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today, hybrid would work may be here to stay in the business world.iness wor, but in but in the world world of government meetings, of government, meetings is zooming it in bad for democracy? we'll talk with the state will talk with a senl to address this issue.senator a. want to buy yourbuy your deceased and was a mansion orancestors a manr car and send it and send it to them. well now you can, can in san franciscoan, chinatown. our media partnerchi. the san francisco standard, the san francisco standard, will be here with will a fascinating story. you fascinating story you have to see. have to see. but first, in about 90 minutes from now, former now, president trump is expected to turn himself in at the fulton county jail expectedn charges of tryington county jain charges of trying t the 2020 election results overtn the 20 in georgia. he was not at last night's first republican presidential primary debate, but managed to steal the spotlight anyway. joining us live now to discuss all the latest developments, nolan higdon, cal state east bay professor of communication and political expert. professor higdon, thanks for your time. >> thank you so much for having me. >> yeah. so what can we expect

at trump's court hearing today? what will happen there? >> well, all i imagine it'll be a big media circus. >> this is, you know, typically the attention that trump draws. it remains to be seen if trump will talk to the media, if he does, you know, we can expect, i think the traditional talking points from trump that this is a political witch hunt. he'll probably blame joe biden for the indictment and probably call on his supporters to take action. and these are the things he's done. you know, traditionally throughout these indictments. >> traditionally, yeah, a few things seem like they could be new. and i think holds public interest. there could be a mug shot taken at and possibly we're hearing he could be weighed as any person might, not treating him differently. that is so that could be interesting and remains to be seen. but i want you to explain these charges, racketeering for him and also for 18 allies. >> yeah, kimberly, you know, speak to the charges. but the fact that he was put on indicted

under a rico charge means they're indicting this group together for. so which means they're going to be on trial together, as far as i understand it. and so that's much different than the previous indictments. similarly this is being done at the state level where the rest were done federally. so trump at least has signaled in his communications that even if he's found guilty in the federal charges, his his goal was to become president and potentially pardon himself that won't be an option if he's found guilty in this case. so for those two reasons, this is much different than the previous indictments. all right. >> can you also talk about this being charged together or tried together concept? because the judge, as we understand, just in the past hour, granted prosecutors request for a speedy trial for one codefendant setting a trial date of october 23rd. but trump is objecting to that kind of timeline for himself. what's his play here? he wants it to go more slowly. >> he that's been the you know, that's been the trump legal team

strategy the whole time is to drag this out as much as possible. >> you know, again, it seems like that he his goal initially with the federal charges was to drag it out until he could, you know, potentially be president and then potentially pardon himself at the state level. it's not really clear what is what his strategy is here. i don't know if he thinks being president, maybe he can put pressure on state officials to free him and others to the charges. but really, at this point, it's just kind of speculation. we're not really sure why he's continuing to go with this strategy for this trial in georgia. >> can you also talk about when you have 18 co-defendants, i mean, that's a lot of people did they stick as one? is there real danger for trump in terms of key people flipping on him? >> that's generally how these cases work. from what i've observed. and, you know, the idea is even if you're you're all the defendants, according to the prosecutor portion, are trying to work together to

commit the same crime. and so thus they're they're tried together here. but usually what happens in these cases is they try and get some to flip so they can get more evidence on others . and it remains to be seen if that'll happen in this case. but i imagine that's certainly one of the options the prosecutor is looking into. >> yeah, you're looking at photos of sidney powell and earlier rudy giuliani, who also had already been booked at fulton county jail. look, this is all happening as trump is simultaneously running for president. last night, the first gop primary debate took place. eight hopefuls on stage. trump was not there, but he loomed large. listen to this. if former president trump is convicted in a court of law, would you still support him as your party's choice? >> please raise your hand if you would. >> all but 1 or 2, depending on what you thought christie was doing there. but but the question is, you know, it seemed

like there was this effect of waiting to see whether everybody else was going to raise their hands, were those candidates kind of soft on him? you think? >> i mean, i think so. but, you know, this is unfortunately american politics. you know, trump is the, you know, the most popular republican in. so going against trump means going against the party. and i think you really saw that from folks like ron desantis, for example, who, you know, will critique trump to some degree. but not go full bore in attacking trump. he wants to kind of, you know, keep a foot in each world, one in the pro trump world and one in the anti trump world. and we saw that from some of the moderates as well. so for these republican guys who are who are running for president, they have quite an uphill battle because they're running against the most popular republican. and that's why sort of saw the debate as really a contest for who's going to be number two versus who's going to be number one in the party. >> you know the question, though, right? would you support

