you're trying to do a cut-in. >> now everyone at home will kn good morning, america. breaking news, at least three dead. five reported tornadoes touching down across three states. >> we got people trapped in structures that have collapsed. >> as a massive storm system prompts states of emergency from texas to oregon. that deadly winter weather slamming most of the country right now. 200 million americans across more than 40 states on alert for dangerous snow and ice. texas blitzed with a record bitter deep freeze. the governor calling it the winter version of hurricane harvey. chicago buried in more snow overnight. ginger and our extreme weather team tracking it all. game changer. this morning the first two federal mass vaccination sites opening in california. the army and the national guard set to vaccinate thousands of people a day.

part of a plan to open 100 megasites in 100 days. but can the supply keep up with demand? as the contagious south african variant is confirmed in eight states and president biden pushing his nearly $2 trillion covid relief bill. secret will. larry king's widow saying she was cut out from his will. shawn king now preparing for a legal battle after the broadcasting legend wrote a handwritten amendment leaving his estate to his children. mysterious death. one week after his former team super bowl win, former tampa bay buccaneer vincent jackson found dead after being reported missing by his family. the investigation under way. "bachelor" backlash. the hit show back on the air for the first time since host chris harrison's bombshell announcement to step away from the show. after defending a contestant's

past racist's actions. what rachel lindsay, the first black bachelorette, is saying now. the groundbreaking photographer behind harry and meghan's intimate baby announcement joins us live after making history as the first black man to shoot a cover for british "vogue" and how he took the stunning photo from an ocean away only on "gma." we do say good morning, america. good to be with you on this tuesday morning. we want to get right to that dangerous winter weather that is slamming most of the country right now, michael. >> it is, robin. let's take a live look at chicago right now. the city getting another foot of snow overnight. temperatures there have been below freezing for the past several weeks. >> 44 states on alert this morning. about 70% of the continental u.s. is covered in snow right now, the highest in a decade. >> you better believe we have reporters in the storm zone all over the country braving the cold and snow and ginger is starting us off with that breaking news from north

carolina. good morning, ginger. >> reporter: good morning, robin. you know there's a problem when your family in coastal mississippi is 15 degrees colder than we are here. the atmosphere is flip-flopped. it is angry and it unleashed in north carolina and that's where we find ana rivera from our station wtvd in ocean isle. >> reporter: well, ginger, you can see the sheer force of this storm. take a look. these cinder blocks picked up by that tornado and just thrown to the ground and shattered. this building completely collapsing. we know that three people are dead. at least ten people are injured. the sheriff releasing an update saying that they worked throughout the night to search for people. they do think they found everyone at this point and we are expecting updates throughout the day but he said it best, when you look at this damage, you just have to think this is going to change people's lives forever. ginger? >> reporter: thank you, ana. we, of course, have to check in on that snowy side. dallas, for example, more snow

than they've seen in more than a decade and they're about to get hit tomorrow. >> boy, they are. we're going down there now. millions of americans are waking up without power. more thank 4 million in texas alone. that state is seeing as you said an historic cold snap and marcus moore is in dallas with the latest. good morning, marcus. >> reporter: george, good morning. still an unbelievable sight. look at the roads, snow and ice packed. look at this. this parking lot behind us is covered with ice. it looks like a skating rink. there were rolling blackouts and some people lost power on monday morning and it never came back on and the temperatures right now in the single digits. overnight historic and dangerous cold taking aim at millions. power lines and trees collapsing from the weight of freezing rain. in new jersey a transformer exploding. a blitz of snow and ice making driving conditions treacherous. police pleading with people to stay off the roads. in ohio tractor trailers and cars lining the road waiting to be rescued and pulled from the snow. frozen roads making dangerous

conditions in chicago where more than two feet of lake-effect snow has fallen. texans are waking up to some of the coldest temperatures on record. >> it's like a walk-in freezer. it's like 34 to 36 degrees. >> reporter: the cold snap sending power demands skyrocketing. more than 4 million people waking up in the lone star state without power. officials imposed rolling blackouts saying the lack of energy is due in part to frozen wind turbines in west texas knocked offline. >> there is no firewood. no stores open. >> reporter: people desperate to warm up. in houston a family of six hospitalized with carbon monoxide poisoning after officials say they used a charcoal grill to heat their apartment. the governor making a grim comparison. >> this is the winter version of hurricane harvey. >> reporter: health officials in harris county were racing to distribute more than 8,000 covid-19 vaccines after a freezer lost power and the backup generator failed. pipes freezing and bursting across the state.

and these power lines sizzling, taken out by heavy ice in louisiana. and check this out in kentucky. that synchronized snowplowing. because of the pow you are outages the "houston chronicle" could not put out a paper today. michael, it was colder in houston than it was in anchorage, alaska. >> oh, never thought we'd hear that. it is really cold down there. we'll go to will reeve in omaha, nebraska. one of the coldest places in the u.s. right now and good morning to you, will. >> reporter: good morning, michael. i can confirm it is colder in omaha than just about anywhere. 20 degrees below zero, negative 38 windchill. this is the type of cold that penetrates your clothes skin and bones and burrows deep inside your soul. it also lends itself to some pretty neat visualization. we have boiling water. in the right conditions with a little wind which is exactly

what we have, watch what happens. look at this. it freezes. omaha is not alone in bearing this burden. many in the midwest enduring extreme temperatures. this cold is dangerous. frost bite can set in in under ten minutes. any exposed skin can be in danger of frost bite. if you feel any pain, tingling or numbness, seek medical attention and get inside. robin? >> all right, will. you and the crew get inside please. everybody take care. the cold and snow impacting travel and those critical vaccine deliveries on the road and sky. thousands of flights canceled over the past few days. our transportation correspondent gio benitez joins us from burbank airport in southern california with more. good morning, gio.

>> reporter: robin, good morning. yeah, this weather has really affected airports in the south especially because they're just not used to dealing with weather like this. over in houston the airports there are still shut down this morning. those runways are just too frozen. airports in san antonio and austin have already canceled their flights for today. now, across the country we're looking at about 8,000 cancellations since sunday. today alone about 2,300 cancellations, robin. >> gio, what do we know about critical vaccine deliveries? >> reporter: yes, cargo flights are absolutely affected. u.p.s. and fedex saying they're able to work around these issues. no doubt about it, you are talking about some of the most crucial airports right in the middle of the country that, robin, right now they're just shut down. >> all right. gio, thank you. michael. back to ginger with more on where the threat is headed next. ginger?

