announcer: building a better bay area. kristen: you're watching getting answers live on abc seven. we ask your questions everyday at 3:00 to get answers in real-time. we want to bring you the latest on the caltrain crash. around 10:40, is southbound train crashed into a truck that was working on the tracks as part of the system electric vacation project. this happened near full -- centrally pay. 13 were hurt, one seriously. five have moderate injuries. injuries include the train engineer and the truck operator.

if you're planning on taking caltrain today, you expect major delays. a news conference looks like it is about to begin. we are monitoring it when it happens. we will be taking it live during the program. we have team coverage to bring you the latest on this story starting at 4:00 p.m. on abc seven. coming up at 3:20, jonathan weber from the san francisco standard will talk about an amazon union shop. the mathe mathe mathe ma dominate headlines. the latest, the tsa has extended for another month. it was to expire next week, but now it will be firmly in place until april 18.

dr. look patel is is i discuss this and other developments until we get the latest from thealai situation. >> thanks for having me. kristen: what is the rationale given for the agency, tsa, you keeping that requirement of masks on planes, trains and buses? >> from my vantage point, it comes down to what level of control we have in this space where mandates are being lifted. given there is no vaccine mandate and we have people going from one region to another, there is not allowed -- not a lot to account for. it makes sense as of right now to get the mask in place. think about what you are traveling on. whether it is a bus, train or airplane where you have limited space and ventilation. right now, until we see those

numbers, i understand the airline unions supporting it. it is a little bit of a buffer as we approach spring break travel. kristen: thank you for your insight. you also have prepared a round of two truths and a lie for us? >> always feared you may know the answer to one of them. kristen: you will see. if you are watching us on facebook live, help me out. answer which one is a lie. s thna stateonows hoic tote. announce it is dropping indoor mass mandates? or, tsa extending its mask mandate for airplanes and other transportation through april 18? or, l.a. unified in oakland unified lifting mask mandates tomorrow? those are our school districts. kristen: back in my sat taking

days, if you can rule out one, go ahead and take a guess. we have ruled out b. i know this because we have reported hawaii is the 50th state to drop the indoor mass mandate. so come up -- s s s s s s s s s i also have information on oakland unified. hold on, we are going to the caltrain incident conference happening now. >> i will let the plane flew over for a minute. good afternoon everyone. i am the fire chief or the city. i am here to report on the incident.

we are fortunate there are no fatalities. minor injury patients for a total of five people transported. all the rest were treated and released. the incident was a train versus a couple of vehicles involved. it is unknown the extent to who owned the vehicle and where they came from. as we know, two vehicles involved in the accident. some fortunate things, once the incident occurred, the train conductor was able to evacuate the train. that was critical in the success that no one lost their life. the incident occurred across the

street from our public works yard. our public works folks were out there assisting, evacuating the train as well. prior to first responders. the sinks created a successful outcome. there was one serious interest -- serious injury. all others were treated to local -- transported to local area hospitals. the cause is under investigation. we don't have any information for you there. all the patients in the hospitals -- either that or refused treatment. we are in a holding pattern while an investigation is done. if there's any questions you have. >> i assume the burn victim was the driver of the truck? >> i believe that is correct. >> three vehicles.

>> there is potentially one vehicle involved in the accident. it is potentially underneath the train and this other vehicle. everybody has been accounted for. there's no missing individuals. any of the contractors, the public safety agencies. >> [indiscernible] why such an enormous response? >> on the fire side, it is, you get it. -- it is complicated. we have a public train track with a public art track. we have a number of electric lines. there is a caltrain electrification program going on , as well as other apg&e in this -- that complicated things. we went on attacking the fire,

our primary concern, and attacking the fire and the fire and evacuating all occupants. life safety is our primary mission. that was an important piece to get solved. we were able to suppress the fire. we had a stubborn part under the train, stubborn medicals -- metals that do not go out immediately. >> 75 people on board. 13 or 14 got hurt. it is miraculous to me -- i don't want to use that worse -- that word. >> it is miraculous and i would attribute some of those things to the caltrain personnel. critical to the success of getting people off the train and safe. our first responders, police and fire were here within minutes of the original call we received we were able to evacuate the remainder of the train cars. it is a chaotic scene.

