quick building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc 7 news. kristen: hi there, i am kristen sze. your watching "getting answers." today, a brand-new mural incident this go will connect you with our planet, just in time for earth day. this weekend, abc7 has partnered with nacchio to bring you unique public art project. also the san francisco standard is always bringing -- breaking new ground. today it launched a new comedy show. one of the co-anchors of the program will be joining us. first, as a justice department

reinatle areg,he cdc air mante mking work? and is there a more effective combo booster in the works for this fall? joining us is our abc news special correspondent. it is a big week for you. >> it is. and i -- i cannot believe baby girl laura is one euro today. -- one year old today. she was on camera when she was 60 hours old. it has been a year. kristen: she has grown up here, practically. happy birthday to dear laura. she is styling there with mama. we could watch this all day, the ratings would be better as well.

i know you prepared around for us. >> the audience knows how this goes. which one of these is not true? osis bivalent, or is it b, the fda advisory group is planning on meetings under five, or is it c, the subvariant now accounts for about 20% of new infections. which one of these is hella wrong? kristen: i'm going to ask our beers on facebook live to supply their answers to help me out a little bit. i'm going to rule out b, as i think they are having that meeting in june. i think 20% is about right for the new subvariant, so i'm going

to say a is the lie, and i will let you explain why. final answer. >> you cannot be stopped. divalent means it has two strengths -- two strains. moderna said there are some mutations that are similar to omicron and the booster shows some activity against omicron and delta. what about an omicron-specific booster, which is currently in trials right now, but we need to see more data. we want those clinical trials to start now if going to potentially implement them in the fall. a lot of there wme rig n. farva your -- more

virulent. kristen: we do have a few viewers responses. i am the only one who got it right. i'm going to pat myself on the back, just because i need it. i do wonder, though, if the conversation is on developing a combo booster for the fall, should that deter people from getting it now if they are in that eligible age group? >> they should get it right now. the data right now terms of safety, protection, and durability, is great. even if you just got the first two shots, you still have great protection against severe illness. this is what is about -- about what is going to potentially happen in the fall. kristen: something we do know is that transit agencies are pulling their hair out right now. the bay area once it switched to

mask optional following the federal court ruling on monday. the biden administration doesn't take action for two days, kind of sits on this while everybody makes announcements. it finally decides yesterday to appeal this, but it is a mess, that is true. the question is, what is the impact? >> there are multiple impacts right now. the first impact is not that it will cause a huge outbreak, but we want to see more data. in looking to see what it is actually going to do in terms of hospitalizations, which may lag the rise in cases. it may be nothing, so the mandates could be lifted. what is the cdc's true authority in terms of making these mandates? is there a legal precedent for that, or did this one judge, in one day, all of a sudden sow all

this mistrust that has to be addressed, not just in this pandemic but in future ones as well. it has to be discussed, otherwise we will be in a tricky place in the future. kristen: that's what the case was centered on, it wasn't do we need the mass mandate, it's saying cdc actually doesn't have the authority. >> it was a legal case and not one based in data, simply put. kristen: we will see how they work that out, but really i think if they bring it back, do you think people will comply, after not having won the mask for a while? >> i don't. 56% of americans said they do agree that the mandate should be in place. think a large majority of people who do feel they need protection will be wearing masks. i don't agree with the fact that

you should be able to choose your own adventure, which he feels like it is for so many things in america. this is why that mixed messaging and the game of pong with mandates is such a mixed thing. kristen: the homeland security department extended -- you don't need a negative test. meantime, the cdc still requires air travelers, whether u.s. or foreign nationals, to show a negative test result within a day of flying, but no vaccine is necessary. so what are we trying to prevent or do? >> i literally got lost when you were just saying that right now, and i've read this three times, and it does not make a lot of sense. i agree with you, we need to clearly define what we are going after right now. is it the case number, or the fact that we want to prevent

hospitalization and severe illnesses? it's essentially two separate goals. one thing is certain, not everyone in the world has access to the highest quality vaccines, which is unfortunate. so i understand wanting proof of a negative test. kristen: i don't understand why as an american citizen, let's say i fly to mexico let sam positive now but i don't know it. if i test positive there, then i cannot come back into the u.s., have to wait it out in mexico. ine. >> if you are unvaccinated and you are part of a super-spreader event and you are symptomatic on the airplane, and then land in california, can you just walk off the plane and be positive? you can.

