Transcripts For KGO Good Morning America 20171215

Describing memory loss, violent outbursts and when he calls demons that almost drove him to suicide. Would he play all over again . Only on gma. All i want for christmas is you and christmas jackpot. Nearly 500 million up for grabs right now. Could you be the Lucky Lottery winner this Holiday Season, and should you think twice before you give a ticket as a gift . Good morning, america. Happy friday. Frigid friday. Oh, absolutely. Its going to be a cold weekend for millions. Bitter cold temperatures are moving into the northeast. Moving into your bones too. Thats right. More snow is going to hit the midwest. Rob is tracking it all. Good morning, rob. Good morning, michael. A look at whats going on, this car spinning off the road in manitowoc, wisconsin, and the river from Lake Washington rising with switching winds and this driver managed to get out of that. I94, jefferson county. That car spinning off into the median and up onto the other side of the road. No injuries there but you can see another car spun off, so dangerous Road Conditions and more snow across the area. Windchills dangerously cold, and there are two systems kind of developing. One will skirt the east coast, a coastal low. D. C. , philly up through atlantic city, long island and the cape, and this system skirting the great lakes as well, not too much but, again, as we see, all you need is one, two, three inches, and thats what well see with this system and higher amounts across parts of the great lakes and that will certainly slick up the roads today and parts of tomorrow. Robin . Thank you. Out west the battle is on against that massive and deadly wildfire, the thomas fire claiming the life of a firefighter. As it grows it is now californias fourth largest fire ever scorching nearly 250,000 acres. Its only 35 contained. Abcs matt gutman is near the front lines for us. Good morning, matt. Reporter good morning, robin. This fire has been surging over the past 24 hours jumping over containment lines fueled by wind and singledigit humidity. Just over the past few hours weve watched it sweep across the hillside. Right here there are firefighters trying to make sure that this fire doesnt continue to encroach on the homes down below there. There are 8300 firefighters still on the line here. Many of them expect to be here until the new year. Just yesterday about 1,000 yards from where were standing a firefighter lost his life in the line of duty. Corey iverson was 32 years old and leaves behind a pregnant wife and a young daughter. Obviously the battle here continues. This is californias fourth largest fire in its history. Its nearly half the size of the state of rhode island and when you look at all the smoke being put off by this fire you understand why there have been hundreds of thousands of people under smoke viesries in this area, why multiple counties, schools will be closed at least until the start of the new year. And of course why 95,000 people have been evacuated here. These firefighters have been working all night and will continue to work to try and make sure that what you see behind me, this inferno, doesnt get out of hand. Robin. Thats understandable. Matt, thank you very much. Were all thinking of that firefighters family. We move on to washington and the latest on that gop tax plan. Final details set to be released today to secure final passage by christmas. But that timetable may now be in jeopardy as some key republican senators withhold their support. Our senior Congressional Correspondent mary bruce tracking this on capitol hill. Mary, these new objections so critical. The gop can only afford to lose two votes in the senate. They have a very slim margin and already signs of trouble. Senator marco rubio tells us he is a no, concerned about the Child Tax Credit and senator bob corker is also likely a no with worries about the deficit. Others still undecided or still waiting for more details. Heres what weve actually learned in this bill. It cuts the Corporate Tax rate and the top tax rate for individuals, big wins for big business and most wealthy. For the middle class is doubles the standard deduction but limits state and local deductions that Many Americans rely on and gets rid of the Obamacare Mandate that could leave millions more uninsured. We dont know where it fits within that 1. 5 trillion price tag. Meantime, Republican Leaders still confident theyll get this done by christmas . Reporter first lawmakers need to actually see the bill. Were told that could happen later today. The senate is hoping to take action on this early next week and they are going to need every single vote they can get but there are still serious concerns about when senator john mccain will be returning. Hes been in the hospital receiving treatment for the side effects of his cancer therapy. Were told he is eager to get back to work but no word on when that will be. Meantime, mary, theres new speculation about the speaker of the house, paul ryan, suggestions this could be his last year in congress and he could be leaving after 2018. Reporter yeah, always lots of speculation in the town about when a speaker is headed for the exit. Paul ryan says it is completely premature and says hes not going anywhere for now. Gofrj george. For now. Well see what happens as the year progresses. More from jon karl and matthew dowd. Jon, lets begin with the tax bill. So little room to maneuver right now for the republicans. A lot of final details set and this objection from senator marco rubio at the last minute really does complicate things. Reporter it sure does. The white house is confident they will get the votes but, george, this is the world they are living in now, especially now that the democrats won in alabama and doug jones getting sworn in in january. Basically you have a situation where every republican senator can be king, anybody, anybody can stand up and object and they have to meet their concerns to get it passed unless there is democratic support so it looks like rubio if they are going to pass this rubio ultimately will get his way. Theyll have to give him a lot and lets talk about more broadly here, the Republican Leadership does seem convinced they have to get it done. What could be puzzling is this bill is tremendously unpopular right now. Yeah, they are making an assumption that a legislative victory will equal a political victory. I dont think thats the case here. All you have to do is reflect on recent history. The democrats thought the same thing about obamacare and they rushed that through. It ended up a red wave coming. The same thing here. Unpopular president pushing an unpopular bill through an unpopular congress is not a recipe for success and donald trump has done something i didnt think was possible. Hes made tax cuts unpopular and obama popular. But they do seem determined to push ahead and, jon, meantime, the president going to the fbi headquarters today even as in recent days hes been repeating that criticism of the fbi. Reporter you know, you remember the president was supposed to go to fbi headquarters back in may, but the firing of james comey made that virtually impossible. He did not go. This time hes not actually going to the headquarters, george, hes going to the fbis academy talking to those that go through its course down there, but youre right, this is an organization he said is in tatters and his own fbi director has said is actually doing quite well. And, matt dowd, its coming as youre seeing republicans ramp up their criticism of the investigation by special counsel mueller. I think this is unreal the president is doing this. I was going to call an audible and ask michael a question. Michael, how would you feel if somebody you thought was a friend of yours trash talked you, trash talked your team and then showed up in the locker room and said, dont you love me . [ laughter ] thats what hes doing by going to the fbi. Thats whats happened a few times. I guess thats the answer for today. Thank you, michael. And thank you, george. Now to that major Net Neutrality decision that could affect anyone using the internet. The fcc voting to overturn the rules at a dramatic hearing so what does it mean for you . Our chief Business Correspondent rebecca jarvis, please break it down for us. This is a really important one. Good morning, robin. The fundamental idea behind that neutrality is that no matter what website youre looking at, your Internet Speed should be the same and the internet providers like verizon and at t and comcast, they shouldnt be able to cut special deals to block or slow down which websites you see so you see this here. Imagine these cars represent the websites. In order to reach you they have to travel down the highway, which represents the internet. Under Net Neutrality the same speed limit applies to everyone. No special lanes, the rules are equal across the board but take away Net Neutrality, and Internet Service providers can charge to make sites move faster. You see that toll lane there, thats them charging to make some sites move faster. That fast lane. Those that dont or cant pay might be forced to slow down and consumers could see slower service or none at all on those websites that have been forced to slow down. Very effective to help us understand. Now help us understand this. What does this mean for consumers . Could this possibly mean higher bills. It could mean higher bills, robin. Heres a few ways consumers could feel this. If they are forced to pay additional fees they might pass that cost on to consumers so your netflix bill goes up. Theres also a chance that the internet providers of the world could charge you more so, for example, there are some places without