Transcripts For KGO Good Morning America 20170920 : comparem

trump's defiant u.n. speech as he hammered iran and threatened to total a destroy north korea. >> rocket man is on a suicide mission. >> u.n. ambassador nikki haley here live to respond. and violent hazing scandal. the college football players turning themselves in facing felony charges accused of abducting, beating and abandoning their teammate leaving him severely injured. one of the accused, the son of a former nfl star. the major investigation this morning. and good morning, america. we have two big breaking stories this morning. the death toll is climbing. from that massive earthquake in mexico. so much destruction and you see right there, the desperate recovery efforts continue right now. >> and millions in puerto rico are in the path of hurricane maria trying to find shelter from the deadly storm looking live at the hurricane right there slamming the island as we speak. it made landfall just moments ago as a category 4 storm. >> and the governor is warning it could be puerto rico's most catastrophic hurricane in nearly a century. >> right on top of last week, our chief meteorologist ginger zee tracking it all. good morning, ginger. >> good morning, george. category 4 hurricane, the first for puerto rico to make landfall earlier this morning since 1932 and now it's sitting on that southeast corner bringing those heavy winds, over 100 miles an hour and extreme wind warning for 115 plus miles per hour including san juan and put on the gust at the last hour, 91 and that is where we find our victor oquendo. i will show you that track coming -- what happens after this, but we have to get to victor because the pictures coming out of puerto rico, amazing, victor. >> reporter: ginger, we're down on the street level where conditions are just getting worse. the winds are so loud, so powerful and only getting stronger. if you can see behind me, there is already a lot of debris covering the streets out here in the area of san juan where we are. this is a very popular tourist destination. there are a lot of tourists staying here at the hole tell thinking they were okay because hurricane irma passed by. they were not expecting maria to become what it is now. the big concern here, the wind damage and the storm surge. especially for certain homes across the island. puerto rico is filled with homes that were built, no code at all built illegally and those are the homes speaking with an engineering professor at a university here, saying that those are the ones that are most at risk. those are the ones that will be destroyed possibly washed away by the storm surge. that said, a lot of the homes were built to a certain code built to withstand winds of 125 miles per hour but that's like a category 2 hurricane. maria obviously much stronger than that. ginger just mentioned it. puerto rico hasn't been tested by a storm this strong since 1932. the winds as i mentioned continue to pick up. just look at that. there's a piece of metal shielding out here. looks like that came from some kind of awning, and it's only getting worse here in this area. as far as the storm surge is concerned numberwise we could be looking at about 6 to 9 feet and the people who work here at the hotel, they tell us that it's already worse here than when hurricane irma passed by, much worse at this point. guys, i'm going to send it back to you for right now. we're going to go back to our safe spot. >> you better get inside. thank you very much. senior meteorologist rob marciano in the storm zone in san juan. let's get to him. >> good morning, george. all night and all morning long, we have been hit with hurricane maria's winds, slamming puerto rico with the island now taking a direct hit. the waves have been piling up, and the surge has been pounding these buildings along the beach. just inland, a lot of damage on the city streets. communications down, and phone lines are down. power is out, so it's tough to know what's been going on, and the southeast corner getting hit hard when it hit hours ago. we have several hours to go, but right now, the entire island of puerto rico feeling the feel force of hurricane maria. >> reporter: hurricane maria slamming puerto rico. the island now taking a direct hit. infrastructure already weakened from irma. >> we have not experienced an event of this magnitude in our modern history. >> reporter: people scrambling to board up their homes and make it to 1 of the 500 shelters now open. the airport shutting down overnight. >> we're going to santo domingo in the dominican republic to get out of the storm. >> we hope. >> reporter: this group vacationing on a honeymoon taking cover in their hotel room as maria barrels over the island. >> we prepared. we have supplies. we thought about worst case scenario situations. >> reporter: the hurricane ripping through the caribbean. >> can't really see it but you can hear it. >> reporter: wreaking havoc on the virgin islands. >> winds have picked up a lot. >> reporter: at its height a category 5 storm with winds of 175 miles per hour. >> i'm scared. i'm really scared. >> reporter: st. croix taking a pounding and people trying to ride out the storm there. john rhodes was there with three friends as maria moved in. >> we're in a solid three-story concrete structure. we moved into our second room. our first room started to have a lot of water come in. >> it's very scary and the wind i think is over 105 miles an hour right now. >> reporter: the storm claiming at least one life in guadeloupe with four missing. 80,000 people without power. neighborhood streets now rivers. dominica taking a direct hit. communications nearly all cut off. family members of a med student at ross university trying desperately to reach out to the island still with no power. >> you want to know your loved ones are safe. your family, your friends. >> marco has been there since may. he is an awesome kid, and i just need to hear from him. >> reporter: first-year med student marco's parents said they haven't heard from him since monday night. tell me when to go. and we are back here on the northern side of san juan here. i can only imagine what went down when this thing made landfall on the southeast corner of this island. obviously the eye getting closer and closer to us. that eye wall now scraping the northern beaches. these palm trees are just being tested to their limit. right now, you can barely see the surf behind me blowing all this rain sideways. it is just pounding this shoreline and coming up on some of the buildings here, the storm surge is actually really encroaching on this building here which is standing up fairly well. it's pretty impressive how this particular structure is built. still communications have been hard. our signal has been going up and down, but you can see the ferocity of this wind right here. not a whole lot of damage reports coming in yet, obviously, because of the communication but i assure you even as a category 4 they will be substantial. this is the strongest storm that this island has seen in over 80 years and the governor telling us this morning that 10,000 people roughly checked into shelters last night, which honestly seems like a low number considering how many people are evacuated out of the southeast corner of this island so hopefully people got to safe and sturdy structures like we are right now, but there's debris flying around the city of san juan and really we're just now getting into the tough stuff. guys? >> we can see that, rob. we want you to get inside right now. you are way close to that balcony. thanks for that report. now back to ginger and our extreme weather center for new developments on hurricane maria's track. ginger? >> he needs to get inside. we just saw a 113-mile-per-hour gust in san juan itself and the eye not even there yet. the radar had the eye on it and then the radar went out. that's the type of thing we're seeing with this category 4 storm. as it keeps going to the north and east, you don't have to worry not just about storm surge and the wind but the rainfall. you can see up to 25 inches with flash flooding possible, especially on the eastern side of puerto rico as it tracks north and east of the dominican republic they'll still get lashed with heavier winds and turks and caicos just east of them, and it stays east of north carolina. we could see this interact with jose. i'll detail and what it could mean for us next week coming up. >> okay, ginger, of course, we'll stay on hurricane maria all morning long. but we'll turn to the devastating earthquake in mexico. the search is on for survivors after that deadly cake struck about 75 miles southeast of mexico city. the 7.1 magnitude quake killing more than 200 people. many are still missing this morning. our senior national correspondent matt gutman is there for us and has the latest. good morning, matt. >> reporter: good morning, robin. that death toll continues to rise with each passing hour. we now know that there are at least 20 schoolchildren among the dead. officials say they were trapped when their building pancaked on top of them and now in mexico city, the frantic effort to try to rescue those still living. this is what it looked like when the 7.1 quake struck near mexico city. >> we just lost a building in mexico city. >> reporter: powerful enough to pancake office buildings and schools. at least 21 children and 4 teachers killed after an entire wing of an elementary school collapsed. rescue workers scrambling to find the missing. overnight, they clawed at the