quite an icon. making news in america this morning, too close to call. the special election in pennsylvania comes down to the wire. a razor thin margin separating the candidates overnight. democrats claiming victory. >> and tonight we celebrate regaining our voice and our vote in the great business of governing this country we love. thank you. >> but republicans not conceding. the latest on the vote count. white house shake-up. hours after dismissing secretary of state rex tillerson on twitter, this morning, president trump may soon fire another cabinet member. walkout wednesday. exactly one month after the plus school shooting that sparked a nationwide gun control movement students at thousands of schools across the country plan to walk

out protesting this morning as the suspected shooter heads back to court. and we remember professor stephen hawking who inspired millions and taught us so much more than just physicaphysics. >> if you are lucky enough to find love, it's rare and don't throw it away. >> one of the life lessons from one of the greatest minds in science. mind blowing. as we do say good morning on this wednesday we'll start with the breaking news, thespecial congressional election in pennsylvania is too close to call. >> only a few hundred votes separate the candidates with more absentee ballots left to count, still the democrats are declaring victory. >> tara palmeri has been watching the slow, slow vote count in the early morning hours. she joins us now with the latest. >> reporter: good morning, kendis and diane. that's right. the country is watching a congressional race that is too close to call.

in washington, the election in western pennsylvania is seen as an indicator of the country's political pulse. just more than one year into the trump presidency. overnight votes still being counted in a razor thin special election. a little after midnight democratic candidate conor lamb declaring victory just a 579-vote lead over rick saccone and more than 1300 absentee ballots still outstanding. >> it took a little longer than we thought but we did it. >> reporter: republicans not ready to concede. >> you know we're still fighting the fight. it's not over yet. we're going to fight all the way -- all the way to the end. >> reporter: the race being watched from around the country as a bellwether of what's to come in the midterm elections. president trump stumping for saccone over the weekend. in 2016 he won that district by nearly 20 points. >> they're all watching because i won this district like by 22

points. it's a lot. >> reporter: a victory for lamb in trump country is seen as a sign of a blue wave across the country. for democrats this corrally their fund-raising efforts ahead of the november elections. just days of assigning market rattling tariffs president trump in steel country came out swinging against the democratic candidate who claimed he is running as a moderate. >> lamb the sham. he's trying to act like a republican so he gets -- he won't give me one vote. >> reporter: republicans have spent a whopping $10 million on this race. earlier this morning the national republican congressional committee said they're ready to ensure that every legal vote is counted. diane, kendis. >> that's code word for the lawyers are heading your west, southwestern pennsylvania. >> thanks. the world's most renown the physicist since albert einstein has died. stephen hawking passed away peacefully at his home in cambridge, england, at the age of 76. he was best known for his research on black holes and relativity and wrote several

popular books including "a brief history in time." he discuss the his life's work and his legacy with diane sawyer in 2010 he also spoke of his children and being a father. >> and then what do you say to your children? what is the best fatherly advice that you give them? >> here are the most important pieces of advice that i've passed on to my children. one, remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. two, never give up work. work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it. >> it's beautiful advice. >> three, if you are lucky enough to find love, remember it is rare and don't throw it away. >> hawking, of course, denied the odds living with als for 50 years. his children said their dad once told them it would not be much of a universe if it wasn't home

to the people you love. coincidentally he died on albert einstein's bhirtday and we'll have much more. >> he died on pi day, 3/14. the staff shake-up in the trump administration may not be over just yet. there is word another cabinet member may be on the way out. it all comes as secretary of state rex tillerson prepares to formally leave his position by the end of the month. the president named the cia director to replace him amid growing concerns about a staffing shortage. rex tillerson's firing along with his undersecretary adds to key vacancies. he learned of his firing at the same time the president's twitter followers did. >> rex and i have been talking about this for a long time. we got along quite well but disagreed on things. >> reporter: an emotional tillerson who lost his father just days ago later addressed the firing saying he was grateful to serve. >> what is most important is to ensure an orderly and smooth

transition during a time that the country continues to face significant policy and national security challenges. >> reporter: it's no secret the president clashed with his secretary of state. last summer tillerson reportedly called the president a moron and trump publicly mocked tillerson for suggesting talks with north korea. abc's martha raddatz calls the staffing crisis at the state department unprecedented. >> a ghost town just as that proposed historic meeting with kim jong-un is being finalized. there's no confirmed assistant secretary for east asia. no ambassador to south korea and no special representative for north korea policy. >> reporter: with mike pompeo replacing him, the president's new choice is coming under scrutiny for her role in seeing black sites where prisoners were forced to under go enhanced interrogation including waterboarding. but gina haspel is well regarded in washington and the first to run the spy agency and shake-ups

at the white house may not be over. the president reportedly considering replacing veterans affair secretary david shulkin with energy secretary rick perry after claims that shulkin used his staff to run errands for him. and you saw martha mention the ghost town at the state department. there are still 38 ambassador vacancies and more than a does assistant secretaries yet to be named. and tillerson wasn't the only of yesterday's significant departures from the administration. the president's personal aide is out of a job. john mcentee was we moved. he was dismissed because of issues with hissing baground clearance. "the new york times" reports an investigation of his finances caused his security clearance to be revoked and that, quote, he was known by colleagues to be a gambler. he's now been hired by the president's re-election campaign. overseas investigators in london are looking into yet another russian mystery. just a week after a former russian spy and his daughter were poisoned with a nerve agent, a businessman and russian exile has now been killed.

