here's abc's t.j. holmesake of the timeless tale. ♪ someday i'll be part of their world ♪ >> reporter: it's the disney classic that redefined the hair flip and fork for generations of fans. "the little mermaid." the enduring story of an underwater princess dreaming of life on land. >> i've never seen a human this close before. >> reporter: the 1989 megahit won two oscars -- ♪ under the sea ♪ -- and helped usher in disney's animated renaissance era. and now it's taking on new form in "the little mermaid live" airing tuesday night on abc which is owned by disney. "moana's" auli'i cravalho starring as ariel. >> this is really a wonderful universal story that everyone can enjoy. >> reporter: reggae superstar shaggy plays sebastian the crab. >> it's being told a little different this time. it's been put a modern spin on it. >> reporter: "fuller house's" john stamos is villainous french chef louis. >> i thought they'd ask me to play prince eric but i guess i'm a little too old for that. >> reporter: that roles goes

our friend t.j. holmesview. >> reporter: "moana's" auli'i cravalho stars as ariel. >> it's a really wonderful universal story that everyone can enjoy. >> reporter: reggae supershar shaggy is playing the crab. >> it's being told differently this time, a modern spin on it. john stamos is the french chef louis. >> i thought they'd ask me to play prince eric. >> reporter: that role goes to graham phillips. >> the hans christian andersen fairytale is written in the 1830s or something. it's cool that it's existed for so long. >> reporter: the one and only queen latifah stars as ursula the sea witch. >> it's going to be a blast to play this character with this hair and this black, purple, sort of skin-dress. i don't even know what to call it with my tentacles and all this. >> reporter: "nightline" was granted exclusive backstage access before the big night. >> we're going to take a tour of "the little mermaid live." come follow me. >> reporter: actress amber riley, best known for her role on "glee," plays a new ch

. >> and "world news now" alums t.j. holmesolks stand, at least they look good trying to do it. >> they look real good. they didn't get in, though, did they get in? >> can't even get in the club. >> can't even. >> they eventually got in. >>> let's check out some athletes who celebrated the holiday. >> lebron james dressed up as lil edward scissorhands paying tribute to the character edward scissorhands. >> that's a really good one. >> that's good, yeah. >> tom brady paid homage to "star wars" dressing as a stormtrooper, almost, except for the shoes. >> yeah. steph curry stepped out as "toy story's" buzz lightyear, trick-or-treated with the family a day after breaking his left hand. the philadelphia flyers mascot gritty got into the holiday spirit dressed up as wonder woman. >> that's a wonder something. >> i was going to say. it's a wonder they found a costume to fit around gritty's midsection. >> oh! >> moving on to other celebrities celebrating fright night. >> i like when you crack up yourself. >> i know, me too. ellen degen

t.j. holmeshere and, t.j., he did not disappoint. >> he disappointed if you're a fan of competitive matches. if this were football it would have been over at halftime. baseball, ten-run lead going into the ninth. if it was hockey -- you get the idea. okay, blowing people out. this time he is blowing out fellow former champions. >> james holzhauer. >> reporter: a fan favorite to some. >> 1,000. >> answer, daily double. >> reporter: a big villain to others. >> all in. >> reporter: answer, who is james holzhauer? yep, "jeopardy james" is back and he appears to be back to championship form. >> james. james. james. >> reporter: competing in the tournament of champions holzhauer dominated the competition. >> alex, what is algeria? what is helen keller? >> the game is a runaway. >> reporter: a professional sports gamblers from vegas, he became a sensation when he wracked up $2.4 million over the course of his run. he won countless admirers and also detractors as what they saw as ruthless betting calcula

t.j. holmes is here with the details. orning, t.j. >> reporter: there have been a lot of cool images from the world series. let me show you one of the coolest when this plane pulled up last night in d.c. at dulles getting off that plane first is the first baseman for the washington nationals ryan zimmerman. there he is. he is the very first player drafted by the nationals in 2005. he's played all 15 seasons with that team. >> wow. >> he got that honor of coming out. they got back to the ballpark. cigars in the mouth holding up the trophy but this is cool for d.c., a baseball championship for them now and, yes, they are going to have a big parade tomorrow at 2:00. get ready. they'll close some streets and we'll see something we're not used to seeing in d.c., gridlock. so this is the parade route but it's going to be at 2:00. the town is not actually -- they've seen championships recently, the capitals won the stanley cup in 2018. the mystics just won the championship and then the redskins -- forget about the redskins. >> ah

t.j. holmes is outside the stamford fire department in connecticut with it all. people it was cool when they were kids but then it became a calling and the guy you're about to meet, lieutenant sean daly is one of those, a firefighter for 30 plus years putting out a lot of fires. that's not why we were called in. folks want to show how much they love and honor him. i'll go over. he's over here doing a fire safety demonstration, he thinks. >> then we would put out that. >> i'll interrupt. >> sorry for the interruption. lieutenant sean daly. that camera that you think has been filming your fire safety demonstration is not just recording, it's actually going out live to "good morning america." >> i, okay. >> i'm t.j. with "gma." >> all these people are in on this. we think you cook a mean turkey. that's not why we're here. we're here to honor you. some people wanted to tell us about you. so what i'm going to do right now. you have an earpiece in your ear, right? that they gave you. we'll turn the volume up and i'll show you right now why you are a actually here. >> oh

