today. a pi day procession begins at 1:30. so you might want to join the festivities. i love a good pi day procession. all kinds of shenanigans. good morning, america.ns. nearly 80 million americans facing blizzard conditions right now. the deadly storm is bringing heavy snow and hurricane-force wind gusts across the center of the country. overnight, officers trapped in a whiteout, and heavy winds toppled this big rig. now colorado to chicago, detroit and nashville on alert as the massive storm moves east. fallout growing as hundreds of boeing 737 max planes are grounded after president trump's emergency order. the new evidence affecting 43,000 american travelers right now. as investigators try to recover the data from those crucial black boxes, the faa administrator here on "gma." also this morning, actress lori loughlin out on a

million-dollar bond, released from custody overnight, facing charges in the largest college admissions cheating scandal ever. now, new details about how the fbi uncovered it all. breaking overnight. mob boss murder. the man behind one of the most notorious crime families in the world gunned down in his front yard. the manhunt right now. breaking news. beto o'rourke is running for president. the announcement from the former texas congressman just moments ago and the reaction as we come on the air. ♪ i'm on top of the world and robin is live at the groundbreaking special olympics world games in abu dhabi. 7500 athletes, more than 190 countries competing to make history. robin is right there with team usa as the athletes go for gold. [ chanting "usa, good morning, america" ] and good morning, america. hope you're well this thursday. we are looking forward to hearing from robin at those

historic special olympics in abu dhabi. >> cannot wait for that. but first, we have to get to this massive winter storm. it's on the move. the bomb cyclone sweeping from colorado across the plains bringing blizzard conditions and winds over 100 miles per hour. we just saw it there. a powerful storm. it flipped over trucks. that's just how much force we're talking about, wind force. >> yeah, that shot was really incredible. the system completely shutting down denver's airport. more than a thousand flights have been canceled this morning. abc's clayton sandell starts us off right there in denver with the latest. good morning, clayton. >> reporter: good morning to you, cecilia. let me show one of the big problems out here. this is the entrance to interstate 25, it's blocked, completely shut down between here in denver and pretty much to colorado springs, thanks to those blizzardlike conditions. these major highways and airports, no match for this major winter wallop. it's a winter weather gut punch

paralyzing colorado highways in whiteout conditions. big rigs struggling for traction. hundreds of cars stuck. >> there's probably 40 or 50 people that are stranded. >> reporter: the national guard called in to help rescue stranded drivers. conditions turning deadly for state patrol corporal daniel groves hit and killed by a car police say was going too fast. the driver losing control. >> oh! >> reporter: they call this a bomb cyclone because the pressure drops so quickly and the lower the pressure, the stronger the storm. here at the airport we're seeing gusts of 80 miles an hour. the weather canceling nearly 1400 flights. crews working around the clock to clear runways, and with kids out of school in colorado, douglas county sent its bus drivers to help rescue stranded drivers. these firefighters giving a push to a stuck police cruiser. in nebraska, one side of the state getting hit with a crippling blizzard. even the troopers trying to help drivers in trouble getting stuck themselves.

on the other side of the state, the worst flooding in decades taking out this bridge. the storm also brought tornadoes to new mexico and high winds to texas. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: strong enough to topple this truck. now, the bulk of the storm has moved on from here, officials say they hope they can get these interstates open later today. but now they've got a new round of snow in the mountains which means we could see a whole brand-new round of avalanches, amy. >> oh, my goodness. all right, clayton, thanks so much for that. let's go to rob for more on where this monster storm is headed next. good morning, rob. >> normally we get these bombs happening on the coast. very rare to get it inland. we saw a 36-millibar drop in a short period of time. amarillo, 80-mile-per-hour winds there with that tractor-trailer being toppled over. denver, these tractor-trailers being slid off the roads by these winds. colorado springs seeing a 96-mile-per-hour winds. look at that digital sign being

blown around. just a dangerous, frightening storm with so many motorists stranded there, a massive satellite. this is a classic common mature cyclone now. it rapidly intensified. unfortunately it will take its time to weaken which will happen today. we have 80 million americans now under the threat for wind alerts, flood advisories as well and serious flooding on the warm side and still blizzard warnings happening, 50 plus-mile-per-hour winds on the backside of this, chicago, detroit and eventually across the northeast tonight, we'll get some winds in buffalo and new york city as well. wide-reaching storm with now a tornado watch issue. we'll talk more about that in a few minutes. >> rob, thanks. we're going to get to fallout from the decision by president trump and the faa to ground all boeing max 8 and 9 planes in the u.s. take a look at the flight radar. it shows last week all the max planes flying. then this morning, empty skies. our chief transportation correspondent david kerley is at reagan national airport with the latest. good morning, david. >> reporter: george, in the

coming hours we may get some answers whether or not these two crashes are related. in the meantime, an inconvenience for passengers as airlines are forced to cancel flights. this morning, the 370 brand-new 737 max jetliners around the world who are grounded will stay parked. >> we got a call from the company. you need to contact them. >> we've been directed to return to the gate. >> reporter: the faa joining the rest of the world in grounding the jet, some of which on the runway forced to return to the gate. >> the pilot came on and he said, the president just said all flights are grounded and we're returning to the gate. >> reporter: this max 8 just one of the 72 idled in the u.s. leaving passengers stranded. some frustrated. >> i thought that they should have done a better job of notifying people at least. >> i'd rather be home but, you know, it is what it is. >> better safe than sorry. >> reporter: roughly 43,000 passengers a day were flying a max jet in the u.s.

the three airlines, southwest, american and united, expected to cancel more than 200 flights today, and that will continue. the concern is whether two crashes in less than five months of this aircraft are related. the faa under public pressure saying a refinement of satellite tracking data and evidence from this debris field in ethiopia showed similarities. both planes were moving erratically up and down after takeoff before crashing. the faa also citing ethiopia's slowness to retrieve data from the black boxes. we may know in the coming hours whether or not all those brand-new jetliners will stay on the ground. that's the big question, is there an inherent problem with this new 737 max? those black boxes will give us the answers and we should have the data relatively soon. george. >> thanks, david.

we're joined by the man running the faa, daniel elwell. mr. elwell, thanks for joining us this morning. begin by describing that data that finally convinced you to ground the max 8. >> tuesday night the raw data that was available at the very beginning of this tragedy on sunday night and monday morning was not matched with the lion air accident that happened five months ago. boeing and a company called areon that operates the satellites that receive the data and the ntsb were able to refine the data points and to create a profile of the flight for its entirety, and when we could see the refined data, it matched too closely to the lion air trajectory to discern or to figure that they weren't similar. >> any sense yet of how long the planes are going to be grounded and what specifically do you hope to learn from the black boxes? >> so, we don't know how long the planes will be grounded.