>> reporter: michael, we have to start with the deep polar air because really today is the peak of that and i say peak, i mean bottoming out. historic cold settling in. we could have the coldest fat tuesday on record. it would break something that was set back in 1899 when they had to plow the streets to get the parade going. look what it feels like, 16 in new orleans. 10 below is the feels like in shreveport, louisiana. and then those storms, i told you, oklahoma city is closing in on their snowiest season ever. they just got to get seven more inches then i think we'll start it by tomorrow and then you watch that storm move north. pennsylvania gets in on the snow. it starts in washington, d.c. as snow, transitions to a mix of sleet and then rain. new york city by thursday night will get into the next action. anything that we have on the ground here that is melting, george, it's going to be back on thursday night. >> going back and freezing. ginger, thanks very much. we'll switch gears and get the latest on the pandemic and the race to vaccinate the most vulnerable. the cdc reports that over 38 million people have gotten at least one dose, almost 12% of our population. demand is outpacing supply as

fema opens new centers across the country and kaylee hartung tracking it all from l.a. >> reporter: good morning, george. here in east l.a., this is a community that's been devastated by covid-19. you have a lot of predominantly latino neighborhoods. they're under served with health resources. that makes it a good fit for fema to open one of its first mass vaccination sites in the country. starting today right here at this site, eligible people can walk up, they can drive up. they say pretty soon here they'll be vaccinating 6,000 people a day. this morning, a potential game changer in the race to vaccinate as the federal government opens its first mass vaccination sites in california active duty service members from the u.s. army and national guard now working seven days a week on the campus of cal state university in east los angeles and at the oakland coliseum to support the fema-run operation. >> the u.s. military has a lot of medical professionals who can support this mission who can

administer this vaccine in a very quick amount of time. >> reporter: officials say both of the california sites will be allotted 42,000 vaccines a week by the federal government. these megasites part of president biden's pandemic response plan that aims to make the vaccine widely available by spring. >> the plan is to open 100 vaccination sites in 100 days. >> reporter: in texas, three more of these federal sites are expected to open next week. fema still searching for more potential locations across the country but as more sites open up and more become eligible the supply can't keep up with demand. dodger stadium forced to temporarily shut down its vaccination site over the weekend and in san francisco, sites closing for at least a week leaving some desperate to get appointments for loved ones. >> i'm like i'll get him anywhere. where would there be an opening? she said honestly there are no openings. >> reporter: the vaccine rollouts also in a race against the variants that appeared to chip away at the effectiveness of the vaccines. a case of the south african variant now confirmed in a patient from connecticut hospitalized in new york city.

it seems governors across the country are just as confused as the rest of us with the vaccine distribution process. the national governors association has written a letter to president biden saying that the way that the cdc is reporting the number of vaccine doses that have been delivered versus administered has created unnecessary confusion. they are urging better and clearer communication, george. >> okay, thanks very much. let's bring in dr. richard besser head of the robert wood johnson foundation, former acting director of the cdc. good to see you again, rich. we know there's some confusion overall vaccines are ramping up. cases are coming down. across the country hospitalizations and deaths are down as well. is there a case for optimism? >> i think so. i am clearly cautiously optimistic. when you see a curve like this it's going down and steadily down and ramping up of vaccination across the country and in many places around the world you have to be hopeful we're on the path to this being

over. >> what's behind the drop? >> well, you know, george, there's a lot of debate around that. you know, in the united states alone, probably close to 100 million people have had this infection. and now you have close to 40 million people who had at least one dose. those numbers add up to a smaller proportion of people who are susceptible. you add on top of that finally hearing the same messages coming out of the white house that we hear from public health leaders about wearing masks, keeping apart, washing our hands, limiting travel. all those things we're doing i think are having an impact as well. >> we still have bottlenecks on vaccinations. what's the best way to speed the administration of these vaccines right now? >> well, you know, the federal government is doing things i think that give me hope. these mask clinics are important. getting vaccines to local form pharmacies, giving vaccines out

in communities, because it's not just about speed. you have to look and see who is most vulnerable. who has been getting this infection? how do we get this to essential workers who work all day, people who may not have transportation to get to these megacenters, you know, black, latino, native americans have been hit the hardest and some populations can be challenging to reach and increasing effort to get them to those communities. >> we're seeing schools re-open in much of the country. new guidance from the cdc as well but there's still a lot of confusion out there. parents still worried. teachers still wondering what to do. what's your advice as a pediatrician? >> you know, i understand everyone being worried. teachers, parents, everyone wants to get kids back into school, and that's where they belong. what gives me encouragement, the science shows if schools have what they need and are able to decompress classrooms and ensure people wear masks, do some screening, improve ventilation you can have kids in classrooms learning very safely even before you have vaccination of staff and teachers. that gives me hope. you have to get numbers down in communities and those are moving

in the right direction as well. >> rich besser, thanks for your time and information this morning. robin? always so good to see rich. now to washington. with former president trump's impeachment trial over president biden getting ready to hit the road today. he's expected to push his nearly $2 trillion covid relief bill. our chief white house correspondent cecilia vega has the latest. good morning, cecilia. >> reporter: hi, robin. good morning. it's been 28 days since joe biden took office. this is now being called the unofficial start to his presidency because donald trump has basically hung over its head from the very start. so you said it. today, president biden takes his first official trip as president. he will head to wisconsin where a state, of course, that's been hit so hard by covid and the economic fallout of that. he'll be doing a town hall there. later in the week he will head to michigan where he will be touring a vaccine manufacturing plant. the big priority right now for this administration, you said it, that covid relief package and getting that passed. he campaigned on bipartisanship and the administration says they

actually have that. they've got republican support perhaps just not on capitol hill. i want to show you this number. take a look. this poll that came out recently finds that 37% of republicans say they actually support this plan but the republicans who have got to vote for it on capitol hill remain overwhelmingly opposed and say it's too expensive. so now the administration is leaning toward going at it alone without republican support and now starting to look ahead to other priorities. i'm told we could see an immigration bill on capitol hill later this week. >> speaking of capitol hill, nancy pelosi, she has signaled that she would like to establish a 9/11 type of commission to look into the january 6th insurrection. what do you know about that? >> reporter: supporters of a commission like this say it could go deeper than some of the congressional committee investigations that were going to see that perhaps a commission could end up calling on some trump supporters to testify, people we didn't hear during the impeachment hearing and it looks like it's got bipartisan support growing bipartisan support in a way so we could see it happen.

>> bipartisan support. all right. cecilia, thank you. michael? we turn to sports and a big match-up that is set for the semifinals at the australian open. serena williams advancing to her 40th grand slam semifinal where the 23-time grand slam winner will face naomi osaka for the first time since 2018. not an easy win right there. but the 39-year-old williams saying after her win in anticipation of the blockbuster match against osaka, she draws inspiration from the 23-year-old power house. going against the -- >> well put. >> i think i know what you mean. >> picking up what you're putting down. we have a lot more coming up including "the bachelor" airing their first episode after chris harrison's announcement that

he's stepping away from the show. the death of vincent jackson found dead in a florida hotel. the investigation under way this morning. we'll talk about that but first let's go back to ginger. ginger? >> reporter: robin, we are just warming up enough to keep this all rain here but look what's happening in massachusetts. this is justin, a photojournalist from our affiliate. he's struggling on the freezing rain that created that glaze of ice. unfortunately, we have a new storm that's going to be moving up. we're already starting to see winter storm watches pop in parts of west virginia. i'll track that in a bit. tuesday trivia sponsored by verizon.

good morning. i'm meteorologist mike nicco. look at all that sunshine. it will be partly cloudy this afternoon as high clouds will roll in. dry and seasonal today. we have a wet pattern thursday night through saturday morning. brighter and warmer weekend ahead. that hasn't changed either. let's take a look at what's going on. mid to upper 50s along the coast. cooler tonight with a lot of mid coming up, larry king's mid widow saying she was cut out from his will. we're going to check that story out when we come back. serena: it's my 9:12, no-days-off migraine medicine. it's ubrelvy. for anytime, anywhere migraine strikes without worrying if it's too late, or where i am. one dose can quickly stop migraine

