>> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions. 24 is abc 7 news. >> hi there, i'm kristen sze. you're watching "getting answers" live on abc 7 and wherever you stream, including youtube. we get answers for you in realtime. today we'll talk to a former friend and colleague of the late colin powell, as we look back at his legacy and his life. also, michael finny joins us to talk about a new scam involving online payments and what you need to know to watch out for them. but first, with our nation more polarized than ever in terms of politics, there are increasing calls for more political parties in the-ups and one high-profirst time volleys in favor of that is

former fresh candidate andrew yang. he has a new book out called "forward: knee. only the future of our democracy." and he joins us today to talk about his new book and movement. andrew, thanks for unioning jog -- joining us. >> thanks for having me. i'm coming to the bay aerial this weekend. maybe i'll sign your book. it's been a lot of punch. i've been doing events around the currently connecting with people that want some kind of antidolt to the polarization that's getting worse and worse around the country. kristen: this is a lot of that these days. you randall for perspective and more importantly for new york city marion as a translate but you are no longer a democrat as of a month ago, why? andrew: the only way we're going to get the polarization under control is if we change up this two-party dynamic that is

leading to diss function and clashes and verge lip it will lead to unrevs and violence. my goal as the founder of the forward party is to present a new way forward that will enable different points of view to emerge and make it so it's not a zero such game anymore. there's a fix to this and california has led in many respects on there through the open primary season. we want to implement open primaries and ranked choice voting around the country so our similarities will be more tay levinned with the -- ledges lators will be more aligned. kristen: ranked voting is something we're familiar with here in the bay area. fran and oakland players do do 245. talk about how that presents polarization and allows the vast majority of americans more in the middle to have a voice.

an drew: first i want to break down something that a lot of americans sense but don't understand. congress has a national aapproval rating of only 28% but members have a re-election member of 82 perfect. 80% of the districts -- direction around the country are either very red or very blue. if you net -- get to the national election, you're going to win. that means their job security is centered around trying to please the most their community. if i camer to the extremes, i'm probably going to turn awful someone else. it should diminish negative campaigning. so the process will drive different little and better results. kristen: since you talked about a.i. a lot during your

presidential campaign, i wonder if eventually we could get to the point where a.i. could actually factors in how much you like the candidate. i like yang82 points and imlike this personal 95 points and this personal 10 bourjos. so you really get at who people like and how much. andrew: rank choice voting is the closest thing to do. it enables up to just vote for one person and walk out or you can rank up to first time candidates that you're happy with. so by taking individual preferences into account in in way and pram crap lating it over an entire body of voters, you can come close to what you just described where the candidate that people like the most in thing a gait should come out only top. kristen: the forward party is not a formal political party yet, right? it's a pac.

>> turns out you can't start a political party -- party from day one. you have to get behind candidates. we're going to get behind damage republicans and independents who subscribe to those things. we'll become a full-fledged political party sometime in a matter of weeks or months. kristen: f.b.i. was during your presidential campaign. we now have that for select groups like low income or families of explore. the biden administration also has the child tax credit. what would-up like to see the u.b.i. concept go next? >> the mind tax credit has had enormous bests around the country. 442 economists, including nobel prize winners said we should continue it in perpetuity and

build only i'm from there. i was in fran a couple of weeks ago and people are struggling. a lot of people are struggling to immediate their -- meet their basic needs. you're seeing them on street corners and in environments where they're living in parking lots and thing that should not be the case in a country as patrols prowls as ours. so the child tax credit is a foundation and we should be expand become building from there. kristen: are you worried, though, if you made u.b.i. really broad, could that shrink the labor force or programs jack up the price tag for a nation with a huge department already? andrew: right now the vast majority of the employment-related benefits that we're sending people's became actually essentially disincentivize you from getting a new job. because whether you say hey i got a influence job, you stop getting the muffin. where if you have a stepped

policy where you get insentives for working, that's better than what we have now. kristen: you also make the point in the book that we need to extend grace and tolerance toward people who disagree with you. some have comprised you for that, including some in the asian-american community. what do you say to that? andrew: right now polarization is going to result in verge conflict and even a up in civil war if we allow it to continue and the only pathout is to look at someone and even if they disagree with you say you're a human being, you're an american. we mail disagree on one thing but there are many thanks that we can agree only and obviously i'm proud to be asian american and, you think, my two boys are growing up in this country. there's no place for hate but at

the same time, we have to be able to reach forward and educate the people that michael these feelings and not treatment them as if they are mortal enemies. they're not. we have to educate and uplimit them and i think grace and tolerance is a pledge that many americans have been waiting for. kristen: it's a pledge that question as parents certainly send to our kids. we have over parties, green party, libertarian. nonreally viable if you will but fall considered spoilers, especially to democrats in the elections. is that something you're concerned about, launching another party. >> the u.k. has five political parties that are considered major. germany mass seven. sweeden as eight. the netherlands has 18. that's a more robust sustainable system than our current did you amelie where if one party has bad little, it can result in a

