searing heat brings people out to bay area beaches. our heat wave is sticking around longer than first expected. we'll find out just when we can expect temperatures to drop. good afternoon, i'm kristen z. it's day three of our heat wave, and a change in the forecast means

we'll be sweating through sizzling temperatures longer than first thought. here's a live look at some of the hot spots. temperatures could reach 107. in the east bay, 104 is the forecasted high in several north bay cities in the south bay. you want to be prepared for a high of 103 in san jose, and we'll see 90 again in san francisco. abc seven weather anchor spencer christian is here right now. spencer, i think when we say people didn't think it would last as long as this, you know, expected, you expected this. you told us. i think we just weren't ready to handle it physically and mentally. >> well, at the beginning of the week, we didn't expect it to last this long. but as of yesterday, i was saying highs today, today, this day would be as high as yesterday and they are just about everywhere. so take a look at the current temperatures here. we haven't even reached the peak of our warming for today yet. that will happen around 5:00 for most inland areas, but already we're up to 106 at livermore and 101 to 102 many other inland east bay locations down into the south bay. it's 104 at san jose,

already up in the north bay, 104 at saint helena. and these temperatures are going to be even higher over the next couple of hours. they may even start to increase while we're on the air right now. and of course, we've got we've got mid to upper 90s in many locations around the bay shoreline. now, not surprisingly, our heat uh- excessive heat warning has been extended until 11:00 tomorrow night. initially it was until 11:00 tonight, so all these areas in red, which cover most of the bay area are under this excessive heat warning and the areas in orange are under a heat advisory, a risk of heat related illness, of course, comes along with this kind of extreme heat, and temperatures will range from mid 90s to above 105 degrees. some locations are at 106 107 already, and our heat risk for today, for the bay and inland is major to extreme. and that is of course very concerning news. those areas in the darker colors are in the extreme category. so we're fortunate that the winds are so light, generally under ten miles per hour, because stronger winds would increase of

course the risk of fire danger, it is hot and it is dry. so the forecast headlines are these dangerous heat wave is still with us. record highs. numerous ones yesterday likely again today. fire danger continues to be a concern, especially in the hills where it's a little bit breezier than it is down at the surface and on friday the heat will ease briefly, but not very significantly. so these are some of our heat safety tips to beat the heat. stay hydrated with water. of course. know the signs of heat related illness. seek shade or cooling centers or air conditioning when you can find it. never leave people or pets in cars. tonight is going to be very mild to uncomfortably warm with lows mainly in the upper 60s to near 70. highs tomorrow once again in the triple digit range. we're talking 100 to about 104 105. in the hottest inland spots tomorrow. and looking at the high temperature trend going into friday, okay, so upper 90s instead of triple digits. and then on saturday the triple digits come back and on

sunday upper 90s to about 100 in the hottest spots. so there's no significant cooling coming our way in the next few days. but dropping from 106 107 to 90 9 to 100 is some measure of relief. and that's what we can expect over the next few days. but significant cooling in terms of high temperatures reaching maybe only into the low 90s, that won't happen until early next week, right? >> but even a few degrees, spencer, i think, could make a big difference in terms of energy consumption and the effect on our bodies. >> that's exactly right. yeah, we'll feel more comfortable. we'll certainly have a better chance of maintaining good health just with just a drop of 4 or 5 degrees. right? >> yeah. all right. that cannot come soon enough. thank you. gentlemen. okay. all right. in the meantime, in the south bay, volunteers are turning their attention to the unhoused, who are often outside in the hottest part of the day. the unhoused response group is handing out water and information to people in san jose county. officials say they're offering supplies and encouraging people to use their cooling centers. this heat wave is keeping ac repair crews

very busy. census data says that 50% of homes in the san francisco metro area have air conditioning for the first time ever, while research firm real estate site zillow indicates more buyers want ac now, a realtor we spoke with today says more potential buyers in san francisco are asking whether properties have air conditionin, and it is a spare the air day and taking public transit is encouraged. if you have somewhere to go, it will help reduce air pollution. abc seven news reporter lena howland tells us sf bay ferry service happens to be free today. >> all these passengers on board the richmond ferry heading to san francisco didn't pay a dime, all to soak in views. people travel across the world to see. >> the idea today is knowing that we all have power in our individual actions, and we can also advocate to government as well. and it's really a job we can do 365 days a year. >> john gioia is a contra costa county supervisor. he says as part of california clean air

