good morning, america. chaos at the white house. president trump faces bipartisan backlash over the contact between his team and russian officials during the campaign as he blames the intelligence community and press for causing his national security adviser his job. >> i think he's been treated unfairly by the media, as i call it the fake media. >> and his pick for labor secretary withdraws his nomination, the role oprah winfrey played in his downfall. flash flood alert. the strongest storm of the season moving into southern california after a week of heavy rain and flooding mudslides closing down parts of i-80. this tree crushing a car and residents sandbagging ahead of the next downpour. millions on alert for 10 inches of rain in less than 24 hours. search for a killer.

two teenage girls disappear on a hike in indiana and snapchatted these final photos on the trail before authorities finally found their bodies. now police and the fbi desperately looking for this man spotted on the trail. did their social media posts put them at risk? ♪ you have to make it mariah carey's big comeback performing in front of a live audience since that new year's eve disaster. >> we're missing some of the vocal but it is what it is. >> now singing her new breakup song as she tries to make her triumphant return. ♪ good morning, america. happy thursday. how about the mariah carey on jimmy kimmel last night. >> she didn't do an interview. she just let her singing do the talking as they say. >> that she did. much more on that ahead. first to that new backlash for president trump over allegations his campaign was communicating

with russian officials before the election. our chief white house correspondent jon karl is going to start us off this morning. good morning, jon. >> reporter: good morning, robin. the president is lashing out at news media and his own agents but the white house is facing louder and louder calls from republicans as well as democrats for answers about contacts between president trump's team and russia. president trump seemed to relish the visit of his closest friend on the world stage setting a big goal for middle east peace with israeli prime minister bibi netanyahu. >> good negotiator. >> the art of the deal. >> reporter: overhanging it turmoil in the west wing. the president's first public reaction after the firing of national security adviser michael flynn, attacks on the media and the intelligence community. >> general flynn is a wonderful man. i think he's been treated very, very unfairly by the media as i call it the fake media in many cases.

i think in addition to that, from intelligence papers are being leaked, things are being leaked. it's criminal action. criminal act. >> reporter: that's a major turnabout from his press secretary's explanation about why flynn was fired. >> the evolving and eroding level of trust as a result of this situation and a series of other questionable instances is what led the president to ask for general flynn's resignation. >> reporter: flynn was caught misleading the white house about his calls with the russian ambassador. but even with flynn now gone, the controversy is far from over. u.s. intelligence sources confirm that there were repeated contacts between members of trump's campaign team and russian intelligence before the election. trump has previously denied any such contacts but on wednesday he refused to answer questions about that. >> mr. president, can you guarantee that nobody on your campaign had any contacts with the russians? >> reporter: this morning, democrats and a growing number

of republicans are demanding answers from the white house. >> it's highly disturbing and it raises more and more questions that congress has a sworn obligation to get to the bottom of. >> we're looking for facts and we're looking for evidence. >> reporter: now, the two top senators on the judiciary committee, dianne feinstein but republican chuck grassley are requesting the fbi director and the attorney general brief senators about general flynn's contacts with the russian government. robin. >> can you tell us more about the reaction from congress concerning the president saying about the leaks? >> reporter: well, there's now a new letter out from the two top republicans over on the house side asking the department of justice's internal watchdog to investigate leaks. this is exactly what president trump is looking for. they are basically responding not so much to the controversy about the contacts with russia but they want to investigate the leaks coming out of the fbi.

>> all right, jon, thank you. >> the president had a tweet a minute ago saying those leakers will be caught. let's get a closer look on where things stand on the flynn investigation from pierre thomas and the big question will he face charges for those phone calls to the russian ambassador? the white house said their counsel determined there was no legal problem. >> reporter: not likely. the law in question called the logan act which prohibits private citizens from negotiating with foreign nations when there is a dispute with the u.s. there's never been a successful prosecution ever. the sources tell me that while flynn discussed the sanctions he apparently never made any specific promises to the russian ambassador. >> but flynn could get caught up in this broader investigation over the contacts between trump aides and allies with russians during the campaign. >> reporter: absolutely. george, the broader investigation continues. the fbi wants to know if flynn or other trump associates were in contact with russian intelligence before the election. >> right, and some of the associates have already spoken out. carter page and paul manafort said they didn't knowingly speak to the russians.

another in "wall street journal" said intelligence officials are withholding key information from the president for fear it will be compromised. >> reporter: we got strong and angry pushback from the intelligence community and said these allegations are baseless. now, what's at question here is whether the intelligence community might withhold certain information about sources and methods. that happens from time to time. but what is clear, george, is there's tension between the president and the intelligence community. yesterday there were two tweets from president trump talking about the fact that he thought those leaks might be coming from the fbi and the nsa. >> okay, pierre thomas, thanks very much. george, the trump administration also fighting a battle on capitol hill. president trump's labor secretary nominee withdrawing his name facing scrutiny over his professional and personal life after an interview of his ex-wife with oprah surfaced. our congressional correspondent mary bruce has more on all this. good morning, mary. >> reporter: good morning, well, robin, president trump is now looking for a new labor secretary nominee.

andrew puzder was supposed to be here this morning finally having his confirmation hearing. it had been postponed four times. now canceled. he's the first trump cabinet casualty. millionaire fast food executive andrew puzder withdrawing his nomination for labor secretary. as even republicans voiced concerns. it comes as puzder's personal life was put under the spotlight. >> the most frightening thing was leaving. >> reporter: this 1990 tape making the rounds on capitol hill. his ex-wife speaking in disguise to oprah describing what she says was domestic abuse. >> he vowed revenge. he said i will see you in the gutter. this will never be over. you will pay for this. >> reporter: the video given to senators by the host herself. his ex-wife later recanted her allegations and puzder has strongly denied them. senators questioning puzder's business record too. >> there is ample evidence that mr. puzder is a terrible choice

to head the agency charged with ensuring that women and men are treated fairly in the workplace. >> reporter: he once suggested he prefers robots to human employees saying they're always polite, they always upsell. they never take a vacation. and took aim at his workers' appearance. >> my first memo was no more people behind the counter unless they have all their teeth. >> reporter: he also admitted to employing an undocumented housekeeper for years though he later paid all necessary back taxes but it all proved too much for his nomination to survive. now, in announcing his withdrawal puzder said he was honored to have been considered. he is now the 11th cabinet level nominee to ever withdraw. by comparison obama had three picks that backed down. robin. >> and, mary, are any other remaining cabinet nominees in jeopardy? >> reporter: democrats are eyeing mick mulvaney for budget director but so far just one republican is opposing.

he is expected to be confirmed later today. >> mary, thank you. george. let's talk more about it with matthew dowd and cecilia vega and, matt, let's talk first, you said yesterday the president will rely on this solid wall of republican support in the congress in order to keep his agenda moving. now, he lost some republicans on the puzder nomination yesterday but overall on the big issue, republicans are holding firm with him. >> yeah, there seems to be two dominant strategies in the republican congress using an old west analogy, there is the circle the wagon, we'll get too a defensive crouch and not allow anybody in and protect the president but then there's a series of scouts we'll say going out saying we need to find out what the danger and concern is. so you're seeing some, some republican senators and even beginning to see some republican house members, but that's the two dominant thing, circle the wagons approach and some saying let's find out what's going on. >> cecilia, when you watch the white house and the president and his staff, you've got the tweets from the president this morning going after the leakers saying the failing "the new york times" has to apologize.

