and a half. good luck. good morning, america. on this tuesday morning, hospitals under siege and a new push to get kids the shot. state of emergency. the american academy of pediatrics now urging the fda to authorize vaccines for kids under 12 as soon as possible as cases in children rise. the hospitals on the brink once aain, and as students head back to the classroom, the new battles over masks erupting overnight. dr. richard besser joins us live. bipartisan breakthrough. the senate poised to pass that trillion-dollar infrastructure bill. a big step forward for one of president biden's biggest priorities. we're live on the hill this morning. tornado outbreak. 16 reported twisters ripping through the midwest overnight,

plus, the new tropical threat on the move strengthening and taking aim at the u.s. rob is here tracking its path. out of control. the race to escape as wildfires devastate greece. one official calling it a biblical catastrophe. thousands forced to flee. we're live from the front lines. cruise ship showdown. the high seas battle over requiring passengers to be vaccinated. what a judge just ruled and how the experience on board is changing. the ceo of one major cruise line joins us exclusively this morning. the new warning from the irs. criminals targeting those new child tax credit payments. how to protect yourself and your money. frightening close call. a massive bull moose charging at a hiker in colorado. what happened next. ♪ r-e-s-p-e-c-t, find out what it means to me ♪ and get ready to show some respect for jennifer hudson

honoring the queen of soul, aretha franklin. taking her voice to new heights this morning. the incredible live performance you'll only see on "gma." whoo! we're ready. >> yes, we are ready. good morning, america. it's great to be here with george and robin on this tuesday. we cannot wait to see what jennifer hudson has in store for us this morning. it's gonna be good. >> it will be spectacular. first, we're going to get the latest on the pandemic. right now every state in the us. except for vermont has reported either high or substantial transmission of covid. the delta variant is infecting kids at increasing rates and doctors are now urging the fda to fast track vaccines for children. >> florida currently has the highest number of young children hospitalized with the virus. victor oquendo is there at a children's hospital in hollywood with the latest. good morning, victor. >> reporter: good morning, robin. it's the emergency department here at joe dimaggio children's

hospital where they have seen the sharpest rise in cases. in june they had just 23 covid positive patients come through their emergency rooms. in july that number went up to 241 and so far in august, they're about halfway to their july numbers. this morning, doctors are making an unprecedented push to get children vaccinated against covid-19 as new pediatric covid cases near 94,000 in just the last week and children are hospitalized at a rate nearly four times higher than just a month ago. the head of the american academy of pediatrics is now urging the fda to authorize vaccines for 5 to 11-year-olds as quickly as possible. >> we need to be approaching the trials and authorization of the covid vaccine for children with the same urgency as adults. just as it's a serious disease in adults, it can be for children. >> reporter: pfizer has not yet applied for emergency use authorization for 5 to 11-year-olds. that's expected to happen at the end of september. the company hoping to start

giving out shots by the end of 2021 if not sooner. in texas, where hospitals have started setting up outdoor overflow covid tents once again, 7-year-old enzo, a second grader was hospitalized with the virus for more than two weeks. he had to be isolated for ten days. just one of his parents allowed to stay with him. they thought they had taken the right precautions by getting vaccinated but enzo was somehow exposed. >> we're lucky that we were able to bring enzo home and it's very sad right now with covid rising in kids so we want everyone to do their part and get vaccinated. not for themselves, but for the people who cannot get vaccinated. you know, the little kids are at risk right now. >> reporter: as children return to school during the covid surge, a battle raging over masks. two of the largest school districts in texas now defying governor greg abbott's order requiring them on school property regardless of vaccination status. and in florida, where they

currently have the highest nmber of children hospitalized with covid-19, two districts refusing to follow governor desantis' ban on mask mandates saying no one will be allowed to go without them. >> the goal is to keep our children out of the hospital. and why would you not err on the side of caution? >> reporter: desantis threatening to withhold pay from superintendents or school board members who go against his ban on mask mandates. that announcement from florida's governor comes as many of the state's school districts go back to the classroom today and tomorrow, and while they go back and forth over masks, florida just requested an additional 300 ventilators. robin? >> victor, thank you. joining us now is dr. richard besser, president of the robert wood johnson foundation, and former acting director of the cdc. rich, you're a pediatrician. do you agree with the growing call from the american academy of pediatricians urging the fda to authorize vaccines for children under 12 as soon as possible? >> well, i think the key there, robin, is as soon as possible.

you know, as a pediatrician i want to make sure that they are getting all the safety data that they need to know that, if i'm recommending these for my patients, they truly are safe. hopefully they'll have that information soon, but we can't count on vaccines for children protecting our children in schools this fall. >> and, rich, we're also hearing about children dealing with long covid, ongoing symptoms even after recovering. how concerned are you about this? >> well, you know, what it says to me is that there's a lot we don't know about this virus and its effect on everybody, in particular in children. and, because of that, i urge parents, i urge schools, i urge governors not to underestimate what we're dealing with here and we need to take all the steps that we can to keep our children safe. >> with back-to-school season in full swing in parts of the country, and we just saw this in victor's report, the battle over mask mandates in schools really heating up. do you believe parents should get to choose if their children wear masks to schools or should states and districts decide?

>> yeah, i don't think that this is something that we can allow parents to choose on their own. when we think about schools and getting kids in safely there's a layered approach they're taking. improved ventilation and separating kids in the classroom and doing testing and making sure your teachers and staff are vaccinated, but masks is a key piece of this. it's something that will protect those who have been vaccinated who may not have gotten enough protection because of immune problem and protects children who can't get vaccinated yet. so allowing it to be an issue of personal choice is fine if it only affected your child but it doesn't. it affects everyone around your child as well. >> rich, as we said, you are a pediatrician. so bottom line, what is your message to parents this morning? >> my message is we need to do everything we can to protect our kids and the biggest thing that we can do is get vaccinated yourself because that will protect your children. it will protect other people's children. it will protect adults.

and in some of the places where we're seeing the biggest outbreaks, the vaccination rates are the lowest. so please get your questions answered and consider getting vaccinated. >> dr. richard besser, always a pleasure to see you. we appreciate your insight and perspective. thanks, rich. michael? >> thank you, robin. robin, as the delta variant variant surges, the u.s. military is now taking action to prevent the spread of the virus. moving to mandate vaccination for service members. stephanie ramos is tracking this from the pentagon. good morning, stephanie. >> reporter: michael, good morning. the secretary of defense says that he will seek the president's approval to make the covid vaccine mandatory for service members no later than mid-september but that if the vaccine receives full fda approval, or if covid cases spike within the military, that time line may be accelerated. pentagon leaders say making the covid vaccine mandatory for the 1.4 million active duty troops is an essential move in maintaining military readiness.

