it's march 27th. we begin with breaking news. >> a raging wildfire in colorado, forcing hundreds of families from their homes. and overnight, taking at least one life. also overnight, president obama in south korea, firing back, at critics of his private open-mic moment which was caught on tape. mega millions mania. today, dreams of striking it rich, as the jackpot skyrockets to more than 360 million bucks. >> whoa. and the incredible rescue off of california. how a very grateful whale showed thanks to a boat of helpful humans. good morning, everyone. we begin with the fast-moving

wildfire, tearing through the colorado mountains. >> we're learning this morning that the blaze in the mountains southwest of denver has now laiming at least one life. >> we know at least five homes have burned to the ground so far. but the wind-driven flames are keeping firefighters from getting too close. so, that number could actually be much higher. more than 3,000 acres have been scorched and 900 homes already evacuated. >> a sheriff's deputy who tried to spread word about the fire, drove into a ditch because of all of the thick smoke. he had to be rescued from his patrol car.tly flaredthe fire a a control burn. we have a team on the scene for a live update later today on "good morning america." and also, developing right now. president obama defending a hot-mic moment caught on tape. >> seen these moments before. speaking overnight in south korea. he said there was no hidden agenda when he told russian leaders things would be different if he won a second term.

abc's mary bruce is with the president in seoul. >> this is not a matter of hiding the ball. >> reporter: this morning, president obama tried to downplay his private conversation that was picked up on a hot microphone for all to hear. on monday, obama asked outgoing russian president medvedev, to give a message to vladimir putin, to put the brakes on negotiations over missile defense, at least for now. >> after my election, i have more flexibility. >> i understand. i will transmit this information to vladimir. >> reporter: republicans pounced. >> that's an alarming and troubling development. this is no time for our president to be pulling his punches with the american people and not telling us what he is intending to do with regards to our missile defense system. >> reporter: today, the president stood by his comments, claiming they reflect the reality of the political climate. >> the only way i'm getting this done is if i'm consulting agon. the pentagon. if i'm consulting with congress. if i have bipartisan support.

and frankly, the current environment is not conducive to those kinds of thoughtful consultations. >> reporter: and he even appeared to have a sense of humor about the gaffe. >> well, first of all, are the mics on? >> reporter: the president made sure not to make the same mistake today. covering up the microphone before greeting the russian president. mary bruce, abc news, seoul, south korea.to mary bruc>> our that report. the president is expected back in washington later tonight. thousands of demonstrators have rallied across the country, calling for justice in the trayvon martin case. but his parents are on the defensive this morning, after new information was leaked about their son's background. they are expected to make an appearance later today on capitol hill. abc's tahman bradley reports from washington. >> reporter: the streets of sanford, florida, remain tense. and in cities across the country, the calls for justice are as loud as ever. >> justice. justice. >> reporter: as the rallies for

slain 17-year-old trayvon martin continue, new information about the teenager and new information about what the shooter told police have emerged. abc news has learned, martin was suspended from school at the time of the shooting, for being caught with a plastic bag containing trace amounts of marijuana. >> they killed my son. and now, they're trying to kill his reputation. >> reporter: trayvon's shooter, neighborhood watch captain george zimmerman has not been charged. he claimed self-defense. his attorney said martin was the aggressive, not his client. >> i think he's surprised the magnitude, the way things have taken off. it's become a national issue. >> reporter: the incident began in the evening on february 26th, when zimmerman saw martin, thought he was suspicious and called police. >> are you following him? >> yeah. >> okay. we don't need you to do that. >> reporter: it's not entirely clear what happened next. on the phone with him moments before he died, martin's girlfriend said he was being followed. zimmerman told police the teen attacked him, punching him in the nose and then slamming his

head on the ground. a 13-year-old eyewitness he sa. >> you saw one person on the ground or two? >> i saw one person on the ground. i know they had on a t-shirt. >> light-colored t-shirt? dark color? >> a red t-shirt. >> reporter: a grand jury will convene next month to decide if zimmerman should be charged. tahman bradley, abc news. >> thanks to tahman for that report. it's day two of arguments before the supreme court over president obama's health care reform plan. it's the provision that extends medical insurance to 30 million more americans by requiring everyone to carry insurance or pay a penalty. a decision in the case is expected this summer before the november election. pope benedict is flying to havana to meet with president raul castro, and possibly his brother, former dictator, fidel castro. the pope celebrated mass in

