dr. jennifer ashton joins us now with more on how to protect yourself. so, dr. ashton, what do we need to know about staying healthy and virus-free? >> listen, mary and dan, these are the three viruses i want to put on everyone's radar during the holiday season. common cold virus. influenza. and norovirus, the so-called stomach flu. that is a bad actor. hits hard and fast. will keep you in the bathroom for 12 to 24 hours. it can be difficult to tell the difference between the common cold and the flu. so take a look at these symptoms. with the flu in general, we tend to see high temperatures, severe headaches. body aches. coughs. we tend to think of those as symptoms that go full body and below the neck. the common cold, generally no temperature. sore throat. congestion, coughing, sneezing. symptoms above the neck. >> let's drill down on the flu for a second. what do we know about how bad this flu season is and how effective the vaccine may be? >> it's not looking good. the cdc puts out cases every week. we report them with about a one to two-week delay. as you sa

dr. ashton. always weighing in with useful advice. we appreciate it. merry christmas to you, dr. ashton. >> you, too, guys. >>> as we have mentioned, this is a busy weekend in the weather department for a whole lot of reasons. let's get it back to rob. >> i could use hand sanitizer being on this end of the desk. >>> good morning, everyone. i'm meteorologist chris sowers with this accuweather update. southern florida is about the only place in the entire country that's warm right now. first of several cold fronts swept through last night. temperatures are much cooler this morning. we're down into the 30s. yesterday we had a high of 61. today it's more like 44. tomorrow even though we're posting 39, wind chills will be in the teens and 20s all day long. then the deep freeze moves in. we'll go at least five or six days below freezing. liberally in order to keep the colds away. >> oh. >> ooh. >> the bromance continues. >> the love. >> it ends. >> rob and ron, i guarantee you you're going to be on the list. good list, right? not the naughty list. ♪ because santa's coming to town santa

dr. ashton. always weighing in with useful advice. we appreciate it. merry christmas to you, dr. ashton. >> you, too, guys. >>> as we have mentioned, this is a busy weekend in the weather department for a whole lot of reasons. let's get it back to >> i could use hand sanitizer being on this end of the desk. >> oh. >> wow. wow. >> oh, i did it again. >> oh. >> brutal. >> show you some videos. >> getting some purel. >> one of my favorite spots. spent six years in portland. made my trip to meadows and timberline. they got some fresh snow. 110 inches so far this year. their production team, the last two years, crushes it with the videos. hey, just up the road. chris mall mountain. the base of mt. ranier. you have 119 inches so far. so you're doing well. snow coming in, potentially to the lower valleys. portland, seattle. these are areas that don't get white christmas very often. seattle, if they get it, first time in nine years. portland may have a better chance even though typically they have a lesser chance. if you like the warm weather, go to florida. key west, i was just there wit

dr. ashton is back and tells us the dangers. to most people, i look like most people. pain is real. fibromyalgia is thought to be caused by overactive nerves. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. i'm glad my doctor prescribed lyrica. for some, lyrica delivers effective relief for moderate to even severe fibromyalgia pain. and improves function. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these new or worse depression, unusual changes in mood or behavior swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or blurry vision. common side effects: dizziness sleepiness, weight gain, swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who've had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. with less pain, i can do more with my family. talk to your doctor today. see if lyrica can help. whoooo. finding the best hotel price is now a safe bet. because trip

dr. jen ashton joins nk one sweetener is better than the other. natural ones.eward center similhe drug reward center and us want more. >> a lot of people think it is. very interesting. a medicalstandp happening our bodies when we eat them. >> sugar causes fat and that's empty calories. no nutrition and increases the insulin level that leads inflorida maths. this can damage blood vessels and all can do a lot of badings one increasing the risk of infection. sugar really not good for our waistlines, our cells, organs and blood vessels. >> eating some of these sugary thing, but what people don't realize all the drinks that have sugar. >> beverages is what i consider nging fruitt to reducel over your recommended -- >> eggnog hot cocoa. cider. >> let's in an average eggnog five teaspoons of sugar. there's no way you would ever put this into your drink, okay. >> but it's in there. >> in moderation okay. if you're being good the rest of the year you can have a couple of sips but if you do these every day you wiltrouble. >> if you do want to indulge in the holidays. >>

