here is leslie brinkley.eporter: contra costa county health officials are contacting patrons of the sunday spa enrichment after two people died of legionnaires' disease late last week after using the facilities there. >> the widow of one of the men who died told us they had gone with a group on coupon. those may be harder to track down. reporter: joyous as it was tragic to hear the woman and her husband intended to celebrate his birthday, when he fell ill. but she was fine. >> he said, the spa looked nothing like the fake picture of the spa on the window of the facility. reporter: there is no additional information about the other person who died. >> trying to secure things like credit card receipts and appointment books as a way to get in touch with folks who may have been here. reporter: joyous as the spa did not have a health permit. he is asking the d.a. to determine if there is criminal liability, and is calling on health officials to investigate and identify other unpermitted spas in contra costa county

professor brinkley, how has the book done? >> really well, i have had more fun touring on the book then any book i have ever done. it is in the news every day, what are we doing on our planet, hawaii is in utter devastation. people jumping into the ocean to escape the wildfire. talking about the environment, how did he get to the place where we have victories from the 60's and 70's. the clean air act, endangered species act, 50 years ago. it passed. the idea is, when can we have a new biomet regulation. a new wave where the whole country galvanizes around the menace we have now of co2 in admissions -- co2 emissions. >> you have talked about jimmy carter, richard nixon, jfk, etc.. >> you have observed the last 6070 years of history. a friend of mine called the current period the great realignment. i want to get your take on the last 10 years in american history. >> the ark was from fdr in 1933 until ronald reagan in 1980. a time where people believed the federal government was your friend. whether it was world war ii, social se

abc7 news reporter leslie brinkley has the story. >> many californians don't want the grass to get anyreener at commercial businesses as ab 1572 already sailed through the assembly and if approved by the state senate in the next few weeks it could become law in 2027. the ban would not affect residential lawns or functional grass like on sports fields or grass in parks for picnics or dog walking or recreation. for the last few years, there's been a temporary ban in place on using potable water on so-called ornamental turf, on commercial properties and now that ban could become permanent. >> what we're talking about is the keep off the grass, grass, grass that's in the middle of a median strip. >> that's on a landscape of a commercial building that's behind a wall that no one ever is supposed to sit on grass that's not doing anything except sit there and get mowed and have someone put fertilizer on. once a week and water. >> but opponents see forcing businesses to change their landscaping as an onerous expense. >> what we need is more water storage, not policies, especially ones that are

i'm leslie brinkley, abc 7 news. kristen: track the heat with the same tools that the weather team uses. download the abc 7 bay area app available wherever you stream. larry: in oakland, families of students of showboat elementary school are on edge -- shabbat elementary school are on edge after threat. lena howland with details. reporter: this is the threat which chabot monday morning. >> for us, if you receive these threats and the kids to feel like they are targets, it's a big problem. reporter: this sparked an evacuation of the school. because it was school hours, there were only about 30 students inside. other families arriving for drop-off were quickly turned away. >> to pull up this morning and have my son rushed back to the car as if he was a target, it just made everything more magnified. reporter: this parent says the threat started to roll in after the school's diversity and inclusion committee hosted a play date social for black, brown, and aapi students over the weekend and the original flyer was apparen

reporter: i am leslie brinkley, abc7news. ama: there is so much video and so many stories coming out of the maui wildfire. we have gathered them into one place for you. find it on the bay area app. dan: new developments and mixed reactions to the tentative agreement that averts a three-day strike by more than 4500 city workers in son is a. city council members approve the deal they closed session today. leaders representing members of two unions say they are pleased with the agreement that will give workers a wage increase of up to 15% in three years. the mayor is not happy, saying the city cannot afford it. >> the reality is, we are gambling with the services people rely on. services that take care of children, old folks, and get our homeless neighbors indoors and off the streets. >> i think it is a huge win for both of our unions, collectively across the board. our membership is going to be excited to hear the news. dan: union leaders say they are confident members will approve the agreement when they vote on it, most likel