santiago last night for tens of thousands of people. 14 years of john paul's historic visit, he urged cuba to become a more open society. the pope will officiate another mass tonight in havana. say good-bye to the heat. after weeks of record-shattering warmth, a cold front is threatening plants from the midwest to the mid-atlantic. freeze advisories have been posted in 11 states. people who planted flowers and vegetables early, scrambling to protect their garden. farmers could also suffer a whole lot of damage, which is not good for all of those farmers out there. >> that's what they're worried about. the early spring. and one more cold snap, a lot of crops. let's look at weather on this tuesday morning. severe storms behind that cold air, with 70-mile-per-hour winds and also some hail, from madison, wisconsin, to des moines, and kansas city, to st. louis. thunderstorms from michigan to the dakotas. and from texas into oklahoma. heavy snow in the sierra nevada

and cascades. and drenching rain from seattle to sacramento. >> 55 in seattle. 57 in fargo. 68 in the twin cities. 64 in chicago. 80s from k.c. to dallas and miami. 73 in atlanta. 42 in boston. and it is 52 here in new york. and coming up next, it is sweeping the nation. mega millions fever. a massive jackpot up for grabs tonight. also, a whale freed from a fishing net offers an amazing thank you to the people who came to its rescue. and who will be the first to go? the very first elimination from the dance floor coming up tonight. stay with us.amamamamamam

welcome back, everyone. flying or driving, it is going to cost more to travel this summer. gas prices are now within shouting distance of 4 bucks a gallon. and more than half of us say that's going to affect our travel plans this summer. a travel industry survey says vacationers may just take fewer trips or spend less on lodging. airlines are raising fares again, led by southwest. the third hike in three months. the airline is also blaming high fuel prices. but some analysts say increased demand and a lower capacity are also factors. and markets here and overseas liked what they heard from ben bernanke. that the fed will do more to help the u.s. economy, particularly on job growth. tokyo's nikkei average soared 237 points today. hong kong's hang seng gained 327. in london, the ftse opened

higher. and then, on wall street, the dow climbed 161 points yesterday. the nasdaq index was up 55 points to its highest level in more than 11 years. good news. and the documentary "bully" is being released without any rating. that's because industry censors insisted it had to have an "r" rating because of coarse language in the film. now, theaters have to decide for themselves whether teens can see the film. the studio, of course, hopes they will. there won't be as much of the ground beef filler known as pink slime in your supermarkets. the manufacturer has suspended operations at three of the four plants that make that product. some 600 workers at those plants will get full pay for 2 months while the company tries to convince the public that the ammonia-treated meat is safe. and you can expect some big lines outside of convenient stores today. the mega millions jackpot is now $363 million. that would be the third-largest

prize ever for this multistate lottery. the odds of winning, not too great here. about 175 million to 1. but, hey, you never know. the folks that won the big ones, they're sitting pretty. why can't it be your turn? >> you're saying there's a chance. >> there's a chance. next on this tuesday morning, how chocolate can help keep the weight off. >> that's good news, too. then, also this morning, a crazy high-speed chase. the school bus with punctured tires. the new video just in. and then there's this -- >> i'm so excited about being a jet. i'm excited about meeting my teammates. and i'm very, very excited. >> i think the word's excited. the quarterback that's excited comes to the big apple.

a california woman managed to survive after her truck plunged more than 300 feet down

the side of a mountain. tracy granger spent the night in the snow, with temperatures hovering right around 30 degrees. the wreckage could not even be seen from the roadway. rescuers were finally able to spot it from the air. >> lucky lady. all right, now, for a look at your morning road conditions on this tuesday. rain soaks i-5, from seattle to sacramento. also, snow on i-84 and 90 in the cascades. i-94, from bismarck to detroit. and i-70, from st. louis to indianapolis. slick on i-10, in central texas. if you're flying, airport delays are possible in san francisco, kansas city, chicago and denver. well, a california gray whale is swimming free this morning, thanks to the patient efforts of a group of humans. >> the whale was tangled in about 50 feet of fishing net that kept its tail from moving. rescuers on boats got close and spent seven hours cutting away the net with long-handled instruments.

