Good Morning America

9:00 AM PT -- Cops say they have identified 2 "persons of interest," and have questioned them ... but add there is no evidence they were involved in Jussie's attack. Neither has been charged with a crime.

While PD won't confirm the persons of interest are the ones in the dark, grainy image -- the ones Jussie says he's sure attacked him -- our law enforcement sources say the people in the image are the only people who were seen on camera the night of Jussie's attack.

Jussie Smollett says he's certain ... the 2 men in the surveillance photo released by police are way more than persons of interest ... they are the men who screamed homophobic and racist epithets at him, tied a noose around his neck, poured bleach on him and beat him.

Jussie appeared on 'GMA' Thursday, and was clearly frustrated some people don't believe his story.

The 2 men in the surveillance photo are considered "persons of interest" but not suspects by the Chicago PD. Cops tell us the video shows the 2 men on the other side of the street from Jussie, but there is a 60-second gap in the video.

Jussie went on to explain why he refused to give his phone to cops so they could validate his story that he was talking to his manager at the time of the attack and the manager heard it go down. Jussie explained he had various private photos, videos and phone numbers and did not want that data compromised.

He tells Robin Roberts about his injuries and why he kept the rope around his neck until police arrived.

Liam Neeson is insisting he's learned a lot about racism -- and is not a racist -- but it sounds like he doesn't get why his tale of wanting to kill a "black bastard" 40 years ago is upsetting to his fans today.

The Oscar winner's out trying to promote a movie, so the fact is ... he's gonna have to answer questions about the shocking story of race and revenge he voluntarily revealed Monday to The Independent.

His mea culpa tour landed at 'GMA' Tuesday, and Neeson said we should all open up about inner thoughts to expose racism and bigotry. He told another story about anti-Semitism in Poland while shooting "Schindler's List."

The point he finally got -- after Robin Roberts hammered it a couple of times -- is why his fans, African-American and otherwise, are disappointed by his confession.

He further admitted he didn't think about the fact he could have killed a totally INNOCENT black person.

Outside the 'GMA' studio Liam was asked if he can recover from this, career-wise. He didn't have an answer -- but time sure as hell will tell.

Tom Brady says being called the "Greatest of All Time" is a title that makes him cringe -- because he handles criticism WAY BETTER than he deals with compliments.

Goatie McGoatface was on "Good Morning America" with Michael Strahan -- who told TB12 he considers him the best QB who ever played the game.

Brady replied, "I don't even like that. It makes me cringe ... it makes me cringe."

Instead, Brady explained ... "I wish you would say, 'you're trash, you're too old, you're too slow, you can't get it done no more' ... and I would say, 'Thank you very much,' and I would go prove you wrong."

Strahan asked if he was driven by criticism more than success -- Brady replied, "Yeah, absolutely."

So, what's the lesson here? If you root for a rival team, stop the trash talk ... and start trying to kill Brady with KINDNESS already!!!

Of course, Tom just won his 6th Super Bowl in his 17 seasons as a starter. He also has 9 AFC championships under his belt, 4 Super Bowl MVPs and 14 Pro Bowl selections.

Michael Strahan wasn't impressed with President Trump's fast food spread for the Clemson football team -- so he's offered to reach into his own pockets to pay for a LOBSTER DINNER for the champs.

"I personally ... I would like to invite the Clemson football team here for a great meal," the ex-NFL superstar said on "Good Morning America."

"Whoever can make it, we'll hook you up with lobster ... whatever you want we'll take care of you."

"We gonna give you the proper meal that you deserve because that was one great game, a great accomplishment."

When asked who was gonna pay for it, Strahan replied -- "It's out of my pocket guys. I'll pay for it. No problem."

Strahan can certainly afford it ... besides making more than $75 mil during his NFL career, he signed a massive deal with ABC back in 2016 worth well into the 8-figures.

As for Trump, seems his fast food party was a hit -- with Clemson's star QB Trevor Lawrence telling TMZ Sports the spread was "awesome" and that he had a great time.

Trump says he personally sprung for the meal -- which included grub from McDonald's, Burger King, Domino's and Wendy's.

The food was served on silver platters in between gold candelabras.

