good morning, america. eyes on the sky. u.s. military leaders tracking that chinese spy balloon. where it's headed now as tensions rise between the u.s. and china. a high-stakes meeting postponed. >> a clear violation of u.s. sovereignty and international law. >> and why shooting it down may still be on the table. life-threatening cold. 25 million americans facing bitter below zero windchills. a record broken for the coldest one ever recorded in the u.s. the gusty winds turning deadly knocking out power, plus the threats of travel disruptions. how long will it last? american killed in ukraine. a volunteer medic losing his life as a new round of weapons heads to kyiv.

the new capabilities on the battlefield. monkey snatching arrest. the man facing charges after two monkeys missing from the dallas zoo were finally found. the tip that led police to the animals. could their suspect be connected to other cases? critical ruling. a judge set to decide whether or not the jury can hear testimony about alex murdaugh alleged financial crimes at his murder trial. deadly brawl. the new details on that fight at a high school basketball game that led to the death of a grandfather. unemployment shocker. the stunning numbers many analysts never saw coming. what it could mean for your bottom line. and the recent dip in mortgage rates. is now the time to buy? >> let's meet your nhl all-stars.

and hockey hot shots. the nhl all-star weekend heating up. new outdoor events creating a splash. the skilled show-offs on the ice and the 4-year-old who stole the spotlight. is that between the legs? >> yes. >> gordon bombay. >> gordon bombay. >> "the mighty ducks." >> yeah. good morning, america. millions of americans facing record cold windchills with the potential to be in a once in a generation cold according to the national weather service as a dangerous deep freeze sets in across the northeast. take a look at the top of mount washington in new hampshire where they recorded a windchill of minus 108 degrees. guys, that's cold. the coldest windchill ever recorded in the united states. >> really unbelievable and just bitter cold. we'll have more on that coming up. but first the latest on that suspected chinese spy balloon making its way across the country. the incident leading the secretary of state to postpone his high-stakes trip to china.

>> and now the pentagon is in discussions over potential plans to shoot it down with only a small window to pull it off. abc's white house correspondent maryalice parks is on the north lawn with the details. maryalice, good morning. >> reporter: whit, good morning. u.s. officials insist this balloon does not pose any threat but, of course, they are tracking it closely as it continues to move across the country. this morning, that chinese balloon on the move. u.s. military leaders saying it's moved well past montana, sailing over midwest states headed towards north carolina. despite china's claims it's a civilian aircraft blown off course, u.s. officials adamant it's not. >> the fact is, we know that it's a surveillance balloon. >> reporter: secretary of state antony blinken postponing his trip to china planned for next week saying, now is not the time to meet. >> i made clear that the presence of a surveillance balloon in u.s. airspace is a clear violation of u.s. sovereignty and international

law, that it's an irresponsible act. >> reporter: overnight the chinese foreign ministry responding saying we respect that. the balloon sailing at about 60,000 feet above commercial aircraft, but pilots spotting it as it traveled. >> we got that balloon in sight also. it looks like it's way up there, maybe 50,000 feet or so. >> reporter: pentagon officials confirming the balloon has a large bay of technology attached underneath roughly the size of three buses and they say the balloon is maneuverable. officials also spotting a second chinese surveillance balloon over south america. u.s. officials say they are talking to china about this and insisting that for now the balloon poses no threat. >> military commanders have assessed that there is no physical or military threat to people on the ground. >> reporter: the white house saying they acted quickly to conceal anything that might be sensitive, and they're not ruling out bringing it down saying all options are on the table. but on capitol hill, republicans calling for more action right now. >> i think we had plenty of options to shoot it down or even

better, find a way to reduce its altitude and capture it so we can get a look at the instrumention. >> reporter: this is not the first time they tracked balloon activity. last year they tracked two near guam and hawaii. >> both countries have an interest in avoiding escalation. >> reporter: now, the pentagon and white house said they were worried about shooting it down because of the debris of something so large, but now we've learned there could be a new plan about bringing it down on the table. one source telling us they're thinking about waiting until it gets out over sea to bring it down, but, of course, that could be hard because they don't want to have some international incident if this is over international waters. eva. >> maryalice parks for us, thank you. let's bring in abc news contributor, colonel steve ganyard, a former defense and state department official. good morning to you. so we know several lawmakers have been calling for the u.s. to shoot this down. why haven't they done this yet? >> well, shooting it down is

