[laughter] >> good morning, america, fo our viewers in the west. on this wednesday morning, the new surge bringing new fears with three days until christmas. omicron spreading at an alarming rate. president biden issuing a stark winter warning saying even vaccinated americans are at risk and telling the unvaccinated their decision could be the difference between life and death but insisting the country is not going backwards. >> we're prepared. we know more. we just have to stay focused. >> while demand for testing is skyrocketing some waiting in line for hours. hospitals bracing for a surge of patients and will the new surge impact the winter olympics? this morning, cdc director dr. rochelle walensky joins us live with the very latest. ahead of what's expected to

be the busiest travel day in almost two years, delta air lines warning the omicron surge could cause staffing shortages and lead to significant disruptions as the faa announces new measures to crack down on unruly passengers. white christmas? winter storm warnings. the west coast bracing for mudslides and heavy snow and in florida a tornado wreaking havoc. winds reaching 95 miles per hour. ginger is tracking the latest including the storm racing up the east coast bringing an icy mix right now with three days until christmas. urgent search. a 3-year-old vanishes from a texas playground. the fbi now joining the effort as teams go door to door. strike over. kellogg's workers approving a new contract with th giant after 1,400 people walked out nearly three months ago. their return to work set for after christmas. package tracking scam alert. in the final days of holiday shopping, how to spot fraudulent

text messages and what to do if you get one. celebrating safely. this morning the best ways to reduce your risk, the advice from medical experts for holiday gatherings from masks to testing to table seating and if you have a small child that isn't eligible for the shot. plus, what to know if you're heading to the movies. the ceo of a major movie chain joins us live. ♪ i keep my head up high ♪ we're standing by the resilient people from kentucky. we're live at two hard-hit communities after those devastating tornados tore through america's heartland. now, the neighbors with hearts of gold coming together. this morning, don't miss our big surprises to help them on the road to recovery. >> we are -- >> all: kentucky strong. >> they are indeed kentucky strong and america strong. ♪ even on my darkest days i keep my head up ♪ and good morning, america. we are looking forward to

america strong this morning. those people have been through so much in kentucky, not just a natural disaster but living through this pandemic as well. christmas just three days away, so i think everyone probably needs to get the tissues ready. >> absolutely. we're really looking forward to that, but we do have a lot to get to. we begin with the latest on the fight against covid. omicron will account for 90 plus percent of new cases within a week or two, dr. fauci says. >> around the country, you've probably seen this, maybe in your community. testing sites are overwhelmed in advance of the holidays. what you're seeing here is a look at long lines in miami. well, cdc director, dr. rochelle walensky is standing by to talk to us live about all of this. always good to hear from her. first let's go to our trevor ault outside a testing center in new york with the very latest. trevor, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. if you walk by a city md lately in new york city, you have seen the lines around the block.

there are people who got here an hour and a half before they even opened. the people who run the clinics are vulnerable too. city md announced they will have to close some of their locations temporarily because of staffing concerns. it is the unbelievable transmissibility of this variant that's leading to a lot more testing, a lot more cases and the ripple effects are growing larger and larger. this morning, as the biden administration prepares to ship out 500 million covid tests demand for testing has already skyrocketed, often stranding americans in hours' long lines. >> it's just a pure supply problem we're banging into. >> reporter: new york city will open even more testing sites as cases there have climbed 640% in the past month. walmart is lowering its cap on how many at-home tests customers can buy online citing limited inventory and extremely high demand. the cdc is now reporting models suggest the number of new cases from the coming omicron surge could top the highs we saw in

previous waves and this new wave could peak as early as january. >> i remember thinking to myself when we were going through the third surge, what are we going to do if there's a fourth? here we are in the middle of a fourth surge in the holidays. >> reporter: hospitals have very limited supply of the one antibody treatment proven effective against the variant in studies. an antiviral pill which could help is awaiting authorization. while it's possible omicron may be more mild than previous variants, experts warn the sheer volume could inundate hospitals, many of which are already overburdened. >> we have patients coming in all the time waiting in the waiting room, waiting in the hallways. >> reporter: wisconsin nurse sue wolff tells abc she's never seen anything like this in 38 years on the job and almost all of the patients are not vaccinated. >> i get angry. i am wondering why they did this, why they're doing this to me, why they're doing this to all the people who need to be

away from sick people in the waiting room. i'm frustrated because i can't get them out of the waiting room. >> reporter: and as pfizer and merck wait for approval of their covid-19 pills which would help prevent hospitalization after infection abc news learned the white house covid-19 response coordinator told america's governors in a private call this wek that approval for those pills should be coming in the very short term. amy? >> and they are so needed. trevor ault, thank you for that. president biden promising action in that address from the white house including at-home tests delivered right to your door. rachel scott is in washington and, rachel, the president also delivered a very harsh message to americans who are not getting vaccinated. >> reporter: amy, good morning. it was a very stern message the president sent to unvaccinated americans telling them that their choice could mean the difference between life or death. the biden administration is now preparing to distribute millions of tests to americans in the coming weeks, but it will be too

late for americans who need it right now this holiday season. this morning, the biden administration is preparing to ramp up its covid-19 response, planning to distribute 500 billion free at home rapid tests in january to any american who wants one. >> we'll be giving these to americans for free and will have websites where you can get them delivered to your home. >> reporter: with the omicron variant spreading the president telling vaccinated americans they are at risk too. >> because omicron spreads so easily, we'll see some fully vaccinated people get covid, potentially in large numbers, but these cases are highly unlikely to lead to serious illness. >> reporter: delivering a grave warning to those who refused to get their shots. >> your choice can be the difference between life or death. >> reporter: the president acknowledging americans are frustrated and tired, but insisting the country is not heading backwards. >> this is not march of 2020. 200 million people are fully vaccinated. we're prepared. we know more.

we just have to stay focused. >> reporter: the administration also calling in a thousand additional military doctors, nurses and paramedics to help and tapping the national stockpile for extra supplies. biden on the defensive when asked if his administration was too slow to respond. >> no, it's not, because covid is spreading so rapidly if you notice. it just -- it just happened almost overnight. just in the last month. >> reporter: the reality is those tests in january will do nothing to help americans who are lined up today scrambling ahead of the holidays. the president was in close contact with a white house staffer who tested positive for covid-19. he has since tested negative for the virus. we are told he will be tested again today. amy? >> all right, rachel scott with the latest from d.c., thank you very much. "world news tonight" anchor david muir will sit down with president biden for an exclusive interview airing on "world news tonight" and we'll have more on "good morning america" tomorrow morning.

