many engagement photos as possible. in fact, they're already thinking ahead next year , we are plotting for 7 to 10 small plots throughout the county. and while maybe this was not a problem, the county would have preferred to inherit at least the love of nature and colorado's beauty can be shared by even more now. thank you to jason gruenauer and jim walsh from denver7 in c america this morning, they have a deal. the tentative agreement to end the five month hollywood writers strike and what it means for your favorite shows. commuter alert. >> the remnants of tropical storm ophelia impacting the morning commute for millions. the flooding, the damage and the power outages as biden trailing trump. >> the new poll showing big trouble for the democrats. what's behind the president's sinking approval? plus what trump is now urging republicans to do as the clock ticks down to

a potential government shutdown . >> an abc news exclusive. the man at the center of this riverside brawl in alabama tells his story. what he says happened before that crowd came after him. >> later, the reality tv show causing controversy with full nudity and taylor swift cheering on kansas city chiefs star travis kelce sitting next to kelsey's mom at the game. >> but it's the post game video everyone's talking about now. from abc news in new york. >> this is america this morning . >> good monday morning, everyone. >> i'm rhiannon ally and i'm andrew dymburt. we begin with the breaking news overnight. finally after five months, a deal to potentially end the writers strike in hollywood. but your favorite shows won't be returning just yet. >> i don't know. this morning they have a deal. >> my phone is blowing up with joy. people thanking each other. people that are so excited that

they're going out right now after 146 days, the writers guild has reached a tentative agreement with studios to end the historic strike that has paralyzed hollywood and shut down production since may. >> the wga negotiating committee writing to its members, we can say with great pride that this deal is exceptional, with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership. the three year contract still needs to be legally finalized before a vote by writers guild leadership is expected as early as tomorrow. once approved, the contract will be sent to union members for a ratify vote. >> i know they would not have told us the tentative deal was reached and told us that picketing is suspended. if it wasn't exemplary. >> the wga reportedly made progress on some of the most contentious issues, including viewership, residual payments for writers and minimum staffing guarantees on shows. once the deal is ratified. late night and

daytime talk shows will return within days. but it will still take weeks to write scripts for narrative shows and even longer for those shows to enter production stronger. and the actors represented by sag-aftra need to agree on a contract before they can get back in front of the camera. in a statement, sag-aftra confirmed tabulated the writers union on their contract, saying, while we look forward to reviewing the wga and the amped tpp's tentative agreement, we remain committed to achieving the necessary terms for our members. all this comes as hollywood suffers through the worst box office weekend so far this year . >> do you read now, what is this ? >> it's classified. >> the fourth entry in the expendables series flopping this weekend, making just $8 million and no movie managed to clear $10 million in ticket sales. >> although the wga has suspended picketing writers are not returning to work until authorized by the guild. >> as for the other big strike in the news, president biden

says he'll join autoworkers on the picket line in michigan tomorrow. the union has reported some progress with ford perhaps more hopeful now that canadian auto workers have ratified a deal with the company, but talks with gm and stellantis are apparently still at a standstill. and now to the weather. a very wet, potentially dangerous morning commute for millions today. millions of americans remain on alert for heavy rain and damaging winds as the remnants of ophelia batter the east coast two days after it was downgraded from a tropical storm. forecasters warn southern new england could get three inches of rain through this morning, leading to flash floods. ophelia made landfall in north carolina saturday with 70 mile per hour winds dumping more than eight inches of rain in some areas. drone video shows the town of washington, north carolina, underwater over the boardwalk below nearly impassable to see after ophelia delivered a five foot storm surge. we've got a lot more water than we expected from a tropical storm in the city of