easier said than done. if you use a missile, that will spray hot metal over a large area, 60,000 feet, so it does have a danger, and because where it is now over heavily populated areas in the u.s., that makes it a safety issue, but remember that the pentagon said that they detected it out over the aleutians way to the west and it went up over alaska. those are not heavily populated areas, so days ago it was a political decision not to shoot it down. now it's a safety issue. >> okay, so what is this path that it's on? what could it be looking at? >> if you look at where it started in china, it actually went up and went the whole length of japan then up over the aleutians, it went across alaska, went by a sensitive air force base we have up there, came back down, went into montana, we have icbms are based look at.na it may have wanted t- came down in missouri. we keep b-2s at whiteman air force base there. is it taking pictures, doing signals intelligence where it's intercepting communications?

the thing that's perplexing, the chinese have the ability to do these things from space where they wouldn't be violating u.s. sovereignty, so why they're doing it now creating a political and diplomatic kerfuffle right before secretary blinken meets with president xi. >> we heard maryalice mention shooting it down over the water, how hard is that? >> right now as it moves off -- the thinking is it will move off the north carolina coast, so u.s. sovereign airspace and maritime sea space, 12 nautical miles, so it's got to go offshore, and then they have a window of 12 nautical miles to make it come down in u.s. waters because if it goes into international waters, the u.s. loses we're going to shoot this down, so in that 12 miles they've got to bring it down and bring it down in u.s. waters, and you can be bet there will be ships down there waiting to pick up that payload to take a look what's inside. is it what the chinese claim, a meteorological balloon or the u.s. claims a spy balloon? >> not a simple task. >> colonel ganyard, thank you so

much for being with us. janai. >> fascinating conversation. now to that record-breaking arctic blast bringing life-threatening cold to the northeast this morning. abc's victor oquendo is in boston where a cold emergency is in place. victor, good morning to you. it looks cold out there. >> reporter: i am cold. good morning, janai. the worst of the weather is here. it is brutally cold outside, and this wind is only making things worse. take a look behind me. that is ice fog coming off boston harbor. this is a pretty rare sight, and the wind is just whipping it imin but it's ender ounorth. overnight windchills approaching 60 below in spots like new hampshire, vermont and maine where there's a blizzard warning with whiteout conditions. this arctic blast tragically turning deadly. outside springfield, massachusetts, as winds gusted above 50 miles per hour, a tree crashed onto a car killing a 6-month-old girl inside. the woman who was driving was rushed to the hospital. those powerful wind gusts helped

also knock out power to some 28,000 customers throughout the northeast. that means that there are a lot of homes likely without heat in these frigid conditions. massachusetts bay transportation authority warning extreme drops in temperature can take a toll on infrastructure, so they're monitoring the situation closely. so we are still under a cold emergency here in boston. hypothermia and frostbite are very real dangers, so if you have to head out, make sure you're wearing the right clothing. layer up, and for those who have pets, dogs, have to walk them, keep in mind if you're uncomfortable your, dog probably is too, so think of ways to protect your pup. one last thing, good thing, this cold isn't expected to last for too long, a warm-up is on the way. that's expected by tomorrow. it can't come soon enough. guys. >> victor, we believe that your brain is probably freezing out there. thank you so much. you and your crew stay safe. get warm, victor, my goodness. now let's bring in danielle oa station, wkrn,

for more on this brutal cold and the relief in sight. cold there too, danielle, but not quite as bad. >> reporter: it is brutally cold. even in nashville we're in the 20s but not as cold as boston. i want to show you this. we have got dangerous windchills out there. we have 11 states now under windchill alerts this morning. by the way, boston set a new record low temperature of 10 below zero. that is the coldest temperature since 1957. and, by the way, it feels more like 35 below zero with the wind. you can actually get frostbite in five minutes because of that. and on mount washington, they recorded 108 below zero windchill reading, the coldest ever recorded in the united states. wow. okay, here's the thing, as we head through the day today, we are going to see those windchills improve a little bit. it'll feel like 1 in boston by the afternoon. 7 below zero in concord. as we head into really sunday morning, it's still going to be pretty cold but not as cold as it's been and by afternoon we get warmer and big-time warm-up is coming as we head into next week. back to you.

