good morning, america. michael's fury. the deadly hurricane roared ashore as a massive category 4 storm. the strongest to ever hit the florida panhandle. at least two people killed including an 11-year-old girl. the storm now ripping through the southeast. the terrifying storm completely shredding homes, ripping off roofs. this hotel collapsing right in front of david muir and our crew. >> it's going to go. it's going to go. oh. >> and the life-threatening storm surge wiping away a neighborhood. >> i just saw something i have never seen in real life. i saw an entire home taken off

of its foundation and rolled down the street. >> this house here before the storm gone when the winds and rain finally calmed down. now the scenes of devastation emerging. this school completely destroyed. hundreds of miles of destruction across the southeast, and now the storm barreling north. the carolinas bracing for impact on the heels of hurricane florence. also this morning, more of our exclusive interview with the first lady. revealing her concerns about her husband's administration and her surprising answer when she's asked why she chose to take on bullying. >> i could say i'm the most bullied person on the world. >> all this as our team tracks the catastrophic damage from michael now being revealed as the storm wreaks even more havoc this morning. and we do say good morning, america. and we know it is a difficult morning for so many.

we are thinking of all those in the path of michael, the worst hurricane to ever hit the florida panhandle, and the storm is on the move this morning. >> michael is now a tropical storm barreling through the carolinas. the area, of course, already hit so hard by hurricane florence just last month. >> it made landfall as a category 4 hurricane, almost category 5, packing winds up to 155 miles an hour, strongest storm to hit the u.s. in nearly 50 years. look at that wind right there. now, hundreds of thousands across florida and georgia waking up to scenes of total devastation. you see this school right here completely destroyed. >> it is. our team was there on the ground as michael roared ashore and they are spread out across the storm zone for us again this morning. "world news tonight" anchor david muir leads us off from panama city. good morning, david. >> reporter: robin, good morning and one word for hurricane michael, historic. this was a category 4 hurricane.

the skep of the devastation now with the sun coming up here this morning, is really staggering. this is the hotel that we were reporting from yesterday. go to a hotel with concrete or steel reinforcements. this was one of them. while we were on the air the sheer force of this hurricane brought a huge part of this roof crashing down. you can see the vehicles trapped underneath. i wanted to show you, you can see what's dangling from top of the hotel. this is where we were. that was the signal to get into the hallways and stair we'lls. where we all rode out this hurricane.

hurricane michael is the strongest hurricane to hit the u.s. since 1969, ripping through the southeast, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. the monster storm slamming into the panhandle making landfall near mexico beach just before 1:00 in the afternoon. winds at 155 miles an hour, just shy of a category 5 hurricane. the terrifying winds and torrential rain submerging whole neighborhoods, tearing apart homes and buildings. here in panama city, communities taking a brutal beating. the storm peeling off rooftops, swaying palm trees. throwing debris around in all directions. watch as fierce winds tear apart this panama city home. this is the first category 4 hurricane to ever hit the region. we were on the air at the moment the outer eyewall of the hurricane approached. >> this hurricane is about to make landfall again not far from where we are right now. i want to show you behind me some of the damage it's already done.

you can see the trees here, one of them has already come down behind us. watch the waves crashing ashore. the national weather service measuring some waves more than 30 feet before making landfall before that buoy stopped working. transformers bursting behind us. >> did you see that? >> reporter: our team watching the storm's fury from between reinforced concrete walls at this hotel. >> we are seeing the brunt of the most dangerous part of this storm begin to move in. trees are coming down in front of us. power lines have come down. and i just want you to hear what it sounds like standing out here, just the sheer force of this. listen to this. just a short time later with so many of the families seeking shelter here, we watched as part of the hotel roof collapsed. >> it's going to go. it's going to go. you can see the roof of the hotel that we had been standing out there, that was the shelter for a category 4 hurricane, that has now come down on those suvs. >> reporter: moments later, the

windows shattered. the view from the highest floor of the hotel providing a view of the destruction. just a stunning amount of damage. i mean, it's almost apocalyptic. those are the roads, the streets surrounding the hotel completely covered in water. and when the storm finally passed through, the scale of the devastation coming into focus. signs of destruction everywhere. a twisted boardwalk, debris piercing through this car's windshield and the windows of our third floor hotel room had blown right out. you can see that the streets are completely flooded. this stunning drone footage this morning, revealing a school in panama city completely destroyed. this dramatic video showing the moment that a beachfront building under construction partially collapses, lashed by the high winds. while the system has now passed over the panhandle, the next phase of this historic storm is just beginning. >> we're turning 100% of our focus on search and rescue and recovery. >> reporter: while hundreds of

thousands were told to evacuate, many decided to stay. colleen swab of panama city said she and her family rode out the hurricane in their downstairs closet. >> we were hiding in the closet. all i could hear was a lot of wind and i thought the roof was going to come off. >> reporter: sabrina marshall was also home with her family when hurricane michael bared down. >> and that's when he said, move, move. the door open and the roof flew off. >> reporter: massive power outages across florida, alabama and georgia. and hurricane michael even as it hit georgia was not giving up, still a category 3 hurricane at that point with plenty of punch, thrashing winds tearing apart homes and uprooting trees, including this one caught on a home security system. >> it was terrifying honestly. it was a lot of noise. we thought the windows were going to break and we did whatever we could, just kind of hunkered down and tried to wait it out. >> reporter: you can see the choppers overhead this morning surveying the damage and looking to see if there are people in need.

one of the first we have seen over this particular neighborhood here in the panhandle. what they're seeing from up above is what they're seeing in so many communities, just devastation, trees as though a saw came through and just cut them off and the damage like what we're seeing at the hotel, this gentleman right here, you were in the truck when the roof came down, you had no choice to stay in the truck -- >> too strong. >> too strong. but you're okay. he was measuring the pressure of this hurricane, continued to put his gage out the window. we also checked the hallways of this hotel afterward to check on the families here. because the windows in this hotel came crashing in in many of the rooms. but everybody was okay here. today, though, with the sun now coming up, obviously the scope of the damage here is widespread. just as families begin to go home and survey the damage to their own homes but they have to

be careful with all those power lines down. robin, back to you. >> we lost contact with ginger at the height of the storm, thank goodness she hunkered down out of harm's way. a home washed away in front of her eyes. >> reporter: we start the day reporting on a balcony across the day from a blue house. my ears have been popping for a half hour. i'm not standing outside because i can't. and i won't because it is just too dangerous. we have seen debris flying, pieces of homes. certainly huge. you can hear it. just take a listen to that, that incredible roar. i am constantly trying to keep

cool. we are in a cement building in the safest place we can possibly be at this point. we're not going to be the only ones dealing with hurricane-force winds. we ride out michael's direct hit on the second floor of a cement condo in mexico beach. and there's -- i don't know if you're hearing the crashing. large chunks of debris seen flying by. i think at this point we're going to start to wrap up. we retreat further inside. look, we've had to step away from the door because debris is flying so close to our hotel. that -- you see that right there, it looks so much like the hurricane i always describe to people and that is a washing machine. you have all of this water. you have all of this wind and you can't see anything. just 20 minutes ago, i was able to see the homes right across. i have no idea if they are there still. i saw something i have never seen in real life. i saw an entire home taken off of its foundation and rolled down the street. that is the type of storm surge we're talking about right here