suddenly, the whale dived. and when it came up, it was free. >> a surge of gratitude came to both boats, and actually came right up to us, and almost, like, mouthed, thank you. it was pretty awesome. >> that's pretty cool. the rescuers say this whale was lucky. too often, the whales and dolphins get tangled in the nets, and they can't surface to breathe and they drown. >> willy is free. a dash cam video reveals a harrowing chase by police in new mexico. a stolen school bus was clocking 75 miles per hour when a squadron of police cars went after him. they threw down the rows of spike strips and tried to blow out its tires before it barreled into albuquerque traffic. finally, one police car forced the driver to lose control after a chase that lasted 70 miles. wow. also, an amazing image from atlanta. a man literally buried in mud. the man was walking when he suddenly sank into the earth and could not manage to get out.

rescue crews had to be called in. they had to use a ladder to help pull that unlucky guy from all that mud. and better news than that, he is going to be okay. also, singer bobby brown, more trouble for him. he's been arrested for drunk driving in los angeles. brown, of course, was married to the late whitney houston, was pulled over monday afternoon and failed a sobriety test. this is brown's second dui arrest. he served eight days in jail back in the '90s. groundbreaking news for those of you with diabetes. there's new hope this morning for the 23 million americans struggling with type 2 diabetes. new studies suggest that weight loss surgery can knock the disease into remission, sometimes within days. the procedure reduces the size of the stomach and intestines and may work by making hormonal changes in the intestines. the surgery may now be offered to more people and sooner. and more good news about eating chocolate. it may help keep the weight off. a new study finding that people who snack on chocolate five times a week are thinner than those who don't.

earlier studies had already suggested that the sweet stuff helps lower cholesterol and blood pressure. a story that i can wrap my arms around this morning. >> all right. in sports news now, the women's final four match-ups are finally set. we get the highlights, now, from espn news. >> good morning. cole wright here with your "sportscenter" update. pat summitt and her lady vols looking to punch their ticket to their 19th final four. but they would have to get past kim multien and the baylor bears. second half, brittney griner spins. brittney griner gets the lane. she's fouled. bears up 18. under a minute to go in the second. tempers beginning to flare. shekinna stricklen and odyssey sims get tangled up. a few unpleasantries will be exchanged. griner comes off the bench. griner and two others were ejected for leaving the bench. no suspensions were handed out. players who left the bench do

not engage in fisticuffs. pat summitt, possibly her final game leaving the court. the embodiment of class. baylor wins 77-58. former secretary of state, condoleezza rice, watching her alma mater, stanford, taking on duke. first half, stanford on top. missed three, nnemkadi ogwumike, scoring on the putback. later on in the first, cardinal out in front. a nine-point game. stanford, rolling by 11. second half now. the other half of the ogwumike sisters, chiney, hitting the "j." stanford up ten. and later on, one more time. this time, she misses, but her sister, pulling up the dirty work. stanford wins 81-69. they're moving on to the final four. and here's how things look in the brackets. get them out. des moines region, raleigh region, kingston region. the final four is whittled down. baylor, they're advancing. so is stanford.

connecticut and kentucky, they square off at 7:00 eastern tonight, as do notre dame and maryland. that's a 9:00 eastern tip time on espn. the newest new york jet is apparently a very excitable guy. tim tebow appeared before the new york media for the first time since he was traded from the denver broncos. >> during the 30-minute news conference, the former bronco used the word excited more than 40 times. count. >> i'm so excited about being a jet. so excited about meeting my teammates. and i'm very, very excited. this is exciting. it's exciting for me. excited about that. i guess they are pretty excited. i'm excited. i'm excited. i'm excited. that's exciting. i'm excited about being a jet. excited about the support that i have here. it will be exciting to watch. and i'm excited about being a jet. i'm just excited to be here. i'm excited. i'm excited about it. >> despite the huge media crush since his arrival, the excitable tebow says he doesn't think it will be much of a distraction. >> i think he's excited. i think i heard him say that. >> we'll have to come up with

some newagetives for excited. up next, "the pulse," everybody. "dancing with the stars" heads into its first elimination tonight. who will be the first to go? and it's the "mad men" moment that millions are excitedly talking about. could it lead to a new career for one of the stars? uncover stronger, younger looking skin. [ female announcer ] new aveeno skin strengthening body cream

