right now on "america this morning," mask confusion. the cdc says vaccinated americans can now go maskless in most indoor locations but overnight new pushback from local and state governments and a major grocery store chain. ransom paid. the hackers who shut down the biggest gas pipeline in the country get rewarded for their cyberattack. millions of dollars paid out. the pipeline now back up and running but the problems far from resolved. what drivers can expect as 15 states report gas stations running dry. on the brink. the breaking news from the middle east. israel calling up thousands of reserve troops. is a ground invasion next? also this morning, what prince harry is now saying about

his father, prince charles, and what it's like growing up royal. caught on camera, who says black cats aren't lucky? one cat's amazing leap from a burning building. how this ended. and later, which city in america has the best barbecue. the survey results that some may find quite controversial. good friday morning, everyone. we begin with a major turning point in the pandemic. the cdc now saying fully vaccinated americans no longer have to wear a mask indoors in most situations. >> the shift in guidance was welcome by most people across the country but not everyone. several cities and many businesses are deciding to not immediately follow this new guidance. >> abc's alex presha is here with the latest from washington. alex, good morning. >> reporter: andrew and mona, good morning to you both. so thedea is that soon you could see a lot more of these, smiles. the cdc saying that vaccinated

americans can now ditch the masks in most cases. >> i think that's fantastic. i think that's what everyone was waiting to hear. >> reporter: this morning many americans are celebrating a return to life without masks. >> i've already planned a mask burning party so. >> reporter: new guidelines say fully vaccinated people can now safely participate in most indoor and outdoor activities without wearing a face covering or social distancing. there are exceptions, masks are still required on buses, trains, planes and in hospitals. the cdc director says the guidance was changed because of new vaccine data which is full of good news. >> one is the effectiveness of vaccines and against variants which was just published last week. >> reporter: but not everyone agrees with going maskless. in california l.a. county officials will not immediately follow the relaxed rules and in massachusetts, the mask mandate is staying in place for now. and kroger overnight confirmed masks will still be required to enter the company's supermarkets. abc news medical editor dr. jen ashton acknowledges the new cdc

guidelines are based on the honor system. >> any time you see someone without a mask, the risk is to the unvaccinated individual, so people can choose to take that risk but science and good data suggest that the smart move is to get vaccinated. >> reporter: it all comes as the country hits some major milestones in the pandemic. for the first time in months all 50 states are reporting declining or stable case rates. the number of covid patients in hospitals nationwide is now at the fewest since last october and the daily average death count is below 600, the lowest since april of 2020. >> i see this as a brand-new day. i'm excited to put away my mask, to go out and engage with rsi ud >> reporr: meanwhikees has been diagnosed with a so-called breakthrough case of covid. seven staff members and a player have now tested positive. according to the team, all eight are fully vaccinated after getting the johnson & johnson shot and the infections are

mild or asymptomatic. experts and the yankees general manager say these cases prove the vaccine actually works. >> i believe the vaccine is working. you know, we've got eight positives and seven of the eight presented as without symptoms. so without the testing you wouldn't even have known. >> reporter: meanwhile, there's more good news for the pfizer and moderna vaccines. new data shows they're likely just as safe and effective in pregnant women as the rest of the population. mona. >> alex, thank you. later this half hour we will answer more of your questions about the new mask guidance. now to the other big story this morning, ransom paid. the hackers that attacked the biggest gas pipeline in the country are getting rewarded with millions of dollars from colonial pipeline, and even though the pipeline is working again, drivers sitting in gas lines may have to wait days for relief. here's abc's andrea fujii. >> reporter: this morning, gas shortages are plaguing parts of pi. iust called the gas eyayhray w

>> reporter: tanker trucks are filling up at the north carolina facility where a cyberattack one week ago crippled operations, but the fuel can't be delivered quickly enough to the many now empty gas stations. one person in maryland even waiting in line for gas n wer. at least 15 states in the country and washington, d.c. are now reporting gas stations that have run dry. nearly 80% of d.c. gas stations were on "e" overnight. average prices now top $3 a gallon nationwide, but one station in charlotte was charging $9.99 a gallon. >> what that say, 9.99. look at this. >> reporter: authorities now investigating hundreds of price gouging complaints, and these gas shortages could last for days. >> though the colonial pipeline remains open, it may still be a headache, a chore to find gas stations with fuel for the next one to two weeks. >> reporter: meanwhile, we're learning more about the ransom paid to the russia based hackers. sources say the payment was in the low millions. the fbi is investigating but has

long advised companies not to ra attacks down the road. >> these are private sto en, se toto do hackers, and it les onore people, but at the end of the day they make their decisions based on the bottom line. >> back to gas prices and some good news. gas tracking site gas buddy reporting wholesale prices are coming down again thanks to a drop in panic buying. mona, andrew. >> andrea, thank you. now to the breaking news in the middle east, israel has called up 9,000 reserve troops ahead of a possible ground invasion of gaza. israel overnight denied earlier reports that a ground invasion was already under way. it's targeting leaders of the militant group hamas after four days of deadly rocket attacks. mediators from egypt say there's very little hope for any kind of cease-fire. let's bring in abc's julia

