Transcripts For KGO Good Morning America 20170830

And President Trump tours the devastation. This is historic. Its epic. Promising major federal aid. And the remarkable way hometown heroes are springing into action using everything from big rigs to boats and jet skis to answer desperate calls for help. Our team live from the storm zone this morning. And good morning, america. You are looking live at houston, texas, a city surrounded by freeways now rivers. Theres a car abandoned on the ramp to the i10 right now. So much of that city, so much of that county underwater right now. Harvey is making landfall again for the third time, the Tropical Storm hitting louisiana this morning and battering parts of eastern texas. Take a look at this image, that is a shelter in port arthur, texas, not only dealing with an overwhelming amount of flood victims but theyre now dealing with flooding of their own. The problems just keep compounding and the front page of the Houston Chronicle this morning, its dark and sad, epic flooding shows no mercy. But we are also seeing heart, heroism, community, and neighbors hand in hand, a human chain to safety. Thats incredible and here is what we know at this hour. More than 13,000 people have been rescued in the houston area. The death toll rising to 11 as a result of the deadly storm. And that relentless rain adding up to an unprecedented 51. 88 inches. We have never seen that in the continental United States and wev got Team Coverage from the disaster zone across southern texas and louisiana. Senior meteorologist rob marciano starts us off from richmond, texas. Good morning, rob. Hey, good morning, george. The rain has finally stopped here in houston, but the water Tropical Storm harvey has made a looping turn. Now spinning over lake charles. On the backside dropping torrential rains and causing chaos in east texas. This morning, 25 more inches of rain falling on parts of east texas. The latest deluge adding to the alreadyflooded streets swallowing up these neighborhoods in galveston and port arthur. Causing whitecaps on i10 and a crisis at local shelters. Now everybody is starting to panic and its not fun anymore. This is beginning to be a traumatic experience. Reporter at the civic center in port arthur, reports of three to four feet of water seeping in through the exit doors. The floor covered. Water started to crawl up the bleachers. You have older people, you have infant babies, kids walking in this water and they have all kinds of insects, spiders and frogs, snakes in this water and they moved us up to the bleachers but thats not helping. The waters rising up. Reporter outside, the streets so dangerous calling off rescue attempts overnight putting a wall of water between firefighters and homes burning. The mayor trying to maintain order, facebooking, our whole city is underwater right now but we are coming. And its still raining there. Drier here in western parts of houston. This county under a mandatory evacuation warning. Rob marciano, thanks so much. Harvey just making landfall once again this morning in southern louisiana where there are now flash flood warnings and Abcs Steve Osunsami is right there in the eye of the storm in lake charles this morning with the latest on all of that. Good morning, steve. Reporter good morning to you, amy. The storm is finally moving on but not before leaving a flash flood emergency. 25 inches of rain in fell places. Lark dharls behind me is full. Families rescued from their homes having to sleep at the Convention Center. One more drop it spills over. Creating these flash flood emergencies across this region. Amy. Steve, i want to talk about whats going on in new orleans because youve been reporting all week long that many of the pumps that city depends on are not working, is that still the case . Reporter amy, that is a very sore point for many families in new orleans. After all these years, 12 pumps they need to keep the city dry that arent working. Theyre working to fix those now. One resident who got a little clever as youll see in this video posted a banner outside one of the pumping stations that reads, i think i can, i think i can. They sure they do. Steve, we appreciate an update there from louisiana. Chief to meteorologist ginger zee right now. Six days in, the storm still has a ways to go. Yes, it does. You can hear the wind in steves shot because he is right on that eye wall and you can see Tropical Storm harvey after that landfall again overnight. Some of the heavy bands making their way into parts of mississippi and florida but look at that really big rain shield, from beaumont along the state line of louisiana, flash flood emergencies still in place and look at the flash flood watches. They stretch all the way into the far western reaches of the Florida Panhandle and up to memphis, yes, memphis, could be included in the heavy rains from this all the way through friday. So lets time it out for you. By tomorrow morning were in northeast louisiana, you go up to memphis and that rain shield, especially if youre driving i40, say, 3 30 p. M. , we stopped it here between little rock and memphis, this will be a problem. 6 to 12 inches still in our swath especially in east texas and Far Southwest louisiana. Guys, houston areas had more than they have in an entire year of rainfall. Thats what were dealing with. In just a couple of days. Thanks very much. And many of the victims of harvey escaping those dangerous floodwaters head to those Evacuation Centers but the problem is, after theyve been rescued, those centers are now completely overwhelmed. The red cross saying more than 17,000 people are in shelters in texas right now. Abcs chief National Correspondent tom llamas is in houston this morning with more on that side of the story. Tom, good morning. Reporter amy, good morning and youll remember right here on gma yesterday we brought you those images of people sleeping on the floor at the don vengs center. This morning, a much different story. They opened a new facility. The same area where the Houston Texans play football. Its a brandnew shemter. Theyre going to house 10,000 people here and they say all 10,000 will have a cot to sleep. Let me show you what will they register through here and come in right through there and get fema, Health Assistance and then they go inside. The overflow crowd from the Convention Center along with people from other shelters and those recently rescued. Overnight, the calls for rescue keep pouring in. Last night, 600 more. People that are calling out, stranded for days. Reporter the city of houston and the red cross responding to the influx of people needing help. Now opening new shelters including one at the nrg center. Overnight, buses started transporting people to the football stadium. At last check, more than 10,000 were looking for shelter. But only 5,000 cots were available at the Convention Center. We found 18yearold kalia castro outside the Convention Hall in a separate area so she, her baby and three nephews could sleep on a carpeted floor. How did you get out . The helicopter came over the house and they came and got us and we came outside. I wasnt able to bring anything. I was it was enough room for me to go in the basket and for all the kids to fit. Reporter stories like that are what volunteer lisa sailor says she hears all day. Its hard to keep it together. I lost it several times. I had a young mom yesterday that stood in water for a day and a half for her girls because she didnt want to leave her home. Reporter outside, still a very dangerous situation in parts of the houston area. At least nine confirmed deaths, including Houston Police Sergeant Steve perez, who drowned in floodwaters just two days shy of his 61st birthday. Houstons police chief moved to tears. We couldnt find him and once our dive team got there it was too treacherous to go under and look for him. Reporter many more missing including six of rick saldivars family member, four children, the youngest just 6 years old and their great grandparents. They were trapped in their van and swept away by floodwaters. Ricks brother, the only survivor. The road dips and thats where the van started floating and it pulled the van to the right and put in the bayou. Reporter and around the flooddamaged areas there are still pockets of chaos. At this supermarket in the northeast section of the city, people scavenging the waters and some entering the locked store coming out with their arms full. And now houstons mayor implementing a curfew from midnight to 5 00 a. M. Police telling people to stay calm and follow the law. And last night at the Convention Center, there was a look line of people stretching around the block but it wasnt people who were there seeking shelter. It was there for people seeking to help. Theres a big need for volunteers and it looks like, george, a lot of people are answering that call. Boy, they sure are. Tom, thanks very much. The magnitude of this flooding is so hard to grasp. Right now up to 30 of Harris County, more than 1700 square miles underwater. Thats equivalent to all of new york city and chicago combined. Abcs eva pilgrim is right in the middle of the floodwaters. Good morning, eva. Reporter george, this neighborhood covered by water. This car floating. The homes empty. The people who lived here forced to leave. Before dawn we take off with a group of volunteers on a rescue mission. We got 4 00 just help. Reporter right away. Where are they at . Reporter we hear calls of help from a stranded family. Hi, buddy, yall hang tight. Reporter you okay . Im scared. Was it flooded here yesterday . Yes, its been flooded. Reporter the relentless rain pouring into homes that had been dry, now leaving people trapped. We werent aware that this area over here was this bad. We kind of went in blind this morning and you know luckily were able to find a lot of people. How many are in there . Two there