>> thank you for recognizing that i nailed it this time. >> come a long way since that tuesday. >> i've learned so much. >> thanks for watching. good morning, america. the fallout this morning after that stunning reversal in the jussie smollett case. all charges dropped against the "empire" actor after he was accused of staging an attack on himself and falsely reporting it. >> i would not be my mother's son if i was capable of one drop of what i've been accused of. >> chicago officials outraged standing by the investigation and the charges. >> do i think justice was served? no. >> promising there's much more evidence the public hasn't seen. but now the file sealed. smollett's record wiped clean. his lawyer and the mayor of chicago both here live on "gma." also this morning, that emergency landin for a high-stakes meeting with hundreds of pilots and experts after those deadly crashes.down.

affectmins of americans. also overnight, former vice president biden making headlines. what he said he now regrets about that anita hill hearing. daring rescue. the man trapped in a silo for nearly eight hours, stuck up to his chest in gravel. how rescue crews finally got him free. measles emergency. hundreds of cases now spreading across the country, forcing one county to take drastic measures against those who have not been vaccinated. ♪ come on baby and rescue me and rescued. how gale the show dog was finally found after that great escape at atlanta's airport. now the emotional reunion. ♪ can't you see that i'm lonely ♪ love those final pictures. good morning, america. and it is a great and sweet morning for that little dog,

gale. well, not so little. >> not so little. >> gale the prize-winning show dog and her family. >> not little but very happy now because gale was missing at atlanta's airport since saturday. we're going to have much more on how she was found, finally found, it was an all-out search. >> big smile on her face. first, though, we begin with that confusing and mysterious reversal in the jussie smollett case. prosecutors now say they believe smollett faked the attack but decided to drop the charges anyway. chicago police and mayor rahm emanuel stunned and furious and we're going to talk with the mayor in a minute. first, abc's alex perez brings us the very latest from chicago. good morning, alex. >> reporter: hey, good morning. the decision to drop the charges catching just about everybody off guard. the city's top officials blatantly disagreeing, telling the prosecutor he made the wrong call. >> do i think justice was do i served? no. >> reporter: chicago officials outraged after the stunning turnaround in the jussie

smollett case. all 16 felony charges leveled against the "empire" star now dropped, and the records sealed. >> i've been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one. >> mr. smollett is still saying that he is innocent, still running down the chicago police department. how dare him. this is a whitewash of justice. >> reporter: the news seeming to catch even chicago's top brass off guard. >> at the end of the day, it's mr. smollett who committed this hoax, period. >> reporter: and smollett, who appeared before throngs of fans outside the courthouse tuesday morning, reiterated his innocence. >> i would not bring my family, our lives or the movement through a fire like this. i just wouldn't. >> reporter: smollett agreed to forfeit his $10,000 bond to the city and in a deal with the cook county state attorney's office partake in community service which he completed on monday. it included stuffing envelopes and working in the bookstore at jesse jackson's rainbow push coalition where he took pictures

with some of his fans. >> i would not be my mother's son if i was capable of one drop of what i've been accused of. >> jussie -- >> reporter: the embattled star has always maintained that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack by the hands of two men wearing ski masks. >> who the [ bleep ] would make something like this up or add something to it or whatever it may be. i can't -- i can't even -- i'm an advocate. you do such a disservice when you lie about things like this. >> reporter: the alleged attackers eventually identified as these two brothers. according to police, the two men received a personal check from smollett as well as cash used to buy gear, including red hats and black masks, all in an effort to pull off the alleged attack. smollett's story eventually doubted by police who called it an elaborate lie allegedly orchestrated by the 36-year-old because he was unhappy with his "empire" salary. >> why would anyone, especially an african-american man, use the

symbolism of a noose to make false accusations? >> reporter: and even the office that dismissed the charges against smollett still questioning his innocence. >> this was not an exoneration. to say that he was exonerated by us or anyone else is not true. >> so you believe he did complete a false police report? >> yes. >> reporter: and smollett's legal troubles may not be over just yet. the fbi is still investigating whether he mailed a threatening letter to himself. george. >> okay, alex, thanks very much. let's bring in the mayor of chicago, rahm emanuel. mayor, thank you for joining us this morning. >> good morning, george. >> pretty clear yesterday how angry you are over this. you called it a whitewash of justice. top to bottom not on the level, those are your words. should the prosecutors be investigated and should this decision be investigated? >> well, that's for others -- look, here's what i do know. you have the state's attorney's office saying he's not exonerated, he actually did commit this hoax. he's saying he's innocent and

his words aren't true. they better get their story straight. because this is actually making a fool of all of us. you know, all over the city of chicago, george, there are signs on front yards and windows that says hate has no home here. he turned those values upside down and inside out. >> a lot of people are wondering -- >> he abused the city of chicago, and he actually committed a crime here and lied about something and, remember, the grand jury indicted him when only seeing a portion of the evidence and he said he wanted to get his name clear. that is what i want for him. let's get to the bottom of this. let's find out what happened. he violated everything that every principle and especially a city that embraced not only him as an actor but more importantly the values of being whoever you are, whoever you love, whatever your background is, you have a home here. he took that, turned it around and tried to self-promote himself. >> you raise a question -- >> and he's walking around with

