this morning on "world news now," it's primary day in five key states. >> from the front-runners to the challengers, why the candidates have been fighting so hard for today's votes. the contests and why they could be game-changers. voters bombarded. the smack talk on campaign commercials. flooding the airwaves and the internet. who is spending the most to get attention? >> amtrak accident. the retailment that sent train cars on to their sides and passengers to trauma units. the split second decision that saved lives. and later, consumer alert about potential dangers lurking in household humidifiers. what he tests revealed and how to keep your family safe. it's tuesday, march 15th. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "

it is tuesday. a busy one, i'm kendis gibson. >> i'm reena ninan. primary day for-lot of folks. >> it seems like groundhog day in many ways. it is the ides of march. that has led to some troebl for some leaders in the past. let's lee gin the half hour with what will be a crucially important day for the presidential candidates. by this time tomorrow, things could look a lot different into both parties have primaries today in north carolina, illinois, missouri, and home turf of two candidates, john kasich's whee and marco rubio's home state of florida. we head to busy an's marci gonzalez right there in the middle of the action at the center point it feels like, miami, with the latest. good morning to you, marci. >> reporter: good morning, kendis and reena. voting about to begin in five states including here in florida and ohio holding make or break primaries that could change the shacht presidential race.

ahead of crucial contests. senator marco rubio determined to claim victory in his winner take all home state. despite polling behind donald trump by more than 20 points. trump so confident in the sunshine state, he canceled an event here to instead rally in the other winner take allstate, ohio. >> this is a place i want to win. >> reporter: where the polls show him tied. >> give me a vote. >> reporter: with governor john kasich. >> at the loses ohio, we're going to having an unbelievable time in cleveland because it will be a contested convention. >> reporter: ted cruz vowing to support trump if he's the nominee but openly critical of the clashes at the front-runner's rallies this weekend. >> one difference between this and a donald trump rally is i'm not asking anyone to punch you in the face. >> there's no violence. these are love fests. >> reporter: the democratic candidates not feeling that love. criticizing trump during msnbc town town hall.

is go beat up people. >> someone who is vying to be president of the united states is using divisiveness, is stoking fear. >> reporter: hillary clinton polling ahead in all five states holding primaries today including here in florida. but bernie sanders is starting to close some of the gaps especially in ohio. confident he can pull off another upset. kendis and reena? >> marci gonzalez in miami, thank you so much. donald trump did get good news, however, out of north carolina ahead of today's primary. authorities will not press charges are against trump for the comments that he made after that the violent scuffle at one of his rallies last week. trump said of his supporters, they started punching back. it was a beautiful thing. officials say that's not enough evidence to arge with inciting a riot. trump will have to do battle in florida without one of his top supporters. sarah palin has

campaign events in the sunshine state after her husband was seriously injured in a snowball accident. todd is expected to make a full recovery. look for election results from tonight's primaries all evening along on abc news. coming up, a look at the campaign ads bombarding later in this half hour. this morning disturbing new detail thes about the death of a maryland police officer. it appears jacai colson was shot by another police officer during a gun pat battle. and police say the brothers of the man who opened fire recorded the shoot-out on their cellphones. suspect michael forward allegedly intended to die even recording his last will and testament before the attack. he and his brothers facing multiple charges. officer colson was at the station to visit another officer on his day off. a former south carolina trooper faces up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty in a

shawn grow bert was led from the court in handcuffs. the videotape where the trooper asked a black driver for his license and shoots him four times. his wallet can be seen flying out of his hands. the driver survived. investigate investigators say the amtrak derailment in rural kansas could have been much worse if not for a quick thinking engineer. the train was traveling about 6735 miles an hour when the engineer noticed something wrong with the tlaekd. alex perez is at the scene. >> reporter: federal investigators on the ground in kansas, trying to figure out what sent this amtrak train flying off the tracks. >> you the train carrying 145 people is traveling from los angeles to chicago. then, the engineer notices a significant bend or defect in the track and hits the brakes, following protocol to avoid a bigger disaster. but eight cars still come off.