greenville. a police officer rescued this dog after it was tied up and surrounded by the rising floodwater. the storm knocked out power to thousands of customers as it expanded, dumping nearly five inches of rain in parts of virginia and flooding beach communities in new jersey, including atlantic city. >> as long as it doesn't get in my garage. sandy made it in my garage, destroyed everything. but i don't think this is going to get that high. >> meanwhile, authorities in pennsylvania are investigating if the weather played a role in this home explosion. the house was evacuated hours earlier during the storm when a tree fell nearby, causing a natural gas leak. a separate system will trigger severe storms in the plains over the next couple of days. we'll check your full forecast in just a few moments. >> the mayor of el paso, texas, says the crisis at the border is approaching. a breaking point with the number of migrants crossing from mexico at near record highs. us border officials say their mexican counterparts have agreed to increase deportations, but human smugglers still appear to have

the upper hand, a top us official says smugglers sent a group of migrants to eagle pass, texas in part to divert law enforcement attention from other illegal activity and drug smuggling. the bottom line agents can't keep up in terms of flow and the threats that we're seeing with fentanyl and with criminal organizations that that are our adversary. >> it's about as bad as i've ever seen it. >> how sustainable is this your ability to respond to this amount of people at the border? >> this isn't sustainable. this is a up and down the system. everybody is overwhelmed today, el paso city council will vote on whether to buy a vacant middle school to use as a shelter for migrants. >> in washington, troubling news for president biden. a new poll shows him trailing donald trump in a head to head matchup. voters are not happy with the economy and things could get worse if the government shuts down later this week, impacting the paychecks of millions of federal workers. as abc's faith abubey is here now with more faith. good morning.

>> good morning to you, andrew. to polls for the 2024 election were released yesterday and one of them stands out as especially bad for democrats this morning. democrats are reacting to an abc news washington post poll that shows former president trump with a near double digit lead over president biden. i don't believe democrats should be sitting in a panic room. oh look, after all, democrats have won and places like new hampshire or a district that donald trump carried this democrat won by six points in a hypothetical general election match up. the poll found trump leading biden 51 to 42. experts say several factors may be at play, including biden's poor performance ratings, concerns about the economy and the crisis on the southern border. >> whether you believe that or not, look, there's a good chance that there's people just trying to send a message in the polling right now, given the other frustration we've seen, regardless the weaknesses that we are seeing for joe biden and his approval rating across the board are very real. they are

alarming to democrats. >> meanwhile, a poll released yesterday by nbc shows biden and trump in a dead heat at 46. but that poll also found trump expanding his lead over the republican primary field, including over chris christie, by more than 40 points. i know you all spent a whole lot of money on national polls, so i don't i don't mean to go after the polling folks, but the fact is that national polls don't matter. >> we don't have a national primary. >> it comes as trump seemingly endorses a government shutdown. congress needs to reach an agreement on spending bills before october 1st in order to keep the federal government operating. but a group of republican hardliners are refusing to budge on several issues, including spending cuts. they insist their demands be met before they offer support to speaker kevin mccarthy. last night, trump posted this message to his supporters in the house, quote, unless you get everything, shut it down. but republican congressman mike turner is expressing confidence in mccarthy.

>> well, this is very difficult. you know, i'll bet on on kevin mccarthy any day. >> and we certainly have time yet to go, but he's in a very difficult position. >> and rhiannon, if the government shuts down millions of federal workers will face a delay in getting their paychecks. rhiannon we'll all be watching. >> faith thank you for that new jersey senator bob menendez is expected to hold a news conference today as he faces more calls to resign. an it comes after his indictment on bribery and other charges. pennsylvania was. john fetterman is the first senate democrat to call for his resignation. menendez over the weekend claimed some people are, quote, rushing to judge a latino. >> nasa hopes a spacecraft that just returned to earth will shed light on how our solar system came to life. the capsule touched down yesterday in the utah desert, carrying a piece of an asteroid believed to be more than 4 billion years old. that's older than earth. scientists hope the sample will provide clues on how the planets formed . and this has never happened before. >> and we may be able to unlock some really, really important clues to where we came from.