in mexico city at this moment. you can't see it but we could just start to make out and i saw the roof on its side rolling down the street. my heart is racing. i again have never seen something like an entire home, a well-built home, rolling down the street. we just watched that happen in realtime and i'll tell you right now it makes you shake. we see firsthand that storm surge can be the most dangerous part of the storm. >> that is where the house used to be. >> reporter: finally, we're ready to head outside again. we rode out hurricane michael but now is the first time that it's safe to come out here and i have to tell you, the home that i saw floating away was standing there. it is no longer. that blue house across from us is no longer there. simply gone. and then we head over to the other side of the condo. >> we saw that house taken off its foundation but there were also several houses right there. >> yeah, there were three and a

house and then one house in the back. there was a lady in a house there who was parked and she didn't go. now everything is gone. >> i mean, there's nothing left so we can't imagine where she is. within that house is your wedding dress. >> everything that i had for my wedding is in my house. >> which is in two weeks? >> two weeks. >> it's supposed to be two weeks from now and you can't even imagine, even if the house is standing, the damage. >> probably flooded and gone. >> reporter: for "good morning america," ginger zee, abc news. >> so tough down there. we actually couldn't establish live communication with ginger this morning but she is okay and she shared this photo of the sunset. that was right after the storm passed through, so calm, so peaceful but we have seen the destruction. >> you can just feel the emotion from ginger as she was experiencing all that. hurricane michael also slammed georgia, the strongest storm to hit there in more than 100 years. steve osunsami is in macon, georgia.

good morning, steve. we know it was a scary scene there as well overnight. >> reporter: that's robin. so many families affected by this storm because it came through in the middle of the night. trees over roads. trees over homes. in one county, a large tv and radio tower fell on top of a county building that housed a 911 operation center, those call managers had to be moved to another building. calls are being handled now by another county. a tree fell over i-75 northbound. we're also hearing reports of tornadoes in roberta, georgia, about 30 miles away. now we're hearing in perry, georgia, authorities are begging residents to stay off the roads. a bit of good news, we're at a staging area for georgia power here where they have all of their utility trucks and we just watched dozens of trucks get on

the road, head down the highway, they have a ton of work to do today. robin. >> that is a bit of good news, steve. thank you. president trump sent his thoughts and prayers to people impacted by the hurricane at a rally in pennsylvania last night. he said he would likely visit the storm zone early next week. florida's capital, tallahassee, 25 miles inland, has taken in thousands of evacuees but it was also hard hit by the monster storm, and abc's victor oquendo is on the ground with more. good morning, victor. >> reporter: good morning, michael. this was our fear all along here in tallahassee. there are downed trees across the city. this massive one coming down right on top of that car. there are about 200 roads in this area blocked this morning. we found two homes, trees fell right on top of their roofs crushing them. so much of tallahassee waking up in darkness. at least 100,000 without power

across four states there are about 650,000 customers without power. late last night we were there when tallahassee mayor andrew guillum checked on the residents. now it is time for those cleanup efforts. crews were out overnight but >> thank you very much. we'll bring in the florida governor rick scott from tallahassee. governor scott, thanks for joining us. you leveled warnings out there. how bad does it look this morning? >> well, i've been getting assessments all morning. all night we've had search and rescue teams going -- heading down towards the coast. the coast guard has been doing rescues all night long. my heart goes out to anybody that is injured or hopefully we don't have loss of life. we have one unconfirmed death so far. i'll be going to see the damage today, but we have a massive effort to get out to people.

we've got -- coast guard's here. we're, you know, we're evacuating hospitals, some nursing homes. this is just a devastating storm but we have thousands of people heading to the communities impacted. we have almost 20,000 people doing power restoration. we have over a thousand people doing search and rescue. i called up 3,500 members of the national guard. i'm very concerned about our citizens that didn't evacuate and i just hope that, you know, we don't have much loss of life. i'm very concerned. >> we all do share that hope. i know you're focused 100% on rescue and recovery right now. what is your greatest need? >> everybody to stay inside. my biggest -- we have plenty of people going out. we have all these downed power lines. we've got all these downed trees. if you think about it, the area where this hit, it's a lot of forest and so, one, it's going to take a long time to get to people.

we'll try to get to people as quickly as we can and we got all the way to the coast -- we worked all night. but, be careful. don't -- be careful, there's downed power lines. if you use a generator, follow the rules. be careful with chainsaws. just, you know, hopefully everybody survives this horrible storm. don't get injured now. i'm very concerned about our citizens. this was a devastating storm and it's -- we're going to work diligently to get to everybody as quickly as we can with all the resources. i already talked to brock long this morning from fema. you know, they're going to provide us every resource we need. we're opening up temporary hospitals right now. panama city, both their hospitals are lost. we've got some other communities that have lost their hospitals so we just -- everybody has to be careful and we got -- we're getting into these cities as quickly as we can. >> and we are thinking of you. governor, thanks very much for your time this morning. >> thank you, george. now to rob. he's also in the storm zone,

panama city, florida. rob. >> reporter: george, to echo what the governor said, utility poles, power lines are down all over this area and not just in florida, across the storm zone. the center of which is now northeast of augusta, georgia. still a lot of moisture with this. watches are posted across the carolinas, still saturated from florence. up through southern new england. that front is going to squeeze even more of this rainfall out, through the early hours of tomorrow morning. some outer bands across parts of long island. 6 to 9 inches of rain additionally across the carolinas and the mid-atlantic.

much more on hurricane michael coming up and more of our exclusive interview with the first lady, melania trump. she says you need to watch your back in the white house. we'll find out what that means coming up here on "gma." i wanted more from my copd medicine... ...that's why i've got the power of 1-2-3 medicines with trelegy. the only fda-approved 3-in-1 copd treatment.

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catering and delivery now available. panera. food as it should be. good morning, east bay. get up and get going. >> this is abc 7 mornings. >> and good morning it's 7:23. i'm reggie aqui from abc 7 mornings. it's going to take a little longer than engineers first predicted from fremont street to reopen in san francisco. that's because work to shore up the salesforce transit center is taking more time than expected. now officials are expecting fremont street will open next wednesday. they had originally hoped it was going to be tomorrow. the center and fremont street both closed after cracks were discovered in two metal beams last month. buses won't return to the center until repairs are finished there. so that's a bummer, alexis. >> yeah, it sure is. however, i'm not seeing any major delays around that area, at least for now.

that's the good news. we do have a problem in the southbound, northbound 87 past almaden expressway. yet another crash involving a motorcycle. our fourth one of the morning. you're a parking lot there from 85 and 85 is jammed solid, too. and a couple of earlier issues on northbound 280 has you slow as well. you can check out the stop and go traffic here at highway 17. a lot of heavy traffic around the south bay right

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our accuweather forecast with mike nicco. we'll start with the temperatures. most of us in low to mid-50s. 49 for the cool spot in ukiah. here's a look at your commute planner. everything's pretty good. dry out there, cool this morning, mild this afternoon, light breezes on the bay. we do have some issues if you're going to the beaches today, all the way through 5:00 tomorrow afternoon. a southerly swell with rip currents and sneaker waves. but it's going to be cool at the beaches.