dr. jen ashton joins us from boston. hi there, dr.hrown at us our entire lives. what do you make of this? >> this was a big analysis that appeared in the journal of the american medical association. looked at 33 other studies of of aye drlts 50 years of age and older. 50,000 people took them compared them to both of those together and separately. found it did not if there does not appear to be a benefit, we have to question this used to be standard medical health and wellness advice. >> you see patients with osteo pro sis. what do you think is the important take away? >> when you talk about osteo pa ro sis which can affect almost every aging adult you have to get the calcium and vitamin d from food sources. leavy green, salmon, dairy. i recommend they get a weighted vest and wear that walking around. avoid smoking and excess alcohol. these are things that can help your bone health instead of popping a pill. >> i like to pop a pill and i vitamin d and calcium supplementings. are there benefits? >> for certain groups of people or on the

dr. ashton has the smart ways to enjoy tasty treats. >>> the final countdown to christmas is on and lookorning, america. ho, ho, ho. ♪ we wish you a merry christmas ♪ >> hard to top santa but i'll try. good morning, america. we have some beautiful music -- do you hear it -- from the new york holiday choristers and they're spreading the christmas spirit and it's certainly great to have all of you with us this friday morning. so happy to have the big man of the hour, santa, there already listening to what those kids want for christmas. >> some of our producers right there from "good morning america" getting ready telling santa what they want. >>> don't panic. still time to get last-minute christmas deals. becky worley has the top tips for scoring last-minute bargains and how to get a gift card and get one. i learned this new phrase. apparently it's been out there. bogo. buy one, get one. >> where has that been all my life. we will get to all this in just a moment. >>> first, let's get to holiday travel. airports around the country packed this morning as you might imagine. nearly 3 million

dr. jen ashton is with us now. this is such a dramatic story.yone. this is the american heart association's message, systems worked. early cpr, early 911. excellent cardiac care. that saves lives. >> we know cpr saves lives. let's get an example. >> it's called hands only. no rescue breaths necessary. want to activate 911. trace the rib cage up to the breastbone and put one hand firmly on the sternum. lock your hands. there should be a straight line from your shoulder to your hand and then you want to start rapid compressions to the tune of "stayin' alive" and depress the tern number about two inches. you may feel ribs break. continue cpr anyway. >> you're not kidding about "stayin' alive." >> fast and deep. >> defibrillators. >> they're everywhere. people should not be afraid to use them if they are present in someone with cardiac arrest you want to use them, expose bare skin. pull this off and t >> removing all -- >> exactly where to put these electrodes. one here, one there, it will analyze the -- >> the pictures on the white -- >> i'll shut

dr. ashton is here live. >>> meghan mania.eir relationship a secret for so long. their top secret double dates and when harry really bought that diamond for meghan's showstopping engagement ring. >>> saoirse ronan, fresh off hosting "saturday night live" in this sketch? double daddy. we definitely did. for hundreds of years. >> the leading lady a box office hit "lady bird" here live. all that and neil patrick harris in times square for one magical morning. >>> plus, maks and val are dancing into times square to say -- >> both: good morning, america. [ cheers and applause ] >> what was that? >> they move, i move. >> good morning, america. jumping up and down. always great to have maks and val and peta will are be here as well on tour. and they're bringing the baby with them. >> 11 months old today. precious baby and how about some monday motivation? you know what gets me excite on a monday morning. a victory by the saints on sunday and one of the players, michael thomas showing fans some love. that was a big win, michael. >> th

dr. ashton breaks it down. >>> and get ready for janu-arie, th to find love.inding happily ever after and did he really fall in love with not one but two women. >> bachelor nation, i hope you're getting ready for one of the most romantic in bachelorco this morning. ♪ we built this city on rock 'n' roll ♪ >> mr. new year's eve ryan seac kauptsing down to a rockin' eve in times square as he says -- >> good morning, america. [ cheers and applause ] >>> just keep playing this song. it's a little flashback to the '90s. >> yes, it is. remindsyouth. >> name this group. >> jefferson starship. >> you are 2 for 2. >> jefferson airplane, the previous -- >> the '80 '90s, one big lovable decade, the '80s and '90s. we want to thank you for being with us on this very chilly morning in new york. it is going to be a cold one out there for mr. new year's eve talking about mr. year hosting would imagine the coldest one yet. >> he's looking for any suggestions people have for how to stay warm with us. here all morning to talk about the big night. remember what happened when he ca

