s yet. we're up to 12 times faster than verizon, at&t, and t-mobile. and existing customers could even get up to triple the speeds... at no additional cost. it's ultimate speed for ultimate business. don't miss out on our fastest speed plans yet! switch to comcast business and get started for $49.99 a month. plus, ask how to get up to an $800 prepaid card. call today! it definitely is. it's very sad to see so many of these hungry, weak birds. >> it's kind of affecting the whole coast. we don't really know what the deal is yet. >> hundreds of starving and stranded brown pelicans continue to be found up and down the california coast, including at bay area beaches. good evening. i'm ama daetz and i'm dan ashley. >> thanks for joining us. animal rescue groups say the situation is quickly really becoming a

crisis. and now some of the birds are being found in unusual places. for example, at a giants game. >> abc seven news reporter cornell bernard visited a north bay bird rescue, which is treating as many pelicans as it can, but they need help. >> what we're seeing is a lot of starving, very skinny birds being brought into care. >> angie trumbo taking us behind the scenes at the international bird rescue center in fairfield, where all these california brown pelicans are in bad shape. >> it's clearly, turning into a crisis over the last couple of weeks, a new surge of starving pelicans is causing concern. >> two weeks ago, the bird rescue began treating about a dozen pelicans. but now that number has jumped to 130 birds in distress, ones that are just hungry just need to gain their weight and strength. >> but a lot of these birds are coming in with additional injuries because they're so hungry. they might be getting into trouble with fishing gear and things like that as they take desperate measures to get

food. >> pelicans have been found stranded up and down the california coast at an alarming rate, the california department of fish and wildlife say many birds have not survived. >> we still have no idea why this is happening, veterinarian rebecca duer says the pelicans strandings remain a mystery. pelicans never forget how to find fish, but sometimes they run into problems finding it can be a weather problem, could be a food availability problem. >> that's not just a bird though. that's a that's a big, big uh- bird. >> this pelican showed up at saturday's giants game during the fifth inning. we showed the video to bird experts who were concerned. >> that's definitely not normal behavior. that was a young bird. so he was probably just starving and looking for whatever, whatever place he could find food, caring for so many birds, not only challenging, but it's also very expensive. >> it's costing the international bird rescue about $1,000 a day just to keep all these pelicans fed. >> we're relying on donations from the public to help care for

these birds. >> during our visit, 18 more pelicans arrive for care. there weren't enough volunteers to assist, so they asked me to help get the birds into the clinic for medical evacuations. the good news is most of the pelicans being rehabbed here are eager to eat. they're gaining weight and getting stronger. >> what i've learned in my time here is that they can come back from a lot of severe injuries, so we're confident that we can get a lot of these birds back into the wild and healthy again. >> experts say if you see a pelican in distress, call your local animal control in fairfield, cornell bernard, abc seven news. >> we have new information in the grisly killing of a young woman last summer, a jury in oakland just found joseph roberts guilty of second degree murder in the death of his fiance, part of 27 year-old. rachel buckner's body was found last july on the alameda shoreline, according to reporting from our media partner, the bay area news group. prosecutors say 43 year-old roberts dodged several domestic violence complaints before killing rachel buckner in their apartment in pleasanton.

roberts attorneys claim there were no witnesses and too little physical evidence tying him to the murder. roberts faces 15 years to life in prison. >> two community leaders in the east bay are among the four people killed in a car crash in san diego county last week, several bay area political leaders have confirmed. peggy moore and her wife, hope wood, died in the crash friday. the couple were longtime community organizers in the bay area. they met campaigning for former president obama in 2008 and ran a consulting firm, active in local politics. politicians, including representative barbara lee and state senator aisha wahab, are among those posting about the couple's legacy today. moore was a senior adviser to former oakland mayor libby schaaf. schaaf remembers moore and wood as kind and passionate activists with deep roots in the community. >> two people who were so full of life and love and energy and spirit, it's just difficult to

wrap your head around. >> the chp says another driver veered into the couple's lane friday night and hit them. they're investigating whether the other driver was under the influence. >> the oakland police department officially has its new chief. today was floyd mitchell's first day on the job. abc seven news reporter leslie brinkley is following the story as chief mitchell gets up to speed. >> welcome to my first day as an oakland police chief, chief floyd mitchell spent the morning introducing himself. >> you see this morning. >> how's your day going? >> so far, so good. >> he spent time analyzing recent crime reports at his stand up desk, and he greeted a new class of cadets and welcome. all right. thanks >> spent the last few days attending some lineups to meet my officers. i'm going to spend the rest of this week attending different meetings to get brought up to speed on several different things going on within the oakland police department and within this community. there is much concern over public safety.