president biden has signaled full support of the plan writing in a statement, we are still on a wartime footing and every american who is eligible should take immediate steps to get vaccinated right away and that he's proud of the nation's military men and women for leading the charge. so far the pentagon says 60% of active duty military members are fully vaccinated, michael. >> stephanie, what will happen to members of the military who don't get vaccinated? >> reporter: well, the pentagon says they're still working out the requirements and restrictions for unvaccinated troops and that right now there is no set deadline to have service members receive the shot. but we have to keep in mind, for the military, vaccines that are mandated are nothing new. at any given point a service member may be required to have 17 vaccinations. i've been there, but military officials say those troops who are not vaccinated may not be able to deploy to countries that have strict local restrictions, michael. >> all right, stephanie ramos,

thank you so much. george? to go to capitol hill and the eg o to capitol hill and the e of p top prioriti. senate today. our correspondent rachel scott is tracking it all. good morning, rachel. >> reporter: george, good morning. after weeks of negotiations and several long nights here on capitol hill, the senate is now just hours away from passing the bipartisan infrastructure package. senate majority leader chuck schumer saying this is the first time in decades republicans and democrats have come together on a package like this. this is $1 trillion. that includes 110 billion for roads and bridges, 39 billion for public transit and 65 billion to expand broadband internet. but this is only halfway there, and over in the house democrats hold a razor-thin majority and some progressive democrats say that they will not vote for this bipartisan package unless congress passes a much larger one, george. >> right, the democrats unveiled

that package yesterday. >> reporter: george, democrats are wasting no time moving on this $3.5 trillion package. it includes a long list of democratic priorities. everything from universal pre-k to free community college, billions to help fight climate change. democrats are now laying the groundwork to be able to pass this on their own, but keeping their own party unified on that price tag, george, will be a challenge. >> it sure will. rachel, thanks very much. robin? now to the extreme weather. a tornado outbreak in the midwest overnight, more than 130 million under heat alerts across the country. rob is in for ginger tracking it all for us. good morning, rob. >> reporter: hey, good morning, robin. the heat that's building across the midwest is fueling some of these thunderstorms. we had a tornado outbreak in northern illinois yesterday. you don't typically get that in the middle of summer, but that's what we had. we had damage with it as well. this is just south of rockport, 1 of 16 tornadoes that were reported there. you see the debris flying up from some of those farming structures and just about 15 to 20 miles east of here we saw another tornado that touched down and did similar action.

luckily nobody was injured but certainly frightening stuff and there was damage done today or yesterday. today we look for more in the way of severe weather in through wisconsin and the heat wave is building across the central part of the country. 130 million people under heat advisories right now and then both coasts, the northwest and the northeast, have heat waves building as well. this could be dangerous heat over the next couple of days. we'll talk more about the tropics in a couple minutes. michael, over to you. >> all right, rob, thank you. now, we're going to go overseas where fires are raging in greece. one official calling it a biblical catastrophe. boats on stand by for rescue as more land burns. and soaring temperatures. maggie rulli is there this morning. good morning, maggie. >> reporter: people left behind now trying to save their villages. the human shield, a group of people who are ready to stand side by side with firefighters if needed.

overnight red flames leaping into the greek sky. more than a week of record heat fueling relentless conditions on the ground sparking nearly 600 fires across the country. at least 2,000 residents and tourists have escaped the flames here on evia. a temporary shelter, dozens of locals sleeping on ferries or on the pebbled beach. leaping in to help any way they can. helicopters fly overhead. this woman rescuing dogs left behind in the evacuations. she tells us they've been sheltering on the beach for days unable to get home. hundreds of thousands of acres across greece now look like this. burned, covered in ash and still

smoldering. countries having to adapt thte, ce red for humanity warning that climate change making these extreme weather events even worse. guys, people here tell us, they're simply exhausted but temperatures are still approaching 100 degrees a constant stream of helicopters dumping water overhead. as they say these fires aren't over yet. guys? >> it is heartbreaking. maggie, thanks very much. we're going to get the latest on andrew cuomo. impeachment proceedings are gaining momentum, but cuomo remains defiant in the face of the attorney general's findings that he sexually harassed 11 women. erielle reshef is covering it from albany. good morning, erielle. >> reporter: good morning, george. governor cuomo faces a looming threat of impeachment. the judiciary committee here giving him and his team until the end of this week to submit additional evidence. the judiciary chairman saying

that they plan to wrap up their probe by the end of august. governor cuomo under investigation for his handling of nursing homes during the pandemic, the potential use of state resources for his book deal and the possibility that he gave preferential treatment to his friends and family for covid-19 testing and, of course, those bombshell allegations laid out in a state ag's report that he sexually harassed 11 women. if articles of impeachment are drawn for this governor, we could see those proceedings start as soon as next month. george. >> it is moving fast. erielle, thanks very much. michael? now to that developing story on prince andrew. the royal now facing a new lawsuit for alleged sexual abuse. ian pannell is at buckingham palace with what we know right now. good morning, ian. >> reporter: yeah, that's right, michael. this morning, prince andrew facing a lawsuit from one of jeffrey epstein's most outspoken accusers, virginia giuffre, who's long accused prince andrew of abusing her when she was under age filing a lawsuit in new york monday.

the lawsuit is alleging that she faced threats from jeffrey epstein, ghislaine maxwell and prince andrew to engage in abuse. now, prince andrew has publicly denied the allegations in the past telling the bbc in an interview, i can absolutely categorically tell you it never happened. ghislaine maxwell has also repeatedly denied her allegations. prince andrew's spokesperson saying no comment when asked about the lawsuit overnight. buckingham palace only saying it is a legal matter and for his lawyers to respond. michael? >> ian, now that the lawsuit has been filed what's next? could prince andrew be forced to stand trial here in the u.s.? >> reporter: yes, it's a good question. i think the short answer is, no, prince andrew can't be forced to stand trial in a civil suit in the united states, but he could be forced to pay damages if there's a default judgment against him. but clearly this is very bad for his reputation, of course, by association, the reputation of the british royal family, guys. >> yeah, definitely not good for the reputation. ian, thank you so much. robin?

okay, we're going to turn now to an olympic homecoming. allyson felix returning home after making history in tokyo and getting a hero's welcome from her 2-year-old daughter. just take a look at that. she became, of course, the most decorated u.s. track and field athlete in history winning her 11th olympic medal. she says her legacy is, quote -- this is when she walked in the door -- little girl just jumped into her arms. she said it's great. all the medals are great but changing the world for my daughter and every daughter out there, that's what she hopes her legacy will be. all the homecomings that you saw of the olympians coming back and parades, very special. >> that one looks special right there. a lot more coming up here on "gma," including debate over cruise lines, what a judge ruled about requiring vaccines to board. the ceo of one of the biggest cruise lines joins us live in just a moment. and the new warning about a scam targeting your child tax credit payment. how to protect yourself and your money. rebecca jarvis will share that with us. but first, let's go back to rob. rob? >> reporter: hi, robin. let's go to the tropics.

a disturbance into the caribbean now and heading towards the u.s. this is a potential tropical cyclone. doesn't have a close circulation yet, but it still ahs 35-mile-per-hour winds and so close to land they put this nomination on it. tropical storm warnings are posted for puerto rico. 300 miles east of there and expect it to strengthen somewhat but it will be scraping across all these islands bringing some torrential rain, winds. nothing too devastating but flash flooding as it gets into the florida straits. that's when we expect it to strengthen. friday into saturday morning it gets close to south florida, and then potentially into the gulf of mexico where it could strengthen even more. very concerned about this. time for your tuesday trivia now sponsored by target.

stay right there. we got jennifer hudson coming up. we'll be right back. was that your great-grandmother, keeping the family together? was that your grandfather, paving the way for change.