no sense of contrition, no sense of remorse and the fact is also the state's attorney is saying he's actually guilty of this hoax and he's walking around saying, no, i'm innocent and everything i've said is true. >> you say -- >> one is right. one is wrong. >> you say you want to get to the bottom of this. that's exactly what i'm asking you, is there any recourse now? is an investigation warranted? how are we going to get to the bottom of this? >> that is a fair question, because right now you're saying two questions actually. one is given all the documents that are sealed and only a portion of it was shown to the grand jury in which they indicted him we wanted -- i would love to have everything that the chicago police department collected and gathered to actually come to the conclusion, make all of that available. would love for that to happen. second is, how did all of a sudden -- the second part of your question is, how did all of a sudden this reverse out of nowhere like a bolt of lightning hit where all of a sudden two days at operation push counts as, in fact, your community service? how did he make a decision to drop all these charges when they literally taking the hate crime

laws that exist on the books that reflect our values and inverting them to actually self-promote yourself for your own personal enrichment and then, all of a sudden with nobody's consultation, no discussion of what it would mean, what message it would send, what does it say about the law? you drop it? >> explain that to us. how is that possible? >> that's the first part of it. the second part, i want to get to the bottom, did he commit this hoax? that is the question that has to first be answered. the second question is, what happened here that allowed the state's attorney's office that was in the room with the police department when they decided to actually bring the charges to the grand jury that actually brought the indictment, what made them all of a sudden say, you know what, on second thought, this is enough? >> do you think it was the correct decision? >> that's for the legal experts. you have a lot more legal experts there about why that came about. >> do you think it was a corrupt decision? >> i don't think it is as i said yesterday and i stand by what i said and that's where everybody across the city of chicago and i've gone all over parts of the city. it's not on the level. this looks like because he's an actor, a person of influence, he got treated differently than anybody else.

george, if i, a jewish mayor in a city that's not dominant -- the jewish population is 3%, all of a sudden you found a swastika on my front door and all these people are empathetic to me, then you find two weeks later that the swastika on that door, i painted it to actually bring empathy to me, do you think i would get away with two days at the anti-defamation league as my community service? really? this is not on the level. and the reason you're talking about it, the reason 20 reporters showed up to the superintendent's press conference after our graduation for police is, because nobody can make sense of this. this is a head scratcher. >> just to make clear, one more question and then tell the story. just to be clear -- jussie says he's telling the truth. are you absolutely confident -- >> the state's attorney is saying he is not. >> you're confident the case did not fall apart. you're confident he staged this hoax? >> the state's attorney's office was in the room with the police officers. they then took all -- a sliver

of the material to the grand jury and brought back multiple charges. that's what we know and it was good enough for the state's attorney even last night to say they stand by the police work and they stand by actually the charges there. they just said that he had done enough to clear his name. >> mayor emanuel, thanks for your time. >> that to me is why everybody says this, on that fundamental level, doesn't add up. the second is that it doesn't add up for a person to walk around saying he's innocent when the state's attorney saying he is not and, third is, everybody, because this gets to the core of who we are as a country right now given that everybody is talking about us tearing apart, that he would take hate crime legislation and turn it for his own self-enrichment rather than for the values that brings us together as a society and the reason you even want to do a show on this is because none of this adds up, not only from the criminal justice side, from the values side, and we all deserve an answer to this question for closure. >> mayor -- >> i tell you this one -- >> mayor emanuel, i'm sorry, we have to go. we're out of time.

but thank you so much for your time this morning. all right, dan, we'll bring you in. the mayor says let's talk to a legal expert like this. have you ever seen anything like this? >> no, i can't explain this to you. here's what's striking, they went and got a 16-count indictment. some people were saying that's overkill, right? you could have just stuck with the one count. why did you have to go get 16 counts? so then they go get the 16 counts and now they're dropping them. typically in a case like this, a high-profile case, you want to send a message. you want to say to people, this isn't okay. does that have to mean prison time? no. there could have been a deal here and i think many people expected a deal here where he wouldn't have to serve any time. but part of that deal would have been accepting responsibility for what he did. it would have been saying, i'm guilty of this crime, yes. i am cutting a deal where i'll plead to a misdemeanor, i'll get community service, et cetera, but that's not what this is and

that's the confusing part about this is, what exactly was the deal here? what, he had to forfeit bond of $10,000 and then serve a few hours of community service and then claim that there was no deal. i mean, his lawyer was out there saying there was no deal. >> well, how do you make a deal when you don't have to admit responsibility and then after the deal you go out and say i'm innocent? >> i have no idea. i have never heard anything like it. it's the exact right question and i have no idea how they could do that. how they could allow -- again, just the fact that the grand jury was involved here, this wasn't just the police saying we think you should file charges and prosecutors saying, well, you know -- it happens a lot, by the way, tension between police and prosecutors, where police say we want you to bring a case and the prosecutors say we don't think we have it. here they thought they had it. they got 16 counts on the indictment.arhaabt e two brothers? >> look, they apparently according to the police, according to the prosecutors,

according to the mayor, they told the truth and came forward and described the hoax and the question is ie for claiming he's innocent and say, look, you're now impugning us by suggesting we're lying. >> next half hour, we'll hear from jussie smollett's lawyer that's coming up. >> wow, okay. well, now, we move on to the latest on the boeing investigation. this morning, boeing is set to brief hundreds of pilots and tech experts on the 737 max software update. this comes after they faced that trouble overnight of one of its 737 max 8 jets making an emergency landing on a flight to go into storage. abc's david kerley is at the boeing plant outside seattle with more. good morning, david. >> reporter: good morning, michael. that is a 737 max behind me. this is where boeing builds them and today with 200 customers tries to resell this jet with that software update. this, as one of these aircraft got some unwanted attention yesterday.

