for less than $10 a month. every plan covers preventive care, doctor visits, emergency care, and more. if you have questions, we're here to help every step of the way. covered california. this way to health insurance. enroll by january 31st at coveredca.com. on getting answers. the bay area is suddenly seeing a blanket of green furry moss everywhere from roads to roofs. but do they bring harm or benefits? we'll explore the mystery of moss and super pricey attending the super bowl. the 40 niners are headed to vegas, but if you want to go to the big game, we've got an item. look at your expenses. but

first, kids are not okay. away from social media to mental health to education, today's children and their families face a myriad of pressing problems. you're watching getting answers. i'm kristen sze. thanks for joining us today. we begin with the challenges confronting american kids and families and the summit happening in san francisco right now to find solutions. the summit is organized by common sense media, and it features prominent speakers including hillary clinton, jennifer siebel newsom, us surgeon general vivek murthy, and the founder of khan academy, sal khan. joining us live now to discuss the summit's concerns and goals. vice president of research for common sense media amanda lenhart, amanda, thanks for joining us today. >> thanks for having me. glad to be here. >> tell us about why have this summit and why right now? well you know, we knew that it's going to be an interesting year, 2024. >> it's a political year. and, you know, common sense media is one of the largest and most

active, you know, child advocacy organizations in america. and it was really important to us that we start to surface the concerns of children and families. we felt like these are really important, potent concerns and we needed to start talking more about them. and so the summit is launched today for that reason, as well as the research that we did as a part of the summit. so what are the problems, the challenges, the concerns as well? you know, certainly we hear that kids and parents, as well as just voters believe that kids don't have the same economic opportunities that they used to have, that there's a lot of concern that young people won't be able to, um, you know, have the standard of living of their parents. um, there's concerns that, uh, that politicians and people in elected office aren't listening to young people. they aren't reflecting their concerns and sort of taking them seriously. um, i think mental health also is something that's surfacing a lot in this research and here at the summit. so those are a couple of a couple of the top concerns. >> yeah. they reflect what we saw in a poll you released today

that really shows things are not well in these categories. maybe you can just elaborate a little bit more on each of these three main points. let's start with the fact that teens think we're in a crisis and things won't get better. tell us about what's driving that belief. >> yeah. and that's actually something we see with parents and with voters, with non-parents as well as adolescents. um they feel that there's just not a lot of sense that things, things are problem, particularly economically. um, but also the sense of optimism for the future. so usually we see over the past ten years, there's a americans are optimistic people. we generally think that the future is going to be better. and so this data that wse we don't even see a majority of people who say that they are optimistic. it's less than a majority, which is really quite surprising when you look at the history of polling. the thing that's interesting is teens are actually more slightly more optimistic than their parents. i think hopefully, you know, bringing some optimism of youth to this conversation. >> well, parents are struggling as well, because the second point that you found is that

parenting is harder. now is the common belief is that just because of economic picks or other issues to i think parents particularly are focusing on economic issues. >> i mean, one of the main takeaways of this study is that you cannot disentangle kids and families from the economic issues. we have in this country right now. parents say a majority, an enormous majority. almost 90% of parents say they can't afford things that they need to buy for their children. today, even parents of older kids 19 to 24, 84% of them say they can't afford the things they need to buy for their families. so i think i think it's this it's this cost of living. it's this inflation issue that's really driving parents sense of concern, as well as their sort of lack of optimism for the future and concerns about whether or not they're being listened to, whether they're and it additionally concerns about education and whether our education system is serving children well and well enough to help them move on to a productive future. >> in fact, that is the third point that you found, which is that we need to invest in education and mental health. let me ask you the mental health

aspect is that tied to a conversation that is also going on right now about the lack of protection for kids on social media is executives of big social media companies like meta x, discord, tiktok and snap. this week will answer questions at a capitol hill hearing. i imagine politicians will try to hold them responsible for their company's failings. do you think social media is a piece of that? is that where it starts? >> i mean, certainly teens tell us that. so when we ask adolescents why they think there was this mental health, these mental health concerns, they do point to two things. they point to negative impacts of social media, and they point to bullying and cyberbullying. and so to as two main things they think are driving this, i think parents and likely voters in this study also, i think see a bigger picture around lack of investment in supportive policies. there's really bipartisan agreement across the aisle that people believe the federal government needs to invest more in supporting children and families. and i think that also, when you have lots of conditions and systems