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back to school this morning and many of them are returning to full-time, in person learning. yesterday, the state superintendent said the pandemic uncovered what because an embarrassing fact. >> for all the wealth and riches that we have, our kids should have access to the top technology, but yet one million students didn't have a computer. naturally, as you might expect, many of our students struggled. >> he says the lessons learned will be applied to the state's new independent study option. how was traffic this morning? >> lights are finally on at the bay bridge toll plaza. can see the backup, but still not that bad in comparison

to what we saw last week. for anyone that relies on unity, the market lines will be replied by bus bridges -- replaced by bus bridges or shuttle starting today through friday due to the bridge rehab project. [baby crying]

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mike: check out when i broke out. school day forecast, so nice to be able to utilize this. 50's this morning. 70's, 80's, 90's by this afternoon. make sure your children bring back their coats. pretty dry, breezy and brighter. hot this afternoon. air quality is going to be very hazy today. look at these temperatures, well above average. even 70's possible at the coast saturday. reggie? reggie: coming up, the latest in the fight to require cruiseship

passengers to be vaccinated. norwegian cruise line winning a big victory in court. the company's ceo is live on ♪ ♪ ♪

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hospitals under siege as the delta variant spreads and as cases in children rise there is a new push to get young kids the vaccine. the american academy of pediatrics is urging the fda to author size vaccines for kids under 12. the senate is poised to vote this morning on a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill that's for roads, bridges, railways and broadband. that would be a big step forward for one of president biden's biggest priorities. overnight, a condo in miami, florida, was evacuated as officials deemed it unsafe. this coming in the wake of the surfside building collapse. it gave residents just hours to leave. and take a look at this, a close encounter caught on camera. a full-grown bull moose charging a hiker in colorado. fortunately the hiker was able to jump behind a tree and was uninjured but wildlife officials say these dangerous encounters any other animal or trying to take a picture with that one. >> you don't need to warn me about that.

>> just making sure. we've got a lot more ahead including the irs warning to parents. how scammers may be targeting your child tax credit payment. that is coming up. george. right now, the debate over vaccine mandates for cruise ships. a judge ruled in favor of norwegian allowing them to require proof of vaccination for everyone on board. the company's ceo will speak with michael after this report from transportation correspondent gio benitez. good morning, gio. >> reporter: good morning, george. we've been reporting on that florida law blocking vaccine passports on cruises but norwegian took the state to court and at least for now the cruise line won. this morning, a new turn in the battle over vaccines for cruises out of florida. a federal judge saying norwegian cruise line can now require florida passengers to provide proof of vaccination before boarding. going directly against governor ron desantis' orders. >> i think that this is a victory for the cruise industry, at least for now.

>> reporter: desantis had said cruise lines would face a $5,000 fine per passenger if they defied his order. this ruling means for now norwegian would not have to pay those fines. but it's not clear what it means for other cruise lines. norwegian, which is preparing to set sail from florida for the first time on sunday, says all guests and crew must be fully vaccinated at least two weeks prior to departure and before boarding the cruise line will test each passenger. guests must bring their original vaccination documents to the port and unvaccinated children even those under 12 cannot board. >> the cruise lines have to do whatever they can to make sure we're safe and they can't go through another episode like they did last year when we had ships stuck out at sea with people with covid on them. >> reporter: just days ago, with the delta variant surging carnival, princess and holland america announced that they are making masks mandatory for all passengers regardless of vaccination status.

meanwhile, the florida governor now vows to appeal that ruling but the federal judge said that norwegian's battle against florida's law would likely prevail. michael? >> gio, thank you for that. now we're going to turn to our abc news exclusive. frank del rio, president and chief executive officer of norwegian cruise line holdings. mr. del rio, thank you for joining us. we see governor desantis' office, they said they will appeal the judge's ruling arguing that your policy amounts to discrimination. so what is your response to that? >> well, good morning, michael, and thank you for having me. we're very pleased with the judge's order. we think it's the right thing to do, given that there's a pandemic going on and, as gio mentioned, the challenges to the cruise industry has had with the pandemic and we want to do everything we can to keep covid off our ships and the science tells us the best way to do that is to have a vaccinated

population. back in the spring, before it was popular to do so, we said we will not sail unless there is 100% vaccinated population, that means all crew, all guests. on top of that, primarily because of the delta variant, and its effects on society right now, we're also testing everyone on board. so, to learn that the state so quickly after the judge's decision has decided to appeal the case is disappointing. you would think that they would apply whatever resources they have to educate the public and do everything possible to vaccinate more people. instead they want to fight us in court. here's a state that depends on tourism and apparently it's not in their best interests to keep not only our residents safe but our visitors safe. so it is very, very disappointing. >> a lot is riding on this decision. if florida were to win this appeal would you suspend operations in the state? >> you know, michael, i didn't hear that question. i'm sorry.

can you repeat it? >> if florida were to win the appeal, would you, would you suspend operations in the state? >> something about operations in the state. we're having bad audio connection. we'll start out of miami on sunday, august 15th, on board norwegian "gem" and we want to go to the caribbean and we want to make sure that our guests, our crew, the people in communities we visit are safe. that is not a tag line. it's not a slogan. we mean what we say. we say what we mean. and we believe the best way to do it, given that there is a pandemic going on that hasn't gone away, has its ebbs and flows. right now it's raging. we've got to do this. the impact on operations are de minimis. we've now started two vessel, one in athens, greece, one out of seattle and alaska last weekend with these protocols in place and things went smoothly and guests appreciate it. travel agents appreciate it.

so we're very happy we're doing this. and, again, it's the best thing to do, the safest way to travel. we've -- as you may know we've engaged dr. scott gottlieb and he put together a heck of a sail safe panel that has been guiding us for the past 12 months or so, and without question this is where the science is leading us. this is the thing we must do to keep our guests, our crew and everyone happy and safe. >> mr. del rio, thank you so much for joining us and answering our questions. we appreciate you. thank you. >> thank you, michael. all right, and coming up next, the new warning from the irs on scammers targeting child tax credit payments. rebecca jarvis will tell us the red flags to look for. come on back. we did it again. we did it again. verizon has been named america's most verizon has been named america's most reliable network by rootmetrics. and our customers rated us #1 for network quality in america according to j.d. power.

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we are back with a consumer warning for families eligible to receive that new child tax credit payment. the irs alerting parents they could be the target of a new scam. rebecca jarvis has the details for that. good morning, rebecca. >> reporter: good morning to you, robin. these checks up to $300 per eligible child are going out to millions of american families but now scammers have taken advantage and here's what you need to know. a text message with a link to apply for the child tax credit, an email asking to click and claim your economic stimulus payment. these are fake.

according to the irs, cybercriminals actively trying to scam entitled families out of this money. >> we're seeing scammers trying to take advantage of the american public by attempting to gain information using phone calls, emails, text messages through social media. >> reporter: the better business bureau also with an alert -- child tax credits are coming and so are the scammers and cybersecurity firm domain tools reporting it's found nearly 50 sites pretending to be part of the government's american rescue plan which includes the child tax credit. >> if you were searching for american relief plan, you may come across one of these sites. >> reporter: domain tools saying while many of the sites have since been taken down, these are still active all with a similar design and all not ending in dot gov. a major red flag. >> these sites, they'll siphon off identity information.

