after a long wait, san francisco families will get some answers on pending school closures. the district expected to announce its list of proposed closures and mergers in just one hour, as sfusd struggles to cut down a $400 million deficit. good afternoon. i'm karina nova. it's a moment some anxious parents

have been waiting for. in just an hour, we will learn which san francisco schools could be closed. it's not the final list. only a list of eligible campuses. the release of the list was delayed last month after the district said it needed more time for review. district superintendent matt wayne says the closures are a cost saving move and will better align the number of schools in the district with a big decline in enrollment. he released a video statement last night to students families. >> i also then share the criteria we're using to identify which schools we're going to talk with about closure or merger, and the process we'll go through to ultimately make a final recommendation to the board of education on november 12th. as a district, we have difficult decisions to make, and it's important that we're talking about these decisions together. >> there will be a virtual town hall thursday at 530 to discuss the list. the community is encouraged to weigh in. superintendent wayne will then give his final recommendation next month on which schools to close. the school board will

then vote in december. we're closely following this story and will bring you an update on abc seven news at four. california and a dozen other states are suing tiktok for creating an app designed to be addictive to children. the lawsuit claims tiktok knowingly contributed to a mental health crisis among young americans to maximize its revenue, and that it designed features to promote compulsive use of the app. abc news reporter melissa don has a look at the claims in the suit, and tiktok's response. >> the social media platform tiktok sued on tuesday by 14 states, saying harmful effects of its platform are, quote, wreaking havoc on the mental health of millions of american children and teenagers. more than a dozen states from california to new york are part of the lawsuit. >> we wanted to protect children. it's as simple as that because nationwide children and teens are struggling with significantly high rates of depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, suicidal ideation, and

other mental health issues, largely because of social media. >> the lawsuit, taking aim at tiktok's algorithms, calling them addictive, resulting in teens and kids to stay online for longer periods of time, which the lawsuits allege leads to mental health damage. >> i think the algorithm can be seen as addictive because it's feeding back what you're looking for. every time you scroll, you see a video that you like. the longer that you stay on that video, the more interest you show, the more likely you're going to see more videos like that. >> incidents like the one in new york, just an example of the influence of social media. in new york, a 15 year old boy died after subway surfing last year. the suit calling out this incident, where videos were found on the teen's social media account promoting subway surfing in a challenge. >> social media and mta, they fail, my son. >> abc news medical correspondent doctor darian sutton recommends parents set up guidelines to make sure their children understand the dangers. >> general recommendations from

the american academy of pediatrics. for example, children under two should have no screen time, but between 2 and 5, no more than two hours of screen time that is monitored by an adult. and then above the age of five for all of us, no more than two hours of screen time. >> in a statement, tiktok responding to the lawsuit, saying for the past two years they've been trying to work with the attorneys general to find constructive solutions to industry wide challenges. the social media company goes on to say they are committed to the work they're doing to protect teens and improve their product. melissa o'donnell, abc news, los angeles. >> and the lawsuit is yet another challenge to tiktok's stronghold in the u.s, with 170 million monthly users. other challenges include a federal law that passed earlier this year, which calls for the app to be banned in january unless it's sold, and the department of justice filed its own lawsuit against the company this summer for widespread violations of children's privacy laws. joining us now to go into more detail about this lawsuit is daniel weiss, chief advocacy officer at

common sense media. thank you so much for being here, daniel. >> thank you. >> good to see you. good to see you, too. now, this lawsuit stems from a national investigation into tiktok that was launched in march of 2022. can you tell us more about that probe and what was found? >> yeah, the attorneys general found in tiktok what they have found in a number of other companies like instagram owned by meta, which is that the companies know that many of their features are unhealthy and harmful for young users, but they continue to use these features because they're very profitable. the companies actually know what they can do to make their products healthier and safer for kids, and we strongly encourage the companies not to wait for the lawsuit to go forward any further and just go ahead and change their practices. we work with companies frequently to talk to them about getting rid of things like beauty filters and reducing the use of algorithmic feeds, as you just covered earlier in your

piece. there is some good news on the horizon, which is that the state of california just passed a law this year that will go into effect in january, that will reduce some of the features that are harmful to kids. >> that's great to see. and as we mentioned, states like california, they filed their own lawsuits claiming the algorithm is addictive to kids, as you mentioned. and it was even being described as dopamine inducing. can you give us an example of that? >> yeah, the because kids brains are still developing the sophistication of the of the algorithm they send, they start to learn what you're into. let's say you want to look into something about food or eating better, and then all of a sudden you're being given content that is related to anorexia or how to become anorexic, rather than keeping it informational and healthy. the main, the main problem really, is that the companies are the ones now that