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but not today. today, there's a new treatment for women like me who won't be held back. learn more at treatmbc.com. we welcome you back to "gma," and you're looking at michael coming ashore as a category 4 hurricane slamming the florida panhandle. our team was right there as the storm hit. the roof of the hotel where david muir and his crew were taking shelter collapsing right in front of them. thankfully everyone there is safe. you saw david's report in our first half-hour and that storm is on the move this morning heading north. >> it is. we have a lot of other news to follow this morning as well including eyes on the markets this morning after the nosedive yesterday, dow plunged 832 points, the biggest single-day loss since february. tech stocks hit particularly hard as investors reacted to rising interest rates and growing unease over trade tension.

an arrest has been made after that horrific limo crash that killed 20 people in upstate new york. the operator of the limousine company along with the owner's son has been charged with criminally negligent homicide. the investigation now focusing on the limo that officials say should never have been on the road. and the fbi says it foiled an alleged election day bomb plot, arresting a man from new york suspected of planning to detonate a bomb on election day. officials say paul rosenfeld had what appears to be a working 200-pound explosive device that was in the basement of his home. and calls are growing for president trump to do something about the mysterious disappearance of "the washington post" columnist and saudi dissident jamal khashoggi. he went missing a week after walking into a saudi consulate in turkey, never leaving. turkish officials believe he was murdered, and president trump is vowing to get to the bottom of it, saying the u.s. is demanding answers. >> yes, it sure is. now to abc's exclusive interview with the first lady, melania trump. she is speaking out about her husband's administration and whether there are people he can't trust, and she's also opening up about bullying.

she sat down with tom llamas on her first solo trip to africa and tom joins us this morning. good morning, tom. >> michael, good morning. melania trump thinks she is one of the most bullied people in the world. that's exactly what she told us. it motivated her to take on cyberbullying. just one of the many new revelations she shared with us in our sitdown interview. >> reporter: just two days ago u.n. ambassador nikki haley became the latest high-level staffer to announce she's leaving the trump administration. >> i think that it's just very important for government officials to understand when it's time to step aside. >> reporter: the president's tenure in the white house marked by a constant revolving door, and the west wing plagued by chronic leaks. an alleged high-level administration official even penning an anonymous op-ed in "the new yortimes" last month, describing chaos and calling themselves a member of the, quote, resistance, the president fuming. >> they don't like donald trump and i don't like them because

they're very dishonest people. >> reporter: during our exclusive interview, we asked melania trump about her husband's team. >> he's been in office almost two years. has he had people you didn't trust working for him? >> yes. >> did you let him know? >> i let him know. >> and what did he do? >> some people, they don't work there anymore and it's very difficult sometimes because i'm so busy with my office, i don't get involved with the west wing. >> do you think there's still people there that he can't trust? >> yes. >> still working now? >> yes. >> your husband most likely will run for re-election. are you looking forward to possibly six more years in the white house? >> i believe that my husband is doing an incredible job for this nation, and i want american people to have success so whatever he will decide i will support him. >> but are you looking forward to it? >> i'm enjoying it. i really love to live in the

washington and in the white house and, yes, i'm enjoying it. >> reporter: and the first lady planning to carry on with her be best initiative. one of the pillars, combating cyberbullying, and an interesting choice considering her husband's behavior on twitter, attacking people's looks and talent. for the first time melania trump revealing why exactly she focused on cyberbullying. >> what happened to you personally that you thought you wanted to tackle this issue? >> i could say i'm the most bullied person on the world. >> you think you're the most bullied person in the world? >> one of them. if you really see what people are saying about me, that's why i, you know -- my be best initiative is focusing on social media and online behavior. we need to educate the children of social/emotional behavior so when they grow up they know how deal with those issues. >> reporter: in our upcoming

special the first lady tells us how she is chronically harassed online even when she's trying to do charitable acts. tomorrow right here on "gma" balancing being first lady amid some very personal headlines involving her husband's alleged affairs. that's coming up tomorrow. >> she didn't grow up in politics. only started with the campaign a couple of years ago, the president's first run for office, so this is all pretty new to her. >> and you have to understand her life quickly changed. she was considered a celebrity and she lived that celebrity life. as soon as her husband enters politics she adopts a lot of his positions and that's where a lot of this blowback starts, but she tells us she wakes up and she's bombarded online and she doesn't even check twitter anymore she tells us. >> we can see the whole "being melania: the first lady" airing tomorrow night at 10:00 eastern right here on abc. robin. and coming up, we'll have more on the aftermath of hurricane michael and hear about why a woman chose to stay behind and ride out the storm. (vo) this is not a video game.

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we're back now with more on hurricane michael and rob is there in panama city where we're getting new images of the enormous damage from the worst storm to ever hit the panhandle. good morning again, rob. >> good morning, robin. you know, you got to think of this as an ef-2 or ef-3 tornado five or ten miles wide hitting this area and the damage looks just like this.

utility poles and trees damaged all over the place. difficult to get around. this is a home where the roof, one of many, completely ripped off. check out our shot from the drone up there. you can see not just this roof but the treetops have been snapped, i mean like matchsticks. and this -- for thousands of trees just in this area alone, and then roofs, hundreds of roofs have been ripped off as well. this is just the main impact zone. this was a category 3 and 4 storm that went all the way to georgia so you can imagine a swath of damage cut all the way into another state where thousands of trees have been new knocked down. over 600,000 people without power across four states but here in the florida panhandle where they've never seen a storm like this, from what we've seen so far in the last 12 hours to 18 hours, it will take them months and in some cases years to recover from this. robin. >> those images are something else. okay, rob, thank you very much. george. >> thanks, robin. we are joined by krista miller who rode out the storm in apalachicola, florida. thanks for joining us. you're in your backyard right now? >> yes, sir. >> how are you feeling?

>> very blessed actually considering the damage that this storm has done to our area and our neighbors. >> so walk us through. take us inside your home when the storm hit. >> well, when the storm hit -- we live in a two-story home, it's 111-year-old house on the apalachicola bay and we're probably 100 yards from the coastline so, when the storm came through, you could literally feel the power of that -- we might as well say it was a category 5 because we were one mile away from a cat 5 and it sounded like the freight train coming from every direction. >> i can only imagine. how long did it last? how scared were you? >> i remember my father coming in and telling me, okay, we only have about two more hours and we're going to get the worst of it and then coming in again and saying we only have about two more hours and that's going to be the worst of it. it seemed like he did that at least three times, so it was pretty terrifying for awhile.

>> i have to ask you, you know, there were so many warnings telling everyone to get out, you have to evacuate. why did you stay? >> well, i stayed because my parents didn't want to leave. my father is responsible for all of the seafood that's in our area, literally millions and millions of dollars of seafood, and he feels compelled to stay to make sure those seafood houses are back up and running as soon as the storm passes. and, you know, he's 70 now so i didn't want to leave them and i felt that, you know, i needed to be here. >> did many of your neighbors stay, as well? >> quite a few stayed actually. they've weathered storms and the storm intensified as time went on so when we were first making our decisions it was a cat 2. then it went to a cat 3, which we all stayed in the '80s during alana and kate, so we were aware of what to expect. by the time we, you know, had options to leave, it was probably already a cat 4 and

when we woke up in the morning and, you know, it was -- we were warned that it was going to be a cat 5 it was already too late to do anything. >> i know you've taken some video of the damage. can you give us a sense of what has happened to your neighborhood? >> our neighborhood, actually there's trees down in every direction. we were going to be out of running water pretty shortly, i'm sure. the sewer has been off and these hundred-year-old homes in the district of apalachicola withstood the power of that cat 5 and we're truly blessed for that. there was a lot of debris and stuff that will be required to clean up here. docks are gone. but no lives were lost and that's what we're grateful for. >> thank goodness for that. i know you got a big cleanup job ahead. krista, thanks for joining us this morning. >> you're welcome. thank you. >> very lucky those houses stood up. >> grateful that she's safe, she and her family are safe. and coming up, everybody, we

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back now here at "gma" with ways you can help those affected by the devastating storm michael. it made landfall, as you know, as a category 4 hurricane leaving that path of destruction. so, so many of you have asked how can you help? well, gio benitez is here with

the best way to do just that. good morning, gio. >> reporter: hey, robin. good morning. you know it, after just about every natural disaster we see people trying to scam others and take advantage of the most vulnerable. before you hand over any money these are the options you have today to help out the right way. with hurricane michael ravaging florida's panhandle, there's an urgent need for food, water and assistance of all kinds but, what's the best way to help from afar? well, first do your homework before donating to any charity or even volunteering. >> first, you'll want to support experienced disaster relief organizations to support organizations that actually have boots on the ground or a way into the affected area. >> reporter: give.org says they make sure the organizations they list are the real deal. they also recommend that you hold off on sending supplies. instead they say send cash. and if you live close to the disaster zone you can also donate blood which, of course, could save a life. another idea, foster or adopt a homeless or lost pet, and don't forget, use social media.

