Transcripts For KGO Good Morning America 20240712

In the hospital speaks out. Back in the spotlight First Lady Melania Trump taking center stage at the Republican Convention, making the case for her husbands reelection. This as two upcoming books put her marriage and private life under the microscope. Plus, secretary of state mike pompeos Unprecedented Convention speech violating protocol and sparking sharp criticism. Major testing change. The new covid guidelines from the cdc say even if you may have been exposed to the virus you dont need a test if you dont have symptoms. This as cases are rising at colleges across the country, and now Health Officials are warning about the dangers of flu season colliding with the pandemic. New fallout. Jerry falwell jr. s former pool attendant and Business Partner who revealed the sordid details of an alleged group affair, now lashing out, claiming that the couple pursued him and calling the top conservative evangelical leader a predator as Becki Falwell speaks out for the first time. Battle over Britney Spears fortune. After years of turmoil, who will control her money, and what the new twist means for the singers kids. And mission to the movie. Here we are. Global superstar tom cruise masking up for a trip to see one of the most explosive and highly anticipated summer blockbusters of all time. That part is a little bit dramatic. The action stars priceless reaction when the lights went up. And good morning, america. We want to get right to the three big stories breaking this morning including those deadly riots in kenosha, wisconsin. Also day three of the gop convention. First Lady Melania Trump center stage in the rose garden last night. And hurricane laura taking aim at texas and louisiana. Yeah, and we want to start by taking a live look right there. You can see the satellite of that powerful storm barrelling through the gulf, now a category 3 hurricane but rapidly graining strength and expected to become a category 4 storm in just a matter of hours. And also another image to show you now. This one from the International Space station. This shows you just how massive this storm is. Evacuation orders are in effect for more than 500,000 people along the gulf coast. Our team is on the ground in the expected storm zone. Ginger leads us off in port arthur, texas, where theyre expecting damaging winds at over 100 miles an hour. Good morning, ginger. Reporter a category 3 hurricane is spinning in the gulf of mexico less than 280 miles to my southeast. I will not want to be standing here in port arthur, texas along the water because storm surge could exceed 10 or even 15 feet. That is a wall of water and a lot of wind coming at us. The storm rapidly intensified faster than anything weve seen in the Atlantic Basin since irma in 2017. It is making a bee line for this texas and Louisiana State line. Thats where the cone has kind of centered in. That does not mean if youre in houston or galveston that you have nothing to worry about, by no means. Youll still have impacts but the worst is going to happen on the northeast quad dron. The timing, after midnight tonight, should make landfall between 1 and 3 00 a. M. You see the winds, some places 120 Miles Per Hour gusts. But it doesnt stop there. This is bad especially in shreveport or arkansas. This area has done it before, rita, harvey, ike. Theyre ready and preparing to take on the cecilia. Thinking of everyone in the storm zone. Thanks so much. A mandatory Evacuation Order in effect in galveston. Families racing to leave along the gulf coast and marcus moore has the latest on this side of the story, good morning, marcus. Reporter cecilia, good morning. That storm is just over 300 miles from where we are, galveston, under a hurricane warning this morning and there has been an urgent scramble to get people off of the island ahead of this storm. Nursing homes, loading residents onto buses and taking them away. Also people packing the highways. We saw heavy traffic backups on tuesday and officials here have actually staggered the evacuations to prevent the kind of chaos we saw back in 2005 during hurricane rita. It turned tragic. People died during the evacuation effort, and right now officials are saying time is running out for people to get off of this island ahead of this fast moving storm. T. J. . Marcus, thank you. We turn to lake charles, Evacuation Order in place there as well. There are fears the storm surge could reach as high as 15 feet. Rob marciano is there for us. 15 feet, rob. What kind of damage are we talking about . Reporter hey, t. J. Obviously that would be up and over my head here in lake charles, 30 miles inland, we expect at least a 10foot surge. Along the coastline, the surge plus the waves is going to be ripping homes apart unfortunately. This is going to be a devastating surge. We often say that you can hide from the wind but you have to run from the water. For that reason a number of parishes have been forced to evacuate including the one im standing in right now. Lets show you the shot from our drone to give you an idea of what lake charles is like. Its a relatively small city but much of the life is around the lake itself, between the infrastructure, the homes and the downtown, much of which is going to be flooded when this storm comes in. I10 slices right through town. The storm surge will extend north of interstate 10. That gives you an idea of how powerful this is going to be. This is a large circulation, takes that water from the gulf of mexico and pushes it up, the lakes, rivers, bayous, canals. 10 to 15 feet of surge expected and 500 miles of coastline under a warning and rainfall is going to go well inland as well. Water is going to be huge. Cecilia . Okay, rob, thanks so much. Hurricane laura is expected to impact houston which was hit hard three years ago. Now theyre battling a major covid outbreak. More than 100,000 cases there alone. Matt gutman is there at houston Methodist Hospital with a look on how theyre preparing for this storm. Good morning, matt. Reporter good morning, cecilia. The feeling at houston methodist and really across houston, the fourth largest city, is not one more thing. Now, houstons achilles heel is flooding. Its low, flat and full of tunnels. Thats why the mechanics will push closed this massive floodgate which they hope will seal the entire tunnels and garage where people have died in previous storms. Ive spoken to officials here and in beaumont and theyre concerned about their Covid Patients and staff, how to feed them, how to house them during the storm, and have social distancing. Also there will be thousands of hurricane evacuees staying with family, friends and in shelters and trying to get them to social distance is going to be concerning. Also there are fears of additional outbreaks because of the storm. George . We are worried about that. Okay, matt. Thanks so much. Well follow the storm all morning long. Right now we want to turn to the Republican Convention and a big night for the trump family. Both Tiffany Trump and eric trump addressed the convention making the case for their father warning his defeat would be a disaster for the country. First Lady Melania Trump breaking tradition by delivering her speech from the rose garden, and mary bruce has the highlights. Good morning, mary. Reporter good morning. Weve never seen this before. The white house, the peoples house, used for a political convention. Last night the first lady giving her highest profile speech yet. At times it was personal. Melania trump sharing her own immigrant story, but she was also defiant in making the case for her husband to serve another four years. Overnight the first lady stepping into the redesigned rose garden and into a political spotlight she often tries to avoid. Before her husband and a somewhat socially distanced crowd, Melania Trump trying to reassure americans that her husband has the pandemic under control. Donald will not rest until he has done all he can to take care of everyone impacted by this terrible pandemic. Reporter and making a direct appeal to women as the president has been losing their support in key battlegrounds. To mothers and parents everywhere, you are warriors. In my husband, you have a president who will not stop fighting for you and your families. Reporter she was uncompromising in her defense of her husband, defiant in the face of the president s critics. Hes what is best for our country. We all know donald trump makes no secrets about how he feels about things. Total honesty is what we as citizens deserve from our president. Reporter the night, a Family Affair. Tiffany trump saying her father puts the countrys needs ahead of his own. Fighting for america is something he will sacrifice anything for. Reporter and eric trump with a direct message for his dad. Im proud of what you are doing for this country. Im proud to show my children what their grandfathers fighting for. Im proud to watch you give them hell. Reporter it was a night of firsts. Never before has the white house been used as a backdrop for a party convention. Critics say it crosses an ethical line and even raises questions of legality, using the power of the presidency for political gain, but the president , eager to use the trappings of the office to boost his