. >> eric thomas, touching reunion. >> reporter: fire survivor, owner and roommate.een each other since november 8th. michael left for work, taking taxi but leaving maggie at home. >> by the time i realized it was bad as it was, nothing i could do. >> reporter: neighbor tried to rescue the dog, couldn't corral her. michael thought she was safe, then found out missing. maggie went to a local cemetery that was only safe place nearby. found by police and turned over to this young lady. >> she was super skittish at first, in decent shape though, wasn't burned. we've seen way worse. >> reporter: who told michael she was okay. >> dropped to the ground and started crying. >> reporter: michael and dogs will temporarily live out of travel trailer and have thanksgiving dinner with family. like thousands of others lost everything to the flames except the things that meant the most. >> not letting them out of my sight anymore. >> reporter: eric thomas, abc7 news. >> happy reunion. >> nice to see. >>> video from the i-team is getting reaction on social media. >>> silicon valley e

abc 7 news anchor eric thomas has more on that. >> it's an eyesore. >> reporter: it's that and a lot more. >> it starts with household trash but you could literally furnish a whole house with what we find. >> reporter: dumping is visible even at the no dumping signs. they travel this every day and they are not happy with the view. >> you see mattresses, washers and dryers. it is disgusting how people just dump trash and think they can get away with it. >> it's a with all 660 miles of road we have in the county. >> reporter: joe with public works said his crews pick up trash at all the troubled spots once a month. when it comes to keeping up -- >> we can't. >> reporter: so public works and health department put together this report on illegal dumping. the county spent $1.2 million picking up illegally dumped trash. still it rose 14% from 2016 to 2017 and is expected to rise another 5% this year. the report illegal hammer. it is $1,000 for a fine. not so much for for a cracker who thinks he can get away with it enough time to make it pay off. eric thomas, abc 7 news. >> contra costa co

i'm eric thomas. >> and i'm dion lim. big voter turnout is expected because of record voter registration numbers in california and at least one local county. >> what's shaping up to be a busy mid-term election. >> reporter: people we talked with are eager to make their voices heard by having their vote counted. in santa clara county a record number of people registering to vote. more than 800,000 people. keep up if you can, in santa clara county where ballots are buzzing through machines taking in early votes. >> we saw people were lined up when we opened the doors at 9:00. they wanted to come in and vote. >> reporter: voters in san jose and seven satellite offices, hundreds of election officers kept busy this weekend. >> i love that you do have the opportunity to do that because everyone's schedule is different. so i don't have to rush over hereafter work or before work, i'm trying to avoid that. >> reporter: a san jose resident and her mother and sister, showed up to vote in person sunday afternoon. >> i believe this is

live in emeryville, eric thomas, abc 7 news. >> eric, thanks very much. this maybe the picture of the day. sky 7 captured really an incredible rainbow on the coast. look at that. this was between daly city and pacifica. remember, you can get the latest on the rain anytime with the abc 7 news app. just tap the weather button to get the latest forecast on your phone and customize it so you can find out the weather where you live. >>> other news today, san francisco police are questioning someone following a scare at the hall of justice. police called in the bomb squad after a small explosion happened in the lobby of the building just after 11:00 this morning. a source tells abc 7 news the explosion was caused by fireworks. authorities put the building on lockdown and kept anyone from coming inside. they also canceled court proceedings for the rest of the day. police gave the all clear around 1:30, allowing people back in the building. >>> states regulators today ordered pg&e to implement sweeping safety improvements in the wake of the devastating camp fire

eric thomas, abc 7 news. >> thanks so much. >>> this is a live picture from the east bay hills. fire danger as we have said is high right now. we have an eye on the conditions. >> it's only going to increase. a red flag warning has been issued. it begins tonight for the north and east bay hills. it runs into early sunday morning. the wind is 15 to 30 miles an hour, gusts 50 to 60. humidity dropping 8% to 18%. fires can spread rapidly. hour by hour look at the wind gusts. they pick up over fairfield, napa, going into saturday morning. they remain on the gusty side at the lower elevations, stronger winds at the high he haer eleva. watch the humidity drop down to 10% fairfield. single digits in napa. the dry conditions continue saturday afternoon. that in combination with the dry fuels spells high fire danger. >> thanks very much. a red flag morning means fires can easily start and spread. download the app to get alerts if that happens. >>> on the marriott hotel strike, abc 7 news learns workers at the oakland marriott have reached a tentative agreement. they will vote on that toni

