have them, you should give it up. i think it will be o good morning, america. breaking news. wildfire emergency. fast-moving flames explode in colorado, forcing thousands to flee. >> i have people there that need to be evacuated that are unable to do so themselves. >> panicked families escaping this chuck e. cheese, customers running from stores, overwhelmed by smoke and embers. a hospital evacuated and hundreds of homes destroyed. >> god help us. >> dry conditions and hurricane-force wind gusts fueling the fire. the december inferno seen from above. the mayor of a town completely evacuated joins us, and we're live on the scene. travel chaos from coast to coast. more than 1,000 flights canceled already this morning for the seventh straight day, luggage building up at hard-hit sea-tac airport. the faa now warning there could

be worse to come as more air traffic controllers test positive, and that new urgent cdc warning about getting on cruise ships. new year's surge. covid cases hitting a record for the third straight day, hospitalizations doubling since early november. >> it's the worst we've ever seen it. >> cities cancelling new year's events. times square's celebration scaled back. the big news on vaccines and teens this morning, and now, a glimmer of hope on omicron for the new year. royal trouble? what ghislaine maxwell's conviction could mean for prince andrew now facing a high-stakes hearing in the sexual assault lawsuit against him from one of jeffrey epstein's alleged victims and his future in the royal family. major reversal. this morning, the governor stepping in reducing the prison sentence for the truck driver given 110 years in that deadly crash. what he's now saying after the massive public outcry. tiger mauling. terrifying body cam video of the

man bitten by a big cat after allegedly reaching into its zoo enclosure, calling 911 himself. >> i'm being attacked by a tiger. please, please, please. >> why he could face criminal charges. ♪ it ain't no lie, baby, bye, bye, bye ♪ and it's no lie. we're ready to say “bye, bye, bye” to 2021. the new year kicking off with fireworks around the world and fireworks on the gridiron with the two biggest college football games of the year on tap. we're live from the top of times square where the ball is just hours from dropping. ♪ girl, you're more than welcome to ♪ ♪ so give me one good reason come on ♪ like the way i hit that note. >> ain't no lie. >> bye, bye, bye. that was a little rough. i apologize for that. good morning, america. and happy new year's eve, everyone. excited to be here with janai norman, gio benitez. we have a lot to cover but already the new year is under way in new zealand.

here's a look at some of the celebrations this morning. >> aw, soon enough. i'm not going to make it to midnight tonight, you guys, but we are closing out the year with a very busy morning here including that surge of covid cases. the u.s. setting yet another record overnight. >> yeah, and americans are coming home from the holidays facing more trouble at the airports, even more cancellations this morning and a new warning that it could get a lot worse. >> we'll have a lot more coming up on that. we begin with the wildfire disaster in colorado. hundreds of homes destroyed by the fast-moving flames, now the most destructive fire in the state ever. tens of thousands forced to evacuate. will carr is live on the scene with the latest. will, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, whit. hundreds of homes a target, even a hotel, all gone this morning destroyed by a stunningly fast fire that was moving with hurricane-force winds, gusts up to 115 miles an hour, strong enough and surround this

community and gave residents here little time to get out. overnight, the governor declaring a state of emergency here in colorado as fast-moving wildfires leave behind an apocalyptic trail of destruction burning down hundreds of homes. >> structure is in imminent danger. people refusing to evacuate. >> reporter: fires forcing mandatory evacuations for entire towns. >> you can smell the smoke and there's a lot of ash blowing. >> i have people there that need to be evacuated that are unable to do so themselves. >> reporter: residents in superior and louisville located near boulder pouring the contents of their lives into their cars rushing to escape the furious flames aided by wind gusts up to 115 miles per hour. >> that whole west side of louisville is completely smoked out. you cannot see anything. >> knowing that the fire is only blocks away and you really could never see those family photos again, that part was harder than even just seeing the devastation.

>> reporter: panic breaking out inside this chuck e. cheese packed with kids as fire raced toward the building. >> we really started to see the sky turn dark and we sensed that there was a pretty bad fire, but we didn't know that there was an intense fire right beside us. >> reporter: jason fletcher and his wife heidi inside with their family recording the chaos. >> i can't get this door open. whoo! >> we're locked in. >> we're locked in. >> it's okay. it's okay. >> when we got into the car our faces were covered in black ash and debris, and we had masks on, and it was in our mouths. >> reporter: on highways, big rigs flipped on their sides. the conditions so bad, hospitals forced to evacuate patients. >> i have never experienced anything like this. every neighborhood around us was in flames.

>> reporter: at least one first responder and six others injured in the fires. this morning, tens of thousands of people are still under evacuation waiting to come back to see what's left here. a lot of people are asking what caused this fire. at this point it's believed that downed power lines create all this devastation, whit. >> all right, will, thank you. joining us now is the mayor of superior, colorado, clint folsom. good morning. thanks for being with us. that town i want to start with, forced to evacuate. you yourself had to evacuate from your own home. some 13,000 people, almost no time to gather belongings. before they had to run for safety. what's the latest on the ground right now? >> when i left the town last night at around 10:00, it was still on fire and it is a very grave situation there. i spent a couple of hours yesterday driving around in the afternoon with the sheriff's office and town manager just

making an assessment of the situation there on the ground, and it's grave. it's nothing like i would have ever imagined would have happened. >> you call it a grave situation. any reports of injuries, fatalities or people unaccounted for in your community? >> you know, not as of yet but i -- i have a feeling that, just given the speed with which this moved through, the law enforcement agencies from all around our area quickly came into town to assist our sheriff's office to get people to evacuate, but, you know, at the end of the day it's up to people to heed that advice and to get out and there are literally hundreds of homes that hopee havein a matter of minut fataties i don't have any reports on that yet, but i'm fearful of what we might find in the days and -- days afterwards here.