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>> announcer: building a better bay area for a safe and secure future. this is abc7 news. good morning. i'm julian glover from "abc7 mornings." the second federal vaccination site is opening at the oakland coliseum today. it was directed to open by the president of the united states. president joe biden ordered 100 of these to open in 30 days and officials say no pauses in operations or closures are expected. the site has received 42,000 doses for the week. >> this is the largest deployment of military personnel for a domestic operation ever in history, including hurricane katrina which was huge, by all means. this is a big undertaking. it requires a lot of coordination. >> they expect to administer 6,000 doses a day at the coliseum site.

the website is handling appointments. it's allowing people who are 65 or older or health care workers, residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities, teachers and other childcare staff and emergency services workers get the shot. meteorologist mike nicco has a quick look at the bay area ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ receive a chargepoint home flex charger or a $500 public charging credit.

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let's take a look at temperatures compared to yesterday. we're up to 17 degrees cooler. where does that put us? a lot of upper 30s to low 40s. a little milder like san jose. for the commute today, breezy in our hills but otherwise it's going to be dry and you'll need the sunglasses from time to time. chance of rain starting thursday night through saturday morning. coming up on "gma," larry

king's secret will. handwritten changes now cutting his widow out of any

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to make a masterpiece. order our new pepperoni and four cheese flatbread pizzas for delivery or pickup today. panera. welcome back to "gma" and you're taking a live look at chicago right now. the city getting buried under another foot of snow overnight and suffering from brutal cold temperatures, below freezing for the past several weeks. >> yeah, texas is facing record bitter cold freeze right now and the dangerous winter weather is impacting the majority of the country. 200 million americans in 44 states on alert. at least three dead after three tornadoes reported touching down across three states. right now there was a deadly rocket attacked that targeted coalition forces in iraq. a contractor killed. several americans wounded when the rockets landed near an airport in northern iraq, not far from a base houses u.s. troops. a shiite militia has claimed responsibility.

harry and meghan sharing they're expecting a second baby in this photo right here. misan harriman joins us live in a "gma" exclusive to tell us all about it. >> looking forward to that. we'll continue with that "bachelor" backlash. the first episode airing last night following chris harrison's announcement that he's stepping aside after his remarks about a contestant's past racist actions. t.j. holmes is here with more on this. good morning, t.j. >> good morning, robin. if you saw the show last night, what did you see? a bunch of kissing, crying, fighting, roses, standard stuff but the drama on screen we saw last night belies the off screen drama. this franchise is embroiled right now in a controversy over racism and right in the middle of it a leading contestant on this year's season and the longtime host himself. it looked like business as usual on "the bachelor" last night. >> you all right? >> yeah, i mean, i was just shook up. >> reporter: the show did not mention long-time host chris harrison's upcoming departure

from the franchise. harrison did appear in several segments of the show last night which was taped months ago. >> it is time to go straight to the rose ceremony. >> reporter: this weekend harrison announced he was stepping aside from the show for a period of time after drawing fierce criticism for defending one of this season's front-runners, rachael kirkconnell. >> rachal, will you accept this rose? >> reporter: after a controversial social media post and photos of her attending a plantation-themed college party went viral. >> is it a good look in 2018 or not a good look in 2021? >> reporter: harrison thrust himself in the controversy by coming to her defense during an interview with rachel lindsay, the show's first black bachelorette. >> i'm not defending rachal. i'm just saying -- i don't know, 50 million people did that in 2018 between -- >> reporter: he also said it isn't the show's responsibility to speak up on issues that flare up on social media. >> we're not in the business of dealing with every problem that

you have. that's not how this works. >> reporter: harrison even saying in his conversation with lindsay that the contestant rachal is the victim. >> the woke police is out there and how you're equipped when you've never dealt with this before to be woke enough, to be eloquent enough to be ready to handle this. >> reporter: lindsay last night speaking out took issue with harrison using the term woke police. >> really could have inserted the word accountable or accountability instead of woke police. it was almost as if you don't get to say whatever you want. that's not how it works, and i think chris is realizing that. >> reporter: harrison and rachal both issued apologies over the weekend. a fan favorite on season 15 who has a podcast with lindsay's husband says while harrison called him to apologize, he's disappointed. >> i think that chris being the figurehead had an opportunity to unite people, to bring people together to have more people on, to have more people watching the

show to make people feel good within the show, and it did a terrible job. >> reporter: remember, guys, the show was shot months ago before the controversy. so you're going to see over the next month as it leads up to the final, chris harrison will still be there, and the contestant will be there. remember, there were petitions to get this show to cast a black bachelor. he is the first in 25 seasons, and that was something to celebrate, but it's turned into a reminder of just how far we need to go. conversations that need to be had and maybe ignorance that still exists but the show will go on. >> all right. nothing to say, okay. going to move on. >> i'll just keep hanging here. just leave me hanging over here, okay. >> everybody is going to hang on everybody's word about "the bachelor" for sure. now to the mysterious death of a former tampa bay buccaneer player just over a week after the team's super bowl win. an investigation under way after retired star vincent jackson was found dead in a florida hotel.

janai norman joins us with the latest. good morning, janai. >> reporter: good morning, yeah, he was drafted in 2005, played seven years with the san diego chargers before signing with the tampa bay bucs. the sheriff's office named him an honorary deputy three years ago for his service to the community. now deputies from the same sheriff's office are investigating how the 38-year-old father suddenly died. >> it is caught, touchdown. vincent jackson. >> reporter: this morning, police investigating the death of retired tampa bay buccaneer vincent jackson only a week after his former team's super bowl win, the three-time pro bowl receiver found dead at this hotel near tampa bay. >> he was just amazing and loved our community the same way we did. >> reporter: police say they don't know how jackson died, but there were no scenes of trauma. his family reported him missing one month earlier leading police to visit jackson at the hotel on february 11th where they confirmed his well being.

on monday morning hotel staff found the ex-nfl player dead. many mourning the loss on social media. the buccaneers saying during his five seasons with our franchise vincent was a consummate professional who took a great deal of pride in his performance on and off the football field. jackson retired in 2016 and turned his attention to giving back. founding his own charity and devoting himself to a cause close to his heart, military families and children. >> something i grew up in being in a military household as a kid and traveling around and knowing the nuances and obstacles military families face so it's important to know those kids can be specialized and get their own specific scholarship. >> so many other worthwhile causes he could have chosen and picked military kids i just feel like for me that just speaks volumes of what a kind person he was. >> reporter: his family telling abc news we're all mourning the loss of our beloved vincent. his wife and family ask that

everyone respect their privacy at this time. and with the cause of death still unknown a toxicology report is expected in six to eight weeks. the chargers describing jackson as a fan favorite. the hillsborough county sheriff calling him a devoted man who put his family and community above everything else. george? >> such a tragedy, okay, janai, thanks very much. we move to that terrifying ski lift fall caught on camera. a young girl dropped 25 feet on a slope in maine as fellow skiers -- you see it right there -- held together to break her fall. they're now describing the experience and stephanie ramos has their story. good morning, stephanie. >> reporter: george, good morning. some really frightening moments for this little girl and her family on that ski lift. her mother tells us her daughter slid out of that seat in just minutes. skiers rushing by to help. >> stay right there. >> reporter: this is the terrifying moment an 8-year-old dangling 25 feet above the ground from a ski lift at sugarloaf mountain in maine. >> it's a horror beyond horror as a parent to have to go through this kind of thing.

