good morning, america. breaking news. russia's new weapon saying it used a hypersonic missile in the ukraine invasion. the serious escalation. vladimir putin speaking at a pro-war rally and president zelenskyy calling russian tactics a war crime. president biden's high-stakes talks with china and the heart-wrenching memorial to the littlest lives lost. breaking overnight. an american osprey aircraft with four crew members on board reported to have crashed in norway. what we're learning this morning. deadly wildfires tearing through west texas. at least 50 homes destroyed and claiming the life of a sheriff's

deputy helping people to safety. winds whipping up this fire whirl, the flames out of control. crime sprees. the troubling trends. thieves on tourist visas using their vacations to target homes. >> ripped our safe out of the wall and then took it with them. >> plus, the rise in catalytic converter thefts, brazen scenes caught on camera. how to protect your vehicle from a thousand dollar repair job. keeping covered, masks remaining mandatory in the nation's largest school district for kids under the age of 5. new york city's top doctor explains why. wedding boom. couples forced to cancel their big day now rushing down the aisle. the latest on the top trends from weekday weddings to cozy cocktail hours. and brackets busted. notre dame and iowa state pulling off major upsets overnight and the thriller between illinois and chattanooga.

are there any perfect brackets left? good morning, america. we are happy to have will reeve with us on the desk this morning. we have a lot to talk about and we begin with the breaking news on the fighting in ukraine. russian forces ramping up attacks overnight with officials saying they launched a hypersonic missile for the first time in the war. the target, an underground missile and air ammunition depot. >> ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy now saying more than 180,000 ukrainians have been evacuated through humanitarian corridors since the invasion began calling the creation of a humanitarian catastrophe a, quote, deliberate russian tactic. zelenskyy once again calling russia's actions a war crime. >> and here at home, in chicago, former presidents bill clinton and george w. bush laid sunflowers at a ukrainian church and called for americans to rally in support of ukraine. abc's maggie rulli begins our team coverage.

she is on the ground in lviv with the very latest on the fighting. maggie, good morning. >> reporter: hey, whit, good morning. yeah, one of the major concerns, we had that hypersonic missile and that missile attack on an airport here in lviv on friday. guys, it was so close to the city center, we could see the smoke from our hotel. it seems that despite ongoing negotiations, russia continues to escalate their attacks. this morning, russian officials say they've used a hypersonic missile for the first time in this war. the missile said to fly five times the speed of sound, nearly impossible to shoot down, seen here back in february as part of their training exercises before the invasion. overnight, russia expanding its offensive. the russian military defense releasing video not independently verified by abc news showing what appears to be a precision strike on a ukrainian humvee. in the region west of kyiv this building engulfed in flames caused by a shelling. nobody was hurt. and also for the first time, russian forces striking lviv friday morning creating a cloud

of smoke over a city that was once a safe haven in this war. six missiles fired from the black sea hitting four targets including an aircraft repair plant near the lviv airport seen here in these satellite images. verified video circulating on social media showing the explosion from those missiles. [ speaking foreign language ] ukrainian president zelenskyy calling russian tactics a war crime as they block the supply of humanitarian aid to besieged cities forcing ukrainians to cooperate with russian troops. while russia appears to be broadening its targets, a senior u.s. defense official tells abc news that russian forces remain largely stalled on the battlefield resorting to artillery and long-range missiles to strike at ukrainian cities and they continue to escalate their indiscriminate bombing on civilian areas. france's president macron asking putin to lift the siege on mariupol and to allow humanitarian access. hundreds may still be trapped under the rubble after an attack on a movie theater there that woogs being used as a shelter seen here in images shared by a paramilitary