and one there. Reporter this group flagging down a Police Officer who set up a command center before putting out an sos on facebook to their friends who quickly turned up with more boats. Just everybody come together and help each other out. Reporter for hours they scour this area, going from one home to the next, carrying people theyve never met before out on their backs. How do you know where to take them . You just take them to dry land. Reporter the guys getting family after family taking them to safety. Come here, honey. Were a little different down here in the republic of texas. We look out for each other and we take care of our own. Reporter and that group estimated to have rescued about 300 people. A lot of those volunteers telling me theyre just regular guys with big trucks and fishing boats. No question they are heroes. Amy. Yeah, they have big hearts as well. Thank you so much, eva. Unfortunately for everyone in this path the flooding is still relentless this morning. We saw that incredible image of whitecaps on interstate i10. This deadly storm stranding victims in their vehicles and abcs Clayton Sandell is in houston with more on that. Clayton, good morning. Reporter good morning to you, amy. This is i10 right behind me as it goes through houston. On the onramp over there, this car got stuck. Overnight, just hours ago, really Houston Police and volunteers had to rescue a family of four who got stuck in that car and this has been happening all over the city. In fact, so many streets here have become cars graveyard. One spoke to our affiliate who said she was actually stranded in her car for nearly two days, she had to have a friend come and rescue her with a boat. The property loss here when it comes to cars is just devastating. Harvey may have destroyed as many as 500,000 vehicles here in houston. You can add one more. Amy. Wow, its just incredible. Clayton, thank you so much. George. Well talk to the director of Emergency Management for Harris County, county judge ed emmett and, judge, i know youre an experienced administrator but 30 of your county underwater and saw the cars abandoned on the freeways. Any sense of how many people are still stranded . Well, probably thousands. But hopefully, theyre not in danger of losing their life. We have people who are on the second floor of their homes and theyre riding it out and theyre waiting for the waters to go down. And what is your biggest worry right now . Making sure that the people we call them neighbors instead of evacuees, making sure that they have a place that is safe, they can begin to get on with their lives again and in the aftermath, you know, these waters are dirty. They carry all kinds of shall we say stuff in them so weve got to make sure we dont have a Health Crisis too. The city of houston is now imposing that curfew from midnight to 5 00 a. M. Why exactly is that necessary and how long do you expect it to stay in place . Well, the mayor imposed that curfew, they were worried about some of these flooded areas, the homes are left abandoned, and they were worried maybe about crime and people going in. That was a classic case, though, of the mayor originally said the curfew would begin at 10 00, but the Harris County was opening the new shelter at nrg center, and so he and i talked about it and so now its 12 00 to 5 00 so that the volunteers could get there to open the shelter. You also have to be thinking of how you recover, how you rebuild your entire county after these floodwaters recede. What is the biggest challenge there . The biggest challenge is going to get people back in their homes. You know, i went through hurricane ike, a hurricane comes and goes through the area. In this case, weve got probably 30,000 to 40,000 homes that have been destroyed. Working with the federal government and State Government weve got to get those people back into their normal lives as soon as possible. You know, school is starting. We got to get the children in the right schools and parents back to their jobs so that the economy and the natural life can go on. Big, big job ahead. Judge emmett, i know youre up to it. Thanks very much. Thank you very much, george. Amy. George, President Trump and the first lady traveled to the storm zone in texas on tuesday to meet with local officials dealing with this disaster. The president was full of praise, but cautioned it is too early for congratulations. Senior correspondent cecilia vega has more now from rockport. Good morning, cecilia. Reporter hi, amy, good morning to you. Before his trip here to texas President Trump said the state would be back up and running very, very quickly but on the ground here, he conceded its a long road ahead. And just look at this, the road to recovery for so many people here still a long way off. President trump returning to the white house overnight after a day trip to that storm zone, where he met with emergency workers and state officials, but not with victims of the storm. The white house coming to his defense saying the president did not want to interfere with rescue efforts. Asked about it on the ride home on air force one, press secretary Sarah Sanders said President Trumps trip is all about people, making sure that we are taking care of the people of texas, that is his number one priority. The president seeming upbeat on that trip. Were going to get you back and operating immediately. Thank you, everybody. What a crowd, what a turnout. Reporter waving a texas flag in front of a crowd of supporters. On the ground the president praising rescue efforts. So far, 25 million in emergency relief funds helping repair roads and bridges and at least 8600 federal personnel on the ground in southeast texas. Its a real team and we want to do it better than ever before. We want to be looked at in five years and ten years from now as this is the way to do it. Reporter victims hoping they see results soon. Whats the damage like . Totaled. Totalled. Completely. Reporter the president will be back here in texas on saturday, possibly heading to louisiana, too, but not before he goes to missouri today, where he will be giving a speech on tax reform. All right, cecilia. Thank you. Well head straight back to ginger. There is more flooding in houston right now. Ginger. Even though the rain has for the most part stopped in houston and moved east does not mean that the flood concerns are over. There will still be places that havent flooded yet that will because of rivers, creeks and bayou, but there will be rain falling in memphis into northern louisiana. Good morning. Im abc7 news meteorologist mike nicco. Welcome to our last mild day followed by our last cool night. Heat wave begins tomorrow, and that will bring some higher fire concerns for the weekend, the holiday weekend. Midtoupper 60s along the coast into San Francisco, midtoupper 70s around the bay, midtoupper 80s in the south bay and north bay, low to mid90s inland. Pretty typical day. Tonight, this is as cool as it gets moving forward, 54 to about 60 degrees. We are coming up, pastor joel osteen under fire. His megachurch accused of being too slow to respond those seeking shelter. He joins us live. And right in the middle of this disaster in texas, reports of incredible price gouging. 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When heartburn hits fight back fast with tums chewy bites. Fast relief in every bite. Crunchy outside. Chewy inside. Tum tum tum tum tums chewy bites. When you make a pb j with smuckers, thats the difference between ordinary everyday and exquisitely delicious in an everyday sort of way. Because with a name like smuckers, it has to be good. Hey, good morning to you. Im Natasha Zouves from abc7 mornings. Several classic cars were destroyed in a fire at a warehouse in San Francisco early this morning. The fire started at crown customs vintage speed shop in the bayview district. Firefighters put the fire out in about 30 minutes and no one was hurt. Theyre still trying to figure out what sparked the fire. Lets get to sue hall now with traffic. Hey, sue. Good morning. We still go back to san jose. This is 101 in the northbound direction. We had an accident happened over an hour ago involving a food truck and a big rig, and its still out there in lanes. You can see traffic all the way stacked up 101 northbound from hellier south of san jose up to the scene, so a long stretch of traffic here. Over 280, not that much different. This is 280 at 880, slow up past cupertino. Sue, thank you so much. Me i am a First Responder tor and iemergencies 24 hours a day, everyday of the year. My children and my family are on my mind when im working all the time. My neighbors are here, my friends and family live here, so its important for me to respond as quickly as possible and get the power back on. Its an amazing feeling turning those lights back on. Be informed about outages in your area. Sign up for outage alerts at pge. Com outagealerts. Together, were building a better california. Well start with some schools. New Haven Unified School district for hayward and union city, hazy, cloudy this morning, hazy sunshine and 76 for today. And the Fremont Unified School district, a bright day on the way. Cloudy this morning, 78 this afternoon. Weathers average. I hope your days exceptional. Temperatures in the 52 to 60degree range, even a 48 in novato and 65 in brentwood. Look at the heat. Dangerous heat, recordsetting heat possible thursday all the way through monday. Natasha . Take a look at that stretch of heat, wow. Thanks, mike. Coming up next on gma, pastor joel osteen is live from houston, and well have another abc7 news update in 30 minutes and always on the free abc7 news app. Join the whole team every join the whole team every weekday 4 30 get 40 off on coit Residential Cleaning Services including carpet and hardwood, tile, stone, even air ducts and window treatments. And your satisfaction is 100 