in some ways they seem to see the press more as an opposition than democrats. >> no different than the campaign. we saw the president chant this at every rally he had. it's definitely playing out in realtime. i was in that press conference yesterday around reporters in the middle of the pack mainstream reporters who were clearly not happy with the fact that in this press conference for perhaps the third time in -- with a visit from a foreign leader did not call on mainstream news organizations, is leaning heavily on calling on conservative outlets. the reason this matters, it's not because we're complaining as journalist, george. this is a huge departure from past administrations who traditionally presidents have called on the associated press, wire services, but they're cherry-picking the questions basically and not getting tough questions in these press conferences on basically the news of the day. we didn't see any real questions on flynn and that's a problem when there are real answers this administration knows about who knew what, when. >> to me it's not whether cecilia vega gets to ask a

question or jon karl gets to ask a question or abc, it's about no one with an antagonistic question gets answered. there's two ways you undermine the first amendment. there is a full frontal assault on the first amendment we see in autocratic countries, not what is going on, subtle undermining and that is you call everything fake news that disagrees with you and don't call on any reporters that might ask you a question that is at all aggressive and might point out factual deficiencies. >> cecilia, they seem pretty determined to think this will work for them and it will be effective. >> well, it might be for the base and it has been up until now. i don't know how long you can sustain it. i don't know, frankly, how much longer a lot of reporters and media in these briefings and press conferences will tolerate this. what you're seeing now is reporters standing up and shouting questions at the president trying to get his attention. i don't know how much longer he can refuse to answer them. >> cecilia vega, matthew dowd, thanks very much. over to michael. now to that major storm moving into the west.

it could be the strongest to hit southern california this season and let's go right to ginger with the latest. >> michael, already such a wet pattern setting up in parts of california. you can see pasadena, california, this picture of a giant tree, the ground so saturated all it takes is a little wind and we'll get more of that. look at the view from truckee, earlier this week i-80 shut down because of a mudslide and i think we'll see more of that as we go into this weekend. sandbags being filled at seal beach south of long beach and they are all in preparation for tomorrow. the flash flood watches smother from san diego through los angeles and mountains up to oroville and look at this, the series of storms coming at you, the worst coming tomorrow 7:00 a.m., los angeles, 7:30. the drive time a mess in l.a. >> it's going to be. >> you always hear about needing rain in l.a. no one needs that much. breaking headline overseas. authorities making new arrests in the assassination of the north korean leader's half

brother and matt gutman has all the details. >> reporter: good morning. early this morning malaysian police arrested two more members of a cell of assassins who police say tracked kim jong-nam to the kuala lumpur airport despite the fact that he was traveling under an assumed name and killed him with a fast-acting poison before melting away into that crowded airport. after zeroing on the suspected assassin in that lol shirt this morning police in malaysia tightening the noose around a cell of alleged assassins they say killed north korea's kim jong-nam. in this grainy video chinese tv claims to show the second suspected female assassin being bundled into a police car in kuala lumpur. kim jong-nam was the portly playboy and half brother of current north korean dictator kim jong-un. the brothers shared a father you see in this awkward family photo from 1981. north korea's former dictator but the brothers were estranged.

kim jong-nam had reportedly been living the high life in exile in the gambling mecca of macau. he was awaiting a flight when police say a woman came from behind and covered his face with a cloth laced with a liquid. police say it was poison and they say kim jong-nam complained of burning in his eye, dizziness quickly led to death. the poison killed him before he reached the hospital. immediately investigators began scouring cctv footage for two alleged femme fatales. three arrests have been made. the two alleged female assassins and one of their boyfriends. each carrying a passport with a different nationality. kim jong-nam had reportedly sent his dictator brother a letter in about 2012 begging him to spare his and his family's life but the 33-year-old north korean had his own uncle killed and had hundreds of other government officials killed.

there isn't much mercy in that regime, robin. >> no, indeed not, thank you. all right, now to a terrifying moment on an american airlines flight forced to make an emergency landing after hitting a deer during takeoff. abc's david kerley is in los angeles with the story. good morning, david. >> reporter: good morning, michael. the pilots didn't know they hit something but their jet was damaged. they were leaking fuel in flight. as the american airlines commuter jet is speeding down the runway to take off for dallas another pilot sees something. >> i have a deer crossing in front of the embraer. >> reporter: even the pilots don't realize exactly what happened. >> did you hit something on the runway. >> no, we had a loud bang though we're coming back. >> reporter: with jet fuel streaming out of its right wing it makes a quick return to the charlotte airport for an emergency landing. on the ground the nearly 50 passengers and crew stream out of the jet and firefighters start pouring on foam.

passengers say the jet was making some strange noises. >> it was pretty loud. it didn't just sound like a street bump. it was like boom. >> all of a sudden you could hear the bong, bong, bong going in front. >> reporter: no one was injured but the damage from the deer hit is clear on the right wing of the jet. while deer strikes on roadways are common there are 3,300 every day, there is less than one a week at an airport. but the more than 40 aircraft deer strikes a year on average usually do result in damage to the aircraft like this one. and that damage is costly. in the last 25 years deer hits have actually cost aircraft damaged aircraft a total of nearly $60 million. >> wow. david, thanks very much. amy right here with today's other top stories. >> people were saying this story we're about to bring you sounded like a plane crash. it was a series of explosions and fires that lit up the night sky in eastern washington state and the fire was coming from a power substation. that explosion knocked out power

in three cities. investigators are blaming equipment failure. new immigration standoff in denver where a mexican born woman is taking refuge in a church to avoid deportation. immigration officials say they denied jeanette vizguerra's request to say in the u.s. because of two misdemeanor convictions. she says she has worked and paid taxes here for 20 years. well, federal prosecutors are conducting a criminal investigation of fox news channel. at issue whether the company failed to tell investors about payments it made to employees who claimed they were sexually harassed by roger ailes. fox cooperating with that. someone's trash got turned into a treasure. someone dumped this old television set unaware that the previous owner had stashed $100,000 inside of it. he had given the tv to a friend and forgot about the cash. he says he stashed 30 years ago.

it's a good thing the worker at the recycling center is an honest woman. she called police when she found the stash of cash and tracked down the rightful owner because there were documents in this cash box. police now understandably told the owner, you might want to put that in a bank. a little safer there. >> how do you forget? >> i don't know. >> must have been doing that if he forgot. >> oh, yes. >> gosh. i tip that much. yeah. more snow in the northeast, ging. >> imagine 3 to 6 feet of snow had fallen in the last nine days in parts of maine. three to six feet, not inches. this picture, the semis off. a lot of placing around portland up to a foot or more overnight and from connecticut and not quite done yet. this will wrap up in the next 12 hours or so but still in place with winter storm warnings and advisories and a lot more coming up. let's get to the rainy cities brought to you by silk.

good morning. i'm abc 7 news meteorologist mike nicco. rain quickly to just showers this morning. we'll have some dry periods between the weekend storms so it's not a washout. look how scattered to isolated our showers are this afternoon. we'll even see sunshine from time to time. 60 to 64 degrees our spread. we'll have drizzle turn to steady rain. mid-40s to low. every storm will b and coming up, a closer look

at how russia recruits inside the united states get inside the white house. brian ross here with new reporting. that murder mystery, two teenage girls killed while hiking in indiana. police are now searching for this man who was also spotted on the trail. the fbi is joining the investigation. so i liked when my doctor told me i may reach my blood sugar and a1c goals by activating what's within me with once-weekly trulicity. trulicity is not insulin. it helps activate my body to do what it's supposed to do release its own insulin. trulicity responds when my blood sugar rises. i take it once a week, and it works 24/7. it comes in an easy-to-use pen and i may even lose a little weight. trulicity is a once-weekly injectable prescription medicine to improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes

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why not feel this good everyday? emerge and see. it's 7:23. good morning to you. i'm reggie aqui. we'll start with alexis smith with the look at the traffic alert in oakland. >> we'll take you back to that scene on 880. this is, of course, been our main trouble spot all morning. northbound 880 right around fifth avenue. down to just the far right lane blocked. the three left lanes are open along with the off ramp. that backup between five and six miles at this point, well south of the coliseum and 580 is really starting to fill in as well. definitely 65, 80, that's slightly better at this point. give yourself some extra time. >> hop

hey, i've got some good news. if you just woke up, you missed the worst part of this storm. it is over. just scattered showers. breezy and no damage the rest of day. large breakers at the coast until 9:00. storm impact one. one of the better areas for the rain the san ramon valley into castro valley. you can see how scattered in nature these showers are becoming. over the next six hours it really becomes isolated. we'll see a lot of sunshine in the clouds. probably get a rainbow today. also my accuweather forecast. the storm door is open, though. the weekend's not a washout. saturday afternoon and sunday afternoon look to be dry. heaviest monday, reggie. >> the rainbow, i can look for it, too. russian spies is infiltrate the top ranks of the government. it's right out of the hit tv show "the americans." another update in 30 minutes.

that is an interesting look at the sunrise this morning.

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no artificial preservatives, sweeteners, flavors, or colors. panera. food as it should be. welcome back to "gma" and you're looking at our giant excited crowd in lumberton, north carolina, where hundreds of people are up early this morning for a huge surprise. >> that's right. it's part of what we're calling our we are "gma" event. a huge live celebration honoring four very deserving people who helped their town get through a tough time. hurricane matthew and they have no idea about what's going to happen. we love those surprises. >> oh, they're just there and have no idea. you're right. that's always fun. also right now there is a battle on capitol hill over president trump's nominee for the office of management and budget. mick mulvaney, one republican senator john mccain says he will oppose the nominee but is expected to be confirmed later today. a nationwide protest called a day without immigrants is under way.

some will stay away and keep their children home from school to show the impact they have on the economy. >> you see different kinds of protests all over the country. blockbuster allegations that trump insiders had contact with russian intelligence officials during the presidential campaign and brian ross is here with a look at how russians try to gain influence in the u.s. >> reporter: good morning, george. the trump white house continues to dispute reports that any of the president's associates were in contact with the russians during the campaign. but there's no dispute the russians themselves have been making great efforts to get close to trump and the people around him whether the targets knew it or not. it's every russian spy's greatest dream, to have an asset, a source inside the white house or anyplace of power in washington. >> they always target a political figure. they want to know who's a mover and shaker in our society, who affects it. >> reporter: and as portrayed in "the americans" for the

russians, all is fair in love and espionage. >> i'm in charge of fbi counterintelligence and my secretary married a kgb officer. >> reporter: u.s. intelligence officials describe a massive effort by russian spies to infiltrate and disrupt american politics. including the use of what are called cut-outs and front, people and organizations that would not appear to be part of russian intelligence. >> this is a theory of war, a 21st century theory of war that includes false information that includes cyberhacking, that includes, you know, in effect sewing chaos. >> reporter: senator mark warner is on a committee that is investigation into meddling in the election and whether anyone in the trump campaign was involved. >> i think this investigation is maybe the most serious thing that i'll ever take on in my public career. >> reporter: when general

michael flynn was in moscow in december 2015 invited to sit next to russian president vladimir putin, he was about to become the senior foreign policy adviser for donald trump. now the question for senate investigators and the fbi is why the russians carted the general who was fired this week and trying to exploit him even if he did not realize it. >> if by his actions implied or implicit there was an effort to undermine american foreign policy, that bothers me a great deal. >> reporter: also under scrutiny another former trump foreign policy adviser, carter page, who claims he's done major business deals with russians and defends its leaders raising the eyebrows of american intelligence officials. >> would you agree that vladimir putin is a thug as some have called him? >> you know, i thoroughly disagree. >> reporter: page is named as a central figure in the infamous dossier of unsubstantiated

allegations about the trump campaign and the russians being in cahoots and told abc news the allegations are ridiculous. is it absolutely false? >> completely false and laughable. >> and former trump campaign manager paul manafort who once worked for pro-russian politicians in ukraine denies talking to anyone telling abc news how am i supposed to know who is a russian spy? >> the key word is knowingly. what else are they doing? to try to figure out what happened in this campaign? >> there are questions about finances and mr. trump himself. there are doubts remain as long as he refused to release income tax returns, one of the big questions for investigators. >> brian ross, thanks very much. coming up here in two minutes that murder mystery, two girls' bodies found after they went missing on a hike. their deaths rocking their tight-knit community and the search for the killer this morning. is morning.

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we are back now with that desperate search for a killer. police and the fbi investigating after the bodies of two teenage girls were found along a hiking trail in indiana. abc's alex perez is on the scene in carroll county. good morning, alex. >> reporter: good morning. authorities say they are working around the clock to solve this case. the girls were dropped off on this trail for what was supposed to be a hike and a fun afternoon. but they never came back. at 2:07:00 p.m. on monday 14-year-old liberty german uploaded this picture to snapchat of her 13-year-old friend abigail williams walking across the train tracks over a bridge near delphi, indiana. that would be their last communication. the next day their bodies were found in the woods just three-quarters of a mile from that very bridge seen on liberty's snapchat and launching a massive manhunt to find the suspect. overnight they released this image. of a man they want to bring in for questioning. investigators believe he was on the trail around the same time as the girls. >> this is rural indiana.

most of the people that are born and raised here stay here. it is very uncommon for that to happen in a small community. >> reporter: the community of 3,000 in complete disbelief. >> everybody is ready to know what happened and why and who did this. >> reporter: a family member dropped the girls off at the nature trail for a hike around 1:00 p.m. when they returned to pick them up 2 1/2 hours later they were nowhere in sight. hundreds combed the trail looking for any sign of the friends. police checking snapchat pics for clues. their families at the time hoping for the best. >> missing, abducted. we don't know for sure. cell phone has been pinging around town. >> reporter: but search teams discovered their bodies tuesday around noon. this morning, a community in mourning searching for answers. >> now to think something could have happened here in our own town, it's scary. >> reporter: the fbi has joined this investigation. authorities say they are receiving hundreds of tips but so far no suspects. robin.