wreckage some with bare hands. the injured hauled away on stretchers, even in the arms of first responders. and that shaking lasted four agonizing minutes. >> it got even more intense, and really started shaking. >> reporter: inside this newsroom the walls shaking. throughout the city alarms blaring, cars frozen the moment the quake struck. at a standstill, drivers scrambling out. >> things in your house are falling over and shattering. >> reporter: throughout central mexico those choking clouds of dust, people panicking and praying. >> i still don't feel safe. i feel like i'm living in an aftershock constantly. >> reporter: as windows slipped down buildings like sheets of ice, debris crushed vehicles. the water at this park splashing as if in a giant bathtub. the quake struck just hours after countrywide safety drills on tuesday, drills that were put into place after mexico's deadliest earthquake back in 1985. shockingly that quake which killed thousands rocked mexico on the exact same date, september 19th. and hampering the rescue efforts even more is the fact that there is no electricity in much of mexico city. nearly 4 million people cut off from power, and the roads are in such bad shape that rescuers are struggling even to reach those who need help. one more thing, we flew in here to guadalajara, a six-hour drive away because the mexico city airport was so badly damaged. robin? >> all right, matt. just the destruction that you see there. a lot of destruction there, and president trump has sent his condolences to mexico saying, we are with you and we will be there for you. as he continues his week on the world stage in new york, today he's going to meet with foreign leaders including theresa may, their first meeting since president trump sent that controversial tweet about the london subway attack last week and the president's blistering speech to the general assembly where he threatened to destroy north korea and taunted kim jong-un with a new nickname rocket man that sparked strong reactions around the world. we'll talk to u.n. ambassador, nikki haley, about that in a moment, but first, let's get to jon karl because he has more. jon? >> president trump's grave threat to north korea is getting some blowback here at home from his critics. one prominent democratic senator is accusing the president of isolating the united states and using the u.n. as a backdrop to threaten war. >> let's give this as a toast to the potential, the great, great potential of the united nations. >> reporter: with a raised glass and upbeat toast, president trump welcomed the world to his hometown tuesday. but his u.n. speech is generating headlines about the prospects of war with north korea. >> the united states has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself for its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy north korea. >> reporter: trump's 42-minute speech at times drew audible gasps and murmurs from the crowd. his warning to north korean dictator, kim jong-un, unlike anything the general assembly has ever heard from an american president. >> rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime. >> reporter: the north korean delegation had front row seats but boycotted the speech. some of the iranian diplomats stayed to listen as trump hammered their leaders for funding terror. and he lashed out at the nuclear agreement president obama and america's closest allies in europe brokered with iran. >> that deal is an embarrassment to the united states, and i don't think you've heard the last of it, believe me. >> reporter: that sure sounded like a hint the president is considering ending the iran deal, but today, the president meets with the leaders of jordan and egypt, our arab allies that have a great interest in maintaining the iranian nuclear deal. they along with our european allies are encouraging the president not to walk away from the deal. >> along with the u.n. secretary-general, jon karl, thanks very much. let's bring in nikki haley, ambassador haley, thanks for joining us. you heard some of that reaction to the president's speech yesterday, especially those words about north korea. the people jon quoted, the european foreign minister said we never talk about destroying countries. how do you respond to that? >> well, i think what you saw yesterday from the president was he was being honest. i know that, you know, people and countries don't want to hear it, but here is a man who continues to test ballistic missiles. he continues to test now hydrogen bombs. he continues to threaten our allies. he says he's going to destroy the united states to ashes and says he is going to continue to send us gift packages to the united states. so if you want to talk about who has been giving the threats, it's certainly been the kim regime. what we are saying is we have exhausted every diplomatic means and we are going to continue to do that. while he's continuing to be irresponsible we'll be responsible and tried to do dialogue and sanctions and the international community actually very much appreciated the blunt, honest approach that the president took on north korea as well as on iran. >> the president also said the de-nuclearization is the only acceptable outcome for north korea. does that mean that the united states is going to destroy north korea's nuclear weapons if kim jong-un doesn't give them up? >> what it means is he needs to stop. he needs to stop with the hydrogen bomb testing. he needs to stop with the threats. he needs to stop with the -- >> does he need to give up the weapons? >> to the point we can have a regular conversation. >> does he need to give up the weapons? >> yes, he does not need to be a nuclear power. he has shown in every way why he would be an irresponsible nuclear power, and no one in the international community wants to see that happen. >> do you think it's appropriate to use a term like rocket man to talk about the leader of another country who has nuclear weapons? >> i'll tell you, george, it worked. i was talking to a president of an african country yesterday and he actually cited rocket man back to me. so i will tell you that, look, this is a way of, like, you know, getting people to talk about him but every other international community now is referring to him as rocket man. >> ambassador haley, thanks for your time this morning. >> thanks so much. okay, george. we want to go back to victor oquendo in san juan, puerto rico, where hurricane maria is hitting right now. what are the conditions right now? >> reporter: robin, the conditions just continue to get worse out here. the wind's really picking up and the debris starting to fly around in just about every direction. this black building behind me moments before you guys came to me, windows just blown out left and right. there was an awning on that building as well. if we pan over to the right if we can, a huge awning came down over there. it's a huge screen -- it was, like, a billboard of sorts. there was metal flying all over the place. at this point, the residents and everybody visiting the island has been told to schett ner place. our security came by at our hotel saying, get out of your rooms and we don't want you near glass nearby. go inside this one central room they have isolated for everybody to get safe. maria hasn't reached san juan yet, and we're feeling the strong effects, and for us, in our location, we're surrounded by some concrete here, so we feel pretty safe, but if we need to, we'll obviously move inside. >> please do when you need to. thank you, victor, very much. >> we'll go back to ginger with the destructive rain in puerto rico. >> victor is less than 30 miles from the outside of that eye. i wanted to show you the rainfall with the topography of puerto rico which makes a huge impact. up to 25 inches in some of the areas. let's get to the hot cities brought to you by the las vegas nation. good morning. i'm abc 7 news meteorologist mike nicco. more clouds and sunshine today. some random light showers and sprinkles. autumn breezes through friday and warm to hot highs next week. today about 65 to 70 from the coast to the bay. about 70 to 76 inland, becoming quite breezy this afternoon and evening. temperatures from 48 in santa rosa to palo alto, san mateo. even cooler friday morning but look at the heat come back by monday. coming up, live in puerto rico. much more on hurricane maria as it makes landfall. millions in the path of that devastating wind and rain. f that devastating wind and rain. i'm and i'm an emt.erer when i get a migraine at work, it's debilitating. if i call out with a migraine, that's one less ambulance to serve a community. i just don't want to let these people down. excedrin migraine. relief that works as hard as you do. ♪andrew. rita. sandy. ♪ meet chris jackie joe minor damage, or major disaster, when you need us most, we're here to help. state farm. we're a force of nature, too. an epic flavor... it's cranberry. it's pineapple. and there's no. sugar. added. cranberry pineapple 100% juice. the next big thing to hit the juice aisle. crthe uncertainties of hep c.e. wondering, what if? i let go of all those feelings. because i am cured with harvoni. harvoni is a revolutionary treatment for the most common type of chronic hepatitis c. it's been prescribed to more than a quarter 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[ "mo♪ more, more, more ny ] ♪ how do you like it ♪ how do you like it ♪ more, more, more ♪ how do you like it ♪ how do you like it ♪ how do you like it ♪ more, more, more . good morning to you. i'm natasha zouves from morning. alexis smith has the traffic. >> back to the maetz. we do still have this collision blocking northbound 880, the off ramp and that connector there, to westbound 80 to head towards the bay bridge toll plaza, the left lane blocked. a couple vehicles involved in the crash have cleared from the scene. another collision in the south bay northbound 87 past capital expressway, several vehicles involved and three left lanes blocked there so you're jammed solid 85, spilling over onto northbound 85 as all right. let's start this morning taking care of the kids, your school forecast. not as cool this morning with increasing clouds about 60 to 62. mostly cloudy this afternoon. cool with some random sprinkles. 