this morning, this boeing 737 max in the news after taking off and declaring an emergency. >> we just lost our right >> reporter: that emergency forcing the two pilots to circle back to orlando airport, landing with just itself left engine operating. no passengers on board. the pilots planned to ferry the jet to southern california's high desert where southwest is storing its maxes. the entire fleet around the world still grounded. this morning, boeing's next step to get the jets back in the air following those two crashes of brand-new maxes going down after similar problems right after takeoff. in at least the indonesian crash that anti-stall system getting bad data from one sensor nosed the jet up and down 21 times, the pilots fighting it but never turning off the system and the jet crashes. the software update will require more data before triggering that safety system and will make it easier for a pilot to recover. it will only nose down the aircraft once. now, that software update has to

be approved certified by the faa. it looks like that will be pushed off until next week so it could be a couple of more weeks, or longer, robin, before the grounding of the fleet is lifted. >> thank you. now to the showdown over health care. the trump administration launching that attempt to repeal the affordable care act and now democrats as you know are responding. mary bruce has more on capitol hill. good morning, mary. >> reporter: good morning, robin. well, there is a new battle brewing over health care. this move by the trump administration to strike down the entire affordable care act could leave millions without coverage including those with pre-existing conditions but the president seems to be welcoming this fight ahead of the 2020 election, yesterday telling me that the republican party will become known as the party of health care, but when i pressed him on what his plan is to replace obamacare, well, he didn't respond and that is part of the reason why democrats here feel like this is such a political gift. they are quick to point out that republicans right now do not have a new replacement plan, robin. >> nothing to replace it. joe biden made some headlines

overni >> reporter: yeah, robin, talking about anita hill. this is part of biden's history that is sure to draw fresh scrutiny should he decide to jump into the presidential race, especially in this me too era. joe biden at the time was the chair of the senate judiciary committee when anita hill came before his committee to testify about clarence thomas' alleged sexual misconduct and now, overnight, he is again apologizing for the way she was treated then. take a listen. >> there were a bunch of white guys -- no, i mean this sincerely, a bunch of white guys hearing -- hearing this testimony on the senate judiciary committee so when anita hill, when anita hill came to testify she faced a committee that didn't fully understand what the hell it was all about. to this day i regret i couldn't come up with a way to get her the kind of hearing she deserved. >> reporter: but, robin, it is not clear if these kinds of comments are going to be enough

to satisfy biden's critics who point out that he still has not personally apologized to anita hill. robin. >> all right, mary, thank you. michael. >> thank you, robin. now the latest on embattled patriots owner robert kraft. he has officially pleaded not guilty to charges of soliciting a prostitute and nfl commissioner roger goodell weighed in for the first time at the nfl owners' meeting saying, the personal conduct policy applies to everybody and when we have all the information we will be fair and smart about it. t.j. holmes is here and, t.j., another big headline is coming out of the meeting. a big rule change on pass interference. >> this is a major change in the way nfl games are officiated. saints fans, look away. but this is the play that caused the outrage, and if this rule had been in place two months ago the saints, not the rams, would have gone to the super bowl. yes, this was the noncall on that pass interference. it was obvious. well, now, the rule has been changed to where this play can be reviewed. they can review a call and a noncall. this was a noncall, so the booth could have reviewed it with the rule change. it would have changed everything.

this was a response to the outrage. robin, you can look back. we're done. >> the replay is over. look back now. >> thank you. >> but this is the big change, you know -- >> huge. >> they tried to not call things because they want to speed up the game but i think people at home want them to get it right. >> they're going to try this for a year. >> try it for a year, and see where it goes from there. >> thank you. jussie smollett's lawyer is coming up. a lot of questions for her. also, we'll go to ginger. >> i have to share with you pictures out of fond du lac, wisconsin. the governor actually toured there where hundreds of thousands in damage from flooding already and new flooding happening. le sueur, minnesota, with more impulses coming to the west coast toward the end of the week. your local weather in 30 seconds. first, the warm cities sponsored by sherwin williams.

good morning. i'm "abc7 news" metrologist mike nicco. showers and thunderstorms today. heaviest during the morning hours and that chance will continue through tomorrow and a drier weekend on tap. watch out on our east-west bridges. here's a look at my accuweather seven-day forecast, we got a one for tomorrow, sunshine by friday and 70s by saturday. we'll be right back. we'll be right back. sfloo ight back. so now, i use heavy duty swiffer sweeper and dusters.

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we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ good morning, east bay. let's get up and get going. >> this is "abc7 mornings." good morning. i'm jessica castro from "abc7 mornings." a house fire broke out in concord this morning leaving one woman hurt. it happened near st. francis drive. firefighters say they could see smoke at least two blocks away from the fire. when they arrived, the house fully engulfed. here's a check of traffic. >> good morning. we don't have any major incidents right now. we are looking pretty soggy in the north bay, southbound 101, we have some delays on that southbound side. and you can see the camera shaking around a bit.

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now your accuweather forecast with mike nicco. >> good morning. we'll start with live doppler 7 showing a line of showers and and possible thunderstorms moving into the north bay right now. notice by noon it's in the east bay and the south bay and during the afternoon hours it's out of here. this is a very fast-moving system. it will drop a quarter of an inch of rain and a small chance of hail. we have another one on the impact scale for tomorrow and 70s and a little sunshine for this weekend. >> the fallout from that that tt

