Papadopoulos. The first Trump Campaigner speaks out. Calling him a patriot. What he told the special counsel about his context in the campaign and why hes cooperating with the investigation. How surprised do you think i and everyone watching at home will be when they learn the whole story . Only on gma this morning. Light it up light it up, luke bryan taking over gma bringing country right here to times square. Good morning, america. [ cheers and applause ] good morning, america. Welcome to a big friday here on gma. You just saw luke bryan right there from the opry city stage right here in times square. Just a few blocks away. So im going to head out there in just a little bit and grab a coat but at least its not snowing. A lot of people are there early. A lot of people there early, but like i said at least its not snowing. But it is snowing down south. You know about this all too well. Take a look at the palm trees near houston covered in snow. Wow. Kids are excited doing a little dance in your hometown, michael. I talked to my son yesterday. I said, what are you doing . He said, i just finished a final. Im going to play in the snow. I said, youre not in school in colorado. Youre in texas. He said, no, its snowing. Unbelievable. First, breaking news for our viewers in the west. A new blaze erupting overnight called the lilac fire and rob marciano is there with latest. Reporter it was the san diego areas turn with the lilac fire, burning over 20 homes. Some are still smoldering in the valley below me. This fire burning 4,000 acres in just under 12 hours. This morning, a state of emergency in San Diego County. This blaze erupting overnight, tearing into neighborhoods, forcing residents to run for their lives. Four people injured while trying to flee the flames. The fire was coming right at us. I mean, within matters of minutes it had spread. At this farm, trainers forced to set their horses free with no time to lead them to safety. Thousands evacuated but many others not making it out in time. One resident capturing the moment a plane dropped fire redard ent on his home, surrounded by plumes of smoke. Oh, my god, oh, my god. Holy [bleep]. Reporter the fast moving flames torching over 1,000 acres, burning homes in neighborhood after neighborhood. In everybodys back yard, a wall of flames. Destroying at least 20 homes. Look at this structure completely going up in flames. The embers carried by this wind. You can see how these spot fires can flare up. Winds gusting to 55 Miles Per Hour, fueling the flames. Whats been your biggest struggle with this fire . The wind. Absolutely a wind driven fire. This house has flames like you guys arent doing much. Right now its indefensible. Its a lost cause . Yes. Reporter for the First Time Ever officials had to upgrade from red or high to purple, its color for extreme. This means that the flames will have extreme growth, will burn very intensely and be uncontrollable. That threat level lower today because of a lack of winds but it is still bone dry here. Any flame that touches the ground, it lights it up in a hurry. Firefighters also worried about the potential for more erratic winds because were closer to the ocean. Ocean side about five miles that way so firefighters will be desperate to protect that town from this fire arriving there later. Guys . At this hour more than 190,000 people have evacuated from fire zones. More than 5,000 firefighters doing their best to battle and contain the flames. Our Senior National correspondent matt gutman is in ventura where the largest fire is burning. Good morning, matt. Reporter good morning, robin. That large fire is this multiheaded beast thats continuing to rip through ventura county. Overnight new evacuation orders for the town of this goes on for block after block, nothing left in these houses. Steel washing machines, tvs and of course the chimneys. This morning, six mammoth fires burning through more than 140,000 acres of land in Southern California. Be prepared to leave immediately. Reporter towering columns of smoke blotting out the sun. Weve hiked up here to get a Better Vantage Point of this eastern flank of the thomas fire. You can see how massive that plume of smoke is. This thing towers into the sky thousands of feet up. The biggest concern for the nearly 6,000 firefighters battling that inferno, the blistering winds. These conditions combined with heat makes this a very threatening environment. Reporter nearly 200,000 residents fleeing their home and it was here in santa paula we found anthony scrambling to gather whatever he could, documents, pictures off walls, drawer fulls of clothes. And one very special dress. Why the Wedding Dress of all the things . Just our memories. Weve been through so much so thats like our big milestone because i want to give that to my kids. Reporter some residents resorting to fighting the fire head on. Those staying behind using garden hoses to douse their homes with water to keep the embers away. But for others, it was too late. Its okay. What do i do now . Well figure something out. Reporter their homes already consumed by the blaze. My house on fire. My house is on fire. Reporter you can probably still see that plume of smoke hanging over the county. The wind here has subsided significantly overnight. It is forecast to pick up over the weekend. There are red flag warnings in effect until sunday, and firefighters weve spoken to say that fire has burned so hot and so fiercely that it is likely going to continue to burn here until christmas. Michael . Lets go to ginger for how the winds are going to affect these fires. Michael, just got an update. At least 32 homes have been destroyed in just the creek fire. This is los angeles county, california. You can see some of those images that were getting in. I wanted to also share with you whats happening in the lilac fire. So in the san diego area, you see them fighting with their best. During the day they can fly and pour that redard ent on top of the fires. The good news is today the wind goes down just slightly. The bad news is the relative humidity is so low so we see those flag warnings stay in place, actually extended through sunday. So through the weekend all along the coast, los angeles, those mountains just to the east, high Wind Warnings in place through the rest of today. But watch this, you talk about low humidity. Im talking as low as 5 . 8 santa ana. 9 riverside. Put on the santa ana winds and today youre 5 to 10 Miles Per Hour with gusts to 30. Saturday and sunday could easily see gusts up to 60 Miles Per Hour. Were going to move on now to the growing crises over Sexual Misconduct on capitol hill. Trent franks resigned, the third slater this week, right on the heels of al franken and john conyers. Our senior Congressional Correspondent mary bruce is tracking all the fallout on capitol hill. Good morning, mary. Reporter good morning, george. Three members of congress have now quit in just three days. The latest to go arizona congressman trent franks. One of the most conservative members of the house. In a lengthy statement he admits to discussing surrogacy with two female staffers while he and his wife were trying to have children. Now, franks is adamant he did not have any sexual contact with his staffers, but he does say i clearly became insensiticensseno how the discussion of such an intensely personal topic might affect others. Now the Speakers Office said paul ryan learned last week of quote credible claims of misconduct and asked franks to resign. Franks made that announcement last night after the Ethics Committee said it planned to investigate. George. And there are more ethics investigations to come. Mary bruce, thanks very much. George, Sexual Misconduct allegations also front and center as we know in the Alabama Senate race, just four days until voters go to the polls there and this morning one of republican roy moores accusers is speaking exclusively to abc news. Our chief National Correspondent tom llamas sat down with her in atlanta, this as the democrat in the race is leaning on leaders in his own party for help. Good morning, tom. Reporter robin, good morning to you. In a bid to turn out africanamerican voters, the democrat in this race, doug jones, is going to be hosting rallies in selma, montgomery with senator cory booker and civil rights icon representative john lewis. As for roy moore some polls show him leading in this race but he is still battling accusations. As you mentioned we just sat down with one of his accusers who is speaking out because she says shes sick and tired of moore and his Campaign Painting her and others as liars. It sickens me. It sickens me to wonder what may go on with him if he gets into office, maybe, you know. He could be doing this still. We dont know. And then again i hope that hes changed. Reporter this morning, beverly youngnelson sitting down exclusively with gma. She was 16 when she said moore groped her and tried to force a sex act on her in his car. He