behind the scenes, the cardinal may be planning for the conclave. but today is about saying thank you to the man who appointed half of them. >> he's known as a very intellectual pope. a pope who deeply loves the church. >> reporter: pope benedict has kept the catholic church steadfast on a traditional path. but he leaves it beset by scandal, which the next pope will have to tackle head-on. >> it's 1.2 billion souls on the world. he's the only faith leader with such a big flock. and as i say, who else rules 1 billion people, other than the heads of china and india? >> reporter: he's considered one of the greatest living theologian. always more comfortable with books than with crowds. that's where he will return. benedict will disappear from public view, dedicating himself entirely to prayer and meditation. >> he was not a great administrator. he was a teacher. he was a german professor.

he was a man, an intellect on the level of one of the greats like hagel or plato. >> that was abc's nick schifrin in rome. after benedict says good-bye to the church's cardinals, he flies by helicopter to the papal retreat. he will offer a blessing from the balcony and then shut the door. in his own words, benedict will be hidden for the rest of his life. and it is a very busy morning in rome. and our friends at "gma" are planning complete coverage of this historic day. keep it right here on abc news. our other major story, is massive budget cuts set to begin in less than 24 hour ps. after weeks of warnings, president obama softened his tone about the cuts. instead of a fiscal cliff, the president said it was more like a tumble downward. and he invited congressional leaders to the white house for talks. here's karen travers. >> reporter: the topic was probably unavoidable.

today, president obama had a brief meeting, no more than ten minutes, with congressional leaders, about how to avoid the massive spending cuts. they'll sit down on friday at the white house. progress? not so much. the meeting is scheduled right at the deadline for the $85 billion in cuts. unlike, say, the fiscal cliff, or a potential government shutdown, there's little urgency in washington right now. but there is a lot of finger-pointing. >> the sequester was the president's idea. the sequester did not envision any additional tax increases. >> house republicans have declared that the entire strategy is to sit on the sidelines, stop working with us to pass something. >> reporter: the cuts will mean furloughs for civilian defense department workers across the nation. a 20% reduction in pay. >> hard-working people that have everything they've got. so, we're all kind of on the line now. >> reporter: most of the cuts will be felt immediately, which

may give lawmakers wigger room to negotiate a way to blunt their impact. karen travers, abc news, washington. on capitol hill, an emotional plea from a grieving father on gun control. it was the senate judiciary committee's first hearing on the issue since the shooting. on the table, a proposal by senator dianne feinstein to ban the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. the father of the newtown massacre victim begged for it to the passed. >> jesse was the love of my life. it's hard for me to be here today. talking about my deceased son. i have to. >> republicans say an assault weapons ban would violate the second amendment. the u.s. is poised to expand aid to syrian rebels. secretary of state, john kerry, is expected to offer nonlethal assistance, as he meets with

opposition leaders in rome today. the u.s. remained opposed to providing arms. but body armor and vehicles and gear may be supplied. americans in the region are already training opposition fighters. caroline kennedy may have a high-profile diplomatic job in the administration. bloomberg news is reporting that the late president's daughter is the top contender for the next u.s. ambassador to japan. kennedy is the president's top choice. but her background check is not complete. some weather this morning. there's plenty of digging out to do, now that this week's blizzard has blown through. small towns from oklahoma all the way to the great lakes, dealing with massive amounts of heavy snow. the storm is blamed for at least six deaths in kansas. and in michigan, it was enough to set a snowfall record there. that city has been buried in 53 inches of snow just this month. the old record was 46 inches. >> wow. and as for today, michigan could get a bit more snow, believe it or not.

along with northern new york and new england. light snow also in the appalachians and in the western mountains. rain for the northwest coast and showers in florida. >> spring-like temperatures in the southwest. in the 50s for most of the east coast. and seasonable readings through most of the middle of the country. coming up after the break, stocks soaring again. closing in on an all-time high. plus, border police find a new tool in the cross-border drug wars. a canon? and later in "the pulse," a unique rescue effort to save a deer and her fawn.

