big spoon. good morning, america, for our viewers in the west. what really happened backstage at the oscars after the slap only on "gma" this friday. abc news exclusive. oscars producer will packer breaks his silence about what was going on behind the scenes after will smith slapped chris rock. >> i never felt so immediately devastated like i did in that moment. >> his talk with the comedian about the incident and what he says the los angeles police department told chris rock. >> they were saying, this is battery. we will go get him. we are prepared. we're prepared to get rim right now. you can press charges. we can arrest him. >> plus, the decision not to remove smith from the ceremony. >> do you wish will smith had left after that? do you wish he did not remain a part of your ceremony?

>> and what packer thought about that best actor standing ovation and acceptance speech, only on "gma" this morning. overnight, a possible strike on russian territory. this as moscow was forced to abandon nuclear power plant chernobyl and in ukraine's capital, two missile strikes on kyiv. >> reporter: we just heard an enormous explosion here towards the north of where we're standing. >> one with our reporter on the air. president biden's big move, tapping into the nation's emergency oil reserve, the largest release ever to help ease soaring gas prices. the impact it's already having this morning. january 6th investigation heating up. former president trump's son-in-law jared kushner testifies before the committee. tiktok and snapchat crackdown? attorneys general in 43 states and washington, d.c. calling for more parental controls. peanut butter recall.

why skippy is pulling 162,000 pound of peanut butter from at least 18 states. ♪ i feel alive ♪ and we're saying "rise & shine" in the great state of missouri with the world famous budweiser clydesdales and their adorable new addition. good morning, america. great to have you with us on this friday morning. >> we do have a lot to get to this friday including the latest reports that ukrainian rockets have struck inside russian territory. this comes as president biden says that russian president vladimir putin appears to be self-isolating. james longman will report live from ukraine in a few moments. we are going to begin with that big abc news exclusive interview with will packer, the lead producer of sunday's oscars ceremony speaking out publicly for the first time about that behind-the-scenes chaos after will smith slapped chris rock on stage. >> from rock's stunned reaction to the lapd saying they were ready to arrest smith on the ps holmes who joins us now to fill us in.

good morning, t.j. >> this is fascinating. we have heard, of course, from will smith. he put out a statement. we heard from a couple of the hosts. we heard from the academy letting us know they have an investigation under way, but now we're hearing from a guy who was in charge of the entire broadcast. will packer was sitting right there just offstage when this moment took place. his reaction was the same as millions across the country, confusion initially. it was followed by chaos and then conversations about what this thing was and the conversations many of us were having, why was will smith allowed to stay in the room? well, it turns out there was one person in particular according to will packer who was advocating for will smith to stay in the room. chris rock. >> it sounds like chris rock had the ability, the option to have the lapd go arrest and remove will smith from that theater that night. >> that's an absolute fact. the lapd made it clear we will do whatever you want us to do

and one of the options is that we will go and arrest him right now. >> reporter: will packer is breaking his silence giving details about what happened backstage in the immediate aftermath of that oscar night shocker when will smith walked on to the stage and slapped comedan chris rock. >> wow. will smith just smacked the [ bleep ] out of me. >> reporter: that moment came after what we now know was an unscripted joke from rock about smith's wife jada pinkett smith who's recently been vocal about her battle with alopecia. >> jada, i love you, "g.i. jane 2." can't wait to see it. >> you're sitting, monitors around you. tell me what's in your room. >> i said, watch this. he's going to kill because i knew he had an amazing lineup of jokes that we had. we had him in the prompter and ultimately he did not get to one joke. he didn't tell one of the planned jokes. he was just immediately

freestyling. but i tell you, if there is anybody that you don't worry about going out in front of a live audience and riffing off the cuff, it's chris rock. nobody is better. >> reporter: even as smith made his way up on stage, packer wasn't worried. >> and i thought this was part of something that chris and will were doing on their own. i thought it was a bit. i thought it was a bit like everybody else. >> not concerned? >> i wasn't concerned at all. >> as he's walking. >> i figured, okay, he's going to say something or come at him. something funny is going to happen because that's the nature of chris and that's the nature of will. so let's see what happens. >> keep my wife's name out your [ bleep ] mouth. >> i'm going to, okay. >> once i saw will yelling at the stage with such vitriol, my heart dropped and i just remember thinking, oh, no, oh, no, not like this. and chris was keeping his head when everybody else was losing

theirs and then, you know, gave the quote. >> that was the greatest night in the history of television, okay. >> but my heart at that point was just in my stomach because of everything about it and what it represented and what it looked like and who was involved, all of that was just -- i never felt so immediately devastated like i did in that moment. >> reporter: but it still wasn't until rock walked backstage that packer was finally convinced that smith had actually struck him. >> the winners are walking offstage. chris is with them and i immediately go up to chris. >> and you say what or you do what? >> i said did he really hit you? and he looked at me and he goes, yeah. he goes, i just took a punch from muhammad ali as only chris can. he was immediately in joke mode, but you could tell that he was very much still in shock.

>> it's fascinating to hear that you had a few minutes to try to process or understand what had just taken place but not until chris rock came offstage, you still were not sure if he had been hit. >> i knew it was clearly a confrontational moment because of what was happening from will in the audience, but i still -- i still wasn't sure that he actually struck him. i made that clear, like, rock, you tell me, whatever you want to do, brother, and he was telling me, i'm fine. let's just get past this. i'm getting out of here. i can't believe this happened. the lapd came and needed to talk to chris. and so they came into my office and they were laying out very clearly what chris' rights were and they were saying, this is battery. we will go get him. we are prepared. we're prepared to get him right

now. you can press charges. we can arrest him. as they were talking, chris was -- he was being very dismissive of those options. he was like, no, i'm fine. he was like, no, no, no, and even to the point where i said, rock, let them finish. they said, would you like us to take any action? and he said, no. he said, no. and i didn't have any conversation with will. >> reporter: but the academy says they asked smith to leave, which he refused. a lot of folks immediately were wondering why he got up, walked that far, assaulted someone, went back to his seat and was allowed to stay. >> right. >> what was the conversation behind the scenes? >> it happened to be right before the best actor award. shayla told me that they were about to physically remove will smith and i had not been a part of those conversations and so i

immediately went to the academy leadership that was on site and i said, chris rock doesn't want that. i said, rock has made it clear that he does not want to make a bad situation worse. that was chris' energy. his tone was not retaliatory. his tone was not aggressive and angry. so i was advocating what rock wanted in that time which was not to physically remove will smith at that time because as it has now been explained to me, that was the only option at that point. it has now been explained to me that there was a conversation that i was not a part of to ask him to voluntarily leave. >> reporter: will smith later said on instagram i would like to publicly apologize to you, chris. i was out of line and i was wrong. i am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man i

want to be. >> when did you finally get a chance to touch base with will smith? >> will smith reached out to me the next morning and said -- and he apologized and he said, you know, this should have been a gigantic moment for you and he expressed his embarrassment and that was the extent of it. >> will smith reportedly did apologize to board members in a zoom call this week. they are going to make a decision. we expect sometime april 18th. now, at the bottom of the hour you will hear more of the interview and you'll hear how will packer really calls chris rock a hero for saving the day. not just from what you saw on screen, on stage, but also behind the scenes. he almost just single-handedly saved the day and saved the oscars. you also hear how this was such a great night that was going for them to the point they were almost in tears backstage it was going so, so well. >> even the guy who ran the show thought in the first minute that it was a joke. >> to the point -- it took him forever.