was trying to pull me in between his legs. It was terrible and i was bound and determined that i was not going to be raped by him. You know, i was terrified. But the next thing i know im on the concrete. These allegations are completely false, theyre malicious, specifically i do not know any of these women nor have i ever engaged in Sexual Misconduct with any woman. Reporter moores supporters have called nelson a liar and compared her to a criminal since she first spoke out about three weeks ago. That really hurt me, you know. God knows and roy knows and i know what happened. Reporter youngs proof that she knew moore, her yearbook with his inscription. But moore and his supporters have called into question that inscription noting the writing under the signature appears to be different. Lets look at beverly nelson. Everybody knows her yearbook is a forgery. Reporter nelson says she did make notes to the inscription but the message was all roy moore. Beverly, he signed your yearbook . He did sign it. And you made some notes underneath . Yes. Reporter nelson says this is not about politics. She voted for donald trump. But cant understand the decision some republicans are making. What do you think about the republicans who say they believe people like you but theyd rather have a republican in the seat than a democrat. Is the party more important really than what happened . I feel like my incident is just being swept under the rug literally because hes a republican. Reporter nelsons attorney, Gloria Allred will host a News Conference later to show further proof that roy moore indeed knew her client. Roy moore for his part has denied all accusations of Sexual Misconduct. Robin. As you know a quote from moore is getting a lot of attention on social media for the way he responded when asked when was the last time america was great. Reporter robin, the quote comes from an l. A. Times story from a roy Moore Campaign event back in september. According to the report, moore was asked when the last time he thought america was great. Now, in the story, moore is quoted as saying, i think it was great at the time when families were united, even though we had slavery. They cared for one another. Our families were strong. Our country had a direction. Now, i asked the campaign why did roy moore invoke slavery when he was talking about the last time america was great. The campaign explained to me that moore was talking about the time right after the American Revolution when families were united and the country had a direction, but of course, hes absolutely opposed to slavery. Robin. All right, thank you, tom. Thats comforting that he opposes slavery. We want to bring this to jon karl, our chief white house correspondent. More on this and the president heading south today hoping to have some impact on the race. Reporter hes going to pensacola, florida, to do a political rally. This is just 20 miles, george, from the alabama border. The same media market as mobile. Make no mistake this is a political rally designed to boost the roy moore candidacy. Were showing up on the screen the president did meet with the bipartisan leaders of congress yesterday and able to avert a Government Shutdown scheduled for today for at least a couple of weeks. Reporter yeah, for two weeks. This funding will run out on december 22nd and, george, there is absolutely no agreement on the fundamental issues that divide them including immigration, how much to spend on defense, the border wall, no agreement whatsoever. No Even Movement towards an agreement. Finally, the u. N. Ambassador nikki haley raised a lot of eyebrows by suggesting the u. S. Olympic team might not participate in the winter olympics. That has the white house trying to clean that up now. Reporter she said it was an open question whether they be able to participate because of tensions with north korea. The White House Press secretary actually echoed that in a briefing. 20 minutes later she tweeted a clarification saying the u. S. Looks forward to participating in the winter olympics. The protection of americans is our top priority and they say they are working to ensure that. Then the spokesperson for the u. S. Olympic Committee Said that there is no discussion, george, whatsoever about not participating in the winter olympics. No discussion on that whatsoever and, george, by the way this is a decision not for the president but for the u. S. Olympic committee. The committee, they make it. Okay, jon karl, thanks very much. Robin. Okay, now overseas to the middle east on edge over president trumps decision to recognize jerusalem as israels capital. Violent protests have broken out between palestinian demonstrators and israeli troops. Our Foreign CorrespondentJames Longman is in jerusalem with the latest. Good morning, james. Reporter good morning, robin. Prayers here in jerusalem have finished and people have come onto the streets to start small flashes of protests. Just a moment ago some people came out with a picture of donald trump and they were moved by the israeli police. We have seen outbreaks of small pockets of violence around town. Men on horse back pushing back young palestinians. Its a kind of cat and mouse game between the two groups that we often see in this part of the world. The reason i think its different this time is people are angry about Donald Trumps designation of jerusalem as the capital of israel. Weve had leaders across the region speak out against this including the leader of hamas who said hes calling for a third. Things on the ground here dont seem as rowdy as perhaps people expected. Well have to see if people come out on the streets in greater numbers. Robin. Okay, james, thank you. We want to share a remarkable story of forgiveness in South Carolina where former Police OfficerMichael Slager has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the death of walter scott. Slager shot scott in the back killing him in 2015 and the sentence is the longest handed down to an officer in a racially charged shooting. The family of walter scott emotional of course but showing incredible grace and strength telling slager they forgive him for everything. Slager telling them he wishes he could go back and change that. Remarkable moment. It was. A lot of strength and a lot of grace to be able to do that. Now were going to go to ginger with more on the wildfires out west. We star, michael, with the lilac fire. San diego county, some images coming in from there and unfortunately, the forecast does not look good. Red flag warnings have been extended through sunday. All the way up around los angeles, the mountains there, the high Wind Warnings in place. Today is likely one of the easiest days windwise so hopefully theyre able to make some progress in fighting those fires. Some of the winds staying down in Single Digits but rob mentioned it. It is bone dry. So some of the relative humidity numbers are as low as 5 . Not just going through this weekend, all the way through next week. And then look what happens to the winds this weekend. Gusts to 60. Easily 20 to 30mileperhour winds, not just saturday, but sunday too. This is just going to keep on being a story and unfortunately well see more images like this. Hello. Im meteorologist mike nicco from abc7 mornings. Here are your accuweather highlights. Mostly sunny, a spare the air today, wood burning ban all day. Still need a heater at night to stay warm as temperatures in the 30s and 40s, above vrge ak highs through next week and dry. Temperatures today about 62 to 689 degrees. Well have 30s in our valleys, 40s around the bay and the coast tonight. My accuweather sevenday forecast, i hope you like this, warmer than average weathehehehe so, michael, a gift for you. Lets commemorate the day it snowed, the first in eight years for houston. Oh. There it is. Well, too bad its going to melt. Yes. Something else. Coming up we have georges exclusive with the fiancee of the first Trump Campaign official to plead guilty in the russia investigation. What she told the fbi when they asked her about her connections asked her about her connections. 