in oakland, i'm leslie brinkley, abc7news. dan: a reminder, our safety tracker is available to give you a picture of public safety where you live. you will find it on the front page of our website, abc7news.com. ama: a person was hit and killed by train today in redwood city. it happened around 12:30 this afternoon i'm not far from the redwood city station. buses were brought into help get passengers where they needed to go. by 2:30, train service was back to running at full speed, but a lot of trains were delayed. a suspected shoplifter and a security guard are both out of the hospital tonight after being injured at us and carlos home depot. the incident happened around closing last night when store employees tried to stop the suspect. authority say when the store security guard intervened, he grabbed the man's baton and began hitting him on the head. the guard responded, pulling out his gun, firing two shots and hitting the suspect. >> the victim was also transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. >> mac

in oakland, i'm leslie brinkley, abc7news. larry: a reminder, our safety trackers available.ill give you a picture of public safety where you live. this interactive tool shows you a wide range of data for oakland, san jose and san francisco. you can find it on the front page of abc7news.com. kristen: new details on a chaotic brawl in montgomery, alabama. reena roy has new words today about charges in the case. warning, the violent attack that was captured was very disturbing. >> officials releasing new details of the massey -- massive brawl that unfolded in montgomery, alabama over the weekend. police announcing assault charges for at least three people involved. >> the montgomery police department and all our corporate agencies got together to make sure we've done all we can to not only bring this case to a close, but prevent it from happening in the future. >> authorities hoping to speak with this man seem with his chair in hand. police say it began with the cocaptain of the riverboat that was looking to dock was untying and attempting to move a pontoon boat belonging to a

and venetia, leslie brinkley, abc 7 news. dan: breaking news in ola, where police are responding to reports of a shooting along international boulevard near 23rd avenue. police. the call before 5:00, a little more than one hour ago. sky 7 was over the sky half an hour ago. there is crime scene tape. police shut down international boulevard for a time but reopened it for we came on air at 6:00. ama: emeryville is not the only city where violence disrupted huge crowds drawn to it the ticket promotion outside of the amc theaters on bay street where tickets sold for four dollars. large groups of teenagers got into several fights at several times. similar disturbances were reported across the country. in emeryville, one person was stabbed but expected to recover and a gun was fired. police arrested one person. one city councilmember said it could have been prevented. >> we need to be able to create a better environment for them to feel that the city is where they belong, that this is a home for them. because they do not feel that

douglas brinkley, thank you for your insight tonight.too early" with jonathan lemire is coming up next. >>> as a legal matter i don't see -- i think it's not an abuse. the department of justice is not acting to weaponize the department by proceeding against the president for a conspiracy to subvert the electoral process. >> donald trump's former attorney general sharing his opinion of the former president's federal indictment for attempts to overturn the 2020 election. we'll have more of bill barr's comments and a preview of trump's arraignment j

and douglas brinkley, presidential historian and professor of history at rice university. thank you all very much for coming to the sunday show. douglas, let me start with you. talk about this inflection point in history that we are in. especially on this day. the 58th anniversary of the signing into law of the voting rights act? >> there is nothing more sacred in the united states and the right to vote and one of the biggest moments in my lifetime as the voting rights act. i would predict it's going to sell, will alabama, varied marches way to educate a remind ourselves that voting is a sacred right. and the fact of the matter is that donald trump really has broken that compact with the american people. but their refusal to admit that it was a free and fair election is one thing. but to start creating a conspiracy to deny people the right to vote, to look for slights of fake electors, and to be the first president in u.s. history that did not allow us to have a peaceful transfer of power, is all reprehensible stuff. and it's all boiling in to these indictments of trump an

joining us to discuss is author and historian douglas brinkley.scribe donald trump, his presidency and now his post presidency. it almost feels overused. how would you describe this moment and the gravity of these specific charges? >> well, you know, ana, attorney general merrick garland was in philadelphia and made his comments yesterday. he was in philadelphia for a reason. it was the cradle of american democracy, the birthplace. and standing there, he spoke only a few brief seconds but he said it was the largest investigation of the department of justice in u.s. history. there was a determination by the justice department to find out what happened on january 6th, was donald trump guilty of trying to run a fraudulent election, overturn an election, create fake electors? and it turns out the grand jury in 45 pages says, yes, in four counts that president trump is guilty. so that's epic. this means that the target, the bull's eye, the person that history is going to be blaming january 6th riot, the siege of our capitol is donald j. trump. >> you h