>> nobody is more excited than victor oquendo, that's for sure. we'll do a welfare check surprise jobs rt.he show. employers adding more than 500,000 jobs in january sending the unemployment rate to a level not seen in more than half a century. abc's em nguyen joins us with more on what this means for the broader economy now. em, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, whit. yeah, these numbers caught analysts and recession watchers by surprise. the u.s. economy added more than double the number of jobs that wall street expected, squashing recession fears for now in spite of an aggressive series of federal reserve interest rate hikes. earlier this week the fed raised its benchmark interest rate an eighth time since last march by a quarter percentage point to around 4.5%. it's all in an attempt to cool the economy and curb inflation which hit a 40-year high last year but has slowed since then. meanwhile, the unemployment rate dipped to 3.4%, the nation's lowest level since 1969.

at the same time, the nation's credit card debt hit a record high in the fourth quarter of last year, a staggering $930 billion according to the credit rating agency transunion meaning more americans are still spending more money, a likely contributor to that strong january jobs report. fed chairman jerome powell says he believes for the first time that the disinflationary process has started noting, though, it would be, quote, premature to declare victory. now, meantime, president biden is celebrating that striking jobs report. this coming out just a few days ahead of that state of the union address tuesday, whit. >> and, em, so how do these january job numbers impact what the fed might do this year when it comes to interest rates? >> reporter: yeah, whit, because these numbers show a robust and rapid job growth, the fed is a lot more likely to keep a close eye on future job reports. as for economists, they do worry this all just means that the fed is a lot less likely to cut back on rates any time soon, whit. >> something to watch closely, em, thank you. still ahead, a closer look

at those mortgage rates and what it means if you are in the market for a new home. eva. all right, well, now to the war in ukraine, the biden administration announcing another $2 billion in aid to kyiv. this round includes precision-guided rockets and artillery ammunition. abc's tom soufi burridge is on the ground in ukraine with the latest on the fighting and the death of an american aid worker. good morning, tom. >> reporter: yeah, really sad news this morning, eva, about the death of pete reid, an american volunteer, who was helping ukrainian civilians when his ambulance was hit by shelling in the city of bakhmut in eastern ukraine. his family saying he died doing what he was great at, saving lives in conflicts abroad, and this morning, another major development in u.s. weapon supplies to ukraine. the biden administration now providing longer-range missiles for those american himars rocket launchers. the new missiles will double the range meaning the ukrainians will be able to hit targets way deeper behind the russian lines, president zelenskyy saying

longer-range missiles are needed to halt the russian offensive in eastern ukraine. zelenskyy vowing his troops are not about to withdraw from the brutal battle in bakhmut calling the besieged city a ukrainian fortress. the u.s. also providing ukraine with more machine guns for shooting down lethal drones. we went out with one of ukraine's new mobile air defense units. when the air alert goes off here, they have minutes to react to try ando hunt a russian launched drone and shoot it down. janai. >> all right, tom, thank you for that update. back here at home now to new developments in the police beating of tyre nichols. a sixth memphis officer has now been fired following nichols' death in a hospital three days after his arrest. abc's elwyn lopez joins us now, and, elwyn, this is the white officer that tyre nichols' stepfather told us the family believed should have been charged. >> reporter: yeah, janai. that's right. good morning. tyre nichols' family tells me they want everyone in those videos to be held accountable for their actions. preston hemphill is one of the

first officers seen confronting the 29-year-old. memphis police stating that that officer violated several department policies including truthfulness and the rules on handling a stun gun. i want you to take a look at this video. he is the white officer seen using that stun gun during the first police interaction with nichols. and after nichols runs off, he is heard saying, he hopes they stomp him. five other officers all black were fired and now face second-degree murder charges. so far hemphill has not been charged. now, this comes just a day after president biden and his vp met with members of the congressional black caucus to talk about renewed calls for police reform. a new abc news/"washington post" poll shows that 34% of americans say they are not confident at all that police are adequately trained to avoid using excessive force. 38% say they are not confident that police treat everyone equally.