>> reporter: the sites asking for your social security number, or driver's license, or state i.d. number to apply. >> they'll be able to steal someone's refund check and also, you know, logon to any sort of bank account information. >> reporter: "gma" tried contacting the sites. for each either no response or we couldn't get through to reach a person. the irs stating it does not contact taxpayers via email, text message or social media platforms to request personal or financial information for verification or any information related to the child tax credit. >> those that are eligible for the advanced child tax credit, you know, the irs is going to use the information from your 2019 and '20 tax returns to automatically enroll them for these advanced payments. so taxpayers don't need to take any additional action. >> reporter: and, remember, again, these are automatic payments. so if you file your taxes, they should automatically be directly deposited. if you are eligible but do not file taxes because you're below

the income threshold, you can sign up for these payments at irs.gov. robin? >> the next round of payments are due to be sent out friday. so how can people, you know, track it online? >> reporter: this is so important. you want to make sure you're using, again, the right websites here. the first payment went out july 15th. the second one is due to hit accounts august 13th and the way that you can track these payments online through the irs website is at irs.gov/childtaxcredit2021. if you have any confusion you can go through the irs main website at irs.gov and that's where, robin, you can update your address information. you can make sure they're directly depositing into your bank account. if you've had a change of address make sure it's accurate because the old address that the irs has on file is the one that they're going to be making sure those checks go to now, robin. >> all good advice there and, remember, dot gov is very key. >> very important.

all right, thank you for that. coming up, our special "play of the day" with jennifer hudson live from high above new york city. ♪ just a little bit ♪ ♪ i ain't gonna do you wrong while you're gone ♪ while you're gone ♪ ♪ there she is your ideal ♪ ♪ with so many beauties she took the town by storm ♪ ♪ with her all - american face and form ♪ ♪ and there she is ♪ a pool floatie is like whooping cough, it's not just for kids. whooping cough is highly contagious for people of any age. and it can cause violent uncontrollable coughing fits. ask your doctor or pharmacist about whooping cough vaccination because it's not just for kids. as someone who resembles someone else...

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"respect." and this morning, she's live at edge at hudson yards, the highest outdoor sky deck in the western hemisphere. jennifer, you're not afraid of heights, are you? >> i'm okay about it. either or. do i need to be up here? i don't know, but i'm okay being up here. >> is this the craziest place you've ever sung from? >> i've sang many a places but this is a new one. i've been on the sea. now i'm in the sky over new york, but it's so beautiful. >> are you excited? we have been wanting this movie. it was delayed by the pandemic. how excited are you for everybody to finally see it? >> i'm super excited. now, i waited over 15 years. i know everybody has waited a year, but i've waited 15 years. so i'm excited for the world to get out there and see the film in theaters with your mask on. well, we are looking forward to hearing you play a medley of miss franklin's songs for us. that's coming up, right? >> yes, it is.

you going to come out here and hear me, sing it with us? >> if you're going to invite -- you know what, i'm going to come out in person, 100 stories up and see -- maybe you're not afraid for heights. >> i'll move for you. >> i'm going. >> we'll let you two do that. george and i will stay right here on the ground level. >> we'll have the best seat in the house. thank you, i will see you in just a little bit. jennifer hudson, r-e-s-p-e-c-t and we do, my dear, see you soon. up there? up where? ♪ you better think, think about what you're trying to do to me yeah think ♪ yeah think ♪ my antidepressant helps, but there are times i still feel depressed and make excuses not to go out. is it just me? no, many people taking antidepressants still have some symptoms. when taken with an antidepressant, rexulti was proven to reduce depression symptoms

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let's touch on the fires happening in the west. a new one, the macfarlane fire. the dc-10s are trying to get a handle on it. some containment. but they have a lot of work to the second est re in cafoia history, approaching 500,000 acres, and this is fresh video from the area. coming up on "gma," the bachelorette as katie says yes to blake. the new couple tells us about their road to romance and what we can expect as they walk down the aisle. plus, cecily strong is here. this segment sponsored by progressive insurance. more local news and weather is next. more local news and weather is ne

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announcer: will ding a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions. reggie: we have a look at the roads. >> i have an update on a couple of crashes. we are going to start in berkeley where a crash has cleared but the damage has been done in terms of the backup these are down to around 15 mile per hour. we also have a crash on the bay bridge right now, westbound 80. heads up to you, there. at least one lane blocked right now and a backup at the richmond-sandoval bridge. mike: let's take a look at our temperatures, a couple degrees above average. about 3-6 degrees above average. 75 in oakland, 84 in san jose. mid 90's inland. the hottest temperatures, most dangerous weather will be tomorrow and thursday. highs up to 105.

look at this inland heatwave all the way through sunday. reggie? reggie: coming up on gma, the bachelorette gets her happily ever after and she and her new fiance are talking about their unconventional love story and what is next for them. i will have another update in about 30 minutes. [baby crying] i got it. i got it. ♪ ♪ give grandma kisses. mwah. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ getting some help with the little one, from her biggest fan. some real face time. just an amtrak away.

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good morning, america. it's 8:00 a.m. state of emergency. the american academy of pediatrics now urges the fda to authorize vaccines for kids under 12 as cases in children rise. the hospitals on the brink once again and the new battles over masks as students head back to the classroom. extreme weather from coast to coast. overnight, a tornado outbreak in the midwest and the new tropical threat on the move. rob is tracking its path. 20 years after 9/11, the son, brother, boyfriend who lost his life that day. his family stiuggling to make sense of his death, now sharing their grief in a powerful new story. they join us live. the bachelorette says "i do." katie getting engaged in blake. this morning, what they're

saying about their unconventional love story. her explosive breakup with greg and their wedding plans. ♪ lovely day ♪ "saturday night live" star cecily strong joining us live this morning talking about her new memoir only on "gma." ♪ r-e-s-p-e-c-t ♪ and r-e-s-p-e-c-t. jennifer hudson is joining us live as she takes on the movie role of a lifetime playing the queen of soul, aretha franklin, and jennifer has an incredible live performance for us this morning as she's saying -- >> good morning, america. good morning, j-hud. play it. >> playing it. >> air piano. never seen that one before. it is great to have you with us on this tuesday morning as we celebrate the qun it's a day full of music. >> and there she is, the woman

who will help us do justice to ms. franklin. jennifer hudson, she is more than 1,100 feet in the air above manhattan where she's going to perform some of aretha's greatest hits from the movie "respect." you heard her. she invited me. she invited me, so i'm going to take her up on that invitation. say a little prayer about the traffic. got to get there in time. >> you will make it. we believe it. >> nice. 100 stories up? really? all right. >> have fun. >> have fun. >> carry on. while robin is on her way we'll get to the news right now and we start with the latest on the pandemic. the american academy of pediatrics urging the fda to approve them for children under 12. victor oquendo is at children's hospital in hollywood. good morning, victor. >> reporter: good morning, george. it's the emergency department here outside joe dimaggio children's hospital where they have seen their sharpest rise in cases. in june they had just 23 covid positive patients come through emergency rooms. in july that number went up to 241.