are deciding what kids and teens are seeing, rather than kids and teens being able to make those choices for themselves. that's what's so good about the california law and the one that new york passed as well. kids should be able to see more things that are from their friends and from their family, and from sites that they've chosen to go to, not sites that tiktok or snap or meta or any other company thinks that that child should go to. >> all right, daniel, thank you so much for weighing in on this. i'm sure we'll check in with you soon for an update. we appreciate your time. thank you. now to the accuweather forecast and the end of eight days of excessive heat. it's been rough, and abc seven weather anchor spencer christian has a look at our cooldown and word about some rain. >> nice view from mount tam looking down into the bay. these are our forecast headlines. heat advisory remains in effect for a few locations today, which i will show you in just a moment. it's still hot. it still will be hot in our inland areas, but tomorrow through friday, look for breezy and much cooler conditions. and the weekend may

actually bring us some showers. looks like a pretty good chance of some showers on saturday, possibly lingering into sunday. so highs this afternoon. 93 at santa rosa, the inland east bay mid 90s at antioch, concord, livermore down to the south bay 88 san jose around the bay shoreline oakland, san mateo 78 will be the high. fremont 82. here in the city or there in the city. a high of 73 degrees in san francisco. now again, a reminder a heat advisory remains in effect until 7:00. this evening for the east bay hills, the east bay, inland valleys and the east santa clara hills. in those areas, it will still be pretty hot with highs in the mid to upper 90s, and there is still a risk in those areas of heat related illness. now, tonight it's not going to cool down much despite the much cooler day that we're having. overnight lows will be generally in the low to mid 60s, which is pretty mild, pretty warm for overnight lows. but the nighttime temperatures will show a declining trend as we get later into the week.

here's the forecast animation showing a series of disturbances out at sea, moving generally in our direction. it looks like the first one to hit the bay area will be on saturday. a weak frontal system that's likely to bring only light rainfall and showers, but it'll be rainfall nonetheless, which could linger into sunday. and then it looks like that series of approaching systems will continue into next week. here's the accuweather seven day forecast. so i've shown you today's highs tomorrow, wednesday. cooling continues with only upper 80s in the warmest inland spots. mid 70s around the bay shoreline. by thursday friday we'll see only low to mid 80s inland and low to mid 70s around the bay. and that pattern will hold all the way through the weekend into early next week. and again, there's a chance of showers on saturday and possibly early sunday, but this is certainly a welcome relief from the heat we've had lately. fall has officially arrived now. >> all right, spencer, thank you. developing news now. hurricane milton is strengthening once again. it's

back up to a category five over the warm waters of the gulf of mexico, with maximum sustained wind speeds up to 165mph. it's expected to make landfall along florida's west coast late wednesday night or early thursday morning, and this is a satellite loop showing the monster storm. officials in tampa are being very blunt today with a message to the people there leave or you are risking your life. abc news reporter jacqueline lee is covering the story from tampa. >> reporter people in florida are racing against the clock as hurricane milton barrels towards the sunshine state. >> we've never seen anything like this before. this is the storm of the century. >> milton is expected to slam into florida wednesday night into thursday morning, unleashing dangerous winds and record storm surge as high as 15ft in tampa. evacuation orders in place. officials saying if you stay, you might not survive. >> say you're in a single story home. 12ft is above that house.

so if you're in it, you know, basically that's the coffin that you're in. >> the tampa airport closed. orlando's airport filled today with people trying to get out of danger. they will shut down tomorrow. police escorting fuel trucks to keep gas stations up and running during the evacuation. >> we're also working with companies like circle k, gate racetrack, wawa, shell and walmart to ensure fuel trucks are working 24 over seven to keep fuel delivered as it comes into our ports. >> a nasa astronaut capturing this footage of hurricane milton from his view aboard the international space station. debris now a major concern after hurricane helene hit just two weeks ago. >> everything is projectile out here right now because everybody's house is on the front yard. and so all this is going to be pretty much missiles coming through. i'm not staying for this. >> president biden saying evacuating is a matter of life and death. >> this could be the worst storm hit florida in over a century. >> tampa's mayor saying rumors and misinformation about the

federal government's response to the disaster has been a lie. >> please don't get political on this. this storm is going to affect everybody, and we are getting the help that we need. >> and we know the florida aquarium, which took on three feet of water during hurricane helene, has been moving animals to higher floors to hopefully keep them safe. jacqueline lee abc news, tampa. >> now to the latest in the middle east. now israel's prime minister says that nation has killed the successor to the head of hezbollah. this while israel issued a new round of bombings in gaza. reporter josh einiger, from our abc sister station, has the story live from tel aviv. josh. >> karina. good evening from tel aviv. you know, israel has over the last several weeks, very, very deeply degraded hezbollah's ability to attack it from lebanon. but we saw firsthand that israel's third largest city today, that terror group, still has plenty of firepower.