till chris rock said i was hit, he didn't believe it. >> for chris rock to finish what he had to do and go backstage and keep it together. >> unbelievable. >> you're not done. like you said, you're not done because t.j. will have much more of t.j.'s interview with will packer in our next half hour. george? now we get to the breaking news overnight from ukraine. reports that ukrainian rockets have hit inside russian territory after president biden speculates about turmoil inside the kremlin and russian forces continue to bombard kyiv and other ukrainian cities. our foreign correspondent james longman is in kyiv. good morning, james. >> reporter: good morning, george. after those two air strikes that we witnessed here in kyiv yesterday, we've now had reports of a possible strike over the border in russia. russia has accused ukraine but no one has taken any responsibility yet. overnight a possible strike on russian territory on an oil depot just over the ukrainian border. in these videos posted online, you can see two air strikes in the distance. you can also see two helicopters

flying next to where the strikes have hit and then this video posted online shows oil tanks on fire and a huge cloud of smoke rising from the depot. russia accused ukraine of carrying them out as russia is forced to abandon nuclear power plant chernobyl which they seized in february. according to reports, russian troops may have suffered acute radiation sickness and may have gone back to belarus for treatment. ukraine state nuclear company says russian forces dug trenches in the most contaminated areas around the plant. but as some russian forces reposition, u.s. officials are wary of moscow's claims. >> we don't see any indication that they're going to be sent home. >> reporter: two missile strikes on the capital yesterday. one hitting while i was live on air. we just heard an enormous explosion here towards the north of where we're standing and you can see there, deep dark smoke rising into the sky. now, we're not sure what's been hit. more strikes in kharkiv, neighborhoods ablaze. and now u.s. intelligence

reports saying some senior russian officials likely disagreed with putin's decision to invade ukraine. this as u.s. officials also said some advisers are too afraid to tell him the truth. president biden touching on putin and those advisers. >> he seems to be self-isolating and there's some indication that he has fired or put under house arrest some of his advisers. >> reporter: now, the siege on mariupol, that southern city, does continue. some 100,000 people still stuck there. ukraine says that russian forces have locked that city down stopping help coming in from the ukrainian side. doesn't seem like there's any end in sight for the people in that city. cecelia? >> so tragic. james, thank you. related to all of this president biden's big move to push down gas prices announcing he'll tap america's emergency oil reserve as he put the blame squarely on vladimir putin. our rebecca jarvis is going to have more on the impact we're

already seeing at the pump. but first our senior white house correspondent mary bruce with mre on all of this. good morning, mary. >> reporter: good morning, cecilia. well, the president says this historic step will cause gas prices to drop fairly significantly. biden announcing he will release 1 million barrels of oil from the reserve every day for the next six months. that's the largest release ever. the president is also putting oil companies on notice chastising them for not increasing production here in the u.s. and calling on congress to fine companies that aren't using their leases on public lands. now, all of this is an attempt to ease pain at the pump and also some political pressure too. with the midterms now just a few months away and inflation at a record high, the president is now putting the blame squarely on vladimir putin calling this the putin price hike but republicans and his critics have noted gas prices were rising before russia started this war. george? >> mary, thanks very much. let's bring in our chief business correspondent rebecca jarvis. rebecca, how much difference will this make? >> reporter: well, we're seeing the impact already, george. prices down a penny overnight. the national average this morning, $4.22. that is still $1.34 higher than

gas prices were a year ago and 60 cents higher than where prices were before russia invaded ukraine. we very much expect to see prices continue to fall in the coming days and weeks according to analysts. they might not get that much farther below $4 a gallon, but they certainly won't climb above $5 a gallon which was a fear in the midst of this escalation. and with the summer driving season around the corner, michael, anything is on the table here because that is when americans drive more, we consume more, and prices tend to rise then. >> rebecca, thank you so much for that. we turn now to more severe weather taking aim at the south. this after at least 38 tornadoes were spotted in ten states this week. ginger is tracking it all for us. good morning, ginger. >> it's hard to believe there's been more than 330 severe storm reports from new york here back to nebraska. we've got breezy conditions going on now. look at what was happening. that is full on gusts above 60

in pennsylvania and spinup tornadoes with projectiles into that jeep. so will we see more of this? unfortunately, yes, across central florida today. damaging winds possible and next week, monday, tuesday and wednesday, the same area in the deep south that's been hit for two weeks in a row looks to get hit again. we will be all over that, george. >> i know you will. ginger, thanks very much. the latest on the capitol hill riot investigations. former president trump's son-in-law jared kushner testified before the committee making him the highest ranking member of the trump administration to answer the committee's questions. chief washington correspondent jon karl has the story. good morning, jon. >> reporter: good morning, george. jared kushner is also the first member of the trump family to testify before the committee. he did so voluntarily and spent six hours answering questions. one of the democrats on the committee afterwards said that kushner's testimony was, quote, very helpful, really helpful. interestingly, george, he was not at the white house on january 6th. he was flying back from saudi arabia.

when he landed in washington, that afternoon, he went home instead of to the white house. as i previously reported, he told a republican congressman at the time that he wanted to avoid the oval office because he didn't want to get in a fight with his father-in-law. and, george, the committee also hopes to talk to ivanka trump. they asked her back in january to testify before the committee and they do believe that she eventually will. >> and she was at the white house on that day. >> reporter: yes, she was. jon karl, thanks very much. cecelia? we turn now to march madness and all eyes on the men's and women's final four this weekend. kaylee hartung, you have more on these powerhouse match-ups. good morning. >> reporter: hey, good morning, cecilia. there are no cinderellas left in the big dance. tonight the women will tip off the final four with a clash of titans. louisville facing off with south carolina. they are led by the player of the year and the coach of the year and then the defending champ stanford are going to have to get through the most consistently elite brand in women's college basketball in uconn if they want to make it back to the title game. then buckle up for saturday.

come on, this is what basketball fans dream of. first you got villanova and kansas battling it out, but then all eyes are going to be on the epic rivalry between duke and north carolina. north carolina's governor has declared the state the center of the college basketball universe heel fan, has canceled a sold-out show in texas to get to the game. ticket demand through the roof. there will be a lot of different shades of blue in new orleans. i got a plane to catch, guys. >> buckle up and travel safe. catch all the action on the women's final four tonight on espn starting at 7:00 p.m. eastern. coming up here on "gma" much more of will packer's exclusive interview with t.j. holmes. he will say what he hoped to see from will smith in his acceptance speech. we also have the latest on bruce willis, the new details after his family revealed his diagnosis. the concern from on set in recent years. first, let's go back to ginger. welcome back to the studio. >> thank you. i will likely be gone again next

week, monday, tuesday, wednesday, same region impacted with tornados possible. your local weather in 30 seconds.