>> you noted those ded, some 600 that we're aware of in superior alone. the fire sweeping through so quickly, wind gusts reported above 100 miles per hour. describe the scene as it was happening and can you give us a sense of the devastation you're seeing this morning? >> you know, high wind events are not too unusual in colorado in the front range, really all across the state in the -- particularly in the winter months, but this was a wind like i've never seen and it's just rare that it will top 100 miles an hour in the area. and these were sustained winds and we've had an extraordinarily dry fall, well, dry summer and then dry fall and those two combinations were just the unperfect situation to create this disastrous situation. >> mayor folsom, our hearts go

out to the people in your town. we thank you for speaking with us this morning. >> thank you. >> janai, over to you. >> and we will be thinking about all of those impacted. and that extreme weather wasn't just in colorado. the new year starting with new storms and rob is tracking dangerous weather conditions. good morning. >> this is going to be an expansive storm that lasts today through tomorrow, so a true new your's holiday storm that's going to be high impact. we had tornadoes yesterday. here's one of four that hit georgia, some damage there, no injuries but certainly a canary in the coal mine. as far as what's going to come in the next coming days. flooding rains in california. more in the way of energy coming through that state. they'll get a little bit of a break but much of the action is in the intermountain west. 27 states under alerts. we have winter storm watches and warnings that stretch all the way into chicago now as you see this storm go into motion.

it gets into some warm air across the southeast so more in the way of severe weather tomorrow. i'm really nervous about tomorrow. memphis, nashville, atlanta could see a few tornadoes as the severe weather threat continues on and snow to the north. gio. >> some wild weather across the country on this new year's eve. rob, thank you so much. we turn to the nightmare that won't end. more than a thousand flights canceled for the seventh straight day and the faa is warning travelers of even more delays to come. abc's mireya villarreal is at dallas-fort worth airport. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, gio. i hate to be the bearer of bad news especially on a holiday weekend but the faa, the federal aviation administration, admitting this morning they are seeing a rise in covid cases in their own employees and that could also add to delays. i mean, we're talking about the people on the ground getting your airplane out of the airport, people like air traffic controllers. this morning, coast-to-coast travel chaos for the seventh straight day. more than a thousand flights canceled thanks in part to

surging covid cases and extreme weather in parts of the u.s. >> there's no guarantee i'm going to get out on saturday. >> reporter: for the third day in a row seattle's sea-tac airport reporting the most cancellations in the world, unclaimed luggage piling up in baggage claim. >> got to find my luggage. i don't know where my luggage is. >> reporter: alaska airlines greeting its customers with a caution of its staggering wait ties. >> unfortunately, we have experienced hundreds of flight cancellations over the past few days, which has created excessive wait times in upwards of 10 to 20 hours. >> reporter: other airlines just as overwhelmed. jetblue's ceo revealing to cnbc that employees' sick calls in some departments are running 200 to 300% above normal. >> things are likely to get worse before they get better. >> reporter: the trouble also growing at sea with the cdc raising the threat level and urging people to avoid cruise travel regardless of their vaccination status amid recent investigations into outbreaks now linked to more than 80

ships. industry officials calling the plans to take his cruise this weekend. >> people are ready to get out in the world and travel and if they're not going to take a cruise, then they're going to do something else. >> reporter: here are quick tips, if you're worried about your trip, contact the cruise line, ask them what their policies are right now, also, work with your credit card company and see what their policies are. they might be able to protect your money, give you a refund. work with the cruise line as well. last but not least check to see if you have trip insurance because then you can change or cancel your plans any time for no reason or any reason at all. whit. >> important tips with a busy travel weekend ahead, mireya, thank you. now to the battle over omicron. concern about large new year's eve celebrations, but there's also a reason to be hopeful as we close out the year.

trevor ault is live in times square which will host one of the largest celebrations. trevor, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, whit. from an empty times square this is what new year's was like all of last year. tonight there will be thousands of people on hand but there's going to be many precautions in places as this winter surge in infections is more than we've ever seen before. america closing out yet another year with covid-19 surging. the u.s. now averaging a staggering 316,000 new infections a day and hospitalizations while still lagging behind have doubled since november to 90,000 covid patients. >> it's the worst we've ever seen it. numbers are crazy. our staff is scared. i don't know that we have ever seen anything like this and i don't know that we will ever see anything like it again. >> reporter: health officials now warning against large indoor new year's celebrations in cities like san francisco and atlanta are scrapping their

planned events, but new york city is forging ahead, tonight hosting a scaled back crowd of 15,000 in times square. every person masked, vaccinated and outside with city cases skyrocketing to 74,000 a day, city workers have been hit hard. three subway lines suspended because of covid staffing shortages and 21% of the nypd has been out sick. >> we took proactive measures, management measures by canceling days off for police officers throughout the city. >> reporter: and this morning, major news on vaccines. a source telling abc news the fda is likely to authorize pfizer boosters for 12 to 15-year-olds as early as monday. the cdc now releasing a trio of studies reinforcing vaccines are safe and highly effective for children. one conducted when delta was dominant found among hospitalized 5 to 17-year-olds, fewer than 1% were fully vaxxed. and here in new york city, the

police commissioner says he's never seen so many officers out sick at once but insists they have more than enough to keep the city and times square safe tonight and as you can see they have already closed off the perimeter for the event. whit. >> they certainly have and, trevor, as we head into the new year dealing with the surge in omicron there is some hopeful news out of south africa. >> reporter: that's right, whit. so, as we know, south africa was hit by omicron a few weeks before the u.s. and officials there now say they seem to be past the peak of their surge already. their daily infections are half of what they were weeks ago and even more importantly it seems they never saw a major spike in deaths. it doesn't mean that we're necessarily going to see the same thing here but definitely a welcome sign. whit. >> that is for sure. trevor ault for us, thank you. gio. all right, whit, we turn to that tense phone call between president biden and vladimir putin as russian troops amass on the border with ukraine and terry moran is in washington now with the latest. terry, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, gio. during that tense 50-minute phone call vladimir putin issued the starkest warning any kremlin

leader has made to a u.s. president since the cold war telling joe biden point-blank if the u.s. imposes any new sanctions on russia over the ukraine crisis, it could lead to a, quote, complete rupture in relations between the two countries. biden again warning putin that there will be crippling u.s. sanctions if russia invades ukraine but the two leaders did agree to pursue high-level talks in europe next month. and today, a russian official in the kremlin said that russia was, quote, in principle satisfied with yesterday's conversation. a senior biden administration official telling reporters that the u.s. has not decided whether or not vladimir putin is serious about invading ukraine. right now, though, putin keeping his intentions murky. his options open. janai. >> terry, thank you so much. now to a huge weekend for college football. the two biggest games being played today, the college football playoff semifinals.

victor oquendo is live at the site of one of those near miami. victor, you've got a good assignment this morning. >> reporter: yes, i do. good morning, janai, from hard rock stadium, the site of tonight's orange bowl. we have michigan taking on georgia and let's start right there with the bulldogs. for so much of the season georgia looked like the best in the country until alabama routed them in the s.e.c. championship. if they win tonight they might get another shot at 'bama. michigan on the other hand unexpected but they stacked up some really impressive wins. tonight their toughest test yet but before that game, the cotton bowl in arlington, texas, alabama against cincinnati. alabama really no surprise, it's nick saban's team and this year, his quarterback bryce young just won the heisman trophy but don't count out the cincinnati bearcats. they just went undefeated in the regular season for the second year in a row and they could shock the football world with a win this afternoon. now, bowl season has been partly overshadowed by the pandemic and the omicron variant. a number of games have been canceled. so, keeping that in mind, there

is a new policy that would allow a team to advance to the national championship and even win it if an opponent were to have to forfeit because of covid. let's hope that doesn't happen. >> fingers crossed. i promise this blue and gold is not for michigan. victor, thank you so much. you can catch all of the excitement starting with the goodyear cotton bowl classic at 3:30 eastern followed by the capital one orange bowl at 7:30 eastern. all the action today on espn. >> looking forward to it. we are following a lot of other headlines this morning, including the fallout from ghislaine maxwell's conviction. what it may mean for prince andrew with a high-stakes hearing on his accuser's civil suit against him just days away. first, right back to rob. hey, rob. >> time for your weekend getaways now sponsored by subaru.

