100%, it is really good. reporter: at a recent school opening, the san francisco mayor took the opportunity to encourage people to get vaccinated. >>'s december 1 of last year, 1800 people have been hospitalized in san francisco. only six of those people were vaccinated. that should give them enough reason that not one of those six

people died. >> for those who are fully vaccinated,, the cdc recommends getting tested three to five days after a potential exposure, even if you have no symptoms. as for tomorrow -- as of tomorrow, but cisco will have the capacity to test up to 5000 people a day. in the newsroom, lian menendez, abc 7 news. >> thank you. if you want to get tested for covid-19, we have a link to verified covid sites on our website. you can find that on abc7news.com/vaccine. >> students return to classrooms today. parents dropped off their young ones at the mary farmer elementary school. masks are mandatory and officials are taking precautions to keep everyone safe from covid-19. the district is offering vaccinations for students 12 and older, though vaccinations are not mandatory for students. last will have windows open, lunch periods will be spent outdoors. >> new developments in the santa clara county sheriff's battle to keep her job, a day after san

jose mayor sam liccardo danette -- demanded she resign, laurie smith called a news conference. she did not just let issue ñ i team dan noyes asked her about it. reporter: santa clara county sheriff had her command staff stand behind her for this news conference, one day after san jose mayor called on her to resign. >> time for concern is long past. sheriff smith must resign. reporter: sheriff smith did not address the mayor's demand through her entire presentation. sheba mount a lack of staffing proposed building a jail and discussed how inmates, are volunteering to painter current jail. so i had to bring it up. >> you have not address the mayor's call for you to address. will you resign? >> i have heard of it of course. and we are going to do these investigations. let's see what the truth is. at this time, no. reporter: the 70-year-old has no plans to retire, even though two of hearst -- her top staff have

been charged any bribery scandal . lori smith refused to answer questions before the grand jury. mayor liccardo said that is enough reason for the sheriff to be removed. >> refused to answer that grand jury's questions about the concealed carry scandal. >> i think that is a right everyone has. during the investigation, the das office never asked me any questions, i didn't know what the investigation was about. and that is my right and i'm glad i did it. reporter: did you know that you were -- that your top aides were demanded campaign contributions in exchange for concealed carry permits? i'm asking you. did you know that they were demanding campaign contributions for concealed carry permits? >> i don't think that has been proven. >> you know? i'm asking you, did you know or did you direct them? >> not one to answer that. reporter: to whom?

laura smith did get support from an unlikely ally, who sued the sheriff and the county, earning multimillion dollar settlements for the families of michael tyree, killed by jail deputies into a 15, and andy hogan badly injured in a jail transport in 2018. >> kit a fundamentally broken system. if you want to attack the sheriff for trying to do a job that jails were not ever intended to be treatment facilities for mentally ill people, you are going to have problems. reporter: during this afternoon's county board of supervisors meeting, another major figure called on the sheriff to resign. judge lou dors coto who chaired jail reform after michael tyree's death. >> none of us, the correctional officers, many of whom were presumed to be innocent, the community and our country leaders, should not have to put up with the sheriff's ineptitude that borders on criminal indifference. reporter:reporter: board voted

to refer the matter to the u.s. department of justice for investigation. this is fueling those who would oppose smith in the upcoming election. i spoke to one of her former top aides, the county coroner, who says he is planning a possible run for this coming june. in san jose, dan noyes, abc 7 news. >> how a social media dealing with the taliban takeover? effort to manage information out of afghanistan and what experts say should be done. >> you have heard about the republicans running in the recall. what do you know about the democratic candidates? i have a at metro by t-mobile... ...we don't think you should pay extra for unlimited 5g. introducing the big 5g upgrade. ditch boost and cricket... ...and save half when you switch. just twenty-five bucks a month for one line of unlimited smartphone data.

