♪ announcer: building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc7 news. kristen: thank you for joining us. you are watching "getting answers." we asked experts every day att 3:00 to get answers for you. as states criminalize care, could california become a refuge? one legislator is proposing legislation and will talk about his idea with us live. also, the san francisco mayor marketing the city to european tourists. it was footing the bill? the answer may surprise you. reporter with the standard will break it down. first, the biden administration stepping up its support of

ukraine after the ukrainian president made an impassioned plea to congress for help fighting off the russian invasion. he ended his speech with a video montage, contrasting peace and happiness in ukraine before vladimir putin invaded, and after. ♪ by jackie spear, who is on the house armed services committee. she joins us live from the capital. congresswoman, thank you for joining us. you calm the speech powerful. what resonated with you from the call to action yesterday? >> he was like winston churchill and how he made the case. you could not hear a pin drop in

that huge auditorium. many people got teary-eyed. i remember watching this little child crying with bombs going off in the background, thinking what a horrendous crime against humanity that vladimir putin has created. i think president zelensky has done a masterful job of making his case, not just to the american people, but our allies around europe. we are opening our pocketbooks to make sure he has every weapon he needs to repel the russian military. kristen: as you said, president biden answer the call with $800 million more in military aid. tell us about the significant items in this package and how ukraine could use those. >> what is good about these weapon systems is they are very mobile, so it's not like having to carry heavy equipment across the border, so javelins,

stingers. there is a new drone that can be very effective, can target 50 miles away, lightweight, five pounds, and very mobile. so those weapon systems in addition to the 5000 to 6000 more pistols, rifles, guns, the body armor, helmets -- we will give them what they need. some suggest we should also give jets so that they can fight in the air. that becomes logistically more difficult, but when i see what is happening to that country, it is being turned into rubble. as many ukrainians who have fled said, there is nowhere to go home to. my home is gone. the schools are gone.

we will see millions upon millions of ukrainians who will be refugees in countries throughout europe. kristen: the destruction and potent'-- puti earth policy has intensified. you have drawn attention to women and children. can you talk about that? rep. speier: well, we are celebrating national women's history month. we were asked to highlight someone we were very proud of, and i highlighted ukrainian women who have stood up in ways that i don't know if we would see that in our country. they have 22% of the military that is female, and the u.s. is like 18%, and these women arebrs to take their children and to flee the country to someplace

they know nothing about him home is guaranteed, and yet, we can thank the polish government, the remaining government, and so many others for making a pathway for them. i also highlighted some of the russian women who are very angry that 6000 of their sons have come back in body bags, and one of the russian women who got on the main tv station in russia with a sign that says, stop this war era don't listen to the propaganda -- war. don't listen to the propaganda." now she's being accused of a crime that could face 15 years in jail. kristen: do you think the u.s. is moving closer to even considering a no-fly zone that the ukrainian president requested? rep. speier: a no-fly zone equates with war by the u.s. with russia.

kristen: to enforce it and shoot down russian aircraft in the airspace? rep. speier: if we can provide the military equipment to do it themselves, all the better, but we have learned that russia has a very weak military. they only spend $60 billion a year on the military, to our $740 billion, so the reason why these convoys have not been effective is the biggest cost in a military's training and maintenance said they have not been properly trained, and the reason why we have not seen more aircraft in the air is because they are not maintained, so the fact that kyiv is still standing , that says volumes about the ukrainian people, but we have to find a cease fire pathway, some way for putin to say he won,

repel him out of the country, and allowed ukrainians to regain their country. kristen: what might that look like? that is a difficult concept, to find a way for putin to claim a win, so to speak? rep. speier: some diplomatic conversations between the ukrainian and russian leadership are going on now. one thing floated is ukraine will not pursue, will not engage in any kind of effort to become part of nato, and then there would be an effort to give russia -- this is what we are hearing from putin's organization, the crimea in donbass area. that might be harder for president zelensky to swallow, but the hardest thing is the demilitarization of ukraine, which why would they do that? why would they allow themselves

to be vulnerable like that, so i am not sure how the negotiations will go, but continuing to bomb these communities -- there was a school and community center bombed today with more than 20 civilians killed -- and the horrific deaths of some of these ukrainian women and their children will haunt me for the rest of my life. kristen: congresswoman, when this first occurred in russia invaded, few experts gave ukraine a chance at all. most experts said it looks to be too late, but three weeks in, they are still standing. do you think the odds have changed in ukraine's favor? rep. speier: well, our intelligence suggests that kyiv would fall in three days because they have that convoy that surrounded them, and the ukrainian military was very smart. they blew up their own bridges

