and we begin with breaking news that could spell major problems for the evening bart commute.

bart says there was smoke and a possible fire on a train coming into macarthur. bart. they say all passengers evacuated safely and there are no reports of injuries. they are turning all trains around before they hit macarthur station. of course, this is creating major delays. we do have sky seven on the way to the scene, and we're going to give you an update as soon as we learn more. but again, we're going to keep following this for you. good afternoon. i'm kristen z. thanks for joining us. we'll have live dnc coverage in just a few minutes. but first, let's talk about the return to class today for nearly 50,000 kids as the school year started for the san francisco unified school district. abc seven news reporter gloria rodriguez tells us there's a whole lot of excitement, but also a lot of concern because of a teacher shortage and budget cuts. >> these snaps, helping students mark the first day of school at tule elk park early education school in san francisco. the san francisco unified school district, welcoming some 50,000 students on monday.

>> i'm excited for the school year to start. >> former warriors player and sports commentator festus ezeli was on hand to give students a special message. >> have fun because school is meant to be fun. as someone who has educators, as parents, i know how important this all this, this whole process is. so thank you to the teachers as well and let's have a great year. >> each classroom has two doors. >> principal nancy lambert campbell gave us a tour of tule elk. >> we are very excited to kick off our third year in this building. with these renovations due to the bond program, but the district is starting. >> the school year with about 120 teacher vacancies and a hiring freeze, except for essential staff to keep a school running. >> we're working hard to make sure all of our classrooms have permanent classroom teachers. we're covering classrooms today where we have vacancies. we're in a better place than we were last year, but we know we still have work to do to ensure that

we are fully staffed. >> in addition, due to declining enrollment, the district is planning to close a number of their schools to better realign the resources. while they haven't said how many. the recommended list of schools will be released by september 18th and will take effect for the next school year. >> we're kind of seeing and assessing step by step how it will progress and play out. because our school is a neighborhood school for us, it's we haven't been impacted by that closure, but i'm sure it will change the dynamics of the schools. and, right now we can just be really grateful for the flexibility of the staff as well, because that's a big shift for them. and so their their dedication to these students is really important. >> and the superintendent says they are working hard to set up the district to be stable and ready for the future. in san francisco, gloria rodriguez, abc seven news. >> meanwhile, oakland unified is telling students to bring reusable water bottles to school after finding elevated lead in

the water at nearly two dozen schools. district officials say they're now testing the water at all schools after 186 fixtures showed elevated levels of lead. they say there are more than 100 filtered water machines in schools. the district says water filters and pipes will be installed and fixtures will be retested. happening now vice president kamala harris has arrived in chicago for the democratic national convention. harris is expected to make her first appearance after president biden delivers a primetime speech tonight. abc news reporter christiane cordero has the latest from the dnc at the united center. plus, how the trump vance campaign is countering the dnc this week, almost one month to the day since ending his reelection campaign, president joe biden arriving in chicago not as the nominee, but taking the stage tonight, speaking to a newly energized democratic base at the party's national convention. >> thousands of people are in chicago, including the two at the top of the ticket. we get an

opportunity tonight to say a thank you to the best president of my lifetime. the dnc's monday theme is dubbed for the people, a phrase the president used in his prime time speech explaining why he's dropping out each night will have its own theme and celebrity host kicking off with actor tony goldwyn, who played president fitzgerald grant on abc's scandal. outside of chicago, trump and vance plan to crisscross the country, holding events in key battleground states over the past few weeks. on the campaign trail, the former president has struggled to stick to the issues, often resorting to personal insults. this week, trump vows to focus on safety, immigration and the economy. >> during the tour, everyone was better off when you had a gentleman named president donald j. trump at the helm. does anybody know him? >> both trump and vance's first stop this week, pennsylvania. >> kamala. if you really, really want to bring american manufacturing back to this country, might i suggest you vote for donald j. >> trump. harris and walz also stopped in pennsylvania this weekend en route to the dnc. the

dynamics of the election have shifted, with harris bringing new energy and momentum for her party. still, she insists her campaign is the underdog. we have a lot of work to do to earn the vote of the american people. >> all right, so the democratic national convention opens tonight. of course, as you know, it runs through thursday, culminating in vice president kamala harris acceptance speech. and now christiane cordero joins us live from the convention center. i just had your piece there, and it seems like the energy is really high. what are you hearing and seeing from delegates? >> it has changed really within the past hour or so. kristen, good to be with you too. by the way, the delegates are starting to file in here to the united center in chicago. we're expecting to start hearing from people in the next hour or so, and then that's going to continue through the end of the night ending. of course, with that keynote speech by president biden. >> all right. so who else is on