we have -- the black boxes have left ethiopia. they did not have the capability to read the data from the boxes because of the damage. so they were flown to france. they are in france now and we hope to start getting initial data feeds from the boxes hopefully by the end of the day. >> dallas morning news reporting that pilots have been repeatedly complaining about the autopilot system on these planes for months. why wasn't action taken earlier? >> these reports were thoroughly reviewed by our experts as they pertain to this incident and the lion air, and they did not apply to the issues that we were looking at. >> i know you're working on a software fix. any idea how long it will take for that to be in place? >> well, the software fix is almost complete and we expect by the end of this month all the testing will be complete and we can authorize implementation of the fix by hopefully the end of the month. >> mr. elwell, thanks for your

time this morning. >> you're welcome. thank you. >> let's hope the answers and the fix come fast. >> a lot of questions there. we're going to turn now to new fallout from that college admissions cheating scandal. actress lori loughlin out on a million-dollar bond this morning after turning herself in and this morning, we're learning new details about how the fbi uncovered it all. abc's eva pilgrim is at one of the schools at the very center of this, yale university and, eva, authorities stumbled on this one by accident. >> reporter: that's right, cecilia. investigators say it was a tip that led them here to yale, unraveling this whole elaborate scheme. this morning, 50 people -- coaches, parents and even high-profile celebrities -- all facing charges. it is a mighty fall for one of hollywood's brightest stars, actress lori loughlin beloved for her portrayal of aunt becky on the show "full house" shielding her face from the cameras, entering her california home after her courtroom appearance. >> sweetheart, i know you want what's best for them, but you know what, maybe the fast track

isn't it. >> reporter: she and her husband, designer mossimo giannulli, each released on $1 million bond using their westwood home as collateral, both facing federal charges and possible jail time after allegedly after paying $500,000 in bribes and fees to get their two daughters admitted into the university of southern california by having them pose as elite athletes. >> our investigation began last may after we uncovered evidence of a large scale, elaborate fraud while working in unrelated undercover operation. >> reporter: overnight abc news learning the fbi discovered the scam by accident, receiving a tip related to a fraud investigation surrounding a $400,000 payment to yale's former women's soccer coach. at the center, this man, william rick singer, who authorities say raked in $25 million as the ceo of a college admissions prep company called the key. the list of those indicted included 33 mostly wealthy

parents and a who's who of coaches, entrepreneurs and celebrities including the actress felicity huffman, star of "desperate housewives." >> are you asking for a bribe? >> reporter: sources telling abc news agents drew their guns when taking huffman into custody. dozens of others involved in the scandal facing scenes like this. >> fbi, warrant! >> reporter: loughlin's arrest was calm and without incident. the "full house" star's daughter olivia jade is currently a freshman at usc. >> my parents really wanted me to go because both of them didn't go to college. >> if you would have said england is my city i would say why did i pay all this money for your education? >> reporter: the youtube influencer learned of the indictment of her parents while spending spring break aboard a yacht owned by rick caruso, chairman of the usc board of trustees. the college telling abc news they are now conducting a case-by-case review for current students involved in the allegations. for those who were waitlisted at targeted schools, frustration.

>> i know so many qualified candidates who didn't get into the schools they wanted and also didn't have the money to pay their way in. >> reporter: he told us he is happy where he ended up. when we talked to him, he was studying abroad in spain. as for olivia, she is no longer aboard that yacht. rick caruso telling us that when she learned of the investigation they decided it was in her best interest to return home. cecilia. >> yeah, that seems like a good decision. eva, thank you. we've got more on this story and the man at the center in our next half-hour. george. now we're going to go to that breaking political news, a brand-new democrat in the race for the white house. former texas congressman beto o'rourke, the social media phenom who lost his race for the senate last year joining the growing field just moments ago. he's campaigning in iowa today and abc's paula faris already there in des moines. good morning, paula. >> reporter: good morning to you, george. beto o'rourke is now the 15th democrat announce d his 2020

plans. he's expected to hold his first official campaign event here in iowa a little bit later today and he promises to run a very positive campaign. >> amy and i are happy to share with you that i'm running to serve you as the next president of the united states of america. >> reporter: this morning, beto o'rourke is joining the 2020 fray. >> the only way for us to live up to the promise of america is to give it our all. >> reporter: the former texas congressman skyrocketing onto the national political scene when his senate race caught fire in 2018. >> thank you, el paso, thank you, texas. >> reporter: despite his loss to ted cruz, the rock 'n' roll loving 46-year-old caught the nation's attention. ♪ his offbeat social media posts appealing to a younger generation, even taking us skateboarding at whataburger. his candidacy winning the endorsement of celebrities like beyonce and now he's appearing on the cover of "vanity fair." the star politician weighing his options saying, you can probably tell that i want to run. but until now his indecision on a white house bid even left many

including oprah asking the question. >> by god, when are you going to know the answer? >> reporter: when i caught up with him at a dallas rally in october, he told me he would never run. >> is there a scenario where you run for president in 2020 or beyond? >> no. >> no? >> no. >> unequivocally you will never run for president? >> no, period. >> reporter: conservatives have labeled him a shiny new penny. they have already come for him saying he drips with white male privilege and wealth. some democrats questioning whether he's the street fighter they need in 2020. two big parts of his platform, those will be health care for all and climate change, george. >> you will see him in action in iowa today. thanks very much. to washington now where the senate is taking on president trump's emergency declaration to build a border wall. overnight, more republicans broke from the president, as

talks of a compromise broke down. our chief congressional correspondent mary bruce tracking it on capitol hill and, mary, it looks like we're heading to the first veto of the trump presidency. >> reporter: george, the president in fact just tweeted that he is prepared to issue his first-ever veto to try and fulfill his signature campaign promise. look, this is going to be a stinging rebuke here today, at least five republicans are ready to join democrats to block the president's national emergency. there was a last-ditch attempt to spare republicans with this showdown with the president. trump himself torpedo it. rejecting a compromise leaving many republicans feeling like they simply have no choice but to deliver the rebuke. it seems the president will veto it and congress doesn't have the votes to overturn. >> it comes on the heels of another rebuke to the president on his policy towards saudi arabia and yemen. >> reporter: congress is delivering the president a real one-two punch here this week. yesterday voting to end u.s. support for the saudi-led war in yemen, that is seen as a direct challenge to the president's

relationship with the saudi kingdom, especially after the brutal murder of journalist jamal khashoggi, and the president has threatened to veto this as well, george. >> mary bruce, thanks very much. now to breaking news from overnight. a mob boss murder, the reputed head of the gambinos, one of the most notorious crime families in the country killed right in his own front yard. whit johnson is on the scene in staten island. you got to say this sounds like a scene right from a mob movie. >> reporter: absolutely, amy. that's right, good morning to you. the reported target of this assassination, 53-year-old francesco "frankie boy" cali murdered in cold blood steps from his front door. his wife and children home at the time. cali, the reported mob boss of the infamous gambino crime family, shot multiple times in the torso here on staten island. one 911 caller telling authorities that he was then run over by a blue truck. this is significant because it's the first brazen killing of a mafia kingpin in new york going back decades.

1985 was the last, paul castellano killed in front of a restaurant. that really paved the way for john gotti to then take over the crime family which he ruled with an iron fist until he was eventually convicted of murder and racketeering in the early '90s later dying in prison. as for cali, police right now have no suspects, no murder weapon, and they're still searching for that blue truck. guys. >> okay, whit, thanks very much. we are learning about the college admissions cheating scandal and the man at the center of it all, that's ahead. plus, jussie smollett back on "empire" for the first time overnight as he heads to court today. and social media meltdown. that facebook and instagram blackout coming up. but first let's go right back to rob. >> all right. we are watching this tornado watch out for memphis. time for your sunny cities brought to you by jcpenney.

good morning. i'm "abc7 news" metrologist mike nicco. high clouds and sunshine this morning. building warmth and some showers are possible next week. temperatures pretty close to 60 along the coast. the rest of us around 60 to 66. a sprinkle in the 30s. the rest of us in the low to mid-40s. here's my accuweather seven-day forecast. you're going to see some of the warmest temperatures on a lot of interesting stories this thursday morning. we'll be right back. we'll be right back. -guys, i want you to meet someone. this is jamie. you're going to be seeing a lot more of him now.