>> alex, thank you. abc news consultant and former fbi agent brad garrett, this is heartbreaking and you know this area very well. it's such a small, tight-knit community. what stands out to you about the case? >> that the idea that this is just totally random, that this guy didn't have some connection at least with the community is -- i think that's probably likely. that this is not like new york in a park where you have a lot of people all over moving around. this is three thing, it is either random, it's targeted, somebody watched them walk down this trail or it's somebody they knew. >> we heard in the report about the snapchatting and seeing the pictures so that puts their location on the map for some people. how do you think possibly that could factor in at all? >> it's extremely important because if you have a bad guy that happens to have a cell phone or some device that's emitting a signal, he may be

able to put him or her in the proximity of the two girls. >> we see in the picture the authorities are putting out and asking if anybody has seen this person that was on the trail and looks almost like the same location where the two girls were, we saw the snapchat. what else are investigators doing right now, brad? >> you know, the real key is the following. who uses that trail regularly? because this is a very rural part of indiana, so are there regular walkers? who do they see walking around because the idea that somebody just all of a sudden appeared on this trail is probably not likely, so the real key is going to be able to identify people that move around that area and the other side of this is the girls. who did they snapchat with? is there some relevance to what happened to them in reference to who they were talking to? >> so rare in this area that something like this happens and you can hear from members of the community, they're just shocked. >> you know, their guard is not up like we are in these urban environments where people go in the woods and hunt and hike and

do whatever they do and feel totally comfortable and this is another great example of vulnerability when you're alone. >> when you're alone. it was 1:00 in the afternoon in an area they were so familiar with. hopefully we'll get some information soon to help. all right, michael. thank you, robin. our legal team is here. coming up on our big board howard stern hit with a blockbuster lawsuit accused of broadcasting a woman's private conversation live on air. we'll find out if he went too far. plus, the young lottery winner who says hitting the lottery jackpot ruined her life. how young is too young to play? we'll be back in two minutes with sunny and dan. they have all the answers. ? on my long-term control medicine. i talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment with breo. once-daily breo prevents asthma symptoms. breo is for adults with asthma not well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid.

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introducing t-mobile one. now with taxes and fees included. get 4 lines of unlimited lte data for 40 bucks each. all unlimited. all in! switch to t-mobile today. oh, uh...olate thunder is all yours. and with those tires, she'll be with you a long time. a long time... goodyear viva 3 all-season tires 60,000-mile treadwear warranty starting at $53 save money. live better. walmart. maybe almond breeze tastes because it's the only almondmilk made with california-grown blue diamond almonds. of course, if you ask one of our almond growers... there's no maybe about it. almond breeze. the best almonds make the best almondmilk. and we are back with our big board and the legal team here, dan abrams, sunny hostin and a lot of stories we'll get to starting with that bombshell lawsuit. howard stern, a woman suing him for invasion of privacy claiming he aired her confidential conversations with an agent at

the irs live on his satellite radio show. let's listen for a second. >> but when you make the payment it's going to go towards the tax. it's always going towards the tax -- >> jimmy. >> well, if he's working we can't interrupt him. >> are you a collector? >> yeah, for the government? because it was about tax. >> this is a wild, wild story. so this woman calls an irs agent, wants to deal with her taxes. he had been calling howard stern and the lines got crossed. >> he's calling howard stern's show to get on the show. he is on hold. he's an irs agent. you know he's got some time to kill. he's on hold. why not do my job. my job is to take calls from people calling in about questions. takes the call while on hold on "the howard stern show" and that ends up with the howard stern people, they start commenting on it. she's suing now. now bottom line is typically i don't know this would be that powerful a lawsuit. why? because the stern show didn't intentionally go and take it.

it sort of was handed to them. the problem is when you're talking about tax return information, the law is very specific. it is different. you can sue for negligence and as a result this is a serious lawsuit. >> and, sunny, what could be the fallout here? does she have a case? dan kind of set up a case for her. >> i hope the irs agent doesn't still have his job. who does that? i mean, who does that -- >> you're working. >> with government property and i think -- >> put on hold by the irs all the time. >> you get the message, you know, we're going to record it for quality assurance not to be broadcast all over "the howard stern show." i agreree with dan. i think there certainly is a suit here and i certainly think she's going to win across the board. aren't we all outraged by just merely hearing it? and i really think that "the howard stern show" made a judgment call. i don't think they necessarily just were handed this information. not only were they handed it they decided to use it. that's where the liability. >> as a legal matter it's different the supreme court ruled on an issue of a radio

station getting an intercepted information and they've said a radio station can use that information. now -- >> i think this is different. >> it's different because it's related to taxes but, look, is it outrageous? that's what howard stern and his show does. they do outrage. you know, that's what the whole show is about. you can say, oh, my god, "the howard stern show" is awful and shock jocks are terrible. that may be true. >> does the first amendment protect them here? >> absolutely -- i'm saying not in this case. this case is different because you're talking about privacy issues and you're talking about tax -- there's a specific statute that relates to negligently releasing information about someone's taxes. so that's why this is such a dangerous case for them. i've got to believe they'll settle it. and it's not going to -- >> they better and think about it, shock jocks certainly are protected but we see this coarsening of our culture and think about don imus. he was literally fired for calling the rutgers women's

basketball team nappy-headed hos. those were his words. there has to be a line when we come to these shock jocks. >> there has to be a line. for entertainment value it's entertaining until it's you then it's not entertaining anymore. >> i hope the people that criticize him don't listen. that's all i'm saying. >> we got to move on to our next story. most people, you dream of, what, hitting a million dollar jackpot. one of britain's youngest winners jane park is claiming the money she won at age 17 has ruined her life. and sunny at one point she threatened to sue the lottery company and she released a statement and in it she says she strongly believes the age limit for playing the lottery in the uk should be 16 to 18. now, increase it from 16 to 18. >> yeah. >> what do you think? do you think is there a certain age or is 16 too young. >> i think it's too young. we're talking about gambling. i was in college at 16. i was a crazy person, a nut.

there's no 16-year-old -- >> don't tell on yourself. >> 16? >> i was in college -- doogie howser but she did things i think adults do, as well. if you look at her instagram page she purchased a purple range rover. a rolex. she had some plastic surgery. my question is where the heck were her parents and if you think about it, the curse of the lottery, have you heard about this, 70% of adult lottery winners go bankrupt within the first couple of years. >> the reason we don't let young people buy lottery tickets, it's because we're afraid they'll blow their money. not that we say you're 16, you're too young to buy a ticket. you're too young to throw away your money. >> 18 here. >> almost every state it's 18. three states where it's 21. iowa, louisiana, arizona. it's 21. but, you know, again, the notion the woman who won is serving as the face -- i'd rather see the person who kept blowing $20 a week who is 16 saying, you know

what, okay, now i've got sympathy. >> used it. >> very hard for me to feel sorry for this woman. >> champagne problem. >> like, come on. you won over a million bucks and, oh, we're supposed to feel so sorry for you because you were too young to buy the ticket. >> it is a lot of responsibility but like you said you would hope where were her parents? >> and i will say with this lottery organization, they provide a lot of support. she was provided the opportunity to have a financial adviser, to have a private banker, but she bought a purple range rover instead. that's what a lot of people do. >> now complaining about it and now threatening to sue over it. >> too young. >> the lawsuit doesn't have much chance. >> no one on the set is saying this is crazy. this is like -- >> why is a 17-year-old buying -- gambling? >> i'm just saying. >> i think it's a little crazy too. it's all about how you handle it. a lot of 16-year-olds are like let me win. i'll show you.

>> i have a 14-year-old that wishes -- >> you win today, dan. >> ginger has the story behind this waterfall. looks like it's on fire. plus, get ready for our huge surprise. live in north carolina, of course, hit so hard by hurricane matthew. incredible community leaders have all come together but four special people have no idea about the surprise they're going to get. ♪ coming up "gma's" sizzling suppers brought to you by las vegas.