will? heading overseas now, the omicron surge is threatening to impact the winter. from a due to cs in beijing.rai begin in early february and james longman is tracking it all from london. james, good morning. >> reporter: yeah, hi, will. well, you remember that it was delta that had us all wondering whether or not the tokyo games would take place this summer. now omicron is casting a long shadow over the beijing games in february and because it's that much more contagious than delta i think it feels like it's going to be a bigger challenge. now looks almost certain that the national hockey league will not send its players to participate. so many of them have tested positive or have come into contact with someone who has that 50 games have had to be postponed and a lot of athletes worried about the stringent measures in place in beijing. if you test positive there, you have to isolate for 21 days. the i.s.e. says they're going

ahead. they're confident they have a closed loop system, quite similar to what was in tokyo where anyone participating in the games won't come into contact with people who live in beijing. will? >> james, what are officials suggesting athletes and journalists do before participating in or covering the games? >> reporter: well, they are urging absolutely everyone to get vaccinated and get boosted, although it's not mandatory yet. everyone also has to download an app where they have to enter all their medical information 14 days before they go and once they're there they have to get tested every single day. this is going to be quite a challenge given how contagious omicron is. will? >> quite a challenge indeed, james longman in london, thank you. challenge i'll take up as i travel to cover the games. let's bring in dr. rochelle walensky. dr. walensky, always good to have you here. give us the latest data you see. what is the percentage of cases that omicron is now making up in te country? >> yeah, good to be with you,

t.j. thanks for having me. things are moving quickly. we know now -- we estimate that about 73% of cases now are omicron and that's up to 90% in some areas of the country including new york where you are. you know, what i can tell you is that what is happening here in the united states is marrying what we've seen in other countries that had omicron before us. it's moving quickly. the doubling times of this virus are very fast, around two days. so we've seen what is happening here has happened in other countries and that's really the reason for action right now. the reason for the president to announce all that we are doing, that we are increased surge capacity in hospitals to provide them support so that we can be there should they need that. we're increasing access to testing so it's both accessible and free and we're making sure that people have capacity to do more vaccinations and more boosting. we know how critically important that is. we are in a different place than we were a year ago. we have more and more tools, we have more and more science now but we need to take action on them.

that means getting vaccinated if you're not vaccinated. getting boosted if you're not boosted and continuing to practice those prevention strategies like masking in indoor settings. >> dr. walensky, you mentioned the testing, going to make 500 million tests for free. when will those be available? >> right, so there's a lot that the administration is doing and testing and recognize there is more work to be done and there is a huge demand for tests not just here in the united states, not just in cities in the united states, but truly all around the world. so there has been a $3 billion investment in rapid tests, 500 million rapid tests that will become available in january, free, as well as now 20,000 pcr sites that you can go and get a free pcr test and even as we speak the ramping up of new federal pcr testing sites in areas of high demand just in new york. >> dr. walensky, you say in general. do we know when in january and if i go online and order it,

will it be overnighted to me? do we know how it will work? >> we're actively working on setting that up right now so more details to come. so that activity is being worked on right this minute. >> dr. walensky, yes, better late than never but can we say that this is late? this is not going to help us now get out of the current surge we're in. we have the holidays coming up. isn't this a little late to help us and to get out of the crisis we seem to be currently in? >> you know, we have been ramping up testing. we have much more testing now than we had just months ago and we were in the middle of a delta surge as omicron hit. so really right now there are so many things that we can do in addition to testing to keep safe and that really does mean getting 40 million americans who continue to be unvaccinated vaccinated and making sure that people get that booster shot. what we know about omicron is that it has a lot of mutations and with more mutations we need more immune protection and that's really why this booster shot will really help us in terms of getting immune pprotec

>> this covid pill we talk about the fda expecting to give an okay to, will this be a game changer? >> certainly it will be another critical tool. there are two pills that we're talking about, both the pfizer pill as well as the merck pill and certainly both really important tools to fight covid-19. what i will continue to say is the best way to fight it is to prevent it in the first place. so, yes, if you're vaccinated, if you're boosted, you're less likely to get disease. if you practice mitigation strategy, less likely to get disease. if you were to get disease, these two pills could potentially help you avert severe disease if you take them early. >> dr. walensky, are you okay with new year's eve celebration in times square going forward? >> you know, i think we have to see where we are in just a few days' time. wat i will say is the safest way to be able to do so is to make sure that y

and if there are crowds, i would say wear a mask. what i will say is that all of those decisions will be made at the local level. >> dr. walensky, we always appreciate having you. thank you so much. if we don't talk to you again, you have a good holiday. >> thank you. you too. stay safe. >> robach? now to holiday travel concerns heading into the biggest flying days cracking down on unruly passengers as incidents have soared to record highs this year. our transportation correspondent gio benitez is at laguardia airport. starting with delta air lines warning the omicron variant could cause staffing shortages which is not good news. >> reporter: amy, that's right. tomorrow is expected to be the busiest travel day in almost two years. as you said, delta is now asking the cdc to make sure they're shortening the quarantine time for vaccinated employees who test positive down from ten days down to five saying the omicron surge may exacerbate shortages

and create significant disruptions. meanwhile we're also following the rise in unruly passengers. now more than 5,600 reports since the start of the year. the faa says in addition to the thousands of dollars in potential fines, they may also revoke any tsa precheck privileges. now, we keep seeing videos like this, a fight breaking out at miami international airport this week. police say a passenger attacked an officer. that officer pulling his gun. police say the passenger was angry about a flight delay. will? >> a lot happening at airports this holiday travel season, gio, thank you so much. extreme weather is adding to the travel trouble with winter storm warnings across several western states. ginger zee is tracking the christmas weather coast to coast. ginger, good morning. >> reporter: will, good morning to you. the same rain we've had is part of the system that raked south florida with an ef-1 tornado in

lee county. you can see the damage. they had gusts up to 73 miles per hour. check out that video, the time lapse from bradenton as storms move through and off the coast and raced on up to new england today. we'll have some icy spots from poughkeepsie, advisories and warnings. really until noon for most folks, boston included that you have to watch road, especially some of the highest elevations. west, truckee already started their snow and my goodness, they got hit so hard in parts of the sierra last weekend. we had that five to eight feet. well, another three to five feet and that's by just christmas day. watch as those bands of rain come into the bay area. santa barbara, even los angeles, amy, as we kick off christmas eve going to be super rainy. >> wow. good to know and plan ahead for it. ginger, thank you very much. turning now to kellogg's workers ending their 11-week long strike after ratifying a tentative new contract with the cereal giant.

let's go to alex perez with all of the latest details for us. good morning, alex. >> reporter: good morning, amy. after weeks of back and forth and the company even threatening to replace those striking workers, a deal has finally been reached. the union representing some 1,400 kellogg's employees and the company have reached a new five-year agreement. the new deal gives employees at the cereal and snack making company new health benefits and a cost of living raise at the kellogg's four plants in michigan, tennessee and pennsylvania. they will get a $1.10 raise with new hires making $24.11 an hour. none of the plants will be closed for at least the next five years. amy? >> alex, thank you. coming up next, tips from medical experts on reducing your risk of covid when you gather the holidays. first, let's go back to ginger. >> reporter: let's get the wintery cities sponsored by subaru.

we'll be right back. ♪

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announcer: this is abc 7 news. reggie: good morning. today governor newsom will lay out new actions to slow the head of the omicron variant. he will speak during a visit later this morning. we know health care workers will be required to get a booster. the covid-19 vaccine will be added to the list of mandatory vaccination needed to attend school. they could be mandatory for employees in san jose. san francisco is confirming at least 30 cases of the omicron variant. >> it has has has throughout the morning. we will start with a live pictionary. it does not look like it, but

