good morning, america. this morning, massive storms. after slamming california with record rain, this huge system is now moving east dumping heavy snow and freezing rain onto 100 million americans, causing this massive pileup, and there's more to come. invasion. that's what america is now calling russia's latest moves in ukraine. the stern talk between president obama and putin. it's a potential collision course, but what options does the white house really have here? out of control. take a look at this. a truck crashes through a grocery store and mows down customers trying to dive out of the way. how it happened and who was behind the wheel.

♪ hey yeah yeah yeah and it's "gma's" ultimate oscar party. we're on the red carpet as hollywood prepares for its biggest night of the year. over much night the awards before the awards. are they a predictor? and this morning our expert makes his picks as the stars deliver this message. >> good morning, america. ♪ ♪ i wake up to the city of angels ♪ good morning, everybody, on this oscar sunday, and we've got a "gma" pre-show blowout for you as the countdown to hollywood's biggest night. >> we're going to take you behind the scenes. some of the star presenters have been showing up already at the dolby theatre dressed down, though. of course, they're going over their lines and try to get used to the oscar stage. i can imagine it's just a bit intimidating. >> oh, man, billions of people watching. i would be -- or maybe a billion people. i don't know the exact number. i've never been good at math. >> give or take.

>> nerve-wracking, nontheless. these are the envelopes. is it envelopes or envelopes? >> either/or. >> ron claiborne says envelope. they're 200 bucks apiece, ron. the winner's name will be added to the card at showtime tonight. >> i've always wanted to rip one of those open. >> yeah? >> yeah. >> maybe someday. maybe someday. >> an aspiration i've always had. >> a strange ambition. >> i'm a strange person sometimes. >> yeah. >> l. many of us are buzzing -- i'll admit it. i can be strange sometimes. >> really opening up this morning. >> it's early, it's really early. but a lot of people obviously are talking about facebook and what's going on online as far as the oscars. we've got the inside scoop on which actors and movies are getting the most attention. can your post actually predict a winner? interesting question. >> absolutely, and our rachel smith already has a prime spot on the red carpet at the dolby theatre in hollywood. hey, rach, what do you have coming up for us this morning? >> reporter: hey, guys. the glitz and glamour

will be shining bright in just a few hours, but the star-stopping one tonight, it will be during idina menzel's performance of the oscar-nominated smash hit song "let it go" from "frozen." the song has a life of its own and i'll be spilling secrets on how the oscar producers are going to make it shine in my special all-oscars red carpet edition of "pop news." >> rachel, can i just tell you you always look beautiful but you look stunning. >> thanks. >> love the modesty. >> i'll take it this early. >> she handles a compliment very well. rachel, thank you. we also want to talk about one of the big questions hanging over this evening, the weather on the red carpet. california, as you know, has just come through a record bout of rain and this storm is now heading east across america. meteorologist ginger zee is in l.a. far from the red carpet covering it all. hey, ginger, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning to you, guys. i wanted to be here in a gown but here i am in rain gear. the storm moving to the east but its remnants, this is the los

angeles river. usually it would just be a trickle, if anything at all. it's one of so many visuals that gives you an indication of the 4 to, yes, almost 12 inches of rain in some parts of california. the wild wind, the waves and just a ruckus storm. take a look. wicked waves, shattering windows in this restaurant. diners dashing for the door. storm surges crashing high and hard in southern california, taking over this pier. boats pushing ashore, injuring two workers after waves sliced into another oceanside restaurant. >> he went through the door to the patio that had just been washed out by that same wave. >> reporter: trees falling on cars, trucks balancing on bridges. the flooding rains torturing the freshly torched foothills. sending a rescue team rafting into the rapid waters at malibu creek state park to find four stranded hikers. >> the system seems to have passed through and will give us

a false sense that everything's all right, the worst has gone by and we want to caution everybody. >> reporter: flooding and mud creeping everywhere. >> buy the sandbags. >> reporter: instagram and twitter all abuzz with #larain. from rain pouring over gutters to damaged bridges and cars trapped in the middle of standing water in los angeles' korea town. >> drive a little slower, just a little more vigilant. >> reporter: with the four-day soak coming to an end, the looming threat of mudslides isn't going anywhere. >> there's a possibility that mud and water could go up to six feet. >> reporter: so, again, just a few lingering showers. most of the storm has rocked to the east and we're already seeing the effects of it. look at this video from kansas city earlier, the airport. you can hardly see so they had inches of snow but on top of that some mix of sleet and freezing rain and that's the problem. this isn't just a snow event for parts of the midwest, midsouth and mid-atlantic. it is going to be some ice too but let me show you the snow