in oakland, eric thomas, abc 7 news. >> gosh, the tension you can just feel it.ific work and great outcome. >> i know. they work for those moments. >> makes your day. on to the weather. >>> good evening to all of you, dan and kristin. take a look at live doppler 7. that smoke is still overhead and impacting our air quality. right now most areas here in the bay area are in the sensitive to unhealthy category. head down towards santa cruz, they're actually dealing with moderate air quality. i do want to take you in a little closer, as you'll notice parts of the south bay in the unhealthy group, livermore, very unhealthy. santa rosa seeing improvement. believe it or not, parts of southern california, despite the fires a burning, the fire and smoke getting blown to the ocean. post sunset sky due to the smoke in the air, you can see just how bad the air quality is right now. 63 in san francisco. it is 59 in oakland. san jose 60 degrees, 56 in pacifica. taking you to the north bay from the golden gate bridge camera, a murky view because of the smoke. 52 in vacaville an

today eric thomas presented a $15,000 check to the food bank in contra costa and solano. >> this will be a big difference for us. the folks back here are bagging oranges. we have donations of food available to us, fresh produce available to us year around, and it requires transportation, it requires bags, it requires all of the attendant pieces to get it out. >> abc 7 and disney are donating to all five bay area food banks to help fight hunger in our community. >>> well, with this warmth it may not feel like the holidays but it is starting to look like it, at least at san francisco's union square. the special event was the opening of the safe way holiday ice rink. a crowd of kids got a chance to strap to a pair of skates courtesy of olympic champion and he calls it first class. >> i have skated on many different ice surfaces in my life, and they -- bar none, they do the best ice surfaces in the world. >> how is that for a testimonial? admission is $13 for kids under eight years old, and don't let a lack of skating experience stop you. the rink offers free skating clinics on weekends f

the news anchor eric thomas presented a $15,000 check to the food bank in contra kosta and concord.will help to distribute fresh produce to people in need. >> this is a big difference oranges, and we have fresh produce available all year around, and it requires help to get it bag and distributed. >> and this is to help fight hung er hunger in our community. >>> a news conference in the white house took a rough turn. >> employmenmr. presmr. presmr.s one more question -- >> that is enough. >> if i may -- >> that is enough. >> and the president turning up the heat with the news media today. >> and making histo >>> live where you live, this is abc 7 news. >> and here are the stories making headlines at 4:30. jeff sessions forced out as attorney general. he selected matthew whitaker run the attorney general's offi office. and segs wrote that the at your request, i giving my resignation, and he was privileged to serve the country. and now, democrats are in control of the house and the senate increased the senate. ja nay norman breaks down the results. >> reporter: he said that a vote for

on the berkley campus, eric thomas, "abc 7 news." >> okay. thanks, eric, very much. >>> the north face endurance challenge and the sunset running races, both in san francisco, have been called off for tomorrow because of the smoke. the oakland zoo is closed through at least tomorrow. alcatraz will be closed this weekend as well. sunday's annual berkley half-marathon will be rescheduled until february, maybe march. the 49ers golden heart run on sunday in santa clara has been cancelled. we have a complete list of the cancellations on our website, abc7news.com. >>> dog owners have taken the unhealthy air quality warning seriously. many decided to keep their pets indoors or maybe limit their walks. "abc 7 news" reporter lyanne melendez is at corona height dog park in san francisco with suggestions on how to keep your dog safe. hi, lyanne. >> reporter: hi. let me tell you, even at night dog owners come to this park to walk their dogs. it is a very popular park, but i think all we're going to see tonight are raccoons and coyotes. clearly people are

eric thomas is live in emeryville with this story. they've had to work hard, eric. >> reporter: they have. and they've had to work long hours, including coming in at 1:00 this morning. there are waste water tsunasuerd there are rainwater sewers, or there could be untreated water that goes into the bay. >> our water went to 87% of average. >> reporter: that's the good news after our recent rains. the bad news, leaky underground pipes allow that rainwater to go where it's not supposed to. >> when we have a storm like this, the water ends up rather going to the storm water system, ends up going into the waste water system. >> these are large pipelines. >> reporter: eileen white runs the main waste water treatment plant in oakland near the bay bridge. she says a good soaking like this can really challenge the system. >> on a normal day, we see about 50 million gallons per day. when we have wet weather events like last night, we'll see flows up to 300 million gallons. >> reporter: that's a six fold increase, and why crews were called out to