Net Neutrality, some countries that dont have it and the providers there are charging consumers extra fees and separately for every one of their services so email costs an additional fee, music does, video and social media. It costs extra . Yes. Thats one of the dangers. Is this guaranteed to go through . Were seeing lawsuits against the move. There are a number that have come up, a number of states and websites and Service Providers of the internet, already saying this might be an issue Going Forward and that there are some lawsuits that are coming up. Also, i should add this repeal while its happened is going to take a while to actually have an impact on consumers. Any idea how long . I think the web that the number one thing right now are these lawsuits and whether or not these lawsuits go through, i should also add a number of the Internet Service providers have said that for now their Service Remains the same with customers. Thank you, rebecca. Thank you, rebecca. Now to backlash growing at fraternities across the country over concerns about hazing. An entire fraternity at the university of houston has now been indicted. Abcs gio benitez is here with the latest. Good morning, gio. Hey there, michael. Good morning. The universitys applauding this saying hazing is hazing and simply unacceptable. A pi kappa alpha chapter slapped with those charges this morning. This morning, an alleged hazing incident at the university of houston leading to a criminal indictment against an entire fraternity. We want this to serve notice that to all the universities, the fraternities, the students, their parents, that hazing is a crime and hazing will be prosecuted. Reporter the indictment accused the universitys pi kappa alpha chapter of forcing a pledge to go without food, drink and sleep during a threeday ritual last year. Fraternity members allegedly tackling him in the dark, according to prosecutors, the unnamed freshman was hospitalized with a lacerated spleen. I get it its a frat and there is a process of joining but also a line you got to draw. You cant be crossing that line. Reporter rae ann and Stephen Gruver spoke to amy robach about the tragic consequences that can happen when that line is crossed. It shouldnt happen to anybody. Reporter their 18yearold son max died in an alleged hazing ritual at Louisiana State university. Ten members of the universitys Phi Delta Theta that chapter are facing charges. Was your son murdered . Yes, i believe so. Nobody can physically drink that much. You cant. You have to be forced to drink it. Its terrible. How is making your brother do all these things and humiliating them a brotherhood. How does that bond you . Reporter none of the students involved in the university of houston incident face individual charges. Instead, officials are going after the fraternitys chapter. I do think the National Organizations have a responsibility to make sure their members are upholding the rituals and the values of their organizations and note participating in hazing activity. Reporter the university suspending the fraternity until 2023. The fraternitys National Organization is distancing itself from that local chapter. Also suspending them. Meanwhile, in the lsu case lawyers for the students have denied that their clients participated in any Inappropriate Conduct or hazing. All these things are so avoidable. Easily avoidable. It keeps happening. All right, thank you, gio. We move on. Next the me too Movement Continues to escalate and five new women have come forward to accuse Dustin Hoffman of Sexual Misconduct and one of them said she was just 16 at the time. Eva pilgrim is here with the latest. Good morning. Dustin hoffman facing new accusations this morning. Music mogul Russell Simmons now the center of a criminal investigation. The list of Sexual Assault allegations against men in the Entertainment Industry growing. Twotime Academy Award winner Dustin Hoffman known for film classics like the graduate. Mrs. Robinson, youre trying to seduce me. Reporter under fire following new explosive stories in the Hollywood Reporter and variety detailing Sexual Misconduct allegations. At the time these stories took place Dustin Hoffman was one of the biggest actors working if not the biggest actor working. Reporter variety reporting the claims of three women including two who say during the production of ishtar the actor groped them against their will and a friend of hoffmans daughter claims that when she was 16 years old hoffman exposed himself to her at a hotel in 1980, the same year he took home his first oscar for kramer versus kramer. Each described Dustin Hoffman groping then and described it as Sexual Assault. Reporter variety reporting hoffm hoffmans attorney sent a letter to the owner saying they were defamatory falsehoods. Two weeks ago john oliver had a Testy Exchange with hoffman about the allegations from Anna Graham Hunter who accused him of unwanted sexual advances to her when she was 17. Do you believe this . I believe what she wrote, yes. Why . Because theres no point in her lying. Well, there is a point in her not bringing this up for 40 years. Really . Oh, dustin. Reporter hoffman did not respond to abc news about these latest accusations, but he has denied previous allegations of harassment and misconduct by three other women. The 80yearold is among an evergrowing list of highprofile men with women accusing them of Sexual Misconduct. This morning, the nypd confirms it is investigating music mogul Russell Simmons based on allegations made by nearly a dozen women including four who now say the def jam founder raped them. I think its very possible that somebody like Russell Simmons could open the floodgates to other figures in popular music. Reporter simmons has stepped down from his global empire after apologizing for his mistreatment of women but denies any violence or criminal accusations. Overnight, posting on his instagram page, i will prove without any doubt that i am innocent of all rape charges, adding, my intention is not to diminish the me too movement but instead hold my accusers accountable. That hashtag that he used to push back prompting another woman to come forward. Fashion pr powerhouse Kelly Cutrone saying in 1996 he tried to rape her in and said his poss a call to every man who wants the right to abuse women to continue. Strong words. This whole move many has such viral power right now. So many people coming forward. It just doesnt stop. Theres so many people. Thank you, eva. All right, lets get to something that will make us feel better. This might be proof that christmas miracles exist. Check this out. All went down to Atlanta Hawks game and take a look at this shot. Knocks it in. Thats my man norman. Got picked out of the crowd and weve all seen people get picked out of the crowd. He just chucked it. You played basketball, robin. What do you think . You dont like the form . No style points. You dont need style points. Norman is like, i dont care. I won 10,000, everybody, im rich this morning and they asked him what hes going to do with the money. He said he is going to enjoy christmas. Norman, congratulations. Great shot. That was a great shot. That was great. Back to rob. All right, george, want to talk about the fire situation out west. You saw from the fire lines a report out there. Red flag warnings across the entire state not just santa ana winds but swirling over the weekend so that will be a challenge as well. Im abc7 news meteorologist drew tuma with your accuweather forecast. Today it will be mild. Well see mostly sunny skies, temperatures in the mid to upper 60s. It is a sparetheair day as well. Our eighth of the winter season. It is illegal to burn wood the next 24 hours. Your accuweather sevenday forecast. The next seven days ark hazy afternoon. Over the weekend, the winds turn gusty, a wind advisory in effect along with a redflag warning because fire conditions will be critical saturday and sunday. Coming up, an abc news y. Exclusive. A mother who says she ended up in a secret society that branded its members. Shes now telling her story. And well hear from the former nfl star who says hes convinced hes living with cte. Hes living with cte. When food is good and clean and real, its ok to crave. And with panera catering, theres more to go around. Panera. Food as it should be. But when we brought our daughter home, that was it. Now i have nicoderm cq. The nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release Technology Helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. Its the best thing that ever happened to me. Every great why needs a great how. Unlike ordinary toothpaste, Colgate Total fights bacteria on teeth, tongue, cheeks and gums. Giving you the confidence of a healthier mouth. Colgate total. Be totally ready for life. Advil liquigels minis. Our first concentrated pill that rushes powerful relief. A small new size thats fast, cause its liquid. Woohoo youll ask, what pain . New advil liquigels minis. That moment when who youre going with is more important than where youre going. Wherever life takes us, we go together. Interwoven. Exclusively at kay, jared and zales. Ifwhat would it say . Ash tag 80 glowing 50 freckles no matter your skin type, all skin deserves gentleness. Thats why dove is sulfate free. The 1 body wash recommended by dermatologists. This weekend save 20 on are back at target. Star wars toys, apparel, and home decor. Save big with weekend deals every weekend. Only at target. Hi, there. Im Natasha Zouves from abc7 mornings. San Francisco Mayor ed lees body is laying inside city hall. His body will remain there for public viewing from 8 00 a. M. To 7 00 p. M. Today. His memorial celebration will be held sunday at 3 00 p. M. At city hall. That is also open to the public, and if you cant make it, we will have live coverage right here on abc7 news. Sue hall with the abc7 traffic center. 