day, the san francisco bay ferry is offering free ferry rides across all routes all day on wednesday. >> once you get hooked on transit, especially the ferry, you may end up taking it more frequently or even going in on the weekends. instead of driving into san francisco for a fun day in the city. >> with san francisco on its third excessive heat warning day this week, it coincidentally happened to fall on a spare the air day, too, meaning people across the bay area are urged to reduce air pollution by working remotely, walking, biking, carpooling or taking public transit. >> today especially, you know, we just got in the indian summer, you know, so it's a great day to be out on the look at this. this is a fantastic day to be out on the bay as part of california clean air day. >> you can take the pledge right now on what you plan to do to help clear the air that's available now on clean air day .org in san francisco. lena howland, abc seven news. >> so track the heat wave with

the abc seven bay area apps. you can follow the forecast with the same live doppler seven tools that our weather team uses, and find tips to stay cool. now to your voice. your vote. the first and only vice presidential debate brought out a mostly focused civil sparring over the issues. abc news reporter christiane cordero shares some of the key moments. >> with just over a month to go before the general election, senator jd vance and governor tim walz sharing a stage for the first and only time sparring over the results of the last election. >> this was a threat to our democracy in a way that we had not seen, and it manifested itself because of donald trump's inability to say. he is still saying he didn't lose the election. i would just ask that. did he lose the 2020 election? >> tim, i'm focused on the future. did kamala harris censor americans from speaking their mind in the wake of the 2020 covid situation? that is a that is a non-answer. >> the vp candidates largely stuck to the issues, shifting their attacks to the

presidential candidates. walz at first appeared nervous, mixing up israel and iran. >> the expansion of israel and its proxies is an absolute fundamental necessity for the united states to have the steady leadership there. >> walz also awkwardly shrugging off false claims he's made about being in hong kong during the 1989 democracy protest. vance, when pressed about calling trump unfit for the nation's highest office in 2016, said he's admitted to being, quote, wrong about the former president. and while on immigration, vance sidestepped his more recent attacks against haitian immigrants in ohio. the back and forth led to the moderators muting the microphones. >> gentlemen, the audience can't hear you because your mics are cut on reproductive rights. >> walz put the blame squarely on trump, who has bragged about appointing the three supreme court justices who overturned roe versus wade. vance, then trying to turn down the rhetoric. >> my party. we've got to do so much better of a job at earning the american people's trust back on this issue, where they, frankly, just don't trust us. and i think that's one of the

things that donald trump and i are endeavoring to do today. >> the harris walz campaign says the vp candidate will embark on a media blitz of his own, including two national interviews. christiane cordero, abc news, washington. >> new hope for people struggling to have a child. we'll talk with the coauthor of the new state legislation that covers ivf treatments. we'll learn what health insurance companies say it will mean for health care costs. and later, the item people are panic buying as a result of a port

ivf. the legislation requires large group health care service plans to provide coverage for

diagnosing and treating infertility. reporter alicia machado, from our sister station in sacramento, has a closer look at the law and the possible cost to health care insurance companies. >> it's a tough decision for some california families. >> do i decide to start a family, or do i decide to look and get a house? >> a decision state senator caroline mengibar has weighed herself, but a bill could make affording fertility services in california a bit easier. sb 729, authored by senator mengibar, was signed into law by governor newsom sunday. the legislation requires large group health care, service plans and disability insurance policies to provide coverage for diagnosing and treating infertility. this includes fertility services like in vitro fertilization, known as ivf. the procedures are often costly. >> one of my best friends had to pay upwards of $35,000 just for the first child, and that's not even ivf, that's iui. another

best friend right now is going to mexico to start services on fertility, because it's about 75% cheaper there. >> the senator's office says this applies to businesses with more than 50 employees. the legislation also includes the lgbtq plus community and unpartnered individuals. this comes just a couple weeks after legislation to establish a nationwide right to ivf failed to advance in the u.s. senate for a second time. but not all support the legislation. the california association of health plans is opposed to the bill. in a statement, the association said in part, the coverage requirement is expected to raise health care costs by 182 million in the first year and increase to 329.9 million in year two. during a committee hearing, the california chamber of commerce also expressing opposition, saying it will increase premiums on employers. >> that was alicia machado reporting for us. and now to get

more insight into the practical consequences of this new law, the bill's coauthor, state assembly member buffy wicks of oakland. assembly member wicks, thank you for joining us today. >> thank you so much for having me. >> so can you tell us first how many californians suffer from infertility and what are the costs for ivf and other typical infertility treatments? >> yeah, we know that 1 in 8 opposite sex couples struggle with infertility to some degree. we also know that infertility affects people across race and class, but access to that care remains really just an economic privilege. so our low income communities are disproportionately impacted. we also know that that current law also unfairly discriminates against our lgbtq couples or unpartnered individuals, by requiring standards of proof that are essentially irrelevant or exclusionary. so that was really the reason why we did this bill. i was the lead author on this for a number of years, and this year we were excited to have senator mengibar take the lead, starting the bill in the senate, which gave us a much