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You have everything you need right inside you. 9 out of 10 u. S. Olympians grew up drinking milk. Its got natural protein and balanced nutrition to help your kids grow strong and milk life. Wthis weekend hundreds of deals up to 30 off with cartwheel in the target app. Save big with weekend deals every weekend. Only at target good morning the you. Im Natasha Zouves from abc7 mornings. The bay area is under a sparetheair alert this weekend. The smoke from the Southern California wildfires are drifting north. Spare spir comes courtesy of a highpressure system responsible for the santa ana winds in Southern California. It is trapping pollutants and creating poor air quality skns. Do not discount the wildfire smoke as well. Sky 7 spotted some on the horizon. Sue hall has traffic. A new problem in walnut creek but first a gorgeous look at the golden gate bridge. Traffic is flowing nicely, four lanes in the southbound commute, two lanes in the northbound commute. Almost looks like a painting so pretty. Not so pretty on the roads. Southbound 680 near treat an accident and slow traffic from pleasant hill. I know its december but those look like easter colors outside. That is from the smoke, sparetheair today. Right now the air quality is okay, but it could get worse during the afternoon hours. So woodburning ban all day today. Freezing cold in san ramon, in fairfield, and also in santa rosa and napa. But 48 in San Francisco for the warm spot. Heres your commute planner. Its good everywhere, whether youre on the water, mass transit, or taking the roads this morning. My accuweather sevenday forecast, near record warmth and poor air quality through sunday. Natasha . Good to know. Thank you, mike. Coming up, one couples incredible weight loss journey. How they lost more than 400 pounds in two years. Thats next on gma. Well have well have another abc7 news update in about 30 minutes and always on our news app and abc7news. Com. 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That is country superstar luke bryans song light it up and the country superstar is going to light it up this morning on gma when he performs for us. Because hes going to be performing live from the brand new opry city stage. Its right here in times square. The first performance ever from that venue and you can see the crowd, they cant wait. We cant either. Pretty packed house for 7 30. That is true. Thats coming up. Right now to my exclusive interview with the fiancee of george papadopoulos. The Trump CampaignForeign Policy adviser who became the first witness to plead guilty in the russia investigation cooperating now with prosecutors and now Simona Mangiante is revealing details for the first time about how they met, his work on the campaign and why papadopoulos is working with the special counsel. George papadopoulos is witness one in the russia investigation. Simona calls him a patriot for working with prosecutors. And you believe he would end up as you said on the right side of history. Hes already on the right side of history. I think it will make a big difference. A big difference . Yes. In what way . Helping clarifying whats happened. His contribution will be very important. Reporter they met during the president ial campaign. September 2016. He reached out for me based on my linkedin. We both worked actually for professor mifsud. Professor Joseph Mifsud described in Court Records as an overseas professor with substantial connections to russian government officials who told papadopoulos about russians possessing dirt on hillary clinton. In the form of thousands of emails. So youve known the professor for some time, for several years. Yes, more than george. Hes extremely connected at high level in different governments including italian government. Russians . Russia as well. I mean i suppose, i assume he does, absolutely. I remember he was often coming back from trips from moscow. So if it turns out he was working for the russian government, it doesnt sound like you would be surprised . Absolutely not. Do you think he sought out george because george was working for the trump president ial campaign . I know that he was interested in george because he was working for trump. When word of papadopouloss plea deal broke in october, the administration downplayed his contribution to the campaign. The president called him a low level volunteer. A former Campaign Adviser said this. He was the coffee boy. No, george is a remarkable young man with an incredible experience, professional experience in the field of energy and oil policies. This experience led him to get into the campaign and to advise the president at only 28 years old. He set up meetings with leaders all over the world. He was constantly in touch with the high level officials of the campaign and he never took any initiative as far as i know unauthorized. Constantly in touch you say with members of the campaign. Was he in touch with the chief strategist steve bannon . Yes. As far as i know, yes. I know steve bannon, michael flynn. He was in touch with michael flynn, general flynn . Yes, as well. And this is by email, by phone calls . Yes, being based in london was communication and email. Youre saying he had communications with the top levels of the campaign . Yes. Everything he was doing was with the knowledge of those officials . As far as i know, absolutely, yes. He never took any initiative without the blessing of the campaign. And you believe that he can demonstrate that absolutely, yes. Youve seen the emails . Yes. Mangiante says papadopoulos hoped to land a job in the trump administration. But just a week after president trumps inauguration it all came crashing down. January 27th of this year he gets interviewed by the fbi. What did he think that was about . My feeling is that all this came completely out of the blue. I think he didnt even worry too much because he didnt feel he had anything to hide. When did he know he was in trouble . I think when they made it clear to him that after the arrest he understood that he was in trouble. Not before that . I dont think so. As soon as he find out he committed a mistake he took responsibility for that and he passed to the right side of history in my view. Thats the decision to cooperate . Exactly. It was very brave because as being the first one and he is helping a lot. You describe him as both loyal to trump and a patriot. Yes, he is. And hes doing his patriotic duty by cooperating with the special counsel . Yes, absolutely. And mangiante was also interviewed by authorities. When were you interviewed by the fbi . October. A month ago. After george had pled guilty . The same day george pled guilty, i received a subpoena from mueller. No kidding . Yes. Bring us inside that room. What did they ask you . They wanted to know my connection with mifsud, some of my connection to the European Parliament and other personal questions about me and george. Is it true i heard this, is it true they asked if you speak russian . Yes. So do you speak russian . I can only say spasibo. Thats all. Youre not russian . No. How surprised do you think i and everyone watching at home will be when they learn the whole story . I think its very interesting that george will write a book about it and really saying his side of the story, giving more details about whats happened. Will the president , from what you know, will the president be happy with the story george tells . I i dont i mean, i dont think its right to dismiss george as a coffee boy so im sure not to be happy to read that. There is consistent evidence that he was not a coffee boy. Other than that, what does he do all day now . What is he doing . Taking notes for the book. He wants to write to say his story and thinking about different option for the future. From what you know about his story, what do you think the title of that story is . I dont want to spoil his premiere, but i think it has been sort of the first domino in the russiagate. The first domino in russiagate. That was really something. She also described how when after he was arrested by the fbi how much he learned from mueller and his team which convinced him that this was a much, much bigger story. Fascinating stuff. Were all sitting here talking. Not exactly sure why shes speaking out. I know. I kept asking you why would she agree to speak out. Shes italian . Shes an italian citizen and i think what really got to them in the interview was the description by the Campaign Official as a coffee boy. By getting his feelings hurt it really made him want to say, hey, theres enough of this. Yeah. We should say we reached out to both steve bannon and michael flynn, our team did, and got no response yet. Also, that professor Joseph Mifsud who is named in this charging documents, in october he acknowledged that he is the man described in the papers but has denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of the clinton emails. With her talking doesnt hurt the case in any way, does it . No. Shes allowed to talk. Actually hes allowed to talk to although his sentencing is coming up and i think hell work on the book until that sentencing. Fascinating how she says he wants to get on the right side of history. And a patriot. Thank you, george. Coming up, why the parents of that suspected serial killer in tampa are refusing to cooperate with the investigation. Come on back. History. And a patriot. Thank you, george. Why the parents of that suspected serial killer in tampa are refusing to cooperate with the investigation. Come on back. 