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for twice the bounty. guaranteed. miracle-gro performance organics. ♪ pour some sugar on me ♪ ooh in the name of love welcome back to "gma." that's def leppard's hit "pour some sugar on me" and it's going to be a sweet morning so get that sugar out because the rockers, they are here live performing that classic right here in times square this wednesday morning. are you ready? >> i'm ready. i got my leather pants on, as well. let's do it. that is ahead. that is ahead. that's in our last half hour. credibility -- correct? >> yes. >> but first, the top headlines we're following. a big meeting is getting under way at boeing today. they're set to brief hundreds of piles and tech experts on that update for the 737 max jets. a series of storms moving across the country, the west

bracing for rain, heavy snow, while the central u.s. could face more record flooding. and tonight is the night for the fourth largest lottery jackpot in u.s. history. the powerball drawing is worth a stunning $750 million. lump sum payment before taxes of 465 million. >> i'll take that. >> not bad. >> we'll see what happens. but more right now on that stunning reversal in the jussie smollett case. prosecutors say they believe the charges but dropped them anyway. chicago's police superintendent, we just heard mayor rahm emanuel say this is a whitewashing of justice and even prosecutors say this is not an exoneration. one of smollett's lawyers joins us, tina glandian. thank you for coming in this morning. you heard the mayor earlier in our show say this is not on the level. your response? >> there is absolutely nothing to warrant that statement. i think -- i just heard dan abrams talk about how unusual it this, and i understand why

everyone is so confused by the ce speak a lot louder ase, but than words do. it's the prosecution, the state of illinois that decided to come forward and charge mr. smollett with 16 counts, 16 separate counts from the same incident. they clearly could have proceeded with one count as they originally did in the felony complaint, and then they decided to elevate this matter to slice and dice this in every way possible to charge him with 16 counts. well, 2 1/2 weeks later, they made the decision to voluntarily discontinue the action altogether and so i think -- >> they say they still believe the charges. >> you know what, george, i think if they believed the charges they never would have dismissed the case. this is such a high-profile matter. everyone has been talking about it. obviously it's made national headlines and so -- >> you're saying the state's attorney is lying. >> well, i'm saying their actions speak louder than words. they could have proceeded in a variety of ways. we were ready to move forward. we appeared in court and we pled not guilty. we were ready to fight the

charges and they're the ones who voluntarily discontinued the matter so i think that speaks volumes. >> you know jussie has said he's been thughout the case but he saihai encountered that night. he knew it was the brothers, didn't he? >> he did not. the attackers were masked. he only saw one of them. one of them approached him from behind. and he was wearing a mask and so he did not identify them. he initially had a really hard time believing that they could be involved because he knew one of them and we could only speculate as to -- >> as you know, police say they have phone records of him talking to the brothers an hour before the attack, an hour after, and while they're in africa? >> not an hour after the attack. >> that's what they said. >> that's completely false and i have seen the phone records and they've been produced. one thing i want to put out -- >> you're saying he did talk to the brothers. >> he absolutely talked to them because he had just hired the one brother to train him for his

upcoming music video for training and nutrition which the brothers have now confirmed that's actually what the check was for. this is again one of them -- the misstatements out there that eddie johnson went and held this and said it was for the staged attack. >> their lawyer did tell me that. he talked to them an hour before the attack but didn't know it was them that attacked him. >> absolutely. the reason he talked to them, there were -- if you look at the text messages leading up to the night of the incident, there is ample texts about training and nutrition and were supposed to train that night. jussie was flying in from new york and his flight was delayed for four hours so he was constantly texting and communicating about their planned training session. they were supposed to train that night as well as the next morning and he eventually texted him when he landed and said now it was way too late and he texted him and let him know that he landed late. they actually spoke by phone as well and so he absolutely knew that he was on his way home and -- >> if the brothers are saying that he helped them stage this attack you're saying the brothers are lying? >> absolutely.

>> they're not telling the truth. >> no. >> and what about the issue of the letter. as you know the police are very clear. i want to show the letter up here up on our screen that was sent about a week before the attack. the police are very clear they believe that jussie sent that letter himself. he addressed that in his interview with robin. let's take a look. >> just because on the letter it had a stick figure hanging from a tree with a gun pointing towards it with the words that said smollett, jussie, you will die. and the return address. there was no address but the return address said in big red, you know, like caps, maga. did i make that up too? >> police say he did. police said he sent that himself. >> eddie johnson said that and promptly the fbi came forward and said it's their investigation that's absolutely false. the investigation is ongoing. they have not identified who sent the letter. the brothers did come forward and state that they had nothing to do with the letter but it

appears police, during a search of their home, did seize some magazines with i guess missing pages and a stamp book. you know, jussie has cooperated. >> did they speak to jussie? >> he's been cooperative with them and at this point, to our knowledge, the investigation is ongoing but it's absolutely false anyone's concluded jussie was behind the letter. >> has he told them he had nothing to do -- has he told the fbi that? >> i believe at the initial -- when they reported to -- the day the letter was sent i believe he said that. >> to the fbi? >> i believe so. so whoever had responded to that and i believe there were federal agents there. >> final question, you've said clearly you think the police are not telling the truth about jussie, are you going to sue? >> we're weighing our options now. for jussie what's really important, he really just wants his career and life back. again, he did not ask for any of this. he was a victim of a crime. this has completely spiraled out of control and become a political event at this point and his goal and foc is just getting his life back on track. he has not even started healing

from the initial attack because he's been dealing with everything that's happened since then. i don't know. i mean, we're shocked at the mayor and the police superintendent doubling down yesterday when the prosecutor after a dispassioned look at the evidence realized it does not hold up and chose to voluntarily dismiss all counts and expunge his record, so we'll weigh our options and see how this develops. >> tina glandian, thanks very much. >> thank you. george, now to that incredible rescue in indiana. a worker trapped in a silo stuck in gravel for nearly eight hours until crews were finally able to pull him free. abc's diane macedo has the story. >> reporter: this morning, a dramatic rescue caught on camera. that's first responders in indiana working round the clock to free a man from an asphalt silo. the 34-year-old contract worker was measuring the interior of the silo when he hit an air pocket that sucked him into the gravel, trapping him up to his chest. seven rescuers rappelled down using a giant shop vacuum to

