good morning, america. on this thursday morning, the crisis with iran appears to be calming down. will congress now vote to block the president from launching new attacks on his own? president trump now says he's ready for peace after iran's missile strikes on u.s. forces, this as lawmakers demand answers. a republican senator calls his briefing with the president's team, insulting, demeaning, the worst he's seen. as the house prepares to vote on limiting his war powers vice president pence joins us. plane crash mystery. the new clues. what brought that ukrainian airliner in iran shortly after those missile strikes. what the damage in these photos may reveal. royal retreat. the fallout this morning after harry and meghan's bombshell

announcement saying they're going to step back as senior members of the royal family blindsiding the queen. we are live at buckingham palace with the latest. severe storm alert. on the heels of these snow squalls in the east a major new threat forming. the powerful storm brewing in the heartland about to bring tornadoes and flash flooding. abc news exclusive. with the fiance of that texas mother found dead after she and their newborn vanished, he's now speaking out for the first time since being reunited with his baby daughter. jeopardy james strikes back. james holzhauer knocking out ken jennings in day two of their primetime showdown. now the former champs tied. who will take the title of greatest of all time? good morning, america. hope you're well this thursday morning. boy, talk about a battle of the titans. >> oh, yes.

they're going at it. >> certainly is. we'll talk about that later. it is a really busy morning. we have a lot of news to tell you about starting with the latest on the showdown with iran. both sides backing off from military action for now but president trump promising tough sanctions for those strikes on u.s. forces. >> in a moment, george is going to speak with vice president mike pence. but first our senior foreign correspondent ian pannell starts us off in erbil, iraq, with the very latest. good morning, ian. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, michael. i'd say slight easing of tensions here although with the latest rocket strike we're not in the clear just yet. for u.s. troops, i think real dangers remain. overnight another rocket strike towards the u.s. embassy in baghdad's international green zone. this morning a spokesperson for the coalition saying there were no casualties or damage to facilities there. this as u.s. military is assessing the impact in iraq at the two bases iran attacked overnight tuesday. satellite images show what the al asad base looked like last

month and this is what it looks like today. the damage to structures clearly visible. over 20 missiles were launched at two sites. some carrying 1,000-pound warheads. remarkably, no u.s. coalition or iraqi forces were killed but the pentagon says iran's intent was clear, to kill american troops. iran claiming on state tv it had killed dozens of americans and the two military bases were crushed. president trump making it clear that isn't the case. >> we suffered no casualties. all of our soldiers are safe. >> reporter: the president trying to ease tensions saying he's ready to embrace peace, but still punishing iran. >> the united states will immediately impose additional punishing economic sanctions on the iranian regime. these powerful sanctions will remain until iran changes its behavior. >> reporter: and u.s.

intelligence agencies warning iran still remains a threat at home and abroad. i think a couple of things to be aware of. despite the conciliatory tone from the president, i think the latest rocket attack highlights the fact that pro-iranian militias here in iraq are still looking for revenge. secondly the iranians regard further sanctions as a form of economic warfare so that, of course, won't help ease tensions and lastly there's still massive pressure from iraq and iran for u.s. troops to leave. george? >> ian pannell, thanks. we are joined by the vice president of the united states, mike pence. vice president pence, thank you for joining us this morning. >> good morning, george. >> we just heard ian pannell say pro-iranian militias are looking for revenge and intelligence officials briefing members of congress have warned that u.s. troops in the region could face more of a threat now from those militias. that threat is very real, isn't it? >> that threat continues to be real.

in fact, the attack on december 27th, the claim of an american life, injured four american service members was iranian backed militias in iraq and, george, we're ready and making it clear we won't tolerate violence. but thanks to the decisive action that president trump took, took qassem soleimani off the battlefield. sent a very clear message that the united states of america will defend our people, will defend our interests and as we stand here today, thanks to the professionalism of our military personnel in the wake of that iranian missile strike, no american casualties, no coalition casualties and i'm pleased to report that iran continues to appear to stand down. >> we all are grateful for no casualties in that attack. as you know, there's been some harsh criticism even from some of the president's closest allies on capitol hill about the quality of information provided to congress.

senator mike lee he called it the worst briefing he's ever gotten. >> one of the messages we received from the briefers was, do not debate, do not discuss the issue of the appropriateness of further military intervention against iran and that if you do you'll be emboldening iran. i find this insulting and demeaning. >> that debate is going to happen in congress today. are members of congress debating the war powers act emboldening iran and how do you respond to senator lee? >> look, great respect for senator mike lee and as well as senator rand paul. but the truth is both of them have voted against military action that's been taken by this administration in self-defense in yemen and in the region and we respectfully disagree with them. but, look, with regard to the intelligence, i think many members of congress came from

the briefing yesterday and recognized that the president took action to take qassem soleimani off the battlefield based on an imminent threat to american forces and american personnel in the region and i believe having seen all the intelligence, george, that the president was right to act. he had a duty to act. >> but that has left you in a bit of a bind, hasn't it? as you know many other members of congress have walked out of the briefings saying they didn't see anything new, didn't see convincing evidence of an imminent threat. can you provide more convincing evidence to the public to convince them that there was, indeed, an imminent threat? >> in the last six months in the wake of president trump's maximum pressure campaign, we've seen a rise of violence all being driven by soleimani. two of our drones shot down. an american service member killed. we've seen attack against

shipping, of course, the saudi refinery that was attacked. all of that was driven by soleimani, and our intelligence supported the view that after we struck back at those militia bases in northern iran or northern iraq, soleimani was traveling the region, making plans to bring an attack against american personnel and american forces and president trump took action, took him off the battlefield and the intelligence supports that. that's what was reported to members of congress. but obviously, george, as you understand, having worked in this building many years ago, when it comes to intelligence, we have to protect sources and methods and so there's only a certain amount that we can share with every member of congress, but those of us who have seen all the evidence know that there is a compelling case of an imminent threat against american personnel and president trump was right to act to take the world's most dangerous terrorist off the battlefield. >> mr. vice president, thank you for your time this morning. >> thank you, george.

>> you know, that vote to block the president from taking further military action is set for the house today. they want congress to approve it. if it passes the house, it goes to the senate. with the loss of those two republican, that could set up for a presidential veto. >> it could be razor thin. that major story out of iran. new clues on the final moments before the plane went down killing all 176 people on board. david kerley joins us now with the latest on that investigation. good morning, david. >> reporter: good morning, cecilia. the iranians have issued their first report and suggesting that the jetliner actually was trying to turn around. that's not what the data we have shows. it shows a straight line and then a sudden end to data. this morning, investigators around the world are examining these pictures and this video looking for clues in the wreckage as to what caused that ukrainian 737 to crash soon after takeoff from tehran. the 176 on board all killed. less than four hours after iran had fired that barrage of

missiles at american targets raising questions whether iran's anti-aircraft system may have shot down this jetliner, something iran's armed forces deny. >> right now we don't have enough data to go one way or the other. is a shootdown possible? yes. can i come up with mechanical failures that are possible? yes. right now we just don't have the data. >> reporter: the ukrainian jet was allowed to take off an hour late just after 6:00 in the morning. its takeoff appeared normal. it headed west and gained altitude. but two minutes into the flight, less than 5,000 feet above the ground it disappears suddenly from radar. just ten miles from the airport its burning wreckage glowed in the early morning darkness. some believe one clue may be in these pictures of the fuselage, a hole blown from the outside in. could that be from missile shrapnel? that's what was found on mh-17 which was shot down over ukraine. >> what we saw is the fact that something happened about three