now, hemphill's attorney calling the firing of his client, quote, regrettable but says that they continue to cooperate with authorities. whit. >> all right, elwyn, thank you. now to the case of the monkeys that disappeared from the dallas zoo and were later found in a church closet. police have arrested a suspect and are reportedly investigating if he was possibly involved in other incidents. abc's zohreen shah has the latest for us. zohreen, good morning. >> reporter: hey, good morning, whit. so police arrested a man in connection with those missing monkeys, and now the big question is if the same person is also responsible for what happened to other animals at the dallas zoo. this morning, a texas man behind bars after two emperor and tamarin monkeys were found. they were missing from the dallas zoo. 24-year-old davion irvin taken into custody in another area charged with burglary and six counts of animal cruelty. officials got a big break in the case following a tip that the monkeys may be in an empty church.

the pastor's daughter telling our affiliate wfaa, when she walked back into the church, they found the monkeys inside a nearly freezing closet. >> they're in a medical quarantine to make sure they settle back in that they regain some weight and that the stress of their theft and removal from known habitat doesn't have longer lasting effects on them. >> reporter: wfaa is also reporting police are looking into the possibility that irvin is connected to a clouded leopard that was missing but later found from the same dallas zoo after his cage was cut. a dead vulture was also found but appeared to be stabbed in its enclosure around the same time. >> our investigation has determined that he is tied to those other cases. the vulture case is still under investigation. there's still more possible charges. >> we're determined to make sure that we do everything we can to not let this happen again. >> reporter: so here's the thing, we don't know why these animals were taken, but many exotic animals are stolen and traded. homeland security says the black market business generates around

$10 billion every single year. >> and, zohreen, we've seen a couple stories related to this. these monkeys aren't the only zoo residents to go missing this week. one went missing from the central park zoo. >> reporter: that's right. so animal rescuers are trying to capture an owl named flocco. the zoo said vandals cut the cage inside the central park zoo two days ago, and now the big worry after a decade of being in the zoo, he might not actually know how to catch his own prey, guys. >> crazy story. zohreen, thank you so much. well, as part of our road to the super bowl, philadelphia eagles center jason kelce shares a few thoughts about the big game. jason kelce will make history by playing against his little brother, kansas city chiefs tight end travis kelce. the older kelce telling the media, he thinks mom and dad will be the most nervous during the game, but he is most nervous for mom's coin toss, something he says he's never seen her do. >> okay. does the little brother get any bigger than travis kelce, by the

way? that's a big little brother. >> that's not a little brother. [ laughter ] time now for a check of the weather and someone i know who will be cheering for those philadelphia eagles, danielle breezy. >> reporter: yeah, i've got my green eagles jacket on and take those tissue boxes, whit. all right, let's talk about the weather, though. we got to get to it. what's going on in rochester, new york. it looks like siberia. this is blowing snow and it's cold there. but the good news is for the northeast we are going to see a warm-up happen. monday we're looking at temperatures in the upper 40s and low 50s in philly so it's going to be nice and warm by early next week. we have to talk about the sierra. video from uc berkeley's snow lab. it's the most they've ever had on record. as we head through the weekend into monday some of that area could see anywhere from two to four feet of additional snow, so, yes, for all the skiers, they can rejoice and enjoy it, it will be snowing there.

