>> announcer: building a better bay area for a safe and secure future, this is abc7 news. good afternoon. i'm kristen sze. welcome to our daily program called "getting answers." we're hoping to bring on christopher david for you very soon. a man beaten by federal agents in portland. i'm sure you saw that video, just to be totally frank with you right now, we're having issues connecting with chris but he is eager to share his story and give you his first hand account of what happened that night. first, we want to share with you an interview about the importance of masks and expand on a conversation we had last week about who the mask actually benefits. abc7 news anchor reggie aqui. >> for many weeks, we've been hearing you should wear your mask because it protects other people in case you are

symptomatic but now for the first time we're hearing you should also wear a mask because it protects the wearer. so this is interesting information coming from right here at ucsf. so happy to have dr. monica gandhi joining us and mention that among other things, she's director of the ucsf gladstone center for aids research. thank you for the time. >> thank you very much for hving me. >> so tell me about this paper that you're putting together and what the takeaway is for all of us when it comes to wearing our masks. >> yes, so we basically put together evidence from both virology and epidemiology and what's going on with this virus and put together the theory. we think viral determines whether you get the infection or get sick with the infection. the oldest we could find from

1938 that how much virus you get in the system makes you either very sick if you get a lot of virus or not very sick if you don't get hardly any virus. and what a mask does is for you as an individual is it protects you from getting either any virus depending on the mask or just a little bit of virus and you're more likely to get what's called asymptomatic disease for not having symptoms at all. and this is huge thing for us to message that masks protect you as well because we were trying to encourage the public to wear masks. it may not have been as effective as we're saying to other people, this is absolutely to protect you and your family to wear a mask. >> right. it appeals to our selfish nature as human beings. let me ask you about trouble when it comes to actually doing experiments to find research about coronavirus in particular? it's essentially unethical to be able to test this and so you have to look at other tests from

the past and you have to also look at evidence from things like cruise ships. i know that you looked at a cruise ship that had people spreading coronavirus in which they were masks versus when they were generally not masked and what did you find? >> that's great. you're absolutely right. we cannot put humans in a room and give them little bit of doses of coronavirus and big doses and see if they die. that would be terribly unethical, but leading up to the evidence for this, there's several things to look at. one is that we have given viruses to human beings, actually, influenza a which is not deadly. with hafrp sters, we gave them sars that provides covid and a little bit of virus when they actually wore a mask or simulated masking the hamsters

who didn't get very sick. before we knew about masking in a cruise ship -- >> new evidence that wearing masks protect not just other people around you but also the wearer as well. we have a guest we've been trying to connect with. portland, oregon, two months, people have been demonstrating in the streets in front of the federal courthouse calling for social justice after the death of george floyd but the trump administration sent in federal troops, something he's threatened in oakland and other big cities. this week, you might have seen thousands of women wearing

yell yellow protests from the federal troops and pushing and shoving and use of pa ton and tear gas and there was this. that man in a navy hoodie wearing the backpack being beaten is navy veteran chris david and chris joins us today to share what really happened out there in the streets. chris, thanks for joining us. >> it's a pleasure to be here, thank you for having me. >> chris, that was difficult to watch. no doubt even more difficult to endure. how are you doing? they broke my hand, and bruised me up a bit, but otherwise i'm fine. >> you went to the hospital, i

assume. got checked out? >> yeah, i had to have surgery on my hand. >> can i see the? which hand was it? >> sure, my right hand here. they broke the bone here and then shattered my ring finger. >> chris, i'm sorry that happened to you, but tell viewers about yourself. you've been described as a disabled navy veteran but how old are you? >> 53 years old from portland. i'm a laboratory scientist at the v.a. hospital. >> so walk us through that night. why did you go down there to the heart of the protest? >> i've been seeing a lot of videos recently of men in camos with no insignia abducting people off the streets of portland, taking them into vans and taking them to who knows where, that's disturbing for a bunch of reasons but the big

thing, if the federal government can do that kind of thing, anybody can. it's a slippery slope. being eclipsed by the war developed in the streets of portla portland. the media making it look like the entire city is up in flames, it's not. it's just a few block area around the federal courthouse. >> you decided to go down there to the courthouse, right? people have been confronting the federal agents. some people wanted to make a point. other people doing a little graffiti and you went down there, why did you choose to wear that navy hoodie we saw in the video? >> well, i wanted to go down there and ask the officers, the federal officers why they were

doing that, and hoping on the other side, there would be veterans as well and maybe, but that would be a complete mistake. they didn't care. >> maybe they would give you time of day to hear you out. what did you say to them before what happened that we all saw on video and which one officer started hitting you with the baton, what did you say to them? >> well, as they approached me, one of them levelled the semiautomatic weapon at my chest, and then lowered it. another one knocked me back. i was asking questions, why are you violating your oath to the constitution and i was standing in the street. not even standing on federal property. after they knocked me back and i

sort of stood there, i stopped talking because i knew what was going to happen. they were going to beat me. i relaxed so it wouldn't hurt so much and then they beat me. >> well, you didn't flinch on video, but i imagine the pain must have been intense. >> i don't really remember it hurting then to be honest. >> how about your eyes? were your able to see? i saw you pepper sprayed. >> they hit me twice point-blank right in the face with pepper spray. i lost my vision very shortly after that, as i left. i gave them a gesture as i departed and as i was trying to get to the other end to the park, away from the courthouse, i was very disorienting and managed to find my way to sit down on the park bench. o cf1 o