seconds before the accident crash that may have been the structure of the airplane falling apart. that's not explicable with an engine. >> reporter: now, already the iranians said they won't share the findings with boeing or american investigators but have invited other parties to be part of that investigation. so there is a chance those other parties including the ukrainians may share the data at some point and that will tell us what actually happened to this aircraft. michael? >> a lot of questions to be answered. thank you so much, david. to australia where temperatures are set to rise again fueling those devastating wildfires. the u.s. state department has now raised the travel advisory level telling travelers to consider postponing trips until these conditions pass. maggie rulli is in new south wales with the very latest. good morning, maggie. >> reporter: yeah, michael, that new level 2 warning means any american planning a trip to australia right now is urged to postpone their visit if they're planning to come to an area like

this, somewhere that's been affected by these wildfires and, guys, unfortunately that area is only growing. right now it's believed more than 15 million acres have burned. at least 25 people have died and it's thought that more than 1 billion animals have been killed. now, today we were able to meet up with a dog trainer that actually trains dogs to go into the fire zone to save injured animals and he says his group has been able to save dozens of koalas. but he also stresses if they had more dogs he believes thousands of animals could be saved. guys, everyone here is bracing for another day tomorrow of high fire danger and authorities are urging everyone that is meant to be evacuated to get out now. guys? >> such a devastating situation down there. we move on now to new details in the case of that missing connecticut mother of five. her estranged husband fotis dulos charged with murder but could be out of jail later today and amy has the latest. good morning, amy.

>> good morning, george. dulos, his girlfriend and a third man all appearing in court on wednesday, all spending the night in jail but this morning, dulos and michelle troconis are expected to post bond as we learn new clues about the investigation. >> reporter: this morning fotis did you low expected to post a $6 million bond and be released from jail. a lawyer for the father of five who was arrested tuesday and charged with the murder of his estranged wife, jennifer dulos, nearly eight months after she disappeared arguing in court wednesday that the fee was excessive. >> you'll almost never see a bond of this magnitude for a person without an extensive criminal record. >> you must stay away from the home. >> reporter: but the judge holding firm also adding terms for house arrest should dulos be released from custody. the judge also issuing a protective order for the dulos children, their nanny and jennifer's family forbidding him from talking to, visiting or in any way communicating with his children or their nanny who is now a key witness for the prosecution. >> you understand all the different terms of the protective order, sir? >> i do. >> will you obey? >> i will.

>> reporter: jennifer and her husband were locked in a bitter divorce and custody battle when she vanished after dropping her kids off at school in may. court documents from 2017 claim the 50-year-old mother feared for her life. now new details are emerging from the police investigation. dulos' attorney confirming he saw police removing an ax from his client's garage during his arrest, but thinks it has no significance to the case. >> there's no body. what we have is a suspicious disappearance and entirely circumstantial case. >> if dulos and troconis post bond -- and they are expected to -- they will face house arrest. they are back in court next month to answer to those charges. >> it is surprising he is able to post bond, $6 million. we keep hearing he is in debt. >> and they argued it is excessive. somehow they say he'll be able to do it. not sure how. >> thanks amy. >> you want to stick around for this next story, i know you do. a fight on "jeopardy: the greatest of all time" showdown.

james holzhauer winning night two and ken jennings and he are tied. and t.j. holmes is here with the action. it all came down to the final "jeopardy" question last night. >> that final "jeopardy" clue was about an ambassador who carried messages between two world leaders in the 19th century. i knew it immediately, okay? >> okay. >> but just like as last-second shot in basketball or a game-winning kick in football, this came down to the last play of the game to determine the second night winner even though it was clear who was about to be the second night loser. the greatest "jeopardy" contestants of all time went at it for an exciting second night in primetime. with their brains and personalities on display. >> what is i'm walking here? >> you had me at hello. >> who is vanilla ice? >> vanilla ice. >> quite appropriate. >> reporter: in the second match jeopardy james holzhauer returned to form and was quick with the buzzer all night. >> james. >> what is blockhead? >> reporter: building a lead with his aggressive betting style on his daily doubles. >> 13,600 please.

what is the le havre? >> yes. >> then there was brad rutter struggled for a second night in a row. >> what is 2? >> what is 22? >> reporter: ken jennings, the reigning record holder was determined to keep up taking a page out of holzhauer's playbook going all in. >> 8,400. >> but can you do it -- >> has james copyrighted this? >> one-time use only. you're good. >> reporter: people are having watch parties to see this quiz show clash of the titans even former champs like austin rogers can't turn away. >> this is just three heavyweights. it's like a boxing match. >> reporter: but it was holzhauer who has his opponents on the ropes. rutter didn't even have enough points to compete in the second final "jeopardy." jennings gave the wrong response. >> sorry. >> reporter: and jeopardy james was your runaway winner on this night. okay. brad, you got to give me something. brad rutter, please. look, we are rooting for this guy now. even though he's had two bad

nights he can still win the thing because it's the first to -- >> how can he win? >> it's the first player to get to three wins. the other two only had one win apiece. he could still reel off three nights. >> at least win one. >> give me something. >> this is the olympics. >> you can see the pain on his face, the tension. >> guy, he didn't even have enough points to wager in final "jeopardy." he had to sit out. come on, brad. >> i think he feels bad enough, t.j. >> we've been waiting for this competition all our lives and this is what we get? >> since you knew the answer who were those two world leaders. >> madison and napoleon. >> he was ready for it. >> ready. >> thank you, t.j. we are following a lot of other stories including all the details on the royal exit. harry and meghan shocking the world and royal family by announcing they want to step back from royal duties. the queen responding as well. we'll get into that. that abc exclusive. fiance of heidi broussard speaking out for the first time since being reunited with their daughter.

first let's head over to rob. >> you felt it in d.c. the arctic front and snow squalls as well. these out of philadelphia, you see it coming in like a dust storm but a cool shot. another view as you see city hall on broad street getting taken over by the snow squall. the next storm coming in will have big changes and pump up the heat. record heat across the east and because of that severe weather threat beginning tomorrow. dallas, houston, shreveport, little rock, pushing into jackson, birmingham, tallahassee, eventually into atlanta and friday, tornadoes a distinct possibility and have heavy rain potentially flooding rain from little rock up through st. louis and 6 to 12 inches of snow behind it in the cold sector. could see blizzard conditions kansas city south of green bay. time for your rainy cities brought to you by state farm.

so can you resign from being a royal? harry and meghan are posing that question. we have all the details. we have all the details. h harry and meghan are posing that question. we have all the details.

