>> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc 7 news. >> i'm kristen sze and you are watching getting answers live on abc seven. everyday we talk with experts about issues important to the beta area -- the bay area. we have a bombshell story from the san francisco standard. san francisco mayor london breed has been making political appointees sign undated resignation letters. the standards reporter michael barbeau will tell us whether it is legal and the mayor's battle with the police commissioner linked to it all. japan lovers, this is the moment you've been waiting for for two and a half years. the country is finally reopening. a travel expert will share his

advice and talk about the new white house plan to force airlines to be more transparent on costs to passengers. all eyes are on the governors mansion this week. governor newsom has five days to sign or veto over 500 bills sitting on his desk. among them, a bill supported by president biden and nancy pelosi to allow farmworkers to vote on unionization by mail instead of in person to avoid intimidation. here to talk about some of the high profile bills is emily, a reporter from cal matters and author of the daily political newsletter what matters. thanks for joining us. >> thanks so much for having me. >> this is the land of cesar chavez. newsom already signed the fast food workers on labor day. why is this one not a slamdunk at all? >> definitely would've the most closely watched bills on his desk. he might be waiting till the last minute to see what he decides. the issue worker -- with the

bill comes down to what the governor's office says is an untested practice which would allow farmworkers to deliver mail-in ballots instead of voting in person. the governor's office has repeatedly said they do not want to support an untested process that could potentially lead to inaccurate results. i think we have seen so much pressure building on the governor not only from the president, nancy pelosi but also from the farmworkers themselves who undertook this 335 mile march to sacramento and have been holding a vigil outside the state capital until the governor acts on the bill. we have had a labor powerhouse leader, vivian gonzales, who is a former state assembly members saying it is a top priority of her organization, the california labor federation. today a bunch of latino leaders sent the governor a letter urging him to sign it. >> i wonder if there are political perils for governor newsom if he vetoes this because he is part owner of a vineyard.

critics will no doubt point to possible self interest. >> we have also seen farmworkers repeat this argument many times which is they were vital to helping the governor defeat the recall election he faced in 2021. many californians have been using vote by mail or the governor has signed a bill to make it universal in california permanently. they are saying we are asking you to extend the same courtesy to farmworkers. >> and other high-profile bill would put a lot of new limits on consignment 9 -- on confinement in california prisons. solitary confinement that is. which way do you expect newsom will break on this? >> that is a great question. the bill in question would be -- would impose the strictest restrictions on solitary confinement in the nation. it would limit solitary confinement to only 15 days

consecutive for a prison inmate and no more than 45 days out of 180 days. it would ban solitary confinement altogether for certain prisoners including those younger than 26, older than 59, people have just given birth in people with mental health and physical disabilities. proponents say solitary confinement is essentially torture. it does nothing to rehabilitate inmates. the prison system has pointed out having to basically change the way the prison system operates and get rid of solitary confinement could caused billions of dollars. that argument may be something the governor considers and takes to heart because in a lot of his veto messages he has pointed out the state has already collected lower than expected revenues in the first couple of months of the fiscal year. although we have had massive budget surpluses the past couple years, things may not be looking so rosy in the future. he has been wary of doing things

that are going to cost the state a lot of money. >> and other bill, this one is getting a lot of attention. it would extend by one year california's reparation task force that met this past weekend. there test with deciding how to compensate black americans for slavery. i don't think they decided anything this weekend. the extension would give them more time until when? >> the reparations task force, first in the nation, was supposed to make its final recommendations to the state legislature about the form of reparations and how to implement it by july 1, 2023. this bill would instead extend that to july 1, 2024. there are many activists who asked -- who oppose the bill strongly because they say any delay is justice denied and there is a controversial provision that would allow lawmakers to remove and replace certain members on this nine-member reparations task force. some advocates are concerned

they might use that power to remove people from the task force they don't agree with or put forth a certain recommendation, they could remove that person and block californians from receiving cash reparations or free tuition or other things they may recommend. >> this one not a slam dunk the governor either. i want to talk about something he has already decided on. he vetoed a bill to make kindergarten mandatory in california. most people are for early education and equity so what of the reasons he cited for turning this one down? >> he went back to the tried-and-true method i was talking about where he was citing the costs and how the massive costs of creating this mandatory kindergarten program in california had not been factored into the states budget. he cannot sign onto something when he knows it would have this ongoing cost and as it stands, california's current revenues are coming in lower-than-expected. we are really seeing this shift of the governor emphasizing this

fiscal restraint he has not had to do in the past couple of years because of how much money the state has had. even the governor, a massive proponent of early childhood education, to veto the bill came as a surprise to many advocates but it underlines he is not -- he does not want to be in the position of slashing programs if he is to secure another term in office. >> of course there is the cost of possibly having to offer active care because kindergarten is generally a half day which puts a burden on working parents so that is a consideration. before i let you go, his most recent signatures and vetoes for those reading the political tea leaves, do they think and this points to any political direction or aspirations? >> i think it is interesting because the governor has for much of his career been telling this line between progressive and moderate and i think we are going to see this come to a head

with the farmworker bill where you have some people saying if he vetoes it, it is a sign he is taking the more moderate direction some democrats have taken. on the other hand, if he signs it, that is a sign he is going to be taking a more progressive tact and firing up that part of his party. that would be a bellwether to understand what the governor is positioning himself or in the future. >> reporter for cal matters and author of the newsletter what matters. sign up for it. you get your capital scoop in one email. thanks, emily. coming up, our media partners at the sf standard uncovered a legally questionable practice mayor london breed has been using and now promises to stop. the exclusive investigation into a battle that has implications a battle that has implications over the police

