>> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions. this is abc 7 news. kristen: i'm kristen sze. you're watching hitting answers. -- getting answers. we're asking experts your questions. today, we'll clarify the confusion and explain what is and what is not in the current spending and infrastructure bills after a dramatic day on capitol hill. also, we'll get into the signs of white we're -- why we're seeing less of that san francisco fog and what the indications are for you. the first, mark zuckerberg announced a rebranding of facebook. it's called meta. >> we live for what we're

building. while we make mistakes, we keep learning and building and moving forward. so, for all of you that share these values, i dedicate today to you. in my mind, you're the heroes in our society who push the world forward. and as long as i am running this company, i will do my best to celebrate the spirit and absolutely go for it. kristen: alright, that was mark zuckerberg. enjoying is now to talk about this is shareen garth ari, senior correspondent. thanks for your time. i know you've been following this closely. we knew facebook was going to rebrand and rename the parent company that would include facebook, and today we have it. so the big announcement, the name is mets. -- meta. what's the public reaction? >> i've heard a lot of confusion with people who aren't familiar with facebook's big meta plans. it seems out of the blue. and for people following the

news, it seems like odd timing given facebook has been mired in controversy due to the release of thousands of documents by whistleblower to the wall street journal. kristen: certainly, a lot of jokes on twitter about the rebranding coming at a time, facebook under some much pressure, criticism over its business pcticeseoe saying l 'ot aew we've got a new logo. it's a distraction tactic. will it work? >> i mean look, i will first of all say that facebook has been thinking about this meta-verse idea for a long time. ceo mark zuckerberg said he started this name change process six months ago. that being said, i do think that it is acting as a distraction and that there's something else to talk about today on the news other than facebook's research proving that it can be harmful to teenagers on instagram. so, you know, this is serving as a distraction. it's a break in the negative new

cycle. but long-term, i do think people are not going to forget about the issues that have come up through this whistleblower's leaks. kristen: let's talk about this. you already saw the sign up at headquarters. it looks kind of like an infinity symbol. is that next actually is and will -- actually a simple? what are they trying to project themselves as with the name, meta? >> so, the concept is that the future of computing is not going to be computers or mobile phones or even social media anymore. how mark zuckerberg sees it, we're going to be in this 3d, vr, virtual reality enabled universe called the meta-verse. and we will all sort of be avatars of ourselves, projecting holograms, and all of this futuristic sci-fi kind of stuff. and so the meta-naming is a nod to this meta-verse vision that facebook sees it becoming. also, meta, it has a greek

meaning, and zuckerberg said he's a fan of the classics and he's long studied roman and greek empires, so he liked that that had a plate, as -- play, as well. kristen: as i understand this umbrella, meta umbrella will have instagram and oculus, which i guess is getting rid of its name, right? oculus is going away as a name? >> that's right. they are sunsetting the oculus brand. everything is turning into meta-. if you go to facebook's corporate website, you will no longer see the facebook logo. you will see the meta-logo, sort of an infinity sign, slightly imperfect circles. they're going full force on the rebrand for every single one of facebook's products except for facebook itself. kristen: ok, how does oculus, the whole ar, vr product, play a major role in this is operable -- zuckerberg vision, where you

live, work, play in this 3d world? explain that to us. >> so i think the way we largely use facebook on the computer or on our phones today, how mark zuckerberg sees it is that we will all be using vr headsets like the oculus or some kind of ar like a new pair of glasses, like ray-ban smart glasses. but they will have more power to sort of project these virtual reality components. when you're walking down the street, you can project an image of a friend you're talking to halfway across the world. that said, we are far away from that. other companies have tried this. i don't know if anyone remembers google glass in early 2000's. there have been many attempts to try to make ar nvr really mainstream and using day-to-day life. we have not seen it take off the on the niche gaming symbols. but never say never and tech can