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Do your thing, with Energy Upgrade california. We are back now with the parents of the we are back now with the parents of the suspected tampa serial killer risking jail by refusing to cooperate with investigators as their son is officially indicted on murder charges. Abcs linzie janis has the latest. Reporter this morning Howell Donaldson iii officially charged by a grand jury with four counts of premeditated murder for the killings that terrorized one tampa neighborhood for nearly two months. We thank Tampa Police Department for their hard work in the investigation of the case and helping us to prepare the case to be brought before the grand jury. Reporter donaldsons parents now also facing potential charges if they continue to refuse to answer investigators questions. On thursday, a judge ordering rosita and Howell Donaldson jr. To comply with a subpoena from prosecutors by january 5th or be held in contempt. They did not have a right to refuse to testify. We are seeking testimony that would only be within mr. And mrs. Donaldsons access and knowledge. Reporter they had been vocal in the days following their sons arrest. We love our son. We support our son and we just we pray strength for the family members and we ask that they do the same for us and pray strength for us because we all are devastated. Reporter prosecutors who said theyll seek the Death Penalty now say the pair wont answer questions about their sons developmental history, gun possession, and state of mind before his arrest. Details that might help investigators discover an alleged motive in the murders. What would you do if the police came to tell you that you had to testify against your child . I dont know. Reporter but his parents lawyer says forcing them to testify against their own son is an attack on the american family. When theres a valid subpoena and an order by a judge compelling them to testify, they have no choice but to participate and to provide testimony. Reporter only a handful of states have laws protecting parent child privilege and florida is not one of them. Donaldson is scheduled to be arraigned on tuesday of next week. His parents back in court on january 5th. Their lawyer says they simply dont want to help prosecutors with the case that could potentially see their son get the Death Penalty but, of course, victims, the victims families want answers. And rightfully so. Thank you, linzie. Coming up its a battle against traffic apps. How a town is fighting back after too many out of towners started clogging their streets. Well be right back. K. I know this because im from seven days in the future. Now dont be frightened, seven days in the future is a glorious place. After all you had two good hair days in a row. Perfect. Right out of bed. And this car you reserved on carmax. Com is still being held for you, for free. Pretty sweet. Or as we like to say from seven days in the future. Ah. We still say pretty sweet. 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Robitussin soothes in seconds and delivers fast, powerful cough relief for hours. giggling robitussin dm max. Because its never just a cough. Wthis weekend hundreds of deals up to 30 off robitussin dm max. With cartwheel in the target app. Save big with weekend deals every weekend. Only at target hows it going down there . Thats good. Lica misses you. Im over it though. laughter thats fine. I miss her more than you anyway. Hey, my window is closing. Yeah thats okay. Alright miles. I love you. phone hangs up yeah i love you too. I keep getting weather reports from ginger. Trying to see if youre going to make it out of here. Well make it to hattiesburg. Im gonna make it, mama. Back now with that battle over traffic apps like waze. Facing some criticism for sending drivers around traffic onto local roads and thats clogging up streets and residents. So many are complaining about that. Id be one of those drivers, to be honest with you. Now one new jersey town leonia is fighting back and linsey davis is there. Shes joining us on our road cam. Good morning, linsey. Reporter hey, good morning to you, michael. Well, traffic apps have been life changing in such a positive way for so many. For others its a nightmare. Turning their quaint local roads like this one into major thoroughfares. Waze, google maps, its hard to imagine we ever hit the roads without them. But while these apps have revolutionized the way we travel by directing drivers to the shortest route, theyve created chaos in what used to be quiet neighborhoods across the country. In freemont, california where the signs read dont trust your apps, neighbors have had it. Very frustrating when cars are backed up from the stop sign up 35 cars and sitting in front of your house, you know, with their music going, sitting there for at least 15 minutes to a half hour moving slightly when they would move faster on the freeways. Residents have told us that the navigation applications have been sending motorists on to their neighborhood street and theyve now felt trapped or isolated in their homes. Reporter one town in new jersey has decided to take action by closing off access to dozens of local streets, all thanks to too many travelers trying to find shortcuts into new york city. The way these apps work is once one road gets filled up it filters the vehicles to another road to another road to another road and basically our whole town becomes filled with traffic. Reporter now we reached out to waze about this and they released the following statement saying, quote, the challenge of spreading congestion across available public roads, big and small, is a universal problem and one that existed long before gps apps. We applaud leonia for taking steps to further manage the complicated needs of local commuters. As far as the commuters right here, right now smooth sailing this morning. Michael and robin. It looks smooth. I didnt think about that when you benefit because youre avoiding traffic but dont realize you are causing problems. For residents around the area. Yeah. Thanks, linsey, be safe out there. Coming up, luke bryan, live. You like Country Music, dont you. I do. Yeah. Coming up, luke bryan, live. You like Country Music, dont you. I do. virtual realityall virtually useless without a new computer. All i see is darkness. Give intel 8th gen core to power all the latest tech. Im karen, im a teacher. Olfer. My Psoriatic Arthritis caused joint pain. Just like my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. And i was worried about joint damage. My doctor said joint pain from ra can be a sign of existing joint damage that could only get worse. He prescribed enbrel to help relieve pain and help stop further damage. Enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. Serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders, and allergic reactions have occurred. Tell your doctor if youve been someplace where fungal infections are common, or if youre prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if you have persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. Dont start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. Joint pain and damage. Can go side by side. Ask how enbrel can help relieve joint pain and help stop joint damage. Enbrel, fda approved for 18 years. Back here on good morning america, the snow is flying as far south as corpus christi, texas. Look at that snow on the cars. Theyve seen anywhere from a half inch to up to four inches. Columbiana alabama, look at that the car covered. Thats just south of birmingham, so, yes, youll still see Winter Weather advisories. Snow in baton rouge. Jackson, mississippi and even birmingham. Advisories. Good morning to you. Im Natasha Zouves from abc7 morning mornings. Nique nook, is it going to be a cold day at all today . Definitely a cold start, 30s and 40s, but were going back into the 60s this afternoon. Temperatures nearing some record highs. Smaller waves on the bay today, running errands, hazy sunshine in that sparetheair alert. Beach, mild afternoon, temperatures in the midto upper 60s there. The rems of us around 62 to about 68. Look at my accuweather sevenday forecast. Nothing really changes, bone dry. Sue . Back to the bay bridge toll plaza, metering lights still on, still backed up towards the macarthur maze, still not friday light. We have an issue leaving San Francisco south 101, an earlier car into a ditch and theyve got the tow truck finally on scene. Theyll have to do a temporary traffic break to get that tow truck and car out of there, so expect some delays leaving San Francisco near brisbane. Coming up, country super star luke bryan is performing next live on good morning america. Well have well have another abc7 news update in about 30 minutes and always on our news app and abc7news. Com. Good morning, america. Its 8 00 a. M. A huge new wildfire explodes in california. State of emergency this morning in san diego. Hundreds of thousands evacuated running for their lives from the fires. Were live from the front lines. Here comes the snow. Texas blanketed. The most snow in san antonio in 30 years. Palm trees near houston covered in snow. Now winter watches and warnings in 20 states from texas all the way up to maine. Gma health alert. The cdc with