80 westbound leading into the bay bridge bumper to bumper. Metering lights are on. Highway 4 to hercules, an hour and 30 minutes, earlier issues coming off the bay bridge in the city, thats cleared, issues on the east shore freeway as well. Marin county, alameda blocking a lane of traffic southbound 101. Hows it going down there . Thats good. Lica misses you. Im over it though. laughter thats fine. I miss her more than you anyway. Hey, my window is closing. Yeah thats okay. Alright miles. I love you. phone hangs up yeah i love you too. Live look at the tam cam showing the sun is up, high clouds streaming in from from time to time, and that will be the trend today. Mainly sunny skies. Temperatures in the 40s and 30s in our cold spots but well warm up nicely. The accuweather sevenday forecast shows later on today going to the 60s. Saturday, the winds turn gusty with a wind advisory and a redflag warning going into effect over the weekend. Thank you, drew. Well have another abc7 news update in about 30 minutes and always on our news app and abc7news. Com. At tmobile, when you holiday together, great things come in twos. Like tmobile and netflix. Right now when you get an unlimited family plan, netflix is included. Ho ho ho tmobile covers your netflix subscription. Best Christmas Gift ever . So you can binge watch all year long. Now youre thinking christmas and now when you buy any of this seasons hot new Samsung Galaxy phones, you get a second one free to gift. Thats one samsung for you. And one to give. Tmobile. Holiday twogether. Buy 1, get 1 40 off all star wars Action Figures and more. Now thru saturday. Toysrus. Today we play. Its time forweet, the holidays. Ab. Holla back holla hey, hey. On and on and on. Hurry in to old navy get up to 60 off the entire store with sleepwear from seven dollars and sweaters from ten dollars. At old navy. Welcome back to gma. Can you feel it . I think we can. Thats the force and it is finally here. Star wars hit theaters last night. All the super fans lined up to see midnight screenings all across the country and the last jedi, well, its expected to be one of the biggest blockbusters of all time. The reviews have been incredible as expected and coming up, one of the stars, benicio dell t to is here with us live to talk about it. Looking forward to that. Also right now, tens of millions from the midwest to the northeast bracing for more snow as temperatures drop across the country. Winter weather is causing dangerous driving conditions. Lets see, this car slid off the road into lake michigan. Thankfully the driver did escape. Hes okay. And its Free Shipping friday. Nearly a thousand retailers are offering Free Shipping with guaranteed delivery before christmas and becky worley has your guide to the best deals and thats all coming up. We begin with that investigation into a Mysterious Health group and its founder. One former member is speaking out with very disturbing claims, and 20 20s Elizabeth Vargas is following the story. Good morning, elizabeth. Good morning, robin. I spoke with a woman who was with the group nxivm for more than a decade and she said she was invited to join a secret sorority allegedly tied to nxivm where she and other women were branded as part of an initiation ritual. We are told the rendezvous was a secret. Five women summoned to a house outside albany, new york, one night this past march. Sarah edmondson said she was one of them willingly participating in a strange initiation ritual led by a woman who told everyone to take off their clothes and put on a blindfold. Led us in blindfolded and sat us in a semicircle buck naked on a sheepskin rug. Could that be any weirder . Reporter it was earlier this year she said she was approached by a mysterious opportunity to join a secret sorority. Sarah told authorities she thought they were going to get tattoos. Instead she says she found out they were all going to be branded. It sounds like a horror movie what youre describing. It was a horror movie. It was the most inhumane, horrific way to treat anybody. What was that like . It was worse than childbirth. It was worse than childbirth . Yep. It was imagine a hot laser dragged across your flesh for 30 minutes without anesthetic. Reporter how in the world did this happen . Sarah lives in vancouver where shes a wife and mother with a successful film and television career. But her life changed after she crossed paths with the secretive Selfhelp Group called nxivm and its charismatic leader keith raniere. Im an interesting person, im a controversial person but most importantly, im an unconventional person. Reporter according to promotion materials even as a child he was destined for greatness, speaking in full sentences at age 1, riding at age 2. Judo champ and concert level pianist at age 13. I was told that he was one of the smartest men in the world and just an incredible man. Reporter at the heart of training is something called intensives which former members say are like group therapy. I left my fiveday initial training as if a veil had been lifted and could see things more clearly in my life. Reporter raniere is fiercely protective of his teachings requiring participates to sign confidentiality agreements. Everyone signed it. If you didnt sign it, you couldnt take the curriculum. Reporter after more than a decade with nxivm she and four other women submitted one by one to being branded by this woman she says, dr. Danielle roberts. And the woman on the table screamed out in pain, twisted and turned and yelled and the woman i was with holding her legs down, we looked at each other and just wept. Why didnt you let go and run out of there even naked . It didnt seem like a choice at the time. Can you just stand up and point on your body through your clothes where the brand is. So, its right here under my yeah, right there. Right under my underwear line. Reporter she gave us photos. In her complaint to the Health Department she says she was told the brand was a latin symbol but says she realized that it really included the letters k and r, the initials of keith raniere. I lost it when i figured that out. Youre stamped as property of somebody. Im not cattle. Im not owned by keith. In a letter posted on the groups website raniere says there is no merit to the allegations that we are abusing, coercing or harming individuals. Raniere says that that secret sorority is not part of nxivm and i am not associated with that group. An attorney for dr. Danielle roberts, the alleged brander tells abc news the allegations are unfounded. Well have a full investigation obviously tonight. What more can you tell us about this group, nxivm . Its been around for more than a decade. The members get very deeply involved. Many have given up career, moved to albany, new york, where the group is founded and well have a lot more and catherine oxenberg, you may remember her from the 1980s hit dynasty, she talks to me about her daughter india part of nxivm, according to catherine she told her she too was branded and a lot more on catherine oxenbergs efforts to get her daughter out of the group. More tonight on 20 20. And on nightline. Yes. Who says im an interesting person . Somebody who has an i. Q. Of 240 and is speaking in full sentences at the age of 1. Just like you, george. Right, thank you, elizabeth. Coming up another exclusive. A former nfl star is opening up about life after football. Hes convinced hes living with cte and hes going to talk about the symptoms he has. Whether he would let his Children Play football. Children play football. Its a better place, since you came along since you came along your touch is sunlight through the trees your kisses are the ocean breeze everythings alright when youre with me and i hold my favorite thing i hold the love that you bring but it feels like ive opened my eyes again and the colors are golden and bright again theres a song in my heart, i feel like i belong its a better place since you came along thats why feeling safe is priceless. With adt, you can feel safe with an adt starter kit professionally installed for only 49. 00. Call today, and install an adt starter kit that includes security panel, keypad, key fob, entry and motion sensors and for a limited time, get a camera included and installed at no additional cost. Thats a 449. 00 value, installed, for just 49. 