change very quickly. and we will see if that changes. kristen: i mean, do we really need to play and connect in 3d? can't we in the real world? >> look, i think a lot of people are not yet sold on the idea of the meta-verse yet. that being said, if you ask someone in 1995 if we would all be using something called the iphone, where we listen to music and texted and went online, you probably would think they are crazy. it's hard to technology in the long term. are we going to be plugged into the meta-verse tomorrow? no. kristen: one of the things facebook has been criticized for is everything they do seems to be for your data and advertisers dollars. so explain how this meta-verse can aid in that particular

mission of generating more ad dollars. how does that add value to advertisers? >> absolutely. all that facebook knows about you is what you input on your mobile device or on your computer, what buttons you're pressing. but with the meta-verse, especially if you have something on your face or you're using your hands, simulations like ar nvr, then they have a lot more infant -- input about you. they might know how much you're sweating, where your eyeballs are looking, facial expressions. we are far away from facebook monetizing that data, but there are possibilities to start tracking the information and making money off of it. kristen: yet despite this potential issues, it seems wall street investors like it, right? the reaction is positive today? >> it was. and you know what wall street likes? more opportunities to make money. and they like innovation, and a

day away from the negative new cycle about the social harms of facebook proper. that's probably a good one for facebook, financially. so i think someone see this as a smart move. kristen: interesting you mention how this is a distraction from the problems that facebook has been plagued with. but i wonder in this meta-verse, will the same problems that facebook exist or perhaps even grow, which sounds like the potential is there, right? >> absolutely. i think we are only going to see mo. is technology drawing into these filter bubbles, where they are even more immersed than they were before? you are in 3d. is this sort of becoming a dangerous escape from reality from people? i think these questions are going to become bigger and bigger for facebook and there is very little discussion in their presentation. they sort of said we are going

to work this out. so tbd on how the company will handle that. kristen: thank you so much for that mega, not meta-insight. we really appreciate your time. >> thank you. thank you for have me. kristen: coming up next, president joe biden made an appearance in a dramatic move to get the info structure and spending bills passed. we'll

kristen: president biden is making a last push. is now headed overseas after months of negotiations. he announced the framework for his economic plan and his build back better agenda. abc news political director rick

klein explains and helps us sort out what happens and what is expected to happen. thank you so much for your time today. there's some serious trauma in washington. first'dramatic enoug and then while there, he pleaded with democrats to say come together. we've got to get it through. and this is what he said. i don't think it's hyperbole to say the house and senate majorities and my presidency will be determined by what happens in the next week. rick, that is dramatic. but is it accurate? >> he's laying it all on the line. and i think he recognizes this is his agenda. it's all sitting right there. in the arguments the democrats have made is that this is what you send us to washington to do. they need to say they actually did it. this has been a disaster of a process for democrats. at this point, the best they can hope for is that voters are going to understand and be generally happy with them. so far, no one has liked what they've seen.

kristen: we are going to dive in with who is not happy with what and a second. a lot of people don't understand there are a couple bills going on. the infrastructure and reconciliation bill. explain what is and what and how the two are tied together. >> infrastructure bill has bipartisan support, but what that would do is increase funding for roads and bridges, high-speed rail, also high-speed internet around the country. the only thing holding that up is the progressives don't want to vote for it unless they know that they've got the moderate on board for the much larger bill on social spending. that bill, which is now down to about $1.75 trillion, that would expand the social safety net, additional funding for childcare, health for parents, hope for education, a sweeping set of reforms. but these bills have long been linked. that's part of the problem is you can pass a piece of this or

even the entire bill. but they need everyone to trust each other inside the democratic party. we're only talking about democrats working with democrats. no republicans are likely to help with either of these bills in a substantial way. so they have to trust each other. kristen: they don't really have the margins to work with. but let's talk about what's that social safety net bill. there have been so many things put in, but then they were taken out and whittled down to lower the cost of the whole package. so what exactly is still in there, and what were the key pieces progressives thought for that are now out? >> what is in there are items, essentially universal pre-k. you have an additional year of the child tax credit. you also have vast new funding to help seniors get the care they need, help families take care of older relatives, as well as younger relatives. pretty big investments in climate change, vast incentives