a new warning about the flu. The season off to an aggressive start. Why it could be one of the worst in years. And the new ways to fight off the flu. Dr. Ashton here live. Makes you stronger incredible transformation. The husband and wife who teamed up to lose almost 400 pounds in less than two years. The new years 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 brandnew home for Country Music in times square. Get ready to go country this friday morning. As luke says hey, guys, im luke bryan and i want to see what makes you country and good morning, america. [ cheers and applause ] good morning, america. Happy friday. Its a happy friday here. Thanks to luke bryan. It is. He has a smash new album out what makes you country and were 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. Hes celebrating his 11th anniversary with his beautiful wife caroline today. And well talk about American Idol as well. Theres the man of the hour right there taking the stage. Just a few blocks from here. Taking the stage, the crowd is excited as you can see. They want some Country Music at the opry city stage here in new york city and, luke, he the first performance, he is kicking it off, getting everything started down there. We cant wait to see it. I know i cant. I know you cant. You love luke bryan. What a way to christen that place. First we want to get to those raging wildfires in Southern California. Overnight a new one tearing through San Diego County. Rob is there right now with the very latest. Good morning, rob. Reporter good morning, again, robin. A state of emergency here in San Diego County this fire erupting tearing through many neighborhoods, including this valleyy you see below me. There are homes down there still smoldering. You can see the smoke hanging heavily in the air. What a chaotic scene it was as residents try to flee their homes, reverse 911 calls to try to get people out of harms way or tell them to be ready to move as the fire got crolose to them. Four people were injured while trying to escape the flames, two of them badly burned. The winds dying down somewhat to the. The fire not quite as active but it is bone dry out here and any flame that touches any part of the ground is going to light up quickly. Firefighters worried about ocean side about five miles that way. They will desperately be trying to stop this fire before it gets there. All right, rob, thank you. Those little explosions that you hear, very scary. Oh, yeah, it is christmastime. What does everyone love to do . You love to look at your lights this time of the year but check out what happened at mary morrisons home in columbia, tennessee. Her home camera captured the le holiday lights sparking a blaze and moved quickly to her home. Good thing for her her smoke detectors were working and woke up and the fire officials came out and put the fire out but told her you made the mistake, she left her lights on all day and night and they said this time of a year is a good reminder, make sure you put a timer, dont leave your lights on all the time. Good thing to keep those smoke detectors on. Tens of millions in the crosshairs for a nasty storm from texas all the way to new england. Hey ginger. South texas too. Look at this. Theres a ruler measuring snow in corpus christi, texas, to almost four inches already. So its snowing in baton rouge this morning and mississippi and alabama and also snowing in the great lakes. So look at this video. This is out of paw paw, michigan, 32car pileup that happened on i94. This happens a lot this time of year but just a warning there is more of that to come. This video is kind of giving you an idea what it looks like when youre on those roads when the bands come through. Yes, youll have more. Indiana, parts of south bend. Advisories stretching through not just the deep south but through the midatlantic and timingwise, the snow gets here to new york city tomorrow. So its really between 5 00 a. M. And 5 00 p. M. And itll wrap up and give us significant snowfall. Some places could end up with four to six inches of snow as you get closer to that low pressure system. Something in eastern long island right along the cape there. Its coming. Yeah, it is a coming. And ginger has been my best friend this morning. Ive been back there in her Weather Center getting the latest understand. Ill get you updates. Heading to the university of southern mississippi, the golan eagles, my neve is graduating from Nursing School and months ago congratulations to her. Proud of her and all the graduates and when they asked me to be the Commencement Speaker i was like, gee, i hope the weather is okay. I was worried about it here, not there. People are sending me pictures and videos. This is hattiesburg. This one is from nicole. She says i hope it states on the ground until you get here. I hope its gone. This from sabrina. Very pretty. On a serious note were not used to know down there. If youre going to commencement, take a little more time and i just called my sister. Its raining and sleeting theyll leave early because youre not used to those conditions but it is beautiful when it is on the ground. That amazing transformation, how one couple lost almost 400 pounds combined. The oldfashioned way. Their advice for anyone struggling. New details, how Meghan Markle may be spending the Christmas Holiday with prince harry, george and charlotte. And larry, whats going on upstairs . Hello, michael. We have such a great crowd right here in times square. We have another great crowd with the one, the only luke bryan. Hes performing his new hit single for us live on gma, you do not want to miss it. 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Get these exclusive offers during the ford year end sales event. [ applause ] youre right, lara. Great friday morning crowd. Oh, my goodness. Here in times square with us, weve got a huge crowd of luke bryan fans, as well, just a few blocks away. [ cheers and applause ] cant wait for that. In fact, im going to go but not until pop news. Thank you. Ill wait until after pop news. You ready . Lets do it. [ cheers and applause ] tgif, everybody. We begin with our friend jimmy kimmel. We know hes taking time off to be with his family but left his late night show in some very capable hands last night and some very festive attire. There you see her. Melissa mccarthy dressed in full costume regalia throughout the show. As you see she was the tree, the candy cane, gingerbread woman and the menorah and then among her guests, if that wasnt enough, a celeb we all know and love. This is my slightly less famous acquaintance, junifer ooniston. Its junifer. We are aware. The booking of the night, there they are, melissas parents, in a wildly competitive game called who loves their daughter more . It was so funny. [ applause ] melissa, id like to say we love you. The most. Oh, my goodness. Also in pop news today, actor and house star hugh laurie a holiday hero trying to track down the Rightful Owner of an amazon package mistakenly delivered to his house. He posted a picture showing two of three Christmas Gifts in the box that was sent to him. Its a biology book and board game and asking followers to spread the word if you name the third item i will post it to you direct. So far the Amazon Christmas mystery remains unsolved but many guesses on his page and a lot of love. One fan posting, thank you, hugh, for being a good human. Yeah. [ applause ] a little friday love. Star wars fans have uncovered a secret cameo in the upcoming star wars the last jedi that would make Carrie Fisher proud. He beloved french bulldog, gary, guys there he is. He was always by her side and now hes joining her in a world far, far away. Look at that little alien, the green arrow, that is gary. The director of the film confirming the news to fans on twitter. I know you have to look very close. Im sorry. We tried. And while gary misses his mom the force is strong in the little guy. On his official instagram i didnt know he had one, he does, he recently posted this photo with the caption, just watched the new trailer of the last jedi and my mom looks more beautiful than ever. Oh. Made me teary. So sweet. So look for gary, the movie star. Finally if you like Country Music and who doesnt there is a cool new spot as robin alluded to right here in our neighborhood. Its the opry city stage in times square and would you look who is popping in to pop news mr. Luke bryan. Hey [ cheers and applause ] what are you doing . Whats up . Thank you. Yall got me working down here. Im signing autographs. But, yeah, were at the opry city stage down here. Whats up . Whats up, luke. We have customized it to my own popup shop right here. So my album is out today so were having fun here in times square. We got country, country has come to town, right . [ applause ] all right, lara. Luke, i have to ask you when you were a little boy, i know you always wanted to do this. Did you ever imagine youd be doing it in the middle of new york