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moving forward finding solutions . this is abc seven news. good morning, everyone. i'm kumasi aaron from abc seven morning starting today to bay area. the news are dropping requirements to show proof of a vaccine or negative. covid test one's asap center in san jose. it's mask policy will now depend on the preference of each event promoter chase center in san francisco is also easing restrictions today to align with the city's department of public health. chase center, officials say all event goers who are not vaccinated are still required to wear a mask unless they're eating or drinking. here's sabina. now look at traffic, you kamasi! good morning, everyone. we are starting here with the live picture and walnut creek, showing us 6 80 that south vietnam traffic has been crawling for about an hour now because of an earlier hit and run and things just haven't let up there and emeryville here taking a live look showing you

80. the left hand side of the screen is under the limit, as well as people travel westbound towards the maze, and we'll wrap up here with a look at our drive time. it's tracy to double and still very slow this morning 45 minutes. slow down for any actor conquered. that commute is going to

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welcome to april. we do have a compressed marine layer out there. you can see it here from the golden gate bridge. it is 49 downtown 48 in san jose 51 in oakland and from sfo. probably not any issues here. we've got a lot of sun on the way cool numbers in the north bay with 39 in petaluma, but mostly sunny afternoon and that sea breeze will lead to a seasonal day for some of you, but otherwise we are warming up through the seventies 76 in concord, 74. in san jose, mid seventies santa rosa upper fifties though, half moon bay, we've got more clouds for your saturday, slightly

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refresh. because subway now has italian-style capicola on the new mozza meat and supreme meats. love the smell of italian food. subway keeps refreshing and refres- ♪ that's a beautiful shot. welcome back to "gma." take a look right there. that, of course, is st. louis getting ready for the sun to come up over the gateway arch. we get ready to say "rise & shine" from the great state of missouri. much more coming up. we're following a lot of headlines as well, including the breaking news overnight reports that ukrainian rockets hit inside russian territory after president biden speculates about turmoil inside the kremlin and this all comes as russian forces bomb kyiv and other ukrainian cities. also to that unprecedented move by president biden to ease the pain at the pump and release 1 million barrels of oil a day for six months from the nation's emergency reserve. the national average of gas prices is down a penny overnight.

analysts expect prices to drop a little more. skippy recalling nearly 162,000 pounds of peanut butter over fears some jars may contain small fragments of steel from a piece of manufacturing equipment. the recall involves 18 states from coast to coast and includes certain jars of skipping that have use by dates of may 2023. you can learn more on our goodmorningamerica.com. right now back to t.j. and more of that exclusive interview with will packer, the oscars lead producer. hey, t.j. >> i was on the red carpet on sunday and will packer and his wife heather and his producing partner shayla came by for an interview and they were over the moon excited. they were so excited. they put in six months of work to get to this point. they were so excited about the show and they told me -- will told me yesterday in our interview that after the first act, they were actually high-fiving and had a tear come to their eye because the show

was going so well. and then in one split second, moment, incident on that stage they felt like they were robbed. >> and the oscar goes to -- will smith! >> reporter: will smith won his first oscar sunday and got a standing ovation. this was minutes after slapping chris rock on stage. show producer will packer says the optics of celebrating smith so soon after that shocking moment weren't lost on him, but offered another viewpoint. >> you know, i probably have a different perspective on that, t.j., because i was in the room and i know a lot of those people and so it wasn't like this was somebody they didn't know. it doesn't make anything that he did right and doesn't excuse that behavior at all, but i think that the people in that room who stood up stood up for somebody who they knew, right, who was a peer, who was a

friend, who was a brother, who has a three decades plus long career of being the opposite of what we saw in that moment. i think these people saw the person that they know and were hoping that somehow some way this was an aberration, he's going to stand on stage and maybe chris rock comes from the back and says, we got you all. you know, i don't think that these were people that were applauding anything at all about that moment and all these people saw their friend at his absolute worst moment and were hoping that they could encourage him and lift him up and that he would somehow try to make it better. >> reporter: smith apologized to the academy and his fellow nominees during his acceptance speech but not to chris rock. something packer says was a missed opportunity after striking rock.

>> do you wish will smith had left after that? do you wish he had not remained a part of your ceremony? >> i think what many of us were hoping was that he would go on that stage and make it better. it couldn't be made right in that moment because of what had happened, but i think we were hoping that he would make it better, that he would stand on that stage and say what just happened minutes ago was absolutely and completely wrong. chris rock, i'm so sorry, please forgive me. that's what i was hoping for. i felt like he was going to win and i was hoping that, if he stayed, he said that. >> art imitates life. i look like the crazy father, just like they said. i look like crazy father just like they said about richard williams. but love will make you do crazy

things. >> if he wasn't going to give that speech, which made it truly better, then, yes, yes, because now you don't have the optics of somebody who committed this act, didn't nail it in terms of a conciliatory acceptance speech in that moment who then continued to be in the room. >> reporter: but just an hour before will smith's oscar win, the 94th academy awards was celebratory, a renewed energy, vibe and flair to the ceremony. ♪ feels so good to be alive ♪ >> reporter: there were show-stopping musical numbers. ♪ we don't talk about bruno, no, no, no ♪ >> reporter: and three hosts delivering laughs. >> where movie lovers unite and watch tv. >> hmm.

>> reporter: but that all changed in an instant. >> you talk so much about how great the energy was in that room. >> yeah. >> after the incident -- >> yeah. >> -- what happened to the energy in the room? >> sucked completely out of it. it was like somebody poured concrete in that room. it was this feeling of what just happened? is this real? how am i supposed to react? so it sucked the life out of that room and it never came back. >> reporter: packer credits chris rock for his composure which may very well have salvaged the night. >> because chris handled the moment with such grace and aplomb, it allowed the show to continue and if he had handled that differently in that moment, which it could have gone so many different ways, and because

chris continued the way that he did, he completed the category. he handed the trophy to questlove who was somebody else who i feel like was really robbed of their moment, it gave us license in a way to continue the show, which is what we were trying to do. it was such a huge moment and such a sad and disappointing moment that it wasn't something that we were going to come back from within that night, within this week. i don't know when we'll come back and people will be talking about anything else other than the show. >> did chris rock save the oscars that night? did he save the show that night? >> i think he did. i think he did. he certainly saved what was left of it at that point. >> reporter: the night was filled with history making feel-good moments. packer led the first all black producing team. ariana debose became the first afro latina queer woman to win an acting oscar. "coda" won big.

>> i just want to say this is dedicated to the deaf community, the coda community and the disabled community. >> reporter: and also a big win of the night, after years of declining viewership the ceremony rose over 60% from last year's broadcast. >> a lot of people, they hear the ratings went up but they think the incident, the slap. but what was the highest rated moment of the night? >> the highest rated moment was when troy kotsur won best supporting actor and as the first deaf man to win an oscar gave an incredible speech. it was heart felt. it was funny. it's bittersweet because i've been getting a lot of love. a lot of people saying, man, i haven't watched the oscars in years and i really enjoyed it. it was a show that moved and was exciting and there was so much inclusivity on the show. you had all these moments that are overshadowed now. so that's the bittersweet part of it because i feel like it was a heck of a show and had some amazingly historical moments that i feel will be forgotten.

>> you have to remember they had a good thing going and a new -- a vibrant show going. so that's unfortunate. he wanted to make another point. there's been a debate out there. some are saying and even calling will smith some type of a hero for protecting his wife who was the subject of an insult and that debate has been going on and will packer wanted to make sure he said, look, we can make an argument that black women in this country, absolutely have not gotten the protection they need. should be protected more, but at the same time we agree that is not the way to protect them. >> that's not protection. >> that is not the way to do it. >> poured concrete in the room. a strong statement. >> he couldn't get the energy back after that. >> strong words. >> great interview. >> great interview, t.j. coming up next new details about bruce willis' diagnosis and the concern about the actor on recent movie sets. we'll be right back with more "gma." sets. we'll be right back with more "gma." good checkup? no, great checkup. aw, thank you, doc.

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back now with actor bruce willis and his battle with back now with actor bruce willis and his battle with aphasia. new details are emerging about his condition including concerns about the actor on set leading up to his diagnosis. kaylee hartung is back with us from los angeles with the latest. good morning, again, kaylee. >> reporter: hey, good morning again michael. there is so much respect for bruce willis in hollywood. his body of work over nearly four decades has earned him that. now the news of his diagnosis and retirement comes as a relief to some who say they saw him struggling on movie sets in recent years. >> come to the coast. we'll get together. have a few laughs. >> reporter: this morning, new details from behind the scenes of bruce willis' battle with aphasia that for years had some in the film industry concerned for his well-being.