totals first anywhere in pink, 6 to 10 inches so washington, d.c., philadelphia, in the heart of it by the time we reach our monday. but a messy sunday before we get there for anywhere from kentucky through southern indiana, southern illinois, i've seen seen some video and pictures of sleet and snow coming along with thunder this morning then that ice, arkansas into parts of western tennessee, western kentucky, you see that bull's-eye of a half inch plus. that windchills will be bad and sidewalks terribly icy and dangerous and go check in on that one place where we were talking about earlier that is going to get a lot of snow. somewhere that's had their snowiest on record. indianapolis. and that's where we find alex perez. >> reporter: good morning, ginger. here in indianapolis they are bracing for anywhere from 6 to 8 inches of snow. this storm is creating major problems as it treks across the country.

accident after accident, overnight that fast-moving storm coating the roads in oklahoma city with dangerous ice. [ sirens ] in denver, the snow and ice blamed for this huge pileup, killing at least one person and injuring more than 20. >> i saw red lights, and the next thing you know, i'm underneath somebody else's car. >> reporter: temperatures in the mile high city dropped 42 degrees in just one day. authorities say at least 104 vehicles were involved in the pileup. in montana overnight, our first glimpse at the home destroyed by an avalanche that buried three people, including an 8-year-old boy. with shovel in hand, neighbors got them out. all three now recovering. >> these people are our neighbors. it could have happened to any of us. >> reporter: in pennsylvania, where they are bracing for up to a foot of snow, they are now stockpiling mountains of salt. an additional 20,000 tons after the last storm had them scramble iing to find more. >> we got our milk. >> reporter: in indiana, another storm that could bring highways to a standstill. >> we had several people come

out for salt and sorry to say, we had to turn them away. i don't think anybody has salt right now. >> reporter: and take a look at this. not even the mighty niagara falls a match for mother nature's biting cold. 60% of the rushing waters, frozen. at chicago's soldier field. at the nhl's outdoor matchup of the blackhawks versus the penguins the menacing storm made it difficult for crews to keep snow off the ice. and in missouri, authorities are telling motorists to stay off the roadways unless it's absolutely necessary. it's going to be a long day and a long night for the 100 million people in the path of this storm. dan. >> so many of us bracing for this storm. alex perez, thank you for your reporting this morning. and now to what america is officially calling a russian invasion of ukraine. russian troops spreading out throughout the strategic crimean peninsula. president obama speaking with russian president vladimir putin apparently pulling no punches, although it is unclear what the white house can really do about all this, so let's go to straight to abc's alex marquardt

who is on the ground in crimea. alex, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, dan. the pressure from russia is growing. large groups of pro-russia troops surrounding ukrainian bases, ordering their forces off of them so they can occupy them. the international warning to russia to end its invasion is being ignored. today scores of troops believed to be russian surrounded the ukrainian base, their message clear, surrender. the same is happening at other bases in ukraine's crimea region. they have twice asked the base command to surrender. so far they have refused. this is a russian invasion, the u.s. says. it has no doubt these are russian forces and has demanded their immediate withdrawal. >> the russian military must stand down. the aspirations of the ukrainian people must be respected and political dialogue must be allowed to continue. >> reporter: putin told obama that russia has a right to defend its interests and people in ukraine.

we've seen it for ourself, this column of armored personnel carriers roaming the roads in crimea where most people are russian while these shadowy pro-russian forces here violently took over government facilities. it has fueled civilian unrest across eastern ukraine. in one city, pro-russia demonstrators rampaged through city hall and brutally beat those who opposed them. there is a growing international chorus slamming russia's actions. the british prime minister saying there is no excuse. canada withdrawing its ambassador from moscow. but many here are hoping russia will go further. you want the russian army to come here. >> it's our family. it's not russia. >> reporter: the ukrainian military is now at its highest alert level. just a short while ago they announced that they are pulling up reservists. the united states as we speak taking part in emergency nato meeting to decide how to respond.