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right angle. and it hits that waterfall and creates that beautiful display. i think it looks fake. it looks like disney lit it for a ride or something. doesn't look like it's real. often in late february and october the sun hits it right but don't have the water flowing over. plebtd of water. you get some beauty out of that. quick look too. hampton road, virginia. so many shelf cloud pictures coming in and luckily did not come with any severe weather. all that brought to you by mercedes-benz. your local news an

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good morning, south bay. let's get up and get going. >> this is abc 7 mornings. >> good morning. on this thursday. it's 7:56. i'm reggie aqui from abc 7 mornings. meteorologist mike nicco has rain, more rain, then rain after that. >> seven days worth. the heaviest good news already fell for today. scattered showers will continue in the forecast. in fact, we'll see a lot of sunshine, rainbows possible, 60 to 64. my seven-day forecast rain will hit both commutes tomorrow. saturday morning, sunday evening, in between we'll be dry. presidents day will be the heaviest. i want to take you down to northbound 880 at the fifth avenue off ramp, we still have the far right lane blocked there and this is brutal. since about 4:30. 880 jammed to san lorenzo. 580 looking awful and northbound 13 through the oakland hills.

is there a new treatment for the common cold? dr. besser is going to weigh in. we'll have another abc 7 news update and always on our news app. join natasha, mike, alexis, jessica and me every morning. intercourse that's painful due to menopausal changes. it.

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good morning, america. it's 8:00 a.m. chaos at the white house. the president under fire from both parties over contacts between his campaign and russian intelligence and the president's pick for labor secretary withdraws his nomination. health alert. battling the common cold. so many of us reaching for tissues and chicken soup right now, is popping more vitamin d the answer? dr. besser breaks down how to get healthy ♪ >> mariah carey's comeback. the star performing in front of a live audience for the first time since that infamous new year eve's meltdown on live tv. >> i'm going to let the audience sing. >> her brand-new breakup song as she returns to the stage. >> and we are "gma." the live event so big, hundreds of people up before dawn to help

us pull it off. one town's story of struggle and resilience after a hurricane and the four women that helped all the kids and they're in for a big surprise as the town comes together to say -- [ chanting "good morning, america" ] i don't know about you guys but to hear them shout we are "gma" gave me chills. we are excited of the we have a special surprise for four very deserving educators who have really done so much for their community and it is something that we're starting 50 hearts in 50 states. >> yes. >> it begins in blumberton, norh carolina. >> lumberton junior high hit so hard by hurricane matthew and we saw rob marciano there to help pull this off.

surprise those four people who helped the town get through a tough time. who knew rob was such a great cheerleader. >> something else i'm looking forward to. "deals & steals," everybody. >> ah. tory johnson is here with big savings and they're starting at just $2.50 and continues to amaze us. >> our glam squad is hard at work. >> that is our own glam squad. takes a village as you probably know. there they are hard at work and help showcase all these great deals tory is bringing us and doing it with our audience members this morning. >> and did you notice glam squad, a little extra something for them this morning as well. >> i love how serious they're looking. never that serious backstage. >> never, never. >> no, they're too busy getting gossip. >> we have to get serious. amy has the news and morning

rundown. >> we begin with president trump promising to track down the people responsible for leaks in the intelligence community. he blames those leaks for the crisis that brought down former national security adviser michael flynn. meanwhile, frustrations are growing on capitol hill and our chief white house correspondent jon karl is tracking all the latest. good morning, jon. >> reporter: good morning, amy. general flynn is gone, but the controversy is far from over. the white house is facing louder and louder calls from both republicans and democrats on capitol hill for answers about the contacts between president trump's team and the russians. in fact, the top two senators on the judiciary committee, democrat dianne feinstein and republican chuck grassley are saying they want to hear directly from the fbi director and from the attorney general about general flynn's contacts with the russians. meanwhile, president trump is lashing out at the intelligence agencieses for leaking. two tweets this morning, one saying the spotlight has finally been put on low-life leakers.

they will be caught. another saying, leaking and even illegal classified leaking has been a big problem for years in washington. amy. >> all right, jon, thank you. u.s. intelligence officials are strongly denying a report in "the wall street journal" that claims the intelligence community is withholding sensitive information from president trump to avoid leaks. one official calls that claim baseless. well, president trump's nominee to run the white house budget office is expected to be confirmed with only one republican senator voting no. the search is on for a new labor secretary nominee after andrew puzder withdrew his name following scrutiny of his personal life and business record. new developments in that james bond-style assassination of kim jong-un's brother. a woman in indonesia has been arrested for what bliss believe was a poison spray attack. the other was arrested after being seen on airport surveillance video in malaysia. and in health news a

potential step toward detecting autism. using brain scans and computer algorithms, researchers have been able to predict with 80% accuracy which would develop the disorder and say they can predict it before a cold's first birthday. more research is needed, they say but it could lead to new therapies and other treatments. walmart facing a lawsuit today accused of selling fake craft beers. the suit claims the beers actually come from a major brewer that produce, quote, cheap college party staples. walmart vowing to fight the case. it could have been a costly donation. a california woman dropped some of her husband's clothes off at goodwill. she had no idea that inside one of those shirts he had been secretly stashing $8,000 to take her on a dream vacation to italy. as you might imagine when he finally told her there was a frantic search and then relief when a worker found the shirt and the cash the next day and i have to say the man wasn't

putting it in his pocket the whole time. he actually had it in the bank and took it out to give a family member who was going to be evicted. he had all that cash in his pocket and no one knew it was in there except him. >> the money in the pocket and money in the tv. >> i know. >> money back in his hand though thankfully. >> that's good. now, lara, a warning, there is an adorable baby over your shoulder. she may steal your "pop news" headlines. >> hi, baby. [ applause ] >> so she was happy with the shoutout too. >> give us "pop news" here. >> i will, indeed. good morning, everybody. hi, baby. all right. so we're going to begin with our friend mariah carey. mariah carey in the news this morning because she is officially made her comeback getting back on stage this time at "jimmy kimmel live" for her first television performance since the sound check heard around the world as i now like

to call it. except by her actually. that was the problem on new year's eve. remember she sang on new year's rockin' eve and couldn't hear so ended up not singing. well, she put it all to bed last night and she was flawless. crooning a performance of her new single called "i don't." here it is. ♪ i don't i don't i used to love you but i don't i don't ♪ >> i used to love you but i don't, i don't. that song inspired by her breakup with billionaire james packer. i don't know what was she trying to say there? >> she said it. >> everybody is laughing and i'm over here going i heard that. >> you weren't laughing. >> any more clarification in the video she burns her wedding dress. >> okay. >> apparently it was the wedding dress, so she don't. she don't.