israel's missile defenses were busy over the port city of haifa this morning after the idf says hezbollah launched 110 rockets at israel's third largest city. >> we're going to need to do now. >> yeah, where we were in the middle of an interview with an official as the alerts cascaded in. >> so there's an alert right now, we actually hear what sounds like the iron dome right now, working to deal with whatever rocket is inbound. >> the iron dome intercepted most of the projectiles, but the idf says five made it through, including in this small suburb north of haifa. >> you, the lebanese people, you stand at a significant crossroads. it is your choice. you can now take back your country. you can return it to a path of peace and prosperity. if you don't, hezbollah will continue to try to fight israel from densely populated areas at your expense. >> israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu, today taunted hezbollah in a message in english to the lebanese people, suggesting an uprising to topple the group from within. and as airstrikes continued on, hezbollah strongholds in south

beirut. israel claimed in a week and a half it had killed more than 100 of its fighters, including six senior commanders. the type of pressure that might be why the group's interim leader said today he'd consider a ceasefire once the cease fire is firmly established and diplomacy can reach it. >> all other details will be discussed and decisions will be made collaboratively. >> since october 7th, hezbollah has fired rockets at northern israeli towns, forcing more than 60,000 to abandon their homes. but recently, hezbollah set its sights even farther into israel. like in haifa, home to more than 300,000, and attack here over the weekend sent shrapnel flying through this very neighborhood where emergency management officials vow to protect their population. >> we can talk normal conversation one minute, and then we have to go to shelter. it's a completely crazy reality, but that's our that's our reality, right now. >> the iron dome is actually so successful here that of the 110 missiles that rockets, i should say, that made it, that were

sent, i should say, excuse me, to haifa this morning. only five were able to make it through. one landed in that town. and in that town there were two injuries. very, very fortunate. but israel says, of course it is not going to rest and will continue working to degrade hezbollah. more airstrikes in southern lebanon today as they work to do just that. we are live in tel aviv tonight. josh einiger abc seven news. karina. >> josh, thank you for all your updates live from tel aviv. thank you. another story unfolding students across the bay area high schools and colleges are walking out of class in a show of solidarity for palestinians and sky seven was over the rally at uc berkeley. you can see hundreds of people taking over upper sproul plaza. at one point, supporters of israel tried to counter protest and were met with resistance. organizers of the demonstration say they are rallying against what they say are crackdowns on political speech and the wearing of masks. they're also upset about the university system limiting expressions of support for

palestinians. here's video from a similar demonstration at san francisco state. students and faculty there rallied along 19th avenue, calling attention to their cause. red handprints were left on some sf state property. still ahead on abc seven news at three. let the fleet week fun begin. we'll take you to the official opening of fleet week festivities in san francisco. and a rare opportunity our media partner, the san francisco standard, takes us on a unique aerial experience with some military personnel in town for fl

guardsmen are here this week for fleet week, showcasing their equipment to the public. the mayor officially kicked off the event this morning. >> i know that everybody here can agree. at one point or another, someone's going to be hungry. so make sure that you go out and you support our delicious restaurants and really support our economy here in san francisco. take in all that we have to offer. >> san francisco fleet week organizers say the event generates about $10 million to the local economy. events include fleet fest on saturday and sunday, blue angels air shows and ship tours. go to abc7 news.com for a full schedule of fleet week events and information. all right, let's roll. next, we'll take an exclusive tour of a warship here for fleet week, and we'll learn

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.

get on for free at the skystar wheel at fisherman's wharf. skystar is offering free admission for active duty military personnel with an id. the free spins on the wheel are being offered today through friday, october 11th. the skystar wheel is open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. during fleet week and to celebrate fleet week. our media partner, the san francisco standard, is taking us on a rare ride in a helicopter under the golden gate bridge. the standard details the experience in a new article. okay, fine. i love fleet week. all it took was a helicopter ride under the bridge. love that title. and joining us live now is the standard senior culture editor astrid kane, who went on the ride. so lucky. astrid. okay. you have to tell us about your unique experience. it involves the helicopter and underside of the golden gate bridge and a

