making news this morning, locked up. >> he once had white house aspirations. today, he heads to prison. money and politics. dozens of big-time fund-raisers on the guest list at the white house state dinner as mitt romney gets hammered with questions about his own fortune. sips that gas prices might be peaking. have we seen the worst of it. ed a way above the rim. the incredible shot. making a basket from a hovering helicopter. good morning, i'm t.j. winick in for rob nelson.

>> and i'm paula faris. for camera-loving rod blagojevich, it was quite a sendoff. >> tahman bradley has the details. >> reporter: man who loves the spotlight as much as rod blagojevich would have it no other way. a press conference before he goes to prison today. >> i'm proud as i leave and enter the next part of what is a hard and dark journey that i can take with me a sense of accomplishment. >> reporter: he's been convicted of trying to sell or trade president obama's vacated senate seat. >> saying good-bye to patty and our kids will be the hardest thing i have ever had to do. >> reporter: he maintains what he did was legal and an appeal will succeed.

>> my faith has been challenged. i still believe this is america. a country governed by the rule of law. >> reporter: he greeted the crowd and signed autographs. the 55-year-old is reporting to a low security facility with few incidents of violence. patrick recommends blagojevich get to know the men he will spend time with. >> he should be honest and up front, talk about his family and regular life, not about how he was a big shot on the outside. >> reporter: he's the second illinois governor in a row sent to prison on corruption. george ryan is serving a 6 1/2 year sentence. paula and t.j.? >> tahman bradley, live for us this morning. thanks. the u.s. soldier suspected of killing intercept afghans has now been flown to a facility in kuwait. there are nolonglong-term detenn

facilities in afghanistan. the man's name will be released once charges are filed per military policy. we learned overnight that the afghan man who tried to attack defense secretary lowon panetta's plane as it landed died overnight. he tried to crash his truck into h plane, drove into a ditch and then got out and set himself on fire. newly leaked e-mails are provided a very different picture of syria's ruling family. the private messages show president assad bypassing rules to download songs from itunes. this took place against the backdrop of a major government

uprising. the bloodshed in syria was one of the topics that democrat nate e -- dominated a meeting between the prime minister of britain and the president. the president and the prime minister changed into tuxes last evening to sit down for a state dinner, the biggest one ever thrown by the obamas. more than 30 of the biggest financial backers of the president's second term made the the so call bundlers have raised about $10 million. rick santorum told a crowd in san juan yesterday if they want puerto rico to become a state, they nee make english their main language. on fox news, romney was asked about criticism that he doesn't

connect. >> people ask you about football, you talk about how you know the nfl owners. they ask you about nascar, you talk about knowing racing owners. you talk about ann's two cad x cadilla cadillacs. people say, he's so rich, he can't relate. >> i've made a lot of money. i've been very successful. i'm not going to apologize for that. meantime, newt gingrich says he's staying in the race. he called his effects the politics of big ideas. saying the media can't cover it. a texas man is charged with murder this morning after opening fire outside a crowded courthouse. police say he was on trial at the courthouse. we have a report from texas. >> i was working at the computer when they started running,

telling us to run and go out the back. >> reporter: police say granger shot four people, one of them fatally, a 79-year-old innocent bystander. >> he was on trial for aggravated sexual assault. >> reporter: two of the shooting victims were related to granger and witnesses in the case. his ex-wife and 20-year-old daughter. investigators say after she was shot, granger ran her over with his truck. seven law officers return fire and wounded granger, who continued shooting at police as he drove down the street, granger wrecked his truck, ran intoice building and held several people hostagto they were able to overpower granger, take control of his weaponing allowing s.w.a.t. officers to move in. more record-high

temperatures getting shattered today from denver to d.c. but a storm is burying the sierra nevada. another three feet should fall by saturday. weather now for thr from across the nation. look for heavy snow in the cascades and northern rockies. drenching rain from seattle to san francisco. scattered showers from east texas to the carolinas. cooling down in new england with snow ending this morning in maine and vermont. sounds like you need an umbrella or a shovel right now. >> just 47 in boston. 80s from baltimore to miami and dallas, 77 in indianapolis. 65 in the twin cities. a wet 52 in seattle. 70 in salt lake city. coming up on "america this morning," parting shot, a wall street worker quits in a big way costing his company billions in

just one day. and small signs that gas prices may have peaked in one part of the country. and one man's obsession with white house. this is not washington, this is his home.ocococococococococococc

welcome back, everyone. gas prices may be peaking. this are signs that colorado prices prices may do down soon. it doesn't appear that high gas prices are keeping people out of the stores.