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silver jewelry gifts for $17.59... and, earn kohl's cash! kohl's. she believed in me. my turn to believe in her. >> welcome back to "gma." it is a huge movie week, "the matrix resurrections," excuse me, hitting both theaters and home screens on the heels of "spider-man: no way home" swinging into the box office history books and coming up, we're going to talk with the ceo of a major movie theater chain on plans to keep moviegoers safe. we're going to start with the headlines first. the first against the omicron variant. the biden administration is preparing to ramp up its covid-19 response, planning to distribute 500 million free at home rapid tests in january to any american who wants one and delivering a grave warning to

those who have refused to get their shots so far saying, quote, the choice can be the difference between life or death. also right now, the 5g sfety concerns boeing and airbus are urging the biden administration to delay the rollout of the 5g wireless network scheduled for next month. the ceos of both companies say the new technology could pose a danger by causing interference with the plane's vital instruments. the head of several major airlines have raised similar concerns, warning 5g could trigger major flight delays. at&t and verizon dismissed those concerns saying there's been no problems in other countries. the fda is investigating an outbreak of listeria linked to fresh express packaged salad. reportedly infecting at least ten people, fresh express recalling products distributed across 19 states and warning consumers to throw out any products with use by dates featuring the codes z324 through z350.

>> also it's bowl season, as you know. yesterday wyoming, kent state faced off in the potato bowl and the cowboys' win over kent state. here's the point, it's the potato bowl so they didn't dump gatorade. they dumped a bucket of french fries. >> oh, french fry, not potatoes. i thought it was potatoes. that would hurt. >> they were cooked. congrats to them nonetheless. stay with us here on "gma." a whole lot more ahead including our american to kentucky's heros pulling together after those devastating tornados and we have some surprises in store for them all coming up. will? we turn to the urgent search for a missing 3-year-old.

she was last seen monday evening at a playground near her family's apartment in san antonio. abc news correspondent mireya villarreal is tracking the latest in the search efforts. >> reporter: this morning, san antonio police are searching for 3-year-old lina sadar khil with the fbi joining in. she was last seen near her apartment complex monday evening. her mother had been watching her before getting up to leave for a short time. police say when she got back, lina was gone. >> we have an amber alert. we've spoken with dps and they've okayed an amber alert because of the suspicious nature of the disappearance and the length of time. >> reporter: search teams going door to door checking all 300 units in the complex and the cars in the lot. >> we are stopping everyone, nobody comes or goes without talking to a police officer. >> reporter: lina's family are refugees that recently resettled here from afghanistan. margaret constantino works with the refugee community in the area. >> we don't know the family wel like any big family with lots and lots of little kids, all these children are precious to us. >> reporter: the toddler last

seen wearing a black jacket, red dress and black shoes. >> we are sparing no assets, no resources in trying to find 3-year-old lina. >> reporter: for "good morning america," mireya villarreal, dallas, texas. >> our thanks to mireya for that. turning now to a consumer alert. with christmas just three days away, officials are warning buyers about scam text messages regarding tracking packages. deidre bolton has all of those details and what to know to protect yourself. good morning, deidre. >> reporter: good morning, amy. the florida attorney general is sounding the alarm on these scam robo texts. these are messages that look like they could be coming from the united states postal service or a common carrier but they seek to get either your money or your personal information. with the holidays upon us, officials in both nevada and oregon also warning consumers. here are the red flags that experts say to look out for.

these messages often come from a personal ten-digit phone number. no mention of any store that the item is shipping from. typically companies require a shipping address upon purchasing. they will not normally ask you for an updated shipping address in transit and they often have grammatical errors and suspicious links. the florida attorney general stressing that the united states postal service will never send a text with packaging tracking updates unless you specifically signed up for that online. if you think you've received one of these texts, do not click on the links or any links from unknown senders. best advice, amy, just block that number. back to you. >> that is great advice. deidre bolton, thank you for that. t.j.? families around the country are getting set to gather for the holidays but with the omicron variant on the rise how do we do this safely? becky worley spoke with the folks who know a thing or two about this, medical experts, asking about the precautions

they're taking. hey, becky. >> reporter: good morning, t.j. could it be more complicated to plan a christmas gathering with family this year? come on, man. we were just starting to feel like christmas would be more normal and then the transmissibility of the omicron variant has us all asking is it safe to gather and how should we do it? so we asked medical experts for their advice. whether it's opening presents or christmas dinner, what is the right way to lower our risk? we asked dr. june mccoy at northwestern and dr. alok patel, a pediatrician at stanford health what they advise and how they're spending the holiday. for dr. patel with a new baby who can't yet be vaccinated, he says he's opting for multipe small events. >> have less people over. maybe try to put it in two days and split up who is coming over. you don't all have the option of going outside with cold temperatures. >> reporter: dr. mckay says she'll be wearing a mask when she visits family this week,

something important when inside with the elderly unvaccinated children. dr. mccoy advises small gatherings and a widely spaced dinner table of roughly six people. if you have to have more, break out the kiddie table and put the rest in another room and also stresses air purifiers and ventilation. >> you can open -- just open windows and let the air come in from outside. it might not be the true cross-ventilation but that would be great because we know ventilation is critically important. >> reporter: both doctors say rapid tests add a layer of protection especially when the unvaccinated are involved. >> you want to get tests the day you're planning on meeting with people. like right before. in some cases you might want to take one every single day to be certain you're going into your family gathering in the safest way possible. >> reporter: they say normalize the fact that saying i can't come is okay. tell people if they don't feel well or they get a positive result, it's better to stay home than get everyone sick. >> 'tis the season for empathetic conversations and hearing out one another.

so you have to just be blunt and have open conversations with anyone who you may be seeing about their exposure, their vaccination status because it's not just about keeping yourself safe but everyone safe around you. >> reporter: for my family we're flying tonight to see my 91-year-old mother-in-law. we are social distancing the last few days before we go. testing multiple times. keeping our masks on for as much of the flight as possible and i really appreciated that our doctor said, this human connection that happens over the holidays is also a part of our health and well-being and, guys, yes, seeing my mother-in-law is a part of my health and well-being. i won the lottery. i adore her. >> aww. becky, so sweet. well, safe and happy travels to you. you've been doing great work for us and keeping us all updated so hope you get to enjoy it. all right, becky. >> reporter: i will. take care, guys. happy holidays.

>> happy holidays, becky. christmas is always a big week for going to the movies. the head of cinemark movie theaters joins us live on how to stay safe during the blockbuster weekend. ♪ ♪ make the yule-tide gay. ♪ ♪ ♪ from now on our troubles will be miles away. ♪ ♪ and have yourself a merry little christmas now. ♪ celebrate the season together with a holiday gift from pandora jewelry. (lightning strikes) celebrate the season together with a holiday gift we took the truck that helped build this country. and made it so it can power our homes. we took the vehicles businesses use to keep the lights on. and made them run on the same thing that turns the lights on. we took the original zero-to-sixty head turner. and gave it zero tailpipe emissions. we took the familiar.

