right now on "america this morning," ukraine strikes back. the new move by ukrainian forces going on the offensive against the much larger russian military as we see more devastating attacks on civilians. a theater reportedly serving as a shelter for hundreds of people including children is bombed. hours after ukraine's president addressed congress, the new weapons now headed to the war zone including so-called kamikaze drones. plus, the new message from vladimir putin. we talk to one expert about where things stand right now. jussie smollett walks out of jail. the surprising decision to release the actor just days after he was sentenced for staging a hate crime. what his lawyers are revealing about his time behind bars. wild weather slams the south.

extreme flooding and even a tornado in florida. what to expect today with millions on alert. a mother gets the gift of life. a rare triple transplant. but why doctors say it's her attitude that may have saved her life. plus, netflix cracking down on people sharing accounts. and later the controversy surrounding the world's largest potato. good thursday morning, everyone. we begin with a major development from the war in ukraine. the ukrainian military is now going on the attack striking back at russian forces near kyiv. >> in the meantime, more disturbing attacks on civilians. ukrainian officials say the russians bombed a theater where people including children were taking shelter. >> ukraine's president made a direct appeal to the u.s. congress wednesday asking for more help, and this morning, new weapons are on the way. but we begin with the latest

from the war zone. this morning, russia appears to be stepping up its attacks on civilians in ukraine. in the hard hit city of mariupol heavy bombing destroyed this theater being used as a shelter seen in this verified video on social media. satellite images before the attack show the word children in russian written in large white letters in front of and behind the building. ukrainian authorities say hundreds of people may have been inside, but the number of casualties has not been confirmed. and the u.s. embassy in ukraine posting a message claiming, quote, russian forces shot and killed ten people standing in line for bread. it comes as ukrainian forces reportedly go on the offense launching counterattacks in key cities including the capital kyiv. >> they're saying that they've regrouped and are pushing russian forces back from these towns around here where they've been stuck for well over a week, and now ukraine's top commander being

moved here to lead the battle. looks like they're trying to break russian lines and russian morale. >> reporter: in the city of kherson, verified video from this airport shows russian trucks and helicopters burning. some military experts say they're surprised by this stage of the battle. ukraine's military includes only 196,600 compared to russia's 900,000, the world's second largest military. >> it is possible the ukrainian military can have a dramatic effect, can be pushing back on the overwhelmingly larger russian army. but the russian army is stalled. the ukrainian military has been able to stop its movement towards kyiv and towards most of the big cities, so the ukrainian military has done what no one expected it to do. >> reporter: diplomats on both sides claim they're making progress in peace talks. russia's lead negotiator says they offered adopting neutral status similar to sweden

keeping its own military but staying out of nato. a ukrainian official refused to confirm the proposal. meanwhile ukrainian officials say the mayor of a southern city allegedly abducted by russian forces last week has been freed after a special operation. ukraine's president made a passionate plea to the u.s. congress for more help fighting the russians, and now we're learning about what is included in a new round of military aid being delivered to ukraine. abc's faith abubey is here now with more. faith, good morning. >> reporter: hey, good morning to you, andrew. ukrainian troops are getting a new round of firepower from the u.s. including a new weapon. this morning, more sophisticated u.s. weapons are headed to ukraine. the white house announcing nearly a billion dollars in new military aid. it includes 800 anti-aircraft systems, 9,000 shoulder-mounted armor piercing missiles, 7,000 machine guns, shotguns, grenade launchers and mortars and 100 so-called switchblade drones or kamikaze drones, the small unmanned drones that can fly directly into targets and detonate.

however, the no-flow zone that ukraine's president zelenskyy continues to request is not on the table. >> is this a lot to ask for, to create a no-fly zone over ukraine. >> reporter: on wednesday president zelenskyy addressing congress appealing for aerial support. he played a graphic video showing civilian casualties in the streets of ukraine bringing some members of congress to tears. he made references to september 11th and pearl harbor and then he spoke english to address president biden. >> i wish you to be the leader of the world. being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace. >> reporter: hours later president biden praising zelenskyy and accusing vladimir putin of war crimes. >> he is a war criminal. >> reporter: it's the first time the president has called putin a war criminal. >> he was speaking from his heart and speaking from what he's seen on television which is barbaric actions by a brutal dictator

through his invasion of a foreign country. >> reporter: meanwhile, putin gave his own speech wednesday. [ speaking foreign language ] appearing angry claiming the west wants to destroy russia and said russian military tactics have been completely justified. and, andrew, putin also issued a stark warning to russia saying russian traitors will be easily identified. andrew. >> all right, faith, thank you. state and federal investigators are in west texas at the scene of a head-on collision that killed nine people. they're looking into why a truck crossed the center line slamming into a van carrying the men's and women's golf teams from the university of the southwest. abc's at there. >> reporter: the speed limit on this highway is 75, and it's a . the locals tell me that crashes happen pretty frequently. and as we can see, they are often vicious. >> authorities say two victims ages 38 and 13 were in the truck. the other seven victims from the