>> what? >> the perils of dating a -- >> yeah, get it out there. march 15th if you want to see her do it live kicking off a 35-show tour with lyle kneionel. sign me up. twofer. i feel like we could get there. >> hmm. road trip. keep it in mind. also in "pop news," justin timberlake in the news brings disco back to the academy awards and tells "vanity fair" he was inspired by abba when he created "can't stop this feeling." he even asked himself what if we did a modern disco funk record. that is what did it and created the song you are hearing and nominated for an oscar. he is out to craft a catchy melody that unites everybody

including young people and their parents. oscars aside he is up for seven kids' choice awards in march, three wins under his belt already. kind of like the meryl streep of the kids' choice awards so he actually gave advice to meryl on how she too could have a kid's choice award. the work does matter but really just go there and be willing to get slimed. >> it helps. [ applause ] >> got to be a kid. >> i think you guys will like this story. a little sports story for you. tennis star eugenia bouchard is a woman of her word. the 44th ranked player in the world has made good on her end of a super bowl bet you might be surprised she took in the first place. when the patriots were down, what, 21-0. bouchard was feeling so confident that the falcons would take it home she agreed to a random fan who said, genie, if

you're wrong and the patriots turn this around, you go on a date with me. >> oh. >> well, we know how the game ended. >> yep. >> last night bouchard did it with that lucky twitter user and looks like they had a great time. >> good-looking couple. >> yeah. she took him to a courtside game. nets. courtside seats and had a great time. and genie offered this little pearl of wisdom. never ever ever bet against tom brady. >> that's some glory for the guy. >> absolutely. >> it sounds like one of those stories in the future they're married and you go, how did you meet? good start. >> cute story. >> striking couple. >> yeah. >> she's no dummy. she was like, no, no, oh, okay. >> lara. >> oh, robin. that's "pop news," guys. that's all i got. >> thank you. [ applause ] coming up here on "gma,"

could vitamin d help battle your common cold? dr. besser is here with a new report. plus that huge live surprise. an entire community out in full force to honor some very special school leaders and they had no idea. "gma's morning menu" is brought to you by the fast, powerful cough relief of robitussin because it's never just a cough. that was invigorating! you're probably wondering why i've just carved a giant wooden tiger. well, the answer is that a real one would maul me. i've crafted dr. whiskers here as a visual aid to show you that should you visit the lot, carmax associates will not pounce like tigers because people don't like that. come here to buy a car. dr. whiskers won't pounce. nobody will. ♪

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we are back now with that new report about a cure for the common cold. researchers are taking a closer look at whether vitamin d supments could help. our chief health and medical editor dr. richard besser will join us now. he is in the atl there in atlanta. so, rich, he will it us about the new study. >> yeah, so researchers looked at more than two dozen studies that have been done to address the question and found some of them showed a benefit in terms of preventing coals and some did

not. when they combined them what they found for those who did not take vitamin d 42% got a cold. for those who took it it was 40%. only a 2% reduction. they feel more studies have to be done and i agree. >> why is it so hard to find a cure for the cold? >> yeah, you know, when we think about the common coal, it's actually caused by hundreds, if not thousands of viruses. so coming up with something that works against all those is difficult. and viruses mutate so something that may work this year probably wouldn't work next year and because coals are mainly an annoyance, the fda would require incredibly gentle medications with no side effects if they would approve something for treatment. >> people believe a lot of things about fighting the cold once you have it. are you going to bust some myths. chicken soup. you get the cold and it restores your immune system. true or false gentleman. >> false, but i love taking

chicken soup. it makes me feel better. >> a lot of disappointed people. okay, megadoses of vitamin c. does that help? true or false? >> false. it doesn't help once you have a coal. there are studies that show if you take it every day it could reduce your cold about a half a day but doesn't prevent coals either. >> last but not least the old antibiotic. does that help, true or false? >> absolutely false. you know, all it's going to do is give you side effects. coals are caused by virus, antibiotics work against bacteria. unfortunately, false. >> sorry, george. >> all week long, nothing is working. >> it doesn't help. wow. coming up winter beauty "deals & steals." see tory johnson and our glam squad. ♪ you're so beautiful ♪ at whole foods market, we believe in food that's naturally beautiful and fresh. delicious and powerful,

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president's day savings are going on now. design your look today. welcome back to "gma" on this friday eve. let plea introduce you to millifrom augusta, maine. all that fresh snow. her owners made her into a sculpture. she was less than impressed until this happened. until more snow fell and there she goes, just bounding. she's getting lost in the snow.

good morning. i'm abc 7 news meteorologist mike nicco. rain quickly to just showers this morning. we'll have some dry periods between the weekend storms so it's not a washout. look how scattered to isolated our showers are this afternoon. we'll even see sunshine from time to time. 60 to 64 degrees our spread. we'll have drizzle turn to steady rain. mid-40s to low. every storm will time now for our winter beauty "deals & steals." tory johnson is here and our "gma" glam squad, glam squad, look at them, hard at work. our makeup artists and stylists using these products we'll show today on our audience members. >> you got it. >> and, tory, great audience

members to agree to have that done. >> that's right. >> and our audience excited to hear what we got. >> first we got from lauren geller, 50 different products and give you another insider tip, elena, our makeup artist used all of the eye and blush products on robin. big assortment including some of their best-selling waterproof gel eyeliner, color correcting foundation, spackle. if you love the brand, stock up. if you don't know it but want to give it a try -- >> i use the spackle. >> you do? normally 17 to 66 and slashed it in half, 8.50 to $33. makeup eraser. this is so cool. just a little washcloth like this. dip it in water and removes makeup. it is an alternative to disposable wipe, super soft to your skin depending on the size and package you choose, $12 to

$40, 6 to $20. when you want a deeper clean for every day, michael todd, the soniclear twice. might be taped down. i had one back here for you. so these are all new colors, plus, the new one they created for men based on demand for men. >> carbon fiber. >> two different heads. face and body. it's also waterproof so use it in the shower, rechargeable base, all of it right here and a big discount normally $149 slashed by 67%, $49. >> $49. that's good, i'm glad they made it for men too. >> exactly although men can use the pink ones too. >> i use those. i'm not ashamed of my face game. >> touchback. super cool. two different products. touchback pro to cover up gray roots. eight different shades. that is 60 uses in here, or look at that. >> my man is bald and he's like, yeah, he wants it.

>> and brand-new also for us is this is the brow pen and so when you want to -- i love how you're paying attention. so cool. enhance the shape and the fullness of brows with a brow pen, five different shades of that. this is great between salon visits, touchback pro. can't go wrong, normally $20 to $25. slashed in half, $10 to $12.50. >> love it, love it. >> big assortment from a company called marula pure beauty. this is the nut found inside and inside little kernels are where the pure oil comes from so we have a variety of deeply moisturizing products for hair and face, intense moisturizing for hair, a phenomenal face oil. just a big assortment to choose from, $28 to $58 all slashed in half so starting at $14 for great, great treatments. >> marula. and bio republic and fell in

love with their masks. big assortment -- you can't go wrong with pomegranate crush. cucumber breeze. >> smell good. >> do really great things for your face for smoothing, illuminating. singles and packages depending what you choose, $5 to $72, this one is $2.50 to $36. >> great job, tory. >> all right. >> you know what's so amazing, our audience is going home with products from laura geller beauty makeup -- [ applause ] >> and also biorepublic and partnered with them for these great deals and get on our site for the great details. the man behind "la la land," damien chazelle is here when we come back.

