side. his first feature film, eraserhead, a cult classic. the elephant man in 1980. i am not an animal. blue velvet in 1986. and it wasn't only film. lynch was known for his groundbreaking tv series twin peaks right here on abc in the early 90s. last year opening up about his emphysema diagnosis, david lynch passing away just shy of his 79th birthday, his family tonight writing there's a big hole in the world now that he's no longer with us. but as he would say, keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole. tonight, actor kyle mclaughlin, posting to saying lynch had a creative ocean bursting forth inside of him and was the most authentically alive person i'd ever met. >> our thanks to david. that's nightline for this evening. we'll see you right back here. same time tomorrow. thanks for the company, america. good night.

>> beloved father who went missing and evidently told his best friends not to come looking for him. >> let's just say the phrase over my dead body takes on a new meaning. just when you think you know where t does it have to be like this? at kaiser permanente, we have a different kind of healthcare... so, how did you like doctor lum? ...where all of us work together for all that is you.

right now. >> a raging inferno, and firefighters may have no choice but to let it burn. this fire at one of the world's biggest battery storage plants now has health leaders in two counties telling people to keep their windows closed and stay away. good evening. thank you for joining us. >> i'm dan ashley and i'm ama daetz. we will have team coverage, including a live report from that fire in monterey county in a moment. but

first, the story rocking the world of east bay politics, a federal corruption investigation. and now former oakland mayor xiang tao is reportedly under indictment months after fbi agents raided her home, the bay area news group reports tao and her partner were indicted by a grand jury. >> her partner's attorney tells the bay area news group he plans to turn himself in tomorrow. >> it's not clear what charges they're facing, but we expect to learn that tomorrow in a news conference with federal prosecutors. abc seven news reporter suzanne fawn spoke to an ex-staffer of tao's who is close to this investigation. >> two years ago, everyone said i was lying, and tonight everyone knows that i was telling the truth. >> neil webb, the former chief of staff for xiang tao, says this moment is a reset for the city of oakland. tao was elected mayor of oakland in 2022, and was then recalled by voters last fall. now, tao has reportedly been indicted along with her partner andre jones. the news was first reported by the san francisco chronicle. >> she has to deal with the

consequences of her actions. >> the fbi raided tao's home last summer, along with several other locations, including properties belonging to the duong family. the family holds oakland's curbside recycling contract through their california waste solutions firm. that family has been the focus of a city probe into campaign contributions in front of cameras. days after the raid, former mayor tao denied any wrongdoing. >> and i want to be crystal clear i have done nothing wrong. i can tell you with confidence that this investigation is not about me. >> it's not clear what charges tao faces. we reached out to attorneys and investigators, but have not heard back. webb testified in front of a grand jury last month. >> i was informed that there was pay to play, you know, schemes going on, that there was corruptive behavior going on in that administration. >> thursday evening, abc7 news insider phil matier says the federal indictment has profound

implications. >> for a long time, it was the question was, was she involved or was she just in the room? was did something actually happen or is it a an associate of hers? is it her live in boyfriend? is it the other people? if this indictment comes out, then what we're basically saying is that, no, that she was directly involved in some way. the feds don't mess around. and if there's federal money involved, they are going to do an investigation. they have zero tolerance for public officials bartering or dealing on the side. >> webb says let this be a lesson to other elected leaders. >> serve the people in the way that you're supposed to, and honesty and transparency. and if you don't, you're going to get recalled and you might go to jail if you're doing illegal and corrupt stuff. >> suzanne phan. abc seven news. >> now stay with abc seven news tomorrow for the news conference. you can watch it live with us on abc seven news.com, the abc seven bay area app, or wherever you stream abc

seven. >> now back to that breaking news. the blazing fire at a battery storage plant in monterey county. just look at that fireball. it is burning intensely and it has been for about five hours now. this is at the moss landing power plant that's right along highway one in moss landing. you may recognize the twin smokestacks now. it's one of the largest battery storage facilities in the world, which means lots of lithium ion batteries to burn. we do have team coverage tracking the fire and the smoke triggering health warnings tonight. let's get first to abc seven news reporter lauren martinez, who is live in moss landing. lauren, firefighters have a long night ahead. it seems like they do. >> you know, the fire is still burning. you can slightly see the glow right behind me. i will tell you, earlier tonight it was much bigger. you could actually feel the heat from the flames from where we're standing here. unclear how long the fire will be burning for, but officials tell me they expect to be here all night. >> this is a major incident.

