making news in america this morning -- >> arnold's admission. new details overnight about the love child the actor and former california governor now admits he fathered. gingrich glittered. a tough start to the campaign for the newly-announced presidential candidate. and in chicago, it was oprah's big night. the queen of daytime talk had all of her a-list friends along for an unforgettable good-bye. good morning, everybody. thanks for being with us today. we begin, now, with new details following arnold schwarzenegger's admission that he fathered a child outside of his marriage. reports now say the child is a boy. in fact, a teenager, about age

14. >> and also, reports now that the boy's mother and schwarzenegger's wife, maria shriver, were actually pregnant at the same time. john hendren joins us this morning from washington with more as these details emerge. pretty tough, john. >> reporter: indeed. good morning, rob and peggy. being a public figure often means enduring private humiliations in public. as schwarzenegger is discovering, when you're an action hero and a politician, that's doubly true. now, it's the schwarzenegger's family's turn. what they're saying speaks volumes. this is a painful and heartbreaking time, maria shriver said in a statement. as a mother, my concern is for the children. i ask for compassion, respect and privacy as my children and i try to rebuild our lives and heal. she was with oprah winfrey last night, saying you have shown love and support and the truth. katherine schwarzenegger tweeted this, is definitely not easy. her 17-year-old brother,

patrick, said, some days you feel like you want to quit and be normal for a bit. the signature said it all. he changed his twitter name to patrick shriver. at home, arnold's decade-old secret unraveled. >> arnold was not able to do damage control anymore. >> reporter: but in hollywood, where schwarzenegger hopes to return, his star is unlikely to wane among fans of action films. >> he's a man for telling her. but he's a jerk for doing it. >> reporter: just days ago, after revealing the couple had split up, schwarzenegger seemed to old hold out hope. >> we love each other very much. we're taking one day at a time. >> reporter: a day after it was revealed that he fathered a child with a worker, and that he remained silent for a decade after, schwarzenegger was silent. >> a poem by mary oliver says, "one day, you knew what you had

to do and began." it sounds like she's taking that advice. >> john hendren from washington this morning. thanks, john. we turn to another high-profile personality under some extra scrutiny this morning. dominique strauss-kahn is on suicide watch at a new york jail. and they may argue that the sex was actually consensual. her attorney scoffs at that idea. >> there is no way any aspect of this event which can be construed consensual in any manner. this is nothing other than a physical, sexual assault by this man on this young woman. >> the attorney adds that the woman's life has been turned upside-down. and she has no idea what her future will hold. but her brother says he's confident that american justice will prevail. the coast guard has now reopened part of the mississippi river, after closing it off to

traffic to ease pressure on the levee system. now, cargo ships must go through the 15-mile stretch north of new orleans, one at a time, at the slowest possible speed. if the closure continued, it could have cost the economy hundreds of millions of dollars every day. meanwhile homes in some low-lying areas are nearly up to their rooftops in water. it's only wednesday. and republican presidential hopeful newt gingrich is up to his ears in unwanted publicity. the latest incident involves a gay rights protesters who dumped a box of glitter confetti over gingrich and his wife yesterday at a book signing. gingrich apologized to congressman paul ryan for slamming his plan to overhaul medicare, a criticism that angered many conservatives. and gingrich is stinging from a revolution that he owed and may still owe up to $500,000 to the tiffany jewelry company. congresswoman gabby giffords is set for surgery today to replace a piece of her skull.

after giffords was shot in january, doctors removed part of her skull to allow room for her brain to swell. once she recovers from this procedure, they say that giffords will not have to worry about wearing a protective helmet. and word of giffords' surgery comes as her husband docks with "endeavour" on the international space station for the last time. commander mark kelly and crew wrapped up the postlaunch. they said the initial results looked very good. and back in florida, "atlantis" is lining up for its final flight. photos were captured as it was moved from the hangar to an enormous building to be prepared for liftoff. that mission is expected to take place some time in july. unpresidented security measures are in place for queen elizabeth's historic visit to ireland. police arrested a handful of protesters. but overall, well-wishers are

celebrating the relationship. >> reporter: queen elizabeth stopped on to irish soil wearing green. emerald green. the first visit by a british monarch here since ireland won its independence from britain in 1922. there was no bowing. underscoring she is not their queen. but the majority of irish happy she finally made the historic hour-long trip. >> long overdue. >> i agree. >> we need to move on. >> reporter: the queen received here with full honors. "god save the queen" playing -- ♪ irish soldiers standing at attention. a pipe bomb was found and diffused on a dublin-bound bus. and there were three bomb threats that turned out to be hoaxes. still, security was everywhere. elizabeth ii laid a wreath in the garden of remembrance, the memorial to the irish killed by british soldiers during the war for independence. the queen will visit croke park stadium, where, in 1920, british