to help the electrical grid, full fire, dirtier plants. what was lost, though, is universal free community college. that is now not in the bill. in family and medical leave. this is something vital to somebody democrats, say this country, like most other industrial countries, should band-aid someone who has a kid that can get paid time off. that appears to be out of the bill. that is a huge disappointment for so many people who file for that. and i think the danger of this bill continues to be defined by everything it doesn't include than what it does. kristen: and one thing it doesn't do now is lowering drug prices. that's gone, too? >> yeah, and that's another good point to make. thisit's something both democras and republicans should be the

case, that medicare should be able to go directly to drug companies and negotiate lower prices. it's pure savings for taxpayers. that appears to be out of the bill for a fierce opposition from the pharmaceutical company because they have to make profit otherwise they wouldn't have liked things like the covid-19 vaccine. so it has become a lobbyist dream and defined in a lot of ways by the things that have been victories for the lobbyists, but not necessarily a victory for taxpayers. kristen: some of the headlines say one singular senator is costing hundreds of millions of paid family leave. is that an accurate way to look at it? >> only if you look at it from the perspective of the democrats needing to stay together. you can look at it another way and say 51 senators are ready to vote against it because all the republicans are united in opposition. it's a very specific procedural means the democrats are using

here, where this is the only way they can pass something that avoids a senate filibuster and means getting it through with only 50 votes. in that sense, yeah, there's one democratic holdout, maybe two. but that's because there's 100 senators and only 50 of them are democrats. so if you have more, it doesn't take an advanced degree in political science to understand you don't get something done. kristen: right, that's exactly true. two of the senators, the so-called moderates standing in the way of a lot of these things, kristin cinema and joe manchin, let's talk about them. manchin has been very opposed to the billionaires tax to fund this ambitious agenda. explain to people what it is that was proposed and what it is he is opposed to. >> the so-called billionaires tax would change the way that income is calculated specific for people at a very high net worth, maybe as few as 100

people or so across the country. right now, you only get taxed on income when you cash out on an investment. this would calculate things as you go along, have this additional as you go tax that would apply only to the wealthiest of the wealthy. that appears to be out. it would be problematic to enact. a lot of people are worried billionaires would find another way to invest in things that aren't as taxable as traditional stocks and bonds, take their money out of the economy and into a collectibles market, or buying ranches and the like. so that does not appear to be in their, and it's been pointed out that joe manchin's talked about what's good for west virginia. west virginia doesn't have any billionaires. his constituents wouldn't be among those impacted. there are a lot more in california than west virginia. kristen: and probably a lot of his constituents that would have benefited from being able to have this whole package, and some of the widening social safety net. i wanted to ask you, right now the votes are looking very iffy. if you had to guess, do you think it's going to happen at

all today or tomorrow? >> it seems unlikely. i think the president now out of the country for a couple of days, some of the momentum is likely to be lost. i feel like there's an element of showmanship and a bit of a bluff by the white house to try to suggest that a deal is and when you don't have that locked in yet. so, i think as soon as they have the votes, they're going to call for it in the house. kristen: so president biden had to leave for europe for the g20 and the u.n. climate summit without a victory in hand, without being able to say the u.s. is back in terms of leadership on climate issues because they're apportioned in the bill. so i'm asking you, how much does this hurt the u.s. and hurt his ability to say the u.s. is back on the world stage as a leader? >> it's a disappointment, there's no question. the white house wanted president biden to come with a big victory to say the u.s. is leading. and also, showing that democracy can work. that has not been demonstrated so far.

it's been a very ugly sausage making process of this bill. it doesn't mean they're not able to show leadership, but it does mean one big talking point the president hoped to bring is not there. and it's his own party not giving it to him. it's been the democrats fighting against themselves that have been defining this legislative fight. kristen: partly the problem is the democrats is a super wide tent, certainly whiter than the republican tent. that was abc news recline. coming up next, are we seeing less fog around san francisco? we'll talk to 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?