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you'll wonder why you ever settled for less. (sighs) get your four for four at wendy's. >> announcer: good morning, south bay. let's get up and get going. this is "abc 7 mornings." good morning, i'm reggie acould i from "abc 7 mornings." police and fire crews are on the scene of a deadly crash on treasure island. the suspect of a hit and run crash was killed overnight after hitting a parked car and then slamming into a tree. nobody else was hurt. today b.a.r.t.'s board of directors is set to vote on a program to improve safety by using unarmed ambassadors. the pilot program would place ten unsworn civilians on trains to patrol until midnight. let's look at traffic. >> hi, reggie, good morning, everyone. i want to start off with a live look at the san mateo bridge. it's packed for people headed westbound right now. the crash that we were looking at earlier this morning on the san mateo side of the bridge has

cleared but it's certainly slow, 43 minutes to get across this morning. in san jose we have a crash here involving three cars blocking two lanes, injuries have not been reported yet. this is northbound 87 at kirtner, spinouts and pooling water out there. take your time this morning. >> yes, be

we've got some downpours moving away from the dunbarton bridge, heading down to 237, 680 and 880 to milpitas. this is the last look at light to moderate showers as we'll have clearing conditions. morning shower and patchy fog will leave us by noon. we'll have sunshine this afternoon, again tomorrow after a frosty start. our next chances of rain will be saturday morning, tuesday and wednesday, reggie. >> thanks, mike. coming up, meghan and harry

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♪ i keep on fallin' in and out of love with you ♪ welcome back to "gma." love that hit song. that's alicia keys' hit song "fallin'" that locked her into superstardom. the worldwide exclusive first look at the music video for her new song, "underdog." >> excited about that. >> yeah. that's coming up. >> we're looking forward to that. following a lot of headlines as well including the u.s. showdown with iran that appears to be calming down. both sides backing off military action for now. though president trump is promising tough sanctions. this as congress prepares to vote on limiting the president's war powers with iran. also right now good health news from supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg.

she announced she is now cancer free, saying treatment for her pancreatic cancer was successful. and more good news, a new report out from the cancer society showing the largest one-year rate for cancer deaths fell 2.2%. >> good news on both fronts. we now turn to that royal bombshell. harry and meghan making a major surprise announcement saying they are stepping back from royal duties and plan to spend a lot more time here in north america. the news apparently catching the queen off guard. james longman is at buckingham palace with all the details. james, that was a complete shocker. what is the mood there in london right now? >> reporter: total shock, as you say. this is really an extraordinary announcement. meghan and harry stepping back from their jobs as senior royals. we've known that they've been unhappy and discussions about their positions were ongoing.

now they seem to have taken matters into their own hands and it's news that has sent shock waves around the world. a royal bombshell. the duke and duchess of sussex saying they intend to step back as senior members of the royal family and work to become financially independent. the couple saying they're planning to split their time between the uk and north america in hopes that the geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter. sources tell abc news that the rest of the royal family was blindsided and that none of them was made aware of the statement before it was released to the public. the queen immediately releasing a short statement in response saying discussions with the duke and duchess of sussex are at an early stage. we understand their desire to take a different approach, but these are complicated issues that will take time to work through. the last few years have been a whirl wind for the duke and duchess, starting with getting engaged. >> i made the choice to not

read anything and focused all our energies just on nurturing our relationship. >> on us. >> on us. >> reporter: marrying and welcoming their son archie to the world. >> i have the two best guys in the world. >> reporter: but along with happy moments near constant barrage of headlines and krit criticism. the couple filing a lawsuit against several british tabloids last october. the couple speaking out about what they call unfair treatment in an itv documentary shortly after. >> i will always -- i will always protect my family and now i have a family to protect. so everything that -- everything that she went through and what happened to her is incredibly raw every single day and that's not me being paranoid. that's me not wanting a repeat of the past. i will not be bullied into playing a game that killed my mum. >> it's not enough to just survive something, right? that's not the point of life. you've got to thrive. you've got to feel happy and i think i really tried to adopt this british sensibility of a stiff upper lip. >> it has its advantages, i guess. >> i tried. i really tried.

but i think that what that does internally is probably really damaging and the biggest thing that i know is that i never thought that this would be easy, but i thought it would be fair. that's the part that's really hard to reconcile. >> reporter: their comments met with intense backlash. harry at the same time also addressing rumors of a rift between him and his brother, future monarch william. >> how much of that is true? >> you know, stuff -- stuff happens, but, look, we're brothers. we'll always be brothers. >> reporter: eagle-eyed royal watchers pointing out two weeks ago during the queen's christmas address -- >> price philip and i have been delighted to welcome our eighth great grandchild into our family. >> reporter: no pictures of harry and meghan on her sk. harry previously glowed when speaking about her in 2016. >> she was my boss for ten years

and i viewed her very much like that and now it's really nice because i can go to her for advice and bend her ear with all the experiences she's had. >> reporter: but this sudden announcement caught her majesty off guard and the royal family is entering a new decade with a bumpy start. now, this new royal blueprint if you like for how they see their future roles does sound exciting to go out on their own and make their foundation a global success. but as long as they're seen to cherry pick the best bits of royalty and lose the bits they don't like, they'll have a hard time shifting public opinion and it's not off to a great start. not telling the queen about their plans provoked an angry reaction in the uk. >> we'll talk about exactly that. james longman, thanks so much. our royal consultant imogen lloyd webber joins along with royal commentator, bruce. good morning to you both. imogen, this is unprecedented. what kind of crisis are we talking about? >> big enough for me to be on "gma" at 7:30 in the morning

when all this stuff is going on in iran. yes, huge, quite frankly. obviously a lot of americans are looking at harry and meghan and thinking, good for them. we want them to survive, to thrive and not survive but this statement also bringing up a lot of questions. are they going to be his and her royal highness? how are they going to make money? where are they going to live? who will pay for their security? so we shall see where this goes but this story is going to run and run. >> a lot of questions to be answered. alastair, buckingham palace was blindsided by this. what do we know about what is going on behind the scenes? >> well, i think we know that there is a great sense of making sure that this is a family situation. and yet at the same time it's a family that has in its head the queen who is utterly devoted to delivering service to the country and to the other nations of which she's queen. so balancing what the monarchy is about with what the duke and duchess of sussex have declared they would like to do and i think now the private

secretaries to the queen and others are finding a route forward. as families do they will find a way but it will have to make sure that the monarchy itself is protected in every way. >> alastair, knowing how fresh this all is, do we have a sense of the queen's reaction to this yet? >> well, not clearly. just that there has been a sense of hurt in that not enough perhaps time has been given to the announcement that this is what the duke and duchess want to do and, look, all of us in our lives are perhaps touched with a desire to try and do what we want to do in life. but at the same time the duke and duchess of sussex sit within this extraordinary gilded cage where the queen has this role to perform and no one can really take her into a political field, into an area where it might seem that financial advantage is being made on the basis of royal titles, all those areas are quite sensitive. and, therefore, a route forward will need to be found that sits comfortable with the apolitical nature with the queen as head of

state of 16 nations. >> how does she do it? what kind of power can she have over him and her if they want to go? >> if they want to go, they want to go. the queen will be monitoring public opinion. this is also a human story, don't forget, the queen is 93. she's had to deal with prince andrew, prince philip is not at all well and she had to deal with brexit. so harry's granny is in a difficult situation at the moment. >> sure is. >> always have been rumors. harry and william not getting along. how does that play into this? what are people interpreting that as? >> it looks like those rumors are very much true, that william didn't know about this bombshell as it were, that it was going to happen in this form. there was always traditionally tension between the heir and the spare. william is the heir. he's always had that role and the spare has often struggled. we've seen that with princess margaret and prince andrew.

so hopefully harry and meghan have a plan to figure out their way forward. >> we've seen this story before, haven't we? >> well, it's families, you know. i don't know about yours but mine is a little complicated from time to time. we all meet at christmas. we all love each other very much but things sometimes don't always go as they should. but when it is the royal family and the world seems to know almost everything about them, it makes it more difficult and without doubt however much the duke and duchess of sussex have a clear idea of what they want to do, it needs to align with what the united kingdom expects from its monarchy. that's not just what the queen thinks. it's not just what the government thinks. it's not what parliament thinks, but what the united kingdom's people think. and that will be a factor in the planning going forward. >> yeah, let's be clear. they're nothing like all the rest of us. >> at the end of the day they are human beings. >> true. >> that's what the message is that comes through. >> our thanks to you both. we have more on the royal family and year of very public crisis in our next hour. can't stop talking about it.