guaranteed or your money back. Thats 40 off everything coit cleans. Call or click today. Wow nice outfit. When i grow up, im going to mars. Were working on that. Some people know how far they want to go. A personalized Financial Strategy can help you get them there. See how access to j. P. Morgan investment expertise can help you. Chase. Make more of whats yours. Including carpet and hardwood, tile, stone, even air ducts and window treatments. And your satisfaction is 100 guaranteed or your money back. Thats 40 off everything coit cleans. Call or click today. Thats 40 off everything coit cleans. If you have fleas. Eas, use advantage® ii monthly on your cat to prevent and treat flea infestations. Advantage® ii. Fight the misery of infesting fleas. Oh no, the fridge just died. Dont worry, at lowes we offer free next day delivery on instock appliances. Get up to 40 off select appliance special values at the lowes labor day savings event. Welcome back to gma. This is normal life in houston, texas, right now. Water rescue. Those roads have become swift rapids right now. Neighbors all across houston now stepping in to save neighbors, so many stranded in that water this morning. It is hard to imagine that there are still thousands of people in need of rescue. Those who have been rescued flee to rescue centers like Lakewood Church. Pastor joel osteens megachurch in houston. The doors are open now but critics say it took too long for one of the largest congregations to pitch in. This morning, pastor joel osteen is responding. He will join us live coming up in just a moment. And for all of you at home looking to help, tomorrow our Parent Company disney is holding a day of giving. Its a fundraising effort that begins with our local affiliates in the morning, then with us here at gma, and throughout the day on abc freeform and radio disney as well as all our social platforms. Tonight, ill anchor a special edition of 20 20 city underwater tonight at 10 00. Rob marciano has the latest. Theres still a lot to get to on this front, rob. Reporter there certainly is, amy. Even though the skies are clear, no rain in the forecast here for houston the waters continue to rise. Here in ft. Benton county. This morning, the flash flood emergencies are happening in the eastern part of the state. As the center of harvey is over the center. Beaumont, port arthur, orange, texas, all seeing dramatic flooding right now. Harvey on the move but were not done yet. 12k3w4r all right, rob, thank you. We move on to joel osteen. He is one of americas most popular preachers but faced some criticism when they were slow to take in flood victims. Busloads are taking shelter there now and well talk to pastor osteen about the turnaround after this report from Victor Oquendo at lakewood. Good morning, victor. Reporter good morning, george. Once the church started accepting those donations they started piling up quickly. The volunteers are lining up once again this morning. You can take a look at part of the work theyve done so far. A mountain of towels on one side and on this side, a ton of baby supplies. I promise you well make you feel right at home. Reporter hes the famous tv pastor leading one of the largest congregations in the country. If youre ever in our area, please stop by and be a part of one of our services. Reporter joel osteen, head of houstons Lakewood Church but for the past few days his megachurch has come under megacriticism. Some questioning why the 600,000 square foot facility didnt immediately open its doors. Well come right back. Reporter as the floodwaters rose, the church posting online that it was inaccessible due to severe flooding. The reaction online fierce. Tweets like this saying, when joel osteen has a gigantic church and 10 million home in houston but is only offering prayers to people affected by harvey. And the already heavily criticized joel osteen isnt helping himself by not hoping that megachurch of his and leads me to ask what would jesus do. Some even posting photos like these seeming to show the Church Grounds floodfree. But lakewood officials providing these pictures to prove there was lots of water the foot from the top of their floodgates and saying the doors have been opened. Weve all our doors have always been open. We have been a shelter like they were a shelter from the very beginning. Reporter and now the church up and running as an official shelter, already filled with giant piles of donations and lines of cars with volunteers waiting to sign up to help. And speaking with a lot of those volunteers, we learned a lot arent necessarily joel osteen viewers or part of the congregation here. They just told us theyre from houston, and they want to help. George. Okay, victor, thanks. Pastor osteen joins us from Lakewood Church as well. Thank you for joining us this morning. Pastor osteen, lets get right to the controversy and we saw that post on sunday from your church saying it was inaccessible, yet so many weighed in saying that didnt seem to be the case. What went wrong here . Well, george, first off, the building was inaccessible. The floodwaters went down. I mean this building flooded in 2001 and it had ten feet of water in the lower ball and we put up floodgates to keep it from going over, only a foot away. But, i think, george, the narrative that we didnt want to take people in or we didnt open in time, you know, is totally not true. We were here for people. We were a shelter and taking people as soon as the floodwaters receded when several people came here to take them in but the city has a shelter four miles from here. We work with the city all the time, and when their shelter was totally full they started bringing people over here, and here we are again today doing it like we did in 2001 when we housed 3,000 people. So i dont know. I think somebody created that narrative that somehow we were high and dry, and none of that is true. This building was a safety issue and we took people in from the very beginning. You do seem to be up and running now but any Lessons Learned from this . Well, i think there always is but i think, george, sometimes, you know, when somebody is not in this situation where we had nobody in this facility, we had we were fearing that it would flood, the last thing we would do is put people in it right at the beginning, but, yeah, you know, we would probably be you know, do some things differently obviously, but my niece was stranded right across the street from this building the first two days of the flood on one day of the flood on the freeway, so it was a big flood, and it affected all of the people that run this facility as well, but, you know what, weve been here 16 years helping people and well be here long after this dies down helping these people as well. We all know the recovery effort from this hurricane is going to take weeks, months, even years, for the city of houston for Harris County. How do you see lakewoods mission in that recovery effort . Well, just what you said, george, its long term. This well get them out of the shelters over time when we can, but they need help rebuilding their lives and so we have teams set up and we have hundreds of pastors that have already called and organizations like samaritans purse and worldvision. Well come in here and help rebuild. They will be here for a couple of years with us and thats just, you know, its just pulling out the sheetrock, you know, helping those especially the elderly and just being in it for the long haul. Thats the key. Certainly is, pastor osteen. Thanks for your time this morning. Thank you. And with so many people in need, coming up next, millions of Harvey Victims desperate for just the essentials, but look at this. Some businesses accused of sending prices soaring. T balloo its ver. Sfx balloon squeals ok can we. Sfx balloon squeals im being so serious right now. I really want to know how your coffee is. Its. Sfx balloon squeals hahahaha, i had a 2nd balloon goodbye oof, that milk in your coffee was messing with you, wasnt it . Yeah. Happens to more people than you think. Try lactaid, its real milk, without that annoying lactose. Mmm. Good right . Yeah. Lactaid. Its the milk that doesnt mess with you. Labor day weekend sale. Hls boys active tees are only 8 take 20 to 40 off sneakers for the family and kitchen electrics are just 19. 99 plus take an extra 10 off when you spend 25 or more and everyone gets kohls cash too kohls. We are back now with price gouging. Right in the middle of the devastation in texas, some businesses accused this morning of raising prices on essentials. In one instance, 99 for a case of water. Abcs senior National Correspondent matt gutman is in houston with more on this story. Good morning, matt. Reporter hey, good morning, amy. Imagine selling one of these for 5 bucks a pop. Now, the texas state attorney general says its not only cruel, it is criminal and hes investigating hundreds of cases of gouging here. Texas tempers flaring. Furious over markups on necessities like this man selling water out of his truck accused of marking up bottles by 500 . You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Reporter now, in the middle of this massive crisis, the Texas Attorney general says hes already received over 600 reports of price gouging. Just check out one womans receipt from a Corpus Christi convenience store. She says she was charged 65 bucks for just two cases of beer at a raceway gas station. I think this is ridiculous. That theyre price gouging. Reporter then, theres this photo of water for sale at best buy for 42. Raceway says its investigating the incident. The store manager apologizing telling abc news overnight it was a clerical error and not price gouging. Adding, we did give a full refund. Best buy also apologizing, telling abc news, it doesnt even sell cases of water. This was a big mistake on the part of a few employees at one store. As a company