troops fired into a crowd. that incident, part of the inspiration for u2's song "sunday bloody sunday." ♪ sunday bloody sunday >> reporter: this visit marking a very different and happier time in a long and painful history. miguel marquez, abc news, dublin. all right. and now, taking a look at this morning's weather from around the nation. ore showers, t flooding along the east coast, from north carolina to maine. light rain into pittsburgh, cleveland and cincinnati. lay-day showers from oklahoma city to billings. and up to two feet of snow in the rockies and sierra nevada. showers from san diego to san francisco. >> meanwhile, upper 60s from sacramento to seattle. and near 80 in phoenix. 71 in the twin cities. 69 in kansas city. and 79 in dallas. miami heats up to 85. and new orleans 80. it's 70 here in new york. and 61 in beantown. coming up, a mid life crisis so to speak for one of the icons

of advertising. what is up next for ronald mcdonald? that's part of your business news ahead. and on top of that, an extremely frightening situation for a youngster in denver. a dramatic hit-and-run. and it was all caught on tape.

overseas markets this morning are shrugging off weak economic figures from the u.s. tokyo's nikkei average is up 1% today. hong kong's hang seng is also positive. in london, the ftse opened higher, as well. and on wall street, the dow lost 0.5% yesterday. the nasdaq index was virtually

unchanged. well, ronald mcdonald is having a mid-life crisis. health professionals are now calling for the burger chain's spokesclown's retirement. full-page ads in newspapers today say marketing fast food to children is bad nutrition. and they say commercials for mcdonald's don't seem to be effective anymore anyway, they say. a new survey finds that barely more than half of those who graduated in the past four years have full-time jobs. and among those working, the median salary is just $30,000 a year. high gas prices are impacting the economic recovery. economists say that the $4 a gallon average is not derailing the recovery. but it is changing the way that we live. more people are now taking mass transit. and retailers are saying they're seeing weaker sales as customers make fewer trips to the store. and spirit airlines isn't wasting any time. it already has an ad on its

website actually making fun of the schwarzenegger/shriver breakup. it shows a sexy maid the way the terminator might see her. and it ends with a suggestion to take the whole family, including, quote, the half-brother you just met. see how that ad goes over. >> not so well. a little too new maybe for that sort of thing. when we come back, the latest contestant ousted from "dancing with the stars." but first, it seemed like oscar night out in chicago. oprah winfrey and her star-studded good-bye in front of an audience of thousands. we'll have details on that and more when we come right back. ♪ [ female announcer ] when is it okay to lose the cover-up? ♪ when you can. take the special k challenge... and lose an inch from your waist in two weeks. so lose your cover-up, and show off your confidence.

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wet on i-87 from new york to the border. and on i-90, from boston to cleveland. rain-slick on i-5, from sacramento to san diego. and snowy on parts of i-80, from reno to salt lake city. >> and taking a look at some of the flying conditions. airport delays are possible in boston, new york, philadelphia, d.c., denver, san francisco and los angeles. well, after 25 years on the air, oprah winfrey is bidding farewell with a little help from some very high-profile friends. >> the queen of talk wrapped up her long run with a two-part taping at a chicago sports arena. it was packed with 13,000 fans. diana alvear witnessed the frenzy and joins us now. good morning, diana. >> reporter: rob and peggy, let's just say when you're oprah winfrey, you have friends in very high, high places. friends like michael jordan. stevie wonder. tom hanks and madonna? yes, all of them plus loads of others were here at the united

center to say farewell to the leaving miss oprah. >> please welcome, oprah. >> reporter: within the first five minutes, oprah's spectacular delivered on the spectacular. superstar tom hanks kicked off the party. >> you're oprah winfrey. >> you're tom hanks. >> reporter: minutes later, mr. "mission impossible" himself showed up. >> how about this? huh? >> reporter: it was a sendoff fit for the queen of daytime television. the iconic host ruled the small screen for 25 years. september 8th, 1986, america met oprah winfrey. 25 years later, we're saying good-bye. >> these years with you, our viewers, have enriched my life beyond all measure. >> reporter: she packed plenty of must-see moments into those years. who could forget tom cruise jumping for joy on her couch? or the chaos that followed after she made this announcement? >> you get a car. you get a car.

>> reporter: you never knew what might happen. especially now, on the star-studded taping of the finale to one of america's iconic shows. but the fans will tell you the biggest and best asset is oprah herself. >> she is one of us. she is our ultimate girlfriend. >> reporter: we know oprah doesn't like surprises, right? well, her executive producer sat her down and said, look. just enjoy the ride. this is all about love for you. i can tell you tonight, you can see that she was moved by everything. and, yes, oprah did cry. i did, too. rob and peggy? >> that last show will air next wednesday. all right. switching gears now. police in denver are searching for the heartless driver that hit a fourth grader and kept on going. a neighbor's surveillance camera caught the horrible scene as 10-year-old eric aguilar was ran into the streets, being chased by friends. and that's when he was hit. he was tossed several feet in the air. luckry, eric is okay. police are trying to track down that driver. i can't believe he just kept going. unbelievable. >> it's really tough to look at

that video. but may help to solve the mystery of who was behind the wheel. >> let's just hope. now, switching gears a little bit. looking at last night's sports highlights, we get the latest from espn news. >> good morning. i'm don bell with your espn news update. we start with the western conference finals. this is game one from big "d." the mavericks hosting the oklahoma city thunder. second quarter we go. dirk nowitzki, fouled on the play. he had 21 points in the first half. third quarter we go. nowitzki, the bank turnaround is good. mavericks up by 11. next mavs possession, nowitzki again, pump-fake. the entire arsenal was on display. 17 points for him in the third quarter. in the fourth now, j.j. barrera, off the screen. he makes it happen. he finished with 21. mavs up 102-87. under four minutes remaining, thunder trying to come back. kevin durant with the turnaround. he had 40. thunder down by five. late in the fourth quarter now, nowitzki, isolation play all day.

