Transcripts For KGO Good Morning America 20170907

Our team is on the ground this morning tracking every development. President trumps stunning decision striking a deal with the democrats on Harvey Relief and the debt limit. Now the new backlash from his own party. Houstons hero. Oneonone with nfl star j. J. Watt. Now hes making sure hurricane victims get the nearly 30 million hes raised first on gma. And its backtoschool time for the little prince. George hand in hand with his dad this morning. Why mom princess kate is sitting this one out. Good morning, america. Hurricane irma showing no mercy right now. Lets take a look at what it looks like on the ground in the Dominican Republic. This morning, there it is. Thats just the outer bands of the hurricane. It is not going to be a direct hit on the Dominican Republic but you can see how powerful those winds are. And those first images of the storms power, george, are extremely scary. Just listen to it and also this morning, were seeing so much destruction already and hopefully everyone is evacuated and safe. Thats right, michael. So far the category 5 storm has killed at least ten people. Winds are now 180 miles an hour. States of emergency have been declared in puerto rico and florida and parts of georgia and South Carolina, as well. The Hurricane Center says a direct hit in south florida is likely. Amy is live in miami and shell have more just ahead. Yeah, we want to look at the traffic there this morning. There you see the highways in south florida right now. Mandatory evacuations have been ordered in much of the southern part of the state and we have Team Coverage from puerto rico all through florida. Chief meteorologist ginger zee starts us off with the latest on irmas path. Good morning, ginger. Good morning, george. Hurricane irma can now be said to be the strongest for the longest period of time on the globe. That is a huge statistic that brings us to the power of irma. And you can see it moving away from puerto rico now and toward the turks and caicos. Those would be the next in the direct line. Dominican republic will certainly be brushed as that more ragged eye moves north but west and northwest is the general trend and thats why we see hurricane warnings for surge up to 20 feet in places like turks and caicos and southern bahamas. Now, weve got a hurricane watch that includes freeport and nassau. Now, i want to watch this track. Because this is what everyones interested in. The timing, its tonight through early tomorrow that turks and caicos, southern bahamas gets hit, then its saturday into sunday it starts to close in on the florida key, sunday night into monday as we move through the southeast portion of florida. This cone now reaches all the way into South Carolina, charlotte is included. Linzie janis has been watching this storm from puerto rico and we watched that pass right by you. So glad that you are standing there this morning. Reporter thanks, ginger. Hurricane irma batted us here. Debris flying through the streets. Treens down and this morning, 70 of the population is without power. But nowhere near the destruction seen also in the caribbean where at least ten are dead and dozens more injured. This is what the caribbean is waking up to this morning. Utter devastation as 185mileperhour winds tore through st. Martin, an island paradise decimated. This resort near the airport now buried under shattered glass. Parts of the ceiling scattered on the floor. Justin cummings catching it all. When i woke up this morning, glass had gone through a lot of the walls. Reporter on gma we met a group of american Fitness Instructors on vacation. They spoke to us as water poured through their villa. The flooding is kind of amazing because the wind and rain are just bringing it through the sliding doors. Reporter this morning, they tell us theyre happy to have survived the night. You dont want to be in the middle of this. We left our hotel room yesterday and just the amount of damages is horrible. Reporter these newlyweds were forced to spend their honeymoon in their hotel bathroom. Got the wind going about 100 miles per hour. You can really hear it outside shaking the doors. Reporter although the hotel says everyone is safe their families say theyre worried because theyve yet to hear from them. On the tiny island of barbuda, officials reporting at least 90 of structures damaged. What we experienced is like something you see in a horror movie. Reporter at least 60 of the islands 1400 residents now homeless. The extent of the deaths and injuries still unknown. Here in puerto rico, where nearly a Million People are without power, the storm sending debris flying all over the streets. You may be able to see some surfers back out in the water despite dangerous rip currents. We spoke with a couple members of the justice department. They said of the u. S. Territories, st. Croix suffered the worst. Those caribbean aisles trying to recover from all that destruction as florida braces for whats coming. People are racing to get gas before its too late. At least 30 of gas stations in west palm, ft. Myers, naples and miami are already out. I am robach is in miami with more on the rush to escape. Good morning, amy. Reporter hey, good morning, robin. Not only are tens of thousands of people trying to escape south florida right now, the coast guard is having to evacuate or reposition its planes, its helicopters, its aircraft. Right now, the plan is to take them to mobile, alabama, to get out of the path of Hurricane Irma and then, as soon as that monster storm clears theyll be bringing these aircraft back to this area for any search and rescue mission for those who chose to stay behind. You will not bring another bottled water out reporter Hurricane Irmas impending arrival creating chaos. Attention, please, right now we are currently out of drinking water. Reporter as florida residents scramble for basic necessities. Crowds lined up ten deep outside this publix hours before it opened its doors. Someone on the Street Corner trying to sell generators that would normally sell for 250 for 1,000. Reporter the states attorney general warning potential price gougers, the courtrooms may be closed but the jails will remain open. Overnight, gas lines stretching miles. Im very nervous. Ive been driving around for 30 minutes and its been on e for the past hour. Reporter some drivers waiting for hours only to find out there is no gas. Just scary what could happen. We can rebuild your home, not your life. Reporter as miami residents board up home and business, and officials issue mandatory evacuations for lowlying areas, Law Enforcement is urging residents to get out now because interstate 95 already a parking lot. At the Miami International airport, a mass exodus and for many, the destination doesnt matter. So you drove to the airport hoping you could get a ticket here at the ticket counter. What did they tell you . They just told me that all the flights are full and they dont have flights for today anymore. Reporter American Airlines announcing its last flight out of miami will be at 3 49 friday to dallasft. Worth. Now, south florida, of course, is no stranger to hurricanes but the people we spoke with say theyve decided to stay put for the past ten years or so as those hurricanes swept through. This one is different. They have seen the images and the destruction from Hurricane Harvey in houston and a lot of people say this time they are not taking any chances, they are getting out, and speaking of harvey and houston, this is pretty remarkable. Miamidade First Responders just returned home yesterday from all their hard work there. We hope they have the next couple of days to rest up for what will unfortunately probably be a very busy weekend for them. No doubt. Back to you guys. Thank you, amy. I know being in houston a lot were saying they were getting ready to go to florida next. Now, were going to go to the florida keys where residents are facing those mandatory evacuations and gio benitez is in key west with more on what could be coming. Good morning, gio. Reporter hey there, michael. Good morning to you. Those mandatory evacuations are in place, you mentioned that but you know what, they have a bus service. Theyve just added a free bus service. Theyll pick people up here in key west, take them over to a shelter in miami just to make sure they are safe. Thats at noon today. The concern right now is storm surge so i want to take a live look right now at our drone so we can show you what this is all about. You have the possibility of a storm surge here because the average key is just six feet above sea level. Thats not very much because were expecting some keys to experience storm surges of some nine feet. Now lets go over that way because now youll see all those homes that are over there. So many people live here in key west. So thats why theyve had to evacuate and a lot of them have evacuated. Whats interesting about this particular storm is that you have these storms that go over land masses and they weaken because of that. Well, it turns out that these islands are so tiny if this storm were to come through, it just wouldnt weaken. It would feel the full force of this particular storm. I want to show you some video now because the hospital has