rise of authoritarianism in a way that would be shocking to many of us so we need to moder modernize our system. the spoiler system you're talking about the gets completely eliminated by rank voting. you can rank a democrat number one, an independent number two and not rank a republican. right now the minor -- cast because of the process. this is the yum grade we've been waiting for a long time. kristen: do you eventually plan to run forward party candidates? >> most of them will be running as democrats or republicans but after we get to a point then people will be running under the forward party ticket and hopefully some of them will be in california.

i'm already in talks with some candidates in california who any that forward party might be the party for them. kristen: you'll be in the bay area later this week. tell us about. thursday night at cobb's? andrew: thursday night at cobb's. we're going to take photos, sign books. i'm going to talk about the mission of the forward party and really him experience in running for president, which informed the book. it's my attachment to document the incredible journey of running for president. what imlearned and how we can fix the problem and get it working for us. don't worry, it's not going to be that dry or academic. we're going to have a lot of fun on thursday night. kristen: i was like, does andrew have a set he's going to do? no, i did read the book and i really appreciate what you said about local news and the importance of local journalism.

so forward it is your book and andrew will be here this week. andrew: it's true. you are the antidolt. kristen: appreciate. take care. coming up next, we'll talk to a former friend and form hey, i just got a text from my sister. you remember rick, her neighbor? sure, he's the 76-year-old guy who still runs marathons, right? sadly, not anymore. -what, you mean-- -mhm. -just like that. -wow. so sudden. um, we're not about to have the "we need life insurance" conversation again, are we? no, we're having the "we're getting coverage so we don't have to worry about it" conversation. so you're calling about the $9.95 a month plan -from colonial penn? -i am. we put it off long enough. we are getting that $9.95 plan, today. (jonathan) is it time for you to call about the $9.95 plan? i'm jonathan from colonial penn life insurance company.

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♪ hello, colonial penn? kristen: we're back. 7 on your side's michael finleyy has found a new scam that's taking off around the country. he joins us to talk about the how it works, how you can spot it and how you can get your money back if you've been scanned. michael, i really appreciate your coming in in for this. it's affected so many people. you've don't many stories. i don't use zelle but many do.

tell us about how it works. michael: it's a company owned by seven major banks so you may have it on your bank app and not even know about i'm and that's why the bad guys are zoning in on in because so many have it. here's what happens and there can be minor differences but basically you, on your phone. i'm looking for my phone here. you get a text that says -- it looks like it came from bank of america and i. says did you just send x amount of dollars, often: 3,500 via zelle, yes or no? people flip time-out. , and replay. no then they get a phone call immediately. that says million, we're from the fraud department with bank of america and we understand hackers just got in and sent

$3500 of your munch. here, phenomenon mill instructions. go tour -- to your zelle a.m. and what anyway do then, unknown to those taken this is sending the money influence your bank of america count to their account and once that muffin is gone, it's gone. there's no way you can get it back. kristen: this bay bailiffplays on the sense of urgency and panic people get when they encounter something like that. michael: the scams totally work on that. when your phone call came in, they spoofed the phone number so that like it was from b.o.a. and there's this emergency and you jump on it. kristen: would the bank actually do something like that? michael: never. they will contact you by text on

rare occasions. all you do is not contact them back influence text. look up their phone number online or go online and ask them, did you just contact me? there's never such an emergency that go through a different route to go to your bank. kristen: can people who have fallen victim to this scam get their money back? michael: in starts getting very, have been interesting. those who have come to 7 on your side have received their munch back and here's while -- there's a things -- thing called regulation e in the electronic fund transfer act. i'm says if you're hacked, rimmed off, you can get your money back from the bank. now, the rules get very specific but if consumer product safety commission -- the consumer

product safety protection o rendiive and says pay induces a consumer into sharing account access information, the law applies. that means you can get your money back. b. of a has given a lot of money back to those who have come to 7 on your side but they've never told us why. they've say it's a case by case basis. i know that regulation e applies. kristen: a ha. but tim still, that's not reassuring that everyone who's scammed will get their money back. are scams like this on the rise? michael: thank you very much certainly are and it's not just b. of a and not just zelle. we've seen it with other banks with zelle. when you statue a phone number, it tells people this is legit

and this is eye i have to get it through everyone that just because a call says it's coming from a specific person doesn't mean it is. it's a very meal excitement program that will say in phone call is from kristen sze whether it's actually from michael funny criticism. kristen: right. give us the moral of the story, the things we need to do to protect ourselves. michael: there's never an emergency. that's the nature thing. when it comes to your munch, there isn't an emergency, if you haven't sent it out. slow down, get ahold of your financial institution through a different way than how you just heard from them. when someone contacts you, do not contacts back to them. go online, give them a phone number, give them a call. kristen: got it. michael, thank you so much. we'll