the agenda tonight for the first of four evenings? >> we are expecting things to get kicked off with this moment of sorts. of course, honoring civil rights icon reverend jesse jackson. and that we expect will be really powerful, especially in this packed arena. and something notable, too, is the opening remarks will be delivered by minnesota lieutenant governor peggy flanagan, who, if harris and walz win in november, would become the first female native american governor to serve in our country. and so that's something that will kind of set the tone. and then throughout the night, we expect other really big names. hillary clinton, for example, senator raphael warnock and first lady jill biden as well. >> yeah. no doubt. i'm thinking they're all going to be pretty powerful, especially hillary clinton. there's that factor of her having run for president didn't quite make it there. and of course, hoping she is hoping that kamala harris will finally shatter that glass ceiling. but i want to focus on president biden's speech. this is not the convention speech he expected to give a month ago. can you talk

about what we expect to hear him say tonight as he passes the torch, and maybe how emotional this must be for him and maybe for the audience? >> yeah, i know, i think you kind of just mentioned, you know, inadvertently what we're all thinking were there are these two themes right in this moment where one is that former or that president biden, has, as he has said, stepped aside to, in his words, you know, save democracy essentially. right. and that's something that you can expect people here, if we're going to predict any kind of energy, it will be one of gratitude. we've already heard that from the campaign trail that you know, that they want to honor his legacy, and that is a legacy that he wants to continue to build on over the next several months. and then the other piece, too, is passing the torch, which is very forward thinking. and so we can certainly expect for him to possibly touch on some of the things that we've heard from harris's campaign on the trail when it comes to the economy and looking forward for american families, those are the two main themes that i would imagine.

>> yeah, he's really got to make the case for her. right. okay. let's talk about security. i know it's got to be tight because there have been protests at her rallies, right? especially those calling for a ceasefire in gaza. and also, i wonder with that and the possible appearance, maybe by some protesters, maybe even inside the halls tonight, what's the security situation looking like? >> it was really tough to get in here. so i, i would be surprised cautiously, you know, saying that cautiously if there was major disruption in the arena. but we have today seen disruptions outside the arena. there were, you know, chicago officials said that they have certain places and permits and times allocated for protesters to make sure that their voices are heard and that they are also protected from the tens of thousands of people that are here in town. but even then, you know, it's a protest and it's a demonstration, and there are a lot of people and there's a lot of energy. and so we've seen

some perimeters get compromised from what our crew on the ground is saying, but nothing violent, nothing to the extent of, you know, destruction or chaos, at least not right now. >> all right. a lot of chicago police officers on site there. christiane cordero, thank you so much. we really appreciate your time. thank you. and here are the other speakers featured at the dnc after tonight. so tomorrow, former president barack obama and second gentleman doug emhoff will take to the stage. vp nominee tim walz will deliver his acceptance speech on wednesday, preceded by former president bill clinton and speaker nancy pelosi and transportation secretary pete buttigieg. and of course, on thursday, that's the final day of the dnc. vice president harris will accept the convention's nomination for president and abc seven news anchor julianne glover is live in chicago at the dnc all week. you can get the latest from him live from the convention floor on abc seven news today at four, five and six. and each night,

abc news will have special live coverage of the democratic national convention tonight and tomorrow from 7 to 8 p.m. wednesday. and thursday. it's from 6 to 8 p.m. you can find it wherever you watch abc seven. while the democrats try to build momentum in chicago, donald trump has his sights on pennsylvania. next, we'll take a deep dive into best strategy right now for

its system. sky seven is live over the disabled train near macarthur bart in oakland. bart says there were reports of smoke on this train. we've watched firefighters walking along the tracks and looking inside the

train. bart says. everyone did get out safely. bart says service has stopped, though. in downtown oakland, and another view of the train there that's been disabled. we have a crew on the way to the scene, and we'll bring you the updates as we get them, but keep in mind there could be some delays if you need to take that route. all right. happening live right now in chicago, taking you to the democratic national convention, which is about to get underway tonight. president biden and hillary clinton will both speak the party's last two nominees for president. and of course, we will be bringing you all the latest with our reporter, julian glover, who is going to be on the floor and bringing us the latest. all right. meantime, ahead of the dnc, new polls have vice president kamala harris holding a narrow lead over former president trump. she has a 50 to 48% lead over trump when combining an. abc washington post poll and a cbs yougov poll. candidates usually get a boost after the convention. the polls show harris and trump, even in