had to evacuate. Theyve actually sent people over to alabama and flown them over. They are taking this very seriously here, michael. And, gio, all the residents of monroe county, which includes the key, theyve been ordered to evacuate. Do you have a sense of how many people have evacuated and if any plan on trying to ride this out. Reporter you know what, i have covered a lot of storms down here in the florida keys and for the most part people stay put. They like to stay in their homes. But in this case theyve been told youve got to get out because if you dont, youre on your own. This storm is too strong so thats why they are taking this seriously, michael. All right, thank you, gio. As i said you can rebuild a home. You cant rebuild your life. I have spent a lot of time in the keys and im glad to hear that they are providing buses because not everyone has car there to be able to evacuate so good news there. Now to homestead, florida, the city devastated by hurricane andrew in 1992. Now theyre bracing for the possibility of another major impact and rob is there with more on what how theyre preparing for this storm. Good morning, rob. Hey, good morning, robin. Hurricane andrew decimating this area in 1992, a category 5 storm with winds of 165 miles an hour. Now 25 years later another cat 5 is threatening the residents of homestead. Take a look at our drone shot. From above. Theyve obviously rebuilt this town, including the water tower, but, if you look at this same shot 25 years ago, the day after hurricane andrew hit these homes were pulverized. The picture speaks for itself. Hurricane andrew, one of only three category 5 storms to strike the u. S. , irma is stronger than andrew. You see what it did to st. Martin. These are violent storms, florida has stepped up its game as far as the building codes are concerned, much stronger now. Residents even using impactresistant windows and hurricaneresistant roofs and were looking to see how that holds up. I talked to a local Police Officer who grew up here, is there any complacency or storm amnesia. He said if you lived through hurricane andrew, thats something you dont forget. They have a healthy respect for hurricanes here. Robin. All right, thats good to know. As well they should. We want to bring in the mayor of Miamidade County. Carlos gimenez. Looks like youll get a direct hit over the weekend. Are you ready . Were ready as we can be. Weve learned a lot from different hurricanes that weve had, especially hurricane andrew. I was a fire chief of the city of miami during that time and in charge of Emergency Operations and so we are well prepared here in Miamidade County. Our state partners are also better prepared and our federal partners are also better prepared. We learned a lot of the lessons of the past, but this is a hurricane that ive never seen before. So we are preparing here. Were telling some of our people to they need to evacuate some of the areas. We may have to issue additional evacuation orders today depending on some information that we get from the national Hurricane Center. But, you know, we are prepared and, but we are also praying that it doesnt come our way. Yeah, you did decide to order some evacuations in some of the Barrier Islands. How widespread could the evacuations get across Miamidade County . We could have up to 400,000 people being ordered today. Again, that all depends on similar information im waiting for from the national Hurricane Center. The initial evacuations were about 150,000 people. The Barrier Islands and some lowlying areas of next to biscayne bay, some of the same areas that were hit by hurricane andrew back in 1992. Is there enough gas . Yeah, well, you know, the issue isnt that we dont have gas, its that everybody is buying it and everybody is topping off their tanks and so theres plenty of supply. Theres the gas stations are going to be resupplied today. We also changed some of our codes and laws that mandate that a number of our gas stations actually have generators so that we need to tell folks that after the storm, if we do get hit it wont be like andrew, we will actually have gas stations that will be able to operate. We also have supermarkets that will be able to operate because what we also want is our us to get our residents to be back in as normal life as possible and as selfsufficient as possible so we tell our all residents they have to be selfsufficient for three days. Food and water and so theyre heeding our warning. Mayor giminez, thank you for your time and good luck this weekend. Thank you. But if you want to get out of florida by air, the window is rapidly closing. More than a thousand flights have already been canceled and david kerley has more. Good morning, david. Reporter good morning, michael, the seriousness of this storm highlighted by the swift action by airlines to cancel flights and get their aircraft out of harms way. Three days before landfall an American Airlines took the extraordinary step of canceling every flight in and out of miami and south florida, both saturday and sunday. Thats 640 Flights Canceled by American Airlines. Theyve just told us they are canceling any incoming flights from europe and south america starting tomorrow. Now, a lot of airlines over the last couple of days were adding flights to try to get passengers out and evacuate tourists. Thats coming to an end and we expect the number of cancellations to increase today. Already, more than 1800 flights have been canceled. Around the caribbean and around the florida area. Michael, the only good news in all of this is that irma is hitting during the weekend but you can still expect this to ripple through other parts of our aviation sector. Michael. All right, thank you, david. George. Yep, in washington President Trump keeping a close watch on the hurricane. On the phone with the governors of puerto rico and florida and he stunned his gop allies on capitol hill by making a quick deal with democrats yesterday securing emergency funding for harvey and irma in return for a threemonth extension of the debt limit that the democrats were seeking. This, as the russia investigation moves forward. Donald trump jr. Will answer questions behind closed doors at the Senate Judiciary committee today. The focus, his june 2016 trump tower meeting with a kremlin connected lawyer promising dirt on hillary clinton. Our Congressional Correspondent mary bruce tracking it all on capitol hill. Mary, lets begin with that surprise deal the president made with the democrats yesterday. He really blindsided Republican Leaders in congress, even his own treasury secretary. Reporter yeah, george, many republicans ive talked with here are shocked and frustrated. This was a major blow to the gop. The president defied leaders to side with democrats for the first time agreeing with their plan to raise the debt limit and fund the government for three months. Republicans were looking for a longerterm solution hoping to avoid future fights. As they head into the midterms. The house speaker, in fact, blasted the democratic plan calling it ridiculous and disgraceful but the president , well, he disagreed this. Is a surprise move that prevents a shutdown and a big fight for now but sets up a bigger battle in december. Gives democrats more leverage down the road and could potentially make the president s agenda even more difficult to become a reality. Meantime, on that russia investigation don junior answering staffers questions. Today for the most part. And this is the first time he will appear before congressional investigators, also the first time the Judiciary Committee will have a chance to grill him about that meeting at trump tower. That discussion between a russian lawyer who promised dirt on hillary clinton. Now, this meeting is happening all behind closed doors, the staff asking questions but members tell us they want to know exactly what was discussed in that meeting. George. Okay, mary bruce, thanks very much. Lets go back to ginger. George, i wanted to show you this, hurricaneforce winds represented by the red circle, 127 projected in the western turks, thats later tonight, georgetown, that thin sliver, 124. Key largo, 127. Remember, this all comes along with storm surge which is a major concern. Sunny cities brought to you by macys. Good morning im meteorologist mike nicco. Were off to a gray start with a chance of showers and cooler than average temperatures today. Cool tonight, cloudy but hot, dry air for the weekend. Today warmest in the east bay, 80s there. The rest of us into the 70s, until you get along the coast into San Francisco, midtoupper 60s. Already seeing signs of temperatures getting finally back to normal at night, 57 to about 64 degrees. Notice a little drizzle possible near the coast coming up, Hurricane Irma. How will those highrise buildings hold up to those punishing winds . And the nfl star who says he was threatened by police and targeted because of the color of his skin. Targeted because of the color of his skin. Hd 4 the best things in life theyre free stars belong to everyone the best things in life theyre free brad. Brad, you watchin . Nothing comes before coffee. Dude are you mad at me . Thats why were introducing a whole line of espresso drinks from mccafe. Find fast relief behind the counter with claritind. 