>> while recent data shows crime is falling, robberies are on the rise. small businesses are leaving oakland and many public calls to 9-1-1 remain unanswered. there is a federal 5 year police veteran who was until recently, the chief of police in lubbock, texas. 12 new officers graduated from the oakland police academy last friday, bringing the total number of sworn officers to 716. his big challenge is going to be community or our public perception. ken houston is director of the beautification council and a community advocate. >> don't go in for the big wins. going for the small ones, parking on the sidewalk, parking in a handicapped, spot, tinted windows, all the way around, driving around without license plates. do what the great gavin newsom did. he sent in highway patrol, right? they're going after the small things the police chief is the most important position for the city of oakland. >> we don't want just more talk, feeling sorry. we need action.

it's not about shaking hands and meeting people. i need a strategy. he should already have a plan. strategy in place that will work for oakland, not atlanta. now, texas. >> in oakland, chief mitchell has indicated his agenda will include proactive policing with high visibility in oakland. i'm leslie brinkley, abc seven news san francisco could be facing more drastic budget cuts. >> abc seven news reporter luz pena spoke to the director of budget and analysis in the controller's office on what they are seeing so far, ahead of a report coming out tomorrow, and she joins us now with those details. luz >> that's right. i'm i based on the latest data san francisco is facing a projected budget deficit of nearly $800 million over the coming two budget years. now, the question is what will be cut out? san francisco could soon face more budget cuts. >> we're about three quarters of the way through our fiscal year, and so we're taking a look at

how we're doing in the year. how is our revenue coming in san francisco's current annual budget for 2023 to 2024 and 2024 to 2025 is $14.6 billion, a record high up 4% from previous years by tuesday, the city's director of budget and analysis in the comptroller's office said they will have a detailed report that will inform the mayor what steps to take what are you looking into for this report? so we're looking at the general fund and we're looking at all the tax revenue. so there's sales tax and hotel tax. >> the controller's office is digging deeper into the expenses by city departments and the revenues coming in. one of the biggest red flags so far is office vacancies. >> we're definitely seeing that not a lot of commercial buildings are selling. so we are taking a hit in our real estate transfer tax ahead of the latest budget review, mayor breed asked for the city's department to make cuts for the next fiscal year as the last report looms today, the mayor's office

responded. >> the mayor has asked departments to propose reductions of 10, but that doesn't mean those will lead to cuts. she could choose to take all their proposed reductions, or only parts of them, or none at all. one of those asked to make cuts was a sheriff's department. >> we don't have anything more to cut. we're already short staffed. we've cut. we're proposing to cut a little bit of our overtime budget only as a part of that, and we're looking at asking for actual more money. >> the sheriff's department is reporting a 36% increase in the jail population over the past year. >> we need to deal with the increase in the population and the needs of that population, the transportation costs that are associated with moving people back and forth from our main jail. by june first, the mayor is set to submit a full budget proposal to the board of supervisors. >> supervisor rafael mandelman is part of the city's budget and finance committee. >> we're still in a rough place, budgetarily. we had to make pretty significant cuts last year, and we're going to have to

do that again this year. i'm concerned about basic services, public safety, of course, but i'm also concerned about housing . >> now, there are some good news. according to the controller's office, san francisco's $790 million budget deficit is improving by tens of millions of dollars. the mayor's office said they will have more details on the budget by thank you. after more than 170 years in the city, the jewelry store shreve and company will no longer call san francisco home. the jeweler says it's closing its flagship store near union square. the company moved to the post street location in 2016, its third location in the city since the company's founding in 1852. shreve and company told customers in a letter it would hold a liquidation sale starting friday. the store's palo alto location will remain open. >> it's no secret that living in the bay area is expensive. a new uc berkeley report finds. it may be worse than we think. researchers measured how affordable a county is based on

the percentage of current california residents who could financially manage to live there. their study found just 35% of californians could comfortably rent in san francisco county. that is the lowest share among any of the bay area's nine counties. contra costa county fared the best. 50% of californians could afford to rent there, based on the report, a coalition of public health groups is sending a warning about governor newsom's plan to address the state's $27 billion budget deficit. >> the coalition, made up of county health officials, workers and advocates, claims the $300 million in public health cuts proposed by the governor in his revised budget on friday would put vulnerable communities at great risk. >> these cuts are dangerous and deadly because they take away vital funds that support our public health infrastructure, which is working behind the scenes to save lives every day, the coalition says. >> in addition to impacting public health, the cuts would lead to the losses of hundreds