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welcome back to "gma." with huge movie releases expected to bring in big crowds this holiday weekend, cinemark's ceo mark zoradi is here to walk us through what movie theaters are doing to keep their customers safe. mark, thanks for being with us. obviously we saw "spider-man"

have a huge opening weekend but that was before the omicron variant exploded as well in the past week. what are you expecting this christmas weekend in terms of movie theatergoers? >> amy, we expect a very strong weekend. in addition to "spider-man" which has had tremendous response from consumers across the country, actually around the world, there's also some other great movies. so we expect millions of people to be in our theater over the weekend and for the next ten days. i mean literally the ten days after christmas are the most popular moviegoing times of the entire year. >> it's certainly a family excursion that we have enjoyed year after year after year. but what would you say to the people who have concerns? what is it going to look like? what is it going to be like being inside with others with this omicron variant spreading? what measures have you taken to make sure people stay safe? >> this goes back to the beginning of the entire virus. when we opened up, we were very

direct in terms of how we would respond to this. so we began a whole element called cinemark -- the cinemark standard and then the industry did cinemark safe and that's everything from airflow which is incredibly important and we made that pivot when the cdc came out with that so every one of our auditoriums has their own air-conditioning unit. we put in heavy duty hepa filters and have a very, very strong regimen in terms of everything is clean and spotless throughout the theater. all of our employees do a wellness check before they come on board. they're all wearing masks. we encourage all of our guests to wear masks. and, of course, we require it where any specific city, town or state require it. and we've been very, very effective over the course of the pandemic to ensure that we have an extremely safe environment. >> that's what you're doing. what would you suggest

moviegoers can do ahead of time or while they're in your theaters to protect themselves? >> i think what moviegoers can do is they can buy their tickets online. if they want concessions they can buy those online. we'll even deliver them to their seats if they choose to do it. they should obviously not come to the theater if they're not feeling well. so they should do their own health check and we would again highly encourage all guests to wear their masks the entire time that they're in the theater with the sole exception of when they're specifically eating or drinking, really not a lot different than an airline. however, the filtration system in a great big auditorium -- obviously we have the advantage of being in that great big auditorium so everybody is facing the same direction enjoying the movie and it's good for people who are feeling well to be able to get out and enjoy the film. >> mark, what movies are you going to see over the weekend? >> well, i've already -- i have already seen "spider-man" so that was wonderful and i've

already seen "west side story." i'm really looking forward to seeing "american underdog." it's a movie that doesn't get a lot of publicity right now. boy, the people who have seen it early just love it. i think that's going to be a very, very good film. also, you know, i just got to look forward to seeing "the matrix" as well. >> mark, thank you very much for being with us. happy holidays to you and yours. >> appreciate it. thank you. >> t.j.? >> "american under dog" is a great movie. we saw that and had kurt warner in the studio. mer "america strong," how communities in kentucky coming together after those tornadoes. stay with us here on "gma." "amew communities in kentucky coming together after those tornadoes. stay with us here on "gma."

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♪ i'm gon ♪ i'm gonna stand by you even in we're ♪ welcome back to "gma." we'll get right to our kenneth moton in mayfield, kentucky. good morning, kenneth. >> reporter: good morning, t.j. the country has been inspired by the hope and resiliency coming out of mayfield. i brought out the big guns. santa is here. i'm going to whisper because we have big surprises planned for a woman in particular. you probably see her in the yellow jacket. the woman, her name is sandra delk. everyone says you can count on her around here when it comes to the relief effort so we'll

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>> reporter: coming up, the bachelorette and her fiance -- yes, she got engaged -- are joining us live. plus, the no looking bac

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>> this is abc 7 news. >> a look at your wet commute. >> good morning everyone. we are going to start with the maps and what to point out a pop -- problem spots. it roadway flooding is going to be before westbound 980. it has been an issue. check out the visibility. what was most disturbing was how hard it was to see. >> it was definitely a difficult morning. tomorrow is probably going to be worse for those who are going to be out and about. we are one with the steady rain. here's a look at future radar.

you can see as we have throughout the day, there it is. tomorrow we are a two and again on monday. >> thank you. coming up helping rebuild kentucky after those devastating tornadoes. someday you'll catch the perfect wave. with an average of $550 worth of benefits to enjoy during your stay at fine hotels & resorts properties,

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good morning, america. it's good morning, america. it's 8:00 a.m. omicron spreading at an alarming rate. president biden issuing a stark winter warning but insisting the country is not going backwards. >> we're prepared. we know more. we just have to stay focused. >> while demand for testing is skyrocketing and hospitals bracing for a surge of patients. benzene product recall. companies across the country pulling popular products off the shelves because of the cancer-causing chemical. what you need to know about potential exposure. christmas shipping crunch. the clock is ticking. there's just three days left. what to know if you still haven't shipped your gifts to make sure they get to their destination on time. ♪ oh, my god ♪

cookies, cookies, cookies! we can't get enough cookies. our 12 days of christmas cookies keeps getting more delicious. instagram star dan pelosi joins us with his diamond cookie recipe. ♪ baby you're a firework ♪ nothing but nayte. after her emotional breakup with brandon, bachelorette michelle finally getting her happily ever after. >> it's better nayte than never. i'm the happiest guy in the world right now. ♪ i get knocked down ♪ and "america strong." less than two weeks after those devastating tornadoes tore through america's heartland we are live from kentucky and two hard hit but resilient communities, the communities keeping hope alive. >> we are -- >> all: kentucky strong. >> coming together to pick up the pieces. this morning the big surprises to help them build as we say good morning, america. ♪ good morning, america. this morning we are live in two kentucky towns both devastated

by powerful tornadoes 12 days ago. it was the deadliest tornado outbreak in the u.s. in more than a decade. >> and the communities there are working together to rebuild. neighbors helping neighbors. heroes like this woman in mayfield working tirelessly to get people what they need. you'll hear her story coming up and we've got an incredible surprise planned for her. you will not want to miss that. >> looking forward to checking in with zohreen and kenneth. they're our correspondents on the ground there. first, let's get to some news this morning starting with the fight against covid. with cases of the omicron variant spreading across the country, want to check back in with our trevor ault outside a testing center in new york with the very latest. hello again. >> reporter: good morning, again, t.j. the line for testing right now, it's around the corner here all the way down the block and around that corner. this has become a common site at testing facilities but overnight city md announced they will temporarily shut down some locations because of staffing concerns. their workers are vulnerable to omicron too and with this incredible testing demand the

number of cases has truly skyrocketed. this morning as the biden administration prepares to ship out 500 million covid tests, demand for testing has already skyrocketed. often stranding americans in hours long lines. >> that's just a pure supply problem we're banging into. >> reporter: new york city will now open even more testing sites as cases there have climbed 640% in the past month. walmart is lowering its cap on how many at home tests customers can buy online citing limited inventory and extremely high demand. the cdc is now reporting models suggest the number of new cases from the coming omicron surge could top the highs we saw in previous waves and this new wave could peak as early as january. cdc director rochelle walensky speaking with t.j. this morning. >> we estimate that about 73% of cases now are omicron and that's up to 90% in some areas of the country.