guard now part of the ukrainian national guard, and concern is growing about what president putin could do next. >> we continue to believe it is possible that russia may be planning to use chemical or biological agents against the ukrainian people. >> reporter: putin speaking to tousands at a packed stadium in a pro-war rally in moscow repeating his false claim to the crowd that the main goal of the military special operation in ukraine is to stop the genocide of the population of donbas. back in lviv the town center filled with 109 baby carriages, one for each child ukraine says has died so far in this war. in that same square kids laughing and jumping through bubbles, the joy of childhood right next to the memory of so many childhoods that have been lost. and, guys, now, sadly, ukraine says the number of children who have died has already risen to 112. guys, we'll also be watching this closely today. ten humanitarian corridors have apparently been agreed on getting aid into hard-hit areas

and getting people out, but as we've seen so often in this war, many times those corridors have failed, guys. >> maggie rulli for us there in ukraine. thank you, maggie. an american osprey aircraft with four crew members on board went missing in northern norway on friday during a large nato military exercise and now we have new information this morning. abc's lama hasan is in london with more. lama, good morning. >> reporter: and good morning to you, eva. we're just getting a statement from the norwegian prime minister confirming that four u.s. marines were killed in the osprey that was reported missing on friday. its last known position was in a mountainous area in northern norway, which is part of the arctic known for its vicious temperamental weather. now, the aircraft was participating in a large nato military exercise which happens every two years. it's a training mission that is called cold response, and it involves about 3,000 u.s. marines and 30,000 troops in total. the exercise is unrelated to russia's invasion of ukraine.

it was planned long before the war. the operation is considered one of the largest nato exercises since the end of the cold war. now, norwegian search and rescue teams said that the weather in the area had been challenging and the cause of the crash is now under investigation. eva. >> lama, thank you. let's bring in abc news contributor colonel steve ganyard. a former defense and state department official. he joins us from washington for insights on this war in ukraine. good morning to you. let's start with overnight we've learned russia has used hypersonic missiles. what are hypersonic missiles? what makes them different from other missiles? >> eva, hypersonic means anything above mach 5. so anything faster than the speed of sound, so very, very fast missiles, which give surface-to-air missile systems, defense systems a very hard time. they're very hard to detect, very hard to shoot down. in this case it's a hypersonic weapon that the russians have been working on for a long time. testing it now is just an

indication of how desperate they are in terms of trying to attack targets within ukraine. >> and what can you tell us about russia's changing tactics? they're using more long-range missiles hitting western ukraine. now these hypersonic missiles. does it signal anything? >> what it tells us is that the second or third largest military in the world does not control the airspace over ukraine. the ukrainian military continues to fly their air force, and they continue to use very effective surface-to-air missile systems, which means that any time a russian airplane flies into ukraine, it's at risk, and they have been getting shot down, which means that the russians are having to back off and fire long-range missiles into ukraine, so it says something very strong about how the ukrainians are defending their territory and how weak the russians are and how ineffective their air force has been. >> let's switch gears a bit and talk about this osprey crash. i know you have experience doing military exercises in norway. explain to us the challenges in that region.

>> yeah, norway is a beautiful country. this time of year the weather is -- it changes within minutes. it's fascinating. i have been there and i've flown in that area and you can watch the weather go from a beautiful, clear day to a raging storm literally in a matter of minutes. this area is very mountainous, very treacherous, so no doubt weather played a factor but very sad outcome. >> colonel steve ganyard, thank you so much for your insight. >> will, over to you. >> all right, eva. as global pressure builds for china to condemn russia's invasion of ukraine, yesterday president biden warned chinese president xi jinping against helping russia saying there would be consequences. abc's white house correspondent maryalice parks is on the north lawn with what we know about that conversation. good morning, maryalice. >> reporter: will, good morning to you. the big glaring question is, what exactly those consequences for china would be if it intervened and helped russia? these global economies are so