and welcome back. wall street is getting closer to a record. the dow jones industrial average is closing in on its all-time high after gaining 175 points yesterday. it's now just 89 points from the record set in october of 2007. since the beginning of the year, the dow has gained 7.5%. the news isn't so good for some top retailers. walmart can't keep its store shelves full of merchandise. top executives discussed the stocking problem at a recent meeting. one called it, quote, self-inflicted wounds. and jcpenney's ceo admits to making big mistakes that resulted in a bigger-than-expected loss for the fourth quarter. apple is telling its shareholders to be patient. ceo tim cook promises, quote, great stuff is coming. and he says that apple is seriously considering returning some of its cash to shareholders. but he admits he's not happy with the huge decline in the

stock price, 37% since its high last fall. and here's a strange comment from the head of a company that makes smartphones software. at a conference in california, the founder of google said the company created its google glasses because modern smartphones are, quote, emasculating. without buttons, users were just touching and rubbing a piece of glass. the tech media exploded with questions about what he may have meant by that comment. >> interesting. and in a few months, you may be scratching your head when you look at a piece of paper money. not because of the huge budget cuts we mentioned earlier. it's because you'll soon be seeing this scrawled on your dollar bills where it says secretary of the treasury. that's the signature of jack lew, who was confirmed by the senate. and he promised to work on his signature. >> all right. next on this thursday, more

of our top stories. of course, the pope's final few hours at the vatican. what to expect on this historic day in rome. and unsportsman conduct. now, a junior hockey coach now in serious trouble. see life in the best light. outdoors, or in. transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it's meant to be seen. maybe even a little better. visit your eyecare professional today to ask about our newest lenses, transitions vantage and transitions xtractive lenses. experience life well lit. ask which transitions adaptive lens is best for you. and some people found that a little bit strong. but as soon as they tasted blonde roast, boy they were on board. ♪

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>> if you're flying, airport delays are possible in the motor city, as well as beantown. returning to our top story. pope benedict in the final hours of his papacy. the call for the cardinals to gather at the vatican doesn't go out until tomorrow. there's a live look at the vatican, by the way. >> it's uncharted territory for the modern church, as diana and i discussed earlier. >> it's unprecedented in so many ways. just the idea of a resignation. yes, it's happened in the past. but every time it's happened, with one possible exception, every time it's happened in the past, it had been forced. this was obviously not only was this not forced, this was unforeseen. and i believe the cardinals were largely caught off guard. and i suspect that we have the possibility of a very long conclave, only because this was

so unanticipated. yes, he's old, right? but very much unanticipated. >> there is a political element, too, to all this. it happens behind closed doors. we're not privy to what the discussions may be over the next few weeks here. but in terms of what you think they may lean toward, it will be someone that is conservative like benedict? or someone who will, perhaps, be a little more progressive? >> the roman catholic church is enormous. over 1 billion people worldwide. the roman catholic church has a very big tent. there are a lot of people who hold divorce, theological views, that identify as roman catholics. that said, of the 117 or so cardinals who are going to elect the next pope, they're not so diverse. they are all staunchly in line, dogmatically. they are almost all in line on the social issues.

so, when you talk about progressive or conservative, i mean, that's a sliding scale. and you know, it may not slide up. there's not that much room within that conclave. >> in a nutshell, perhaps someone younger. perhaps from a different part of the world. but -- >> dogmatically -- >> more of the same. >> more of the same, most likely. >> but really, we really have no idea. >> we have no idea. and they don't have to choose one from among themselves. they're not restricted from choosing another cardinal. >> keep it right here on abc. our friends at "good morning america" are planning complete coverage of this historic day. a small town in mississippi is shocked this morning after an openly mayoral candidate has been found dead. marco mcmillian was running for mayor in clarksdale. police had been looking for him since tuesday when someone crashed his car and he was nowhere to be found.

a person of interest is in custody. police have found a powerful, improvised marijuana delivery system. someone was using this canon to launch up to 30 pounds of pot at a border fence in california. u.s. officials became suspicious after they found large packets of pot that appeared to have been fired over the border. a youth hockey coach in canada wakes up in prison this morning. that's a place he never thought he'd be. here's his crime. he intentionally tripped two youngsters during a postgame handshake last june. he was sentenced to 15 days behind bars. the handshake should be a symbol of sportsmanship. it cost him his marriage and several construction contracts. and now, some amazing things from last night's basketball action. we have all the highlights, now, from espn. >> doug kezirian here with your

