as you just heard, president obama spoke to the nation about the downgrade of the u.s. credit rating. as you can see, the dow right now at 400 and has been a volatile day on wall street. this is because of downgrade of the u.s. credit rating. the dow is down 404. i'm cheryl jennings. >> i'm kristen sze. today was the first day of trading after a standard & poor's downgrade and investors showed their worry. >> leslie brinkley talked to investors about this and

tells us more. >> the rumors swirl about rumors of a double-dip recession. i'm at the floor of the new york stock exchange where things got off to a rocky start. stocks opened down 227 points on news from europe, where markets dropped 3-4%. and asia where the market lost 2%. by mid-morning the dow dipped lower down 3%, with some analysts saying it could have been worse. >> no, we could have been down 1,000 at the open. i think overall, our electronic markets all across the united states did very well. handling the increase of volume. it helped that the s&p did this on friday afternoon evening. people could digest it. we could have a little more orderly response on a monday. >> then there was more bad news from standard & poor's, the agency that downgraded u.s. on friday. they downgraded the debt of government backed mortgage giant fannie mae and freddie

mac. >> we have liabilities with them, almost half a trillion dollars. we have already backstopped them $160 billion. now we're over $200 billion. everybody expected that, but not another good news. >> where does this leave wary investors? >> a lot of uncertainty, and volatility in the next couple of months. everything is settled out. that's what you will see in the market. >> buckle up, quite a ride. >> bette davis once said buckle up, boys, it will be bumpy out there. >> the silver lining is the u.s. is still the gold standard. >> there is no other debt instrument that could surpass ours right now. >> also today, investors flocked to that safeguard, gold. which spiked up over $1700 for the first time ever. like you heard, a lot of turbulence ahead. got to take it day-by-day or with the stock market minute by minute. reporting live in downtown san francisco, leslie brinkley, abc7 news. >> thank you.

well, stocks in greece plunged to their lowest level in 14 years today. the general index on the greece stock exchange closed to lowest level. leslie talked about the gold prices. they skyrocketed. price for up on of gold rose to $1700 in early trading. gold doubled in price since start of 2009. it typically increases in value as the appeal of the u.s. dollar weakens. another major story we're following today. san francisco mayor ed lee made it official this morning, he is running for office he was appointed to. >> rivals in the race quickly issued welcomes and warnings. >> abc7's eric thomas is live with the latest. eric? >> as ed lee officially entered the race. there were four key words he kept saying over and over again. i've changed. >> i'm ed lee, mayor of san

francisco, i filed papers to file for the mayor's ration this year -- mayor's race this year. >> that is what he did in basement of city hall afr seven months of vows and promises he would not run for mayor, he was not a politician and he was just doing a job that an administrator does. in fact, appointed to fill out gavin newsom's term. part of the deal was he would not run for mayor when it was all said and done. go back to being san francisco administrator. lee says now he has had success. >> his opponre saying more the merrier but that things will be different. >> i had not focussed on running for mayor.

i just did work required. there was a tone change in city hall. one that makes me feel good about being mayor to be specific about it. >> he hasn't been subject to inquiry that every other candidate had over the past several months. the fact he repeated hundreds of hundreds of times that he wasn't going to be a candidate. >> dennis herrera, another candidate, with others who said much the same thing. others who wanted to be mayor said welcome to the party. but it will get different and more scrutiny to undergo. now ed lee entered the race for mayor.

live in san francisco. >> a few moments ago you heard president obama talk about the deaths of the u.s. troops in afghanistan. today, troops in afghanistan are working to recover last pieces of the chinook helicopter that crashed over the weekend killing all 30 u.s. troops on board. a rocket propelled grenades hit the helicopters. 22 of the 30 troops on board were navy seals. benson was born and raised in angwin and was one of only 19 of 209 candidates the finish his seal training class. the angwin newspaper editor says everyone is taking his death personality. >> my reaction is one of deep sadness. this young man enjoyed a wonderful reputation in angwin. his loss is felt by many people who knew him well. >> the remains of the

service members will be returned to the united states. pleasanton police say they made an arrest in the city's most high profile cold case. 14-year-old tina was stabbed to death in 1984. the pleasanton police and f.b.i. announced that the suspect was a 16-year-old high school student at the time of the murder. he was recently picked up on a drug charge. authorities aren't releasing his name right now because he was a juvenile when the crime happened. dozens of construction workers return to the job at oakland international airport this week, after there was a bill to end the federal aviation shutdown. the $31 million new control tower contract ground to a stop two weeks ago when they gridlock over the faa budget. even with that, they cannot resume the work as quickly as it shut down. one contractor was three days away using a giant crane when the work stop and it's not available now and getting another one on short notice is expensive. so while the workers are glad to get back to the job,

the effort to save money dove the cost higher. >> what police are blaming for london's worst violent on streets in years. >> a new plan to avoid closing down 80% of u.s. schools. i'm a dancer. and until now, my feet showed it.