intertwined, it could be incredibly tricky for the west to sanction china, but the white house is insisting that china would pay a price and that was president biden's message to president xi yesterday on this call. the white house released a photo of president bidn talking to president xi, you see it there, for nearly two hours, but the white house offered very few other details. a senior administration official afterwards called it a direct substantive and detailed conversation saying president biden explained the consequences and implications if china were to aid russia, either economically or militarily, and that's a major concern here that china could actually send military tactical reinforcements. it's just hard to overstate the gravity of this moment. the u.s. is very aware that if china were to get involved, it could dramatically change the dynamics of this war. russia and china have only grown closer recently. last month xi and russia's president putin stood shoulder to shoulder and they said that their friendship had no limits. now, after the call, china said in a statement, conflict and

confrontation are not in anyone's interests, but china has yet to denounce this war or even call it an invasion, and it was clear that even after this lengthy call, the u.s. was still worried about what china might do. whit. >> highlights the global implications in this conflict, maryalice, thank you. we turn now to the rapidly growing humanitarian crisis, poland welcoming refugees with open arms, but the country will soon become overwhelmed as the numbers climb into the millions with russia ramping up its attacks in western ukraine. ines de la cuetara is in poland right now with that story. ines, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, whit. this is the first stop for so many refugees fleeing ukraine. you can see a lot of them here have just arrived on trains from ukraine. some of them have spent the night here. in some cases some are also getting back onto trains lining up at this counter to get to other parts of poland and other parts of europe. lots of volunteers here. all these people with yellow vests are volunteers trying to get refugees to their next destination, some of them even holding signs offering rides to places like sweden and germany

and we're seeing more and more refugees coming in from western ukraine, and that is the big concern here, that as russia ramps up its attacks on western ukraine, that could set off a new wave of refugees and already volunteers here tell us they have seen an influx in the amount of refugees coming in from western ukraine. more than 2 million refugees have now come to poland. 3.1 million refugees have fled ukraine and growing calls now for the u.s. to take in more refugees. so far the u.s. has only taken in a few hundred ukrainian refugees since october. the department of homeland security saying it has sent refugee officers to europe to assess the situation, help screen ukrainian refugees and determine how many refugeees the u.s. is willing to take in. >> a growing crisis. ines de la cuetara, thank you so much. that humanitarian crisis has reached our borders here in the u.s. as well. ukrainian and russian asylum seekers have been flooding the u.s./mexico border, the u.s. welcoming ukrainians in while dozens of russians have been turned away. the didn't of homeland security

said in a statement that anyone deemed particularly vulnerable may be admitted across the border for humanitarian reasons. eva. turning now to the troubling rising and what's known as crime tourism. look at this stunning surveillance footage in california. police say the brazen trend is popping up across california. zohreen shah joins us this morning with more. good morning, zohreen. >> reporter: hi, good morning, eva. these criminals often enter the country on tourist visas specifically special electronic visas that only a few countries give. they are easy to get online, and these crimes are often easy for them to get away with. this morning, an urgent warning for homeowners about so-called crime tourism. this dramatic home surveillance video showing thieves leaving a california home with stolen goods. >> they're coming here for the purpose of targeting neighborhoods. >> reporter: crime tourism when people enter the u.s. on a tourist visa with intent to commit a crime like this one identified by police in

hillsborough, a city in northern california. >> what they're looking for is jewelry, cash, designer handbags, designer shoes, designer clothing in general. >> reporter: hillsborough resident kelly mayers say police told her the people who burglarized her home appear to be criminal tourists. >> they crashed through our master bathroom window, entered the master bedroom, went into my closet, ripped our safe out of the wall and then took it with them and exited back out the broken bathroom window, and they took a lot of other things too. >> reporter: she says they managed to get into her house without setting off the alarms. >> the biggest loss is feeling like you're not safe in your home anymore. >> reporter: over 350 miles south in ventura county their sheriff's office says it saw 100 cases like this last year alone. >> they probably are going to generally the same locations as

they come into the country, depending on where they're coming from, so it strikes me this is also like a pipeline. >> reporter: crime tourism happening in the united states as well as canada and even the uk. many residents here at home on high alert. >> several of my friends have been hit repeatedly, and it's a matter of sharing information, getting involved in community watch. any time you see something suspicious, report it. >> reporter: the fbi is helping local police, but these criminals act fast, often gone by the time police even get there. whit. >> all right, zohreen, thanks. turning to the weather now, more than 30 million americans on alert for severe weather today as strong storms move east and deadly wildfires tearing through texas. greg dutra from our chicago station wls is in for rob marciano today. good to have you. >> from the fires and severe weather and 50 homes in texas have been lost to wildfires as firefighters desperately try and get a grasp on this complex fire.