caller: right now, i am reading douglas brinkley's "silent spring revolution." i am getting through that and enjoying it. host: we just covered him a little while ago. he will be out here later today. we will talk general history when he gets out here. john in liberty, indiana. caller: i think "uncle tom's cabin," is one of the main books that influenced america. it has a derogatory reputation because of stuff that went on later but i think it is definitely one of the big influences right after the civil war. the characterization is very interesting. the white characters tend to be stereo typical but they all seem to be flawed. that would be my -- one of my choices. host: i believe that was 1852. that is on the library of congress's books that shaped america's original list and one we looked at for our 10. this is a text message from romie from massachusetts. one of the books that shaped me as a daughter of immigrants. "i know why the caged bird sings" by maya angelou. "to kill a mockingbird" by harper lee. "the grapes of wrath" by john steinbeck. "the hate u gi

they do and bring in presidential historian and professor of history at rice university, douglas brinkleyor of the book "silent spring revolution" john f. kennedy, rachel carson, richard nixon, and the great environmental awakening. it's so good to have you here. i'm sorry we're talking about this, doug. you and i ran into each other last week and had a little conversation. look, you have written for years and years about conservation and about climate. so let me just ask you a big picture question to start. as someone who has lived in this world essentially, when you look at what's happening in hawaii, what do you see, doug? >> another wildfire in the hottest summer on record. we had fires ripping through europe, horrific ones this summer. western canada has been hit. last summer, a historic wildfires in california. we are living in the age of climate change, and our, you know -- the fact of the matter is the amount of drought, dry weather, heat fueled this. so i feel that president biden needs to call hawaii a climate emergency. we're always careful not to -- and i wrote about hurricane

. >> i want to bring in douglas brinkley, presidential historian and history professor at rice university who wrote the book, "the great deluge" about hurricane katrina and the government's handling in its aftermath. great to have you on the program. the lack of a verbal response from a man known for his empathy, with 120 hours between comments is a big head scratcher for a lot of people. what's your take on what we have been seeing out of the administration since what happened in maui? >> that president joe biden has fallen very short on handling this emergency. for some reason, he has wanted to distance himself from this. in research and rescue operations you have a 72-hour window to get to people. this many days later, we have hundreds of people buried under rubble, there can't be enough cadaver dogs in maui right now. this has to be elevated as a major moment. you know, we're going to be known as the summer of climate change. everybody's noticing the increasing heat. what's happening in california, washington state, and biden seems to be playing games with it, not calling it a climate

joining us now white house bureau chief for the "washington post" toluse olorunnipa and douglas brinkleyeaction and the past is now present with mitch mcconnell in just a second, doug, the historical context around all of this. how are we going to look back on this, at this, in 50 years? >> that the lead up to january 6 donald trump and his co-conspirators were working to undermine a free and fair american election. they lied multiple times. trump will have his day in court, but this is one of those moments that you realize in the positive that our judicial system is working. on the other hand, how close we came to having a kind of coup d'etat fascist dictatorship perhaps if not for vice president pence trump may have found a way to try to hang into the white house longer. and i do think to me the big news here are these contemporary notes of vice president pence because it pits the two men against each other in a very clear-minded way and also the fact that just seeing rudy giuliani's name as one of the co-conspirators that's being floated and to think how people used to look to up at t