frances: good saturday morning. for all of the lunar festivities, grab a jacket and umbrella because a level 1 storm is arriving this afternoon. rain could be heavy at times. there will be gusty winds, and even a chance of thunder. today's highs will be in the 50's and 60's. and rain will turn into showers tomorrow. dry monday through friday. by the way, i know new york is really cold this morning but get ready, guys. you get to thaw out as we head into tomorrow and really next week. >> janai asked if there's a picture of me crying in my 49ers outfit. >> i did. >> because he showed us what he laid out to wear. >> i laid it all out. i was ready to go. all right. thank you, and congratulations to the eagles. all right, we do move to the nhl now, and all-star weekend off to a great start overnight with the skills competition in florida, the league's hardest shooters, fastest skaters and

most accurate shots all competing against each other. plus, some events tailored to florida's geography and climate. overnight, some of the biggest names in hockey hitting the ice for the nhl skills challenge. >> let's meet your nhl all-stars. >> reporter: the stars putting their technique on display. who said the new york islanders are boring? >> reporter: and this year, while some took to the ice, others battled it out under the florida sun in two new outdoor events. teams facing off in a splash shot knocking down targets to sink the competition. >> does he get -- oh! >> reporter: and in the new pitch 'n puck event, hockey meets golf as players try to get the lowest score on a single hole. inside the florida panthers arena, the more traditional events, nhl's leading goal scorer and oilers star connor mcdavid going 8 for 8 in the accuracy shooting event nailing the first four in an electrifying 9.497 seconds, less than a second over the world record. while carolina's andrei svechnikov whizzed his way to

victory winning the fastest skater event with a dynamic 13.69-second lap and longtime rivals sidney crosby and alex ovechkin joined forces for the breakaway challenge, but it was ovechkin's 4-year-old son who stole the otghorgl alon his, rot kid is going to be ty gd, rt can see the nhl al astbc apl. p, witai alex murdaugh's alleged financial crimes on the stand in his murder trial. will the jury get to hear that testimony? because i won't let uc stop me...from being me. zeposia can help people with uc achieve and maintain remission. and has been shown to reduce symptoms in as early as 2 weeks. zeposia is the first and only s1p receptor modulator approved for uc. don't take zeposia if you had a heart attack,

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multiple charges, including disturbing religious assembly video shows, the man walked into the schneerson jewish center wednesday and started shooting. officers found casings on scene , which are being investigated as possible blanks. no one was injured. to whether now at a level one storm in route to the bay area, meteorologist francis deng lawson is tracking the latest. good morning. morning stephanie. morning, everyone we're dealing with some fog, very thick fog, especially across the bay bridge right now , and showers arrived this afternoon. it will be heavier times this evening temperatures topping out in the low sixties and mid sixties. stephanie francis, thank you and thank you all for joining the other day a hornets nest fell on my head. it's not ideal, but we'll manage. just like i manage without home internet.

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♪ welcome back to "gma" on this smorning and coming up, we'll have a preview of music's biggest night and how queen bey is set to make grammy history as well as what to binge before the awards are handed out. >> didn't you get a t-shirt from the album, right? like a special fan package? >> i wear that t-shirt at home. yes, i do. >> your special box. >> yes. let's take a look at some of the other big stories we're following on this saturday morning. happening right now, a train derailment in eastern ohio causing a massive fire. evacuations in the town of east palestine friday night. the environmental protection

agency has been called in to evaluate the air quality. no injuries have been reported. some 2,000 people were told to leave their homes as a precaution. also right now, some good news for chocolate lovers. the fda announcing it is now okay for companies to claim that cocoa powder reduces the risk of heart disease. the agency saying data shows that cocoa powder that contains at least 4% of cocoa flavanols could, in fact, help reduce heart troubles. >> you did a fantastic job, whit. >> thank you. and the nfl says player concussions during the regular season increased by 18% last year. the league says 149 concussion were suffered over 271 games. that's almost two per game. the chief medical officer says one of the factors for the increase is the broadened definition of concussion following the injuries sustained by miami dolphins quarterback tua tagovailoa. we start this half hour with