overnight, firefighters working to contain deadly wildfires in texas. a fire whirl appearing in this field racing towards the road, another video capturing the flames sweeping over farmland. the eastland complex fire burning over 45,000 acres and is only 15% contained leaving many residents scrambling to grab what they can save. >> already we know that there have been at least 50 homes that have been lost. >> went in the house and just kind of held my hands up like what do i do? what do i grab? where do i start? >> reporter: as she drove off she took these pictures. >> the last vision i had in my rearview mirror, the flames, and that's when i knew how close it was to our house. >> reporter: the fire taking the life of deputy barbara finley killed while helping people evacuate. her son calling her a hero. >> she paid the ultimate sacrifice just to help people out, and i think that's the

biggest thing that i'd like people to know. >> reporter: strong winds and dry grass contributing to the rapid spread. >> there were changes in the winds overnight and that caused the fire to go in a different direction. you don't know where the fire is going to be headed an hour from now or ten hours from now. >> yeah. those windy, dry conditions the biggest concerns for the fires. looking forward into the fire danger for today, thankfully that is low. they get a little break in texas but look what happens tomorrow. we increase the fire danger again, 45-mile-per-hour wind gusts right out there near abilene, which is where that eastland complex fire is. a couple of severe weather videos to bring you from this morning. this was a possible tornado in alabama. they're getting survey crews out to this. another one in florida. two. that happened during the afternoon hours. look at that corrugated roof across the power lines there. and another system is moving in for today. damaging winds the main threat across the southern u.s. up to the north. that's where a few tornadoes are possible today through eastern portions of pennsylvania and into western new jersey with

severe storms possible even into new york city. a few tornadoes again off to the west, though, of new york. now, as we head through the next couple of days, more severe weather possible monday and tuesday. we'll talk about that afte lisa: good saturday morning. we have our storm impacts scale with us. a weak system on the way bringing light scattered showers out there. gusty winds will accompany the showers and still a breezy wind not only later today when the front moves through, but into tomorrow. there is a slight chance of a thunderstorm. the accuweather 7 day forecast, we are cool today. chilly with breezy wind an the good news about that next system monday, tuesday is that will dump some gulf moisture on that eastland complex fire and hopefully give them a little bit of a chance to get more than 15% containment. >> they need it. greg, thanks. >> excellent news. guys, you make a bracket? >> sure did.

>> i did pick one of the upsets though, so -- >> way to go. >> all right. it won't start for you but the odds of picking a perfect ncaa tournament bracket, 1 in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808. better luck next year, folks. every bracket is busted. but that's march madness, round one is done. this morning, millions of americans waking up to busted brackets. as march madness enters its first weekend, no perfect brackets remain. a heroic performance down the stretch by freshman tyrese hunter led 11 seed iowa state past 6 seed lsu making history as the second player to have seven three-pointers and five steals in a game since steph curry. the 11th seeded fighting irish knocking off the sixth seeded crimson tide thanks to a career high 29 points from cormac ryan.