we are focused on helping, not hurting affected people. Nearby, best western telling us that its severing any affiliation with its hotel in Corpus Christi, refunding 40 guests after it was accused of nearly tripling room rates. The hotel chain saying, we do not tolerate this type of egregious and unethical behavior. Weve seen water up to 99 for a case of water. Weve seen fuel prices up to 20 a gallon. Weve seen hotels jack prices up sometimes six, seven times. Reporter and officials now laying down the law. In texas offenders can face fines up to 20,000 per offense. And up to 250,000 in a victim is 65 or older. Were looking at prices over the last three months. If youve increased those prices by more than 10 well look at it. Reporter thats not the only kind of profiteering were seeing. Yesterday we were at a shelter and somebody said they could bring a semi truck to take away all of the surplus donations, but officials suspected that he was trying to steal the donations in order to sell them but it is worth noting, guys, that most people here, the vast majority are actually giving away donations rather than trying to sell anything. Amy, george. These tragedies bring out the best and worth in some people. Its good to see officials are cracking down. Absolutely, thank you, matt. And well see more of the best in just a minute. This rescue of jet ski that went viral and amys going to speak to that grandfather when we return. Its time for the biggest sale of the year with the new sleep number 360 smart bed. It senses your every move and automatically adjusts on both sides to keep you effortlessly comfortable. And snoring. Does your bed do that . The new 360 smart bed is part of our biggest sale of the year where all beds are on sale. 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You are loved whats the story behind Green Mountain coffee and fair trade . Lets take a flight to colombia. This is boris calvo. Boris grows mindblowing coffee. And because we pay him a fair price, he improves his farm and invest in his community to make even better coffee. All for a smoother tasting cup. Green mountain coffee. We have seen so many incredible rescues out of texas following Hurricane Harvey and this morning photos going viral of a grandmother and grandfather being evacuated right there on the back of a jet ski after their home flooded and we spoke with that very grateful grandfather just moments ago. J. C. Spencer joins us. I know your wife karen is resting. Youve been through so much over the past few days but im sure you know that that picture on the jet ski has now gone viral. Tell me how you ended up on a jet ski heading out of your flooded home. Well, monday morning we realized we had to evacuate. We had to get out of there. And so i called chickfila. Now that sounds kind of funny but i ordered two chicken burritos with extra egg and a boat, and can you believe the manager, one of the managers of chickfila, she sent her husband to pick us up. And we are so grateful and so thankful. That is incredible. I know you loaded your possessions on to that boat and there wasnt a lot of room for you and karen to get in so all of a sudden some jet skis showed up. Yes, and so karen jumped on the back of the jet ski and i jumped on the back of another one and they evacuated us to Higher Ground and we are ever so grateful. Oh so grateful. I know she had a big smile on her face but karen said that she was actually on the verge of tears. It was probably a surreal moment for you both. Absolutely. Future of houston is indeed, very, very bright. Houston the medical capital of the world, the space capital of the world, the Energy Capital of the world, and about to become the port capital of the world. Well, j. C. And karen, the world is certainly brighter with both of you in it. Thanks for joining us. Were so glad youre okay. Thank you. And theres even more to the story. Amazingly rescuers took j. C. Back to the house because he had forgotten his wedding ring and his wallet. I couldnt save my house but i had to save my marriage. I love that he had a sense of humor. They have four children, ten grandchildren and five great grandchildren who are all very happy they are safe and sound and i didnt know if he actually got the chickfila order, though, that was unclear. That was quite an order. Extra egg especially. Also told you he killed a snake on the way back. He is. Resilient just like texas. A lot more hometown heroes coming up. Coming up. Youfarewell, cookie betdough ice cream. E whats that youre drinking . Its trop50. Its fine. It tastes delicious and has 50 fewer calories with this taste . No way. Give me fifty squats. But. It cant taste this good. Read the label. 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O, and she does it in any shoes she wants, with lasting comfort. Only dr. Scholls stylish step has insoles that are clinically proven to provide allday comfort. Dr. Scholls. Born to move. Back here on Good Morning America i have some good news. Tropical storm harvey is now moving faster than it has since it made landfall north at nine miles per hour, the update from the National Hurricane center. Bridge city, louisiana, still raining heavily this morning. Areas from beaumont to port arthur picking up more than 20 inches overnight. Those are the spots that are saying thank goodness, its moving faster, because that rain shield is so heavy right along the state line of louisiana and texas there. Still in a flash flood emergency and the flash flood watches now extend all the way up into parts of arkansas and even memphis. You know what, even cincinnati will get some rain from this. How much rain . It looks like a lot of the places in the red here anywhere between 4 and 6 inches. Locally you could see heavier spots, and then just as i said before, just because the rain stopped in houston for the most mart does not mean the flood threat is over. The San Jacinto River is a place were concerned about because river levels are so high theyre backing up into communities like kingwood and humble still as we speak and will for days to come. The west and east fork come together in lake houston, which is where houston gets its water Good Morning America is brought to you by dr. Scholls stylish step insoles. Hey, good morning to you. Im Natasha Zouves from abc7 mornings. Heres meteorologist mike nicco now with your accuweather forecast. Hey, mike. Hey, natasha. Hey, everybody. Lets start with some Cool Conditions out there, low 50s to mid50s in the north bay, upper 50s to low 60s for the rest of us, brentwood warmer at 65. Typical day today, 60s along the coast and San Francisco, 70s around the bay, 80s inland, except for the east bay, 90s. Well be in the 50s and 60s tomorrow but will warm anywhere from 20 to 40 degrees by the afternoon hours as the heat wave begins. Sue . Just a grind all the way around through the silicon valley, san jose. This is 101 northbound by 880. We had an earlier accident involving a food truck by trimble, another problem now by old bayshore, so just a grind on 280. Your alternate . Not so much. 280 is bumper to bumper, 40 minutes to cupertino. Sue, thank you. Coming up next on gma, is coconut oil really good for you . Thats coming up. Well have another abc7 news update in about 30 minutes and always on our free abc7 news app. Join reggie, mike, alexis, jessica and youre going to be hanging out in here. So if you need anything, text me. Do you play . Use the chase mobile app to send money in just a tap to friends at more banks than ever before. You got next . Chase. Make more of whats yours. Good morning, america. Its 8 00 a. M. Happening now, harvey makes landfall again. The massive storm slams into louisiana this morning. Flash flood watches from florida to tennessee and new threats overnight. Even more peril for those who already evacuated as the waters in houston just keep rising. A mandatory curfew now for houston. Everyday heroes. People traveling from across the country to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey from this trucker with his big rig driving into the floodwaters. Theyll just keeping boatloads of people out to the truck. To the real estate opening up her own home, to give families a place to stay. My home is literally your home. To the military vets rescuing the stranded the incredible stories. Also, this morning, cracking the nutrition code, the oil marketed as a healthy fat substitute but could it be driving your cholesterol way up . The truth behind coconut oil right here. And George Clooney on being a dad. Hes doing diaper duty, says fatherhood is terrifying and amal is adjusting as we say, good morning, america. And good morning, america. Hope you are having a good wednesday. Houston, of course, facing so much devastation right now. We want to show you this big rig that one man drove nearly 200 miles to help rescue people. Stranded in the disaster zone. His name is Nick Sheridan and he built his life around helping people and joins us live ahead. And take a look at these workers. They were trapped at their bakery for two days with the floodwaters. What do they do . They used up the 4200 pounds of flour they had there to bake bread for all of those affected by the floods. I love what some people commented. They said it was a gesture that was both literally and figuratively sweet. Well done. Okay. Thank you, amy. South texas, you know, east of houston is also getting hit hard. Theres a new flood emergency right now after two feet of rain overnight. Abcs Steve Osunsami is just across the texas state line in lake charles, louisiana. Heres his story. Reporter good morning, george. These flash floods are for real. There is an urgent situation happening right now in port arthur and beaumont, texas, where the rain is just dropping and just continues to fall. Theyve seen about 25 inches of rain overnight. Were hearing reports of the civic center, where theyre