the putin critic nikolai glushkov was found dead in his home in southwest london. police are calling had is death unexplained but say there is no apparent link of the poisonings of the former spy and his daughter. nearly 200,000 power outages reported in new england after a nasty nor'easter dropped more than two feet of snow in parts of massachusetts. as you can see the snow also flooded parts of the coast. it's the third storm to batter the region in less than two weeks and yet another storm may be on the way. let's take a closer look at the forecast now for this wednesday morning. good morning. that winter storm still cranking up. it's strong with strong winds targeting portions of maine going into new hampshire and still holding on to boston. now, the big concern here is going to be the lingering problem with black ice along the entire east coast reaching into the ohio valley region because we've had just that much precipitation and deep dips in the jet stream, what's been

bringing those storms our way, we may have to deal with another one and on the west coast they have at least one to three feet of snow in the upper elevations, as well. i'm accuweather meteorologist paul williams. well, still ahead why you could be getting a refund if you bought a snuggie. >> i own a few of those. first how retailers are reportedly punishing customers who return too many items. new evidence of a gender pay gap in hollywood. this time involving the popular

we're back now with a milestone in puerto rico. nearly six months after hurricane maria, until yet this was all that remained of a

bridge connecting 60 families in the town here to the rest of the world but now they have a shiny new bridge. a crucial life line for food and medicine. the ex-boyfriend of a college student murdered in upstate new york has been arrested in central america. orlando tessaro charged in connection of haley anderson's death. her body found last friday at her home near the college. police have not revealed how she died. a $65,000 reward is now being offered in the search for a possible serial bomber in austin, texas. two people have been killed in recent weeks after three package bombs were left on doorsteps built with nuts, bolts and nails and were rigged to explode when lifted. investigators are not ruling out terrorism or a hate crime. the youngest victim was just 17 years old. draylen mason, an honor roll student and a musician. best buy has set up a hotline for customers who believe they were unfairly

banned from returning items to the store. this, of course, comes after "the wall street journal" reported the chain is among several retailers that have used a third party company to track the return habits of shoppers so they can secretly punish those who may be abusing store policies. shoppers reportedly flagged by the system include those who returned a certain number of items in a short period of time and those who returned high theft items like televisions. >> all right, well, if you were one of the millions who bought the snuggie, the blanket with sleeves you may get a refund. the federal trade commission says all-star marketing, the company that sold it and other products on tv ran misleading aa ads promising ray buy one get one and average returns are $33 each. mailing refund not the free snuggie. >> snuggies were 33 bucks. >> it's a blanket with sleeves. >> oh, what's not to love? it's worth it. the big announcement from

walmart as the grocery wars heat up. but first one month after the florida school shootings stunltss at thousands of schools across the country are protesting today. we have a live report on the walkouts being planned. the questions being raised after a puppy died on a united airlines flight while being stored in the overhead bin. higr risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. but no matter where i ride, i go for my best. so if there's something better than warfarin, i'll go for that too. eliquis. eliquis reduced the risk of stroke better than warfarin, plus had less major bleeding than warfarin. eliquis had both. don't stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily... and it may take longer than usual for any bleeding to stop.

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reflect on those 17 lives that were lost exactly one month ago. thousands of shoes scattered across the capitol lawn, a pair for each child lost to gun violence since sandy hook. the image sharpened lawmakers' minds as students across the country continue their fight for gun reform. [ chanting ] >> we refuse to continue watching our peers die around us while congress debates about whether or not or not our lives are worth it. >> reporter: planning a nationwide walkout. on their minds, those in parkland. inspiring a new law that raises the age from 18 to 21. >> to the students of marjorie douglas high school, you made your voices heard. you didn't let up. >> reporter: the nra is suing florida and president trump who was at first outspoken in his support of gun reform even going

against the nra just two weeks ago. >> some of you are petrified of the nra. you can't be petrified. >> reporter: has now backtracked and a new plan on school safety released this week from the white house does not include that age change. instead only calling to study the issue. the proposed bill aims to improve background checks and expand mental health programs and many firearms training for qualified school personnel, all proposals the nra has previously backed. >> the prosecutor he's primary focus is pushing through things that we know have broad bipartisan support. >> reporter: organizers say they are only getting started. up next is the march for our lives on washington and another school walkout planned for april. the student activists say they're going to keep working until all of their demands are met. >> maggie, as such, a teacher from parkland and a father of one of the victims will be testifying today at a senate hearing on school safety. in the meantime, this morning,