city, singing Country Music with this kind of crowd . Never in a million years. You ought to hear my family ask, now how do you do shows up there . Are there really Country Music fans up here. Yes, there really are tons of them. [ applause ] Country Music not just for the country anymore. I love your sweater. This is awesome. Thank you. So, hey, lara, boys, bring lara my personal my personal Christmas Gift to you, lara, right here. Its your very own [ applause ] luke, youve outdone yourself. Its your very own luke bryan hey, lara, the star is a bottle of oh, the tree topper is also a beer bottle opener. Yeah. Hey, luke, how did you know . I was a little hesitant. I was a little hesitant about the christmas sweater thing until they topped it off with a beer bottle opener and then i was like, oh yeah, im signing off on that. Just like you, you and santa look fantastic. I recommend you do one with a wine opener hanging for next year. Luke, we love you. Robins heading down there right now. The corkscrew. Youll do the corkscrew. I got it. I got it right here. Luke and i and you. Going down right now . Thank you, luke. We cant wait to hear your new song. [ applause ] you know what, even though you got im going to head down there and tell him thank you for. Can you do a special walk for us. Im not have fun. [ cheers and applause ] bye. Have fun. Im looking forward to this. Its going to be great. Oh, i feel like james brown. Ooh. Lets do it. You got the walk you asked for. Okay. Well, that was a little abrupt. Sorry, guys, okay. Were going to move on now to this is a great story. A couple sharing their weight loss journey and lost nearly 400 pounds together in two years and showed it all on instagram. Diane macedo has the story. As we all get ready to make our new years resolutions heres inspiration. Lexi and danny reed said they lost all that weight with no trainer, no fancy meal plan, no pills and no surgery. Instead lexi says they started small and the results are anything but. This is lexi and danny back in 2015 and this is the couple now after collectively losing nearly 400 pounds in less than two years. I went from a size 28 to a size 10. I went from a 46 all the way down to a 34. Reporter it all started as a new years resolution, danny was 280 pounds. Lexi was 485. We were fed up with the life we were living. Reporter they hit the gym, eating healthy and documents it all on lexis Instagram Account fat girl fed up topping 460,000 followers. I never expected to have such an impact on so many people by losing weight. I just wanted to get healthy. Reporter this morning danny now weighs 191 pounds and lexi is down to 182. But they say this was no walk in the park. Basically we had to stop sitting on the couch every night. Not doing much of anything to being in the gym five times a week. The hardest part of our journey was changing our relationship with food. But to go from eating out for every single meal to teaching myself ho you to cook every single day to meal prepping together, it was a very drastic change. Reporter fitness experts say one key to success is having someone to lean on. Workout partner is key. Accountability is everything. Not every day will be a great day. Not every day will you want to give it your all and youll someone to say, come on, today is my day to uplift you and viceversa. Reporter now they say they are loving this journey together. From not talking to going on romantic walks and talking at night and it just really brought us closer together. And lexi and danny now say they are hoping to hit 400 pounds lost together before the end of the year but my favorite part, michael, is dannys new nickname for lexi, he calls her his swoll mate. We like that. Diane, thank you very much. What a great story that is. You know what, now we have our gma health alert. The cdc is issuing a new warning about the flu this season. Its been very tough. One of the worst in years and dr. Ashton is here to help us understand this and, doc, why is this flu season generating so much anxiety . This is what is going on, number one, the cdc are tracking cases and seeing more cases, way more than this time last year which is concerning. What is circulating now in this country is h3n2, a strain of influenza a. It is a bad actor. Very virulent making people really, really, sick. And then, probably the worst news, even though that strain was in this years vaccine and its well matched, probably a problem in the way the vaccine was made, estimates are that its only about 10 effective. 10 so a lot of People Better than zero but a lot of people say why even take a shot if its only 10 but thats better than nothing. Correct. A lot of people are trying to find innovative ways to make sure they dont get the flu. Apps are now helping out. Exactly, emphasis on the word ways. Apps are popping up. One in particular ill talk you through is basically an illness crowdsourcing app so if you look here this is a map of manhattan. And you see sick cases. This is just like selfreported on social media. Tells you where all the sick people are . Yeah. [ laughter ] its a hypochondriacs dream. I think i saw the studio pop up. If you go to flu, look at all these selfreported cases, not medically confirmed but a lot of activity in manhattan. I may be making a house call here later but this is a way that people are saying, okay, i dont feel well, social media, picking it up. I may never leave the house. How else can we prevent the flu if you dont have the app . This bears repeating. It is important, number one, still recommended everyone over the age of six months get vaccinated. Number two, cover your face when you cough and sneeze into your arm, not your hand, and stay home when sick. I cant emphasize this enough and want to quickly show you why. Take this tape measure back up to three feet. Keep going to six. This is how far a respiratory flu vaccine travels so take it seriously. Really . Oh man, i thought i was crazy when people would sneeze and i hold my breath. Okay, now theres a good reason. Good point. Thank you so much. Youre welcome. Still important to get your flu shot. Take it seriously. Take it seriously. Better than now nothing. Kn now were going to go to ginger at the opry city stage. [ cheers and applause ] oh, yes, michael, the opry city stage and restaurant may i add. Its not just Country Music. Luke bryan here, culture country, country food. Celebrating. Somebody tried to give me catfish for breakfast. You know what, thats appropriate. I was like, its a little early for that. Here you are in times square and you know what, lukes part of my gma moment. So we go to houston, texas, where this young lady is seeing snow for the first time. Anyone under the age of 8 in houston has never seen snow. Look at her taking it all in. So sweet and youre from the deep south. Im from south georgia, so a snow event i never saw it as a child like its a big deal for us southerners down there to get some snowflakes. A huge hello. Im meteorologist mike nicco from abc7 mornings. Here are your accuweather highlights. Mostly sunny, a spare the air today, wood burning ban all day. Still need a heater at night to stay warm as temperatures in the 30s and 40s, above vrge ak highs through next week and dry. Temperatures today about 62 to 689 degrees. Well have 30s in our valleys, 40s around the bay and the coast tonight. My accuweather sevenday forecast, i hope you like this, warmer than average weathehehehe and here we are walking up the stairs and beautiful photos on the walls and luke bryan, more certified digital than anybody. 40 million tracks, yall. Luke bryan. [ applause ] you surprised me with this. This is your plaque and itll be right here and so proud to have you. Youre singing coming up, but for now we will get to lara. No more gifts. Good with the sweater. So the holidays are almost here and this morning were learning new details about how Meghan Markle may be spending them with the royal family. Her life already so dramatically changing in more ways than one. Abcs Adrienne Bankert has the story. Reporter its beginning to look a lot like christmas for Meghan Markle and the prince. According to london papers theyre expected to join festivities at sandringham with her majesty the queen. According to the times of london, uncle harry and meghan will also see what santa brought Prince George and Princess Charlotte as william and kates guests at their anmer hall home. The prince and his fiancee then reportedly leave for a funfilled holiday. Its anticipated meghan will make time to see friends and family before her big day. The 36yearolds relocation to london means leaving work on two Major Charities as a world vision ambassador. Its time to make things a lot better than what were seeing here. Reporter and United Nations womens advocate. I am proud to be a woman and a feminist. Reporter instead after the wedding meghan will join harry, Prince William and kate as the fourth patron of the royal foundation, focusing on projects