slowly remove gravel from around outside, workers tried to cut their way through the metal but he remains in high spirits. >> it's going to be a few more minutes, okay, i'm sorry. >> that's all right. i'm just hanging out. >> reporter: finally, eight hours later -- >> keep going. keep raising -- >> reporter: the man is finally free. placed on a stretcher and lowered to safety, he was then transported to a local hospital with minor injuries. and the man now says he will never do this kind of work again. i don't think anyone will blame him for that. the rescue was really incredible. they said as they tried to pull the gravel from around him it kept caving back in around him. >> thank goodness it stopped at his chest. >> thanks, diane. >> thank you. now to that great news. gale the show dog finally found after she escaped her cage at atlanta's airport and went missing for days. steve osunsami has those details for us. >> reporter: this was the slobbering reunion between the dog that got away from the

airline and the handler who worried that the purebred was gone for good. 22-month-old gale, an american staffordshire terrier was here in thereabout -- atlanta for a competition this weekend and was being loaded on to a flight to amsterdam when klm lost the dog somehow breaking loose from her crate. a team set up traps with treats and used chicken from an airport restaurant. >> seeing her today was great and now that she's safe it's very rewarding. >> reporter: at the airport for three days they kept seeing this dog everywhere. people on the ground, from airport windows, pilots flying in and taking off. but gale's feet were a lot faster than the tireless team on the exhausting and embarrassing chase. the dog's owner, a half world away in the netherlands, spoke to us on the phone and can't wait for the dog to come home. >> i want to thank everybody that's been putting in a lot of effort. so very much from the deepest of our hearts. it's been heartwarming really. >> reporter: in a statement klm says, despite the week they'll

be the ones to fly the dog home saying that they give thanks to all involved in the search including the atlanta airport team. they used the chicken to get the dog to that area and then brought the handler out who started calling the dog but it took the handler 20 minutes. the owner said that the dog is a little skittish but, guys, she might also be a little stubborn. >> sure. thanks, steve. >> great ending to that story. we're happy for that. and coming up, everybody, oscar winner lupita nyong'o in the voice that's getting such a strong reaction from her movie "us" this morning. reaction from her movie "us" this morning. i heard there were fleas out here. and t-t-t-t-t-icks! and mosquitoooooooooooes! listen up, scaredy cats. we all have k9 advantix ii to protect us. it kills and repels fleas, ticks and mosquitoes. and mosquitoes? all three. so let's just enjoy ourselves out here. i wasn't really that scared.

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back now with lupita nyong'o starring in the hit horror movie "us" getting some attention for her character's voice. amy is here with more on that? >> that's right, the voice, it is a disorder which causes a person's vocal chords to spasm. some people who have this disorder are upset it's being used to terrify audiences. in the new hit horror thriller "us," lupita nyong'o playing both good -- ♪ >> there you go. >> reporter: and evil. but this morning, it's one of her character's voices that is getting attention. >> be careful. >> reporter: the 36-year-old

actress said to tap into sense into trauma and fear she turned into spasmodic dysphonia that can be caused by injury or trauma affecting 50,000 people in the u.s. impairing their >> when they speak certain words trigger their voice box to slam shut. ioriy. >> it creates spasming in your vocal cords that leads to an irregular flow of air and so i studied that and i worked with an ear, throat and note doctor and my dialect coach to make sure i could do it safely. >> reporter: some who live with the condition aren't impressed. one person tweeting, i so appreciate my condition being used as inspiration for your evil character. not! >> well, i think the biggest challenge is that it's being associated with the terms creepy and haunting and the reality is once the movie is over, they're still living with this voice disorder. >> reporter: nyong'o says she was partially inspired by robert

f. kennedy jr. who lived with the condition for more than 20 years. >> i'm comfortable reading science and dissecting it and discerning the difference between junk science and real science. >> reporter: but kennedy tweeting, not sure what to make of this honor. is it a good thing? overnight robert f. kennedy's team sharing this statement. i'm grateful to lupita for shining the spotlight on an injury that's been starved for attention. in my discussions with her i've been impressed with her sensitivity and sincerity. >> we would like to make it a positive outcome. again, this is not how we would have wanted to raise awareness about it but an opportunity we're going to take full advantage of. >> so she actually talked to kennedy about this. yeah, there is some anger but there is some good that's coming out of it. >> that's right. for the most part advocates of this condition say that the movie is doing something that has not been done before and that is bringing awareness to this condition. most people have never heard of it. raising awareness, oftentimes helps destigmatize something like this. that's the hope at the end of

it. >> good point. i see you're ready for def leppard as well. >> you're the cheetah, i'm the tiger. >> george, we're just here. we're just here. all right. stay there, everybody, because coming up when we come back we have our "play of the day" with a cheetah and a tiger. cheetah and a tiger. two-star s. ♪ you don't call the first plumber on the list do you? ♪ you wouldn't hire a two-star mechanic. so why do you stick with a bank that treats you like this? isn't it time you look for better? ask your friends. ask your co-workers. we're pretty sure they'll send you over to us. because we're not just a bank, we're an ally. [phone ringing] ally, this is pamela how can i help you?

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♪ rescue me >> i love that song. it's time now for our "play of the day." robin and amy in your animal print, you're going to like this because it involves an animal and possibly the nicest lady of

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>> i'm jessica castro from "abc7 and metrologist mike nicco is here with our forecast. >> let's take a look at live doppler 7. we've had reports of heavy rain around santa rosa. and you can see that heavy rain moving through and lingering in the east bay and south bay. we'll keep the showers in the forecast tomorrow. >> checking out the roads, we have a motorcycle crash getting off san francisco, southbound 101 just before silver avenue. right around the 280 interchange. it sounds like at least the far left lane is blocked possibly the right lane as well. a 20-minute delay westbound 580 approaching the toll plaza. >> coming up, how prince harry

and duchess meghan are getting ready for the royal baby's arrival. and we'll have another update in about 30 minutes and always on our news app and abc7news.com.

