state senator scott weiner joins us in studio. senator, thank you for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> you recently wrote an editorial. you are concerned about elon musk's takeover of twitter and you said it was, "matters tremendously." tell you about the and you have seen since he started running the platform. >> short. mr. musk has made clear that he is really not interested in moderating any kind of speech, including hate speech on twitter. he got rid of a lot of the staff at twitter who actually would deal with hate speech and harassment and threats. he has allowed back onto the platform various purveyors of hate speech, people like kanye west and marjorie taylor greene and others. he has said he is going to basically open the gates and let a whole lot of other people back on who were banned from twitter because they engaged in this kind of horrible behavior. so, we have seen an absolute optic. i have always gotten attacked online for the work that we do, particularly around lgbtq+ issues. recently, it has been li

state senator scott weiner advocated for the bill at the san francisco memorial today and he referencedrch saying that psychedelics are instrumental in healing ptsd , anxiety, depression and opioid addiction. it was joined by veterans who shared personal stories of how psychedelic drugs save their lives. this bill does not legalize the sale of these drugs, but only protects users from prosecution. >> we know the war on drugs has been a complete failure and criminalizing drug use and possession accomplishes absolutely nothing. >> there is opposition to the bill from law enforcement. the district attorney's association says it wants to see more evidence that these drugs are safe as marijuana. they say hallucinations can be dangerous to users and bystanders alike. this bill would only to criminalize natural psychedelics like magic mushrooms and not things like acid or lsd. voters in oregon and colorado have approved decriminalization. a similar but bill has failed here. >>> most recent cobra numbers from late last week show 11% test positivity in california. workers who can't covered on th

scott weiner of san francisco introduced this bill joined by veterans who share personal stories of how psychedelics saved their lives. >> when you micro dose, you don't hallucinate. you'll feel much happier and your move will feel stabilized. that's the power of the psychedelics. we need this alternative medicine, so we can heal our veteran community suffering from mental illness that has been taking a toll on our brothers and sisters. >> of course, not everyone is going to agree. some law enforcement agencies oppose the bill. the district attorney's association says it wants to see more evidence these drugs are as safe as marijuana. >>> contra costa county leaders got an earful tonight from people who are not happy about what's been going on with the martinez refinery. there was a virtual town hall about a thanksgiving day chemical leak that cast dust over some neighborhoods there. inside that dust, heavy metals. the health department says the refinery violated state law by failing to report the leak. >> the refinery views toxic waste in my community. i wouldn't have spent the day out

senator scott weiner joins us to discuss hate speech targeting him and other members of thecommunity. headquarters in san franci

cited the increase in threats to the community, including you mentioned california state senator scott weinersult of society sort of viewing this community and dehumanizing them as not equal. what what, if your view, can be done to change that? >> you know, this hate isn't happening in a vacuum. i'm reminded that one in five of all hate crimes are motivated by anti-lbgtq plus bias. we've got to think about this as a systemic issue that demands intervention. there's so many things we can do, from actually getting protections in place for lbgtq plus people against discrimination to making sure that social media companies are upholding their own community standards regardless hate speech online. but action has to be taken. >> so let's go through this list a little more. what are the points of action that you want congress to take? we're switching to republican leadership in just a few weeks, but you were sitting before a democratically led committee today. what do you want them to tick through that will decrease this violence we're seeing? >> you know, one of the top things is to hold themselves

we also have the state senator scott weiner and, of course, we have our san francisco mayor london breedwo, one! [cheers and applause] [♪♪] >> say thank you. and now, we have a very special added performance for every class. you may have seen them on "america's got talent" or maybe on their recent jc penney commercial. they're here now to please welcome san francisco's first family of song, the curtis family c-notes. [cheers and applause] >> hi. how are ya'll doing, san francisco? this is the most beautiful tree i have ever seen and it's so good to be out here with all ya'll. give yourself a round of applause. [applause] and i think i hear the mayor. yes. all right. guys, you ready? [cheers and applause] we've got nile on bass. papa on keys. kiki. zahara, phoenix. and i'm momma c. we need the mic por favor sound people. so we've got a little technical difficulties. no worries. what we can do, let's give it up for the sound guys. let's clap. [applause] we just need a plug-in. amen. there she is. count us off, baby. she has to take off her one! two! three! [♪♪] ♪ i'm going to get to know y

just last week, california state senator scott weiner, himself, a gay, jewish man was a target of a bomb threat because of his support, working with trans youth and their families. included in the threat were two words. pedophile and groomer. these threats are being made in every corner of our country, targeting lgbtq+ people, our spaces and our allies. it is happening in tulsa, where vandals firebombed a donut shop after it hosted an art installation run by drag queens. it happened in texas, after a pastor uploaded a video, asserting that gave people quote, lined up against the wall and shot in the back of the head. we must take action, action to prevent future violence and harm against these communities. first, social media, lawmakers and other stakeholders must enable practices to fight this hate online. second, we must pass the equality act, to level the playing field and ensure that lgbtq+ people are protected from discrimination. third, we have to pass common sense gun safety measures to protect our communities from the most extreme acts of violence. ultimately, we all have to work