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Lacy middle school for 53 years and often used his own money to buy instruments and uniforms for marching band members. Alexis smith now is tracking traffic. Hey. Weve got a problem around the midspan of the Richmond San Rafael bridge on westbound 580. Heres a backup at the toll plaza. So definitely feeling the pinch there. Three vehicles involved and that is blocking the far left lane. A little better news in the north bay. Northbound 101, we had a spinout crash in the sausalito area near spencer avenue, blocking all lanes, but now its cleared and the countercommute direction, that backup unwound quickly. That backup unwound quickly. Food. Water. Internet. We need it to live. But what we dont need are surprises, like extra monthly fees. I see you, fee, played by legendary actress anjelica huston. You got me, mark. Internet for one everyday simple price and no extra monthly fees. No artificial flavors, preservatives or colors. And an excellent source of calcium. 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The heat comes back, but it only stays two days, sunday and monday. All right, mike, thank you. Coming up, Michael Strahans interview with nfl star j. J. Watts, whos now raised more than 27 million for Hurricane Harvey victims. Thats next on gma. Well have another abc7 news update in about 30 minutes and always on our free abc7 news app. Heres good sun to the farm to the seeds in a row goodness begins with the seed that you sow plant that oat and watch it grow good goes around and around and around seed to the oat to get made to an o o from the farm straight into your bowl put in the good and the good will grow good goes around and around and around good goes around and around. Thats the new rockstar. Jeans on sale, up to forty percent off. No time to spare when i walked through for a cigarette, thats when i knew i had to quit. For real this time. Thats why im using nicorette. Only nicorette gum has patented dualcoated technology for great taste, plus intense craving relief. Every great why needs a great how. Welcome back to gma. Youre looking at a live shot of the Dominican Republic. Hurricane irma brewing off the coast right now. Its already caused so much destruction and the category 5 storm now heading toward florida and theres a mad rush to escape. Gas stations are running out. Ginger is tracking all the latest for us this morning. Also right now, as the south braces for Hurricane Irma, dozens of major wildfires are raging across the west and oregon, a section of interstate 84 is now closed indefinitely. Other fires from montana to utah have forced thousands to flee their homes and this picture caught our attention. You see these golfers in Washington State continue to play as a fire burns in the background. It was at a distance away, the fire. Wow. You have to be concerned about the air quality as well. And millions are preparing to attend mass with pope francis in colombia today. He got a huge welcome there last night. So many there to greet him. Huge crowd there for the pope. Well get more now on the threat to florida. 180mileanhour winds seriously threaten buildings across florida and have seen the destruction theyve caused in barbuda and st. Martin and residents watching highrise buildings and construction cranes along the coast. Our chief National Correspondent tom llamas is in miami. Good morning, tom. Reporter george, good morning to you. Just behind me you can see one section of miamis beautiful glass filled skyline. Now, that glass is one concern. But the other big concern, take a look at this angle from this same balcony. Those construction cranes there in the distance. Theres 20 to 25 of them and now officials here in miami are advising anyone who lives in a building next to a crane to get out. This morning, Hurricane Irma causing a skyhigh scare for some in south florida. In downtown miami, a combination of condo canyons and massive construction cranes leading to new warnings. This resident rode out hurricane wilma on the 18th floor of his building. Panes of glass probably 40 to 50 sections at a time got sucked out and were floating like paper in the air and then were just crashing to the ground. Reporter even if hes ordered to he says hes not evacuating. I have impactresistant glass. Reporter hurricane andrew in 1992 and hurricane wilma in 2005 led to stricter building codes including in some cases mandating impactresistant windows. Three, two, one. Reporter this demonstration shows how impact glass can stop a projectile in its tracks. The impact windows hold up in the lab but against a category 5 hurricane, you have confidence . Complete confidence. Ill be in my house behind my impact windows during the hurricane. Reporter the other major concern in south florida. Those massive cranes. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy flipped the arm of this crane near a new york city highrise leaving it dangling and mangled. Nearby buildings forced to evacuate. Here in miami, our alex perez was with one of those crews securing one of those massive cranes. We put the crane into a weather vaning position so it wont take it out of balance. Reporter still the idea of spinning cranes safe or not in the middle of a hurricane is alarming some who live high up. The lozado family lives on the 44th floor of a highrise right next door to one of those cranes. Were supposed to have really good high impact windows. But i just heard that we might have to worry about the cranes. Reporter now, residents who live in these highrise buildings are also being advised to take everything off their balcony furniture, plants, any type of decoration because if this hits miami all of those items can become missiles. They can become lethal. Thanks very much. Now to the investigation into an incident involving police and nfl star michael bennett. He plays for the Seattle Seahawks and he says he was threatened by an officer in las vegas who targeted him because of the color of his skin. Abcs nick watt is here with that story for us. Good morning, nick. Reporter good morning, robin. Well, this happened in the early hours after that Mcgregor Mayweather fight. Bennett says he was targeted for being, quote, a black man in the wrong place at the wrong time. I wasnt doing nothing. Reporter this video posted on tmz shows bennett on the ground, a cop with a knee on his back. I wasnt doing nothing, man. You asked me a question i was here with my friends. They told us to get out, everybody ran. Reporter officers were responding to reports of gunfire at a nearby hotel. In a justreleased written statement, bennett writes he placed his gun near my head and warned me that if i moved he would blow my head off. They then cinched the handcuffs on my wrist so tight my fingers went numb. All i could think of is im going to die for no other than than i am black and my skin color is somehow a threat. Bennett spoke to reporters about the incident for the first time yesterday. I didnt ask for this moment. It just happened to be me and im just lucky to be here to speak about it as any moment i could have made the wrong decision and moved or whether it felt like i was resisting and you guys would be wearing the the seahawks would be wearing the patch with number 72 on it. I try to tell my daughters every single day that they matter and that, you know reporter bennett, the 31yearold seahawks defensive end, wondered if hed ever see his daughters again and watch them grow or, he says, be able to kiss my wife again and tell her i love her. The nfl and his coach pete carroll standing by bennett. Couldnt help but convey what had taken place and how it affected him and how he was really so changed by it. Reporter Las Vegas Metro pd asks the public to reserve judgment. Their investigation now under way. As of today, we know there are at least 126 videos associated with those cameras that we have to review. If the investigation reveals any new policies or training were violated those officers will be held accountable. Reporter the question, was this force justified . Now, the Police Department says so far they have no evidence that race was a factor. But bennett has hired a lawyer and he says hes weighing whether to file a lawsuit. And he has an impeccable reputation. Great reputation. One of the outspoken guys in the nfl as well and very well respected. Thank you, nick. You know what, coming up, another nfl player is very well respected. Houston hero j. J. Watt, how he raised that incredible 28 million and counting to help hurricane victims. He keeps on going. E victims. He keeps on going. For millions of baby boomers theres a serious virus out there thats been almost forgotten. Its hepatitis c. 