actually Housing Residents taken from their homes, is taking water. Theyre seeing three to four feet of water in some places. Numerous reports of people who are trapped in their homes. Right now, the eye of the storm is sitting on top of us right now here in louisiana. Behind me is lake charles, in front of me is another civic center that has many residents who were taken from their flooded homes who are sleeping there right now. The fear, of course, is that the ground is saturated. There is just no more room for a drop of water more. In new orleans, theyre very concerned about even an inch of rain because of the citys pumps. About a dozen of them are not working right now and that work continues. One person who was being very clever in the traditional new orleans spirit and humor put a sign outside of one of the pumping stations that reads, i think i can, i think i can. They sure hope that those pumps are going to work today. We hope hes right. Steve, thanks very much. Amy. Now we move on to houston where more shelters are having to open for the thousands of people still being rescued from the floodwaters. Our chief National Correspondent tom llamas is there with the latest on that story. Tom, good morning. Reporter amy, good morning to you. Earlier on gma we heard from the Harris County judge would told us that 30,000 to 40,000 homes could be destroyed here in houston and thats why so many are seeking shelter. This is one of the newest shelters in the nrg park, this is where the Houston Texans play football and the same setup. People come in, get registered and get a cot. 10,000 people can sleep here and they say everyone will get a cot. Now, one of the reasons they opened this place is because of what we showed you yesterday, people sleeping on the floor there at the Convention Center. They had planned for 5,000. More than 9,000 showed up and there were so many people sleeping on the floor at the time. The rescue efforts are still under way here in houston. They were answering 600 calls yesterday so there are still people trapped in their homes and there are still pockets of danger around the houston area. The mayor now implementing a curfew that runs from 12 00 a. M. To 5 00 a. M. Amy. All right, tom, everyone gets a cot there, though, that is important for those people till being rescued. We want to go to ginger right now, and ginger, there are some floodwaters receding. Right, and there is a glimmer of hope for some because the latest update from the Hurricane Center has Tropical Storm harvey moving north at nine miles per hour. That doesnt sound like a lot but that is faster than it has since it made its original landfall. It did make landfall again early this morning. Just west of cameron, louisiana. The heaviest rain shield still happening, what steve was talking about between beaumont and the state line into louisiana, and thats why we see flash flood watches all the way really thursday and friday up to memphis and, of course, those outer bands into panama city. I wanted to quickly show you too just because the rain slowed down or ends in houston does not mean the flood threat is over. Ive been in Constant Contact with the morning meteorologist Travis Herzog at ktrk and talking about the Buffalo Bayou at record stage and this flows through downtown houston. Why were so concerned about it and heard of the addicks and barker reservoir, in the 20s and 30s they had huge floods and said we got to stop it and put up these earthen walls to hold back water, to release it, but its been overflowing on the back end, eastern katy, bear creek flooding on the back to save the front. All eventually has to get to galveston bay. This is one the brazos river, san jacinto. So many stories that will go on for weeks if not months. George and amy. Ginger, thanks very much. Coming up here, hometown heroes. Civilians jumping into action to help rescue. Their remarkable stories just ahead. Then George Clooney talking fatherhood at 56. What hes sharing about his new life with the twins and what he says is terrifying. And lara is upstairs. Hi, amy. Nothing terrifying up here. Just a great audience. How are you guys . And were counting down to the first dancing with the stars celebrity reveal right here. Were going to find out who is about to hit the dance floor for season number 25. Dont go anywhere. Well be right back. Her daughter, shopping for groceries, unclogging the sink, setting up dentist appointments and planning birthday parties, nobody does it better. Shes also in a rock band. Look at her shred. But when it comes to mortgages, shes less confident. Fortunately for maria, theres Rocket Mortgage by quicken loans. Its simple, so she can understand the details and be sure shes getting the right mortgage. Apply simply. Understand fully. Mortgage confidently. Theyre breathable underwear from fruit of the loom. Wait, fruit of the loom makes breathable underwear . Yeah, they have tiny holes to let the air through but. Yessss. I love them. Stay cool with breathable underwear from fruit of the loom. No splashing wait so you got rid of verizon, just like that . Uhhuh. I switched to tmobile, kept my phoneeverything on it oh, they even paid it off wow yeah. Its nice that every bad decision doesnt have to be permenant ditch verizon. Keep your phone. Well even pay it off when you switch to americas best unlimited network. Here at persil, the Top Notch Team of stain experts has performed over 10,000 stain evaluations to prove persil delivers a premium clean. Weve made a new stain with wasabi and goji berries. Make that 10,001. Persil pro clean. Has complete onecoat coverage. By sherwinwilliams make that 10,001. And its also stain resistant. How stain resistant . This stain resistant. And, its also scrubbable. So scrubbable. It has complete onecoat coverage. And its ohso durable. This durable. Infinity paint from hgtv home by sherwinwilliams. Get 10 to 40 off now through september 6th. Available at lowes. Welcome back to gma. Welcome to this great crowd here on wednesday morning. This happens every once in a while on gma. Right before we went on air, i was back in the womens locker room talking clothes. Now were going to talk pop news. Yes, we are, good morning, everybody. Good morning to george and to amy and to you. And we begin with the Tony Awardwinning musical hamilton giving the reallife Alexander Hamilton another shot in the spotlight. Inspiring the library of congress to digitize 880 documents written by the founding father for all of us to now access. Linmanuel miranda gave his seal of approval to the plan. That will allow us to logon and learn more about hamilton through his own words. The collection will include his personal and public drafts like one written when he was just 12 years old as a clerk and then a letter he wrote to his future wife elizabeth, george washington, john adams among the major figures included in these letters, and before this the only way to view them was to actually travel to washington and to view them on microfilm. Not happening for a lot of people. This makes it much easier for all of us to learn much more about one of the most important figures in our american story. So cool. Microfiche. You dont even know what it means. I didnt in college, not doing it now so thats great news. I think its so fantastic for all of us to be able to access that story. Also in pop news this morning, a new addition to the muppets. Matt vogel making his big debut of the new voice of kermit stepping in for Steve Whitmire lending his pipes to the youtube channel. Listen up, here is the new kermit. And now for another muppet thought of the week. Dreams are how we figure out where we want to go. Life is how we get there. Im headed this way. What do you think . I mean, its good. Very good. Im so impressed. We were studying it in the Investigative Unit of pop news, we were studying the voice and we heard a slight difference but pretty darned close. The new voice sounds so familiar. Kermit serving up a wise and witty thought of the day and you know before vogel and whitmire, kermit was portrayed by the late, great muppet creator jim henson. We wish you luck, matt vogel as the new kermit, part of the disney family. And then finally, celebrities showing continued support for the people of texas including beyonce. The grammy winner sharing a tribute on instagram saying, texas, you are in my prayers and the houston native pledging to work closely with her charity be good and her pastor to help as many hurricane Harvey Victims as she possibly can. And give it up for actress Sandra Bullock who has stepped up, donating 1 million to the american red cross, specifically to help with harvey. The actress who has a home in austin, texas, writing, quote, there are no politics in eight feet of water. There are human beings in eight feet of water. So an update also on the efforts of Houston Texans football star j. J. Watt. Yesterday we loved having him on Good Morning America. When we spoke with him, he already raised 1. 