in been a shy, leslie brinkley, abc 7 news. dan: meantime, a controversial policy involving transgender students has led to a lawsuit from the state. >> let's call this policy what it is. it is a forced outing policy. dan: that is california attorney general rob bonta talking about a change approved by the chino school district in southern california. it requires schools to notify parents when a student wants to use a name or pronoun or use a restroom that does not align with the gender of their birth certificate, even if the student does not grant the school permission to do so. his office has filed a lawsuit to try to block this new policy, saying it violates the california equal protections clause and student rights to the school board president has said the changes intended to support parental rights. ama: we are learning new details about a disturbance involving around 300 kids that shut down the bay street mall last night. one young person was injured in a stabbing and another arrested. we are live in emeryville with reac

abc7 news reporter leslie brinkley has the details. >> many californians don't want the grass to get any greener at commercial businesses. ab 1572 already sailed through the assembly and if approved by the state senate in the next few weeks it could become law in 2027. the ban would not affect residential lawns or functional grass like on sports fields or grass in parks for picnics or dog walking or recreation for the last few years, there's been a temporary ban in place on using potable water on so-called ornamental turf, on commercial properties. and now that ban could become permanent. what we're talking about is the keep off the grass, grass grow that's in the middle of a median strip that's on a landscaping of a commercial building that's behind a wall that no one ever is supposed to sit on grass that's not doing anything except sit there and get mowed and have someone put fertilizer on once a week and water. but opponents see forcing businesses to change their landscaping as an onerous expense. >> what we need is more water storage, not policies, especially ones that are just o

. >> we are conditions, and leslie brinkley joins us live in the east bay with the biggest impact. >>

brinkley, that was a frivolous action. suddenly, very shortly after having been inaugurated, we were attacked. we were attacked affecting the backbone of the functioning of the state. our tax system. our customs systems. electricity. even our meteorological services. we didn't know if it was going to rain. they are never right anyway. [laughter] our ministry of transport. our health system was attacked. thanks to the collaboration of partners like the united states, spain, we realized this was coming from russia. coincidence? possibly. certainly, possibly probably from a group who had begun asking for ransom. we couldn't pay ransom. and we wouldn't pay ransom. but the effects were very important. millions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of medical appointments. but here we are, reconstructed. it was at the beginning of the administration. but once burned, twice shy. i think you say that in this country, right? and we decided that the negligence of decades, obviously, everything is the fault of the previous administration

i didn't realize at the time that i was here in the nineties and 2000s studying under under alan brinkley, who is no longer us. but i was happy to see was in that video that it was a moment of a real of renaissance and rethinking of what it meant to do political and a moment when political history was starting to draw in. you know, insights from cultural history and the history of sexuality in a whole range, other fields that were really enlivening it. and we were all engaged in that. i don't know that we all recognized that we were engaged in that project the time, but i think you've seen it kind flower and make a real change in the history profession. great. thank you and congratulations again. our third winner is john sweet. his book, the sewing girls tale a story crime and consequences in america revisits the notorious 1793 rape of a teenage seamstress named lorna sawyer. sweet narrates how the assaults ensuing trial roils new york city just a few years after the ratification of the constitution. writing in engrossing prose, he conflict builds and expands scholarship on sexual violenc

. >> we are conditions, and leslie brinkley joins us live in the east bay with the biggest impact. >> -- we will start with first. as you mentioned, this is like convergence of elements, we have the possibility first peak -- shut off in a long time, and the concern about not driving tomorrow because there is a very serious spare the air alert on the way. here are the details. spare the air alerts frequent in summer, but the forecast tomorrow is worth paying attention to. >> we see more severe air pollution forecasts for tomorrow, as accommodation of high inland temperatures, high temperature over the bay area, combined with wild fire smoke we're are getting from the north is going to cause ozone to build up. >> that means ozone is expected to be unhealthy, especially for seniors and young children, with hazy skies dominating the east bay. the bay quality management district once against strenuous exercise wednesday afternoon. polluted air is shortening human life spans more than smoking tobacco, according to a new study out of the university of chicago. globally, the study shows smoki