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good morning, america. it's 8:00 a.m. stunning reversal. all charges dropped in the jussie smollett case after the "empire" actor was accused of staging a hate crime on himself and falsely reporting it. chicago police and the mayor stunned and furious standing by the investigation, the evidence and the charges. the file is now sealed. smollett's record wipe the clean. what chicago officials and one of smollett's lawyers are saying. measles emergency. one of the largest outbreaks, more than 150 cases most in unvaccinated people. the drastic actions they're taking to stop the spread of the cyrus. flying nightmare. these teenage boys removed from a flight because of a potentially life-threatening peanut allergy left stranded and alone overseas. their panicked parents frantically trying to get them home. their story and dr. ashton here

with what everyone needs to know about food allergies and flying. tying the knot. katy perry and orlando bloom already planning their wedding after getting engaged on valentine's day and the one big detail they've already settled on for the ceremony. safe and sound. two baby otters found stranded off the california coast just a few weeks old. inside their rescue and recovery. it is the cutest segment you'll see this morning. ♪ and one wild wednesday. two big events, three of your favorite cast members from "veep" all he pour ugar on them, def leppard is here live performing one of their greatest hits of all time. get ready to rock and they're all saying -- >> good morning, america. [ applause ]

♪ wicked cool. >> that is a line out there. >> thanks for being with us on this wednesday morning. >> it is march madness time and getting in shape with a work basketball stars love and jennifer aniston loves it as well. her trainer is here with a knockout trainer that you can try at home. big fella there. we have a lot of news to get to including the latest on the jussie smollett case. lots of reaction to that decision by the prosecutors to drop all charges against him even though they say they still stand by the charges. we spoke with chicago mayor rahm emanuel and jussie smollett's lawyer earlier in the program and now to alex perez in chicago with the latest. good morning, alex. >> reporter: good morning, george. the city's top brass says they were blindsided by the prosecutor's decision. the police department is standing behind their investigation. chicago officials outraged after this stunning turnaround in the jussie smollett case, all 16 felony charges leveled against

the "empire" star now dropped and the records sealed. this morning, chicago mayor rahm emanuel spoke out about the case on "good morning america." >> this is actually making a fool of all of us, you know, all over the city of chicago, george, there are signs on front yards that says hate has no home here. he turned those values upside down and inside out? a lot of people wondering -- >> he abused the city of chicago -- he abused the city of chicago. >> reporter: smollett reiterate the his innocence to fans outside of the courthouse on tuesday. >> i've been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one. >> reporter: the news seeming to catch chicago's top brass off guard. >> it's mr. smollett who committed this hoax, period. >> reporter: the embattled star has always maintained that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack by the hands of two men wearing ski masks. the alleged attackers eventually identified as these two brothers. according to police the two men received a personal check from smollett as well as cash to pull

off the alleged attack. even the office that dismissed the charges against smollett still questioning his innocence. >> this was not an exoneration. to say that he was exonerated by us or anyone else is not true. >> so you believe he did complete a false police report? >> yes. >> reporter: and even though smollett -- the decision has been dropped, smollett's attorney says it doesn't matter that city officials are upset with that decision because prosecutors have dropped those charges. the fbi is still investigating whether smollett mailed a threatening letter to himself. george. >> yeah, they are denying that as well. now to that measles emergency. cases are spreading all across the country and in the suburb of new york city, rockland county, officials are taking drastic action banning unvaccinated people under the age of 18 from st good rng, gio. >> reporter: good morning. yeah, that ban is in place for

the next 30 days or until those unvaccinated minors get their mmr shots. now, rockland county is seeing one of the largest measles outbreaks in the country. 153 cases in just 6 months most in unvaccinated people. this is the nation's worst and longest outbreak in decades. you see the map there. more than 300 caless across the country in 15 states. outbreaks have been identified not just here in new york but also washington, texas, illinois and california. now it's important to remember that it can live up to two hours in the air where an infected person has coughed or sneezed. that's why this is such a concern. the big message here, make sure you have both of your shots. they are very, very effective. robin. >> all right. gio, thank you. coming up, those two teens taken off a flight because of a nut allergy. the outrage. what you should do if you're flying while allergic. dr. ashton is here. the latest on harry and meghan and how they're getting ready for the royal baby.

lara is upstair. >> hello, michael. it is "veep" week on "gma" and there they are, the cast enjoying the show. with our audience. [ applause ] plus, i'm having a moment. i am having a rock star moment. def leppard in the house. [ applause ] so excited to rock with them. coming up on "good morning america." [ applause ] hole room smelling like sweaty odors. yup, he's gone noseblind. he thinks it smells fine, but his mom smells this... luckily for all your hard-to-wash fabrics... ...there's febreze fabric refresher. febreze doesn't just mask, it eliminates odors you've... ...gone noseblind to. and try febreze unstopables for fabric. with up to twice the fresh scent power, you'll want to try it... ...again and again and maybe just one more time. indulge in irresistible freshness. febreze unstopables. breathe happy.