65 at the coast, 70 to 73 elsewhere. here's a look at sfo. about an hour and a half arriva. some sprinkles so caution on the roads, mass transit cool to mild. if you're on the bay it will be breezy, small craft advisory this afternoon. my accuweather seven-day forecast, we of got a chance of some isolated showers and sprinkles. they lel be very light. most of us will miss out on that. autumn breezes blow for thursday and friday, our temperatures in the 60s and 70s after lows in the 40s and 50s. it gets a little warm but not until next week, natasha. >> sounds good. thank you, mike. massive sinkholings opening up in florida, one swallowing a house. is hurricane irma to blame? do you want to do a monster check? yes. no monsters. ♪ how about the drawer? ♪ no monsters. nightly monster checks are how grant makes home his. and homegoods is what makes it all possible. amazing finds. always great prices. make home yours. oh, boy. back here on "gma." that is san juan, puerto rico. it is getting hammered right now by hurricane maria making landfall as a category 4 storm. millions in its path. >> there are fears this could be the worst hurricane to hit the island in nearly a century and it's coming directly on the heels of hurricane irma which has not made it easy for anyone. >> not at all. our victor a kwen doquendo righ middle of all of it. let's go straight to him. >> reporter: good morning, george. the winds severely picking up at this point. the rain so powerful you can really only see a block away at this point. we're in san juan in a very popular tourist area here. most of these buildings are hotels but there are some residential buildings. i don't know if you can see it, but there's this one orange building behind me, a piece of debris just fell here. those windows there for that building, they've all been blown out except for the ones shuttered up. we've been listening to them blow out all morning long. where we are just to let you guys know, we're in an area surrounded by concrete on three sides and has a concrete ceiling so we feel like we are okay for right now in this spot, but obviously if we need to, there is a way for us to get indoors and to a more secure location. we will do that if we need to. for now we'll keep bringing you these reports as the conditions just continue to get worse here in san juan. george, robin, michael? >> victor, thank you for letting us know where you are, the exact location and putting our viewers at ease because of a lot of people concerned for you and everyone in the path of maria. back to rob who is in san juan smack dab in the middle of the storm, as well. rob. >> good morning, robin. we are on the other side of where victor is -- on the northern side of san juan right on the beaches, and the winds are now as bad as they have been all morning. we are protected by a wall behind me, exposed to the top. that's why you're seeing this rain. i have a firm grip on this railing as the eye wall now is pounding us east, northeast winds have been ferocious all night long just rocking these structures and you've seen on the other side from victor just how much debris is flying across the streets here in san juan. the storm surge continues to creep up. even on the north side of this, on the northern side of this storm you can see just how the wind is swirling. it's unbelievable. power is out as you would imagine. when irma came through with just 70-mile-an-hour winds, 70% out of the island was without power. we expect all of the island to be out for days if not weeks. this is what it's like to be in the eye wall of a category 4 hurricane. it is quite an experience as you would imagine. guys, back to you. >> all right, rob, please be safe. i know you say you're in a good location but it still looks a little scary seeing it from sitting here. we want the make sure you stay safer. we'll continue to ginger who is in our extreme weather center and has more. >> it's beyond san juan, they're in that northeast quadrant. you're seeing some of the worst winds happen there, but 60 miles on either side of the eye, so basically the entire north to south width of puerto rico feeling hurricane-force winds. you can see those shredded palm trees. those things are made to withstand hurricanes and they are not even holding up. some of those images, where the water is already pushing in six to nine feet of storm surge possible, 20 to 25 inches flash flooding type rain happening in these places too. once it gets beyond puerto rico that's the next question. what does it do to the dominican republic? well, it's far enough east in the current track that i think you will see high surf and power outages but north and east of the turks and caicos in a hurricane warning and east of the southern bahamas. then it stays out in the atlantic far enough away from land and far enough away from north, south carolina and certainly florida, that we won't have to be talking about until next midweek, potentially high surf here in the next week, guys. >> we'll stay on top and have much more on hurricane maria all this morning but there is other news like the football hazing investigation. five wheaton college players are facing felony charges, accused of kidnapping, brutally assaulting a fellow teammate. some of those players have now turned themselves in and amy, i know you're following this. >> that's right, robin. these are disturbing allegations of hating that one freshman says left him bound with duct tape, beaten and half naked with two torn shoulders. it happened more than a year ago but all five players still on that team's roster until now. >> reporter: overnight, two college football players surrendering to police on felony charges stemming from a violent hazing incident. three of their teammates have yet to turn themselves in for the alleged attack that left a fellow teammate severely injured after he says he was abducted from a dorm room, beaten and abandoned half naked on a baseball field. >> they are being charged with felony counts, aggravated battery, mob action and unlawful restraint. >> reporter: the five players all seniors at wheaton college in illinois, one the son of former nfl linebacker, chris spielman. >> this is what he does best, plugging up those holes. >> reporter: the alleged hazing incident took place in march of 2016. the victim telling school investigators, my arms were violently torn behind me. i was held down and duct taped extremely around my ankles, wrists with a pillowcase over my head and punched in my ribs and in a tremendous amount of pain and scared. his attorney speaking to abc's alex perez. >> he had both the labrums in both shoulders torn and had to have those pinned back in. and obviously has suffered through the mental anguish. >> reporter: the victim leaving school immediately following the incident. over a year later, all five of the players were still listed on the 2017 wheaton football team roster until now. three of them playing in last saturday's game. >> this is absolute criminal behavior. >> reporter: wheaton college telling abc news in a statement, the conduct we discovered as a result of our investigation into this incident was entirely unacceptable and inconsistent with the values we share as human beings and as members of an academic community that espouses to live according to our community covenant. >> hazing is something that is here to stay, men's teams, women's teams. it's often actually seen as a way for a team to bond, but the failure here is a failure of leadership, the fact that no one stepped in and said, you can't do this. >> reporter: now in i statement right before noah spielman turned himself in, the spielman family says they will cooperate with authorities moving forward in this legal process. kyler kregel the other player who turned himself in posted bond, left without comment and did not receive a response from the other three players or their attorneys. >> let's bring in dan in this discussion here because this happened a year and a half ago. some people are wondering why and it take authorities so long? >> yeah, and the authorities' response is there were a lot of interviews they had to do, and a lot of witnesses they had to speak to, and point out there was a summer break in school. i don't know. that doesn't sound to me like a good enough answer. when something like this happens so long ago and you wait so long, there are potential issues in a trial with people forgetting what happened. with questions about why the police took so long, why the authorities were investigating this. it seemed and you heard actually the father of one of the defendants make the point that it seemed they were exonerated over a year ago, and i can't believe that we're back here talking about this again. >> let's talk about hazing because we heard in the piece there some