Single digits across the northeast. Overnight, Harvey Weinstein responding to those accusations from salma hayek. The actress calling him a monst monster in a powerful new essay saying he threatened her life and now the wave continues to grow. Two top figures in the Entertainment Industry facing new Sexual Misconduct allegations. Omarosa has to go. Youre fired. Abc news exclusive. Omarosa out at the white house. Multiple sources telling abc news the former apprentice star was fired escorted off white house grounds. What really happened. Shes here live telling her side of the story only on gma. And good morning, america. Boy, we have a lot of breaking news this thursday morning. And, michael, youve got that exclusive interview. We saw omarosa right t President Trump. There they are together. She is now out of the white house and you have that coming up. Yes, i do. Cant wait to talk to her, see why shes leaving the white house and shes heard im fired thee times from President Trump. Did she hear it a fourth . Breaking news, the blockbuster disney deal, the Parent Company of abc buying many of the as sets of 21st century fox. Many Rebecca Jarvis is here. Give us details. This is a major deal. Good morning, robin. Yes, major deal for disney and 21st century fox as well as consumers. The new combined company will include foxs movie and tv studios and Cable Networks and together the two company also have 46 million subscribers around the world. This morning, a gamechanging deal in the entertainment history, the Walt Disney Company which owns abc news and is home to familyfriendly hits frozen. Let it go reporter pirates of the caribbean. Your lucky day. Reporter and coco. Im turning into a skeleton. Cue the music. Reporter acquiring 21st century foxs movie and tv empire which includes edgier assets like fx and natgo joe. For star wars lovers it means bringing all the episodes under one roof. Superhero fans can look forward to potential reunions like xmen and the fantastic four with avengers. And it will add shows like the simpsons. Oh. Reporter and classic films like the sound of music to disneys library. La a feet to reporter just as the company lays the groundwork to launch its own streaming platform in 2019 and pull content from netflix. The mastermind behind the union disneys ceo bob iger who since taking over in 2005 has expanded the companys theme parks, opening Shanghai Disney resort and acquired popular creator like pixar, lucasfilm and marvel. While, theres been recent speculation of iger running for president it looks like for now hell have his hands full with this new entertainment juggernaut. Meantime, fox news channels like fox news and fox business as well as fox sports are not part of the deal and will be offered to exist fox shareholders in the new company and like all ago which signatures this is still subject to Regulatory Approval but you cant understand the importance of this. Absolutely. And a lot of questions for the man in charge, disneys ceo bob iger joins us now. Morning. 52. 4 billion according to the press release. That is a huge bet. Why are you making it . Well, were making it because this gives us the ability to marry the great content of fox with the great content of disney. It gives us a much larger International Footprint and enables us to use cuttingedge technology to reach consumers in far more compelling ways and know how important that is in todays world. Explain that. What difference is this going to make to everyone at home watching . Well, i think its pretty clear today that Consumers Want access to entertainment, one, that is high quality, but, two, want access pretty much any time, anywhere, anyhow and requires new technology to be able to deliver it in that fashion. Hulu certainly provides that so the controlling stake in hulu that we will acquire with this acquisition is one way to provide it. Another is the fox International Footprint has some extremely all this content to consumers in more modern ways, star india another one. So to the consumer not only will they get great content but theyll get it in ways that they demand. Innovative ways that todays consumer requires really in terms of increasing or their consumption or enjoying their consumption. Is it fair to think of disney becoming a new netflix . Well, weve been in the process of launching a direct to consumer service, its one of the primary priorities of the company right now, to give us the ability to reach consumers directly and were going to launch an espn direct service in 2018 and a disney Brand Service in 2019. This clearly will jumpstart those efforts, give us more content, more producing capabilities for those services and were not really looking to necessarily reach the scale of netflix quickly. But we certainly aim to be, you know, an able competitor to theirs but more importantly we believe this is the way of the future to be able to reach consumers directly, its clearly a Value Proposition associated with that but also something Consumers Want because in doing so you can tailor it to consumers in more personalized ways. A lot of changing coming in the future. You were supposed to leave this position in 2019. Youre going to stay now . I am going to stay till the end of 2021. Ive got one of the greatest jobs in the world. Ive enjoyed doing it for 12 years and this combination makes it even more exciting and looking forward to the future at disney. You just cant quit disney. I think this is the third time you were supposed to go . I lost i think i think i lost track. Well, i have to ask i like Good Morning America so much that i want to stay involv w we appreciate that. I have to ask, theres been a lot of speculation about a future in politics for you, even a run for president in 2020 so