dr. ashton, thank you very much. >> happy new year. >> you too. robert, over to you. >> juice.re right now and going to be another ten degrees colder come new year's eve. i told some of the guys here working new year's's even they started to shrink and cower and just, you got to deal with it. look, i say take out your "gma" moment right now. somewhere in new england, this golden retriever -- i think he wanted to go out to retrieve the newspaper and the owner was more than happy to let the dog do that. this is just a classic vision of a very loyal dog bringing in the news into warm doors. cold. highs: 32-37 winds: variable 5 mph tonight: cloudy and cold. light snow possible. lows: 20-27 winds: nw 5 mph saturday: cloudy and cold. morning snow. less than 1". icy roads possible. highs: 32-39 winds: se to w 5 mph the cold remains the big weather story. temperatures will continue running 10-20 degrees below average period. highs today will climb above freezing for the first time since wednesday afternoon. we'll reach the mid 30s this afternoon. clouds will increase this evening, as a

dr. ashton here with what you need to know. >>> the big post-christmas return rush.>> does that mean becky is back again? >> yes. >> awesome. >>> and the larger than life l.a. mansion you've got to see to believe. we're right back. we're right back. ♪ must have been hot out there today, huh? yeah yeah- why don't you go put that stuff in the laundry room right now? okay. do your athletes bring home big odors? tide sport is super concentrated to beat even the toughest stains and odors. hey buddy! hey oooh- somebody ran laps! yeah. the new tide sport collection- it's got to be tide hey, guys. where are the cookies for the... bake sale? bake... bake sale? need to bake in a hurry? use new country crock buttery sticks with sunflower oil. there's no softening required. so baking is delicious and easy. ooh, cookies! ah, ah, ah! (laughter) when my smile is bright, i feel ready to shine. some whitening toothpastes only remove surface stains, colgate optic white high impact white is different. it has hydrogen peroxide, to whiten four shades for a visibly whiter smile. trust you

dr. jen ashton joins us live from boston with a look at the latest hangover remedies. start here on the cures, what happens to the body when we're hung over? >> well, dan, you know, medically we don't totally understand what causes a hangover, but we definitely understand that feeling, very unpleasant. the leading theory is dehydration, electrolyte abnormalities. there can be some gast gastrointestinal disturbances,ns low blood sugar. obviously your sleep is disrupted when you take in too much alcohol. all of this adds up to not a good feeling. >> yeah, you just basically described college for me. so if you wake up on january 1st and you realize you have overdone it, what is the number one thing to do? >> call me. i will make a house call. number two, hydration, hydration, hydration. there's been some theories that for every 250 milliliters of mixed alcohol that you consume, your body loses a liter of free water. so i can't emphasize this enough, before you go to bed, try to drink a liter of water, it will definitely help how you feel the next day, there is no question

dr. ashton here live. ♪ makes you stronger >>> incredible transformation. 400 pounds in less than two years. the new year's resolution they made. how they got healthy the hard way. leaning on each other, changing their relationship with food for good. their key to success that everyone can steal. ♪ what makes you country >> get ready to "light it up." luke bryan on "gma" live this morning kicking down the doors of the brand-new home for country music in times square. get ready to go country this friday morning. as luke says -- >> hey, guys, i'm luke bryan and i want to see what makes you country and good morning, america. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ >>> good morning, america. happy friday. it's a happy friday here. thanks to luke bryan. >> it is. he has a smash new album owl we're excited to talk to him about that, the time we spent on his farm outside of nashville. it was great to see him and his family. he's celebrating his 11th anniversary with his beautiful wife caroline today. and on "american idol" as well. there's the man of the hour right there taking

dr. ashton, you got to explain. >> big story. this is the actual study hot off the presses.lion women followed them for ten years, found that those women who took hormonal contraception and this includes the progesterone releasing iud as well as the newer generation low dose birth control pills f look -- up to 20 to 21% associated risk of breast cancer. the hard numbers i want people to know about results in 13 more cases of breast cancer for every 100,000 women but the real number i want to stick out in people's minds, robin, because so many young women and teenagers take the pill and are using the iud, this only increases the risk in that age group of 2 extra cases for 100 women under the age of 35 because breast cancer is uncommon in that age. >> key to put that up but, okay, still people are going to be -- women will be concerned about this because it is a method that women use. >> you have to remember the benefits we talk about risks and benefits. take a look at the list. there are a plethora of benefits to hormonal contrainvestigation ranging from a very effective way

dr. ashton is here live. >>> breaking the internet.ust this week plus the bride-to-be's unprecedented invitation from the queen as the first fiancee to ever attend the buckingham palace christmas lunch. ♪ >>> long lost siblings reunited. the biological brothers attending the same college without even knowing it the incredible moment they finally found each other after 20 years. this morning they share their story live all that as we say good morning america. ♪ >>> and good morning, america. so great to have you with us on this thursday morning. great to have tom llamas here as well. we have so much coming up including a big surprise from oprah taking us into her kitchen making one of her favorite dishes with her weight watchers. that is all coming up. >>> also a lot of news. to that breaking news we've been following. a driver crashing into a crowd of holiday shoppers in australia. abc's james longman has the latest. james, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, tom. police have declared a major incident and are calling it a delibera

