first state of the union. his message to the american people. >> is the war on ukraine continues, one bay a nonprofit helping to get its animals out of the country. >> the south bay loosening masking rules. what this could mean for residents and visitors. >> when you will need the jackets and umbrellas, coming up. >> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc 7 news. >> my report is this. the state of the union is strong because you, the american people, are strong. >> president biden delivering his first state of the union address. the dress began with an emphatic message about russia's invasion of ukraine. think you for joining us. i am dan ashley. ama: and i am ama daetz.

>> the eyes of the world world d president biden tonight. he delivered a wide-ranging speech with a focus on unity. he spoke about the economy and inflation, covid-19, and russia. he said the war on ukraine was premeditated and unprovoked, and that the russian president has no idea what is coming. at the state of the union, the war on ukraine front and center. president biden addressed the conflict and called out russian president vladimir putin. >> he thought he could roll into ukraine and the world would roll over. instead, he was met with a wall of strength you never anticipated. he met the ukrainian people. reporter: members of congress showed their support for ukraine, wearing yellow and blue, the colors of the kind -- the country's like. -- flag. >> we are coming for you.

tonight i am announcing that we will join our allies in closing off american airspace to all russian flights. reporter: home also essential part of the address. he says it is his top priority to fight inflation and push for more products to be made in america. >> make more cars and semiconductors in america. more infrastructure in america. more goods moving faster in america. more jobs where you can earn a good living in america. instead of relying on foreign supply chains, let us make it in america. reporter: the president told americans the country is moving to normalcy after two years of the pandemic. he announced a task force to investigate pandemic fraud and a test treat and is it if -- treat

initiative. among the president'' guests, joshua davis. the 13-year-old smiled and clapped as the president pledged to lower the cost of insulin. francis hauser also one of president biden's guests. biden touted the bay area company's plan to make more companies in america. a touching moment in the speech when the president recognized retiring supreme court justice stephen breyer. the chamber burst into applause. >> we all know. [applause] >> president biden also addressed crime and it was time to fund the police, not defund the police. he addressed a unity agenda that

will tackle the opioid and mental health crises. also ending cancer as we know it, that was an issue personal to the president. dan: thanks very much. immediately following the president's address, the republican response was delivered by iowa governor kim reynolds. >> reacting to world events instead of driving them. weakness on the world stage has a cost and the president's approach to foreign policy has consistently been too little too late. it is time for america to once again project confidence. it is time to be decisive. it is time to lead. but we cannot project strength abroad -- abroad if we are weak at home. >> encouraged by the more agreeable tone from lawmakers who attended. >> it was heartwarming to see

the number of times we had democrats and republicans standing up together, on ukraine, on addressing the opioid epidemic, on working to provide more benefits to veterans, to making sure that we have a supply chain that we can count on that we are going to build in america. those were all points that all of us can agree on. i am optimistic that we can grow the success we have already had. ama: she says the president the case for the u.s. to help the tech ukraine. she also says that she expects a request for $6 billion to $10 billion of aid to ukraine. dan: let's turn now to what president biden spent a good time talking about tonight, the crisis in ukraine. russian rockets hit residential

areas in ukraine today. a massive explosion today when russia hit ukraine's second largest city, targeting its central square. tonight, a warning from the u.n. about a worsening refugee emergency is nearly 70,000 people have fled. while harsh sanctions have resulted in the crash of the ruble, russian officials. deny any financial crisis. . russian state media reports that a second round of talks with ukraine will happen tomorrow. ama: as the crisis continues to unfold, one bay area nonprofit is working to get their volunteers and animals out of the country to safety. tim john sat down with one of the group's cofounders. reporter: for this ukrainian living in san leandro, the past week has been difficult. >> it has been horrible hearing how some of my friends cannot

leave and they are not safe. reporter: her homeland has turned into a war zone. leaving her uncertain about what might happen next. it is not just her loved ones she is worried about. she helped found a nonprofit for disabled and unwanted dogs in ukraine, finding them new homes in america. the resident -- russian invasion has stranded her team. she says that while unable to get the necessary transport to get the animals to safety in neighboring countries, her volunteers have opted to stay with them in the city, any spending nights in makeshift bomb shelters with the animals as the war rages on. >> i am worried the people will not leave without the dogs. they are so worried about them. reporter: this goes beyond