like mental health, youth job programs and cyber bullying. With what meghans done already she has shown a lot of interest in young people. Shes also shown that shes very keen to stand up for people who are underprivileged. Stand up for people who dont have a voice. Reporter with prince harry recognized globally for his inspirational work helping Wounded Service members, a crowning achievement, his highly attended invictus games, meghan appears to be just what the fifth in line to the throne was looking for. We hope to, you know, over time try and have as much impact of all the things we care about as much as possible. Reporter it was meghan who decided to focus on the u. K. , getting to know this country instead of continuing with her own passion projects. Some of it perhaps might have been a little bit too political, obviously the royals cant get involved with political organizations. Shes a game changer. Kate was only invited to the day after christmas, boxing day, a huge holiday. Well see if meghan is invited to the actual christmas ceremony or festivities because that would be a big deal. Yes, so much changing. Thank you, adrienne. Coming up were going country. Luke bryan performing live. Gma. [ applause ] [ applause ] our gma moment brought to you by the frame from samsung. The most beautiful tv youve never seen. Never seen. Its 8 27. Good morning on this friday. Im reggie aqui from abc7 mornings. For the fourth straight day, oakland will be without city services. City employees are on strike after mayor livingshaft delivered what she was calling her best and final offer last night. The union says its not good enough and they will present a counterproposal. The mayor says if a proposal is rejected the next step is state mediation. Sue hall looking at friday morning traffic. Not light. The bay bridge, some availability in the cash paying lanes, fastrakers not so much. Car poolers are getting through fine. Big problem on highway 4 approaching concord, an accident blocking all but one lane westbond 4 near san marco, clearing up but still traff good morning. Our first winter sparetheair alert. That means wood burning is banned all day today. Right now, air quality is okay. Lets take look at our temperatures. Everybodys off the freezing mark except for santa rosa at 32. Already 50 in half moon bay. Your commute today, no worries. Everythings green, whether its on the water, mass transit, or on the roads. Near record highs all seven day, reggie. Thank you, mike. Well have well have another abc7 news update i i wake up date i [ cheers and applause ] what a way to kick off the weekend. Luke bryan. [ cheers and applause ] opry city stage. So, brandnew place here and would better to christen it than this man right here. [ applause ] you ready to do a little country. Lets do it. Luke bryan. Do it, man. [ applause ] lets light it up here in the big apple. Come on. I open my eyes reach for the phone not a word from you baby it dont leave my sight since we had that fight cant remember but maybe i blew you up in the middle of the night again you were drinking with your friends you ignored it but you got it i get so neurotic about it baby cause i know youre reading your phone i cant help from going crazy thinking you might not be all alone i wake up i check it i shower and i check it i feel the buzz in my truck and i almost wreck it i always got it on me just in case you want me so if youre looking for my love then light it up come on. [ applause ] every time i unlock my screen i hope i see one of them red lipstick i miss you pictures im on your clock youre in control you want me now baby go figure my worlds at the tips of your fingers i get so neurotic about it baby cause i know youre reading your phone i cant help from going crazy thinking you might not be all alone i wake up i check it i shower and i check it i feel the buzz in my truck and i almost wreck it i always got it on me just in case you want me so if youre looking for my love then light it up yeah baby then light i up i go to sleep i check it in the middle of the night i check it i feel the buzz in my bed and i dont get no rest i always got it on me just in case you want me so if youre looking for my love then light it up yeah baby light it up [ cheers and applause ] thank you. Thank you, gma. [ cheers and applause ] weaving your own shoes. By out of flax. Or simply adjust your thermostat. Do your thing, with Energy Upgrade california. I developed a love for music early on. My dad was adamant about me chasing my dream. Ive lost, ive hurt but youve got to go try things. Oh my god this is my song the cma award goes to luke bryan. I cant wait to make someone elses dreams come true. Going to hollywood. American idol on americas network, abc, the journey begins march 2018. We are back now with a new health craze that has some people saying really . Its all about a food called energy balls and fans say theyre a great way to get nutrition on the go. Becky worley is taking a closer look. Hey, becky. Good morning, michael. Its a thing. Im telling you. Foodies are touting the properties of healthy fats and low carbs, not in a smoothie, not in a bar, balls. Whats lighting up instagram is a supposedly nutritional snack trend and can roll down a hill. The answer, energyballs. Nut, oat, healthy fats combine to make a portable finger food. You know its a hot trend because a bakery in brooklyn is selling them. Seems healthier than Chocolate Chip Cookie or a cupcake. Reporter but how healthy are they . Nutritionist maya feller and i get to work. Balls, this is a food trend . Balls are a food trend. This new fun way to grab and go. Get some sustenance and people are going wild for it. Reporter recipe one. Dried apple. Dates, nut, oat, cinnamon, i mean even a little bit of maple syrup, a tablespoon. Shape it. I think so. Do you cook it. This is no bake. Supposed to be able to eat it raw . Rest two, pumpkin pie. Oh, my gosh. That is sweet. Uhhuh. Thats dessert. Reporter these are sugar cook energy balls. Whats crazy this has only four ingredients. Exactly. Cashew, dates, vanilla, salt and theyre tasty. Oh, my goodness. Thats fantastic. Reporter well these recipes have been low in added sugars, this next one these are bad becauses. Bad balls. What makes them bad balls basically sweetened White Chocolate chips and ton of honey. Maya says the calorie count is way too high for a healthy snack. You have two or three of those, thats 690 calories. Right. Thats its like a cinnamon rell. Its significant. This is a dessert alternative. With my foreairports officially exhausted. Its like a pt workout. The final takeaway. I dont think its meant to be a replacement for food but if youre having it once in a day and not every single day, why not. I ate a lot of those by the shoot and by the end of the day it was like a super dense gut bomb. It was good but they weremichael. Oh, absolutely, no doubt. And it does sound like these are really filling, becky. Who would benefit from these balls . [ laughter ] well, maybe i would serve these to teenage athletes who need a ton of calories and maybe may want ground flaxseed and nut butters. My kids should probably be eating more nuts and these are a way to serve dessert that has heart healthy fats and antioxidant, otherwise, call it a dessert or a cookie dough replacement and definitely limit yourself to the occasional ball. Yep. Everything in moderation of the thats right and now well go to ginger at opry city stage. Take it away, ginger. [ cheers and applause ] michael, its as if we have been transported right to nashville but, no, were just blocks away here in times square. Opry city stage and restaurant i have all my delirious friends up very early but you know what, we are delirious for luke bryan because hes going to perform, right . And that would be just one of the spectacles you see here at the opry city stage. There is a lot going on at the place. Look around you. It is good morning. We even have video of Dolly Partons 1987 beautiful gown. Thats one of the things youll end up seeing and also this, this is from a nashville art cyst that used nearly 10,000 guitar picks with the opry city stage logo all by hand, all placed by hand. I bet you get delirious after that. Luke bryan in just moments but for now weve good morning. Im meteorologist mike nicco. Heres your 12hour day planner, 36 to 57 this morning at 9 00. Look at those 60s as we head throughout the afternoon hours all that weather brought to you by ford. Lara, well head right back to you. Thank you very much. Today is our sponsor macys National Believe Day when they offer double donations 2 instead of every 1 for every letter to santa up to an additional Million Dollars and all that will benefit children with lifethreatening medical conditions, take a look at how they helped make a wish come true for a boy born with congenital Heart Disease who also dreamed of being a chef. Hi, my name is josh. Aisle 8 years old and i like to cook. Reporter this culinary