00. Oh, look. Another antiwrinkle cream in no hurry to make anything happen. Neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair® works in just one week. With the fastest retinol formula available. Its clinically proven to work on fine lines and wrinkles. One week . That definitely works rapid wrinkle repair®. And for dark spots, rapid tone repair. Neutrogena®. See whats possible. Give extra. Get extra. Shop early to save big kohls Super Saturday and get kohls cash present for them, kohls cash for you give joy with a sweater for her a Star Wars Toy or a diamond bracelet plus take an extra 20 off when you spend 100 or more give joy, get joy at kohls. There are new concerns about football injuries after another tough hit in the nfl overnight. There you see Brandon Williams from the colts, helmet on helmet hit taken off the field with a concussion and now former nfl star Larry Johnson speaking out in an abc news exclusive. Johnson is 38, convinced hes living with cte as he battles memory loss, anxiety and suicide impulses. Linsey davis sat down with him and joins us now. Good morning, linsey. Good morning, george. He was a first round draft pick in 2003 and today he says there are two entire nfl seasons he simply doesnt remember. He says he doesnt blame the nfl but johnson says its time to change the way the game is played because he believes the game has changed him. He played the game with a rage that made him great. Catch and run to the 47. Reporter a 2002 Heisman Trophy finalist at penn state and twotime pro bowler. In 2006 playing for the Kansas City Chiefs Larry Johnson carried the ball 416 times, an nfl record. But the 38yearold former nfl running back now believes he suffers from cte, chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Why do you believe you have cte . I get light headaches every now and again and my anxiety levels are off the chart. Sometimes i cant be in places for long so i have to retreat back to my own place because the anxiety makes my heartbeat faster. Reporter he is convinced his many symptoms including erratic mod swings and forgetfulness all point to cte. Youve been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Why dont attribute it to that . They dont have anything to do with my headaches or why im sensitive to light or noise. Reporter he describes destructive impulses and in some cases actions. Johnson has been arrested six times, several times for assaulting women. In 2009 he was waived by the chiefs after being suspended for conduct detrimental to the club. Rock bottom is almost losing custody of your daughter, not coming home at night. Dont know where you are. I was letting life drag me along and hopefully someone would put me out of my misery. Reporter a pattern of troubled behavior that he says is not all that unlike aaron hernandez, the former new england patriot who committed suicide in his jail cell while serving a life sentence for murder and found to have the most severe case of cte in anyone his age. Dr. Ann mckee who was not his doctor says that while we cant diagnose cte while someone is still alive, we can suspect cte based on their symptoms and if theyve been exposed to repetitive head trauma. It can be very difficult to distinguish between Mental Health issues and cte symptoms and i would say in this particular situation its close to impossible. Have you ever had a concussion . I never really had a concussion but the repeated head trauma i received since 9 all adds up. Reporter he distinctly remembers being 9 years old playing his very first game of tackle football. The very first kickoff turn i ever had in my life, ran to the sidelines, somehow i got tunnel vision and there was a white light. That was it. I laid out on the field. They tried to get me to go back in the game and i said i dont want to go back. If you go back to your 9yearold self do you walk away forever. No, but football is literally engrained in me. Even if they told me about cte when i was 9 years old, he would have still played. Reporter its children he credits with helping him now, an Organization Called motivational edge which uses art to help children express emotional trauma. We allow them to be themselves and create a safe space for them to be themselves. He says that if he does have a son hell let him play football but not tackle football until high school. I asked him if he would play football all over again. He said without hesitation, yes, but he says he would play it differently. He feels there needs to be more education about how to hit, how thought to hit to avoid the headjarring devastating blows and would juke more rather than tackle head on. Yeah, i played against him. He was a big, strong guy. He would come at you. I agree with him about education about tackling. Theres a right way and wrong way to tackle. You dont lead with your head but some of my friends have had to retire because theyve had concussion issues, all of them said they would play again. They would not change it. Interesting. Really interesting. Thank you, great piece. Coming up, tis the season for a lot of receivers, the big jackpots right now. And why you might want to think twice about giving tickets as Stocking Stuffers. If they win are you entitled to some of that jackpot . Well find out. That Jackie Speier . Well find out. Frida is a work appof art. The arts. When its time to eat, frida enjoys the culinaryinspired taste of meow mix bistro recipes. Made with real chicken, salmon or tuna. Its the only one cats ask for by name. Were on a mission to show drip coffee drinkers, its time to wake up to keurig. Wakey wakey rise and shine oh my gosh how are you . Well watch this. I pop that in there. Press brew. Thats it. So rich. I love it. Thats why you should be a keurig man fullbodied. Are you sure youre describing the coffee and not me . Fullbodied. So. You like it. Little bit. Nothing gets a reaction like a gift from kay jewelers. Where everything is 25 off. Save 25 off all rings, all necklaces, and all bracelets. Thats 25 off everything december 14th through 18th. At kay, the 1 Jewelry Store in america. Dad . Every kiss begins with kay we are back with the big we are back with the big board. It is the Holiday Season and almost half a billion dollars is up for grabs in the powerball and Mega Millions jackpots. A lot of Christmas Gifts and lottery tickets are cheap and make some great Stocking Stuffers but what happens if your gift is a winner. T. J. Holmes, youre here to break it all down. Good morning to you. This is a greatlooking jackpot right here. Youll hook me up, right . If i give you a ticket and you won would you hook me up. Whats hook up . Come on. We have to discuss this. How much ill give you the cost of the ticket back. Thats 2 bucks. Mega millions is 208 million right now. Powerball is 250 million. It only costs you 2 bucks to give somebody a ticket. If i give you that ticket and that person wins you got no resource. You got no options. And all you can do is say stra, will you hook your boy up. I can understand that. Even if you give somebody cash after 14,000 its taxed. You cant even give them a big chunk of change without them getting taxed on it. Weve seen people doing this and seen it happen before, giving a ticket as a gift and it wins. A woman got 50,000 from her son. He said you keep it. Another guy in new zealand, 8 million in a birthday ticket but if you give its a gift. But its a worthless gift. I could buy everybody here a ticket. It would be 40 and theyre all worthless, all right. Unless they won. They wont win. Folks, youre not going to win. Stay with me here. You are not going to win the lottery. This is a question. If i bought you a ticket would you hook me up if you won . Commercial. Right . Time for commercial. A lot of talk about hookups. Free shipment friday. How to cash in on lastminute savings guaranteed to get there by christmas. Thats a hookup. I agree with you, michael. Coming up its Free Shipping friday. How to cash in on lastminute savings guaranteed to get there by christmas. Thats a hookup. I agree with you, michael. Turn up your swagger game with one a day mens. A complete multivitamin with key Nutrients Plus b vitamins for heart health. Your one a day is showing. St. Jude is leading how the world treats and defeats we help save kids everywhere. Like me. Like me. And like me. Well, i can be a kid too visit stjude. Org or shop where you see the st. Jude logo. If you spit blood you may have gum problems,s and could be on the journey to much worse. Try parodontax toothpaste. Its clinically proven to remove plaque, the main cause of bleeding gums. For healthy gums and strong teeth. Leave bleeding gums behind with parodontax toothpaste. The unpredictability of a flaree may weigh on your mind. Thinking about what to avoid, where to go, and how to work around your uc. Thats how i thought it had to be. But then i talked to my doctor about humira, and learned humira can help get and keep uc under control. When certain medications havent worked well enough. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Raise your expectations and ask your gastroenterologist if humira may be right for you. With humira, control is possible. Americas favorite cookie delicious Chocolate Candy oreo Chocolate Candy bars now also available in mint flavor welcome back to good morning america. Welcome back to good morning america. The west is thin, but look at the northeast, video out of jay peak. The huskies getting down cutting fresh tracks and getting into kneedeep power. Jay peak, over 90 inches of snow falling already this season, and northern parts of vermont, new hampshire, new york have seen some good snow. This early in the season theyll take it. Another couple of systems coming in. One to three inches from d. C. Up through new york to long island and lakeeffect snow cranking in the usual spots north of lake erie and north of erie, p. A. And north of syracuse, as well, and a longer range outlook calls for a little bit in the way of warmer temperatures across the southeast and cold out toward the north and west. Im Natasha Zouves from abc7 mornings. Meteorologist drew tuma has a quick look at our forecast. Live look from our walnut creek cam, haze in the atmosphere. It is a sparetheair day in effect today. Temperaturewise, 30s and 40s for the most part. Well warm up nicely later on this afternoon. Accuweather sevenday forecast, into the 60s we go once again with that hazy afternoon. The winds will increase on saturday, a redflag warning in effect over the weekend. Just a nasty commute on the bay bridge this morning. A couple of older incidents. We had a stalled, a brokendown pickup truck and now an earlier accident just east of the toll plaza cleared and one near west grand cleared as well but the damage is done from hercules to the city, about an hour and 30 minutes. B. A. R. T. Is a better option for you. Earlier accident still blocking the lane southbound 101 at alameda del prado. Well have another abc7 news update