>> it was kind of an open secret that bruce's cognitive abilities were in decline. >> reporter: willis' family revealing wednesday that the actor was diagnosed with aphasia, a symptom caused by an underlying neurological issue that can impact the ability to communicate. patients can lose some ability to speak or understand or both. >> in recent months he was struggling to, you know, strike the right tone and deliver the lines and we heard that he just seemed lost sometimes on set. >> reporter: willis' last motion picture "glass" came out three years ago. >> you think you have superpowers? >> it's a feeling. >> reporter: his name still in high demand in recent years but the blockbuster action hero, suddenly turning to lower budget independent films, sometimes only appearing on screen for just a few minutes. >> he's been putting out work at this prolific pace. we counted 22 in the last four years. >> reporter: one of those, 2021's "out of death."

>> throw your gun as far as you can. throw it. >> reporter: where mike burns made his direct electoral debut. >> once you had bruce on set, what did you observe about his condition? >> his intuition for the lines is just amazing. but what i did see towards the end of the shoot as day turned to night was that he was having trouble getting some lines out right and we did have to repeat lines multiple times to get the performance out and it seemed like there was something bigger going on. >> reporter: people who worked on other sets with willis telling the "l.a. times" he needed extra help to get through his shooting days. >> he had an assistant on set who would basically deliver the lines to bruce's earpiece and he would then hear them and recite them back. >> reporter: still, burns saying bruce was very much in control on their most recent film together set to release this summer. >> bruce has always been very happy on set, very jovial, cracking jokes, hanging out.

>> reporter: and bruce willis' family hears the outpouring of support for him. his daughter scout writing on instagram, i truly never could have anticipated the depth and breadth of love we received as a family. i'm so grateful to hear what my papa mean toss ys to you. guys? >> we join in that chorus of support for bruce. kaylee, thank you so much. coming up, everybody, we have the new concern we may be in a housing bubble. what you can do to avoid exploding home prices. up next, our "play of the day." stay with us. eczema,s moderate-te why hide your skin if you can help heal your skin from within? hide my skin? not me. dupixent helps keep you one step ahead of eczema, with clearer skin and less itch. don't use if you're allergic to dupixent. serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems such as eye pain or vision changes, including blurred vision, joint aches and pain or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines without talking to your doctor.

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♪ it's such a good vibration ♪ all right, it's friday and i'm doing "play of the day." you know what that means, we have a double "play of the day." it is already being called baseball's play of the year and we're only in spring training. watch this. yankees bat against the phillies, ball ricochets off the pitcher's glove. shortstop makes an incredible diving save and somehow uses his glove to flip it to second base. want to see it again? i think this is how the sports announcers do it. watch this. boom. boom. come on. phillies turned that double play -- i mean, amazing, right? opening day is april 7th. phillies won, i did my homework, 5-3, guys. all right. coming up, "rise & shine" in missouri. stay with us. was on an antidepr, but i was still masking my depression. sweetie, is everything alright?

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that wildfire in tennessee has had more than 11,000 homes evacuated at some point in the last couple of days. 100 structures have burned or been damaged by the fire. but they've made big gains on it. about 45% contained so we hope that keeps going well for them. the back of it had snow, a daily record with two inches in wichita, kansas, and here it is, your april precipitation outlook, below average where we do not need that. above where we do not need that. well, some of the places. all right, coming up, one couple's five-point plan for paying off staggering student loans and how they negotiated to lower their credit card interest rate. also this morning, the teenage fairy godmother creating disney princess gowns from scratch. she's here live and we'll get to your local news and weather next.

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building a better bay area moving forward finding solutions . this is abc. seven news. good morning, everyone. i'm kumasi, aaron from abc. seven mornings. obina with. look at traffic highgrove in a high capacity. thank you. we are going to start with the maps here because we have a sol on eastbound 80 before university. and now that has turned into a two car crash on westbound 80 past the toll plaza. so you saw those speeds and the sensors it is low. making your way into san francisco here. the meeting lights came on at 6 18, and i'm giving you an overall view. everything else is pretty much greenlee sets, all right. it is a cool start to april. temperatures have dropped into the upper thirties in the north bay, but sunny here no wind yet , but that sea breeze kicks in later on 52 in oakland, its 50th the coast and a sunny san francisco climbing to the low to mid sixties today with that afternoon breeze 47 by the delta. and they will climb as much as 25 degrees today in our inland valley, so above average

, there was 68 in oakland, 76 santa rosa 75 in livermore and the accurate 70 forecast warm tomorrow but increasing clouds and cooler sunday monday, then summer heat next week. thank you , lisa. coming up on g m a. the going concern about the housing market. what you can [ "praise you" by fatboy slim starts playing ] hey mercedes, turn the music up. ♪ we've come a long, long way together ♪ ♪ through the hard times and the good ♪ ♪ i have to celebrate you, baby ♪ ♪ i have to praise you like i should ♪ the all-new mercedes-amg sl. ♪ ♪ the star is reborn.

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good morning, america. it's 8:00 a.m. abc news exclusive. oscars producer will packer breaks his silence about what was going on behind the scenes after will smith slapped chris rock. >> i never felt so immediately devastated. like i did in that moment. >> his talk with the comedian about the incident and what he says the los angeles police department told chris rock only on "gma" this morning. new safety push. officials in 43 states call for more parental controls on tiktok and snapchat. will it help moms and dads monitor their kids on the popular apps? dna test stunner. the ancestry search that brought half siblings together. >> why is your face on my face? >> giving them the shock of a lifetime.

housing bubble brewing? the growing concern about exploding home prices. what's causing it and how you can protect yourself in the market. ♪ one way or another ♪ >> shed the debt. how this couple paid off more than $120,000 in student loans and credit card debt. how they used negotiation tactics and side hustles to save cash. ♪ meet tiktok's fairy godmother. the teenage designer going viral working her magic on diy disney recreations and she's showing us her skills this morning. ♪ plus, it's time to "rise & shine" and say, good morning, missouri. from the gateway arch to the ozarks, we're hitting it out of the park as we say, good morning, america. ♪ good morning, america. great to have you with us on this friday morning.

we are so excited to "rise & shine" from missouri this morning. i love when we do these. >> me too. it is the latest stop on our tour around the country. here's our friend ashan singh singing us live from st. louis. we have some great sights, delicious food and, of course, we've got those majestic clydesdales. >> that is all coming up. look at them. we begin with the news and that abc news exclusive interview with will packer. t.j. holmes sat down with the producer. hey, t.j. >> everyone agrees will packer as well, this was so out of character for what we've all seen over decades now from will smith. that particular moment. well, but it happened and we all saw it play out but the question now for everybody is, why was he allowed to stay in the room? and, again, this all happened because of a particular joke, but get this, that joke was unscripted. chris rock went off script. he had a teleprompter there but didn't read the planned jokes

and just decided to riff and that riff changed everything. it sounds like chris rock had the ability, the option to have the lapd go arrest and remove will smith from that theater that night. >> that is an absolute fact. the lapd made it clear, we will do whatever you want us to do and one of the options is that we will go and arrest him right now. >> reporter: will packer is breaking his silence, giving details about what happened backstage in the immediate aftermath of that oscar night shocker when will smith walked onto the stage. >> oh, wow. >> reporter: and slapped comedian chris rock but even as smith made his way up on stage, packer wasn't worried. >> i thought this was part of something that chris and will were doing on their own. i thought it was a bit. i thought it was a bit like everybody else. >> keep my wife's name out your [ bleep ] mouth. >> i'm going to. okay?