>> did anyone come to help you? >> yes. portland has these courageous folks that come out every night, street medics, there to help provide immediate first aid to the protesters who are maimed, damaged, or basically gassed evey night by the federal authorities. and one of the street medics is named tav and they got me out of there. when tav approached, said, are you okay? they beat me with batons and sprayed pepper spray and he immediately tried to evacuate me to a medic area to start treatment but that was getting overrun by the federal officers. >> well, that beating looked awful to us, but you've said that you have no doubt it would have been a lot worse had you been black. explain that. >> i think so. i think, well, i don't know if

it had been a lot worse if i had been black. i don't think they care who they're beating up. they're gassing pregnant moms, beating up veterans. i think the reason it wasn't worse because i didn't fall down. >> but you were out there in the first place, which i think an important point you wanted to make is that black lives matter. you've held that dear to your heart. >> yeah. >> and talk about how you're taking what happened to you here and the ordeal you endured and how you use that to further your cause. >> i would like the attention to diminish on me, not completely go away, i want to reemphasize this movement is about black lives matter. it's not about a civil war in a small little section of portland and i think that's getting lost these days principally because the media is focusing only on a small little section of portland

and all the conflict occurring there. and i think that's happening for a particular political reason that this type of reaction by the federal officers, i think is intentional because they go out and do the same thing every night and then the protests only grow larger every night. >> we have seen that. now there's thousands and thousands more people as a result of what we've been seeing the past results. >> i'm trying to establish the wall of vets. and we're all going to go out there and link around that building and basically take whatever the federal officers give us non-violently. >> all right. so you do continue to keep going out there, despite that broken hand and all. i got to ask you. you said you wanted to talk to the federal agents why you think they're violating their oath to

the constitution. is part of that oath not protecting the federal property and monuments? as you know, the president said dhs agents can go out there because they're supposed to be protecting those symbols of our national government. do you feel in that sense, they're protecting the constitution as well? >> not really. i was standing in the street. i was never on federal property and i never did anything aggressive or provocative and they still attacked. that was unconstitutional, blatantly unconstitutional. i was never on federal property. >> well, for what you've done and what you continue to do, you've been dubbed captain portland. i think that's your nickname now. i don't know what you think of that moniker. >> i'm not a fan. >> not a fan, all right. nonetheless, it's catchy and getting your message out. naval reservist, who recently served on the mercy and started a go fund me on your behalf but

it's not really for you. who is it for? >> it's not for me at all. i take no money, no go fund mes or anything. 100% covered by the v.a. what we're raising money for are the street medics. they get injured every night and themselves are getting injured every night. we're raising money in order to fund the street medics to pay for the health care and the hurt as well as provide supplies for these street medics. they're a vital component of these protests because of the way the federal officers are behaving and injuring people. those street medics are necessary. we have street medics who volunteer to protect civilians from federal officers. >> well, they were out there for you that night, that's for sure. $15,000 raised so far. hundreds of donations. captain portland, whether or not you like the name, i think it

sticks. chris, thank you so much for your time today. i hope that hand heals fully and soon. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. and we should just mention that the department of homeland security has not responded to abc's request to comment on this specific incident. we're going to take a

folks, we're back. a data scientist who first told us about the study was one of the first in the country really to call for universal mask wearing. there's a big change though involving that group. university of san francisco's jeremy howard who had been a regular on the show and started the volunteer organization masks for all announced his work is done, or is it really done?

joining us now is jeremy howard to explain. jeremy, look, from day one. i want to say back in february, maybe, we started talking about mask wearing and the difference it can make in containing the pandemic we progressed lot saying it's patriotic to wear a mask. he's not always seen wearing one but he does say that and that's a big step. we've got to ask you, what's happening with masks for all? are you really done? >> it's not that the work is done but i feel my work is done. it's only so many months one can be a volunteer scientist working on a global efficacy campaign. at some point, you've got to get back to your family and your day job. for me, i think while nobody else seemed to be picking up the slack, somebody had to do it. may as well be me but the president and world health organization say wear a mask, i'm not sure i'm needed anymore. >> got you.

it started in san francisco with you and now it's global. so i get that. how many states in the u.s. now have public mandates for mask wearing? >> now the vast majority of americans live in regions that require masks. another three states just today were added. the majority of states and something like 80% of the population. it's amazing to think back to early march when we started all this that there were only 10 countries in the world that even recommended masks let a required them. so when i started out, it felt like kind of straining into the void a little bit. nobody was talking about masks, nobody is interested in them and when i first started saying everybody should wear a mask, there was a lot of kind of patronizing or passive aggressive responses of, it's nice if you think it would make a difference but of course, we know it won't.