with 5g access included. plus get a free samsung galaxy five g with trade in. all on the power of the t-mobile 5g network. rule your day with the big five g upgrade. only at metro. to be a thriver with metastatic breast cancer means asking for what we want, and need... and we need more time. so, we want kisqali. living longer is possible and proven with kisqali when taken with a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor in premenopausal women with hr+, her2- metastatic breast cancer. kisqali is a pill that's significantly more effective at delaying disease progression versus a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor alone. kisqali can cause lung problems or an abnormal heartbeat, which can lead to death. it can cause serious skin reactions, liver problems, and low white blood cell counts that may result in severe infections. tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including breathing problems, cough, chest pain, a change in your heartbeat, dizziness, yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine,

tiredness, loss of appetite, abdomen pain, bleeding, bruising, fever, chills, or other symptoms of an infection, a severe or worsening rash, are or plan to become pregnant, or breastfeeding. avoid grapefruit during treatment. kisqali is not approved for use with tamoxifen. ask your doctor about living longer with kisqali. liz: we have heard from people asking for guidance on what to do about the second question, who do replace governor newsom with if he is recalled? we have told you about many of the republicans running to replace him. there are also nine democrats. in addition to the 23 republicans running to replace governor gavin newsom, there are

nine democrats also on the ballot. the leading democratic option according to recent polling is 29-year-old kevin packrat, a real estate investor from ventura who has made millions on his meat kevin youtube channel. >> that's why we want to bring jfk style leadership to california. >> another democratic candidate is vote -- is a retired airport analyst. >> what would you do on day one as governor? >> i will work to push the legislature to the left, because i support fundamental change. i'm a burning democrat. >> is free-speech attorney daniel watts from san diego. if you have seen our documentary, you will remember he was the college student who ran back during that who thousand three -- about 2003 recall election. unlike most candidates, watts supports newsom and planes to vote no on the recall. if newsom loses, he wants your vote. why did you decide to run? >> i so no other candidate in

the race, and really no other prominent politician in california addressing two things that i think are big problems. the college affordability crisis and the problem with free-speech and a lack of respect for it. >> 13 are six other democrats running, including a physician, a yoga instructor and college student who is promoting his campaign on tiktok. >> education, social security. >> governor newsom has urged democrats to not vote at all and leave it blank. >> the end of the day, we vote no. >>'s candidates say it is important to vote for a backup candidate. >> if you do that, you are voting for larry elder. that is what is going to happen. >> neither of the state democratic or republican parties have endorsed an alternate candidate. the l.a. times editorial board has come out against the recall. as far as the second question, they have backed kevin falconer. they say he is the "least bad option."

developing news on the fall of afghanistan. the u.s. state department it has received word that taliban will allow americans and afghans who help the u.s. to leave the country. tens of thousands of people are waiting at the international airport in kabul. the only place in the country still under american control. the top u.s. military commander is there overseeing efforts to secure the airport. humanitarian airlift has been operating nonstop, evacuating people out of the country. the taliban's return to power is raising questions about how social media should handle the situation. experts say it will be no easy task for companies like facebook and twitter to figure out how to handle the situation. >> the pennies have a legal right to carry their sites. we urge when they make those decisions, they do so within the human rights framing that is respectful for the more broad free-speech principles that are at play. >> facebook issued a statement saying "the taliban is sanctioned as a terrorist organization under u.s. law, and

they are banned from our services under our dangerous organizations policies. this means we remove accounts but -- maintain on behalf of the taliban and prohibit praise, support and representation of them." twitter told us "we will continue to proactively enforce our rules and review content that may violate twitter rules, specifically policies against glorification of violence and platform manipulation and spam." >> coming up, dramatic video shows a new wild near lake tahoe that is exploding in size.

>> vital water services are getting a boost. the announcement of an approval of three water infrastructure loans, totaling more than $168 million to two local agencies. >> these improvements will provide customers with more reliable wastewater service, while better protecting the community in nearby waterways from sewer overflows. >> silicon valley clean water is

getting two of the loans totaling $143 million in san lorenzo, overseeing $25 million. the money will repair aging pipes and the ease bay and go to a new water treatment facility in redwood city. the projects will help create more than 2000 jobs. in the icon has a new owner. 24 story office tower at 1111 broadway has been picked up for more than $327 million, reported by the east bay times. the buyer was swift real estate partners in the building was soaked -- sold by the region's office by the university of california. >> really dramatic images to share of a new wild fire burning southwest of lake tahoe. look at this time lapse video showing the cal door fire which nearly doubled in size overnight. all the smoke is affecting air quality in the tahoe and reno area. . governor newsom proclaimed. a state of emergency for el dorado county because of the fire.