>> many times we can see pictures and stories of what's going on and they can give us clues as to what we can do to be helpful. >> reporter: so we mentioned give.org right there. another great option is charitynavigator.org. when you're researching charities, you want to look for the ones that give most of the money to programs and services. we're talking about 85%, 90%. if they say they give 100%, that's a bit of a red flag because, listen, they do need to spend something on overhead. that's that magic number, 90%. >> and there's also a word of warning about crowdfunding pages that say they are helping these victims. >> listen, you know what, some might be well intentioned and might want to give this money to these organizations. the problem is you have no idea. you just don't know where that money is going. so experts say, you know what, stick to the organizations you know and trust. >> especially when you're trying to get repairs to your home. make sure you find somebody that you can trust because people take advantage even then. >> oh yeah. make sure they have a license.

>> all right. thank you. >> for more ways to help go to our website. coming up, we're going to talk with montel williams, the rare stroke he suffered and how he helped save his own life and he is live here on "gma" this morning. we've transformed this home to show the new keurig k-café brewer makes any house a coffee house. just pop that in for a coffee or brew a shot and froth milk for a latte or cappuccino. easy peasy. now she's a barista! it's so frothy. a little piece of heaven. thank you. but how's the coffee?

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national hurricane center nailed the track forecast of hurricane michael. so if there's any good news, there it is. here is where we think it's going now and this is not the best of news because it will head into an area that's been saturated. the forecast track of michael now entering the forecast track of a month and a half ago of hurricane florence, which did disastrous damage across south and north carolina as far as rainfall goes. high risk for flooding there and we also have a tornado risk for severe weather across the outer banks of north carolina later on today. this weathercast brought to you by audible.com. more local n

good morning, south bay. let's get up and get going. >> this is abc 7 mornings. >> and good morning. it's 7:56. i'm reggie aqui from abc 7 mornings. let's check in with meteorologist mike nicco. >> hi, reggie. thank you so much. hi, everybody. dangerous surf until 5:00 tomorrow afternoon at our beaches. rip currents and sneaker waves going to be a big issue. pretty good if you're going to be on the bay or if you're just out and about today, with temperatures a little bit cooler than average from 60s along the coast, san francisco, low to mid-70s for most of us. my accuweather seven-day forecast, look at the warmth tomorrow, all the way through wednesday. alexis? >> okay, we've got yet another motorcycle crash. we're looking at 101 and 880 right now in san jose. again, very heavy just north of here due to two crashes, one at lawrence, the other at matilda. that's the one involving a motorcycle. we've got injuries and that is a sig alert right now, so avoid

that stretch if possible. and a quick check of some drivetimes, tracy to dublin, finally starting to come down following another motorcycle crash in that area, that was reggie? >> alexis, thank you. coming up next on "good morning america," how you can help the victims of hurricane michael and what you can do to make the most out of your donation. join us every morning the from it's time for the ross fall dress event. yeah? so you can find a party dress at a price yeah. that makes you want to celebrate. find the perfect dress for every occasion. it feels even better when you find it for less at the ross fall dress event. yes for less. minutes can mean the difference between life and death. proposition 11 saves lives by ensuring medical care is not delayed in an emergency. proposition 11 establishes into law the longstanding industry practice of paying emts and paramedics to remain on-call during breaks and requires they receive fema level training and active shooters and natural disasters. vote yes on 11 to ensure 911 emergency care is there

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good morning, america. it's 8:00 a.m. hurricane michael roars ashore. almost a category 5. the strongest storm to ever hit the florida panhandle. roofs peel off houses. debris flew in all directions. entire neighborhoods submerged. this hotel collapsed right in front of our crew. >> it's going to go. it's going to go. >> and the terrifying storm surge that wiped away a neighborhood. ginger was right there. >> i saw something i have never seen in real life. i saw an entire home taken off its foundation and rolled down the street. >> scenes of devastation revealed as the storm barrels north and the carolinas bracing for impact just weeks after hurricane florence. fight of his life. montel williams just revealing that he had a life-threatening stroke.

it happened during his morning workout and led to 21 days in intensive care. his difficult road to recovery and why he's opening up about his struggle now. he joins us live this morning. ♪ heart of a hero and right here this morning we are revealing the nicest place in america. we teamed up with "readers digest" to pore through hundreds of entries from all across the u.s. now the big winner, the man behind a place of hope and family and paying it forward for so many. a surprise so big that his wife is helping us pull it off and he has no idea. ♪ and he's the mascot who's won over america. gritty makes his big entrance at philly's home opener. it's the moment that will have you cracking up into thursday as we say, good morning, america. >> those mascots are something.

>> they really are something. good morning, america. hope you're well this thursday morning. all of us thinking of all those affected by hurricane michael. >> yes, we are. these images coming in that show the destruction from the worst storm ever to hit the florida panhandle and that storm is now on the move heading northeast with the carolinas in its path. >> our team was right there as hurricane michael made landfall packing 155-mile-an-hour winds so let's go back to "world news tonight" anchor david muir there in panama city. good morning again, david. >> reporter: robin, great to be back on with you. you saw the hotel here in the first hour. this is the roof that came crashing down and the biggest concern obviously were so many of the families who have been inside this hotel. they listened to authorities when they said seek higher ground, seek hotels with steel reinforcement, concrete walls and they came here and still this was the damage from a category 4 hurricane, 155-mile-per-hour winds. come with me. i want to show you some of the rest of the neighborhood. we've seen authorities now

casing the neighborhoods coming through checking for damage and you can see over high shoulder the trees sort of dangling, just a few still standing in that part of the neighborhood and when you look this way, dale is going to show you that every one of these trees, it's like a saw came through here and cut off the tops of these trees. the recovery here is going to be staggering as families now with sun can go out and see the damage. winds of 155 miles an hour, just shy of a category 5 hurricane. the terrifying winds and torrential rain submerging whole neighborhoods, tearing apart homes and buildings. here in panama city, communities taking a brutal beating. the storm peeling off rooftops and swaying palm trees, throwing debris around in all directions. watch as fierce winds tear apart this panama city home. this is the first category 4 hurricane to ever hit the region. our team watching the storm's fury from between reinforced concrete walls at this hotel.