. >> abc 7 news reporter leslie brinkley looks at the role simons play in emergency warnings. >> you hear a siren and you know something is wrong. joe is an expert on design and operation of disaster at the universe of research >> signal but they need to work in tandem with other warning systems. >> news reports and text messages. maui has scores of towers that can sound a steady tone to mourn of natural disasters like tsunamis and fires as to why officials did not sound the sirens. >> they have the technology but they do not have the policy or decision making in place to know when they would and when they would not activate those systems. >> in san francisco sirens are taken off-line 2019 because they were vulnerable to cyber security threats. they told abc 7 news they need funding to upgrade the siren system but the funds had not been allocated. the sirens remain off-line. >> is a different story berkeley where sirens with solar power are being installed in the hills and can be activated by phone, computer, satellite. fire chief david said the sirens can emit tones or custom messag

i grew up with the three networks, listening to cronkite, brinkley every night., you know, we grew up in an environment where you got your news from the networks. you got your news from the local newspaper, or you got your news from the radio. all of whom have conventional standards. now there's so many different places for an american to go to get so-called information that you have these alarming poll numbers that suggest that a very large percentage of americans believe the 2020 election was stolen. contrary to all evidence, contrary to all court rulings. and more and more people are becoming detached from reality. >> jeh johnson, appreciate it. appreciate the work you're doing. >> sorry i can't be more encouraged. >> well, you're doing the work. that's encouraging. thank you very much. >> thank you. >>> tonight also under the rubric of the current climate, a california business owner, wife and mom of nine, is dead after she was shot following an argument. the reason she was shot. she displayed a rainbow pride flag outside her store. details next. [it's the fi

professor brinkley, how has the book done?> really well, i have had more fun touring on the book then any book i have ever done. it is in the news every day, what are we doing on our planet, hawaii is in utter devastation. people jumping into the ocean to escape the wildfire. talking about the environment, how did he get to the place where we have victories from the 60's and 70's. the clean air act, endangered species act, 50 years ago. it passed. the idea is, when can we have a new biomet regulation. a new wave where the whole country galvanizes around the menace we have now of co2 in admissions -- co2 emissions. >> you have talked about jimmy carter, richard nixon, jfk, etc.. >> you have observed the last 6070 years of history. a friend of mine called the current period the great realignment. i want to get your take on the last 10 years in american history. >> the ark was from fdr in 1933 until ronald reagan in 1980. a time where people believed the federal government was your friend. whether it was world war ii, social secu

leslie brinkley, kristen: the menlo park police department are warning people after someone spotted aain lion this morning. a person saw the mountain lion along the ckence line of the sharon heights golf club after 8:00 this morning. fish and game offia say the mountain lion does not pose a threat to residents and shows no signs of aggression. larry: happening tonight, and overnight traffic alert. we will tell you what's going on with the golden gate bridge. starting at 9 p.m. tonight, some of the southbound lanes will be closed for roadwork and repaving. that is the direction heading into san francisco. other lanes will still be open but plan for some minor delays. the closure will run until 5 a.m. each morning through thursday. a little bit of extra time. kristen: i'm hearing we are going to warm things up again. larry: it is warm inland. this is your classic summer spread. blustering inland. pretty cool here. meteorologist: it would've been more blistering inland today, but we had the high clouds moving through. here's a look at what's going on on live doppler 7. you can see clouds

douglas brinkley, thank you for your insight tonight. "way too early" with jonathan lemire is coming up next. >>> as a legal matter i don't see -- i think it's not an abuse. the department of justice is not acting to weaponize the department by proceeding against the president for a conspiracy to subvert the electoral process. >> donald trump's former attorney general sharing his opinion of the former president's federal indictment for attempts to overturn the 2020 election. we'll have more of bill barr's comments and a preview of trump's arraignment just ahead. plus, we're learning more about the failed plea agreement for hunter biden and the questions raised by the judge in that case. and also ahead we'll bring you new reporting on a private meeting between president biden and former president obama over concerns over the 2024 election. >>> good morning and welcome to "way too early" on this thursday, august 3rd. i'm jonathan lemire. we've got a big day ahead. thanks for starting it with us. we'll begin in the nation's capitol where ju

