moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc 7 news. >> good thursday afternoon. you're watching getting answers on abc 7. every day we talked to experts about issues important to you in the bay area and get you answers in real time. a potential game changer in the treatment of long covid. researchers have uncovered five treatments that could help millions of americans still suffering with symptoms months after having a virus. ucs f specialist peter will be joining us to talk about health

headlines making the news today. a texas judge is threatening to undo a key immigration program known as the aca. the ruling could impact ove 50,000 so-called dreamers in our state of california. our media partner the sf standard will be here to break down the potential fallout. new developments in the saga involving the oakland a's. a major league baseball commissioner, rob manfred apologized a fan saying he feels sorry for the team as they are eyeing a move to las vegas. he called out the city of oakland saying there was never a concrete proposal to keep the team in the town. oakland mayor hsing towel had a lot to say about that. i spoke with her on mid-day live where we talked about the future of baseball in oakland and a lot more. here is our conversation. so much to get into so we will try to pack as much as we can into the next five minutes. i want to start with the a's.

all eyes on the batter governor joe lombardo and his desk after the legislature passed a funding agreement for $380 million to build the ballpark in las vegas. you released a statement after the a's did, saying this is not a done deal until shovels are in the ground. looks all but certain that the governor is going to sign the bill. are you holding out hope that something else might happen? sheng: it's been clear while that the owners of the a's wanted to move the team to las vegas or any other place. if we are talking about that, right? we in oakland know better than anyone that there is a long pathway between passing legislation which we have and shovels in the ground. so i firmly believe the a's belong in oakland and more than 20,000 fans agreed. more than 27,000 fans this week agreed. they showed up in a reverse boycott which was extremely explosive and electrifying. if the owners want a team in

vegas, sure, they deserve a team, but they should approve an expansion team and let the a's stay in their home of more than half a century. >> i want to get your reaction to a statement we just got in from the mlb commissioner, rob manfred. put it on the screen and all rated in part. the real question is what is there is no oakland offer, ok? they never had a plan to build a stadium at any site and that's not just john fisher, the community has to provide support. you come to the realization it's not going to happen. obviously, we do know that there was a lot of work toward the howard terminal site here in oakland, to try to keep the team here. we did see a huge turnout at the game on tuesday with the reverse boycott rate of i was there along with 28,000 other a's fans, trying to make their presence known. what do you say to the mlb commissioner about those words

that oakland had not done the work to keep them rooted in the town? sheng: i will say false. there was a concrete proposal under a discussion and oakland had gone above and beyond to clear every hurdle that the ownership put in front of us including securing funding for infrastructure, providing an environmental review and working with other agencies to finalize approvals. the reality in this is ownership existed on a multibillion dollar, 50 five acre project that included a ballpark, residential, commercial, and retail. vegas for whatever reason, they seem to be satisfied with only nine acre lease all part on this land. if they had a proposed similar project in oakland, as what they have proposed in las vegas, i can guarantee you that oakland would have -- the construction would've began. that was not the case, so why is that threshold so high relative to las vegas?

again, oakland showed our commitment to the a's and that is why we believe they belong in the city of oakland and it is not a shortage of fan base as we have proven that. so at the end of the day, again, las vegas deserves a team but we need to make sure that the a's are rooted in oakland. >> you suggested earlier that if las vegas wants a team they should get through expansion. are you hopeful that if the a's end up packing up, going to vegas, perhaps oakland might be able to get a team through the expansion process? sheng: we are hopeful. i'm optimistic for any avenues. mlb is big on creating a diverse fan base. in oakland, this is one of the leading cities in the nation around diversity. it's that we have the fan base, we have what is needed, the political bill. we want to be in good partnership with mlb and make sure the that they are rooted

here. if it's an expansion team that goes to vegas are under a new ownership here in the town, let's have a conversation about that. there is a win-win here. >> so much more we want to get to. i want to talk about the budget. a big deal in the city of oakland right now as it faces a historic deficit. your budget calls for tough cuts across the board. what are the areas folks are paying attention to -- one area people are paying attention to his violence prevention. many came to city hall to protest that cut. working from nikki for tonto -- ford and otto bass, excuse me, in spending for the apartment of violence prevention. there is word about a grant that could funnel funds into the department. can you tell us about that? >> absolutely, we had to make cuts across the city. this is the largest deficit that we have inherited since the great depression, the great recession. and so, every department saw

cuts. however i was keen on making sure we deliver services in the city, so that meant no layoffs of city staff and workers. the great news is that the president and my budget team were able to find revenue and cost savings that will allow us to make important improvements in my proposed budget to strengthen public safety and economic development. that is funding for community ambassadors to serve in our business districts. we want to make sure people feel safe when they shop and frequent restaurants. we are putting money into investigators who solve crimes and support for violence prevention programming as you saw a community is demanding for more of that and i agree. i agree. if we had more resources, we could find preventative measures. this is something that i know does work, but we were able to find funding, so we can put back some of the funding that i was very supportive of when i was on the city council. >> there was some concern with all of the cuts that have to

happen with the deficit that the city is facing, that there could be an impact of the fire department, slowing down response times. we are also getting word that there is a grant that might help keep the fire department afloat. can you tell us about that? >> absolutely. last week we were able to restore funding for a fire station so there will be no brownout changes in service. oakland fire department stepped up to apply for the funding. so that they can serve the city. i'm just very grateful for the oakland fire department working with my team and partnership to secure funding. this is by its own grant to make sure that my office and the city administration staff, that we go to d.c., sacramento to build relationships so that we can get -- our applications can be stronger in the case that we need grant funding. as you know, we always need more funding in oakland, so i'm thrilled our department was able to get this. >> good news.