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>> san francisco mayor london breed has announced she will stop immediately with a practice raising eyebrows and questions over its legality. this after an exclusive exposé by our media partners at the san francisco standard. the standard published a media -- any mill exchange showing she was making employees sign secret undated letters of resignation. supervisors who learned about or threatened the mayor with legislative action. joining us with more on the story as senior reporter for the standard. michael, thank you for being on the show. we will try to get your audio up but seriously, this was a big shell and significant fallout after this after you discovered these undated letters of

resignation mayor breed was asking them to sign. this is one signed by the police commissioner. what is the point of having this resignation blank check? >> the mayor's office says of the point of having the resignation letter or these letters is to make sure people are not committing gross malfeasance or acting completely out of line. they say these letters are cap so they can be used only in the most extreme circumstances. i think another view on these letters is that they are used to keep people in line. >> is this common practice in the political world and is it legal? >> still trying to figure out the answers to both of those questions. i do not believe this was an isolated case. the mayor's office has acknowledged she has request

more letters than just this one. as for whether or not it is legal, the mayor's office says the city's attorney's office told them it was legal. at the same time, they acknowledge one of these letters would not hold up in court for example if the mayor's office tried to use it to boot someone from office. >> how many appointees have had to sign them? i know you don't have the exact number but can we judge from how long this has been going on? >> the mayor's office suggested in their statement that this may have been going on for years. i think they might have said four years. right now we know that max carter over stone, the police commissioner appointee was asked to sign one of these letters. there may be an appointee to the planning commission that was also asked to sign one of these letters. i could not tell you at this point how common it is or

widespread. the mayor's office has declined to answer my questions on that. >> we talked about why this blank check and you talked about potential influence over the appointees. you really learned this as part of your reporting on the mayor's office and communications with carter over stone. that is the police commissioner and how he might vote on something that could have implications for the fate of the police chief. give us the click 411 on that. >> the reason i learned about this is because carter over stone was in public spat with mayor london breed. she appointed him and she would have preferred if he had voted to support her chosen candidate for president of the police commission. he did not support her chosen candidate. he supported an appointee to the police commission named by the board of supervisors. so that upset mayor breed and

she publicly called him a liar. that is what prompted me to file a public records request for the communications underlying that spat and i found this resignation letter that is apparently part of a broader practice. go ahead. i'm sorry. >> the supervisors are quite outraged from your reporting this has been happening and i understand supervisor dean princeton wants to hold a hearing. unders -- explain what is happening. >> he is doing three things. he is going to be holding a hearing to find out the answers to the questions you're asking me which is how common this is. he also plans to introduce legislation asking the city attorney's office to draft legislation that is unclear right now what it would do exactly but if this practice is legal, what he wants to do is explicitly ensure it does not

happen in the future. and then -- >> i don't mean to interrupt but in the time i have left, i have to ask you what has been the mayor's response to your story? >> the mayor has decided she is no longer going to be asking her appointees to sign these resignation letters, these draft resignation letters. >> did she give you a comment? >> yeah, they said they believe this practice is legal. yeah but that it would not hold up in court so they are going to stop it. >> thank you for continuing to follow up on this. it was a pleasure talking with you to get the details. thanks so much, michael. you can check out more of the san francisco standard's other reporting. abc 7 will continue to bring your more segments featuring the standard's city focused jour

>> japan is finally reopening. one of the last places in the

world to welcome visitors back. what do you need to know if you are eager to go? the biden administration is taking a new step to address passenger frustrations over being nickeled and dime 20 are already paying sky high prices. running us to discuss air travel news is the founder of scott's cheap flights. if you have air travel related questions, you can ask them on abc 7's facebook livestream and we will try to get those questions answered. welcome, scott. >> thanks so much for having me. >> i am excited about this. japan has been one of the slowest to reopen but it is happening now. right before i think even now you needed a student or work needs a or go with a tour group. what are they announcing today? what is going to happen when? >> in about two weeks, japan is going to be reopened for individual tourists. you did not -- you no longer have the requirement of going to go with a guided tour or be booking through a japanese

travel agency. we getting october 11, you can visit japan without a visa just like you were able to pre-pandemic. you're going to need to be either triple vaccinated or bring a negative test but otherwise japan is once again open for tourism and i am incredibly excited. it is one of my think favorite places ash one of my favorite places in the entire world. > it is to be clear, no quarantine required should >> that is right. no quarantine. there are actually a number of great deals popping up for japan right now including just last week we saw flights from nonstop from san jose over to tokyo for 471 dollars round-trip including over christmas. if those types of deals continue to pop up over the fall and winter, i think we are going to see a big rush for folks excited to get back to japan and visit after two and a half years.