i think we need to actually take a step back and say moving forward, we're not going to get to covid zero. it's not realistic. we see the tragic situation in shanghai. kristen: hopefully everything we do becomes aligned very soon. >> it speaks to everyone out there with different levels of resources and health issues. kristen: given the current situation, some people are saying they don't feel safe flying right now. let's explore that a little bit more. aside from the occasional ruling that we are now starting to see, are they actually still protected from catching covid if they wore a good mask through that whole flight? >> they are. we have looked at modeling. specific modeling that has looked at the situation, if we were a few feet apart and you were infected with covid and not wearing a mask and we were having a conversation, if i'm wearing a well fitted n95, we

would have to speak for over an hour for me to get infected. surgical mask, about 10 or 15 minutes. physicians for decades have been wearing masks when a patient was not wearing a mask who may have a virus like tuberculosis and we don't catch it. the tricky thing is not everyone is fit tested. understand your individual risk and the risk of people around you, what community transition -- transmission looks like and what your destination looks like as well. kristen: the cdc said today that children are just getting less vaccines period now. we are talking about other childhood vaccines that have been around forever that we all give to our kids without

thinking about it, that is down. >> this is very concerning. we saw this happen in 2020 and 2021. we need a 95% vaccination rate for certain viruses like measles in order to maintain that herd immunity. if we drop below that, we can cause outbreaks. people will not be up to go to their -- there were thousands of kids who did not go to kindergarten. there is a renewed mistrust in vaccines. the last thing we want to see is a resurgence of these horrific childhood viruses. i've seen one case of tetanus, i've never seen diphtheria or polio. it's because vaccines work. kristen: dr., thank you so much for coming in. happy birthday to laura. coming up

kristen: we are back. today our media partner, the san francisco standard, launched a new way to get your local news. it's called hella news, to keep you entertained and more importantly, informed. >> spring is in the air and new census data shows some fascinating trends on where people live in san francisco. >> want to know where all the hot babes and sugar daddies live? or how about who makes the most money? kristen: hella news is cohosted by josh kane and megan mitchell.

us t ierting newvo josh. you look like you're f tell us how you came up with hella news, and what is the idea behind it? josh: is a concept i came up with about five years ago. i was basically trying to find out, how can we get people more interested in local issues? we saw shows like the daily show, last week tonight, saturday night lives we can update, people are really informed about national issues through these shows. we thought if we make it a little more fun, someone who will not read a really long story might be interested in the issues through this kind of comedy news project. kristen: you're right, it does have a bit of a saturday night live or daily news flavor to it.

here is a look at it. >> we thought it would be fun to share a few observations. >> for example, we all like kids, right? the south market area, the mission, the marina. >> the meeting age gets higher in western zip codes where deucthose hse people o n those neighborhoods? >> let's change the subject. ten:t's wrong withbo i do like . sometimes you have to have fun with it, but i love kids. kristen: are you and megan permanent cohosts, or will there be? ? rotating different performers josh: as of right now, megan and i will be hosting, but we will bring on some guests pose, some

personalities from across the bay area. maybe a few more familiar household names. we are looking to get as many talented people on the show, to make a greater interest in the events that really impact our daily lives. these local decisions actually very much more ingrained in what we go through every single day than what is happening at the white house or congress or the state legislature. anything we can do to get people to engage with the news, that's what we will do. kristen: talk about the type of topics that are appropriate for this kind of presentation. you touched on some demographic stuff there. what else? josh: we will be looking in upcoming episodes at the district attorney in san francisco. we looked at jfk drive, which has been a very controversial issue, about keeping it car free during the pandemic, and whether or not that is in the best interest of the city.