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so you scrub less. tackle grease wherever it shows up. scrub less. save more. with dawn. ♪ ♪ ♪ who cares what they're gonna say ♪ ♪ i wanna dance ♪ yes, welcome back to "gma" on this friday morning. that is j. lo rocking times square last new year's eve getting loud and we're getting ready to celebrate safely. emphasis on safely. we're going to pan all the way up. there's rob at the new year's eve ball in times square. we're going to check in with him in just a bit. >> i do wish we had a cutaway camera on gio. because his air drums are pretty solid. >> no better way than to start a block than with j.lo. first, the top headlines

we're following right now. a state of emergency in colorado. a wind-whipped inferno destroying hundreds of homes as well as businesses including a hotel. the fast-moving flames fueled by dry conditions and strong winds forcing thousands to flee. covid cases ending the year at levels we've never seen before, averaging more than 300,000 new cases per day. but more help is on the way in the fight against omicron. the fda is likely to authorize booster shots for 12 to 15-year-olds next week. and a stunning development in the case of that truck driver sentenced to 110 years in prison for a fatal 2019 crash that left four people dead in colorado. the governor reducing his sentence to ten years after a huge public outcry. much more on this coming up in our next hour. and powerball fever heating up. the jackpot growing to an even $500 million. it's been almost three months since the last big winner but the next drawing is tomorrow so someone may start the new year off right and a whole lot richer. >> oh, my goodness. >> half a billion dollars. we've got a whole lot more

ahead including that shocking body cam video of the zoo tiger mauling. that's all coming up. we want to turn to the royal fallout from the conviction of ghislaine maxwell. lawyers for britain's prince andrew due in court as he battles a lawsuit brought by an epstein accuser who is not part of the criminal case against maxwell. abc's james longman is live from buckingham palace. good morning, james. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, janai. ghislaine maxwell's conviction has turned the spotlight on the rich and powerful men for whom young girls were trafficked. prince andrew has always denied any involvement, but attention on him and his hearing which starts in just a few days. this morning, the aftershock from ghislaine maxwell's conviction felt far and wide. the 60-year-old found guilty of five federal charges. >> i just feel so grateful that the jury believed us and sent a strong message that perpetrators of sexual abuse and exploitation will be held accountable no matter how much power and privilege that they have.

>> reporter: attention now turning to maxwell's friend, prince andrew, who stands accused of sexual abuse in a separate civil suit in new york. virginia giuffre, seen here in a picture with the queen's son and maxwell in the background allegedly taken decades ago, accuses the royal of having sex with her on several occasions starting with when she was just 17. a claim the duke has always denied. >> i've said consistently and frequently that we never had any sort of sexual contact. >> reporter: a hearing for the case is set for tuesday. the prince's lawyers however are calling for the suit to be thrown out. giuffre's lawyer, the same counsel for annie farmer who testified in maxwell's trial, had this to say following the maxwell verdict. >> what you've seen here is a jury who took it upon themselves to believe in these victims, hear their voices and render a verdict that told the american public that regardless of power, privilege, whether you're a president or a prince, you will

be held accountable if you engage in sexual trafficking. >> reporter: the prince who's ninth in line to the british throne has long maintained his innocence including a 2019 bbc interview where he had this exchange regarding any possible interactions with his accuser. >> she was very specific about that night. she described dancing with you and you profusely sweating and that she went on to have -- >> there's a slight problem with the sweating because i have a peculiar medical condition which is that i don't sweat or i didn't sweat at the time. >> reporter: in the same interview he distanced himself from maxwell. >> if there are questions that ghislaine has to answer, that's her problem, i'm afraid. i'm not in a position to be able to comment one way or the other. >> reporter: but he's never denied their friendship saying she was his link to epstein. the two seen in this photo shown which according to "the telegraph" was taken at the queen's balmoral estate in scotland.

prince andrew has had no comment on the maxwell verdict. as for his own hearing his lawyers want that thrown out altogether on the grounds that giuffre is not a u.s. resident. janai? >> and our thanks to james. joining us is royal contributor robert jobson and abc news contributor channa lloyd. channa, i want to start with you. this week the prince's lawyer challenged the federal court's jurisdiction, they're claiming giuffre isn't legally a resident of the u.s. what happens if she loses on that question? >> if she loses on this question of jurisdiction, the case is actually dismissed and which means it cannot go any further on this particular action in this particular court. >> what happens if she wins on this issue? if sh, we n me the nextial which is the e gointoe phone requested frcu hsing >> robert, i want to bring you in. how big of a stain is this on the royal family's reputation?

>> well, i think it's huge. i mean, it's done an awful lot of damage over the last decade. it's been drip, drip, but the reality is the maxwell case has concluded with a conviction. you know, here in the past he said he was close to ghislaine maxwell. he described her as a friend. he tried to distance himself from epstein by saying he was ghislaine maxwell's plus one but now you have that photograph, that infamous photograph which has his accuser, virginia giuffre, and next to him a convicted sex trafficker behind him in his friend ghislaine maxwell so hugely damaging and the newspapers over here are beginning to stop this soft approach and "the times" has been very firm in saying he really does need to face the music and the royal family should cut him adrift but i can't see how they can do that. when he was born he was second in line to the throne. how do you cut the son of the queen adrift? >> robert, that's what i wanted

to ask. "the times of london" out with a very strongly worded editorial saying they need to cut him loose and let him face the american judicial system. what sense do you have of what the family is saying behind closed doors? >> well, i think the newspapers are beginning to turn against prince andrew. i think the feeling is over here is that he really has to face the music and the moment that he is dealing with a civil case and as has been described ahead of this is that that case has basically been running with his lawyers trying to have it thrown out on technical reasons that she's not a resident, at least the latest one. the fact is that is not good enough in terms of clearing your reputation and you have to actually face what these accusers are saying. these historic claims that have now led to a conviction of ghislaine maxwell are serious and horrendous crimes and i think it's no good prince andrew hiding behind his title, his

