making news this morning, cause of death. >> the official word on what killed whitney houston. her autopsy says she drowned but was under the influence of several serious drugs. calls for an arrest in the death of trayvon martin are louder than ever this morning. but police aren't sure where his killer are. louisville crashes the march madness sweet 16 party, sending the first number one seed back home, plunging brackets into further disarray. and kim kardashian on the red carpet, goes from this to this. the flour bombing on the red carpet that left her covered in white. good morning. i'm john muller, in for rob

nelson. >> good to have you here this friday morning, john.i'm i'm paula faris. whitney houston drowned in that beverly hills bathtub. >> coroner's report says she was musing cocaine just before she had died. it was the tragic news that friends and family feared. >> reporter: after weeks of speculation, the results of whitney houston's autopsy may not be surprising. the singer's death in a bathtub at the beverly hills hilton wasr caused by what her friend, family and fans had feared. >> the final cause of death has been established as drowning, due to ath row cler rottic heart disease and cocaine use. >> reporter: water in houston's lungs indicated drowning. her heart was weakened by blockage of her arteries. long-time cocaine use contributed to her death.

there was no foul play. >> it appeared that the cocaine had been used in the time period just immediately prior to her collapse. >> reporter: houston's family was informed about the coroner's findings before the public. sister-in-law pat houston said, we are saddened to learn of the toxicology results. although, we are glad to have closure. houston had other drugs in her system that did not contribute to her death. among them, marijuana, xanax and b benadryl. the superstar had struggled for years with drugs and alcohol. she had this conversation with abc's diane sawyer in 2002. >> i can tell you that, i am not a person who wants to die. >> reporter: ten years later, houston's life would end. her addiction, overpowering her. tahman bradley, abc news. >> we'll, of course, have much rica." "good morning america."

our other major story this morning is the growing demand for justice in the case of trayvon martin. governor hasflo appointed a new prosecutor to take over this investigation, has thousands turned out in sanford to call for an arrest in this case. abc's matt gutman has more. >> no justice. >> no peace. >> no justice. >> no peace. >> reporter: not farm where fro trayvon martin died, protesters were shouting his name. he was killed on these streets after buying candy. >> we want to see, zimmerman in cuffs with hands behind hiss back. >> reporter: george zimmerman, the 28-year-old neighborhood watch captain, said he opened fire in self-defense. but martin's family says that's a lie. >> we want an arrest. we want a conviction. >> reporter: there is more anger over police conduct. abc news has learned that they

never interviewed key witnesses, such as martin's girlfriend, who was on the phone with him as the incident happened. and they never gave zimmerman a toxicology test. the police chief stepped down temporarily. >> i do this to bring some calm to the city, which has been in turmoil for several weeks. >> reporter: we have learned more about george zimmerman's checkered past, including arrests for battery of a police officer and domestic violence. and he seemed to keep an eye out for black people. >> two african-american males. two black males in their late teens. >> reporter: pick him up, said protesters. but police don't know where george zimmerman is. matt gutman, abc news, sanford, florida. robert bales is expected to be indicted later today on 17 counts of murder. the staff sergeant is accused of killing innocent civilians

during a nighttime rampage earlier this month. he is being held in kansas and was able to talk to his wife yesterday for the first time since the killing. they spoke about their love for one another, and their family. not the case, which could drag out for years. late tonight, president obama leaves washington, for a long flight to korea, where he will attend a nuclear arms summit. meanwhile, mr. obama is catching heat from republicans for opening up the line of the keystone pipeline. and who can forget the protests in egypt? despite that egypt is backsliding on the promises of reform, the government is going to release $1 billion in aid to egyptians. the move is designed to maintain stability. the senate has approved a bill to ban members of congress, and thousands of federal workers to engage on insider trading. it's passed in the house. and president obama will sign it into law.