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stars"? >> we'll find out if tennis great martina navratilova can overcome a rough start on the dance floor. she and her partner have the low scores right now. melissa gilbert and her partner didn't impress the judges, either. they have the second-lowest score. of course, the fans will still have their say before the final elimination. >> my money is on maria menounos and derek hough. >> talking about my girl, maria. "mad men" fans couldn't get enough of the show on friday. thanks in part to megan draper's rendition of the song "zou bisou bisou." >> it was dedicated to don draper for his 40th b-day. ♪ zou bisou bisou zou bisou bisou ♪ ♪ zou bisou bisou >> deep lyrics there. the song, first released by a french sex symbol in the '60s, means kiss, kiss.

the show is releasing it on itunes. >> there we go. for some of you, your local news is coming up next. >> for everyone else, our sitdown with tiger woods. as his newest project debuts today. two flavors. in harmony. honey bunches of oats. make your day bunches better.

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up next at 4:30. today community volunteers in morgan hill will join the search for sierra lamar. second time since sunday somebody has been stabbed outside federal reserve building. mike will tell us more about the rain. >> already raining in some areas. when it may get to your neighborhood. updating our top stories now. one person has died in an out-of-control wildfire near denver. shifting winds have spread the flames across 3,000 acres.

and at least five 5 homes were restroied, 900 more evacuated. trayvon martin's parents are expected to take their case to capitol hill here. they will appear at a congressional forum on racial profiling, hate crimes and the take your ground laws. tonight's mega millions jackpot is up to 363 million bucks. if the winner takes the lump sum, the prize will just be $259 million. today's weather. freeze warnings from the mid-atlantic to the midwest. wet from minnesota to texas, with severe storms in peoria, and dmin. rain and mountain snow in the northwest, as well as california. finally from us this morning, tiger woods' pga win last week, it may mean his career is back on track. but his avatar never went anywhere. >> tiger's video game has always been a best-seller. and a brand-new version comes out today in the u.s. i got a chance to talk with him about that, among other things. >> and there it is. >> reporter: tiger woods had it all. fame, fortune, and family. until that november night of

2009, when everything came crashing down. we recently met with the world's former number one. he's been putting it back together. sunday's win at the arnold palmer invite was a major step. but for woods, victory at augusta would be a sure sign he's back. it would be the first major since "w" was president. yes, it's been nearly four years since eldrick tiger woods reeled in the big fish. >> he's weak. and he's subject to just not being the same ever again. >> reporter: how much do you want to prove people wrong now? >> my dad always taught me to play for myself. don't play for anyone but yourself. the pure enjoyment of playing and competing. >> reporter: his golf game isn't exactly where he wants it to be. however, his franchise of video games, never been better. with the release of tiger woods pga 13, gamers see the tour, and tiger, like never before. >> it goes back to when i was about 2 1/2, 3 years old.

and to be able to play me throughout my entire career. >> reporter: but his game-changer, no console is required. as tiger demonstrates, your body is the controller. it's all possible with kinect technology. >> you can see if you shift or plain out, drop it under. >> reporter: what do you think about your toddler avatar? >> it looks like i have a diaper on still. >> reporter: what was your favorite part of the game when you were that young? >> just having fun with my dad. being out there with my dad. we had just an absolute blast. >> reporter: it's with his dad in the backyard where it all began. as the gamer, you get to experience it all. the goal is to relive tiger's legacy. >> looks like you and tiger got along. >> yeah. he's a good guy. you can get it today. >> thanks for watching, everybamod good morning,