2 million and this morning, we can report that watts efforts have led to a new total of over 5 million. I just got chills. Harvey relief fund. We cannot thank you enough, j. J. And that, everybody, is pop news. That is great. Fantastic, lara. Everybody is pitching in and there are so many everyday heroes out of houston as well. So many braving the floodwaters. Theyve got boats, big rigs, everyone is coming out and theyre taking care of themselves. Hand to hand as well. You see that human chain. Want to go back to rob marciano for more on that. Hey, rob. Hey, george, and theyre still doing it. The weather finally calm enough. We can fly our drone. It gives you a great aerial view of the expanse of the flooding here. Considering the scope of what happened its really remarkable job that the federal, local and state First Responders did. Theyre professionals with hightech gear doing heroic work. But as is so often the times the Unsung Heroes are the volunteers, the everyday man that came from all over to help. These are all these boats you see here are just family boats, regular civilians that came down with their trucks. Reporter they are everyday heroes, traveling from near and far to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey. People like Nick Sheridan who sprang into action immediately. After seeing the devastating toll caused by the storm. Id say five, maybe six feet deep. Reporter driving nearly 200 miles with his big rig to help rescue those stranded in the floodwaters. Theyll just keeping bringing boatloads of people out to the truck and load them up and well get them out of the area. Reporter nick, with the help of two other Truck Drivers, rescuing more than 1,000 people and counting. Local members of the Community Like realtor Stephanie Frey stepping up to help, too. People walking with trash bags of clothes and babies on their backs. Its really hard for everybody right now. Reporter frey offering up her own apartment to families who needed a place to stay. Text me if you need anything. Im right down the street. Im right here for you guys. Thank you. Thanks. Reporter then theres team rubicon, a nonprofit composed of a group of military veterans. What are the risks involved here . Lack of information im worried about and lack of communication im worried about because water is getting ready to rise and these people dont want to leave their homes. Reporter i was there had they came across a family of seven who needed help one by one brought to safety by the team. The emotion there is just palpable. Im glad team rubicon is here to help them out. Theres the water tower here in richmond. The sun coming up. The brazos river behind it swollen and rising. Expected to come to record levels this weekend, likely flooding part of this Historic Town and a lot of other towns here in ft. Bend county, one of the largest counties in the country, the majority of which is now under mandatory evacuation orders. Thats tens of thousands of people that will be trying to get out of the way of rising floodwaters here right through this weekend and we certainly will need more help from volunteers into next week and beyond. George and amy. It is good to see the sun out there right now and well be joined by one of the many you saw in the piece, Nick Sheridan who had that big rig and drove more than 200 miles. Thanks for joining us this morning. We heard what you rescued more than a thousand people. Are you going back out there today . Yeah, the rescues are still going on. A lot of the immediate threat, people that are stuck in really bad areas have gotten out but were more on a standby today. See what they need us to do but weve been working in collaboration with police, fire, military, coast guard and then our own civilian units too. Nick, its so remarkable what youre doing. What spurred you into action . Well, i mean, my whole life ive held different roles, i served for a short while in the military, i was a fire explorer in new england when i was younger. My whole life ive kind of been in that Civil Service role and but being on my own gave me the ability to just go where they needed me rather than be stationed to go direct traffic on a Street Corner or Something Like that. So i was really able to put my equipment to use here being a freelance rescuer. Its so incredible what youve been doing, nick. Weve been watching some of these rescues take place. Is there one that stands out to you . Not just this whole weekend stands out. Its been something i hope i never experience again just because its hard to see but just between me and the other two Truck Drivers i was working with, all day on sunday and monday, we like people have said over a thousand people between the three of us and worked together and we drove through the streets in teams so that if one of us got stuck we had each other to keep moving because you cant see where the gullies are and one of the tractor trailers went into one and almost rolled over so we had i used the front of my truck to pull him out of the gully because you cant judge where the curbs are so its tough. Yeah. Nick, its clear youre a humble guy. But what an example youre setting. Thanks for joining us this morning. Thank you. Keep it up, nick. And tonight, well have a special edition of 20 20. City underwater catastrophe in houston at 10 00, 9 00 central on abc, and tomorrow were kicking off a special day of giving to help victims of the storm with our Parent Company disney going on all day an freeform, radio disney and all our social platforms. Lets go to ginger. George, as if the water wasnt enough we also saw tornadoes. I want to show you this video from lyons point, louisiana. Three reported just around that part of louisiana and now the heaviest bands, the strongest really moving not just around that northwest shield but east into mobile bay and far western parts of the Florida Panhandle. Thats where some of the heaviest training thunderstorms are coming and then that little track that takes it into the northeast of louisiana by thursday morning and by memphis by thursday into friday. Very heavy rain still along with this. Good morning. Im abc7 news meteorologist mike nicco. Welcome to our last mild day followed by our last cool night. Heat wave begins tomorrow, and that will bring some higher fire concerns for the weekend, the holiday weekend. Midtoupper 60s along the coast into San Francisco, midtoupper 70s around the bay, midtoupper 80s in the south bay and north bay, low to mid90s inland. Pretty typical day. Tonight, this is as cool as it gets moving forward, 54 to about 60 degrees. We are were going to switch gears now to George Clooney opening up about his newest role. Its one he calls terrifying. That would be dad to twins. Adrienne bankert is here now with more on the story. Good morning to you. Good morning, lara. This is not a movie, okay. George and Amal Clooneys bouncing babies, now almost three months old, and the reality of fatherhood is now sinking in. George clooney may be new to the role of daddy but the magnitude of being a parent isnt lost on the seasoned actor. Telling the associated press, its terrifying saying, suddenly youre responsible for other people. George clooneys life has changed a lot in the last few years. He went from being one of the most eligible bachelors to now being a doting father of twins. Reporter its a complete 180 for the onceperennial bachelor, the 56yearold and wife amal welcomed twins ella and alexander on june 6th. Clooney describes his duties as changing diapers and walking them around a little bit. Commending his bride who he describes like an olympic athlete shes doing so beautifully. George clooney and amal are both very highprofile and very supportive of each other. So its obvious that, when it comes to raising kids, theyre there for each other and looking forward to the future with their family. Reporter clooney, a new man who spoke about not wanting kids back in the day. I dont have any biological clock ticking. I dont have any interest in having children at all. Reporter the superstar now admits its wise to never say never telling the associated press, i didnt think at 56 i would be the parent of twins. Dont make plans, you always have to just enjoy the ride. And while its clooneys first time being a daddy hes getting ready for the latest release of suburbicon. His sixth time in the directors chair. And its getting a lot of buzz. I like his thought dont make plans, enjoy the ride. I think he needs to talk to mick jagger, the dad of like seven. Amy, over to you. Thanks so much. Now to our series cracking the code nutrition edition, this morning were breaking down coconut oil, some Marketing Campaigns say it has an overwhelming number of health benefits, but abcs Mara Schiavocampo is here with the truth behind the trend. Good morning, mara. Good morning, amy. You know, fans love this stuff. Its extremely popular, it exploded a few years ago. Many believing that its a healthy fat option but now some experts are saying it may not be so good for you after all even comparing it to butter and lard. Coconut oil, for some its become the golden child of oils, marketed as a healthy fat substitute and an aid for everything from skin ailments to brittle hair to weight loss. I use it on my skin and use scrubs and i use it in my coffee. Reporter loretta loves the stuff using it on her skin and hair and eating it almost every day. So you started because you thought it had a health benefit. Yeah, i see it as a healthier oil. Reporter and she is not alone. Its popularity helped increase prices with the cost of coconut oil more than doubling since 2013. But this morning, new information that Public Perception may be way off. A recent American Heart Association report advising consumers, coconut oil and some other vegetable oils should be used in moderation. The Science Behind it is that coconut oil is saturated fat, saturated fat is not the good fat. Its the bad fat. It basically has more fat in it than lard or butter. Reporter in fact, coconut oil is 82 saturated fat. Bad fats can raise your ldl cholesterol levels potentially leading to Serious Health problems. Once you raise your ldl, you put yourself at risk for heart disease. Reporter now, Heart Health Experts are advising americans to cut back on eating vegetables oils like coconut oil that are high in saturated fat. I think i am shocked a little astonished. Reporter the institute of shortening and edible oils tells abc that they believe saturated fats will continue to play a role in food preparation and give certain foods, for example, bakery foods and confections, the texture, mouth feel and taste that consumers expect. Will this change the way you use coconut oil . It sure will. I mean, i think ill still use it because i love the flavor and i have gotten used