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i'm eric thomas. >> and i'm dion lim.ects of the camp fire are still also being felt here in the bay area, and we begin with that story. >> smoke from the fire still lingering in our air. the sky a bit clearer in the past few days than some areas, but in other communities, not so much. >> drew tuma has been tracking the air quality and when we'll see some relief. >> for another day we have bine dealing with unhealthy air across the region. let's take oo look at the current air quality exactly where you live. unhealthy air quality, and over san francisco just a minor improvement right now to poor air quality, but still across the region in the north bay that smoke is lingering with us in our atmosphere. from santa rosa to san rafael over to vallejo we have unhealthy air quality. what will bring a major change to our air quality, rain. showers and wind will get this smoke out of here. we're going to detail that rain hour by hour, and that is not the only chance of wet weather. >>> some schls have already announced they'll b

eric thomas, "abc7 news." >> mccovey cove, such a fitting tribute to a great man in our community. >> this is a really touching and emotional day. there's that realization that comes over you when you see the pictures and you realize you're not going to see willie mccovey in this ballpark again. it was a touching scene when you had all the willie mac awardawad winners. you see old-time giants going back to dave trabeki and the w nonew comers like buster posey and next year they'll give out the award without mac. but you can see the love and admi ed admiration that everybody has. >>> rest of sports is coming up. the warriors taking on one of the rising powers in the east, and >>> good evening. the warriors going to keep their winning streak going against the bucks. the ws have won eight in a row. they feature one of the nba's rising stars. bucks coming off a loss to portland. they scored a season low, 103 points. yeah, that's the low these days. they trail the warriors in average points at 120. golden state is at 123. still early in the season, bucks trying to let the league to know th

eric thomas, "abc7 news." >> wow, some 700 kids.ries of pictures taken by a nasa satellite shows why our air quality is so bad. since the day the fire started one week ago, the smoke plume has covered the bay area. some days look worse than others, but we have yet to see clear skies. we have been under a continuous spare the air alert since november 8th. and it's not set to expire until tuesday, the 20th. and that's for now. >> yeah. i've never seen it linger like this. spencer is back with an update on our air quality. and the forecast for the weekend. >> and they told a story. here's another way of telling the story. i'll show you this large and persistent high pressure system that's been the dominant feature in our weather pattern. producing drier than average conditions and the clockwise circulation around the center of high pressure has been steering the smoke from those fires down through the central valley through the bay area and out to sea and had a capping effect, meaning that the high pressure is compressing te air at the

abc 7 news anchor eric thomas has the latest in the case. >> defense attorney tony serra had this to say after a judge refused his motion to reinstate a plea deal that another judge had thrown out as too lenient. >> we're going to trial. you know we can prevail. >> serra represents derick alman eu one of two defendants charged with 36 tounts of manslaughter that from the fire thatter to through the ghost ship, a warehouse that was turned into an artist collective. serra says the city knew it was a fire trap and did nothing. the sheriff department, the fire department, all visiting the premises, all knew the condition, all sanctioned it said it's awesome. >> earlier this year, serra and the attorney for codefendant max harris negotiated a plea deal under the supervision of one alameda county judge that all fobl almena to serve nine years and hair toys serve six. but when the judge was unavailable the replacement threw it out. serra tried and failed to get it reinstated. then this happened. >> interestingly from my perspective unexpected my client gave me a note in writing and then tol

i'm eric thomas, dion lim is off today.news on the fire near chico, blamed today for nine deaths. it started two days ago and has burned a hundred thousand acres, more than 156 square miles. the so-called camp fire is 26% contained. the concern is that winds will pick up and push the fire south. we have live coverage tonight. we check in first with abc 7 news reporter carlos saucedo in chico. you talked the fire victims today? >> reporter: that's right, eric. i've talked to some people who have lost everything, all simply trying to reconnect with loved ones. i want to show you what's going on behind me. chp officers have blocked off this area, having to turn away vehicles, many evacuees themselves waiting to see when they'll be allowed back to their neighborhoods to see the destruction for themselves. much of paradise remains black with ash and debris from the devastating camp fire, more than 6,000 homes and businesses tharp destroyed still smoldering. >> there was a big fire, it wanted to burn everything. >> reporter: kevi