reelection bid, leaning in to the pageantry. Raise your right hand. Reporter hosting a naturalization ceremony swearing in new citizens. Congratulations. Reporter and granting a president ial pardon to convicted bank robber jon ponder who devoted his life to helping other former prisoners reenter society. Thank you, sir. Reporter in another sharp break with tradition, secretaries of state normally avoid partisan events, but now hi, im mike pompeo. Im speaking to you from beautiful jerusalem. Reporter the nations top diplomat delivering a political speech at a convention while on a Diplomatic Mission abroad, violating his departments own policy not to engage in political activity to back a candidate. The way each of us can best ensure our freedoms is by electing leaders who dont just talk, but who deliver. Reporter House Democrats now investigating if he violated federal law. And one slated speaker who did not appear last night, mary ann mendoza. She is a socalled angel mom whose son was killed by a drunk driver who was in the country illegally. She was pulled at the last minute after she was spreading an antisemitic Conspiracy Theory on twitter. She did later apologize but it speaks to the broader spread were seeing of some of these fringe theories. George. Mary, thanks very much. Lets bring in chris christie, former republican governor of new jersey, friend and adviser to president trump. Thanks for joining us this morning. Were seeing the trump family deployed in a way we havent seen before in political conventions, basically every night, some of the speeches quite political. Is it working . Well, i thought the first ladys speech worked really well last night, george, because she was authentic. She was honest and they were her words. You could tell they were her words. She talked at length about the racial crisis in this country, at length about the covid crisis in this country and made the pitch for her husband being the best person to solve those problems. So i think it worked very well last night for Melania Trump and i have no doubt she was the star of the show. For the the president and the white house taking heat for using the white house and mike pompeo on a Diplomatic Mission. Sure seems like the president is basically embracing that despite the criticism and possible investigations. Yeah, george, listen, i think everything changes because of the covid crisis. Theres no doubt in my mind that the president would much rather be in charlotte, north carolina, in front of an arena of 20,000, you know, fans who were, you know, cheering him on. But we all have had to make adjustments because of this crisis. You saw the big difference in the Democratic Convention last week, as well. The white house is the safest, least expensive place for the president to be doing this. Hes taking advantage of that and so i think these are very different times. My guess is youll never see it again. Halfway through this convention whats the big Unfinished Business . Laying out the agenda for the next four years. I think the president has to do that tomorrow night. He has to lay out what he wants to do for the country and how that contrasts with what joe biden and the democrats want to do. That serves two purposes. One, to lay out a framework for the final 69 days here, george, and, two, an attempt to force joe biden to start being more specific. Last week we saw the democrats made the case that joe biden is a good, decent person. I believe that. Ive known him for 35 years, but there were not many specifics at all about what joe biden would do as president from a policy perspective for the country. The president needs to draw him out, george, and the only way to do that is not to insult him, not to attack him personally, but to go after his policies and by laying out your alternative. Start that new debate. Chris christie, thanks very much. Our full coverage of the Republican Convention continues tonight at 7 00 on abc newslive and ill be anchoring our primetime coverage on the network starting at 10 00. T. J. . We have to turn to kenosha, wisconsin, the streets of kenosha, wisconsin turned deadly overnight. This was the third night of protests there after jacob blake was shot multiple times at point blank range in front of his kids. Alex perez there for us in kenosha with more. Alex, good morning. Reporter hey, good morning, t. J. Another long night of protests here. Like the others, things started relatively peacefully but then quickly turned violent. Now despite the curfew, protesters took to the streets clashing with officers who were trying to clear the area. Authorities say there was some sort of confrontation between demonstrators that turned deadly. A shooting left two dead, another injured. Meanwhile, the family of jacob blake says hes still in the icu. Hes paralyzed from the waist down, and theyre calling on protesters to end the destruction and to remain peaceful. T. J. . All right, alex, thank you so much. We will have much more on the situation in wisconsin and well hear from jacob blakes uncle. Hes joining us for an exclusive and it is also a hopeful update this morning, cecilia. We turn to the latest on the coronavirus emergency and that shift by the cdc over when and if you should get tested. This as cases in colleges across the country are now climbing, and there are new worries about patients becoming reinfected. Abcs trevor ault has the latest and this is all happening, of course, as flu season is now approaching. Reporter of course, cecilia. It is a lot to juggle at the same time and there is some good news this morning that across the country in the past week the number of new cases and deaths decreased substantially, but the cdc made this big change to its guidelines saying people who dont have symptoms dont necessarily need to get tested even if they have been exposed and thats a bit of a jarring shift as a number of schools and universities report big, new outbreaks. Overnight, a major change to the cdc covid19 guidelines saying if you have no symptoms, you dont necessarily need a test, even if you may have been exposed. A direct shift from what director Robert Redfield told abc last month. Anyone who thinks they may be infected independent of symptoms should be and should get a test. Reporter the update comes as cases rise at american colleges and universities. More than 530 at the university of alabama, nearly 160 at the university of missouri, and even at the university of Southern California where classes are mostly online, School Officials are warning of an alarming increase of 43 cases in offcampus housing. People are throwing parties. Im hoping students come to their senses. Reporter in Many School Districts across the country, students are going into quarantine putting pressure on parents. They have no idea what to do. Reporter jennifer is the mother of a mississippi fourth grader whose entire grade of more than 200 students is now in quarantine after multiple teachers tested positive. Jennifer is a teacher herself. Shes now having to coach other parents through the Virtual Learning process. Parents dont understand how it works. Weve had a lot of frustrations. Reporter with the world approaching 24 million confirmed cases, scientists are studying the possibility for patients to become reinfected. In hong kong a patient is believed to be the first person to become reinfected with covid19 and other cases in europe are being investigated. This as Health Officials prepare for a full flu season lurking just around the corner. Weve had delays. Before returning those covid tests, that is not going to go away during the flu season. Reporter and manufacturers are trying to make combination tests that would check for covid19 and the flu at the same time. Those are not on the market yet, but the flu shot is. George . Trevor ault, thanks. Lots more coming up including as t. J. Just said that exclusive interview with jacob blakes uncle and that hopeful update. Also the latest on the fallout over that Jerry Falwell jr. Sex scandal. His former Business Partner now lashing out against the couple but first we head back to ginger. Cecilia, im standing in the hurricane warning but the impacts are going to go well beyond the Golden Triangle and the southeast louisiana. Youll have Tropical Storm warnings from south of houston to shreveport, texarkana and south new orleans. This is going to be a surge of 10 to 15 feet, could go 30 miles inland. Lets get to the hot cities sponsored by subaru. Stay with us on this wednesday. We will be right back. whispering jake from state farm, i cant thank you enough for getting me those serena savings on my insurance. Can i get you 10 free minutes in the broth bath . whispering serena, with state farm, everyones offered surprisingly great rates. whispering yeah sure, how about a complimentary wet moss wrap . whispering heres the deal, these savings are for everyone. at full volume seriously . Shhhh whispering shes just jealous. whispering when you want the real deal. Like a good neighbor, state farm is there. ® introducing new best foods drizzle sauce craveworthy flavors you can drizzle, dip and dress to make home the best restaurant around new drizzle sauces from best foods were on the side of food. 