in your life that make your life difficult and challenging, and you can't afford to get mental health care, all of those things end up exacerbating these mental health questions. >> you mentioned at the top that this is an election year. you mentioned voters. you mentioned policy. so i have to ask you, is this a political conversation or is this an a political or maybe somewhat political but bipartisan conversation? >> listen, i think that's the takeaway here. we did look at people across different political ideologies. republican ones and democrats. and we found in many ways around child supportive policies like the child tax credit, like more support for child care workers, helping them to have better pay and training. there's a lot of agreement. there's agreement across the aisle on paid family and medical leave. these are basic, very i think major supportive policies that would really help families. and i think that's the surprising story. i know i and our democratic and gop pollsters who helped us with this work were all surprised when we saw this really bipartisan agreement across these policy issues,

because there's just not a lot of other bipartisan agreement in this country today. >> so if you can have, let's say, three policies that you'd like to see enacted tomorrow that you think would make a huge difference, what would they be? well i think looking at what the voters told us, looking at what? >> so the study we did was of likely voters and looking at what they told us is they're really enthusiastic about the child tax credit, which sounds like is potentially something on the horizon. they're enthusiastic about paid family and medical leave. they're enthusiastic about policies that support family, about these tax credits, about supporting child care, about making parents lives easier. and i think because all the things that we see in the study is about all the ways that parents are struggling. and it's time and people agree now it's time for not just, you know, even state investment, but federal investment in helping families, um, live better lives. >> all right. well thanks for, you know, talking about some of the things that are being explored at the summit. >> but before i let you go, i want to touch on one other topic, and it is related. and

that is the rise of i. that is, i can see that being an area that kids may need protection from. and i know that common sense has developed a partnership with openai. tell us about that. >> mhm. >> yeah. so i don't have a lot of the details about the partnership. i can tell that our study did ask young people about ai and we see a mix. we see enthusiasm for it as a possible for labor saving as a possibility for creative endeavors. but we also see concerns about whether it will be used to cheat, whether it will be, uh, diminish opportunities for jobs, whether it will make it so that we don't learn things because i can do it for us. and so i think there's a lot of different concerns, both among young people and kids. but also i think it's important to remember the not not everybody's used it yet. so it's still a relatively new technology. and that's why it's really important to start making policies, start important to help parents and families decide whether to use these technologies. um, whether it's through, um, creating ratings and reviews, whether it's creating guides to help parents make these decisions, help families, help all of us

make decisions about how and when to use ai in our lives. >> and i know you believe that government has a big part to play here, to make things better for kids and for families. but while they work on that, what can families do? what can the parents do? >> well, i think there's, you know, certainly common sense media has lots of resources for parents. i'm a parent myself and use the resources even before i joined the organization. there are really wonderful and helping families learn about the tools their children are using, help make decisions about what kinds of tools, whether it's a smartphone or whether it's ai that you bring into your child's life. um, and so i think those are another set of tools that are available to parents in the interim, while we figure out we have more policy and more structural change, we have some things for people to also use. >> all right. amanda lenhart, vice president of research for common sense media, thanks so much for coming on the show today. >> thank you so much. pleasure >> an earthy mystery is cropping up all around the bay area. more

ice is sprouting and you may have seen it where you live. a biologist will help us understand the science

the great mosque invasion are all over various social media platforms, which had us wondering why and are they beneficial or harmful? joining us live now to talk about moss mayhem. sorry, couldn't resist the alliteration. gymshark biologist at the california academy of sciences in san francisco. jim, thanks for coming on the show. thanks so i guess before we discuss something, we should define that something. what exactly is moss?

>> mosses are very, very small plants, and they occur on rocks or on bark or on soil. >> so we've always had it right. it's been around a long time and it's native. right say again, it's been around a long time. it's quite ancient. >> and its native mosses have been around for about 500 million years. >> all right. and so like others i have noticed that even though they've always been around, they really seem to be everywhere right now on sidewalks, on driveways, on roofs and it does seem to be much more pervasive and much greener than i remember what's going on? >> well, bryophytes take advantage of rain, so during our winter months, that's when they basically come back to life. so all around the forest and city landscape, trees, lawns, you'll just see a lot of bryophytes. now showing up after they get wet. >> you mean it was always there, but just kind of like a different color or not noticeable? >> it was. it was always there.

it was just gone to sleep and many of them turned very dark colors. so we just don't see them very well. >> oh, but why are they so, so, so green right now? it's almost unnatural. but i know it's natural. yeah >> as soon as the raindrops hit them, they come back to life and they turn green and they start producing food and they're going to reproduce and make more plants. uh. and that's just how they do it. and then when the rain stops, they'll dry up and go to sleep again. >> but is there something about this year due to our particular weather conditions, the amount of rain or maybe the rain versus the, you know, and then clouds and then sun or whatever that made them extra noticeable? >> well, i think, you know, we have like six months of drought here in california. so we just don't normally see them. and then once the rains come, they really spectacularly just show up everywhere. and we start walking in the forest right at this time of the year, bryophytes make up a phenomenal amount of the ground cover. we see. of all the things green carpeting, everything in the forest. so it is beautiful.

