medalist in a los angeles hotel, a bombshell from maria sharapova. >> a few days ago i received a letter from the itf that i had failed a drug test at the australian open. i take full responsibility for it. i made a huge mistake. >> reporter: sharapova could join the list of fallen idols. marion jones, alex rodriguez, lance armstrong who finally fessed up to oprah. >> did you ever take banned substances to enhance your cycling performance? >> yes. >> she tested positive for something called meldonium. the darling of tennis now on the defense. >> i was given this medicine by my doctor for several health issues that i was having back in 2006. i was getting sick a lot as well as indications of diabetes. it made me healthy. that's why i continued to take it. >> officials claim it could boost performance. that's why they

she doesn't deny taking it but claims she had no idea it's nowout lawed. >> i know many of you thought that i would be retiring today, but if i was ever going to announce my retirement, it would probably not be in a downtown los angeles hotel with this fairly ugly carpet. >> sharapova is provisionally suspended is cooperating and will likely appeal any ban. >> thank you. nick watt, abc news, los angeles. >> what did the carpet ever do to attack her? poor nice carpet. >> oh, boy. >> all right. >> it's sad though. it's a really sad to see a situation. we don't know. we're waiting to hear what it was. you say it was only banned in january. >> how was she supposed to know. it's not in the same league. >> jury's out. they already pulled sponsorships. it's a lot of money. >> more than 1,000 students walked out of their boston classrooms yesterday to protest budget cuts. they marched downtow

crowded the boston common. the boston school superintendent recently proposed cutting $20 million from the central office budget. well, turning now to the severe weather hitting parts of the south and west. a new system threatening millions in south central u.s. crews working overtime to blanket parts of western louisiana with sand bags where up to 10 inches of rain could fall over the next few days. flash flood watches in effect from east texas to western louisiana and up into southern arkansas. to the west, torrential rain slamming california from san francisco to san diego. they forced officials to open the folsom dam floodgates for the first time in five years as the lake's water level nears capacity. kayna whitworth has the latest. >> reporter: el nino-fueled thunderstorms pummeling the west with deadly force. from inglewood, california, trees crashing down onto cars. >> i didn't expect this to happen. >> reporter: to san jose, where

heavy rains were the likely culprit this in in collapse. >> we've got wires down, we've got accidents, we've got rescue responses. >> reporter: the system, briefly knocking out power to l.a.'s airport. lightning setting this palm tree ablaze. over the weekend north of sacramento, a woman drowning in floodwaters after the car she was in went around a roadblock. crews are sawing through this huge phi cuss tree that crushed two cars and blew out the windows of that one and this storm o storm may have moved through quickly but left lasting damage. kayna whith worth, abc news, los angeles. >> here's what's lapping today on the weather front. light rain still in northern california and the pacific northwest. violent storms from texas to the gulf region. some areas of the south could get a foot of rain. unusually warm from the dwraks to the northeast where it will feel like april. >> 40s in seattle and boston. 50s in denver and great falls. 60s in minneapolis and detroit. 70s in l.a., dallas and washington, d.c. police in northern california have a mystery on their hands.

woman who led police on a dangerous chase. >> okay. this is the woman. 51-year-old sharon it yourman has been on the run since sunday. >> my goodness in this thing. she was driving this min in ivan painted to look like the mystery machine from the scooby-doo cartoons and abandoned the van and fled on foot. the van has been towed. she faces a slew of charges once she is caught. ruh-roh. >> we have a repreview of what she'll say once she's caught. she would have gotten away with it if not for those rascally kids. >> oh, boy. >> maybe there were a few scooby snacks inside. >> i wonder how much the car would go for if it was sold? >> i don't know. coming up, a volunteer firefighter's split second life or death decision that almost cost him his job. >> the split second decision by a dad saving his son from a

game. we're hearing from both of them. and later, the love letters of ronl and nancy reagan. heartfelt words shared by such an unforgettable couple and so meaningful today. you're watching "world news now." >> i'm alex trebek. if you're age 50 to 85, this is an important message. so please, write down the number on your screen. the lock i want to talk to you about isn't the one on your door. it's a rate lock for your life insurance that guarantees your rate can never go up at any time, for any reason. but be careful. many policies you see do not have one, but you can get a lifetime rate lock through the colonial penn program. call this number to learn more. this plan was designed with a rate lock for people on a fixed income who want affordable life insurance that's simple to get

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violating policy to make a life or death decision. >> with the fate of a baby at stake and with an ambulance too far behind, they rushed her to the hospital themselves in their fire truck. abc's david kerley has the story. >> a frantic father pulls into this fast food restaurant, his daughters unresponsive. >> at the mcdonald's. >> within 4:30, that father laying his child into the arms of fire captain kelly. >> she was completely unresponsive, no muscle tone at all. >> reporter: the problem an ambulance unit was nearly five miles away. the captain and his engine closer to the hospital. that's when the two the volunteer firefighters in this lot made a decision to put her in their fire truck and take her directly to the hospital. >> 3 years old. >> pov. >> we're transporting in the engine. >> transporting the baby in the engine is a violation of policy. the firefighters put on leave for the past week during an investigation. the family

was revived at the hospital thankful for the quick action saying in our eyes they are lear rows. officials acknowledge sometimes decisions have to be made on the fly. the firefighters allowed to go back on duty. in fact, captain kelly is on the truck. david kerley, abc news, fred rikszburg, virginia. >> that's incredible. lucky they were there. >> sadly, they were reinstated only after a public outcry. and in d.c., there was a similar incident that took place a few years ago where a guy died because the firefighters wouldn't help him out. >> wow. >> and so it's good to see these guys helped out at that point because it wasn't protocol in d.c. at the time. coming up, an american love story. >> the love letters of nancy and ronald reagan and their lasting legacy. you're watching "world news now."