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>> reporter: this morning we're hearing from heidi broussard's fiance for the first time since he was reunited with their infant daughter margot. >> i wish her mom was here. >> reporter: shane carey faced the unimaginable. on december 12th his fiance, heidi broussard, disappeared just two weeks after giving birth. also missing, their newborn. he pleaded for their return. >> drop her off anywhere. i don't care. just make sure she's safe and okay. the baby is okay. feed the baby. she's only 3 weeks old. >> reporter: after a week combing through clues, authorities found the 33-year-old mother dead, strangled to death in the trunk of this car. in a shocking twist, the car belonged to one of broussard's best friends, magen fieramusca, the baby found inside her home unharmed. >> heidi loved magen. i mean, like, they had a great relationship. like, i went over in my head

about a thousand times like i should have been there, i should have noticed something. >> reporter: fieramusca was present when heidi gave birth to both of her children and even took part in the search for the missing mom. their decades long friendship undeniable. >> she was -- she was a friend, you know. like you would not suspect this at all. like at all. >> reporter: but police say fieramusca deceived them by allegedly faking her own pregnancy. how soon after you guys found out heidi was pregnant do you remember hearing that magen was pregnant too? >> oh, i think -- it was like pretty much at the same time magen said that she had the same date as heidi. >> reporter: you never questioned it. >> i never questioned it at all. >> reporter: the 33-year-old was arrested december 20th and charged with kidnapping and tampering with evidence. police say fieramusca plotted to steal the baby and pass it off as her own but one big question looms. >> why?

why? >> reporter: the now 6-week-old baby a community once searched for relentlessly finally back in the arms of her father. >> hey, sweetie. >> reporter: magen is in jail here in austin. she is due for her first court appearance next month. in the meantime, shane tells us they're working to establish a foundation in heidi's honor to support children and families who have suffered traumatic events. >> boy, such a traumatic event. >> hard to imagine. coming up, everybody, we have a very inspiring "play of the day." going to make you happy. i promise. we'll be right back. s frozen. but not here. with capital one, you can open a new savings account in about 5 minutes and earn five times the national average. open one from here. or here - in a capital one café. plus, there are no fees or minimums

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♪ pump up the jam we are back with our "play of the day" and an nba superstar. trae young, scoring both on and off the court. the atlanta hawks player made nba history last night, along with houston rocket james harden. they became the first opponent to record 40 plus points triple-doubles. good basketball but this is the real "play of the day." young helped eliminate more than $1 million in medical debt for atlanta residents. >> wow. >> fantastic. >> he had a quote, i hope these families can find a bit of relief knowing their bills have been taken care of as we enter the new year. great job, trae young. >> that is great news. >> we needed to hear that.

thank you. coming up justin bieber's health battle with lyme disease. we'll tell you all about it. (whistling) delivered to your car door so you can do more. try drive up at target. ♪ feels so good ♪ feels so good

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>> announcer: good morning, south bay. let's get up and get going. this is "abc 7 mornings." i'm reggie aqui from "abc 7 mornings." mick nico hoo look at your forecast. how are we doing out there, mike? >> a little wet, reggie, thanks for asking. we have some scattered lighter showers behind this system as it starts to unwind. this 1 on our storm impact scale, here's a look at future radar where we'll see morning fog and showers turn into afternoon sunshine. my accuweather seven-day forecast, more chances of rain saturday, tuesday, and wednesday. jobina? good morning, everyone. we're following a sig alert on southbound 101 in san mateo. three lanes are blocked right now, two cars involved. they moved one off the roadway there. injuries have been reported. one person was taken to the hospital. they're working on getting that

other car out of the way. still to come on "gma," 20 in 2020. how to get fit in 20 minutes or less.

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years of savings and service." what, we're just gonna swap over? yep. pump the breaks on this, swap it over to that. pump the breaks, and, uh, swap over? that's right. instead of all this that i've already-? yeah. what are we gonna do with these? keep it at your desk, and save it for next time. geico. over 75 years of savings and service. to deal with the problem.icians but they wouldn't. so we took it to the voters and forced big tobacco to pay its share of healthcare costs. we fought oil companies for new clean air laws and closed a billion dollar corporate tax loophole to fund public schools. by going directly to the people we got results. that's not something you see a lot of from washington these days. i'm tom steyer and i approve this message. let's make change happen. good morning, america.

it's 8:00 a.m. president trump says he's ready for peace after iran's ballistic missile strikes on u.s. forces. now as the house votes on limiting the president's war powers with iran, we have the vice president here this morning on "gma." new this morning, harry and meghan sending shock waves around the world announcing they're stepping back from their roles. the latest crisis to rock the royal family. how the couple is breaking free and becoming financially independent. justin bieber's secret health battle. the pop superstar revealing his recent diagnosis and struggling to finally get the right treatment. the latest this morning on his condition. ♪ and the oscar goes to -- the

countdown is on. we're just days away from finding out who is one step closer to oscar gold and this morning we have an exclusive announcement about hollywood's biggest night only on "gma." ♪ and strike a pose. billy porter is here live and anything can happen. and he's here to say -- >> good morning, america! [ cheers and applause ] ♪ good morning, america. great to have you with us this thursday morning and great to have billy porter as well. i thought he would be a little more restrained there for a second but then we got the big good morning america. >> billy porter restrained? we're so glad he's here. one of my favorites, and "deals & steals" day, everybody, which means tory johnson is here with big bargains that will help you feel your best in 2020 and that tool right there could help you recover from aches and pains and it's 50% off and much more coming up. >> i need one of those.

a lot of news to get to starting with the latest on the u.s. showdown with iran. both sides backing off from military action for now. but president trump promising tough, new sanctions for those strikes on u.s. forces. let's go back to our senior foreign correspondent ian pannell in iraq with the latest. good morning again, ian. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, cecilia. overnight another rocket strike towards the u.s. embassy in baghdad's international green zone and a spokesperson for the coalition saying there were no casualties or damage but it shows that the risks have not completely passed. this as the u.s. assesses the impact of that iranian strike overnight tuesday. satellite images from the al asad air base show what it looked like last month and this is what it looks like today. the damage clearly visible. remarkably, there were no u.s. coalition or iraqi forces who were killed but the pentagon says iran's intent was to do just that. but the president appearing to try to ease tensions saying he's try to ease tensions saying he's .ready to embrace peace however,