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Along with hospitalizations. Also, counties are are coming off the states watch list. So were expecting to get updates on education. Well bring you the update live at noon on nbc 7 and the air quality is good except santa cruz and vacaville. But this is another spare the air day with temperatures close to average after starting off cooler this morning in the mid50s to mid60s. For your commute planner, its to be a smooth ride on the water. Well see more smoky conditions today. More smoke around thursday and friday, the winds become lighter and start to climb higher than average. Reggie. Pike, thanks. Coming up on gma. Melania trumps big moment speaking at the rnc convention. How becoming first lady has changed her life and the secret recordings just released by a former friend and adviser revealing what she said said about her husband and his im a delivery Operations Manager in san diego, california. Weve had a ton of obstacles in finding ways to be more sustainable for a big company. 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Fit me matte poreless. Only from maybelline new york. Welcome back to gma. That is a woman who needs no introduction but ill tell you anyway, Britney Spears, her hit song stronger. The latest in the battle over her fortune. Who will be controlling it. We will have more coming up. That is coming up. Were following a lot of top headlines. Hurricane laura is intensifying taking aim at texas and louisiana. Its on the verge of becoming a major category 4 hurricane. Evacuations are under way for more than 500,000 along the gulf coast. Also First Lady Melania Trump took center stage at the Republican Convention breaking tradition by speaking from the rose garden, making her case for her husbands reelection. Coming up well have more on the two upcoming books putting her marriage and private life under the microscope. And take a look at this, the first nohitter of this unusual baseball season. White sox pitcher Lucas Giolito getting help from his teammate to seal the deal, beating the pittsburgh pirates. It was his first career nohitter. They celebrated before a home crowd of cutouts. The crowd goes wild. The first nohitter that nobody saw. All right. We have to begin back in wisconsin on the streets of kenosha, wisconsin, where there was more outrage, it was the third night of protests there demanding justice for jacob blake after he was shot in the back by police in front of his kids and that video so many of us have seen and been disturbed by. Were going to hear from jacobs uncle, justin blake, in just a few minutes. First we want to go back to alex perez in kenosha, wisconsin, for us. Hello again, alex. Reporter hey, good morning, once again, t. J. As weve seen other nights things started relatively peacefully here, but all of that quickly changed when officers tried to clear the area. The night spiraling into complete chaos and turning deadly in kenosha. Weve seen at least four people with handguns running around here. Reporter this graphic video showing a man running down the street with a firearm, a crowd chasing behind him. Whatd he do . Reporter the man then falls to the ground, raises the firearm and begins shooting. According to officials two people were killed, one injured. Its unclear if the shooter caused the fatalities. I have a third gunshot victim walking into the e. R. Right now. Reporter the fbi joining the investigation of the incident. This as protesters and Police Clashed in the streets for the third night in a row. Officers launching tear gas from Armored Vehicles attempting to push the crowd away from the courthouse which has been the center of the action despite a citywide curfew. Law enforcement over a loud speaker telling demonstrators to voice their concerns with the governor. If you have more complaints voice them with your governor. Contact him directly via email. Reporter the violence from this week taking a toll on the city, some areas now resembling a war zone. This parking lot flooded with burned out cars and former buildings now reduced to ash and rubble. We need healing. Reporter as the tension mounts, jacob blakes mother pleading with destructive protesters to stop. For anyone who is doing anything that is violent or destructive, please stop. I get your pain. I get your frustration. This is nothing new and its not just about my son. I get that. But please find another way. Reporter this video shows  . Blake in the moments before he was shot appearing to struggle with officers before getting up, Walking Around to the drivers an officer pulls his shirt, shoots him in the back. Seven shots ring out. They shot my son seven times seven times. Reporter blakes three boys ages 3, 5 and 8 in the car. All my grandson asks repeatedly is why did the police shoot my daddy in the back . Reporter two officers involved now on administrative leave pending the investigation. Attorneys for the family demanding those officers be held accountable. We believe based on the evidence, based on the video, probable cause exists to arrest and charge the officers with attempted murder. Reporter blake is in the icu, loved ones revealing he is paralyzed from the waist down. Does he have anything he wants to say or convey . The first thing he did when he looked at me was cry, then began to say im sorry about all of this. I dont really think he knows what happened. I said to him, why are you sorry . He says, because i dont want a burden on anybody. I want to be with my children and i dont think im going to walk again, mom. Reporter now, the county board here has sent a letter to the governor requesting an additional 2,000 National Guardsmen to help maintain the peace. T. J. All right, alex, thank you. For more were joined by jacobs uncle, justin blake. Thank you so much for being here. Sorry its under these circumstances. We got word yesterday your nephew is actually paralyzed. What can you tell us now, the update on his condition. . Little jake has been through a lot. Hes in a lot of pain. As the family was together at the hotel trying to say prayers and bonding, as julie was doing interviews she broke away and put in my ear that he had come out of surgery and wasnt out of the woods but was doing better. Not out of the woods. There was word that you all were hoping he was going to be able to recover. Have you all told any idea of his paralysis right now, is it something that is temporary . Im not a doctor but what theyre saying is that the inflammation was challenging to his mobilization being mobile and theyre hoping that when the pressure reduces and things go back to normal within his body, that he will be able to move again with his lower leg. I know its been tough for the family so i certainly assume that that was great news for the family to get, so good you all got some good updates on his health. Have his kids been able to see him . Not presently. The only people that have seen him is our brother jacob blake and his mother, and at this time thats all that needs to be his children are surrounded by family. We are giving them love, showering them with love and just trying to help them through this experience that was just brutal. Is it in his nature we got word he was trying to comfort his mother and telling family its going to be all right. You called him little jake. Thats your nephew. Is that in his nature of who he is, hes trying to comfort you all while hes in a hospital bed. Isnt that something . That tells what kind of young man he is right there, correct. What is it like for to you watch that video . Its ds disheartening, discouraging that we live in america in 2020 and that our parents are still having to tell young black men when they walk out the door to be careful from the people that we pay for to protect and serve us. Its still a challenge in this nation. Has he told you all more about what happened that led up to what we see on the video . Its too early on. We dont even want to talk about that yet. Hes focused on recovering and his health. Can you not help but think that race played a factor in this incident . It was definitely a racial issue involved. He wasnt a suspect. He hadnt broken a law. As a matter of fact, he was trying to defend people from doing bodily harm. He goes to walk away and encounters these Police Officers running up with pistols drawn, why . It doesnt happen in the Caucasian Community or hispanic communities, why is it happening in 2020 oh, so often in our community. We appreciate your time. Sorry for the circumstances that brought us together but glad to hear your family got some kind of positive update about little jake as you called him. Little jake, your nephew. If everybody could keep praying for him, we appreciate it. Best to you and your family. Thanks for being here. My man, thank you. He absolutely was upbeat for the family to get that news. They have been by his side at that hospital. His kids havent seen him yet but to get that news there was a positive update on his health, we heard, he was paralyzed but this morning were just getting word that maybe he is going to come out of that. It did sound very encouraging. T. J. , thanks very much. Coming up the latest on Jerry Falwell jr. Being involved in a sex scandal and his wife Becki Falwell is breaking her silence. Being involved in a sex scandal and his wife Becki Falwell is breaking her silence. sharon smoking caused my throat cancer. But, walking every day makes me feel like myself again. 