thats off the table . Well, i havent made any decisions about what my future was going to be but as i said i enjoy this job immensely and looking forward to doing for a couple more response. That was a political response. That was not a confirmation or denial. Im sticking around to the end of 2021 so you do the math. Let me ask you about the murdochs. A big sale for them, as well. Why do you think they wanted to make the deal with disney . Well, i have a lot of respect for Rupert Murdoch and what hes been able to build, that company over the years, and he and i were musing about the need to reach consumers in the way described and the Disruptive Forces we both witnessed in our time in this business and after some musing it seemed to me there might be an opportunity to put our companies together and to create something thats even better than the two that were separate companies. And so i think he viewed this as not only good for the assets he had built but good for the shareholders of his company. Theyll get shares of disney shareholders of 21st century fox will own roughly, 24 , 25 of disney and when you look at that combination and the value of that currency, the disney 21st century fox currency i think from a shareholder perspective it is compelling. I think he was excited about the possibilities, this combined company could deliver, and excited by the value creating possibilities, as well. His sons, theyve been playing major roles in the fox corporation. Is James Murdoch going to be coming to disney . Theyll be theyll be announcing or they are own right now. James and i will be talking over the next number of months. Hes going to be integral to the integration process and discuss whether there is a role for him or not at our company. Weve seen the government pushing back against this time warner at t deal. Expecting any resistance to this merger . Well, this is a different kind of merger than theirs. I wont comment necessarily on their, but were hoping that the government takes a look at this from a consumer point of view and what we are aiming to do as i discussed is create more high Quality Content really on a global basis and to deliver it to consumers in more exciting ways, in ways that they demand and ways that they deserve and so we believe that from a regulatory perspective while it will go through a considerable amount of scrutiny globally this should be viewed as a positive combination from a consumer perspective and because of that hope the regulators will look at it kindly. Bob iger, thanks very much. Congratulations. I have to say, bob, whether its the parks or its this kind of deal, that the consumer, thats at the forefront of all your thoughts, majority. It is, you know, when you think about disney and you think about the things that we made under the disney brand and pixar and marvel and lucasfilms and star wars, by the way, that movie is coming out today so pretty excited about that as well and add to that those great assets at fox including avatar or on their television side, fx and the great shows theyve created and national geographic, very, very powerful and from a consumer perspective very, very attractive brand and product and you add to that the global footprint, you know, we think that from a Global Consumer perspective this will be an Incredible Company and serve consumers really well. Morning, bob. Thank you, bob. Thank you. Thank you very much. Great news about the merger and the fact that hes going to be staying on till 2021 to run the company. Now to that blast of winter weather, a fastmoving system is bringing snow from minnesota to new england overnight. Even right here in times square. Abcs eva pilgrim is on the road in bridgeport, connecticut, as drivers start a messy morning commute. Good morning, eva. Reporter good morning, robin. It is cold outside. Overnight snow turning into an icy mess, making for a slick drive for millions here in bridgeport, connecticut. You can see the snow is coming down here this morning, and that snow is covering the roads. The roads are wet. This is the same frigid weather system that hit the midwest. Snow piling up and winds making it tough for plows to keep up. Whiteout conditions, blinding drivers, cars and buses slipping and slides on slick, snowcovered roads and semis flipping over piling up. Big rigs crashed backing up traffic for miles and shutting down the road. While the roads may look look somewhat clear we on our way here saw a semi flipped over. Even if they look like it in these temperatures you have to be careful when you drive in thank you. Be careful. You see eva out there. We got that snow but have that frigid cold and now another alert from the midwest to northeast and rob is outside to give us the latest. Good morning, rob. You know what, tis the season for snow but that wears off quick when you have to scrape it off your windshield and drive in it. Weve seen accidents as eva has said. Over two feet of snow falling just north of erie, pennsylvania, and those bitterly cold temperatures, arctic air in place is not going away. Windchills today and tonight in the single numbers and teens from boston to d. C. And similar numbers during the day tomorrow morning. So winter is here. It another update in about ten minutes. Rob, get back inside. Washington now and the latest on that tax deal that will impact every american. Republican leaders say they have an agreement pushing hard for a final vote before christmas and mary bruce is tracking details on capitol hill. Good morning, mary. Reporter good morning, george. Well, republicans say they are on the verge of victory on tax reform. Theyve reached a deal in principle and now with the holiday just around the corner, the president is promising more money is coming to your