making news in america this morning, big winners at the academy awards. >> and the oscar goes to. >> leonardo dicaprio finally bringing home an oscar. >> i do not take tonight for granted. thank you so very much. >> and host chris rock ripping into racism with humor. >> i'm here at the academy awards, otherwise known as the white people's choice awards. >> a night filled with a lot of laughs, surprise wins, snubs, glitz and glamour. we're live in hollywood. and "your voice, your vote," countdown to super tuesday.

the showdown. what a big win for the front-runners would mean as donald trump finds himself in another controversy. well, good monday morning. it was a huge night in hollywood with somewhat of a surprise for best picture win at the 88th academy awards. >> and among those who are celebrating overnight, leonardo dicaprio taking home his first oscar for his role in "the revenant." >> and 26-year-old brie larson who swept the ceremonies all awards season took home her own little gold man for "room." >> and then there was host chris rock, who immediately waded into the diversity controversy, and we've got it all covered this morning, but we're going to get started right now in hollywood where our lauren lyster is live right above the red carpet. lauren, good morning. >> reporter: i am.

you know, it was "mad max" that collected the most oscar gold, and you mentioned that first oscar for leo all on a night where taking center stage along with the folks winning awards was the broader controversy over a lack of diversity in hollywood. >> "spotlight." >> reporter: a thoughtful film about a newspaper investigating sex abuse by boston's catholic priests took oscar's top prize last night winning best picture. >> if they nominated hosts, i wouldn't even get this job. >> reporter: but it was oscar host chris rock who really owned the night addressing the academy's diversity controversy right out of the gate. >> i'm a danish girl. >> reporter: placing black actors in parodies of several nominated films. >> you should get me. >> don't worry, black astronaut, we will. >> reporter: even calling hollywood racist. >> hollywood is sorority racist. it's like we like you, rhonda, but you're not a kappa. >> leonardo dicaprio. >> reporter: after five acting

losing streak finally ended. his gritty performance as a wounded frontiersman seeking retribution winning him gold for "the revenant." his impassioned acceptance speech a dire warning. >> climate change is real. it is happening right now. it is the most urgent threat facing our entire species. >> reporter: best actress as predicted went to "room's" brie larson. the biggest upset of the evening, the intor supporting actor to "bridge of spies'" mark rylance in a category chock-full of hollywood heavy hitters and "the danish girl's" alicia vikander took home best supporting actress. but the most awarded film of the night, not the sensitive serious films that dominated the awards but instead "mad max: fury road" with a six-win oscar haul. and as the oscar scene winds down behind me, what moment stuck with viewers? well, on social media leonardo dicaprio's best actor win generated 440,000 tweets per minute.

in oscar history. reena and kendis. >> well, it's only been 20 years in the making for it, so fantastic, and, you know, i guess one of the other talked about moments there was, of course, vice president joe biden introducing lady gaga, lauren. >> reporter: absolutely. you know, he came out to a standing ovation and delivered very passionate remarks. he was introducing lady gaga who was performing her oscar nominated song "till it happens to you," which is from the documentary "the hunting ground" which deals with campus sexual assault, and she gave a very emotional performance. she was joined on stage by abuse survivors holding their hands. they had kind of mantras, if you will, written on their arms and leading into that was vice president biden who encouraged viewers and the audience to take an anti-sexual assault pledge on a website dedicated to that. this has been a big cause for him. he's been a big advocate against sexual assaults. >> such a powerful moment. it was great to see men and

in that moment. really inspiring. >> standing ovation out there. >> reporter: great point, reena. >> lauren, thank you so much for joining us there in hollywood. get to some of those parties hopefully. >> so, what's next? yeah, parties big time right now. so, what's next for the big winners? well, earlier we talked to industry insider senior editor of rotten tomatoes, grae drake. grae, let's start with best picture. were you surprised by "spotlight's" big win? >> i was not surprised. i was delighted because "spotlight," "the revenant" and "the big short" have all taken different awards all awards season long, so it was a toss-up and that was a very worthy movie to win. >> and after five tries leo finally got his oscar. was he a lock? >> he was a lock. we were all expecting him to win. it's been a long time coming, and "the revenant" was great and so was he. >> yeah, and brie larson, boy, i tell you, she was incredible to watch in "room." she's only 26 years old. so, what happens next for her? >> oh, what a sight to behold