money, his wealth, and the royal family. he has to face the music. >> channa, i want to bring you back in. if this does continue would andrew be required to come to the u.s. for discovery? >> yes, he will actually be required to come for discovery, depositions, there are a number of things that he would be required to come and participate in in order to get this discovery process going and completed. >> and to you, robert, "the times of london" again not mincing words saying maxwell's conviction renders impossible any notion of the duke of york's return to public life. what do you think of that? >> absolutely right. i think that it's almost impossible for him to do that even now. it's the 40th anniversary of the falklands war coming up in which he played a heroic role as a helicopter pilot and wanted to be part of those commemorations. as well as part of the queen's

celebrations, and i see no way he can be involved in that whilst this is hanging over him. a stain upon himself and the monarchy until his name is cleared. even if the civil case goes in his favor, i still think the damage has already been done to his reputation and the royal family will want to keep him out of public life. >> robert and channa, thank you guys both so much for being with us this morning to weigh in on this. whit, over to you. coming up here on "gma," that awful tiger mauling. the new body cam video. why the maintenance worker could face criminal charges. huh. is that true? geico's been saving folks money for 85 years? yeah, that's right. wait — so if geico's 85, that makes you — are you asking if i'm 85 years old? i mean sea turtles live to 150, so...nn — i — i was not. do i look 85? what! no! you, you look young, fff...you...you, you look young for...however old you are. geico. saving people money for 85 years.

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we're back with that new body camera footage of that we're back with that new body camera footage of that maintenance worker mauled by a tiger. at a florida zoo. he is now in fair condition and could face criminal charges. abc's erielle reshef joins us with more. erielle, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, whit. authorities say their investigation is ongoing. experts say this tiger was provoked and this entire tragic situation could have been avoided. we do want to warn you these images are difficult to watch. this morning, newly released body camera video showing the frantic moments a member of a florida zoo cleaning crew is freed from the clamped jaws of a tiger. >> where are the tigers at? >> reporter: deputies racing to the tiger enclosure at this naples zoo after this 911 call. >> i'm being attacked by a tiger. please, please, please. >> reporter: discovering a horrifying scene. >> oh, my god. is that real? >> reporter: 26-year-old river

rosenquist pressed up against the fence, the rare 8-year-old malayan tiger named eko latched firmly to his arm. >> do you have a tranquilizer? >> reporter: heard begging for help telling them to shoot the tiger. deputies first trying with no luck to shake the cage and release him. they fire a single shot. the animal retreating, later a veterinarian examining eko finding he died from that gunshot. >> i had to shoot it. >> that deputy did the absolute right thing at the right time. there is no single animal life more important than a human life. >> reporter: rosenquist airlifted to the hospital. his arm bloodied. authorities say he entered an unauthorized area allegedly petting or feeding the tiger. both of which are strictly forbidden. >> it was a tiger defense. this was a tiger defense. it's a male tiger defending his territory. it was a tiger defense. not a tiger attack. >> he does his territorial calls a couple times a day. >> reporter: zoo officials say

the loss of the critically endangered tiger is tragic. >> less than 200 in the wild left. >> reporter: the zoo saying it appreciates the outpouring of support asking the public to respect its staff as they continue to process this difficult situation and to grieve. whit. >> just a terribly disturbing story. all right, erielle, thank you. gio. and coming up here, rob is at the new year's eve ball for our "play of the day". ♪ that tonight's gonna be a good night ♪ night ♪ night ♪ hello? gordon ramsay? this is a cold call!

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♪ ♪ i got a feeling ♪ yes, we do. back now with our "play of the day" from the iconic new year's eve ball in times square we're counting down to when the ball drops at midnight and rob is right there now to give us a behind-the-scenes preview. hey, rob. >> hey, gio, this is where it all goes down every year since 1907. the ball drops from times square. look at this beautiful crystal ball here. over 2,000 waterford crystals here lit up by over 32,000 l.e.d.s. it can change colors rapidly. within these crystals are 192 new ones that represents this year's theme, which is the gift of wisdom, all right, you see a little wheel in there and we ta that extend out from there. our knowledge is always growing. that's what they say here and this goes by a long list of other themes that we've had over the years so the gift of wisdom,

gio, my gift to you being the elder statesman compared to you young'uns. >> that's a beautiful gift, rob. thank you. we got to talk about it with covid and the omicron variant just surging across the country, what are the plans to keep people safe while they're celebrating? >> this is the second year we've scaled down this event. normally they have 58,000-plus visitors jamming times square. this year it's going to be 15,000. everyone is going to have to show proof of identification, of vaccination and wear a mask so we're scaling it down, but still doing it. ryan seacrest is going to be here with the gang and it's going to be one big party and i think -- i speak for many of us in that we're ready to say good-bye to 2021 and we'll do it in style right here, new year's rockin' eve happening at 8:00 right here on abc. looking forward to it, guys. >> there you go. we are happy to say, sayonara. rob, thanks so much. we'll check back in with you in the next half hour. coming up, how you can celebrate betty white turning 100. i bet you can guess, it's in our new year's edition of "binge this" coming up. >> do tell, rose. i bet you can guess, it's in our

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good morning, america. it's 8:00 a.m. wildfire emergency. the most destructive fire ever in colorado forcing thousands to flee. panicked families escaping this chuck e. cheese. customers running from stores, overwhelmed by smoke and embers. we're live on the scene. staggering surge. new covid cases hitting a record for the third straight day. hospitalizations doubling since early november and the new hope for the new year on boosters for younger teens. fashion fakeout. this model making waves online. >> if you have eyes you can see that i'm not that size. >> claiming she was often asked to, quote, wear a fat suit in plus size ads. what it says about the fashion industry's attitude towards women.

♪ that's what i like about you ♪ out with the old, in with the new. fashion trends you need to know for 2022 with twists on the classics and the new print replacing our beloved tie-dye trend. ♪ baby you're a firework ♪ before the ball drops on a new year we're ringing in 2022 in style. new year's entertainment you'll just love to binge plus, rob marciano checking in on the ball way above times square as he is saying -- >> good morning, america. ♪ baby, you're a firework, come on, let your colors burn ♪ ♪ make them go up ♪ should i switch it now? yes, now's the time. good morning, america, happy new year, everybody. you know what, our friends in australia, there they go, ringing in 2022 already down under. and while 2022 might seem like a freight train coming at us in the opposite direction coming in hot, we're going to be optimistic this morning looking forward to it closing out 2021 and excited to be with my good

friends, janai norman and gio benitez at the desk. >> i love that, optimism for 2022. >> glass half full. >> we are counting down to the countdown in times square. rob made his way up to the new year's eve ball there. who doesn't love a good holiday movie? two women were so inspired by the holiday they decided to do a real-life house swap between boston and england. we're going to hear from them coming up. first, a lot to cover this morning, and we do want to start with that wildfire emergency in colorado. hundreds of homes destroyed. will carr is there live with the latest developments for us once again. will, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, whit. this fire was pushed by stunningly fast winds. we're talking hurricane-force with 115-mile-per-hour gusts. strong enough to flip trucks like this over and surround tens of thousands of people with flames. overnight, the governor declaring a state of emergency here in colorado as fast-moving wildfires leave behind an apocalyptic trail of destruction burning down hundreds of home.

