duffy says the federal railroad administration review will focus on the $4 billion that the biden administration allocated to the project. those funds were specifically for one section of rail in the central valley. >> this can help determine whether billions of dollars in taxpayer money should remain committed to california's high

speed rail. and we're going to look at whether california high speed rail has actually complied with the agreements that they've signed with the federal government. and we can't just say we're going to give money and then not hold states accountable to how they spend that money. >> earlier this month, president trump told reporters he plans on investigating the project himself. the president went on to call it one of the worst managed projects he's ever seen. $13 billion has already been spent on it. protesters attended today's news conference and booed through much of it. president trump is also targeting the agency that manages the presidio. he issued an executive order to shut down the presidio trust, calling it unnecessary. abc seven news reporter gloria rodriguez went to find out what happens next for the employees who work there and the people who come to visit. >> the presidio. a 1500 acre national park overlooking the golden gate bridge is one of san francisco's most iconic

landmarks. but the federal agency that manages the historic park, the presidio trust, is in danger of being eliminated by president trump. the president's executive order says it's aimed at dramatically reducing the size of the federal government to minimize waste and abuse. it calls a trust in several other agencies unnecessary. >> i think that's shameful. we need more park space in this city. this has wonderful resources for folks who live here, folks who work here for visitors, for tourists. it brings a lot of tourists and tourist dollars to the city as well. >> i am hopeful that natural spaces like these will be able to be preserved. i'm hopeful that the spaces are rented out to other organizations, like the bay school, or the fact that they have food trucks out here every weekend. you know, it's just a really amazing gathering place, and i hope that those won't be impacted. >> congress created the agency in 1996 to manage the park, which dates back centuries and

served as a military post. the trust says it has not received regular annual funding from the federal government since 2013. rather relying on funding from leasing buildings in the park. the presidio trust saying, quote, we will present a report on our activities to the office of management and budget as required by the order in two weeks. we are confident that our activities are statutorily based in 20-23. speaker emerita nancy pelosi helped secure $200 million in federal money for maintenance projects in the presidio. her office put out a statement saying, quote, the presidio trust is statutory and it has been protected from assaults over time by its statutory strength. we will be carefully reviewing the language of the president's executive order and its purpose. state senator scott wiener posted on x saying this is illegal and that they will not go away quietly. in the presidio. gloria rodriguez, abc seven news. >> meantime, san francisco mayor

daniel lurie issued this statement. the presidio is a crown jewel of san francisco and a national model for how public land can serve the public. the presidio trust has self funded for more than a decade, and san franciscans can rest assured the presidio is not going anywhere. we stand ready to support speaker pelosi and our federal partners. now, communities throughout america are affected by recent trump policies. for example, his administration is also trying to force new york city to drop its new congestion pricing to relieve traffic. but is the bay area or california getting extra attention? here to take a look at what's happening. abc seven news insider phil matier. all right. so, phil, look, some people look at these developments with the presidio trust today and the continued funding of the california high speed rail in question. and they wonder, is california in trump's crosshairs? >> well, i'm sure california is in the president's crosshairs. but the question is, did we put ourselves there? and to some extent we did, at least in the

issue of high speed rail. i don't think there's anybody in california who would say that that project is going along smoothly. it's way over budget. it was originally supposed to be $33 billion to connect san francisco with los angeles with high speed rail. it's now estimated to going to cost $133 billion to do that. so it's the cost of more than tripled that. so far they've only been able to partially complete a section between bakersfield and merced with the hope of trying to fix that, get that up and running and then bring private investors in. it's not working out. but at the same time that the secretary of transportation was blasting that high speed rail project, he was praising another high speed rail project that's on its way from los angeles to las vegas, which is privately funded and is actually probably going to be up and running before this one is, even though it started years later. so in some ways, we sort of got ourselves into this problem. and it should be noted that california's congressional republicans also asked for the

review, questioning not whether or not this project should continue, but it does employ some 14,000 people. so the question is whether it's a high speed rail project or a jobs project for the central valley, where i'd like to note trump has a lot of support. as for the presidio, you know the presidio is going to stay in operation. it is a national park. the presidio trust is sort of the local oversight committee that has kept it being sort of the prim and pristine area that it is. the commission is made up of presidential appointees, which is really ironic because if the president wants to change anything, he has the power to change that board. instead, that, and along with a couple of agencies, just seem to be a place where he's thrown dynamite to see it blow up and see what happens. >> before we get back to the high speed rail, because there's so much to talk about there, phil, in terms of the presidio trust. can the presidio remain a place that's lovely fun to visit with some businesses that are vibrant there without that overarching trust that oversees