we are seeing the brunt of the most dangerous part of this storm begin to move in. trees are coming down in front of us. power lines have come down. and i just want you to hear what it sounds like standing out here. just the sheer force of this. listen to this. just a short time later with so many of the families seeking shelter here, we watched as part of the hotel roof collapsed. >> it's going to go. it's going to go. you can see the roof of the hotel that we have been standing out there, that was the shelter for a category 4 hurricane. that has now come down on those suvs. moments later, the windows shattered. the view from the highest floor of the hotel providing a view of the destruction. just the stunning amount of damage, i mean, it's almost apocalyptic. those are the roads, the streets surrounding the hotel completely covered in water. and when the storm finally

passed through, the scale of the devastation coming into focus. signs of destruction everywhere, a twisted boardwalk, debris piercing through this car's windshield and the windows of our third floor hotel room had blown right out. you can see that the streets are completely flooded. and this stunning drone footage revealing a school in panama city completely destroyed. this dramatic video showing the moment of a beachfront building under construction partially collapsed lashed by the high winds. hundreds of thousands remain without power this morning and it's not going to be days. in many cases they're telling us it could be weeks and this is obviously the reason why, so many trees came down, we watched those power lines come down. you saw those transformer explosions while we were on the air. and the remarkable thing, robin, about this hurricane is not only was it a cat 4 here, almost a cat 5, but as it made landfall and traveled it continued as a hurricane entering georgia as a category 3 hurricane. that's something we really have

not seen, and the fact that it continued to do its damage is an explanation this morning why so many people not only do not have power but are looking at the damage that their homes have sustained and just think about all these families in these hotels around me going home for the first time this morning, robin. >> with the sun out like you said people want to go out but george talked to the governor in our first half hour. you have to be careful when you survey. there are downed lines and still danger out there and people have to be aware of that. i know they're anxious to see the damage and to start recovering but they got to keep that in mind. >> yeah, they really are. they were asking us as soon as the hurricane passed last night, robin, do you think we can go back outside. we were urging everyone just to listen to authorities. it's the hardest thing to do but delay it by a few more hours. there are power lines down everywhere so what you just said, robin, and george's interview, those are powerful reminders, don't toy with those lines until authorities can make sure that there aren't any live wires because you really don't

need a second wave to this disaster. we want to make sure everyone stays safe. everyone who survived, let's just keep them healthy and get them back home when they can. >> we're glad you and the crew and everyone there is okay as well and we'll see you, of course, tonight on "world news tonight." david, thank you. >> you know, rob marciano is also in panama city. rob, you're getting a sense of the scale of the devastation. >> we are, george. you know, this thing didn't wind down until late yesterday when it was safe to get around and really not safe until now and the curfew has yet to be lifted and folks are trying to get around but these power lines as david mentioned are just everywhere. another vantage point from our drone again pointed the other direction. we'll show you more in the way of trees down, a concrete factory completely torn apart and boats that have been pulled out of the water for protection, they've been flipped upside down and tossed around like toys and this sort of scene goes on for miles. this is actually the western, the weaker part of the storm. let's talk about the scale. this is what it looks like today

from above. from above today from the satellite yesterday this was a beast. unlike the other storms that we've had in the past couple of years this was maturing and intense finding as it made landfall as a category 4, almost a 5 between here and mexico beach. this is now number three on the list of all-time storms recorded here in the u.s. as far as barometric pressure goes, bumping katrina with 919 millibars, a historic storm on many levels and it is still doing damage across the carolinas. we look for more in the way of rainfall there and even a severe weather threat across the low country of south carolina and the tidewater of north carolina later on today so we're not quite done with michael and will talk about this, no doubt about it, for years to come. george. >> we certainly will. >> i remember going through camille. i was 8 years old. we just moved to the mississippi gulf coast and the power of that storm and very reminiscent with what we're seeing with michael. coming up, montel williams is here live. the rare stroke he suffered. how he helped save his own life. we have all the details about the next royal wedding. it is tomorrow and the role that prince george and princess charlotte are playing in it.

and lara is upstairs. hey, lara. >> i sure am. hello, michael. so can you all keep a secret because we have the surprise of a lifetime for that man right there as he reveal the nicest place in america. we're going to do that next, and we have an amazing audience with us today. [ applause ] don't go anywhere. "good morning america" will be right back. "good morning america" will be right back. er is relentless, but i'm relentless too. mbc doesn't take a day off, and neither will i. and i treat my mbc with new everyday verzenio- the only one of its kind that can be taken every day. in fact, verzenio is a cdk4 & 6 inhibitor for postmenopausal women with hr+, her2- metastatic breast cancer, approved, with hormonal therapy, as an everyday treatment for a relentless disease. verzenio + an ai is proven to help women have significantly more time without disease progression, and more than half of women saw their tumors shrink vs an ai.

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first man. rated pg-13. [ applause ] whoo. a whistle. we haven't gotten a whistle like that in a while from the audience. that is great. we got "deals & steals" tomorrow but right now we've got "pop news" with lara.

>> we sure do. [ applause ] >> hey, guys, good morning, we begin with another royal wedding in the works. princess eugenie, eugenie to us, is making the final preparations for her big day happening tomorrow, this friday, and the palace revealed the names of some of her bridal party. no surprise prince george and princess charlotte will be serving as page boy and bridesmaid respectively. george and charlotte very familiar with wedding duties. they were front and center during meghan and harry's wedding. they're on pippa's as well and most recently they stole the show at kate middleton a close friend's nuptials as well and we'll see another familiar face on the big day, the green's great-granddaughter, savannah phillips will serve as a bridesmaid. you can see she is very shy. she made quite the impression at buckingham palace during the trouping the color ceremony in june televised live on itv tomorrow.

>> i love a good royal wedding. two months since i had one. life keeps getting better for anthony ramos. he got a big break in the musical "hamilton" and now being called the breakout star in "a star is born." he was with us last week. >> i love him. >> that was a great interview. >> according to "variety" in deep talks to reteam with lin-manuel miranda for the film adaptation "in the heights." "crazy rich asians"'s director will direct the movie set to be released june 2020. seems like a dream team. supposed to be electric. looking forward to that. also in the news, blake lively taking on a new project that merges two of her passions, the actress and fashionista is now working with amazon to develop a fashion focus scripted show.

the show will also -- this is so smart -- have an e-tail component so you could shop as you binge-watch the series and if you know blake you'll want to buy everything she wears because she's got impeccable taste. amazon studios shared the details telling the audience something we relationship knew, blake is a, quote, force of nature, ambitious, smart and talented. we wish you luck. >> that sounds really great. >> and really expensive. >> i was just thinking i'll have to block that show. i'll have three girls at home all shopping at the same time. >> yeah. >> because it merges two passions for us. we love blake's acting and her fashion so you're in trouble, dad. >> daddy going to pay. >> girls going to be shopping. guys, we needed to give you a gritty update. you remember we had the pleasure of introducing you to the philly flyer' new mascot. we had him here, it was a fascinating interview. well, now he's made his regular season debut and, ladies and gentlemen, gritty did not disappoint. lowered from the ceiling

gracefully i might add, gritty made his grand entrance to "like a wrecking ball," set to miley cyrus' hit and the flier fans went wild. this is a big change from early reaction. fans have gone from really not understanding or embracing gritty who fell on the ice in his very first appearance. >> oh. >> he was shooting t-shirts at the audience and totally wiped out. now they are fiercely protective and loyal for this creature of unknown origin. we tried to find out what he was, still unclear. gritty's team might be considering him their good luck charm too. they beat the ottawa senators 7-4. go, gritty. [ applause ] >> i know. >> we love you, gritty. >> lara, thank you. there is a passing that i really wanted to share with everyone. she was a true trail blazer. talking about raye montague. she was an engineer for the u.s.