well, the passing of nancy reagan reminded us of the incredible partnership she had with president reagan. >> of the many things they accomplished together, their most remarkable is the love they shared for each other. david muir has

>> their love affair began in hollywood and took them to the chous. president reagan to us, to her he was just ronnie. they met into the 1950s starring together in hellcats in the neighbor." >> how do you know so much about the moon? >> i know a lot about if. spend all my time looking at it when you're away. >> reporter: marriage, children, his run for public office. >> it's a victory for reagan. >> if i start to say what is really in my heart, i'm afraid i'll start to cry. so thank you very much. >> reporter: becoming the nation's 40th president. she never left his side rare images from the only office. cleaning up her ronnie. the president cutting in as she danced with frank sinatra, the royals prince charles and princess diana. and after his presidency, after he revealed he had alzheimer's mimers, nancy would become even more the protector of his legacy. >> just four years ago, ronnie stood before you and spoke for what he said might be his

speech. at a republican convention. sadly, his words were too prophetic. >> but his words for her will be remembered, too. his handwritten had letters i can't remember ever being without you, president reagan once wrote. i love you very much indeed. will you be my valentine from now on and forever and ever? i love you very much. >> so sweet that they have those letters that they wrote each other as that shows their love from all those years. but she went against a lot of republican traditions. she was very vocal about stem cells at a time when conservative republicans were not into that. and she took a stance. she believes in it. she saw the difference it was making well ahead of when people were really on board about this. >> that was a testament to her love and loyalty to president reagan because she saw the down

fall. of course, the funeral arrangements set for friday. the first lady as is tradition will be there. narrator: breakfast. dishes. dinner. dishes. marriage. dishes. divorce. dishes. sleeping. (snoring) (sputtering) dishes. not sleeping. dishes. life. dishes. death. dishes. existence. dishes. dishes, dishes, dishes... every dish, every time. only finish has the power ball to take on anything. it collects leaving gross up germ-ridden stains. clorox toilet bowl eaner with bleach is no match for that. but lysol power toilet bowl cleaner eliminates mineral build-up effortlessly. so why choose anything other than lysol? man (mr. mucus: tore do you work, with you.ing? it's taco tuesday. man: you're not coming. i took mucinex to help get rid of my mucusy congestion. i'm good all day. [announcer:] mucinex keeps working.

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so why choose anything other than lysol? ♪ soon i'll be 60 years old ♪ my daddy got 61 remember life and then your life becomes a better one ♪ >> spectator safety at professional baseball games has been a hot topic. our next story is a good reminder why. >> a father and his son enjoying an spring training game got a scare when a flying bat came their way. ja jean ray easiest from our orlando station has their story. >> 8-year-old landon cunningham is a ball of energy who loves playing ball with his dad. >> perfect. >> reporter: the two like playing catch but it's always

forth. saturday it was the bat his dad had to catch. >> realizing it was coming for us and specifically him. all i could do is throw my arm in the way. >> reporter: landon was sending pictures of the game to his mother and sister who went shopping instead of the game. sports photographer chris horner was watching and caught the split second reaction in an image that's gone viral. >> the pictures scare me a little bit because of how close it came to my face. >> the barrel of the bat hit my wrist. i guess it deflected and spun it, and the handle got him in the shoulder which i'll take that over the alternative. >> reporter: sunday night when she is pictures made the rounds online, his dad realized just how close the bat came to causing tragedy into it could have been as minor as a broken nose knocking teeth out to possible skull fracture. just depends. >> reporter: john's wrist got hurt. the ball did his hit landon's shoulder but both walked away just fine and even got to keep

some call him a hero. >> it was dad mode. protecting my son. i did what i could. >> shawn happens to be a paramedic. >> he's my hero. >> reporter: landon says he will go to another game so long as he's sith right behid his hero, his dad. >> janine reyes for that report. >> it's worth noting the dad shawn cunningham will be live on "good morning america" today. >> and that dad needs to work out more. man. >> you know, but this netting is a serious issue. they want to put it closer to the home plate side and not all stadiums are required to do that. >> absolutely. then you can see why. it's a dangerous thing. it's good to have a dad who can pump some iron. >> if we go to baseball parks, i would take care of you. don't worry. >> really? with those guns?

breaking news this morning on "world news now." fear on a commuter train. >> that train with hundreds of people on board crashing into the water. half of it submerged, the challenge rescues and the latest on the injuries. >> courtroom kroo drama. the jury's multimillion dollar award in the erin andrews case. her stalker and the hotel forced to pay. insight from legal analysts. >> to the polls, hillary clinton and donald trump in the lead as voters in four states cast primary and caucus ballots. today, the last minute political fights. >> and later, medical milestone. first american woman to get a transplanted uterus. experimental surgery and her new hope to have a family. it's tuesday, march 8th. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now."