what is happening here in the united states is marrying what we've seen in other countries that had omicron before us. it's moving quickly. the doubling times of this virus are very fast around two days and that's really the reason for action right now. the reason for the president to announce all that we are doing, that we are increase surge capacity in hospitals to provide them support so that we can be there should they need that support. we're increasing access to testing so that it's both accessible and free and we're making sure that people have capacity to do more vaccinations and more boosting because we know how critically important that is. >> reporter: now it is very possible that omicron is more mild than previous variants of covid-19. that would be welcome news if it's confirmed but health experts still warn we could see so many cases, particularly among the unvaccinated that it could still overwhelm our hospitals. amy? >> all right, trevor ault, thank you for that. shifting now to the holiday

week that we're in and if you haven't shipped your gifts yet, well, what are you waiting for? lucky for you we have becky worley back with the drop dead shipping deadlines, plus last-minute shopping strategies, it's hard to believe the deadline hasn't come and gone yet but we are t-minus three days till christmas. if santa is not your shipper what are your options? >> reporter: well, amy, it is still possible to have packages delivered by christmas eve. it's pricey, but for today you can still ship u.p.s. second day air and it's the last day of amazon prime free two-day delivery. now, tomorrow we are in the rate structure i call an arm and a leg. it is very pricey, but u.p.s. next day air, fedex, one day air, usps, priority mail express, those are all options and get this, friday, christmas eve, if you're desperate there are same day options from fedex and amazon depending on the delivery location and at that point you are in the arm and a leg rate structure and throw in a wing and a prayer while you're at it, okay?

>> we'll do that. last-minute shopping in stores. i just realized last night that i am a couple gifts short so i'm going to be one of those people, you know, cramming into these stores. covid on all of our minds. what are some tips for people trying to avoid some of those crowds but also need to get those gifts? >> reporter: buy online, pick up in store is a great option. pick up curbside is an even better way to go. that really minimizes exposure to other people and it minimizes your wait time. finally you'll pay a little pore but you can get items delivered from local sources from shipt from instacart, it's not just for groceries and uber now has lots of options, small business deliveries or sending things to a person, you know, you send something to them. it's a service they call uber connect. you could have an artson gift delivered, send homemade cookies to a friend across town. that's all for a flat fee available nationwide so i know, we all just got to get that one last present, right?

>> i like how you did that. i will be taking those tips to heart today. thank you very much, becky. >> reporter: you got it. >> will? >> useful tips there, amy. how do you like your coffee? maybe milk, sugar or oat milk, maybe black? the answer to that question might be hidden in your dna. that's according to a recent study published in "scientific reports" that suggests people whose genes predispose them to metabolize caffeine quickly prefer their coffee black but the researchers say that it might be more mind over matter because people who say the effects of caffeine wear off quickly associate black coffee with a strong caffeine boost. the study also suggests people who are sensitive to caffeine like their coffee lighter and sweeter. so there you go. >> how about you? >> splash of oat milk or something like that. >> all right. drinking it black. you don't drink coffee. >> my tea is black tea. >> there you go.

copi coming up, the chemical causing so many recalls. what is benzene and how dangerous is it? also this morning, michelle met her match on "the bachelorette" now engaged to nayte. there they are. ring finger where the rock is and the happy couple joining us for their first live tv interview. coming up, kentucky strong. the hometown heros helping their communities recover from those devastating tornadoes and we have a big surprise for the folks there and we'll check in with our correspondents on the ground. stay with us on "gma." we are right back. ♪ even if we can't find heaven i'll walk through hell with you ♪ can't find heaven i'll walk through hell with you ♪ so if there's a better treatment than warfarin that's a trail i want to take. eliquis. eliquis reduces stroke risk better than warfarin. and has less major bleeding than warfarin. eliquis has both. don't stop taking eliquis without talking to your doctor as this may increase your risk of stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. while taking, you may bruise more easily or take longer for bleeding to stop.

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you ♪ welcome back to "gma," everybody, on this wednesday morning. you're taking a look at some hometown heros in the states hit hard by deadly tornados on december 10th. that outbreak and people are coming together "america strong" to help each other and start to rebuild. we'll meet some of them coming up. >> that's right. tomorrow on "gma," david archuleta. remember that name from "american idol"? bringing us a special performance in time for christmas. now to our "gma" cover story, that emotional ending for "the bachelorette." a rose and an engagement for michelle and nayte but also some heartbreak along the way and we'll talk with the happy couple you see right there live in just a moment but first context from that big three-hour finale. >> the very first night i met you i knew right then and there. >> reporter: michelle young searched for love and coming to a dramatic conclusion. >> will you marry me? >> reporter: giving her final rose to the man she gave her

first rose to. >> yes, of course. >> reporter: 30 men vying for the bachelorette but it was nothing but nayte. >> it's better nathan never. >> reporter: but michelle's family questioned his readiness for marriage. >> i am very ready to get down on one knee. >> do you feel like he's ready for engagement? >> to be honest, no. i think that's kind of why i was trying to push for how are you really feeling, and i wasn't really feeling that. >> reporter: while brandon won over her parents. >> it would be so lovely to have brandon in our family. >> reporter: torn between the two, she made that heartbreaking decision. the newly engaged couple reunited on stage ready to start their next chapter together. >> i'm the happiest guy in the world right now. >> we are joined now by michelle and her new fiance nayte olukoya. there they are. congratulations. how are you guys doing?

>> ooh, i mean, we're still kind of on an emotional high and we're excited and everything, but this has been crazy. >> yeah, no, on top of the world really. >> well, i'm glad you're on top of the world but it was a bit of a journey to get to the top of that world. michelle, you said on the show you were in love with both of your top two, brandon and nayte. and i wonder what was it that drove you ultimately to nayte, your new fiance. >> i never thought i'd be in a situation where i would be in love with two different people but this position that you put yourself in, that's something that's likely to happen. but with nayte he just was the person that i could not imagine living without and the way we connected on so many different levels, it's where my heart was guiding me and i definitely made the right choice. >> well, that's great. nayte, you had said you'd never been in love before "the bachelorette" and now here you

are engaged to i would think the love of your life. how does that feel and what was that experience like for you. >> the experience was, you know, i think anybody who's ever fallen in love, i mean that's the experience that they are going to hold on to for the rest of your life and i feel very lucky that, you know, the first person that i fell in love with is going to be the person that i spend the rest of my life with. >> that is very lucky. now, michele, we saw your friends and family had some mixed feelings about nayte. your friends loved him but mom, your mom wasn't so easy to convince. where do things stand now as nayte fits into your world? >> i mean, my mom and nayte, i feel like they text back and forth more frequently than my mom and i do at this point but falling in love and experiencing those feelings for the first time and doing it in front of america to see and like it's a lot.