we have so many great performances coming up from her. but i'm really excited about a big hollywood movie she's going to be in, which is "kong: skull island." >> and history was made, of course, alejandro inarritu, the first repeat winner in 65 years. do you think he can make it three? >> right, i mean, what an amazing director he is, and this is rarely achieved in oscars history. and what i love about him is he's such an innovator in film. i mean, i'd love to see him win three times because this guy is really advancing film and making it exciting for viewers. >> grae, what about this year? how does the oscars compare to previous years past? >> i got to tell you that even though this oscars was a very socially important one, the ceremony bored me to tears, you guys. >> i actually enjoyed every bit of the ceremony. >> i'm glad you did, but i'll tell you, we must have been watching different ones. >> thank you.

thank you so much for joining us. >> absolutely. >> and stay with abc news for all the oscar coverage. later in this half hour, a closer look at the fashion, chris rock's monologue and the after-parties. but, of course, we want to get to our other big story that we're following this morning. donald trump drawing fire in the battle over the white house. >> trump taking heat over a controversial kkk endorsement. but is it enough to slow his momentum? with super tuesday just a day away, it's "your voice, your vote." abc's stephanie ramos is live in alexandria, virginia. good morning to you, steph. >> reporter: good morning to you, reena and kendis. this could be it, guys, super tuesday where 595 delegates are up for grabs for the republicans and 1,015 for the democrats. in 11 states including right here in virginia, and when it's all said and done, the boxes are checked and the ballots are closed, we could be looking at nominees for both parties or not. they don't call it super tuesday

on this one day the fate of both parties could be decided and how we got here has been anything but typical. the gop front-runner donald trump taking insults from all sides. >> he doesn't sweat, he doesn't sweat because his pores are clogged from the spray tan that he uses. >> if we nominate donald trump, in all likelihood hillary wins, and if that happens, we lose this country. >> reporter: trump has racked up support from some of the loudest names in politics, an endorsement from new jersey governor chris christie and a first senate endorsement from alabama's jeff sessions. trump is leading in most states and is now said to have more big wins on super tuesday, but he spent the weekend answering questions about an endorsement he may not want from ku klux klan former grand wizard david duke. >> honestly i don't know david duke. i don't believe i've ever met him. i'm pretty sure i didn't meet him, and i don't know anything about him. >> reporter: on the democratic side hillary clinton has more delegates and more momentum than bernie sanders after her victory in this weekend's south carolina primary, and sanders knows it telling george stephanopoulos on

>> we got decimated, george. we got decimated. >> reporter: texas, georgia and right here in virginia stand as the biggest opportunities for clinton to dominate among african-american voters and to test sanders' early strength among hispanics. no candidate can wrap up the nomination on super tuesday, but this could be the end for some as front-runners are expected to separate themselves from their closest competitors. kendis and reena, back to you. >> all right. stephanie ramos joining us there from virginia where donald trump is leading in many of the polls. our thanks to you. and still ahead, once every four years, leap day freebies. and more from hollywood. the oscars fashion and a big mix-up overnight. oprah reacting to being taken -- mistaken for whoopi goldberg. plus, breaking overnight, bowing, crying and apo our very first look at an