it? >> that's a good question. you know, that is a very good question, because the park service is going to be the subject of cuts as well. will it have the attention that the it would get if it was just another one of the national parks? it's a unique one right on the urban edge. christian. that is a very good question. and it is in need of some, you know, basic infrastructure overhauls. they've estimated 500 million. they got 200 million from the feds that they said they were going to pay back with rents that they're collecting from the businesses and housing on, on the at the park. but the republicans want to claw that money back as well. so, yes. would it continue to be the jewel? yes. but will it be as shiny as it has been under the trust? that's a doubtful question. if they leave. >> yeah, indeed. all right, phil, look, getting back to the high speed rail, i'm pretty sure when i started here at abc7 in 1998, we were talking about that project. and it is now, what, 26 years later. and yet we don't see any trains running on any

rails. right? and they decided to start from the portion that has the least amount of people and riders instead of like maybe san francisco to sacramento or l.a. to, you know. so let's talk about that in terms of a classic, you know, state run project, public project that really hasn't worked. and who is to blame? because i want to say with this, i mean, sure, it's the republicans who are saying, hey, look at this right now, but they're probably a lot of democrats who are secretly, quietly saying, this ain't working as well. >> they are, i will tell you that. and that goes back to the beginning of it, where it was decided to go through the central valley. the route they took was turned out to be much more expensive than they originally thought. rather than have it run along highway five, there are a host of reasons, not the least of which was the whole question of whether or not this was going to be a high speed rail. and in order to get political support for it, they made it a tremendous jobs project. the obama administration wanted to start in the central valley to create jobs, because that area was being particularly hard hit by the recession. so, yes, there were a lot of, you know, in

hindsight, a lot of very questionable moves made early on that have led to a lot more problems. and some democrats are saying, you know, this horse is just there's only a question is when are we going to shoot it and how we're going to do it. governor newsom wants to continue on. no one wants to be the one to shut it down, because it would just be a huge 117 mile statement of a failed project. and politicians and states don't necessarily like that. >> hey, we got about 20s, but without the 4 billion from the feds, if they yank, that, is the project effectively dead? >> you know, even without the 4 billion christian? the real question is how much money in the future is going to come from the feds? and it looks like right now that tap is on the verge of being turned off one way or the other. if that turn is tap is turned off, that's the end of the project. there's no way the state and private investors that we don't have yet could foot the entire bill. >> boy, this is crazy. all right, phil matier, our insider. thank you so much. still still to come. the federal government reportedly attempting to unload

three bay area buildings as well to save money. next, we dig into these buildings and why the president may b

more white house plans that may affect the bay area. the government is considering selling three federal buildings. this according to an exclusive new report in the san francisco chronicle. the buildings being eyed for sale in san francisco. the speaker, nancy pelosi, federal building on seventh street and the general services administration building on u.n. plaza and in san bruno, the leo j. ryan federal building. the reporter who broke the story is laura waxman. laura is joining us right now. thanks for your time. >> hi. nice to see you again. >> hey, so, laura, tell us more

about each of these buildings and their functions. >> yes. so the nancy pelosi speaker, nancy pelosi federal building, which it was just named last year in honor of the speaker. so that is a building that currently houses some of her offices, and it also has hud in there. you know, the department of housing, urban development and the department of labor. so there are some, you know, federal agencies that are located there. and the. other building that's for sale in san francisco is 52 and plaza in the civic center neighborhood. and that is actually the regional headquarters for the gsa, which is kind of the landlord of the federal government. >> so why does trump want to sell these particular buildings? i mean, i'm sure it's not just because of the nancy pelosi name. >> i mean, that's a good theory. but, you know, we don't know for sure. that's the thing. what has been said publicly, right, is that president trump and elon musk, they're on a mission to reduce federal bureaucracy and