it's a lot to be vulnerable in front of these cameras and producers and the show and so it takes a minute to open up but nayte never stopped challenging himself to do that and definitely have seen a very vulnerable side of him now that the cameras are put away. >> now that the cameras are put away you're on the next phase of this love journey. we've seen couples, they stay together and some couples that don't quite make it. so what do you think will be the key both of you for making this love last? >> i think every relationship has a different key ingredient in order to make it through. our biggest thing has to truly not stop communicating and that doesn't mean you have the perfect line of communication that first time but there are going to be some hard moments and especially with him, he has to watch or had to watch me fall in love with another person and that's not easy either. so to just not stop

communicating to constantly have this open line of communication where we can work through things and not letting go. >> yes, not letting go and it really is communication. i mean, right after the engagement how everything played out with falling in love with two different individuals and, you know, ever since that engagement really it's been nonstop openness, nonstop communication, always, you know, just speaking our minds, speaking our hearts so we can be able to power through. >> well congratulations to you both. we're so happy for you. thanks for joining us this morning and best of luck. amy? >> will, thank you. turning now to a wave of recent recalls from deodorants to hand sanitizer and now procter & gamble and certain dry shampoos, the products all pulled due to the presence of high levels of benzene. abc news medical contributor and emergency physician dr. darien sutton joins us now with the

details. good morning to you, dr. sutton. a lot are asking what is benzene and why would it be in products we use every day in the first place? >> great question. good morning, amy. so it's not clear why we're seeing an increase in the rate of these benzene containing products. the investigators seem to believe it might be due to the manufacturing process and cross contamination. for example, in this statement they were able to explain that there were unexpected levels of benzene from the propellant that sprays the product out of the can. what's good is regulators were able to identify the problem quickly and notify the public in a really early form. >> as we mentioned, several recalls have taken place and the companies who have made those recalls say they're doing it out of an abundance of caution. what is the real risk to consumers right now? >> benzene is a chemical that belongs to a family of chemicals called hydro carbons that unfortunately can cause harm in terms of heart problems, lung problems, brain problems and can often be found in things like

dyes, cigarettes and plastics, exposure to benzene can cause long-term symptoms but usually requires toxic levels and that was not found in these but long-term exposure can increase one's risk of leukemia. that's a real big concern. >> it is hard to get through all of the scientific jargon. what's your best advice for consumers out there when it comes to handling any of these products that may have benzene in it? >> first off, get rid of it. what the fda is recommending is that if you notice that your product is on this list to make sure you discard of it appropriately and if you're curious if your product is on a list, check on the fda website. those who might be exposed are most often those would work in manufacturing settings so definitely checking and making sure your work environment is safe. >> good to know. all very important advice, dr. darien sutton, thank you, as always. we head over to ginger now. >> reporter: amy. and we want to give a big shoutout to the students at the western kentucky university and dr. josh dirke, the university meteorologist there in bowling

green. so dr. dirke has a student-run management service. of course, with the latest outbreak they were forecasting it and responding to it helping their community immediately jumping in and worked with the national weather service for days afterwards and now 12 days after the storm some of the students are still working researching and helping their resilient towns. so a major thank you to the white squirrel weather students. i was part of my student storm chasing team at valparaiso.

♪ i'm gonna stand by you ♪ this morning we are celebrating stories of resilience in the wake of those devastating tornados. bowling green, kentucky, was one of the towns hit particularly hard and our zohreen shah is there with how the town is working to recover. zohreen, good morning to you. >> reporter: hey, good morning, t.j. i'm standing in the middle of all this debris and destruction that this tornado left behind. but, look, i've been out here the last few days. what really resonates is the spirit of this community. you are looking at some of the incredible people who immediately jumped into action. take a look. it was a night of terror and tragedy. a path of devastating twisters tore through america's heartland. more than 60 confirmed tornadoes ripping across nine states killing at least 93 people. one supercell thunderstorm tracking over 350 miles spawning

an ef-4 tornado that devastated the town of mayfield on the ground for 163 miles in kentucky, becoming the longest continuous tornado track on record in the state. here in bowling green, kentucky, an ef-3 tornado ripped flew this neighborhood splintering homes, overturning vehicles and killing 17 people throughout this county. in the aftermath the need was dire, but the support overwhelming. donations pouring in from all across the country. >> the sense of pride that we have in kentucky and bowling green and you'll see all over bg strong because we are literally standing together in this moment and taking care of each other. >> reporter: from clothes, shelter and food, neighbors helping neighbors pick up the pieces. >> we are here. we're going to deliver food to people who are in need. >> reporter: food truck owner patrick mckinney doing what he can to feed his community

supported by organizations like the lee initiative that helped serve 32,000 meals to date. >> it's not a choice of why we're doing what we're doing. there's still people out here that need help and have to be fed. >> reporter: at jennings creek elementary principal jamie woosley and his staff jumping into action. >> right after the tornado, you guys turned these buses into emergency vehicles. >> yes, yes, ma'am. we just got on the buses and went out to the community and started knocking on doors and said, hey, you need to come in. we got food, heat. let us help you out. >> reporter: what they saw when they arrived still haunts teacher anna horne. >> we saw complete roofs missing from houses. then you would walk a little further and there would be nothing but piles of lumber like matchsticks. >> reporter: the school transforming into a temporary shelter for 100 families in need. >> we opened up a daycare and

families would bring their kids in and we've had mental health counselors there so we try to give them a little bit of normalcy. >> reporter: now teachers and staff are working to bring a little christmas cheer to uplift their bruised, but not broken, beloved community. >> the people here have been literally love in action. i've never seen so much support from a community. >> reporter: you heard anna, love in action. well, these are some of the people who immediately jumped into action. we have the mayor of bowling green along with one of the principals of the school. mayor, i want to bring you into the conversation. you said it takes a lot of time and effort to rebuild this community. what else do you specifically need? >> what we are feeling right now is the resiliency and revival of our community. they have come out in ways that we never imagined. we are mourning with those that are lost, but we are forged with fire and we responded with love. that community fills that love. we're grateful to the love that has been given to us.

>> reporter: takes a lot of love. takes a lot of effort. a community, maybe even some money, though, right, you guys. we reached out to our friends over at truist bank and take a look at this. $50,000. that is what they are pledging to you guys. it's a lot of money. principal jamie, i want to bring you in the conversation right here. >> what does this mean to you? what do you hope to do with all of this? >> help our community. you know, if you look around wae we've got to build back. we got to get our families back in home, take care of their needs and this will go a long, long way. we want to thank everybody. >> reporter: it will go a long way. these guys are so incredible. they say anything they don't use here, anything they don't need they want to pass it on to everyone else in kentucky. guys? >> all right, zohreen, thank you. we'll continue to check in on kentucky this morning. stay with us.