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i'm jessica castro from "abc7 mornings" and we have breaking news coming in. we learned students from stanford university have filed a class action lawsuit over the college admissions cheating scandal. the plaintiffs claim their university degrees were devalued because of this scam. federal prosecutors say wealthy parents paid millions of dollars in bribes to help get their children accepted in college. they've charged 50 people in the investigation. >> taking a look at the roads this morning, some good news in vacaville. our sig alert is canceled. all lanes are back open on westbound 80. we still have that solid line of

red averaging about 10 miles per hour that's improving. it was 4 miles per hour last time we checked. and the crash we had in the two middle lanes has fully cleared. westbound 8

now your accuweather forecast with mike nicco. >> look how cold it is in san ramon. 33 degrees. pretty close to frost there. that's our spread this morning. the microclimates are happening this morning. as far as driving, nothing to worry about weatherwise whether it's mass transit or on the pay. the tree pollen is out there and getting thicker by the moment. my accuweather seven-day forecast, warmest for st. patrick's day. >> coming up on "gma," what we're learning about the laejsd ring leader at the center of the

stunning college admissions scandal. we'll have an update in about 30 minutes and always on our news app and abc7news.com. reliable wifi with coverage what'sthroughout your home?ast,

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ladies and gentlemen, please welcome hannah b. >> all right, welcome back to "gma." that is the moment hannah b. became the brand-new bachelorette and now she's starting her journey, everyone, to find the one. getting ready to hand out the roses and "gma's" going to go one-on-one with her coming up. i had to ask because it's just amazing how strong this franchise is, 15 seasons strong. so another one to look forward to. >> huge fan base. a lot of headlines we're following right now. nearly 80 million americans in the path of that dangerous winter storm that's bringing blizzard conditions and hurricane-force wins to colorado, chicago, indiana and nashville. they're all on alert.

and president trump's former campaign chair paul manafort facing 7 1/2 years behind bars after his second sentencing on wednesday. he's also facing new charges for mortgage fraud in new york city. that means, even if president trump pardons him, he could still go to prison on the new state charges. >> take a look at this close call on a highway near toronto. a plane nearly slams into a truck just before going down on the side of the road. thankfully the two people on board were not injured. >> they are lucky. we do have more now on that college admissions scandal stretching from hollywood to the halls of america's top universities. this morning, we're learning more about the man at the center of it all, the alleged ringleader who promised to get kids into elite schools for the right price. abc's linsey davis has more. good morning, linsey. >> reporter: good morning. according to pew research, millennials are on track to become the most college educated generation to date. for those parents who are willing to buy access to the most elite schools, rick singer was allegedly the guy. now, we're learning more about who he was and how he played the game. >> hi, my name is rick singer and i'm the founder of the key. >> reporter: this was rick

singer's appeal to parents, all centered around a promise. >> getting into the right college will set the trajectory for the rest of your son or daughter's life. don't leave it to chance. >> reporter: but authorities say that promise was actually a lie. singer is now accused of preying on those parents' fears guaranteeing college admittance for their children, allegedly receiving $25 million in bribes. now he stands in the center of the largest college admissions cheating scam of all time. charged this week with fraud and money laundering among other charges, singer is now a cooperating witness. but just a few years ago, the 58-year-old was focused on building his clientele. >> this is a game. just realize that this is a game. >> reporter: video shows him pitching himself as the star of his own reality show centered around the stresses of college admissions. >> mom and dad go to a dinner

party and they hear about every kid going into this school, doing this summer program, doing this, doing that. sunday morning my phone rings off the hook. why? how come we're not doing this? after all this chaos, the payoff for me is knowing that these kids found the right place to go to school and they feel great about themselves. >> reporter: while the show never sold, people did buy in to singer's idea. court filings suggest singer had been scheming for decades. one father asking, is there any risk that this blows up in my face? singer responds, hasn't in 24 years. the perrys say they considered hiring him to coach their daughter. >> i was impressed. he knew -- like i said i've been through it before. he knew everybody. he had the volleyball coaches' numbers on his phone. he was a connected guy. >> reporter: they eventually decided not to use his services in part because of his high fees but for more than two decades hundreds of children were helped. many of them out there now as working adults with degrees and careers quite possibly built on a lie. the university that's produced the most fortune 500 ceos is not an ivy league or exclusive

private university. it's the university of wisconsin, go, badgers. they've produced 14 of the current ceos and have a nearly 60% acceptance rate compared to a school like harvard which has 6%. >> you said it, go, badgers. let's bring in dan abrams and susan shifflett. thanks for joining us. susan, let's start with you. let's go down the list of some of the things that are alleged here. people said they were minority students. they weren't. they said they had disabilities. they didn't. they said they played sports that they never actually played. how is this even possible? do admissions offices check these things? >> sure. so, i think what's most surprising in this situation is really the scandal around the athletics because as an admissions officer when i was at yale we would get a list from the coaches, from the athletics department saying, hey, these are our top recruits. that admissions officer we take it as face value. if you're ring, i don't know if

you need a coxsain or if you need a rower. i would never think someone at the top of the list has never touched a soccer ball. >> there was no way for you at yale at the time if you were there would have known it was fake. >> that's right. some will take with a grain of salt and go online and check, but with sports we assume that the coach is the one who's serving as the filter so that's very disturbing. >> one of the things we're hearing a lot or i should say the group of the people we're hearing from are students of color. this debate over affirmative action and a lot feel like that they've had to defend earning a spot when, in fact, we're seeing it's the wealthy kids who maybe got in unjustly. what would you say to some of those students? >> i think it's very unfortunate, absolutely. and i think there has been increasingly more discussion around affirmative action and issues of race but i think this is sort of to a new level where it's an outright scam.

it is unfortunate that somebody took a spot of another very qualified student. >> so, do you think we're going to see, dan, possibly some of those students who think they were denied -- we've seen that in affirmative action cases, students who thought they were denied places starting class action suits. how about in this case? >> i expect there will be some form of lawsuits here against both the universities, possibly the people involved. the typical plaintiffs here would be people who waitlisted saying, look, that would have been my spot. i could have gotten in. the problem is going to be damages, right, because you're going to look at these people and say what are they doing now, they went to another school or they're doing pretty well in life and so you say, so what did they actually suffer as a result of this. this goes back to the wisconsin badgers thing, which is people do really well even if they don't go to this particular school or that particular school, and so from a legal perspective the damages then become an issue. >> maybe what you could see similar to what you've seen in affirmative action cases, people suing for changes in the way

admissions are done. >> absolutely, but when you talk about changes you have to say what changes, and susan could talk about it better than me, what changes could be effectuated that would prevent something like this happening. it seems to me the only one i can think of is following when it comes to the athletics is making sure that people who were admitted based on athletic ability are actually followed during their career. >> and holding them responsible. >> exactly, exactly. >> that's right. >> so it seems to me that's the kind of change that could be effectuated but suing over that, i don't know if that's going to be the course. this has sent a huge message to colleges and universities and parents. i can tell you i'm sure there are a lot of wealthy parents who are going to think twice about how they're getting their kids into college. >> let's hope so. >> do you think it will change the way colleges do their admissions? >> i think that in admissions offices all over the country, it's been a real day of reckoning and they're having to rethink the process or even the quality control. so i think it's something that we'll just have to see but a lot of internal discussions being