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The former Business Partner who claimed he had an affair involving falwell and his wife is speaking out and we hear hear Becki Falwells First Response to the charges. Janai norman has the latest. Good morning. Reporter good morning. In an interview with the washington post, falwell calling his former Business Partner a criminal and a liar, but Giancarlo Granda is standing by his story calling falwell a predator and painting a picture of falwells private life that is very different from his public persona. This morning, new allegations from the Business Partner at the center of the Jerry Falwell jr. Sex scandal. The former president of Liberty University, the nations largest christian college, resigning in disgrace after a onetime miami pool attendant, Giancarlo Granda, claimed he had a sevenyear affair with falwells wife, becki, and that falwell watched when they were intimate. Falwell denies being involved in the affair. In a statement overnight granda standing by his story saying, the falwells would have you believe that i seduced becki into an affair without jerrys knowledge and then spent the intervening seven years trying to extort them. Of course, the truth is they approached me. She invited me to their hotel room. They brought me on multiple trips and vacations including to their family farm in virginia. He continues to lash out at his former Business Partner saying, the reality is Jerry Falwell is a predator. The university was founded by falwells father who famously coined the phrase moral majority and frequently drew criticism for his attacks on lgbt americans and feminists blaming them for the september 11th attacks. I really believe that the pagans and the abortionists and the gays and the lesbians, all of them who tried to secularize america, i point the finger in their face and say, you helped this happen. Reporter falwell jr. Took over following his fathers death in 2007 promising to uphold the schools strict moral rules for everything from swimsuits and movies to a ban on alcoholic beverages and this warning about relationships on campus. Sexual relations outside of a biblically ordained marriage between a natural born man and a natural born woman are not permissible at Liberty University. Earlier this month falwell agreed to take an indefinite leave following weeks of negative headlines starting when he posted this racy photo on social media with his wifes assistant. He later took the photo down and apologized, then this week, the bombshell affair. But according to the washington post, falwell said he was leaving lirt he had been bored and wanted to move on, and he did not want his wifes conduct to embarrass the school. Becki falwell is seen speaking with the preuniversity in 2019. We are so proud of our students here at liberty and its just such an honor to be able to serve alongside them and we try to teach good family values and good morals. Reporter now telling the washington post, i wish christians and people would be as forgiving as christ was. And falwells contract entitles him to a 10. 5 million severance package in part because he is leaving his position with the University Without being formally accused of wrongdoing or admitting to any. Cecilia. All right, thanks so much. We switch gears. Coming up our play of the day. Dogs, thats your hint. Theyre cute. Your hint. Theyre cute. My name is joe. Im a sustainability science researcher at amazon. Climate change is the fight of our generation. The biggest obstacle right now is that were running out of time. Amazon now has a goal to be net zero carbon by 2040. We dont really know exactly how we are going to get there. Its going to be pretty hard. 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You guys probably know this already because weve been talking bit, it is National Dog Day. Take a look. Lilo the trick shot corgi is taking on her human dad in a game of bucket pong. You got to look closely. So lilo with the trick shot off the wall. She has a bunch of different nicknames. Among them, here we go, listen, corgi bryant, steph furry. You can see why. Took me a second to figure out what you were doing. Take a look at the winning turnaround bounce shot off the wall. One more time. Boom. There we go. Every time i see one of these videos i feel like my dogs are underachieving. I was going to ask, do you think they can pull this off, cooper and daisy . No. Jalisco couldnt here either. Apparently they broke a lot of pictures in the making that have video. Ouch. I hadnt seen that yet. Now the truth comes out. All to celebrate National Dog Day. You might get a shot of my dog coming up. Just saying. Stay with us. Well be right back. A lot of cute puppies. Us. Well be right back. 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Ive literally told you a thousand times. Oh, danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling im just gonna. From glen to glen we just got the update. We just got the update. The National Hurricane center has category 3 hurricane laura moving northwest right toward the texas state line. It is making the beeline. Itll be here after midnight tonight. Should make landfall somewhere between say 2 00 and 3 00 a. M. You see what it will do after. It rides along the high in the midatlantic and gets caught in Good Morning America is sponsored by progressive insurance. Save when you bundle auto, home or motorcycle insurance. Auto, home or motorcycle insurance. Good morning. Im reggie aqui. Firefighters are making some progress on the largest fire in our region. The scu lightning complex. It is now 20 contained. Its already burned more than 365,000 acres across seven counties. Firefighters say aerial water drops have helped them get the upper hand. So this is a scene as a helicopter loaded up on water. Cal fires monitoring three to four active hot spots. Going to take a look at weather now and mike nicco. Got great news, everybody. Check this out, everybody breathing cleaner, cooler air this morning. However, that could change this afternoon. Spare the air once again. That smoke is just hovering above about 2,000 feet. Mid to upper 60s coast into san francisco. Low to upper 70s arpd the bay. 80s inland. A few 90s around antioch. Winds are going to become lighter, hotter and more smoky tomorrow. Thank you. Coming up on gma, celebrating National Dog Day. The newest trends for your best buddy including how to take pro like pictures of where you can find games, news and highlights. All in one place, right on your tv. The xfinity sports zone. Use your voice to search every stat, standing and score. Follow the teams you love. And, even get notifications with breaking news alerts and more. So youll never miss an update. With the xfinity sports zone everybody wins. Now thats simple, easy, awesome. Click, call or visit a store for details. An extra 15 credit on car and motorcycle policies . Thats great thats 15 on top of what geico could already save you. So what are you waiting for . John stamos to knit you a scarf . All finished, jean. Enjoy thank you. I give. The stitch work is impeccable. Its just a double fleck pattern with a reverse garter stitch. No big deal. Is your hair this soft . Softer. Geico. Save an extra 15 when you switch by october 7th. Good morning, america. Its 8 00 a. M. Race to escape. Laura on the verge of becoming a major category 4 hurricane rapidly intensifying. Texas and louisiana right in the path. Mandatory evacuations under way for more than 500,000 people. Ginger is in the storm zone. Deadly chaos overnight in the streets of kenosha, wisconsin. A man seen running with a firearm and shooting at a crowd. Protesters demanding justice for jacob blake. The father of three now paralyzed. The uncle uncle uncle uncle speaking to gma this morning. Melanias moment. Making the case for her husbands reeleion. My husband, our family and thpeople in this administration are here fighting for you. This as two books put her marriage and private life under the microscope. Hit me baby one more time battle over Britney Spears. After years of turmoil who will control the pop superstars fortune, and what the new twist means for the singers kids. And its National Dog Day. Gma is celebrating from what you need to know about adopting to helping your dog with anxiety. Plus, how to really throw a puppy party. All ahead as we say, good morning, america. Good morning. You made me laugh. Helping your dog with anxiety. The last text i got from ali last night, poor daisy is having some trouble, peeing in the bed. Sounds just like my house. Mine doesnt have trouble peeing anywhere all over the house. Welcome to gma on this wednesday. Well take pee this half hour. Okay. It is National Dog Day. But some of these numbers are crazy. The adoption numbers, google telling us adopt a pet searches have surged 35 since weve been staying home.  a lot of cute photos of dogs this morning. Cecilia. Are among the families that just adopted a puppy. Heres a live look of jalisco. I should also introduce my husband. Thats ricardo. Theyre phoning in from home this moing. Were going to tell you everything you need to know about adopting. I