turning me now is douglas brinkley, presidential historian and professor of history at rice universityoment we find ourselves in, how novel was it for a fledgling republic to say, you know what, people aren't gonna kill each other to gain power. we're gonna have a peaceful transition. take us in the wayback machine, if you could. >> george washington, everybody wanted him to serve a third term, because he was cohesive for the nation. he's what kept everybody glued together. really, his greatest achievement as president was probably abdicating power, stepping down, saying no, i'm going to be a citizen in virginia, going back to mount vernon, and allowing this democratic process to unravel. and nothing was a sure thing. he went to adams, to jefferson, madison, monroe, we can count them, and pretty soon it became the great tradition of free and fair elections in the united states and the fact that you didn't cling to power. you served the constitution. it's what made america such a special place, and united states presidential history the envy of other democracies around the world. >> whe

brinkley: the keating five became a symbol of the '80s, 'cause it's a group of distinguished u.s. senatorsuntry because it showed that not only was corporate america being questioned for corruption, but the u.s. senate seemed to be a beehive of bribery. one question among the many raised in recent weeks had to do with whether my financial support in any way influenced several political figures who took up my cause. i want to say in the most forceful way that i can -- i certainly hope so. if you're looking for a medicare supplement insurance plan that's smart now... i'm 65. and really smart later i'm 70-ish. consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan from unitedhealthcare. with this type of plan, you'll know upfront about how much your care costs. which makes planning your financial future easier. so call unitedhealthcare today to learn more about the only plans of their kind with the aarp name. and set yourself and your future self up with an aarp medicare supplement plan from unitedhealthcare. we, the first generation of moms to lose our kids to social media are sick of waiting.

abc7 news reporter leslie brinkley looks at how bart is trying to cut costs and improve safety. >> this afternoon, bart's general manager took california senator scott wiener on a ride from san francisco civic center to the bart police department in oakland along the way, talking to bart workers to discuss what's next with the agency needing a bailout, a controversial bill to raise bridge tolls by $1.50 to help finance strapped transit systems in the bay area was just not gaining enough support. >> we've been working all year to try to deal with a potential train wreck coming our way in the bay area. >> senator wiener says they've hit the pause button on considering the toll hikes until at least next year. >> this is not optional. if our transit systems start to unravel, we will see dramatically increased congestion on our freeways and roads. low income workers will not be able to get to work. >> we're very glad the bill was put on hold because it's unfair geographically, it's unfair to people. certain income. and we think it's time that the transit agencies got to reforming themselves

bandwidth that walter cronkite is supposed to be this one who plays it down the middle and david brinkley and so on. but then you get cable tv and you split up again. so the media becomes partizan. in the 1970s eighties, and it does today, but it throws us back to the late 18th century, in the 19th century. so this is something that's been around a while, but it definitely did change the landscape. and this idea that. journalists, not just reporters and not just reporters anymore, but journalists, they can be stars and you can really tell the difference if you. well, the press conferences, they call them press conferences rather than media conferences or news conference. the press conference is a franklin roosevelt we're not televised. television didn't exist yet. and they deliberately they weren't broadcast on the radio. but you could read the transcripts them. and it's really clear that reporters who covered the president and took part in the the press conferences, this was much more a collegial approach. we're all trying to serve the public and those of us in government are trying to s

doug brinkley, the historian made a comment at the last run of "the circus" on our show, he would be the jesse james strategy, not only would they monetize that photograph, but they would wear it like a badge of honor, stir of the resentment, rally the troops, raise money, and he would become -- there's a tradition of this, like, where bad guys are heroic, anti-heroes. jesse james. you can name others. trump is that kind of guy. on another level, of course, you laugh at that, because jesse james was ahn actual hardened criminal who killed people without any apparent fee of being grabbed, being convicted and put behind bars. we know that's trump's greatest fear. he is just improvising, nicolle, doing what he does, bluster, bragadoccio, and run fast in a direction and hope everybody else gets too tired to chase you, or confuse them, or they'll back down. somehow your relentlessness and shamelessness will win the day. for donald trump, he's had a pretty good record. playing that strategy has served him will. he's gotten away with everything so far and largely rewarded for that behavior.