>> reporter: shiloh never getting on to the lift properly. her mother holding on to her the entire time. >> i just grabbed her and tried to keep pulling her and she was trying to pull herself up and the lift just keeps going. you know, so it was just like, you know, it was like all of a sudden you're like, oh, no, no, no. >> i felt like it was going way too fast. >> ski patrol and nearby skiers sprang into action holding a catch net to guide her fall. >> okay, okay. >> mom's right here. >> reporter: the second grader okay but she was air-lifted to an area hospital due to a pre-existing heart condition. the resort's general manager saying the safety of our guests is our first priority. without quick actions this incident could have been much worse. and while experts say they are rare, ski lift accidents do happen. >> we do find that ski lifts and aerial ropeways are relatively

safe forms of transportation but it's important to follow a few safety tips in order to preve preventprevent any lift accidents from happening. >> reporter: like help a lift attendant for help getting on. make sure children are seated all the way back and do not use phones while loading or unloading. and here's something else to keep in mind, a lot of these ski mountains have beginner areas where it's easier to get on the lift and they also have practice chairs where you can practice getting on and off the ski lift. as for shiloh, despite this incident, she says she's anxious to get right back on the slopes. robin? >> bless her heart. stephanie, thank you. coming up next larry king's so-called secret will. handwritten changes by the legendary broadcaster cutting his widow out of his will. now she is fighting back. now she is fighting back. ♪ this is what community looks like. ♪

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we're back now with the latest on larry king's est we're back now with the latest on larry king's estate. his widow alleging she was cut out of the tv legend's will with a handwritten amendment. now shawn king is fighting back. deborah roberts is here with more on that for us. good morning, deborah. >> reporter: good morning, robin. yeah, this is a bit of a shocker coming just weeks after larry king's death. so many of us remember the legendary broadcaster who interviewed about 50,000 people over the course of his career often leaving them guessing about his next question. well, apparently king is also leaving his family guessing

about a last-minute change to his will. this morning, blindsided by what she calls a secret will, shawn king, the estranged wife of the late broadcasting legend larry king is ready for a legal battle. the former actress and singer telling "the new york post" the will omits her and she plans to go to court. only weeks ago larry king died at age 87. in 2019 he had filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences but the split was never settled before his death. shawn king speaking to "entertainment tonight" shortly after her husband's death. >> we never finalized our divorce. i in my heart didn't think it was really going to happen and it just never did. >> reporter: some reports say the two remained close and spoke daily leading up to king's death. the couple's marriage lasting 22 years, the longest of any of king's eight unions and they had two sons together, but according to "people" magazine just two

months after filing for divorce, larry king wrote a handwritten amendment to his will, removing his current wife and leaving a $2 million estate to his five children. the document dated october 7th, 2019 stating, this is my last will and testament. it should replace all previous writings. in the event of my death any day after the above date, i want 100% of my funds to be divided equally among my children, andy, chaia, larry jr., chance and cannon. in a tragic turn of events his oldest two children died within weeks of each other, chaia of cancer, son andy of a heart attack. >> shawn had no idea that not only did larry create this secret handwritten will but that her name is not listed in that will at all. >> reporter: according to "the new york post" shawn says she and larry had a, quote, watertight family estate plan they put together in 2015. she also says she believes someone influenced him to make

the change but doesn't know why. >> she's going to have to prove that. she's going to have to put forth evidence, testimony from witnesses, text messages, email messages, some form of evidence that supports her claim that this will is somehow illegitimate. >> reporter: if she were to prevail, shawn king would, it's estimated, collect somewhere around $100,000 to $500,000, maybe less. but when asked about it, she says it's really about the principle. in the end, of course, king left a vast estate estimated in the tens of millions of dollars, mostly in trust for his children. michael? >> all right, thank you so much for that, deb. coming up next, we have our "play of the day."

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♪ just a good vibration ♪ back now with our "play of the day." the winter weather may be rough, but this adorable kid, he is absolutely loving it. take a look. the toddler enjoying his very first snowball fight with his auntie. [ laughter ] very contagious laugh right there racking up 3.1 million views. >> oh. >> and i agree with this person who posted, quote, i could listen to that all day. >> i love that.

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>> announcer: building a better bay area for a safe and secure future. this is abc7 news. good morning. happy tuesday, to you. i'm julian glover from "abc7 mornings." the city of berkeley is expanding vaccine eligibility. anyone who works in a grocery store, convenience store, in-person education or a childcare setting now qualifies to get the shot. you'll need to bring your i.d. badge, pay stub or letter from your employer. the city is taking appointments for tomorrow through saturday online at the vaccination site in albany. the vaccines are free. now here's a look at the bay area forecast. >> it looks great from the golden gate bridge. let's talk about what's going to happen today. a great day to be outside. a little colder this morning. dry with high clouds and sunshine this afternoon. temperaturewise from the mid to upper 50s. watch out for wet weather

thursday night through saturday morning. 1, light, on the storm impact scale. thank you, mike. coming up on "gma," an exclusive interview with the history-making photographer behind

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good morning, america. it's 8:00 a.m. breaking overnight. five reported tornadoes touching down across three states. the search for the missing at this hour. this as deadly winter weather puts most of the country in a deep freeze. 200 million americans across 40 states on alert for dangerous snow and ice. "gma" health alert. the new study looking at the link between high blood pressure and dementia. dr. jen ashton here to break it down. picture perfect. the groundbreaking photographer behind harry and meghan's baby announcement joins us live in a "gma" exclusive. how he took the stunning photo on an ipad from an ocean away. inside clubhouse. the new social media app exploding in use.

it's like a virtual dinner party on your phone getting the attention of oprah, elon musk and serena williams. this morning, the big privacy concerns, and how twitter and facebook are competing. ♪ make way for mardi gras. we're kicking off the big day with a special "gma" open for business. meet the family behind this fourth generation black owned restaurant. this morning, they're sharing their favorite fat tuesday king cake recipe. ♪ i'm back, back in the new york groove ♪ and the magical bette midler. ♪ >> spilling on that highly anticipated "hocus pocus" sequel, plus, reuniting with her "first wives club" stars goldie hawn and diane keaton and her love letter to new york all ahead and she's saying -- >> good morning, america.