people say, hey, this is just an extreme form of bonding. when does it become criminal? >> actually it's pretty easy to make it criminal, and if the allegations here are true, it's not going to be that tough a case to prove because, remember, if you hit somebody else, that's a battery. here if the allegations are true, they literally effectively kidnapped him from his room, they duct tape him, they, you know, attack him in different ways, they then throw him there on the ground in the field, you know, that's going to be aggravated battery. other crimes here, as well but there are going to be questions about exactly who did what. and was he part of this and these are the sorts of defenses we see in a case like this. >> keeping a close eye on this. dan, thanks so much. michael? all right, thank you, robin, and coming up, we have much more on hurricane maria as it hits puerto rico. and a sinkhole emergency in florida. the earth opening up swallowing homes. is hurricane irma to blame? puerto rico. a sinkhole emergency in florida, the earth opening up swallowing homes. is hurricane irma to blame? ask your doctor about humira. it's proven to help 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emergency, and now abc's gio benitez is on the scene with more in florida. good morning, gio. >> reporter: michael, good morning. listen, hurricane irma came through here about a week ago and still people in florida are feeling its impact. i want to show you how. let's get a look from the air right now. this is our live drone cam and you can see that house behind me, the house is just being swallowed up by that sinkhole as we speak, and it was likely triggered by all that rain. this home that survived hurricane irma this morning a total loss. swallowed up by a massive sinkhole that began opening late monday. >> we made it through the hurricane, we were really, really lucky and then this. >> reporter: ellen miller and her family scrambling to salvage what they could. their oven clearly lost in the wreckage. >> i saw a big, deep crack in the bathroom and the tub was sinking and the window was coming loose and i said, it's time to go. >> reporter: down the road residents told to keep clear of this area behind a middle school that was washed out over the weekend. at least eight reported sinkholes opening up in florida since hurricane irma made landfall here last week including part of this road in altamonte springs and in orlando ac units falling into the earth. >> it has to happen at some point when you have a tremendous amount of water like from irma that exacerbates the situation and makes it happen much more quickly. >> reporter: experts say sinkholes are extremely common in florida especially after a big storm. excess rainwater wan cawh asay sand just below the surface creating an underwater cave and the weight above eventually becomes too heavy. >> these things happen over thousands of years and develop until finally they show up at the surface. the several inches of rain that happened during irma was the last straw. >> reporter: as for miller and her family, thankfully nobody was hurt. >> this is the only home i know, and it's the only home my kids know. >> reporter: and back here with our live drone cam, over apopka, florida, you can see that sink hole right there. the family lived here for nearly 50 years. now they are just watching that home go into the ground. now there are some early warning signs for sinkholes. if you hear the cracking sound, those popping sound, that's when you know you just got to get out, call for help and watch for doors and windows sticking and look for cracks in the wall, michael. >> thank you, gio. right when you think you make it through irma then something like that comes along. and maria is still hitting hard right now in puerto rico. we'll be right back with that. i accept i don't bike as far as i used to. i even accept i have a higher risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. but no matter where i ride, i go for my best. so if there's something better than warfarin, i'll go for that too. eliquis. eliquis reduced the risk of stroke better than warfarin, 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hey, michael. good morning to you. we are in the eye wall. we just got a bit of a break, thank goodness. i wish i could show you what's happening on the other side of this ledge, but we're tethered for broadcasting purposes and this is as far as we can get the camera but there is debris and palm fronds all over the side of this beach, and it continues to pound up against some buildings down here. so substantial surge happening even here on the northern side of the island with the eye wall hitting the southern side with a strong surge there. but winds gusting to over 110 miles an hour within the last hour or so. it just is not letting up here and we're just getting going as far as what's going down in san juan. nobody has power, i would imagine. this is one of the most fortified structures in the city with plenty -- with a backup power plant as they call it, a huge generator, and that's gone out as well, and communications are going down. the fact we can broadcast at all right now is a small miracle. our hearts go out to the people that are in puerto rico right now. 3.5 million american citizens right now going through the full force of hurricane maria. guys, back to you for now. >> all right, thank you, rob. our hearts are there, as well. our well wishes as well. coming up, we're going to have much more live from puerto rico. our team in the storm zone as hurricane maria hits and we got an important milestone we're marking with robin today. a reason to celebrate and we're excited to share that with you here on "gma." with most insuran. plus, when you get a flu shot at walgreens, you help provide a lifesaving vaccine to a child in need through the un foundation. it's that easy to get your flu shot and make a difference. so swing by your local walgreens today. walgreens. at the corner of happy & healthy. what's new from light and fit? greek nonfat yogurt with zero artificial sweeteners. real fruit and 90 calories... you'll be wowed! try new light & fit with zero 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"good morning america" is brought to you by the makers of nondrowsy claritin. live claritin clear. live claritin clear. laritin clear. hey, good morning to you. i'm natasha zouves from "abc7 mornings." let's go over to meteorologist mike nicco for a quick look at your forecast now. hey, mike. >> hey, everybody. a little mild they are morning, temperatures in the low to mid-60s. 58 in danville, 59 in half moon bay and los gatos at, excuse me, 56. temperatures cooler today, lack of sunshine will do that. 65 to 70 around the bay, 70 to 76 inland with a random light shower, some sprinkles. autumn breezes thursday and friday. back to average over the weekend. warmer than average next week. alexis? >> want to take you back to the bay bridge toll plaza here. of course we had a crash just before you got to this point within the maetz. they have cleared that to that parking lot so things are looking a lot better northbound 880 trying to connect with 80 there. improving in the south bay, 87 across capitol, crash has cleared as well. things looking better on 85. >> coming up, a very special morning ahead for robin. that is next on gma. another update in 30 minutes. well, before it was even founded, a french teenager, bienville, scared away a british warship with just a story. and great stories kept coming. like when the military came and built the boats to win the war. 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[crowd applause] including carpet and hardwood, tile, stone, even air ducts and window treatments. and your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed or your money back. that's 40% off everything coit cleans. call or click today. good morning, america. it's 8:00 a.m. breaking at this hour hurricane maria. it's tearing into puerto rico right now, millions racing to find shelter. our team is live from the storm zone. new this morning, ivanka trump revealing she struggled with postpartum depression after the birth of each of her three children. what she's revealing about her private struggle. ♪ this is my fight song a celebration five years in the making. >> going home now! whoo! >> we're saying happy birthday to robin. it's been five years since her bone marrow transplant. her incredible medical journey, the long road to recovery that inspired so many to help be the match. you're going to meet some incredible everyday heroes helping save lives. this morning, we're paying it forward. the live event you don't want to miss. and my friends are here to say -- >> all: good morning, america. [ cheers and applause ] and good morning, america. how did you get down here so fast? happy birthday. >> for a 5-year-old, not bad. pretty fast for a 5-year-old. >> we're celebrating your fifth birthday. i'm going to let you explain it. >> okay. it was five years ago today that i had my life-saving bone marrow transplant from my sister, sally-ann. this marks my rebirth. it's considered your birthday when you have your transplant, and our audience, i'm happy to say, they are full of bone marrow donors and recipients such as myself. they are families, doctors, everyone, and last saturday, did you know, was world marrow donor day celebrating all the donors out there and we should celebrate them every day. so thank you, thank you, thank you, everybody for helping me mark this special day. >> you've