>> once i saw will yelling at the stage with such vitriol, my heart dropped and i just remember thinking, oh, no, oh, no. not like this. >> reporter: but it still wasn't until rock walked backstage that packer was finally convinced that smith had actually struck him. you still were not sure if he had been hit. >> i knew it was clearly a confrontational moment because of what was happening from will in the audience, but i still -- i still wasn't sure that he actually struck him. i made that clear. like, rock, you tell me, whatever you want to do, brother, and he was telling me, i'm fine, let's just get past this. i'm getting out of here. i can't believe this happened. the lapd came and needed to talk to chris. and so they came into my office,

and they were laying out very clearly what chris' rights were, and they were saying, this is battery. we will go get him. we are prepared. we're prepared to get him right now. you can press charges, we can arrest him. as they were talking chris was -- he was bein dismissive of those options. he was like, no, i'm fine. he was like, no, no, no, and even to the point where i said, rock, let them finish and they said would you like us to take any action and he said no. he said no and i didn't have any conversation with will. >> you all, let me give you something on a personal note from will packer. we've been around him and known him for a long time certainly, right, stray, he's always upbeat. got that big smile on his face. i walked into the hotel in atlanta to meet him yesterday for the interview and the first thing out of my mouth, brother, you look tired and not an amount of bags but his energy was different. he's just had a heck of a week. one of the first things he said i forgot to tell my daughter happy birthday on camera.

18th birthday. he's still thinking -- these are human beings that put so much time and effort into this show that went this way. he did want me to tell -- pass this along, one thing positive if there's anything, it is that understanding that when you're in a moment don't just react emotionally, take a beat because you can destroy all that you out. takes a lifimto build a reputation and a second to destroy it. >> splitecim doverhahday, ya ully that hes a hes u asways we'll turn now to president biden's big move to try to push down gas prices announcing he will tap america's emergency oil reserve and we're going to go back to rebecca jarvis with who more on the impact we're seeing at the pump. good morning, again, rebecca. >> reporter: hi, michael, nice to see you again of the we're seeing the impact this morning with oil prices which are the biggest driver of what you pay

at the pump down to $100 a barrel. the national average this morning, $4.22 a gallon. that is down a penny overnight but we're still about $1.34 a gallon higher than we were paying a year ago and up more than 60 cents since russia invaded ukraine, analysts predict prices will fall in the next few weeks but probably not as much as drivers are hoping. they're forecasting that prices could get below $4 a gallon. this is seen as keeping a lid on prices. analysts also acknowledge that there are still many factors that could drive prices higher again and with the summer driving season around the corner, people should expect to pay more for those vacations, michael. >> that's not good news. >> wah-wah. >> thank you. >>ng up, with owg coerns o harmfuefcts of social medin ds, 43 stater more pkt and snapchat. also ahead, are we headed

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a little friday groove. welcome back to "gma" on this friday. tomorrow on "gma" we've got springtime "deals & steals." >> looking forward to that. now we go to our "gma" cover story and that new safety push, officials in 43 states are now calling for more parental controls on tiktok and snapchat. mona kosar abdi joins us with how this might help moms and dads monitor their kids on the popular apps. good morning, mona. >> reporter: good morning, michael. growing concerns over the potential harmful effects of social media apps on kids has the government pressuring these powerful platforms to do more but over 40 attorneys general agree that parent involvement is key. this morning, a coalition of attorneys general from 43 states and washington, d.c. are expressing concern that tiktok and snapchat are not doing enough to protect kids from online threats. in a new letter, the ags urge the social media platforms to give, quote, parents increased ability to protect their vulnerable children.

back in february, tiktok said it would take new steps to enforce limits on harmful content including information about eating disorders, suicide and sexual exploitation. the attorneys general acknowledged tiktok and snapchat do provide some protections, just not enough, writing, quote, some of your internal pa trental control settings can be changed or bypassed. they are now pushing tiktok and snapchat to conform with what they describe as industry practices and collaborate with parental control apps to allow parents to limit communication to a certain network of people, monitor private messages and provide alerts to messages that can be dangerous. >> well, if you don't at least amend the community guidelines to begin with, there isn't really an open door for change so this is a wonderful step to create transparency and to create just a safer platform for everyone to use. >> reporter: lawmakers putting similar pressure on other platforms as well. just last month instagram implemented new safeguards for parents who monitor teens'

activity. but there is a major caveat, as of now, the teen must initiate supervision to allow parents access to this account info. and this has been a bipartisan effort on every level. during a congressional hearing late last year, senators on both sides of the aisle called for more transparency. senator richard blumenthal even calling this a big tobacco moment for big tech, george. >> thank you, mona. a look at home prices, some signs of a bubble in the housing market with new research from the dallas federal reserve showing home prices are following a similar trend to the one we saw before the 2008 market crash. chief business correspondent rebecca jarvis is back to break this down. so are we seeing that kind of a bubble right now? >> well, if you've been trying to buy or sell a home right now, you are seeing a lot of craziness and you felt it, prices are exploding, up 19% in january from a year ago, there are bidding wars, houses fly off the market seconds after they're listed and researchers at the

dallas fed say prices have become unhinged from reality. in other words, the market is starting to resemble a bubble. >> early signs. >> early signs, we're not necessarily in it but it feels like it. >> what's causing it? >> a lot of factors. the pandemic one of the biggest because historically low mortgage rates have come up as a result of the pandemic. we've seen this wave of first time home buyers, people got the bug to move and buy during the pandemic and there is a lack of housing inventory but the big thing that is happening on top of all this is this wave of fomo, home buyers are fearful of missing out. you lose out on a few bidding wars, you think prices are going to keep going up and you think, i got to get in now and i'm going to offer above asking. the whole thing becomes self-perpetuating and you see this frothiness in the market. >> what tips do you have? >> it's really important if you are thinking about buying a home is to not get up -- caught up in that fomo frenzy.

stick to your budget. be prepared to live in that home for at least five years, we're in a different environment than the housing crash of the great recession, mortgages have greater restrictions, for example, but back then the market peaked in april of 2006. it hit bottom about five years later in march of 2011. it took almost a decade to fully recover the losses and things got back to where they were by october. >> really want the house. >> yes, want it, can afford it, stay there. >> rebecca, thanks very much. cecilia. we turn to the dna tests done on people connecting the dots and claiming they're not just half siblings but victims of fertility fraud. a story we first saw in "the new york times" and juju chang spoke with two of the half siblings. a wild story. >> absolutely wild. good morning. just think about it, with one swab these two siblings' lives were turned inside out. imagine having to rethink who your father is, what your family

looks like, your whole sense of identity changed in the blink of an eye. david spent 37 years thinking he was italian irish until he took a dna test. >> there was no italian. there was no irish in any of the things i was led to believe. >> the shock of a lifetime. his dad was not his biological father and he became a gio detective unraveling his biological history. >> i got this message and it said, i think we're related. >> reporter: recovering he and morgan are half siblings. >> i grabbed his face. why is your face on my face? like i just couldn't understand. it was the craziest experience i've ever had. >> reporter: they kept finding more and more half siblings. >> then there were five of us and then six and then seven and then it started to feel like well, if there's seven there might be 20 and if there's 20, there might be 100. and i started to feel terrified. >> reporter: the half siblings had more than just dna in common. david and morgan say their mothers used artificial