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Begin the activia two week probiotic challenge by enjoying activia yogurt with billions of probiotics everyday. Take the activia probiotic challenge by enjoying activia yogurt with billions of probiotics everyday. Wow means is tyou save 50 or more. Ngs. There are three stages of wow. Denial. Is this price right . Acceptance. And boooyah wait for it. Boooyah has three os. Grocery outlet bargain market announcer this week, assorted flavors of power bars are just four for a dollar. And we are back on gma. Michael, you are just back from houston. Right before you left you had a chance to sit down with the man who has done so much, j. J. Watt. Thats right, george. He is a big hero, figuratively and literally. I got a chance to sit down with the Houston Texans defensive end for gma and also for fox nfl sunday. His fundraiser started with a 100,000 donation and skyrocketed to 28 million and counting. I had a chance to speak about his incredible effort. I want to go back to august 27th. Youre in dallas sitting in a hotel room and watching Hurricane Harvey just come through houston and just destroy the city. Right. Was it that moment as youre watching on tv that you decide i want to do something . I want to help . Yeah, because you feel helpless seeing water rush down streets that i drive down every day. I said, how can i help . And so i started to think and i said, have this incredible platform. Have all this social media and all these followers. Lets see if i can raise a little bit of money to help these people out and get relief efforts going. Just looked straight into the cell phone camera. Start up a campaign and hoping to raise 200,000 and now were over 27 million. You did all right. Did you call somebody to say, you know, this is what im thinking, or did you just say, let me throw this out there . I texted my girlfriend, i texted my mom and Financial Adviser and pr person, amy, and i said, im going to donate 100,000 because i want to obviously help and then i said im going to encourage other people to do the same and well see what happens. I can tell you this, youre a smart guy. You know how i know youre smart because you reached out to the women in your life first. Dont ever do anything without the women, j. J, im telling you. Within 24 hours of his call to action, j. J. s Houston Flood Relief Fund was at 500,000. At what point did you think, okay, this is serious. This is really catching on. When chris paul calls and says he wants to donate and when drake says how can i get involved. When youre on Good Morning America and cnn gets involved. Milliondollar donations start to become the norm it gets a little crazy. When things look the bleakest, humanity steps up for each other and i think that theres over 160,000 people that have donated. Theres as big as a 5 million donation, theres also as small as 5 donation and its people giving whatever they can. Reporter watt and his teammates have already delivered muchneeded supplies and so much more. In a time like this when things are so difficult, you wouldnt think that seeing your favorite Football Player would matter all that much but something as small as a smile, Something Like a handshake, a selfie, these people just light up. I appreciate it and i also want people to know that i take that responsibility extremely seriously and im going to make sure that what i do is do right by the people who donated and by the people who need the help. And j. J. Tells me his goal is to raise as much money as possible and the campaign is going to remain open until september 15th at 5 00 p. M. And he says hes working with the local organizations to make sure this money gets to where it needs to go to the people who need the help. But very smart guy. Big responsibility hes taking on. Hes doing a great job. And you said when you were there and looking around and first of all, your family is fine. Yes. The need is great for everything. The need is great for everything. And i think sometimes i told j. J. I want to come back and follow up and see whats going on because sometimes we cover it and then we move on, the next thing happens. Sure. The need there is great as it is in florida and all these other places being affected by the storms coming in. A lot of people to keep in mind. Coming up on the big board, the american women dominating the u. S. Open. Four of them now in the semifinals. Come on back. Are you totally ready . To catch an eye for sparks to fly for mr. Right Colgate Total fights bacteria on teeth, tongue, cheeks and gums for a healthier mouth. So youre totally ready Colgate Total. Be totally ready for life. But he hasoke up wwork to do. In. So he took aleve. If hed taken tylenol, hed be stopping for more pills right now. 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Open because thats all we got left, the final four. All women, all american women in the finals. Now, the thing about this, guys, remarkable, this is happening at a time that Serena Williams is on maternity leave, all right. So womens tennis is doing just fine. She has been the face and success of womens tennis for so long but now her impact is being felt more in a year shes not even playing. American womens tennis is on fire. Four americans are on the u. S. Open semifinals for the first time in 36 years. This is a brave game. Shes got belief. Reporter 25yearold coco vandeweghe, a native new yorker whose uncle was a new york knick sent the number one seed packing. Game. Reporter vandeweghe will square off against madison keys a firsttime u. S. Open semifinalist who defeated kaia kanepi from estonia on wednesday. She let out an exuberant scream after the match. Madison keys joins the allamerican semifinal party. Reporter the other semifinal, 24yearold sloane stephens, faces the topranked american, 37yearold Venus Williams. I love seeing these Young Americans coming up and playing big and focused and i would love that all that again like the top four, top five in the world and were playing each other in semifinals. That would be huge. Were going to have four american women playing tomorrow and thats pretty awesome. Reporter and a nod to venus and serena who have led the way. Its pretty amazing. You know, playing with maddie and coco and venus, i mean, venus is our leader. Serena isnt here but her influence, along with her sister venus, the influence and being role models, i think thats one of the more Important Reasons why these other three Young Americans are here today. And get this, guys, first time in 13 years that we have seen an American Woman semifinalist, right. Whose name last name is not williams. Right . This is the first time were going to see an American Woman win a grand slam since 2008 who is not Serena Williams. This is just remarkable. But speaking of the williams sisters as chrissie said you cant underestimate the impact theyve had. A surprise to people. These women are ranked, two in the top 22, right. Sloane stephens is ranked 83 only because shes had injuries. These women have been around, doing their thing, and now were seeing the fruits of their labor. Good luck to all of them. There you go. Thank you, t. J. You can see the womens semis 7 00 p. M. Eastern on espn. Coming up, big reveal. The brandnew bachelor. T. J. Holmes. No, dont do that to him. Youll find out. Youll find out. Not for people h rheumatoid arthritis. Because there are options. Like an unjection™. Xeljanz xr. A once daily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. Xeljanz xr can reduce pain, swelling and further joint damage, even without methotrexate. 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I want ycome on mom t easy. Go slow. Lets go mom slow down for the ones who keep pushing. Always unstoppable. Welcome back to Good Morning America. Of the 77 large wildfires burning in the west, the creek fire getting, missoula, montana, still showing poor air montana, still showing poor air quality. 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 is brought to you by nondrowsy claritin and clarispray products. Hey, good morning to you. Im Natasha Zouves from abc7 mornings. And you can see the live camera behind me. Those are rain drops on the lens. That means, mike nicco, you were right. I never doubted you. I appreciate that. Thank you hi, everybody. Yeah, weve got light rain falling in marin county, scattered elsewhere, thunderstorms to our north and showers developing to our south that are going to rotate our way 37. So we have a chance of showers through 2 00 or 3 00, then it will be mostly cloudy the rest of the afternoon. 