there's no no getting around that. and we're taking it very, very seriously. we have all the county resources deployed. >> hundreds of first responders are deployed in monterey county to help control a massive fire coming from a moss landing battery plant, officials said. the fire was first reported around three thursday afternoon. this is what it looked like around eight at night. >> we anticipate being here through the night at the incident command center. >> we spoke with nicholas pasquali, communications director for the county of monterey. >> our sheriff's office has three drones up surveying the extent of what the fire is doing. >> evacuation orders are in place for residents nearby. a plume of smoke could be seen from miles away. even santa cruz county public health officials are advising residents to stay indoors, keep windows and doors closed. we spoke with assembly member don addis. >> yes, there are toxins that make this different than your average fire. it's also can be very, very difficult to put these fires out. and the sort of

recommended standard right now is to let these batteries burn. >> there are two lithium ion battery energy storage facilities in moss landing, vistra and p-g-and-e's. addis said vistra is the one on fire, though the other facility has had a fire before as well. >> i'm incredibly upset and frustrated that there's another event at moss landing, you know, less than two and a half years after the first event. and i think we need to be thinking very critically about if lithium ion batteries are right for our local communities. >> and right now, 1500 people are under an evacuation order. we know that no injuries have been reported, and we just found out earlier tonight that a press conference will be held tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. at the castroville library plaza.

hopefully there will learn more information as to what caused this fire and anything else there. live at moss landing. lauren martinez, abc seven news. >> all right, lauren, thanks so much. you can only imagine what's going into the air from that fire. abc seven news meteorologist sandhya patel is keeping an eye on the fire and where the smoke is spreading. sandhya. >> yeah. dan, that smoke has been moving all the way up towards the santa cruz area. i do want to show you a live picture right now from that moss landing power plant fire. although it doesn't look that intense, it has been putting out a lot of smoke. this was from earlier tonight and you can see it. fortunately, the winds haven't been strong, but the wind direction transporting it from moss landing towards the santa cruz area. i've been getting reports from people there. right now it is 42 degrees, the relative humidity as high as 95%. winds are light out of the northeast, so there's been a little bit of a switch gusting to three miles an hour right now. as we take a look at the air quality from air. now the official reporting station good to moderate, but i am

looking at purple air and they are showing some sensors indicating unhealthy air quality in that region to poor. so be aware of it. keep your windows and doors closed and stay inside to avoid exposure, especially if you're particularly sensitive. the winds will remain light as you look at the hourly forecast going into tomorrow. the other thing i'm tracking the chill. it is getting cold 37 in napa at this hour. frost advisory going up from 1 to 9 a.m. tomorrow. temperatures down to the mid 30s. frost is expected and as we go, hour by hour, you can see that fog creeping back into the picture as well. it will be a cooler afternoon. i'll be back with a look at your weekend forecast coming up. >> all right, sandhya, thank you so much. new at 11. a famous cartoonist with bay area ties is under arrest in one of the state's first cases of alleged possession of ai generated child sex abuse material. darren bell is now in jail on $1 million bail. the pulitzer prize

winner's book, the talk, made multiple major book lists. he got his start at uc berkeley's daily californian and built a career around the comics candorville and rudy park. investigators in sacramento got a tip about bell uploading child sex abuse material, and found evidence that some of it was created by ai reporter roxanne elias. explains the new state law making that a crime. the arrest of a well-known cartoonist accused of possessing a child sex abuse material is highlighting the prevalence of its use, the rise of artificial intelligence and deepfake technology. >> uh- technology has made it possible and cheap and easy to create highly realistic pictures and videos of child sexual abuse material that can be virtually indistinguishable from from real children. >> it could include someone using the real face of a child on an ai body. this is why assembly member marc berman authored ab 1831, in september.