wallet. If Congress Sends me a bill before christmas, the irs, this is just out this, is breaking news, has just confirmed that americans will see lower taxes and bigger paychecks beginning in february. Reporter republicans this morning are scrambling to push their tax bill over the finish line. Here are the changes theyve agreed to. For the wealthiest americans the top tax rate drops from 39 37 . For big business, the Corporate Tax rate is slashed from 35 to 21 . And the mortgage Interest Deduction is capped at 750,000. Are you close to a deal . So, it feels very close to an agreement. Reporter republicans are also overturing a key component of obamacare doing away with the mandata all americans have insurance but that could leave 13 million more americans uninsured over the next decade. Republicans insist relief is coming for the middle class. The bill will likely expand the Child Tax Credit and double the standard deduction. But critics argue the wealthy about to benefit the most. Now, as for the president s promise more money coming to your pocket soon the irs tells us americans who are likely to benefit from the changes could see less money withheld from their paychecks starting as soon george. If this passes next week. George, we go to a new wave of Sexual Harassment allegations upending the entertain world from music to radio and linsey davis has more. Reporter pbs says they will no longer be distributing tavis smileys talk show. It was uncovered by a recent investigation into his behavior. Smiley, however, emphatically denied all the allegations on his show last night. I have never groped, inappropriately exposed myself or coerced any colleague in the workplace ever in my 30year career. Reporter smiley says pbs never informed him they were launching an investigation. And now this continues to go. We hear new allegations against Russell Simmons thats right. Just last night we heard from three people who came against the def jam raped them following two other women who came forward last month accusing simmons of Sexual Harassment. In a statement simmons said i vehemently deny all these allegations. These horrific accusations have shocked me to my core and all of my relations have been consensual. And she really opens up here when we talk about salma hayek in her oped and thats what brought it back to hollywood. Exactly. Salma hayek says that in her own experience with Harvey Weinstein, she wrote, for years he was my monster. She writes about a laundry list where she says she had to say no, quote, no to opening the gore to them at all hours of the night hotel after hotel. Location after location where he would show up unexpectedly. No to me taking a shower to with him and says it went from sweet ta talking me to saying i will kill you. Dont think i cant. A spokesperson said for weinstein that theyre not all accurate and others who witnessed the event have a different account of what transpired and weinstein has maintained he denies any allegations of nonconsensual sex. Every day a new story. A lot of strong allegations there. Thank you. Rob, what you got . More snow . The positive side. Kneedeep in stowe, vermont. Another couple of pulses coming. Nothing major but enough to put down more snow in michigan. They got a lot already. Breezy today, still colder than average today geminid meteor shower tonight temperatures climbing through early next week; 50s return monday today partly to mostly sunny. Breezy and still cold. Highs 3944 winds nw 1015 g 20 tonight clear to partly cloudy. Geminid meteor shower peaks 10pm to 2am. Lows 2027 winds nw 510 mph friday mostly cloudy and cold. Lighter winds. Flurries possible. Highs 3540 winds ne to se 5 mph coming up, the former apprentice star omarosa out at the white house here live with her story only on gma this morning. A holiday alert. Alleged thieves caught on camera taking packages, even dressing as postal workers. The creative new waves homeowners and Police Departments are fi so when his joint pain from Psoriatic Arthritis got really bad, it scared me. And what could that pain mean . Joint pain could mean joint damage. Enbrel helps relieve joint pain, and helps 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. Since enbrel, dads back to being dad. Visit enbrel. Com. And use the joint damage simulator to see how your joint damage could be progressing. Ask about enbrel. Enbrel. Fda approved for over 14 years. Announcer 7 on your side with live, local news from good morning washington. Larry volunteer firefighter and sdeputy chief fire marshal funeral will be held in rockville. The fbi special agents funeral will be held at the church of the redeemer in gaithersburg. Each begins at 11 00. Expect traffic delays and that area. Taking the fight to save the internet to the fccs doorstep. Net neutrality stops internet providers from deliberately d. C. s wawa at farragut. Veronica mid30s this morning as snow showers fall. Patches. Icy snow showers drifting through for another hour to an hour and a half. The high today is 41. 37 tomorrow with flurries. 42 on saturday. 48 on sunday. Rain after 5 00. Julie a miss on the inner loop approach in college park. A crash involving this tanker truck. Traffic squeezing by to the right with delays out of silver spring. The outer loop, rubbernecking delays. That is the traffic watch. Larry traffic, weather, news updates anytime with the abc 7 a pp. When you have a cold, stuff happens. { sneezing ] shut down cold symptoms fast [ coughing ] with maximum strength alka seltzer plus liquid gels. Being in love with your best friend. Is everything. Ever us one diamond for your best friend. One for your true love. For the one woman whos both. Ever us. Available at kay, jared and zales. But when we brought our daughter hom