>> structure is in imminent danger. people refusing to evacuate. >> reporter: fires forcing mandatory evacuations for entire towns. >> you can smell the smoke. there is a lot of ash blowing. >> i have people there that need to be evacuated that are unable to do so themselves. >> reporter: residents in superior and louisville located near boulder, pouring the contents of their lives into their cars, rushing to escape the furious flames aided by wind gusts up to 115 miles per hour. >> that whole one side of louisville is completely smoked out. >> knowing that the fire is only blocks away and that it you really could never see those family photos again, that part was harder than even just seeing the devastation. >> reporter: panic breaking out inside this chuck e. cheese

packed with kids as fire raced towards the building. >> we sensed that there was a pretty bad fire but we didn't know that there was an intense fire right beside us. >> reporter: it was a terrifying day and this is still a volatile situation. at least 580 homes have been destroyed and we're expecting that number to go up through the course of the day and a lot of people are asking, what caused this fire? at this point it appears that downed power lines led to all this devastation. janai. >> and the last thing anyone would expect in the midst of the holidays. will, thank you so much. we're going to turn now to the surging covid cases ending the year at new high, but there is some good news this morning for younger teens. trevor ault is in times square with the latest. trevor, good morning again to you. >> reporter: good morning, again, janai. i don't mean to burst the bubble of optimism but we are ringing in the new year in the midst of a record-shattering surge in infections. 316,000 a day and hospitalizations while still lagging behind have doubled since november under the weight of all these new cases, but there's major news on vaccines,

a source tells abc the fda is likely to authorize pfizer boosters for 12 to 15-year-olds as early as monday. though right now more than half of children are still fully unvaccinated. for tonight many cities have outrighted scrapped their new year's plan but new york is pressing forward with a scaled-back event, 15,000 on hand outside, everybody masked, everybody vaccinated, but this year they can watch the ball drop here in times square. gio. >> all right, trevor, glad that they're still going to be able to see that ball drop. we're going to turn now to the major reversal in the case of the truck driver sentenced to 110 years in prison for his role in a 2019 crash that killed four people. that sentence now reduced to just ten years and abc's alex perez joins us now with more. alex, good morning. >> reporter: hey, good morning, gio. yeah, that change takes 100 years off of that sentence. many are crediting social media and the internet. now, 26-year-old truck driver rogel aguilera-mederos was sentenced to 110 years after a fiery crash that killed four back in 2019.

mederos maintains the incident was an accident and the brakes on his truck failed. a change.org petition to change the sentence got more than 5 million signatures. colorado's governor reduced the sentence to ten years saying in a statement, i believe you deserve clemency, you were sentenced for a tragic but unintentional act. mederos' attorney says they are forever grateful. the change means he will be eligible for parole in 2026, gio. >> there was so much public outcry. thank you so much. janai. coming up, the model claiming she's been asked to wear a fat suit when posing for plus size ads. we're looking into whether this is a trend happening behind the scenes. plus, the real-life holiday house swap inspired by the classic film "the holiday." and a special edition of "binge this" saying good-bye to the best of 2021 and hello to what's new in 2022. we'll be right back.

♪ bring it on home ♪ [music throughout] this year has been extremely challenging for me. i am broken. and i am healing. i'm here at the memorial wall. i wanted to do something to remember my mom. for some reason, i'm having anxiety. obviously it's normal with everything that's going on right now. i think i'm going to take a break for a while. you can get through it. and if you can get through it, there's a greater reward on the other side. just like anybody else, you know, i'm just trying to do my little part to try and save my community. ta-da! i'm just really excited we're back open. and i am smiling under my mask! incredible scenes on the day the fans came back. welcome back to the theater! you guys, it's been so long!

you're looking at yourself in the mirror, and you're just like, “there. i. am.” be your best. never, ever, ever stop dreaming. i don't care what they tell you. ...we the jury in the above entitled manner as to count three find the defendant guilty. i am proud to be asian. we are not drowning, we are fighting. we cannot keep quiet about climate injustice. no action is too small. we just have to band together as a community, and get people's lives back. my son. that even as we grieved, we grew. that even as we hurt, we hoped. that even as we tired, we tried. that we'll forever be tied together, victorious.

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if you're feeling anxious about the future, you're not alone. calhope offers free covid-19 emotional support. call 833-317-4673, or live chat at calhope.org today. call 833-317-4673, "good morning america." this is going to be great. i'm so excited. level up, level up ♪ welcome back to "gma" on this new year's eve. you heard it right there. ciara kicking off her new series "level up your life" surprising a young superfan that happens monday right here on "gma." in the meantime, we're going to level up "pop news" with janai norman. double duty again today. >> okay, i'll take the level up,

level up, level up, level up. we begin this morning with some music news and i have two words for you guys, timberlake and timbaland. oh, yes, those two have given us some amazing songs and won multiple grammys over the year. who could forget "sexyback." right. i'm bringing sexy back ♪ >> that duo might be reuniting for new music after timbaland posted a behind-the-scenes video in the studio with j.t. and "better days" singer and fans are going wild. and by fans i mean me. i am a fan. timbaland is helping to produce timberlake's upcoming album. it's not the first time they've teased a reunion. fingers crossed that some new music is on the horizon in the new year. and now jennifer garner's christmas was lit. literally. the actress posted a video to her instagram showing off her attempt to the making ina garten's beef bourguignon but with a little

too much brandy in the pot, check this out. >> i'm a little nervous. >> oops. garner captioning the video the smell of this perfect stew makes me feel happy, cozy and relaxed until i almost lit the kitchen on fire. ina would never. but, in fact, ina has. the barefoot contessa herself commenting writing, that's my favorite and i almost set the kitchen on fire every time. turns out it can happen to the best of us. we have a camera in ours and it totally caught me -- >> on fire? and my son was like, what happened? nothing, nothing. >> everything is fine. >> have to release that video. >> i will. i will. instagram. okay, finally this morning, a soccer play out of japan that would make coach ted lasso fans very proud. a high school soccer team from yokohama, japan, got a free penalty kick during a tournament game and they decided to use

ring around the rosie, right there, to confuse their opponents and it worked. they ended up winning the game, 4-2, but that clip, look at it right there, has cemented -- >> so great. >> -- them into the playbook hall of fame. after a twitter user posted it online. it wracked up 5 million views in less than 24 hours. it worked. >> i've played soccer my whole life. never before we have done the ring around the rosie free kick. it's on the list now. good stuff, janai. thank you so much. out to rob marciano out there at the beautiful ball ready to drop. what's going on, rob? >> well, a little marciano tradition is doing ring around the rosie at midnight on new year's eve. you may want to try that at home. tune in to new year's rockin' eve. the weather is going to be great actually. it's pretty mild out here and should be dry so relatively speaking for the, you know, smaller crowd it's going to be pretty good stuff.