dan, bianna. >> it's really unclear what the ukrainian government can do or what the u.s. government can do so let's talk about all this with abc's george stephanopoulos who will be hosting "this week" later this morning. george, good morning. >> good morning. >> the president has said public think there will be costs if the russians invade, now they have. what kind of costs can we impose? >> hard to figure out exactly what those would be. what the president said already the united states will not stop planning for this summit in sochi where the olympics were just a few weeks ago. that's supposed to come up in june, the united states could refuse to participate in that. they could also move beyond that, pull our ambassador, more of our delegation out. we don't have a full time ambassador there right now. and then the big question is are we willing to go farther, try to impose financial sanctions on russia? one thing that seems pretty clear right now, no military action on the table at all. back in -- when vladimir putin went into georgia several years ago, president bush did move warships into the region.

did send humanitarian aid by military transport. that's about the most the united states could expect to do. >> meantime, putin just spent $50 billion trying to paint a new image for russia. does this just throw this out the door and does he even care? >> that's the big question. does he care right now? he sees crimea as an important part perhaps of the russian empire. it was part of russia until 1954. he doesn't see move to stand down right now. i think the big question is, is he going to expand more broadly into the rest of ukraine? that is a real red line that could be provoke a more serious reaction from the west. >> so many questions. i want to switch gears to a decidedly lighter note and pull back the curtain on the many-splendored life of george stephanopoulos. you're going to head out to l.a. to the oscars. >> going to the oscars, looking forward. always such a great night looking forward to being out there with robin and lara and josh and we're going to have a couple of fun pieces on "this week" this morning, as well talking to ben affleck about his passion project in the congo but also lara spencer sat down with espn's stat guru, nate silver, and they have cracked the code

and they have figured out what it takes to be a best picture. you can find out what it is on "this week." >> nate moving on from sports to politics to now hollywood. thanks, george. >> kind of like george. >> exactly. following in your footsteps. thanks, george. have a great time out there. >> thank you. as a reminder "this week" airs later this important right here on abc. george will crunch the numbers of the oscars as we said and have the latest news and analysis on the crisis in ukraine. but now let's get a check of the morning's other top stories. for that we'll go over to ron. >> hi there, bianna and dan. strangely quiet here this morning, isn't it? >> sara is gone. >> oh, sara is gone. right. good morning. good morning, everyone. we actually begin with some serious news. a terrifying crash in las vegas as an suv goes barreling through the front doors of a popular supermarket injuring more than two dozen people. police say the suv went careening across the entire store taking out four registers before finally stopping at the far end of that store. 26 people were injured. one of them critically. the out-of-control vehicle sent shoppers scrambling for cover. >> it was chaos.

it looked like a bomb had gone off in there. it was, people were running all over the place. >> investigators believe the 80-year-old woman behind the wheel of the truck somehow lost control of that vehicle. also in nevada, a navy fighter jet crashed during a training accident in the western part of the state. the single seat f/a-18 c hornet went down in a remote area 70 miles east of taif al air station fallon. navy officials say helicopter and ground crews are having a difficult time trying to reach the crash site because of the mountainous terrain. no word yet on what caused the crash or the condition of the pilot. and now to a horrifying mass knife attack in china. at least ten knife-wielding assailants went on a vicious attack at a train station in china's yew than province killing 33 people and wounding another 143 people. the chinese government called the attack an organized premeditated act of terrorism by ethnic separatists in the western part of that country. and south africa is gearing up for what has been called that nation's trial of the century.

it begins monday in pretoria, south africa, oscar pistorius, of course, is charged with shooting and killing his girlfriend, reeva steenkamp. pistorius says he mistook her for a burglar. overnight the family of the former blade runner released a statement saying, "the time for public commentary is over. the focus is now entirely on a very serious trial that is set to start this monday." and finally lebron james hit the hardwood saturday sporting a clear mask after the nba asked that the black mask that he had been wearing off and on since he broke his nose, that he stop wearing that. the miami heat star talked about how he felt about the nba's, well, special request that he stop wearing that black mask. >> i'm good with the nba. we're good. [ laughter ] i'm not -- i am not against the nba, so they had a request, and i fulfilled it. let's just say that. >> and the clear mask apparently proved no problem for king james. he scored 20 points.