i want to get your reaction, final question to an abc 7 tv exclusive. liz kreutz reporting chp has seized in six weeks it has been doing the targeted crackdown on fentanyl distribution in the tenderloin, another to kill three times the population of the city of san francisco. no borders between san francisco in your city in oakland. are you seeing the impact already in oakland? >> you know, i would say there is going to be impact in the city of oakland. to what extent is unknown. i'm working closely with my police chief and not just that, but as a regional approach, we know that arresting out of this is not the best practice. there needs to be a response and consequences to anything that has to do with the quality of life for our residents and businesses.

this is something we are working together to create a very inclusive solution in regards to how we approach these efforts. stay tuned and we will see how this impacts the city as we move forward. >> coming up, the doctor is in. ucf -- ucsf director peter joining us about the treatment of but do they really? do they see that crick in your neck? that ache in your heart? will they see that funny little thing that wasn't there last year? a new bounce in your step? the way your retinal scan connects to your blood sugar?

at kaiser permanente all of us work together to care for all that is you.

>> today there is concern and hope when it comes to covid. in the last five months to u.s. has lost more than 37,000 people to the virus. for perspective, that's more than a typical flu season for the entire year by researchers studying the impact of long covid have come up with five new

potential treatments that they say could be a game changer. joining us live to talk about this and other health news is ucsf infectious disease specialist dr. peter. it's good to see you. it has been a while. >> it has been a while, good to see you again. >> great to have you in lots to talk about as always as well. we want to start with the latest covid vaccine information. a panel of fda advisors recommending updating covid shots to be rolled out this fall. what could this look like when it comes to updating the vaccine? >> so i think they are going to simplification. it has been very complex in terms of is it for months, two months, is it everybody, somebody, is it one group? so first of all, starting with the vaccine, it is a move to recommending that the target is xbb instead of the original variant and ba.4 and ba.5 like the booster shots.

that will be what is circulating and expected to increase. so that was one of the recommendations was unanimous. and then i think the next step will be the cdc meeting, i think around june 26, to decide is it going to be for everybody or those who are older, immunocompromised. people think it's gonna be for everybody and then one shot, one formula, instead of mixing up different variants. based on the one that is circulating instead of the original. >> ok, this updated vaccine would be directly traced to the omicron variant? obviously we heard a lot about that and we covered it extensively. again, folks should not be thinking about getting her next shot until the fall, is that right? i had my original vaccine, i got the booster, then i got another booster last fall, so it has been a while now.

should i hold out until the fall, update the vaccine rolls out? >> for most people you don't have to worry until the fall but if you are a person older than 65 and immune compromised and have not gotten an updated shot since the last fall, it's a good time to get one. that is because we are still seeing deaths. the lowest we have had with the people who are not doing well are the people who are older and immunocompromised to have not gotten a recent booster. for everyone else it is ok to wait until the fall. >> good news on the timing there. we also have to talk about this as more folks unfortunately get covid, long covid obviously a major concern. we are a ways off when it comes to specific treatments for the condition that can lead to brain fog and feeling lethargic. there are treatments that researchers believe can target long covid symptoms. can you give us an update on the five medications they are looking at? >> before i talk about the five,

i want to say that all of this needs a lot more study. these are some things that people are trying right now. they're based on the fact that some of the understanding of why people get long covid is because either viruses resisting, leading to inflammation. either more autoimmune system in overdrive meaning that ant overdrive and attack your own body. number three is reactivation of old viruses. then some thoughts about clotting as well. the reason i talk about that is some of the therapies target some of these thoughts as to why long covid might happen. and they cluster around trying to bring down inflation. there have been drugs like naltrexone which is related to

narcan, not the same. people might've heard about it for helping people with alcohol use disorder. staying off alcohol, because it takes away the high. that has an anti-inflammatory effect, so it has been helpful for some people in low doses for long covid. the second is around that you can get antihistamines because that also kind of tampers down some of the histamine or cell use which leads to a different inflammation. so benadryl might be helpful to some people. the third is an interesting drug, a beta blocker. when people get stage fright, their heart races, sometimes people get prescribed something like propranolol lower the heart rate.