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professor dawson, thank you for your time. >> thank you for having me. good afternoon. kristen: good afternoon. it does feel like we've had fewer foggy days. i haven't had to turn on my headlights in a long time. it's not just my perception, right? >> it's not just your perception. it's the data. the data are clearly showing that we've had a decline in fog over the last 60, 65 years here along the entire coastal california. kristen: how much less fog are we talking about when you compare, let's say, 60 years ago versus 20 years ago, 10 years ago versus today? >> so, the data that we've gathered we gathered in a couple of different ways. we've gathered it in terms of number of hours of fog during the fog season, which is generally between june and october. and then we've also done it on kind of an annual basis, as well. and either way, it shows it's declined about 30-35%, where that ends up being about three

hours less every day during the fog season. kristen: so we're talking about burning off faster or fewer days where we see the fog at all? >> so we have shorter days of fog and it does burn off faster, so both of those things are true. kristen: what about in the fog itself? is there less precipitation? did you look at that, as well? >> we have looked at that in a number of different ways. we worked on fog and its interaction with the plants in the redwood forest. and what we're finding is with less fog, there's less water input. that fog subsidy of water is really important in coastal california because it really cools down the air, as you've already mentioned. and it also adds extra water in our dry season. and as there's less fog days and less hours of fog per day, that means there's less water coming into the coastal environment during the summer months. kristen: so here is the $64 million question, but what is

causing this? >> well, like most of the things that we're seeing in the climate system on earth, the warming planet is really cnging thway re glob out also on local scales. so, two things are happening. we 're getting a warming landmass here in california and on the western edge of north america. and we're getting a warmer ocean, sea surface temperatures. those two things are changing circulation. and part of what's link to that circulation is the change in the amount of fog. kristen: is there some factor that's not related to climate change that's at play here, as well? >> it's largely all related to climate change, and it's an interaction, though, between how much moisture can be held in an air mass, and also the temperature difference between right at the coast and inland, because that's what polls that

coastal fog on land every day. so the temperature difference has been going down between the coast in the inland, and we're changing sort of the circulation and the moisture holding capacity of the atmosphere as we warm it up. kristen: alright, so what are the implications, right? one thing that comes to mind for me, if you know you live in the east bay, you know if you're across the tunnel, you have air conditioning. but in san francisco, marin you never had to, but perhaps you now have to get it. what are some of the implications? >> i think you put your finger on a couple of the real key once. i think we can expect that our summers are just going to keep getting warmer. so we're used to having that fog air conditioner, that natural air conditioner. if we have less of that, air is going to be warmer and people might have to resort to putting in a sea in their homes. -- a/c in their homes.

they may have to change the way they shade their homes, umbrellas, things like that. things are on the warming trend as we're seeing pretty clearly over the last several decades. kristen: we have about 15 seconds on air. what can we do if we want to keep our fog around as long as possible? >> well, it's all related to what we can do to prevent further climate change. so, ride your bike, walk more, drive less, don't use as many fossil fuels, and let's combat this climate problem. kristen: with to take a short

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correspondent dr. patel to break down all the latest covid-19 headlines and to answer your questions. we'll be here every weekday at 3:00 on-air on livestream, answering your questions. wo tonight, breaking news. former new york governor andrew cuomo now criminally charged. the albany d.a. saying a criminal complaint now filed. accusing cuomo of forcibly touching an unnamed woman. the claims resembling those from a former aide who says he groped her at the governor's mansion. what we've just learned and stephanie ramos standing by. also tonight, president biden's domestic agenda. what the president has now declared. the president delaying his overseas trip to visit capitol hill. what happened inside that room today and will there be a vote? rachel scott live on the hill tonight. the showdown over covid vaccine mandates here inew yo. new york city firefighters defying the mayor.

reports of garbage in the streets. some sanitation workers against the mandate. some members of the nypd against