navy. she broke the glass ceiling there, forever changed the way the navy designed ships. she was recognized as a hidden figure by her beloved state of arkansas around the time that the movie by the same name came out. we featured her here on "gma." it was a special moment for us february of 2017. and she -- [ applause ] yeah, that was great. and she had wanted to share this about her journey at that time when we saw her. >> one of the things that people always say to me, oh, you mean you were the first black woman to do this. no, when we talk about the ship design. and they said, well, you were the first woman? no, i was the first person, and that's important. [ applause ] >> oh. it was such a -- what an honor to meet her and to spend some time with her and she was a huge proponent for education and instilled that in her family, inspired so many women and so

many of us. i want to say thank you to simone, our producer. i said can we say something about her and she got right on it. she passed away at the age of 83. >> all right. let's get over to rob who is in panama city. >> good morning again, robin. earlier we talked about the pressure of this storm and how it's third on the all-time list, fourth on the all-time list for wind speed. check out some of these numbers as far as what was recorded yesterday by instruments and this is striking stuff. tyndall air force base, 129-mile-an-hour wind gust recorded there. panama city, this is why this city is so torn up and even through southern georgia, category 3 winds there. the first time they've had a cat 3 in the state of georgia in 120 years. still tropical storm today. tropical storm warnings current from savannah all the way through raleigh. this means more in the way of trees down and power lines and potentially flash flooding,

now to our "gma" cover story. it is special. longtime tv host montel williams is opening up about surviving a rare potentially deadly stroke. he had this while working out. we're going to talk to montel live in our studio in just a moment, but first, his story. ♪ for 17 seasons, millions tuned in to watch montel williams host his namesake show. >> "the montel williams show." >> the talk show earning montel an emmy award.

>> i have to thank the academy and i'd like to thank all of my peers for recognizing what we're trying to do at "the montel williams show." >> reporter: the 62-year-old is a proud military veteran and active fitness enthusiast. after overdoing it at the gym he suffered from a severe stroke. williams sharing on twitter that during a workout back in may, he heard a loud noise and the whole room started to kaleidoscope. it was then he realized he was having a stroke. the veteran talk show host spending 21 days in intensive care. this image showing the peach-size bleeding in his brain. williams suffered a cerebellar hemorrhagic stroke, an extremely rare type of stroke that can be up to 40% more deadly than other strokes and most patients who

survive it have long and difficult recoveries. today montel is on that road to recovery grateful to just be alive. and please welcome montel williams. [ applause ] and you are a warrior. going through this, diagnosed with ms in 1999. >> absolutely. >> how are you? >> it's crazy. it was one of those things and i got to thank you for letting me come on. it's a warning i want to send out to people who are type a personalities like me. you know, you're pushing all the time. i'm one of these guys that thought that at this age i had a right to have an 8-pack so i'm working out in the gym like a 25-year-old. i was traveling three cities a week and i happened to be in a hotel here in new york going to do a conference as a keynote speaker and i was in the gym pushing one of those workouts and i had a 60-pound dumbbell in front of me and i was doing 30 reps and stood up and heard this pop and realized i'm the only person in the gym so how was there a pop and looked to the left to figure out what happened and when i came back this way the whole room was a

blur, a kaleidoscope, and a wave of like super tired went over me and what was crazy, maybe about a month before i was watching dr. oz and i saw an episode on stroke. and i remembered the left side of my mouth -- right side of my mouth i started drooling almost immediately and so all those symptoms registered in my brain, i went, don't -- i had a you know what stroke. no, i didn't. yeah, i did. and then i sat down on the bench and then i remembered listening to the words from the show, don't go to sleep and don't lay down. >> what did you do? >> i couldn't -- i could barely move. i stood up and grabbed onto the walls. i had to wall walk about 50 yards to the elevator, hit the elevator. i was on the second floor, went up to the 14th floor, got my key in the door. when i walked in the door i fell on to the couch and started screaming for my wife, i said call an ambulance right now. tell them your husband just had a stroke. if she had not been in that room, i would be dead today. >> amen.

>> she called and said -- in this entire country, there are only two emergency vehicles that are equipped for stroke. in new york city they both exist, the new york fire department runs them. one of them was three blocks away. >> come on. >> i kid you not. >> oh my gosh. they were able to diagnose -- >> wait, watch this. >> that's so key. >> they were there and in six minutes i'm in front of my hotel in the emergency vehicle. they did a c.a.t. scan in the street. two seconds later i'm talking to a doctor from new york-presbyterian on a screen and said, mr. williams, you did just have a stroke and it's still going on. now, guess what, robin. >> what? >> had they not figured that out at that second, most people have what's called an ischemic stroke. i had a hemorrhagic stroke. had they treated me the way you have an ischemic stroke i would have bled out. because they recognized what it was they were able to rush me to

new york-presbyterian. i spent six days in intensive care where my wife slept on a gurney 24 hours beside me. only thing i can remember -- i can't even remember what happened in those six days because i couldn't move or talk but i could hear her say i love you before i went to sleep and i love you when i woke up. and that's what kept me going. >> you had the rehab that you had to go through. >> i went through intensive rehab. i started it at new york-presbyterian. who would think, my wife is from a little town called jackson, tennessee. >> i know where that is. >> in jackson, tennessee they have one of the best stroke rehab centers in the country. i happened to go down there for six weeks to recover and you know one thing i want to tell people, we don't talk about stroke in this country. we don't because when it happens everybody is kind of embarrassed. they don't want to say anything about it. but you get out of it what you put in. i went to a physical therapist by the name of par riley who literally when i went in the center on a scale of 1 to 100 i was a 51. he said to me what do you want to get out of this? i said i want to be able to

snowboard again. i want my life back. so he pushed me every single day for six weeks. >> and you pushed yourself. >> i pushed myself. again, knowing what i put in is what i'll get out so, you know, that's what i want to tell people. you don't have to -- i could be now left with a whole bunch of residual symptoms that had i not worked as hard as i did, i would not have overcome and i've overcome enough i went back to work. i'm back to work. >> "military makeover." >> brand-new show called "military makeover" where we find veterans who own their homes but we give them a deserving makeover on their home from top to bottom. we just did a family last week, incredible family, inspiration of resilience beyond belief. >> like you, my friend. thank you for sharing your story. you got your life back. >> i got it back. >> and you're saving other lives. >> that's what you need to do. >> all right. we will be right back. [ applause ] bless you for sharing that. bless you for sharing that.

good morning, north bay. let's get up and get going. >> this is abc 7 mornings. >> hi, good morning. i'm jessica castro from abc 7 mornings. san francisco mayor london breed has created a new job to speed up the building of new housing. the director of housing delivery will work with several city departments to reduce the time it takes to build new homes. currently, new projects must go through an extended permitting process after being approved by san francisco's planning commission. all right. taking a look at the roads. we've got a lot of eincidents right now, a lot of heavy traffic, as well. and we are looking live at walnut creek, so southbound 680 recovering from an earlier crash right around north main, so nothing blocking any longer, but you can see traffic at a crawl there. westbound 80 highway 4 to the maze, still trying to bounce back from an earlier crash, in

the red at 49 minutes. about 13 across the bridge once you get through the metering in an emergency, minutes can mean the difference between life and death. proposition 11 saves lives by ensuring medical care is not delayed in an emergency. proposition 11 establishes into law the longstanding industry practice of paying emts and paramedics to remain on-call during breaks and requires they receive fema level training and acve shooters and natural disasters. vote yes on 11 to ensure 911 emergency care is there when you or your love one need it.

