>> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions. abc7 this isabc7 news. >> you're watching getting answers live on abc7. we are asking express your questions every day to get answers for you in real time. we have photographer sarah base meaning. a bay area native and took an iconic photo at this week's supreme court confirmation hearings for judge ketanji brown jackson. we will talk with this bay area native, why the picture went viral, and about her work as a photographer. also, nicholas out joins us to talk about sunday's oscars. it is time for hollywood's biggest night.

his take on the movies out and predictions. abc7 news special correspondente talking with us about the latest covid-19 headlines and concerns. >> friday. >> a number of things i want to talk about. we've seen such an interesting easing of tension. everywhere i go. it is so nice to see. yet part of me, maybe because of what i went through with delta and omicron, ba.2 to worry about, i know we are in a different place because of vaccines and boosters. should we be looking over our shoulders? >> i don't think there is anything wrong with us, health officials, federal government looking over our proverbial shoulder. what a lot of us are feeling is relief, that we have earned this

moment because of our vaccine acquired immunity. at the same time, there's a lot of unknowns regarding ba.2. we don't suspect it will cause as severe as a surge, but we can see an uptick in cases. keeping ourselves cautiously optimistic is what we will do in the event we are proven wrong. >> let's talk about the potential for a surge. is it the traditional surge we saw in the past, or is it light? >> i like that phrase, that is a dan ashley original. if we follow other parts of the world, it is varied. look at hong kong and china, not nearly as much vaccine acquired immunity. zero-tolerance policy. a lot less natural immunity. europe is very interesting, possibly more concerning. in the u.k., they have a higher percentage of elderly above 65 who have gotten their booster.

we are in the middle. because of how much vaccine and natural immunity we have, we are in a better place. we have better access to antivirals and treatments. ba.2 still has that ability. it has a growth advantage. still has potential to grow rapidly across the country and become the dominant strain. we are waiting to see if it causes an increase in hospitalizations. >> it sounds a fair amount more contagious or transmissible. >> it does. that has been shown in a lab setting and real-world data. from everything we have seen, our vaccines we have all been recommended to take, still work incredibly well against omicron ba.2. >> that is good to know that these boosters are effective. regarding the vaccines and the boosters, where are we in terms

of a fourth booster? in terms of time, i might come up on the timeframe i would have taken a fourth booster. where are we in that process? >> a lot of conversation about the fourth booster. we will have a better answer in april when the fda reviews the data and we see something. pfizer submitted a booster and those above the age of 65. moderna, above 18. anyone with medical conditions. i suspect a fourth shot for people with underlying medical conditions. we've already had those for immunocompromised. for those above 65, we don't have data to suggest young individuals need a fourth shot. a lot of the studies that talk about waning immunity, they are looking at antibodies, one arm of the immune system. the other arm might give us continued lifelong protection in some degree. we have to see what it looks

like. it is possible there will be a fourth shot for certain populations. >> interesting there might be a situation where a portion of the booster shot becomes less effective over time and might be 's effective for a longer period of time. we don't know. >> correct. at the beginning of the day, when the vaccines were created, the main goal was to prevent severe illness and death. that is what it is still doing. we talk about waning protection, it is a mild infection. we might see an increase. but the vaccines will still protect those who got vaccinated. severe illness, what we want to prevent. >> talking about the psychology. i still find it strange the last couple of weeks, we have not been required to wear masks in the building moving around and

less close proximity with others. i have been here the whole time, i did not work from home. for a long time, no one was here. i still will leave and move to another part of the building and feel strange not wearing my mask. the instinct is to grab it. my brother and his partner in town went to a concert, and i'm standing next to people. i wore my mask, and i know we don't have to. most people were not. a few were. i performed at a charity concert. most people were not wearing it. let's talk about the what is hard to give up. >> there is more awareness about infection, transmission in the viruses. people are more aware of the setting where they can catch not

only coronavirus, but next to someone in a restaurant or airplane, you might think if i had a barrier, i might be protected against those droplets. that will last for the limited future of people, and people who are still concerned. there are millions who are immunocompromised with underlying medical conditions not yet ready to take off the mask. we have to respect those individual decisions even as mask mandates get lifted. it is a different normal for the individual, depending where you live, individual risk, risk of people in your house. >> i was pleased to see the concert, people who were wearing masks, i did not get funny looks, i did not see anyone us get funny looks, even though we were in the minority. people took it in stride. no one had a problem. >> in this situation, you are