also to reduce the real estate. so they have said that they want to cut government owned real estate by 50%, and they are focusing on buildings that are older, that have high liabilities. and these two buildings that we just talked about are on that list. they are. i'm sorry. >> when you say liabilities, i wonder if you mean it in a financial sense, or the sense that the public may think about it like looking at the areas, the neighborhoods where those buildings are and the struggles they've had. >> so that's a great question, kristen. normally, i would think of that in the financial sense, right? i would think of debt that's associated with these buildings. you know, one of the buildings, 51 plaza, had a huge renovation a decade ago, and i'm sure that was very expensive. but, you know, in this one can can also consider the conditions of the neighborhoods where these buildings are located, specifically the federal building that the one that's named after the speaker has had some issues. workers there were

ordered to work from home in 2023 because of security issues. so, you know, it's not quite clear what exactly is meant here. >> exactly. wow, that is interesting. hope we get to the bottom of that. all right. so let's say they do decide to sell these buildings. how much could they sell for. who might be potential buyers. and then i don't know, i guess unless they're closing up shop, they got to rent somewhere. >> that's right. so who the buyer will be is the big question here. you know, we have so much real estate available in san francisco right now. a broker has told me in the past, san francisco is for sale. pretty much any building you want, you can have if you pay the right price. right. and so, you know, with these buildings, because they're located in struggling neighborhoods, you know, the price will likely be a little bit lower than what we're used to. right now, the market rate is about 300, 200 to $300 per square foot in downtown and then mid-market and civic center, which is where these buildings are, i'm told, is about $100 per square foot. so that's quite low. and, you know,

if you compare that to the price of constructing these buildings, the federal building, the one that's named after the speaker, that one costs $144 million to build. so 100 $100 per square foot is, is, you know, nominal compared to that. >> real quickly before we go, what might be the impact of these sales if they happen on the already struggling mid-market downtown area? >> right. so the directive has been that the, you know, musk and president trump, they want to focus on leasing new spaces in the city, more modern spaces. so if we can assume that these workers will be moved out of these buildings at some point, that will, you know, eliminate more workers in the area and reduce the foot traffic. and that's really what these neighborhoods need. >> all right. laura wacksman, thank you so much. you can read the entire article in today's san francisco chronicle. >> appreciate it. thank you. >> we are warming up across the bay area this weekend, and we could have beautiful conditions for the black joy parade. abc seven news meteorologist drew tuma has your forecast.

>> we have a lot of sunshine, not only today but through the upcoming weekend, and these temperatures will just continue to climb. so by saturday and sunday, it feels much more like spring than it does winter. and we'll keep it nice and mild and even dry through the next seven days. high pressure in control. it's going to be very nice for the next 7 to 10 days. got the latest drought monitor. and this morning we do have improving conditions across southern california especially la county ventura, santa barbara. we were in extreme drought conditions here. we had a lot of rain the last seven days. that allowed us to bring back that extreme drought across southern california. back to more severe conditions. so this time last week, about a third of the state was in severe and extreme drought. now a quarter of the state here locally, just a little bit of dryness in interior contra costa and alameda county. otherwise we're doing just fine. we have a lot of rainfall so far this water year, and our snowpack is doing really well too. here's live doppler seven along with satellite. this area of low pressure brought a cold front through yesterday. had drizzle.

we were gray. wasn't the greatest looking day. now high pressure is building in here and it's going to sit here over. the next couple of days. will block these clouds from moving in. it will also bring us some warmer weather. think of it like a heat pump over the next couple of days. so look for daytime highs well into the 60s. certainly a bit above average for this time of the year. 65 in oakland to 62 in the city, 68 in santa rosa, about 67 in san jose, 68 in fairfield. even along the coast, despite being a little bit cooler. lot of sunshine there. half moon bay coming in at about 59 degrees. so this evening we start out nice in the 60s, slowly falling through the 50s down into the 40s by about 10 p.m. but you do notice we have clear conditions that allows us to cool off into the 30s and 40s overnight tonight. so here's a look at your lows. some of our colder spots in the north bay, the east bay like livermore, santa rosa, we're down into the upper 30s 40s around the bay shoreline tomorrow. a little bit warmer than today. here's future tracker showing you we're back into the 60s. but watch saturday