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here's a quick look at the nation's weather on this leap year. snow and rain moving from the great lakes into the northeast and rain as well in the northwest. clear and dry most other places. breaking overnight, an american college student detained in north korea for two months made his first public appearance. 21-year-old otto warmbier spoke pyongyang. the university of virginia undergrad apologized and begged for forgiveness for stealing a banner with a political slogan from the hotel. that's considered a crime against the state. warmbier said that a church offered to pay him for the sign. a north korean official claims the statement was voluntary. syria's fragile cease-fire is holding but just barely. the government and its russian allies are accused of stepping

forces, however, the rebels say there are not as many attacks as before the cease-fire took effect two days ago. the u.n. says it plans to deliver aid to besieged syrians during the lull in that fighting. and there's a new call for the government to regulate the size of airline seats. back in this country new york state senator -- new york senator charles schumer says passengers are being packed into planes like sardines. he says that he will add an amendment funding the federal aviation admission that would require the faa to set minimum seat requirements including the distance between seats. and there are deals out there for those celebrating a birthday on this leap day. you can get a free dessert sampler at olive garden. pizza hut is offering a free personal pizza and there is a special deal on a dozen dough fluts at krispy kreme. all deals do require a photo i.d. >> we say happy birthday to those folks, rare day for them. okay, more from the oscars ahead. plus, trapped in the trees, a pilot rescued after his plane

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l.a. and across the southwest. wet, slippery roads from the northwest all the way to the plains and the great lakes. >> and wet roads also here in the northeast as well as in new england. a rookie virginia police officer will be remembered today at her hometown high school. >> woodbridge officer ashley guidon was killed answering a domestic call just one day after being sworn in. the man suspected of killing her is an army sergeant assigned to the pentagon. ronald hamilton is also accused of killing his wife before police arrived. well, erin andrews may take the stand as early as today in her civil lawsuit against a nashville hotel. the "dancing with the stars" host claims the hotel was negligent in allowing a stalker to film her naked through a peephole. the convicted stalker will testify by video today. so will andrews' mother who will talk about the emotional toll that the release of the video had on her daughter. more trouble for the cruise ship "anthem of the seas."

earlier this month, well, not only is the ship heading back to new jersey after encountering more rough weather, there is also an outbreak of norovirus. the cruise line says the decision to turn around was because of the storm. an 87-year-old pilot from pennsylvania has quite a survival story to tell after crashing into a tree near gettysburg, the man hung nose down for four hours while rescuers figured out to get him down. first responders said the man was alert, never in any danger so they weren't in a hurry to bring him down but looks like mechanical failure was to blame for the crash. he's been riding this plane since the '70s apparently. >> all right. well, up next in "the pulse," all about the oscars, the must see moments plus chris rock's monologue. and all about the fashion. the big hits and misses on the red carpet. mouthwash. but she's a dentist so...i kind of have to listen. she said "jen, go pro with crest pro-health advanced." advance to healthier gums... ...and stronger teeth from day one.

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the music, time to check "the pulse" and, of course, we head back to the oscars. people are talking about the beginning of the ceremony. >> and the moment chris rock took the stage. the world wait g ing to see what he had to sigh. >> this is the wildest, craziest oscars to ever host because we got all this controversies, no black nominees, you know, and people are like, chris, you should boycott. chris, you should quit. you should quit. you know, how come there's only unemployed people to tell you to quit something? i'm sure there were no black nominees some of those years say '62 or '63, and black people did not protest. why? because we had real things to protest at the time. too busy being raped and lynched to care about who won best cinematographer. jada is going to boycott the

jada boycotting the oscars is like me boycotting rihanna's panties. i wasn't invited. if you want black people every year at the oscars, just have black categories like best black friend. hollywood is sorority racist. it's like we like you, rhonda, but you're not a kappa. because "rocky" takes place in a world where white athletes are as good as black athletes. so, "rocky" is a science fiction movie. >> he did take on race. well, rock is getting actually mostly rave what is an explosive subject. >> he handled it well. it was pretty funny, i thought, and one of the lighter moments on the show was when rock did a massive favor for the girl scouts. >> yeah, he sent out a number of