to it and i still feel good but i think that i would be a little bit more careful in the future as how i use coconut oil. And full disclosure, i cook with coconut oil, and i even use mct oil a coconutderived oil but the big headline here is how do those fats in coconut oil compare to, say, olive oil. This is really about Public Perception. A lot of people love the stuff. And it is great but people dont realize how much saturated fat in it. This is eyeopening. This is a cup of coconut oil, this has 189 grams of saturated fat compared to a cup of olive oil which has 30 grams of saturated fat, so theres just a really stark difference. But if that is your fuel in certain diets it might not be a bad thing science is out on that specifically but this is about moderation at the end of the day. It is and if you want to go for Something Like coconut youll get much lower fat and healthier option and great for your hair, nails, skin, all that beauty stuff. Mara, thanks so much. Coming up next on gma, two College Roommates who discovered their moms are longlost best friends. An exclusive at reunion you dont want to miss. 8 27 on this wednesday. Good morning to you. Im reggie aqui. Three Salvation Army officers from antioch are deploying to texas to provide spiritual and emotional support for victims and the First Responders in the houston area. The Salvation Army has more than 50 mobile kitchens, and right now they are serving thousands of meals. Lets get a check in with sue hall for a look at your commute. Hi, sue. Hi, reggie good morning, everyone. San jose is the focus of some nasty traffic this morning. We had an earlier food truck that got into it with a big rig. Thats just been cleared north 101 near trimble. Its still stacked up here, as you can see. Thats the 880 overcrossing. And across town, 280 remains jammed as well with several accidents, and also 17 northbound, we have an accident right over 280 as well. Sue, thank you. Enjoy todays weather, because meteorologist people love my breakfast burritos. And my french fries. Wait what if i put them together . a burrito stuffed with scrambled eggs, creamy guacamole, bacon and crispy french fries. Ill call it the california breakfast burrito boom. Someone got that, right . Scrambled eggs. Guacamole. Bacon. French fries. Youll call it the california breakfast burrito. Boom. Good work everyone. Another winner. Introducing my New California breakfast burrito. Only at jack in the box. Oh, it feels great outside hi, everybody. Temperatures from 52 in santa rosa to about 65 right now in brentwood, but let me lower the hammer on you. Other than the coast in San Francisco, excessive heat watch noon tomorrow through 8 00 p. M. Monday. Heres the reason why, reggie. The hottest days of the years year ahead of us. Im still flabbergasted by those temperatures. Mike, thank and welcome back to gma. Great crowd here with us. We start off this half hour with a lovely story about friendship and the day it all began when two College Roommates realized their moms were long lost best friends out of touch for 16 years. T. J. , you were there for the big reunion. Im not really a fate, destiny, soul mate, its mefrnts to be kind of guy but this story will make you a believer. Two women best friends lost touch completely 16 years ago. Fast forward 16 years, their daughters end up in college together and roommates together. Had no idea about the moms connection. We just had to do a little lying to make this reunion happen. When you uc berkeleyly students roaya and nissma met their connection was instant. We hit it off right away. Were both premed, both canadian. Both moroccan. Reporter their bond so great they decided to room together for their sophomore year but on movein day an unbelievable discovery. I was facetiming my mom in the other room and i thought id bring her out to meet nissmas dad. They talked for only a few minutes but in that time span we realized that not only were they neighbors, but our moms were actually best friends 16 years ago. Reporter we found out we have baby pictures together. All i can think of this is insane. How often do you find out that one of your best friends as a young adult, you actually have baby pictures with that you dont even remember. Reporter their moms, saida and naima were pregnant together. They lived down the street together. Used to talk, used to have dinner. Reporter so what happened . 16 years ago roayas family moves from canada toive vine, california. A year later nissmas family relocated tonorthern virginia their families split by 2,000 miles. When they left i dont think they had a phone. They didnt have a computer using Library Computers so it made it completely impossible to find the other person. Reporter but long lost friends are about to reunite. They have no idea. Yeah, they have no idea. Reporter so the ladies pack up and hop a plane bound for new york, operation mommy reunion is officially under way. Somewhere in the car. And new york is looking good. Reporter the duo splits up and separately meet their moms both also in manhattan. Neither have any idea theyre about to reunite. My mom is in the other room. She still has no idea. Reporter the daughters convince the moms to spend the morning in central park where the big reunion is about to go down. Roaya and her mom are just through here sitting on a park bench. Now, mom has no idea why shes really here. She also doesnt have any idea that her daughters friend, nissma, and her mom are right down here waiting and the two moms havent seen each other in 16 years. This is about to happen. And its about to happen right now. Come on. Hey, mom. Hi. Im t. J. Holmes. Im saida. Good to meet you. Excited about being to new york. Come with me right now. Were not going far. Come on. Come on. Come on. You might recognize your daughters friend here. Hi. And then the oh, my gosh. I missed you. I missed you too. Oh, my gosh. Hi, nissma. Ladies, here you go. Here you go. You guys were best friends. She was my best friend and my family. And now what. Now what are we going to do . Family will get together. A happy reunion 16 years in the making. You made the point, robach. Werent they able to stay in touch all they had was back in landlines, no facebook. It would have been easier. No facetiming. So they completely lost touch. Now they have plans to actually reconnect, visit. Shes like come see me. Im in san diego. We got nice weather out here. But it was very cool to see but i dont know. It makes you believe in Something Else. How great that they had baby pictures together and randomly ended up as roommates. Uc berkeley. In college. At a big college rooming together, both premed. Just Something Else is at work here. Im not that kind of fate, destiny guy. Now you are. Why is this guy t. J. Holmes coming up to me in the park . Right. You wouldnt believe how many people have asked themself that question before. Spend a lot of time in the park. Great story, t. J. Thanks very much. Coming up our big dancing with the stars reveal. Were going to tell you the first couple about to hit the dance floor. Youre going to be hanging out in here. So if you need anything, text me. Do you play . Use the chase mobile app to send money in just a tap to friends at more banks than ever before. You got next . Chase. Make more of whats yours. Announcer it wouldnt be summer on gma without him. Good morning, merge. Announcer and friday jason derulo does what he does best. Time to party in the park Noelle Velentzas one epic live concert only on gma presented by kings hawaiian. [ cheers and applause ] welcome back to Good Morning America and we have seen so many terrible images this morning from port arthur, texas, boep, but this tweet from yesterday was one of my favorites. That is the sun in houston. Thats right. Gabbys tweet read in caps, the sun is out in houston. I repeat. The sun is out in houston. It is so nice to see even though some light rain on the back end but memphis, all the way up to cincinnati, the folks from ohio behind me just so you know i dont know where from ohio youre in but six inches in that hi, there. Im abc7 news meteorologist mike nicco. A nice start, 50s and 60s at 9 00, 60s, 70s, mainly 80s at 4 00. Thats as cool as it gets. Look at this heat wave, thththth so now we turn to our exciting dancing with the stars season 25 celebrity reveal. Its time. Very exciting. Last week revery vealed the pros. Now its time to reveal the first star gearing up for the ballroom. Do the honors. So before i tell you, guys, couple of hints, he is a twin. And hes known for flipping, fixing houses with his brother. Dont say it. Im about to reveal it. Drop that ball. Hello [ cheers and applause ] Property Brothers joining us live from los angeles with his new dancing partner winner of season 24 by the way, emma slater. Hi, emma. Hi. How are you guys . So happy to see you and drew, congratulations. Thank you very much. We did a little digging when we heard the news and we found on facebook this video which i would like to show everybody. Okay. Uhoh. With that video with that video preparation for this moment . You know, that was actually this morning. That was me getting ready for Good Morning America. I think hes ready. Youre there with the reigning champ emma from last year. Youre ready to go again. Can you tell if shes a taskmaster yet. Weve done two rehearsals and im an athletic guy and like taking on a challenge but ive never danced before and she is the best. She won last season, so i want to make it my duty to get her a second mirror ball. All right. Okay. All right. Do you believe that move. I love it. Theyve already got their moves down. Do you feel any extra pressure as reigning champ. You know what, i totally feel the pressure but i like that, you know. Its the first time i won last season which was incredible. And ive got another good partner so i cant believe my luck right now. Youre going to do