but there's really no topic that is off-limits. we're not going to ever make fun of people who are having a hard time. kristen: there was something in today's episode about where to find love, whether you're looking for men or women, there are different pockets of san francisco to go to, right? josh: that's true. we look at that, san francisco is a city of a lot of young adults and professionals, and online dating is very popular in the bay area. we are not scared to go there once in a while. kristen: i learned a lot in that short little segment. do you test out the jokes on your colleagues? josh: i test them out on everybody, i think they are tired of me around here. kristen: josh, thank you so very much. hella news, check it out. we have links on our website,

abc7news.com. check out our bay area streaming tv app. coming up next, celebrating earth month with a brand-new mural in san francisco. it was all made possible through a partnership with nationa

kristen: welcome back. april is earth month. national geographicas panered with abc7 to celebrate rtiry me of nation geic's maees a justit is of a net geo lennon possible public art project. we talked with the director of the national geographic digital archive. abc7 is super excited to be a partner in bringing these lovely

murals based on your amazing photographs to a lot of america's cities, and there's a new and in san francisco. it's part of the net geo planet possible public art project. tell us about the project, what is the idea? >> we are working with all of the abc local channels in chicago, philadelphia, san francisco, and new york, to bring the natural environment inspired by the archive of national geographic photography to these urban spaces. >> i love it, because you have these amazing photos that make you love mother earth and really respected and connect us to it. tell us about the theme in san francisco. i know you have a different theme in each city. >> indeed. we worked with alice lee, who is a local artist in san francisco, and san francisco, not surprisingly, has the ocean

team. we worked with her to draw inspiration from the image of a turtle underwater. >> folks can see these pictures in the photograph it was based on an alice's interpretation. it's just glorious, and it makes me so happy looking at it. it just makes you happy, right? >> absolutely. i used to live in san francisco, and it is so great to see it come to life in these urban spaces. and be able to bring nature to the places where it might not be available to everyone. so it is really great to see. >> can you share a couple of the other ones that you really love, like some of the murals in new york or chicago? >> we just launched chicago with a very great street artist, and

it was focusing on forestry and the larger for us, and it really brought to light how we all need to be connected to the natural world. >> i wonder if you feel like the message, or this outreach through art, is more important than ever, given the crisis we are facing with climate change. >> absolutely. more important to make sure that everyone feels connected and feels a personal connection to all of the impacts that are happening around the world. kristen: do you think this project -- i'm sure you do -- fits into the mission of net geo, maybe in what ways? >> we have always inspired

people to care about the planet through storytelling, and this is one extension there to be able to bring it to urban spaces, bring nature end, and be able to extend the storytelling possibilities with these murals. kristen: we don't think about this very often, maybe because we are in the bay area and there is so much great nature around us, but it is not always accessible to everyone, especially in an urban environment, exposure to all the things that are in our world. >> yes, that's right. this is really to be able to bring nature in, be able to raise awareness, and also bring nature and visual storytelling about nature and why it is so important to the urban environments, and the people that don't always have exposure

to it. kristen: and the result is wonderful. if you walk by, definitely check it out. what do you hope the audience walking by, you see that mural, you look at it and think about it, what do you hope the takeaway is for them, this art they coming up, and really, every day? >> because the takeaway is to realize that there is a larger world around you, and that everything is making way for your live, the way you are living it today, and just appreciate everything and to do the best that you can to preserve it. kristen: walking by and seeing the miracles certainly helps you appreciate our world more. ashley thomas, thank you so very much for your time. great talking with you and learning more about the project.

>> thanks so much. kristen: we will share a behind-the-scenes look at alice's process and more about this project tomorrow during abc7news at 4:00. also tomorrow, a note, at 3:00, instead of getting answers, we will be airing the earth month special, branching out. ginger zee will be discovering the challenges facing our

kristen: thank you so much for joining us today on this interactive show, "getting answers." we are here every day at 3:00

answering your questions, except tomorrow when we have a special. world news tonight with david mier is coming up next. tonight, several developing stories. vladimir putin and what he's now done in mariupol around that steel factory full of ukrainian fighters and sil yans. and here at home, we press dr. jha in his new white house role on this mask confusion. could this have been avoided? and are masks coming back for travel? first, the war in ukraine. president biden tonight issuing $800 million in military aid, $500 million to keep the ukrainian government running. and tonight here, the weapons. dozens of howitzers, 121 new tactical drones. putin tonight claiming victory in mariupol. what president biden is saying about that. james longman with ukrainians tonight, their harrowing stories. what they faced from the russians as they tried to get out of mariupol. and martha raddatz