him if he were the party's nominee? could he actually serve? that is, how far could he actually go? does it take a conviction on one of these for indictment? and does it have to be the state indictment for it to actually stop him? you know, we've never been here before. >> you know, i can't imagine an you know, donald trump being elected to the presidency and then sitting in a in a jail in georgia, you know, with the secret service next to him, if he if he's president, i imagine he's going to find through hook or crook, one way to get into the white house. but you know, the interesting thing about trump is if any other candidate who was facing these indictments, this would be a death sentence for their their campaign. but but trump occupies this really unique space where his supporters see him as the personification of them. and any attack or critique on trump they see as an attack on them. and

they have this faith that, you know, trump will defend them and trump will serve them. so any time there's an attack or an indictment or a critique, it actually is beneficial for him politically. and that's just something that, you know, that's a tool that most politicians, as nearly every politician, doesn't have. >> yeah. if you watch last night's presidential debate between the republican candidates, definitely asa hutchinson maybe went there a little bit. chris christie went after him a little bit, but you really didn't see that from the other six. so can you talk about the dynamics last night and who really emerged, who was awarded, who was seen as the winner? you >> yeah, i think, you know, looking at the debate, i think ramaswami vivek ramaswami, i think he really came out as the leader of the debate or the winner of the debate. and a lot of that i don't think is his own doing. the other people on stage really treated him like he was the number two candidate already, as if they were trying

to attack him to lower his profile and raise their own profile. but i think that communicated to audiences that, you know, this is this is the guy who's who's winning the debate right now. and that was very clear. um, you know, someone like donald trump, you know, would would, you know, command respect from his supporters with the way he would attack others on stage where you saw someone like mike pence, who i think had the most speaking time, really just trying to demand that people pay attention to him and respect him. he was interrupting. he was talking over people all. and that stuff generally doesn't really play well with most audiences. so i think, um, by that ramaswami came out the best. i think, you know, it was probably a lot of the media attention was, was focused on ron desantis and i think he had largely a terrible night. he sort of was just like a background character to these other voices in the room. and that's hard to imagine given that, you know, he was neck and neck with donald trump just a

handful of months ago. >> yeah, you know, this is what's interesting. there's a bit of a divide between what analysts think and what the poll watchers or i should say debate watchers who were pulled by fivethirtyeight and washington post said because the respondents thought desantis did the best, followed by haley and ramaswami had some fans but has, you know, performance was polarizing. but of course, a lot of people, you know, analysts did think that desantis faded incredibly. but in terms of just telling the audience, because until last night, a lot of people had never heard of ramaswami is he a trumpism without trump? i've heard him described that way. >> yeah. he's another candidate i think is who's trying to have it, you know, both ways. he's trying to not anger trump and trump supporters, but also trying to separate himself from the rest of the republican field . and i think the moderators missed a big opportunity last night to interrogate ramaswami. i mean, ramaswami said something to the effect of donald trump

was the best president of the 21st century. well, if you actually believe that, why are you running to be the republican nominee? why not let trump, you know, the best president of the 21st century, be president again? but they didn't. they didn't go there. they being the moderators. so i think in future debates, he's really going to have to answer this question, that if you think trump is so great and he's above critique, why are you running for the nomination for the party? >> oh, there'll be many more questions for him after this debate. that's for sure. nolan higdon, thank you so much for your time. appreciate it. thank you. >> thank you. >> and just a reminder, abc news will have a special report when former president trump does arrive at the fulton county courthouse. we are expecting that to be between 430 and 5. so you'll definitely want to stay tuned to abc seven news. all right. up next, reviving pandemic rules for public meetings. a proposed bill for that is gaining steam. um, as we see more covid cases. but is it bad for democracy? the author of the bill will join us next.