the new law, in effect at the beginning of this year, criminalizes the creation, distribution and possession of artificial intelligence generated child sexual abuse material. >> data also shows that people who view child sexual abuse material. it normalizes this this awful behavior for them, and it makes it more likely that they might act on that in real life. >> but the new law makes it very clear that this is illegal, and those creating it will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. the assembly member and a researcher with the stanford institute for human centered ai also believe the use of ai is not a victimless crime that is damaging to that child. >> it is an invasion of privacy. it is an infringement on their dignity. it may have reputational harms. the imagery may be out there for a long time. we're starting to see cases where kids are making these sorts of imagery of each other at school. >> brianna pfefferkorn says. in a lot of those cases, it involves girls who are

completely humiliated. and she says the most troubling thing is people can use an app to morph an image of a real person. >> first thing to do is for parents to think twice about whether they're putting images of their children's face up on their social media accounts or somewhere else that it's readily publicly accessible, as opposed to sharing it more in just in the group chat, just with grandma and grandpa. >> roxanne elias reporting. at least 27 people have now died in southern california. and those wildfires and more than dozens remain unaccounted for tonight. the palisades fire is now 27% contained. it's burned nearly 24,000 acres. meanwhile, the eaton fire. that one is up to 55% containment. so more progress today, burning more than 14,000 acres. some evacuation orders were lifted today. one man was just in disbelief at what he saw when he returned to his altadena neighborhood, his home, the only one left standing. >> why do i deserve? why do i

deserve this? i don't know, i don't think i deserve it, but god bless everybody else arrived. >> quite touched. as you can see, some homes were not as lucky. one that survived the palisades fire was split in half today by a landslide triggered by all of the water firefighters had to use to put out the flames. >> we have been following the temporary closures of two oakland fire stations as the city deals with the budget crisis. tonight, there was a virtual town hall meeting. hundreds of people logged on for an update on the situation and asked questions of city officials. the fire chief was the first speaker, and he addressed the possibility of more closures. >> we are hopeful. and we had we met just this morning with council member ramachandran and the mayor and the city administrator and staff to try and keep from having to go to phase two, which would be the closure of additional four firehouses.

>> the chief did say one of the closures delayed the response to a house fire in the oakland hills. >> coming up, bird flu on the rise. and it may mean some big changes for county fairs, a fight over the future of tiktok counting down to what may be its final days. >> could the social media app be saved? >> plus, a spacex launch fail with some unintended consequences falling debris, scrambling flights (vo) with fargo, your virtual assistant from wells fargo, you can access your fico® score in a snap. (daughter) what i would give to be able to make art on this scale! (dad) you will one day. but it's equally important for you to be thinking about your future... building credit— (daughter) dad... fargo, what's my fico® score? (dad) wow... it's a work of art. (vo) do you fargo? (daughter) that was corny, but i'll take it. (vo) you can. visit wellsfargo.com/getfargo.

the wildfires, the destruction,

the heroes and hope. now. tomorrow gma is in l.a. robin, michael. ginger. the gma family helping families in need. watch tomorrow morning to see how you can help so cal strong. >> israel prime minister benjamin netanyahu says his security cabinet will vote on a cease fire deal with hamas tomorrow. the united states feels confident about the outcome. we've worked to broker a deal that would bring hostages home, that would stop the fighting, that would surge humanitarian aid to people who so desperately need it. that would create the space to conclude a permanent cease fire. we now have that, and we expect implementation of the agreement to begin on sunday. hamas is expected to release about 30 hostages, including at least one american. in return, israel is expected to release hundreds of palestinians. tonight in san francisco, there was a rally at the federal building.