navy warship. tell us more. >> yeah, you pretty much got it. a colleague and i went to sfo to the coast guard air station, where we boarded a helicopter and flew over the bay under both the bay and golden gate bridges. and then about 20 miles out to sea, where we landed on the uss somerset and took a tour of the ship and then sailed right back under the bridge to anchor. once again in the bay. it was awesome. >> oh, wow. i mean, the best view ever. that's incredible. i want to ask you what you learned about the uss somerset and was it part of the fleet week festivities in san francisco? >> yes it was. the somerset had cruised up from san diego, and it will be taking part in exercises simulating an earthquake or other natural disaster to give the people on board a chance to kind of go through what would happen if they were called upon to help the area. it was pretty cool. i

had never been on a helicopter, never been on a navy ship before, so we had a number of members of the crew kind of show us what they do, like how to extinguish an electrical fire when you're on a ship in the middle of the ocean. we saw the medical bay. we got to eat some fairly tasty food in the canteen. i mean, we got, like, a rapid fire tour. it was rad. >> incredible. and your article talks about the uss somerset rallying cry. let's roll. what is the significance of that phrase? >> yeah, so it's a pretty cheerful phrase with a fairly ominous origin. on september 11th, 2001, usa uh- united airlines flight 93 was bound for sfo and was the plane that went down in pennsylvania after passengers took back control from the terrorists who were intent on flying it into the us capitol building and their rallying cry essentially is they retook the cockpit, was let's roll. and the united states navy has adopted this slogan, and it is splashed all over the somerset, which is named after the pennsylvania county where the flight went down.

>> wow. okay. see, i just learned something new from you. that's incredible. and you learned about some military traditions during your tour? talk about the challenge coin that you received. >> yeah. so this is a this is kind of the sexy part. we were graciously received by captain andrew coy of the somerset. and as we were leaving the ship in the lander that took us back to shore, he gave me a handshake per military tradition, and i got a challenge coin from him. it says, let's roll on one side. and in 93, in honor of flight 93 on the other.pretty cool. >> wow. overall, an incredible experience. would you say maybe top three assignments ever in your career? >> unquestionably, yes. this is one of the coolest things i've ever gotten to do, let alone for journalism. >> so lucky. all right, well, thank you for sharing. we really appreciate it. >> my pleasure. thanks. >> and you can check out more of the san francisco standard's original reporting on their website, sf standard.com. and abc7 will continue to bring you

the standard city focused journalism every tuesday right here on abc

from their wedding day until a stranger stepped in to help. abc reporter danny njoo shares the touching story with us. >> reporter this story starts about a month ago in a town just outside of phoenix. handyman david hartung here was inspecting a home he was hired to fix up between renters. and when he was opening up drawers and cabinets, he heard something fall. >> i pulled out this bubble wrap, and i'm like, well, this is interesting. >> it was this cake topper with a note that said jeanne and george spengler. september 11th, 1954. >> i thought to myself, their 70th anniversary is right around the corner. i said, i have to find these people. >> okay, now let's head northeast of there to illinois, where the inheritor of that cake topper still didn't know she was missing a beloved family heirloom. >> i was very close with my grandparents growing up. >> kim telfer's grandma and grandpa used this cake topper on their wedding day in 1954, and since they both passed before her wedding three years ago, i

thought it was a good idea to kind of have them there at our wedding to use their cake topper. well, in the last three years, kim has moved to arizona for a bit and then this past summer moved back to illinois. and during the chaos of this cross-country move, she had not yet realized that the movers missed such an important item. so now let's go back to david, who was suddenly posting pictures of the cake topper on all the facebook groups in the community. >> i started reaching out to everybody. >> david says thousands of people started commenting and helping him research the family. and then one day, kim was just scrolling through facebook. was your first thought, oh, that looks like a cake topper i have. >> yeah. i was like, that's my cake topper. that's what i used. how is this on facebook? >> after exchanging messages online about a week or so ago, kim finally received her grandparent's cake topper safely and in great condition. this all thanks to the kindness of a man she had never met. >> very happy that i have it back. thanks so much for doing that. >> you're very welcome. >> it was my honor, so i asked

david why he went through all of this, and he says it's because he tries to help at least one person every day. words he lives by. so on that note, if anyone needs a cake topper that's also a bobble head, i would be happy to lend you mine. in new york for abc news, i'm danny, new. wow. >> something nice for somebody every day. that's good to live by. thank you for joining us. world news tonight with david muir starts now. we'll see you tonight, breaking news. hurricane milton now back up to a category 5 hurricane again, set to slam into florida. millions tonight being warned, this is their last chance to evacuate. the new forecast just in from the hurricane center. also breaking at this hour, just moments ago, the justice department saying it has foiled an election day terror plot right here in the u.s. first tonight, the race to escape hurricane milton. the major storm reintensifying to a category 5, with winds now up to