this morning, doctors are making an unprecedented push to get children vaccinated against covid-19 as new pediatric covid cases near 94,000 in just the last week and children are hospitalized at a rate nearly four times higher than just a month ago. the head of the american academy of pediatrics is now urging the fda to authorize vaccines for 5 to 11-year-olds as quickly as possible. >> we need to be approaching the trials and authorization of the vaccine for children with the same urgency as we did with adults. just as it's a serious disease in adults, it can be a very serious disease in children. >> reporter: robin spoke to dr. besser about the push earlier this morning. >> do you agree with the growing call from the american academy of pediatrics urging the fda to authorize vaccines for children under 12 as soon as possible. >> i think the key there, robin, is as soon as possible. as a pediatrician i want to make sure that they are getting all

the safety data that they need to know that if i'm recommending these for my patients, they truly are safe. hopefully they'll have that information soon. but we can't count on vaccines for children protecting our children in schools this fall. >> reporter: as children return to school during the covid surge, a battle raging over masks. two of the largest school districts in texas now defying governor greg abbott's order requiring them on school property regardless of vaccination status. and in florida, where they currently have the highest number of children hospitalized with covid-19, two districts refusing to follow governor desantis' ban on mask mandates saying no one will be allowed to go without them. >> the goal is to keep our children out of the hospital and why would you not err on the side of caution? >> reporter: the cdc is now warning americans against traveling to a number of countries including france, israel and thailand because of their rising case numbers. meanwhile, the european union just decided to continue allowing nonessential travel from the u.s. despite our rising case numbers.

michael? >> still need to protect yourself. vict, ank you so much for at. we have breaking news. george, good morning. breaking news for our viewers out west. there's an ongoing emergency situation that's happening at volunteer high school, in churchill, tennessee, students had been evacuated following reports of a male shooter inside the school. take a listen. >> there's a male inside the school with a firearm. have a female laying out in the parking lot. >> where is he at in the school? >> he's in the main -- we have the shooter on the phone. he's advising getting out of the bathroom. >> all units. all units, be advised. i have lost contact with the caller. he's going to the gym now to start shooting. >> wow. now here's what we know right now at this time, the suspect hasn't been located, no further

updates from authorities on injuries, of course we'll be following this story throughout the day. to give you updates. george, back to you. >> okay, thanks very much. coming up, september marks 20 years since 9/11. one family sharing a story. and we switch gears with cecily strong. the comedienne joining us. why hide your skin if dupixent has your moderate-to-severe eczema,

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♪ flavors that won't rush you through your day, or night. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ that is the edge at hudson yards. and that's where jennifer hudson is going to perform "respect." cannot wait for that. robin is on her way. great way to start our tuesday morning.

that is coming up in just a little bit. >> that is coming up. but first, before that it is time for "pop news" with lara. hey, lara. >> hi, good morning to you both. we are going to begin with two t and pete davidson, , jon announcing they're teaming up for a one-night-only comedy special. it is in honor of the 20th anniversary of september 11th. they'll be joined at the madison square garden event by fellow comics dave chapelle, amy schumer, john mulaney, wanda sykes and many more. stewart and davidson stating, quote, we wanted to put on a fun celebration to honor this great city's resilience, it's nice to be able to do it with friends and people we love. tickets for the one-night-only september 12th event go on sale this friday. and it's personal for both men. davidson's dad was a firefighter who perished in the terrorist attack when he was just 7 years old. lifelong new yorker jon stewart

has been a fierce advocate for the rights of 9/11 first reonde, stying it of cs on their behal charities. a great event. let's support it. also this morning, the latest podcast star, none other than lucille ball. the legendary comedian and sitcom star who passed away back in 1989 is getting her own posthumous podcast on sirius xm called let's talk to lucy. they'll pay tapes from her 1960s radio show where she interviewed stars like frank sinatra, barbra streisand, carol burnett, dean martin and so many more. who knew she was like that generation's oprah? in this free-flowing format, we understand that it is a treasure trove and a whole new generation will get to tune in to those recordings. the podcast will also contain freshly taped tributes to lucy's legend from ron howard, amy

poehler, tiffany haddish and more. let's talk to lucy will have 240 episodes and will air across three weeks on sirius xm. then the episodes will be available to listen to as a podcast ready to download or stream on pandora, the sirius xm app and other platforms. lucy's daughter lucy arnaz says she and her family can't wait to share these tpes with the rest of the planet. we cannot wait to listen. and speaking of listen, get ready, cardi b and lizzo teaming up for a new song. lizzo revealing the news in this instagram video. take a look. [ phone ringing ] >> hello. >> good morning. >> hey. >> that's what's featuring, y'all, period. >> what's going on? you called me so early. >> she's calling you early because it's big news.

cardi also confirmed that news on her social media writing, all the rumors are true. me and my sis lizzo dropping this friday. her first music since 2019. and finally, the unexpected star of a professional soccer match, it was cincinnati playing orlando city on saturday night when a 2-year-old superfan ran right onto the field in the middle of the action. his mom, though, there she is, a quick slide tackle bringing him back to safety. an employee for mls sharing this video on their twitter righting -- writing, solid run, tracked the play well, pushed into the attack. reports say mom and her pint-size soccer star were all smiles after his moment of glory on the major league soccer field. very cute. that is all we have for now. i'm going to send it back to you michael in the studio. >> all right, lara, get that get a contract, george. i think he's ready.nowe're goinr

"gma" cover story, that big "bachelorette" finale, a happy ending for katie and her new fiance blake after he popped the question. kaylee hartung spoke to the couple and joins us now. good morning, kaylee. >> reporter: hey, michael, it was all worth it. katie tolde even though at times her journey was gut wrenching to watch she admittedly fell for multiple tw guys left and had her heart broken in the process but blake was patient and understanding and it all paid off. the bachelorette and her fiance. >> we're engaged! >> reporter: after one of the most explosive departures in bachelor history. >> i deserve more. >> i want to go home. i am done. >> reporter: and a quick good-bye to justin, katie putting it all on the line with blake and getting the proposal of her dreams. >> will you marry me? >> i truly actually did not think he was going to propose.

so then when he actually got down on one knee and proposed my reaction is actual shock. >> freaking out. >> like the nerves we saw before the proposal, they're gone? >> yes, i'm good now. all good now but, yeah, i was freaking out for sure on that day. >> he walked up. he had tight pants on. i looked at the pockets and there was no box. i was like, oh, no, so when he said the line -- >> i can't give you what you came here for. >> i was just trying to not give away that i was so sad. >> where was the ring hidden? >> in the back pocket. >> they're too tight from the front. >> reporter: their love story unconventional even for the bachelor nation. what is it about katie that gave you the confidence to take the risk, to show up late, to then stick with it through the entire process? >> she just was everything i thought she was going to be and just bold and confident and just made decisions, decisive. i'm like that's hot. i love that.