protesters there tonight demanding an arms embargo on israel after the cease fire is finalized. >> new developments tonight in the growing bird flu outbreak. health leaders are taking new precautions to stop the spread in animals and in people. the cdc is now urging hospitals across the country to run bird flu tests on anyone hospitalized with the flu. they say the test should happen within 24 hours of admission to speed up investigations. meanwhile, california state veterinarian is banning poultry and dairy cattle exhibitions at fairs until further notice, trying to prevent more outbreaks. the cdc counts 67 human cases of bird flu, most of them mild. >> all right. time now for our abc seven news at 11, helping you get ahead of the headlines. tonight we're focusing on the countdown to donald trump's second inauguration. one of president trump's first big decisions may be about tiktok. a white house spokesperson says president biden will not enforce

the law banning the social media app. biden signed the law lastia year and is set to go into effect one day before he leaves office. meanwhile, senator ed markey is pushing legislation to give tiktok's parent company more time to sell to an american company, buy some time, try to figure this out rationally. >> but in no way should we have tiktok go dark on sunday. it would be catastrophic for just so many small businesses, so many creators, so many communities that have been created with no alternative. >> the supreme court heard arguments last week challenging this ban. they have not yet released a ruling. >> our next advancer a unique inauguration celebration tomorrow. cryptocurrency industry leaders are holding a gala for the president elect. crypto executives donated millions of dollars to both parties during the last election cycle. president elect trump has vowed to make the united states the crypto capital of the

planet. >> president elect trump is appointing ambassadors to an unusual place hollywood. he announced that mel gibson, jon voight and sylvester stallone will be what he's calling special ambassadors to the film industry. it's not clear what that will actually entail. gibson and voight's representatives have said that they are on board. stallone's reps have not yet responded. >> some troubling new statistics released by the american cancer society today. a study shows women under 50 are 82% more likely to be diagnosed with cancer than their male counterparts. that's up from 51% more than likely in 2002. the report also highlights racial disparities and outcomes. native americans are 2 to 3 times more likely than white people to die from kidney, liver, stomach and cervical cancer. black people are twice as likely to die from prostate, stomach and uterine cancer. >> it does sound the alarm that patients, everybody should be paying attention to the look and feel of

their body and sharing with their doctors, if anything seems off. >> the overall cancer mortality rate dropped by 34% from 1991 to 2022, and mortality rates have dropped 70% among children under 14. a spacex rocket exploded minutes after launching in texas today. the company says thetexas rocket was carrying a test payload of mock satellites. there was no crew on board. some flights out of florida were delayed, and the federal aviation administration says it diverted planes around the area where that debris was falling. look at that. wow. normal flight operations have since resumed. the agency may open an investigation that could delay future space x launches. wow. >> looks like something out of deep impact or armageddon. oh, yeah. that's crazy. all right, let's talk about the weather forecast. >> yes, we have meteorologist sandhya patel checking on the forecast. sandhya. yeah, and you know what? >> ama and dan, we have a changing forecast. just look behind me right now. that was some wild video, by the way. golden gate bridge camera is

socked in as the fog has returned. exactly as we had expected. you can see it here on live doppler seven, right near the coastline. taking a look at visibility, it has dropped to below that quarter mile. it's down to zero right now in half moon bay, so be careful tomorrow morning for the commute. you'll need that extra time. let me show you those temperatures right now. 39 degrees in santa rosa, 37 in danville. these are some of our coldest spots. you will notice temperatures in the 40s around the bay and the coast. this is what's setting the changes in motion. an area of low pressure as it's approaching. it is pushing the marine layer towards the bay area. it certainly is going to help those firefighters. the winds have backed off down in southern california. look at this really much lighter. five at brown's canyon, six at malibu. this will help them to continue to gain ground on those fires there. the only bad thing is today's drought came out and it is showing more areas of southern california now