the night's biggest thriller, fourth seed illinois down for most of the game against 11 seed chattanooga holding on in the final seconds to grab the win. >> illinois survives! >> reporter: overall, the majority of the top seeds moved on. the duke blue devils took care of business in legendary coach mike krzyzewski's final ncaa tournament. in pittsburgh, 102-year-old superfan sister jean was on hand to cheer for her loyola chicago but the ramblers fell to ohio state. despite the loss the players know that sister jean is always on their team. on the women's side, a huge upset overnight, florida gulf coast pulling out a win over virginia tech. it's the best time of year. the odds of picking just the first round correctly are an easier to manage 1 in 4 billion. last year there was at least one perfect bracket through 28 of

the 32 first round games. in 2019 a man from ohio named greg nigel was perfect through 49 games and lost in the s my bracket, i haven't even looked, it's so bad. >> i've never won my entire life playing this. never won once. >> well, you're just a young man. plenty of time. >> not tt > stie ch more ahead here on "gma" including swimming history and controversy as transgender swimmer lia thomas makes her mark at the ncaa championships this weekend. and calls for justice from a california family as newly released video shows a man who died in custody while screaming "i can't breathe." and theft alert. crooks going after catalytic converters. how you can protect your car. we'll be right back. [ "best of my love" by black pumas ft. sofia reyes ] come in for workout gear, leave feeling empowered. come in for snack time, leave more fulfilled. because when you shop at target, you leave with what you value most.

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firefighters say two people were critically injured and peng shuai trauma center. the other two people were taken to the hospital with less significant injuries. let's get a check on the forecast with meteorologist lisa argen. lisa: level 1 system on the way. doppler picking up on the rain offshore. santa rosa, a little drizzle along the coast. not much happening yet. rain is on the way. light showers. temperatures in the 50's. breezy winds. the possibility of a thunderstorm. spring arrives tomorrow on breezy winds but a sunny day. breezy winds but a sunny day. liz: thanks for joining us. hi, i'm mike holmes. i'm here with ivan from agm renovations america's kitchen and bathroom renovators i'm excited to introduce agm's 3d creator. it allows you to create your new kitchen or bathroom online, and get an exact quote in minutes. [ivan] that's right mike! design your kitchen or bathroom in 3d, choose your fixtures and finishes, without leaving your home or inviting strangers in. visit agmrenovations.com

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good evening. ♪ one man ♪ ♪ one goal ♪ welcome back to "gma" on this saturday morning. that is queen and paul rodgers performing in kharkiv, ukraine, in september 2008. that performance in freedom square was to raise awareness of aids. later today the band is holding a special screening of that concert for another cause, relief funds for ukraine. queen and paul rodgers live in ukraine will play on youtube at 1:00 p.m. eastern. >> great music, great cause, as well. let's take a look at the other top stories that we're following this morning. happening right now, a mask mandate is staying in place for new york city public school students under the age of 5. the city's top doctor saying

their lack of vaccine eligibility makes young children most vulnerable to the virus. this comes as new york city has been seeing an increase in positive omicron cases over the past few days. also right now, maryland and georgia taking the lead in easing the pain at the pump for drivers. maryland suspending its 36-cent per gallon gas tax through april 17th. georgia doing away with its 29-cent per gallon tax through the end of may. a federal fuel tax holiday bill has stalled on capitol hill. three russian astronauts turning heads as they arrive at the international space station on friday wearing bright yellow flight suits with blue accents. the colors of the ukrainian flag. now, it's unclear if there was a hidden message there. when asked, one of the cosmonauts said they just had a lot of yellow fabric lying around and needed to use it. >> interesting. >> all right. we do start this half hour with thecalls for justice from the family of a man who died in police custody, a disturbing video capturing his treatment now coming to light.

abc's faith abubey joins us with more. faith, good morning. >> reporter: hey, good morning to you, whit. the family in this case says they fought for the courts to release this video so people can see the truth. this morning, a family's urgent plea for the california highway patrol officers in this graphic video filmed on a hand camera by one of their own to be charged in the death of edward bronstein. >> we are demanding change, and we're demanding justice for my dad. >> reporter: bronstein's final moments playing out in this newly unsealed video. >> i can't breathe. >> reporter: the 38-year-old screaming, i can't breathe and let me breathe at least a dozen times while multiple officers can be seen pinning him down on a mat following the march 2020 traffic stop. >> he was under arrest for a drug offense. >> reporter: at first bronstein, whose daughter says he was afraid of needles, is hesitant for the officers to draw his blood to check whether he had narcotics in his system. >> i can't do it.