the legal wrangling in the murder trial of disgraced attorney alex murdaugh. both sides arguing over if the jury should hear about murdaugh's alleged financial crimes. this morning, all eyes on judge newman as attorneys await a critical ruling on whether or not the jury will be allowed to hear testimony about alex murdaugh's alleged financial crimes in the murder trial for his wife and son, this testimony at the heart of the prosecution's motive theory, the state painting murdaugh as a desperate man deep in debt who is about to get caught saying he committed the murders as a way to buy sympathy and time. >> the prosecution's case gets a lot weaker if they're not able to show his financial motivation. a lot of their evidence is circumstantial as opposed to direct evidence. they still don't have a murder weapon. they can't necessarily place him at the scene of the crime at the moment. >> reporter: the judge hearing testimony about his alleged financial crimes without the jury present on friday. one bank executive testifying murdaugh was borrowing big sums

of money to hide that he had been stealing from his clients and law firm. >> did his account run to negative $347,000? >> yes, sir. >> and the bank kept paying? >> yes, sir. >> perhaps the most generous overdraft policy ever seen. >> reporter: and the judge hearing what the prosecutors argue is a stunning betrayal. murdaugh's own longtime housekeeper, gloria satterfield, died after an accidental fall at the family's home in 2018. murdaugh at the time telling her sons to sue him for the insurance money. >> did you trust mr. murdaugh? >> yes. >> reporter: murdaugh giving the sons about $100,000 each. they had no idea he got more than 4 million from his insurance company. >> had he ever told you that there was an umbrella policy for $5 million? >> no. >> did you give him permission to steal your money? >> no. >> reporter: murdaugh's wife maggie and son paul were shot dead at their south carolina home in june of 2021. murdaugh has always maintained his innocence in the murders,

but he also faces nearly 100 charges for alleged financial misdeeds. the judge now weighing carefully how that could impact the murder trial if presented to the jury. >> jurors will tend to think if you did one bad thing in the past, you're probably more likely than not guilty of this new crime. that's why the evidence cannot be let in without making a determination that it is relevant to the case at hand. >> a ballistics expert was on the stand friday. the defense team getting him to admit the state doesn't have the murder weapons saying his tests were inconclusive, but he did testify that old shell casings on the family's property matched the markings of the ones found near maggie's body suggesting one of the missing murder weapons had been fired on that property before. >> wow. twists and turns keep coming in that case, eva, thank you. turning now to a wild brawl at a middle school basketball game caught on camera. a grandfather, police say, was injured in the fight later dying. abc's phil lipof has more on the investigation now. phil, good morning. >> reporter: whit, good morning.

unfortunately, this is not the first time we have seen something as ugly as this, and now investigators are looking at the possible and serious charges. this morning, vermont state officials are investigating the death of a 60-year-old man after this brawl on the court of a ch. >> report of a physical altercation involving multiple individuals. one person with possible bleeding. >> reporter: tuesday night, with just a minute left in the game, the melee broke out. after a disagreement over a call. men, women and at least one child fighting on the court. >> i don't know yet as to who, if any, threw the first punch, but it resulted in a significant melee. >> reporter: grand isle's state attorney said by the time state troopers got to the alburgh community center, the fight was over and most involved had left including russell giroux, grandfather of one of the players. >> yes, we don't know whether he was in the melee to remove somebody, to engage. >> reporter: he says giroux

drove several miles before stopping and calling for emergency help, rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead. alburgh school officials calling the incident tragic while arranging support for its students, staff and family. this just the latest example of escalating violence from spectators at kids' sports events including this incident from august where police say an argument between fans and referees ended in bloodshed. a youth football coach shot and killed during that game in texas. as for this recent fight, the state's attorney says he is waiting for the autopsy report to come back before discussing any charges, but he says people fighting on that court definitely broke vermont law, and they could be prosecuted, guys. >> that video is tough to watch and imagine kids being there, phil. thank you for that update. we are going to change gears now and get a check of the weather with danielle breezy down there in nashville, and it is cold, danielle. >> yes, it is cold everywhere it feels like at least in the