>> i don't know if you are reading my mind because i was looking at zip air and i don't know if that is who you are talking about. that is a new airline. i think they are supposed to be kind of boutique he, concierge to tell us about that. would you fly zip air? >> i would. one of the airlines as you mentioned that is new offering service between the united states and japan and especially for those nonstop flights from lax and now from san jose as well. what often happens is new airlines will offer introductory rates when they first start flying including those $471 nonstop round-trip fares over christmas. if you would normally expect to pay 1500 or $2000 for that flight, to be able to do it nonstop for a fraction of the price and on a solid service airline, nobody more thrilled than myself. >> what about flying out of lax

as an option? for those of us in the bay area, i was looking at prices. it seems like it is 33% more flying out of here even though the flight is slightly shorter from here. how do you advise we approach this? >> my best advice is patients. airfare is not something that stays stable but tends to be extraordinarily volatile. today's expensive flight might be tomorrow's cheap flight and vice versa. when you see fares are high in san jose and low in lax, that is not necessarily a permanent indicator that is going to be the case because tomorrow it might the opposite. that fares will be cheap in the bay area and expensive in southern california and so i hope if you have not booked your flight yet, be patient and wait for those cheap fares to come back again. >> you think they will? know that the reopening has been confirmed by the japanese government, you think airlines will add flights and bring some prices down if you're planning ahead to spring and summer?

>> i think so. you've already seen airlines start to announce additional capacity between the u.s. and japan. this was a well-worn pattern throughout 2021. when iceland was one of the first european nations to reopen for tourism, what happened is an overnight cycle where people were really excited, started searching for flights to iceland, airline sagas and decided we want to capture as much of that demand as possible and started adding more and more flights to the itinerary and that had a downward pressure effect on affairs. hopeful while we have not seen many great deals to japan over the past couple years and it would not have mattered anyway because the borders were closed, no borders are open and people are going to be in a rush to be booking those flights, airlines adding more capacity will hopefully offset spike in demand and lead to lower fares. >> that is one place i really want to get to. i want to address other news. super high airfares and

cancellation super, and the past few months. air passengers have been really frustrated. what is the white house announcing to try to make things a little better? >> the white house announced today they are proposing a new rule that would require the optional fees, things like fees for checked bag or seat selection be displayed upfront when you book your flight, that you don't have to click through, start to book it and find out at checkout actually the checked bag is going to be an additional $60. airlines and the online travel sites like expedia or kayak would if this rule becomes law be required to show those fees up front. that type of transparency would be helpful for consumers because right now when you see a $45 flight on spirit, you don't know at the end of the day if you want to check a bag and take a

seat, the $45 flight might turn into a $145 flight. requiring though she -- those fees be showing up front is going to give travelers a sense of confidence they know what they will be paying at the end of the day rather than having a feeling of am i being nickel and dime here or am i falling into a bait and switch? >> you go that is such a great deal and but the time you are checking out, that is actually pretty expensive. i went to get to a viewer question. june once to know wise it so expensive to out of san jose as opposed to lax? i know you said it varies and changes but there does seem to be that pattern. is it silicon valley business? >> generally speaking, the biggest and most -- most important determinant you see -- of how many cheap lights you see on the way out is how many -- how much competition between airlines there is on that route.

lax is one of the biggest airports in the country. has some of the most competition between airlines and that leads to lower fares because one airline has their japan flights at $700. and the next airline has it at $500. everybody is going to purchase the $500 one. airlines have a race to the bottom in terms affairs. that largely depends on how much competition there is. the good news for folks in the bay area is even though any one airport does not always see as many deals as lax does, in, you tend to see a similar level when you take into account all three airports. san jose, oakland and san francisco. will any given one might have not a huge volume of flights in a given day, all three of them especially over the space of a month or two, i think there is a high degree of confidence you're going to see a cheap flight if you are willing to schlep up to

oakland, get down to san jose, park yourself in san francisco, be able to be a little nomadic in which airport you choose, you are going to see a great deal at the end of the day. >> it sounds like what you're saying is to be flexible. > be flexible and be patient. >> more questions to ask you on facebook live but i want to remind viewers you can get our live newscast, breaking news, the weather and more with our streaming tv app available on apple tv, google tv, fire tv and roku.

cheap flights. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> thank you so much for joining us today for getting answers. we will be here every weekday at 3:00 on air and on livestream

answering your questions. world news tonight with david muir is next and i will see you back here at 4:00. tonight, hurricane ian taking aim at florida. a state of emergency in effect. tampa now bracing for its worst hurricane in a century. ian expected to become a category 4 hurricane in the next 24 hours. tonight, winds already 100 miles per hour. the first mandatory evacuation orders now being issued. major concerns about potentially devastating storm surge and flash flooding. florida activating the national guard. tonight, we have the new models just in showing the possibility track, where this could make landfall. chief meteorologist ginger zee and meteorologist rob marciano both live in the storm zone timing this out tonight from florida. the other major news this monday night, in russia, the violence erupting over vladimir putin's new military draft to fight in ukraine. military recruiting offices inside rsi