. >> abc 7's eric thomas has more. >> reporter: we heard dave cavil say this is bigger than baseball. business owners here hope it's big you of in drive up their bottom lines. >> absolutely, more traffic for the square, for the downtown area, for all of oakland. >> reporter: that's what business owners chris and jana hope will happen at their business and other businesses at jack london square. >> we're excited that the and whether we wait. >> reporter: angela owns the oakland supply company. she's hoping a new stadium will funnel shoppers to her business. >> there is still a lack of as much foot traffic as we would like. we're excited for the stadium to come and make that connection to downtown oakland. >> reporter: mayor libby schaaf says that's the plan, if everything goes as it should. >> any major development is going to have ripple effects. and it is certainly our hope that those ripple effects are positive. >> reporter: they won't all be positive. having a b.a.r.t. station within a few minutes' walk will help. but already congested traffic on roads and highways will get worse.

"abc 7 news" anchor eric thomas live at the training center in concord with the story tonight. >> reporter: dan, the 27 members of class 52 are at home now, nursing sore muscles. while they're doing that and while they did focus on structure fires today, the people who are already wearing firefighting uniforms are monitoring the weather this weekend for things that could turn a small grass fire into a bigger one. today's lesson plan, make a high-pressure inch and a half fire hose bend to your will or navigate a dark, unfamiliar structure, looking for flames and fire victims. the training is tough on mind and body. >> i thought i was in pretty good shape coming in, and, you know, i was but they have challenged us every single day, both in the gym and on the training grounds. >> reporter: while the recruits train for a structure fire, their teachers are planning for a weekend of high fire danger. a red flag warning goes into effect at midnight and runs through early sunday morning. >> we expect weather conditions, both high heat and high winds, to be conducive to -- if we were to

eric thomas, abc 7 news. >> eric, thank you. >> still ahead at 5:00, hotel strike one month later. the impact on marriott guests and the action city leaders are planning. >> tracking the carb candidates. the record spending. >> is a new laptop in your future? exactly >>> an update on the breaking news. sky 7 is live over an officer-involved shooting involving the vallejo police department. >> no officers were hurt. 22nd avenue and international boulevard is blocked off. you can see why. all this activity. we understand the suspect is being taken to the hospital for medical attention, but the police have not said how the suspect was hurt. >> they treated someone on the ground near an suv on the curb in front of the community school for creative education. that school is on lockdown, but police are letting parents pick up their kids from the 21st avenue exit. >> marriott hotel workers had been on strike for one month. they are demanding higher pay. >> that's right and elected leaders want to intervene. david lui is live from the san jose marriott with the latest. david? >> reporter:

abc 7 news anchor eric thomas has the latest in the case. >> reporter: defense attorney tony serra hads to say after a judge refused his motion to rein-state a plea dell that another judge threw out as too enlenient. >> we're going to trial. we, you foe, can prevail. >> serra represents derick almania one much two defendants charged for the fire thatter to through the ghost ship, a warehouse turned into an artist collective. >> serra says the authorities new the ghost ship was a fire trap and did nothing. >> the inspectors and sheriff department, the fire department, all visited the premises, knew the conditions, sanctioned it. said oh, it's awesome. >> earlier this year he serra and the attorney for the codefendant max harris negotiate add plea deal under the supervision of one county judge that send signature bond called for almania to serve in my opinion years and harris six. but when he was unavailable his replacement threw it out. serra tried to get the deal reinstated. . then this happened. >> unexpected and interestingly my client gave me a note in writing and told me verbally t

eric thomas went to the training center and learned this is the new norm. >> today's lesson plane make five inch high pressure pressure hose bend to your will. the training is tough on mind and body. >> i thought i was in pretty good shape come in. and you know, i was. but they had challenged us every single day, both in the gym and on the training grounds. >> while the recruits train for a structure fire the teachers plan for a weekend much high fire danger. a red flag warning runs through early sunday morning. >> we expect weather conditions, high heat and high wind to be conducive to if we were getting a wild land fire to spread quickly. >> fight as fast moving fire is something recruits have to face in a future training evolution. >> we train the firefighters from the ground up, express firs using tools hose lines and the different equipment we have at the district. >> the instructors faced the real thing back in jun when a wildland fire offer ignacio burned 360 acres threatening a pair of subdivisions a quick response and air attack saved homes. but when the recruits move to the f