dr. jen ashton is here with details. you got to wonder. we put it next to our ear all the time.rns for a long time. >> it seems like everything old is new again and have been studies that show a possible link between the radio frequency energy emitted with a cell phone and brain tumors, acoustic neuromas, learning problems, low sperm count in men. overall and the trade organization that represents the wireless phone companies is very clear on this, major health organizations are stating and this includes the fda, by the way, that there is no clear scientific evidence to support this risk. >> all right, well, there's that. they're always doing more research. now, the california department of health has recommendations that we can all take to protect ourselves. >> these are really common sense even though we don't have the conclusive scientific evidence these things really -- there's no reason why people shouldn't do that. basically using the hands-free or speakerphone option. don't sleep with your phone next to your head. i'll try to improve on this because it's right on my night

dr. jen ashton is here. jen, i've been trying to wrap my mind around this story.long can an embryo stay frozen? >> don't get bogged down with the numbers because the answer is indefinitely/forever. when they are frozen they're frozen with liquid nitrogen at negative 196 degrees, all biologic activity stops and that embryo doesn't know whether it's stopped for a month, 10 years, 20 years so potentially you could have siblings in different generations. >> the cover of the new york post says this baby is 24 years old. how old is the baby? >> a couple months old but getting a lot of interest for sure. the biological age starts from birth. >> we know there are hundreds of thousands of frozen embryos up for adoption. they adopted this embryo. are there any health risks when it comes to this? especially when the embryos are older. >> doesn't appear there are and all has to do with the process that was developed and revolutionized the process because it helped to reduce ice crystals that are so damaging to cells in the freezing and thawing process, so that has enabled inc

dr. jen ashton is here and, jen, this is a big thing right here.be still, my heart, you can actually just look at your wrist and you can actually see what your heart is doing but this uses micro electrodes and cloud mobile communication technology to detect heartbeat and then your actual heart rhythm an ekg and has the capacity to send that report to your cardiologist if you choose. really this is to detect atrial fibrillation and doesn't always produce sims and can be serious so it's easy to wear, it's easy to use. we'll see more and more things just like this biotech wearables, trackables to send medical information. >> all sounds wonderful. don't get me wrong here but some potential risk as well. >> always downside. to start with this is a device if we know how often our phone potentially any device like this could do the same thing and ekg interpretation is a very specialized skill so the machine can do the bakes. a human has to do the rest. if it's misinterpreted it could potentially result in unnecessary er -- >> not the thing you would go st

dr. jen ashton is here.er. >> definitely/forever. when they are frozen they're frozen with liquid night again at negative 1 6 degrees, all biologic activity stops and that embryo doesn't know whether it's stopped for a month, ten year, 20 years so potentially you could have siblings in different general jasons. >> the cover of "the post" says this baby is 24 years old. >> how old is the baby. >> a couple months old but getting a lot of interest for sure. >> we know there are hundreds of thousands of frozen embryos up for adoongs. they adopted this embryo. any rhett risks when it comes to this? >> doesn't appear there are and all has to do with the process that was developed and revolutionized the process because it helpedo crystals that are so damaging to cells in the freezing and thawing process sos that has enabled incredible stories. >> they're call snow babies. >> i don't call them that. >> so cute. great insight. >> thank you, dr. jen. back to michael. >> thank you, paula. >>> we'll turn to our series "

dr. jen ashton is here and so many things struck us from what happened yesterday but the fact when he gotf the most important things in the seco segment. >> that type of compassion when someone is suffering is all you need to do. you need to sit next to them and hold their hand and you need to say, i feel you. i'm here with you and it's going to be okay. that. >> just thinking about it. tell us about this particular type. >> you talk about glioblastoma. it is one of the most aggressive types of cancer and one of the pose aggressive types of brain cancer represents about 15% of all types of brain tumors and it's very difficult to treat and in general when you talk about a tumor in the brain they are difficult to treat because it's hard to single out the tumor and not do damage to the surrounding tissue of the brain which is very sensitive to that and a lot of drugs that we use to try to kill the tumor or cancer can't penetrate the blood/brain area. >> he alluded to new treatments. >> there's a lot of excitement in the world of glioblastoma research. one of them in particular is a type of g