>> but i got to ask you, does it benefit us or hurt us in any way? does it pose any hazards? perhaps sometimes i feel like they can be slippery, but i don't even know if that's actually moss. that's causing that. >> no, it's not. the mosses aren't slippery and they really beneficial to ecosystems as they do all kinds of great things. one of the first things they do is they help prevent a lot of erosion. so when the rain comes, they absorb a lot of water and then they release that water slowly back into the system. so mosses are very, very beneficial in the environment. they they cause no harm. there's no poisonous ones. so you don't have to be afraid. you can touch them. they they're really beautiful. >> i understand they can also kind of help point out drainage issues. you might have. >> well, you can see the area, how the water flows. and so the mosses are going to flow and grow along where the water goes. so you can see the pathway of the water like off of a driveway way or a walkway.

>> does it have fire protection powers as well? um i don't know about so much about power, but they do have a lot of ecosystem functions. >> a lot of times in our wildfires, the first things that come back are the mosses, and they hold the ash in place and the soil until the flowering plants can germinate. >> are all right. so what about what is the slippery stuff? then there is some other thing that is green and furry looking and slippery that grows on rock and pavement. >> that's that's probably algae. and they have no leaves. that's the quickest way you can tell if you have a moss or a piece of algae is look carefully and see if you see leaves. baby leaves. and those are the mosses got it. >> okay. so let me just ask you with regard to this lovely, vibrant green moss, how long can we expect it to stick around or, you know, is it going to go away as quickly as it came? >> well, it's not going away. it's there all the time. just that we only see it normally after these big rain events when everything turns green. so. but

if you keep looking, even the summertime, they're still there. but you have to just look harder . >> got it. is there any reason for folks to say, you know, let's get rid of it, that i don't really want it here? um, i don't know. to me, it looks like it puts you in a hobbit land, and i love it. >> yeah, yeah, it's free landscaping. you don't have to do anything. they just come. if you have the habitat, they will come. so a lot of our cities, parks like here in san francisco, we have a lot of mosses growing on city trees. and so they just adds a little bit more to our beautiful city. this way. all right. >> oh is there but not always this beautiful green. so enjoy it while as jim, chief biologist at the california academy of sciences, thank you so much for coming on today. >> thank you. >> all right. super bowl excitement is taking over the bay area. but niners fans wanting to head to the game may be in for some sticker shock. we'll break down what it all cost you.

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and fans. as you can see, couldn't be happier. abc7 news reporter j.r. stone spent all day with the faithful out at levi's stadium >> 40 niners fans high fiving and kissing in the fourth quarter of sunday's nfc championship game at levi's stadium. a comeback victory for the niners. >> i still have faith not necessarily sure it was going to happen, but faith always man. >> and while some of these faithful might have started questioning things after the first half, i was ready to leave. >> i was starting to lose a little bit of you know, of my swag. the fans did not leave. >> i was starting to get nervous, but he kept me in it. he was like, dad, just hold on, keep the faith. we're going to come back. we've been going to the games for 52 years, so. >> so we just stay no matter

what. it was fun. i'm glad i'm alive for it. >> catherine lauricella is not joking with that comment. the diehard 40 niners fan literally did not know if her health would hold up this late into the season. >> she battled cancer this year, so we weren't sure if she was going to make it, but she's here and like so many others, ecstatic about the niners coming back and winning. >> woo! >> i'm from new jersey. >> oh wow. >> tonight these fans are well aware that now the 40 niners will have to take on the kansas city chiefs at. and that quarterback of theirs. now they got to play like you know patrick mahomes and the chiefs. are you worried about that kind of patrick mahomes is a good player. >> also i like patrick mahomes. he's a nice guy. but uh- in two sundays from now. you tell me what's going to happen. i don't

know. you know what i mean? >> j i know nobody knows, right? not even after the first half. you got to watch the whole game. so many of the 40 niners faithful might be eyeing a trip to vegas. if you're one of them, hope you've been saving up because prices are skyrocketing. we check stubhub and even the cheapest tickets to the game are going for close to $7,000 a piece. we've seen some tickets for more than $30,000 each, so? so how much can you expect to spend once you add it all up? joining us live now to answer that question is rhiannon o'donohoe from casino.org. rhiannon. thanks for joining us. yes of course. >> thank you for having me. >> all right. so you crunched the number and you estimate it will cost 40 niners fans. did you say at least $12,000 to attend the super bowl? >> yes. unfortunately will cost at least $12,000 to attend the super bowl. >> okay. can you break that down for us? >> yeah. so if you're from san