abc 7 news anchor eric thomas went to the training center and learned that this is becoming the new norm. >> reporter: today's lesson plan, make a high pressure inch and a half fire hose bend to your will or navigate a dark structure looking for flames. the training is tough on mind and body. >> i thought i was in good shape coming in. and i was but they challenged us every day, both in the gym and on the training grounds. >> while the recruits training for a structure fire the teach remembers planning for high fire danger weekend. the red flag warning runs through sunday morning. >> we expect the high heat and high winds to be conducive to -- if we were getting a wildland fire to spread quickly. >> fighting a fast moving vegetation fire is something these recruits will have to face in a future training evolution. >> we train our firefighters from the frowned up suppress fires utilizing tools, hose lines and the different equipment we have when the wild fire offer ignacio valley road burned 363 acres threatening a pair of subdivisions. quick response and air attacks saved the homes. but

abc 7 news anchor eric thomas went to the training center and learned this is becoming the new norm. >> reporter: today's lesson plan, make a high pressure inch and a half fire hose bend to your will or navigate a dark unfamiliar structure looking for flames and fire victims. the training is tough on mind and body. >> i thought i was in pretty good shape coming in. and i was. but they had challenged us every single day, both in the gym and on the training grounds. >> while the recruits train for a structure fire the teachers plan for a weekend of high fire danger. a red flag warning through early sunday morning. >> we expect weather conditions, high heat and high winds to be conducive to gettingfio spread >> fighting a fast moving vegetation fire is something the rekruts have to face in a future training evolution. >> we train our firefighters from the ground up, how to suppress fires utilizing tools, hose lines and the different pieces of equipment that we have here at the district. >> their instructors face faced the real thing in june when the wildland fire off this road burned mo

at at&t park, eric thomas, abc 7 news. >>> now your accuweather forecast with spencer christian. >> once again, live doppler 7 shows the plume of smoke coming from the fire in butte county, moving across the county and out to sea. lots of smoke in the air. red flag warning remains in effect for many of the bay area's mountains and hills. strong wind gusts overnight up to 50 miles an hour will diminish going into the daytime hours tomorrow. during the overnight chilly in the north bay where low temperatures will drop into the 30s in many locations. many other areas of the bay area will see in the low 40s under clear skies. tomorrow, sunny, mild and dry once again. upper 60s on the coast. low to mid-70s near the bay and inland. here is the accuweather seven-day forecast. and we have a steady pattern of dry, mild weather with daytime highs in the low to mid-70s near the bay and inland. by the way, sunday, november 11th is the official date of veteran's day, but we have the flag covering both day there's because monday is the day that a holiday is observed. >> thank you, spencer. >>> back no

i'm eric thomas. we received an update about $30 minu minutes ago. the death toll is now at 23. crews stepped up the search for bodies in the ruins of paradise. that fire is 111,000 acres, that's 170 square miles. it's 25% contained. five of the six shelters for fire victims are at capacity. flames destroyed nearly 6,500 homes. the governor brown requested a major disaster declaration from president trump. we have live team coverage. let's start in chico. >> reporter: we're at the main staging area where we see people trying to get whatever information that they can. earlier, we were in communities directly impacted by the camp fire. many trying to get ahold of loved ones. i spoke with one survivor who hasn't made contact with his wife. the camp fire ravaged much of the community. these two cars collided trying to escape the flames before being engulfed. >> it was like a firestorm. have you ever been in a blizzard? this was fire. >> reporter: gary stayed behind to protect his home when the flames broke out thursday. through the chaos, his wife was able to evacuate. >> i haven't

eric thomas, abc7 news. >>> all right. it is halloween, of course. a lot of families will be out trick or treating. have fun and be safe. >> let's get a quick look at the forecast. >> the only thing that will spook you are the ghouls and the goblins. not the weather. taking the little ones out trick or treating, 6:00, you will see them out, a few creepy high clouds at 8:00 p.m. but not bone chilling. temperatures in the 50s and the 60s, of course, the adults going out to parties. the weather looks fantastic outside. i'll be back with a full look at the forecast coming up. >> sounds good. thank you. >>> the mid-term election is six days away and the campaigns are in high gear to get out the vote. the bigger challenge will be getting voters to plow through a very long ballot. david louis is in san jose with why that's a very important issue. >> we know how difficult it is to find solutions for homelessness and housing. however, they're trying to address that. the problem is the ballot tis three pages long, double-sided. the concern is that some won't g