and used missiles to blow good parts of the convoy, then they waited as the convoy was coming down the road and took them out as well. the ground war is not working for putin, and that way he has now moved to just trying to blowup all of these cities and anyone who is there, so i give them a greater chance of succeeding, but it will still be quite difficult. kristen: right. i want to talk about something that is important in the bay area. san mateo county looks to be on trick to become the first bay area counter to reduce its unsheltered homeless population effectively 20. what is the approach? effectively -- effectively to zero. what is the approach? rep. speier: i give him credit for taking the federal dollars we made available and they

bought hotels, and they have been able to with a turnkey approach in one situation, make that available, 91 units, to senior homeless people, and all the furniture was there because they were sweets -- suites, one-bedroom, two-bedroom. they are living in their cars, and they are now housed in upper teacher building. -- in that particular building. on the coast, there was another motel that was transferred to the county, and also, again, they rehabbed it and it is available to homeless people. so yes, functional zero is in the cards for san mateo county this year because the county acted so effectively, efficiently, and swiftly to purchase these hotels. kristen: i have to ask you about the state and san francisco signaling they are done with arguing if it's ok for people to

stay on the streets, when there is a place for them to go, and sometimes it has to be mandated and people cannot decide for themselves. where do you stand on this? rep. speier: i believe everyone should be sheltered. there should be a roof over everyone's head. we know that if you have a roof over your head and you have wraparound services like a free health clinic or substance abuse program, or just support services, that people feel safe. they have a key and they can close the door. they can have their belongings in their home. it is the way we should be moving forward, and i am one of those the falls in that category. kristen: representative jackie speier, thank you for your time. rep. speier: thank you. kristen: we will be right back with state senator scott wiener to talk about legislation that would make california a refuge for transgender

kristen: transgender children and teens where care is being criminalized may soon consider california safe haven, because today's state senator scott wiener introduced legislation he will co-authoring co-introduced that will provide these children refuge. senator scott wiener joins us now to talk live about it. give us the context in cities across the country that has trans teenagers and families alarmed. sen. wiener: it is scary. we have taxes. the governor announced -- texas. we have the governor who announced that

arrested if they were seeking gender-affirming health care, and kids would be taken away and put in foster care. we have other states where parents have been threatened with life in prison for supporting their trans kids and allowing them to get gender-affirming care, and it is a campaign to terrorize these parents. for these kids, it is sending a message because of who you are, your parents are going to jail and you are going to foster parents. california will never be a party to that. we are concerned with families in texas, idaho, louisiana, or some other states doing this, they are trying to take their kids away from their parents. we say that california will not recognize those court judgments removing those kids or subpoenas for medical records. kristen: all right, is there also an element of not

prioritizing arrests of those parents? sen. wiener: yeah, under the u.s. constitution, if a state issues an arrest warrant for someone, another state is required to honor that arrest warrant, and california, under this proposal will de-prioritize those arrests. kristen: got it. can you define gender-affirming treatment and what it entails? sen. wiener: sure. when were talking about minors, a child saying i was born biologically, let's say as a male, but i am a girl there are all sorts of health care that go into that, including working on mental health level with experts. nothing is rushed. there are also medications that can delay puberty to create more

space for the young person to figure out what they need and what they want and to work with her medical providers, and that is totally reversible, so it does not harm the child, then there are potentially hormones, depending on the medical professionals who are working with physicians and other professionals, and it's not about surgery. we don't, surgery is really for adults. teenagers, it is rare that surgery would happen. kristen: got it. look, even before these laws that would make some of that cara criminal act in some states, aren't there already stressors on transgender youth and their health? sen. wiener: yes, particularly trans youth, they are receiving messages they are not full human beings. they are faking it. they are predators.

we see this with laws saying trans children are not allowed to use the restroom that corresponds to their gender identity, or they are not allowed to play sports according to the gender identity. we see laws prohibiting teachers from even talking to these kids about their gender identity, and so these kids are receiving this barrage of negative messaging from political leaders, telling them that they are fake and that they are a problem, and that creates in norma's mental and psychological stress for these kids, and so lgbtq kids have higher rates attempting suicide, and that is because they are shunned by their own families, shunned by their communities, and they receive these horrible negative messages from elected officials, so we need to support these kids and embrace them and make clear to him that we

support them love them, and have their backs. kristen: what kind of reception are you getting from your colleagues, the kids, have they talk to you? sen. wiener: we have had a positive reception. i've had a number come up to me and enthusiastically express support. they are horrified about what is going on in these other states. we have strong advocacy support for planned parenthood from california and other organizations, and a lot of families, i found parents who have come up to me and have been vocal about this issue and thanked me in the legislature for focusing on this, because they have trans kids in california, and they feel lucky they live in a supportive community and they are scared from these -- for these families in texas, louisiana, and arizona