battleground states, and harris leading trump by 11 points among independents. joining us live now to talk about all of this is professor of history and communication at cal state east bay, nolan higdon. professor higdon, great to see you. >> thank you so much for having me. >> all right. let's just pull back a little bit and look at that 30,000 foot view. this is not the convention that democrats expected a month ago, right? in just about every way. >> absolutely. just about 4 or 5 weeks ago, democrats were concerned they were going to lose the white house and congress. they were divided about their candidate, president joe biden. now, you know what a difference a month makes. here you have a candidate who's has a lead in some of the polls and vice president kamala harris. there's clearly enthusiasm and excitement in the party. so it's a much different party and race than it was just a matter of weeks ago. >> right, right. i mean, as we showed through that new poll. right. it's actually an average of several new polls. she's got a small lead over trump nationally and is tied with him

in battleground states. i mean, you know, that's close, but isn't that an extraordinary shift for democrats fortunes in the last three weeks? i mean, how much have they really come up and have they peaked, which is what trump is trying to say a lot. >> and it's a really interesting shift that we saw, because a lot of the polling, even while biden was still in the race, said that one of the things the voters agreed on was they did not really get excited about either candidate. so i think switching out one of the candidates in this case, president biden for vice president harris, has shown a lot of excitement within the party. and there are people who are enthusiastic about vice president harris for a multitude of reasons. one of the biggest criticisms of biden from within the democratic party voters was his age. that's not a problem for harris. so it's been it's been a big shift. and harris has been out there with these giant crowds tapping into that enthusiasm. >> all right. but let's talk about what to what to really watch out for. or tonight through thursday. right from party unity after this

unprecedented stepping aside of a sitting president to, you know, other issues, right. there are a lot in the party who maybe don't agree on the gaza issue or other issues. let's talk about party unity and also how she has to present herself and sell herself to america. >> yeah, this is something i think voters be wise to pay attention to. harris is, you know, really in a honeymoon phase right now. and what i mean by that is vice president harris is the new candidate. there's a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of excitement. but harris has not been forced to do a lot of interviews, take a lot of policy positions. and once that starts to happen, that's when you can sometimes see divisions and this is where she's in quite a difficult place. i think it behooves her to echo support for president biden and president biden's agenda, but she also wants to distinguish herself as someone different while building the coalition of voters. and as you note, there are a lot of divisions within the democratic party, and she's going to have

to make an effort to try and get all those different fragments of the party under one umbrella to vote for her in november. >> and that's not an easy thing, right? i mean, today, i think just adjacent to the convention, they had a panel that focused on palestinian rights, and that was to kind of try to smooth things over. right. hopefully there won't be protests from the delegates themselves on the convention floor, which is always a possibility and should something like that happen, how might that play for america in front of a national audience? >> it could be. it's a really major deal. you know, even though harris is leading at this point, you know, we're talking about, you know, tens of thousands of votes might decide this election in a handful of states. and so losing, you know, 100,000 voters in key swing states like michigan could be pivotal. it could work against the democrats. so even though this may seem like a side issue to some democratic voters, uh, all those numbers in the periphery can really matter when it comes to determining the

electoral college. as folks like, you know, hillary clinton know, even though hillary clinton had a smashing victory in the popular vote, she was unable to win the electoral college, lost it by about 120,000 votes, and a handful of key states. so we're not talking about a lot of voters changing the outcome. and things like the uncommitted voters in michigan could prove pivotal. right, right. >> i mean, and i wonder if this convention presents a greater upside or downside potential for her than it did for, let's say, donald trump with the republican national convention, just because she is less known. i mean, of course, people knew she was vice president, but i think, you know, in terms of just like who she is and her policies, how do you think she'll want to define herself? >> you know, it's a lot of us are wondering what sort of vice president harris we're going to get at this convention. harris has uh, you know, set herself up to be someone who's willing to take various positions and change positions when necessary. so it's really difficult to figure out where she stands. and i think what she's going to do tonight is, is probably or

sorry, do at the convention this week is try and play up to her strengths. so tap into that. you know younger diverse future of america. she wants to be that candidate. she wants to tap into what people liked about biden, but also set herself as someone different with different policies. and as we noted, ameliorates some of those divisions within the party as well. so it's a herculean task that vice president harris has ahead of her. and she's doing this all in a much shorter timeline than any candidate has done in modern history. >> all right. and traditionally, the opposing party lays low during the others convention. it doesn't seem like that is what trump is doing. just real quickly, before we let you go, do you think the democrats should mention him much at all this week? >> i think so. one of the things that trump is really good at in terms of the name donald trump, is it turns out, democratic voters. and so holding up donald trump as the other option might be a reminder to a lot of voters to turn out and support the democrats. so i think politically, that's a good move