60s at the coast, 70s around the bay, a few 80s inland. Its going to get hot again sunday and monday. Alexis . Okay, a lot of red showing up on the traffic maps this morning. We still have the left lane blocked westbound 580 on the Richmond San Rafael bridge midspan. Not looking as bad here at the toll mraza, but definitely expect big plays on that approach. Drive times, Golden Gate Bridge 9 minutes, 28 across bay bridge and 12i across the san maino bridge. Coming up, toris steals and and deals. Well have another update in 30 minutes and always on o wow means is tyou save 50 or more. Ngs. There are three stages of wow. Denial. Is this price right . Acceptance. And boooyah wait for it. Boooyah has three os. Grocery outlet bargain market announcer this week, assorted flavors of power bars are just four for a dollar. Hi leaving a career to follow a calling takes courage. A personalized Financial Strategy can give you confidence to take the next step. Hi guys aw yeah see how access to j. P. Morgan investment expertise can help you. Chase. Make more of whats yours. Good morning, america. Its 8 00 a. M. Breaking overnight, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded. Hurricane irma wipes out caribbean islands, deadly wind gusts of 200 miles an hour. All that rain and flooding leading to widespread destruction. American tourists trapped. Buildings now rubble. Now, florida, georgia, South Carolina under states of emergency, as hundreds of thousands of people are ordered to evacuate. Were tracking the latest on the storm at this hour. New overnight, Alanis Morissette reveals her battle with postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter saying, its been a 14month ordeal impacting her life, affecting her marriage. Dr. Ashton is here with what you need to know. Off to school. The photos just out of Prince Georges first day. Dad william right by his side as the 4yearold heads into class. America, will you accept this rose . You rooted for nick. You cheered for ben. But now who is the brandnew man looking for love . The surprise pick who will blow away bachelor nation as we say good morning, america. And good morning, america. We hope youre well this thursday morning. And we have a lot ahead of us this morning. For you this morning weve got that parenting alert as your kids head back to school. There is a new device that can prevent bullying. Well take a closer look at it. Some people arent quite sure about this. All that is coming up. But first, the latest on Hurricane Irma. The category 5 storm barreling through the caribbean heading toward florida. Ginger, as you know, has new details on irmas track. Good morning again, ginger. Good morning. Now we know 175mile per hour winds with this. Moving northnorthwest. Brandnew storm surges up to the southern tip of florida. Up to bonita beach. Thats a big development. Hurricane watches are spreading north into florida. Well see that as time progresses. Speaking of time, lets time it out. It goes through turks and caicos tonight. It moves up into florida for sunday. Sundays really when you feel the effects from miami. When the storm surge could be at its worst. Up along the coast and then eventually off just east of jacksonville and back on to land near charleston. Charlotte is within that cone. Its not just the storm surge, the rain, but all of that water piling up and the flash flooding possible inland. You can see the timing here. Just one of our computer models. Taking it near miami. Much more to come as far as the rainfall and what to expect in the coming hour. Robin and george. Gosh, just the impact its going to have for days in so many different places. All across the southeast. Irmas death toll is rising in the caribbean this morning. Were beginning to get a sense of the scale of the destruction. You see it right there and amy robach is already in south florida where new evacuations are being ordered ahead of the storm. Reporter were here at miamis u. S. Coast guard station where theyre preparing to reposition their crew out of the path of Hurricane Irma. Everyone here in south florida on edge. The caribbean waking up to utter devastation this morning. As 185mile winds tore through st. Martin, the island paradise transformed into a decimated wasteland. This resort near the airport now buried under shattered glass. On the tiny island of barbuda officials report at least 95 of its structures damaged. What we experienced is like something you see in a horror movie. Reporter at least 60 of the islands 1400 residents now left homeless. The extent of the deaths and injuries still unknown. Hurricane irmas impending arrival creating chaos here in florida. Attention, please, right now we are currently out of drinking water. Reporter as residents scramble for basic necessities, crowds lined up ten deep outside this publix hours before it opened its doors. Overnight gas lines stretching for miles. Im very nervous. Ive been driving around for 30 minutes and my cars been on e for the past hour. Reporter some drivers waiting for hours only to find out theres no gas. We can rebuild your home, not your life. Reporter Law Enforcement urging residents to get out now because interstate 95 is already a parking lot. We learn our crew will have to evacuate our hotels as evacuation zones have been expanded throughout the day. George. Those evacuations as we heard are likely to be broadened. We want to thank amy for that. Coming up, Alanis Morissette gets candid about her struggle with postpartum depression. And everybody, get ready for deals steals. Beauty bargains that are 50 or less. And lara, whats going on upstairs. Hello, michael. Guess who is here. The brandnew bachelor. Weve got the big reveal coming up. There he is in silhouette and a great audience so come on back to Good Morning America. [ cheers and applause ] ng like , your todo list just keeps growing. laughs desperately it never stops. Which is why the online financing application at carmax. Com is so convenient. Get some of that finance stuff out of the way from wherever you are, at the doctors office, karate practice or my favorite. Back at the doctors office. Knowing before you go means more quality time sewing a costume for the school play that is not going to look anything like a frog. Just a little headsup, mrs. Davis. Ha ha ha, yay kids rethink your allergy pills. 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Applied the day of chemo, Neulasta Onpro is designed to deliver neulasta the next day. Neulasta is for certain Cancer Patients receiving strong chemotherapy. Do not take neulasta if youre allergic to neulasta or Neupogen Filgrastim . Ruptured spleen, sometimes fatal as well as serious lung problems, allergic reactions, kidney injuries, and capillary leak syndrome have occurred. Report abdominal or shoulder tip pain, trouble breathing or allergic reactions to your doctor right away. In patients with sickle cell disorders, serious, sometimes fatal crises can occur. The most common side effect is bone and muscle ache. So why go back there . If youd rather be home, ask your doctor about Neulasta Onpro. [ cheers and applause ] very nice. Thank you all very much. Thank you. Welcome back to gma. You know, i like to call it happy friday eve. Oh, yes. One more alarm clock and two more pop news with lara spencer. Thank you so much, robin. Good morning to you guys, and good morning to you. And we begin with Prince George who had his first day of school this morning. Weve got some great pictures for you. His dad, prince william, dropped his boy at thomass battersea, a private school just a few miles from kensington palace. The head of the school greeted the 4yearold and heir to the throne who looked so grown up. It brings back memories of Princess Diana dropping off william on his first day of school 30 years ago. Wow. Unfortunately, this time around georges mom had to sit it out. The palace is announcing shes suffering from morning sickness. From her third pregnancy, which was announced earlier this week and we wish her the best. And our george is growing up. Very sweet. Our george is all grown up. [ applause ] also in pop news this morning, who could possibly fill Bette Midlers shoes as the lead in hello, dolly how about bernadette peters, everybody. From one broadway legend to another peters will take over the role when bette leaves in january and another big star also stepping in for the male lead, played currently by david hyde pierce, the one, the only victor garver, everybody. We love him. I mean, titanic, alias. Love you victor. Both peters and garver will make their debuts january 20th. The revival has been quite successful with bette in the forefront, of course, the actress taking home a tony for best lead actress in a musical. She will be missed but im sure bernadette will give it her own spin and it will be terrific. [ applause ] save you a spot. Absolutely. Have you seen it . Not yet. We better hurry. We better hurry. Finally, talk about political drama. Sad to report this morning Julia Louisdreyfus term on veep is coming to an end. No, no. I know. If you have not seen the show, get to it, people. Hbo has announced the awardwinning comedys upcoming seventh season will be its last calling the decision bittersweet. A good run. It has had a great, great run and not totally unexpected. [ applause ] with reports that the cast signed only oneyear contracts to return for the next season. Julia is currently nominated for best actress in a Comedy Series at the upcoming emmy awards for her portrayal of selena meyer. And if she wins it will be her sixth consecutive emmy for the role. Well deserved. Well deserved. Only six . In a row. Thank you there, lara spencer. Now to our gma cover story. Grammy awardwinning singer Alanis Morissette opening up in a revealing People Magazine article about her battle with postpartum depression and said she suffered it after the birth of both her children and paula is here with this cover story. Good morning, paula. Good morning to all of you. Happy friday eve. She says her postpartum depression is so debilitating there are days she can barely move but shes getting help through medicine, exercise, therapy and writing music. And im here to remind you reporter this morning, rock star Alanis Morissette you you ought to know reporter is revealing her most vulnerable side sharing with People Magazine that shes currently suffering from postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter onyx solace now 14 months old. I was devastated