mtv says it will go dark for 17 minutes starting at 10:00 eastern time. that's one minute for each victim. three men from rural illinois have been arrested in connection with a mosque bombing in minneapolis last year as well as the attempted bombing of an abortion clinic. authorities have released photos obtained by the fbi of the bombmaking materials they say were found in one of the suspects' homes. the mosque attack damaged an office but no one hurt. united airlines is apologizing after a family's dog died in the overhead bin on a three-hour flight. the family says they were told the 10-month-old french bulldog had to be placed in the bin when the plane landed and realized the puppy had died. united released a statement saying the dog should have never been placed in the bin. another passenger said the flight attendant was not aware the dog was in the family's bag. the producers of the hit netflix series "the crown" are facing a royal flap over pay disparity. executive producers now admit the show he's lead actress,

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♪ time to check "the pulse" and president trump appears to have come up with his own "star wars" defense system. >> speaking to some marines in california the president suggested creating a space force essentially an air force that flies a lot higher. he said he came up with a joke but then thought not that bad. >> someone on twitter suggested the president could choose darth vader to lead the new unit. another said don't we already have this. it's called nasa. so today is national pi day. >> happy pi day. >> that's p-i without an "e" as in 3/14. today's day. >> the like the one with an "e" on the end. restaurants and pizza shops are offering entire pies, not just a slice for $3.14. move over, uber. cora is nearly here. >> the name of a pilotless flying taxi being tested by

kitty hawk owned bylarry page and the air taxis are electric. >> they're being conducted in new zealand because u.s. flight regulations are too restrictive and hope to start commercial services in three years. everyone knows the city of boston likes to have fun even in a nor'easter. >> check out the sign the police tweeted out. wicked storm coming. park your car. >> this video of a mandress the as elsa helping a police car out of a frozen snow basic. >> just let it go, man. >> let it go. t getting ripped o. you could start your search at the all-new carfax.com that might help. show me the carfax. now the car you want and the history you need are easy to find. show me used trucks with one owner. pretty cool. [laughs] ah... ahem... show me the carfax. start your used car search and get free carfax reports at the all-new carfax.com.

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we're chugging along. halfway through the week. welcome to wednesday, march 14th. >> you're never more than 7 minutes way from fryour accuweather forecast. >> it's not going to be hitting everybody. but the golden gate bridge, just stopped raining there or tapering as we speak. here's a look at live doppler 7. it's moving away across the richmond-san rafael bridge. heading towards richmond to berkeley, could get the bay bridge and also the benicia bridge bridge. you want to dress also much warmer this morning. temperatures are 10 to 15 degrees cooler. we'll look at the storm impact scale for today. the accuweather 12-hour planner,

less than three minutes. here's alexis. >> we're starting off with a trouble spot in tracy. it's starting to improve. westbound 205 just past mountain house parkway. we had a two-car crash and we had quite a bit of debris. maybe that center barrier was hit. we had a lot of that going to the roadway. they just gave us the all clear. all lanes are back open. hopefully that unwinds soon. that is really slow on westbound 205. a quick check. if you're leaving at 4:28 this morning, good news. you're going to have an easy commute heading towards highway 24. next traffic update in less than ten. bay area schools are preparing for walkouts. >> at 10:00 a.m., they plan to call for changes in gun policy. amy hollyfield is live in union city. amy? >> reporter: hi. we're at james logan high school where there are 4,000 students, reggie. the largest high school in

northern california. this is happening at all schools across the nation as schools pause to recognize that it has been one month since the shooting at that florida high school where 17 kids were killed. we got preview yesterday of what the walkouts are going to look like. in oakland, elementary school kids were practicing their walkout. oakland unified school district and many other school districts in the bay area will support the kids as they walk out today and take a stand against gun violence. some of the kids told us they liked being activists. >> it felt good. we're marching for a change for no guns in our school. school is not for people to feel bad and scared. it's for them to learn. >> i wanted to turn the tables around to make that so that everyone can go to safe school and feel safe and learn a lot. >> we want to thank all of the

schools that have reached out to abc 7 news about their walkouts and let us know what was going to be happening today. we're encouraging everyone to share their experiences on social media. please use the #walk out bay area. here in union city, the students are scheduled to walk out about 9:50. there will be chants and speeches. there will also be a die-in and a 17 minutes of silence for all of the kids who were killed in florida. reporting live in union city, amy hollyfield, abc 7 news. amy, thank you. the man charged with the shooting rampage that sparked the walkout is going to be back in court this morning. 19-year-old nikolas cruz faces arraignment on 34 counts, including 17 counts of premeditated murder, one for each of the 17 people he's accused of shooting at stoneman douglas high school. prosecutors filed notice they intend to seek the death pelt