for the democratic party. >> professor nolan higdon, thanks so much. >> thank you. >> and a programing note. live coverage of the dnc starts here on abc seven tonight at 7 p.m. that's followed by the bachelorette. you can watch wheel of fortune at 10:00, followed by jeopardy at 1030. and

sky seven live over the disabled train near the macarthur bart station, and bart says there were reports of smoke on that train. right now, we're in the vicinity. but let me just tell you, bart service has stopped in downtown oakland, in the antioch, berryessa, richmond in san francisco. directions. please seek alternative means of transportation between ashby, rockridge, lake merritt and west oakland stations. because of that, you see that train down there. everybody says got out safely is what bart is telling us. so that's the good news. but again, there were reports of smoke on the train. right now

this is stopped. and i mentioned the service interruption. we have a crew on the way to the scene. we'll bring you the latest as we get it all right. with millions of new college students heading off to school and leaving home for the first time, many parents are struggling with what to do next. abc's deborah roberts talked with some empty nesters about adjusting after their kids go off to college. >> 46 year old attorney nakia gray and husband mike became bona fide empty nesters more than a year ago. they're still learning the ropes and planning their future. we've also just been really exploring what retirement looks like. just thinking about where do we want to live? are we going to stay in the area? the adjustment is called empty nest syndrome, and while not a clinical diagnosis, it's real for some. what do most parents experience? i know for me there was a real sadness and a quiet to the house. >> yeah, so it can just be a little bit of a shift and even crisis for some people, especially if you have struggled to kind of maintain a balance of all these different identities.

you as an individual, as a partner, spouse and then also your identity as a parent, it can be really disruptive. you have to allow yourself to connect to share, to talk about how difficult it is and to realize that you are grieving. suzanne stavert and husband craig have been flying solo for nearly a decade since their two kids left home. >> you have to really think about what you want to do on this second phase in your life. >> suzanne. even creating a website adventures of empty nesters did it for healing. >> i was kind of lost then, you know, our kids were grown and gone and my husband was working and i didn't have a focus. i wanted to encourage people to go out and find adventure and to live this life instead of being super sad. >> is this a time for couples to rekindle? maybe rediscover each other? >> oh, absolutely. find ways to like, play again as a couple. take a vacation, maybe plan that family vacation, start an activity for you. >> that was abc's deborah

roberts. stick 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.

a look at the highs. >> deeper into the afternoon. here's 5:00 pm. we'll find that onshore flow about 15 to 25mph. the winds were stronger last week, so we're not seeing those gusts over 30mph. but it will be breezy this afternoon and then again tomorrow. so sunshine breezy. it's mild in the south bay 76 in cupertino for a high 80. in san jose, 86 for morgan hill. along the peninsula, we'll get increasing sunshine along the coast, but we'll keep it in the 60s. 79 in redwood city, 73 in mountain view, across the

city. we still are fighting some fog on the western half of the city, but that will evaporate over the next couple of hours. increasing sun. but also increasing temperatures and increasing winds. those gusts upwards of 2020 five miles per hour in the north bay. we're in the 80s for the most part. lots of sunshine. 82 in sonoma, 87 in cloverdale in the east bay, 70 on the board. we'll hit 79 in castro valley, about 76 in fremont and then inland. very nice. close to average mid and upper 80s for daytime highs. overnight tonight we'll dip into the 50s with a mix of stars and clouds out there again, the fog pretty much confined to the coast and over the city. most areas away from the coast. we'll keep those skies pretty clear tomorrow. we'll increase those temperatures a bit. tomorrow is the warmest day on the seven day forecast. we're back in the 90s, inland, 70s and 80s, around the bay shoreline, and then we start to see some cooler weather move in here. by wednesday and especially thursday. thursday, those temperatures really drop below average. and that cooldown

continues into friday. by friday, that low pressure is nearby that it supplies us with that chance of drizzle. here's the latest forecast. you can see a couple hundredths of an inch of precip is likely friday, but by the weekend we brighten up and we warm up. here's the accuweather seven day forecast. we'll track that nice afternoon today and tomorrow as we head into wednesday. it is cooler and by friday it's cloudier with that widespread drizzle. but the weekend looking warmer, looking brighter. lots of sunshine both saturday and sunday. guys >> all right. that's going to do it for now. thanks for joining us. world news tonight with david muir starts right now. and i'll see you back here at 4:00. bye bye. >> david: tonight breaking news the democratic national convention and president biden set to speak a short time from now saying m