had. >> a lot of soul searching. thanks, guys. >> thank you very much. now to embattled actor jussie smollett appearing on "empire" for the first time overnight, as he prepares to head back to court today to enter a plea to charges he staged his own attack. abc's alex perez has all the latest from chicago. >> reporter: this morning, actor jussie smollett returning to court in chicago where a judge will be appointed to oversee his trial and decide whether cameras will be allowed in the courtroom for future hearings. something his attorney says smollett supports. >> there has been a lot of misinformation against mr. smollett which is demonstrably false. >> reporter: last night, smollett returning to the small screen as jamal. >> i don't know if y'all have been reading the blogs and all that foolishness, but it's kind of been a tough week. >> reporter: the first new episode of his show "empire" to air since the actor's legal troubles began to unravel. a grand jury friday charged him with 16 felony counts tied to

allegations he lied to investigators and staged his attack. back in january smollett told police he had been viciously attacked by two men who hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him and put a noose around his neck, but investigators allege smollett orchestrated the attack and paid the men to carry it out to boost his public profile and salary. and the judge has already approved a motion that allows famed california attorney mark geragos to represent smollett here in illinois. guys. >> all right, alex perez, thanks so much. and coming up next, dropout, new details about the rise and fall of elizabeth holmes. c. man 1: mine... ...caused liver damage. , dropout, new details about the rise and fall of elizabeth holmes. is your kind of cure. woman 2: i had the common type. man 2: mine was rare. vo: epclusa has a 98% overall cure rate.

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back now with the rise and fall of elizabeth holmes. she was a college dropout who became a billionaire on paper before the biotech company she founded went belly up amid accusations of fraud. her story the subject of the top ranked podcast on itunes. by rebecca jarvis. here's a sneak peek. elizabeth holmes was a rising superstar, once named the world's youngest self-made female billionaire for inventing a brand-new way to test blood. >> we've made it possible to run comprehensive laboratory tests from a tiny sample or a few drops of blood that could be taken from a finger. >> reporter: so how did this young woman once one of "time" magazine's 100 most influential people --

>> we are the only lab company that is actually really focused on leading with transparency. >> reporter: -- wind up facing the prospect of decades behind bars? >> do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? >> i do. >> reporter: investigated for massive fraud, prosecutors say she knowingly misled consumers and possibly endangered their lives by peddling promises and products that she knew didn't work. >> i don't know, you know, at that moment what i understood. >> reporter: holmes is pleading not guilty of fraud, and according to those who knew her before her meteoric success, her public image is carefully constructed. holmes headed to stanford for college in 2002 but after less than two years she dropped out. >> in silicon valley, one of the things they brag about is they dropped out of college. steve jobs dropped out of college. mark zuckerberg dropped out of college. bill gates dropped out of college. >> reporter: she tried to model her life after the founder of apple.

>> one of her most bizarre characteristics was her obsession with steve jobs and imitating him and the company. >> reporter: even poached apple employees like ana arriola who had helped design the iphone. >> elizabeth was very curious about steve's attire and i explained to her that he was inspired by sony's heritage, and the rest is couture history. >> reporter: but ana says elizabeth's transformation didn't end there. she says her voice -- >> what she could figure out would likely cost her a few thousand dollars to get these tests done. >> reporter: -- a surprising baritone, was different. >> it was at one of the company parties and she fell out of character and exposed that that wasn't necessarily her true voice. >> reporter: and rebecca jarvis spoke to stanford professor phyllis gardner who says the woman seen in those videos is quite different from the student she knew. >> when she came to me she didn't a low voice. >> she didn't? >> nope. >> what was her voice like when she came to you? >> like a typical undergrad student. when i next saw her again was at the harvard medical school board meeting where she was being introduced. she talks in this low voice and i'm like, oh, my god. >> rebecca has done an amazing

job on this. you all can see it tomorrow night on "20/20" called "the dropout" at at 9:00 eastern. all right, were you guys part of this, the great social media blackout of 2019? coming up, the meltdown. it was like the end of days. see what happened when facebook and instagram shut down for a whole eight hours. >> i was fine. (nat♪re sounds) corey is living with metastatic breast cancer, which is breast cancer that has spread to other parts of her body. she's also taking prescription ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor, which is for postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive her2- metastatic breast cancer as the first hormonal based therapy. ibrance plus letrozole was significantly more effective at delaying disease progression versus letrozole. patients taking ibrance can develop low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infections

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that major social media meltdown, both facebook and instagram going down for hours overnight. celebrities, influencers all in a panic. lara is here to break it down for us. >> facebook, instagram, some of the platforms that facebook owns, whatsapp, they were all off the grid around 3:00 p.m. yesterday for over eight hours give or take but, yes, it felt like forever for loyal users who might be slightly addicted to posting and checking the apps, 2.3 billion facebook users, instagram's 1 billion turning to the only reliable outlet at the time, twitter, to vent their frustration. even instagram tried to ease our pain with this tweet, we're aware of an issue impacting people's access to instagram right now. we know this is frustrating and our team is hard at work to resolve this. of course, a sense of humor always helps in these troublesome times. thank you to trento for responding to instagram's apology with this, quote, i ate two meals, instagram, and i was not able to post them. my fans are going to think i'm

starving. i love denny's restaurant using the shutdown as an advertising opportunity, writing, quote, instagram and facebook are down, denny's is always open. when the social media sites finally came back online, instagram posting this joyful shot of oprah with her catch phrase, and we're back. so what was the problem? well, despite rumors the outages were the result of a hacker, facebook officials say that was not the case. but they have not provided any more explanation than that at this hour. >> hmm. >> daddy, leave me alone, i'm doing my instagram. >> she wrote that on twitter. >> we'll be right back. thank you. thank you. in the background and she's watching too, saying [indistinct conversation] [friend] i've never seen that before. ♪

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let's get up and get going. >> this is "abc7 mornings." good morning. happy thursday. i'm jessica castro from "abc7 mornings." here's metrologist mike nicco with our forecast. >> thank you very much. let's take a look at what's going on. santa cruz, doesn't it look lovelily, all going to be comfortable today with a lot of sunshine. near 60 at the coast and san francisco. low to mid-60s elsewhere. my accuweather seven-day forecast. how about some low to mid-70s? >> that sounds pretty good and we're looking at lots of sunshine here at our bay bridge toll plaza camera. unless you're using the carpool lanes, you'll have your typical wait. we had an earlier issue on

westbound 4 that has cleared and in the yellow if you're coming in from marin county. >> the new bachelorette talking about her quest for love and we'll have another abc7 update in about 30 minutes and always on our news app and abc7news.com. sarah's last tuition payment, sent off. feeling good? oh yeah. now i'm ready to focus on my project. ♪ ♪

