making news in america this morning -- breaking overnight. artillery fire exchanged between north and south korea. people are being evacuated from their homes. what sparked the latest tension? demanding action. riot police called in. and tear gas hurled into crowds. a 12-hour protest turns from peaceful to mayhem. hammered by hail. a mall gets damaged by a severe storm. causing a deluge of water to come pouring in. wild finish. after another march madness upset, the ncaa tournament is down to its final four. and good monday morning. we begin with several breaking stories overnight.

an exchange of fire between north and south korea. >> south korea returned fire after shells from a north korean military drill fell into a disputed area. residents of nearby islands evacuated to bomb shelters as a precaution. despite the tensioning this morning, experts do not expect the dispute to escalate further. in albuquerque, the march over a fatal shooting of a homeless man turned violent. >> the demonstration dragged on for more than ten hours. people fired back with tear gas and arrested several people. the shooting that took place two weeks ago was captured on video. the fbi is investigating. a milestone day for obamacare. today marks the end of the six-month signup period. >> so far, more than 6 million have signed pup. the number the white house said was needed to keep the new law financially afloat. so what's next? kristin fisher joins us with all the answers from washington this morning.

good morning, kristin. >> reporter: good morning, john and diana. just because today is the official deadline, the enrollment process continues for one more week thanks to a last-minute change from the white house. that is not sitting well with many republicans. with the deadline to enroll in obamacare just hours away, the white house says it's closing in on its goal of getting 7 million americans to enroll in health insurance by the end of today. to speed things along, the white house says as long as you start signing up on midnight tonight, you'll have until next monday to complete the process. that new loophole letting stragglers sign up late has republicans outraged. >> what the hell is this? a joke? >> it's been the legal equivalent of swiss cheese. >> reporter: more than 6 million people have signed up. 1 million in just the last week. it's a major accomplishment after a rocky start. but those enrollment numbers

come with a catch. for one, it's not clear how many of those people have actually paid the premiums. not to mention, no one knows how many young people have signed up. a critical component to obamacare's success. >> you're seeing a surge of interest. many from families that are desperate to finally get access to health care insurance. >> reporter: still, democrats say that 6 million number is already a win for the affordable care act. >> the rollout was really bad. but let's look at what's happened since that. we have millions of people that have signed up. millions. >> reporter: so as open enrollment comes to an end, many republicans are trying to repeal obamacare. no doubt, it will be one of the biggest battlegrounds in this year's midterm elections. john? diana? back to you. >> kristin fisher, live in washington this morning for us. thank you. all right, there's a fresh sign of hope this morning in the search for malaysian airlines flight 370. australian search crews trying to zero in on four orange objected spotted from a plane flying over the ocean. a few days' worth of pings are

left on the black boxes. abc's nikki battiste from perth, australia. >> reporter: it's been 23 days since flight 370 went missing. still no parts of the plane have been found and still no answers. right now, 100 people in the air, and a thousand out at sea look for any new debris. as the search for the missing plane enters its fourth week, australian prime minister tony abbott said in a press conference today that the momentum an magnitude of the search is increasing. >> if this mystery is solvable, we'll solve it. >> reporter: ten aircraft and ships are involved today. while there have been multiple objects sighted in the search area in the last few days, none have been able to be confirmed from flight 370. until surface ships are able to retrieve the orange objects or any new debris spotted today, we won't know if any of them are from the missing plane. today, this huge australian vessel, the "ocean shield," built for the roughest of seas, will set out to find the data recorders.