>> so what made you want to go on this season after you flunked out of the last? >> i flunked. >> has anyone ever put you on the hot seat quite like aunt lizzie? >> no. never. never. i just want to see her in real life now and just have a beer and clink one and be like remember that time? >> reporter: but before they could get to happily ever after there was heartbreak katie needed to recover from. how different was your conversation with greg in the moment that it happened versus how you experienced when you watched it back on television? >> oh, it's day and night different. in the moment i think you see it, i am -- i'm apologizing, i feel bad and i'm confused and then seeing the way that he spoke, i was mad. i was pretty mad. which was nice. it gave me the closure i needed. >> i don't think you know what love is. >> how were you able to move on and recognize that your person was still there? >> when i really took the time to reflect like, okay, was greg my actual person? would we have worked outside of this? i think, had i been with him

watching this all back, i don't know that we'd be sitting on the couch together. >> reporter: now, after more than three months of short clandestine visits and a lot of facetiming, the couple relieved to start their next chapter together. >> i feel like a weight has been lifted off our shoulders because it's been long. it feels like a year honestly. first thing we're trying to do, what's it like driving together in a car? what's it like getting coffee together? >> are there wedding plans in the works? >> at some point there's certainly a wedding. there's no doubt about that. >> will there be roses at the wedding? >> i'm done with roses. >> i hope not. >> i'm done. i don't want to see another rose. >> no. no, no, no. ♪ what's on my mind ♪ >> reporter: so before the happy couple can plan a wedding, they say they first need to figure out where they're going to live. katie is getting a new place in san diego. blake has his in canada. they're going to try to enjoy both homes and figure it out one day at a time together. michael? >> all right, good luck to that love story, thank you so much. now to rob. hey, rob.

>> hi, again, michael. we're tracking severe weather yesterday, we had 16 reported tornadoes. here's one of them in northern illinois and sycamore. this one taking apart some farming structures. there was damage to homes as well. dramatic stuff. thankfully nobody hurt. we do have a threat in a similar area again today that could easily stretch into southern wisconsin. chicago, milwaukee, madison, lacrosse, you're all in the mix for damaging winds, large hail, maybe a tornado as well as this thing pushes off to the east later tonight. that's a che

september marks 20 years since 9/11 and two decades later so many families still grappling with their loss. and a moving new article in "the atlantic" looks at one family's search for meaning in the face of grief. we'll speak with them in just a moment, but first here's a look at their story. 26-year-old bobby mcilvaine was many things -- son, brother, boyfriend, a devoted friend. >> this beautiful life that he created, this plan to have this great life was no more and that, that really hit hard and still does to this day. >> reporter: bobby is one of the nearly 3,000 who lost his life that fateful day 20 years ago when he headed to a conference in the north tower. now, his family struggles to make sense of his tragic death and is profiled in the september issue of "the atlantic." >> bobby as a little boy was full of energy, very active.

>> reporter: born and raised in pennsylvania bobby graduated from princeton in 1997. he loved to write and kept diaries for most of his life. many of them filleseatio we bey. i shall never forget those who died, those who came before me. it's my job to remember them forever and it's kind of ironic too because now he's gone and we need to remember him as well. >> and we are joined by jennifer middleton, bobby's girlfriend at the time, jeff his brother and the author of the cover story, jennifer senior. thanks to all of you for joining us. jeff, let me begin with you. i'm sure it's hard for you to believe it's been 20 years since you lost your brother. how important is it for the world to hear his story now and wat do you want people to know about your brother? >> oh, well, i mean, you know, this whole process has been a

gift for my family. any time we get to talk about my it'sher and share his story, that we get to do this. and, you know, my brother was a lot of things to a lot of people and i think he had an indescribable way about him that just made people want to be around him. and, you know, 20 years later there are people who had very small interactions with him that still remember him to this day. >> jennifer, you had a lot more than small interactions. he was set to propose to you and you've been keeping his journal for the last 20 years. i just opened this to a random page, april 11, 2001. i miss jen. she is my every day. what's it been like to have this? how often do you read it? how do you remember bobby? >> it's been like a security blanket. kn owin writing are with me has brought me tremendous peace over the years.

>> and, jen, thi personal for you. >> yeah. my brother was his roommate at princeton and for four straight years and then in new york for four years as young men trying to navigate the world. and then one day he left for work and he didn't come home. so i had a very particular mission which was to get the journal sitting on your lap because we used to talk about writing all the time, bobby and me. i was a writer. he wanted to be a writer. he would frequently rib me about my writing and all these ticks i had as a writer and he'd read my stuff and critique it and i knew that that journal that you're holding was the one journal that the mcilvaine family didn't have. his father, after he died, had given it to jen and helen who you saw who was speaking so beautifully his mother really wanted it and there was some tension about who got ownership of that particular journal and jen wound up with it.d i though.

>>t tective nt.i' never done an explicit where i thought i'm going to go get something for a story. yeah, i felt that. >> jennifer, you and jeff actually hadn't seen each other -- >> no. >> -- in the last 20 years until last night. first question i guess is why not and, two, what was it like to finally say hello again? >> why not? there were some problems with saying good-bye and the journal so that was -- kept me from reaching out for many years but, when jeff and i saw each other last night, i don't know how you felt but it felt like no time had passed. it was just so wonderful. it warmed my heart and water under the bridge. happy to be reconnected. >> you have four children now. what do you tell them about their uncle? >> i mean we talk ab we don't really sit down and say

today we're going to spend an hour talking about uncle bobby but that's how they refer to him. my oldest son is named after him so his name is bobby. so when we talk about my brother we call him uncle bobby and any time i can share an antidote or a story, or something funny that he did, i make sure i do that. it's a very safe place for me to share those stories without feeling like i'm burdening anybody. they enjoy hearing about him all the time. >> jennifer, you're married with children now as well. how do you talk to them about this part of your life? >> my children are 13 and 15. they talk about 9/11 in school now. they're old enough to understand what happened that day and i'm completely honest with them. we talk about it like we would talk about anything else and my family is incredibly supportive and i'm very lucky. >> jen, we only have a few seconds left. what do you hope people take away from the story? >> that grief is idiosyncratic. telling someone they have to get over something might be a kind

of tyranny. people grieve in really different ways and some people d to live in their grief. >> it's a beautiful moving story. i thank you all for sharing it. thank you for persevering and getting it done as well. i hope everybody reads it in "the atlantic." you can read the full story on "the atlantic's" website. we'll be right back. on "the atlantic's" website. ♪

>> building a better bay forwarg solutions. this is abc 7 news. >> good morning, i am kumasiasii aaron. how is traffic looking? jobina: we have a new crash involving an overturned car. you can see the backup on westbound 580 past north greenville road. a heads up to you if you are moving through this area. also our westbound commuters things are under the limit. the same thing goes to walnut creek. check this out. southbound on 680 very close. kumasi: thank you.

[baby crying] i got it. i got it. ♪ ♪ getting some help with the little one, from her biggest fan. some real face time. just an amtrak away.