would say theyre both cute in my opinion. We do have a lot of news to get to. We start with hurricane laura intensifying right now taking aim at texas and louisiana. Evacuation orders are in effect for more than 500,000 people along the gulf coast. Were going to go back to ginger who is tracking the latest in port arthur. Good morning, ginger. Reporter good morning, george. I will not want to be standing here in less than 18 hours when this storm makes landfall. We now know a category 3 hurricane, the latest update from the National Hurricane center, has it moving northwest at 15 Miles Per Hour. Its making a beeline for this texas Louisiana State line. Exactly where i am standing up to lake charles and i want to point out that the rapid intensification with some of the strongest weve seen since irma in 2017. This is a strong one moving up and should be a 4 at some point today, but that cone has sluhru a little bit, but remember even if youre on the edge of the cone, you still have to watch for some because each wobble matters. The impacts important. Storm surge could be 10 to 15 feet. You realize that is a 10 to 15foot wall of water that can push homes off their foundation. The storm surge could move 30 miles inland. That is intense. So even if you are not right at the coast you could see impacts like that and winds in excess of 120 possible. So well be covering it throughout the day and tomorrow. T. J. . Ginger, thank you so much. We want to turn to those protests that turned deadly overnight in kenosha, wisconsin, after jacob blake was shot multiple times at point blank range in front of his kids. We head back to alex perez who is there for us in kenosha. Alex, hello. Reporter good morning, t. J. As things turned violent once again here overnight jacob blakes family has made it very clear they prefer peace, not destruction. The night spiraling into complete chaos and turning deadly in kenosha. Weve seen at least four people with handguns running around here. Reporter this graphic video showing a man running down the street with a firearm, a crowd chasing behind him. Whatd he do . Reporter the man falls to the ground, raises the firearm and begins shooting. According to officials two people were killedh3 one injured. Its unclear if the shooter caused the fatalities. The fbi now joining the investigation of the incident. This, the third night of violence following the shooting of jacob blake who family members say was unarmed when police shot him in the back. This video shows blake in the moments before he was shot appearing to struggle with officers before getting up, Walking Around to the drivers side, appearing to lean in when an officer pulls his shirt, shoots him in the back. Seven shots ring out. Blake is in the icu paralyzed from the waist dn, but this morning, the family has gotten some good news. Theyre hoping that when the pressure reduces and things go back to normal within his body that he will be able to move again with his lower legs. Reporter and this morning, weve learned that county board here has sent a letter to the governor requesting additional help to help maintain the peace. Theyre asking for an additional 2,000 National Guardsmen, cecilia. Okay, alex. Thank you so much. We turn to the Republican National convention, First Lady Melania Trump taking center stage making the case for her husbands reelection last night. Lets head back over to mary bruce in washington who has been covering it all for us. Good morning again, mary. Reporter good morning, cecilia. This was the first ladys most high profile speech yet. At times it was personal. Melania trump sharing her own immigrant story but she was also defiant in defending her husband. The first lady making the case in a speech from the rose garden, something we have never seen before. Overnight, the first lady stepping into the redesigned rose garden and into a political spotlight she often tries to avoid, and makingh a direct appeal to women as the president has been losing their support in key battlegrounds. In my husband you have a president who will not stop fighting for you and your families. Reporter she was uncompromising in her defense of her husband. We all know donald trump makes no secrets about how he feels about things. Total honesty is what we as citizens deserve from our president. Reporter it was a night of firsts, never before has the white house been used as a backdrop for a party convention. Critics say it crosses an ethical line and even raises questions of legality. Using the power of the presidency for political gain. In another sharp break with tradition, the nations top diplomat delivering a political speech at a convention while on a Diplomatic Mission abroad. The way each of us can best ensure our freedoms is by electing leaders that dont just talk but who deliver. Reporter House Democrats now investigating if he violated federal law. And tonight it is the Vice President s turn, mike pence will be accepting the nomination as he gives the nights marquee address. He has been out campaigning aggressively despite the pandemic, and he is expected to make a forceful case for another four years, cecilia. Thanks so much. Our full coverage of the Republican Convention continues at 7 00 p. M. And george anchoring our primetime coverage on the network starting at 10 00. How are you holding up . Youve been at it all week up late, and here in the morning. How are you doing . Im doing fine, thank you for asking, t. J. A couple more nights. We have more coming up right here. First Lady Melania Trump is returning to the spotlight as we just saw, and now there are two new books putting her marriage and private life under the microscope. The battle over who will control Britney Spears fortune and what it means for the singers kids. It is National Dog Day and were going to be telling you about it all morning long. Stay with us. Watermelon sugar high why . I see a new kitchen with a grill and ask, why not . I really need to start adding less to cart and more to savings. Sitting on this couch so long made me want to make some changes. Starting with this couch. Yeah, i need a house with a different view. 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Its 5g ultra wideband, and its already available in parts of select cities. Like los angeles and in new york city. And its rolling out in cities around the country. With massive capacity, its like an eight lane highway compared to a two lane dirt road. 25x faster than todays 4g networks. In fact, its the fastest 5g in the world. From the network more people rely on. This is 5g built right. Only on verizon. We are back now with more on First Lady Melania Trump closing out after her first Republican Conventionnight. A new memoir from a former friend set to release next week along with tapes of their conversations. Tom llamas is at trump tower with the story. Good morning, tom. Reporter george, good morning to you. As you know, the first lady doesnt give a lot of speeches, but the speech she delivered last night was by far her best. In many ways, it was a stark departure from what weve heard at the Republican National convention so far from the topics, immigration, slavery, the pandemic, to her tone. Overnight, First Lady Melania Trump finding her voice and making her case to reelect her husband. Just as you are fighting for your families, my husband, our family and the people in this administration are here fighting for you. Reporter in her biggest speech in four years since the last Republican National convention, the first lady taking center stage in the newly redesigned rose garden. I have been moved by the way americans have come together in such an unfamiliar and often frightening situation. It is in times like this that we will look back and tell our grandchildren that true kindness and compassion, strength and determination, we were able to restore the promise of our future. Reporter the speech coming at a time when the intensely private first lady is facing the glare of the spotlight yet again. Criticized for her recent renovation of Jackie Kennedys famous rose garden and now the release of two books that place her marriage and her personal life under the microscope as her husband seeks a second term. Melanias former close friend d wolkoffs fourth coming book melania and me reportedly chronicles their 15year friendship which a key role in planning the 58th president ial inauguration which was followed by a very public breakup with the white house after she was accused of lavish spending and now reports that wolkoff secretly recorded melania allegedly making disparaging marks about the president s adult children. Neither wolkoff nor her publisher are commenting on the alleged tapes, but the white house is. Of course, no, i have a never heard mrs. Trump say anything disparaging about the family. Theyre a closeknit family. It sounds like its another one of those books that unfortunately people are writing and if there were any recordings taken its really unfortunate to take advantage of somebodys trust like that while being friend, but i dont know much about the book. Reporter another book from pulitzer prizewinning journalist mary jordan digging into the trump marriage. The one person he says who he really trusts is Melania Trump. Reporter in the art of her