good morning to you. a bit of a wet start to our thursday. i'm natasha zouves from abc 7 mornings. alexis smith with the traffic. >> things not looking good on northbound 880, still looking at the jackknifed semitrying to get that cleared. now they're blocking two lanes instead of one. it's been blocking since about 4:30 this morning. that's still a major sig alert. 2 miles per hour on northbound 880. >> thank you so much. meteorologist mike nicco will

you still have a chance of scattered showers today. alittle breezy but no damage. large breakers at the beaches until 9:00. still a one on the storm impact scale. you can see wet weather but for the most part this is what you'll see for the rest of the day -- scattered light showers. heavier rain tomorrow morning and during the afternoon hours. alexis? i'm sorry, natasha? >> no problem. we'll air a special report on the president's latest announcement from the white house. he's expected to announce his

latest pick for secretary. that's supposed to start at 9:00 a.m. ♪ i know you hear us at home say this all the time, but we have a fantastic audience. [ applause ] >> so fun. >> so much fun. so much fun. >> a lot of fun, and i know our audience will be excited as i know you guys will be about hearing this next story. it is an update to a story we shared earlier this week. now we have some members of a fifth grade basketball team from new jersey here and the league told them they couldn't play the rest of the season because they had two girls on the team. now, the issue was they had been playing as a coed team already for four years, so every single

member voted to forfeit the rest of their games rather than play without the girls. it showed solidarity. [ applause ] but the update is there's some good news, they're going to be allowed to play together as a team, boys and girls, for the rest of the season, and all of the games that they missed are going to be rescheduled, and this is -- >> that's the way it should be. >> that's the way it should be. and this is it the way it should be too. take a look at their reaction. >> we're in the playoffs. [ cheers and applause ] [ chanting "unity, unity, unity" ] >> i like that. >> i know. >> yeah. we want to wish them the best for the rest of the season. >> unity, unity, unity. [ chanting "unity, unity, unity" ] >> just keeping it going because we're bringing out damien chazelle, director of "la la

land." let's bring him out right now. [ applause ] >> golden globe winner -- [ applause ] >> good to see you. >> hi. >> how are you? >> how are you? >> oh, my gosh, it's an honor to meet you. >> thank you. honor to meet you. >> nice to see you. >> good to see you. >> congratulations on everything. [ applause ] everything. >> you are on a roll. "whiplash" now "la la land," 14 oscar nominations sweeping all the awards. [ applause ] >> has it sunk in yet? >> no, probably -- it's probably obvious that it hasn't when you just look at me. i'm like -- i just find it crazy. i find it surreal. i am really thrilled a lot of the people who made the movie with me are getting acknowledged. there's actually a great thing. >> and you've gotten so much attention for that incredible opening scene, that amazing dance number on the l.a. freeway.

now, is it really true you almost didn't do it? >> well, so what happened is we did it. we always wanted to do it but then when we were editing the movie, it seemed to not work for a long time. there was stuff around it. and we were like, ah, this isn't really getting us into the movie the way we needed it to. first we thought it was the scene and four months the movie didn't have -- >> it started with the next scene. >> basically, yeah, started with like a little bit between ryan and emma. >> what's that like as a director when you say it's not working? what do you mean it's not working? what's not happening? >> it's tough to describe. it's kind of -- i mean, in a way it's part of the pain and the joy of making a movie. a lot of it you can't explain. you sit and watch and something feels right, something feels wrong. i found it helpful to invite friends over to the cutting room and watch scenes or watch the movie and mainly just kind of watch them watch it because you could kind of see, oh, where they're twitching in their seat

and kind of recoiling or leaning. >> when you're doing this, what are you seeing? put up that -- where the directors do -- >> directors do it for show. >> i was like, what? >> really cool. >> looks great. >> we have to look like we know something. so it's like -- >> in the scene that george talked about earlier i was amazed at because of the coordination of the scene, first of all, and, secondly, you were able to stop traffic in l.a. for that long. that blew my mind. >> how did you do that? >> well, i alone didn't -- could never have done that. it was an incredible team of -- well, my choreographer mandy moore, a different mandy moore than some people think. and then the whole crew on the movie, i mean, they managed to convince the city to let us shoot on this freeway, overpass for two day, a saturday and sunday so we kind of went in in the dead of night, piled all the cars in there and the crew got it all ready and started rehearsing at dawn. then as soon as the sun is high you start shooting and you just try to cram

it out until the sun sets again. >> did you wear a disguise so people being held up in traffic didn't hate you for it? >> in l.a., good luck for that. >> i tried to. we were up -- you were up on this ramp and in the number you can see cars just kind of going down and my -- actually my editor who i'm good friends with tells me a story he was driving his kids, i think, to the zoo or something, one of those days and like looked up at the freeway, he forgot we were shooting and was just like, oh, god, i do not want to be up there. car after car stopped and then he looks closer and sees the cars just stop at a certain point and people on top of the cars and then it suddenly occurred to him, they're shooting. it's damien. >> if you're one of the few who haven't seen "la la land," here it is. >> i got a callback. >> what? come on. for what? >> for a tv show. the one i was telling you about. >> the "dangerous minds" meets "the o.c."? >> yeah. >> congratulations. that's incredible. >> i feel like i said negative stuff about it before. >> what?

>> it's like "rebel without a cause" sort of. >> i got the bullets. >> yes. >> you've never seen it. >> i've never seen it. >> oh, my. [ applause ] >> those two are just magic on the screen. [ applause ] >> i was -- it's the best special effect you can ask for is just having the two of them in a frame together. i was really -- i was lucky. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> we're lucky. >> absolutely. you're just 32. >> yeah. >> gosh. >> wow. >> it makes you go what have i done with my life? >> and you're just getting started. congratulations. >> congratulations. >> thank you. >> "la la land" is in theaters now. >> cross our fingers. coming up, a special live event. we got a live event of our own. come on back.

back here on "gma" we have people from all over. my ladies from gunnerson, colorado. right? and then your name? >> sam. >> ollie. >> sam and ollie i imagine from england. good morning. i'm meteorologist mike nicco. steady rain turns over to scattered showers by 9:00. that will continue through noon. isolated showers at 4:00 and just about over by 7:00. we'll hav this is hannah from scotland, see, from all over. all that brought to you by ethan allen. let's head up to robin now.

>> all right, ginger, thank you. >> okay, it is clearly the moment of the morning that we love to share these kind of big moments, surprises with all of you at home. it's part of what we like to call we are "gma" and this morning we are in lumberton, north carolina. it is a city devastated by hurricane matthew last fall. more than 350 families are still living in temporary shelters. the flooding also destroyed the community center and west lumberton elementary school. those students now sharing the junior high, and it's four women who have been bringing this community and the students together, and they are with our rob right now. good morning, rob. [ cheers and applause ] >> good morning. good morning, robin. here they are, as you mentioned. hurricane matthew, you know, so often it's the coastal towns, beach towns that get all the attention when a hurricane comes ashore. more often than not it's the inland cities like this one that get the horrific, devastating

flooding and the way the community persevered is truly remarkable. you know, fema has come in. they did their part and helped out a lot but there is a lot of work to be done. i am here with, sorry, angela faulkner, the president or the principal of this junior high school. >> yes. >> with tara bullard, the west lumberton elementary school principal who's been absorbed into this school as well, felicia hunt and vicki mcgurt. both student counselors instrumental in getting this community back on its feet. make no mistake, these four ladies are heroes and what they don't know is that we are here to honor and celebrate them with this community to show them just how much they appreciate you. have a look. >> there is flooding everywhere. >> reporter: lumberton, north carolina, hurricane matthew leaving three-quarters of the city underwater. over 1,000 homes destroyed. >> when you realize you don't have a home, you don't have

nothing. >> reporter: the town's beloved elementary school left in shambles. >> but it's very emotional. this school means a lot to me and it means a lot to my family. >> reporter: four women working tirelessly day and night to help all the kids displaced. student counselors vicki mcgurt and felicia hunt locating kids in shelters and shattered homes providing much needed comfort and support. >> they knew they had a mission and they knew that there was no option of failure, that they had to make sure that these kids that got displaced and lost their homes and their lives, that they were taken care of. >> reporter: and a big change for many students. lumberton junior high would now house the elementary school. the two principals, tara bullard and angela faulkner, combined staff and resources to create a unified school and safe haven. on the first day back to school, big cheers and hugs.