>> here is a look at what's going on with our commute planner and everything is quiet as far as the breezes. they'll pick up mainly in the delta but they'll back their way to the golden gate. comfortable with temperatures in the 50's and 60's. hot this afternoon with 80's. air quality will look worse than it really is. a lot of upper level smoke is headed our way. we will have low level smoke, haze out there the next couple of days but the real story above average temperatures everywhere through sunday. kumasi: thank you, mike. we will have another update in

about 30 minutes. you can always finds the latest on our news app. ♪ hope your tuesday is off to a great start. it's about to get a little better. there's the scene. the edge at hudson yard where robin has joined jennifer hudson. what's going on, robin? >> not a little bit, a whole lot better. i wish you could be here, guys. it is beautiful. beautiful people. and jennifer hudson herself is going to be performing for us. first, it's so good to see you. >> good to see you. frankl. we've been waiting since the pandemic. you've been waiting a lot longer. >> yes, ma'am. it's been a long time. i'm happy it's finally here then

we're up here. >> isn't this gorgeous? >> so beautiful. >> i want to talk to you more but i want to hear some of these great songs that we're going to see in the movie "respect." a medley of miss franklin's songs from none other than miss jennifer hudson. >> yes. anybody feel like the blues this morning? here we go. ♪ i don't want nobody always sitting around me and my man ♪ ♪ i don't want nobody always sitting right there ♪ ♪ looking at me and my man ♪

>> i think they feeling like the blues this morning. >> all right. >> let's take them there. listen. ♪ ♪ don't send me no doctor ♪ ♪ filling me up with all of those pills ♪ ♪ i got me a man named dr. feelgood and, oh, yeah, that man takes me off all of my pains and my ills ♪ ♪ his name is dr. feelgood in the morning ♪ ♪ and taking care of business is this man's gain ♪ ♪ and after one visit to dr. feelgood you'll understand why feelgood is his name ♪

>> ooh. that felt good. i didn't say i was ready for the next song. go on. hey, i know y'all know this. come on, robin. i say put your hands together. i see you got it. ♪ think, think, think, think, think ♪ ♪ you better think ♪ ♪ think ♪ ♪ let your mind go ♪ ♪ let yourself be free ♪ ♪ let's go back let's go back let's go way back then ♪ ♪ i didn't even know you ♪ ♪ you couldn't have been much more than 10 ♪ ♪ ♪ freedom, freedom, freedom ♪

♪ hey, think about you ♪ ♪ think about it ♪ ♪ you need me while i need you ♪ ♪ without each other there ain't nothing we can do ♪ ♪ think, think about it what you're trying to do ♪ ♪ think about it ♪ ♪ think about it ♪ ♪ hey ♪ >> i like that. >> you know what, that had a rocking beat. pay tribute. ♪ better think, think ♪ ♪ yeah ♪ ♪ what you trying to do to me ♪ ♪ think, think ♪ ♪ what you trying to do to me ♪ ♪ freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom ♪ ♪ freedom, freedom, freedom ♪ >> no, you didn't.

>> i'm telling you. come on, people. give it up. give it up for jennifer hudson. that was incredible. >> thank you, robin. you ready? you want to sing with us? >> what? >> we all know it, robin. >> okay. she got me scared here. we'll come back and talk to you a little bit. i

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welcome back to "gma" on a >> reporter: welcome back to "gma" and a very special jennifer hudson morning. the rain holding off for that performance and interview likely. we have heat that is building across not just the northeast but really much of the country. a scorcher coming up. this is going to be the onset of a three-day heat wave and temperatures approach a record level and couple in the humidity and it will feel uncomfortable. near 100 on thursday in d.c. 97 in philadelphia. even into the 90s through friday in boston. that's a look at what's upcoming. some sizzlewise.

just like the weather is hot, we got to take another look at that incredible hot performance by jennifer hudson a medley of aretha franklin's songs. take a look at what just happened moments ago. ♪ now freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom ♪ ♪ hey think about it ♪ ♪ you need me ♪ ♪ i need you ♪ ♪ without each other there ain't nothing we can't do ♪ ♪ think about it ♪ >> you can't help but bob and weave. doesn't seem like she's singing hard and robin is at edge with the grammy and academy award winner. hey, robin. >> thank you, gentlemen. oh, my goodness. jennifer, did you realize when you started singing "freedom,"

the sun came out. >> really? >> did y'all sense that? >> oh, i love that. 'cause i always say when the sun shines around me i never feel alone. so i'm happy to hear that. that means i'm not alone. >> you are never alone especially with a soon to be 12-year-old today. david is 12. >> his birthday, happy birthday to my baby. his birthday is today and he is 12 years old. >> he went to the premiere in l.a. >> yes. >> that was the first time he saw it. what was his critique of mama? >> he told me very good job because he's very picky, okay. and then what else did he say? i was so shy to watch it. he said why are you shy? i said, david, i'll talk to you later, be he enjoyed it. he got to sit with all his cousins. they got to learn more about er which is what it's about. >> i'm glad you said that and people -- yes, we know phenomenal, queen of soul but to learn more about her. and you had a special premiere with her family in detroit. >> yes, yes.

>> what was that like. >> i enjoyed that so much. i mean, just being able to introduce the film for them to see it but most of all to be able to spend thyme with them. her granddaughter grace, they took me to her childhood home and we sat on the porch. her son cal and her son eddie and all her grandchildren and grace sang her favorite song by her greatmother which is "ain't no way." that was my favorite moment watch them reminisce over their mother and grandmother. >> very proud and supportive of this. >> yes, they have been. >> the singing, you can sang. we know miss hudson can sang. but the other aspects of playing aretha, what was -- how did you approach that? >> oh, my god. first of all the biggest challenge was the piano, i'm still getting used to that. that was the most foreign part of all nd then going back into the era of the '60s and being a woman in that time and learning how women existed in that time which is completely different from how we do today. so that was different as well.

>> when you talked about playing the piano was nodding. he actually -- >> fred played for aretha. so i have fred here. it's amazing to have all the elements of her, you know. >> and the film, i saw it. it is so powerful. >> thank you. >> so beautiful in so many ways. and what a cast. i mean, forest whitaker, mary j., andra m m m i hear you may have a new favorite, co-star marlon wayans, who plays the husband. >> it's a tie between -- okay, i was like jamie foxx from "dreamgirls" played and sang on set in between but then marlon brought me gifts, chocolate, got me massages, brought my food on set. >> you could be bought? >> well, i mean, if you want to

call it that but he may take the cake because jamie didn't buy me gifts. >> but he brought it. >> he did. >> his performance. i think we'll see him in a different light. >> they'll be very surprised to see him in a whole other way. very interesting and i enjoyed so much working with him. >> you really -- and we were not kidding, aretha franklin hand picked you. she wanted you to play her in this movie and you spoke constantly with her. >> yes. >> what was she hoping you could help in bringing out her story? >> you know, i -- i did not ask her that question. never dawned on me. but i think it goes beyond the singing and acting. i think she realized that, you know, i realized without my own life triumphs i don't think i would be able to tell her story with so much depth and vulnerability. you know what i mean? and i think she saw so much more than what i saw and didn't realize until filming, wow, when we spoke she was speaking from experience. she taught me more about life while teaching me about her life and in the middle of filming i realized how much what she was

saying was spoken from her own experiences which helped me in those moments to deliver it. >> what are you hoping people will come away in watching the film? some people will think i know aretha franklin. they look at her as an icon, a legend. what do you want them to come away with? >> to see the human, you know, know that under that legend and icon lies a human being with the life of their own and their own triumphs and i think they will -- at least i found it inspiring to know she went through what she went through but still became the queen of soul. i said while filming, i know we have a respect for aretha franklin but when you're done with the film i want everyone to have a newfound respect for her. >> fred, what do you say? you worked with miss franklin. what was your hope people would come away from the film? >> the new generation coming out will say, wow, that's talent. we have a lot of new talent, but

aretha is still the queen. >> i love you say that, the new generation. >> the younger generation coming up, you know. >> yeah, they need to have r-e-s-p-e-c-t. you saw what i didididhere. you saw what i did there. the one in the middle. he liked me. thank you, fred. thank you, jennifer hudson. >> thank you. >> oh, i am just so excited for people to see the film. i know how much you have poured your heart and soul into and so everybody can see "respect." it will be in theaters. it's happening. friday. >> get your popcorn, family, go, it's live music, love, legacy and it's i think the perfect way to pay homage to the queen. >> she gets the last word. we'll be right back. no, as it should be. ♪ all i'm asking is for a little respect ♪ ♪ just a little bit, baby just a little bit ♪ ♪ just a little bit ♪