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good morning, america. it's 8:00 a.m. bomb cyclone, the powerful storm slams the central u.s. packing heavy snow. hurricane force wind gusts. almost 80 million americans in the path. a tornado threat right now from mississippi to michigan. new this morning, as facebook and instagram cope with the aftermath of those global outages, millions of users unable to post, send or receive messages, facebook is now also under criminal investigation for deals the social network made to share data with some of the world's biggest tech companies that let more than 150 companies see users' friends, contact information and other data. also new this morning, new regulations to restrict the

sales of popular e-cigarettes. critics slamming the guidelines say they don't go far enough to curb the e-cigarette epidemic. dr. ashton here with the latest. live from the special olympics, robin is in abu dhabi. >> can i get a usa? >> more than 190 country, almost 8,000 fiercely competitive athletes, more women competing than ever before. and the moment that team usa told robin just how much they're looking forward to getting on the field. >> how much have you been looking forward to being here? a lot. >> we're on the ground just hours before the opening ceremonies with some very special guests. and here comes hannah b., our exclusive one-on-one with the brand-new bachelorette. all that ahead as she says -- >> good morning, america. ♪ and good morning, america.

hello, everyone, out there. you guys are looking good. welcome. robin in abu dhabi. special olympics world games going to begin in a few hours. such a big deal. they're being held there this year. >> you know how much i love this event. two years ago the winter games we were in austria and this is the first time special olympics world games have been held in a middle eastern country. around 7500 special olympic athletes from more than 109 countries are here and so this morning, we have the honor of introducing you to some of the competitors from the usa. and beyond being beautiful and modern, abu dhabi has made some major steps toward building acceptance for people with intellectual disabilities. much more on that ahead. they're about to open -- how are you doing, sir. nice to see you. good, yeah, it's good. want to say good morning, america. want to say good morning, america. >> good morning, america. >> there you go.

thank you so much. you've been a gracious host. appreciate that. we're live, baby. i told you we're live. you never know what's going to happen here. >> we'll talk to new just a little bit. the latest on that powerful winter storm heading east. it's bringing blizzard conditions, winds over 100 miles an hour, rob marciano tracking it all, good morning, rob. >> it's a bomb cyclone, in order to be called that the barometric pressure has to drop 24 millibars in 24 hour, did that and then some. as the pressure drops, the winds go up. it's rare for this to happen in inland areas and usually needs the help of an ocean. the winds in colorado spring, 96-mile-per-hour wind gusts throwing around that digital highway sign and fedex truck, boom, on its side from 80-mile-an-hour winds and nine states have hurricane-force winds with this and 80 million americans are under the gun with wind alerts and flood alerts and blizzard watch for the upper west. the wind field is incredible.

50 plus mile per hour winds, st. louis, chicago, detroit, over through pittsburgh and even philadelphia as we get towards tonight and tomorrow morning and a bigger severe weather threat than yesterday enhanced. louisville, nashville through northern alabama. damaging winds, a few tornadoes possible. another dynamic day, george. >> okay, rob, thanks very much. let's turn to more trouble for facebook after that major outage last night. abc news has confirmed the social network is under criminal investigation for deals it made to share data with some of the world's biggest tech companies. abc's janai norman is here with more. good morning, janai. >> reporter: cecilia, good morning, this is more bad news for facebook which is already under scrutiny for the past year for sharing users' data with more than 150 companies in ways that critics say compromised users' privacy. now according to "the new york times" a federal grand jury in new york has issued subpoenas for records from at least two major manufacturers of smartphones. according to the paper, both

companies gaining broad access to the personal information of hundreds of millions of facebook users. facebook released a statement saying it has already been reported that there are ongoing federal investigations and that facebook takes those probes seriously and is cooperating with investigators. facebook is also under investigation by the federal trade commission, securities and exchange commission and a unit of the justice department and, of course, it's gotten plenty of attention from congress. we've even seen mark zuckerberg on capitol hill. guys, back to you. >> all right, much more to come, janai, thank you so much. coming up next here on "gma," one-on-one with the brand-new bachelorette, hannah b., what she's telling "gma" about her journey for love. we've got more with robin live from abu dhabi. historic special olympic games about to begin. it's all about girl power with tory johnson and we have "deals & steals" from companies run by women. they all give back in a big way and we're going to give you something, everything 50% off.

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welcome back to "gma." welcome to our audience this thursday morning. give yourselves a cheer. [ cheers and applause ] everybody coming back. danny devito going to be here in the new movie "dumbo." and now it's time for "pop news." good morning to you. so, get ready for britney spears, the musical. yeah. [ applause ]

i'm not making it up. it's a show called "once upon a one more time" set to open this chicago. it's kind of brilliant. it's opening this fall in chicago and then it'll make its broadway debut in 2020. the show is not about britney exactly. it's a musical comedy featuring the pop princess' music catalog which will be the backdrop for some other princesses you might know. a new spin on snow white, cinderella, rapunzel and sleeping beauty. the story follows them and their book club as they discovered through their books they don't need things like -- they don't need prince charmings to save them and the show has an evil stepmother, a fairly godmother, all new takes on this and set to 23 of spears' songs, britney says this is a dream come true for her. no plans though for brit to be part on the production. "once upon a one more time" opening october 29th in chicago. [ applause ]

>> it's so fun. >> so creative. speaking of creative, lady gaga also in the news this morning responding to rumors that she's pregnant. can we just leave her alone, please. the chatter starting online when gaga broke up with her fiance last month and shared that steamy duet with bradley cooper. yeah, that's the one. at the oscars, so, gaga is setting the record straight on twitter, good thing it was twitter, by the way and not instagram. posting, quote, rumors i'm pregnant? yeah, i'm pregnant and then she hashtags it lg6. gaga fans are flipping out and corn firms she's working on her sixth album, everybody. >> i'm so glad you cleared that up. >> so exciting. only true monsters would have known that. the hotly anticipated follow-up to "joann" from 2016.

gaga not pregnant but hard at work on her labor of love. >> i like what you did there. >> thank you for clarifying a lot of celebrities appreciate you saying that. there is a new artist in our midst. everybody pete pigcasso, the painting porker. i had so much fun writing this. he is bringing home the begin instead of becoming it. okay. it wasn't that good. you guys are so nice. i'm not kidding, paintings were selling for $4,000. >> oh, come on. >> the best part though, the reason you can feel good about this all the proceeds go to animal welfare. not his piggy bank. >> did you just make that up -- >> no, i wrote that this

morning. pigcasso has an interesting back story saved from the slaughterhouse three years ago she lives on an animal sanctuary in south africa. paintbrushes were laying around the barn. she loved holding them and playing with them and now she's like a pig in, well, you know. living out the rest of her days paintbrush in hand or snout in her own personal studio and has a collaboration with watchmaker swatch. one of h creations is featured on a watch face. again, all proceeds going to animal welfare. [ applause ] >> you really hammed it up on that one. >> i did. >> so good. >> i forgot the ham pun. thank you, amy, for bringing that one home. >> ready to turn to our cover story. >> i guess. >> okay. one-on-one with the new bachelorette, hannah b., abc's abbie boudreau spoke with her moments after we found out she'll be handing out the roses

next season and abbie joins us live now, good morning, abbie. >> reporter: good morning, cecilia. it is going to be one exciting ride this season on "the bachelorette" with hannah b. in the driver's seat, just about anything could happen and she's game for all of it. ♪ she stole bachelor fans heart with her beast mode. former miss alabama, hannah b. fought for colton's affection with humor. >> arrrr. >> reporter: and sass. >> reporter: but was ultimately sent home brokenhearted. >> i will not allow myself to not feel it every single day. >> please welcome hannah b. >> reporter: she is hoping to meet the man of her dreams as the new bachelorette. >> you're the bachelorette. >> i'm the bachelorette. at first i couldn't say it out loud. >> what are we going to see this season? >> i think love is supposed to be fun and so i want fun and i

want adventures. i don't know where i'm going yet and so i love surprises but i want to have fun and go on to amazing adventures. guarantee you'll see the beast. >> reporter: hannah wasting no time. >> i'm luke. >> meeting some of the men who will fight for her heart live on "the bachelorette" tuesday. >> yes, i will accept this rose. >> reporter: working out the kinks before her big rose ceremony. >> i handed out my first rose. it went okay. it was my first time. it was live. and, you know, we just go with the punches but the guys were super great and it makes me really excited for my first night meeting all the men. >> let's hear it for our new bachelorette. >> she's awesome. an absolute treasure. she will be fun to shoot with. you saw her up here ow genuine she is. how easy it is to fall in love with her. >> do you think you are ready to find love. >> absolutely.