wearing a mask to protect yourself. we had the opposite situation where people were not wearing a mask. they may not have been vaccinated. but saying this is my decision. in the ladder situation, you are affecting those around you. at the concert, you were making a decision to protect yourself and people should respect that. >> what if i was infected and did not know it? i would also be protecting them. >> just saying. >> let's talk about vaccines for kids under six years of age. a lot of young mothers are still concerned about potential exposure to their children. they might be more cautious with masks and social distancing. >> moderna submitted the data, and we saw headlines across the world about it. a few weeks to put their data together, submitted to the fda. potentially in more than a month

, early summer, we will have a shot available for those young kids. in young kids under the age of six, they had an antibody response to two vaccines similar to the antibody response in adults. that was the end goal of that study. comparing the antibody response. the efficacy was lower. we need to remember two things. efficacy is against any thing, even a mild one. if we compared any dose -- two dose vaccine schedule, the efficacy would be lower. it is important to take it into context. but we have a potentially life-saving preventative tool available for kids. i know a lot of parents, especially those with the young ones who have medical conditions. a lot of parents can't wait for that. >> i know as a pediatrician, you see this all the time. you are always full of great information. thank you. >> i appreciate you.

have a great weekend. >> coming up next, the viral photo from judge ketanji brown jackson's confirmation hearing. we talk to the photographer, who is from

>> welcome back. i'm n hlorun been a historic wen dc. if you saw the confirmation hearings for judge ketanji brown jackson, they were powerful, controversial at times, but very interesting. and a milestone as she becomes the first black woman ever nominated to the supreme court.

at this stage, it is almost inevitable she will be confirmed. that is certainly the expectation. she gave powerful testimony and had powerful remarks during the confirmation hearings. here's one example. >> i'm here standing on the shoulders of generations of americans who never had anything close to this kind of opportunity. for my grandparents, who had a grade school education, but instilled in my parents the importance of learning. and my parents, who i mentioned many times already, where the first in their families to get to go to college. this nomination against that backdrop is significant to a lot of people. and i hope it will

confidence, it will help inspire people to understand our courts are like them, that our judges are like them, doing the work, being part of our government. i think it is very important. >> just one of the many powerful and memorable comments from the judge during the confirmation hearing process. it has become one of the most iconic images from her confirmation hearings. the photographer is from the bay area. the photograph was taken by a bay area native. sarabeth maney working as w fellow for the new york times. look at this amazing shot. she captured this photo of patrick jackson and leila jackson. a loving look at her during the confirmation hearings from her daughter. isn't that expression remarkable. a proud husband behind. it has gone viral.

it says so much. she is with us now. thank you for coming on. congratulations on the iconic shot. >> thank you, i am happy to be here. >> great to have you. bay area native. wonderful you were able to take a special shot you'd the way her daughter is looking at her mother struck so many people. after talking about being a working mother and not always getting it right, what did you take away? >> when i saw leila look toward her mother beaming at her with this expression of admiration, it made me think about my relationship with my mother. i am a mixed race woman, my mother raised me to be a very strong-willed woman. when i saw leila look at her mother, it made me feel joy. it also made me think about her envisioning and how much she

could achieve for herself. >> that is well said. it is such a mother-daughter look. intimate, warm, knowing one another deeply. the sense of pride in her face was moving. one of the things i love about what you do as a still photographer, i'm in the video business, we capture things in a different way. sometimes that moment in time tells the story in a more powerful way. would you agree? >> absolutely. >> i've always loved that in still photography. did you have any idea you have any idea you're taking something special, or were you just snapping a bunch of shots? >> i was intentional about making this image. when i saw the first expression, i did not take a photo right away. i smiled to myself, and

continued to watch her and see if she would make the expression hoping that she would. i was able to raise my camera and catch that moment. i tried to be intentional. there is so much power still image. so creating photos, i'm looking at the room, around me, the scene i can capture to tell a fuller story. >> you captured not just that photo, many great shots from those confirmation hearings. one of the things that is such a great privilege for journalists like yourself, any time in one of those situations, i am reminded atwater privilege it is to be on the front row of history. did you have that sense in the room watching something happen, particularly the first black woman ever nominated, but going to be confirmed to the supreme court? were you aware in that moment in