also grabbed 9 rebounds as the heat beat the orlando magic, 112-98. so i guess it doesn't really matter what mask he wears. still a great player. >> a bit like hannibal lecter though. thanks, ron. >> thank you, ron. now, to our oscar sunday blow-out. we're just hours away from the red carpet arrival, the gowns, the envelopes or as ron would say the envelopes. the surprises and the big speeches. >> but before all of that, the last big blast before the big night, of course, we're talking about the spirit awards. you might say it's the pre-party where the stars come out under a tent at the beach. how great does that sound. abc's chris connelly is on the red carpet with clues as to who takes home tonight's oscars. hey, chris, great to see you. >> good morning, bianna and dan. yes, the independent spirit awards honor the best in movies not funded by a major studio. saturday's event bestowed lots of honors on a lot of performers whom we'll see walking this red carpet later today. alongside the pacific saturday's independent spirit awards rolled

out a stress-free blue carpet for some eager to chillax nominees. >> there's not too much time for naps. i got three kids, as well but if i can sneak one in there when they go down, that's like desse dessert. >> reporter: if the award circuit seems like a grind, don't tell cate blanchett. >> this is like cream. you have an extraordinary opportunity to be in a brilliantly written screenplay. that is a win/win situation. >> reporter: sounds like every movie you've ever made. >> no, no, some are straight to video. >> reporter: for "nebraska's" bruce dern and daughter laura dern, the journey has been grand. >> i think people are discovering i can play and that's all i ever really wanted out of this. you know? >> it's almost like if you pay me less money, i'm going to work harder. i think they find -- >> reporter: if we pay you less money, you'll work harder. the spirit awards carpet seemed to create a kind of community for up-and-comers like shailene woodley. you had a wonderful moment a second ago with angela bassett. >> i had a chance to hug that chick.

she gives amazing hugs. >> reporter: patten oswald fretted about his hosting responded at the show then he remembered his love scene from the film "young adults." >> i had to get naked with charlize. i can't be humiliated any more than that. >> reporter: while jared leto recalled had is mother's role in putting him there. >> my mom used to bring me to the art house theater when i was a kid and, you know, that was my introduction to independent depth cinema. i should probably say that tonight if i win. >> reporter: he did win accepting as though he might not get another chance. >> in case this is the last time i get to thank anyone -- >> reporter: other winners including mcconaughey and blanchett and there were best supporting actress lupita nyong'o whose oscar thoughts were down to earth. what are you looking forward to seeing tomorrow at the oscars. >> seeing, the carpet. >> reporter: other winners included "fruitvale station" for best first feature and for

best documentary, "20 feet from stardom" which may or may not hear its title called out inside the dolby tonight, dan and bianna. >> we will have to wait with bated breath. thank you, chris. see you later in the show. our own robin roberts and lara spencer co-host oscar's "red carpet live" airing oscar sunday starting at 7:00 followed by the oscars with ellen degeneres, of course, only here on abc. >> and we'll have everything oscar on monday, of course, from the fashion to the after-party, it's "gma's" ultimate oscar party. >> best part of the year. meantime, now for a check of the weather and ginger zee, who is in los angeles, hey, ginger. >> you know what there is some positive news out in california. i was with some folks yesterday. where there wasn't the flooding, mudslides and horrible surf you had cheers and just so excited about getting this rain because of the historic drought as with a bunch of people they start cheering, clapping loud when the rain starts falling 4 to almost again 1 in2 inches.

when you have this energy at this time of year, severe weather is possible and it is today in eastern texas, parts of arkansas, mississippi, almost the entire state of louisiana. that would be large hail, damaging winds possible and isolated tornado and i mentioned cold because you got to have cold mixing with that warm to get that severe, well, the cold overnight lows you're seei ing there. ah, minneapolis, improvement in the workweek. new york city stays subnormal for sure. 10 is the morning temperature on tuesday. by, you know, starts to go up into the 20s but still this is pretty cold stuff. back to california here, though, as we dry out, just a few lingering showers today. los angeles goes to 62. sacramento, 64. that drying out here is not so much in the pacific northwest, you see a few of those showers but oscar sunday itself, looking pretty good. i don't think a whole lot of folks will have problems on the red carpet. temperature will be 62. wins won't be all that bad. just to give you an idea of what's happening here. we'll be tracking the rest of

the storm, of course, throughout the show but for now that's so just to give you another idea of how much water came so quickly, you can see the debris line along the los angeles river. there's still water in it. there usually isn't. at one point i was standing here there were rumbling rapids and people were just amazed at what was happening. of course, i'll tell you more about that storm, where it's moving, where the winter storm warnings are for more than two