The woman who claims she was attacked by NFL star Reuben Foster says reps from the 49ers tried to undermine her credibility with police during the investigation ... telling cops she had lied about domestic violence in the past.

Elissa Ennis appeared on "Good Morning America" Thursday where she accused Foster of roughing her up on 3 separate occasions ... including the Nov. 24 incident at a team hotel in Tampa, Florida.

As we previously reported, Ennis called 911 and told the operator Foster had slapped her and roughed her up during a dispute. He's since been charged with 1 count of misdemeanor domestic violence. She revealed the injury photos during the interview with 'GMA.'

Ennis told 'GMA' they had been arguing because she threatened to tell his new girlfriend that he paid for her flight out to Florida to see him.

"Even when I called the police, the 49ers came up there," Ennis said ... "I have pictures of the 49ers coming up there trying to talk to the police telling them I'm the same ex-girlfriend that set up there and lied."

The 49ers have not commented on Ennis' claims.

She's referring to the previous domestic violence allegations she made against Foster back in February -- when she told officials Foster beat the daylights out of her in their California home ... but later recanted her story and told a judge she made the whole thing up.

Now, Ennis admits she lied in court to protect Foster -- saying, "I did what I had to do for the person I love. I thought that he would change, anybody in my position would do the same thing."

Foster was cut by the 49ers -- but later picked up by the Washington Redskins and Ennis claims she was "shocked" another NFL team would take a chance on such a bad guy.

Ennis says she's now getting help and realizes her relationship with Foster was destructive and "not love."

Geoffrey Owens says he was anguished when a photo of him working the register at a Trader Joe's surfaced and people insinuated he was a loser, but he's heartened by the folks who have backed him up.

The former 'Cosby Show' actor went on 'GMA' Tuesday and said he felt that a photo snapped of him last week working cashier at a TJ's in New Jersey was an attempt to job shame him, and that he was "devastated" at first.

But, because of the tremendous response of support he got from both Hollywood and the public, he says that embarrassment soon turned into pride ... since he was just a guy who was trying to make a living and put food on the table for his family.

Owens says he's been acting, directing and teaching on and off for the last 30 years, but lately, that simply hasn't been enough to make ends meet. According to his IMDb page, he's been working consistently as an actor in smaller roles for the past few years.

His next big break in acting might be coming sooner rather than later though -- Tyler Perry just reached out to Geoffrey on Twitter asking him to join his cast on OWN's number one drama ... which starts filming next week. He seems to be referring to "The Haves and the Have Nots."

Sarah Palin says politicians falling victim to Sacha Baron Cohen's pranks is kinda like the new #MeToo. Seriously.

Palin's still railing at Sacha for duping her -- pretending to be a disabled veteran to interview her -- and says she's justified in her anger, because "all these men coming out now saying, 'Oh, yeah, me too.'"

Unfortunate turn of phrase?

Anyway, she told 'GMA' she walked out on Cohen's prank because he's humiliating middle-class Americans, and blamed a speaker's organization for not vetting the comedian.

Lil Tay going off the radar after being exposed as an exploited child star is only temporary -- 'cause she's got another persona cooking in the kitchen ... so says a family friend.

We got Alex Gelbard -- who used to help manage Tay when she was hot stuff -- out in L.A. Tuesday, and he tells us Tay will be back with something "unique" and different from what fans came to know from the 9-year-old flex rapper.

In case you missed the Tay saga, she and her fam were put on blast after her 'GMA' appearance last month when tons of videos leaked of her being coached, and given what appeared to be hookah to smoke. She's deleted all social media since.

Not only that ... but Tay was found to be a full-on fraud after it was revealed her mom was using her boss's fancy car and her real estate listings to pump up her daughter's profile.

Bill Cosby fell on his sword the moment he opened his mouth and long before his sexual assault trial started ... so says one of the jurors.

Harrison Snyder appeared on 'GMA' Monday and said the unimpeachable evidence that led to the comedian being found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand in 2004 -- Cosby fessing up.

Snyder admitted he knew ZILCH about the mounting allegations against the comedian heading into the trial and didn't think it was "an open-and-shut" case. But, what sealed the disgraced comedian's fate was his own deposition.

Stormy Daniels is certain Donald Trump, or someone connected to him, had a henchman threaten her life ... and she's going to prove it.