dr. ashton is here. we do not do enough on rare diseases like this. such a beautiful, beautiful family.s and their bravery and courage, the next step is hope. in ned we always give patients and their families hope. when you talk about rare diseases like this and in particular canavan disease, the real hope is gene therapy and been recent studies in the lab involving mice where that defective enzyme is treated and targeted with gene therapy and now the key is moving it to human trials. which is coming. so there's a lot of excitement about gene therapy, not just for this disease but for a lot of diseases. >> yeah. >> so intense area of research. >> one can lead to help with other diseases as linzie said. genetic testing, what do prospective parents need to know. >> history first in. the past we were able to only test for a couple of inherited genetic conditions. now you can test for hundreds of genetic mutations that then go on to cause anything from a common to a more rare condition. but i think you need to understand that a lot of times this is a very intense process with genetic counse

dr. ashton is here live. ♪ >>> "the last jedi" has finally arrived.jor questions answered in a galaxy far, far away, plus, this morning, benicio del toro joins us live with all the secrets. r2-d2 is here to say -- that means good morning, america. >> you got moves there. >> r2-d2 has moves. >> good morning, america. happy friday. just ten days until christmas. >> yes, it is. we'll celebrate with a christmas cookie showdown. we searched the country for the best recipes and now three lucky viewers, they're here, they're going to go head to head and we have celebrity chef richard blais to help judge and he's not judging alone but with those kid taste testers so everybody gets in on the fun. >> they're having a good time as well. coming up that gop tax plan and on a fast track to christmas but hitting a bit of a roadblock as some key gop senators withhold their support and go back to mary bruce on capitol hill. good morning, mary. >> reporter: good morning, george. well, the new gop tax bill is barely off the ground but already there are signs of trouble.

dr. jennifer ashton joins us live with how this happened, what it means for the future.mind-blowing story. the mom is 26. the baby was frozen so they're technically 1 1/2 years apart, technically. i don't know about medically. but it's really a fantastic story. >> i'm happy for them because they've been trying for so long to finally have a family. paula, thank you. >> they adopted this embryo. there's hundreds of thousands of them up for adoption. >> that's awesome. thank you so much, paula. >> thanks, guys. >>> one less thing to worry about when trying to find parking. soon you'll stop getting a ticket for leaving your car at a broken meter. >>> a special delivery from the u.s. air force. >> as you get your day into gear keep on top of weather and traffic by looking on your screen. >>> welcome back. we're on storm watch. the good news if you're heading out it's getting drier by the moment. the southern parts of santa clara valley getting rain around gilroy. 30% today. our next chance will be christmas day. an even better chance the day after. stick around, more on that

dr. jen ashton is going to join us live with how this all happened what it means for the future. and a half older than the baby. >> fascinating. >> crazy. >> reporter: isn't it just so fascinating but yeah we'll dig into it. it's a mind blowing subject. >> we'll be watching. thanks paula. see you in a bit. >> interesting. chopper6 hd going from croydon to center city. a problem by rittenhouse square a water main break along 18th near spruce. i would steer clear of 18th this morning. sixteenth or 20th better bets for you and we should have pictures before too long. picture of 422 shows a broken down truck off to the side eastbound just past oaks and of course it's slow and 42 has a gathering crowd into the northbound lanes from blackwood-clementon road up to 295, karen. >> traffic has been a mess these past couple days. at least the weather is behaving. it's 48 degrees in philadelphia. a mild 51 in dover. 45 in cal allentown. winds will gust this afternoon. even though we're talking highs in the mid 40's it will feel like the upper 30's this afternoon. that's a huge change from ye

dr. matthews and sarah ashton for giving us the opportunity. >> lastly, the scc also held a hearing on student achievements, and the sac wants to continue supporting african american students emotionally and academically, and today we received from their representatives and peers proved to address a lot of the issues in our community, and we hope to continue helping out our students and peers. >> our next meeting before on december 15th in the board of ed room. if you would like a copy of our upcoming fac addendum, please contact our supervisor, mr. sala salvador lopez barr. thank you. >> thank you, and study hard and get ready for finals. now, we have advisory committee report by the parent pac. >> good evening. >> good evening, commissioners, superintendent, and president walton. on back of the pac, we'd like to extend our condolences to the lee family and the city of san francisco. we're really sorry for their loss. we all acknowledge the works of the mayor, and he will be truly missed in our hearts. the role of the parent advisory council is to empower parent role and perspectives. this re