under severe drought. 26% of california. so the drought in southern california has expanded and intensified here locally, we have basically abnormally dry conditions in the eastern portion of our viewing area. a live view from our sutro tower camera. and it's a foggy one. overnight tonight. cold areas of morning frost tomorrow through the weekend. it's going to be cooler with fog giving way to sun and early to middle part of next week. it is going to be windy at times. what's going to happen tomorrow morning? watch out for the fog, even some mist and drizzle. it will pull back to the coastline in the afternoon, but then just hang around near the coast so you're not going to see a whole lot of sun at the beaches tomorrow. as a matter of fact, inland and bayside is where you'll find the sun, but cooler weather 30s and 40s out the door. you need a jacket. you might need that extra time for the commute down to 34 degrees in santa rosa and fairfield, 36 in livermore, san jose, 43 degrees. tomorrow afternoon, temperatures in the 50s and 60s noticeably cooler and

dropping closer to average compared to the last several days. here's what's going to happen as we get into the weekend. the marine influence continues to go on, but monday is when we start to see offshore winds developing once again. they get gusty. southern california could have some issues and then another round of winds coming our way on wednesday. and then one model wants to bring in the possibility of rain at the end of january. i do want to show you that first model. this is the european model. and you will notice by january 25th and 26th, it's showing some rain across the state. this is the gfs model and it's certainly wetter than the previous model. so just keep that in mind. accuweather seven day forecast. it's certainly encouraging to see that the cooler weather tomorrow, the chill, the fog in the morning and then the weekend the cooling continues. by martin luther king junior day, the winds start to turn offshore. it's a little milder and then temperatures will come up through the workweek above average once again with plenty of sun. dan and ama

will be right back after the break. >> electricity is in the air at river rock casino. join us for another electric nigf fun at our $200,000 car and cash giveaway. zap into the new year again with another chance to win an electric mercedes-benz suv. the fun starts at 8 p.m. with cash, drawings, music, and more. then, at 12:15 a.m, five lucky members will play for a chance to win an electric mercedes-benz suv. club members start earning tickets now only at river rock casino, just 20 minutes north of santa rosa. >> so you know how i like bugs. well, let me show you all these new ones i learned about in a real bug's life two. >> it's delicious. go! gone. >> get it? running this bone strong. ready? >> our cameras are getting closer than ever. i mean, how'd they even film that? just cause you're tiny doesn't mean your life can't be big. oh, he's kind of cute now. watch me go. >> a real bug's life two, now

streaming on disney plus. going to hollywood. >> the winner is carrie underwood. you're. >> you're what this show is for. oh my god. >> you've been out there searching for forever. yeah. >> you're amazing. >> you slayed it. >> who are your inspirations? >> i'm looking at her right here. >> the second weekend of february will be a big weekend for san francisco. two major events are expected to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city. the chinese new year parade will take place saturday, february 15th, and the nba all star game is the next day, sunday night, with related events happening all weekend, of course. police say they've been working on public safety plans for months, looking at what others do, what some of the best practices are for these types of events.

>> talking to the nba and their security specialists and just making sure that we hit everything that we need to hit properly. >> abc seven is a proud sponsor of the 2025 san francisco chinese new year parade. you can watch it live saturday, february 15th, starting at 6 p.m. right here on abc seven and wherever you stream abc seven news. sports is next. >> hey everyone. if you've been injured in an accident, listen up. we have legal professionals standing by. you can find out how much money you can potentially get for your accident. i'm tori shulman here with my co-host al jackson. al, tell the viewers at home who should be calling right now. >> well, tori, it's like you said, anyone that's been injured in an accident, give us a call right now and find out how much money you can potentially get for your accident. >> thanks, al. you heard it. everyone call now. savings. >> big o savings. get 80 to