maybe because they're saving money on home heating bill this is winter. gas is up a nickel in the past week. if you're flying soon, fasten your seat belts. buying a ticket could be bumpy. some fares could double this spring and summer. some flights might be cheaper after easter and until june. they might be cheaper if you nigh on tuesdays, wednesdays, and thursdays. who said words can never hurt you. goldman sachs lost more than $2 billion of market value. after an employee called the corporate structure toxic and destructive. a new york times editorial was widely discussed on the internet. their stocks dropped more than $4 a share. tokyo's nikkei average gained 73 points. hong kong's hang seng added 31

points. in london, the ftse opened lower. on wall street, the dow was up 16 points yesterday. the nasdaq index didn't quite manage a point. a moment of truth. what do you do when you find a smart phone that someone has lost. the results of recent tests were not good. almost half of people tried to get into bank accounts. only half tried to contact the phone's owner. a little depressing. and a new jersey lottery winner has to split his $24 million jackpot with five former coworke coworkers. american lopez said the entire jackpot was his, not part of a lottery pool. a jury disagreed. lopez says he was robbed. next on this thursday, the tsa test program allowing some travelers to keep their shoes

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ask your doctor if lunesta is right for you. then get lunesta for $0 at lunesta.com. there's a land of restful sleep. we can help you go there on the wings of lunesta. washington, d.c., is bracing for the annual cherry blossom bloom. the famous pink pet also the will be at their peak starting next tuesday through friday. the first cherry trees were planted there exactly 100 years ago. time for morning road conditions. i-40 from nashville to little rog androck rainy. rain drenching i-5 in seattle to the bay area. if you're flying airport delays possible in san

francisco, detroit, and memphis. a texas mother will soon be reunited with her son who vanished eight years ago. the boy was taken as an infant by his babysitter. she's now been changed with kidnappi kidnapping. >> authorities were able to track him down after a child welfare investigation. the boy's mother said she prayed every day for his safe return and looks forward to holding him in her arms. >> we can only imagine that. now to controversial new medical recommendations. a government panel says women do not need yearly p.a.p. smears and that there's no need for the test at all in women younger than 21 and orlando than 65. from 30-65, every five years is sufficient if she gets a p.a.p. smear and an hpv test.

local xhupcommunities will able to decide if they use the pink slime ground beef in their school lunches. the usda buys much of the ground beef used in school lunches. it will announce the option today. that story first reported on abc news. the tsa is relaxingules rul for older passengers in some cities. passengers o than -- older than 75 can keep their shoes on and keep their light jackets on. after riding high on the success of jeremy lin, the new york knicks are under new management. head coach mike d' antoni abruptly resigned yesterday. a clash of the top two teams in the eastern conference in

chicago. the bulls are playing out derrick rose. he suffered a groin injury gex the nix. there was no way to stop this. joakim noah, dropping the hammer. lebron has 35 points. heat down by nine. bulls up, 94-84. john lucas. 2 of his 24 points off the bench. he's all geeked up. bulls up. james jones, bottoms, ripping the court for three. heat down by two. with six seconds to go, l.b.j., uh huh, bulls win. earlier in the night, mike d'antoni decided to resign. anthony lace it in, off to a good start.

jeremy lin picking up the loose ball. aptny, oh, nice pass to stoudemire. a one-handed jam. knicks up, 47-21. in transition, lin, beautiful reverse. the knicks were absolutely rolling right along. the big old exclamation point on this one, 121-79. stoudemire finishes with 17 points. that will do it for this espn update. i'm will selva. >> that bulls win over the heat was huge. more hoops here. michigan buddies jeff and rob called their friend zotd play some basketball. scott happens to be in a helicopter. we see a helicopter of a shot. >> not sure how many hours this took.