we've had pretty good weather for the morning commute. that will continue into the afternoon hours. let's take a look at the beach. we have issues with a strong southerly swell, rip currents, sneaker waves until 5:00 tomorrow afternoon.

my accuweather seven-day forecast today is our coolest day. look at that warmth, all the way to the coast sunday. jessica? >> mike, thank you. we'll have another abc 7 news update in about 30 minutes and always on our app and abc7news.com. ♪ living in america welcome back to "gma." want to thank you for joining us this thursday morning and thank our fantastic audience for joining us as well. thank you guys so much, and all week long we've teamed up with "readers digest" to find some amazing places in america. this morning we're revealing the official nicest place in america. robin is downstairs with a big surprise. the winner is here with us in times square but has no idea what he's in for, robin. >> no, he doesn't. i have to kind of whisper because he's right behind me right here. but he has no idea what is about to happen, that he thinks he's here because he's a finalist, that he's come to meet with me who is a judge and other judges and he thinks people inside

there are from "readers digest," so he doesn't know that he has won, but he is really somebody who impressed us. his name is yassin terou. he runs yassin's falafel house in knoxville, tennessee, and now i'm going to knock on the door and tell him -- hello? hey, yassin. how are you doing, baby? nice to see you. good to see you. oh, man, you're back here real busy. mm-mm. smells just like your restaurant. >> how are you doing? >> i know. my goodness, wow. i got to tell you a little something. you know, i spent some time with you in knoxville. >> that was a great time. >> it was a great time. >> we enjoyed it. you think these folks work for "readers digest." no, they work for me. they're with "good morning america." you didn't realize we have cameras that have been hidden here. >> i thought it was a security camera. >> good, good, good. so we're happy.

i am here to tell you, you are the winner! [ applause ] >> actually, yes, yes, i'm the winner but america is the winner. knoxville is the winner. tennessee is the winner. it's not me. when you say you, i think this fair to everyone around this country. because i think this is -- this is what make us the winner is that the people in this country, not us. so thank you very much. this is what i was waiting for. working all day. >> your response is one of the main reasons why you were voted number one. that spirit that you have. so we have some more surprises for you, okay? we're going to go upstairs. >> now we going to -- not what is your name? now it's going to be clear. >> did you really think that they worked for "readers digest"? just look at them and tell. >> so smart.

they was playing so smart, actions, like i try to sneak in and i didn't get clearance. >> well, we're going to share some surprises with you and we're going to share with everybody at home coming up -- >> are we live? >> yes, we're live. >> hey. >> i forgot to tell you that part. >> thank you. you know, i just want to tell something before i get so confused. i'm so emotional, i may be cry. i just want to tell the american people you are great people. everybody love you and we know you love everybody and we going to keep this country great and we're going to build it together. >> that's yassin, and we'll share more of his story coming up and a few more surprises. michael. >> all right, robin, can't wait for you to get upstairs. you know her as a gold medallist who won our hearts in the 2016 olympics and she

sambaed her way onto "dancing with the stars" and has a new children's book called "she's got this." laurie hernandez, everybody. [ applause ] how are you? >> i'm good. how are you? >> i'm good. you know what, you're 18 years old. you have two olympic medals. you've written two books. you have a mirror ball trophy. and this morning you have a big announcement. what is that? >> i am coming back into the gymnastics world. i'm currently training. [ cheers and applause ] >> for the 2020 olympics? >> cross your fingers for 2020. >> cross our fingers. we're looking out for that. we are very confident that you got this, of course. and we love seeing you competd in 2016 and as we're watching you had this mantra where you said i got this. >> yes. >> so what's going through your mind when you're saying that to yourself? >> whenever i'm competing, i'm pretty much terrified before i go up there and so it's making sure that i can kind of calm myself down before i hop onto the equipment and for me that's a lot of self-talk and

self-preparation and when i was out there competing i said i got this and the camera really got a close-up of it and it captured this moment that i found was really important. >> which is amazing because a lot of people would see your success and would think, oh, she's never nervous and especially a lot of kids out there. and now you wrote this book, "she's got this," it's about a gymnast who falls off. >> yeah. >> who has problems, wants to quit, has some setbacks. how do you keep going? >> i think with setbacks it's making sure that you can look for all the things that you're grateful for and also it's looking forward to see the goals have you planned and it's looking back to see how far you've come and if you can mix those twoth together, i think that could be enough to keep you going. but my family helped as well. >> family always helps. you're talking about how far you've come. you have your own barbie. come on. laurie hernandez, have you your own barbie. >> thank you. >> and you tweeted that you hope to break boundaries and remind all girls that they can be anything.

when you were little, did you ever think you'd hold your own barbie? >> not at all. i used to play with them and wake them up and they wouldn't argue and would just do it. being able to have my own barbie, my favorite part -- i have two, one is she's fully posable and can move. >> i like the pose she's in. >> whoo. and also she has my curls which is really important to me. when i was little i always wanted to straighten my hair because i saw everybody had that but now i get to embrace it. >> you have a lot of young fans. we have some here in our audience and they want to ask you a question. one of them, bella, bella wants to ask a question and, bella, what is your question for laurie? >> what is the biggest challenge you've had to overcome? >> ooh. for gymnastics i think the biggest challenge i had to overcome was a lot of injuries. in 2014, in january, i fractured my wrist while doing a skill and then in june i hurt my knee and

had to get surgery. that whole year was really rough but reminded me how much i loved gymnastics and how hard i work to come back even better. >> they're all in gymnastics. can you teach them how to stick a landing? >> of course. >> put your books down. come on, girls. we're going to stick this landing. >> right here? >> right here is fine. >> okay. so whenever you're sticking a landing you want to make sure thure knees aren't too straight and not too bent so you can bend them a little bit. put your arms out in front and when you finish put your arms back to the side and pick your chin up like a queen. >> how about i do the barbie pose? pose like barbie. that's how you do it. laurie, thank you very much. you know what, laurie came bearing gifts. everyone in the audience is going home with a copy of "she's got this" and the book is out now. make sure you pick up your own copy at home. we have the man whose business is the nicest place in america. we have another surprise that is coming up next. ♪ living in america [ applause ]

and, again, from panama city, look, i want you to meet some storm survivors. these are four little kittens. we just discovered them in this home. we talked to the owners of this home and they told us a story of how they rode out the storm and as they were leaving because the ceiling was collapsing on them, these kittens fell out of the

ceiling and into the kitchen. they didn't even know that they were alive up there. so they don't know the mother and they just know that there are four kittens now that need a home. they are cold, they're frightened. they're hungry. so we just got them. we'll try to get them a little more comfortable. but, oh, my. they're so cute. so many animals like in that need help and that will be part of the story as we go through. this weather report is sponsored by target. look at that, robin. your heart just goes out to these little critters. we'll get them the help they need. >> thank you for that, rob.