college van ranged in age from 18 to 26. a surprise development in the jussie smollett case. the actor recently sentenced to jail time for staging a hate crime just to get attention will now be released. this morning actor jussie smollett is a free man. >> jussie, how does it feel too be free? >> reporter: walking out of a jail last night flanked by security guards and his family. just one week ago he was sentenced to five months behind bars after being convicted of staging a hate crime for publicity. falsely reporting to police that he was the victim of an anti-black and anti-gay attack in 2019. but yesterday an illinois appeals court ordered smollett be released while he appeals the conviction acknowledging smollett's offense was nonviolent. >> we're here because the appellate court realized this was the right thing to do. >> reporter: smollett, silent as he was ushered into a waiting suv. his lawyer saying the actor broke down when they told him he could go home. >> he pushed his hands on the glass, and he was -- his eyes

got teary. i think he had nearly given up. >> reporter: his lawyer said smollett had not eaten anything for six days, only drinking water. they argued he faced possible physical harm if he remained behind bars, a fear smollett spoke of. >> anything happens to me when i go in there, i did not do it to myself. i am not suicidal, and i'm innocent. >> reporter: the sheriff's office says smollett was kept in a private cell with security cameras and an officer stationed at the entrance. meanwhile, smollett's appeal centers around the concept of double jeopardy. his lawyers argue he already paid a fine and served community service under a previous deal before he was reindicted, but prosecutors argue the fine and community service were part of a voluntary agreement and should not qualify as punishment. smollett's next court date will be determined once his lawyers file their appeal. breaking overnight, the state department says nonemergency workers and diplomats' families can now leave a u.s. consulate in mexico because of gang violence targeting americans.

earlier this week drug cartel gunmen fired at the building in nuevo laredo across the border from laredo, texas and set vehicles on fire after a cartel leader was arrested. turning to the weather, a slow-moving storm triggered extreme flooding and several cars trapped. one driver seen carrying a woman to safety. crewed responded to more than 20 incidents. one man caught in the flood is hospitalized in critical condition. now let's take a look at your thursday forecast. so a tornado packing winds of 90 miles per hour damaged buildings and brought down trees in sarasota, florida. the twister was on the ground for less than a minute. no injuries are reported. on the radar a storm system is moving out of the rockies into the plains and southeast today. more tornadoes are possible from oklahoma city to new orleans and there's rain across the northeast and the pacific northwest. checking today's high temperatures, 60s in the midwest

but denver won't get above 40. coming up, new trouble overnight for kanye west. but first new images from the deadly earthquake that jolted japan. and the mystery surrounding the disappearance of a woman from a walmart par

back now with a powerful shaking felt by millions as a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck off japan. at least four people were killed and more than 100 injured. the quake hit near the fukushima nuclear plant but no serious damage was reported there. at one point, 2 million power outages were reported. back from this country, police near reno are searching for a young woman possibly abducted from a walmart parking

lot. abc's andrea fujii has more. >> reporter: this morning, the search intensifying for an 18-year-old nevada woman who may have been kidnapped in her own car. >> some monster takes them, and you don't know what's happened. you don't know where they are. >> reporter: naomi ar onwas last seen saturday around 5:00 a.m. in a walmart parking lot near reno waiting for a shuttle bus to take her to work at a nearby company. when she didn't show up and didn't return home, her family called police. >> they confirmed she had missed her shifts both saturday and sunday, which was really unusual. my daughter was extremely reliable. >> reporter: the local sheriff's office says this person may be involved in her disappearance. they say surveillance video, which has not been released, shows a person walking from a nearby homeless camp, lurking around vehicles before getting into the driver's seat of arion's car and then driving away with arion with her in the

passenger seat. >> to me it looked like a clear abduction. >> reporter: police found her car tuesday abandoned at a nearby industrial park. detectives say evidence in the car suggests her disappearance was the result of a crime, but they wouldn't specify what they found. investigators also say they believe the driver of this truck has a direct connection to arion's disappearance. with so many questions, her family says they worry more with each passing day. >> we can't lose sight of what's really important, and that's naomi's life. we're out of time. >> arion's family says they don't recognize the hooded person in those pictures, and the sheriff's department admits they don't have much to go on. but they are working to get better pictures of who they are calling a suspect. mona, andrew. >> andrea, thank you. kanye west has been suspended from instagram for 24 hours after using a racial slur. it came in a post where kanye was attacking daily show host

trevor noah about his comments about coming up, a special surprise for some kids from ukraine. also ahead, one mother gets an amazing gift. a triple tlaransplant. but doctors say it was her attitude that may well have saved her life. we'll exp ♪ feeling supported. ♪ ♪ bad vibes thwarted. ♪ ♪ new activia plus. ♪ ♪ c, d, zinc. no need to think. ♪