>> reporter: but then he changes his mind as they hold him down. one of the officers appearing to place his knee on bronstein's back. >> willingly. i just told you. >> reporter: moments later the screams stop. >> it was very difficult to watch, you know, as his daughter. >> reporter: the l.a. county coroner's office ruled bronstein died from acute methamphetamine intoxication during restraint by law enforcement, but the medical examiner also added, the manner of death was undetermined partly because of the narcotics in his system. however, in a federal wrongful death lawsuit, his family blames the officers for using, quote, excessive and objectively unreasonable force. >> these officers have no business in law enforcement. they're a danger to the community and they should be charged with at least voluntary manslaughter. >> reporter: the california highway patrol has refused to comment to abc news or answer any questions about the case citing the pending lawsuit. bronstein died just two months before george floyd was killed at the hands of police in minneapolis. he too screaming, i can't breathe.

>> many poice officers have been trained or somehow socialized to believe that if somebody is saying, i can't breathe, if they're able to talk, that they're able to breathe, and what we now know when somebody says i can't breathe, they can't breathe. >> in the wake of george floyd's death, california expanded its ban on certain police choke holds, but the bronstein family says even before the change, officers in this case violated several laws including bronstein's civil rights. will. >> the family searching for answers. faith abubey, thank you. now to the ncaa swimming championships. transgender swimmer lia thomas made history this week, but some say her success should come with an asterisk. abc's elwyn lopez is in atlanta with more. elwyn, good morning. >> reporter: hey, will, good morning. just a day after becoming a national champion, the penn swimmer tied fifth in the 200-yard freestyle event, but friday's loss is unlikely to put an end to the controversial debate. this morning, lia thomas, the

first openly transgender athlete to win an ncaa division 1 title tying in fifth in friday's 200-yard freestyle race. failing to snag a second national title. the fifth year penn senior swam her way to victory on thursday in the women's 500-yard freestyle event touching the wall in 4 minutes and 33 seconds. but her triumph was met with boos from inside the aquatic center where the national championship is being held and outside a group protesting thomas competing on the women's team facing off with her supporters. thomas spent three seasons on the ivy league's men's team before undergoing hormone therapy. >> the ncaa requires that trans female athletes go through one year of hormone suppression therapy and lia thomas did that. she satisfied every rule.

>> reporter: schuyler the first openly transgender athlete cheering his friend from the stands. >> we should never have to prove that she is not good in order to say that she can compete. she should be able to be celebrated purely for her athletic ability just like any other woman. >> reporter: but critics like nancy hogshead-makar, a former olympic swimmer, argues she has an unfair advantage. >> lia thomas has been through puberty, so that's ten years of having testosterone making broader shoulders and bigger lungs and strength. >> reporter: just last month more than a dozen of her teammates penned a letter to the university claiming thomas had an unfair advantage over competition in the women's category. anonymous ink to paper met with an open letter signed by hundreds of current and former swimmers, backing up thomas stating in part, we express our support for lia thomas and all transgender college athletes who deserve to be able to participate in safe and

welcoming athletic environments. thomas telling espn thursday, she just tries to ignore the critics as much as possible. >> i try to focus on my swimming, what i need to do to get ready for my races and just try to block out everything else. >> reporter: and thomas will be back in the pool again today to compete in the 100-yard freestyle event. eva. >> elwyn lopez for us there, thank you. time now for a check of the weather and greg dutra from our chicago station wls in for rob marciano. always good to have you. >> good to be here. what a super active weather day too. yesterday, today, and moving into the extended forecast, this is a funnel cloud from indiana yesterday. a really good look at the storm structure. you see not quite getting down to the ground, but there are some reports that there was some wind damage from this. in florida right now there is a flash flood warning out for just off to the north and west or north and east of panama city as they had seen torrential rain, 8