helping those in ukraine. her own dog was one of the dogs rescued through her nonprofit. now she says she is working tirelessly to get her team and the country. raising money through the group's facebook page to pay drivers for transport to the ukrainian border, a goal where she says that failure is not an option. >> i don't want to think about it. reporter: in san leandro, tim johns. ama: if you would like to donate, we will have a link available on our website, abc7news.com. to get the latest information on the crisis, use the bay area streaming app. at has all of the special reports as well as our local newscasts. just search abc 7 bay area. dan: the san francisco unified school district is holding a special meeting that could have

huge impacts on the decision to possibly cut hundreds of decisions. abc seven news reporter j.r. stone is in the newsroom tonight and has been tracking this meeting for hours. j.r.: changing by the minute. we are talking about 311 positions that could be eliminated. meeting those as i speak. a number of people called in saying that they did not believe the two recalled school members should vote to begin with. a third recalled board member has already stepped down. >> the honorable thing for miss lopez to do is to recuse yourselves. >> miss lopez, you are voted out from the 75 -- 75% voted out, with all due respect. you have a hard job but i do not think you should be voting. j.r.: you are looking at the san francisco unified school board meeting that is still going on

right now. up to 311 positions could be cut. that includes 151 instructors and 47 parent educators. the district says the cuts are needed because they have lost 3500 students since the pandemic started and with less kids, you get less money. pension and health care costs for employees have also increased. students voiced their thoughts about some of the proposed cuts. here's what they had to say. >> these classes are what makes school fun and what students look forward to each day. you are taking that away from us. you should care about what we as students value. >> these teachers on the chopping block are the ones who actually care about us. lee's think twice about this -- please think twice about this decision. >> i want to be where i am -- i wouldn't be where i am now if it wasn't for him.

j.r.: we are still awaiting a decision on all of those if they do vote to eliminate those positions, that does not necessarily mean that all of them will be cut. some educators could retire and others could leave the district. that would save some positions. still lots to come. j.r. stone, abc7news. dan: thanks very much. we will continue to keep and i on this and bring you any updates at abc7news is in morning. ama: a former ucf -- ufc champion is arrested. how it is being seen by the community. dan: the changes coming to masking and vaccination rules. ama: and happy mardi gras. sandhya: winter chill showers heading our way. i will have the hour-by-hour forecast coming up. dan: here's a look at what is coming up on jimmy kimmel live. >> thanks.

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where a multiple station fire sent out those glowing flames. this involved the equipment at the hayward station. they shutdown the station for more than two hours which led to no train service in the area. buses were available for passengers. no word on what caused the fire. dan: a former ufc champion is in jail tonight without bail connected with a shooting in the south bay. cain velasquez is accused of attempted murder. police say he shot another driver in a separate car on monterey road. they got to know velasquez well after covering that decade old fighter. >> mma is a sport that has a lot of characters, a lot of people from all different walks of life. there are some people who get in trouble a lot. cain velasquez was never that type of guy. dan: velasquez is from salinas

and trained at the american kickboxing cap ending -- company. ama: now to building a better air -- bay area. today there were monumental announcements about restrictions in the south bay. two changes to the region's and/or masking mandates reflected the widespread loosening of orders. what it all means. >> santa clara county, a leader in pushing for more restrictive health measures during the pandemic finally loosening rules. >> are mask requirement will transition to a strong recommendation for indoor masking across the state. reporter: it is the last county is in the bay area to make that move. on the city level, san jose leaders voted tuesday to drop its rooster mandate at city-owned facilities. the rule was put in place last month. >> it served its purpose and it

is time for us to move on in some form or another and simply be there -- be vigilant. reporter: but there is optimism that what may come next could breed -- brief life back into the city. fewer restrictions will lead to the return of large conventions, bringing back jobs and boosting business. >> we just need more people in general. we need them visiting, we need more residents, we need more students, we need everybody to come back. reporter: some booster and mask mandates have yet to come down, though arts and entertainment videos -- venues says it plans to align with the city protocols. the new rules come with this reminder. >> as much as we wish it were not true, we are still in the

middle of a global pandemic and we still do have community transmission. reporter: per state rules, masks months -- must still be worn in public transportation. dan: new new new new new new new support for a country in the midst of a crisis. san francisco's a boulder that also serves as an art display is now painted in support of ukraine with the colors of the nation's flag. the boulder overlooking the city has become a canvas over the years, featuring everything from the whimsical to the memorials. ama: fire crews have stopped the spread of vegetation fire started with heavy timber in the town of mana rio. fire fighters have secured control lines and hotspots. they will continue to put out the fire throughout the night. dan: what we need is rain and it sounds like we are going to get some but probably not enough to