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happens, find out instantly with the abc seven news app get customized alerts for your neighborhood stream abc seven news 24 seven plus get accurate weather anytime the abc seven news app download it now. head toward fall concern about covid is ramping up again and as cases tick up locally and across the country, some places are bringing back mask mandates just yesterday we reported santa rosa, kaiser permanente medical center is now requiring staff members and doctors to wear masks while recommending it for visitors. >> and now we're learning many california boards and commissions are backing a bill to keep pandemic rules in place for public meetings. joining us live now is the lawmaker who introduced that bill, state senator john laird from santa cruz. senator laird, thanks for your time. thanks kristen. >> great to be here. >> can you explain very simply what senate bill 544 aims to achieve regarding public meetings? >> well, basically, we had some

really good outcomes from the way meetings were handled during the pandemic. costs were down 90. participation was up. people could participate from remote parts of the state to not have to come to sacramento. and there were just a whole host of benefits and we're trying to balance that and continue some of those benefits. >> did you think there was a population that benefited most from that arrangement? >> yes. and it's evident by who initial estimated this bill or backed it. it's really seniors and people with disabilities that are immunocompromised or had trouble traveling long distances for meetings, really, we believe that it it shot up participation from those groups of people. and they're the ones that really were the original impetus for this bill. okay. >> so that was what we consider the pandemic era kind of meeting rules. what changed as of july of first year? because i was even a little bit confused as i was trying to dive into do

something change with regard to whether state commissioners and board members can join their meetings from afar. is this change really more about technical things like how that's posted? or is it actually how meetings are held? >> well, there was a law that was in place, the bagley-keene act, that governed all state public meetings before the pandemic. and the governor did an executive order to really allow for remote meetings. and that executive order expired on june 30th. and so we are really trying to have some formula for continuing some piece of it in statute going forward. and then the issues that you raised are the issues that are the heart of the discussion of this bill. and i should say that at the very last hearing in the assembly policy committee, uh, just before the legislative recess, there was strong opposition from newspaper groups and the aclu that it really didn't allow people to participate or see

people in person. and we have heard those. so we are on the verge of presenting some major amendments that will try to address some of the concerns that were raised. >> right. i mean, i did read that and critics who have said the bill is bad for democracy, you know, that you got to you got to have face to face interaction. so to speak, to really have the kind of engagement and the kind of democratic process we want. do you think so? >> and i think and i do, but i think it's a question of balancing it. and so what we're looking at is, is requiring that at least 50% of the of any border commission be present 100% of the time. and that, in fact, if you do participate remotely, that you have your camera on that sometimes in how you participate remotely doesn't count to the quorum and other things. and then there's some things that existed before now

that need to be fixed, because sometimes times if you participate remotely and there was a allowance for remote participation in certain ways before the pandemic, you're required to list the address that you're calling from. and when you're in very contentious issues, sometimes that is a safety issue for people because you're publishing their home address in the middle of a contentious issue, and we want to address that. and possibly there's an alternative of if you don't list the address, you don't count toward the quorum. so we're looking for a way to balance this to really allow the participation of people with disabilities and seniors to allow some people to be remote, to always have a majority in the room at the time. and there are different kinds of commissions. there are some that are life and death and then there are some that advisory. they have no decision making power and i don't think there's a disagreeing point that we should

be okay with remoteness for advising meetings because they don't really have decision making power. so we're trying to put all this together in one set of amendments and see if we can't speak to all different pieces of this. >> all right. state senator john lehr from santa cruz. sounds like there's more work to be done here. so please do keep us posted. i will. >> and we're just nearing the end of session. we have about three and a half weeks left. so this will be happening in the next few weeks. so thank you for airing this issue. >> all right. thank you. coming up next, a fascinating story out of san francisco's chinatown. a store selling all kinds of luxury goods meant to comfort the dead in the next life. our media partner, the san francisco standard, will join us to explain. >> have you ever considered getting a walk in tub? well look, no further safe steps. best offer. just got better. now, when you purchase your brand new safe step, walk in tub , you'll receive a free shower