48 points for him. and under 35 seconds remaining. they find jason terry in the corner. mavericks win game one, 121-112. to the ice we go. the bruins looking to even up the eastern conference finals at 1-1 games. they take on the lightning. early, tyler seguin, beats two defenders and beats dwayne roloson. second goal of the playoffs for him. we're tied at 2-2. later off in the second period, beans up by one. nathan horton leads the two-on-one. and seguin makes it happen again. so, the bruins up 4-2. under four minutes to play in the third. great play in net by tim thomas, denying everyone who wanted to come in. bruins win 6-5. and the series is now tied at 1-1. that is your espn news update. i'm don bell. and for those of you keeping score on "dancing with the stars," only three folks are left now, heading into next week's final. >> no real surprises in last night's elimination. after ralph macchio had the

lowest score in the semifinals. now, he is out. >> that leaves actresses kirstie alley and chelsea kane, along with steelers wide receiver, hines ward. they're all vying for the coveted mirrorball trophy. >> yeah. if you made it this far, you have nothing to be ashamed of. they did really well. >> kirstie is the crowd favorite. see how it plays out. a wisconsin man has scored a mcmilestone. he has consumed his 25,000th big mac. >> makes you kind of sick, doesn't it? john gorske hit his goal 35 years to the day, after he started munching the meat patties. he keeps his cartons and also his receipts to document how many he's eaton. gorske says he will continue eating big macs until the day he dies. >> which should be next week. no. his cholesterol is actually good. >> i know. he's healthy. isn't that crazy? up next, the stories we'll be following later today, including the sale of some of bernie madoff's possessions. and also, some new surroundings for one of the men at the heart of the collapse of enron.

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and we are just getting some remarkable video from inside the japanese nuclear plant that was destroyed in the tsunami back in march. this is the first view of the extensive damage and debris, as well as the first close-up of the reactor. radiation levels are still too high for workers to spend any considerable amount of time in the plant. another step on a long road to recovery for congresswoman gabby giffords today. she's having surgery in which a piece of her skull will be replaced with a plastic implant. once she recovers from today's procedure, doctors say giffords won't have to wear a protective helmet. and former enron finance chief, andrew fastow will have to get used to a new prison. he testified against his former bosses. and more of financier financier bernie madoff's former possessions are being sold today. they are putting up his wine and spirits collection up for

auction. the estimated value is about $15,000. the proceeds going to madoff's victims. for some of you now, local news is next. ♪ [ female announcer ] have you ever seen a glacier while sunbathing? why not? have you ever climbed a rock wall in the middle of the ocean? or tried something really wild? why not? it's all possible in the nation of why not.

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zbloolt next, get ready for the race. the tour of california makes the only bay area stop today and what is expected for the giants go back to l.a. after the brutal beating of a giants' fan. what they will get when they walk in the gated tonight. >> looks like isolated showers possible today. more of us will see warmer weather through friday. and finally, it looks like beauty is not the only thing in the eye of the beholder. >> it turns out, what we see may actually cloud, or shall i say,

color the way we taste our food every day. dan harris put that theory to the test. >> reporter: walk down any supermarket aisle and you'll find most foods on the shelf contain some sort of artificial coloring. chee-tos, froot loops and cookies. it's not just junk food. orange peels, salmon, and even strawberries are colored to make them more appealing to customers. this is a food chemist that studies the effect color has on our taste buds. >> we eat with our eyes before we ever smell or taste. >> reporter: we decided to put our power of color to the test. we made lemon-flavored jell-o. we added red to one batch, yellow to another, and left a third one colorless. they have the same flavor. >> the coloring has no flavor, no aroma, no flavor of any kind.

>> reporter: what did it taste like? >> strawberry. apple. and this tastes like lemon. >> reporter: hands down, all the kids think the red jell-o is sweeter and has a cherry or berry flavor. next, we made white chocolate pudding. one with blue dye, one with yellow and one white. >> tastes like blue raspberry ice cream. >> reporter: kids are one thing. how would adults do with our yellow lemon test? >> strawberry. >> definitely cherry. >> reporter: when we told them they were all the same flavor, many of them didn't believe us. >> we only changed the color. do you believe us? >> no. >> reporter: you don't believe us? >> no. >> that's how powerful it is. you think it's a different flavor. that's what's making