scot makes the basket from 192 feet up. a slick video done in honor of the start of march madness. that is a thing of beauty. >> impressive. up next, major tv show canceled because the actors kept dying. plus, the men so obsessed with the oval office, he built one just for himself. that and more next in "the pulse." ne. but what about your wrinkles. neurapid wrinkle repair. it has the fastest retinol formula available. it's clinically proven to visibly reduce wrinkles in just one week. "why wait if you don't have to." rapid wrinkle repair. neutrogena®. recommended most by dermatologists.

hello? [ sea ] hello, this is the sea calling. [ laughing ] [ sea ] what's the last romantic thing he did for you?

ohh, i don't know... ummm... did you have to do that to me? what counts as romantic? is somebody watching me somewhere? like emptying the dishwasher? [ laughing ] is this your mother? ♪ ♪

♪ welcome back, everyone. it's time to take "the pulse" of pop culture. bad luck for the hbo series luck. stars dustin hoffman. the show was canceled after a third horse died during production. >> hbo said it was impossible to guarantee that more horses wouldn't get hurt or die in the future. a new role for charlize theron. she adopted a baby boy named jackson. he was born here in the u.s. and he's african-american. congratulations to her. an lots of star power. elizabeth mcgovern was there. damian lewis was there. the president says "homeland" is his new favorite show. and mr. charming himself, george

clooney, was there without a date. >> everybody is going the start talking. for all of you into fashion, the first lady was wearing a teal marchesa gown. won wade is obsessed with white house memorabilia. this is him in a reply c replic oval office. >> he drives a car jfk used in his final months in office. his wife and daughters dress up like the kennedy women when they ride if the car. now for a moment of unadulterated joy. take a look. >> that's little lennon speaking out as he experiences bubbles for the first time. he can't believe his young eyes.

>> doesn't take much to impress a toddler. [ groans ]

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next, breaking news in san jose. a three alarm fire has injured a firefighter. >> demonstrations expected this morning as teachers brace for bad news. >> battered boardwalk. the storm fallout threatening to wash away a santa cruz institution. >> we are in between storms today showers possible heavy rain and more flooding tomorrow. i'll have the det updating the day's top stories. rod blagojevich heads to federal prison today to start serving a

14-year sentence. the u.s. soldier suspected of killing after fwan civilians has been flown to a facility in kuwait. the price of a key opponent of california's gaz has d dramatically. they could mean everyone's prices are heading down. scattered showers from the southeast up the coast. soaking rains from seattle to san francisco. and as we mentioned earlier, goldman sachs is reeling after a public parting shot from one of its employees. >> telling off the boss on the way out the door is a dream many of us have. not us personally. as david wright reports this one was unique. >> i'm as mad as hell and i'm not going to take it anymore.

>> reporter: we have all had days like this. how many of us act on that rage? greg smith did with an op ed in the new york sometimes, why i'm leafing goldman sachs. he writes that the environment is toxic and destructive and the greedy bankers talk of ripping you have their muppet clipts. >> i'm not going to do what you all think i'm going to do, which is just flip out. >> reporter: in real life, some people do quit in spectacular ways, most famously, that jet blue flight aten dapt who slid down the slide. >> they treat us like [ bleep ]. >> reporter: on youtube, you'll find joe quits. >> i'm here to tell you i'm quitting. >> reporter: he brought his own marching band. and there's how to quit

mcdonald's. whether you're flipping burgers or multimillion dollar deals, quitting is powerful stuff. goldman sachs took issue. in a firm our size, it's not shocking that some people could feel this way. one disgruntled guy spoke more than the powerful bank. one london website offered a "star wars" parody. one guy against the death star, a force to be reckoned with. >> may the force be with all of you. stay with us for "good morning america." stay with us for "good morning america." have a great thurs closed captioning by closed captioning services,inc