♪ the student counselors meeting students and taking them into their new school. >> it made me feel like i was safe there. i didn't have to worry about anything. >> reporter: seeking out students who really needed help and making sure that everyone felt cared for. together, these women inspired, led, gave hope to the recovering community. >> miss tara, i have so much respect for her, i look at her and i see a small package with a whole lot of heart. >> miss felicia, i know how lost we would be without her, and during this time, she was our angel. >> miss vicki mcgurt is the most amazing, sweet, passionate woman i've ever seen in my life. she cares about our students. our students are always first. ♪ >> how about that? >> wow. >> how about that? i tell you what, ladies, miss felicia, i heard you reference the students as your babies.

what does it make you feel right now to hear your babies and their appreciation for you? >> it brings tears to my eyes because you just show up every day and you hope that what you're doing make a lot of difference in their lives and it does. it's good to see. >> and, miss tara, you were in your school the moment the water receded, digging out whatever supplies you could have. you've come a long way, haven't you? >> yes, a very long way and just have been very welcomed on this campus. >> and, ladies, i know you made sure they had a christmas, a thanksgiving and made sure they had supplies and things at home that they needed for their families. i mean, truly, truly heroes. you have given of your heart and your soul to this community last four months, and we want to do a little something if you don't mind. give a little piece of our collective hearts here at "gma" and the lumberton community, are you ready to make the "gma" heart? go, go, go. that's it. that's it. the marching band, the

prep band, the cheerleaders, seventh graders and the elementary schoolkids. oh, yeah, i love it. all right. let's get a good shot of it. i love what you've done. take a look at what it looks like from the air. ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> wow. >> i love that. >> that's awesome. >> you see that love? >> awesome. >> you gave a lot of love and leadership to this crew. how does it feel to get that love back? >> it is awesome. oh, wow. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ >> now, hundreds of people here giving you their collective heart. i love it. you guys just made the "gma" heart. thank you very much. [ cheers and applause ] well, we're not just here to give you our "gma" hearts. we know you've been through a lot and rebuilt and thank you for being an inspiration and

creating the future you imagine for your students, our parent company disney is pledging to build a brand-new playground right here in lumberton. [ cheers and applause ] right near the activity center. i know that's the central point of this community. hurricane matthew just left that whole place underwater, devastated. it's been closed since october. we're going to help you get back on your feet as part of disney, abc and espn meet me at the park campaign, 16 local parks will receive grants for improvement projects including the park right here in lumberton. you got it. [ cheers and applause ] all right. i need my megaphone for this one, if you don't mind. we're not done here. lowe's home improvement which is headquartered right here in north carolina has a little something else to add. chad maddox, the store manager. welcome, chad. give it up. [ cheers and applause ]

>> on behalf of lowe's home improvement, we're overjoyed to be able to offer you a $50,000 donation to the activity center and extremely proud to be a part of this community and here for the long haul to make sure we are rebuilt with pride. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> $50,000 from lowe's home improvement. what do you have to say to that, ladies? >> all right. >> thank you, chad. >> you'll not only be able to build the activity center, too, that activity center from what i've learned is where the kids go to play sports, it's where the kids go to study. it's physically where the kids go to have fun and missing since hurricane matthew so with the help of disney and lowe's, the heart of the community can start beating again. miss felicia, what do you think about that? >> i think it's phenomenal. we're so excited. thank you. >> miss vicki. >> it's awesome. it's amazing. thank you. >> and miss tara.

>> wonderful. >> and miss angela. >> you know. thank you. >> so honored for me to meet you and so honored for the entire "gma" staff to be here. chad, thank you for the big bucks. that is awesome. i just have one more question for everybody here. who are we? [ chanting we are lumberton, we are "gma" ] ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> and there's else that we want to mention. let me check with the control room. am i still okay to mention this? okay, there are still hundreds of displaced families, other people to meet there in lumberton. go to our site to find out how to help. it's called dare to donate a dollar to support our friends in lumberton.

it's been such a wonderful morning and so many times people at home want to know how they can help. go to our website and we'll show you how you can do that. $1. $1. all right? we'll be right back.

taste the many sides of brookside. smooth dark chocolate outside. exotic fruit flavor inside. brookside. for all your sides.

♪ all right. so it is time for good eats. you guys excited? it smells so good in here thanks to timon balloo. he's the executive chef and creator of las vegas' hot spot called sugarcane, great dishes you can translate for your dinner, which we love. so timon, some business to get to. spokesperson for las vegas. >> yes. >> correct? tell us about your new restaurant, sugarcane. >> well, we're in the venetian plaza hotel. i cook globally inspired small plates. a lot of flavor. fun time. good stuff. >> so you can try a bunch of different things. i don't like to commit to the

one thing. i'm a small plate kind of gal. you also have a big event coming up. everybody, you might want to know about it. it's called vegas uncorked and it's a four-day wine and food extravaganza. sign us up. when does that happen? and what's your involvement? >> it's going to be a great time. a lot of fun, great food, great chefs, happening during april 27th through 30th. come out if you're in the area. it's going to be an awesome time. >> you know what they say about vegas. so what are we making for our dinner tonight? it seems relatively easy. >> really, really easy. we're doing soy marinated chicken thighs and what we have here is a little bit of soy sauce, a little bit of sesame oil, a little bit of honey, garlic shallots, ginger. and we marinate the thighs for about two hours. two hours is a good amount of time in smells so good. >> and you see they get so dark and golden. >> why do you like the thigh? skinless. >> it's beautiful. just so juicy, stays moist and i like to leave a little bit of the skin on. adds a little bit of fat and flavor. if you want to take it off later

you can. >> we don't have a ton of time. asparagus done on a skillet. is this just slathered with olive oil? >> it goes with great things. asparagus, potato, a little olive oil, sesame. >> you know what we're going to do, timon, we're going to let the audience enjoy and you can get the rest of it on our website. check out vegas. who wants to eat? "gma's" yoi've had it forever.o. we'll sell it on letgo.

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all right, what a great morning it's been with everybody and let's see that moment again. our team in lumberton forming a we are "gma" heart. we love to see that. >> have a great day, everybody. great day, everybody.

good morning, bay area. let's get up and get going. >> i'm natasha zouves from abc 7 mornings. it was a bit of a soggy start. let's check in with meteorologist mike nicco. >> we took the best this storm could give us already this morning. just scattered showers, breezy, the biggest obstacle at the coast because of the big breakers. no yellows and oranges. there's not going to be any this afternoon when we hit the low to mid-60s. more rain tomorrow all the way through wednesday. >> b.a.r.t. has a ten-minute delay because of weather. and a delay at rock ridge. northbound 880 at fifth avenue two right lanes are blocked due to the flipped semi. >> thank you, alexis. any minute now abc 7 will break in with a special report from the white house.

president trump is expected to anun pick for labor secretary. we'll stream the announcement live on our abc 7 news app. >> announcer: it's "live with kelly!" today, from the series "this is us," chrissy metz. and producer and star of "the pop game," timbaland. the cohosts tackle the slt workout. and "who wants to be a millionaire" host chris harrison joins kelly for the hour. all next on "live!" ♪ [cheers and applause] and now, here are kelly ripa and chris harrison! ♪ [cheers and applause] >> kelly: hi, hi! hi, guys.