and it had me question my identity. Had me question everything. I want you to know reporter the 43yearold performer who rose to fame in 1995 with her hit album jagged little pill says the crippling effects of the disorder kicked in the moment after she gave birth. Shes struggling with severe insomnia, physical pain, lethargy and she says shell lose track of what shes saying or doing. Reporter and she says no matter what, her two children are her number one priority and her goal is to reduce the stigma around postpartum depression. It doesnt matter what sort of lifestyle you have or how much youre traveling or how much youre home or whether your kids are in school, you know, theres no postpartum depression doesnt discriminate. Reporter it does not discriminate. You can see her full interview on the people Entertainment Weekly app. It hits newsstands friday. In order to hurdle the stigma, you have to eliminate the guilt because you just had a baby and your body did this miraculous thing yet youre not happy and just because you didnt experience it with your previous pregnancies, i didnt have it with number one or two but i did with number three, just go get help and admit it to somebody. Thanks for sharing that, paula. Means a lot. Joining us now is dr. Jen ashton and just tell us a little more from a medical standpoint what were talking about here. There is a lot to know about postpartum depression. Were still learning about it. Its thought to be due to a complicated combination of factors, some of them hormonal. When you deliver, your hormone levels drop and it affects neurotransmitters like serotonin. Its not a matter of just being stressed or overtired, though, although certainly, you know, that can play a role. Keeping a living thing alive is a major psychological stressor so but theres a lot of factors involved. Lets talk about the timing when it comes on, how long does it stay . Im sure it varies. Well, first of all, postpartum depression can actually start antepartum and during pregnancy and new awareness but it can start any time after delivery, usually the first two, three weeks, and it could last up to about a year. To be clear, if someone has a kid in college and say im suffering from postpartum depression it just started, thats just run of the mill depression but there can be a big overlap. How about the treatment . So many treatments. The key is medication. This can be a lifethreatening medical emergency so antidepressant medication is key, peer support, psychotherapy and behavioral therapy. All very important. This is where we need to drop that stigma. Theres no shame in this game and get professional help and fill the boat with everything is our arsenal. Because it doesnt just affect the mom and the baby it affects their entire circle. You have helped deliver a lot of babies. Yes, maam. I think 1,500 and counting, Something Like that, and we are counting. Whats on the horizon . A new study out of usc, dads can also suffer postpartum depression when their testosterone level drops, probably different reasons, but affects one in five dads and a new blood genetic test which can be used to help target therapy to see if a woman can be sensitive to the antidepressant medications. It just it needs more research but its showing us there is more scientific approach to this because this is a serious situation. Its real. All right, thanks so much. Lets get over now to michael. All right, thank you, robin. Now were going to do the big reveal that everybody has been waiting for. The new bachelor, and you know what, we wont keep you guys guessing so come on out. [ cheers and applause ] everybody say hello. Arie hey. Whats up, man . Have a seat. Wow. They love it. They love it. Has it sunk in yet . Is it sinking in you are the bachelor . It sunk in just now for sure and its been a little surreal. Before we talk to you more, we want to take a look back at your journey to become the man looking for love on season eight of the bachelorette. Hes the race car driver who drove right into Emily Maynards heart on the bachelorette. Arie falling in love before bachelor nations eyes. I really feel at this point like im definitely in love with emily. Making it to the final two vying for emilys heart. Hoping to find a happily ever after, instead turned down right at the final moment. I have more confidence with jeff. Not meant to be. I didnt feel like anyone elses story stacked up to ours. Reporter now finally ready to look for love again, the new bachelor here for the right reasons and ready to hand out the roses. [ cheers and applause ] so thank you again for coming. As i said earlier where were you when you got the call . I was at home and it was pretty recent and we kept in touch over the last few years but this just fit perfectly. The timing of this really fit for me. When they called and said arie, we want you to be the next bachelor. No hesitation. You said absolutely. I was a little skeptical just because we had been in talks for a few years about doing it so i just kind of went in with an open mind, open heart and just kind of hit me right now im here. And youre a race car driver. Used to speed. How is race car driving and speed going to help you with this speed dating . Yeah, id say making quick decisions probably. You know, thats probably the biggest one, being decisive. Being decisive is very important. And we have this Throwback Thursday picture of you and your parents your dad posted a few years ago. Oh, look at that. Thats cute. Your dad is a famous race car driver as well so what does he think about your quest for love. Well, hes finding out right now so, hey, dad, mom. What do you mean . I kind of kept things really under wraps because i didnt know how this would turn out. Its been such a quick turn of events and my family doesnt know so now they know, so they know along with you guys. We thought he told you. Were sorry about that. [ laughter ] so everybody out there who is wondering what your ideal woman is, give us three characteristics of your ideal woman. God, i would say independent, strong but then still gentle. Yeah, a little mix. Hey, youre good. Youre good. Now, when you were on season eight of the bachelorette, they gave you a nickname, the kissing bandit. Are you still the kissing bandit . With the right woman. You know. With the right woman. With the right woman, you know, obviously theres got to be that chemistry there. Emily and i had it previously, and im hoping to find that type of love for sure. And im sure you say you always kind of stay close to the bachelor family, bachelorette family. So, has there been anything thats changed on the show youve seen since you were on . I dont know if its changed or not. I dont really keep in touch with the current contestants or the contestants from the last few seasons. Im still really good friends with john wolfner and sean lowe and so ill reach out, sean, i need some advice. With those guys moving on with a family thats what youre looking for. Yeah, ill be 36 in a few weeks so for me its time. You know, my friends and family, all my friends around me have kids and have grown up, so for me its a little bit i feel like im the last one of my friends to really take that step and now my little brother got married. Hes 24. Oh, yeah, man, youve got to step it up. Youre behind. I wore this suit at his wedding so i feel like its good luck. I like that. I like that. Good luck to you and this is the first of many times well see you here on gma. Well follow your journey of love, man. Thank you, appreciate it. All right. Congrats and good luck to you. Now we go over to ginger. And, michael, a lot have been asking about the British Virgin islands. And we have video from tortola. One of our coworkers has a place there. His cousins lived there and took this video and survived in their cement home but did not look good in their neighborhood when they emerged. And so many of those islands reeling this morning after irma passed by and more to come. But we have three hurricanes in the atlantic, this is the First Time Since 2010 that weve had three hurricanes and one of them, of course, we have been watching so carefully is going to go back into mexico, not go close to texas. So, mexico city would be a low pressure system by that time it gets there, flash flooding would be the main threat and then you watch jose. Jose could pass by barbuda which was so hard hit. Well track that in the coming days too. Good morning im meteorologist mike nicco. Were off to a gray start with a chance of showers and cooler than average temperatures today. Cool tonight, cloudy but hot, dry air for the weekend. Today warmest in the east bay, 80s there. The rest of us into the 70s, until you get along the coast into San Francisco, midtoupper 60s. Already seeing signs of temperatures getting finally back to normal at night, 57 to about 64 degrees. Notice a little drizzle possible near the coast totototototototoo and we have a parenting otoo alert now about a new device designed to prevent bullying. Diane macedo has a closer look at how it works. Good morning, diane. Schools try to supervise students but in a bathroom you cant put a camera and you cant put a guard. Now you can install one of these, its a new device that claims to detect bullying and vaping