it's been equipped with u.s. navy ocean pingers. it will take three of four days just to reach the search area. pressure is on, time is critical, and the batteries in the two black boxes will last only about a week. nikki battiste, abc news, perth, australia. secretary of state john kerry held high-stablgs talks with russia's foreign minister if an attempt to make some progress. it was the first face-to-face meeting since the people of crimea voted to join russia. the u.s. refuses to recognize that move and imposed sanctions on russia. vladimir putin made a surprise phone call to president obama. >> the u.s. and russia have differences of opinion about the events that led to this crisis. but both of us recognize the importance of finding a diplomatic solution. >> the u.s. says the russian troops massing along the ukrainian border are a threat to peace. and though the two sides are looking for a diplomatic way

out, no new talks are planned. in washington state, the back-breaking work in the mudslide disaster into its second week. the recovery mission continues. officials have lowered the number of missing down from 90 to 30. the death toll stands at 21. more than 400 people are involved in the recovery efforts. the searchers are focusing special attention on retrieving personal belongings like wallets and photos. search dogs are getting a two-daybreak to keep senses fresh. in new england, heavy downpours. the one jeep driver there getting a thrill. they won't be drying out too much today though. the storm sticks around longer. even some snow in some parts. more snow for the upper plains. blizzard conditions are expected this. there. fargo could get 18 inches of snow. showers in the upper mississippi valley. wintry mix in the upper rockies. a new storm hits san francisco as well as up the coast. >> but it is beginning to feel like spring, too. with 70s and 80s in the south.

50s and 60s along the east coast. the fast food breakfast wars are heating up. it's the consumer winning. what mcdonald's is giving out for free starting today. plus, rattled nerves. more than 100 aftershocks hit the los angeles area. experts are weighing in and if the big one is not far behind. and fast-acting hero. an opposing soccer player jumping into action to save another player's life.

man: constant tingling in my toes. woman: i had double vision. man: they said, "you have multiple sclerosis." man: i kind of had to get a grasp on reality. man: i had to adapt and change very rapidly. woman: i had to lear how to drive with my hands -- yeah, that was interesting. man: a symptom may cause you not to be able to do that anymore, and at one point, i was able to do any of those. man: since i've been cycling, it's definitely helped my walking. woman: it's a fantastic opportunity to be working together with a common goal of curing ms, and sharing is the key.

a mentor in my life. it makes me feel good because i know i am helping someone. the first time i seen her smile, i knew it was gonna be a better year and a better day. she has changed my life, now i can be whatever i want to. she taught me never to give up, and i never will. mentoring works, become a mentor. and welcome back. it's a big week for general motors as the ceo prepares to appear on capitol hill, we're learning that both gm and the

federal government could have acted sooner to stop a deadly problem. that problem? a faulty ignition switch that could turn off the engine and air bags unexpectedly. so far, the autopaiker has rauled 3 million older models. gm decided not the recall the situation nine years ago. much more on "good morning america." and tesla is making 16,000 of its expensive electric cars more crash-worthy. the batteries last year on three model "s" cars burst into flames. the company will reinfours the undercarriage with high-tech steel. taco bell now offering breakfast. starting today, mcdonald's is offering free coffee for the next two weeks. after weathering a sea of

controversy this weekend, "noah" styled the top of the box office. the audiences were plit evenly between men and women. helping the imbring in $44 million. >> divergent came in second, and the monuppet movie same in thir. "frozen" is now the top animated movie. >> you have to see it, diana. >> i'm on my way this weekend. >> good. >> no. that's not -- >> when we come back, severe weather. damage to the pal roof. down to the final four. who is left in the ncaa tournament after some upsets in the elite eight. ♪ [ cellphones beeping ] ♪ [ cellphone rings ] hello?

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all right. it's here today, gone tomorrow for the snow on in buffalo and western new york. the area got as much as ten inches this weekend. with temperatures in the 60s today and tomorrow, that should melt the snow pils. for a look at the morning road conditions. snow danger around billings, montana. showers could be trouble in the upper midwest. careful on the roads in new england as well. airport delays possible in minneapolis, a wintry mix, san francisco, due to rain, and boston will be windy and wet. dozens of families allowed to return home after the 5.1 earthquake hit southern california. >> for now for ryan owens. >> reporter: the quake lasted a few seconds. the aftershocks are still reserr reverberatin reverberating. nerve racking but normal, say

