The suspect starts firing. A s. W. A. T. Team rushes to the scene. The frightening standoff caught on camera. Good good good to shall alive right about now good to be alive. The snowboarder swallowed by an avalanche sliding down a mountain buried by the snow. The birthday present strapped to his back that may have helped keep him alive. Its good to be alive right about now i was dead in the water and good morning, america. Great to be with all of you. I felt like i was going down the mountain with that man right there, tom oye, and as we said hes lucky to be alive. 20 minutes going down there 20 seconds, i should say. Now, that would be something. That would be. 20 seconds in an avalanche and well show you that and a lot of news to get to and a lot of tough weather out west. Yeah, you know, we see all that snow but theres so much rain, as well. Lets take a look at this home in california that is so flooded that you could see someone is kayaking through the home. Why would you want to . Yeah. Thats hard to watch like that, but gingers going to have much more on that dangerous flooding coming up. But first, big news from washington overnight. The Senate Taking those first steps to repeal the Affordable Care act and also word that one of Donald Trumps major nominees may be in trouble. Our Congressional Correspondent mary bruce starts us off from capitol hill. Good morning, mary. Reporter good morning, robin. It was a dramatic late night here at the capitol, the senate buzzing until after 1 00 this morning, lawmakers coming one step closer to repealing obamacare. But there is still a long, bitter fight ahead, and this morning, as you mentioned, another fight is brewing, we are now seeing what could be the first major roadblock to a trump nominee. The president elects formal rival possibly standing in the way of his pick for secretary of state. Throughout the ninehour confirmation hearing, marco rubio hammered former exxonmobil Ceo Rex Tillerson on his ties to Vladimir Putin. Is Vladimir Putin a war criminal . I would not use that term. Do you believe that Vladimir Putin and his cronies are responsible for ordering the murder of countless dissidents, journalists and political opponents . I do not have sufficient information to make this claim. None of is this classified, mr. Tillerson. These people are dead. Reporter rubios vote is key. They have just a oneperson majority on the Senate ForeignRelations Committee. Without his support, tillersons nomination could stall, and this morning trumps formal rival is still not convinced. You know, i have to make sure that im 100 behind whatever decision that i make. Reporter straight off the bat, tillerson took a strong stance on russia. We must also be cleareyed about our relationship with russia. Russia today poses a danger. Our nato allies are right to be alarmed at a resurgent russia. Reporter but his relationship with Vladimir Putin was hard to shake. I and many of my colleagues have deep concerns about your relationship with mr. Putin. Do you believe these activities could have happened without the knowledge and the consent of Vladimir Putin . What are you going to say to Vladimir Putin when he says to you but, rex, you said sanctions were bad . My pivot now if confirmed to be secretary of state will have one mission only, and that is to represent the interests of the american people. Reporter under fire for their unusual ties seen here toasting with champagne, putin giving him the order of friendship award. The question now, could trumps pick for the nations top diplomat be in jeopardy . I think its important if youre going to stand for moral clarity that you be clear. Reporter now some republicans this morning are urging rubio to meet with tillerson one more time and, rubio, hes holding his cards close. But without his support, tillerson could lose that key vote in the Senate ForeignRelations Committee and that could put his whole confirmation at real risk. George. Okay, mary, thanks very much. Lets talk about this more now with jon karl right here, as well. That was something yesterday, marco rubio, Rex Tillerson going headtohead and he really bored down and if he does vote no, it could put the nomination in jeopardy. No question about it, george. First of all, if he votes no in the committee it becomes if the democrats say no, it becomes a negative vote against tillerson. That doesnt tank it. That doesnt tank it. They can still have a floor vote. What did john mccain and Lindsey Graham do if their partner in crime, marco rubio is voting no. They have been as critical as rubio of the russia ties and could create a situation where it goes down. If you lose three republicans enormous pressure on rubio but i got to tell you the republicans are confident at the end of the day rubio will see what a big deal this would be, how it would freeze him out for the rest of trumps term, create a lot of enemies in his own party and they believe rubio will ultimately vote yes. And he is giving tillerson a second chance. Going to submit written questions. Well see what happens there. Lets talk about obamacare. First big vote in the senate. Just basically a framework for how to repeal. This is just a first step. This is just a first step. But its a critically important first step. Because if the house follows situation where obamacare can be repealed with just 51 votes. Only republicans can do it. On their own. Trump is promising a plan within weeks to have, you know, repeal and replace, but we still have no idea what he wants to replace it with. And real divisions inside the Republican Party over how to replace obamacare. Meantime, the confirmation hearings continue. Ben carson, another former rival of donald trump, up today. He has been nominated for housing secretary even though hes a surgeon. The most interesting hearing of all. He is a brain surgeon, brilliant, has a great personal story, he has no experience whatsoever in the issue of public housing. So he is going to be drilled for hours on the specifics of what housing and urban development does. Well see how much homework presumably he has boned up on it. I know hes doing mocked hearings and taped these and looked at game tape. Hes done a lot of homework but this is an entirely new field for him. It is not brain surgery. So well see how he does. Okay, jon karl, thanks very much. Michael. All right, thank you, george. And lets bring in cecilia vega now to talk about all the fallout from president elect Trumps Press Conference yesterday. It got pretty heated. And you were in the middle of it all. Yeah, i had a front row seat to it, michael. Good morning. When you go 168 days without a press conference, it is bound to be a freeforall and this was. There were bombshells and there were fireworks. Can you give us a question . Reporter Donald Trumps first News Conference since election day turning heated. Mr. President elect shes asking a question. Dont be rude. Dont be rude. Can you give us a question . Dont be rude. Im not going to give you a question. Can you state categorically you are fake news. Reporter the president elect refusing to call on a cnn reporter angry about that story on those bombshell dossier allegations. Its all fake news. Its phony stuff. It didnt happen. Reporter trump denying unsubstantiated claims that he was caught on camera in a Russian Hotel room engaged in salacious behavior saying hed never fall for such a ruse. Im surrounded by bodyguards. Im surrounded by people, and i always tell them anywhere, but i always tell them, if im leaving this country, be very careful. Reporter but this morning his attack on intelligence agencies under attack too. That the intelligence agencies allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake out. I think its a disgrace. And i say that, and i say that and thats something that nazi germany would have done and did do. Reporter jewish groups calling that an offensive trivialization of the holocaust. Ethics experts also expressing concern about his big reveal, in those folders, his plan to turn over operations of the trump Family Business to his two sons, don jr. And eric. I hope at the end of eight years, ill come back and ill say, oh, you did a good job, otherwise, if they do a bad job, ill say, youre fired. Reporter trump saying hell still maintain ownership and that he will not divest himself. There will be no foreign deals of any kind and money paid to his hotels by foreign governments will be donated to the u. S. Government and this first, the president elect saying he accepts those intelligence findings that russia hacked the democrats in the leadup to the election. As far as hacking, i think it was russia. Reporter but then he waivered. You know what, it could have been others also. Reporter but not without delivering a harsh message. If you do, indeed, believe russia is behind the hacking, what is your message to Vladimir Putin right now . He shouldnt be doing it. He wont be doing it. Russia will have much greater respect for our country when im leading it than when reporter yeah, a very rare admonition of Vladimir Putin there. I asked the president elect point blank whether he or anyone on his team had any contact with russia during the campaign. He came back over, michael, and he told me, no, not at all. So, point blank there. You were in the room when he had the Heated Exchange with the cnn reporter, so what was the mood like after that happened, and do you expect this to be the new normal . Yeah, you know, i think the mood in that room was generally stunned. Youre used to seeing sparring at a president ial level press conference. This was more than that. This was more than heated. This was very confrontational, and the question is whether this will be the new norm. I think this has the potential to have a chilling effect. You know, the question is whether donald trump was trying to initiate some retribution here for a story that he didnt like, and its certainly setting the stage for a pretty hostile relationship with this press corps. Well keep our eye on the future and more of these press conferences as well and, george, back to you. Yeah, were going to get more on that