come and so forth who are being threatened with criminal prosecution and losing her children. why? because they are supporting and affirming what their children are. kristen: we are out of time. in five seconds, when will this be introduced? sen. wiener: in the next three to four weeks. kristen: we will talk to you then. thank you so much, senator scott wiener. next, the san francisco mayor is on a trip abroad promoting tourism to the city and that the price tag is $25,000 for the trip. who is footing the in new york city, ♪ ♪ there's always something new to discover. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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kristen: abc 7 our partnership with the san francisco standard, and the focus on hyper local quality-of-life issues, it aligns with our efforts to build a better bay area. one topic is reviving the economy. this week, the san francisco mayor is in europe, marketing the city is a great place to visit into business.

joining us like to talk about this is the standard snooze editor -- standard's news editor. good to see you. >> great to be back. kristen: we know the mayor is pitching san francisco as the ultimate destination, but who is paying for the trip and how much does it cost? >> yeah, well, this is a 10-day mission. $25,000 trip, where the mayor is joined by a few members of her staff and leaders in the travel and tourism industry in the city. she will be visiting london, paris, frankfurt, in brussels, and the mission is to promote tourism, get visitors back to the city, and promote a positive image of san francisco. kristen: ok, so, $25,000 trip, right? where to succumb from. what bucket does it come out that? >> san francisco international airport is footing the bill for

the trip. as opposed to the city's general fund, the general pool of money that funds ar our municipal services. it is considered an enterprise department of the city, meaning function like a business, they fund their own operations to revenue, so the airport itself has an interest because they need that revenue as well as the city at large. kristen: got it, like a marketing budget, right? sen. wiener: right -- >> right. kristen: the rationale would be increased business, revenue, airlines, ok. why do you think she has targeted europe? >> yeah, well, the reason for that is relative to other parts of the world, europe has high vaccination rates, and as a result, most countries in europe have limited or no restrictions on travel at this point, so people in those countries have the ability to come back and visit san francisco, and that's not the case in certain parts of

asia, for example. they are saying this is the next frontier to bring tourists back. international tourism is particularly important to the city. international travelers spend more money in the city and at the airport, so they are really focusing on getting those travelers in particular back to the city. kristen: ah, audit, so one international travel brings in more revenue than one domestic traveler. it makes sense. just curious, what else have they funded that may surprise people, in addition to these official trips? anything else you have come across? sen. wiener: yeah -- >> yeah, well, one thing to know is they contribute directly a $45 million service fee to the city budget every year, but more importantly, the airport itself generates a ton of business activity for the city. i mean, they are a gateway for the city, and travel and

tourism, as we have seen as the pandemic unfolded, it was incredibly important to the city was supporting tens of thousands of jobs come in generates if you total it up on the order of billions in tax revenue, and you know, so it is no surprise that the mayor's office sees this as a top rarity to get this going again. -- top priority to get this going again. kristen: right, as her article mentioned, -- as your article mentioned, it has been way down. what would be a win for the mayor on this trip? what concrete deals could she bring home, you know? >> well, one of the specific goals, for example, she is meeting with leaders at airports and airlines, and one of her objectives is to increase the frequency of flights to the city, and to in general, promote it as a travel gateway to california in the u.s. she is also hoping to promote a more positive image of the city.

she will be doing media interviews in the cities. as we have seen, the city has taken some, shall we say, reputational belows as of late, so she's hoping to ameliorate concerns people may have about traveling to the city so those are two of her top goals that she will be hoping to accomplish. kristen: great talking with you. thank you so much for that interesting story. we have other san francisco standard on our website, abc7news.com. check out our abc 7 bay

care coalition, where are we on alaska airlines? we found that people are raving about their customer care. i mean, take a look at this! wow! [dog barks] says here they have the most flights from the west coast. they fly to chicago, hawaii, cancun! wow! do they fly to my magical faraway kingdom of care-a-lot, way up in the clouds where anything is possible?

they have direct flights to vegas. close enough! ♪ ♪ kristen: thank you for joining us today.

we will be here every weekday at 3:00, on air and a livestream answer your questions. world news tonight is next. tonight, breaking news as we come on the air. survivors pulled from that shelter bombed by the russians in ukraine. the new images coming in tonight. video showing the smoldering debris. potentially hundreds of civilians feared trapped in the basement of that bombed theater in mariupol. ewe crepe's resistance fighting back against russian forces. video provided by the ukrainian national guard showing a russian tank coming under fire. and a russian soldier running from the tank. tonight, an american citizen is among those killed amid heavy shelling. what we've learned tonight. and an emotional scene at a hospital in kyiv today. president zelenskyy meeting wunded patients, injured women and children. tonight, u.s. secretary of state