my name is t.j. holmes and i am a correspondent with the show called "good morning ameri."s. 8 of the 26 students in the class not including aidan and mckenzie have several spots on their hands and faces. >> your ears. >> reporter: and on their desks and chairs. >> oh my goodness. >> oh my goodness. >> reporter: which miss shazma says is a hard place to keep down, disgusting. >> reporter: now the kids tell us they'll be more careful. >> wash more thoroughly and make sure you're not touching anyone. >> no, we're not touching hands, man. >> it's a very simple thing. have you had your flu shots? >> yes. >> not yet, no. >> i know. >> i haven't either. >> i don't mess around. >> the simple things, we talk about washing hands and sanitizers, which do help, but you've got to wash. it's that simple. wash your hands and do it thoroughly. a lot of kids, i got a 6-year-old at the house, a little bit of this, no, take your time and teach them to sing the happy birthday song and that's good for adults as well. don't spend all day touching your face. >> don't touch your nose, mouth, eyes

some say it may be too politically correct and t.j. holmes is here with more. >> youas classic.recent years it's actually been referred to as a date rape anthem because of the lyrics that talk about a man trying to get a woman to stay at his apartment after she repeatedly says no. we now have an updated 2019 version, but you know what, people got a problem with these lyrics too. ♪ i really can't stay ♪ baby it's cold outside >> reporter: this controversial holiday classic -- ♪ baby it's cold outside . >> reporter: -- is getting a moo too update. ♪ i really can't stay baby, it's cold outside ♪ >> reporter: john legend and kelly clarkson released a reimagined version of "baby, it's cold outside." here's a line from the original. ♪ i ought to say no, no, no, sir mind if i move in closer ♪ ♪ at least i'm gonna say that i tried ♪ >> reporter: the new legend/clarkson version leaves that out and replaces it with -- ♪ i ought to say no, no, no, sir then you really ought to go, go, go ♪ ♪ at least i'm gonna say that i tried ♪ ♪ well, murray, he just pulled up outside ♪ >> reporter: and t

t.j. holmes is here with much more on this. >> reporter: robin, can i take your drink order? would you like an appetizer? what race are you? that's the question you're used not used to getting because one customer didn't want to sit next to black people but the outrage isn't that there might have been a racist in the room. the outrage is that the restaurant seemed willing to accommodate that racism. outrage this morning after a buffalo wild wings employee in naperville, illinois, asked a customer the unthinkable. >> he asked me what race are you? >> reporter: justin vahl took his family and friends to dinner at the popular restaurant chain when a regular guest allegedly asked that the group, a party of 18, most of them children, be seated somewhere else. >> i responded, you know, what does that matter? and so the host said, well, we have a regular customer here who doesn't want to sit around black people. >> reporter: his wife ashley smith shared the ordeal on facebook. >> you look at these kids and they're all different. and they need to know that's okay. >> reporter: buffal

latest on colin kaepernick holding a w nfl, but then changing the location at the last minute, and t.j. holmesas more. >> reporter: you all know that kaepernick and the nfl have been at odds even in court the past three years after he started taking a knee to protest racial inequality during the national anthem, and he said the league colluded to keep him out of the league and possibly led to a missed opportunity. colin kaepernick finally getting the chance to show he's still got it and that he belongs in the nfl, but his highly anticipated nfl organized tryout didn't go as planned. >> i've been ready for three years. i've been denied for three years. we all know why i came out and showed it in front of everybody. >> reporter: kaepernick was scheduled to complete a closed workout saturday in front of 25 nfl teams in atlanta. but just a half an hour before the workout was scheduled to start kaepernick pulled out announcing he was moving the event to a high school 60 miles away. kaepernick's camp claimed the nfl refused to have the workout open to the media and allow kaepernick's own camera crew

t.j. holmes had a chance to speak with her and have you that story. >> reporter: yeah. philadelphia schools are overwhelmed with asbestos. this teacher taught in philly schools for 30 years. she now has a cancer directly linked to asbestos. now we found out about in this summer but she wanted to remain anonymous until now speaking to us now for the first time with a warning to parents. she's touched countless lives her 30 years as a philadelphia public schoolteacher but this summer at just 51, lea had to give up her career. how much does that eat at you to not be in a classroom this year? >> i didn't know it was my last year and i just feel like i didn't get to end it the way i wanted to end it. >> reporter: in august lea a mother of two says she was diagnosed with mesothelioma, an aggressive and deadly cancer of the lungs and abdomen. major health organizations say it's almost always caused by long-term exposure to asbestos. >> i don't have a future anymore. i planned on spending my golden years with someone that i just married a few years ago and that doesn't look lik

t.j. holmesey, you know, there have been safety concerns about these but it has to do with privacy. are they recording you? this is altogether different. hackers can take over your device. now, that might not sound like a big deal if all you do is say, hey, play my music. what time is it? what's the weather. you know what other people do with these, hey, unlock my front door, hey, open my garage and now hackers can take over your voice assistant without saying a word. >> alexa, dim the lights. >> okay. >> reporter: a new warning this morning for anyone using alexa, siri, google home or any of those wildly popular voice-controlled digital assistants. researchers claim they found a flaw that allows hackers to access your device from hundreds of feet away giving them the ability to potentially unlock your front door, even start your car. >> it's 9:43. >> reporter: watch as researchers from the university of michigan access a smart assistant and force it to open a garage door by pointing a laser. >>