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british homeland officials say 215 people have been arrested for rioting in london's most economically depressed area. it has had run-in between police and protest for three days. 135 police officers have been injured. the rioting was sparked by a police shooting but many now blame the high unemployment. insensitive policing and looters for the worst violence the city has seen in years.

police continue to say it's the work of a few protesters and not sign of the growing social tension and security lapses ahead of the 2012 olympic games. u.s. education secretary arnie duncan is going to introduce a policy to avoid closing down 80% of american schools. they will have a waiver system to give waiver to those deemed failures under the "no child left behind" policy. the policy says the schools could be shut don't meet the reading and math standards. the administration wants to change the push era no child left behind. congressional republican ospose changes. >> meteorologist mike nicco with the forecast. >> we are seeing sunshine around the bay area for those who want it. flight arrival delays are over. hard to believe when you look at this picture. see how long cooler than

average temperatures hang around. >> new report of safety of packed lunch. what researchers found after testing hundreds of the kids' school lunches. 

(speaking in international language) and he said unto them go ye into all of the world and preach the gospel preach the gospel  ♪very creature in the world. (applause) we want to check the dow for you again. it was down over 500 points just moments ago. now it rebounded a little bit. still down 481 points.

nearing the end of the trading session. major selloff as investors respond to america's credit rating being lowered. president obama held a special news conference within the past half hour to say america's credit is still top-notch and urged congress to help create jobs. if you pack a lunch or one or two for your child, you may want to listen to this. new study show mislunches brought from home are not stored at the right temperature and may not be safe to each. the researchers at the university of texas in austin tested 700 packed lunches at three to 5-year-old kids at daycare center. men a heated thermal container or bag with ice packs, 90% of lunches in the thermal danger zone that could cause food born illnesses. >> yeah. worried there, right? i mean, one of the surprising and not surprising stories.

>> a year without the summer. look outside to show what is going on. some people like this. some people also want 90-degree heat and would like sunshine at beaches. i know, didn't seem to matter over the weekend. i was in pacifica. hundreds of people in the water there. a lot of them surfing and playing, so good theyen joy it even without the sunshine. 11:21. a thick layer of fog. look for volmer peak and look toward the bay. you can see it's still from the satellite, a hard time real slow retreat. because of that, that is why the temperatures will be cooler than average again today. go 100 miles out and see sunshine over the ocean. not at the coast. pockets if you are lucky. still 55 in san francisco. upper 50s half moon bay, oakland. san rafael, napa. this is the 60s and the 70s are. we aren i the upper 50s to low 60s. 63 in gilroy.

talk about sunny and cool today around the bay, but cloudy and cool at the coast. cloudy and drizzle likely tonight. a slight, slight being the key warming inland in the week. for our highs today, five degrees below average in oakland, san francisco, san jose. 68, 63 and 77. livermore, napa. 82, 74. that 74 in redwood city thank you,'re six to nine degrees cooler than average. start in east bay valley, but we have the upper 70s today. low to mid-80s farther east you head. along the east bay shore, we have the mid-to-upper 60s, richmond, berkeley, oakland, hayward. 77 in san jose. the upper 50s dominate the coast with the mid-60s in downtown and south san francisco. then north bay valley we have the low to mid-70s inland but upper 50s at the coast. if you head to the game tonight, 60 degrees at at&t park at 7:15.

dropping dto breezy and cloudy 57 by the time the game ends. being really optimistic with the temperatures. slow warming trend and at least a little bit of a warming trend. a little. >> little teeny. >> small one. >> put on your best scary face. >> yeah. you can audition to be a character believe it or not at the winchester mystery house.

today at 3:00 on 7 live, forget the midlife crisis. the quarter life crisis is more common. and the standard & poor's decision to downgrade freddie mac and fannie mae credit rating and what it means for people trying to buy or refinance a house right now. "7 on your side" put airport baggage scale to the test. michael finney checks out the accuracy. are the extra airline fees warranted? we have those stories and more at 4:00 and 5:00. get your best costume out, the winchester mystery house is holding open audition for boogie men, zombie and chain saw wielders for the halloween festivities. >> to name a few. it's at the center for performing arts recital hall at 6:00. they will work for the fright night event in september. >> it's known for strange architecture, staircases to nowhere, winding hallway and secret passage ways.

built in the late 1800s. the kids love it. >> fun. before we go, take a last look at the big board, the dow jones average. way down, 534 points right now. update you on all of the day's activities there at abc7 news at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00. >> below 11,000 mark and falling. thank you for joining us on abc7 news. >> "who wants to be a millionaire" is up next. >> have a great day. i'm a dancer. and until now, my feet showed it.

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