macfarlane who has covered the middle east for years. julia, what are you hearing about the situation on the ground and how bad is this getting? >> reporter: andrew, this situation is a tinderbox. it's the fifth day of hostilities and the israeli military is intensifying its bombardment in gaza. this morning launching an operation involving 160 aircraft, tanks, artillery and ground troops along the border to try to destroy those tunnels built by militants in gaza. meanwhile, palestinian militants have continued to bombard israel with rocket attacks. more than half a dozen israelis killed including two children. we're also seeing unusually conflict between jews and arab-israelis attacking each other in mixed neighborhoods. a really, really worrying sign. >> what's behind this huge explosion? the eviction is one big issue but it's more than that, yeah? >> reporter: right, andrew, those evictions have been going on for years and it's really, it's really sensitive because

areas like east jerusalem were supposed to have been earmarked for a palestinian state so with every eviction it makes a palestinian state less likely but this time we. weadhethholy monthidg with this celebrate the conquering of jerusalem marching through the city, quite a provocative move and at the same time growing anger in palestinian crowds led israeli police to raid the holy al aqsa mosque three times trying to prevent palestinians from accessing it during this incredibly holy period, andrew. >> julia macfarlane in london, thank you for that update. at least nine people have been wounded during a drive-by shooting in providence, rhode island. investigators say the shooting was not random and involved an ongoing feud between groups of people known to authorities. the victims are between 19 and 25. no arrests reported. time now for a look at your friday weather.

there's a high fire risk once again today on the west coast. a fire near los angeles already burned hundreds of acres and destroyed at least two homes, and in arizona, a wildfire forced parts of the town to evacuate. a new storm system could bring showers and thunderstorms to the rockies and northern california. showers and thunderstorms are also possible today in texas and oklahoma. looking at today's high temperatures, warm and dry in the northeast, 70s around the great lakes. triple digits in phoenix once again. coming up, talk about nine lives. we'll show you one cat's amazing jump out of a burning building. also ahead, what prince harry just said about prince charles that's causing even more controversy. and later, paying

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back now with a black cat's death defying leap of faith, from the fifth floor window of this burning apartment building in chicago. the cat survived the jump, landing on its feet with a little bounce, then it casually strolled away. it was not injured in the fall. in rockville, maryland, this car fire is blamed on hand saptizer. authorities say the fire started because the driver used the sanitizer while smoking a cigarette. the driver suffered only minor injuries, but the car is destroyed. now to prince harry facing new criticism in the uk this morning after what he said about his father, prince charles, in a new interview. this morning, prince harry getting personal, speaking about the difficulties of growing up in the royal family. the duke of sussex opening up on a podcast, shedding new light on

why he and meghan left the family and moved to california, saying he wants to break the stikle of pain in his family, while appearing to criticize the parenting stills of his father, prince charles. >> isn't life about breaking the cycle? rght? >> yeah. >> there's no blame. but certainly when it comes to parenting, if i have experienced some form of pain or suffering because of the pain or suffering that perhaps my father or my parents suffered, i'm going to make sure i break that cycle so i don't pass it on basically. there's a lot of genetic pain and suffering that gets passed on any way. we should be doing the most we can to say that happened to me, i'm going to make sure that doesn't happen to you. >> reporter: it's the first interview since that sitdown with oprah, which exposed the deep rift in the royal family, coming weeks after harry was distant with his brother at their grandfather's funeral.

this morning, the daily mail asking how low can harry go? but the prince says he's happy to be in california, away from the spotlight. >> living here now, i can lift my head and actually i feel different. my shoulders have dropped, so has hers. you walk around feeling more free. i get to take archie on the back of my bicycle. >> he says he and meghan would meet up in a supermarket and pretend not to know each other. making money in your own backyard to people renting out treehouses and tents for big money. a major retailer stopped selling baseball and pokemon

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cdc. officials say it's safe for fully vaccinated people to go maskless in most places. i spoke earlier with dr. ali to answer some questions people are asking. dr. ali, let's talk about these new mask guidelines, saying vaccinated people can go without a mask indoors in most casing. but this is causing some confusion, because mandates are still in effect in many areas. what is your message to people who might be confused about what to do when they go shopping or to a restaurant? >> it's more of a comfort issue. some people may still want to continue wearing masks indoors. but deaf 23459ly onaef -- defin outfors you can take them off if you're vaccite nd up w of the changes. ft the mask mandate because they have no idea how to know which customers are vaccinated,

which aren't. about 40% of the country still hasn't even received one vaccine dose. >> there's a psychological component. having lost a loved one myself, i know how fearful people can be about the virus in general. so shop owners and some businesses may keep the mask mandate until more people do indeed get vaccinated. because as you say, we can't verify, you know, in a large crowd who is vaccinated and who is not. >> so simplifying things here, where should vaccinated people still actually wear a mask? >> absolutely, you know, public transit. we're talking about trains, planes, buses, mass transit. because we don't have data from those situation where is people are packed in close together.in hospits.ev befe covi itals are notorious forll kinds of viruses. >> back to theseew critics who argue this new maveng gsk guidan