just last week, california state senator scott weiner, himself, a gay, jewish man was a target of a bomb threat because of his support, working with trans youth and their families. included in the threat were two words. pedophile and groomer. these threats are being made in every corner of our country, targeting lgbtq+ people, our spaces and our allies. it is happening in tulsa, where vandals firebombed a donut shop after it hosted an art installation run by drag queens. it happened in texas, after a pastor uploaded a video, asserting that gave people quote, lined up against the wall and shot in the back of the head. we must take action, action to prevent future violence and harm against these communities. first, social media, lawmakers and other stakeholders must enable practices to fight this hate online. second, we must pass the equality act, to level the playing field and ensure that lgbtq+ people are protected from discrimination. third, we have to pass common sense gun safety measures to protect our communities from the most extreme acts of violence. ultimately, we all have to work

scott wiener of san francisco will announce the new legislation at 10. the bill would allow certain residents to carry consume and share substances like mushrooms, weiner hcted tis the season to travel and are you ready? we are taking a live look at our emeryville camera along i 80. typically as you can see right here, one of the busiest travel corridors in the country, aaa estimates nearly 100 13 million americans will travel for the holidays. despite high gas prices, nearly 102 million americans are expected to drive to their holiday destinations. air travel is closing in on pre-pandemic numbers with 7.2 million people catching flights. and transportation experts say the busiest travel days will be this friday december 20 third and monday, january 2. as people return home. hopefully your holiday shopping is all wrapped up by now, the last shopping weekend before christmas met long lines and parking to pay. but with record high inflation are abc7news reporter went out tonight to see what is making the cut on the holiday shopping list. >> christmas and all across the bay area the malls were stirring. >> get something special for christmas? >> i did i got

state senator scott just introduced a bill to decriminalize the possession and use of certain cycle psychedelic drugs like magic mushrooms and weiner'same sounds familiar. it's because he's the guy who tried to make califf into a sanctuary, get this for minors trying to get so-called gender affirming care. there's also the reparations push this month for black residents. >> the state's task force estimating california would pay more than two hundred and twenty three thousand dollars per person. >> but that's apparently not enough intangibles of what i'm asking for is three hundred and fifty thousand per black american in california that's eligible small business grant, two hundred fifty thousand dollars in land, 15 to 20 hundred thousand dollars is nothing for my family has contributed to this country, 15 to 20 acres. wow. some of my favorite california stories of the year, though, happened to be about san francisco toilets. one was proposed to cost one point seven million for one , and the other was heralded as the future of public toilets. except it reportedly broke down after just three days. california's are making californians a

scott wiener announced the legislation today in san francisco. he says the measure would make it legal in the state for adults 21 over to possess certain naturally occurring hallucinogens for personal use. weiner described current laws banning the possession of the plant based psychedelics as bad policy and called it a continuation of the war on drugs. we know that the war on drugs has been a complete failure and criminalizing drug use and possession accomplishes absolutely nothing other than the fill up our prisons with people who are addicted. the bill so far is receiving support from several groups in the mental health community and, according to a recent study by researchers at johns hopkins, hallucinogenic mushrooms given to cancer patients helped to treat their anxiety and depression. voting is now underway on a deal that is expected to finally bring an end to the strike by uc graduate teaching assistants, which has lasted more than one month. union members are voting on the tentative agreement all week if it's approved 36,000 graduate teaching assistants and other academic workers could soon be back in the classroom. we spoke with one uc student who says it's been tough without the teac

scott wiener of san francisco will announce the new legislation at 10 this morning. the bill would allow certain residents to kerry consume and share substances like mushrooms , indian, a lsd and ketamine. state senator weinerill rejected by the state assembly back in august. good morning, everyone looking at traffic here. we're going to begin with the live picture of the bay bridge toll plaza and look how light it is, especially for metering lights to be on and a monday so good ride if you need to travel into stan francisco from the east bay this morning, tracy to dublin 44 minutes time. no problems in that area. we do have a minor slowdown, though. as you approach this, uh brush fire and vacaville. it's going to be eastbound 80 before cherry glen road kamasi meteorologist dr now, it's official. xfinity has the fastest internet and the fastest mobile service. that's right, xfinity just increased internet speeds... again! and xfinity mobile gives you can't-catch-me speeds. plus, save hundreds on internet for your first two years when you add mobile. the fastest internet, the fastest mobile service, and major savings? can't argue with the facts. get gig speed internet for $50 a month for 2 full years when yo