francisco, for example, with the average flight cost and hotel and super bowl ticket costs, it would average out to about $12,530, which is about. 17.1% of their annual salary, which is insane. but i know 17% of the salary. >> okay. and this is where it breaks down. let's first talk about flying. there uh- and hotel and the ticket average. okay. tell us you broke this down between san francisco, oakland and san jose. >> sorry. could you say that again? >> oh, can you see my graphics by any chance? >> yeah. so, um, we use google flights to find the estimated and average cost from february 9th to february 12th, which is the super bowl weekend. and those are the average flight costs you see there. and then to find the hotel average, we, um, scraped trivago within a five mile radius of the allegiant stadium. and so that's the average hotel cost within the stadium area. and then we also

use tickpick to find the average super bowl ticket cost for the game. >> those ticket prices track flights kind of track, although sometimes you can find slightly better deals. hotel average. um, is that per night or is that for 2 or 3 nights? >> no, that's for the entire weekend. thankfully >> okay. i mean, still a lot, you know, for vegas, but okay, i get it. where does this rank in terms of prices for, you know, looking at previous super bowl games? >> yeah. so i mean, been in the last decade, super bowl prices have increased by 300. so it's at an all time high now. it's just crazy. >> i mean, i suppose if you drove could you save money? i suppose it depends on how far you're driving, i guess in gas. what about the fact that it's in vegas? does that impact the cost? i mean, on the one hand, you know, bay area types often go to vegas thinking it's a relatively cheap vacation, but maybe not. what do you think? >> no, i definitely don't think

so. there's been lots of talks amongst visitors and locals in vegas saying that it's not that cheap destination anymore, so it's definitely skyrocketing prices too. >> what about how many people can be expected to go and vie for these limited hotels and tickets? right, because i'm thinking vegas is pretty convenient for both kansas city folks and bay area folks to get to. that must drive demand. >> yeah. but, you know, i think with the super bowl being there, they have every reason to jack up the prices too, because people are going to pay just to be there for the experience. >> all right. so is there an ideal time to buy? i don't know if you guys looked into that any to see if, you know, prices tend to peak right after the teams are announced, but then go down a little bit and creep back up. how does it usually go? >> um, it's definitely getting higher up now that, um, the two teams have been announced. so i'd say if you really want the best bang for your buck, it's to buy it. when the super bowl

tickets get released instantly and just hope for the best that your team makes it. >> that is a good idea. i mean, you can always sell them, right? okay how about can how can fans get notified when ticket prices drop below a certain price? is there something like a tracker like airline tickets? >> um, i'm thinking maybe these different ticket website have stuff like that within their emailing marketing team. >> all right, what about taylor swift? we know she may be at the game to support travis kelce. do you think, um, you know, a swift sighting could drive up the ticket price. just her you know, possibly being there i don't think they would drive up the ticket price with her being there. >> but i personally hope she does show up there. i know, i think that always makes it more fun. >> why is casino.org interested in doing this kind of research? >> yes, i mean, because the super bowl is in vegas this time . um, it's within our scheme to of, um, sorry, topical relevancy of doing so. and i think if

people are going to spend that much money to go to vegas, then they should expect how much to budget for it to. because like i said, it's not a cheap city anymore. no. >> and when you go to vegas, there's always the extra danger of possibly having to drop more money on other things like the casino. so factor all that in rhiannon o'donohoe from casino.org. thank you so much. >> oh, thank you for having me. >> all right. you can show your 40 niners pride on social media. we posted this image with brock purdy to share with the 40 niner faithful. you can find it on any of our social media platforms. abc7 news, bay area and reminder you can get our live newscasts, breaking news, weather, and more with our streaming tv app. just search abc seven, bay area and download it now. we'll take a short break and

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on the bay area world news tonight with david muir is next, and i'll see you back here at four. tonight, three u.s. soldiers killed by an incoming drone. their identities just released. president biden meeting in the situation room at the white house after vowing the u.s. will respond. tonight, the u.s. says iranian-backed militants were behind it. how will the u.s. respond? what we're learning at this hour. also, sources telling abc news the attack drone was possibly mistaken for a u.s. drone that was also expected to return to the base. the three army reserve soldiers killed at tower 22, a base in the jordanian desert near syria.