70 are back away from the coast and even warmer here on sunday. this air some of the warmest we have seen in about six weeks, which is fantastic. just in time for the black joy parade in oakland on sunday. we have temperatures in the mid 60s as the parade gets underway here by 4 p.m, those temperatures close to 70. that feels fantastic. here's the accuweather seven day forecast showing you it a sunny and mild here tomorrow, even into the weekend. it is looking nice feeling like spring into early next week. we'll have those warm temperatures and dry conditions. >> still to come. the vatican says the pope is improving despite staying at another hospital or

officials are closely watching the moss landing battery plant to avoid another massive fire. they're expecting more flare ups after a portion of the plant that had burned in january reignited this week. this is video from tuesday, when that section reignited and prompted

an alert for the surrounding community to shut all windows and doors. the north county fire protection district says flare ups like this are not unusual, but residents are concerned about health effects from the air quality. in response, vistra corp, which owns the moss landing facility, is urging the community to seek financial assistance and track symptoms. >> we are concerned about the impact and the disruption this has caused to our neighbors and to the businesses in the area, so we were very prompt in listening and taking action. two programs that are still ongoing. >> the u.s. environmental protection agency says it will be disconnecting batteries to reduce potential fire risk. this week, we are tracking developing news in the north bay. some families in the santa rosa school district are in limbo. they don't know whether their schools will be closed due to budget cuts. a contentious school board meeting ended last night, with the board voting on only part of a budget balancing

plan. >> balwani's. she said when she said. >> hundreds of people showed up for the board meeting, they demanded district leaders reconsider a proposal to close several schools to balance a $20 million deficit. the majority of those in attendance were from elsie allen high school. several speakers said shutting down elsie allen would disproportionately impact the latino community. more than 90% of the students there are latino. >> a lot of students have expressed that if our school shuts down, they will be dropping out, and that is failing. that entirety of southwest santa rosa. >> my students have shared their struggles and how elkton high school is their safe haven. i hope you see your vast violation by considering elsie allen high school as a school to close. >> in the end, the board failed to vote on closing elsie allen or three middle schools. instead, they put the decision on hold, but not saying when the discussion will continue. the board did vote to close three

elementary schools, brooke hill and albert elementary will close this june. steel lane elementary will close next year. meanwhile, vallejo is moving ahead with school closures and staff reductions. just last night, the board voted to close mare island health and fitness academy and to move vallejo charter school to that campus. loma vista environmental science academy will also be shutting down. before the vote, the board president acknowledged they faced a difficult decision, but they had to do something. >> we don't want to close schools. it's the last thing we want to do. but because of this way, in the united states, especially california, all districts, because of declining enrollment are forced with this and to stay solvent, which we're coming out of state receivership. unfortunately, it's a sad reality. >> the board also approved slashing staffing by nearly $7.5 million for the next school year. tonight on abc seven news at five, we hear from the

superintendent about the next steps. new at three from the vatican. the pope remains in the hospital with pneumonia in both lungs. but he is improving. this morning, the vatican said the pontiff is stable and no longer has a fever. a spokesperson says pope francis is breathing on his own and is not using a ventilator. they also said he got out of bed and had breakfast in a chair. the 88 year old has struggled with health concerns in recent years. still to come, a bay area university unveils its new mascot. we were there when perry made his proud

raid is this sunday. you can watch it wherever you stream.

abc seven it starts at 1230. our own julian glover and zach fuentes will be your hosts. all right. in a tweet, the oakland zoo wished its hamadryas baboon a happy birthday. jazari, which means brave in swahili, turned one yesterday and is the offspring of parent baboons cody and kousa. the one-year-old baboon was purposely bred as part of the association of zoos and aquariums species survival plan, meant to ensure the survival of himalayan baboons. the tweet said that the zookeepers had a real blast putting treats out for the whole troop to enjoy, while jazari was able to snag a few mangos before any others could find them. and why not? it was his birthday today. the cal state east bay pioneers showed off the university's new mascot. >> the spirit. >> this afternoon. perry, the peregrine falcon hatched, making its official debut at a block party on the hayward campus.

perry's name was chosen and named by students, faculty, alumni, and staff. the university's president says this majestic bird embodies power, courage, adaptability, and the soaring spirit of our incredible students. go, perry. go! remember, abc7 news is streaming 24 seven. you can get the abc seven bay area app. and join us whenever you want, wherever you are. and that's going to do it for now. thank you for joining us. world news tonight with david muir starts right now. and i'll see you back here at four. tonight, there is breaking news as we come on the air. the images coming in now. there's been a suspected terror attack in israel. several bus explosions. and you'll see it. here in the u.s., the