i'm super ready and think i'm more ready than i was then. >> already hannah says she's learned so much about love, heartbreak and self-acceptance, more than ready to start her journey to find true love and hopes to be engaged by the end of the show. >> thanks very much. abu dhabi where the special olympic world games opening ceremony just hours from now. robin already there along with some incredible athletes. hey, robin. >> you got that right, george. i'm surrounded by incredible members of the u.s. special olympics team and some of their coaches, oh, now you're going to be quiet on me. what happened? what happened? oh, my gosh. oh, my gosh, they will compete against teams from more than 190 other countries from all over the world. the games officially open in just a few hours but we'll let you get some rest. it'll be right here at this beautiful, beautiful sports city stadium. it's magnificent everywhere you look. history will be made here in a

lot of ways. there are more women competing than ever before. there are more athletes overall and this is the first time that special olympics world games have ever been held in an arab country marking a period of great change in this part of the world. here in the united arab emirates just outside modern cities like dubai and abu dhabi the landscape and customs are still very rich in tradition. >> thank you. >> reporter: look no further than special olympics world games, a push for social change. >> how are you? >> reporter: the royal family lobbied hard to get the bid to host the games hoping to bring a new spirit of inclusion and hospitality to the region and celebrate what they call a year of tolerance, acceptance for traditionally marginalized groups like the interelect wally disabled. >> i have a son whose name is mohamed. he's 23. when he was growing up the region didn't have a lot of

these facilities. today we have top notch facilities in the region. >> reporter: in 200 of the government there passed legislation providing more services for people with disabilities. a decade later, reclassifying the disabled as people of determination. the new initiatives prompting a historic visit from pope francis just last month. the intellectually disabled athletes at the uae embracing their newfound acceptance hoping to make their host country proud. [ chanting "usa, usa, usa" ] >> reporter: but they will face some tough question fission from the more than 200 athletes with special olympics usa. how much have you been looking forward to being here? >> a lot. >> a lot. >> reporter: fellow americans, brittany and ryan hope to bring home medals in tennis, this dynamic duo met in 2013 through special olympics. they're now engaged and partners on the court in mixed doubles.

how do you all support each other both on and off the court? >> i say good job and, you know, you can do this. >> what about for you, ryan? >> on the court it would be the same way. i always give her encouragement and a lot of support and off the court we try to, you know, show our love for each other and even support each other that way. >> that's the biggest smile i've seen from her. >> reporter: as a child brittany was nonverbal. today she thrives on the court despite her visual and sensory issues finding her voice as a special olympics athlete. >> you haven't let anybody or anything stop you from doing what it is that you want to do. how has special olympics helped you with that. >> it helped me make new friends, you know, compete all over the world and my coach and teammates are very nice and i did have fun doing it. >> reporter: brit economy and ryan hope to walk up the

winner's mode yul together. what are you hoping to accomplish? >> i'd like to accomplish by being the best that i can be. get more titles. >> i'm telling you she is doggone good. joining us now live here in abu dhabi, brittany and ryan, congratulations again on the impending marriage and this is brittany's mother kathy. now, we understand that brittany was nonverbal early on in her life and that special olympics helped her. how? >> yes, special olympics is has not only changed brittany's but given brit ina life. she's loving life and we are forever grateful and oh, by the way, can talk a lot now. >> oh, yes, yes, she can. and i didn't know she was marrying tom cruise. look like top gun over there. congratulations, i know this is also a special moment for parents, as well as the athletes. >> it's overwhelming the energy,

the country is wonderful, the positivity, we are so very blessed to be part of this and to have you support us. >> that's very kind of you. i got to tell you the slogan here, be determined. everywhere you go we are determined. meet the determined. you see that on bumper stickers, you see that on billboards. we saw it on the plane, 12-hour plane ride over here but it's so true the determination of these remarkable athletes and the coaches too, a little shoutout to the coaches too. it takes a village. it takes a village, george. >> and, robin, abu dhabi has done so much for people of determination. >> yes, and i got to tell you, we have another story that we're going 0 share with you. you think brittany can talk, wait till you hear this woman here. she came all the way from hawaii and she has a lot to say. so you will in our next half hour, george, everybody. >> thank you, to rob. >> all right, george. i think brittany has lara

impressed with her backhanding, smoking. northeast germany where this little pup, a german pincher, well, guess what, knows how to do laundry, not a bad dog in my opinion, goes into the dryer and puts it back into the laundry basket. may or may not be getting a treat there but goes back to the dryer. >> yeah, he's getting a treat. >> i think he's getting a treat. we're told he sorts bottles. also recycles so german dogs in general, very good morning. i'm "abc7 news" metrologist mike nicco. high clouds and sunshine this morning. building warmth and some showers are possible next week. temperatures pretty close to 60 along the coast. the rest of us around 60 to 66. a sprinkle in the 30s. the rest of us in the low to mid-40s. here's my accuweather seven-day forecast. you're going to see some of the warmest temperatures on

and now to a "gma" parenting alert about young people and vaping. the fda proposing new restrictions on the sale of some flavored e-cigarettes but critics say the new guidelines do not go far enough. dr. jennifer ashton is here with much more. tell us about the specifics of the fda proposal and why it's so controversial. >> it's controversial, there's a lot of discontent and debate between major medical associations and the government, fda, because for several years now the fda has been concerned and watching skyrocketing rates of e-cig use amongst youthment we have to be clear. this is not about the use in adults. this is about the use in teens and they're looking at that and people want them to act. so yesterday the fda released what it's calling issue guidance which is kind of like their plans for what they're going to do to address this issue. basically in a nutshell not until 2021 will they start to really look at targeted advertising of youth possibly,

ban or restrict the flavored e-cigs like menthol which are so tempting to this age group in particular and so a lot of medical groups saying, not enough, not fast enough. this is a problem we have to address now, so the american lung association issued a statement. take a look. until the fda is willing to take meaningful action by removing all flavored tobacco products, including minute and menthol from the marketplace, america's youth remain at high risk for a lifetime of addiction to tobacco products. so not happy in medical associations. >> i can only imagine. i'm sure among parents, we're both parents, i have teenagers and you're obviously in a position -- why wait two years. >> i have a 19-year-old who tells me that the use of these e-cigs is literally rampant. >> i have a 16-year-old that tells me the same thing. >> i'm not a legislator, i'm a physician and a parent so i think when we have to tackle a public health issue like this,

we need all hands on deck. it's not only the fda's responsibility, but they play a major role and then we need other responsibilities like parents, we need -- >> there are risks. >> same as smoking. it affects the brain, behavior and it could affect the lungs and blood vessels no differently than regular nicotine cigarettes. we don't have 10, 20, 30 years of data on these and it is to be considered dangerous until proven otherwise. >> amen, dr. jen. dr. ashton will be here to answer questions about e-cigarettes and kids live on facebook so stay tuned for that. back to robin in abu dhabi with an incredible guest. [ applause ] there's something in the air this morning.