helped so many with your story and courage. >> it's a privilege to be a messenger and hope to be a messenger of hope and resilience and i say that thinking of people who are going through hurricanes, who are going through the fires out west, the earthquakes, everybody has something and you had a left foot, right foot, breathe, keep moving. keep believing. >> and we'll see the difference coming up in this hour. also a special moment coming up, a young boy who got a transplant will meet his donor face-to-face for the first time. of course, we've got a lot of news this morning as well, including that hurricane. it is hitting san juan, puerto rico so hard and to victor oquendo. >> reporter: good morning, george. the rain and winds battering this section of puerto rico. we're in an area popular for tourists. hotels line the street here. now just being hammered by hurricane maria. take a look at this building right here behind me. that window on the top floor was blown out minutes ago. and when you come down here, that white oval shape, there used to be a big sign there. that also got blown away over to the right. underneath that mexican restaurant, that maroon sign, that's what it was. that debris is just lining the streets here. the rain and the winds so strong you can only see about a block in either direction. debris as i mentioned here, i mean, you've got metal part, parts of fence, plant, parts of tree, it's getting pretty bad out here. the main concern, of course, the winds and the storm surge. parts of puerto rico could be looking at 6 to 9 feet of storm surge. a major concern for people who live in so many of these homes here that were not built to any kind of code. those homes that were built illegally and in speaking to an engineering professor at one of the universities here, he made it clear those are the homes that are most susceptible to this damage, and those are the ones that could be swept away as hurricane maria passes through, george. >> that's the big vulnerability but any sense of how well they were able to prepare for this? >> reporter: a lot of people made their way to shelters quickly because those structures are just not safe whatsoever. most of the homes, i should mention this, across puerto rico were built to an old code where they're made to withstand winds of 125 miles an hour. that would be a category 2 storm. maria obviously much more powerful than that. hopefully those people who live in those unsafe structures did make it to those schehelters in time because at this point, it's too late. >> victor oquendo, thanks very much. >> we hear there's something like 500 shelters there in puerto rico. so let's go to another part of san juan, joe torres from our new york station wabc is in the storm zone. good morning, joe. >> reporter: and just when you think we've experienced the fury, the top peak of hurricane maria, stronger winds, greater gusts roar through the area. there is debris already everywhere. roof tiles, the tops of palm str trees that were just peeled off. not the palm fronds, the top of the tree. so many of the plywood boards that were put up to protect windows have already been ripped down. we've seen street signs, as well. we are in a parking garage protected here. out there, standing, impossible. >> thank you, joe. joe from wabc. scary to see. coming up, we'll switch gears around here. we can't wait to get upstairs to join our incredible audience and they're here marking robin's fifth birthday. the anniversary of her life-saving bone marrow transplant. >> can't wait to tell you about the incredible medical advancements these last five years, as people who are helping people, and that young boy is finally coming face-to-face with a donor who saved his life, and the donor who saved my life, my big sister, here too. come on back. i'm cindy. this is braden. braden is battling infant leukemia. thank you robin roberts for bringing awareness to be the match. say bye-bye. bye-bye. assave 40% on paints during theand stainser sale. from september 22nd through the 25th. there's a store in every neighborhood - find yours at sherwinwilliamcos..m/ve sa when food is good and clean and real, it's ok to crave. and with panera catering, there's more to go around. panera. food as it should be. [ "mo♪ more, more, more ny ] ♪ how do you like it ♪ how do you like it ♪ more, more, more ♪ how do you like it ♪ how do you like it ♪ how do you like it ♪ more, more, more this i can do, easily. i try hard to get a great shape. benefiber® healthy shape is a clear, taste-free, 100% natural daily fiber... that's clinically proven to help me feel fuller longer. benefiber® healthy shape. this i can do! ♪ (cover of chainsmokers 'don't l♪ me down') ♪ ♪ the issues we care about can weigh on us. so lift the weight of caring, by doing. visit state farm's neighborhoodofgood.com to volunteer in your community. ♪ can't touch this ♪ can't touch this [ cheers and applause ] ah, welcome back. back here our "gma." i mean, what a wonderful -- every audience that we have every day is so wonderful. this one is special. a gentleman in the corner five years ago for him too that he had a successful bone marrow transplant. very happy. he's 5 years old too with a beard. never seen a 5-year-old with a beard. looking around and seeing everybody, my friends from be the match. oh that's my sister. i didn't even know y'all were there. you've got a front row seat to lara spencer and "pop news." >> a very big ticket. this one is for you. good morning, everybody. we'll begin with emma stone. this friday we'll see her transform into tennis legend, billie jean king for her role in "battle of the sexes" against bobby riggs who wanted to, quote, put the show back in chauvinism. her transformation didn't come easy. she put on 15 pounds of pure muscle on to that slender frame and lift weights while listening to billie jean's voice over and over and coached on the court by billie jean herself and since she's played tennis three times in her life she decided to focus on two things, getting that serve and backhand motion and let her tennis stand-in do the rest. you can see the results when she and steve carell face off this friday. we all know this movie is about so much more than that legendary match. it's about society at that time. there is a big message underlying that. >> i happened to be at a luncheon yesterday for this, and billie and emma were there, and shonda rhimes. you think you know the story. no, you don't. you have to see this movie. >> i'm excited. also getting terrific buzz so two powerhouse performances. also in "pop news" this morning, well, these days it seems like you can't get much for $2. can you? maybe a pack of gum, soda or a french chateau. yeah, check it out. look at michael strahan. mr. real estate. the chateau built in 1453. oui, oui in dordogne near the loire valley. hitting the auction block, and bidding is starting at just 1 euro with no reserve. this is not a joke. we looked into it. the count and countess who live there currently want out. they have tried conventional roads to sell. now it has come to this and hope it goes for more than one euro but agreed to roll the dice in return for the press they knew their offering would get. look at me. i'm talking about it. so what do you get if you're the winning bidder? 600-year-old chateau. six bedrooms, 42 acres of perfectly groomed gardens. caretaker house and a guest house. oh, a gift shop because who doesn't need one? and a guest house. the owners had previously listed it for around $5.9 million equivalent in euros, before taking this drastic measure. the chateau hits the auction block on october 19th. michael strahan is writing it down. >> he is thinking about it. >> i was thinking about it and then i'm like something is wrong. >> no. >> what do you mean? >> they want out. why do you want out? i need more answers before i commit to that. >> my thought was ghosts. right? >> it's 600 years old. >> yeah. there might be some plumbing issues. and guys, that is our abbreviated version of "pop news" because we have so much to get to because of you. >> thank you very much. >> we appreciate that. now we'll go to amy, and amy has a very important story for us as well. >> we do, indeed. we turn to our "gma" cover story, ivanka trump making headlines with a surprising revelation that she suffered from postpartum depression after the births of all three of her children, a condition as we know millions of women face and we'll speak with dr. jen in a moment. but first here's the story. >> reporter: this morning, a personal revelation from first daughter, ivanka trump. >> with each of my three children i had some level of post-partum, and it was -- >> post-partum? >> depression. >> reporter: the 35-year-old mother of three opening up for the first time about experiencing postpartum depression on an upcoming episode of "the dr. oz show." >> it was a very challenging, emotional time for me because i felt like i was not living up to my potential as a parent or as an entrepreneur and executive, and i had had such easy pregnancies, that in some way, the juxtaposition hit me even harder. >> reporter: trump's role as an unpaid senior adviser in the white house has come under scrutiny, and she spoke to me in 2015 about all the challenges new mothers face. >> we want to be mothers and sisters. we are sisters. we're training for marathons, we're learning how to garden. the goal is to change this narrative and to be a part of it. >> reporter: experiencing postpartum depression can make going back to work harder. with