right now. As cecilia laid out at that press conference, the president elect said hes turning over control to his two sons. No foreign deals but he could if he chose. Take a look. And was offered 2 billion to do a deal in dubai, a number of deals. And i turned it down. I didnt have to turn it down because, as you know, i have a no conflict situation because im president , which is i didnt know about that until about three months ago, but its a nice thing to have. Hes saying that offer came in just this weekend. Lets talk to dan abrams about this. Right now kind of unusual right there. The president is right that the conflict of interest law does not apply to the president. Yet, you had the head of the office of government ethics come out last night and say what hes done is completely meaningless in terms of conflicts of interest. Right, so lets separate this out into ethics and legal. Lets start with the ethical side of this. He still owns the company. What does that mean . It means that when the company gets richer, donald trump gets richer. It also means, and this is something people arent talking about enough, hes still subject to litigation, so if someone is suing the company, donald trump still has to be involved in that litigation. Thats a big deal. And a third point there, he also knows what his company is. He knows where the businesses are. He knows whether actions he is going to take will help the company. Of course, all hes saying in effect is im not going to have daytoday control over the company, and there are going to be certain restrictions that someone internally is going to oversee. But this does not address according to almost all ethics experts the ethical concerns. Yet, there is also one big law that he may be in conflict with, thats the constitution. All right. Lets talk law for a minute. He is absolutely right that the conflict of interest law does not apply to the president and vice president. That would have been the most likely law someone would say that he could potentially be violating, but there is a clause in the constitution that a lot of people are talking about now called the emoluments clause which basically says that you cant get earnings or pay from a foreign state. Thats what the emolument means and constitutional law professors at the very least believe this is dangerous legal territory for him. There is a bit of a divide over whether its going to apply. Hes trying to minimize that by saying, look, were not going to actually benefit from that foreign money. Were going to donate it in the hope that the profits. Right, in the hope that this will make this less of a concern but i can tell you that the vast majority of legal experts you talk to say this is dangerous legal territory. I know. Almost certain someone or some institution will bring a legal challenge. Absolutely. All right, dan abrams, thanks very much. Were learning more about those unconfirmed claims that trump was targeted in a russian effort to personally compromise him. Intelligence Officials Say the unconfirmed claims should not have been leaked to the public. Our chief investigative correspondent brian ross is here and has the latest for us. Good morning, brian. Reporter good morning, robin. The Intelligence Community is offering a kind of apology to donald trump with the director of National IntelligenceJames Clapper saying in a statement that he talked with donald trump overnight and shared his profound dismay about the leaks of information. Clapper said no decision had been made about whether the information is reliable. But he went on to seemingly confirm that trump had been briefed saying part of our obligation is to ensure that policymakers are provided with the fullest possible picture of any matters that might affect national security, robin. With all that being said, the fbi, the cia, what do they make of these current allegations . Well, exactly, lost in all the back and forth at the News Conference is the fact the fbi continues to investigate the allegations. Abc news has learned they were turned over by a former british spy whos now been identified as an employee of this London Private security company. Hes described as being well known to the fbi, a reliable source of information in a number of past criminal investigations involving russian organized crime and corruption in the International Soccer federation, robin. So bottom line, the investigation is continuing. Absolutely is. All right, brian, thank you very much. Now amy has the other mornings stories with a major recall. Honda is recalling nearly 800,000 vehicles because of that potentially dangerous air bags. The inflators made by takata can explode sending pieces of metal flying through the car. Older model accords and civics are among the cars affected and well have the full list on our website. And some breaking news from baltimore this morning where six children have been reported missing after a house fire. Three others are confirmed injured. The building partially collapsed and firefighters are now having a very difficult time getting inside that house. Well, a u. S. Military investigation has found 33 afghan civilians were killed during a battle with the taliban back in november when air strikes were called in during a firefight. Two u. S. Soldiers also died. And a georgia man faces attempted murder charges after a shootout with an officer. The deputy was responding to a domestic call when the suspect charged toward his vehicle. The deputy is then seen running away jumping over a gate right there before the suspect fires again, wow, and was finally wounded. He was later arrested after a standoff. Both men survived their injuries. And finally, consider this, and this is to you guys. The next time you take a selfie and you flash the peace sign, identity thieves could steal your fingerprints. Scientists in japan say smartphone cameras are so sophisticated, it is possible to steal your fingerprints from a photo taken up to ten feet away as long as youve got that index and middle finger clearly visible. Now, i can say honestly ive never done this. You just did. You just gave it away. Theyre all seeing it right there. But my kids do it. Do your daughters do that . Oh, no, not at all. Yeah. You know what that means . It drives me crazy. Now i have another reason to tell them to stop. Keep your hands down. Good luck with that. All right, thank you, amy. Now lets turn to that major flooding in the west forcing thousands to evacuate, and Kayna Whitworth is in the middle of it all in guerneville, california. Good morning, kayna. Reporter michael, good morning. Here in Sonoma County the Russian River rising well above flood levels for a second time this week impacting more than 650 homes, thousands without power and businesses taking a hit as well. Look behind me. That dips down under six feet of water. Some people feel lucky they made it out at all. This morning, flash flooding pounding Northern California. Emergency crews working relentlessly performing more than 50 high water rescues. We cant see the road. Were kind of just guessing. Reporter this deluge forcing residents to evacuate. Home after home in hollister underwater. It was about two or three feet deep out there moving fast. I hear my mom coming out from the door yelling, girls, girls, get up. Its flooded outside. Reporter watch as this woman kayaks in her living room after her home was overtaken by floodwaters. Sonoma county submerged for a second time in a week. We met with 83yearold ebie charcar, who was rescued from her home in guerneville. Oh, my god, im in the middle of a lake. Reporter in oregon residents digging out after more than a foot of snow and shut it down and the governor declaring a state of emergency. Crews clearing out trees that collapsed under the weight of the snow and in colorado this roof caving in on top of a popular hotel. Thankfully there were no reported injuries. Now, this region is known for producing great wine and now they have to rebuild after the biggest rain event in the state of california in more than a decade. Guys. Okay, kayna, thanks very much. Big rain in california. Ginger, youre following ice. Right, because that same low is going to ride along a jet stream and stationary front which ill show you in a moment and ill get to that as it gets to the middle of the nation. Already icing and freezing rain in Central Illinois and Northern Illinois this morning. Thats why you have freezing rain advisories. Watch the setup. Moist air over the stationary front. It could produce threequarters of an inch to an inch of ice this weekend friday through sunday right there from places like topeka up to champaign, illinois. Coming up, lies and spies. Brian ross lifting a lid on the secret world of russian spying. What theyre really catching on tape. And that bill oreilly bombshell. New allegations about the fox anchor accused of Sexual Harassment. Well get to the bottom of it this morning on gma. Morning on gma. At quaker, for over 140 years, weve known good is made. From the potential that started with the humble oat to the innovative spirit within our people, weve been thoughtfully crafting, perfecting, to bring whats truly good to your table. So, while everyones getting back to whats good, we were always here. Quaker we are the good we make. You could spend the next few days weeding through w2s, pay stubs and Bank Statements to refinance your home. Or you could push that button. Sfx rocket launching. Cockpit sounds. 