from the campaign trail, as always, a sharp, new attack by rick santorum, against front-runner, mitt romney. santorum telling republicans in texas that republicans should give president obama another term, unless santorum is the nominee. romney called santorum's charge disappointing. newt gingrich said any republican would be better than a second obama term. in italy, five more bodies have been recovered from the wrecked cruise ship. italian officials said the victims were found between the hull of the ship and the seabed. 30 is the number of bodies recovered so far. there could be weeked before they're positively identified. a couple from minnesota is among those who is still missing. we finally have an answer this morning from the eastern wisconsin town plagued all week by mysterious booming noises. geologists say the noises were the sound of a 1.5 magnitude earthquake that hit tuesday morning. but because of the low

magnitude, most people were not aware of that. they were just stumped. on the welcome sign, it said clintonville is booming. there you go. it was an earthquake. take a look at the weather across the nation. another day of near-record highs in the northeast. wet from the upper midwest to the gulf coast and southeast, with periods of rain in detroit and chicago. several storms from new orleans, to birmingham, excuse me. showers in kansas city and st. louis. also some snow in northern idaho. >> 80 in colorado springs. 70s across the nation's midsection. 82 in baltimore. breaking business is next. another major airline merger could be in the works. the young man convicted of the hate crime in the rutgers bullying case. he tells his story in an abc news exclusive. and check your brackets, everybody. a mighty team falling in the sweet 16. march madness, all the mayhem is coming up.isis ngngngngngngngngng

welcome back on this friday morning. major merger news. a rival is thinking of acquiring american airlines. bloomberg reporting that u.s. airways has talked to creditors of the b to creditout its merger. and the reception has been positive. labor has been a key issue in american's bankruptcy. and its biggest unions are among its creditors. bank of america, testing a program involving foreclosed properties. it would allow some customers the option of remaining in their homes and renting from the

banks. the underwater homeowners would sign over the deeds and the bank would forgive the outstanding debts. and t-mobile, the nation's fourth-largest cell phone carrier, is cutting 1,900 jobs. during the last quarter of last year alone, t-mobile lost more than 800,000 contract subscribers. so, the company is being forced to cut back. and americans lost about $30 billion worth of cell phones last year. philadelphians seem to lose more phones than anyone else. not sure how they conducted the stats on that. but hold on to your phones in philadelphia. overseas markets, mostly down overnight because of worries about china again. tokyo's nikkei average lost 116 points today. hong kong's hang seng off about 223 points. in london, the ftse opened lower. on wall street, the dow declined 78 points yesterday. the nasdaq index fell 12. mitt romney's opponents aren't the only ones profiting from an aide's comment about etch-a-sketch.

the sales are up 1,500%. the ohio company is glad to see etch-a-sketch drawing so much attention. did you get one for christmas? >> used to love it. love when old-school toys come back as a child. they have to market them to the parents because we had them as kids. we don't need to rebrand them. next on this friday morning, a big loss for a number one seed. plus, some courtroom rage is caught on tape. we'll show you the outburst after a controversial verdict. and we'll go one-on-one with a young man convicted of a hate crime after his college roommate killed himself. it is an abc news exclusive. we're right back. [ virginia ] i do have a healthy diet, but there are foods that i had no idea had so much acid in them. my dentist said that the acid in fruit, or fruit juice or fruit teas softens the enamel so that then it can potentially erode. one. ne, softens the enamel so that then itit's gone.tially erode. my dentist recommended that i use pronamel to help harden that enamel so that it's not brushed away. pronamel protects your teeth from the effects of acid erosion. i don't have to cut out the things that i love in my diet.

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britain than bermuda. i guess everybody's getting a hot one. >> how do you launch yourself up on that? now, for a look at morning road conditions. snow on i-15, in idaho. wet on i-20, from alabama to georgia. i-40, in tennessee. and i-70, from illinois to ohio. flooding on parts of i-90 and 94 across minnesota to wisconsin. >> and if you're flying, airport delays possible in atlanta, chicago, cincinnati, new orleans, new york, philly and d.c. and for the first time the world is hearing from the former rutgers university freshman, convicted of using his web cam to spy on his gay roommate. >> that roommate, tyler clementi, killed himself shortly after the incident. touching off a national outcry about gay bullying. dharun ravi sat down with abc's chris cuomo, insisting he is not to blame for clementi's death. >> looking back, i was very self-absorbed. it was just about what i was thinking, what i was -- how i was reacting. it was never, what if tyler