it is another reminder that animals that go through the storms as well so thank you. i am backstage with this man right here, yassin, who just found out live that his restaurant, yassin's falafel house in knoxville, tennessee, is the nicest place in america. are you ready to see what else we got in store for you? >> ready. >> all right, guys. let's go out here and see what we see. [ cheers and applause ] there's your family. >> thank you. >> oh. your wife, hello. nice to see you again. >> nice to see you. >> nice to see you too. thank you. >> yassin's beautiful wife. "readers digest" editor-in-chief, bruce kelley is

here as well. thank you. >> i really do work for "readers digest." >> he does. >> are you sure? can i see your i.d.? >> he's not believing anything. >> i've been dreaming for this for almost three days now and everybody call me and tell me stuff and we just find out. but you know what, knoxville won. >> we're going to take a look. [ applause ] i actually went down to knoxville and visited the restaurant so let's show everyone why it is considered the nicest place in america. ♪ take a drive to downtown knoxville where you'll find historic buildings next to a bustling market square and this local favorite restaurant, yassin's falafel house. >> falafel love. >> it's always extremely nice here. >> it's a little bit more than just the food. it's walking in somewhere and feeling known and encouraged. >> reporter: it's clearly more than just a restaurant and owner yassin terou is cooking up something special. >> we come through there.

today we make a heart-shaped falafel. >> i love how you're putting me to work. >> oh yeah. perfect, you got it. >> whoa. >> you just don't be scared of the fryer. >> do i push this down? >> push it down, yes. you're good. you got it. okay. good. >> what a day to wear white. >> big smile. >> first time. >> i hope it's good. >> my happy dance. you know you're happy when you're eating. >> happy you're dancing. >> yassin is a syrian refugee who came to the u.s. just seven years ago but today he's living his own american dream. >> i had a second chance of life to be in knoxville to be in the united states. >> you have worked very hard and feel every bit as american as i who was born here but we have to be honest, not all of it has been smooth sailing. how do you handle that? >> handle hate with love.

when you are giving love to people you are stronger than one giving hate. >> this is more than just about food. >> falafel house is about family, about love, about building community. we make sure when you get your food you smile and fall in love with it. >> reporter: that love translating to messages of appreciation from repeat customers and resonating with his employees. >> my brother was working here so i end up working here an my other brother start working here and then my husband so it became a family restaurant. i've loved every second of it. >> what kind of boss is yassin? how is he? >> he's not a boss. >> he's not a boss. >> he's not a boss. he is just like big brother to me. >> what has it meant for you and your family to have a safe haven? >> it's the greatest feeling ever. like i would have never had a future i have right now if i wasn't here. >> reporter: yassin is paying it forward to help other refugees to make their american dream a reality. >> i want to say thank you to yassin for giving me the job. he helped me a lot.

>> reporter: at yassin's you're welcomed home but to know yassin is to understand knoxville. so mayor madeline roharrah was there to give me a tour of their beloved city. >> what are the changes you've seen most over the years in >> first of all we've seen so much new investment in our city, new businesses like yassin's have come in but also as a community, i think we're more welcoming. >> yassin's place is a perfect example of that. >> he has really torn down refugees, muslims here in the heart of appalachia. >> your final message, what would it be to people who are going to hear your story? >> we need to keep building bridges. we need to keep the american dream. this is in our hand and we to transfer into the next generation. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. [ applause ] >> ah, are you proud of yourself that you helped pull this off that he -- you kept this from

your husband? >> yes. >> it could not have been easy to do. but you did it and we're glad you did. >> i wasn't able to make it without her. it was like, you know -- >> your wife. [ applause ] >> so what is it? you got so many entries. wonderful entries from all over the country. what was it about yassin? >> everyone who hears his story and the story of the shop is moved from the customers who nominated him separately, multiple customers nominated him to us editors who vetted to you the judges and to knoxvillians we talked about talked to who said he's changed knoxville. he's made this a better place. he's an amazing guy. >> this is very important to "readers digest." this is the second year you've done this, the nicest place in

america. >> yeah, lincoln said our better angels, let's find our better angels and at a time of division in the country so that is the narrative. we wanted to step up and tell stories and these are places where people are making each other's lives better. >> yes, they are. [ applause ] they really are. [ applause ] and what's your motto about break bread, the motto you have that you bring people together? it's more than breaking bread. >> it's always what i always say is like -- especially my wife use that when we get something, she bring me good food so we are fresh in love so breaking bread is not only food, you get inside your stomach, it's a love you feel. so, you know, always. [ applause ] we need to get something we can share to start conversation, because, again, i said that a hundred time yassin falafel house is not only a restaurant, it's a place where you come and

feel safe and feel loved because we love everyone around this world. [ applause ] >> and there's so many people, thank you, yassin, who love you, including somebody you know, jack dorsey, he is the ceo of twitter and square and you have worked with him on a documentary about your restaurant and he has a message for you. jack dorsey. >> i just want to thank you and say that we appreciate you so much for who you are, what you've built and how you serve as a model for all businesses to help their community create inclusive environments for all. we're definitely taking notes and we're inspired by what you do every single day. [ applause ] >> yeah. and we have one more surprise. if you take a look outside in times square, what's happening right now, this month's bonus cover of "readers digest," you are on the cover. on the cover of "readers digest." yes. >> oh, wow. >> and the "readers digest" edition of nicest places in america is available.

bring out the falafels as we go to break. bring out the falafels. [ applause ] thank you. >> i want to say one thing about "readers digest" and good morning show america abc, square and jack dorsey. i think these are great companies that make the world better and showing story when people can love each other. without you guys my story would not get out. so square, people on square, so thank you to each one of you. thank you very much. >> we'll

♪ this is my fight song we are back now with our sponsor, lilly. they have launched the lilly thriver movement to support those with metastatic breast cancer. myra sorvino and anna kaiser

with us combining yoga and fund-raising. anna, tell us about this movement. >> i was surprised to find out 30% of men and women who are diagnosed with early stage breast cancer will develop metastatic breast cancer which means that the cancer is spread to other parts of their body and that is incurable. so we need more funding, we need more research to figure out how to stop this cancer from spreading. >> that's why mere -- mira is here. i know you're very involved. saturday is a special day. tell us about it. >> i've lost two of my very dearest friends to metastatic breast cancer, champagne joy was an activist within the community and i have marched on washington with them. we need more money to find a cure. we need to understand that breast cancer and metastatic breast cancer, we have -- >> we need people to go to the website. >> post a picture of yourself doing the thriver post. >> we'll be right back.

we're doing the thriver pose. thank you, lily, thank you, thrivers. have a good day.

good morning, bay area. let's get up and get going. >> this is abc 7 mornings. >> good morning to you. i'm jessica castro from abc 7 mornings. and here's mike nicco with our forecast. >> thank you, jessica. hi, everybody. we'll start by taking a look at the activity planner which has our beaches under the gun, dangerous surf through 5:00 tomorrow afternoon. 62 there, but we'll get to the 70s this weekend and that's when the threat will fade, also. so good timing there. 65 in san francisco. the rest of us in the low to mainly mid-70s, but check out the temperatures this weekend when it's warmest. alexis? >> thanks, mike. and we are looking at some heavy traffic getting into san francisco, northbound 101. this is just before san jose avenue. sounds like this is in the clearing stages, but a wreck involving two motorcycles and a car, still blocking one lane. so some heavy delays there. and if you look closely, northbound 101 and san rafael, we have a crash in the two right

lanes. onlooker delay on the southbound side. jessica? >> alexis, thank you. time now for "live with kelly & ryan." we'll be back at 11:00 for the abc 7 midday news and our >> announcer: it's "live with kelly and ryan!" today's singer, host, , and academy award winner jennifer hudson. end star of the films the film "eighth grade," elsie fisher. plus, get ready for "live" creepy crawly cuisine cooking lessons. all next on "live!" ♪ [cheers and applause] and now, here are kelly ripa and ryan seacrest! [cheers and applause] ♪ >> ryan: good morning!