cutie loves to whip up recipes with his mom. Hes probably going to outshine me very, very quickly in the kitchen. When i grow up i want to be a chef. Reporter but his little story started with a not so sweet beginning. Joshua was born with severe congenital Heart Defects and had three surgeries before he turned 40 years old. Reporter now his heart is beating strong and thanks to make a wish. My wish was to become a chef for a day. Reporter hes getting a tasty surprise from world famous celebrity chef Marcus Samuelson at his new york city restaurant red rooster. Heres a chef hat. Heres a chef jacket. You and i are going to cook together. It says joshua right there. Are you ready . All right. Highfive. Go, joshua. Reporter on todays menu, pasta bolognese. Chef, josh is amazing. He is a really fast learner. You can tell he enjoyed cooking because he was always curious and wanted to smell every ingredient. He wanted to be there every step of the way. Fireball you are the future to know what hes been through to get to experience Something Like this is just absolutely incredible. Right. Such a tiny thing for us but its a big deal for the family and any time you can do that during the holidays you should. Thank you, marcus and macys and makeawish. You are the future [ applause ] what a cutie. Josh and his family joined us thursday on the gma set for a behind the scenes tour. So much fun meeting everybody there. There we are. I like the penn state sweatshirt of course and michael and robin. It was a wonderful experience and please, guys, remember to get those wish letters in a macys mailbox nationwide or submit one online today if you want it to count as double the donation. Thank you so much, macys. And can you go to our website to learn more about National Believe Day. Please do so. Coming up right now, luke bryan. More songs live on gma. [ applause ] wow means you save 50 or more. There are three stages of wow. Denial. Is this price right . Acceptance. And boooyah wait for it. Boooyah has three os. Grocery outlet bargain market this week, two pounds of halos california mandarins are just 1. 99. [ cheers and applause ] welcome back. Opry city stage. No, were not in nashville. Were in new york city with luke bryan. This wonderful, brandnew venue and restaurant. Can you smell it. They tried to make you eat catfish. And waffles. Bringing country here to times square. Right in the middle of times square. And what better way than for you to kick it off and you have this great new music that is out. What makes you country. When people ask you that, how do you answer that. Its tough to sum it up in a paragraph or a book, but, you know, just small town upbringing, you know. You know, just parents staying on you, making sure you got your manners in order and but your family and your friends and your, you know, you know the deal. You know the deal and you shared that because you opened your home and your heart to all of us in that cma special right before. [ applause ] you, caroline, the boys and, you know, youre about to go back home for the holidays. How does the bryan family celebrate. Oh, gosh, we its totally i become clark w. Griswold. I mean, i you know i believe that. Im falling off things, you know. But we have a big time. We will get the whole family in and some of them like, you know, some of the family we dont like we try to put them way out in the barn, you know. In the loft. No, no, no. Im digging myself a holiday hole right now. A big one. You got a busy year coming up. You got the tour that youre going to be doing and, of course, American Idol. How are the auditions going . Future country star out there. Whats crazy, we have done all the auditions and met and heard the American Idol but now its time to start finding weeding out the weak ones and the strong ones survive. Its going to be its so fun for me to be in this role and im so excited to see how america votes. Thats the thing. Me and katy and lionel, we can judge all we want to but we got to get them there but america starts all yall. You all will decide. You all will decide. Happy anniversary. Oh, yeah. Happy anniversary. 11 years ago walking down that aisle with your beautiful bride, caroline. Yes, yes, so shes she cut me some slack. She didnt i was like, baby, my album comes out on our anniversary. Shes like yeah. Then shes like, okay, well have fun with it. So we leave tonight and then we go we go to l. A. And she and i are going to were going to have an Anniversary Dinner and all that stuff . Thats beautiful. Oh, dont give me that much credit. All the girls are like i want to talk to caroline. No, dont. But you know what, what you see is what you get. A good time with him on the stage. Thank you. And can we have some more music. Lets play some music. Hooked on it. Hooked on it. Thank you, robin. Ready. All right. Lets get hooked on it and here we go. Come on. I said tonight im used to playing tonight not at 8 00 in the morning. Come on. First time i tied a plastic worm and felt him on the other end it was get the net get him in the boat yeah buddy i was hooked on it first time i heard chatahoochee on the speakers of my radio i was topping off the tank on my old twotone i was hooked on it hooked on the feeling of a summer in the south hooked on the dust flying up from a plow hooked on them blue eyes hair falling down hooked on her then still hooked on her now so many things where i grew up once you get a little you cant get enough this small town life runs through my blood and im hooked on it the first time i got that gulf coast white sugar sand on my feet saw the sunshine dancing on that clear blue water i was hooked on it first time i grabbed me a long neck bottle from the bottom of a bucket of ice as soon as that cold beer hit my lips i was hooked on it hooked on the feeling of a summer in the south hooked on the dust flying up from a plow hooked on them blue eyes hair falling down hooked on her then still hooked on her now so many things where i grew up once you get a little you cant get enough this small town life runs through my blood and im hooked on it come on like a friday payday honky tonk buzz i gotta have a little more of it just because i keep coming back to the good stuff cause im hooked on it hooked on the feeling of a summer in the south hooked on the dust flying up from a plow hooked on them blue eyes hair falling down hooked on her then still hooked on her now so many things where i grew up once you get a little you cant get enough this small town life runs through my blood and im hooked on it yeah im hooked on it im hooked on it come on. [ cheers and applause ] thank you, gma. [ cheers and applause ] times square. We love you. For mildtomoderate eczema . It can be used almost everywhere on almost everybody. The face of a fisherman . The hand of a ranch hand . The knee of a needle pointer . Prescription eucrisa is a nose to toes eczema ointment. It blocks overactive pde4 enzymes within your skin. And its steroidfree. Do not use if you are allergic to eucrisa or its ingredients. Allergic reactions may occur at or near the application site. The most common side effect is application site pain. Ask your doctor about eucrisa. Think of your fellow man, lend him a helping hand, put a little love in your heart. Youll see its getting late, oh please dont hesitate. Put a little love in your heart. In your heart. In your heart. In your heart. In your heart. vo going on now, our subaru share the love event will have donated over one hundred fifteen Million Dollars to those in need. Hooked on the feeling ginger, wouldnt you say its a great way to start the weekend. We need you every single day on gma, luke bryan, yes. Our thanks to luke. Have a great friday. Everybody, welcome to country here in nyc. Oh yeah. Opry city stage. When you have doctors working as a team for your health, you get the care you need to help you thrive. Visit kp. Org to learn more. Kaiser permanente. Thrive. Its 8 59. Im reggie aqui from abc7 mornings. Happy friday to you. Mike nicco, looks like its going to be a wrm one. It definitely is. Temperatures 62 in vallejo to santa cruz and ukiah at 69. Unfortunately, it is a sparetheair day, woodburning ban all day today and likely saturday and sunday. Pattern will remain stagnant with near record high temperatures and no rain through thursday. Hi, sue. Another major Traffic Alert in cordelia north 680 near gold hill road, apparently a semi versus a pedestrian, and as you might imagine, that is not good. Avoid this area. Take 680 eastbound to avoid that particular roadway. Well be back at 11 00 a. M. For abc7 midday news. Live with kelly ryan, their big guest today, madonna. M announcer its live with kelly and ryan today, recording artist, actress, and legend, the one and only madonna plus, we wrap our holiday hits week with a performance by 98 degrees. All next on live [cheers and applause] and now, here are kelly ripa and Ryan Seacrest [cheers and applause] ryan do you hear it . [cheers and applause]