insemination using the same fertility doctor in rochester, new york. morris wartman, a biological daughter he raised agreeing to take a dna test to try to fill the missing puzzle piece. the result, david says, she matched him, morgan and all the siblings. >> i am the product of something that should have never happened with an unconscionable violation of ethics at a minimum. he's someone i can't escape because his dna is in me and his dna is in my son. i wrestle with that. from the first time i held my son that man was in the room with me. >> reporter: for morgan the story takes a darker turn. for the previous decade dr. wortman was also her gynecologist. how did you tell your mother? >> when we found out there wasn't any need to tell her. i was screaming and sobbing at the top of my lungs. >> reporter: filing a lawsuit against wortman in september alleging among other things that

he committed medical malpractice by treating her when he likely knew he was her biological father. wortman's team denying the charges. in your view, what has he done? >> he knew the whole time who i was and i didn't. he took away that choice for me. >> reporter: both morgan and david's mother say wortman told them he was using sperm from an anonymous medical student. david's mom still reeling from the news. >> he had my permission to use a donor, specifically medical student, he did not have my permission to use his own sperm for a donation. >> it feels like a sexual assault. the problem is it doesn't meet the definition of sexual assault or battery in a lot of ways and so there was no criminal violation because there was no law that covered this particular act. >> reporter: seven states specifically penalized

physicians for fertility fraud. others like new york only have laws pending. for now morgan is the only one of the half siblings who may have a legal cause of action. >> i do not have a fertility fraud case. i have a case because he touched my body without my consent. >> reporter: morgan says despite the pain, there is a silver lining. >> david and my siblings are -- it's not even bittersweet. it's that they're the shining glue that holds me together during all of this. >> reporter: and that is what is so beyond bittersweet about what they've uncovered. while they cherish each other you can see it, the very thing that bonds them that is embedded in their dna is something they say should never have happened. >> just such a tough story. >> yeah. >> absolutely. >> thanks so much. we'll turn it back to ginger now. thank you, cecilia. right behind me you can see from north carolina one of the likely tornadoes, they'll get that survey completed. it wasn't just north carolina but 38 reported tornadoes this

week, over so many states, the florida panhadle had that deadly one and this you'll see now, in florida today, central florida has got that front and they'll see a couple of lows riding along it. i love i have this big wall now and can really spread out. but you see the next week, monday, tuesday and wednesday, another threat. that's the big pic lisa: good friday morning. starting with sunshine here in the city, looking at a warmer day today all around the bay area. it will be a sunny start for saturday. clouds increase. we are cooler for a few days. it will feel like summer as we get into next week. highs ranging from the upper 50's. a cool day with the sea breeze at the coast. 64 downtown. mid-70's inland. re ♪ it is time to "rise & shine" from missouri, the latest stop

on our tour around the country. and ashan singh is there live this morning for us joining us from a ferryboat in st. louis. ashan, good morning, my friend. >> reporter: good morning, michael. and welcome to missouri. the show me state. check out this beautiful drone shot of the gateway arch behind me and let us show you what makes this state so great. soaring to 630 feet, the gateway arch is st. louis, missouri,'s gateway to the west. >> base hit. the cardinals will win it. >> reporter: in the city that is home to the cardinals and busch stadium. from landmarks to landscapes, the massive lakes of the ozarks, a playground for water sports. chances you know this voice, johnny mathis, the vocals behind "it's beginning to look a lot like christmas." 200 miles across the state in

boonville at this ranch -- >> there you go. >> reporter: petting the world famous clydesdales including a one-week-old foal. how many do you introduce to the ranch? >> between 20 and 25 foals a year. it lets the handler know baby is on the way so get to the farm now. >> reporter: they've been a staple for nearly 90 years well before their super bowl commercial debut in 1986. ♪ in kansas city, more icons. at the negro leagues baseball museum. juistoryo e greater >> you cannot talk about the include history of the >> reporter: all-star and pioneer jackie robinson got his start with the kansas city monarchs in the birthplace of the negro leagues. as if frozen in one last game these men around me were early emblems for the fight for

equality. >> they never would allow social circumstances to kill their love of the game. ♪ >> reporter: missouri was home to another legendary figure, the one and only walt disney. >> you're standing in the living room of the walt disney house. i don't think walt would have been walt without the years he spent here. >> reporter: the walt disney hometown museum displays this, rupert the barnyard horse, one of walt's best friends in marceline. >> he spent the rest of his life trying to re-create the life in marceline. >> on this trail, it used to be a railroad, and you can bike from arrowhead stadium to where the rivers meet, almost the whole state. from the trail, i rolled right into the middle of a big debate. not missouri versus missouri, but casey barbecue versus st. louis style. can we talk about how good that bite was, by the way, it i

must try bbecue joint in c but wait foit. >> orter:ouis style across the state at salt and smoke feeds thousands from cardinal crowds. everybody is a baseball fan and everybody is a barbecue fan. >> you know, it's just kind of a perfect marriage. ♪ >> reporter: another fine food you won't find out of state hails from the hill, st. louis' italian neighborhood. >> made with a lot of love, a lot of care and it's a laborious task to make these. >> reporter: toasted raviolis at charlie's. or you can get a treat from grandma's house in st. charles where teresa rubio of grandma's cookies found a way to stay open during the pandemic all in honor of grandma. >> we've been here since 1976 and i think we didn't want that tradition to die so we did everything we could and i feel like we came out stronger, better.

>> reporter: and, guys, we have some of that famous toasted ravioli for you to try in studio. i got to say i'm still full from eating my way through the state. coming up a heartwarming from kansas city i'm excited to share with you guys. >> go take a run. >> mine are almost done. >> you're already digging in. i have to read this before i can eat mine. ashan, great job by you, st. louis, great to see the arch. coming up, we have the seamstress taking over social media with her disney princess gowns. really are amazing. stay right there. she is here live. we'll be back.

>> >> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc 7 news. kumasi: good going straight to a look at traffic. jobina: good morning, we are starting with a crash in oakland which will be right out of westbound 580 before fruitville avenue. speeds are down to 12 miles an hour. heads up if that is a part of the commute. a sluggish ride on walnut creek ever since about 6:30 when we had a reported hit and run. good news on the bay bridge toll plaza, nice and clear. plaza, nice and clear. kumasi: is your bathroom over 10 years old? i'm mike holmes, here with ivan from agm renovations america's kitchen and bathroom renovators thanks mike! bathrooms over 10 years old cause major water damage,

flooding, and mold. [mike] ivan, i've seen a lot of this. homeowners often don't realize what's behind the walls. agm are the only bathroom renovation specialists i recommend. visit agmrenovations.com today, and renovate before it's too late! and remember - we do kitchens too! ♪ agmrenovations.com ♪ everyone's a multitasker these days. and remember - and with supersonic wifi from xfinity, your internet can multitask too. it's got gig speeds to the most homes... advanced security that blocks billions of cyber threats and enough power for a house full of devices. plus when you get xfinity internet and mobile together, you can save hundreds off your wireless bill compared to t-mobile. (phone rings) it's for you. learn more about gig-speed wifi or get started with xfinity internet for $19.99 a month for 12 months. click, call, or visit a store today. (music throughout)

>> good morning, "live in kelly and -- live with kelly and ryan" is coming up. we will see you at 9:00. lisa: good morning morning, happy friday as we look from print -- from san francisco, blue skies. 49 san jose and warmer on the coast at 50. some haze but blue skies on the way. today we will warm up near average to slightly above average. the sea breeze keeps it at the coast. 73 napa.