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The driver was arrested for a suspected dui but theyre taking those chemicals off that truck. They are still working on fixing the barrels. In the meantime, northbound 880 approaching the mission off ramp we have a new crash involving a semiblocking the right lane. Theyre hoping to have that ramp open by 8 00 this morning. Good morning. That drought news you wanted to hear, i have it for you. Its over for the bay area. Were still a little dry but were out of the drought but still 28 of california out of the extreme to the exceptional. Were part of the 35 thats not. How about that . Heres a look at a little bit of rain thats moving out of antioch through discovery bay, byron highway, the alma mont pass getting a little bit of wet. You can see changing over to slightly drier air. The morning will be the biggest impact from this light storm. Hydroplaning and then, to a lesser extent, stream and creek flooding. Weve got an extended period and another Storm Brewing next week. Great news about the drought. Coming up the secret spy wars between the u. S. And russia. Thats next on gma. A live look at the wet highways. Another update in Rex Tillerson put exxons interests before americas. Im not here to represent the us governments interest. Instead, tillerson sided with putin. With billions in russian oil deals. He opposed us sanctions on russia. For war crimes forced to pay hundreds of millions for toxic pollution. Putting profits ahead of our kids health. Tell your senators to reject Rex Tillerson. And protect american interests not corporate interests. Ive lost over 40 pounds. Weight watchers, i can honestly tell you, i struggle no more. Ive eaten everything i love. Tacos, pasta. Ive never felt deprived. I would say to anybody whos thinking about joining weight watchers. Take the leap, and get about the business of enjoying a fantastic and full life. In the first 2 months members have lost 15 more weight than on our prior program. 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Millions of you clicking on facebook to see it again. 10 million and counting. Twin sisters audrey and gracie separated at birth meeting for the first time in person. They had facetime together but it was the first time they were meeting facetoface and they did it right here on gma. Burst out of will. So authentic. Wait till you see what happened after the reunion. They were inseparable. Well show you their first day together. Look at that. And what they learned about each other coming up. They did the same thing as i was leaving the studio yesterday, they were holding hands, skipping down the hall like theres a reason why they have that term separated at birth. They belong together. That makes me so happy. I could watch it all day. Looks like we gave them a late night in times square. Hopefully theyre sleeping right now. Thats the only way to do it, george. Its new york. Also right now, new questions about Donald Trumps cabinet nominees. Tough confirmation hearing yesterday for secretary of state candidate Rex Tillerson, a lot more coming up today, secretary of defense candidate general james mattis, ben carson is going for house secretary, mike pompeo, a tough one for head of the cia and football fans in san diego waking up to some unfortunate news this morning. Sources saying the chargers are planning to move the franchise to los angeles. The owner told commissioner Roger Goodell that they intend to relocate it. Thats been in san diego since 1961. Were they in los angeles before they moved to l. A. It was the rams were in l. A. The raiders were in l. A. I thought at some point. You know, right now in the control room someone will tweet it in. If you are a charger fan, you are disappointed. It was hard for them because they didnt get the new stadium deal and i think that kind of affected their decision. But come on, the fans, you know, you give so much as a fan. Well now you got a twohour drive and you can still go to the game, i guess. I guess so. Thats coming up. We have a lot more to get to. Were going to dig down on how russia spies on the u. S. You saw the president elect in those unsubstantiated claims they caught him on camera in compromising situations but as our chief investigative correspondent responds, that is Standard Operating Procedure for the kgb. Hey, brian. The cold war may be over and the kgb may have a different set of initials, but its increasingly clear from the new allegations out of russia the worlds second oldest profession, espionage is alive and well in moscow, spies up to their old tricks including the use of members from an even older profession. This is the kind of video every american diplomat and business person is warned about when traveling to russia. A u. S. Embassy employee secretly filmed allegedly with a prostitute in a moscow hotel complete with background music. U. S. Officials say a Russian Spy Agency posted this video online after the diplomat refused to work as a double agent. The cold war ended, but the russian intelligence operations in hotels in moscow targeted against americans has never stopped. Reporter which is why u. S. Officials felt they could not simply dismiss the unsubstantiated allegations that the russians had targeted donald trump when he traveled to moscow in 2013 for the Miss Universe contest. Trump claimed wednesday he was too smart to fall for any such russian trap. In those rooms you have cameras in the strangest places. Cameras that are so small with modern technology, you cant see them, and you wont know. You better be careful or youll be watching yourself on nightly television. Reporter u. S. Officials say the russian spy agencies are increasingly aggressive and dont seem to care who knows it. The hacked emails from the Democratic Party were quickly linked to the russians. U. S. Officials say the russians three years ago bugged the phone of a u. S. Assistant secretary of state, victoria nuland, and then posted her conversations online including a profane reference to the european union. That would be great, i think, to help glue this thing and have the u. N. Help glue it and, you know, [ bleep ] the eu. Reporter and the espionage efforts continue at a pace outside of russia. British officials have linked the murder of putin rivals in london to russian Intelligence Officers and experts say spies like the ones depicted in the fx Network Program the americans are still prevalent. Super secret spies that live next door. They look like us and speak better english than we do. Reporter a superben couple in the 1980s leading a double life planted by and reporting back to moscow. We wont let you down, general. Reporter the modern day version involved russian spies, some of whom have been kicked out of the country after being discovered in boston, washington and new york. Most memorably the glamorous young russian woman, anna chapman, now back in russia as a hero. They could be anybody. They could be your neighbor, they could be anybody else but you look at them, you look at their background and theres no indication that that individual is connected with, for example, the russian government. Reporter experts say such undercover operations are a technique favored by a former kgb colonel who is now the russian president , Vladimir Putin. And, of course, it was president putin who the u. S. Says was behind the hacking of the Democratic Party, all designed to help elect donald trump, george. Of course, theyre making no judgment on this targeting. Still unsubstantiated but theyre very active in any case. Okay, brian ross, thanks very much. Okay, george, were going to move on to those Sexual Harassment allegations involving top names at fox news. Former host juliet huddy claimed bill oreilly made repeated unwanted advances. Huddy reportedly struck a settlement with fox shortly after chairman roger ailes was ousted amid similar accusations by another fox personality. Abcs linzie janis joins us now with the details. Good morning, linzie. Reporter good morning, robin. That reported settlement kept quiet until now. Huddy threatening to sue fox claiming when she rebuffed oreillys advances, he tried to derail her career. This morning, newly uncovered allegations against fox news. The Cable Network reportedly reached a financial settlement regarding Sexual Harassment allegations, this time against star anchor bill oreilly. I am bill oreilly. Thanks for watching us tonight. Reporter in a draft of a letter of complaint obtained by lawnewz. Com, a website owned by dan abrams, abc news chief legal analyst, juliet huddy, a former fox news host who had a segment on the Oreilly Factor claims she was replaced after rebuffing several sexual advances from oreilly. I dont know how to explain this. Reporter the document alleges in 2011 oreilly gave huddy a tour of his home where he allegedly moved in and kissed her on the lips. Huddys lawyers saying she allegedly recoiled and actually fell to the ground. Huddys lawyers claiming the following week oreilly allegedly took her to a broadway show, dropped the key to his hotel room into ms. Huddys lap and when she went to return it, mr. Oreilly opened the door wearing nothing but boxer shorts and they allege oreilly retaliated on and off the air. You can think whatever you want. I dont care whether its banned or not. Reporter huddy who worked at fox for 18 years also claims she was sexually harassed by current fox news copresident Jack Abernethy allegeing that early on in her career, he pursued a personal relationship, and when she rejected him, he began rejecting her. A fox spokesperson saying juliet huddys letter of intent to sue contained substantial falsehoods which both vehemently denied. A person briefed on it says fox was aware of huddys false allegations when they signed ab internet think to a new multiyear deal and left her job at fox news affiliate in september. Simply saying it was time for her to move on. We reached out to her and her lawyers and they declined to comment. Which is understandable. Thank you very much. Michael, we got another special big board. Yes, we do. Well talk about what 50 nfl athletes are revealing about the painkiller so many of them use and find out could it be dangerous . Plus, the major backlash over the white actor who is playing Michael Jackson. Were going to be back with that in two minces. Dont look at me like youre surprised about that, doc. I love you. But i love him. I love him, too. So do i. They also know you should get your annual checkup. It could save your life. Its a new year. Schedule your checkup today to learn your four Health Numbers and start the year off right. Cigna. Together, all the way. Moms know their kids need love, encouragement and milk. With 8 grams of natural protein, and 8 other nutrients to provide balanced nutrition. Moms