better path to get it to the governor's desk. and we were obviously really excited when he signed it. >> all right. just to be clear, i'm lucky to not have gone through it, but how much does it cost if your insurance doesn't cover it? what is it out of pocket for? >> yeah, it can be. it can be 30, 40, $50,000. it depends on your situation of course, my second daughter was a product of ivf, so i know i've gone through this, as have many of my friends and others. and so it can be incredibly cost prohibitive. and many people struggle with the idea of, do i buy a house and have a down payment? or do i have a child? you know? and since california is the reproductive freedom state for all on many issues, we wanted to ensure that access to ivf is part of that agenda. got it. >> okay, so now let's clarify something because the report we heard just now, before you came on says this law, you know, will cover infertility treatment. and it applies to businesses with more than 50 employees. but i've seen also that it applies to large group health plans covering at least 100 people. what's the actual threshold in terms of the, you know, the

company size? the group size? >> yeah, it's the large health care plans covering 50 or more. it does not include government plans, you know, and i also saw the data on their reporting in terms of the concerns by the health care insurance industry. you know, the data that we have shows that that that our analysis predicts that this will only be $1 per member per month to cover millions of californians. and so very economically feasible. obviously, not everyone is going to take advantage of ivf treatments, and there's other treatments to treat fertility that are less expensive, but it will certainly help those, particularly our lower income folks, our communities of color, our lgbtq, members of our community to be able to make that really important choice to have a child. >> you did mention the cost just now, so i'm going to ask you, obviously the bill had some opponents and that includes the california chamber of commerce and insurance groups. right. talking about the extra cost, which you said is just $1 a watt per person in the group, but

they're saying it still adds up to hundreds of millions per year and that it will go up right after the first year, the second year will be more. and is it fair to stick that cost, so to speak, on people to subsidize other people having biological children? and is that a right of all the things that need coverage out there? what is your response to that? >> well, typically the health care industry, the insurance industry, rather they fight all of these types of bills, anything to require more coverage on anything. generally speaking, they oppose as often does the chamber as well, having said that, you know, california is now going to be the 16th state in the country to do this. we're not leading the way on this, we're actually sort of more in the middle of the pack. and what we've seen in other states is the cost has not been prohibitive, and so we expect to see similar, situation here in california. but the equity issue, i think is a real one. and i think the decision to have a family is one of the most important decisions, decisions you can make. and so having

access again, both to the ability to make the choice, if someone has an unplanned pregnancy, but also if someone's trying to create a family, i think is very critical, which is why we've also seen organizations like like naral pro-choice america, planned parenthood and others support this type of legislation. >> right, right. and ivf, of course, has become a political issue and national issue after alabama jeopardized access to it after the fall of roe and all that has made it into, you know, congressional battles and the presidential race. we probably don't have time to get into that. but practically speaking, i'd like to know from you assembly member wiget, when does the law really kick in? right. because that's important. if people are planning a family to know the timeline. >> yeah, it kicks in next year and i do think your point is accurate. and, you know, here in california with democrats leading the way, you know, we want to ensure that everyone has access to both ivf. access to safe and legal abortion, that basically we have the ability to make the decision for ourselves when and if we're going to start a family, which is a stark

contrast to the republican party across the country. >> all right. assembly member buffy wicks, thank you so much for joining us today.

to shake up city hall? in nearly ten years as supervisor, mark grew the bureaucracy by authorizing or creating a commission almost every year. he rubber stamped hundreds of millions to homeless nonprofits with zero accountability and orchestrated a pay-to-play scheme that sold out taxpayers to the highest bidder. mark farrell has all the wrong experience for the change we need.

we invited the leading candidates for mayor to abc seven. they sat down for interviews with abc seven news morning anchor reggie aqui annie gauss, the senior news editor covering business and politics for the sf standard, and kara swisher, the author, journalist and host of the podcast on with kara swisher. afterward, they discussed what they heard. here's part of that conversation, as well as what the candidates had to say. >> okay, so annie and kara, we had the four top candidates in the sf mayoral race. and what did we think? >> annie. gosh, well, we started with the mayor, mayor breed, and she is really fighting for her job right now. and that really came out in this interview. >> we have had one of the best summers that we've had since before the pandemic with oktoberfest, with the rave, with

nightlife and activation. we are excited about getting to yes and make it possible, making it possible to do some incredible things in our downtown like never before. >> i think the main message that she wanted to send was that the city is trending in the right direction. things are improving in some key areas and she deserves another term because of that. >> we of course have so much more work to do, and i also want to make it very clear we are well on our way. >> but the question is whether people want change faster and if there's someone else that can deliver it for them. you know, overall, it was pretty impressed by all of them in different ways. they're all in many ways, very good choices. i think the question is, you know, they each bring up i have more experience. daniel brought up. i have not more experience in in city hall in sidonis. and that's why i'm good. >> i'm running against people that have had their chance and they have not delivered. i just want to turn around the city that i love, and eight years from now, artists, creatives, business leaders are going to be