what were you saying? >> i don't know. >> you interrupted bette midler? >> i'm sorry. >> delivering important news. >> very important. it's important to tell you this is fat tuesday. and "gma," we're about mardi gras this morning from the food to the music, new orleans is not letting the pandemic stop the party. that man right there, mario abney, that's my niece's husband who is a fine jazz musician with his bandmates. going to keep it festive as ever. we're all getting in on the fun this morning. go, mario. >> fashionista too, i like that. >> you saw that and his gold shoes. we're also taking you into clubhouse. it is the hottest social media app right now. we'll show you why everyone is on the chat app and how to get the most out of it. if you're on clubhouse already, we want you to log in now to be a part of our segment. >> on the rise right now. a lot of news to get to starting with that dangerous winter weather. 200 million americans on alert for snow, ice and bitter cold right now.

want to go back to marcus moore in dallas, texas, with more on the brutal conditions. good morning, marcus. >> reporter: hey, george, good morning. temperatures right now still in the single digits and large parts of this city are snow and ice packed. you can see the glaze in the distance behind me and the trouble stretches across the region. overnight a terrifying and tragic scene in brunswick county, north carolina. a reported tornado touching down killing three and injuring at least ten. rescuers searching through debris. just to the south in georgia, a tornado ripping through homes just as the cold front was moving in. this devastation. all of this while power lines and trees collapsed from the weight of freezing rain. in new jersey, a transformer exploding. a blitz of snow and ice making driving conditions treacherous. police pleading with people to stay off the roads. in ohio tractor trailers and cars lining the road waiting to be rescued and pulled from the snow.

in chicago too where more than two feet of lake-effect snow has fallen. texans waking up to some of the coldest temperatures on record. >> it's like a walk-in freezer, it's like 34 to 36 degrees. >> reporter: the cold snap sending power demands skyrocketing. more than 4 million people waking up in the lone star state without power. officials imposed rolling blackouts, saying the lack of energy is due in part to frozen wind turbines in west texas knocked offline. >> there's no firewood. no stores open. >> reporter: health officials were racing to distribute more than 8,000 covid-19 vaccines after a freezer lost power and the backup generator failed. pipes freezing and bursting across the state. and these power lines sizzling. taken out by heavy ice in louisiana. and check this out in kentucky. that synchronized snowplowing. and people back here in texas they want their power back and for things to thaw out but the temperatures are not expected to get back above freezing for several more days and, george, another round of dangerous wintry weather expected to hit

this city again tomorrow. >> they got to brace for it. you look cold this morning. it is tough down there. michael. >> trust me, i am. >> definitely. we'll go to ginger with more on where the threat is headed next. hey, ginger. >> hey there, michael. i mean this morning we are seeing all-time record cold numbers. so the records are not just dropping for the day but ever. hastings, nebraska, tying at 30 below, fayetteville, arkansas, 19 below, and look at those windchill advisories that stretch to the gulf coast that include, parts of the florida panhandle, and now winter storm watches for a new storm. no, it's not leftover. you're getting it again. dallas, that just had four inches of snow getting in on the ice, shreveport, that's coming for you too, that's tomorrow. oklahoma is going to try to put on a couple more inches into their totals and close in on their snowiest season ever and then it moves up here and it

looks like rather than rain it will start a snow for most people and through the day thursday into thursday night will transition again as the coast at least back to a freezing mess. >> well, i tell you what, the heat in the summer can't get here fast enough. thank you, ginger. >> bring it. coming up, our exclusive with the history making photographer behind prince harry and meghan's second baby announcement. dr. ashton breaks down a new study between high blood pressure and dementia. we're celebrating mardi gras with a special fourth general race black-owned restaurant, dooky chase's restaurant. there's that beautiful family. has some great recipes and the meaning of why we put a baby figure in mardi gras king cakes. a whole lot of babies here. look at all these babies. this baby got back. all right. >> oh. >> we'll be right back. >> we'll be right back. advanced non-small cell lung cancer can change everything. but your first treatment could be a chemo-free combination

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♪ back here on "gma" on this tuesday morning, tomorrow on "gma," joanne p. mccallie a former top women's basketball coach reveals her journey with bipolar disorder. a brand-new book "secret warrior". i read it this weekend. it's going to help a lot of folks. in the basketball known as coach p, is going to be here live. we're looking forward to "pop news" with lara. hey, george, good morning. we're going to begin with "bridgerton" and a fresh face in town for the second season. british actress simone ashley will play a character named kate.

she's a member of the london elite who comes to town for the season and catches anthony's eye. but make no mistake, she suffers no fools even they are devastatingly handsome and rich and a bridgerton. chris van dusen telling deadline i think it will be a sweeping and moving and is beautiful as viewers of the first season have come to expect from the show. he goes on to say there will be a number of new characters introduced in season 2 that should make for a lot of good copy for lady whistledown. looking forward to that. and more tv news for you. amazon announcing a new series based on the 2005 movie "mr. and mrs. smith." remember that, the original starred brad pitt and angelina jolie. they discovered they were both assassins, a married couple, that's the catch, and they were assigned to kill one another. well, this time around the killer couple will be played by phoebe waller-bridge and donald glover also known as childish gambino. the head of amazon's studios saying in a statement, talk

about a dream team. donald and phoebe are two of the most talented creator and performers in the world. the duo also acting as executive producers on the series which is set for release in 2022. love that. give us more good tv. and ryan reynolds is proving he is a man of many talents. we know him as an actor, producer, businessman, well now add hair colorist to his resume, his wife blake lively sharing this time-lapsed video of her ryan helping color her hair at home. something many of us have resorted to in the last year. we just didn't have ryan helping us. reynolds getting props from jonathan van ness who wrotes the sectioning is really, really good, and martha stewart also weighing in recommending her pruning clippers in case ryan wants to add a haircut.

blake also sharing a selfie with ryan showing off her sexy stylist's finished product. the couple that colors together stays together. and finally, a little lesson for you in the usage of emojis, if you're still using the crying, laughing emoji, you are officially uncool according to our teenagers. gen z taking to tiktok to share their thoughts calling that off and same thing with the rolling on the floor laughing emoji. apparently we instead should be using the skull emoji to represent that we're dying from laughing so hard. but if you are like me and still using the laughing and crying face, just know that it is the most used emoji on twitter apparently not by any actor after 1996. hopefully i made you a little cooler this morning. >> yes, we're so hip. >> thanks for that. >> always, lara, thank you. if you have to say you're hip you're not hip. now to the "gma" cover story

and abc news exclusive. we are speaking with the photographer who took -- this is just gorgeous, harry and meghan announcing they are expecting their second child. what a blessing. a beautiful image showing her baby bump but the couple still not revealing when the baby is due. you know, this was taken remotely. groundbreaking photographer misan harriman is joining us from london. there he is. oh, my goodness. i can just look at that picture till the cows come home as we say on this side of the pond. would you just tell us how you pulled this off? it's one thing that it was done on an ipad but you -- they were here in the u.s. you were there in england, so how did you pull this off? >> well, look, in the age of covid, you know, it's impossible obviously for me to be there to shoot it. so technology came to rescue. and i was able to remotely take over the ipad and, you know, they could hear my voice and it

was conversational and the rest really is history. >> and you say they didn't even need any direction from you. it was just like friends just conversing. >> absolutely. i mean you can feel -- you don't even see the image. you feel it. you know, they are lost in each other and the tree in the background and just life growing around them -- it's incredibly powerful and symbolic. >> you mention that, the tree of life and the garden for fertility, and the reason i bring this up because we're very well aware of what this beautiful couple went through with the pregnancy loss not that long ago so, misan, does that make this picture just even especially poignant? >> absolutely. i mean, such unimaginable loss, you know, i think this picture from my point of view represents fortitude, hope and love and for