>> so get this the spacecraft's journey took more than seven years. the samples are expected to arrive at the johnson space center in houston by tomorrow. >> it is time now for a look at your monday weather. morning. >> tropical rain storm ophelia moving off shore as we head throughout your monday. so, yes , we are trying to get rid of the rain, but it's still a wet, dreary and cool time. and unfortunately, this storm doesn't go very far offshore. so with high pressure in control across new england, there's going to be a battle between the dry air and the pressure gradient. strong winds means more dreary weather for some. philippe, though, thankfully not a factor in the atlantic. for accuweather, i'm melissa constanza >> reaction to the big announcement about the super bowl halftime show. >> but first, the major city declaring an emergency over its drinking water supply. the threat and what's being done

about it. >> and an abc news exclusive. the man at the center of this brawl in alabama tells his story. for the first time

what was going on this morning on gma. >> now to an abc news exclusive. >> the man attacked during last month's brawl on the riverfront in montgomery, alabama. speaking out, a group of men pushed and punched damian pickett, a riverboat captain, after he tried to move a boat out of the ship's designated spot. black witnesses jumped in to help him for white voters were charged with misdemeanor assault. they've pleaded not guilty. pickett tells our robin roberts he was just doing his job. what exactly were they saying to you at this time? >> just some nasty words, cuss words. they don't like violence and alcohol involved. they got beers in their hands while they're on the dock. so i would

try my best to ignore it later on. >> good morning america here from pickett's friends who helped him, including the teenager who jumped in the water swimming to the scene. >> a major american city has declared an emergency over a looming threat to its water supply, all because of the mississippi river and drought conditions. abc's derrick dennis reports on the potential crisis in new orleans and southern louisiana this morning. >> an emergency declaration over the threat of salt water entering the water supply in southern louisiana. >> we are monitoring the situation and we're being proactive. we're applying best practices and lessons learned from the past. the problem is drought drying up part of the mississippi, allowing salt water from the gulf of mexico to flow north. >> that saltwater could then inadvertently get pumped out of the mississippi and into water treatment plants. the water in plaquemines parish, south of new orleans, has already been impacted for months. louisiana's governor and the mayor of new

orleans now trying to calm residents fears, urging them not to panic, buy bottled water in case you're going to have salt water in our water. >> yeah, i don't even want to think about it. >> you hear how kids are breaking out in rashes and my kids are very sensitive. >> so honestly, i'm sucking up more to bathe them once solution involves raising an underwater levee to block the salt in the meantime, some residents are trying to come up with solutions of their own. >> they've been researching reverse osmosis filtering systems that you can connect on to your showerheads, on to your underneath your your sink to make sure that you get purified or clean water. >> louisiana's governor is now appealing for federal help. officials are bringing in 15 million gallons of fresh water for affected residents. they say any homes affected by the salt water intrusion will be notified in advance. rhiannon andrew derek, thank you for that. >> coming up next, the reality tv show that's causing a lot of controversy with full nudity. >> but first, the miami dolphins score a near record 70 points in

one game. so why didn't they go? for the record, the coach for the record, the coach explains. ♪ when you have chronic kidney disease... there are places you'd like to be. like here. and here. not so much here. if you have chronic kidney disease, farxiga can help you keep living life. ♪ farxiga ♪ and farxiga reduces the risk of kidney failure, which can lead to dialysis. farxiga can cause serious side effects including dehydration, urinary tract or genital yeast infections in women and men, and low blood sugar. ketoacidosis is a serious side effect that may lead to death. a rare life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this bacterial infection, an allergic reaction, or ketoacidosis. farxiga can help you keep living life.

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disappearance of natalee holloway claims he and his dad rented a boat and, quote, took care of things. two days after she vanished in 2005. that is according to a newly revealed email that was obtained by the messenger, which is a florida news outlet. joran van der sloot has never been charged with holloway's death, but he is now facing federal charges in the us, accused of lying about her whereabouts and extorting money from her parents. his trial has been delayed until december to give his lawyers more time to prepare. >> it was a jam packed weekend, so let's go to football. utter domination. but the miami dolphins stopped short before making history. it was a party for the ages in miami and they're dancing early in south florida. the dolphins crushing the denver broncos 7220, scoring ten touchdowns, and one of the most lopsided victories in nfl history, the fins delivering the pain on the ground. oh, look at the move. >> dazzling display. >> touchdown!