extend the pandemic by increasing transmission of nonvaccinated people. >> if we stay on this current trend where people refuse to get vaccinated, we'll have a country with two different groups. a country with a group that's protected and vaccinated and a group that's unvaccinated where the virus can easily circulate. that may extend the pandemic, because you know the tried and true way to end a pandemic like we ended polio or smallpox is vaccination. >> our thanks there to dr. ali. coming up in the polls, the worst color to wear on a date. also ahead, the best city in the u.s. for barbecue. people everywhere living with type 2 diabetes are waking up to what's possible with rybelsus®. ♪ you are my sunshine ♪ ♪ my only sunshine... ♪ rybelsus® works differently than any other diabetes pill to lower blood sugar

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time to check the pulse. we begin with a tribute to a special man and his invention. >> we're talking about spencer silver, who came up with the adhesive formula that makes post-it notes sick. he was working as a chemist in 1968 when he stumbled upon the formula. he searched for years for a use for it, and several years later, post-it notes came along. >> he died at his home in minnesota. he was 80 years old. some advice if you're looking for fun. before you pick an outfit for your next date, consider this color. >> psychologists say certain colors make you less attractive. yellow is the worst, gray also a no no. and avoid the olive brown at all costs. >> brown is theew blk, thehotte runways. celebrities are sporting brown all over hollywood. >> yellow can work sometimes. >> and now brown is a spring

color, which is interesting. so spring fashion color. we have to try that. next, the "friends" reunion will debut may 27 on hbo max. all the regulars are back with a slew of guest stars, including lady gaga and justin bieber. >> and lego is out with a 2,000 piece replica of the "friends" set. >> and next, the best cities for barbecue. >> chef's pencil compiled a list based on customer reviews. and the winner is, the big easy, with almost every barbecue restaurant in new orleans earning top ratings. >> oklahoma city is next. and finally, soaking in a warm bubble bath is relaxing, but how about a beer bath? >> we're talking about a beer spa. it's opened in belgium, and you can have a good soak in malt, hopps a hopps.

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checking the top stories, an officer in the marines has become the first active duty service member charged ith january 6th riot at the u.s. capitol. major christopher warnagiris is accused of assaulting police officers among other offenses. he was allegedly captured on camera, forcing his way inside the capitol and helping others to do the same. the pipeline company at the center of that crippling cyberattack has reportedly paid millions in ransom to hackers. fuel is flowing again, but drivers in the southeast are still having a hard time filling their tanks. nearly 80% of gas stations in washington, d.c. are out of fuel. meanwhile, we're just getting word overseas that ireland's health service has shut down its i.t. systems after being targeted in a similar ransomware attack. no word yet if they're related. mcdonald's is giving workers a pay raise depending on the location.

company owned restaurants will now pay workers between $11 and $17 an hour. the fast food chain is facing a critical labor shortage. the u.s. army is showing off its newly developed night vision goggles in a training exercise. the army says the incredibly clear images will provide soldiers will greater ability to target, engage, and neutralize threats. today's weather, a new storm in the west will move into the plains and midwest. mostly sunny and warm from d.c. ten texon. oklahomass thenay, the gold min could be sitting right in your backyard. >> that's right. people with a certain type of property are cashing in by renting out their space. it looks like a jungle paradise, the swinging bridges, the outdoor bed, and the sound of nature. but this is actually peter's backyard outside atlanta, and he's making big bucks, thanks to a trendy new side hustle, renting your backyard space on airbnb. >> i didn't think anybody would come. i really didn't. i just couldn't imagine it.

>> reporter: searches for treehouses, tents, plastic igloos and barns are up triple digits on airbnb. tent searches up 260%. >> is it the same as staying at a five-star resort? maybe not, but it is an experience that really creates an amazing memory, an amazing vacation and an incredible way to connect with the outdoors. >> reporter: another popular rental spot is the tents at this lake. blaine and matt built it on their property in the middle of the pandemic and shocked when it started making them money. >> this started revenue. so now the tents are kind of the main thing paying the bills right now. >> reporter: they say now more than ever people are looking for unique outdoor stays that look good on instagram, of course. >> many of our bookings are just someone who saw their friend here on instagram. >> i mean, who doesn't want to do it for the 'gram? some areas require you to register before you rent out space in your yard. so make sure you check your local regulations. >> we should rent some of this

space out and make some side money. right now on "america this d americans can now go maskless in most indoor locations but overnight new pushback from local and state governments and a major grocery store chain. ransom paid. the hackers who shut down the biggest gas pipeline in the country get rewarded for their cyberattack. millions of dollars paid out. the pipeline now back up and running but the problems far from resolved. what drivers can expect as 15 states report gas stations running dry. on the brink. the breaking news from the middle east. israel calling up thousands of reserve troops. is a ground invasion next? also this morning, what prince harry is now saying about