as many as one in seven women suffering from it trump says it's time to take her private struggle into the public sphere. >> it's incredibly important and, look, i consider myself a very hard-charging person. i am ambitious. i'm passionate. i'm driven, but this is something that affects parents all over the country. >> dr. jen ashton is here now, you're, of course, a practicing ob/gyn. good morning. >> good morning. >> and talk a little bit about what is new in the fight against post-partum depression. >> big push about prevention, awareness, screening, diagnosis, treatment. management. you have to remember what the symptoms are, take a look at this list. this involves a woman who has recently given birth having depressed mood. severe mood swing, excessive crying. this is not subtle. difficulty bonding with the baby, withdrawing from family and friends or change in their appetite. you need to jump all over this. this is a true medical emergency. >> you need to get help. this doesn't just affect women. new mothers. >> new research actually sub substantiating this affects dads as well, one in four. it's not known what causes it. it could be the tress from becoming a new parent. it could be lack of social support. it could be feeling excluded from the mother/baby bond but they need support. this affects the entire family and we need to drop the stigma. that's the most important part. >> drop the stigma and medical intervention is necessary. >> 100%. >> dr. jen, thanks as always. want to turn to ginger with the latest on hurricane maria battering puerto rico right now? an update from the national hurricane center just at 8:00 a.m. 15 miles south-southwest of san juan. good morning. i'm abc 7 news meteorologist mike nicco. more clouds and sunshine today. some random light showers and sprinkles. autumn breezes through friday and warm to hot highs next week. today about 65 to 70 from the coast to the bay. about 70 to 76 inland, becoming quite breezy this afternoon and evening. temperatures from 48 in santa rosa to palo alto, san mateo. even cooler friday morning but look at the heat come back by monday. as we have been saying september blood cancer awareness month and today, september 20th a very special day of celebration for all of us. >> yeah. it is. it was, well, five years ago today that i had my bone marrow transplant and that was after ten consecutive days of chemotherapy to get me ready for the transplant and it was considered to be a rebirth. and i definitely felt that i was getting another chance at life. sometimes treatment for cancer can lead to other serious medical issues and that's what i'm facing right now. it is something that is called mds. my big sister is a virtually perfect match for me, and she is going to be my donor. she's going to be my donor. >> reporter: five years ago today, surrounded by my family and close friends, i was given the gift of life. ♪ nothing can keep me from you >> reporter: with a bone marrow transplant. >> i feel all the love in here. all the love. >> we're keeping it going. keep it boring. >> reporter: my transplant doctor, sergio giralt, said a prayer for me as he inserted millions of my sister's sally-ann's stem cells into a port in my chest. >> i think now is a good time to say, go, sally, go. [ applause ] >> reporter: the weeks after my transplant were brutal. spent mostly in isolation, when i was able to leave my room i had to wear a mask and gloves and everyone around me had to do the same. all in an effort to keep me strong as i recovered and built up my immune system. but at times, i felt anything but strong. >> we got to stop meeting like this. ♪ rejoice, rejoice emmanuel ♪ we love you dear sister yes we do ♪ ♪ rejoice ♪ oh robin ♪ >> reporter: after 30 days -- ♪ since i laid my burdens down >> going home now! >> reporter: i walked out of the hospital and felt blessed to take my first breath of fresh air. ooh. after five years by the grace of god, amber and my family i am thriving, healthy, strong and eternally grateful for life. >> grooving. all right. i'm going to go over here. >> robin. >> reporter: to celebrate my anniversary i caught up with dr. giralt who was very excited to share with me some of the advances that have been made in the bone marrow transplant community. he invited me to a brand-new housing facility for patients with blood cancers and disorders. the memorial sloan-kettering patient residence. >> so we said let's make a facility that allows them to heal better. >> i can't imagine having gone through it five years ago as i did and would have welcomed something like this. so this is like a community area. >> correct. >> and how many patients can be >> we have 20 units for 20 patients with their family care givers. >> reporter: the facility is an apartment building for patients who are recovering from transplants. each unit is a home away from home. it's a part of memorial sloan-kettering's out patient and early discharge program. does insurance cover this? >> excellent question. we work with the patient's families and their insurance companies, most insurance companies pay, not everybody does. >> other than that what qualifies a patient to be able to be eligible to be here? >> patients have to, one, be doing a transplant as an outpatient or be discharged early. or have a caregiver 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and the other one is they have to be what we would call medically qualified. >> all of this is made possible because of a last five years the tremendous advances when it comes to the bone marrow transplant. tell us about the significant medical advances. >> so, i mean there are many advances. these genetically modified t-cells. we take the immuned fighting cells. and they get genetically modified in the lab to attack a specific protein that is expressed on their tumors. then we give those cells back and lo and behold eight out of ten patients actually go in remission. the other big one is we've always said you were blessed that you have a donor and that one of the biggest barriers to stem cell transplantation was not having a donor in the family. now even if your brothers and sisters don't match fully, we can do a transplant with their stem cells with similar results to what we got with a brother or sister who is fully matched. >> that's huge. >> that's huge. >> that's huge. lynn dell is being treated for non-hodgkin's lymphoma. just three weeks after her transplant, she is already back on her feet. >> hello. >> reporter: recovering here at the patient residence. what has it meant to you to be able to be here to recover? >> oh, it's been everything to us. it's been a respite and simplified our life. >> as a caregiver while she's in the hospital it's close enough that i could, you know, go back and forth throughout the day, as you know, when you're in there, you're -- i don't want to say you're trapped there for awhile but you're there for awhile if >> how are you feeling? >> i feel great. i feel rested. i feel just wonderful. but i have battled this for 12 years, and finally have a solution at the end that i could get the stem cell and move on to the next step. >> well, thank you for sharing your story and your journey. >> and lynn dell and her husband have been married for 49 years and i already invited myself to their golden anniversary. i did, honestly. they' they're, like, oh, okay. got my whole family here. i got my family there. part of my family there. sally-ann who is my donor, my partner amber who was there every step of the way and i'm usually pretty composed. i'm going to lean on you a little bit, george. i got my whole family here. somebody who left the nest, richard besser, dr. richard besser is back with us. [ cheers and applause ] thank you. now the president and ceo of the robert wood johnson foundation doing some great work and we'll talk to you about that but i had to say thank you. you and diane sawyer were my beacons, you were my north star in helping me navigate so much and it's a given that your family is going to be there, your family and friends if you're blessed and it's a given that the importance that they have. but this, your family at work is so incredibly vital. talk about the work of care givers. >> yeah, it's so important. i mean, when i reflect back on that time, what you gave to all of us through letting us see your journey, the highs and the lows and letting us see your strength, that gave courage to people all over the country, all over the world. the ability you had to let people in to help you, people at work who stepped up to help you and the role of the caregiver. we think -- we often take the caregiver for granted but it's an incredibly important role. you can't get a transplant unless you have a caregiver who is willing to be there 24/7 and takes a person who has love but may not have medical experience and turns them into a medical professional whose job it is to keep you safe and we need to do more to make sure they're supported and have social support around them so in giving you what you needed -- >> they get what they need. >> they get what they need. >> you're a medical professional now, amber. >> i learned so much just every day just being there and being every step of the way. you're being thrown information and you're trying to keep it all together. sorry. >> what advice do you have for people in a similar situation? >> definitely take care of yourself. you have to take care of yourself. whether, you know, if you're being relocated and you're away from your home and during the days in your