plus inches of rainfall prompting that flash flood warning and some rainfall rates of four plus inches per hour. another storm system for monday into tuesday after the one that we're dealing with this morning moves off the coast. monday it's texas and into western portions of louisiana. on tuesday, it moves into mississippi. damaging winds, large hail and possibly tornadoes with that first system on monday. never loved talking about never loved talking about severe weather but the good news is, if there is a silver lining for this system, is that first it moves on the west coast and will give much needed areas in california some rainfall relief as their drought conditions are looking to worsen and a look at the spring update coming up. >> fire crews will definitely take it. thank you. coming up here on "good morning america," thieves in broad daylight snatching catalytic converters. how to protect your car from a pricey repair job.

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welcome back to "gma" and the troubling trend that can cost you some big bucks. thieves targeting cars for their catalytic converters leaving you with a pricey repair job. abc's zachary kiesch has more on how to protect your vehicle. zachary, good morning to you. >> reporter: eva, good morning to you as well. you know, the theft of these converters is nothing new to law enforcement, but what's really driving this recent surge are those precious metals inside the converter and their rising values. you're watching thieves make off with a catalytic converter. the theft took just over a minute and happened during the early morning hours. this one also caught on camera but in broad daylight. those are legs underneath the hood of that white toyota prius in chicago. again, the thief nabbing the car's catalytic converter, and when he was finished, the car was undrivable. >> my engine made the loudest rumbling noise i think i've ever heard. >> reporter: in northern california, this crew was captured on camera by the car's owner.

look at them jack up the car and off they go. the owner said they had a catalytic converter in hand. these thefts that are on the rise across the country. a part of the car that most drivers don't even think about. >> it's a matter of minutes to remove the catalytic converter and that's easy money for them with low risk of getting caught, low risk of getting prosecuted. >> reporter: and in some cases the thefts turn confrontational. watch as these two jump out of a van, police say they were targeting a catalytic converter on a toyota prius. the neighbor who recorded it all was chased away with a blowtorch. >> get out of here, go. >> reporter: on average police say thieves can make up to $300 per converter, but for car owners getting this fixed can be costly. >> there's three main elements in a catalytic converter. platinum, palladium and rhodium, very valuable elements. average of a thousand dollars is pretty standard. at this point we're doing two to three a week. >> reporter: one way to protect

your car and deter theft, adding a steel plate to cover over the converter. >> the amount of time it would take to steal the converter would deter them from taking it. you can't just jack the car up and cut it off and be gone in less than a minute or two. >> reporter: catalytic converters have been widely used since the 1970s. their function is a by-product of the car's exhaust. >> thank you so much for that story, zachary. a good reminder to put a shield on your catalytic converter if you can. coming up on "good morning america," saying i do post pandemic wedding trends, that's ahead in our "weekend download." ahead in our "weekend download." commanding a room, being your own biggest fan. who said you could do that? say no to settling, no to compromising. yes to getting all of the above. who? no, really. tell us. who do you think you are? oh, you're you.

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in today's "weekend download," wedding season just around the corner and shaping up to be an incredibly busy one, figures show there were about 2 million weddings in 2021. that number expected to jump even higher to nearly 2.5 million this year. joining us to discuss is sarah schreiber, senior digital editor at martha stewart weddings. good morning, sarah. great to have you. >> good morning, whit. >> so many engaged couples postponed their weddings or dramatically cut back their guest list during the pandemic. now though that people are starting to re-emerge, what kind of trends are you seeing? >> absolutely. we are seeing three main trends, first up weekday weddings. people are getting married on a monday. they're getting married on a tuesday to mitigate date and venue availability as you said, 2.5 million weddings, that's a lot of weddings, which means these dates, these venues are just not as available. next up, vaccine transparency. guests should expect to be asked