of jobs. we've reached out to the governor's office for response, and we have yet to hear back. >> coming up, donald trump's former fixer takes a stand against him today in the hush money payments trial against the former president. >> plus, federal officials are now investigating another robo taxi company following a recent crash in san francisco. details when abc seven

taxi fleet. the san francisco based company is on the hot seat now. after two incidents when zoox vehicles braked suddenly and motorcyclists rear ended them. one crash happened in san francisco, the other in nevada. the feds now plan to evaluate the automated driving system developed by zoox. >> several lawsuits over covid deaths at san quentin can move forward tonight, after the supreme court turned down an appeal by prison leaders back in may of 2020. staff at the prison

in chino tried to stop an outbreak there by sending more than 100 inmates to san quentin. san quentin had been covid free, but after the transfer, hundreds of people got sick and more than two dozen died. state lawmakers later blasted the decision, calling it the worst prison health mistake in state history. the supreme court's rejection means the state cannot claim immunity in the case, and multiple lawsuits can move forward. >> today, donald trump's former personal attorney and ally took the stand in the former president's criminal trial. abc news reporter christiane cordero has more on michael cohen's testimony today. >> michael cohen, who previously said he would take a bullet for donald trump, took the stand against him, saying under oath the former president directed him to pay for multiple women's silence. >> we paid a lawyer a legal expense, and we have a legal expense is a legal expense. it's marked down in the book, quote, legal expense. >> trump is charged with falsifying business records linked to the $130,000 cohen

paid actress stormy daniels days before the 2016 election. prosecutors say the payment was to prevent voters from hearing daniels graphic story about an alleged 2006 affair. trump denies all wrongdoing, including the alleged affair. the defense so far has claimed trump wanted to kill the story to protect his family. cohen's testimony today directly contradicts that, saying he wasn't thinking about melania. this was all about the campaign. he claimed. trump called the stormy daniels situation a, quote, disaster for the campaign, adding trump said women will hate me. cohen also testified about a catch and kill scheme set up with national enquirer publisher david pecker, where they agreed to publish positive stories about trump and stop negative ones from coming out. pecker himself testified about that three weeks ago. jurors heard a conversation cohen surreptitiously recorded between him and trump in september 2016. it references one of those alleged catch and kills a $150,000 hush money payment to playboy model karen mcdougal by pecker.

>> so what are we going to funding? yes when it comes time for the financing, which will be what? financing we'll have to pay you. so some previous witnesses have taken swings at cohen's reputation. >> prosecutor josh steinglass conceded he has what you might consider to be some baggage. the defense calls cohen obsessed a convicted liar and that he cannot be trusted. jurors have seen more than 200 pieces of evidence so far. cohen is the 20th witness to take the stand and is described as the linchpin in this case. if the jury believes him. christiane cordero, abc news, new york. >> coming up here, wildfires raging across canada as firefighters there work to tackle more than 140 fires. and now that wildfire smoke is drifting across the border. details on the impact it's having h

concerns in parts of the midwest. firefighters are working to tame more than 100 active fires as harmful smoke crosses the u.s. border. it's so bad. in fact, minnesota's air is considered unhealthy and more states are on alert. abc news reporter tim pulliam has the details. >> reporter. >> right now, western canada is on fire. >> season started again. >> an eyewitness capturing this wall of flames. marching across this highway in the western province of alberta. the satellite images show the widespread damage, which officials estimating more than 100 wildfires are ravaging the region, with dozens of them considered out of control, including one in british columbia scorching thousands of acres and forcing thousands of people to evacuate. >> with no precipitation, no major precipitation in the forecast ahead. uh- and uh- winds that can that can pick up at any time. we are let's just

say we are extremely concerned. >> the toxic smoke now billowing south across the border into the u.s, drifting into the upper midwest and western great lakes. weather maps show the dakotas, minnesota, wisconsin and parts of michigan are all impacted. look at these aerials showing a smoky haze in minneapolis. saint paul, minnesota today, minnesota issuing its first air quality alert of 2024. forecasters say the smoke could impact nebraska and iowa next. these latest wildfires are reminiscent of last summer's wildfires in canada, where smoke reached as far south as georgia, leaving new york city's skyline in an orange fog. and right now, officials are urging people in minnesota to stay indoors. the smoke is expected to taper off, but more could reach kansas and oklahoma on tuesday. tim pulliam, abc news, los angeles. >> all right, let's check on our weather here. yes spencer kristen is tracking that for us. >> spencer, we are fortunate that the smoke from those fires