it. I mean youre going to do it. We are, right . Ive been watching dancing with the stars forever. Everybody supports everyone. Its not pushing everyone down to win but raise them up and do better like jonathan and me with all our companies. The best part. Everybody is on the same team like wanting to see and celebrate each other and ive got great partner. So stoked about this. Hes going to help me renovate my house. I teach her. She teaches me. Exactly. I need something in return. And, drew, we usually see you with a different partner your brother jonathan redoing homes on Property Brothers but what does he think about all this. You know, i definitely upgraded my partner. At least in the looks department and jonathan is so excited. I mean, you know, jonathan would be here to do it as well if he he hurt his shoulder and says instead of beating me on dancing with the stars he decided to let me have this. But, no, he we have the next best thing, he has a message for you. Lets listen. Okay. Hey, good luck, drew on dancing with the stars. Just remember i am the brother with rhythm so if you need somebody who is going to show you some of the moves. Never mind. Back to work. So good. Hes very smooth. As you can see hes the smooth brother. [ applause ] now, ive been on that dance floor behind you. Do you think it needs a fresh coat. This is just me asking for your expertise. You know, i havent spent a lot of time there yet but im thinking i could probably fix a few things up, you know. Change the floor plan, reconfigure. Ballroom. Youll be my property sister from another now that rehearsals have started what do you think will be the biggest challenge for drew. I pretty much know his height is going to be the most challenging thing. He has these long arm, long legs and about a foot difference between the two of us so i have to wear my shoes every rehearsal otherwise the hair whips him in the face. Every time she does her fancy turns the tip of her hair goes right in my eyeball. When i turn he always goes that face is not one i want america to see. Drew, you have a black belt in karate. Are you going to use any of those moves. You know what, weve been finding that the coordination and the movement from my karate is actually helping me on the dance floor so, definitely. Its really handy like ive never had anybody with that kind of experience before but he knows where to put his body and im like, wow, thats similar to ballroom i wont be doing roundhouse kicks or chuck norris moves. Maybe. Youll be a lot of fun on the dance floor. Thanks for joining us. Thank you. Good luck, drew. Good luck, emma. All right. So tune in next wednesday for gmas exclusive dancing with the stars full cast reveal, more to come there. Coming up right now one of the most highly anticipated movies of the summer, the cast of kids from it. Including carpet and hardwood, tile, stone, even air ducts and window treatments. And your satisfaction is 100 guaranteed or your money back. Thats 40 off everything coit cleans. Call or click today. We are back now with the cast of it. It is one of the most highly anticipated and frightening flips of the year. It is based on stephen kings bestselling novel and heres an exclusive sneak peek. What happened . Here. Whats that . Turn it off. Woo all right. That means pennywise is nearby. We are happy to have jaden lieberher, sophia lilis, finn wolfhard, wyatt oleff, chosen jacobs and jeremy ray taylor. This one is so good. Im so proud of how you guys have put this together. Youre awesome, all six of you. You had to go to losers boot camp. Tell me what that was to learn all things 1980s and be the misfits you are in the movie. What was it like . Yeah, i mean it was pretty awesome. We had an acting coach named ben perk kips and he sort of, yeah. So he really established the trust between us and gave us this big book of 0s like references and clothes and music and all that stuff. Slang. Like totally awesome. Tubular. Tubular. Which nobody used. We didnt use in the movie. I swear. Whats your favorite part about the 1980s . I love the clothes. Come on, right. Shortshorts and get to show off your knees. Bony knees. I would say the music is amazing. I love the music. The music is the best part. I know you guys really did bond as you said on the set and working together, theres some i mean this is stephen king so hes known for some of the rougher elms. Theres a lot of cursing and violence. Did any of you feel uncomfortable with that or was it kind of like, cool kind of like the opposite. Being told to do this. It just felt freeing like we could do whatever we wanted with our characters. Like, wow, were able to do this. I can say that because coming from other stuff im like, i can say this now . What did your parents think. Mom, its for the role. Its for the role. I would never in my life. Its for my craft. Im an artist, mom. Im an artist. So i grew up absolutely pet fried of pennywise the clown. See, thats my pennywise. This i mean look at that clown. Were you did you feel any of that fear . Do you guys like clowns . Are you afraid of clowns . Dont want to give all clowns a bad rap but this tormented me for my entire childhood. Our movie is kind of giving it a bad rep right now. It would boost their career a little bit. Scare them instead of entertainment. It could boost it. I just want to give a formal apology to all clowns. The clown union of america, international. And with this movie like they teased plea with that balloon. Balloons are scary now too in this movie. It means hes not far away. But theres like an actual fear to that too. A phobia. Were dealing with i think where it comes from. Favorite part of making the movie. I think the relationship that we all had and i think that the bonding that we had on screen was very real because the first month of shooting was all fun, fun summer stuff and then all a sudden it was so dark. It was so not fun . And we had to fight pennywise. Not cool. Im assuming you all watched the original. Yes. How does this compare to the original. I kind of think theyre in two separate categories. I dont know if you can compare them. One is a lot of peoples childhoods fears and this is a new movie and both separate adaptations so comparing them side by side is a little yeah. Not reasonable. Beautifully shot, incredibly well acted. I was really impressed with all of you. Finn, a lot know you from account franker things. What do you think is scarier, Stranger Things or it . I dont know. Ill say this, i think a lot of people are asking me like, oh, whats the cash whats scarier, pennywise or the demagorgen you can till for real but pennywise can shape shift into anything and kind of immortal in a spence. Spoilers. Well, its not a spoiler. But yeah. But, yeah, i think thats why hes scary. Anyone have a good pennywise imitation. Anyone else want to go for it . Sofia. Can you do it. No, no, i dont have it. Sofia doesnt seen have one. Do your famous one. All right. Thank you all so much for joining us. Thank you. It opens nationwide on september 8th and we will be right back. Good morning america is brought to you by bushs beans. Whatever your mod, weve got a bean for you. And we are you hear the music. Were counting down to force friday two when they launch their Global Augmented Reality experience via the star wars app. Find the force. Download the app and from this friday through sunday open it within a mile of any one of the 20 iconic landmarks around the globe, central park, eiffel tower, it all works. Click find the force and aim your phone at the sky. Then youll see a brief augmented reality scene unfold in front of you showing a star wars destroyer looming over the landmark as two fighters shoot by in the distance. Download the app today at goodmorningamerica. Com on ymca i have on yahoo. Thank you, ginger. A programming note dont forget to join us tomorrow kick off a very special day of giving to help victims of the storm with our Parent Company, disney and it is going all day on abc, freeform and radio disney as well as all of our social media platforms. Do you know in for that. Please give and meanwhile, have a great day. See you tomorrow. The Energy Conscious whopeople among usle . Say small actions can add up to something. Humongous. A little thing here. A little thing there. Starts to feel like a badge maybe millions can wear. Who are all these caretakers, advocates too . Turns out, its californians its me and its you. Dont stop now, its easy to add to the routine. Join Energy Upgrade california and do your thing. Good morning at 8 59 here on abc7 mornings. Im reggie aqui. Meteorologist mike nicco has a look at your forecast. Weve got a little bit of a break today. We do, reggie. Remember when we used to think 90s were hot . Were laughing at this in the next couple days. 60s at coast, 70s around the bay, 80s in the north bay and south bay. In all seriousness, five days of dangerous heat, except for the coast and San Francisco. Let me throw some numbers at you. Theyre kind of scary, sue. Wow, 112 friday ill stay away from inland that day, for sure. Nothing funny about traffic. Weve had a lot of it in san jose. Earlier accident 101 northbound at the 880 overcrossing youre seeing there, but traffic is super slow. And over across town, not much better on 280 north up towards cupertino. Reggie . Okay. Im just going get a bucket of ice and stick my head in there for the next week. Time for live with kelly ryan. Well see you at 11 00 a. M. For the announcer its live with kelly ryan. Today keeganmichael key. Plus actress and model cara delevingne. And a performance from x ambassadors. Also tune in for your chance to win a luxurious Tropical Vacation all next on live. [cheers and applause] [upbeat music] [x ambassadors renegades] now here are kelly ripa and ryan seacrest. Living like were renegades renegades [cheers and applause] kelly thanks a lot. Hi hi, there. Hi. Hello