particularly the many women that have -- go through this, this should give them strength to know that there is light in that dark place, so it really means a lot. >> yeah, thank you for saying that and you have known the couple for quite some time. i was at the wedding but i was from afar but i did see you actually being able to go in. >> yes. >> but as you said, you were able to be there as a witness to seeing this love begin and now to see the love grow. can you just speak a bit more about your relationship with the couple and seeing this firsthand? >> you know, honestly i think the universe would have conspired for them to be together no matter what and it is a real deal and, you know, they are waltzing through life together as it should be and to have a new arrival coming is a testament to the power of the

relationship that they have. >> indeed. and can i just give you -- i'm going to love bomb you right now because kudos to you, the first black man, british "vogue" to shoot for that, shoot the cover for that and we know your other photographs that have really grabbed the attention of so many people, how does it feel to be making history as you -- >> well, you know, thank you, and i'm trying to follow in, you know, gordon parks, my idol's footsteps and have my lens cover the full spectrum of the human condition whether it's me being at the tip of the spear of the largest civil rights movement in modern history or me helping my friends celebrate a joyous moment in their lives. i hope history will remember my images to remind them who we can be at our very best. >> misan, you are a special soul. i hope that our paths cross and thank you so very, very much.

>> thank you. >> you could just read the phone book -- the accent alone is just mesmerizing. but your work -- >> thank you. i remain at your disposal. >> bless you for that. you take care, all right. >> all right. >> good to know he is at our disposal. we have a "gma" health alert right now from a new study looking at the link between high blood pressure and dementia and dr. jen ashton here to explain. let's break it down for everybody. >> yeah, george, here's the actual study, interesting study, they did this research in spain and they used a test to look at the metabolic function of the brain called a p.e.t. scan in middle-aged people who were completely asymptomatic for alzheimer's or other types of cognitive dementia and what they found, and this is a little tricky but required connecting the dots, they found that in those subjects who had a low metabolic read on this p.e.t. scan that they had a higher risk for future possibly alzheimer's disease due to the existence of

cardiovascular risk factors, the largest of which was high blood pressure so, to connect the dots on this, because, again, there was a lot of association here, the idea is that what's bad for the heart is also bad for the brain, and if you can possibly modify some of these factors early on, way before someone develops symptoms, you'll be ahead of the game. >> yeah, so then what is the takeaway for alzheimer's prevention and diagnosis? >> well, that's exactly it. it's about prevention, it's about screening and, again, we want to be able to pick up alzheimer's disease before the person starts to develop symptoms, that's really the holy grail in the type -- in this type of brain research so there are some tips here. obviously maintaining a healthy weight. there is some data that supports a plant-based diet or low animal protein diet. staying physically fit. again, good are to the heart also very important for the brain and if you smoke, stop and obviously don't start smoking of

and those things we know they're bad for brain, blood flow and, again, there may be subsequent connections. >> jen, your message is so consistent, good health habits help everything. >> they really do and the name of the game, george, is prevention. we want to prevent these diseases rather than treat them. so even decades before you get a diagnosis, when you're feeling good, now is the time to really turn up the volume on all these behavioral factors because they are so important. >> dr. jen ashton, thanks very much. let's go to ginger. >> hey, george, okay, i've got to start you out in san antonio. they were snowboarding in the streets and they had almost four inches which is the most they've seen since 1985. parts of the city, though, saw a half foot. and you know that we're talking about new storms to come. but can we focus on the cold because, my goodness, has it and will it be chilly for the next 24 hours. we do see some relief toward the end of the week. look at san antonio, for example.

getting up into the 60s. chicago will go above freezing for the first time in two weeks. for the first time in two good morning. i'm meteorologist mike nicco. look at all that sunshine. it will be partly cloudy this afternoon as high clouds will roll in. dry and seasonal today. we have a wet pattern thursday night through saturday morning. brighter and warmer weekend ahead. that hasn't changed either. let's take a look at what's going on. mid to upper 50s along the coast. cooler tonight with a lot of mid now to the hottest social media app that's out right now, clubhouse, the exclusive app is already installed more than 5 million times around the world. rebecca jarvis joins us with more on how it works. good morning, rebecca. >> reporter: hey, michael, nice to see you. yeah, in just the last few weeks this app has exploded in popularity.

clubhouse is audio only and you can think of it as an audio only exploration of conversations with vips, sometimes you can participate directly, other times you can be a fly on the wall and already people have joined. everyone from drake to elon musk, to barbara corcoran. >> if you have not heard about clubhouse yet, you are absolutely missing out. >> what is clubhouse and should you be on it? spoiler, yes, you should. >> reporter: clubhouse, the exclusive invite only social networking app that is suddenly popping up everywhere. >> these little boxes that you see right here with a title and people within it are what's called brooms. >> reporter: in each of those rooms users can be a fly on the wall, listening in on conversations and interviews on loads of topics like a virtual dinner party on your phone. >> people are doing any and everything on clubhouse. they're pitching businesses, they're dating, there are stand-up comedy rooms

on the platform. you have that option to raise your hand and join the conversation. >> reporter: it's becoming a viral sensation in the stay-at-home pandemic era. clubhouse hit over 2 million weekly users within the last month, oprah and serena williams have been heard on the app and recently elon musk joining the club. tweeting, on clubhouse tonight at 10:00 p.m. l.a. time, 5,000 people joined in the chat. >> elon musk, welcome to clubhouse. >> thank you. >> reporter: like all of social media there are privacy considerations. >> my main privacy concern with clubhouse is the fact that you have to give them your contact list on your phone in order to use the app and clubhouse still does have some real content moderation issues around the types of things that get said in clubs. >> reporter: but that's not stopping tech titans from jumping in. >> so clubhouse definitely has some competition waiting for it. twitter already has a very similar feature called spaces. facebook is in development right now for a feature and mark cuban is actually developing an app

called fireside. >> reporter: everyone is jumping on board and here it is, the app on my phone, clubhouse. i'll show you guys how it works so first of all you open the clubhouse app and you'll see at the top of the page there are a number of people who are recommended to follow. if you'd like to find more you can search through that top bar for people and it generally recommends celebrities, ashton kutcher, barbara corcoran. marc benioff of salesforce right here. there's also a specific grouping of conversations that you can find. so, for example, if you're interested in tech, you can follow very specific tech conversations, things about bitcoin, the start-up club, human behavior. if you're interested in sports, you can click on the sports conversations and see what's happening with, for example, the nfl club, the nba fan club, these are all conversations you can join and it all happens in these rooms, so here you see a

room called the future of work. that is a conversation specifically about the future of work, you decide whether you want to join and here's the fun part, guys, we're going to start a room right now here live on "gma," so anybody who is already on the app clubhouse can see what it's all about, so i'll start this room right here called "gma" talk. we set the topic, yep. and here we go. on a street corner of new york, guys, live, we're going live on clubhouse, let's go, continue anyway. here we go. and i'll see you guys on clubhouse, join me, rebecca jarvis. >> as long as you can't hear what we're saying on commercial break we'll be all right. celebrating mardi gras when we come back, you guys. we have an incredible new orleans family restaurant we'll talk about. rant we'll talk about.