i think the latest attack highlights that some iraqi militias are still intent on revenge and iran and iraq still want u.s. troops to withdraw. george. >> yeah, ian, thanks very much. earlier i asked the vice president, mike pence, about that and also talked to him about criticism the administration is getting from congress over the quality of the briefing they have been getting and the criticism about congress debating whether or not the president has the power to go to war with iran. especially from the republican senator from utah, an ally of the president, mike lee. >> great respect for senator mike lee and -- as well as senator rand paul, but the truth is both of them have voted against military action that's been taken by this administration in self-defense in yemen and in the region, and we respectfully disagree with them, but, look, with regard to the intelligence, i think many members of congress came from the briefing yesterday and recognized that the president took action to take qassem

soleimani off the battlefield based on an imminent threat to american forces and american personnel in the region. >> a lot to debate about that intelligence. let's bring in mary bruce from capitol hill. mary, we'll see this vote in the house today to prevent the president from taking further military action against iran without congressional authorization. likely to pass the house and those republicans in the senate, it's going to be close. >> reporter: this could come down to the wire. these two defectors, senators paul and lee, are sending a very strong message. they are furious and now supporting this resolution to rein in the president's war powers specifically because of what they heard or didn't hear in that briefing yesterday, because they say the answers from the administration were so unsatisfactory, lee called it one of the worst briefings he's ever received. the house is going to act on this today but even if it does pass in the senate the president would almost certainly veto it. >> that is for sure. okay, mary bruce, thanks very much. coming up, everybody, our oscars exclusive.

who will host the nominations on hollywood's biggest morning? also, what's next for harry and meghan after that stunning announcement. the other royals who tried to carve their own path after scandal. and lara is upstairs. >> i'm upstairs with carla hall, billy porter. you never know what might happen in this next hour. [ applause ] as you can hear we have an amazing audience. the energy that's in this room is electric. don't go anywhere. "gma" will be right back. "gma" will be right back. there's nothing quite as magical... as staying at a disney resort hotel. ♪ so imagine... complimentary rides to and from the park. even extra time with your family in the park. and right now, you can save up to 25% on rooms at select disney resort hotels. so if you're not staying here, just think what you might be missing.

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that is the exclusive first look at the music video for alicia keys' brand-new song "underdog." [ cheers and applause ] that's right. it is off of her upcoming seventh album. it's all about rising to challenges and exceeding expectations, and you can watch the full video on youtube today. [ applause ] >> can window -- we get her here? >> alicia is always invited to come here. but now it is time for "pop news" with lara spencer. >> thank you. >> take it away. thank you, mr. strahan. thank you, guys. good morning. we begin by sending our best wishes to justin bieber. the pop star revealing on instagram that he is battling lyme disease. he says he felt like he had to share this diagnosis because of the trolls who assumed the worst about recent pictures of his appearance. he wrote in part i've been recently diagnosed with lyme disease, not only that but had a serious case of chronic mono which affected my skin, my brain

function, my energy and overall health. the news coming just a week after justin released his first solo single in more than four years. it's called "yummy." the singer goes on to say in the post he'll get into all of it in his upcoming documentary series that premieres january 27th on youtube and bieber ends with this message saying he is very hopeful about the treatment he's now receiving and looks forward to being healthier than ever in 2020 and we sure hope that's true. best of luck to you, justin. [ applause ] also in "pop news" this morning, lizzo proving she is as her song says good as hell. a food bank for fire victims in australia posting this picture and this one showing lizzo breaking from her tour lending a hand writing beautiful lizzo

stopped by our food bank victoria warehouse today to thank our hardworking team who have been working tirelessly for the past six days and packed hampers for fire-affected regions. thank you for your support, lizzo. [ applause ] good for her. and so many helping out. she is not alone in helping our friends down under. metallica, the band, pledging $750,000 to wildfire relief. thank you to metallica. and top tennis stars, serena williams, roger federer and rafael nadal announcing they will play a charity exhibition match at the australian open later this month and give all proceeds to this most important cause. >> that's great. >> so needed. >> yeah. and then finally, we're excited, as you may know, because the oscars is a-coming. for the second year in a row no host at the big show. it worked really well last year so they're doing it again. however, they have told us

exclusively that actress issa rae from "insecure" and john cho from "harold and kumar" will be on stage this monday morning to announce the oscar nominations. we will cover it live right here on "gma," and we will talk with some of the nominees as it's happening. i don't know how we do it but we get the nominees on the phone and wake them up and will talk to them so come here, listen to us on monday morning and then the 92nd annual oscars takes place one month from today, everybody. february 9th on abc. we'll be live from l.a., of course, there and then also the morning after which is actually just the same night to us. we cannot wait, and that's "pop news." >> that's great, thank you, lara. so many good movies this year. our "gma" cover story. more on the royal family reeling this morning after harry and meghan's announcement that they want to step back as senior members of the royal family so how will they navigate the major

change? let's head back over to james longman who has a look at past crises that the royal family has faced. hey, james. >> reporter: hi, cecilia. yeah, i think it's fair to say britain is in shock this morning with meghan and harry saying they'll take a step back from royal duties. the royal family is used to drama. there is a sense of history repeating now and disappointment that the fairy tale may not have materialized. the royal family no stranger to controversy and scandal but now many wondering how this latest crisis will affect the monarchy. the duke and duchess of sussex announcing a new brexit of sorts saying they'll step back from their royal roles and move part time to north america. from the 1936 abdication of king king in order to marry wallace simpson to the messy divorce and romantic entanglements between prince charles, princess diana and camilla parker bowles, they

have found their private lives often in crisis. headlines that once close brothers, william and harry are allegedly feuding. speaking out in a documentary -- >> suddenly on different paths and i will always be there for him and he will always be there for me. i love him dearly and the majority of the stuff is created out of nothing but, you know, it's just as brothers, you know, you have good days and bad days. >> reporter: from the start harry and meghan say they do things differently. it won't be easy especially gaining financial independence while not being seen to devalue the monarchy. harry's uncle tried that in the 1980s. his inspired tv show widely mocked, and fergie frozen out ended up making questionable commercial decisions. taking salaries may leave them open to criticism and exploitation. so what next? well, don't forget the pair do

remain members of the royal family but in time meghan and harry could well take salaried jobs. could we see meghan back on screen? could harry cut a paycheck as a public speaker? don't rule anything out but it won't be easy. >> thank you. so many questions so for those answers let's turn to our royal contributor victoria murphy who joins us from buckingham palace. we heard james list all of these scandals the family has faced. this one was really shocking. how damaging could this end up being for the royal family? >> hi there, good morning. yes, we thought 2019 was a tough year for the royal family but 2020 got off to an even worse start. it's obviously hugely damaging for the royals to have this sussexes and the rest of the royals played out in the public domain. that statement by harry and meghan last night totally blindsided the rest of the royal family. i was speaking to people last night and this morning and it's been made very clear to me that they were not aware of the content of the statement before it was released. they knew the sussexes wanted to do things differently but

discussions were at a very early stage and that's created a huge sense of disappointment among other royals. harry and meghan have essentially put their wish list into the public domain before anything has been sorted out and now any negotiations that do take place about what their role may be and how what they want can be made to work will now be thrashed out in the public domain. >> the fact that they were blindsided by this, what does that tell you about what was happening behind the scenes? >> yeah, well, i think it tells you the sussexes are obviously operating entirely separately to the rest of the royal family. they went ahead and released this statement even though they had not consulted with the royal family and that, of course, is not what the royal family wanted us to see. they want us to see them putting on a united front. they want to sort these things out behind closed doors and appear with a solution publicly and they don't want us to know about all the conflict and all the negotiations that have to go on but it's become abundantly