is moving generally west to east right now. thus its effect on the upper midwest. so far, no sign of the of a shift in those upper level winds being that bringing that smoke down into our area. okay, here's a look at the satellite radar composite image. you see a weak area of low pressure over the southwestern u.s. you see that counterclockwise circulation, which is not only producing showers out there, but is helping to reinforce our marine layer here, pulling that marine flow onshore. and it's really flowing right now, at least the winds are with gusts up to 31mph at oakland, 20mph at novato, and pretty breezy to windy. just about everywhere else. now notice the contrast here in the 24 hour temperature change. most locations inland from north bay to east bay are several degrees cooler than at this time yesterday. closer to the coast and the bay, 2 or 3 degrees warmer than yesterday. so let's take a look as the fog drifts in over the bay right now. 58 degrees in san francisco, oakland 6065 at hayward, low 70s at san jose and redwood city, 55 at half moon bay. and we've still got fog over the golden gate and it's continuing its

eastward push. 65 right now is santa rosa. in fact, also mid 60s at petaluma, napa and mid 70s at fairfield, fairfield, concord and livermore. and now we'll check out our forecast headlines. so the cooling fog returns tonight. it's beginning its return already over the next few days. mostly sunny in the afternoon and mild. and friday through the weekend we're going to see a drop in our temperatures again. it will turn breezy and cooler going into and perhaps through the weekend into early next week. for tonight though, that onshore flow continues. the fog will reach across the bay and locally inland, and there'll be drizzle near the coast, or perhaps a spot or two falling along the coastline, and it'll be pretty chilly again tomorrow morning to start the day, but it will get milder in the afternoon. overnight, low temperatures will be generally in the low 50s in some of our north bay inland locations. lows will drop into the upper 40s. a little bit cooler there. highs tomorrow. by afternoon as the sun is brighter and more widespread. 64 here in san francisco 69. oakland some low to mid 70s around the remainder of the bay shoreline

and inland areas will warm up to low to mid 80s in the warmest spots, and those would generally be in the inland east bay. here's the accuweather 70 forecast over the next three days. not much change in the high temperature range. we'll see mid 80s inland, mid 70s around the bay, low 60s on the coast. but as the end of the week approaches, notice how it turns cooler and breezier. and by sunday and monday, inland highs will reach only to the upper 70s, a far cry from what we've had lately. >> yeah, definitely. thank you. spencer >> the battle over public access to martin's beach in san mateo county will go to trial again, according to sfgate. a judge has ruled the state's case against the billionaire property owner can go forward. vinod khosla has kept martin's beach closed to the public since buying 89 acres of property there in 2008. a number of lawsuits followed, including 1 in 2020 filed by california's lands and coastal commissions. that's the case. that's now moving forward again. it is set to go to trial next

year, the 23rd annual oakland art and soul festival has been canceled. >> organizers say it's because of a months long delay in funding from the city of oakland that was approved by the city council for last year's event. the balance of this year will help them regroup and secure new funding, they say they hope to return next year, but only time will tell. >> and still ahead here staying in oakland. an updated message from the chef of a popular restaurant in oakland, days after his restaurant was broken into twice in one

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bayer is streaming tv app. just search abc seven bay area and download it in oakland. >> the owner of alamar dominican kitchen is thankful for the community support. in the days after his restaurant was broken into twice in one morning on friday. chef nelson german posted an instagram video saying he would be forced to close his business if it didn't have a solid weekend of sales. but now

he tells us that thanks to the outpouring of support, the restaurant had three times the average amount of business over the weekend. great. all right. well, thank you for joining us. much more news ahead at 530 over on abc seven streaming tv. >> i'm ama daetz and i'm dan ashley. if you're watching us on tv world news tonight with david muir is next for spencer christian. all of us appreciate your time. >> all right. join dionne at 530. we'll see you at six.

trial. the key witness, michael cohen, on the stand, and what he reveals. also breaking, the controlled explosion. a huge part of that baltimore bridge comes crashing down just moments ago. you'll see it. first tonight, the high stakes testimony in the criminal trial against donald trump. his former fixer michael cohen telling the jury that trump said, "just do it," when talking about paying stormy daniels for her silence. michael cohen saying h o