deal jordan painting the portrait of a savvy first lady claiming melania renegotiated her prenup before moving into the white house, claiming the first lady wanted to make sure barron gets an equal share of inheritance as the other children. While it was shot down as fiction Melania Trump did describe how she advises her husband during our exclusive sitdown interview with the first lady in 2018. The only highprofile interview Melania Trump has given as first lady. Has he had people that you didnt trust working for him . Yes. Did you let him know . I let him know. And what de do . Well, some people they dont work there anymore. Reporter for a first lady who has largely shunned the spotlight, i asked her top aide what Melania Trumps legacy will be for this first term. George, Stephanie Grisham told me, quote, shes a very dignified first lady, a very independent woman who put her son first no matter what. George . Tom llamas, thanks very much. Linsey davis has an exclusive interview with Stephanie Winston wolkoff author of melania and me that comes out monday. Now back to ginger. Yes, george, each hurricane has its own unique imprint and i think this one is going to be known for surge and wind. But that does not mean that it doesnt have other impacts. Already saw a 34foot wave, so easily up to 20 to 30foot wave height. Flash flood watches up through central arkansas. Youll easily get a half foot some places locally over a foot and that will extepid extend as that thing all right. Now it is time for pop news with lara and the entire gang im told. There they are. Nope. Just riva. Just off camera. Theyre here. Theyre here. Theyll make cameos, im sure. Wait for it. Happy dog day, everybody. A lot to talk about. Well begin with tom cruise heading back to the big screen but just watch, the actor masking up to go to the movies in london checking out Christopher Nolans latest film tenet and crews posting a cruise posting a video of the outing to twitter and even with his face covered tom, of course, still spotted by fans. Take a look at this. How does that happen . Im wearing a mask. Here we are. Back to the mofsvies. [ applause ] good to be back in a movie theater, everybody. I loved it. I loved it. For tom getting to the movies unnoticed, a true mission impossible. The actor also writing on twitter, big movie, big screen, loved it. Cruise is in the uk to continue production on mission  impossible 7 that comes out november, 2021. In the meantime, you can see tenet in select movie theaters around the country on september 3rd. Tom cruise giving it two thumbs up. And now a television reunion for tim allen and Richard Carne from Home Improvement announcing they have a real handyman show coming. A competition series called Assembly Required. The tenepisode series will spotlight builders across the country in theire competing to not only repair ite items, but to build them even better than before. Allen stating, quote, we buy, we break, rinse and repeat. Whatever happened to repair and rebuild. Ive created a show to remind people of the satisfaction and pride that comes from rebuilding something on their own. Now, this isnt the first time the two hosted a diy type show. If you count tool time the the show within the show featured on Home Improvement, Assembly Required premieres on history next year. Finally as we continue celebrating National Dog Day this morning, of course, i have my hands full with my friends here on the daily basis but right now were highlighting a couple of golden souls. First carrot, a certified Crisis Response therapy dog and every day she is tanked with cheering up firefighters in california. She is to beautiful. Unfortunately of course, these brave men and women have had their hands full fighting the woodward wildfire, so they do need this extra support, and thats why carrot comes in. She meets them at base camp in marin county and gives them hugs and paw shakes, hopefully gives them a smile before they head out to the front lines and then another hero today, its a bird, its a plane, no, its riley, lets see riley. 85 pounds of flying fur. 6 years old from richmond, virginia. Getting almost 20 million views online for his olympic level jumps into his loving arms of the owner. Wanted to just say happy National Dog Day to them and all dogs out there. We will continue the celebration this morning on Good Morning America. I mean i got to take this while i can get it. We have a calm riva, you guys. Yeah this, is like christmas in august, you got to go with it, lara. Well come back to you and the pups soon. We do now want to turn to the latest on Britney Spears. The singers younger sister Jamie Lynn Spears has been made trustee of britneys finances, the latest twist in the battle over the pop stars fortune. Kaylee hartung joins us with the changes that led up to this. Good morning, kaylee. Reporter hey, cecilia. You know, for years, Britney Spears loyal fans worry shes been manipulated by her own father. Now her legal team is doing everything they can to make sure someone she trusts is in charge of her fortune. Britney spears massive fortune now in the hands of her younger sister in the event of britneys death. Jamie lynn, the former nickelodeon star you want to be serious . Reporter is now trustee of the pop princess estate and must ensure its used to protect her two children if she passes away. I think this is a way to keep the family involved, keep outsiders out and maintain a certain degree of trust within the bonds of the family. Reporter known to be a fierce supporter of her older sister, just last month jamie lynn reportedly jumping to her sisters defense in a now deleted Instagram Post writing, if you deal for Mental Illness or care for someone dealing with Mental Illness, then you know how important it is to respect the situation with privacy for the person and the family trying to protect their loved ones. Following her public meltdown 12 years ago, spears has been under a Court Ordered conservatorship, life and finances managed by her father jamie spears. He stepped down from that role a year ago citing health concerns. Britneys attorney has argued she is strongly opposed to having him involved in her care. Shes still the subject of fascination and it seems that in 2021 shell have to figure out whether she wants to return to performing and return to making music. So the legal battle here continues. Britney will be under conservative conservativ conservativership for at least another six months. Back in court in february, so a if thats what ss the she wants. Thank you so much. We want to turn back now to what is a big morning here on gma and its a big day all over. Right, lara . It is National Dog Day. Who let the dogs out it is indeed. Every day is National Dog Day over here, but this is, in fact, the national day of the dog, and nce the pandemic, adoption rates have soared as ppltake a. Reporter puppies are impossible to resist, especially now with a massive surge in dog adoption during the pandemic. Pretzel has made me laugh hysterically every single day since i adopted him three months ago and laughing is just so important right now. Reporter in droves people stuck in isolation are seeking out the companionship of furry friends. Animals just bring out this amazing joy and having an animal around is like having a best friend near you at all times. Reporter but remember before you return to work get your new dog used to having alone time which will make the transition less rough on both of you. Its not a good idea to just suddenly just disappear and so if you can start running errands a little bit more. Something to get out of the house even for a couple of hours and doing that progressively more until youre fulltime back at your job that, will go a long way. Reporter Good Morning America viewers who have adopted during the pandemic say the rewards are worth it. Its been so awesome to have our first puppy with us during the pandemic. Hes a ball of fun, full of surprises and never know what youre going to get. This is bruno. I know it says on paper i rescued him but i really think there are equal parts rescuing taking place here because i needed him just as much as he. And, ra, weve watched you kr and riva for the past few months here, but youve been an advocate. Tell folks, you need to get out there and adopt. What kind of addition has riva been for you guys . Shes been amazing. Want to give equal opportunity to dandy and cocoa as well as riva. Riva has been really i mean obviously our cohort on gma, but having her has been such a gift. Not only for me but also for the kids. Its been such a bonding experience for us in celebrating, you know, trying to train her, but she makes us laugh. She doesnt talk back. Shes always there for you. You know, its been Lonely Sometimes and a dog is just the greatest gift in the world and i truly, truly believe that these rescue dogs, they know. Youve rescued them and theyll rescue you right back. I hope you know cecilia has joined your ranks. You have a new addition as well. We do. Jalisco, we just adopted him two weeks ago in washington. Hes been a complete joy there with my husband ricardo. Ricardo didnt think he wanted a dog but clearly hes in love. Super grateful to our friends in d. C. Who helped bring this guy into our lives. Its your turn, t. J. Yeah. National dog day. More celebrations. Good morning, everyone. Im kumasi aaron from abc 7 mornings. Firefighters in the north bay with showing steady progress on the are lnu lightning complex fire. You are seeing some of the damage on oak canyon lane. Cal fire says a total of nearly 1,000 structures have been destroyed. More tha 356,000 acres have burned with 27 containment. Anp an increase of about 5,000 acres. 