in about 30 minutes and always on our news app and abc7news. Com. Sfx tsfx feet shufflingc life can change in an instant. Be covered when it does. With a health plan through covered california. We offer free expert help choosing the best plan for you. And all of our plans include free preventive care. Financial help is available, so check for yourself to see what savings you qualify for. For Health Insurance starting january 1st, enroll by december 15th. Because you never know when life. Will change. Get covered today. Hows it going down there . Thats good. Lica misses you. Im over it though. laughter thats fine. I miss her more than you anyway. Hey, my window is closing. Yeah thats okay. Alright miles. I love you. phone hangs up yeah i love you too. Its just my eczema again,t. But its fine. Yeah, its fine. You ok . Eczema. Its fine. Hey hi arent you hot . Eczema again . Its fine. I saw something the other day. Eczema exposed. Your eczema could be something called atopic dermatitis, which can be caused by inflammation under your skin. Maybe you should ask your doctor . Go to eczemaexposed. Com to learn more. Good morning, america. Its 8 00 a. M. Dustin hoffman under fire. Five new women accuse the actor of Sexual Assault and misconduct. One says she was just 16 at the time. Matt damon is weighing in on Harvey Weinstein and louis c. K. Saying the hollywood sex scandals are on a spectrum. First come first serve on Free Shipping friday. Almost a thousand retailers changing the game. How to score no minimum Free Shipping. Plus, all your dream deals to get your Holiday Shopping done. Health alert. Its a new option in maternity wards across the country, gentle csections, so how do they work and why more women are choosing them . Dr. Ashton is here live. The last jedi has finally arrived. Star wars on the verge of breaking Major Box Office records, the major questions answered in a galaxy far, far away. Plus this morning, Benicio Del Toro joins us live with all the secrets. R2d2 is here to say [ r2d2 sounds ] that means good morning, america. You got moves there. R2d2 has moves. Good morning, america. Happy friday. Just ten days until christmas. Yes, it is. Well celebrate with a christmas cookie showdown. Thats what im talking about. We searched the country for the best recipes and now three lucky viewers, theyre here, theyre going to go head to head and we have celebrity chef Richard Blais to help judge and hes not judging alone but with those kid taste testers so everybody gets in on the fun. Theyre having a good time as well. First we want to get to that gop tax plan. On a fast track to christmas but hitting a bit of a roadblock as some key gop senators withhold their support. I want to go back to our senior Congressional Correspondent mary bruce on capitol hill. Good morning, mary. Reporter good morning, george. Well, the new gop tax bill is barely off the ground but already there are signs of trouble. Republicans can only afford to lose two votes and right now senator marco rubio says hes a no. Hes concerned about the Child Tax Credit and senator bob corker is also expected to be a no. He has worries about what it could do to the deficit and there are others on the fence waiting for more details. Heres what we learned is in the bill. It cuts the Corporate Tax rate and top tax rate for wealthy individuals. For the middle class, it doubles the standard deduction but limits state and local deducts that many rely on and gets rid of the obamacare individual mandate which could leave millions more americans uninsured. Now, still no word on how they plan to pay for this 1. 5 trillion package. Republicans could be releasing their bill later this afternoon and theyre still hoping for a vote early next week. Some important details coming. Thanks very much. George, now to those new allegations against Dustin Hoffman. Five more women are accusing the actor of Sexual Misconduct and were also learning that the nypd is investigating music mogul Russell Simmons based on accusations from nearly a dozen women. Eva pilgrim is back. Has more on all this. Good morning, eva. Reporter good morning, the list of allegations just keeps growing. This morning Dustin Hoffman facing new accusations, one a friend of hoffmans daughter telling variety when she was 16 years old hoffman exposed himself to her at a hotel in 1980. Hoffmans attorney sending a letter to the magazine calling them defamatory falsehoods. Meanwhile, this morning the nypd confirms it is investigating music mogul Russell Simmons based on allegations made by nearly a dozen women including four who now say the def jam founder raped them. Simmons denying the rape charges and posting on instagram notme. That hashtag prompting another woman to come forward. Kelly ka troen saying in 1996 simmons raped her. S and matt damon addressing the now long list of allegations that have rocked hollywood saying theres a spectrum of behavior that ranges from patting someones butt to rape. The oscar winner defending Comedian Louis c. K. But ripping into Harvey Weinstein who has denied any criminal allegations. Robin. All right, eva, thank you. Were going to switch gears and talk about the holidays which are the season for giving. We know it can be very expensive to get the perfect gift for everyone on your list. A lot of people on your list, but Queen Elizabeth has Buckingham Palace staff to buy for. This year the treats are coming from tesco, the supermarket known for bargains. She bought the pudding this year for 11 each. 11 each. 1,500 people on sale. On sale. I didnt know there was a royal grocer. I didnt either but weve learned something new every day here, george. She likes a bargain like the rest of us. I want to know how the pudding is. Coming up what hollywoods hashtag me too movement. And lara, youre upstairs. Whats going on . Hi, michael. Yeah, it is official. Star wars is finally here in theaters today. And look whos with us to celebrate. The one, the only r2d2 and another star of the film, ben ees yoe del toro coming up on good morning america. Weve got a great crowd. You need to guys to get up here. Come on back, everybody. Ut a li in your heart. Youll see its getting late, oh please dont hesitate. Put a little love in your heart. In your heart. In your heart. In your heart. In your heart. vo going on now, our subaru share the love event will have donated over one hundred fifteen Million Dollars to those in need. Pain from chest congestion can make this. When you have a cold,. Feel like this. Allinone cold symptom relief from tylenol®, the 1 doctor recommended pain relief brand. Tylenol®. I cant believe it comes in. How great this tastes vegaaaan. And organiiiic. 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[ applause ] friday. Friday. I love friday. I know you do. Your eyes are glowing today. Because of this incredible audience. Yes. [ applause ] okay, when i hit the elevator they said robin, we have breaking news. Im like, oh, my gosh, whats going on. Okay, this is the breaking news, its royal breaking news. We have a date for the wedding, everybody. Very exciting. We have a date. Meghan markle will marry prince harry on may 19th. May 19th. Windsor castle. Thats exciting. You just stole my lead. That would have been a great pop news story. 26th, i thought. Now its the 19th. Thats thoughtful because isnt that around memorial day . More convenient for us to go. Exactly. Its exciting. Hopefully well all be there. Hopefully. How about some pop news, lara. Robin, i would love to give you it. This first story, so much going on right now. Especially in hollywood. We begin with a major protest brewing this awards season. Sources confirming to People Magazine that actresses both nominees and presenters are planning to wear all black in solidarity as a protest against Sexual Harassment in hollywood. Sources say the protest will begin with the Golden Globes and may extend throughout the entire awards season right on up to the oscars. This on the heels of news we shared yesterday that the 2018 s. A. G. Awards will feature only female presenters. Change is in the air. You will see it first at the Golden Globe Awards when they air on january 7th. The award season will be very interesting this year. Absolutely, absolutely. A lot of people talking about that. Also this morning, the Girl Power Movement has even crept into the holiday classics. A woman by the name of cat reynolds posted a tweet with a huge response and wrote male reindeer lose their antlers, females dont which means santas sleigh was pulled by or is pulled by a team of strong, powerful, underrated women. [ cheers and applause ] weve been lied to all these years. Received more than 670,000 likes so we decided to look into it and, in fact, cat, you are correct. University of edinboro professor jerrold lincoln said they shed them after mating season and would never have them at christmastime. Female still have them so dasher, dancer, prancer, vixen, comet, cupid, donner, blitzen first introduced in 1823. Theyre all actually fabulous hard working ladies. Im just looking straight ahead and see robin look at me going [ laughter ] you know what that also means, rudolph. Yeah. He had the antlers. Just saying. Scandal. It is a scandal. Scandalous. Finally, guys, a nativity scene that became just a scene. In tennessee, all of this recorded by teigens mom and thankfully she shared it with us. Watch this. Go ahead. So 2yearold tegan gets up. She breaking character is supposed to be a sheep swipes that baby jesus from the manger for a hug but guess what, 3yearold kalia is not having it. Shes playing mary. She gets up. She wants her baby back. Watch this. Give me my savior back. Its going to happen. Oh, yeah. Oh, no. Shes going down. Come on. A wrestling match at the manger. Oh, no. Tegans mom says the two are actually great friends, all is well. That video viewed on facebook over 5 million times. 