northeast and down here in the south this morning as we begin in the 20s, but i want to show you a really cold spot, mount washington. you may have talked about this earlier, but this is in new hampshire here, and guess what, they had a windchill of 108 below zero, which set the coldest windchill ever recorded in u.s. history. that includes alaska. by the way, the winds are still gusting over 100 miles per hour there. the great lakes. this is lake michigan, near st. joseph, look at how pretty that is. the ice is floating on the water. it's a good reminder, though, of how cold is truly is. the south has been really cold over the last couple of days. the good news is we are going to see a warming trend. nashville tomorrow is going to be around 60 degrees. by tuesday 64 and little rock will be around 67 by tuesday. that's what's happ

and i'n talkinabt the south being cold, but, hey, in miami, florida, yesterday, they set a record high of 88 degrees, so one warm spot is miami, guys, if you want to head there. >> i love our miami correspondent is in boston. >> yes. >> i was going to say, victor does not want to hear that. >> wait a minute. that's not the news he wants. >> thanks, danielle. well, coming up on "good morning america," the shocking call a woman received describing how she may be able to help solve a cold case murder. and then, "gma" monitoring those falling interest rates, so is now a good time to buy a home? ok jake from state farm, i really want that personal price plan... mr. and mrs. alvarez... i save my shrimp tails. i have a whole collection. i keep them in jars under my bed. you don't need to get that personal. the state farm personal price plan helps you create an affordable price just for you. she also plays piano. with my feet!

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explain that she was trying to solve a 1986 cold case murder, and you might be, you know, a key to helping us out. i was kind of just really taken back and silent, and i didn't know what to think. >> reporter: 31-year-old jackie vadurro says san diego detectives contacted her after jackie's cousin uploaded their 23 and me dna results on to a public genealogy research website, ged match. police asked her to upload her own test as well. that's when they confirmed she was a match to the jane doe believed to be a second or third cousin of jackie's on her mother's side. >> they thought that, you know, i could be possibly, you know, her family member because of the same ancestry. she might have been an illegitimate child of one of my grandmother's brothers. >> reporter: while this case has

yet to be solved, genealogy websites have been critical in solving a string of recent cold cases taking down people like the golden state killer and the man who killed college student helene prisinski after evading authorities for decades and just last month a public database helped identify bryan kohberger as the suspect in the killing of those four idaho university students. >> privacy i think is a big concern of many people in reference to these investigative genealogy cases. i think there's going to be more challenges to it as more law enforcement agencies actually use genealogy. it really is in many cases a vital tool to solving the case. >> reporter: well, in a statement to abc news, 23 and me is stressing that they respect people's privacy and that they say that police departments do not have access to people's dna data on their website and as of now, the only way that information has gotten into the hands of investigators is when people personally upload their own results to other public research forums like ged match. janai.

>> interesting information. thank you so much. coming up on "good morning america," the information home buyers need to know about interest rates, how low they may go this year. we love our new home. there's so much space. we have a guestroom now. but, we have aunts. you're slouching again, ted. expired. expired. expired. thanks, aunt bonnie. it's a lot of house. i hope you can keep it clean. at least geico makes bundling our home and car insurance easy. which helps us save a lot of money. oh, teddy. did you get my friend request? oh. i'll have to check. aunt joani's here. for bundling made easy, go to geico.com. hello?! premium collagen that supports healthy hair, skin, nails, bones, and joints. could it help you? only if you have hair, skin, bones and joints. vital proteins: for everybody with a body. getting this? water doesn't

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home buyers finally getting a break. mortgage rates falling to their lowest level in five months. >> there's actually a sweet spot because now there's less competition in the marketplace and with rates dropping, it's given buyers that affordability factor that they weren't getting when they were in the 7% rate. >> reporter: according to freddie mac, the average rate on a 0-year fixed rate mortgage is 6.09%, down from in october but still higher than a year ago when the rate was 3.5%. at the same time, home prices in many regions of the country coming down. >> i'd certainly say this spring is going to be better than last spring, so we expect fewer bidding wars, you know, less examples of homes going well above list price, and so that means the buyer has a bit more negotiating power than they did last year, particularly if they're in the market for a new home. >> reporter: for potential home buyers, that can mean significant savings. for a consumer purchasing a