like, i got to be in san francisco. >> so you're saying 18 to 24 months? is that what you're saying? >> 18 to 24 months where we get our locals saying, i want to go back into san francisco. give me two terms, and everyone around the world is going to be like, san francisco is back. >> okay, we have that on tape. yes. still, even though plenty of money has been put on this race, there's still a lot of people who they know who the mayor is. but outside of the mayor, mark farrell, you have to they have to be reminded of who he is. you know, when i was on the board of supervisors, when i became mayor, we had nothing was perfect. but we had an active working relationships inside of city hall, even with people that i disagreed with, 95% of the time. my priority will be focusing on public safety, cleaning up our streets, and then being the most proactive mayor in our city's history, marketing our city to the business community, to the tourist community. so what do we think about aaron peskin? anything stand out from that conversation? >> happier than i thought. i just, you know, i think his public image is really grumpy, kind of. and i don't mean to say that in a diminishing no, you're just saying what people think. yes, i think they do. the

unfavorables are high, but he seemed very positive. and i you know, i think his, his big hill is, is he business friendly. because this is going to be a business. businesses are going to be part of bringing san francisco back, which is why he is, as you noted, the only progressive here. >> our mayor keeps saying that compassion is killing us. it's not compassion that's killing us. it's corruption that's killing us. and a progressive value is exposing that corruption. and i am the member. i am the only candidate in this race who has a plan for that and is prop c on this november's ballot. >> i didn't feel like i got all my questions answered. but, you know, i think maybe, maybe more than. yeah more than we would have had time for in a debate. so that's good. >> but i don't get to answer questions in a debate. i think debates are so performative at this point, and sometimes they're entertaining, like kamala harris and donald trump. that was highly entertaining and very it showed a lot of what was going on there. but i think voters need to hear more. i think hearing more is really important for voters, and they always talk about that, and i think they do want that. i think we disrespect voters in a lot of ways. they don't want just people attacking each other. we

want to hear, what are you going to do? >> you can hear more. that was just a three minute clip, but we talked to each of the four candidates for almost half an hour. watch the unedited interviews on our website, abc7 news.com/sf mayor or wherever you stream abc7 news. california is now the first state to ban sell by dates on packaged food. governor newsom has signed a new bill into law that will standardize data labels for groceries. the goal is to reduce consumer confusion and food waste. the law requires the phrase best have used by to communicate peak quality and use by to communicate product safety labels that say sell, by which you see on food now, will be eliminated because that's confusing, right? the changes take effect july 20th, 26. a strike by port workers has already triggered panic buying of toilet paper. ahead, the items we could see in short

and retailers reporter karen caifa has the latest on the strike negotiations and which items some people are stocking up on. there's a big gap between demands of the international longshoremen's association and the latest offer from the united states maritime alliance, or usm, which represents the major shipping lines, all foreign owned and terminal operators and port authorities. at issue, wages and automation at the ports. >> they want to come into america and build fully automated terminals and get rid of american jobs. good paying jobs that support families with medical pensions, annuities and

pay taxes. >> some of the 14 ports involved the massive port of new york and new jersey, as well as boston, baltimore and charleston, south carolina. >> i'm confident that everyone that is involved in that on either end are aware of it and did whatever they could, but we cannot settle the strike also. >> wilmington, delaware, which declares itself america's largest banana port. that means bananas could come up short at the grocery store. and even though domestic farmers grow cherries, certain berries and other fruits, they can't meet all of the nation's demand without imports to boost supply, prices could push higher raw ingredients like sugar and cocoa imports also at risk, as well as imported chocolate and alcohol. the good news for holiday shoppers things like apparel, toys and other gifts don't have a shelf life like food imports, and can park in a warehouse for months. so when retailers saw a potential strike on the horizon, they rushed to get products delivered before the strike began. despite recent reports on social media, any shortage of toilet paper and other paper

goods at stores has nothing to do with a port strike and everything to do with panic buying. most paper goods that are used here in the u.s. are produced here in the u.s, therefore no need to import them. however exports could soon become a problem for these companies, meaning there could actually be a glut. in washington, i'm karin caifa. >> all right. thank you for joining us. world news tonight with david muir starts right now. and i'll see you back here at four. tonight, breaking news involving donald trump. what jack smith just revealed, and trump's response just in. also tonight, vice president harris in the storm zone. also, the bank of america accounts that suddenly showed customers they had a zero balance in their accounts. and the breaking news tonight involving the matthew perry case. first tonight, president biden touring the devastation caused by hurricane helene and