>> announcer: building a better bay area for a safe and secure future. this is abc7 news. good morning, everyone. i'm kumasi aaron from "abc7 mornings." the state largest single health care provider is lagging behind other systems when it comes to vaccinating their oldest patients. we have heard from people in their 80s who have yet to secure an invitation for an appointment. and people who do get one are finding long lines and waiting. kaiser says the system does not have enough of the vaccine yet. with increased state allocations, kaiser expects to make vaccinations available to all of their members by the -- over the age of 65 by the end of the month. temperatures are up to 17

degrees cooler this morning, as far as your commute, it's a little breezy out there and that's about it. the fog is gone. there's no rain to contend with and that stays until thursday night. thursday night into friday morning, we have our best chance of wet weather which means friday's morning commute is going to be the most challenging because it will be wet. lighter system friday night into saturday and look at the temperaturewise surge into the middle sunday and

we'll have another abc7 news ♪ that music, you know what it's all about. it's time for mardi gras. new orleans isn't letting the pandemic stop the celebration despite the canceled parades and they are showing their spirit with yardi gras. they are decorating their homes and their yards like the famous floats that are really cool. we brought yardi gras right here to times square. >> we're also celebrating mardi gras on this fat tuesday morning with our series "open for business" honoring one of the many small businesses pushing forward through the challenges of the pandemic including one of the most famous black owned establishments in new orleans, dooky chase's restaurant.

we'll talk live to that incredible family behind the restaurant in just a minute but first, lara, give us their back story. good morning again. >> hey, robin. dooky chase's restaurant, a new orleans staple for over 80 years through thick and thin, the chase family has served the community good food, such good food with great pride. take a look. >> in the heart of new orleans stands the dooky chase restaurant. >> this restaurant has been here since 1939 and they may have told stories about satchel paige coming here of they heard about muhammad ali and martin luther king, john lewis, i could go on and on. >> those big names brought together by this powerful woman. lea chase, the queen of creole alongside her husband the second edg edgar "dooky" chase called edgar "dooky" chase jr. serving as a meeting spot for civil rights leadings and gallery for black

art hits. >> ininterest african people didn't have a place. they created that place because they love people and love the community. >> this restaurant means everything to our family, you know, it's so much history, so much tradition and it's a place where we always come together. this is a place where we learned how to show that new orleans hospitality. >> reporter: that hospitality going strong for four generations staying true to lea chase's pioneering vision. >> we loved her and we shared her with the community. she brought people here from all over not only the country, the world. pray, work hard and do for others, she would say so we are a family of prayer and certainly did pray hard that all would go well because we didn't want her legacy just to stop. >> reporter: the family rallying around that legacy, shifting to take-out. providing free meals to those in need and now finding a safe way to keep the party going for mardi gras. >> it has definitely been a time

when we had to be flexible, change up how we market, change up how we reach our guest, change up how we serve our guests but what we do want to do is make you feel that same hospitality that you would have gotten before this pandemic as you would get now. >> ah, that's so good to hear. they're keeping traditions going with all of their special recipes, just in time for mardi gras. robin. >> oh, always on time. we three members of the dooky chase family joining us from new orleans. quarantining together, edgar "dooky" chase iii, stella chase reese and edgar dook chase iv. good morning to you all. >> good morning. >> good morning. all three of us have been there to your restaurant and i got to tell you, stella, please tell us this. we heard about how you and the family have been keeping miss

louisiana lea's traditions going and one you also kept going, giving to others. during this pandemic, free food, free food. why has that been so important to you and the family? >> well, because of the tradition of the chase family to always look out for the community when they are in need and in 1965 after hurricane betsy, the city was in need. particularly the people in the ninth ward. we didn't have electricity. we had very little but my mother and father came to the restaurant, took everything out of the freezer,i cooked, cooked sent it to the people in the ninth ward really in need after hurricane betsy. that's the way we do what she said to do, work hard, pray and do for others. >> what a message that is, dooky, i can see you have quite a spread. what's on the men knew? >> well, i could tell you this is your typical mardi gras menu.

this is potato salad, red beans and rice, fried chicken and a good creole gumbo. mm-mm, so good. mm. >> edgar iv. we can't have mardi gras without the ultimate fat tuesday dess dessert. king cake. have you your own thing. you do a king cake bread pudding. how do we get started with that. >> we do and just we're going to get started with a little leftover king cake and the reason we do our king cake bread pudding, if you think of king day, january 6th, well, here at dooky we call it queen's day, the birthday of lea chase also born on january 6 szott he, of course, new orleans, we'll keep that tradition and put our own spin on it. what you do, clean off your king cake as best you can with the glaze and sugar, break it off into pieces and right here you can see i've already broken it, right and have cube butter and vanilla.

right here what we have, you make a little custard. you got six eggs in here and we added some sugar and all you want to do is just beat that up, right, so you're just beating it. this recipe is so simple. something you can do at home because it's one bowl, you beat the egg, whisk it, have your milk right here and putting that in and if you are at home cooking for your family, go on without the gloves and mix that in. and what you're looking for, the consistency that you're looking for is right here, right? you're looking for this great consistency, that's what you're looking for. so once you have that consistency after you squeeze it in, you're going to put that in a ramekin which we do here at dooky chase, this 6-inch ramekin, scoop it in, put it in a 350-degree oven for about 15, 25 minutes and you're going to get something like this. beautiful golden brown, you are going to see it souffle in your oven.

look at it and say this is perfect. you'll smell it. >> what about the baby? what about the baby, because you know the tradition. come on. for good luck. oh. >> you know we're not going to forget the baby. i almost forgot to tell you. i didn't want to give them a clue of which one had the baby. whoever gets the baby gets the luck and they also have to host the next party and bring the king cake so i don't want to let them know which one will have the baby in it so the last thing we'll do is put this baby glaze that we have right here and that's just a little powdered sugar and milk that you whisk together and i'll bring it right back up. >> there you go. >> another thing, if you want to add a little bit here. >> can you help us out here? we all say we know we got it wrong. the pronounce the proper way. >> dooky. this is dooky iii.

i dropped the "y." imuse dook. when you grow up and there's three of you and everybody is screaming dooky, you got to figure out who they're talking to. so here we have our sugar and you know the meaning behind these, right? you got your purple which stands for justice, you have your green which stands for faith and my aunt talked about such a family of faith that we are and then you have the gold, right, stands for the power and that was strictly our queen miss lea chase brought the power to our family. so when you look at this and i will not tell you which one has the baby and hopefully i get the luck with the baby and somebody else gets to host the party then i'll bring the king cake as well. so we want to thank you all for tuning in at dooky chase. we have a wonderful spread. if you go out on mardi gras day in new orleans, you're going to find somebody on the corner cwih chicken and red beans and rice and gumbo to keep you warm and

king cake and another creole dish we serve mardi gras morning. >> thank you, thank you, thank you to the entire family. happy mardi gras. and you can find more recipes on our website at goodmorningamerica.com. bette midler is coming up next.