without sacrificing privacy. So i went to see it in action. The pencils are sharpened and the bookbags are packed. School is back in session. While parents have been busy preparing, schools have been preparing as well. We are looking to protect and be proactive, about whats going on inside of our schools. Reporter plainedge will be the first school to use a new antibullying and vaping detection device in its bathrooms. We look for devices like this in order to monitor where cameras arent applicable. Reporter its called fly sense equipped with dual sensors that monitor sound levels and air quality. If noise levels spike or the air changes because a student is vaping the fly sense detects those changes and immediately sends a text alert to school officials. In terms of the technology, bathrooms are so private that what do you say to parents that might be concerned about having Something Like this in a bathroom where their child is going. In our device theres no camera, theres no microphone. Theres no earphones, so were not recording anything. Were just looking at the environmental surroundings and so, therefore, privacy is, you know, kept to the utmost. Reporter nearly 30 of students in grades 6 through 12 have experienced bullying and 2016 data from the cdc show that ecigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among youth for the third year. Used by 11 of High Schoolers and 4 of middle schoolers. So, we put fly sense to the test. Look what happens when we stage a fight. What youre seeing is sound and this is normally what you would see here across as far as what the normal levels would be. This means that theres activity. Reporter the fly sense detects a change in the bathroom noise level and sends an alert to check it out. The same thing happens with our vaping demo. Showing here above the line thats allowable. The air quality itself is changing. You know the second someone is doing something wrong. Most definitely. And while plainedge is the First School District to install the device, the company says theyre already working on a Second District in the area and as laws get stricter on this they expect to expand nationwide. He was really vaping. They actually set off the fire alarms when they were doing the vaping demo. They maybe took it a little too far. Most kids wont be doing it that much . We hope. Coming up, Reese Witherspoon is here live. Hi, good morning im Jessica Castro from abc7 mornings. Making headlines, the bay area helping out in florida even though Hurricane Irma is days from landfall. Pg e crews are packing and are set to leave tomorrow. They will help outages affected by irma. They will stage outside of the area when it hits and then move in when its safe. Lets check traffic now. Hi, alexis. Hey, good morning. Yeah, weve got a lot of heavy traffic out there. Tough to really nail down one area. You saw some delays there on southbound 680 through walnut creek and a few of our heavier drive times as well. Westbound 80 highway 4 to the maze just under an hour. Thats really turned into a tough commute this week. About 17 the rest of the way across the bay bridge and southbound 101 just some slight delays heading to the airport, San Francisco to sfo in the yellow at 16 minutes. Back to you, jessica. Okay, alexis, thank you. Okay, alexis, thank you. Meteorologist mike nicco has a 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. Chase. Seed to the oat to the o, to the bowl to the spo n bowl to the spoon, to the mouth of the boy in the room room for that goodness. Inside him to bloom good goes around. And around. And around seed to the oat to the o, on the first day of school schoolin your sister on why. And just how to be cool cool if she hangs, you can show her whats go d good goes around. And around. And around good goes around and around for years, centurylink has been promising fast internet to small businesses. But for many businesses, its out of reach. Why promise something you cant deliver . Comcast business is different. We deliver superfast internet with speeds of 250 megabits per second across our entire network, to more companies, in more locations, than centurylink. We do business where you do business. Were getting reports of light rain and light showers out there. You can see the biggest chance of wet weather still to our west and rotating up to the north, so well keep a chance of light rain and showers in the forecast through the morning commute and into the early afternoon hours. Then well see a little sunshine before the sun sets, jessica. Okay, mike, thank you. Well have another abc7 news update in about 30 minutes and always on our news app and abc7news. Com. Join the team welcome back to gma, everybody. And we want you to know that the excitement is real for our next guest. She is one of the postal leapted and hardest working actresses in hollywood. Shes an oscar winner, golden globe winner and best actress emmy nomination now. She does it all and she has a new movie called home again. Please welcome Reese Witherspoon. [ cheers and applause ] how are you . Hi. How are you . Good. How is it going . Mwah. Mwah. How are you doing, beauty . This is so fun. I love this new place. Everybody is here. Its like were all having breakfast. Yep. Lights and cameras. Were so excited to have you here. Youre so talented but also one of the sweetest people we know. You really are. And you have a new movie coming out home again. Emmy nominated tv series. Youre part of more than 20 projects. Youre the cover of Glamour Magazine. You wrote an essay in Glamour Magazine about ambition. Great, by the way. Thanks. You wrote a letter to young women. If a young woman is feeling her ambition is being stifled how do you address that . A couple of years ago i wrote this speech for glamour woman of the year about why ambition in women is considered a dirty word and we do kind of think theyve done all these studies at harvard and columbia that women who have ambitious calls are seen as selfish or selfserving and its actually completely opposite. Usually they have a mission or a drive to help other people or get accomplished something. The tone in peoples voice when they apply ambition to a woman its different than applied to a man. Out to get for herself or so im trying to take the stigma after the word to encourage more little girls to be ambitious. [ applause ] have you always been ambitious or did you grow into your ambition. Oh, michael, i mean, i remember in third grade i told they went around the room and said what do you want to be when you grow up. This one wanted to be a doctor. I said i want to be the first female president of the United States of america. And i didnt blink and you know what, to my teachers credit, she goes, im going to vote for you, reesie. It sounded like it, george. It was a character i played. Im not like that at all. Speaking of little girls, your little girl is almost 18. I know. My daughter is going to be 18 on saturday. Shes so beautiful. I know. Any special plans. Dont make me call you, lara. Were just going to go out to dinner. She just wants it to be really quiet. I have a special something im going to give her i wrote a letter to her that im excited about. I love that. A great gift. Its incredible to think back about haul that time and the things theyve learned and who they become. Did you cry when writing it. Oh. I was like a messy sobbing heap of like puddle of snot. I have a picture. Yeah. Still got two boys at home. I have, yeah. How did back to school go. Theyre back. Its like every moms favorite time of the year. Back to school. Oh, yeah, thats deacon and tennessee. So cute. Deacon is turning 14 and tennessee will be 5 this month. It goes so fast. You posted this picture. This is from the 80s. There you go. Your daughter looks just like you. Yeah. Those are my jams. Thats how it started. That style, i mean i knew everybody needed a little bit of that. The way i hike them up. It looks good in yeah. Can we talk about home again . I had a chance to watch it last night. It is such a sweet movie. I cide. I laughed. The whole bit. So i want to play a little bit of it. We want to set it up a little bit because you play a young mom of two. Separated, thinking about a divorce and you start kind of hook up a little bit with a youngun. Yeah. Is that safe to my character is separated and shes got two little kids. She doesnt know what shes going to do with her life. She has to move back home. She feels really untethered and i think a lot of people have gone through that thing where they made a decision when they were 25 and turned 40 and its not the decision that works for their life anymore so she starts a romance with someone then her exhusband comes back and shes confused and its about a woman finding what the next chapter in her life is going to be. Thats what its about and here it is, home again. Hey, alice. Yeah. Do you have a minute . Sure. Could we just maybe exchange phone numbers or harry, im very late. Listen, i think you woke up to a completely different person than you met last night and i appreciate the gesture. I really do but how are you, like 30, 29 . Something like that. Oh oh, gosh. [ applause ] you were talking so well about it. Because you, you know, on the surface you would say a romantic comedy. No, its