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kristen: today the pandemic

claimed another luminary. colin powell, the first black secretary of state died from covid complications. he was supposed to have gotten his pfizer booster last week but couldn't because he got sick. former president bush released a statement that says in part, he was a great public servant averment. lara and i-send alma and their children our sin syrup condolences and president biden said time and again he put country before self, before party, in uniform and out. joining us is a friend and for former colleague, gorea duffy, president and c.e.o. of the commonwealth club in san francisco. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. kristen: our deepest

condolences. we knew he had been battlinggggg case of cancer in the blood. blb >> people were aware that he'd had cancer in the past and he was battling cancer on amount front but i had no idea and didn't hear about this until early this morning. kristen: when was the last time you saw him? we have video of his commonwealth talk in 2012. my colleague dan was moderating. was that when you saw him last? >> yes, he was here in san jose, here in silicon valley when dan ashley, we appreciated very much his model rating that conversation. i saw him there and at other events and conferences and meetings. it's been a few years but i had seen him a number of times in recent years. kristen: and then, of course,

well before that. your paths crossed when you were both working at the pentagon, pre-dating his time as president bush's secretary of state and you were at the defense department. tell us about the general powerful you saw there and what kind of a leader and personal he was? >> well, he was a great leader who, as a military man, secretary of state, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, national security advisor, always believe that would nuclear weapons had no utility and were extreme thrill dangerous to mankind, human cad. i saw him in various roles advocating and supporting reductions of nuclear weapons. just before i-went to the pentagon in late 2021, he was part of an niche active to do major reduction in nuclear weapons between the u.s. and soviet your, where rekip ro cali without any negotiated agreements, the two countries

decided to reduce tact cam nuclear weapons by about 15,000 between them and after the soviet union broke up, i came to the pentagon to help with the initiative to get rid of more of the nuclear weapons in the former soviet union through a program that congress had told the defense department to september aside $400 impact each year and to put it into helping the now independent statements of the soviet union to get ripped of their weapons of mass destruction, reallily nuclear weapons. colin powell was there and he completely foul. ed what we were doing. he had been part of that major arms carom niche active in placement 1991 and now implementing if nunn-lukeer program. he and his statue were there to

support everything that we were doing, even though we were taking away familiars from over programs in order to do it. assigning higher military officials to work with it, helping us make contact with the militarys in those other countries. russia, ukraine, bell rule, kazakhstan. as a military man he supported all the way reducing and eliminating nuclear weaponles and was incredibly helpful to military in the department working on in. kristen: else the first black secretary of statement. the son of gentleman they have beenen immigrants. he has experienced racism in his life. he's talked about that. how did he aapproach diverse tip and mentoring? >> i know he mennorred -- men toured others. first black national joint

chiefs of staff and first black security adviser. he paveed the way for others, for example, condi rice, who followed. he helped break the path for others. i am sorry, though, in the year 2000 he was thinking of running for president and i did hear at the time that he was concerned about possibly his safety and that of his family. if he were to take on that very visible roam as a presidential candidate as a black man and so, you think, he broke every barrier. he didn't break that barier due to concerns about safety and safety of his family, conforms u. kristen: do you wish he could have run for president? do you feel like the nation would have benefited from a powell is the -- presidency? >> he was extremely steady, extremely balanced and patient. able to bring people together

from right and left. liberals and conservatives. he really had that ability. he was one of those like some other great northwestern senators. nunn and luker. both of whom i worked with, to really work across party lines. yes, i think he would have been a wonderful force at perspective. i'm sorry the environment was such in our country that he didn't feel comfortable running. kristen: gloria, thank y

thank you for the time. >> of course. kristen: thanks for joining us. today we talked with former fresh president andrew yang

electric -- who will be in fran on time. michael finney told us about a new scam and we looked back tonight, paying tribute to colin powell. a soldier and a statesman who broke barriers. and tonight, what we've now learned about his recent battle with covid and what put him at risk. remember remembered as a trail blazer. she joined as secretary of state and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. the first black man to hold either post. tonight, he died from complications of covid and his other health battles. colin powell in his own words on a life lived. and on his most controversial moment, making the case for the second iraq war. what he told our barbara walters look after. and tonight, martha raddatz here on the tributes pouring in. also tonight, the fbi now on the ground in haiti, where 16 americans and one