"sportscenter" update. steph curry of the golden state warriors was an all-star snub. turns in one of the more memorable performances at madison square garden. curry, drilling the three. 23 points in the second quarter alone. fourth quarter action. curry. on fire. 54 points, the most by any player in an nba game this season. 11 of 13 from downtown. but melo drops his 35. the knicks win a thriller. to the college game. number four michigan, visiting penn state. nittany lions without a single win in big ten play. off the turnover. tim hardaway jr., finishing this. wolverines up 11. later, off the missed three-pointer, glenn robinson iii, the putback dunk. wolverines led by as many as 15

points in the second half. but somehow, the nittany lions rallied. jermaine marshall. we're tied at 74-74. d.j. newbill to the rock. and michigan starting to unravel. under a minute to go. marshall drives, spins. the acrobatic lay-in. penn state with its first conference win. 1-14. the crowd storming the court. another top-five team going down in college hoops. enjoy the rest of your day. i'm doug kezirian. >> what a rollercoaster season in college hoops. coming up next, "the pulse" this morning. and red carpet copycats. images of high fashion you have to see to believe. how's this for a take your daughter to work day? a budding tattoo artist, under the age of 10. and now hot pink toes. seems tough for a tough dog like duke. but when it has anything to do with gwen,

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time to check "the pulse," now. these are stories you'll be talking about all day long. starting with an artist's youthful take of the oscars. she's re-created that stellar night with the child models. there's the first lady. and halle berry and a version of that versace ground. and this little girl, imitating "skyfall" singer, adele, complete with the hair-do. a happy duo times two. ben affleck and his lovely bride, jennifer gardener. he needed help with the facial hair. good pictures. very cute. and speaking of kids, question here. would you get a tattoo, a real

tattoo, from a 7-year-old? well, if you said yes, head down to abilene, texas, and offer some skin to little alicia gutierrez. >> she is getting lessons from her dad who has been applying ink to his clients since he was 14 years old. john gutierrez says his daughter draws a lot. and with practice, she could be pretty good, by the age of 10 or 12. >> her dream is to open her own shop, just like her daddy. >> that's sweet. and now, to an amazing animal rescue, thanks to a veteran pilot with a bright idea. >> the pilot was called in to help when a deer and her fawn got stranden on a frozen canadian lake. the fawn freed itself. but mom could barely stand on that thin ice. that's when the pilot swooped down on his helicopter, getting so close, the wind from the spinning blades pushed the deer all the way to shore. >> the pilot said, he was just

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>> live from the kgo-tv broadcast center this is abc7 news. good thursday morning. thanks for joining us. i am eric thomas. >> i am kristen sze. >> we are ready for the warming trend. bring it on. >> we were bring on live doppler 7 hd to show you how quiet it is. no need to worry about wet weather. we don't have anything until sprinkles as we head through saturday night in the north bay. we said the temperatures would be mild: 50 in san francisco and 50 in oakland, 46 in san jose, and friend in concord and santa rosa. headed to the afternoon, a lot of cloud cover this morning but we see more sunshine in the afternoon, temperatures in the

mid-to-upper 60's in the bay and upper 60's to low 70's inland, and temperatures in the mid-50's to 60. how about the commute? >> we have a couple of things right now. the bay bridge toll plaza, several toll lane are closed because of maintenance work. you can see c.h.p. officer right here warning people to stay out of that particular lane. be aware for the next little bit as you approach the toll plaza you might find some slight delays. to the santa cruz mountains we have an accident north 17 at redwood states otherwise it is road work in san francisco northbound 280 you will find lanes blocked until 7:00 this morning. kristen and eric? >> 4:29. investigators in santa cruz are expected to reveal new details about the murders of two police officers as officials finalize plans for a public memorial service for the community.

this is a look outside the santa cruz police station right now where a wall of flowers and messages continues to grow by the hour. the community is in shock and came together last night to mourn the fallen officers. >> we are feeling very sad for the police officers so we went and prayed. >> this quiet beach town of 60,000 residents is in mourning. all ages turned out to pay tribute to detective elizabeth butler and sergeant butch baker. his best friends passed out candles but could not talk yet, it was all too overwhelming. >> his son is a community officer who i work very closely with. elizabeth has two really small children. they will grow up without their mother. that is very sad. she was an exceptional mom.

>> the coordinator of the vigil was inundated with e-mails. >> i was getting lots of e-mails from the neighbors, what can we do? how can we help? we need to talk. this is the best way with the community to come together, no speeches. just come and be with each other, write down your thoughts. >> i am all over the place, i am jittery and messed up. >> we are a small community and nothing like this has happen before. the officers have been part of the community for a long time and it is important to be strong and be one as we go through this. >> this morning the mayor is expected to make an announcement about funds set up to help support the families of the officers as well as plans for a community memorial service. in santa cruz for abc7