all right, if you're celebrating elsewhere across the midsection of the country this new year's eve and new year's day storm ramping up. snow developing across colorado. stormy conditions across the midsouth. looking into the new year, that snow gets into omaha, then eventually into chicago by midday. kansas city could see some ice and flooding rain potentially across louisville and the ohio river valley. and big-time cold air coming in to start off your new year. houston into the 30s. time for a look at your local forecast. happy new year. for a look at y forecast. happy new year. now to our "gma" cover story.

one model making waves online claiming she's worn a fat suit while posing for plus size ads. abc's mona kosar abdi has the story and looking into whether this is happening behind the scenes more than we realize, mona, i didn't know that this was happening behind the scenes, good morning to you. >> reporter: janai, good morning. a lot of people didn't. karoline bjornelykke says she was hired by brands that carried sizes xl to 5xl, which she is not, but that didn't stop the brands from distorting her body and in turn creating unrealistic standards. in a tiktok video now with more than 400,000 views self-described plus size model karoline bjornelykke explains the lengths some models have to go. >> i'm a plus size model which means sometimes i work for these brands. typically carry size 44 and up. if you have eyes you can see i'm not that size, so how do we fix this? well, i have to bring something

called padding to work which basically is fat suit in pieces. >> reporter: she says this is done so the model's face still appears thin while her body is made to look larger than it actually is. >> which doesn't just create unrealistic standards but impossible ones. >> reporter: elizabeth taylor is a former plus size model and now runs her own swimwear line. she describes it as a sad industry secret saying, however, it doesn't happen as often as it used to. >> i even knew models who would drag this big bag like out of a movie with padding and go to castings and put on an entire fat suit so they could get the job. >> reporter: but she's offering a simple suggestion to combat this issue. >> just use real plus size women because there are so many gorgeous plus size women out there. >> reporter: despite issues in the fashion industry, taylor says there are some brands that are making strides and being more size inclusive. >> i encourage women to think about the next generation of women ahead of them and how the

more we can really drop into our bodies and love ourselves who we are in the moment right now, there's nothing like it and there's a freedom that i think is priceless. >> reporter: and she told abc news in a statement that she no longer takes those kind of jobs calling it unethical but made that video because plus size women deserve to know what goes on and the comments filled with people puzzled and also outraged. >> understandably so, mona, thank you so much, and a good point to just love yourself especially as we head into a new year. mona, thank you. gio, over to you. >> love that message, janai. as we raise a glass to ring in the new year tonight a lot of us will be toasting without alcohol. more and more people are saying good-bye to booze as part of a healthier lifestyle. take a look. move over, champagne and say hello to alcohol-free bubbly as people raise their glasses to usher in the new year, sprit-free drinks are taking over. it's all part of the growing sober curious movement where

people are ditching the decisional cocktails and opting for booze-free beverages. >> the pandemic shifted people in one of two directions. some people started drinking a lot more alcohol and some people started re-examining their habits and perhaps trying to drink less. >> reporter: "business insider" reports sales for nonalcoholic beverages increased 33% from last year. owner doug waters of spirited away, the first booze-free bottle store to open up in new york city decided to cash in on being alcohol-free. opening his store during the pandemic in 2020. >> there's been an increased enthusiasm for nonalcoholic alternatives. i was drinking a lot of these products at home on my own and i felt that they needed a place for others to come, explore and browse and discover these new options. >> reporter: and others are taking note. from los angeles to connecticut, these booze-free bottle shops have been popping up over the last year. an alternative to what doug says is a growing focus on health and wellness.

>> i think a lot of people are realizing that in terms of healthy habits you can eat healthier, you can exercise. this is one that gives you a lot of bang for the buck. cutting out alcohol results in a lot of improved feelings of health and wellness for very little effort expended. >> and, listen, going alcohol-free doesn't have to be boring. along with those alcohol-removed spirits you can also make mocktails, chef and owner of pig and cow, leah cohen is joining us with fun and delicious alcohol-free recipes. good morning. >> good morning, thank you for having me. >> absolutely. you've got an added reason to skip the alcohol this new year's eve. you're expecting a second child very, very soon. congratulations to you. tell us about this first drink, though. you call it a sweet and sour cilantro soda. >> yes, so i don't know if you love cilantro but i'm obsessed, and so this is actually a recipe we serve at pig and cow and

it's in my cookbook. let me grab some wine. all you have to do is make a lemongrass syrup, equal parts sugar and water and infuse some lemongrass in there and muddle some cilantro and then we're going to just top it off with some sparkling water and that's it. so it's really light and refreshing and if you love cilantro like i do you'll get addicted really quickly. >> gio's got it in hand here. taste test. >> oh, that's delicious. >> solid. all right. for the win, the first one, so we've also heard of a rosemary's baby but you've got rosemary's berry. what's in this drink? >> yes. so in this drink, it's all really about infusing simple syrup so i have a rosemary-infused simple syrup. again, equal parts sugar/water and just throw sprig leaves of rosemary in there and some lime juice and strawberries and then you just put some ice cubes in there and you shake it up and

then we're going to top it with some sparkling cider. if you don't want it as sweet i have kind of a sweet tooth, then you can just top it with sparkling water. >> okay. >> beautiful color and then you just pour it over and you can strain it or you don't have to strain it, it doesn't matter, whatever, i like it a little chunky and then we're going to top it with the sparkling cider. >> as you're topping that with the sparkling cider you've been talking about the different flavored syrups. how do you actually make those? >> so you just put water and sugar in a pot, equal parts then bring it to a boil till it becomes like a syrup consistency or the sugar dissolves and you also can infuse whatever flavors you want so if you want to do rosemary or lemongrass for the next drink we have this beautiful color tea which is a tea, a blue tea. you can get creative.