5 million more now. So funny. If it went smoothly we wouldnt have seen that. Great thing about working with kids. Pop news is great as always on your friday edition. Lara spencer, everybody. Now to our retail revolution. Becky worley is back because it is Free Shipping friday. Yes, it is. Almost a thousand online retailers are offering big deals and these retailers guarantee that if you buy the gift theyll be there before christmas and becky is here to share all of that with us and, becky, im a lastminute guy. Great news for me. Like everyone else out there are there minimums to what i need to buy in order to get the Free Shipping . Not with all of these participants, michael. No minimum purchase for Free Shipping. Thats the premise of this entire day. You know online retailers usually have a 50 or 100 threshold. Today is different. As you said, almost 1,000 retailers participating. Shipping costs, nada, nothing, bubkis. All big name stores or Boutique Stores involved, as well. Its a little of both. You start at the Free Shipping day. Com site to get the codes and heres a pro tip. Not all those Free Shipping offers are listed on the retailers target, macys, ugg, notably amazon and walmart. Com are not participating. But if you need small ticket items from a bunch of different places, today is the time to do it. Today is the time. Theyre expecting over a billion dollars in sales. If you sell over a billion dollars, thats a lot of shipping. How do you keep track of that having multiple things coming from all over the place. Theres an app i love, slice, it combs your inbox and amazon account and finds tracking numbers and then as soon as something is out for delivery, you get a notification. I also recommend the u. P. S. App. Its tied to your Mailing Address and alerts you on your phone with delivery info in advance and this is great for that fight against porch pirates stealing your packages. Yeah, we all have to watch those porch pirates. I like that name right there. Also, we understand this is Free Shipping friday. Thats a big deal but are there other deals we can look forward to, a little more than just shipping . Yeah, there are deals. Theyre not insane but theyre good deals and were coming down to crunch time so any deal is good. If clothing items are still on your gift list, roll in the rack, guys, there are some deals, solets go through some of the clothing deals. At old navy, 35 off if you spend 75 bucks. Lands end, 40 off the whole site. Danskin, 30 off sitewide and i know a hot teen gift is jeans, 10 sitewide. But, michael, step away from the clothing rack. This is for gifts only. Clothing discounts get way better after christmas so dont buy for yourself now. This is the sweater i wore becky, i wore this sweater the other day. And now youre trying to sell it but anyway, go ahead. You know, were upcycling. Lara is very fond of that. I want to talk about toys as we close this out. As christmas gets closer, michael, prices do get lower in store. If its a hot item like hand in that tyler the tiger toy, guys. Its cute. Its adorable. Ooh, i can hear it purring. Order it while its Still Available online. Theyre scarce and going fast. Right now its 94 bucks at amazon and walmart and qualifies for Free Shipping. Call me a scrooge but i think thats also good. [ applause ] you are far from a scrooge but the bearer of good news. Always great talking to you. Im going to keep my tiger because youre ggggreat. Robin, were going to go over to you. Because youre ggggreat. Merry christmas. Michael, now to the new option for mothers that are giving birth called a gentle csection and advocates say it can change the entire experience for the mother and also benefit the baby. Erielle reshef is here and youre going to take a look at this. Really interesting so imagine aromatherapy, soothing music, right . A quiet ambience soups more like a spa maybe, not an operating room planning for a csection, the gentle c may be the same surgery but a new way to bring baby into the world and one mom let us into her journey. A growing trend making its way to maternity wards across the country. Gentle csections giving moms a more mindful and memorable way to give birth. Really looking forward to being able to hole the baby right array. Reporter Tara Martinez had her first son by emergency csection. For medical reasons she knew baby number two would be born via cesarean section but wanted a different experience so her doctor remembered the gentle c. Its the same technique but its really a state of mind. We try to incorporate mom into the entire process. Csections are one of the most common surgeries in the u. S. More than 1. 3 million are performed each year. Its still the same operation but the gentle c now an alternative approach more doctors and mops are embracing. The request for this type of concept have absolutely increased over the years. Reporter minimizing chatter in the or to hear babys first cry. Giving mom a choice of music and aromatherapy. And another clear difference, trading out that traditional blue drape for a seethrough one. A practice pioneered at brigham and Womens Hospital in boston. What was it like to look through the clear drape and see him come out . It was amazing. With my first i dont even remember meeting him for the first time so this was totally different. Reporter taras birthing team walked us through another modification, putting the monitors away from her chest to allow immediate skintoskin contact. Youre carrying the baby for the first nine months and you want to hole him. Definitely felt more of like childbirth as opposed to just having a surgery. Are you going to smile . Almost. Yay. Reporter looking back on little landons birth tara says those small changes made all the difference. As great an experience as giving birth to meet your baby at the end and thats the main thing anyways, right. Look what you have to show for it. Exactly. Doctors say so far they dont see any downsides to the gentle c but plenty of benefits and talk to your doctor ahead of time to make a birth plan. Modifications should not cost any more than a tradition cesarean section and, inning father, many hospitals are already making this common practice. Erielle, thank you. Well talk to our doctor, dr. Jen. This is major surgery. Take us into the o. R. From a ders perspective. This is a laparotomy going into the abdominal cavity with an average cesarean section there is about a liter of blood loss so it can be messy and a lot of people in the o. R. , two surgeons, scrub nurse and circulating nurse, there are one or two anesthesiologists and theres a nurse and possibly a pediatrician there for a baby so it could be nine to ten people before you even count the patient and her partner. This is not like a nail salon. This is an operating room and we follow normal surgical procedures, largely for patients safety and thats how were trained. Tell me about the gentle csection. What do you think about this . Better for the baby. I think its largely a pr campaign and really it does not change any of the safety procedures, but and it needs more research but in theory there can be some benefits for the baby and mom. It can father 1i8 tate bonding. It can improve breastfeeding and reduce infant crying and less stressful for the mother and baby and less surgical and these, you know, small changes like a clear drape, they dont affect what were doing as surgeons. As you said its very crowded in there to begin with. Exactly. So what if the loved one doesnt want to be in there. This is what i tell people all the time. I love being in an operating room. Most normal meme dont want to be so to have a degree of fear or anxiety, what if i see something, what if im going to pass out, they are real and we are used to that. The concern is that we dont want the partner to pass out and then to detract our attention away from the two patients were caring for because were not just going to step over that person. The tips i recommend if you go into the o. R. , look at the mom, not the room. You can loosen the surgical mask so youre not breathing in your co2 and can make you faint and turn your back to the o. R. Table and, again, avert that. If you dont feel well, tell the nurse or doctor next to you because that feeling does not go away. It ends with someone passing out. Quickly, other things being done to ease the birthing process. Absolutely. Ers always making it more homelike. As long as everything is going smoothly we are all for that. If o mom or baby has a problem we get serious real fast. We brought you christmas light displays. Last night i watched the great christmas light fight on abc. Adam goshen in indiana. Listen. Calls me oh, yeah, look at that coordination. I mean i can just picture their kids back there with the switches trying to time it oh, its a computer. Its a computer. Well done, im abc7 news meteorologist drew tuma with your accuweather forecast. Today it will be mild. Well see mostly sunny skies, temperatures in the mid to upper 60s. It is a sparetheair day as well. Our eighth of the winter season. It is illegal to burn wood the next 24 hours. Your accuweather sevenday forecast. The next seven days ark hazy afternoon. Over the weekend, the winds turn gusty, a wind advisory in effect along with a redflag warning because fire conditions will be critical saturday and sunday. All right so the countdown is on to our Big Christmas cookie showdown minutes away but celebrity chef judge and author of so good the cookbook Richard Blais is here. Cookie confidential. Well get a quick question from the audience