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life and death not as binary, but a circle in which we are all connected. our media partner at the san francisco sndard has a fascinating news story on its website of a sh in san francisco, chinatown, whose business is all about connecting us with our ancestors matters by selling luxury goods for the dead. joining us live now to share the story, the standards reporter han lee. hey, han. >> hi, kristin. >> this was such an interesting story for me, this unique story for buddha exquisite corp on jackson street sells something called. >> okay. correct. my chinese if you need to jhajjar did i do that? okay. yeah >> yes. okay. >> what is jhajjar? >> yeah. so jhajjar literally means paper made paper craft, right? so it's a very traditional chinese practice that by burning it, we can kind of reconnect with our loved ones or ancestors who already passed away. right? because it's very

close to the taoism. so which believes in spirits or immortality. somebody died. they might not necessarily just disappear. their spirit is still there after life. you know, live at the underworld, right? so they might still need money. they might still need you know, things that they need here. that's w we just still want to send things to them. >> yeah, there are so many cultures that tap into that idea, right? greek mythology does. i'm certainly mexican culture as well. so many. and look at the story you take us for a tour and this is your video. it's fascinating the kinds of things they have. can you walk us through what are some of the items that you can burn to give to your ancestors in their afterlife? >> yeah, so traditionally, we only burn money, right? like those currency that that's being used in the underworld. right. but now all those things are becoming very modern, very elaborate. we have those mini houses, sports cars, looking at watches and iphones and things like that. yes, yes. very

elaborate. we have very high tech items like ipad, apple watches and ipad, too. >> that is so interesting. glasses look at that. dentures i think there's also aren't there mansions and cars as well. i think you got photos of that, too. yes >> yes. so, you know, it's considered that you know, these people, they already passed away and they still live on at the other world. they might still need all those things. that's why we send it to them wait, is this delicious food? >> yeah. made out of per? >> yes. >> wow, this is interesting. oh, look a. look at that. that you don't burn that,o you? that mansion, it's huge. >> yeah, you do. and it's how much? >> it's. >> yes, i mean, it's way cheaper than a real mansion in the bay area. right. sot's still like $200. >> wow. >> okay. so i guess if you have to burn it, where do you burn such a thing? right. is there a place that you go to is there a

bowl or something? you put it in , actually. >> so whenever you visit the cemetery, your loved one, you know, the graveyard there, right? so that's where you burn it. a by burning it, that me's no longer existing in orldand it's already being se to the other world. >> oh, okay. look at that. of cash and you can get it inrrency or other currencies. e about the store. this is so interest. >> oh, yeah, it's. it's called buddsi corp. it's on jackson street. it's been there for decades. it's one of the largest store in chinatown who sells this kindf jar paper art. right. and now it's their second generation running this store and they import their their this paper art from mainland china and hong kong. >> so interesting. i mean i've seen that temples, people burning money, things like that, but i've never seen it this elaborate with that fancy atherton like mansion and luxury goods is there a specific time to do this? a time of year, a

holiday, you know, tied to perhaps ghost month, i think is what we have right now. >> yeah. so now we're in ghost month, which is one of the most scary festival in chinese culture. right? but actually burning this burning this paper art to ancestor, it's not necessarily a tradition for this month. it's actually more popular during chinese new year or qingming festival, which is in april that we go to cemetery to visit the grave. the graveyard, right. and also just whenever you have a dream about, you know, your ancestral loved one who passed away, who is telling you they feel cold, they're hungry. right. maybe that's the time you may want to buy some some of this and burn it to down the fancy paper peking duck. >> right. and a fancy blanket. yeah, indeed. so did you buy something while you were there doing the story? >> no, actually. but, you know, i think that's something that a lot of chinese immigrants, they live here. they might still go to those places to buy things if

they, you know, dream about their ancestor or loved one telling them what they need. right and it's still a very popular thing to do. >> yeah. >> hey, by the way, speaking of ghost month, there is a ghost king parade in san francisco. chinatown this weekend. tell us about it. >> yeah. so you know, as i said, ghost money is actually one of the very scary festival in chinese culture. but since we're in america, right, we reimagine this tradition. now they're making it a carnival in chinatown, and we will have a ghost king parade in chinatown this saturday. and it's aiming to kind of bring more visitors as more travelers to chinatown and boost the local economy. right >> yeah, we you know, we tend to make it a little different, make it our own. and it's still in great fun. so i do hope folks will check it out and i hope people will read your article and check out that store as well. thanks, hon. >> thank you, kristin. >> an ad you can check out more of the san francisco standards or other original reporting on their website sf standard.com.

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fill your week with real everyone is invited. it's sweetheart week it's teachers week teen week margaritaville restock the margarita bach tonight at 730 only on abc7. >> thank you so much for joining us for getting answers today. we'll be here every weekday at 3:00 answering questions with experts from around the bay area. and a reminder of abc news will air a special report when former president trump surrenders in georgia. you can watch starting around 430, maybe 5:00, right