seismologists. southern california yans should expect between 2 3 and 20 aftershocks for up to a week. there may be hundreds more too small to feel. there's a 10% chance that one aftershock could be a magnitude 5 or smaller. there's a small chance this was a foreshock, a preview of a bigger one. seismologists say it's a matter of time. there's a 99% chance of a 6.7 magnitude or higher quake somewhere in california in the next 30 years. behind me, one of the homes damaged in the quake. there's a sizable crack that runs right next to the garage. the family has not been allowed to come home. it's unclear they would want to as long as the aftershocks continue. ryan owens, abc news, fullerton, california. a frantic search is under way near santa barbara, california, after three people were swept away during a water

bap 'tis m on the beach. one man is missing. he was helping a church pastor baptize members yesterday. two embarrassing world trade center breaches have people demanding action. charles schumer wants the center to beef up security after a teen got to the top and three skydivers turned themselves in after releasing the tape of their jump off the building. passing note this morning in the world of show business. british actress kate o'mara has died suddenly in a nursing home in england after a brief illness. she was 74 years old. hong kong zbeting battered by torrential rains. the drenching downpour flooded a shopping mall last night.

huge hailstones shattering glass. rain poured on to the escalators. some areas got up to two inches of rain in an hour. it's not over yet for more rain is still on the way. overseas, a frightening incident. the goalie inadvertently knees a guy on the other team in the head. he goes out cold. an opponent reaches into his mouth and opens his airway. the guy was carried off the field on a stretcher but was awake. thanks to a quick-thinking opponent. >> wow. here at home, opening day for major league baseball. >> last night, the dodgers and padres getting things going. the pad race seth smith tying it at 1-1. san diego tacked on two more runs, they won it, 3-1. and the red sox open defense of their world series title this afternoon.

there's also march madness to talk about. highlights from espn. good morning, america. we have a final four in the ncaa men's tournament. they'll play on saturday and then the championship on monday. how did they get here? kentucky starting five freshmen. jordan morgan, wow, ties it at 72-72. kentucky. aaron harris. stepback. for three, got it! harris' papa, yeah, he likes it. >> day try to send the game the overtime, for three, no. kentucky, improbably advances to the final four. uconn or michigan state to the final four? from new york city, shabazz napier, wow, has he been good. 34 seconds to play.

oh, michigan state down by two. napier fouled. he gets three free throws. makes them palm from there, philip nolan. exclamation point. kevin ollie hugs his former coach. hey, baseball is back. opening baseball on espn. chicago cubs and the surprising from last year pittsburgh pirates. and, the cardinals and reds from cincinnati. enjoy the baseball. opening day, america. >> baseball's back. it's got the get warm sooner or later. one more hoops shot. in phoenix. >> with an arena full of people looking on. he nails it! half court shot. it was part of a pro motion. it was good. very good for $77,777. >> he celebrated with the suns

gorilla mascot and the members of the team. talk about responding to pressure. nothing but net. >> nice! >> very nicely done. up next, "the pulse." opening day is finally here. some stadiums are rolling out interesting grub. and slimed. mark wahlberg hosts an awards show and pays the price. >> uh-oh.

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it's available at diamondbacks games. an 18-inch corn dog and fries for $25. they say it feeds two to three people. >> this is a bacon mac and cheese burger. this one at white sox games. you can enjoy one today as the sox take on minnesota. that,ky get into. >> and a free ambulance to the hospital afterwards. >> and a three-pound ba fa that split on the south side of chicago. >> i don't know how i feel about something that is that much and cost me that much and it will melt before i can get to my seat. >> i'm on board with everything i have seen so far. >> you want a little bit of everything. sfwlmp check this out, mark wahlberg said he was unslimable. the only unslimable host of the nickelodeon awards. it doesn't happen until the end of the show.

when kevin hart helped wahlberg's kids a knock fok joke. >> all right fine. who is there? >> we got. >> what do you mean, we got? we got who? >> we got you. >> we got you, sucker, ha ha, we got you. >> the sliming lasted a full 30 seconds. they got him good as the green goop came down, he shouted to his kids, i can't believe my own kids turned on me. >> among those slimed, cale li cuo cuoco. pharell. >> mark wall burg juhlberg just there. >> when i was little, i always, always wanted to be slimed. next up, a competition more grownup soon to welcome someone

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