>> that's what i want to ask you about, this last one is pretty. when they're mocktail, no one judges if you have more than one. this is the purple pomegranate paradise and have the butterfly tea syrup. tell us again what is that. >> butterfly tea is a tea and it's caffeine free, really good for stress relief, and it just makes this really beautiful purple/pinkish color. >> that is amazing. leah, we're out of time. thank you so much. we've got all of those recipes on our website at goodmorningamerica.com. thank you, leah. cheers. all right, we do want to turn to a real-life holiday house swap. two women decided to swap homes just like cameron diaz and kate wince -- winslet in "the holiday." zohreen shah has that story. good morning. we all want to know what ended up happening here? >> reporter: hey, we'll get to that in just one second, whit. you guys were just talking about

the benefits of nonalcoholic drinks. okay, so one woman might say that a few glasses of wine actually gave her the courage to make a big social media post to go on a very fun adventure and it was all inspired by a christmas classic. >> becca green was just your average 20-year-old. >> reporter: most of us watch movies to escape but grace and flo actually plotted a real-life getaway inspired by the flick "the holiday." >> i'm here. >> i'm here. >> reporter: so three weeks ago 25-year-old grace who lives in boston took a cue from cameron diaz and kate winslet's characters to swap her home with someone else over the holiday season. >> home exchange. >> we switch houses. >> cars. >> everything. >> bingo. >> taking to tiktok to find the right person. >> i think i posted at like 9:30 on a tuesday night. put my phone on the charger. went to bed and woke up and i saw it just climbing and i got a lot of texts from my friends. >> reporter: thousands of dms poured in but one stood out.

>> i'm wondering if your house is available this christmas because if it is, you could be a real life saver. >> at the end i sent her a message if you are serious, then i'm sort of down for it and this would be really cool. >> reporter: just like in the movie her match came from overseas. flo patterson in the city of bath, 100 miles away from london near kate winslet's fictional home too. >> it was a huge draw for me and "bridgerton," that's definitely top of the list. >> reporter: the two agreeing to swap keys in person in england and hang out together for a few days before flo set off for the u.s. >> you know, we've been talking so much. it would have been kind of funny to just not see each other and be like ships passing in the night. now we have an even stronger rapport. >> reporter: the big reward so far, grace and flo have found each other. >> definitely a friendship has been developed through this.

it's amazing, not something either of us expected. >> reporter: okay, so friendship is great but this might have been what you were trying to get at, whit. have these two found love? that's what happened in the movie. okay, so not yet, but flo still has to come to boston but there's still two more weeks left, guys. >> there's still time and hope. all right, zohreen, thank you so much. with appreciate it. coming up here a special new year's edition of "binge this." stay with us. stay with us.

moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc 7 news. jobina: with a look at traffic. >> it's a holiday light out there, new year's eve. we are taking look at some drive times. if you're traveling the 80 corridor, you are looking at just over 30 minutes. it's looking great if you are coming in to the city. there. this pretty much depicts your drive all the way around the bay area today. it is holiday light. jobina:

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you can find us on abc7news.com. enjoy your morning. well, if you're sure, better be gryffindor. [ applause ] >> that's right. we're back with that iconic moment in wizarding history when the hat sent harry potter to gryffindor. the stars behind the franchise are reuniting. that's just the tip of the iceberg of what to watch this holiday weekend. this is our new year's decision of "binge this." let's get it going. the boy who lived is back. if you're looking for an escape this weekend try heading to our favorite school of witchcraft. daniel radcliffe, emma watson and rupert grint are catching up in "harry potter 20th anniversary: return to hogwarts" and it's streaming tomorrow on

hbo max and our old friends helena bonham carter and ralph fiennes are casting a spell, as well. so if you just can't wait for your ticket on the hogwarts express you can watch all of the original movies to prepare and don't forget your wand. >> oh. >> binge all the movies. >> have you seen all of them? >> absolutely. >> i've read most of the books with my daughters too. >> so good. so good. excited for that. and we are gearing up for a fond farewell. "black-ish" is entering its eighth and final season premiering right here on abc on tuesday. season after season anthony anderson, tracee ellis ross and the whole johnson family have kept audiences laughing and learning. you can catch up on all previous seasons on hulu right now and you can keep up with yara when "grown-ish" returns in january. >> love that show. we were bingeing that two days ago at my house. and there's no better way to kick off the new year than sinking your teeth into a great book so we asked zibby owens,

host of the podcast "moms don't have time to read books," for recommendations. check this out. >> 2021 had a lot of challenges but great books to help us cope. the first is mallory weggemann's "limitless." she is a paralympic gold medalist who was unintentionally paralyzed when an epidural went wrong, a story of survival and overcoming odds. michael tubbs is the youngest black mayor of stockton, california, and his book, "the deeper the roots" is absolutely amazing. you can make a huge difference, and finally, this book of essays, "these precious days" by ann patchett talks about friendship and loss and love and getting through the worst times. >> so i talked to zibby owens about a book that she edited, and she spends her time with her podcast talking to authors so she is certainly the go to for book recommendations. those seem great. in just a few weeks betty white, everybody loves her, entering triple digits. that's right.

the hollywood legend turning 100 years old and we're all invited to the party. "betty white: 100 years young, a birthday celebration" hits theaters for one night only, on january 17th, and in the meantime, you can honor the legendary centenarian by revisiting her favorite role as rose on "the golden girls" and her scene-stealing part as raunchy grandma'anny in "the proposal" and who better to dispense a little wisdom on aging than rose herself. take a look. >> my mother always used to say, the older you get the better you get unless you're a banana. >> love that. not unless you're a banana. >> yeah, exactly. and if you're looking for a throwback, well, as you wish, believe it or not, 2022 marks 35 years since "the princess bride" hit the big screen. captured our hearts. cary elwes, robin wright and mandy patinkin, they were all there for that swashbuckling adventure and timeless romance. is there any better way to

introduce the next generation to this classic -- inconceivable. >> that was so cool. mandy patinkin i know from "criminal minds." >> can you say it one more time? >> inconceivable. >> love it. perfect. >> nailed it. coming up, our fashion forecast. melissa garcia has the top trends in 2022. ♪ all

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♪ i got you ♪ we are back now on "gma" morning we're talking fashion. thankfully we have our very own fashion forecaster with us right now, lifestyle expert melissa garcia is going to tell us what trends are on the horizon. melissa, thank you so much for being here. happy new year's eve to you. >> thank you, happy new year to you too. >> of course, i know. when you look to next year in terms of fashion, what do you see? >> yes, yes, so one of the first trends we're seeing is fringe. we're seeing tons of fringe and fringe is a really fun trend, not the easiest to wear sometimes. so i love the idea of just really bringing it forward with a really fresh fun color as we are going to see here. here we have a beautiful ivory color tone, again, it's a bold statement fringe, so i love the idea of incorporating it with really sort of neutral color palettes like we have here with this ivory.