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[ applause ] and tomorrow we've got "deals & steals" you do not want to miss and we do not want to miss "pop news" right now with lara spenceer. >> that's right. exciting. doesn't he look like bradley cooper? i did a double take. i swear i thought we had -- >> i thought bradley cooper was in the audience. i was so excited. i thought he came just for "pop news." >> i thought the same thing. >> all right. focus. and we begin. with a brand-new peek into "avengers: endgame." these posters were released featuring robert downey jr.'s iron man, chris evans, captain america, scarlett johansson as black widow, of course, hemsworth as thor and each featuring the line avenge the fallen and speaking of that, several other avengers are also featured on posters there in black and white. those are the ones who were

reduced to dust at the end of the last movie, spider-man, black panther, so are they really fallen or will they be avenged? will they be back, people? [ cheers and applause ] excited to find out. soon enough. and i think we'll find out so much more considering "endgame" has a reported run time of just over three hour. >> whoa. >> that is the longest of any marvel movie to date and speaking of dates, "avengers: endgame" set to debut april 26th. [ applause ] exciting. >> they're so good that -- so many characters, you need over three hours. >> i agree. that is a packed cast. so it'll be fun to watch, right? right, bradley? >> right, bradley. katy perry and orlando bloom are one step closer to tying the knot. our friends at "people" magazine reporting -- are you excited? yeah. we all are. that's the engagement picture.

the a-list couple who got engaged on valentine's day are working on plans. they don't have a date yet but hear orlando is shying away from anything too flashy. the couple has a lot of hollywood celebrity friends and trying to figure that one out. they have certainly agreed that bloom's 8-year-old son flynn will be a big part of the ceremony and a very solid sign of love bloom has reportedly put his bachelor pad on the market and the two are now living together in katy's place. [ applause ] oh, yeah, i'm sure she's like, bye-bye. another case cracked by the indiana jones of the art world. a painting by pablo picasso has been tracked down by an art sleuth. the 1938 masterpiece titled "bust of femme" of his mistress dora was stolen from a saudi

sheik's yacht years ago. he says it was circulating in the criminal underworld of the netherlands eventually purchased by an unwitting buyer who didn't know it was stolen property. he says he knew it was the real deal saying you know it's a picasso because there is just magic that comes off it. it had previously hung in his home until his death in 1973 considered one of his personal favorites making it that much more of a masterpiece. so glad it's back and so are fans. they thought it was gone. finally really quick a canine verse of david and goliath. da vinci the yorkshire terrier meeting his brother for the very first time. he ain't scared. no, no, he ain't scared. nope, the problem is he is just not very coordinated. ready. he's like, i'm going to get you. i'm going to get you. but da vinci is a renaissance man back upnd rea owner says th

great friends. >> that is a brave little dog. [ applause ] >> priceless. thank you, lara. now to our "gma" cover story. those teenagers taken off a plane because of a peanut allergy. they were traveling all alone from atlanta to the philippines stranded overseas. amy is back with that story for us. >> that's right. good morning, guys. those teenage brothers were on their way to visit their father halfway around the world when they were stranded at the airport because the airline was not willing to accommodate a life-threatening allergy. >> i was very shocked and almost in tears. >> reporter: pooja patel is still shaking after two of her sons were removed from a flight and stranded in a foreign country all because her oldest son suffers from a serious potentially life-threatening peanut allerg s most, most stressed out i've ever been. >> reporter: the two oldest boys, aged 15 and 16, were returning home to manila on their own from a trip to atlanta taking delta air lines to seoul,

south korea alerting the airline ahead of time about the peanut allergy. >> on delta flights we typically don't have any issues. >> reporter: but boarding the flight to manila on delta's partner korean air, the boys say the flight crew told them that peanuts would be served and that they could either risk being exposed to peanuts or get off the plane. the boys told their parents the airline agents coaxed them off the flight. >> no one should have to go through this. >> reporter: according to the patels, the teens pleaded with the airline's agent, two of them pictured here offering to sit in the back of the plane with the eldest boy wearing a mask but they say they refused. the boys eventually flying back to atlanta. the family now filing a complaint with korean air. >> when you send them halfway around the world and your children are stranded in an airport because they got kicked off a plane because of a food allergy, you know, it's a punch in the gut. >> reporter: korean air releasing a statement to abc news saying korean air sincerely apologizes to mr. and mrs. patel and their sons. we are reviewing this incident

and will strive to create a better customer experience. over 5 million children under the page of 1815 food allergies. peanut as long with milk and shellfish are the most common. >> i think the call to action here is for us to raise awareness on how airlines could do a little bit bet ever to ensure they're minimizing the risk for certain passengers with allergies. >> meanwhile, delta has also reached out to the patels and apologized for their ordeal and refunded most of the airfare but the family says they just want delta to work with their international partners for increased awareness and sensitivity, robin. >> i don't think that's asking too much. let's bring in dr. jen ashton. >> we're talking about 1 in 25 children with a food allergy so the chance of one of those kids being on a plane is high. there could be a spectrum of severity ranging from some mild respiratory issues to lach is a life-threatening lermg and some

of these allergens are airborne, could be contact on surfaces and in the food served on the airlines and once you hit 35,000 feet if you get into trouble over the atlantic ocean, that is a major problem. >> that's true. so what are your options if you're flying with an allergy. >> this hits home for me because i have life-threatening food allergies. i think there are some things people could and should do. number one, check with the airlines because every airline is different in terms of what type of provisions or accommodations they make. i think it's always a good idea to inform the person sitting next to you, especially if you have such a severe allergy that can be airborne. carry an emergency allergy kit on board. don't check that bag. these are my epinephrine auto injectors and i also travel with oral steroids and benadryl which is very similar to what we would give in an er and bring your own food and wipes. i think you can never be too cautious and, again, i think it shouldn't take a major medical tragedy for an industry like the airline industry to get up to speed on this. >> what's the emotional toll?