know kids grow strong when they milk life. And 8 other nutrients to provide balanced nutrition. Hang in there. Thanks. Kleenex. Someone needs one. The fastest waya to ruin pancakes. Thats why dennys uses fresh, never frozen blackberries that are fresh. And never frozen. Did we mention they were fresh . Were back now with our big board and espns Jessica Mendoza and dr. Richard besser are here at the table for our first story and we begin with the troubling new investigation into the nfl. The Bleacher Report in a survey of 50 active players finds that the leagues play at all cost mentality has led to many relying on toradol and the subheading of this article says that the drug is pro footballs dirty little secret. Its not a secret and its not that its a secret for any pro athlete to use high antiinflammatories to be able to cover up pain. At any level that is something that is super common. I think what shocked me about the article is that 23 of the 50 nfl players interviewed had said theyve been doing it for years and when you look at the box warning thats on toradol, it says youre not supposed to use it short term. Nothing more than five days. That was probably the biggest surprise. Theyre not using it for days. Theyre using it for years. And, dr. Besser, what are the concerns, though, about the drug . Using it like jessica just said more than you should . What does that do to your body . Toradol is a class of drug called nonsteroidal antiinflammatories. And its a very strong one. If you read that label, it says it should be used in people who need high level pain relief at the level of an opioid. Typically after surgery and if you use it that way for a short period of time, its relatively safe but two health concerns, the first one is it can mask pain, so you have players who are out there who have an injury, they have an injured knee, injured shoulder. Theyre going to play through that and the longterm consequences in terms of damage could be severe. The second is it can increase your risk of bleeding, and it says you should never use it before surgery or anywhere where you could have a blow because it could cause bleeding, and the big concern people have that theyre raising, could it cause bleeding in the head and damage to the brain. We should mention in a statement the nfl says these decisions are made by the clubs medical professionals. There is no leaguewide policy. Jessica, the article hits on this play at all costs culture. How concerning is that mindset . I had a similar injection in high school. A softball player trying to get through a tournament into my shoulder. Found out two weeks later i had a torn labrum. As dr. Besser said, its masking. There is a reason you feel pain. You feel pain because something is wrong. So, i get it to mask temporarily for a few days and especially if its a big deal i get the nfl guys at the end of the season to get through it, but if youre talking years, there is a reason you feel that. I ended up sitting out my freshman fall year because i had that torn labrum just to get through the tournament and i had a similar injection. So, to me, if you feel the pain, there is a reason. Dont use this. You had one injection. One injection. Yeah, a panel of nfl doctors put out a report five years ago with recommendations on how to use it and said it should only be used for players on the injured list, never in players before a game and doctors should do nothing that would have them contribute to this idea of play at all costs. Thats really good advice. But one of the first things i was told when i came to the nfl was you know the difference between pain and injury. Yep. Theres a big difference. If youre in pain, you can play. If youre injured, sit out. Thats where you got but i also must say that i think a lot of it is players as well. Players dont want to miss time. Of course not. And theyll put themselves out there to make sure they can compete. To make money. Look at tony romo, injured one game and all of a sudden you lose your job. So, it makes sense. Yep, it sure does. Well keep our eye on that. See what goes on with that. And another thing that came up that i think has a lot of people surprised, the Michael Jackson backlash. Joseph fiennes is taking heat for portraying the king of pop in an upcoming British Comedy and many online are calling whitewashing. Lets take a look. Michael, i sense danger. And Larry Hackett is here and, larry, michaels daughter paris is tweeting about this saying im so incredibly offended by it as im sure plenty of people are, as well and it honestly makes me want to vomit. Are you surprised by her comments, and are you surprised by the backlash from everybody out there . No, im not surprised by her comments. She worships her father and her fathers memory as do many of his fans. We talked about whitewashing in the past and there were examples of Tilda Swinton and emma stone being cast in roles that were set for asian actors or asian characters. I think this is different. This is a broad british satire and i think the casting was done on purpose. I must say looking at this clip, i personally dont find it terribly offensive. I think the filmmakers were trying to get a rise out of people and they have done that. And we are sitting here talking about it, and thats what they wanted. Do you believe then there is a dividing line perhaps between what could happen in a drama versus what could happen in a comedy when it comes to Something Like this . I think there can be. I think theres one further division which is between comedy and satire. If you look at a film like tropic thunder, which starred robert down think as an actor trying to play a black actor i mean that was served up as comedy and it was funny about a particular character obviously. I think in the case of this video thats going to be on in britain with Michael Jackson, one of the other episodes involves hitler and hitlers best friend and hitlers best friend is the guy who played rupert rim, who plays him and the casting is done on purpose to put a stick in the eye. What satire does and is very different from somebody being cast a michael in a different way. Larry, we appreciate it. Im playing tom hanks in the new movie im going to watch. Keep your eye out for that. Jessica, thank you. Dr. Besser, thank you. Coming up in two minutes that amazing avalanche survival video. The Birthday Gift that may have saved a snowboarders life. You dont want to miss it. Maybe almond breeze tastes because its the only almondmilk made with californiagrown blue diamond almonds. Of course, if you ask one of our almond growers. Theres no maybe about it. Almond breeze. The best almonds make the best almondmilk. The spare, no, i dont want to put anybody out. Nonsense we lend it to everybody. Some people we hardly know. Across the entire store. For huge deals now get up to 30 off select appliance special values 396 or more, like this washer and dryer pair for 499 each. Plus get 18 months special financing on appliances, flooring, kitchen and bath items. Dont miss out on great savings right now at lowes. From my sweet dreams . Thanks to tena, not tonight only tena overnight underwear. With its secure barrier system gives you. Triple protection from leaks, odor and moisture. Tena lets you be you stevia leaf was discovered before the sugar cane . All our favorite sugary foods would be our favorite truviaie foods. Truvia. Life with less sugar is just as sweet. We are back with that snowboarder. Lived through an avalanche. 20 terrifying seconds before hes saved by his backpack all caught on camera and diane macedo with the story. Hey, diane. George, good morning. We just spoke to the mans father. He says his son is a full time snowboarder in canada, so the family gave him this backpack as an early Birthday Gift. Little did they know it would save his life just a week later. It started out as an ordinary run down the slopes but then oh, [ bleep ]. Reporter watch as the ground just falls out beneath 29yearold tom oye. The heavy snow engulfs him and then drags him down the mountain giving him almost no time to react. The australian snowboarder says he survived that 20second plunge thanks to a backpack like this. Just pull the rip cord and the bag inflates lifting you upward and reducing your chances of suffocating underneath the snow. And its not the first time an avalanche like this has been caught on camera. This colorado snowboarders backpack kept him from being buried alive in 2012. As for oye he says this wasnt how he was planning to start his morning and is urging others to stay safe out there. And his father says toms actual birthday is this coming sunday so needless to say, the family is very glad that they didnt wait to give him his Birthday Gift this year. Incredible. Amazing coincidence, isnt it . And he says hes been snowboarding for more than 11 years now and has never experienced an avalanche before, so this was completely just an abundance of caution. Meant to be or a hunch. And got the gopro he caught it on the year before for his birthday. Oh. Im joking. I believed you. Nailed it. Right in. This is for real. That emotional reunion, the twins, gracie and audrey, separated as babies. Wait till you see their first day together when they left us. Coming up, gmas be a vet for your pet brought to you by iams pet food, good for life. Co puppy barks you can do it duck. Hurry up duck you can do it duck. Iams. Helps keep your dog healthy at every stage. So you can always look forward to whats next. One of many pieces in my life. So when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my longterm control medicine. I talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment with breo. Oncedaily breo prevents asthma symptoms. Breo is for adults with asthma not well controlled on a longterm asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. Breo wont replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. 