good morning, north bay. let's get up and get going. >> this is "abc7 mornings." >> good morning. it's 8:57. i'm reggie aqui. students from stanford university have now filed a class action lawsuit over the college admissions cheating scandal. they claim their degrees were devalued because of the scam. federal prosecutors say wealthy parents paid millions of dollars in bribes to help their children get into elite schools. 50 people now face charges. alexis, how is traffic doing this morning? >> we are looking at plenty of red on our traffic maps taking you into a new issue northbound

280. there's rrts of a disabled bus. pretty heavy traffic in the area. and checking some drive times, we're in the yellow all the way around here. 12 across the bay bridge and 19 minutes san francisco ♪ [baby crib musical mobile] millions are still exposed to the dangers of secondhand smoke. and some of them can't do anything about it. but you can. protect your family. visit tobaccofreeca.com.

♪ you are looking at the spectacular scene in abu dhabi. great audience here in new york. we want to go back to robin in abu dhabi and, robin, you have an inspiring guest with you right now. >> oh, boy, everywhere you look there's inspiration back here live in abu dhabi where the opening ceremony for special olympic world games just hours away. so, so close and these wonderful athletes from the u.s. including rainie jade thompson, ladies and gentlemen. coming from hawaii, her dad tjay and team rainie jade. do you see this. hey, grandma. come on. this is no fair how many -- you came all the way from hawaii.

tell people the dream that you had about winning a medal. >> so i wanted this dream sevens years ago and started in 2011 and wanted to go to new jersey but didn't get to go so i retired, took two years off and came back ready and hungry for the world games in 2019. >> new jersey is nice but i think ah, that's okay. it worked out in the end. tell everybody your events. >> i'm doing the shot put 100 and the 4x100. >> you gave us a little glimpse in the commercial break. what did you -- >> instagram picture for team usa. >> she was back in time for the live shot. daddy, i know how incredibly proud you are and tell us about the moment it was your birthday and what did you say that you wanted for your birthday. >> i tell you what and say i'm glad it's sunny because there will be a lot of crying this

week. it was my daughter seven years ago on my birthday ask fundamental if we could work out as a family and we went to the track by her high school and we started sprinting and that was the day that she asked to join special olympics. >> that moment, you knew. >> yes, yes, i didn't think it was going to be that hard before. >> but it was totally worth it. i know how hard you do work. you know she also -- what's that other abc show, besides "good morning america" that you like so much. >> i love "dancing with the stars" and i love watching all the athletes and also the professionals that do "dancing with the stars." >> well, i don't know. we can maybe put in a good word for you. this was a dream and a check list. you have a wonderful support system. i know you got some buddies coming from an arab base close by to be here, 30 plus solders. >> fantastic. it's an undisclosed air base and haven't been off the base in six months. the general gave them spasses fr

this event only. >> can you turn around and see the oath, let me win, but if i cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt. that is the oath and that is what people are going to see. hey, team, thank you. thank you, congratulations to all of you and i'll be joining my friends from espn hosting coverage of the special olympics world games opening ceremony. are you excited? oh, my god. it's going to be on espn news starting at 11:00 a.m. eastern and we are having such an adventure in abu dhabi. i met the first woman camel auctioneer. she's called the camel whisperer. we'll introduce you to her tomorrow. going to take you inside -- have you been to the grand mosque yet. >> we drove by it. >> oh, my gosh, wait till you see it. it truly is grand. i'm having just a little bit of fun here. just a little bit. guys. >> maybe she'll bring back a camel. >> oh, thank you. thank you. >> thank you, robin.

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♪ back now with tory johnson's "deals & steals." it is women's history month so today we're celebrating female run companies that give back in a big way and all of the products are giving you something, 50% off. you've diane it again. [ applause ] love this one. >> first up, what i love about this, all these keys had hand

stamped. i chose these for you, dream, love, inspire. i couldn't choose one specifically so giving all three of those to you. what you'll lohr r love more is every one of these is made by people in los angeles who are transitioning out of homelessness and when that happens, not only does permanent housing mean a roof over your head but it means the ability to stay sober, to regain custody of children, to live a healthy relationship, a healthy life. that's what this company does and these words inspire you to sort of live the word. >> can i share? >> live the word. >> and pass it on. >> live the word. >> normally. >> here you go. >> enjoy. >> normally $42 to $48 and start at $21 from the giving keys. >> they're so great. please, everybody, give. >> it's a good one. listen, this company is all about the gift of sound and the gift of music. every one of their products from bluetooth speakers, headphones, ear buds provides hearing aids for people who don't hear, so they not only allow us to hear

our music when you're at the beach or on the go but when you buy, 30,000 people have gotten hearing aids because of purchasing listn products. >> i love this idea. >> so normally 40 to 180. everything is cut in half and exceptional sound. >> yes. >> for you and for someone else. >> and for someone else. bella tuna. for every one that you buy a meal is donated to feeding america to feed a hungry child in the united states. so a little plate like this, i'm very busy, i got you this little ducky, there's like little duckies, so cute, i'm very busy. i got you another one that says you look very pretty. there's a ton of assortments. >> do i have an announcement to make. >> everything from this company is fun and functional, stylish and functional. >> a great deal for you. >> normally 11 to $22, it's all slashed in half, bella tunno

starts at 5.50. >> mothers watching. this is all amazing bath and body products known for their whipped collection. their body lotion and their body wash. so, look, this lotion dispenses like whipped cream. you need a tiny bit. that dispensing, super fun. >> smells fabulous. >> all of the products are finished and artwork inspired buy people who work at pride and these are people with developmental disabilities who are employed because of companies like mangiacotti who would normally have difficulty finding employment. the scents are amazing made in america, essential oil, normally everything comes in sets. normally start ago $38 but -- $36 but today it's all slashed in half to 18 to 27 per set. okay. [ applause ] >> these are great. >> passion planter is all about this is a planter, a journal and a life coach all in one.

so these pages allow you to think about the past, where you want to go in the future and how to act today to make that happen. they have given away more than a quarter of a million planners because it's a buy one give one company so not only can you make your dreams come true but you can help someone else's dreams come true when you purchase from them. these products range from 19.50 to 30 slashed in half and start at 9.75. >> great. >> and these are the cutest socks. mismatched pairs because even if we don't match we can still be friends. lion and zebra. these are adorable. they're designed for kids but i'm glad they make them for teens and dulls too because we can certainly use them. singles and sets, 9 to $22 all slashed in half so 4.50 to $11 for a good message. [ applause ] >> so i want to share with you all, all these companies as you've just heard are amazing. we happen to have pals owner hannah lavon here. hannah's company does great work all over the world.