250 soldiers from California National guard have arrived so youre a small bor a big one. You were thriving, but then. Oh. Ah. Okay. Plan, pivot. How do you bounce back . You dont, you bounce forward, with serious and liable internet. Powered by the largest gmerica. But is it secure . D even if the power goes down, your cnection doesnt. So how do i do this . You dont do this. We do this, together. Bounce forward, with comcast business. To modere air quality throughout the ba spare the air through friday as the smoke is still lurking. Just right above the marine layer which is bringing a cooler morning. Mid50s to 60s. Parts of Southeast Texas and louisiana, unsurvivable is what theyre saying from the Hurricane Center from laura, which is a 125 Miles Per Hour and continues out our heat thats comingour h at least friday. Kumasi. Well have another news update in about 30 minutes. Gma continues now. A830 who let the 7n who let thes he 7n welcome back to gma and thq we celebrating National D Day and some of our viewers have been sell brailling with their sharing photos of their own puppy partiest brady, the mini goldendoodle ringing in his third ome who became siblings jus months ag tom and gisele and danielles dog ellie moo dressed up for 5th as with so many pet p aren puppy parties are having a major moment. Lara is back with everything we need to know to throw the Perfect Puppy party. Hey, lara. I sure do. From birthdays to holidays owners are finding ways to dog way. This morning weve got some tips for throwingpawsome pupparty. Yeah, i said it. Roll em. Dog lovers going paws to the wall celebrating their canine xang jans with parties full of furry fun. Celebrities rolling out the red carpet for their friends. O sof Sofia Vergara anlisa vanderpump popping champagne for her dogs, biggie and smalls and yorkie sonny getting the star treatment. The cowboythemed birthday party. So last year i threw him a party. We had a cake. He hadbirthday hats and party favors. Party games. Other dogs, so great time. So did i. Reporter his birthday bash thrown by pup parties a jnyc. Whats a Party Without a pawfect Instagram Photo of your pet. Meet stacey axelrod, owner nyc pet photographer my number one tip is a nice and easy one when youre taking phos that is to clean the lens of your phone. So that is this right here. The focus of every photo shoot should be on your pet and in order to make them feel their best you want to make sure they are comfortable and relaxed a all times. Attention. My go to sound is a sad puppy noise. It gets almost every dog to look at theamera and to the side. Reporter if all else fails give them lots ofenlove. It takes a lot of patience, a lot of treats and silly noises to get dogs to relax and Pay Attention to the camera. They may say sny this is wha looks like. Reporter i agree. And here now is pet photographer stacey axelrod. Good morning to you, stacey. I heard about your tips, i want you to take us through them. Paw of your pups so roll em quickly while i have all three here. Sure, good morning, lara. Good morning, pups. How are yall doing today . Ogqw were good, tnk you. Youved got your three dogs here, right . So youre up for a challenge. But it looks ready for their sh. So, do you hav lara . I do. Ive got the camera. I know you said to get some pillow, get them on a sofa. I have a pocket full of treats and i am praying that theyll stay because this is live tv. Okay. You are ready, youre ready. So grab your camera. Were going to do a little role switch here. Youll be the photographer and ill coach you through it. Okay. Looks like theyre ready already. Good job. They look good. You guys, cheer, oh, my gosh, this is amazing. Good job. Good job, can we get them a little closer together maybe. Bring them in nice and close. I could try. Oh, there we go. Keep it nice we just lost one. Use some treats to lead him back in. Treat, guys. Listen, im going to show the audience stacey, ill tell you the tips you sent me. You did a great job prepping them before. I did use a lot of treats. I propped up pillow, i got them on a couch and tried to make them really comfortable like you said. You did such a great job letting to do this because it is hard to wrangle especially more than one dog and i just want to show the fruits of our labor. Look at that. Can you see that . Oh. That is beautiful. Very, very well done. Thank you very much. Can we try one more. No, i dont think so an camera. We lost dandy. Okay. So thank you so much for the tips. Well put them on our website as well with all of our other tips. Thank you so much. Check out goodmorningamerica. Com to find dogs around the country that you can adopt today. Pleaset, everybody. You will not regret it. And coming up were celebrating womens equality day. Stay with us on ma itcan it help with snoring . Le of the year on the sleep number 360 smart bed. Ive never heard snoring. Exactly. No problem. And done and now, all beds are on sale. Save 50 on the sleep number 360 limited Edition Smart bed. Only for a limited time. vo my name is cynthia hawkins, the owner of Hawkins House of burgers. My grandparents came here in 1939 and weve been serving this community for over 80 years. My dad always said, take care of your community and they will always take care of you. And they have done so. Through the ups and through the downs. My name may be on this building, but this place belongs to all of us. All right. Back now right here on gma celebrating womens equality day, 100 years ago today the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote was certified into law. The august issue of National Geographic magazine is celebrating the women of the Suffrage Movement and National Geographics editor in chief Susan Goldberg is joining us to talk about it. Susan, good morning. I was just looking at the issue. It is so beautiful. So beautifully shot. So beautifully laid out. You know, and really as we mark this anniversary, it how much work there is to do. Weve been talking about it with the convention, you have Kamala Harris on the democratic ticket and a number of women in the top ranks of the trump administration, but this is sort of the point of the story. Theres still serious lack of representation ofomen in government in our country. Oh, there is. I mean, we are still arguing about womens rights. We are still arguing about Voting Rights and when you look at the lack of representation, youve got women as 51 of the population, yet only 25 of the congress and it isnt even evenly divided between the parties at all. We have only got 13 women in the house who are republican. There are more male republicans in the house named greg and mike than there are women in the house who are republicans. So theres a long way to go. Oh, there certainly is when you put it in that perspective. Even as we were celebrating there in 1920 the women getting the right to vote this was not a victory for all women. Women of color, especially, left out of 9 process and especially the recognition since then. That is so true. I think its a really untold part of the story. I mean, everybody talks about susan b. Anthony and elizabe Katie Standen but dont hear about the contributions of ida wells or Harriet Tubman who were very involved in the right to Vote Movement and yet were marginalized and excluded as the white women in the movement tried to get more women in the south to sign on and pushed those women aside. When we talk about women getting the right to vote in 1920 it was really white women who got the right to vote. It really was. We also dont hear about the battle, the struggle that it took to get there and women put their lives on the line for this. Well, you know, its funny. Even in the language we use and i just used it myself we talk about women getting the right to vote but women fought for the protested, they were jailed. They were chased by mobs. They were spit on. You know, they were tortured even in prison. It was really a shocking story, you know, these protesters and, of course, today we see protests all the time but back in 1916 property. Now, whats going to happen, a and 1917, this simply wasnt lot of people asking about this, done and it wasnt done by that high sinks south and rides women. So there is a great story of along the north side and as a depression or a low gets picked struggle. What we really need to think up in the jet stream in the about is that this movement was one of the longest civil rights westerly, slides across the midatlantic so timing goes to the end o struggles in the united states. It went on for well over 70 years and its still going on today. It certainly is and we were just showing a number of the photos. You use a lot in this issue and theyre really great to see so i encourage everyone to take a look. Susan, thank you so much. The august issue of National Geographic magazine Available Online right now. Lets head back to ginger in port arthur, texas. Students across the country are relying on technology during yes, cecilia, i have to talk about who is going to get the the pandemic but according to brunt of this storm. Studies more than 9 million kids and it is from us over to lake struggle with Internet Access. Charles, louisiana. And really that right side of this segment is sponsored by the storm so i think well be on verizon, trying to bridge that the back end. Digital divide by giving we talk point dirty side or equipment and Internet Access to Northeast Quadrant where the students who need it most. Force of the actual hurricane, the movement of the hurricane plus the winds add together to for millions of kids going back to school during the pandemic make that area where you see means staying home. Highlighted in red between 21 of the nations 25 largest midnight and 4 00 a. M. , thats School Districts will be relying where you see the strongest on Remote Learning affecting winds and worst of this storm over 4. 