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Good morning, south bay. Lets get up and get going. This is abc 7 mornings. Im reggie aqui from abc 7 mornings. Lets go oat to mike nicco. The last rain commute of the week. That rain since the beginning of the year has taken us out of the drought for now. Okay . We still have exceptional to extreme down to our south. Let me show you whats going on. We still have some scattered light showers mainly over the east bay and down into the south bay. Were going to see those taper to dry weather by the evening. I have not gotten the official allclear for our crash on northbound 880 at mission boulevard off ramp, so i dont think its open yet. They were hoping to do that by 8 00. So could be any minute now. Power issues worked out. Slow as usual but you show have all the lights across the bridge. You can see how long youll be sitting there. Coming up, Charlie Sheen is live next on gma. Well have another abc 7 news update in about 30 minutes and always op the news app and abc7news. Com. Join us from 4 30 to 7 00 a. M. Afoot and lighthearted i take to the open road. Healthy, free, the world before me, the long brown path before me leading wherever i choose. The east and the west are mine. The north and the south are mine. All seems beautiful to me. Good morning, america. Its 8 00 a. M. Breaking overnight, confirmation clash. President elect trumps choice for secretary of state grilled at hearings. Is Vladimir Putin a war criminal . As the senate takes the first steps to repeal obamacare. Half their size. Two women who lost more than 260 pounds, how they ended their mindless eating. The app that helped them do it and the one habit that changed everything for their health. Their incredible transformation is revealed right here live. It was the magic moment that had 10 Million People and more watching and crying. Those adorable 10yearold twin sisters reunited right here after being separated at birth. Our cameras were with them as they spent their first day in new york city. Just spending time with my sister has been awesome. Getting to broadway. Eating dinner together. What theyre saying now about their reunion. Welcome to our house we visited Charlie Sheen in his house. Now hes joining us live in our house. Anything could happen. And theyre here to say all good morning, america. And good morning, america. Great crowd here this morning. Happy thursday to all of you. Thanks for coming in. Are you ready for Charlie Sheen . [ cheers and applause ] well, you have to wait a little bit. Yeah, yeah. Before we get to that, what a moment to remember yesterday. 10yearold twins gracie and audrey meeting in person for the first time right here on our show, and there you see the emotional reunion. I think everybody was emotional. Yes, they were separated at birth. Theyre 10 years old. Theres something about twins and they felt that there was something missing. Well, after the show we sent them off for some fun and excitement and, boy, did they have a blast as they explored times square together. They went to the school of rock on broadway and they realized they had a lot in common. Take a look. We both like to scare pigeons. And we when we eat, we both like get really messy. Yeah. We went to have pancakes after good morning america, and i had chocolate all over my face. Yeah, we both had like chocolate all over our face. Oh, my gosh. Those smiles. Theyre just getting started. A lot more to a lot more pigeons to scare. Also coming up, take a look at this young lady backstage right there. So, so fifphie is a big football fan and an aspiring sports journalist and thinks shes here to be the kid correspondent at this years super bowl but we have a big surprise for her. She could not hear a word you were saying. I was trying to whisper. You have a lot coming up but lets get the morning rundown from amy. Good morning. The big story, republicans taking their first step toward abolishing obamacare. Overnight the Senate Approved a budget resolution that would clear the way for a repeal of obamacare with a simple majority vote. That measure heads to the house tomorrow. Meanwhile, more confirmation hearings are on tap for today including general james mattis for defense secretary, congressman mike pompeo for cia chief and housing and urban development nominee ben carson. President elect trumps choice for secretary of state could be facing a key hurdle. Former exxonmobil Ceo Rex Tillerson answering tough questions on russia wednesday, especially from senator marco rubio who was clearly upset when tillerson refused to say if he thinks Vladimir Putin is a war criminal. Rubio, a crucial vote, is not saying whether or not he will support tillerson. Well, a state of emergency has been declared in oregon after more than a foot of snow took down trees and power lines. The situation is more dire in Northern California where the rain may be ending today, but flooding has forced dozens of rescues. 28 inches of rain fell in just one week. The water is so high, one woman apparently, there you see her, kayaking inside her own home. Well, apple may be setting its sights on hollywood. The wall street journal says the tech giant is making plans to offer original tv shows and movies. The Company Reportedly talking to producers about buying the rights to scripted programming. And a California Company is pulling some mens boots off the market after complaints that the soles leave an imprint resembling swastikas. The boots were described on amazon as combat boots. The company says the design was not intentional. And there is new effort to make sure those popular infant slings are safe for your baby. Government officials have approved a new standard for slings which were linked to 150 safety incidents. They will be required to come with more permanent warning labels and be able to carry three times the recommended weight. And finally talk about a lucky day. A guy in oregon we told you about all that snow. Well, he was cleaning out his office during one of the snowstorms and guess what he found, a Mega Millions ticket. He checked the numbers and sure enough, it was worth a million dollars. The ticket was from january 13th drawing last year, and so its a really good thing he found it when he did because it was set to expire this week. I would say that is the best snow day ever. Yes that beats snow angels for sure. Wow. Wow. Thats a great story. Right under the wire. In the nick of time. Now, lara, you got some College Students behind you. Hello. Who want our jobs. So just when youre delivering no pressure that theyre right over your shoulder the whole time. Cheers, and good morning, everybody. Time for pop news. And were going to begin with some music news. Ariana grande and john legend are set to lend their voices to a song as old as time. You guys know what im talking about, right . There you go. They will be performing the beauty and the beast title song for disneys upcoming soundtrack to the live action film starring emma watson. That is a great pairing. Grande, yeah, yeah, give it up. We love john legend. We love ariana. Grande teased the collaboration with the studio selfie, there she is, in the studio she tagged beauty and the beast and did a rose emoji, a little secret trick and this morning we confirmed disney confirmed it will happen. Also in pop news this morning, Woody Harrelson officially on board to fly into a galaxy far, far away set to star in the new han solo movie. Lucas films has announced woody will join alden ehrenreich, Donald Glover who just won a golden globe and hell play Lando Calrissian and game of thrones emilia clark in the standalone movie about solos life. He is set to play the mentor to the smuggler. The film has yet to reveal a title focusing on the years before han and Luke Skywalker join the rebellion and that film will hit theaters 2018, and you may hear us talking about it once or twice. A time or two. I like how theyre taking the characters out and showing the back story. I love it. I love it. These are characters that we grew up with and we love, and now we get to hear their take on why they came to be. I know, its very deep. And then finally i love this story. Talk about having the time of your life at your wedding, lindsay pergola and Richie Guarini skipped the traditional first dance at their wedding a couple of weeks ago for a surprise verse of the famous dirty dancing routine blowing away their friends and family with the smoke machine, the perfectly timed steps, even the lifts. So the bride says its been her Favorite Movie her whole life since she was a little girl and she asked the groom if he would do it. We should point out he had no say. We should point out, she is a dance instructor. He has zero dance experience. They practiced for over a month. They nailed it according to the 14 Million People who have seen it on facebook. Nobody puts lindsay and richie in a corner. I knew that was coming. Congratulations to the happy couple. Did you know, i didnt know this. I just found out this morning, abc is doing a remake of dirty dancing that will come out this may. So itll be interesting to see. Thats going to follow. I give our Company Credit because thats taking on a classic. That original was pretty doggone perfect. If theyre doing it, you know they must have some great casting. Every time you see someone doing the lift, who gets nervous . Especially richie. You got to nail it. He totally nailed it and had a beautiful wedding. That, my friends, is pop news. From lara spencer. Thank you, lara. Good one. Coming up, half their size. Wait till you see these women, what they look like after shedding more than 260 pounds combined. The app and the exercise that is helping them keep the weight off. Wow, and dont go anywhere, anybody. We got Charlie Sheen here. What. Live. Oh. Hang on. Gmas morning menu is brought to you by the fast, powerful cough relief of robitussin because its never just a cough. With not food, become food . Thankfully at panera, 100 of our food is 100 clean. No artificial preservatives, sweeteners, flavors, or colors. Panera. Food as it should be. New pantene doesnt just wash i wiyour hair, it fuels it. Gain. Making every strand stronger. So tangles dont stand a chance. Because strong is beautiful. And were partnering with cigna to help save lives. We are the tv doctors of america. By getting you to a