>> building a better bay area. this is abc7 news. kumasi: good morning. a look at traffic. >> good morning. a slick and slow commute. our camera showing a look at the bay bridge. we have fog in the area and raindrops on the camera. under the limit into san francisco. you can see things are moving on the westbound side of the san mateo bridge, but we have seen a number of issues on the bridge itself, especially the midspan, so be aware of ponding water. >>

>> bay area life's a very newer christmas is on the way. 9:00 on abc7. >> it looks like the holidays are here with the rain. the steadier rain becoming intermittent now, except for at higher elevations and at the coast. it will actually maybe even taper during the afternoon, but that is splitting hairs. tonight, heavier rain coming in. we will bump it up from a one to

two after our temperatures reach the mid-50's to 60's. snow levels drop to 3500 ♪ i'm gonna stand by ♪ even if we're breaking down ♪ welcome back to "gma." we are celebrating american resilience this morning and take a look at these images. they all show people coming together to help communities ravaged by deadly tornadoes just 12 days ago. >> of course, a whole lot of work still needs to be done. a lot of people need help still. one of the towns hardest hit, mayfield, kentucky. houses there ripped off their foundations. you've been hearing so much about that candle factory as well. it was destroyed. at least ten people killed there. also the town has been reduced to rubble. but what remains, the community. the people lifting each other up and lending a hand and let's check in with kenneth moton who was there to focus on this community this morning. kenneth, hello.

>> reporter: good morning, t.j. you know, community is everything around here. the community really have stepped up. just stacks of supplies behind me here because we are in the heart of the relief efforts her grounds. around here, there's one woman who is leading the charge. she is in charge. everyone knows her. she does not know that we are here for her. her name is sandy delk. let's go get her. she's in that yellow jacket behind me here. hey, sandy, sandy delk. it's "good morning america." >> hello. >> "gma" is here. sandy, get out here. sandy. she doesn't know we're here for her. sandy, come on, come on. >> hey, hey, hey. >> "gma" is here. >> good morning. good to see you. >> thank you, thank you. >> come on, come on, come on. sandy, i know that you think we are here to talk about how and to cover how this community is really pulling together after those devastating tornadoes. come on, come on, come on.

she's like a little shy, everybody. stay right there. stay right there. >> got you. >> we're here to cover that, but we're also here to celebrate you. look at all these people here, come on, guys. >> oh, my gosh. >> look at this. wait a minute. this wasn't supposed to happen. oh, my gosh. >> we are here and, look, all of these volunteers or friends are here to honor you and -- j.j. and kristen helped us pull this off. they know how hard you have been working and now we want to show and share your story with america. take a look right here. >> oh, my gosh. >> reporter: after a tornado ravaged the small town of mayfield, kentucky, hope seemed to be lost. >> it was heavy. you know, it was hard to take in the devastation. >> reporter: the people who make up the small town are not ones to give up. hundreds of locals reaching out on facebook to help their neighbors finding hope among the rubble, one writing, my door is open to help. another offering food and warmth

saying my house is open. please don't go without heat. and then there's sandy delk who runs the fairgrounds in mayfield one of the few buildings left standing after the devastation. >> it's almost like a miracle our building was still there. it's on the north side of town where the tornado just went from downtown out and destroyed things but our building is still there. >> reporter: the town of mayfield using the fairgrounds as the donation hub leading rlief efforts. facilitating it all, miss sandy. >> when you go to places like this, usually the person in charge is somebody that has a title, right? it's a director of so and so, head of a nonprofit, someone in government. when i got to learn about sandy, i found out she just works at the fairgrounds. she doesn't have a title but she's the person that everybody looked to for guidance in the middle of chaos. >> reporter: donations have been pouring into the facility and no matter the time day or night,

sandy is right there to make sure people get what they need. >> she had actually slept in her car to not leave it at night and that is so typical of what sandra does. rather than go home and take care of her own family, slept in her car at the fairgrounds to guard the things that people have brought here to take care of our citizens. if that's not inspiring, i don't know what is. >> hey, how y'all doing? >> how are you? >> all right, all right, you take care. >> reporter: that dedication is helping thousands of mayfield locals get clothing, food, supplies and a little bit of love. and that can make all the difference. >> she's less than five feet tall, but i look up to her. it's like she's ten feet tall to me. >> thank you, sandra, for your dedication to this community. >> sandy, i love you very much. >> thank you for giving us a little bit of hope in a terrible time. >> i love you. >> everybody, give it up for sandy. [ cheers and applause ]

so look at that. look at that. >> thank you. >> i know you got so emotional watching that. >> i did. i'm really trying to hold it in because like i said i'm an ugly crier and once i start i can't stop and it's amazing. it's amazing. this is amazing. >> sandy, everybody knows your yellow jacket. also we know that -- everyone knows if you need anything around here, you call sandy. like that's a thing. call sandy, right? if you need anything, call sandy which means everyone has your personal number. >> yes, yes, it's out there. >> well, our friends at visible, the all wireless all digital wireless carrier owned by verizon says they want to give you a more business phone for when people call sandy, right? so here is your iphone 13. >> oh, my gosh. >> so you can take all of those calls. probably thinking, now i got another bill to pay, right? no, visible is providing not

one, not two, but ten years of service included. how about that? [ applause ] that's going to come in handy, right? >> oh, yeah, oh, yeah. >> all the hugs this morning. guess what? we're not alone. we have all these people here but have the mayor of mayfield, mayor kathy o'nan, come in here. mayor, thank you for having us here and having "gma." look, i want to say personally it has been so inspirational to watch you represent your community during this devastating time. you've lost people in your community but also fought for them as you represent them and we want to say our hat's off to you as well. >> thank you. >> thank you so much. what could really help you all right now as you try to get on that road to rebuilding? >> we are so blessed by what has come our way. there's no words to describe what has come to mayfield, kentucky, and western kentucky but what we will need going forward is money to help people build their homes. we have so many people who don't

know where they're going and we want to keep them here. we want them to come back. if they've gone to a shelter out a little bit, we want them to come back. we are a tight-knit community. i know if you've been here at all you know how much we love each other and we may squabble over a lot of things but when times get tough by golly we're right here together and so -- especially just at the immediate right now. it's christmas. somebody had to tell me what day christmas is. it's this week, i know. so the spirit of christmas is here but you can't ever have enough. >> you're right. >> that's what we are hoping for during these next few days. >> as you work on rebuilding, you're going to need some wood, right? >> we are going to need a lot of lumber. i hear it's pretty expensive. >> it is but we got some for you. 84 lumber right behind us here is delivering a truckload of lumber. you know, not just one but we're giving you three truckloads of lumber from 84 lumber. >> oh, my gosh.