dozen states. dan and bianna? coming up on "good morning america," the oscar goes to? our expert weighs in on who will win and the big surprises, which are the closest races to watch. there are really interesting races this year, plus, emotional oscar moments. winning and crying. we have got the numbers. what percentage of resip jenss shed tears and why it wasn't always this way. and behind oscar's green room door, a sneak peek inside the amazing space where the most elite will meet during the show tonight. everyone is gathering tonight for the biggest show of the year coming up, and, of course, it'll be here on abc and we will be right back. "good morning america" is brought to you by pronamel. help protect your enamel against the effects of acid erosion. [ bettina ] my dentist said to me that i had acid erosion. he actually told me that a lot of the foods that i thought were really healthy for me

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♪ crazy is what they say about me ♪ just hours left. stars heating up the red carpet. >> and the spirit award goes to -- >> hollywood getting in the spirit. >> well, all right, all right, all right. >> and learning how to let it go. ♪ let it go >> dream big. >> as we say -- >> good morning, america. ♪ here we go >> those were matthew mcconaughey's first lines ever in a movie. all right, all right, all right. which movie? name the movie. >> you just told me. "dazed and confused." >> that was a great movie. >> yes, it was. >> obviously that was a warm-up to the big night you saw last night, the stars appearing a lot more relaxed at yesterday's indy spirit awards. a decidedly more laid back affair. it's so fun to see hollywood all come together and you see how friendly they all are. >> it is.

tonight, though, anything but laid back. we're just hours away from the red carpet arrivals on our own red carpet at "gma." this one apparently a lot easier to get access to for some reason. >> you didn't see all the security guards out there. >> no doubt they're thinking hard about their possible acceptance speeches. >> but before anybody gets to deliver that speech, they need to win obviously and the suspense is building as we tick towards tonight's show. >> there have been so many great performances this year, but who is most likely to take home the hardware tonight? abc's chris connelly joins us again with a look at the front-runners. hey, chris. >> reporter: dan and bianna, there have been open and shut oscar evenings, but this does not seem like one of them. expect to feel the suspense right up to the last envelope. they've made the movies. >> cut. >> reporter: they've rocked the red carpets. now, which of this year's major category nominees is going home with an oscar tonight? there are no sure things but -- ♪ let it go

let it go ♪ >> reporter: there will likely be good news for little sisters everywhere as animation nation figures to be celebrating a "frozen" win. ♪ turn away and slam the door >> reporter: double trouble in supporting actress. >> thank god for me. >> reporter: "american hustle's" jennifer lawrence is always compelling, but for portraying her character's all but unimaginable anguish, "12 years a slave's" lupita nyong'o is expected to prevail. >> why you so good to me? >> reporter: as for supporting actor "dallas buyers club's" jared leto remains the favorite transforming into the heart-rending rayon. >> four pirates on board. four pirates. >> reporter: still, could barkhad abdi from "captain phillips" shock the world with a win here? >> i'm the can't now. >> reporter: all sandra bullock does in "gravity" is give an entire megamovie it's emotional gravitas. >> i'm off structure and i'm drifting. do you copy? >> reporter: cate blanchett's work in woody allen's "blue jasmine" has spelled a probable

best actress victory since july. >> do you have any idea what that's like? >> reporter: there's talent to burn in best actor amid formidable competition things look all right, all right, all right for a post ramcon matthew mcconaughey giving perhaps the performance of his career in "dallas buyers club." best picture, now, that's some high drama. the amazing "gravity" will capture more total awards. >> what do i do? >> reporter: with its unflinching look at a shameful chapter in u.s. history -- >> i will not fall into despair. >> reporter: "12 years a slave" will win the night's final oscar. >> till freedom is opportune. >> reporter: so it could be a something for everyone oscars or a night in which a single movie appears to dominate. we won't really know until the very end. guys. >> i don't know, "12 years a slave," "philomena," those are probably my two favorite movies of the year. >> ron and i agree "12 years a

slave" will win and should win and speaking of ron let's get it over to the man for a look at the morning's headlines. hey, ron. >> hey. hi again, dan and bianna. good morning, everyone. we begin with the unfolding crisis in the ukraine. ukraine's leader says, quote, we are on the brink of disaster," and he's urging russian president vladimir putin to pull back the russian military. there were reports of hundreds of russian troops heading toward crimea's capital city, this despite calls from president obama for russia to pull back its forces. and back here in the u.s., suspensions have been handed out following that wild college basketball brawl a few days ago. new mexico state's k.c. ross-miller will have to sit out two games. renaldo dixon will be idle for one game for violating the league's sportsmanship policy. ross-miller hurled the ball at a player, a wolverines player seconds after that game ended sparking that melee. and finally, the boss like you've never heard him before. ♪ i'll never be wrong ♪ it ain't in our blood that