>> i think that's an important question, robin. no one with allergies likes to feel like they're inconveniencing other travelers. they canfeel, like a stigma, self-conscious and guilty about any kind of inconvenience but this is life-threatening and there's a fear factor involved. >> i was just on a delta flight from i.edmonton and there was a announcement that somebody was on board and they would not be serving peanuts. we god cheez-its. >> that's better for everyone. >> i don't know about that. that's another story but thanks, jen. george. >> thank you, robin. to you to the royal baby coming soon. harry and meghan expecting their first baby in the next few weeks and lama hasan has all the details on how they're preparing. hey, lama. >> reporter: hey, good morning to you, george. well, safe to say that the duke and duchess of sussex are now gearing up for their biggest roles yet with the soon-to-be parents carrying on with work, prince harry continuing with his official engage many, meghan working behind the scenes but the royal duo are also trying to

get their new home royal baby ready. the royal baby sussex countdown is officially on with just weeks to go until harry and meghan welcome their first child. while the mum-to-be is on maternity leave with no official public engagements scheduled, there's no stopping the duchess. feverishly working behind closed doors meeting with several of her key charities. just like any mother in her third trimester, meghan is probably trying to nest getting ready for the royal birth. >> sources close to meghan say like any new mum-to-be she's feeling somewhat nervous as the due date approaches but harry is there by her side, he's decreased a lot of his work. >> reporter: the couple's move into their new home frogmore cottage is on hold. last-minute renovations and building work reportedly still taking place. >> ari and meghan were hoping to have moved into their new home in windsor over a month ago now.

delays are inevitable on any construction project and the couple want the home to be perfect. >> reporter: so the question royal fans want to know is when baby sussex will be born. while there is no official statement on the due date, kensington palace only saying the baby is due in the spring and, well, spring has sprung. the duchess herself divulging to well-wishers that he or she will be arriving in late april. well, sources tell abc news that the duchess will most likely work up until the beginning of april. she's still full of energy, still smiling so get ready, george, this royal baby will be arriving any day now. >> you know we will be ready. lama, thanks very much. let's go to ginger. >> let's do your "gma" moment. this one comes to us from santa fe, new mexico. so we'll go there and -- i don't know about all of you. >> there she is. >> did you get which cabbage ca couldt wai told and dress he

the meantime. so sweet. please do send your good morning. i'm "abc7 news" metrologist mike nicco. showers and thunderstorms today. heaviest during the morning hours and that chance will continue through tomorrow and a drier weekend on tap. watch out on our east-west bridges. here's a look at my accuweather seven-day forecast, we got a one for tomorrow, sunshine by friday and 70s by saturday. time for our march madness fitness series and this morning, it's all about boxing. a popular workout for nba stars like the lakers brandon ingram and john wall and we've got boxing coach and gloveworx founder leyon azubuike here to

show us how to train like an athlete. go mng leyon. >> good morning. [ applause ] and, you know, everybody is laughing because, you know, you're not seeing -- they think we look alike. and if that's the case i think you're a very handsome man. >> you too. >> jennifer aniston. you've worked with her, jennifer love hewitt. our ginger zee has done it. >> boxing is effective because it works the whole body. a lot of cardio, core, the posterior and the arms. >> okay, the arms. so what is the -- what's the first rule of boxing? >> the first rule of boxing, always keeping your hands up at your chin and stance and never take your eyes off your opponent. >> never take your eyes -- keep your hands up. don't want to get knocked out. our first one and start by getting our heart rate up with jumping jack to jazz. >> it uses cardio with boxing discipline and other things. start in your stance, do a ju jumping jack andhands.

judgmenting jack. >> pow. >> jumping jack. jumping jack. >> when we first started i thought you would face me and do it. no, no, you face that cam remarks man. boxing and basketball is all about being coordinated and but does this help you teach you coordination? does it help your coordination. >> it helps. one of the moves we use is a ski jump. this helps with neuromuscular stability and lateral movement. hands up because in boxing we always want to protect ourself, go to the left land, right, land, left, land, right, land. and working that neuromuscular stability and heart rate is soaring. the glut, hamstrings and the -- >> i was feeling to the glutes to the maximus. the beast crawl works the entire. >> the entire body. this will work the core, your tricep, biceps and chest and be down on all fours. >> i'm going to skip this one. >> six inches. we'll kickrs sbili that tricep, come back, stabilize the tricep

and come back. working hard on this one. here we go. >> that's like break dancing too, incorporate a stance. you'll be over it and then we got the two-pointer. this one works your core and your arms, as well. >> yes, the sit-up. the classic boxing move with a twist and add a punch to it at the top. so we're signature on the ground, right here, we'll do a sit-up. hands at the chin and come up, right hook. back down, back down, come up, left hook, hands at the chin the whole time. right hook. left hook. right hook. left hook. >> okay and i will help you up. there we go. all right. they're going to continue to work out. they were laughing at us saying we look too much alike. you can go to our website for leyon's full workout guide. ten moves you can do at home. thank you so ch thank you guys for that workout behind us. on friday, we're doing a full

body blast. you don't want to miss that. coming up, get ready to laugh. all the stars from "veep" here live. >> announcer: you can't have a mother's day without "gma's" breakfast in bed. we've been surprising moms for almost two decades and now we're celebrating the 20th year with the biggest most incredible surprise ever. so go now to goodmorningamerica.com to find out how to enter your mom. it's "gma's" breakfast in bed sponsored by hilton.

good morning, north bay. let's get up and get going. >> this is "abc7 mornings." good morning. it's 8:27. i'm reggie aqui. thousands of people in downtown oakland can expect to get a text alert today about an earthquake. don't worry, there is no actual earthquake, or at least we hope there won't be at that time. it's part of a test. officials think they can save