the world has come a long way in the last. >> we've seen headlines saying wearing the masks not only protects others around you but reduce covid's impact on you. >> right and this is something we've talked about on this show, probably the first show here to actually do a demonstration. you and i both did a demonstration of how you can actually take a cloth mask and make it more tightly fitting and have better filtration and so it's good that people are starting to now realize, just because you're doing a diy mask or a non-medical mask, it doesn't mean you have to throw away protection for yourself. there are lots of great materials and now provides a very high level of protection to the wearer, not 100%. but well over 50%. >> i got a couple questions from viewers for you. alex wants to know, is wearing a b bandanna or cloth mask effective? >> super effective. the thing is when the droplets

that carry the virus come out of your mouth as they come out, they're pretty big. they're easily penetrate into and absorb into a cloth mask or a bandanna and then in the last couple of months, there's been studies where they've tested different types of face covering and found that bandannas are among the best at stopping kind of the jets from escaping from the sides, bottom to the top. such a good coverage. >> all right. we are out of time. but jeremy, it's always great to get the facts on masks from you. so i know you're taking a bit of a break but you will always be welcome on this show any time. >> thank you so much for having me. >> scientific. all right, take good care. >> thank you. >> we'll take a short break on the air but the how about poor fred wilson? what a shame. so soon after retiring. i hear his wife needed help with the funeral expenses. that's ridiculous! -he had social security. -when my brother died,

his wife received a check from social security, all right-- for $255! the funeral costs were well over $8,000. how on earth did she pay for it? fortunately, my brother bought additional life insurance -before he retired. -whew! i bet that cost a pretty penny, huh? not with colonial penn. coverage options start at just $9.95 a month. less than 35 cents a day. i have it myself. we both do. -both of you? -that's right. neither of us had to answer any health questions or take a physical exam. in fact, no one our age can be turned down. for any health reason. -no one? -no one? nope. hm. is this a plan that offers a lot of protection at first, and then reduces it little by little each year? no! i've had this coverage for years. my benefit never decreases as i get older. your rates go up every year, right? no, not at all.

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but not everybody is happy with that, salons in alameda county. not happy with the decision to by the governor. >> i appreciate the effort. i appreciate the fact our industry alone was singled out and attention was put towards helping us kind of restart going back to work but i feel like it was an uneducated decision and weren't there to protest and weren't there to stomp our feet. we were there to educate people who can really help us make a difference and advocate for sanitary and how clean our operation within our walls really are. >> you're making this big push to be able to operate indoors. i imagine that's because you can do more of the services indoors,

right, in higher volume? >> correct. with the new regulations, there's only certain services that can be done outside and from my perspective as a full service stylist who on color services. so going outside only operation, financially, it's not substantial for me. there's not enough hours in a day, not enough clients in my county to even begin to make that work. and then there's a whole other issue of getting the permitting and getting the licensing to be able to work. because our salon is upstairs. we don't have access to that kind of space. >> so are you saying it's not realistic for you? have you even started to inquire about maybe being able to take over a sidewalk or something like that, the permitting process? have you started? >> so alameda county isn't even to the point yet where we can start looking into that.

we are still, we're not even close. and we've actually been closed since march 16th. cocoa county has been able to go back. other counties have but we've not been able to work behind the chair for quite a lot of days. >> had you spent money to make improvements inside your salon to be able to operate in a way you consider safe? >> absolutely. as soon as the regulations were released for other counties to start opening, our owner, lindsey, who is an angel and a dream, hit the ground running and we have sanitation stations throughout the salon. we have blue light sanitation. little cases, not only for our belongings but our guests to be able to use. all the magazines, all the amenities removed as dictated by the new regulations. we've been ready to go for almost four months now, so all this money and time put getting ready to go and there's just no

date in sight. >> do you see your clients going where they can operate fully indoors? >> i had clients saying do you have recommendations for anyone in contra costa county or recommendations for anywhere else and to be honest, i don't blame them. some of the clients booked for the week following haven't had their hair touched since january and professional women still attending zoom calls for their profession and still active in their life and they're hurting too. >> jennifer hatcher, thank you

we're back. thank you so much for joining us today for this interactive "getting answers" show. hope you enjoy tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air. the u.s. recording 1,000 deaths in 24 hours. california just now surpassing new york with the most cases of coronavirus. and what president trump said just moments ago. governors in three here states tonight now making masks mandatory. ohio, indiana and minnesota. president trump now saying wear a mask, even if you don't like it, it has impact. in florida tonight, icus nearing capacity. some hospitals forced to convert rooms to handle the new covid cases. california now surpassing new york. los angeles considering a stay at home order. and with the debate over when and how to reopen schools, one district in tennessee reopening today and what they did. and how often students will go to school there. in texas, the two brothers in houston losing