history? >> definitely. i was aware of how historic and monumental the event was for a lot of people, for the world. i tried to channel my own experiences and perspectives as a black woman to see how i can portray this story. it was especially significant for photographers, because it was my first time as a black photojournalist being in the room with more than just one other black woman journalist. so it was a huge moment. >> describe what the moment as a black woman of color meant to you and by extension, all women of color. >> the one word that comes to mind is a really strong sense of gratitude. especially seeing the reaction

to photo and the hearings. i felt like we were being seen and we were heard. i know what it is like to create a scene at the table for myself in a space that is not historically designed to be in. it was really a powerful feeling. >> you had you had you had you d and had an iconic expression, a moment in time we will not forget. congratulations, well done. sarabeth maney working as a photography fellow for the new york times, capturing a remarkable image and series of shots she took. thank you, sarabeth. coming up -- coming up next, changing gears and focusing on oscar time. hollywood's biggest night. nick

>> the countdown to oscar sunday

is underway. abc 7 is your destination to see the action. the show starts at 5:00 p.m. sunday. tune in early one our coverage begins at 10:00 a.m. a big day on sunday. to talk about the oscar contenders and what we can expect is my old friend, he's not old, i have known him a long time, film critic nick lasalle. great to see you as always. >> great to see you. it has been a wild. >> exciting time. great movies out this year. coming out of the pandemic, people went to the theater to see some of these movies. what are your thoughts going into this oscar ceremony? >> last year, some of the movies were good, but they seemed like movies you might see on television. they feel like big sized movies.

for that reason, they are more exciting. like "west side so the grand scale feels good. >> and it is a diverse group off selections for actors and actresses, pretty interesting slate of films. i have not seen all of them, but i've seen a number of them. >> it is a good l it is a go and good performances. the usual things happens, the wrong ones will win, but it is nice they got nominated. >> what are you looking at in terms of great performances? denzel washington had a great performance. people said he was great, but could not finish the movie. his performance was fantastic. what other performances did you see? >> benedict cumberbatch was good

in his movie. olivia colman, i don't think the movie was great, but she was terrific. javier barred him is wonderful. will smith is quite good in k gg richard. penelope cruz, nobody is expecting her to win, but she was wonderful. jessica chastain is terrific. >> will smith, i have not seen all of king richard, but that was a powerful performance. a lot to say in that film. talk about what you have seen in terms of the kind of movies hollywood made this year. there were the big blow stuff up movies, but also some really thoughtful and thought-provoking movies. >> and belfast is in that

category. and it is a blow something up movie. don't look up. blowing up the world. we are in this weird zone. where it is kind after 9/11, some of the movies were made before 9/11, some after. it is almost like communications from two different worlds. we are in this zone where some movies were made before the pandemic, some during. next year will be all post-pandemic or during the pandemic. so we are getting communications from two different kinds of mentalities. if that makes any sense. but "coda""coda" think it will win. >> best picture. >> ever since they changed the way they do boating, whoever is

the front runner loses. because the way they do boating is with ranked choice voting. let's say if you have something you really like and you know the power of the dog as opposed to when, you will make sure to make that not one of your first choices. so people vote strategically. as a result, front runners keep losing. it doesn't happen that way if there is nothing to go to. for some reason, it has been the one people have gravitated towards. >> quick thoughts on the idea of having hosts. we had three hosts. i'm a big fan of having hosts. >> i like having a host. you have to make jokes about people sitting in front of you. and if they frown, everyone says i guess the joke was bad.

it is like getting set up to fail. they deserve credit for trying. >> we shall see on sunday. thank you, great to see you. the oscars are on sunday on abc 7. and kumasi aaron is there. we will have special coverage at 4:00, 5:00, and 6:00, as well as all weekend long on abc7 news. it is oscar time.

>> that thank you for joining us on this interactive program. we will be here with you every day at 3:00, on air, and at

livestream answering your questions in real time. i'm dan ashley. world news tonight is next. tonight, a special edition of "world news tonight." and breaking news, what russia is now saying tonight, signaling potentially a major shift in the war in ukraine. and president biden here in poland with u.s. troops. tonight, a russian military general now saying, the quote, main goal of the invasion is the liberation of eastern ukraine, the donbas region. after russian troops have been push back outside the capital of kyiv. despite a new attack on an oil depot outside kyiv, russia claiming it has no intention to claim the city. and the other development. after russia seized kherson, report the russians no longer have