want to give you a little peek at what makes pals so special. >> they may look like your ordinary pair of mismatched colorful socks but these socks tell a bigger story. >> we try to inspire kids to be friends with someone who is not just like them. >> reporter: hannah started pals in 2015 to make a difference through design. >> my dream for pals is to create positive social change for the kids that are wearing them. i really want to impact our world in a way and help to end all kinds of things like hate and bullying and just all good vibes. >> reporter: today kids all over are wearing mismatched socks showing that even the trainest pairs can be friends. >> kids love our message. pals makes them a little more friendly, a little bit more, you know, open. >> reporter: these socks doing more than keeping your feet warm, the company donating over 10,000 pairs to those in need and teaming up with over a dozen different charities. >> i hope that as we expand and grow that we can make our

fund-raising program even larger and can reach more people. [ applause ] >> so, hannah, who is with us, come on over. everybody, meet hannah, the owner of pals. [ cheers and applause ] so, hannah. >> hi. >> hi, nice to meet you. >> nice to meet you too. >> we want to celebrate everything that you and your company have done and give you a little push into the future with the help of vistaprint. vistaprint helps small businesses be prepared and look professional across all their marketing and check out what they have for you. no pun intended, come on out, it's a check for $10,000. from vistaprint. we thank you, vistaprint. >> wow. wow. thank you. wow. >> what do you have to say about this little surprise? >> that is really surprising. [ laughter ] that's super amazing. i'm super happy and grateful because you definitely do a lot

of printing and will help spread the love. just amazing. i'm just very grateful. >> a lot of spreading with $10,000. we thank you for all you have done and tory for finding these amazing companies as you know. we've partnered with all of the companies on these deal, please go to our website, support the companies and get great products in the meantime, and everyone here in our audience, you guys are the best so tory is giving you products from mangiacot. ti, passion planner. thank you guys, thank you. thank you, vistaprint for all you do. rob, we'll send it your way. >> celebrating the women and men of the national weather service. they don't just sit behind a computer. rapid city, south dakota, 60-mile-per-hour winds, you have to launch these weather balloons twice a day and the rope gets tangled up. look at that. you can't teach that swirl move. that is talent right there and all the readings come back so we

good morning. i'm "abc7 news" metrologist mike nicco. we start off with sunshine and we end up with sunshine and temperatures in the upper 50s to mid-60s. it just gets warmer from here >> this weather report is sponsored by pronamel. hope davis, you were concerned about the balloons. >> i was worried he was going to be dragged up into the sky and swirled around in the storm. >> i think we were all worried. great to have you with us. >> thank you. >> of course you're on the show "for the people" which has a new season out. >> yep. >> you play a public defender. >> i play the federal public defender of new york for the southern district. >> so you're kind of on the opposite side of paul giamatti's character. >> that's right. we're getting those guys. >> representing the folks who can't really afford a defense attorney. >> right, right. >> what's that like? >> being in charge, being the boss.

>> yeah. >> it's good. i tell my husband and children, do what i tell you and everything is going to be fine. i like to boss people around at this point. yeah. feels good. i like when women are in charge. >> we all like that and, you know, listen, there's no question who -- >> it's time. it's time. >> no question who is in charge in my house and been that way since the dinning. >> that's how it should be. >> yes, ma'am, i'll do that, no problem. we want to -- it's thursday so we want to have a little throwback. you posted something on twitter a few years back and this is if you can see -- >> my first head shots. i mean -- >> so you're 17. look at that glam. what's going on? >> i was 17. i got those glasses at the dime store in town and i thought that was going to do it for me. the bathing suit. if you want to be a serious actor, that's a great way to -- >> you have certainly accomplished something here and your daughter is approaching that age.

what do you think she would say of that picture and of the show. >> they love the show. shonda land fans and "grey's anatomy." the show is funny and lots of young people falling in love and trying to figure out their lives and they love it. >> what can we expect this season from the show? >> cases very much kind of ripped from what's going on in our country right now. immigration, kids getting separated from their parents. you know, voter suppression, cases argued in the biggest court other than the supreme court and you're going to see what goes on behind the scenes. >> i love it. keeping it topical and everybody likes a good legal drama. hope davis, thanks so much. "for the people" airs tonight at 10:00 p.m. on abc and every thursday night. >> thank you. >> all right, guys, what do you think? tune in for that. coming up rising country star jimmie allen performs live on "gma." stick around. "gma's" cafe sponsored by

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we're back now with rising country star, jimmie allen, his debut album "mercury lane" features the number one single "best shot." jimmie making history as the first black artist to launch this career with a number one song on country radio. here he is performing "21st. [ applause ] ♪ ♪ hung a right off the exit everything just like i left it ♪ ♪ 5-0 parked at the texaco cape sign flashing go big blue ♪ ♪ black marks at the four-way stop jack and diane in a parking lot ♪ ♪ every time i take this drive man, it makes me wish i was 21 ♪ ♪ i can feel like a picture up on the hood of my truck with a

sixer ♪ ♪ hangin' with the boys talking about girls ♪ ♪ slo-mo watching this world go round and round this nowhere town ♪ ♪ somewhere between forever and young, 21, yeah, 21 ♪ ♪ if i had a time machine i'd point it to me and you and the matchbox 20 ♪ ♪ flying out to jvh behind the seat while i held you for awhile fore the good went bye, girl ♪ ♪ i can't lie sometimes i wish i was 21 ♪ ♪ i can feel like a picture up on the hood of my truck with a sixer ♪ ♪ hanging with the boys talking about girls slo-mo watching this world go round and round this nowhere town ♪ ♪ somewhere between forever and

young i wish i was 21, yeah, ♪ it all comes back every time i come back every time ♪ ♪ yeah, it all comes back every time i come back every time ♪ ♪ i wish i was 21 somewhere hanging with the boys talking about girls ♪ ♪ slo-mo watching this world go round and round this nowhere town ♪ ♪ somewhere between forever and young 21, yeah, 21 ♪

♪ 21, yeah, 21 ♪ i wish i was 21, oh, ♪ i wish i was 21, yeah [ cheers and applause ]

my name is jedda and my favorite thing about the grilled chicken club is the multigrain bun. it's toasted and then you get the cheese. so if you but really slowly you can literally taste every level of the sandwich. i don't eat very slowly, but if you do. my name is leslie. well i love the grilled chicken club sandwich because the grilled chicken. like, it's actually been on a grill. as soon as you grab it to go take your first bite, it's like just like, "psscheew". insanely good.

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"good morning america" is sponsored by ally, do it right. ♪ feel like a picture >> how about another hand for jimmie allen. that was great, thank you will. have a good day.

even if no one in your home smokes, secondhand smoke can be closer than you think.

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good morning, bay area. let's get up and get going. >> good morning. it's 8:59. i'm reggie aqui. mike nicco is here with a look at your forecast. >> the warm weather makes me think about the beach. for today, yard work, it will be good except for the fact there's a lot of tree pollen out there. low to mid-60s and we'll reach 70 tomorrow and the bay and inland neighborhoods will reach 70. >> we've got a new sig alert to talk about in the east bay. this is on 580. we had all lanes blocked in both directions due to a fire. definitely have delays in both

directions. and the metering lights are still on. >> it's time for "live with kelly and ryan." we'll see you again at 11:00 a.m. for "midday live. >> announcer: it's "live with kelly and ryan!" today, star of the new drama "the widow," kate beckinsale. and, from "saturday night live" and the comedy series "shrill," aidy bryant. plus, the cohost open the inbox and read your comments to questions. all next on "live!" ♪ [cheers and applause] and now, here are kelly ripa and ryan seacrest! [cheers and applause] ♪ >> ryan: hey! hi, guys.