Her attorney, Michael Avenatti, says he doesn't know for sure yet who's behind the 2011 incident in Las Vegas, but Monday on the "Today" show he said there are only 2 logical options -- Trump or his attorney, Michael Cohen. If you missed it ... Stormy claims a man threatened her with physical harm if she didn't back off Trump.

At the same time Avenatti was vowing to put the heat on Trump's camp, Cohen was vowing to empty Stormy's bank account.

His lawyer, David Schwartz, went on 'GMA' to insist Stormy has no credibility ... and also that she's in clear violation of the "hush" agreement she signed.

Makes sense ... guess we didn't think about it before -- but Tom Brady just said his 3 kids don't live in the same city ... his oldest boy lives about 215 miles away with his mom, Bridget Moynahan.

Brady was talking about his family during an interview with "Good Morning America" when Michael Strahan asked if his kids understood how big of a deal he is.

That's when Brady said his oldest son -- 10-year-old Jack -- is starting to get it because he lives in New York around a bunch of Giants and Jets fans.

Brady then said his other two kids -- 5-year-old Vivian and 8-year-old Benny -- live in Boston with him and Gisele.

Of course, Jack is Brady's son with his ex-GF, Bridget Moynahan -- and she's based out of New York these days. Judging from Brady's comments, it sounds like he primarily lives with her and goes to school in NY.

Johnny Manziel says he's been battling bipolar disorder and depression for years -- and had used alcohol as a way to "self-medicate" ... but claims he's sought professional help to work through it.

"I am taking medication for bipolar, and I am working to try to make sure I don’t fall back into any type of depression," Johnny told "Good Morning America" ... "because I know where that leads me and I know how slippery a slope that is for me."

Manziel says he was diagnosed as bipolar about a year ago -- around the same time he decided to start changing his life and begin his pro football comeback.

"I am watching all the other guys doing what I want to be doing, and I am sitting on a couch being a loser."

"The goal of this comeback is to get back to the NFL, ultimately."

As for his battle with booze -- Manziel explained, "I was self-medicating with alcohol. That’s what I thought would make me happy and get out of that depression."

"When I would wake up the next day after a night like that, going on a trip like that, and you wake up the next day and that is all gone, that liquid courage, or that liquid ... sense of euphoria that is over you, is all gone."

"You are left staring at the ceiling by yourself, and in that depression and back in that hole, that dark hole of sitting in a room by yourself, super depressed, thinking about all the mistakes you made in your life."

"What did that get me? Where did that get me except out of the NFL? Where did that get me? Disgraced?"

Johnny says the support from his family and his fiancee, Bre Tiesi, have been key to getting his life back together.

Logan Paul thinks it's ironic people are telling him to kill himself ... one month after posting horrific footage of a suicide victim.

The YouTube star told Michael Strahan on 'GMA' that millions of people are telling him to go die in a fire. Remember ... Logan caught heat after he was forced to apologize twice for posting video of a dead body in a forest in Japan.

Scott Baio came out swinging against Nicole Eggert Wednesday, saying he never did a single inappropriate thing to her and, in fact, he wasn't even attracted to her.

We got Scott leaving "Good Morning America" and he was still fired up, saying Eggert is incapable of telling a consistent story and points to other interviews where she has said nothing untoward ever happened between them.

Scott doubled down that the only time he ever had sexual contact with Nicole was after she turned 18, and says he did it because she wanted experience so she could "be good for her boyfriend."

Keaton Jones' mother is defending her social media posts with the Confederate flag and insisting she and her family are not racists.

Kimberly Jones told 'GMA' the photos were intended to be "extreme" and "ironic and funny."

Kimberly said she would take it back if she could. She's made her social media pages private since the backlash started.

Mark Hamill's no longer two-wheeling it ... and he's even got a pep to his step.

Luke Skywalker was back on his feet Thursday on his way to 'GMA' to promote 'The Last Jedi.' Mark stopped on his way out to sign autographs, took a pic with a fan and even struck a pose.

It was a huge difference from when we saw him at JFK Monday ... slumped in a wheelchair and doing his best to cover his mug. As we reported, Mark said he was just trying to avoid autograph seekers who "gouge true fans later on eBay."