you can do it with grays, blacks, browns and, again, this one is really affordable, really fun and a great way to head into the new year. >> with the neutral color it makes it easier to incorporate that. our next look incorporates some sparkle, something we can expect to see a lot of in the coming year. tell us about the next model's look. >> yes, so, it's all about pearl embellishments this season. we're seeing tons of pearl. it's called pearl core and i love that as you can see we'll show on jen. she is wearing a sweatshirt that has pearl embellishments that completely changes the sweatshirt. a simple black sweatshirt is added by adding simple details of these beautiful regal pearls. if you want them to stand out put it on a darker color. it pops. it elevates her whole look. great outfit for new year's eve. >> it definitely pops on just a black sweater. takes it up a notch. level up. now to our next model rose is

showing off a new silhouette on a classic look. tell us how the suit is getting an overhaul for 2022. >> yes, so, i don't know how many ladies are going to love to hear this but it's all about the short skirt suit set so we're seeing tons of short skirts. it was on the chanel runway. it was on the dior runway. we're seeing lots of them. maybe not the most wearable trend so for the fall and winter i love pairing it with an opaque tight and it does make it a little more wearable and suits are great because you can break them up so you get a ton of bang for your buck so wear the blazer with jeans or the skirt with a turtleneck for fall and winter. a great look. this is from macy's and pulls together really well. >> this is hilarious, because i have been eyeing that suit on macy's website and may have to go with it. next up, tendrina is looking cool in crochet. how can we incorporate this into our wardrobe?

that's another one that could be tough. >> yes, so i love crochet. this isn't your grandmother's crochet, it's a really elevated crochet. in modern silhouettes from mango. it looks so gorgeous on tendrina. we think of it for the spring and summer which works so well but i love the idea of wearing it in the fall and winter. you can easily pair a lightweight turtleneck underneath to get coverage on your arms or, of course, you can always pair a jacket on top as well, but this is such a beautiful, fun, easy to wear trend. >> that really is and the idea of putting a turtleneck underneath, i like that. finally we have all loved tie-dye having a moment. it came back in a major way these last few years but you say it's time for a replacement. our model grace is showing that off. >> okay, i say that lightly. i don't think tie-dye is ever being fully replaced. i know our producer almost had a mild coronary when i told her that tie-dye had to go but it's not going away. if you wanted to make something feel more elevated you can try a different pattern and that's all

about the check print so we're seeing tons of checks in a modern check print is this window pane. an oversize one as you see on grace, this is a matching set so it really stands out. we have this statement set and if this is a little overwhelming, break it up. wear the top with a solid pair of boimans or vice versa. >> that's the best part, you get the top and bottom. thank you so much for being with us. we appreciate it as we look to fashion in 2022. now we go back to rob. >> thank you, janai. >> more on the new year's ball. >> yeah, it's time. tonight for the iconic ball drop in times square. all eyes will be on times square as we ring in 2022. with me now is jeff straus, a president of countdown entertainment all dolled up. great to see you again. it is all about the countdown, of course, the ball is lit. we're ready to go? >> absolutely. 2022 is going to be here real soon. >> you gave me some of this confetti that gets thrown at midnight but tell me, there is a

newer tradition that goes on with this confetti. >> well, yes, what we've been doing is when that ball drops and we're all counting down together the entire world, 2022 will light up and the sky fills here in times square with a blizzard of confetti filled with thousands of people's wishes. >> that's amazing. so you grab some confetti and maybe have somebody else's wish in your hand. >> every year my wife and i keep grabbing confetti until we get someone's wish and then we'll read it to us and we store it and save it for next year. >> that's terrific. this i think many are wishing for the same thing this year, for it to be better than 2021. >> absolutely. >> look, early in the broadcast i held up one of those crystals, the newer crystals, there's over 2,000. you replaced them this year with 192. where do the older ones go? >> they go down below the subway in times square in the crystal vault and we have crystal that dates all the way back to 1999. >> where is the vault or can you not say? which subway line. >> it's deep underneath 1 times square.

>> so the weather looks good tonight. obviously a smaller crowd. you anticipate any problems for the countdown? >> no, nypd, the mayor's office, d.o.t., they do an amazing job of keeping this event safe, friendly and fun. >> jeffrey, always great to see you. >> oh, my god, happy new year. >> happy new year wishes to everyone. you can watch dick clark's new year's rockin' eve with ryan seacrest 2022 at 8:00 here on abc. time for your local forecast. 8 abc. time for your local forecast. ♪ celebrate good times ♪ >> now i have to pick up all that confetti. bye-bye, 2021. we

- [announcer] the more we learn about covid-19, the more questions we have. the biggest question now, what's next? what will covid bring in six months, a year? if you're feeling anxious about the future, you're not alone. calhope offers free covid-19 emotional support. call 833-317-4673, or live chat at calhope.org today.

welcome back. "good morning america" is a huge team gathering in person and

virtually to bring you the show every single day. >> i love how you said that with a straight face with the hat on of the you're looking fresh, my man. of course, our team has done so much especially these past couple years through the pandemic. now here are the names of our team members who do all of this every day to get "gma" on the air. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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>> announcer: now with so much hope for a brighter tomorrow filled with sunshine it's time to -- >> "rise & shine." >> announcer: and we're celebrating traveling all across the country. >> "rise & shine." >> "rise & shine." >> announcer: so celebrate with abc's "good morning america's" great "rise & shine" tour. ♪ come on baby. before we go, folks, remember to tune in the alabama and cincinnati 3:30 eastern followed by michigan and georgia, 7:30 eastern, all the action today on espn. >> and how about a toast? >> yes, yes, yes. >> here's to a happy and healthy 2022. >> beautiful. cheers, cheers. >> much love in 2022. thank you for watching. have a great day and a happy and safe new year. we'll see you in 2022. >> that was loud. loud.

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moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc 7 news. jobina: good morning it. this is sue with a look at traffic. sue: it is friday at holiday light, new year's eve day. let's take a beautiful look outside at the 80 freeway. we do have an accident in the eastbound direction at powell. it looks like it's not locking things from this picture. 101 in redwood city, we have an accident near holly blocking one lane. lisa: it is gorgeous out there. the view is 35 on top of mount tam. the camera is shaking. it is a breezy, a chill in the air. it is 44 in morgan hill. the golden, look how clear it is.

we are still chilly with highs in the 50's. in the 50's. jobina: it is time it's "live with lly and ryan." today, marvel superhero kumail nanjiani, and from "my little pony: a new generation," actress vanessa hudgens. plus, you don't wanna miss the reunion ofel's lly. plus, you don't wanna miss the reunion all next on "live." and now here are kelly ripa and ryan seacrest. ...organic turkeys. you are an organic turkey. you're an organic turkey. [laughing] hey, deja, good morning. ♪♪ let's go, team. come on, team, let's go. big day today. whoo! - oh, hey! - all right. it's friday, december 31st, 2021. - this is it. - what are you doing here? - this is it. - shouldn't you be getting your diaper on to get to times square? well, i have to tell you, actually i brought a little show and tell in because,