so much more than that. I think its a modern comedy. Its a woman who is defining her own life and, you know, it has a lyle bit to do with romantic relationship but thats not the thing you end up with in the movie. Its about her becoming a here reof her own story. Like too the older woman had the little flip on the romance. How many types do we see older guys and younger women. Ive never really seen it. Side eye over there. Whats that abouty. You say nothing. [ applause ] so youre going to be dipping into our world as well. You and jen aniston have a new project. A new tv show were working about morning news shows. [ applause ] i know. Were all going to hold hands and well be okay. Any notable personals. No, i dont look like anybody on television. And i dont think i have anyone elses personality. Not ambitious at all. Im not ambitious. No. Itll be interesting and its talking about modern life and me and jen and weve worked together before on friends and found this project we can do together. That and we cant let you go without big little lies. [ cheers and applause ] oh, my gosh. I cant thank you enough. I watched it from end to end and its not ending . Were talking about it. We had so much fun and literally the script of women, my closest frien friends. Theres only one book and ended where the show ends. Lets get to it. We got to get the writer to write another book. It is a real possibility because i feel like you combine these women for so much more. Yeah, i think its incredible. People just loved it. We had no idea people were going to be so excited about it so thank you, everybody, would watched. Oh, my gosh. [ applause ] i know. Yeah. I know. And a wrinkle in time. Yeah, i did this movie with oprah and mindy kaling and ava duvernay directed and thats coming out in march. Cant wait for that. Thats my girl oprah and my girl mindy. Oprah makes killer margaritas, right . Thats what we hear. Its the tequila. She gets really, really specialty we will la. I dont know where she gets it. Its one of oprahs favorite things. Hey, robin, why dont you find out. Im on it. Im on it. The movie home again hits theaters tomorrow and weve got more reese coming up and also with your costars and the director of the movie as well. [ cheers and applause ] coming up next tory johnson here. Shes got falls beauty deals steals. Do you want to do a monster check . Yes. No monsters. How about the drawer . No monsters. Nightly monster checks are how grant makes home his. And homegoods is what makes it all possible. Amazing finds. Always great prices. Make home yours. Welcome back to Good Morning America. With Hurricane Irma southeast florida will be one of the first to feel the effects after the islands and we wanted to time it out for you and show you how strong it can get. Saturday 7 00 a. M. With the gfs, the american computer model, already by saturday morning seeing tropical stormforce gusts, anywhere from key largo up through miami beach. Take it through saturday night just before midnight in west palm seeing 55mileperhour gusts but 127 as that storm approaches key largo. It looks like itll still be east especially in this computer model but you still get significant wind gusts up to 127 in miami beach. That does really big damage. I dont know how to tell anybody more than that but 127 should mean something to you. When we talk about Severe Weather taking down power poles and such and regular thunderstorm day thats a 60 to 70mileperhour wind so that tells you that well see strong stuff. West palm by sunday 3 00 p. M. Is at 114 miles per hour. Now, this is with the computer modeling right now. Well update it as that track gets closer but just to give you an idea of some outer bands that will reach even to Southwest Corner of florida, so rain will be up the coast but also charleston seeing how that makes another landfall there 5 00 p. M. On good morning im meteorologist mike nicco. 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Every single one of these, i love the xart component and want to thank beauty blender for sending every one of you guys home with a gift bag. We thank you. All of these companies on these great deals, get the details on our website. Dont forget to buy big to help those in need. Coming up, more with Reese Witherspoon and the cast and director of home again. Stay with us. We are back now with Reese Witherspoon and the cast of the new movie home again. We have costars pico alexander, Jon Rudnitsky and director Hallie Meyers shyer. Welcome, you guys. This is your first movie. It is . You wrote it. You directed it and how did you get that lady sitting to your left to jump on board and come on board. Im still wondering that very question. But she was awesome. She came on board with us right away. Jumped in and its been a dream come true. Really has. And dna, lets just say it. Its in your dna. What was it like working with both meyers women. Hallie has had more of an education than watching her mom write and direct movies. Edit and market them so she had this comprehensive knowledge of everything it takes to make a movie. And but obviously hallie, you have a lot of talent. Does it bother you to be compared with your mom. No. She is a producer on this movie and i wanted her input on it and i made a film in a genre shes excelled at so if im going to be compared to somebody id like it to be in the family. Not a bad role model. I love every one of her movies and i love this movie. Pico, you had a plum role. You and reese had to have a little romance. Yes, we did, yeah. How was that . It was lovely. Reese, how was that. It was great. It worked for me. It worked for us too. Im not complaining. No, absolutely but how was this experience working with your buddies, working with reese on a movie that is really so special. Fantastic. I cant even begin to articulate it really. Its such a big, huge opportunity for me. Ive really only been working for three years professionally and to be able to work with Academy Award winning Reese Witherspoon, yeah. [ cheers and applause ] and jon. You have to say Academy Award winner make them say that. Jon, you and pico play aspiring filmmakers in this movie. They have to live in reeses characters guest house. They dont have to. It wasnt a bad deal they did but you two actually ended up as roommates while filming the movie. How did that work out. Well, we just kind of just dove in. We got along well and found out the third guy, nat, him and i went to high school five blocks away from one another in the city. Look how cute we are. Answer this. Looking all cute and very well made up. Who is the messiest roommate . That would probably nat . Yeah, that would probably be nat. Thats not fair because hes not here. What a great guy. Reese, is it true you had great cast party, dinner parties. Yeah, we got together. We had fun. They came over my house and played with the kids. They ate all of tennessees halloween candy. We had some candy. It was fine. It was good to hang out and nancy would come over too. Reese was so welcoming to all of us and made us feel at home. If you could go to a sunday brunch, reeses, i would recommend it. Im an okay cook. Got a smart cast. Thank you guys for coming in. Reese witherspoon, hallie, jon and pico. Home again hits theaters tomorrow. Make sure to check it out. Wel hi leaving a career to follow a calling takes courage. A personalized Financial Strategy can give you confidence to take the next step. Hi guys aw yeah see how access to j. P. Morgan investment expertise can help you. Chase. Make more of whats yours. Chase. Wow means is tyou save 50 or more. Ngs. There are three stages of wow. Denial. Is this price right . Acceptance. And boooyah wait for it. Boooyah has three os. 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Hey its twith 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. And right now the sleep number queen c2 mattress now only 699. Ends sunday good morning. Im Jessica Castro from abc7 mornings. Mike, the last time i was outside, it was drizzling here in San Francisco. Still the same case . Yes, exactly. Its going to be that case, drizzle, some light rain, even some light showers possible through about 2 00, 3 00 this afternoon. You can see the heaviest stuff is off to our west and up to our north, and thats where its going to be for a couple hours. All right, lets look at my accuweather sevenday forecast. Well have another chance next tuesday, but in between, look how hot it gets sunday and monday. Alexis . Okay, just hearing about a new crash involving a motorcycle southbound 880 near dixon landing, in the milpitas area. Be on the lookout for that in the two left lanes. Starting to look better here, westbound 92 across the san mateo bridge. We had an earlier stall past the midspan, and boy, that really was slowing you down, but a lot of heavy traffic out there this morning. A quick check of drive times. Northbound 101280 to 680 to highway 85 solid red at a half hour. Announcer its live with kelly and ryan today, from the new series, seth macfarlane. And star of the hit drama outlander, caitriona balfe. Plus, a performance by recording artist lindsey stirling. All next on live [cheers and applause] and now, here are kelly ripa and Ryan Seacrest [cheers and applause] kelly that was crazy. Hi, hi. Ryan