abc 7 news anchor eric thomas was there when the attorneys for the two defendants said they are going to trial. >> we're going to trial. we, you know, can prevail. >> the attorney moments after a judge refused his motion to reinstate a plea deal, got another judge thrown out as too lenient. sara represents al men a, charged in the december 2016 fire that tore through the ghost ship. a warehouse that had been turned bo an artist's collective. sara says authorities knew the ghost ship was a fire trap and did nothing. >> the inspectors and the sheriff's department, the fire department, all who have visited the premises, all who knew the condition and all who sanctioned it. all who said it's awesome. >> earlier this year, sara and the attorney for co-defendant max harris negotiated a plea deal under the supervision of one alameda county judge that called for al men a to serve nine years and harris for six. when that judge was unavailable, his replacement threw the deal out. sara tried and failed to get the deal reinst this happened. interestingly and from my perspective unexpected, my cli

i am eric thomas. >> and i am dion lim.th toll for the campfire now stands at 76. 1300 other remain unaccounted for. the campfire is now 55% contained. >>> president trump toured communities ravaged by the campfire and the woolsy fire in southern california. the president promised the federal government will speed up issuing permits needed to rebuild. >>> san francisco international airport caused more delays because of air quality visibility. >>> at abc7 news drew tuma monitoring the air quality. >> slightly better, but still most regions dealing in the unhealthy zone. the majority of the bay area still in the unhealthy zone. slight improvement in san francisco and redwood city. just the slightest of sea breezes less than five miles an hour. unfortunately that wind will not continue tomorrow. we will get that offshore breeze once again creating the smoke piling up in our atmosphere for another day. sunday and monday. a majority of the region both tomorrow and even into monday, we are dealing one healthy air quality. spare

i'm eric thomas. >> i'm dion >> the air is unhealthy and expected to stay that way for a few more days. we have team coverage. cornell bernard is looking how people are dealing with the lousy air. >> first, we start with meteorologist drew tuma who has air quality levels and when we'll see relief, drew? >> that is the big question, guys, when we'll get relief from the bad air quality. no matter where you live, the air is still unhealthy. we'll zoom in to street level from san jose to fremont to the peninsula, san francisco, oakland and inland east bay. you see the red dots, unhealthy air quality. a similar story from santa rosa to napa and san rafaerafael, we dealing with unhealthy air quality. what will bring rain in the forecast. this will arrive on wednesday. on the storm impact scale, this is a level two moderate system we're trki

i'm eric thomas. latest on the developing news. 23 people now dead from the camp fire, third deadliest in state history. more than 100 people are still missing tonight. up to 105,000 acres burned and fears that weather overnight could cause it to grow more. 20% contained. most destructive in california history. 6,500 homes wiped out. drew tuma is tracking it, and looking into the smoke over the bay area. carlos saucedo has been in the zone an joining from chico tonight. >> reporter: numbers adding up. heartbreaking ones, number of people confirmed dead, stands at 23. that tragic update was given to residents who gathered here at chico state for a community meeting tonight. residents displaced by camp fire packed auditorium for update in most destructive fire in state history. some present escaped with minutes to spare. >> almost didn't make it. five minutes would have been too late. >> reporter: lucy and her family house in paradise, not accounted for but pretty sure it's gone given thousands wiped ou

eric thomas, abc 7 news. >> thanks. here is why our air is so bad. the camp fire is still burning in butte county. 140,000 acres burned. that's 2,000 acres more than yesterday. it is 40% contained. >> and the death toll stands at 56, by far the deadliest fire in state's history, and that number is expected to grow. >> abc 7 news reporter laura anthony is live from paradise, which was just wiped out as you know with more on the search for victims. laura? >> well, hi, dan. i'm actually standing in a neighborhood to the west of town. last thursday the fire didn't get here until about midday. when we arrived last thursday about 2:00 in the afternoon, there were flames everywhere. the skies were dark, and there was a man driving around on his atv frantically trying to save his neighbors' homes. >> they've been working their butt off in their house. and they lost it all. >> this is patrick knutsen, a resident of paradise at the height of the camp fire last thursday, driving his atv through his neighborhood, one engulfed in flames looking like midnight at 2