clear because the sussexes released that statement that there is a huge conflict that is going on and now that is very much laid bare for all to see. >> victoria, we know harry and meghan have talked about their frustration and harry called out the press for racist undertones in their coverage. do you have any idea whether race played a role in this decision? >> we know they're unhappy with so many aspects of the coverage. they have called out racism and undertones and outright racism on social media. they're very also unhappy about other things. they haven't liked the fact that there have been inaccurate stories and stories have been repeated across the internet without being checked. the way that her father has been contacted by the media has made them very unhappy. so there are a lot of factors at play but do know that a big part of this decision is to do with their relationship with the

media and they have devoted a whole section on how they want to reframe their relationship with the media and remove themselves from a system that now -- that currently gives the british media preferential access. whether they can do that or not as with everything remains to be seen. >> so many questions. victoria murphy, thanks so much. george, over to you. our abc news investigation into jeffrey epstein. with accusers sharing their personal stories and their fight to bring him to justice, it's part of a two-hour special, "truths & lies: jeffrey epstein." tom llamas with a preview. >> we've heard so much about jeffrey epstein but we're about to learn more. many viewers will probably be surprised to learn the first known complaint to law enforcement against epstein was 24 years ago in 1996, and in our two-hour special the victims break down not only how epstein allegedly sexually abused them but how so many seemingly turned a blind eye. >> my name is courtney wild and jeffrey epstein sexually abused me for years. >> when i was young my parents weren't around. i was living at a friend's house. it was just a hard time in general.

>> courtney wild at age 14 says epstein convinced her to go out and recruit other girls for him. >> for every girl i could bring him he would give me $200 for them. because i was so young and basically homeless, i felt like it was an opportunity for me to like get on my feet, so to speak. >> he would have one of his cars pick us up and they would pick us up at the front of the neighborhood right here. >> he just wanted the new face and the new girl. that was his addiction. and it was very much like an addiction. he would just hound me and call me and say, hey, you know, do you have any girls? do you have any girls? >> she is indoctrinated to believe when she's very young that this is just what the rich and powerful do. once you train a 14-year-old that this is okay, you've groomed her perfectly. >> i hold such an extreme amount of guilt for bringing these girls.

>> he really just had middle schoolers and high schoolers all over palm beach running around and trying to recruit for him. >> he was the client. he was the pimp and he was the pedophile. >> he would always have staff there. i would get this food made for me. we would see all these people that worked for him, all these adults, and nobody looked at us like, hey, what are you doing here? >> he would literally have three a day lined up all the time, 9:00, another one at 12:00 and another one at 4:00. >> he was definitely molesting underage girls on a daily basis and everybody was okay with it. if he wasn't involved in my life without a shadow of a doubt my life would have gone a different way. >> again, that was courtney wild. she was just one of the many victims and she ultimately filed a lawsuit against the federal government that exposed the secret deal epstein cut. the special leaves you asking a lot of questions that we try to answer not only on tonight's

broadcast but in an eight-part podcast that launches today. >> we will be listening to that. tom, thanks very much for that. "truths & lies: jeffrey epstein" airs tonight at 9:00 eastern right here on abc. let's go to rob. >> it's thursday, hang on there, hang on, folks. it's almost the weekend. i want to show you this video. our "gma" moment comes from maumee, ohio. this is gorgeous george. he's a pristine white plump kitty trying to get out the wiow on what looks to be a nice spring day, climbing, climbing. george, george! sorry, no kitty was hurt in the filming of this video. i'm sure he was let out the door maybe at some point. that's a look at what happened.

[ cheers and applause ] ♪ something big is happening been waiting for this all year. yes. it is the very first "deals & steals" of 2020, everybody. [ cheers and applause ] tory johnson is here with savings on products to help you look and feel your best in the new year and to help you stick to those new year's resolutions and we're going to start with the feet. >> we are starting with the feet because it's hard to have a good day when you have uncomfortable shoes so therofit is all about comfort meeting science. everything is designed with specific benefits to improve posture, great arch support, huge assortment of styles. even more than you see here so you get style and comfort and that's putting you in a good mood. they started at $130 regularly,

today slashed in half starting at $65. i'm not sure that is -- >> it goes with my suit. i like it. >> okay, okay. >> good deal. >> then we're coming over to active wear. so i'm not sure where i'm standing for this. >> you go over there. i'll stand over here. >> okay. bottoms, tops, huge assortment. size inclusive line which i love and lots of different options including these little pockets right here for your phone when you're on the go. >> smart. >> $27 to $40 regularly. today they're slashed in half. they start at $13.50. >> can't beat that. >> so true medic. two years in a row their massage products were one of oprah's favorite things. instead of demoing it we will give you a demo. >> cool. oh. oh, yeah, a little higher. a little on the right. >> all this weather makes you very tense, tory. >> it does. >> all the weather makes you tense in the shoulders. >> i never knew. amazing. >> five different attachments, four different speeds, the

ultimate relief and hopefully michael comes with it to be able to do this at home. >> get in there. get in. that's great. >> almost $300. today it's slashed in half, $148. it's amazing. it's really good. >> oh, oh. >> hold that. >> keep going. >> this is the time of year where you hear winter blues, seasonal depression, so this allows you to simulate daylight. just 15 or 20 minutes in the morning when you wake up. you don't stare at it. you can be drinking your coffee, reading the paper, whatever you're doing, and it helps to improve the mood. people who do shift work swear by these. normally $130. today slashed in half, $65 and free shipping. >> right frame of mind. >> something else to wake up to. this is one of my favorites. this is orange. it's like sweet orange. wow essential oils. there are individual scents as well as mixes so you scent your environment, helps you to improve your mood or you can mix it with your own essential --

with your own moisturizer. mix the essential oils so you carry that scent with you. a variety of options. normally $12, slashed in half, $6. >> $6 and smells good. there you go. >> finally the five-minute journal. this is from intelligent change. you are all about waking up happy. that is not easy for everybody. this is five minutes a day. five minutes a day. >> the lady in the front is like nope. >> what would make taut great? what would make today great? >> for me it's doing "deals & steels" with tory johnson. >> there you go. >> $23 slashed in half and start at $11.50. >> keep track of your day. can't beat that. now, you guys, we have partnered with all of these companies. get the deals on our website and, our audience, you're getting products from intel gent you're getting products from intelligent change and wow spin science. coming up, billy porter is here live.