so a relative of that has been shown to be helpful in some people who get heart rate increase when they stand or when they exercise. in people with long covid, they could have problems with a lot of exertion in the heart rate going up very high. these are just some examples of some of the things that people are looking at. there's an anticlotting for people who had more clotting with covid. the bottom line is unfortunately studies are in their infancy. we need a lot more studies and controlled tries before they can be brought up to large numbers of people. but there are some people who are studying it or using it in trials to try to understand this more. it's probably not the same disease we are talking about. some people may have different

flavors of long covid and that is why it is challenging. not everything will work for everyone. >> good to know that there have been advancements but more study needed. i want to shift gears, a minute left, talk about mental health. a first of its kind study by cdc released today showing 18%, one in five u.s. adults has been diagnosed with depression. i imagine many are living with it and have not been diagnosed. what does this say about the state of mental health in the united states? >> we are in a dire situation, julian. this study was done based on questions asked in 2020 before the effects of the pandemic. we have seen during the pandemic that things got even worse. this is probably -- this number, one in five, is probably rosie. there is variation across the u.s. which is interesting from the lowest numbers in hawaii, from 13%, to the highest numbers in the southern states and west

virginia, close to 30%. i think what we have also seen is more women than men are affected and more younger people are affected compared to older people. again, speaking to where we are now as a society. we need more resources and we need to be aware of it and we need to be sympathetic and empathic to each other. >> some great takeaways for us all right there. dr. peter, great to have you on the show. we appreciate your time. >> thank you so much. >> since we are talking about depression and mental health we want to remind you if you are a loved one is struggling, we have so rources to help. visit abc 7/take actn to get started. for urgent matters called the national suicide and crisis hotline by dialing 988.

>> 11 years ago the obama

administration rolled out the deferred action for childhood arrivals program, making way for people who came to the u.s. as children to stay in the country legally. now the executive action could be ruled illegal by a federal judge, in texas. our media partner is looking into the impact the ruling could have for hundreds of thousands of people across the country. one third of them in california. joining us is ida, staff reporter for the standard. we appreciate your time, thank you for being here. we know that you are closely watching the federal judge in texas who is weighing whether to uphold our find this revised version legal. can you explain to viewers what is at stake? >> so the program is again being debated in a court as it was last fall in years past, and it's been challenged from the get go. it was never billed as a lasting solution but it is the program that remains intact for now and the only viable option for people, undocumented people in

the country who arrived as kids within specific criteria. so now if this judge rules against the program again, it is likely to end up at the supreme court, but it puts the question of what can happen to the fate of hundreds of thousands of people in the country to depend on this program to work legally with a work permit, have drivers license and other protections from deportation. >> this was never supposed to be a permanent solution, just a band-aid on this long-standing issue we have had when it comes to immigration in the united states. it still does not offer those folks, those recipients, a pathway to legal citizenship, which has long time been something folks have been concerned about. what position would this leave people in who rely on it for work and other assurances, if this texas judge does find it illegal?

>> so people who have started entire careers through daca, maybe they never had to start working before they were able to enroll in the program in the first place, may find themselves not able to work legally for a company that they may have been with for a long time or unable to start a career as a result of it, so this is new territory for people who have had it for much of their lives. other people may be used to working under the table or having to find their own ways to have their own income. but there is going to be a generation of people who are going to have to find other avenues that are typically known to the wider undocumented community. and so, this puts them in a situation where they have to decide what to do. if they lose their jobs how are they going to pay for their lifting and support their families? do they leave the country? can they start a career somewhere else in the world? what about their family members

who are here? will they be able to see them if there is an emergency? there's all these questions about what could happen and they are preparing options so that they can maintain stable income in the country and keep the routes that they have. >> this affects so many people as we mentioned, more than half a million a nation wide and one third of those folks are in the state of california. what are the options on the table that immigration advocates or -- are working on to prepare for the potential end of the program? >> a lot -- they getting a lot of questions from advocates and those who provide legal services or advice. david getting questions about entrepreneurship actually, because that is an avenue that if someone is not documented, they can have their own business. they can have their own tax filings and everything. and maintain income. so that is a route that i a lot of people are pursuing. there is one woman in richmond,

california, who has a floral business on the side for example, that she runs with a friend who is a dreamer. they have hopes to make it into a family business. she is keeping her job but there is the potential to make that into a full-fledged business. with the help of some grants that this rebuff immigrants rising is going out with state funding. so they are trying to assist people to start or grow businesses, in preparation for if the program were to end. there was another option that immigration advocates are trying to get the word out about, which is employment-based sponsorship, usually known for tech workers. it can be for a variety of industries. one law firm said they do it for restaurants as well. >> we are out of time but story does a great job of putting this into perspective, what the stakes are. we appreciate your time, thank you for being here. you can find out more obese inferences go standards on their

>> thank you for joining us for getting answers prayed will be here every weekday at 3:00 answering questions with experts from around the bay area. world news tonight is up next. i will see you at 4:00. tonight, the dangerous tornado outbreak in the south. a tornado watch in effect as we come on the air. at least ten reported tornadoes in the last 24 hours. severe storms into the night from dallas to oklahoma city. damaging hail and winds gusting up to 90 miles per hour. a new round of storms sweeping through tomorrow and record heat in the triple digits into the weekend. rob marciano is tracking it all. the new york city lawyer brought back to boston, accused of being a serial rainist, released from jail on bail, walking out with his fiance. one of his alleged victims responding to his release. the federal judge presiding over