>> you know what, i'm just santa's little helper this morning. we got the big guy. he is also here and 84 lumber wants to give you something else, anna, the volunteer who has the big check. $100,000. donated by 84 lumber to help in the rebuilding effort. >> can you believe this? oh, my gosh. >> this check is heavy, y'all. it's heavy. it is all yours. it is all yours, what do you think about this right here? $100,000. >> we can't express. i don't know what to say. i mean, wonderful. fantastic. >> that's going to do a lot. >> they're santa. they're santa right now. >> you know santa is here and i know you have said you want to make sure the next generation sees mayfield. >> yes, yes. >> how does this all make you feel? >> it makes me feel humble and blessed and just so thankful. so thankful that people all over the country have come to our rescue is what it comes down to.

they've come to our rescue. >> you know what, i know it feels like we're done, but guess what? we're not done. santa, santa, everybody say santa is here, right? santa, show us what else you got. santa, open that truck, santa. open the truck. open the truck. everybody, come on. come on, yeah. open that truck. that's right. mattel is donating more than a thousand toys for kids impacted by the tornadoes and our tory johnson's "deals & steals" is pitching in another 2,000 gifts for families in need here in mayfield. christmas isn't canceled. you said you wanted to make sure christmas isn't canceled. christmas is not canceled. >> no, it's not. no it's not, oh, my gosh. i don't know what to say but -- i don't know what to say. i love you. i just love you. >> reporter: guys, i'm getting all the hugs here because christmas is not canceled in

mayfield. >> i want to tell you something, sandra is a talker so when she doesn't know what to say -- >> yeah, exactly. when i don't know what to say it's bad. >> well, you got a phone. everybody will be calling sandy. you got some phone calls to take. hope right here in the town of mayfield. you guys have inspired a nation. we just want to say thank you so much for allowing us to come here and give you big checks, toys. merry christmas, everybody. thank you all. >> thank you. >> reporter: guys, this is incredible. i love it. >> oh, sandy, sandy is a talker, a crier and a hugger apparently. >> we love her. that was awesome. >> so wonderful and the mayor there as well who has just been exemplary and so strong throughout the whole disaster. good to see her there. >> so telling they didn't even know what day christmas was so immersed in relief efforts getting people what they need. it's so lovely and incredibly inspirational to see them get >> christmas not canceled. all right. thanks to our kenneth moton.

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influencers and food bloggers, dan pelosi. dan, good morning. thank you for being here and as with all of our 12 days of christmas cookies, each person's cookie is inspired by a movie or a show. what is yours this morning? >> mine is "the family stone" which is absolutely my favorite hole day movies. it has laughs, don't need anything else from a movie. i love it so much. and my cookie is a diamond cookie which really is inspired by the crux of the movie which is an engagement ring which is an heirloom, thus the family stone. so these cookies have those lovely sugar crystals which makes them shine bright like a diamond. i'm excited to make them. >> they're really beautiful. it all begins with a super simple dough. tell us how to get started.

>> absolutely. so you're going to take your food processor and take two sticks of whole butter which we love. who can remember to take their butter out and powdered sugar and salt and whirl it around until it forms a ball then you'll add two cups of sugar and vanilla, give it a few more pulses until it comes together. it will be a crumbly dough but so, so simple. >> you said it's simple also to change up the flavor on this thing if you want to. >> yes, absolutely. so if you replace one of these two cups with a quarter of a cup of chocolate cocoa powder you can make a chocolate dough which we love. so easy to make and absolutely delicious. >> it looks absolutely delicious. i need to jump in there and eat some of these cookies, but i understand that there's -- the most important part of this is making it shine bright like a diamond. this is "the family stone" after all. how do we do that? >> we'll take our dough and it's a bit of a crumbly dough and put it on parchment paper and form it into a log. i like to use the parchment

paper to do that so you roll it around, you get it into a nice log and then what you'll do is put this in the fridge for two hours overnight. i've done mine overnight. i'll swap it out and what i'm going to do is unwrap the log and then i'm going to brush it with some egg whites, so you brush the whole log of dough with egg whites on all sides and then you get it nice and shiny with some gorgeous sprinkles and so you want these to go along all three sides of the cookie dough log and you can use the parchment to get you there and bring it up on and then what you'll do is start slicing it into about half inch slices and it's just could not be easier. >> that looks -- well, it tastes

amazing too as my mouth is full. then you put it in the oven. what's the next step to finish the product? and this is amazing by the way. >> okay, so this is my favorite trick. so, you know parchment paper loves to roll up, so what i like to do and it's a little bit of suppress relief. i take my parchment paper and roll it up in a ball and then you make it nice and flat on your tray and then you take your disc and place it on the tray and bake it for 15 to 20 minutes at 350 and they are so buttery, delicious and perfect with coffee just like sybil likes in "the family stone." >> i'm always losing the battle of parchment paper. really good trick. get this recipe on our website, goodmorningamerica.com and you can scan that qr code and as always you can check out dan's cooking adventures on instagram. he is @grossipelosi. worth a follow. thank you so much. now we go to ginger. >> reporter: thanks, will. i need to get to christmas cookies. we have not started yet.

how about we look at santa skiing in steam boats boats b colorado. they've had 75 inches of snow. it's been an up and down deal, october they got a lot then melted and got more. they will be one of the spots with a white christmas. not a lot of we will be right back. don't go anywhere.

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♪ ♪ joy to the world on a night like no other ♪ ♪ emmanuel god is with us ♪ ♪ beggars and kings let us come and adore him ♪ ♪ rest in his peace and bow before him ♪ ♪ sing all you people the lord almighty reigns ♪ ♪ sing every creature of god come bless his name ♪ ♪ for he is good for he is good ♪

♪ he was born to conquer the grave, light of the world ♪ ♪ the reason for christmas day ♪ ♪ from the mountains we will shout it out for our lord almighty ♪ ♪ he is with us, he is with us now for the lord ♪ ♪ sing all you people the lord almighty reigns ♪ ♪ sing every creature of god ♪

♪ come bless his name for he is good, for he is good ♪ ♪ he was born to conquer the grave, light of the world ♪ ♪ the reason for christmas day ♪ ♪ sing all you people the lord almighty reigns ♪ ♪ sing every creature of god come bless his name ♪ ♪ for he is good, for he is good he was born to conquer the grave ♪ ♪ light of the world the reason for christmas day ♪ ♪

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in hollywood, this would be the end. but our here, we are just getting started. introducing the all-new nissan frontier. a big thanks to chris tomlin for that incredible performance. also a thank you to our crew in kentucky for a very hug-filled and tear-filled morning there. a hopeful one. that was fantastic and scan the qr code on your screen and help out with the disney toy drive and have a great day.

announcer: building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions. this is abc7 news. kumasi: good morning. let's take a look at traffic. jobina: you can see we have a lot of gen but we have a slow spot in oakland because of roadway flooding on southbound 880, before 980. and check it out, this should be a live camera of the bay bridge, but the fog has moved in. >> there is no escaping it. sure, we will have some dry patches, but it will be soggy. you can see a decrease in the intensity as we start to transition over towards the intermittent rain outside of the higher elevations and coast. today it is a one, but tomorrow

it will be wintering again. reggie: time for "live with kelly and ryan." kelly and ryan." eja vu: get comfy and join us for live with kelly and ryan: a very new york christmas! today, a holiday classic song performed by international superstar josh groban, and some of your favorite celebrities share holiday gratitude, including kevin hart, victoria beckham, and anthony anderson. sit back and enjoy a very special choir comprised of first responders. our friend steve patterson hits the streets in search of new york city's must-see holiday sights. plus, the amazing, legendary rockettes are here to perform. and we'll announce the winner of our deck the homes holiday contest. all next on live: a very new york christmas! [triumphant holiday music] ♪