finds out? how is he going to feel about it? i was 18. i was stupid. i wasn't thinking about my actions like beyond a minute into the future. >> reporter: did you bully tyler clementi? >> no. no, i didn't bully tyler clementi. >> reporter: do you think tyler clementi thought that you were bullying him? >> no, i don't think he thought that at all. >> reporter: did you want to intimidate him? frighten him? >> no. >> reporter: shame him? >> no. >> reporter: make him feel that what he was and what he was doing was wrong? >> no. i would never feel that about anyone for any reason. >> reporter: do you hate gay people? >> i don't. i don't hate gay people. >> reporter: do you believe tyler clementi was intimidated by you and your actions? >> he knew that i wasn't trying to, like, intimidate him because he was gay and scare him because he was gay. i think he understood that. >> ravi faces up to ten years behind bars. you can catch more of that on a special edition of "20/20," at 10:00, 9:00 central, right here on abc. >> that looks like a great interview. a boston jury acquitted a man accused of shooting three adults and a toddler to death. the deadlock on murder charges against his accomplice still

stands. and it outraged the victims' relatives. the state's case rested largely on the credibility of one witness. unfortunately, he confessed to being an accomplice before striking a plea deal for his testimony. in houston, emergency crews spent more than an hour trying to pull a construction worker to safety. he was working in a 20-foot-deep trench when a boulder shifted. suddenly, he was buried up to his waist. his leg was pinned against a drill he was using at the time. rescuers finally freed him. this morning, he's hospitalized with a leg injury. >> thankful to be alive. time for our march madness. and the first number one seed of the tournament, bye-bye. >> so many upsets. last night, louisville, taking on michigan state. the cardinals giving the spartans fits by blocking shots, forcing turnovers. in the end, louisville made it look easy, knocking off michigan state, 57-44. the cardinals earn a regional final for the third time in six years. next up, florida facing off against marquette.

and this one was dominated by gators' freshman bradley beal. pouring in 21 points, as the gators jumped out to a double-digit lead. in the second half, they held on to earn their second-straight trip to the elite eight. they face louisville on saturday. syracuse versus wisconsin. a game that goes down to the last second. the orange took the lead with six minutes to go. but that lead was never more than three points. the badgers had a chance to win it at the end. but they could not get it to go. syracuse holds on for that win, 64-63. they face ohio state on saturday. the buckeyes beat cincinnati last night. >> that game was unbelievable. best one of the night. the pros were also in action last night. we get some of the highlights from espn news. >> good morning. cole wright here with your espn news update. and thursday evening, chris paul making his return to the crescent city, this time a member of the clippers. taking on the hornets. blake griffin on the break. bowled over by jason smith. players would have to be separated. this is worth two more looks.

griffin, on the move, to the cup. smith, robs him, without trying to make a play on the ball. smith gets a flagrant two. he's ejected. blake griffin, in physical pain. fans in new orleans, not big fans of that. 30 seconds to go. go. clippers down three. boyd shoots. couldn't get this one to go. they hold on for the win, 97-90. gilbert arenas, back in the league. making his grizzlies debut as they pay a visit to the blazers. arenas baseline. "js" like he never left. fourth quarter, memphis within four. tony allen, athletic. call him t.a. for three. yes. grizzlies within one. later on, blazers with a four-point advantage. raymond felton drives. felton gets the buzzer. and the foul. blazers win 97-93. that will do it for this espn news update. don't forget, for the latest on the sports scene, tune into "the

highlight express" on espn news. >> looking forward to the rest of the sweet 16 games today. golf has been called a long walk spoiled. for one guy in north carolina, it is a really long walk. >> i would never call it that. this is bayless chastain. 78 years long. keeping up a great tradition. he played 78 holes of golf on his 78th birthday. >> he's been doing it since he was 62, increasing the number of holes by 1. mr. chastain walks the whole way. he has no plans on stopping. i love that. doesn't need a caddy. doesn't need a golf court. >> 78 holes will wear out a spring chicken. up next, "the pulse." kim kardashian in a red carpet mess. we'll show you the flour bomb attack just hours ago. >> you'll want to see that. and the reviews are in from the overnight showings of "the hunger games." itchy nose and sneezing can hit you year-round, indoors or out. prescription nasonex is clinically proven to help relieve nasal allergy symptoms