i'm eric thomas. >> i'm dion lim.opting to cast in ballots now rather than stand in line on tuesday. >> there is interest in local races and propositions that have people turning out in droves. >> we begin our coverage tonight with abc news reporter katie utehs live in san jose. >> reporter: on sunday morning there were people lined up waiting to get in when the office opened at 9:00 and stayed consistently busy throughout the day, people dropping off ballots and registering to vote and ballots being sorted that have been mailed in. the santa clara county registrar of voters brings in an additional 300 to 400 people to help with elections, it's so busy. this afternoon stayed hectic. elections officials say they're seeing a lot of first-time voters and new citizens participating so that's exciting for them. there's certainly an exciting feeling to the place from people dropping off their

i'm eric thomas.police officers and sheriff's deputies escorted the body of college student elaine housely. the pepperdine university student will be buried on wednesday. >>> the camp fire is now tied for being california's deadliest ever wildfire. it's blamed for 29 deaths. flames still threaten more than 15,000 buildings. and fires around the state have triggered the evacuation of more than 149,000 people. many people have crowded into shelters at chico near the camp fire. some of those folks living in tents, rvs and cars lost their homes in paradise. >>> there's a race to account for the people reported missing in the camp fire. cellphone communication is paralyzed for many. abc news reporter will carr has more from paradise. >> reporter: tonight the camp fire scorching at least 100,000 acres. communications still down, some still missing. hospital staff racing to get patients out before evacuating themselves. >> i ran up this hill and got into the next vehicle. the back of my pants were on fire an

. >> i'm eric thomas.we are choking through another day, a tenth day of smoky air. you see it, you smell it and many of us feel it. >> the unhealthy air is bearing down on the bay area once again as we take a live look at the haze from the emeryville cam, can't see anything but the smoke. >> we saw a little improvement since yesterday, at least that's what i'm told we saw little improvement. let's check with meteorologist drew tuma. >> we're dealing with another day of unhealthy to very unhealthy air. across the board, it's either unhealthy or very unhealthy. like eric mentioned, some of these numbers are actually a slight improvement over yesterday. but still we have thick smoke overhead right now. east bay hills, the hazy sunset. next couple days, tomorrow and monday we're dealing with this unhealthy air quality for the next 48 hours. however, midweek in the upcoming week we do see improving conditions. and that will relate to some rain moving into the forecast and some winds that are going to help to mi

eric: you know what the legal critics say in their filings, thomas goldstein who is really a supremeourt expert, here's what he wrote in one of his filings in the suit. as long as there's been a department of justice, congress has mandated only a senate confirmed official can serve as acting attorney general. those provisions are mandatory. the president cannot designate anyone else because whitaker's appointment does not satisfy the appointments clause, it is unlawful and he cannot serve as acting attorney general. i mean, they say look, the guy's not confirmed by the senate so it's illegal. >> yeah, but what goldstein says in that pleading is not correct. the federal vacancies reform act in fact a allows this to be done and what he is saying, what goldstein is saying should happen would cause unbelievable chaos. i'll just give you one example of this. as you know, when a president leaves office all three of the 93 u.s. attorneys also leave. those are senate confirmed positions. if an assistant can't be temporarily appoint todd take over that job, all criminal prosecutions across th

arthel: all right, eric, bring in our panel, we had a panel for you planned and in fact, we will have one guest right now, guest john thomashe former president of thomas partners strategies, also republican pollster, we were to have joining you is josÉ muÑoz but he could not make it, so i will talk to you, jon, let's look at numbers, first of all in broward county, one of the counties in question there in florida n2014 in broward county 774,000 people voted, in 2,018,682,453 voted. and now as you know the recount is on, so with such an increase in voter turnout are you surprised the humans are work to go organize getting vote counted couldn't finish original count before the deadline? >> no, i'm not surprised. let's take a step back to get the full landscape of brenda snipes, the county election -- arthel: supervisor. >> it's not the first time she had problems, in 2016 she was accused of destroying ballots by a judge. arthel: first of all, john bear with me because josÉ is not here, i will have to play side for a second, did you tell me josÉ is here, fantastic, jose, you're here, let me see a shot of josÉ muÑoz. >> how ar