74 san jose and we cloud up late tomorrow. jobina: thank -- kumasi: thank you we will have another update ♪ ♪ nine inches ♪ that's the teen fairy godmother of tiktok with her gorgeous recreations of disney princess gowns. we'll talk to her live in just a moment. take a look at how she works her magic. ♪ >> 19-year-old alexandra sorenson is making fairy tale fashion come to life. ♪ a whole new world ♪ >> reporter: reimagining a whole new world of disney outfits from mary poppins. ♪ to tinker bell. ♪ first going viral with her belle inspired ball gown in the fall of 2020.

she shares her magical creations with her 1.6 million followers on tiktok. ♪ i'm just like you ♪ ♪ you're just like me ♪ >> reporter: alexandra completely self-taught. >> this is most of my supplies. >> reporter: cuts her own patterns and stitches her own designs in her makeshift workshop at home. after creating over 50 looks one of her favorites, the princess tiana gown she made for her sister. >> the very first princess dress i ever made, tiana's ball gown. >> so pretty. i can't believe i made that. >> reporter: and she's showing the world that disney magic can be tailor made from home. and alexandra sorenson is here to show us her magical gowns in person. i love it. you look beautiful. >> thank you, thank you. >> you know, you wanted to be a violinist and then this hobby kind of changed everything. >> yeah.

>> so what do you want to do now. >> so before the pandemic i had never touched a sewing machine, never known how to even sew a straight line, so i was bored during quarantine and taught myself how to sew and it's crazy how far this has come because of social media so because of that i would love to keep doing social media, keep furthering my following and in the future i would definitely love to do something on broadway for costuming or maybe even the movies. >> i think you're already cut out for that. you're just across the street. but tell us about this dress you're wearing right now. one of your latest creations. >> this is probably one of my most requested dresses in my comments on tiktok and instagram. i had been kind of staying away from making it because it was really daunting for me, but after getting asked so many times, i was like, okay, let's do it. so i bought the materials and i just got to work and i'm really proud of how it turned out. i think it's as good as i could have done it so i'm really happy.

>> your tiana dress is where it got started. was this the first disney ball gown you ever made. >> yes, it was so my sister elsa is in love with tiana. she loves the movie. >> i love that, elsa, there we go. >> so when she knew that i was getting into sewing she was like, you have to make me this dress, so i was like, okay, let's do it. i got the fabric. we kind of planned the design together and this is how it turned out and she's in love with it and we loved taking pictures with it and i would love to make her a new and improved one. >> i bet you have great dress up days in your house. >> yes. >> the numbers to make sure i got it right this is your most popular creation. 30 million views, this is crazy. >> yeah, that video ended up getting 30 million views and 5 million likes which is insane to me. it's probably my favorite dress i've ever made. i'm just so proud of how it turned out. it's the second belle dress i ever did. the first being one of the first

dresses i did and i just -- it's my pride and joy, i love it so much. >> you should be proud of it. so detailed. >> you have a little work in progress. princess aurora from "sleeping beauty." >> this fabric changes from pink to blue depending on the angle you look at it and how the light plays off of it and that's because of the way that the fibers are intertwined and i've been dying to work on this fabric for such a long time so i saved up the money and i think it's going to turn out beautiful and i'm so excited. >> well, we are excited to see what else you have in store and we have a little surprise for you. i think we're going to bring it out. joann stores is a big fan of yours and they have a pretty big gift card for you, $5,000 and some more very gorgeous fabrics for you to get to work on. what do you think? >> oh, my gosh, this is -- wow! i'm going to cry. thank you so much. wow. >> well, we can't wait to see what you do with it. >> we cannot wait to see. it will be put to good use and

we'll see you on broadway, i have a feeling about that. >> thank you so much. wow. >> we appreciate you being here and now we'll go to george. >> that was great, michael. now to this week's buzz pick, it's "sea of tranquility" by emily st. john mandel, the best-selling author behind "the glass hotel." "sea of tranquility" is being called one of her best yet. from vancouver island in 1912 to a colony on the moon 500 years later, "sea of tranquility" is out now and you can read along with us on our instagram @gmabookclub. when we come back how one couple paid off $126,000 of debt in four years. and we're cooking with tieghan gerard. ♪ ♪

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all right, we are back now with our money smart series and one couple who was $126,000 in the red between student loans and credit card debt managed to pay it all off in just four years. erielle reshef is here. they have a five-point plan. >> we know having debt can feel crushing. well, that couple found savvy ways to save and now they are completely debt-free and sharing their strategies to help others get a fresh start too. meet jasmine and jay mccall, the atlanta couple in their early 30s who managed to shed $126,000 in debt in just under four years.

>> we were in about $126,000 of debt, 96,000 of that was student loans and about 30,000 of that was credit card debt. >> reporter: the mccalls following simple steps to dig out of the red. first jay created a budget. >> we found out that you can create a budget based on your lifestyle. it doesn't have to be so restrictive. >> reporter: then decided to live off jay's $85,000 annual salary while using jasmine's $88,000 salary to pay off everything from student loans to credit cards. they also used stocks to pay off big chunks of debt at once. >> my stock portfolio was valued at $40,000 and so i decided to go ahead and take that money to put it towards our debt. >> reporter: jasmine negotiated lower interest rates on their credit cards. >> i just decided to call my credit card company. i actually cut the interest rate in half so just that alone saved us a couple hundred dollars per month. >> reporter: and finally they say they both got side hustles.

>> we're going to talk about how to get approved for a home mortgage. >> my youtube channel is all about educating millennials and gen-z on how to build their credit, how to pay off debt and overall how to build generational wealth. >> reporter: the new parents to 6-month-old jordan say they're relieved to have lifted the burden. >> it's super important for us to raise a son in a family that is debt-free because we just wanted him to have opportunities that we didn't have. >> reporter: the family of three now debt-free. >> sometimes it feels surreal because i know where we were and where we started and for us it's just an amazing feeling. >> it takes discipline. jasmine's advice, invest in your financial education because not knowing how to manage your finances can get really expensive. she also says look to someone who is actually paid down debt to help guide you. she is trying to do that throug reach out to those who may be

struggling as well. lifting that cloud of debt allowed them to be present with their little ones. >> being able to call your credit card company and ask for lower interest rates is good advice there. >> got to be an advocate for yourself. ginger, we will turn it over to you. >> welcome to april. we're kicking off a new month. that means pollen and allergies are starting to ramp up. this segment is sponsored by zyrtec and we want you to look at this from prescott, arizona, and that man throws a piece of wood into the juniper tree and pollen explodes. juniper trees are responsible for a large part of arizona's allergies this time of year, especially when you instigate it like that. pollen from juniper trees can be carried in the wind for more than 100 miles and you don't just have to go to arizona to see that type of pollen. really high levels in texas, oklahoma, arkansas, louisiana, georgia, mississippi and i can tell you from experience i felt that when i was down there, south carolina and north se ofa

clear start elsewhere.th se ofa we will lose that fog by midmorning. temperatures climbing through the 60's in the bayshorororororr it smells good in here. we are joined by a guest who is a best-selling cookbook author and social media sensation with 4.2 million followers on instagram and now tieghan gerard has a new cookbook out called "half baked harvest every day." good to have you. >> good morning, guys. i am so excited to be here. >> it smells great this here. you know, every recipe you post online seems like it ends up getting tens of thousands of likes and views. what is it about the food you're cooking that has folks so into it? >> you know, first of all, thank you so much. you know, i think it's the approachability of it. i make them approachable for