$100. instant savings on four select in-stock tires plus zero interest if paid in full within 12 or 6 months. big o tires. the team you trust. >> get that gorgeous, easy to maintain lawn you've always wanted with an artificial lawn from heavenly greens. our patented hybrid fiber is strong, smooth, soft, and resilient. turn your home into a backyard dream. call heavenly greens today and put your lawn mower away. >> thing is approaching your position. >> hey everyone and welcome back! we're here to remind you that we have legal professionals standing by, and you can find out how much money you can get for your accident. al, anything you want to add? >> yeah. tori, i'd like to remind everyone watching at home if you or someone you know were injured in an accident, call now and find out how much money you can get. thanks, al. >> you heard the man. the call is free. the consultation is free. so take advantage of this opportunity and call now. >> good evening. the warriors not throwing in the towel on this season. despie

comments earlier in the week with steph curry insisting if the dubs make a trade, it has to help now and in the future for the franchise. now steph had 31 points last night in minnesota. warriors built this 24 point lead. they almost blew it down the stretch again. they ended up winning by a point. and steph had a message for all those on social media insisting a trade must be made. >> the 24 hour news cycle is hilarious at times. uh- the fact that we nobody is complacent here. nobody is okay with just being average. all the twitter fingers who's got deals that they that we need to make can kind of just shut up a little bit and let us figure this thing out. >> is he talking to me? uh- college hoops tonight. chris gerlufsen and the dons at pepperdine. ryan beasley with the lob carlton lingard. junior with authority. two hand flush. dons by a dozen at the half. another look usf led by double digits most of the way from there on out tyrone riley the fourth. woof. look out

below. malik thomas with the pass. dons win 8663. five and two in the wcc and santa clara lost at lmu. the number 18. cal women at number 16. duke, you're youw acc rivalry. only the bears second ever trip to cameron indoor, and this is one they're going to want to forget. poor shooting a horrendous 31 turnovers for cal in the game. duke scored 32 off those miscues, led by freshman toby fournier. these look like replays of the basket you just saw. but they're not. it's just cal couldn't stop her. same thing over and over. she had 23 off the bench. cal loses 7238. fewest points duke has ever given up in a ranked game to the ice. we go now. sharks fans showing up in columbus ohio. blue jackets already up one. nothing. sharks turn it over deep in their own end. and that is a problem. kent johnson shoots and scores two nothing columbus to the third period. macklin celebrini throwing it towards the net. good things usually happen tyler toffoli right place, right time. thank you very much. but it was the only goal for team teal. and the sharks fall by a score of four

one. >> good seats. >> you're in the wrong seat, buddy. come on. >> oh, i must be in the front row. just a bit. >> outside, baseball legend bob uecker passed away at age 90. wasn't a great player, but he called brewers games for 50 years. then a career in movies and tv. he was the best. thees brewers stadium in milwaukee is lit up in uc's honor. tonight sports on abc seven, sponsored by river rock casino. and we'll be right back. >> i love that my daughter still needs me, but sometimes i can't help due to burning and stabbing help due to burning and stabbing pain in my hands. so i use now i can help again feel the difference with nervive. jordan's sore nose let out a fiery sneeze, so dad grabbed puffs plus lotion to soothe her with ease. puffs plus lotion is gentle on sensitive skin and locks in moisture to provide soothing relief. a nose in need deserves puffs indeed. america's #1 lotion tissue.

- i had health insurance before. (discouraged) so expensive. i mean, i'm helping my mom out, i don't have that kinda cash. - ugh, i know. but you can get financial help now through covered california. it's totally affordable. you'd be surprised. they've got this calculator thing that shows how much you'll pay. - for real? - yeah! what are you doing not having health insurance, man? - hey, i know, i know... - here, let me show you... - we all have questions. covered california has answers and can find a health plan that's right for you. covered california. this way to health insurance.

patel, larry beil, all of us. we appreciate your time right now. jimmy kimmel, anthony anderson and fernando torres. have a great night. incredible knife. >> the easy grip, rubberized handles deliver incredible control and accuracy to chop salads in seconds, cut frozen solid meat with ease, and get razor thin