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all right, everybody. it is time to check "the pulse," your pulse, on stories we're all going to be talking about today, beginning with kim kardashian. and it turns out that she is a pretty good sport. who would have thunk? >> yeah. you have to be a good sport. a woman douses her with an entire bag of flour at a red carpet event in west hollywood last night. police nabbed the culprit. but kardashian refused to press charges. she also cleaned up and returned to the event. she joked that she wanted some more powder from her makeup artist. just not that much. >> good to see was a good sport about it. they were worried it wasn't ju

>> oh, wow. i didn't think about that. but you're right. >> but flour from the cabinet there. and the wait finally ended overnight. "the hunger games" is here. >> people lining up all across the country for the midnight showings. we just we just checked some twitter to see what people are saying about this. >> these are actual tweets. joe says it was awesome. luke says it was incredible. tyler said it reinforced his fear of knives. someone named shameless has not seen it. but says she's so excited, that she could pee herself. >> really? >> that's really excited. really excited. >> i laughed. i cried. incredible story of survival in boston. a death-deflying plunge that the victim lived to meow about. >> check it out. sugar the cat fell from a window of a boston apartment building 19 stories. amazingly. the good news, no broken bones. no cuts. sugar's owner wasn't home. but she had time to leave the window open. and the cat is doing just fine. >> experts say cats can survive dramatic falls by

flailing their legs like a flying squirrel. >> something we have to remember that next time if we have to take a fall. for some of you, local news is next. updating the top stories. [ male announcer ] this one goes out to all the allergy muddlers. you know who you are. you can part a crowd, without saying a word. you have yet to master the quiet sneeze. you stash tissues like a squirrel stashes nuts. well, muddlers, muddle no more. try zyrtec®. it gives you powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because zyrtec® starts working at hour 1 on the first day you take it. claritin® doesn't start working until hour 3. zyrtec®. love the air.

let the games begin, the big screen blockbuster that is selling ten takes second. massive lotto jackpot that has people hoping all over the nation. mike nicco has the wet weekend forecast. >> it's going to be a washout one of the days. >> and friday morning commute, so join us next at 4:30.ni updating the top stories. autopsy results revealing that whitney houston died of

drowning. but cocaine use and heart disease were also factored in her death last month. army sergeant robert bales is expected to be formally charged with 17 counts of murder today. there will be other charges, stemming from the shooting rampage in afghanistan. and taking a live look at the airport in roam, where the pope leaves for mexico and cuba. abc news will be with the pope throughout his trip. a wet day from the canadian border to the west coast. severe storms in new orleans, nashville and birmingham. mountain snow in northern idaho. near-record warmth in the northeast. you all can get out your shorts and sleeveless shirts. >> nobody is complaining with this warm weather, right? finally, from presidential politics to spring break on tv. the late-night comics are on fire. >> check it out in this morning's friday funnies. >> we're right in the middle of the presidential republican primary season. it's getting interesting now, isn't it? no. here, now, a list of the republican primary candidates'

secret service code names. >> mitt romney, javelin. rick santorum, petrus. newt gingrich, gyaccgh. this concludes gop candidates' secret service code names. >> code names. >> today is ann and mitt romney's 43rd wedding anniversary. wow. good for them. yeah. this means -- this means 43 years ago, mitt proposed to his wife. and due to a weak field of candidates, she said yes. [ laughter ] >> there's an interesting campaign going on in canada right now, for a seat on the legislative assembly of alberta. and what's interesting about it, there's a candidate named danielle smith. she unveiled her campaign bus yesterday. as you see here, the tires are

right where one would normally place their breasts. and she said it was an accident. and they're going to fix it as soon as they can. >> speaking of spring break, all of the cable networks are lining up their spring break shows. >> next week is spring break. that means a lot of people will be traveling the next few days. it means that the cable networks are looking to capitalize off it. mtv is hosting their spring brea e! network is having their own. but c-span is having a congressional spring break, which is sure to be a hit all across the country. >> yeah. >> did we have to see that? i'm blinded. >> blinded by the light? >> i'm going to be scarred for the weekend. >> all right. that's what's making news in america this morning. >> stay with us for "good morning america." have a great f