about their vaccination status on the invitation. tey might be checking off vaccinated next to their chicken or steak dish. and then third up, micro weddings. something that i'm calling the micro wedding effect. regardless of event size, big or small, couples are hoping to prioritize intimacy on the big day by setting up smaller table sizes to facilitate conversation and perhaps even setting up more cocktail lounges just to allow people to mingle more. they haven't seen each other for two years, so this is the time to do it. >> so the health of guests obviously is still a priority here. what are you advising people to do to help make sure everybody is comfortable at the venue? >> of course, this is such a big one. i think the good news here is we are approaching the warm weather season, which means outdoor events are more possible than ever, and we are encouraging people to get married outside. there is nothing like dinner al fresco, there is nothing like dancing the night away under the stars, so outdoor weddings are

the way to go, which are ultimately i think the safer option. >> outdoor wedding maybe on a weekday. thank you so much. we appreciate it. we'll be back with our "play of the day." thank you so much. we appreciate it. we'll be back with our "play of the day." we're managing type 2 diabetes... ...and heart risk. we're working up a sweat before coffee. and saying, “no thanks...” ...to a boston cream. jardiance is a once-daily pill that can reduce the risk of cardiovascular death for adults who also have known heart disease. so, it could help save your life from a heart attack or stroke. and jardiance lowers a1c. jardiance can cause serious side effects including... ...dehydration, genital yeast or urinary tract infections, and sudden kidney problems. ketoacidosis is a serious side effect that may be fatal. a rare, but life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking jardiance and call your doctor right away... ...if you have symptoms of this bacterial infection, ...ketoacidosis, or an allergic reaction, ...and don't take it if you're on dialysis. taking jardiance with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar.

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♪ we are back now with our "play of the day" and the boy who came face-to-face with the biggest and furriest and slowest surprise of his life. you want to check out nathan ramer. he's riding a zip line through the rain forest in costa rica, and he is in for a surprise. a dramatic cutaway with the camera. what happened? wll, it appears that he hit a sloth, guys. >> what? >> oh, no. >> everyone is okay. the sloth making a break for it right there is what that looks like. nathan told "gma" it was like hitting a wet, furry wall, that's one way to describe it. i mean -- >> that was a once in a life experience.

i think and i hope that i don't do that again because it was fun at the same time but i wouldn't want to do it again. >> again, nobody hurt, but it did take the sloth 15 minutes to get off the line. amazing. >> this sloth clearly wasn't scared. >> i love that so much. >> well, "gma" is two hours on saturdays. coming up, arnold schwarzenegger's emotional message to the people of russia taking aim at the country's disinformation campaign. t the c disinformation campaign. >> ann >> announcer: monday morning. >> are w announcer: building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions. this is abc 7 news. liz: good morning. the easter bunny is back at malls this weekend. a little bit of normalcy hopping back into town. the easter bunny will be at sanford shopping center in palo

alto. the bunny is also visiting the stoneridge shopping center in pleasanton. you can stop by both locations for pictures until april 16. the oakland marathon is back to an in-person race for the first time in two years. it kicked off yesterday with the annual running festival in oakland. participants were able to pick up packets and enjoy food trucks. the marathon starts at 7:00 tomorrow morning. the half marathon starts two hours later. each runner will get a medal, snacks, and tickets for an alcoholic drink after the race. the weather should be nice for it. lisa: rain is moving into parts of t b taking you o to highway ateaofight rain. aivofoast it continues to swing in throughout the day.

we have a level one on the storm impact scale. clouds with mild temperatures in the 50's. 53 in san jose. you can see how cloudy it is. 46 in santa rosa. today is about the cool weather, the clouds, the wind, and scattered light rain showers anywhere from trace amounts to .3 inches from the coast to north bay. we will brighten up tomorrow for the first day of spring. warmer weather midweek. liz: thank you. the news continues with "good morning america."

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good morning, it's our second hour. it used a hypersonic missile in ukraine. vladimir putin holding a rally before thousands in moscow. from the state department to internet hackers, and n schwarzenegger taking to social media. his passionate