from grant. Hello, grant. Hi. So im not a great baker and i was wanting to know i would like a cookie that i can make quickly. Thats awesome because youre not a great baker so how about a no bake cookie. Love it. [ applause ] and thats exactly what we have here. Coconut snowballs and warm up some milk and fold in shredded coconut, oats, a little bit of cocoa, sugar, butter, vanilla. Put them in the fridge. Put them in the fridge to get that texture you want and then you elicit the help of your whole family and become your labor force and roll a bunch of snowballs and dont have to bake anything. I just rolled a snowball right off the table. We will have that on our website if you want to get it. Ill get these guys to taste. Dont go anywhere and we just dont want you to mess with this little guy. The rescue wrestling video that has gone viral and Benicio Del Toro is with us live. Gma will be right back. Your gma moment brought to you by the frame from samsung, the most beautiful tv youve never seen. And good morning. Its 8 27. Im reggie aqui from abc7 mornings. Heres a live look inside san franciscos city hall. Thats where mayor ed lee is now lying in state. It will remain there for public viewing until 7 00 p. M. His memorial celebration will be held sunday at 3 00 p. M. At city hall. It is open to the public, and if you cant make it, well have live coverage here on abc7 news. Now over the sue hall and look at your traffic today. All right. Still a grind getting to the bay bridge via highway 80. An hour and 30 minute through hercules through this clogged mess into san francisco. Metering lights have been on since 5 33 this morning. Thats not the problem. There were several earlier incidents. Take b. A. R. T. If you can, 60 train on time, no problem with cal train, and well take you outside, live look at future tower camera, the haze is with us, a sparetheair day in effect. The poorest air quality along the north bay and the coast. In 30s and 40s right now but well go into the 60s later today. The accuweather sevenday forecast, next seven days, windy on saturday with a redflag warning over the weekend. Well have another abc7 news update in about 30 minutes and always on our news app and abc7news. Com. Hope you join us monday through friday from 4 30 a and the trumpets they go hey, everybody. The trumpets they go welcome back to gma. We got to give a very happy friday shoutout to our incredible audience that we have here this morning. Thank you, guys. [ applause ] were also going to give them more fun video. The wrestling match over baby jesus. Well, this is similar theme going on comes from columbia city, watch 5yearold ruby is wrestling her opponent and look what happens right there. Rubys 2yearold brother chris comes swooping in. Is he trying to protect her. Hes trying to protect his sister. Thats jack. He thought his sister was in real trouble so he stepped in to save her. There you go. Dont touch my sister. He didnt even say dont touch my sister. He came just throwing blows. How sweet was that. Half a million views on youtube posted by her mom. Dont mess with his sister. You wont regret watching this video. Everyone knows he loves his big sister. Trouble. Now i have something thats up for debate. Okay. Viral video. Its a question thats been dividing people, been dividing them around the world and in my dressing room this morning. How do you slice your toast . Oh, okay. Diagonal. Students from a university in england tweeted out this picture asking that exact question gives you three choices, number one on the diagonal. Number two, horizontally or number three, vertically. Well, some people argue diagnose nation diagonal is the only way to go. I always felt like it was a little aggressive, the points. I prefer the number two style. Was your toast dry . A little dry. Well, stay away from my producer, sara. You might fight over this one. You like number two. Here we go. One this is what one person tweeted. Gives them anxiety which is exactly the opposite for you. Number one gives you anxiety. Number one worries me. Does anybody do number three . You do. One person right here. Shes now looking around, oh, sorry. Oh. Right there. Youre on an island now, young lady. They say if you cut your toast like number three someone tweeted theres something wong with you. No. Thats what somebody tweeted. I didnt say it. I just read it. Are you a triangle. I cut it down the middle. If your toast is giving you anxiety eat Something Else for breakfast. You cut it vertically. No. Horizontal. No, horizontal . Right down the middle. Right down the middle. I dont know. Down the middle . Im explaining it to you because my producer has been on me all morning. This is why you cut it horizontally because you get more fast to eat. Thats more bread. All the same amount of bread. Its one piece. But your bite gives you more bread surface to start out with and less crust. I feel like its all crust with the triangle. I tell you right now im not going to argue about the toast anymore. I was going to say. Its a big debate. The whole university did a big debate on it. Wow, happy friday, everybody. [ applause ] i know ow to cut the toast for you. I asked and vast majority said diagonal. What somebody sent me and how they cut their bread. I mean, come on, really. Theyre just trying to show off. Thats sweet. Thats very sweet. Looks like a lot of extra work. That doesnt give you anxiety. No, im very calm. This is going to really calm you down. Who are we bringing out next, the hottest in the hottest movie right now, star wars the last jedi, finally out and we are celebrating by bringing a new member of the franchise right here to our breakfast table. Please welcome Academy Award winner, Benicio Del Toro. [ applause ] good to see you again. Yeah, good to see you. How are you . How are you, sir . Good to see you. Wonderful to see you. Thank you. Hey, long time no see, man. How are you doing, buddy . [ applause ] awesome. [ applause ] for both. The movie is finally out. Yeah. Everyone is very excited about it and were excited to see you because we didnt see you in the promos and trailer and were like we know that youre in it so tell us what you can about your character. His name is dj and he basically comes into the destiny of two of the main characters in the movie, finn and rose and takes them tries to help them and they go for a ride with him a little bit. I mean its a long ride. Its a long ride. Its a little ride but its a good ride. That explains it. But also what does dj stand for, your characters name . No. I dont know if im allowed to say but its like its a riddle in what he says in the movie. Its there. Its there. So you got to pay attention. You got to pay attention. Star wars does that a lot. So you took your daughter as your date to the world premiere, i understand. Yeah. And we have some video of her on the red carpet there. Shes very cute. Very shes happy. Ah. Shes a ham like her dad. Shes adorable. What did she think . Thats her cousin. Did she have a critique for you. She did like the movie but she fell asleep. She fell asleep. Late night, yeah. You know, she fell asleep like she saw me in the movie and she did one of those lying. Thats so cute. But she fell asleep. That ups your cool factor. Had you seen the movie before the premiere. No. What did you think. I loved the movie. Great cast. Great ensemble cast. Some of the best young actors working in hollywood, john boyega, daisy ridley, daad adam driver, great bad guy in movies, one of the best out there. Great. What i meant to say and what george said did it surprise you when you were shooting what they ended up doing because its been so masked in secrecy. Were you surprised . You know what, i raid the script so i kind of like i was i was surprised about the scope of everything, but, you know, the story stayed pretty close to the script so they let you read the whole script. Not just your screens. Yeah, i was. Because its Benicio Del Toro. I was allowed. Everybody wasnt. The buzz for the movie is out of this world. Okay, that was a pun. But the reason i say that is because International Space station, theyre going to ship this movie up so the astronauts can watch it. So question for you, if youre in outer space whats the one movie you take with you to watch . Oh, boy. I dont know. Well first ill take my home movies, you know, when i was a kid. [ laughter ] okay, but i guess i dont know the godfather maybe. Ah. Thats a good one. Godfather i or 2. The trilogy. Give you plenty of stuff. Or the last jedi or not. But the last jedi is already up there. Its going to be up there. Its going to be up there. Go to the space station and check it out. We dont have to rory about that because its out today. Came out late last night. Great movie and were glad youre in it. Thank you. Im glad im in it. Im glad youre in it too and so is your daughter from the pictures we saw earlier. It is the last jedi and courtesy of our friends at imax, everyone in our audience will get tickets to check it out for free. Awesome. [ applause ] and coming up, everybody, we have our christmas cookie weaving your own shoes. By out of flax. Or simply adjust your thermostat. Do your thing, with Energy Upgrade california. Back knew on gma, star wars the last jedi, a force at the box office but look at some of these hot toys to get you jedi ready, our sponsor walmart and jordan hembrough is here to talk about what theyre playing with. Hot items here. They are. They are. Okay, lets start with this one, this is bb8. Everybody knows bb8 the droid from the force awakens and is back in the last jedi. This is done by our friends at sero. You can download an app on your phone or tablet and send them on cool missions and interacts with you and