kind just ain't for us ♪ >> that ios bruce springsteen singing lorde's song of the year "royals." he created quite a buzz online. he performed it in auckland, new zealand, as he wrapped up his tour down under. no word if he'll give fans here an encore performance when his tour hits the u.s. and that's coming up in april. time now for the weather and over to ginger zee out in my hometown of los angeles. hey there, ginger. >> ron, your hometown is looking a whole lot different after all that rain. three consecutive days of rain in los angeles alone and most people excited but look, it does cause some damage. in that river you can see where everything was standing up has been bowled over by the hefty swift winds and, of course, the river. i do want to talk about where the energy goes now off to the east and in a place like st. louis, we have an earth camera. give you an idea of what's happening. rain, snow, freezing rain, sleet and that's this type of storm. why we have more than 20 states

with some sort of advisory, warning or watch and where you see pink a lot of places will pick up 6 plus inches of snow along with whatever else. you go to the east side of it, it is going to be a rough monday commute for places like philadelphia, washington, d.c., if you're traveling anywhere there, you'll want to check ahead. and here's something i want to spend a little extra time on or maybe you don't. well, the jet stream will get right back into position as we have been throughout the winter. you see that much below average from minneapolis through parts of the great lakes, chicago, you're included there. yes, this is a prediction for your march. the entire month. los angeles and everywhere west looks like we'll get back into that drier and warmer pattern at least as we start spring. remember

>> all that weather brought to you by oreida. it is so good to be back on the weekend show. thank you so much for having me. we'll track it as it goes east. >> thank you, ginger. coming up here on "gma," we're used to tears at the oscars, but it wasn't always this way. we'll show you the most emotional oscar moments and the speeches that truly opened the floodgates. and facebook users buzzing about oscar. what if they got to pick tonight's winners? who would they be? we'll tell you straight ahead. we'll tell you straight ahead. o would they pick for the winners? we'll tell you straight ahead.

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♪ ♪ they say there's a fine line between pleasure and pain, which is why we cry when we're happy. >> some of us. that may explain why oscar winners get so teary when they're up there thanking their mom, their dad, their spouse and the academy. but the waterworks are a fairly recent development. reena ninan is here with that story. >> good morning, guys. for most of america, it's an annual ritual. everyone gathers in front of the tv for the academy awards. but sometimes the acceptance

speeches feel more like a tearful eulogy. >> and the oscar goes to -- >> octavia spencer. >> reporter: this is how we have gotten used to seeing actors collect their oscars. but the tears of joy are a far cry from how old-school hollywood composed itself. >> thank you to everybody. >> i want to thank my family, my good close friends. >> reporter: it was sally field who gave new meaning to oscar acceptance speech. >> you like me. right now you like me. >> opening up oscar night's floodgates. >> thank you. thank you ever so much. >> now oscar tears are ever so much a part of the tradition. according to a new study, since 1995, 71% of hollywood has turned on the waterworks when accepting the statuette. >> when they get up there on stage at the oscars, it's the end of a long campaign, so i think a lot of them are just relieved and they get emotional. >> reporter: statistics show the ladies break down twice as often as the gents. >> oh, god. >> but the guys have their moments too.

>> the woman i share my life with has taught me and demonstrates for me every day just what love is. >> nothing triggers the tears better than the "m" word. >> my mother, blythe danner. >> my mom, who is the most brave, beautiful woman i have ever known. >> and matt's mother, the most beautiful women here. >> reporter: for those trained to turn it on and turn it off on cue, why can't they keep it together when it comes to that big night? >> oh, my god. >> reporter: i remember that moment. and it's not just the tears you'll see tonight, but you'll hear lots of thank yous. thank you, academy, thank you to my agents and, of course, those film executives and studios. >> don't they only have like 25 seconds this year i think? they imposed some sort of time limitation. 45 seconds. >> and they have a man with a stick, remember? julia roberts and the guy held up a stick. please, stick man. this is my final moment. >> can we say, by the way, that

ron claiborne is looking dapper, dapper. >> you want me to bring you a drink, right? a water. >> coming up on "good morning america," your sneak peek at the most exclusive room in hollywood. it's just steps away from the stage at the oscars. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ k. raftsmen seasoned every sausage perfectly. so you can coax out great flavor effortlessly. hillshire farm >> coming up on "good morning at hillshire farm, there's a reason our slow roasted turkey taste so fresh. seconds after carving, we not only seal every slice, we double seal it. the results are something to savor. hillshire farm beacuse it's worth doing right.