>> announcer: good morning, north bay. let's get up and get going. this is "abc 7 mornings." good morning, i'm kumasi aaron. california may be getting into the prescription drug business. governor newsom wants the state to buy generic prescription drugs, then turn around and sell them to the public under a state label. good morning. good news for anyone moving through san mateo, southbound 101 at popular avenue, that sig alert involving two cars with injuries, has cleared. this is a live look showing you that traffic moving through our caltrans camera. drive times across the bridges, rain has caused some slowdown. 30 minutes to get across the san mateo bridge, 20 minutes across ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ we need someone to lean on ♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ all we needed somebody to lean on ♪ ♪ ♪

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the afternoon will be fine. >> thanks, mike. we'll have another abc 7 news update in 30 minutes or so. you can always find the latest on our app and welcome back to "gma." and look who is here with us this morning. mr. billy porter himself. [ applause ] >> yes. how are you? >> emmy award winner for "pose," a tony award winner for "kinky boots" and the guy, he has a grammy too, everybody. he has it all. now he's starring in the new movie "like a boss." billy, welcome to the show. >> thank you so much. it's good to be back. >> can i say your energy is just the best? [ cheers and applause ] >> thank you. thank you very much. >> and one place we always notice that is on red carpets. i've seen you at a few. you're the person that we always look to first to see what you

are doing next. >> who knew? >> you never disappoint. look at this at the golden globes. i love this look. tell us about the inspiration. >> so i -- you know, we worked with alex, my stylist and we came up with this idea of flight, you know, the representation of wings and flight. taking flight. being free, you know, being free. >> being angels. >> being free from the shackles, you know, of what that sort of for me what toxic masculinity has been for me. you know, i have freed myself from what that was for me and how that sort of kept me bound for a long time and so i get to express it in this way and it's wonderful. >> yes. >> i'm having a wonderful time. [ applause ] >> your career, your career is flying high.

flying high for sure. tiffany haddish was here yesterday. >> yes. >> she told us about you guys filming in atlanta and she took you to a strip club. what was -- we heard her version of the story. what is your version of the story? >> and, listen, i'm a gay man of a certain age. i've been to some strip clubs. >> all right. >> i ain't been to a strip club with tiffany haddish. you know, so we're rehearsing, we're rehearsing for the closing number and she comes over to me, she's like you going to swinging richard's with me tonight, i'm like, i don't know what that is. she's like, queen, please. you don't know what swinging richard's is and i really had no idea so i called my husband and i was like, what is swinging richard's. he's like it's the most famous strip club in the wore. like, okay, i was surprised i didn't know to be honest. i was surprised. you know, so we went there and she is like the queen of the

strip club. but she realized she's the comedian, you know, she's been on the road with a lot of masculine testosteronish energy. that's what they do. so that's what she does. i really was like, oh this, is what you do when you on the road? okay. i'm going to come on back to the strip club next time i'm in atlanta. all right? [ cheers and applause ] >> so you're talking -- >> oh, man. >> talking about all this masculine energy. this film filled with feminine energy. >> yes, strong, powerful feminine energy. >> i love what you said about it. it's going to give everybody a chance to sit back and have fun and have a breath. >> it's such a beautiful movie about friendship. about real friendship, your ride or die, what that means, those people who are with you and for you and present for you whenever you need them, however you need

them unconditionally and i was raised by strong women. i've always loved strong women. those are the people that have -- those are the people that have influenced me the most in my life so to be in a film like this and to see all these boss ladies and it's not about them trying to find a man. it's not about that. [ applause ] it's about them. it's a great thing and a great message that the world needs to see right now. and it's entertaining. >> let's see it in action. >> hey, shhhh. witness my tragic moment.

[ applause ] >> how was it because that was earlier on in the shooting schedule. >> oh, my god. it was my first day of shooting. it's my biggest scene in the movie. i had to shoot the biggest, the funniest, you know, the physical comedy scene, i met tiffany, i know rose from -- on the periphery from theater but like, you know, i'm such a fan of her work, i got on the set, i was like aaagh! the first day y'all want me to -- you know, i got to show up and show out for the children. >> it seems you did. [ applause ] >> can we show this cover of the magazine? >> yes. >> this is so gorgeous. tell us about this cover. do we have a shot of it? "allure" magazine, so beautiful.

this is an exclusive. >> yes. >> billy. >> this is the big reveal. >> you're the first male, male to ever be on the cover as well. >> can you give a round of -- [ applause ] congratulations. thank you to "allure" for giving it to us first. >> yes. >> what does it mean to you. >> you know, from the minute i could comprehend thought, my masculinity was in question and i lived my entire life with that pressure, with the pressure of how can i live up to the societal standard of acceptable masculinity just so i can simply exist on this planet. the minute i released that, the conversation has changed. i want to have a conversation of what it really means to be a man. [ applause ] what does that mean for real and that's not about masculinity.

that's about humanity. >> yep. >> that's about being a human being. you know, so the first thing that you look at when you see a person, you know, i learned this being first generation post civil rights, you know, they taught us, the impression that you give is what you look like first. so get it together. and so i have changed, you know, being in "kinky boots" actually was the conduit to cracking this side of myself open and releasing me, so that i could express myself. >> yeah. >> as a human being and have a different conversation and just try to change something in this world so this --s if. [ applause ] >> you have indeed changed so many people. >> thank you. >> without a doubt. you're going to make a lot of people laugh when they check out this movie. "like a boss," it hits theaters tomorrow. make sure you go out and check

out billy porter, everybody. >> thank you. >> we'll have much more with billy on "strahan, sara & keke" later on today. we'll be right back with more "gma." [ applause ] >> thank you so much.

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and get notifications when the game's about to start, so you'll never miss a minute. with the xfinity sports zone... ...everybody wins. now that's simple, easy, awesome. click, call or visit a store for details. . we are back now with a new book that is change the way couples approach divorce. instead of having a contentious split former spouses nikki

debartolo and ben heldfordheldfd their book "our happy divorce" and here to share their secrets. you have guys after seven years of marriage decided to get divorce but it didn't start out happily. how did you turn the corner. >> i think in the beginning the divorce because it deals with romance and finance, so many negative feelings that we were headed down the path of a normal divorce and i came to a spot and we came to a point where we took accountability. we both took accountability for our actions. >> takes two to break a marriage. >> takes two to make it and two to break it so we came and cleaned up the wreckage of the past and apologized to each other for our parts. >> which is big. which is really big. >> one of the hardest things to apologize to your soon-to-be ex. >> 13 years later -- >> first time i ever apologized to him. >> i don't think we've apologized since. >> you did something very unusual. you worked this out together. you went to a starbucks.

you sat down and you worked out the divorce settlement yourself. how difficult was that? >> our lawyers didn't like us after that. >> oh, i'm sure. >> for sure. they were -- i think it was relatively easy. as soon as i told him i had no problem with joint custody of asher, that was one of the biggest things that he was worried about. >> and after we apologized to each other, we decided to take the -- what's best for asher approach. our son. a lens, so every decision we made had to be through the lens of what's best for asher and that is easy or simple, doesn't mean it was easy but it made things a lot more fluid and, you know, when it came to -- i'm sorry, finances or custody or whatever, when you looked at it through that lens it was easier. >> so many people always say do what's best for the kids but it's easier to say that than do it and you both are remarried now. >> we are.

>> and but at the same time, nikki, your husband, he asked ben if it was okay for him to marry you. >> yes, i mean, no that ben said are you crazy. >> i tried to talk him out of it for sure but there was no doing that. >> but you guys have humor in all of this too. it seems like you come to a good point but i'm sure at times it was tough and it's a long road to get where you are. >> no question and this was 13 years ago and i think if you had asked us after that meeting at the coffee shop what we wanted out of it, it would have been probably just to be in the same room together without that palletable -- palpable tension that you have around divorced couples and for asher, us to be at sporting events. >> just to like each other. >> and it evolved. we faked it till we made it and now we live seven houses down from each other. we have family dinners once a week and travel on vacations together. >> all of us. >> all of us. >> oh, wow. that sounds like a dream. >> it's a dream. >> it really does.