real doctor for an annual checkup. So go, know, and take control of your health. Doctor poses. Learn your key Health Numbers, and take control today. The moments that connect us dont happen overnight. They happen one morning at a time, and one cup at a time. Folgers, the best part of wakin up. Un poquito mas rapido, no . [instrumental music plays] [wheel squeaking] hasta luego, profesor [pumping of bike tire] [pumping of hospital ventilator] [wheel squeaking] Carlos Carlos dr. Brad needs to see you in room 3. [wheel squeaking] [heart monitor beeping] tell cardio right away i need a. Cmohappy birthday i survived a heart attack. Im doing all i can to keep from having another one. And im taking brilinta. For people whove been hospitalized for a heart attack. I take brilinta with a baby aspirin. No more than one hundred milligrams as it affects how well it works. Brilinta helps keep my platelets from sticking together and forming a clot. Brilinta reduced the chance of another heart attack. Or dying from one. It worked better than plavix. Dont stop taking brilinta without talking to your doctor since stopping it too soon increases your risk of clots in your stent, heart attack, stroke, and even death. Brilinta may cause bruising or bleeding more easily, or serious, sometimes fatal bleeding. Dont take brilinta if you have bleeding, like stomach ulcers, a history of bleeding in the brain, or severe liver problelems. Tell your doctor about bleeding, new or unexpected shortness of breath, any planned surgery, and all medicines you take. Talk to your doctor about brilinta. Im doing all i can. That includes brilinta. If you cant afford your medication, astra zeneca may be able to help. We are back we are back now with two women who decided to stay healthy and lost a combined 263 pounds and kept it off featured in people magazines half their size blockbuster issue. Well meet them in a moment but first abcs Mara Schiavocampo has hair stories. Reporter 49yearold mom of two, joanne raymond, has battled the bulge for most of her life. Ive gained and lost hundreds of pounds, and each time i gained it back. Reporter tipping the scales at nearly 250 pounds in 2014, joanne finally reached her breaking point. I was shocked at the belly that i now had and no clothes fit me. I was sick of my life being a constant struggle. Reporter for 28yearold Lindita Halimi growing up in wartorn kosovo, she never knew when shed get to eat. We were refugees in the mountains. We would boil leaves, and we ate that just to survive. After we all got back home, i had this mentality of let me eat now because i dont know when im going to eat later. Reporter after years of overeating, lindita reached her heaviest, 250 pounds in her late teens. The aspiring entertainer saying she hit rock bottom after winning a 2009 albanian singing competition. All the criticism started to affect me. I knew i had to make a change. Reporter now these women are half their size. Ready to show their transformation. For good morning america, Mara Schiavocampo, abc news, new york. That is terrific. Thank you, mara, and before we see how joanne and lindita did it, we want to take one last look and we welcome catherine kast, staff editor of people magazine. Thanks for having me. One last look at joanne and lindita before. Who is ready to see them . Come on out, ladies. No way so, get rid of the old pants. You dont need them anymore. So fantastic. Were going to get some great tips from both of you but, catherine, i want to ask, you chose these guys for your people issue on how to transform yourself because of fitness. Talk to me about the choice. These women have an incredible mindset. They work out. Their habits are amazing. But also theyve developed methods that will help them keep it off, not only just lose the weight but keep it off. Thats awesome. Congratulations. All right. So come on over here. Well move over and find out how joanne and lindita did it and were going to start right here. So, joanne, for you it was about a fitness app. Yes. I mean, theres a million apps out there. What was it about this particular one that really sparked something in you . I have actually gained and lost 100 pounds twice, so this time around it was about keeping it off. I chose my fitness pal because it allowed me to track i heard its very easy to use. Very easy. I can track my calorie, carbs, protein. My calories are between 1,800 and 2,000 a day and eat three healthy meals a day. I hear you are rigorous, no snacking. No snacking at all. I used to graze all day long and thats what got me into trouble. Even if you were grazing healthily you were upping the calories. Its about telling myself you get to eat three times a day, thats it. Catherine, this girl is not kidding around. Shes not. So my fitness pal, no snacking and very strong. Yes. All right. So, lindita, get over here, congratulations. Thank you. Appreciate it. Wow, the transformation is incredible. And for you it was about incorporating moving in your life. Right. So i drastically changed my diet first and then i started to do light walks since i couldnt run or jog because of my knees, but i also i also saw a lot of results when i started weight lifting, which was my favorite. They say that its not just about cardio, its about lifting weights. It didnt bulk me up, it helped me define my body, but one of my main exercises i love to do. Real quick. Because were going to run out of time. We got three we got three ways to do it. It helps to tone your upper body and abs. And weve got two audience members doing modified versions. Youre doing like a supersize version. I like the challenge myself. I know and obviously its working. What an incredible story. Thank you, thank you. Thank you guys so much for being here. And thank you, catherine, as always. Peoples half their size issue hits newsstands tomorrow. I guarantee you will be inspired. And coming up, this young girl is about to get the surprise of her life. She has no idea whats in store. So stay with us. With my moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, the possibility of a flare was almost always on my mind. Thinking about what to avoid, where to go. And how to deal with my uc. To me, that was normal. Until i talked to my doctor. She told me that humira helps people like me get uc under control and keep it 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. Ask your gastroenterologist about humira. With humira, control is possible. Dont pay hundreds more for taxes and fees. Introducing tmobile one. Now with taxes and fees included. Four lines, 40 bucks each, all unlimited, all in. Switch your family today and get 600 bucks. Learn more at a tmobile store. I do believe that something good is happening, yeah i do believe, i do believe [ male announcer ] rethink the power of the oat. Quaker we are the good we make. Back here on good morning america, were about to meet our nfl kid correspondent but my girls and i from richmond, virginia, were just talking about how nice it is out there. Right . Going into the 60s in new york city and all the way down the all right, everybody, its time now for our huge surprise. But take a look at Sophie Schneider who is backstage. Were about to reveal shes the winner of the nfl play 60 super bowl contest. Shes wearing noisecanceling headphones and has no idea shes about to be our very own kid correspondent and take on the role of a lifetime. Take a look. In 2016, we teamed up with the nfl to send our first ever kid correspondent to the super bowl. Hi, im marla mosely and this is awesome. Reporter a week of incredible access to get the super bowl scoop. So, i hear youre pretty strong. Do you want to arm wrestle . Reporter this year we picked three finalists from hundreds of entries. But only one kid is heading to houston for the big game. Hi, im sophie. Reporter meet 13yearold Sophie Schneider from kansas city, kansas. The seventh grader is an nfl fuel up to play 60 ambassador, a multisport athlete, loves watching football, especially her Brothers Team and the Kansas City Chiefs. Im headed to new york to be on good morning america. Whoohoo. Reporter this morning, sophie has no idea shes about to get the gig of a lifetime. I still cant believe im a finalist for the super kid contest. Now, sophie is backstage right now. Still has on her noisecanceling headphones, but lets meet her. Come on out, sophie. [ cheers and applause ] hey. How are you . So good. Have a seat. All right. Oh, so you are one of the finalists. Yes. So how does it feel to be a finalist . It feels so good. I cant even tell you. And youre a big kansas chiefs fans. Oh, yes. And why do you love the team so much . Im from kansas city so kind of makes sense and their team is so good. I even have them on my fantasy football team. How did you do at fantasy . I actually won my division so there you go. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Thats what im talking about. Well, since youre a big Kansas City Chiefs football fan, you should know these two guys. We have Dustin Colquitt and cairo santos. p from kansas city. There you go. And, guys, whats up, fellas . Missing you out here. You have a Little Something to talk to whats going on, michael . Im doing great. You have something to talk to sofer about. We do. Go ahead. Its all yours. We do. Sophie, how are you doing this morning . Im so good. Hi go ahead. Were missing you here in kansas. Theyre missing you. Oh, yes. Are you having fun up in new york . What . Its very good, yes, i love new york. Its very fun. So, what is your message for sophie, you guys . Can you hear us, sophie . Yes, now i can. Well, you know what, im going to take over because these guys were having a little trouble. Were losing a little feed but were missing you here in kansas. And i was curious to hear a little bit of the conversation between you and your mother last year, how you said that i am going to be the next super fan and how that came about. Okay, so i wanted to be the next super kid. I mean the super bowl is such a once in a lifetime opportunity and i was so excited and saw it on the website and i was like, you know, im going to sign up for this. Im going to go for it and here i am. We got your back. Are you there . These guys, youre one of the finalists, and why these guys are here is to tell you youre not a finalist, you actually have won. Wait. Youve won. You are the super kid. Really . So, we have a special microphone. We got to bring this microphone out for you. This is your special kid correspondent microphone. Oh, yeah, thank you, thank you. There you go. Thank you. And your first assignment is youre going to send us to break so look at that teleprompter right there. What does that say . Coming up, Denzel Washington is here. Is here. Good morning, north bay. Lets get up and get going. This is abc 7 mornings. Im Natasha Zouves from abc 7 mornings. Lets get the latest on that Traffic Alert on 880. Were taking a look at some video from earlier this morning. This actually did just clear up the last few minutes. Northbound 880 to mission boulevard. Thats where we had this crash earl this morning. We had that pickup truck hauling Pool Supplies that crashed, then the spill all over the place, too. In the last 15 minutes that did open. Highway 84 is fully closed west of skyline. Another tree down, no estimate on when that will reopen. Mike nicco will join Rex Tillerson put exxons interests before americas. Im not here to represent the us governments interest. Instead, tillerson sided with putin. With billions in russian oil deals. He opposed us sanctions on russia. For war crimes forced to pay hundreds of millions for toxic pollution. Putting profits ahead of our kids health. Tell your senators to reject Rex Tillerson. And protect american interests not corporate interests. Hey, ive got some great news and some youve been waiting years to hear. The drought is over for now. I say for now because if it gets dry again, it may creep back towards us like down south where 28 of the state is in the drought while were in the 35 thats not. Showers possible from now to 8 00 tonight. Light to moderate Storm Brewing next week. Thats really exciting drought news. Another update in about 30 minutes and, of course, always on our free abc 7 news app. Join the whole welcome to my house and welcome back to gma on this thursday morning. Great to have all of you with us. We have an empty seat here. Yeah, its about to be filled. I went to this guys house the other day and hung out. Hang on. He has decided to come to our house, everybody, welcome Charlie Sheen. Oh [ cheers and applause ] welcome to my house welcome to my house stop. Oh, my gosh. Wow hi. Good to see you. First time here. Oh. Oh. I know. Things have changed out here. Just a little bit. It was wonderful the time you gave to michael and we got to know you a little bit more and two pieces that we had yesterday and it looks like youre just in a really good place. How is it today for you . I mean so far so good. Okay. I have to survive the next seven minutes. But i have to thank a few people. I got to thank carly at theneims for looking like this and stacy tore delivering me on American Airlines and i got to thank uncle jack for all the meat in my teeth. Thats all i got. Its like an acceptance speech. You talk now. You talk now. I told everyone youre going to get a shoutout and i just did. You are a man of your word. Im not getting paid for any of that stuff. Just a good guy. Just a good guy. They dont pay you . Well, for other things they occasionally do, you know. But not for that. I promise i spend it too fast. Heres Something Else i got. I want to bring this topic to the table. Awesome. This is trending on twitter. And you are the fastest one to ever reach a million followers on twitter so you know a lot about twitter. Youve given us some of the most memorable quotes ever on twitter. Oh, shucks. But we all have we all have our twitter bios and yours says like actor, director, this and that. Winning. Right. But what would your hagtag be my man. Your hagtag. Love it. Its live tv. Thats what happens. So you guys you guys drink on this show . You know, im not already drinking on this show. But what would your hashtag be if your mother wrote it. The bio. What would your bio be and we said what yours is but what would yours be, charlie, if your mother wrote your hashtag . Geez. No pressure, no pressure. Hash , geez. Good thing were not live. Hashtagcarlosiechaz, my favorite. Thats nice. Favorite son. Emilio. I know. Sorry, emilia, ramon and renee, sorry, but, but the late great sam kinson once told me that if youre a third son, then your moms favorite because you remind her of your dad when they met. Really . Yeah. Son one and son two, no go. I mean, yeah, i mean not yeah, thank you, george. Sam kinson must have been the third son. Yes, he was. You have a big movie coming out too, mad families. Yeah. Congratulations on that. Thank you, thank you. One of the writers, producers. How is that working with david spade . It was just two takes. A couple of pros, just doing their thing. Yeah, it was really cool. Had you worked with him before. No, barely met him one night. No, i was just it was a metro nommic rhythmic hug fest. I just wrote like three words. One of like 60 movies you have been in and some of the characters is that true . Yeah. One of my personal favorites ricky vaughn. Oh, thank you. I love that movie. Yeah. Do you have a favorite . Well, no, but that haircut in bars on steroids, it led to lets just say a few grumbly moments, you know. Like that. Thats one way of putting it. Anyhoo. Your favorite role . Oh, geez, i i havent delivered it yet. Really. I think thats great. No, i dont think its so great. What the hell, man. Im kind of hurt. Take a look at this. Matter of life or death. Something incredible is happening. At the highest level. The president s top aide, bobby bishop has just uncovered a conspiracy. Youre playing george. Badass version of me. Shadow conspiracy. A long time ago. That opened on an airplane, stupid, stupid. It opened in a viewmaster. Sorry. A couple of people got that, thank you. Heres whats radically bizarre. My life is all about cosmic collision courses. Yesterday im looking for a lighter, sorry, i still smoke, whatever, and i find the i. D. Card from that movie. Come on. Look at me. I am such a bad liar, i dont know how to. No, that just happened like 46 hours ago. I love that. Meant to be. It says white house staff and says bobby whats the character name . I forgot. Who cares. Who cares. So many movies you cant remember them all. Can we get back to the movie on crackle. Mad families. What is it about. Can i just say this, im the guy that put the crack back in crackle. Oh, no. Too much . Too much . I got a laugh right there. Green shirt, i got a laugh. Awesome. Well, i wanted to just let everybody know where you could find mad families on crackle. Its a campsite on the fourth of july and three diverse families get booked on the same day. Insanity ensues. Yes, it does. Yeah, yeah. Going to a clip. No clip . We got it right there. Youre doing so well, charlie. Thank you, thank you. Thank you for coming on, man. Appreciate it. Mad families premieres today on the Free Streaming Service crackle. Make sure you go check out Charlie Sheen, everybody. Coming up, guess who is here, Denzel Washington. Intercourse thats painful due to menopausal changes. It. Its not likely to go away on its own. It took my most honest friend to help me do something about it. She told me premarin vaginal cream can help. It provides estrogens to help rebuild vaginal tissue and make intercourse more comfortable. Premarin vaginal cream treats vaginal changes due to menopause and moderatetosevere painful intercourse caused by these changes. Dont use it if youve had unusual vaginal bleeding, breast or uterine cancer, blood clots, liver problems, stroke or heart attack, are allergic to any of its ingredients or think youre pregnant. Side effects may include headache, pelvic pain, breast pain, vaginal bleeding and vaginitis. Estrogens may increase your chances of getting cancer of the uterus, strokes, blood clots, or dementia so use it for the shortest time based on goals and risks. Estrogens should not be used to prevent heart disease, heart attack, stroke or dementia. Ask your doctor about premarin vaginal cream. And back here on gma i was just telling ella we have big news for moana fans. The movie is about to come to your home. Amazing new extras come with it including a mini movie starring moana and maui. It will be released on digital hd and 3d and disney Movies Anywhere on february 21st and on bluray and on demand march 7th so coming at u we are having a great time. What a mild, nice morning out here, robin. Lets head up to you. Youre right about that. Tonight going to be hot because stars from musics, movie, dance are selling the new mew seal of africanamerican music, history and culture part of a specialty Kennedy Center airing tonight on abc and got an exclusive backstage access. One, two, three, four. Reporter a starstudded night, the president and first lady in attendance. We pay homage to those who came before. All there to celebrate the grand opening of the smithsonians long awaited National Museum of africanamerican history and culture and some of the biggest names in entertainment came out to take part. To invest in an institution that is going to offer to the world the promise and the legacy of the africanamerican culture, there is no better investment. Really happy to be a part in making a contribution but also to today i can definitely say im proud to be an african in america. The first all black Fighter Squadron came into being at the Tuskegee Institute in alabama. Reporter oscar winner tom hanks introduced members of the original tuskegee airmen. Ladies and gentlemen, the surviving members of the tuskegee airmen. Its quite a moment and i didnt take the assignment lightly. Im honored. I keep asking are you sure you want me. Reporter so much talent on the stage. Quincy jones was on stage, Stevie Wonder is here. The soundtrack to my soul. Tonight we celebrate africanamerican history. Reporter it was also an opportunity to perform in front of the outgoing president and the president returned the love. I was looking up like, wow, hes into this joint. He was into it. Reporter clearly an unforgettable night. And this hits very close to home because i am the proud daughter of a tuskegee airmen, colonel lawrence e. Roberts, thats my dear daddy and you can see the full twohour special tonight at 9 00 p. M. Eastern. My daddy was good looking and would say do i look as good as Denzel Washington . I would go, daddy, yes, you do. You most certainly do. Mwah. Welcome. Thank you. All right. Good to have you here. Thats a heck of an intro. Something we all appear to do. Look like Denzel Washington and speaking of him, here he is. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for having me. You are an oscarwinning actor. You direct and you star in a new movie fences opposite viola davis who took a little moment in out of her golden globe speech to thank you and lets take a look at that. You know, im a friend and a fan. Thank you for being an extraordinary leader, great actor, great director, thank you for saying trust me and remember the love. I mean, it really she wins a golden globe for fences, she thanks you, but we caught a moment on the red carpet with our cameras where she photobombed you and she did not notice. Oh, yeah, yeah. You directed her. Im sure she paid more attention to you at that point. Right. You mean did i when the movie im pretty sure she was paying more attention than in yes, she was. Yes, she was and rightfully so and she, you know, viola is a brilliant, brilliant actor and this is, you know, there cops a time where an actor, actress meets a role of a lifetime and this is the case with viola. And 15 years ago you directed her in antuan fisher then you both won a tony on broadway for fences and now this movie and just keeping gun. Can you just like walk around with me and ill just walk around. Exactly. You know he won it. This is denzel. He won an oscar. Then ill act like, no, i cant talk now. What have you learned from her over the years of working with her that maybes her so special . Shoot. I a lot. All that. All of that. When shes just one of those rare actors and its her turn now. Its her turn. You know, shes been good a long time but now everybody weve all caught up with her and shes getting the recognition she deserves and getting the rows she deserves . And youre one of those rare actors, as well. Thank you. And looking and watching fence finance i tell you, your character, boy you see yourself up there or your dad. You see yourself or you see someone who is like that but hes a tough guy to like. Uhhuh. How was that for you to play someone who was really a hard, tough i didnt look at him that way. He is brutally honest. When you listen to what he said about his own father and what his father did to him, you know, unfortunately, sometimes those negative things are passed down as well. The character who the guy who played your son in the movie said when he found out he was going to act, you know, next to you, he was extremely nervous. Yeah. So im curious for you, is there anybody who makes you nervous or who made you nervous . No. No, maybe i just didnt let them know it. What made me excited made me wanted to make me ready, gene hackman. I was like, thats gene hackman talking to me. Were doing the scene, gene hackman, im in a scene with gene hackman. What do i say . Man, i want some popcorn. Man, youre good. You also said about this movie you couldnt have directed it if you didnt star in a play and why do you feel that way. Not if i didnt star i was actored to direct it first and then i did the play but because i did the play, i knew the role. Too big a role first of all to try to act and direct and produce and Everything Else at the same time but because i had done 114 performances and we had really good success on broadway i felt confident with doing it on film in and one last question, your son malcolm recently graduated from American Film Institute conservatory. If he were to direct a movie, if you were going to be in a movie with him what kind of director do you think hed be and what kind of movie would it be, comedy, dramedy. I better have a good part. I would hope so. Thats right or he aint getting in the house. No, hes a very talented Young Filmmaker and, you know, id just be glad to be be in your sons movie. I tell you right now he has a great example. Thank you. Congratulations to malcolm. Congratulations to you, fences. Thank you. Great movie. Make sure you go check out fences now. Its in theaters and coming up next, denzel wont be here but im aspiring to look like him. The best way to travel with your pets. How did it become absentmindedly to snacking . Eating one after the next . We are a creamy cheese that Still Believes in savoring our food. The laughing cow. Reinvent snacking. Increase speed, full throttle over intercom ann, are you coming in . Negative stay on target. What are you guys doing . Artoo, thrusters theyre closing in ill guard the base. For every family that lives star wars, this is the place where star wars lives. Where a galaxy far, far away. Is closer than ever before. Move along. Come join us. During season of the force. Now at the Disneyland Resort. And right now you can save on premium rooms at a Disneyland Resort hotel. Oh, we are back now with our be a vet for your pet series and veterinarian dr. Jeff werber who say spokesperson for our sponsor iams is here with some great pet travel tips. Welcome. Thanks. How are you. Doing great. I have a pooch and what are some safe ways to travel with your pet in the car. Its all about safety. Here, this is great. Kind of like a kids booster seat. The dog snaps right here. This goes into the seat belt and theyre comfortable. We dont want them running all over the car. This is the classic. The carrier, again, this goes right through, loops right through. This is gracie right through the seat belt and keeps them secure. I think a lot of the times you put your dog theyre all over you. No good. When youre traveling you got the basic, high quality pet food and toys, have their medical records, have a picture of them. Their vaccination. I never thought about that. See your vet before you travel. Thats important and thats classic for any travel. Of course, if youre going to go by air. Travel by air. Then you need a carrier that will fit under the seat, thats important unless you have a service dog. Thats hard to do but and, again, all about safety and so anything this is a hard type. This is soft. These are airline approved. Really, okay. The other alternative is what do you do if you leave the pet at home . If im leaving for a bit and the pet is at the home, what do you do. First of all get a pet sitter. You can Family Member not lucky enough to go on the trip with you and that happens. And this is great. This is called the whistle and it does a few things, in addition to the i. D. Tag and microchip which is essential identification but this this is great. Let me. This is moon. You see. This right here is the whistle and what it does its an activity monitor and also will alert the gps as well but it alerts you can preset a perimeter and if the dog goes outside the perimeter you get an alert on your phone. Absolutely. So this is great and gracie trying to say what am i doing in here . What am i doing in here. These are great tips. Thank you very much. We want to say thanks to our best Friends Animal Society for bringing these pets. Theyre all up for adoption so you can take them home and got to thank iams. Everyone in the audience is going home. Everyone in the audience. Youre going home with a whistle gps tracker and also a fivemonth supply of pet food so well be right back, everybody. Beauty. Gmas be a v afoot and lighthearted i take to the open road. Healthy, free, the world before me, the long brown path before me leading wherever i choose. The east and the west are mine. The north and the south are mine. All seems beautiful to me. Rex tillerson put exxons interests before americas. Im not here to represent the us governments interest. Instead, tillerson sided with putin. With billions in russian oil deals. He opposed us sanctions on russia. For war crimes forced to pay hundreds of millions for toxic pollution. Putting profits ahead of our kids health. Tell your senators to reject Rex Tillerson. And protect american interests not corporate interests. It was amazing, the emotional reunion on gma. Twins separated at birth and the jawdropping moment they saw each other for the first time that took social media by storm. Now tomorrow, the exclusive look at their new lives since this moment only on gma. Good good great news, somebody wants to go home yeah. Hey, we got another surprise, sophie, our special nfl correspondent, we have tickets for you and your family to go see the chiefs. Oh, my goodness. Thank you. Yes. Thank you. Thanks a lot oh no. Oh no. I hate this belt. Man oh man. Mom, we have a situation. Lifes bleachable moments need clorox bleach. Good morning, bay area. Lets get up and get going. This is abc 7 mornings. Good morning to you. Im Natasha Zouves from abc 7 mornin. Meteorologist mike nicco has our forecast. Good morning. Hi, everybody. Lets take a look at live doppler 7. You can see the tapering of the scattered showers by 9 00. The chance is over. But until then the storm will be light on the impact scale. It will be dry until light to moderate storm next week. Were certainly ready for that, mike. We have a lot of heavy traffic out there. About 45 incidents on the board and were slowing down on b. A. R. T. San francisco stations about ten minutes behind schedule due to wet weather. We had an earlier mechanical issue on the pittsburg bay point line. You have a 20minute delay as well. Well be back at 11 00 a. M. For the midday news. Our reporting continues on our free news app. You can join reggie, mike, alexis, jessica and me for abc 7 mornings weekdays 4 30 to 7 00. Announcer its live with kelly today, from the new film the young pope, jude law. And from the new film beaches, nia long. Plus, John Leguizamo is kellys cohost for the day. All next on live [cheering and applauding] and now, here are kelly ripa and John Leguizamo [cheering and applauding]