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♪ hey hey oh here we go all right, time now for a very special edition of "pop news" from the red carpet. let's go back to rachel smith looking gorgeous in hollywood. hey, rachel. >> thanks. thanks. already hitting this red carpet. dark and early here in los angeles. let's jump on into this oscar sunday edition of "pop news." first up a little fashion glitz and glam for the fashion conscious, that is, the oscars is an opportunity to sport some serious bling. it's not uncommon for big

starlets to rock millions of dollars worth of jewels. but we are hearing it's not just the celebrities who will be blinged out, we're told the producers have been trekking in thousands of swarovski crystals to deck out the set for idina menzel's performance of "let it go." the oscar nominated song from "frozen" and to be exact, around 165,000 sparkling crystals which are sure to dazzle even the biggest hollywood stars. another little gem for you, guys. we've also managed to get you a little sneak peek at the oscars' green room. now this is the spot where all the stars hang out as they prepare for their presenting role, the genius work of a new york architect named david rockwell hand selected by the editor of "architectural digest" to create this spectacular space. now, check this out. it includes 86 samsung devices on one wall alone. a twitter mirror because some celebs might want to indulge in some selfie action and 14 framed movie photos hand picked by susan sarandon.

there's also an adjacent outdoor lounge area they're calling the fantasy garden that looks very, very chic. let's hope they have an awning for any rain that may be coming in. and the oscars have not only taken over hollywood, but also social media. as a part of our partnership with facebook, "gma" likes the oscars, we've got the inside scoop on which stars are getting the most buzz. and it seems if facebook users were voting, sandra bullock and j. law would have it in the bag for best actress and best supporting actress. now, in the best actor category, matthew mcconaughey is getting the most buzz except among 18 to 34-year-olds, now they're preferring leonardo dicaprio. and it seems to be a two-horse race for best supporting actor, the guys of facebook are rooting for bradley cooper whereas the girls, they are all talking about them some jared leto, hmm, i'm thinking it's those eyes and that hair. and finally, as you can imagine, the oscar rehearsals are an incredibly crucial part of the process and none of the stars

are exempt. now, pharrell, bette midler and karen o, they have been rehearsing their big performances and seen the star presenters, plenty of them showing up casual in jeans to practice their lines and find out where they have to stand on stage and this is a little fun nugget for you. there are also rehearsal actors who sit in the first few rows with placards showing the names and faces of who will occupy the seats and our own lara spencer has been practicing tweeting out this great snapshot from her rehearsal. check it out. awesome. great, guys. well, that's "pop news" from the red carpet. happy oscar sunday. >> great to see you on the red carpet. again, rachel, you know, when i interviewed idina menzel a few weeks ago, she said she was so nervous about this too, big night. >> got to feel for her. thank you, rachel. >> we'll be right back. >> we'll be right back. ago, she was nervous. big night. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back. gas, not to mention the rumbling... you feel totally knocked out. eat activia.

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of course, don't forget robin and lara co-host oscars "red carpet live" at 7:00 followed by the oscars and ellen degeneres only here on abc. >> we'll have everything oscar on monday. it's "gma's" ultimate oscar party. i'm really looking forward to watching. i'm going to have ron over and he's going to be wearing that bow tie. >> i'll fix it for him.

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good morning, and welcome to "this week." brink of war. russian forces take crimea. parliament authorizes a strike on ukraine. with the world on high alert, will vladimir putin expand his invasion? >> there will be costs for the military intervention in the ukraine. >> what will those costs be? does president obama have what it takes to prevent war. this morning, answers from secretary of state john kerry and our experts from the danger zone. plus live reports from the danger zone. culture clash. that hot button bill in arizona. a water shed moment in the fight for gay rights? our powerhouse roundtable take on that debate and all the week's politics. plus mr. affleck goes to washington, and nate silver cracks the oscar code.