5 million kids. Surge where people lose life and thats a problem for students with poor internet connects at home. A problem that our sponsor verizon through their Innovative Program is trying to address. Their Company Providing tablets and laptops along with Internet Access and interactive curriculums to some of the nations most underserved communities. There was only so many computers and had you 500 or 600 kids and 08 computers. Everyone had to wait a turn. Reporter Jose Gonzalez teaches at Davis Middle School in compton, california, where all students qualify for free lunch. Our childre have lots of challenges and yet in spite of that they continue. They want to come to school and learn. Reporter the devices and 4g lte provide a lifeline. I could work my zoom meetings properly and we did like a bunch of projects during the pandemic so it was really helpful. It helped me because i got more work done. Reporter now verizon is expanding the program to high schools adding 56,000 new students into their program this year alone. Among all these new things, the technology will help me in the future because now i know how to code. I know filmmaking. I know editing and a whole bunch of things. Reporter for jose this is personal. You know, i came from neighborhoods similar to our students and i remember how difficult it was, you know, the culture around and trying to succeed and trying to be different. It was difficult. To break out of the neighborhood. The skills that theyre learning now will help them compete out there in the world. Indeed. Not just students being helped. Verizon is creating online resources for teachers as well to make learning more accessible and enriching. Coming up our taste of tiktok series with one mom revealing the hero ingredient that everyone should have in their pantry. Lets do it. Gmas building the future is sponsored by verizon. Committed to moving the world forward fo want restand schools . Pen . Want the economy to get back on track . Youre not alone. And you can help make it happen. Stay 6 feet apart. Wash your hands. Wear a mask every time you leave your home. Choose to join the fight against covid19. Do your part. Slow the spread. Announcer friday, start your weekend off with some scottish soul as Grammy Nominated sensation, Lewis Capaldi performs for you friday only on Good Morning Americas summer Concert Series sponsored by caesars rewards. Well time now for our series taste of tiktok where we serve up home chefs turned social media superstars. One woman known for making over the top lunches for her kids has become a tiktok sensation. Get this, 3 million followers. Meet jessica woo. Lets make it. Its a Family Affair in jessicas kitchen. Looks so good. Mmmm all right her three daughters the taste testers of her delicious creations. Its lunchtime. Yum. Woo millions tune in to see what shes putting in her kids lunch boxes. Today ill use cute monkeys to decorate the food. Reporter always starting with the signature open line in lets make some lunch for my kid. And ending on an uplifting note. Why fit in when you were born to stand out. Reporter this mom of three is showing us all how to get creative with our own lunches this morning. And joining us live from las vegas, jessica wo om and she has her sous chef with her, her daughter adeline, little 9yearold there. Good morning to you both. Good to see you. Good morning. What is the ingredient were talking about that can turn anything into a main course . My hero ingredient is cooked rice. I always have rice cooked and leftover rice is perfect for making fried rice for a lunch meal and i just sauteed up some leftover rice, frozen vegetables, carrots and peas and some ground beef with some soy sauce and salt and pepper. Im going to add that to it here. And you can also use chinese takeout leftovers. You can add all those ingredients in if you have it. Super easy and quick and i just sauteed some onions in there as well. Rice is the hero ingredient and the kids get a bento box going to school. My dukes of hazards, and my mom would throw chips and Peanut Butter and jelly. My goodness. You also tell us you have a kitchen tool that this is a trick i know is that even if it doesnt taste great if it looks great you still get some credit. So you have a way to make the meal look really good by using a simple kitchen tool. You say we dont use it enough. Yes. My favorite kitchen tool is significancers or kitchen shears. Im part korean and a lot of koreans use scissors in the kitchen so i just grew up using scissors and made an egg omelet to go on top of the fried rice and i like to use the scissors to cut any food shapes and make cute little decorations for it so ill take the egg here and make a heart out of it with my successors. Oh. So, yeah, i mean you can do this with like pizza, pancakes, you know, anything. Very cute. Its still an egg but that looks more appetizing, cecilia. Youre going to up sabines lunch game coming up. Now, adeline, she keeps cutting there, you have to tell us, your mom makes all these meals. Do you have an absolute favorite your mom does for you . So my absolute favorite that i love is her octo dogs. Little hot dogs shaped as octopus and i think theyre really cute. Oh, you see that, cecilia. So cute. Do you use the scissors for those octo dogs . I just use knives but you can use scissors as well, for sure. Ive learned a lot. This is very simple stuff that can really dress up and make a simple lunch very fun. So, jessica, congratulations on what youve been doing. You have millions of followers by putting together these lunches so thank you so much for being here. Get all of jessicas recipes on goodmorningamerica. Com and, adeline, thank you for being here as well this hi. Whats on your mind . In. Can you help keep these guys protected online . Easy. Connect to the xfi gateway. What about wireless data options for the family . You can customize and save. What about internet speeds that can keep up with my gaming . Lets hook you up with the Fastest Internet from xfinity. And now with our stores reopening, were putting Healthy Practices in place. Come visit a store today. Stop in or book an appointment online at a time that works for you. Now thats simple, easy, awesome. Ask. Shop. Discover at your local xfinity store today. Essential workers for all that you do. Thank you. We thank you. We thank you. We thank you. Thank you. Thank you. For all you do. And with every challenge, question, concern, well be here for you every day. Every day. Every day. Because we will get through this together. Valspar signature holds up to common stains and cleans up easy. Discover whats possible at lowes. Good morning, everyone. Im kumasi aaron from abc 7 mornings. Today, the governor will update the response to the wildfires and the covid19 pandemic. California is seeing cases drop along with hospitalizations and counties are coming off the states watch list. They are expecting to get updated guidance today on education and child care settings. Well bring you the governors update live at noon on abc 7 and our app as well as on abc7news. Com. Remember the refreshing breeze we had last night, its still out there and weve got clean air everywhere except for santa cruz. Thats going to be the case today. Not going to be an overall poor air quality day, but well have pockets out there. Thats bhi the spare is air is out there again. 80s inland. Now, the winds will become lighter except for along the coast, that means more air qualityish issues moving announcer its live with kelly and ryan today, we catch up with actress connie britton, and from doom patrol, matt bomer, plus, we taste some crazy concoctions with rhett link, and this is us actor lonnie chavisall next on live. And now, here are kelly ripa and Ryan Seacrest ryan and good morning how are you . It is wednesday, august 26th. Kelly i like your dayou sort of danced on in. Like. Ryan you know, normally, what we doand for those who dont knownormally, kelly and i hold handswhen we used to work in a studio. We hold hands, we walk behind the stage, we Say Something personal to each other, and then we turn the corner. And so i kind of miss, like, the, you knowwhen were hearing the intro, i miss those moments and that movement. I really do. Kelly sometimeti