>> and asher is here. asher, i got to ask you, a question for you. you have friends whose parents are divorced and how does your family compare to those families. >> well, my friend -- i have some friends who have divorced parents that still get along pretty well and my friends still go back and forth between houses but i have other friends whose parents don't get along and have no relationship and really only live at one house but really none of my friends have divorced families that are as crazy as ours. >> the crazy -- but know what, the craziness works. everybody is here, the family, the kids, everyone is here because this truly is a happy divorce, even 0 though it takes a long time to get there. this is a great book for a lot of people out there. i wish it was available for me when i went through my situation and that book, "our happy divorce," is in stores right now. make sure you go out and pick up a copy for yourselves and visit our website for more

co-parenting tips from these two. all right, rob, over to you. >> all right, michael. [ applause ] now to our sponsors lays celebrating those who do extraordinary things in their community by sharing their smiles on lays potato chip bags just like these. millions of lays bags across the country will be transformed to show people making a difference with $1 million in proceeds donated to operation smile. now, last year, for example, lays honored the founder of the birthday project which throws birthday parties for kids living in shelters. we are now teaming up with lay's to kick off this year's smile with lay's contest by asking you to nominate someone who goes above and beyond to give to others. those chosen will have their smile featured on a bag just like these so get all the details. make your nomination at smile with lays.com and give somebody a boost with a smile

>> how do they look? coming up, cooking with carla hall. stay right with us. trumpand total disaster.mplete let obamacare implode. nurse: these wild attacks on healthcare hurt the patients i care for. i've been a nurse in new york for thirty years. i know the difference leadership

can make because i saw what mike bloomberg did as mayor. vo: mayor bloomberg helped lower the number of uninsured by 40%, covering 700,000 more new yorkers, life expectancy increased. he helped expand health coverage to 200,000 more kids and upgraded pediatric care--- infant mortality rates dropped to record lows. and as mayor, mike bloomberg always championed reproductive health for women. so when you hear mike bloomberg on health care... mrb: this is america. we can certainly afford to make sure that everybody that needs to see a doctor can see a doctor, everybody that needs medicines to stay healthy can get those medicines. nurse: you should know, he did it as mayor, he'll get it done as president. mrb: i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message. did you know this is where you can harness your inner jedi? and tear around radiator springs? or get your flex on with the incredibles. kids enjoy the magic for just $67 per child per day, with a 3-day 1-park per day ticket.

all right. we're back now with "gma's" slow cooker cookin' celebrity chef carla hall. so colorful. love having you here. she has a great affordable weeknight meal to make in your slow cooker sharing her best tips for keeping it simple. i love that and also making it delicious. >> yes, yes. >> so you've been preaching about slow cookers for quite some time. why do you love them. >> i love them because it is a dump and roll kind of thing. >> dump and roll. >> i mean this one has a little more steps but once you get all of your bits in the slow cooker

you roll on out, you're aeady dressed. >> ready to go. >> you're ready to go. >> it does the work for you. >> it does the work for you. you don't have to worry about something burning on the bottom as long as you have enough liquid. >> chicken stew. >> yes, it's sort of like a nigerian smothered chicken hence my queenliness. >> yes. >> so what i'm going to do is sear the chicken first and whenever you want all of that depth of flavor you have to sear first. do not put this straight into the slow cooker so that it is steaming, so i'm going to put the chicken in here. i'm going to start this, lara, if you want to continue it. >> i'll stay here and you can move on. >> what if you have a traditional recipe and you're going to use a slow cooker, what do you have to make changes to? >> i've seared the chicken, right? i am going to put all of the -- everything back into this and want to take advantage of this. reduce your liquid so that is the one thing. reduce your liquid.

so in here i'm going to add my peppers and my onions. >> it smells so good in here, guys. >> and then some garlic. and then i'm searing all of that but then with this liquid i'm going to put in here so i'm going to reduce the liquid by two-thirds or a half. >> you got a lot of flavor. >> that takes a while but i'll scrape all the bits off here. >> it does look good. >> you need any of this stuff. >> go ahead, go ahead. >> just a little tomatoes. >> if you can pour it, pour it on my spatula so it doesn't splatter on my cute top. >> i didn't know that. >> all this goes in, that habanero is slit but i didn't -- i didn't cut it up. >> that won't make it too, too spicy? that's that. >> you know i like it spicy. >> here i have all of this comes back into my slow cooker and then what i'm going to do is nestle all of this chicken back into the pan. >> oh. >> and i keep for the white meat i keep the meat on the bone.

>> it doesn't dry out. >> it doesn't dry out. >> doesn't it matter which side up. >> i like the skin side, nestle in so you want to finish that, rob? >> they look so comfortable. >> you mentioned keeping the white meat on the bone. i think that was a concern for a lot cooking chicken for a long time. this cooks for four hour. >> it cooks for four hours so right now with the breast meat it's 2 1/2 hours so that gives you time to go out and do stuff. remove the breast petition and then you're going to let it continue to cook for another half hour or so. now what i'm going to do to make it that nigerian thing i have bananas and mangoes pureed. >> i know. >> in the food processor. >> in the blender or food processor and stir this in. that will give you kind of that hot sauce with banana. sweet. >> yes. >> oh, you are speaking my language. >> i know. [ applause ] >> so you talk about bananas, though. you're not a huge fan of salt

and i would imagine that's a great idea in this. >> yes, so the thing about cooking in the slow cooker you can reduce the salt because all of the flavors are intensified and you don't really need as much salt. i salted the chicken. you can come back and do it at the end. >> to taste. >> to taste. you don't need as much salt. >> speaking of tasting, should we get to -- okay, thank you. all right. >> here, get in there and tell me what you think. >> you can get the recipe and carla's top ten slow cooker tips on our website, goodmorningamerica.com. we'll eat and then we're going to be back. [ applause ]

>> announcer: tomorrow they're back. in a bad way. will smith, martin lawrence taking over "gma" live because tell them, will. >> america needs good mornings. >> announcer: tomorrow only on -- >> "good morning america." >> announcer: america's most watched morning show. "good morning america" is sponsored by crest. crest, healthy, beautiful smiles for life. >> all right, thanks to carla hall, everybody. >> this is delicious. that's our verdict. >> thank you so much. >> have a great day.

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>> announcer: good morning bay area. let's get up and get going. this is "abc 7 mornings." good morning, i'm kumasi aaron from "abc 7 mornings." here's mike nicco with our forecast. >> good morning, kumasi, hi, everybody. here's a look at what's left of our storms, scattered showers especially south of the san mateo bridge at the 580. keep the umbrella handy for another hour or so. future radar shows clearing into the afternoon hours. a cold morning ahead and a nice afternoon before a chance of rain early saturday morning and a better chance tuesday and wednesday. jobina? thank you, mike, good morning, everyone. a four car crash on southbound 101 inside the walden tunnel, causing a bit of a slowdown this morning. heads up this morning if you're headed in that direction. much drier out there. we're seeing a bit of traffic as people move northbound on the golden gate bridge. now time for "live with

kelly and ryan." >> announcer: it's "live with kelly and ryan!" today, film, television, and broadway star, billy porter. plus, we are starting off with the best diet of 2020, continuing our "jan-new-ary" series. and your comments and questions straight from "the inbox." all next on "live!" ♪ [cheers and applause] and now, here are kelly ripa and ryan seacrest! [cheers and applause] ♪ [cheers and applause] ♪