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[ applause ] a rousing welcome for two refugees from ukraine. the 8 and 10-year-old siblings were greeted by a cheering crowd of classmates and teachers as they arrived for their first day at their new school in italy. the students were waving handmade ukrainian flags under blue and yellow decorations. as the global economy reacts to the war, the federal reserve in the united states is taking new action to control inflation. the fed is raising the benchmark interest rate by a quarter point, and it's forecasting six more rate increases this year plus three possible rate hikes next year. it's all meant to slow down spending in this overheated economy. >> we do understand that these higher prices, no matter what the source, have real effects on people's well-being. and really high inflation takes a toll on everyone. >> we are in these rate hikes. they're coming fast and furious. nothing is stopping them, so if you need to borrow money or pay back debt, better to do it sooner rather than later.

>> the fed also predicts inflation will remain high at least through summer. we turn now to an inspirational story about a mother who has been given the gift of life. but doctors say it was her attitude that may have saved her. 40-year-old lindsay lopez of long island, new york, has struggled just to breathe her entire life. but she's finally received new lungs and a new heart, a rare trip triple transplant. a donor was finally found in the nick of time. >> i would say she was probably several days from death when we did the transplant. >> going in and out of consciousness and going, god, please don't let this be the last memory my son has of me, of me dying in the back of my car. >> reporter: lopez was diagnosed when she was only 6 with a hole in her heart, preventing blood from moving in the right direction through her lungs. but she lived in guatemala and could not be treated at an early age. she moved to the u.s. in 1997 enduring many treatments until this day could finally arrive.

>> my fear was always, will i ever get too sick? >> reporter: as for her prognosis, doctors say only 50% to 60% of these patients survive beyond five years. but they believe she will be an exception. >> i'm going to fight for my life. >> my expectation is many, many years of good quality of life with her family. >> reporter: they say she's the best example of how a healthy attitude can get you through the most unhealthy situations. >> my patient has the determination of the soul. >> reporter: after seven hours with no working heart and lungs, she's alive again, and she is a different woman. >> they have given me a life, my life back. >> reporter: motivational story. she and her son returned to the hospital to thank the doctors and our thanks to wabc for that story. >> that's really incredible. coming up, netflix cracking down on people sharing their accounts. also ahead, controversy surrounding the world's

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♪ time to check "the pulse," you may want to listen up because netflix is cracking down on password sharing. >> the company says it's looked the other way for many years, but no more. due to sinking revenues and increasing competition, netflix is testing out ways to make all those extra users pay up. >> one plan would allow subscribers to add two extra people they don't live with to their account for a few dollars extra every month. the plan is still being tested. next, a robot may soon be whipping up your tortilla chips. >> chipotle is testing an a.i. assistant named chippy. it's programmed to cook and season tortilla chips following the same technique used by human hands. a top executive says the goal is to allow crew members to focus on other tasks while making sure every tortilla chip is equally delicious. so much for that chip shortage,

right? next, the giant spud that's been declared a dud. it's not what anyone thought it was. >> a couple in new zealand dug up what they believed was the wormtd's largest potato. it weighed 17 pounds so they submitted it to the guinness book of world records in hopes of claiming a new record. but testing showed it's part of a gourd. finally, the new team that's taking over monday night football. >> if you're a football fan, you know these guys way too well, joe buck and troy aikman have been calling games together for 20 years. both have signed multi-year deals with espn. buck's contract is reportedly worth nearly $15 million a year, aikman's nearly $18 million. and it's a return to espn for buck. back in 1989, he was a reporter covering a minor league all-star game for the network. i would say he's come a long way since then. >> full circle. you know i hang out with andrew too much when i got the alert

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kumasi: -- reggie: new russian airstrikes pummeling multiple cities across ukraine. the bombing of a theater sheltering civilians. kumasi: ukrainian mother and son stuck in germany doing whatever they can to reconnect with the bid area. darcy bay area. reggie: an effort to give us a gas rebate, the proposal to get $400 back in your pocket. >> i think people are overdue for a party. kumasi: this st. patrick's day is night and day from what we saw two years ago. the boom form bars as people get ready to celebrate in san francisco. reggie: happy saint p it is actually d.

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