like, seeing my mom. it's unthinkable to me that i can't see her and i can't hug her. not being able to hug is just like somebody has to tie me down. touching someone to say i love you, to hug you... those are the things that i miss. ♪ ♪

we are back with bette midler getting ready for the "hocus pocus" sequel and "first

wives club" reunion out with a new children's book, "the tale of the mandarin duck." amy spoke to her all about it. >> yes, bette midler, a/k/a the divine miss m has given us so many paramount pop culture moments from "beaches" to "hocus pocus" and now, yes, she's written a new children's book that is all about togetherness and the magic of new york city. "the tale of the mandari "the tale of the mandarin duck: a modern fable" was inspired by the real duck that mysteriously arrived in central park pond in 2018. >> nobody knew whether he was a pet, no one knew whether he was a fugitive, no one knew where he came from and he excited all this cures toty, he got tremendous coverage. it was actually kind of wonderful because it pulled the city together and people ran up to the park in droves and taking his picture and i was just transported by him. mostly because of the way his face looked. a little glipts in his eye and

looked so incredibly curious. >> what are you hoping that adults and children alike take away from your story? >> first of all it's a love letter to new york. before the pandemic, the city was full of people with cell phones and you would bump into people on their cell phones. i did think it was a little nutty that people were not looking where they were going because they were missing so much. i was in the city during th the '70s and the '80s and i remember an entirely different city. i remember a city that was broke, i remember a city that was full of creative people and so much life and energy and joy. even though everybody was broke and when the money came in, the big money came in, it just seemed as though it was the city was no longer the birds, the rare birds were no longer there because they couldn't afford to be there. and so i guess it's a kind of a love letter to those people. >> the mandarin duck brought

that back in a special way and connected people in a way they hadn't been connected before. >> yes, exactly. be who you are. don't get on the treadmill of being homogeneous. don't try to be like everybody. celebrate yourself. >> as fans celebrate the arrival of her new book they're also eager i awaiting the recently announced "hocus pocus" sequel coming to disney plus. >> now the witch is back. >> they sent the script around. we're really excited about it. we're up for it although i must say the year is half gone by and i am 75 and i do believe i can fly. >> just a bunch of hocus-pocus. >> i watched "hocus pocus" and just two weeks ago i watched "first wives club" again. ♪ that's all i ask of you ♪ >> i love that you are going to be back together with diane keaton, goldie hawn on a project called "family jewels." what can you tell us about it? this is very exciting. >> that's something that's been in the works for a couple of years but it is a reunion of

sorts and it's a comedy. ♪ >> before the pandemic i took my mom to go see "hello, dolly." you spoke to robin roberts about coming back to broadway and you say boredom is the worst thing because the world is full of magic. where is the magic? >> outdoors. refere every plant, bird, flower, animal, every day i'm astonished by it. i'm like, oh, please. >> i love it. >> how did that happen? how did they do that? look at it. it's perfect. the proportions are perfect, the color is perfect. look at these segments. how do they do that? it's much more beautiful than this. >> couldn't agree with you more. bette midler, it was such a joy talking to you. thank you so much. >> thank you.

>> still making us laugh, still inspiring us, "the tale of the mandarin duck: a modern fable" is out today, george. >> she is so much fun. let's go to ginger. >> i'm going to go try to find an acorn. there are some warm places on the map. actually record heat. miami, i see you. going to 86 yesterday. our surf line camera sees people doing yoga on the beach. i can't even fathom what that must feel like, good morning. waking up to chilly conditions this morning. a lot of 30s and 40s. 50s to near 60 on the way this afternoon. the dry day today and tomorororr coming up, robin brings us a special special message for mardi gras. ♪

♪ back now on "gma" and our mardi gras celebration, we're about to get some live music but first here's a look back before the pandemic at new orleans second line parades. ♪ if the big apple is a city that never sleeps then the big easy is a town where the music never stops. ♪ >> reporter: in new orleans the music is the undisputed heartbeat of the city. >> you know, sometimes i'll be driving down a street and you'll see the mailman and if there's a brass band down there you will see him dancing to deliver the mail. it's just that powerful. >> reporter: the birth place of jazz. it's the hometown of many of the genre's giants past and present. but in this city, you don't have to be a best-selling artist like trombone shorty to be part of the scene. all you have to do is get in line. the second line, that is. at the front, the first line or the main line are musicians often brass bands, but can also

include members of the wedding and funeral farewells. >> we're probably one of the only places in the world that you'll find people dancing at funerals. you know, and we celebrate life, so a lot of people even if they don't know the person that passed away they come to pay their respects and join the second line. ♪ >> reporter: but it's not just to mark life events, these traveling block parties can just happen. >> we'll call everybody. we'll get together and meet up uptown or wherever it may be and it happens any time you want it to happen. >> reporter: inspiring generation after generation. >> whenever i'm writing as always i'm thinking about people dancing and i can always go back to those memories as a kid of watching the parades and seeing that. ♪ >> remember for my 50th birthday there in new orleans, my sister had a second line, went right to the house. right to the house for my 50th through the house, it was

something. what would mardi gras be without some music, jazz musician mario abney and his fellow bandmates are live in new orleans and they've got the perfect song for us right now. it is called "rollin' quote. mario, take it away, my friend. ♪ ♪ we rollin', we rollin', we rollin' ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ >> oh. [ applause ] and you want to know how cold it is right now where they are, how cold it is to play the trumpet and play like they did in that cold weather, you would never know it. that song is available on the abney effect on all streaming services and you can follow mario on facebook for a live stream. he does it every tuesday night. mario abney, love you. thank you. we'll be right back. ♪

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got a nice sugar rush going right now with that king cake. ah, i know. have a wonderful and safe mardi gras. ah. i miss home. ♪

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>> announcer: building a better bay area for a safe and secure future. this is abc7 news. good morning, everyone. i'm kumasi aaron from "abc7 mornings." the second federal vaccination site is opening at the oakland coliseum today. and this is one of the centers directed to open by the president of the united states. president joe biden ordered 100 of these to open in 30 days and federal officials say no pauses in operations or closures are expected. the site has received 42,000 doses for the week. now here is mike with our forecast. >> thank you. hi, everybody. take a look at the golden gate bridge. we're seeing high clouds increase. that's going to keep us from reaching much warmer temperatures today. look at the breezy, it's almost nonexistent like yesterday. so if you're going to do outdoor activities. temperatures will be in the main 50s to low 60s but cooler tonight. >> thank you, mike.

now it's time for "live with kelly and ryan." we'll be back at 11:00 for >> announcer: it's "live with kelly and ryan!" today, star of the new comedy, "the crew," kevin james. and the winner of the daytona 500, michael mcdowell. plus, the hosts open up the "inbox." all next on "live!" ♪ ♪ [cheers and applause] and now, here are kelly ripa and ryan seacrest! [cheers and applause] ♪ ♪ >> ryan: hello. good morning. >> kelly: hi. >> ryan: hello, kelly ripa. good morning. >> kelly: good morning. >> ryan: is this sitting while? >> kelly: no, you are just doing that weird thing with your body. >> ryan: open. breathe. like that.