>> miami and through the air and down and goal. >> oh look at that shovel pass ancient breaks a tackle and dives for six plays almost as impressive as the celebrations. >> and they'll dance their way to a 34 to 10 lead quarterback tua tagovailoa, who considered retired after suffering multiple concussions last season, leading the conga line. the dolphins scored the third most points in league history and they had a chance to break the all time record of 72. but instead of a late field goal attempt, coach mike mcdaniel let the clock run out. chasing a record. >> that's not what we came to the game to do. the message that i thought it would send wasn't really in line with how i view things. we're not trying to go out there and humiliate teams, but humiliate them. >> they did. the defeat, the largest in broncos history. >> that was embarrassing and tough to watch right now. >> what are the emotions like going through your head

personally? >> it's tired of losing man. i've been here for seven years and all i've done is lost. >> coach mcdaniel also said it would be bad karma to go. for the record, just to go for it. meanwhile, tua tagovailoa was perfect in the first half, completing all 16 of his passes and running back. davon cheyne finished the game with 203 rushing yards. >> amazing. here is another amazing performance. this time it's a world record. ethiopian runner tigist assefa shattered the women's marathon record yesterday, finishing the berlin marathon. get this, in just under two hours and 12. five minutes. yes, that is incredible. and that is also more than two minutes faster than the old record, which if you've ever ran, you know, two minutes is a long time. the 29 year old said she thought she could break the record, but she didn't think she could do it by that much. >> you know, some nfl teams that could use some speedy wide receivers there, you never know. all right. coming up, the growing trend at children's

birthday parties. >> but first, what we're learning about taylor swift at the chiefs game. look at her cheering, cheering for travis kelce, an and we'll show you the kelce, an and we'll show you the post game video ah morning. the golden hour of cold and flu symptoms. i'm feeling better. cough? congestion? all in one and done with new mucinex kickstart. aaaaah! ah! hated that. headache? better. ah! fever? body pain? better now. aaaaah! new mucinex kickstart gives all in one and done relief with a morning jolt of instant cooling sensation. it's not cold and flu season. it's comeback season. depend keeps you drier than ever... so you can say yes to more than ever. yes. yes. yes. no. depend, the only thing stronger than us, is you. once in a lifetime is never enough. never enough! ♪ love and happiness ♪

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point, she even used a bad word to celebrate when kelsey scored. quarterback patrick mahomes after the game, said he felt some pressure to get kelsey a score since he knew taylor swift was in the house. >> well, he answered that call because he got a touchdown. and here's the postgame video, by the way, that everybody's talking about, swift and kelsey. now not holding hands. maybe she was too stunned by his outfit. also, another nfl stadium, that's taylor swift was out this sold out. all right. next, usher preparing for the world's biggest stage. the r&b star will headline the super bowl halftime show. >> i'm so excited for this. usher has sold 80 million records worldwide with nine number one hits. he briefly appeared during a halftime show in 2011 with the black eyed peas . but he says he's always wanted to headline the big game. >> that was 13 minutes mean everything you've been on my bucket list for a long time. yeah, i've been asked many times like what are the benchmarks? obviously performing, but being able to perform on that stage because so many amazing performers throughout the years

have have graced it like to really be able to savor this moment. you remember the first time you ever heard your record play on the radio. you remember the first time you ever heard your voice. yes. you know, on a on a format or a radio. right. this is like one of those. yes >> some fans showed excitement saying usher has been a favorite for decades. but another person commented asking the nfl, do you have something against rock fans? next, the dating show that's not safe for work. >> hbo max stunned fans in the uk by adding a show called naked attraction. contestants stand fully nude in front of a potential date. who eliminates each contestant after critiquing their bodies? when two contestants remain the chooser strips out of their own clothes , giving the contestants the opportunity to criticize them. buzzfeed called it utterly stupid. who would agree to do that show? apparently some people. next, what's being called a trend at children's birthday parties, no gifts. >> slate magazine says more parents are throwing parties and asking people not to bring presents. the reasons include reducing clutter, helping the

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