people and can make them themselves. that's the key. you have to make it easy and approachable. >> you got a dish from your new cookbook that shows garlic peanut noodles. what goes in the sauce for these? >> yes, i love some peanut noodles so we have a lot of peanut butter here. we have a little bit of toasted sesame oil, a little bit of sesame oil, a little bit of honey and then some soy sauce and rice vinegar. some ginger, which really adds tons of flavor to the sauce, a little bit of garlic and then some chili sauce which really makes it a little spicy but you can control that by adding a little more or a little less to your sauce so taking the peanut butter and adding it to my food processor and i'll blend this all together, guys, in the food processor, so simple and easy, you have soy sauce and rice vinegar and then we've got some honey which makes it sweeter but that is balanced with the spice so we've got a little bit of honey here and then some toasted sesame oil and that ginger and garlic which really adds so much flavor to your sauce and then a little bit of spice and like i said before you can really use this to your taste. i hike to add a lot but you can add a little bit and then we just put it in the food

processor and blend it all together like this. so easy. >> so you can really freestyle on top of the peanut butter, huh? >> oh, yeah, it's amazing. so good and we have an easy, delicious sauce here and all you do is i have some rice noodles over here. you pour it if i can get it off, you guys, hold on. there we go. you pour it over the noodles. you never know which way it goes. you pour it over the noodles and i like to leave them hot. the key, they're hot and it's cooking that garlic and ginger which are raw so doesn't overpower the other flavors in the noodles like the peanut butter which is what you really want to be tasting, right? it's so good and the second those -- all those ginger and

garlic really hits the heat from the noodles, you can smell it. like you said in studio, you can smell it. >> tieghan, what is your most liked dish of all time on social media? >> so my most liked -- i think i have two to be honest with you. it's some butter chicken and some pasta alla vodka. they are so popular and honestly both so delicious and like i said before they're simple and easy. >> this dish here, you've got sweet potatoes and kale. can you use other veggies too. >> yes, you can use other veggies too, you could roast up broccoli, bell peppers, whatever you want or have in your kitchen, you can definitely serve those with these noodles. if you're doing bell peppers and want to save a little time when you're boiling these rice noodles, toss the bell peppers in or even broccoli for like the last two minutes of cooking and you'll steam those vegetables then toss it all together in the delicious sauces but i do love sweet potatoes and wilted kale is so delicious. >> your third book out now, what was the inspiration. >> the third book was really

focused again on simple approachable recipes but with a little bit more of a health factor to them so we have lots of really great gluten-free recipes, but mainly with so much color. as you can see there's so much color here, sweet potatoes, kale and pretty peanut sauce all full of really good for you feel good ingredients, so that was the focus behind the book as i wanted to create something that just had lots and lots of color we could easily go home and make and eat an enjoy with our families. >> congratulations on the new book. michael is already digging in. it's our turn now, tieghan. tieghan's new cookbook "half baked harvest every day" is out right now and you can scan the qr code on your screen or go to goodmorningamerica.com to get the recipe, plus, ones for a gnocchi soup and sheet pan french toast making me extra hungry. we are headed back to missouri or missouri to "rise & shine" with an inspiring story.

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♪ it is time to "rise & shine" as we head back to missouri. ashan singh is bringing us an inspiring story of a group of 36 mothers who created a new community during the pandemic. hey, ashan. >> reporter: hey, george. how is it going? we've heard of baby many boos but not like this. 36 nicu nurses in the same kansas city hospital all getting pregnant at the same time in 2019. now their newborns have turned into toddlers and we got to catch up with a bunch of them. as 2019 drew to a close, children's mercy hospital in kansas city was pregnant with potential. >> oh. >> reporter: literally. 36 pediatric nicu nurses all pregnant at the same time.

>> at first it was disbelief. started getting into the 20s and i was like oh, then it was 36 and i was like that is amazing. >> three dozen mothers bringing babies into the world just as the pandemic struck and three sr through it. >> here you go. >> reporter: they made it fun. >> it was a pretty easy decision to start making a social media group. >> there is a name that rash post. our kids' rashes and ask for -- does anybody know what this might be? >> reporter: they relied on community. >> all the babies were born in 2019 then the world shuts down in 2020. >> he was born in august so he was about 7 months old when kansas city shut down so it was a time where i was finally feeling confident going out and doing things with two kids because he's my second and then the world shut down. >> reporter: we threw a reunion at the hospital. >> whoo. >> reporter: with about half of the 36 moms. now part of a sisterhood. >> all: "rise & shine," missouri. >> reporter: like any toddler

it's their job to play and get excited. enough time has passed since this round of babies was born that ones like enzo are turning into big siblings, right? how is your little brother doing? >> good. >> reporter: one of the last of the 36. >> there were just three or four behind her. >> what was it like seeing all the kids together at the playground? >> it's nice to kind of see everybody at once instead of just one or two at a time. >> did you have fun playing with your friends at the park? >> yeah. >> reporter: what is that support system like? >> just having people to be like, i know you're tired because you have a baby at home and a toddler. it's been nice. >> reporter: sounds like you are in the middle of another wave of pregnancies. >> yes, yes, we are. are you going to have a sister? >> could it be another boom? >> i heard people around the nicu joke stay away from the water unless you want to get pregnant. >> still a running joke. it's kind of funny.

it's just one of those things, a lot of people bring their own water and have that running joke, if you drink the water, just be careful. >> guys, how cute are those kids? i got to say on top of hanging out with toddlers exploring all the state has to offer and eating my way through my favorite part had to have been the people. some of the nicest most hospitable you'll ever meet. if you haven't made the trip to missouri, i definitely recommend it. >> you did sell that. so great to revisit that story. >> love it. >> we'll be right back. ♪ bring me a higher love ♪ ♪ oh, oh ♪ ♪ bring me a higher love ♪ ♪ ♪

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♪ we we want to say thank you so much to our "rise & shine" crew right there in missouri. >> it's a bittersweet morning. we're saying good-bye to a longtime member of the abc and "gma" family, reggie drakeford. last day here at "gma" after 46 years behind the camera here. >> thanks, george. appreciate it. thank you. >> what a story you have. you met your wife at "gma." married for 36 years, two sons. >> two sons. >> he gave the most lovely speech to our crew. >> thank you so much. i appreciate it. >> we're so happy for you, reggie. >> you come back and visit us any time you like. >> i'll think about that. >> all right. >> doesn't want to get up early anymore. >> reggie, we're so proud and so happy to have you here. >> thank you so much. >> we're going to miss you.

>> thank you. >> thank you.

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>> building a better bay area, moving forward, this is abc7news. kumasi: good morning everyone, your is a look at traffic. jobina: i thought i would update you on 680 and walnut creek. southbound traffic md, moving well at the limit. the bay bridge toll president -- plaza, sinking here. kumasi: that is good news. a lot of sunshine and a warm up on the way. still upper 40's, downtown 53 in san jose, 54 in oakland. the haze will scatter, it will initiate a sea breeze later today with temperatures in the low 60's downtown. mid 70's inland. kumasi: thank you. now it is time for "live with

kelly and ryan." we will be back at 11:00 with midday live. midday live. have a git live with kelly and ryan. today, from the new series moon knight, ethan hawke. plus, tips for better gut health as we continue our new you in '22 series. also, viewer's comments, thoughts and questions when the co-hosts open up the inbox. all next on live. and now, here are kelly ripa and ryan seacrest. ♪ you ain't seen nothing like this before ♪ ♪ like this before, like this ♪ hey, guys. good morning. ♪ like never before, like never before ♪ ♪ you ain't seen nothing like me before ♪ yes. come on in. thank you. i smell your coffee. it smells good. oh, yes. the aroma of your coffee. -good morning, deja. -good morning. happy friday, april 1st. oh. no. it's boo. boo, boo, boo. is it april fool's day?