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welcome back. our next guest is best known for making us laugh on "saturday night live." cecily strong's new memoir shows a whole new side to the comedian. it's called "this will all be over soon" and she joins us now.

good morning, cecily. >> good morning. >> first of all, we want to start the congratulations which are in order because you got another emmy nod for "saturday night live." it is your second year in a row. congratulations. >> thank you. thank you so much. it's -- i'm happy to be part of all of the nominations for our show. i'm very proud of this past year. >> absolutely. as you should be. and we see you on this show but in your book we get to know a very different side of you. what have early readers been surprised about that your memoire reveals? you go into deeply personal experiences. >> yeah, i mean, i'm surprised that i released my diary being a kind of private person. but i think as much as i know myself and know i'm the same person who is on "snl," this has always been there. i think i have not talked to

anyone yet who said this is what they expect. >> and that is -- yeah, but that's a good thing. i think this book definitely, very personal. reveals a side that people don't see. we know you were dealing -- starts with you dealing with a struggle during the pandemic, the death of your cousin owen who was just 30 years old. what do you want the world to know about him? >> you know, owen was so courageous and brave and he really was great at being hopeful and optimistic and sort of led us on his journey and made us all feel okay even though he was the one with glioblastoma. and i think he's such a comfort to me, and he lived really well. i think the best way to describe owen is in his -- he told his dad, despite the brain cancer, this has been the best year of my life because he fell in love and he sang music with his band and he danced on every dance floor. he went to basketball games. he just lived very well. >> our thoughts and prayers for you and your family. when people see you on tv they think of you as the life of the party.

what's so surprising, you reveal in the book you struggle with social anxiety? >> yeah, i mean -- it's funny when people think we're super confident people and i'm like, i struggle making eye contact half the time. i think all of us on this show are probably a bit more shy or introverted than some may expect us to be. >> yeah, i could definitely understand that. extroverted introvert actually. your appearance on "snl," the last one, you sang "my way." so that made all us fans think this was your swan song. so i have to ask you, will you be returning to "snl" for your tenth season? >> so, it's still up in the air. there's -- it's just such a wonderful place to be and there's so many reasons to stay, so i'm just -- i got to figure that out soon, i guess. >> well, i will say -- >> i will say when i sang "my way," it was just -- it was to

end a very special season and i wasn't -- i wasn't telling anyone i was leaving with that song. >> good. it's better with you there. i just want to be the first to say it. we hear there is a character you grew up watching on the show but you have still never had the chance to play that character. could we get a special performance? >> you know, so i watched all of them but i think the one i remember most performing like on my playground at school was the spartan cheerleaders. and i -- i can still remember most of the songs and i remember the one i sing the most probably was. ♪ taco, burrito ♪ ♪ what's coming out of your speedo ♪ ♪ you got trouble ♪ ♪ oh, you're blowing bubbles ♪ >> of course, bathroom humor.

>> you just woke us up this morning. that's called "good morning america" right there. we want to say, cecily, thank you so much for talking to me. congratulations on the book. i love that everyone gets to see a different side of you and i really appreciate you spending your time. >> appreciate you guys doing this and introducing my book. so thank you. >> thank you. the book, "this will all b

>> announcer: this is an abc news special report. good morning, everyone. i'm diane macedo. we're coming on the air. we're about to hear from governor andrew cuomo speaking live since the state attorney

general released a report accusing him of sexually harassing 11 women. let's listen now to governor cuomo. >> good morning. let me begin by thanking my attorney for that powerful presentation. i would like to address several issues. first, i always started by telling new yorkers the fact before my opinion. let's start new york tough with the truth. the attorney general did a report on complaints made against me from certain women. the report said i sexually harassed 11 women. that was the headline people heard and saw and reacted to. the reaction was outrage. it should have been. however, it was also false. my lawyers, as you just heard from, have reviewed the report over the past several days, and have already raised serious

issues and flaws that should concern all new yorkers because when there is a bias or a lack of fairness in the justice system, it is a concern for everyone. not just those immediately affected. the most serious allegations made against me had no credible factual basis in the report. and there is a difference between alleged improper conduct and concluding sexual harassment. now, don't get me wrong. this is not to say that there are not 11 women who i truly off offended. there are. for that i deeply, deeply apologize. i thought a hug and putting my arm around a staff person while taking a picture was friendly, but she found it to be too

forward. i kissed woman on the cheek at a wedding. i thought i was being nice, but she felt it was too aggressive. i have slipped and called people honey, sweetheart and darling. i meant it to be endearing, but women found it dated and offensive. i said on national tv to a doctor wearing ppe and giving me a covid nasal swab you make that gown look good. i was joking. obviously otherwise i wouldn't have said it on national tv. she found it disrespectful. i take full responsibility for my actions. i have been too familiar with people. my sense of humor can be insensitive and off-putting. i do hug and kiss people

casually. women and men. i have done it all my life. it's who i've been since i can remember. in my mind, i've never crossed the line with anyone, but i didn't realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn. there are generational and cultural shifts that i just didn't fully appreciate, and i should have. no excuses. the report did bring to light a matter that i was not aware of and that i would like to address. a female trooper related a concern that she found disturbing, and so do i. please let me provide some context. the governor's trooper detail

had about 65 tropers on it. of the 65 on the six women and nine black troopers. i'm very proud of the diverse t of my administration. i'm very proud of the fact that i have more women in senior positions than any governor before me. the lack of diversity on the state police detail was an ongoing disappointment for me. in many ways the governor's detail is the face of state government that people see when i attend an event. people see the detail that's with me. i was continuously trying to recruit more to diversify. on one occasion i met two female troopers on duty at an event. both seemed competent and impressive. i asked the state police to see

if they were interested in joining. i often meet people, men and women, and if they show promise, i refer them to be interviewed. the state police handled the interviewing and the hiring and one of the two troopers eventually joined the detail. i got to know her over time. she's a great professional. i would sometimes banter with her when we were in the car. we spent a lot of time driving around the state. this female trooper was getting married and i made some jokes about the negative consequences of married life. i meant it to be humorous. she was offended, and she was right. the trooper also said that in an elevator i touched her back and when i was walking past her in a

doorway, i touched her stomach. now, i don't recall doing it, but, if she said i did it, i believe her. at public events troopers will often hold doors open or guard the doorways. when i walk past them, often will give them a grip of the arm, a pat on the face, a touch on the stomach, a slap on the back. it's my way of saying i see you. i appreciate you and i thank you. i'm not comfortable just walking past and ignoring them. of course, usually they are male troopers. in this case, i don't remember doing it at all. i didn't do it consciously with the female troope