cal fire urged people who plan on leaving south lake tahoe soon to leave now as the fire could force the closure of highway 50 in the area. 6500 acres have burned. there is no containment yet. >> i'm looking at pictures now coming on twitter. it looks pretty scary and dyer out there right now. sandhya: absolutely. we are talking about things worsening out there. smoke from those fires up in northern california and the sierra will be heading in our direction. i want to show you right now a live look at blue skies for a change from our golden gate bridge camera. we did get fresh, clean air. 78, concord. live view from our san jose camera, you are seeing the sun shining. this was really hazy if you were with us yesterday. mid to upper 60's from san francisco to oakland. 24 hour temperature change, down 15 degrees in santa rosa. . a stronger sea breeze is helping to clean our air and give us

some of the blue sky. gusts of 25 at sfo. 25, nevada as well. we have been seeing good air quality for the bay starting to see a couple pockets of moderate air quality across regions like this from her ease bay hose camera. the air district issued an air quality advisory. that is for tomorrow for wildfire smoke. you will notice the next three days, moderate air quality expected. goodbye saturday when things turn around. they live look around the embarcadero. we had a nice sea breeze. gusty winds and high fire danger ahead. smoke your skies are expected the next few days. a dry cold front came through which helped to sweep the marine layer away. broadus cooler air and stronger sea breeze. the wind will change direction as it is more out of the north northeast,. clock a.m. tomorrow, the gusts up to 36 miles an hour. 40 miles an hour going into tomorrow morning. that dry wind is what will make

things worse in the fire zones to our north and eased. here, it will drag the smoke down into the bay area with a second verse of offshore winds tomorrow night into thursday morning. not quite as strong. that would keep the smoky skies going. tonight in the north bay, you start to see the smoke getting thicker, heavier. if you smell it, close your doors and windows. stay inside if you can. widespread smoke across the bay area. that continues into thursday morning. mergers tomorrow morning in the 50's and 60's. wendy and the hills. afternoon highs, will come up a few degrees. it will be hazy air and smoke here. upper 60's to low 90's. a look at the accuweather 7 a forecast. wendy with high fire danger, smoky air. it is going to get cooler, especially as we head into the first part of your weekend. a little bit warmer next week. i think the biggest thing tonight is the high fire danger going into tomorrow, and the

second part of this equation is the smoky your skies we will have to contend with. >> not good thanks. >> we want to give a programming note. you can join us for a new event, remembering the life and career of laker star kobe bryant, superstar premieres wednesday night at 10:00 right here on abc 7 and streaming on hulu. you can also check out detail kobe bryant on espn plus for more great content. ♪ ♪

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>> firefighters are putting in long hours. in some instances, working around-the-clock. >> now and then they get to take a break and have fun. a calfire strike team from the bay area got to hang out with the sit -- with a st. bernard puppy. look how big it is for a copy. the dog's owner is an evacuated sheriff's deputy. the dog's name, oliver charles. he was clearly delighted to have company, as were of course the firefighters. >> best way to have a little break with a cuddly little dog like that. >> absolutely. >> world news tonight with david is next. >> for all of us here, thank you

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like you, my hands have a lot more to do. learn more at factsonhand.com today. tonight, two major stories as we come on the air. tonight, new guidance now expected shortly on a third shot, a booster now, potentially for millions of americans. what you need to know. dr. richard besser is here. and the emergency airlifts out of afghanistan. tonight, what the state department just revealed. all u.s. embassy personnel trying to get out now out. a core group remaining to help with the efforts to get other americans and the afghans who helped the u.s. out of the country. the u.s. now saying it will evacuate up to 9,000 people a day. tonight, more u.s. troops arriving, one day after the deadly chaos on the tarmac. and the new images tonight showing desperate afghans clinging to that c-17 as it took off. planes packed with evacuees and tonight, our correspondent, the