$400,000 home today with a 20% down payment, the monthly mortgage payment is $293 less than it would have been in october. the steady decline in mortgage rates breathing some life back into the housing market. >> we're definitely seeing an upswing in activity. we're seeing a sense of urgency. you know, we've really seen a big push in terms of buyer activity. >> reporter: experts say mortgage rates could go even lower. >> through the course of 2023, we expect mortgage rates to end the year closer to 5% rather than the 6% where they are today. >> reporter: but experts warn that trying to time the housing market can be tricky. with so much economic uncertainty, they say if today's mortgage rates work with your budget and you find the right home, now may be the best time for you to buy. whit? >> still amazing we're celebrating a 6% interest rate. alexis, thank you. appreciate it. we'll be right back with our "play of the day." the day." we'll be right back with our "play of the day." tional, and can find fun anywhere.

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back back now with our "play of

the day" and a basketball move that turned on a tumble. watch as wade -- >> oh. >> stop, drop and roll. >> oh. >> wow. >> that's like the ninja somersault. >> yeah. >> and the bucket. >> he tumbles. i think he still scores. >> oh, yeah. >> that's really impressive. >> goes to the hoop for the alley-oop. >> does that mean -- >> goes to the hoop for thas a.r i got my terms wrong. >> you used to be a basketball announcer, weren't you? >> i know. >> there's hope for us clumsy people. >> i'll stick to hockey. all right. coming up here on "gma" in our second hour, the pentagon tracking that giant chinese spy balloon across the country. the tricky problem of shooting it down. and our "gma" cover story, the fallout over new netflix rom-com "you people." why it's coming under fire for how jews are portrayed in the movie. and then it's "deals & steals." lots of great finds from black owned small businesses. lots of great finds from black owned small busine >> announcer: monday morning,

look who is starting their day with america's favorite morning show. >> good morning, america. >> announcer: reese witherspoon and ashton kutcher live. and reese knows a little something about morning shows. plus, we're giving away super bowl tickets next week. who will get them? could it be you? watch "gma." >> announcer: thank you for making abc's "this week" america's number one news and politics show on sunday mornings. building a better bay area moving forward finding solutions . this is abc seven news. good morning. i'm stephanie sierra. today. san francisco's chinese new year parade returns for the first time in three years. here's a sneak peek at what some of the famous floats will look like. 2023 is the year of the rabbit, which means you can expect to see many rabbit representations. san francisco

police and city officials say they're stepping up efforts to make sure everyone feels safe. the chinatown community street fair is also happening today. the state of california will no longer required children to be vaccinated against covid 19 to attend school. the decision comes after governor gavin newsom lifted nearly all covid restrictions throughout the state. the vaccine will be removed from required school vaccinations, but state health officials are still advising students to get the shot to prevent the spread of the virus. to whether now francis deng lawson is tracking a level one storm in route to the bay area. good morning. morning, stephanie . morning everyone we're dealing with lots of cloud cover and fog right now ahead of this system. you can see it here with live doppler seven. we already had a few sprinkles this morning and you'll see some of that fog in san francisco. most temperatures in the upper forties to low fifties half moon bay at 55. so it's a level one on our storm impact scale. it arrives this afternoon and continues through tomorrow. rain can be heavy at times, gusty southerly winds, even a slight right chance of

thunder. today's highs will be in the upper fifties to low sixties and the rain will turn to showers through tomorrow. and then after that dry days ahead monday through friday, temperatures will be warming up if you are headed out to the chinese new year parade. grab a jacket. the showers will be off and on in the afternoon and then heavier at night tonight into tomorrow morning, stephanie and those umbrellas to francis. thank you. thank you all for joining us. the news continues right now with good morning america.

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good morning, america. it's our second hour. i spy. the pentagon tracking that chinese balloon. making its way across the country. the state department postponing a high-stakes trip to china. what we know about where the balloon could go next and the calls to shoot it down. the northeast bracing for a record-setting bitter blast. 25 million waking up to subzero windchills, temperatures plummeting to a record 108 below, knocking out power. threatening to derail train travel. how long will the deep freeze last? our weather team is tracking it all. rom-com cringe. the star-studded streamer "you people." >> but you're not getting five stars.