trying to account for everybody on the train and the folks involved in the incident itself can become chaotic. we worked to make sure that was all handled in the best manner. sorry we couldn't get you earlier, but there's quite a bit of work to do. >> did this train crews through -- station? what was the speed? >> we don't have an idea. some of these things pass through, some of those -- we do not have an exact speed. all the accident reconstruction stuff is under investigation and they will come out with more information. >> do you know what hospital? >> i believeai can you say that? >> one patient was immediate,

significant burns, transported to saint francis burn center. caltrain -- >> did you know what you are getting into today? >> as things come through, people here loud explosions. we got report of a structure fire. it was unclear. our forestation is just a couple blocks away, once crews arrived they realize the magnitude of the incident and its severity and bring in additional resources. >> when was last time you had a response like this? >> bruno is a small town. we have had incidents. they went through the pipeline explosion, now this incident now. i would say this particular incident is not something -- i have been in the fire service 30 years and it it's not something i have seen kristen: you have been watching

a news conference being held right now. the san bruno fire chief us the latest on the investigation. after this collision on the track this morning. you are seeing.e-threaning still trying to figure out why that truck was on the tracks and why it did not get out in time. we know that where you see thisl after point of contact. we will be back

kristen: we are back with

special correspondent dr. alok patel who has presented around of two truths and a lie. let's throw that up quickly before we reveal the answer. we talked about the tsa extending mass mandates. we know that is true. would you like to reveal which is a lie? ? dr. patel: c is the lie bec even though california is going to drop the school mass mandate, it has been made clear that different districts can continue to recommend masks and even put them in place. l.a. unified, oakland unified are among examples of those who are going to keep masks in place for a few weeks. i threw this out there so parents know to still check in with your school district to see what the changes are. kristen: the superintendent mentioned they are rude about a post spring break bump.

do they have a lower vaccination rate? or more immune teachers or students? dr. patel: i don't know if they have more immunocompromised teachers, but the vaccination rate is a varying slightly. it goes back to what it looks like in terms of a certain school district's resources and levels of comfort. san diego is different from san francisco. in san francisco the mass mandate is being lifted except elementary school. sometimes it does not make sense, which is why it is up to parents to understand what is happening. kristen: businesses not requiring vaccines anymore for their employees. united airlines advancing it is requiring -- employees to return to work. dr. patel: i will be candid. it almost feels like their folding to the pressure. i 100% understand the issue

right now. we have employees not coming back, both from a company standpoint and people who want to get back to work. the fact remains there is a risk to people working at that company who may be high risk, living with someone else who is high risk, and people who have a medical reason to not get vaccinated. i am worried about wakanda protection there are following in their lives. are they getting tested? have they had covid? are they experiencing you long covid? i think there is potential for issues here. i hope everyone else out there is getting masks themselves. kristen: they could be facing a staffing issue too. that could be a consideration. in california, dr. mark allie unveiled the and epic strategy. i wonder if they're still an emphasis on getting new people to get shots. it seems like there's less

incentive, especially with san francisco allowing on vaccinated folks to go to indoor business venues. dr. patel: when you lift the mass mandates, you also lift a vaccine mandate, people who say we are not going to do either, they have no motivation. the last thing we want to see is more disease, more death and long covid. we were hoping that would come from compassion. that didn't work. or mandates. when you left both at the same time, now we are -- a whirlwind. regardless of this being pandemic or end of a, this is going to be around. kristen: the w.h.o.'s sake but a small number of cases a variant informally called what is that? dr. patel: we are stepping into two truths and alive.

this was just confirmed by the who. they have seen a few cases of that. there is no clause national cause for alarm. there is no evidence to say it is more transmissible or contagious. if you remember, this was reported out of cyprus and the u.k. earlier. it looks like there are cases floating around but it has not -- the important message is that recombinant viruses can happen. variance can happen. if we let it spread, more variants arise. kristen: can we talk about the attention paid to using wastewater data to determine where we are at and perhaps whether to change policy? dr. patel: this was actually outlined noty in the smarter plan, but the white house and the cdc. we are seeing a new reporting, when you look at wastewater,

there are a lot of places were seeing a decline in the wastewater surveillance. that is a good thing. this is generally predictive of a local outbreak. people are able to shed viral particles in excrement. the issue is that some states are seeing an uptick in wastewater in community still considered low risk. those do not line up. that is an early sign. are we going to be looking at wastewater surveillance alone to say that community needs to go back to masking? this is as -- it is going to be difficult to tighten the backup. that for communication is going to come into play. kristen: it's hard to go back. dr. patel: absolutely. kristen: yes or no, alexis wants to know, will things be back to normal by april? dr. patel: short-term trend, no.