make a difference. ama: we will take what we can get at this point. sandhya: we will take it. it will happen over a couple of days. i will show you a time lapse tonight from our tower camera. you see that fog rolling in over san francisco. this is what is going to slow down your commute tomorrow morning so be careful. visibility is down in the blue bay. a quarter-mile of dense fog in santa anna tonight. combination of clouds and fog ahead. tomorrow morning, watch out because it is along the coast and parts of the bay shoreline. higher clouds stream in the morning and as we had to the afternoon the fog will pull back to the coastline but this is what we expect to see as we head towards the march and april months. temperatures right now is in the 40's and 50's. the numbers tomorrow morning with the combination of the fog and the higher clouds, not going

to cool off much. afternoon highs are coming down. we have upper 70's coming in places like gilmore today. going to be warm above average around the coast in the bay. a little more on the comfort level for the winter. here's a view of the fog over san francisco and market street. kohler afternoon and filtered sunshine. -- cooler afternoon and filtered sunshine. thursday and friday we are going to go with spotty showers and a slight chance of thunder. colder than what we have been experiencing. the atmospheric river is going to impact us is in northwest. for us in the bay area we will just get the back end of it. it will start the coast. a few showers up to the north and look at what happens. it meanders off the coast and comes back at 4:00 p.m. and

starts to move southward as we had thursday night into friday. we are not expecting widespread rain but just enough to where we will measure in some parts of the bay area up to 1400s. the sierra snowpack as of 63% of average. 2021 it was 61% of average. we are following a similar pattern. but the good news is that there is a trenchesght inches in delaware. friday morning, a blustery and cold date with up to 50 mile-per-hour winds. spotty showers and a level 1 system thursday and friday. we could see high elevation snowfall up to the north and dry and warmer. dan:

a large group gathered tonight to celebrate the tuesday. the holiday dates back thousands of years and is a celebration to indulge a head of lent. the event kicked off with colorful beads and more. it was held by the community-based nonprofits, the village project. organizers were thrilled to celebrate in person. dan: the warriors and sharks in action tonight and bad news for baseball fans. chris: coming up in sports, the baseball lockout continues. what it means for the regular seasonn the twin cities. the warrior was continue

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games left in the regular season with memphis making a charge. dubnation representing in minnesota tonight. the rookie got the start. he had to triple early in the first but has night would end early. carl anthony townes catches him there in the face. final seconds is in the first half. gary payton, the sec. lens at home -- the second slammed it home. andrew waives the block and heads to kari. steph, you know he is going to finish on the other end. the triple and he scores 16 of his team-high 24 in the third. two of his game-high 39 and the lefty lane and the early fourth,

angelo russell had 22. the worriers lose. they have now lost six of their last eight. major league baseball commissioner run man fred delivering the news that baseball fans have feared. regular-season games have been canceled after they tried to reach a deal on an agreement and talks fell apart. announcing the cancellation of the first two series for every team, working the first time since the 1994 season that games will be canceled due to a work stoppage. >> players wants to play. but the reason we are not playing is simple. a lockout is the ultimate economic weapon. >> it takes both parties to make an agreement. i am disappointed that we did not make an agreement and i am committed to doing whatever possible to get one. chris: sharks fans of rocking

necklaces in las vegas. andrew caggiano to noah gregor. a tic-tac-toe tied at one. las vegas takes the lead here. riley smith likes the lamp. vegas has another and win. adam shepard reports that the quarterback is expected to have surgery on his and her right throwing shoulder soon. he is expected to be traded sometime in the season. sports on

newscasts live and on-demand demand through our abc 7 bay area news app. it is available for amazon fire tv and roku. download the app now and start streaming. ama: thank you for joining us tonight. dan: all of us here, we appreciate your time. right now, jimmy kimmel is up.

usususususususususususus stephen breyer, when president biden honored him for his decades of service before his retirement from the supreme court. he's covering his face. i mean, two completely adorable reactions from two very different people, but everyone talking about that on social media this morning, you guys. >> you know what i found remarkable, too, is how many people, how many lawmakers and everyone in the audience was wearing -- this is a state of the union address in the united states, and they were wearing ukrainian flags showing support on both sides of the aisle. >> definitely we saw blue flags. >> dr. biden was wearing a blue dress with a sunflower embroidered on the sleeve in honor of ukraine as well. >> i'm fluent in gif. >> it's jif, isn't it? >> listen, we will argue about it all day. but those two are definitely great potential.

>> the eyebrows. coming up, how you can get paid to get married in italy. >> sure! plus a treasure trove of love letters. where a woman in virginia found them tucked away in her home. but first, as residents flee kyiv, what about the animals at the zoo? that's next. you're watching "world news now."