the movies and watch a movie with him and hell interact with you. He is fantastic. Devin is playing with him right now. Show me some of the controls. There you go. Wow, is that pretty easy to use . Pretty easy . Pretty good, yeah . Oh. Hes got my foot. Easy. Thats battle damage, bb8 just like the movie but you put him together again. Perfect. Thats supposed to happen. Dont be alarmed. Destiny ray. I love this line from the forces of destiny line and coupled with hasbro who we love hasbro. What they did is create a line of dolls that celebrate the strong women in the star wars universe. Not only do we have rey, we have leia, her legs. What do you think about that, zoe . Good stuff . Good stuff and finally, little bit. We love these guys. This is a steam product. Steam stands for science, technology, engineering, art and math. These guys will give you everything you need to create a fully functional droid robot you control with your phone or tablet from littlebits. Thats it. How about that, you are a droid building master. You guys are jedi ready for the new premiere. [ cheers and applause ] yeah . Yeah, were all feeling the force, fantastic. All these items at walmart or walmart. Com. Thanks so much, jordan. Thank you. May the im abc7 news meteorologist drew tuma with your accuweather forecast. Mainly sunny, in the mid to upper 60s later this afternoon. The accuweather sevenday forecast turns rather windy on saturday, ace were busy playing with our toys. Over to you. All right. Did you hear christmas is just ten days away . Anybody know that. Ten days away so we have been searching for the ultimate christmas cookie and we have three beautiful viewers. Theyre going to go headtohead this morning. Donna, emily and arielle. Nice to have them here and celebrity chef Richard Blais who is here to help us judge. Yes. And, of course, no one loves cookies more than kids so we have our kids here to help us as our taste testers, as well and we got to say may the best cookie win. Thats what this contest is about. The best cookie and, richard, you brought some of your favorite christmas cookies. Why do you love these so much. I did. I love cookies of all sorts just to be clear. Im a fan. I love these cookies because theyre almost a dough thought to be honest. How can you not love them. Almond cookies and traditional sugar cookie filled with jelly and tried to make mine look like a wreath but that is sort of part of the spirit of the holidays to have fun with the design. You do that and your Favorite Recipes to learn how to make all that stuff on there. What else . Starving for attention is my new podcast and bring people in from the food world and chop it up and talk about things whether its recipes or just what they got going. Starving for attention. I love that. Very good. Podcast and the matching glasses with im trying to be very look at who i have to stand around. I know. Look at these three. Lets get going, donna, i understand since the age of 3 youve had a spat la in your hand. In my grandmothers kitchen cooking. Today i aed a dark chocolate caramel sea salt thumbprint. So with what is your secret ingredient. In the recipe is most recipes chocolate cookies have cocoa powder. I use melted chocolate so it makes it really moist and keeping it real. This has an amazing sort of its got that ooeygooey texture. You dont skip on the heavy cream. No, heavy cream goes in the caramel when you melt it and when you put it in the cookie and then it hardens again it stays nice and soft. Doesnt get as hard. Oh as caramel you possibly didnt know that but heavy cream was my old deejay name. It was. [ laughter ] that is the trick with the caramel. Oh, man, you know what, you have three grandkids and hadi is here. Hello, hadi. She loves to help you cook. She is in the kitchen with me every week at least. Which is really nice. You know what were going to do. Let our taste testers. Go ahead, kids. Try nonnas cookie. Now emily from texas. All right. [ applause ] hey, emily. So what do you have for us . Well, i made the classic sugar cookie. When you think of christmas you think of the sugar cookie because its so customizable what youre able to pretty much do anything with them. Emily, youre underselling yourself. The classic christmas cookie. You made a sweater. I can wear this cookie, emily. Wow, that looks good. Two tips for your cookies. I love to use the meringue powder for the icing and for flavoring i use the almond emulsion because it just melts in your mouth. Mmmm. Classic sort of a holiday flavor. So well designed in thank you. Thank you. So, kid, give emilys cookie a try, okay. All right. Okay. The kids the kids arent complaining. The kids are like i can do this every day [ laughter ] now well come down to arielle from brooklyn. [ cheers ] yes, from look ling. What kind of cookies do you have. I have chock chip cranberry oatmeal cookies and dipped in dark chocolate. Okay. And how do you keep and white chocolate. You have a secret to keep them from drying out. After you have your ingredients together and put it in the oven, when its halfway done you go in there and press them down. And i found that this keeps the moisture in them so if you like nice moist cookies. You found that it keeps the moisture in there. It definitely does. This is incredible. I got one right off the sheet. Theres nothing like a warm cookie. Thats incredible. And i heard you love to cook to music so whats like your cooking jam. I kind of like 24 karat magic. Who didnt know that . I dont know. I think i just had a hunch. The kids are going, come on. Can we have that cookie . Go ahead, kid, try the final cookie. Try arielles cookie. This is going to be hard, richard. This is going to be hard. One thing thats not hard, theyre all better than ply cookies. So which cookie will come out on top . Well have the results next so come on back. Ill try a few myself now. [ applause ] all the drama. All the drama. Back now with our christmas cookie showdown. Our entire audience, are you enjoying those gingerbread cookies from the Great Northern food hall . [ applause ] okay, were going to find out which viewer is going to take home cant we get a better very nice trophy, richard. Its a gold dipped cookie. I guess thats entirely edible. No, its not. Youve been conferring with the kid testers, right . Kids, weve been talking about it. Kind of a tough decision but have we come up with a decision . Uhhuh. Yes. So well review the choice, we have donnas dark chocolate caramel thumbprint cookies, emily showed us her christmas cheer sugar cookies and arielle brought her chocolate chip cranberry oatmeal cookies. So, richard and kids, who is the winner, drum roll, please. [ drum roll ] are we ready. The winner is emily [ cheers and applause ] congratulations. Congratulations. Thank you. Good job. Good job. [ cheers and applause ] richard, real quick, what put emilys cookie over the top. You could wear her cookie. But, again, just i mean everything was delicious. Just the design, just edged her out just a little bit but all three were amazing. All right, donna, all the recipes are on our website so make them for your little ones as well. Well be right back. [ applause ] for mildtomoderate eczema . It can be used almost everywhere on almost everybody. The face of a fisherman . The hand of a ranch hand . The knee of a needle pointer . Prescription eucrisa is a nose to toes eczema ointment. It blocks overactive pde4 enzymes within your skin. And its steroidfree. Do not use if you are allergic to eucrisa or its ingredients. Allergic reactions may occur at or near the application site. The most common side effect is application site pain. Ask your doctor about eucrisa. Weaving your own shoes. By out of flax. Or simply adjust your thermostat. Do your thing, with Energy Upgrade california. Announcer tuesday get a red hot start to your morning with geazy and halsey and a Live Performance you cant miss only on good morning america. Presented by carmax. Good morning america is brought to you by aleve. All day strong, all day long. Congratulations again to emily. [ cheers and applause ] richard, thank you for being here, as well as our little testers. Have a great weekend, everybody. When you have doctors working as a team for your health, you get the care you need to help you thrive. Visit kp. Org to learn more. Kaiser permanente. Thrive. And good morning. Im reggie aqui from abc7 mornings. Meteorologist drew tuma has a look at your forecast. Hi, reggie. Our bay bridge camera showing haze in the atmosphere, a sparetheair day today. North bay and coast have the worst air quality. Temperatures right now are settling in the mid40s in most spots. Later on today going into the mid and upper 60s. Enjoy. Still, believe it or not, this is an improvement getting to the bay bridge. It was an hour and a hatch from hercules a bit ago. Metering lights still on but it has not thinned out at all. Debris in lanes, rebar southbound 280 before 101, causing havoc there. And an accident south 880 after 238. Thank, you sue. Well be back at 11 00 a. M. For the abc7 midday news. Our reporting continues online on abc7news. Com and our news app. Join us every monday through friday from 4 30 to 7 00 a. M. Have a great weekend. Time for live with kelly ryan. Announcer its live with kelly and ryan today, awardwinning cast member of saturday night live, kate mckinnon. And from Pitch Perfect 3, actress hailee steinfeld. And we will introduce you to our special holiday wish list honoree. Plus, we wrap up lives Holiday Gift Guide with the hottest tech presence of the season. All next on live [cheers and applause] and now, here are kelly ripa and Ryan Seacrest [cheers and applause] ryan hey throw down, throw down how are you, how are you