if "normal" is what we're looking at in 2019, there's a lot we have to do. we are going to get back to a place where we are feeling more safe. kristen: you did it in 20 seconds. dr. alok patel, take care. ers wa set ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ come be a part of it. plan your next vacation at iloveny.com

kristen: abc7news is excited about our partnership with the san francisco standard. part of building a better bay area is highlighting those who are working toward the same mission of improving the quality of life for everyone. the standard reporting on the challenges in san francisco does that. today, the standard is joining us to talk about the potential of a unionized amazon delivery center. mayor london breed told union leaders she supports them.

joining us now is jonathan weber. >> assistive. kristen: this is a big deal because the whole issue of fighting for unions inside amazon centers and warehouses has been a nationwide topic. tell us about that meeting there the mayor had with union leaders and what this might suggest about a union shop here in san francisco. >> amazon purchased a parcel par 200 million dollars in 2020 on 7th street, which they want to turn into a delivery center. that requires negotiation with the city. the labor unions very much want the city to insist that amazon make that a union shop. the city can't actually direct amazon to be a union shop, but there are things they can do that will improve the position of the union.

kristen: like what? >> there is something called a labor peace agreement which can be part of a negotiation. that would mean amazon would agree to allow labor organizers onto the property and agreed not to interfere with organizing efforts. there is also a possible measure called project contract agreement, i believe is the term. the labor contract agreement. that provides for the actual construction of the facility to require that to be done by union labor. there are two different things that could really tip the balance. kristen: what what this mean, nationwide, and for amazon, if that were to happen? were we to have a union shop in san francisco? >> it would be the first unionized amazon facility anywhere in the country. there have been efforts to

unionize amazon, including bessemer, alabama. that vote is going to happen again because amazon was found to have violated the and in all rb act. -- the nlrb act. the conversation has been going on for years. amazon has won all of those battles. if there were a successful union effort in san francisco, that would be a national first and would give momentum to their unionizing efforts elsewhere. kristen: in september, you were the first to report that amazon and the city's office of workforce development quietly came to a negotiation agreement. that surprised several city supervisors and i imagine labor must have been concerned. what has happened since? >> certainly come a labor is concerned with the negotiations between the city and amazon.

in particular, they want to be in the room for negotiations. recently, the mayor had a meeting with union leaders to address their concerns about the amazon project. i think this was part of her efforts to make sure that labor views and positions were included in those discussions. in that meeting, she signaled she was broadly supportive of the efforts to make sure that is a union shop. she has kind of in the union cap, although she has not made a really agreement to that fact. kristen: i imagine the city just wants amazon to be here because it could be hundreds of jobs. union or nonunion. >> there are hundreds of jobs and jobs are good. generally speaking, the city welcomes shops. amazon has said the starting wage would be $17 50 cents an hour, which in san francisco is not much.

less than a dollar above minimal wage, way below what is considered a living wage in the city. job circuit, but $17.50? $17.50? not so good. not -- kristen: kristen: we will continue to chat on facebook including finding out what amazon's reaction is. we have links to the san francisco standard reporting on abc7news.com. to watch for segments featuring the segment, check

us today on this interactive show. we will be her every weekday at

3:00 on their own on live stream. reduce tonight's next then we will be back at 4:00 with the latest on the tonight, several developing headlines as we come on the air. heavy fighting reported on the outskirts of kyiv tonight. and elsewhere, you will see the moment the ukrainians appear to diffuse an unexploded bomb with a bottle of water. tonight, the ukrainian military releasing video showing a russian tank convoy ambushed. vehicles destroyed. the russians forced to retreat. ukrainians now claiming two russian commanders have been killed. and that harrowing video from ukraine's emergency services, showing personnel diffusing that unexploded bomb. dozens of bodies now being buried in a mass grave in mariupol. 24 hours after the horrific attack on the city's maternity and children's hospital. president zelenskyy saying at least three people were killed,

including a young girl. tonight, the