everyday life, if you exercise, go to the gym, find a yoga studio. do something so you can just release all of this energy that you have built up from being around and being the giver and giving, giving, giving and it allows you to love and be able to be there and supportive. >> it was so great we had a lot of group of friends that came in and helped my sister and amber but i wanted to talk about my colleagues here. you filled in for me. you and elizabeth vargas so much. we had oprah. we had other people who came in. there were people that i heard from that said, we showed them -- we showed them how you care for somebody going through an illness like that and they are now doing job sharing too. to not have to worry about their job like i didn't have to worry about mine so i'm so grateful to you. thank you. >> we're grateful for you. [ cheers and applause ] [ cheers and applause ] hi and good morning. i'm jessica castro from "abc7 mornings." let's get over the alexis smith with a quick look at traffic. a, alexis. >> good morning. things have definitely ramped up, a lot of collisions out there this morning including westbound 80 near carlson boulevard. a crash with a motorcycle. they're close to pushing that off on the shoulder but you're jammed through the east richmond area if you're coming from hercules. that is slow. and the san mateo bridge, heavy westbound 92, a few drops of rain on our lens. we'll check in with mike nicco. >> we'll find out if it's raining. yeah, some of those random sprinkles on the live shot showing up if you saw alexis report. then a little bit of a radar northwest corner of sonoma county. that will be the case today with the clouds hanging around. bringing us hour and a half delays getting us into sfo. on the road sprinkles, mass transit on the bay, it will be rather breezy today. let's take a look at what's going to happen. 65 to 76 is our spread today. even cooler tomorrow, breezy through friday, much warmer next week, jessica. >> we'll have another update in about 30 minutes. ♪ ain't no mountain high enough ♪ ♪ nothing could keep me keep me from you ♪ [ applause ] a very special day. it's the fifth anniversary of my life-saving bone marrow transplant. thanks to this woman right here, my special guest. my sister, sally-ann roberts. yes. [ applause ] >> praise god. praise god. >> oh, i just think back to our childhood. that's what i'm thinking about now but i'm so grateful. so, so incredibly grateful to sally-ann? i'm so grateful. i'm so grateful to be here five years later to see you, robin, just beaming with health. >> i am just so thrilled. our audience, i cannot even get it together right now. i'm filled with people connected with the bone marrow registry of be the match and so grateful they are here and everyone, that is, and i have this special story that i want to share because when people, you know, there are four children in the roberts family and when i found out that i needed a bone marrow donor, all my siblings stepped up and i thought, okay, surely it's going to be automatic, no, that only happens 30% of the time. so 70% of the time people need a bone marrow transplant, they weren't fortunate to have someone in my family like i was blessed to have woman right here and that's where be the match comes in and one of the many people it helped was a young boy named a.j. and we want to share his story with you. ♪ >> he was a really healthy boy. all of a sudden in the middle of the night he woke up with leg pain and the following day the leg pain was so excruciating that we had to take him to the e.r. >> reporter: in the hospital on his fourth birthday in january 2013 a.j. and his family received a life-changing diagnosis. >> we found out that it was actually leukemia. so we knew that we needed to get to walter reed as fast as possible. >> reporter: living overseas while dad jeff served in the military, a.j. and his family immediately flew back to the states for treatment. >> a.j. was so sick, the treatment was so intense. alexa and i were shifting each other out at the hospital. >> eventually he did reach remission. >> reporter: unfortunately in the summer of 2015 a.j. relapsed. it was another setback. >> it came back in two locations so that's a clear indication that the treatment wasn't working. >> reporter: at that point we knew that a transplant was really his only option. the first step was for all of us to be tested. and none of us were a match. >> reporter: the family turned to be the match, an organization that helps patients find their life-saving donors. and thankfully they found a.j. a match. a 22-year-old woman, that's all the family knew at the time. meanwhile, a.j. kept on fighting. >> felt like a very long road leading up to his transplant day. he went through a lot of heavy-duty chemotherapy. >> reporter: throughout the difficult process like a typical kid a.j. found small moments of joy in his toys and even dancing. >> woo. a.j. ♪ >> reporter: for a.j.'s mom it was a glimmer of hope she needed. writing to her son's donor. >> so i'm thinking of you as you head to the hospital today for your procedure and i thank you from the very depths of my heart for what you've done for my little boy. >> reporter: after 270 days in the hospital, the best news of all, the transplant worked. a.j. was cancer-free. ♪ happy birthday to you >> reporter: after 2 1/2 years, 8-year-old a.j. is back in school. and now one more stop on his journey, meeting his donor for the first time face-to-face. >> saying thank you never reayf saves your child's life. [ applause ] >> a.j. alexa, his dad jeff. michael and i are so thrilled to have you with us. i got to tell you, how is it going, a.j.? >> good. >> yeah. what do you like to do? >> i don't know. most of the time i like to build legos. >> legos, perfect. we got a new movie coming out. we got some legos backstage for you. how is he doing. >> a.j. is doing well. going back to school and playing with his friends and, yeah, he's doing well. >> alexa, a.j. is 8 years old now and he's thriving so what does that mean to you to see him thrive in the way he is. >> oh, you know, it's -- well, i just feel so much joy after a lot of dark days and it's so nice to see him running again and playing with his friends and going to school for a full day and seeing him smile again and talk. >> i know it had to be difficult when looking to the family and there was not a match and everybody always thinks it will be an automatic. you got a family members, it'll be the case but it's not and then to find that there was one on be the match. >> yes. i remember i think my heart sank the day that none of us were a match but a lot of people were praying and fortunately we didn't have to wait very long. it was maybe two weeks afterwards we found out that a.j. had a potential match. >> and what went through your head when you found out you did find a match? >> relief. >> relief. >> yeah. >> well, you know, a.j.'s match is here. you know, you've never met in person. >> you talked on the phone but you haven't met in person. >> we talked on the phone. sent text messages back and forth. but we have not met her. so -- >> are you ready to meet her? >> yes. >> want to meet her. >> very ready. >> my heart is pounding. [ laughter ] i don't know if i can take this. >> get up. >> everybody, give a round of applause to a.j.'s match, alex. come on out, alex. [ cheers and applause ] >> hi. [ applause ] >> good to see you, alex. come on over. good to see you. >> oh, wow. >> okay. >> this edition of "good morning america" brought to you by kleenex. [ laughter ] >> alex needs some herself. >> look at -- something you want to say to her. >> thanks for saving my life. [ applause ] >> it was my pleasure. >> what's it like to see each other face-to-face for the first time after all this. >> it's overwhelming. of o we've thought a lot about meeting you and getting to know you more. we're so excited and so thankful. >> so beautiful, alexa, something you want to say. >> you know, just alex is already a part of our family and i really look forward to just sharing life with her and, you know, i've been doing that so far sending her messages and pictures of a.j. and every time he meets a e ixcitonmistle to share it with her. >> did you ever think when you signed up that you'd end up with a family and a new friends and all of these things? >> no, i thought i would be lucky if i ever met my recipient but i was prepared for the fact that i might not ever know and i had to come to terps with that but it is surreal to me. >> why did you want to be a donor? >> because it's the right thing to do. [ applause ] >> and it's so beautiful, i know that without even meeting him, you wrote a letter. >> i did. >> can you read a portion of it. >> this boy may be somebody's -- may someday be someone's husband, someone's father, grandfather, son-in-law, maybe he will take the world by storm and find the cure for cancer or maybe he won't. the point is he is important. >> the point is he's important. wow. you know, i've been overwhelmed by this moment and everybody that's here. we'll get to know more and more people and so grateful my sister was my donor. but a total stranger doing this. a total stranger and that's what we -- you've got the best smile. can i just say that? the cutele little freckles. [ applause ] in the world. what is your message to people, especially young people thinking because you guys are the sweet spot, aren't they? i mean the college -- my college campus did a swabin' for robin, a bone marrow drive because you all are really -- thank you for that. what is your message to someone. >> my message is don't be afraid to donate. don't be afraid to join. you never are going to regret saving someone. there's nothing bad that can come out of donating. it's all positives. >> yeah. >> i tell you, i'm looking at a.j. he's just staring at you. he's so happy. he's so happy and there's a big congratulations for you too, alex. somebody is getting married, everybody. >> this weekend. [ cheers and applause ] >> in three days. >> oh. >> so you have some people who may be sitting here with us who are going to the wedding. >> i do. >> yeah. >> i'm very excited. >> wonderful. >> extension of family. extension of family. >> thank you all so much. i know it's not easy to share when you're going through something like this but it's so important to give hope to people and as i said earlier it's a privilege to be a messenger and i feel that we are. we are wrae delivering a message of hope and resilience and knowing that you just keep moving. you keep believing and we are all here today assembled and this too shall pass so thank you all very much. [ applause ] >> thank you so much. you guys just -- >> coming up. robin has inspired thousands to be the match. and we're going to tell you what to know so you can become a donor as well. >> like this one right here. [ applause ] people love my and my french fries. wait! what if i put them together?! a burrito stuffed with scrambled eggs, creamy guacamole, bacon and crispy french fries. i'll call it the california breakfast burrito! boom. someone got that, right? scrambled eggs. guacamole. bacon. french fries. you'll call it the california breakfast burrito. boom. good work everyone. another winner. introducing my new california breakfast burrito. only at jack in the box. back here on "good morning america" it is a morning of celebration for robin and everyone else but we have that watchful eye on the eye of hurricane maria. you did join plea on facebook on the "gma" facebook page. ask any questions you need to. a lot of folks have family in puerto rico and friends and concerned about them right now, st. croix, good morning. a cold front will offer us a chance of random light showers and sprinkles from 9:00 to 4:00. 60s and 70s. to want we're in the 40s and 50s. same thing friday morning, but okay, let's be honest now, we're all trying to figure out how to sit on the couch. >> disclosure, we're trying to figure out the couch. >> we are also not only celebrating today but looking at the inspiration, the difference that this has made over the last five years. >> and robin, you have made quite the difference, of course, for so many people. you've obviously inspired people to be the match and they say now because you shared your story, we actually have the numbers here. more than 18,000 people joined that registry of be the match and 173 of those people actually went on to become donors. 173 lives saved from be the match. >> it is so important for everybody out there to sign up to be a donor because every three minutes somebody is diagnosed with a blood cancer every three minutes so this is so important and, robin, i mean echoing that, thank you. >> thank you, michael. thank you all. >> for bringing awareness to so many out there. >> you've saved lives. sally-ann, a big part of this. i know a lot of people are scared to donate their bone marrow. they think it's going to hurt. what is your advice to those people thinking i'd like to but i don't know if i can do it. >> there is nothing to be afraid of. it is easy, it did not hurt and if you have the privilege of being a donor, just consider it winning the powerball because there's no award that can top seeing a life saved. we saw a.j. saved by alex. and my sister is alive, a.j. is alive because of people who stand up, be a donor. my sister is proof. a.j. is proof that this works. [ applause ] >> you know what, her dna is now coarsing through my veins. along with her sweettooth and her allergies, i'm grateful. you talk about stand up. there are a lot of donors that are here in our audience right now. so, sally-ann, you stand up and stand up with them. if you are a donor here in our audience, please stand. [ applause ] >> we also have some people here who have -- if you've received a transplant and some are still searching for a match so if you received a transplant or searching for a match, please stand up. [ applause ] >> the nurses and the physicians' assistant, anyone who helped with bone marrow transplant patients, would you all please stand up and be recognized. >> thank you. [ applause ] >> i want to mention something because my doctors and you saw sergio giralt with the bow tie. you know him so very well and gail robos is getting an award in poland and couldn't be here today. that's the work she's doing all around the world. you've right about the doctor, nurses, technician, it goes on and on and especially nurses are at the front line, unsung heroes and angels, so very grateful to them and we know you caregiver, you've been wonderful, amber. you don't know how difficult this is for her. she loves to be behind the scenes. she's the wind beneath my wings and for you being the caregiver. do we have others here? do we know the care givers? [ applause ] >> stand up. >> you know what, we have something special for everybody. when we come back, one of your favorite performers is going to be here, jesse smollet is going to sing a song just for yo when you drop a 603-horsepower v8 biturbo engine into one of mercedes-benz's finest luxury sedans, what do you get? [ engine stalls ] you get out of the way. 0-to-60 in 3.3 seconds. the mercedes-amg e63 s sedan. ♪ you're so beautiful >> the celebration continues. right now "empire" star jussie smollet is here to perform for robin. this is -- >> all of us. >> this is "you are so beautiful." >> come on. ♪ ♪ hey ♪ wooo ♪ oh ♪ whoa oh oh >> hey, robin. love you. listen -- ♪ sometimes you feel insecure ♪ trust me babe i understand yeah ♪ ♪ even with no manicure just know that i will still hold your hand yeah ♪ >> come on yeah. ♪ you look so good when you walking by sexy comes in every size ♪ ♪ keep wearing that baby ♪ you got yourself a new girl don't need no workout plan i call that baby fat you sure look good to knee ♪ >> come on. ♪ you're so beautiful give the world a show ♪ ♪ go up down up down up down ♪ up down up down up down shake it fast it's yours ♪ ♪ you can't see people love your crooked smile ♪ ♪ hair ain't done but you'll never go out of style ♪ ♪ no no ♪ hey go up down up down up down up down up down up down ♪ ♪ shake it fast sure ♪ 'cause you're so beautiful >> she's so beautiful, y'all. give it up. ♪ oh up down up down up down up down up down up down ♪ go up down up down up down up down up down ♪ ♪ up down up down up down up down up down up down shake it fast ♪ >> happy 5th birthday, robin. [ applause ] >> mwah. thank you. >> you love you. >> thank you all very much. thank you, guys. thank you, jussie. >> look at this. >> look at this. >> oh, wow. get 40% off on coit residential cleaning services including carpet and hardwood, tile, stone, even air ducts and window treatments. and your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed or your money back. that's 40% off everything coit cleans. call or click today. wea whole new place that'swe lookin' to get scared!. with bats...and ghouls...and cars in disguise. i've cast quite a spell now...you won't believe your eyes! (laughter) the spell is cast. now halloween time is more spook-tacular than ever because it's in disneyland and disney california adventure parks! including carpet and hardwood, tile, stone, even air ducts and window treatments. and your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed or your money back. that's 40% off everything coit cleans. call or click today. ♪ you're so beautiful "good morning america" is brought to you by las vegas. >> thanks again to jussie, i know. sally-ann, this is my birthday gift to you. my birthday gift to you. >> we got to say, jussie, "empire" is coming on next wednesday on fox. you just raised $250,000 for the flood victims. plus the man has a new album coming out. happy birthday, robin. >> thank you. good morning. i'm jessica castro from "abc7 mornings." let's which can in with mike nicco for a look at the forecast. hi, mike. >> we'll start with live doppler 7, a few radar returns in the northwestern part of sonoma county. those are the random wide showers and sprinkles we'll have today with the clouds and sunshine mixing to keep us from 65 to about 76 degrees. breezy this afternoon through friday with below-average temperatures. it will get kind of warm to hot again next week. alexis? we have two separate crashes now westbound 80 starting at highway 4, one of those at hilltop, the next one at carlson. still working to clear that and highway 4 to the maze about 47 minutes if your drive time. rest of the way across the bay bridge in the yellow at 19 and delays southbound 101 san francisco to the airport, you near the yellow at 20 minutes. >> time for ""live with kelly" and ryan." >> announcer: it's "live with kelly and ryan!" today, from the new film, ben stiller. and ryan teaches kelly how to be a radio dj as we continue "live's do it week" ." and, comments and questions with another edition of the inbox. all next on "live!" ♪ [cheers and applause] and now, here are kelly ripa and ryan seacrest! [cheers and applause] ♪ >> kelly: hi. >> ryan: hello, guys. hi. how are you? >> kelly: hi

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