with plenty of girl scout cookies to sell, the audience members, and they dug deep buying boxes and passing them around. rock did his part calling on the stars to help out. >> tina fey, get that money, girls, make that money. get tina fey right there, right charlize theron. yes, matt -- yes, okay, you get him. you get him. leo, you made 30 million. come on. come on. get some. oh, michael b. jordan is here. michael b. jordan. you know what, no, no, you got enough girls. well, jordan was left empty-handed, no girl scout cookies for him apparent apparently, but they did well. >> he does all right with the ladies. okay, when all the buying was done, by the way, there was more than $65,000 for rock's daughter's girl scout troop. >> good cause. >> yeah, good job. >> and you know they were hungry squeezing into those dresses and outfits trying to look at skinny as possible. it was a good call. >> exactly. well now to a slightly awkward moment playing out on

>> okay, so there was a beauty company that tweeted out this image, take a look, and it said we had no idea was oprah was tatted. meaning she had tattoos. well, as you can see, that's not oprah. it's whoopi goldberg. total beauty later tweeted an apology to oprah, whoopi and everyone else. >> sga gayle king shared an image of a confused oprah saying, we all love whoopi but we all don't look alike. red carpet fashion. let's start with cate blanchett in a seafoam gown with floral embellishments from armani. >> next up, charlize theron showing no fear of blending into the red carpet with that show-stopper of a dress from dior plugging neckline is really a big thing. >> yes, j'adore. best actress winner brie larson had a gucci gown with a silver belt and columns of loose ruffles.

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or are prone to infections. r xeljanz can reduce r the symptoms of ra, p even without methotrexate. rask your rheumatologist t about xeljanz. checking our top stories, donald trump is under fire for refusing to condemn an endorsement from former kkk leader david duke. trump and hillary clinton are leading in most states as they head into super tuesday. an american college student detained in north korea has issued an apology at a news otto warmbier said that he stole a political slogan from a hotel which is considered a hostile act. a navy s.e.a.l. who protected the life of a u.s. hostage is being honored with a medal of honor. edward byars is the first navy highest award for valor in looking at today's weather rain in the northwest, some the country. mild readings for the

well, the statuettes have been handed out. the lights have faded and the champagne uncorked. >> our friends at on the red carpet were out in force at the night's hottest shindigs. here now is some of their coverage. >> chris rock was for sure amazing, especially the way he started the show, i was like, what, did he just say that. >> get to hang out with everybody, laugh, talk, drink and party. >> well, it's the top night of hollywood. >> my favorite moment was leonardo dicaprio winning and his speech. >> the agony of defeat is always fun to watch, as well. >> the best thing, winning. >> this is the second one i've been lucky enough to win. it makes writing my inheritance quite a bit easier because i have two kids. >> this is such an amazing piece, and it's so timely and so important that we remember what an asset this is to our society and culture and democracy. >> the man with the statue is charles randolph who won an oscar for best adrafted screenplay for "spotlight." the film also won.

nights of your life. >> it is. it's my birthday today, i'm 53 years old and wanted this for awhile. >> we all hope for the best and we already felt like it had achieved so much. >> you clutch that like you're never going to let it go. >> nobody is getting it. nobody is getting it. >> i'm still very, very overwhelmed. i kind of looked down, and i just got my name on it, so it's actually -- first it was like, oh, this looks like an oscar and i can't really wrap my head around it but it's actually just wonderful, and i'm so happy to be here with my fellow colleagues and hopefully go out and celebrate tonight. >> it means everybody who pays great money to come here and goes away satisfied and wants to deliver the goods. >> i ran into harry connick jr. and i was -- i turned into a 15-year-old girl and played with my hair a lot and he just couldn't be more charming. >> i got pretty starstruck when daniel day-lewis came out of this party when he won, and i sort of lost the thankfully was there and was

>> always fun seeing celebrities get excited to see other celebrities. >> always fun to see them at those nice parties as well. >> it was a great night. i still haven't worked up the courage to see "the revenant." >> oh. >> i need to do that. >> carefully.