tossed around inside. >> next thing i know is, i just feel the train lift off the ground and then set back down on the tracks, and then it does it again. it lifts it back up and it slams me into the door. >> set a ladder up and we'll start evacuating some of these people off top. >> reporter: more than 30 passengers taken to the hospital. two with critical injuries, airlifted. and investigators zer rowing in on the condition of the track reportedly checking whether an unreported vehicle crash may have damaged the tracks. >> alex perez on the scene in kansas. >> there is a link between football and devenrative brain disorders. senior vp jeff miller was asked point blank if there was a connection between football related head trauma and cte. >> research shows that i an number of retired nfl players are diagnosed with cte. so the answer to that question is certainly yes but there's also a number of questions that come with

is and what are the risks of getting it. miller cited a boston university study that found the disease in the prans of many retired player afc their deaths. the women's march madness tournament bracket has been set. for the tenth straight year, the uconn huskies are a number one seed. they're shooting for their fourth straight national title. up south carolina, notre dame and baylor. the championship game is april 5th. i'm oo rooting for those huskies again. >> they have a small little dynasty going i'd say. you never know what you're going to end foo when you look down. >> one particular observant woman is on a hike in eastern galilee and glanced down and shaw something shiny. it turned out to be a gold coin. this is no ordinary gold coin. >> the amazing thing about this, this was minted in the year 107. yes, just 107 years

death of jesus crist. >> so what are you trying to say, he might have used this coin? into if he had lived another 80 years or so. the 2,000-year-old coin bears the image of augustus, the first emperor. >> apparently it's the second only coin ever found. >> i think it would make a beautiful pendant. >> the fascinating thing about it is she turned it into the authors. >> somebody with a good moral conscious. >> that could have been worgs more than a penny. >> you would have put it in a vending machine. >> it i still wouldn't have gotten my m & m sz. coming up in the mix, the cost of love. the dates and the gifts. it all adds up pore singles. wait till you hear how much. >> because you're single and you're advocating this. >> i'm not advocating this. the potential dangers inside household humidity fires. what safety

to avoid harming your family. >> our top story, primaries today in five states and how voters have been bombarded with costly political ads. are any of them breaking through? one of our correspondents here in studio with us. >> check out our behind the scenes pics on instagram. you're watching abc "world news now." everyone loves the way dark clothes make them feel. and no one wants that feeling to fade. that's why there's woolite darks. it's free of harsh ingredients, keeping dark clothes looking like new for 30 washes so your love for dark clothes will never fade. woolite darks. narrator: breakfast. dishes. dinner. dishes. marriage. dishes. divorce. dishes. sleeping. (snoring) (sputtering) dishes.

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you have self-driving cars. automakers and tech companies complained that state and federal regulations are putting the brakes on the process of getting the cars on the road. google is expected to urge senators to give the transportation department authority tort speed things up. we're dreaming if only all of washington could be like there. this is actually a real image from nancy reagan's funeral making an the rounds. hillary clinton and george w. bush share agembrace and smiling probably about a time when they were happy with the republican party. hillary never thought she would say that. >> it's kind of nice to see both dynasties come together. >> they kind of shared something when you've been through the white house, there's a shared experience. it's sweet, isn't it, to see both parties get together. >> a very tender moment. absolutely. as we reported, vote ares in ohio, florida, north carolina and illinois and missouri plan to vote today in a minisuper tuesday i guess. >> very big day. for people living in those states, it could mean they faced a bar

they turn on the tv or surf the web. lauren lyster joins with us more of the ads. >> a lot of the new ads coming out. we know donald trump is the front runner the republican race. did you know though he is in the lead when it comes to being the target of attack ads. maybe it's not surprising. $20 million has been spent against trump since super tuesday. that's according to an abc analysis of the data. the largest sponsor of these ads in that time period, marco rubio's super pack. >> primary voters are facing decisions and a number of new ads seeking to persuade them. >> donald trump campaign violence. >> reporter: four out of six new spots targeting republican front-runner donald trump. >> i'd like to punch him in the face. knock the crap out of him. >> reporter: one super pac capitalizing on the recent controversy of fighting over trump events. >> bimbo, dog, fat pig. >> reporter: and also focusing on women in this ad. afte

while campaigning in the buckeye state, the pro kasich super pack is fighting back. >> he attacked our john kasich with unhinged boldfaced lies. >> reporter: marco rubio throwing this ad into the fray. focusing on florida, rubio's home state where polls show him slipping further behind. the anti-trump add spend is nothing new. in fact, it's fallen. two weeks ago six in every ten republican add dollars were focused on taking trump down. now it's about four in ten. still millions more than in the wake of the first primaries. on the democratic side, bernie sanders making the last minute ad push online. >> 17? but want to vote? if your birthday's before november 9th, you can. >> reporter: targeting young voters here. another ad features chicago school principal troy law rob yea. >> the impossible is possible. that's one of the reasons i love busy. >> reporter: that last ad h

on facebook since it's been posted in the last few days. that's just online. sanders is outspending hillary clinton in tv ads in every state except for one heading to the polls. >> sanders has gotten like some critical acclaim for his ads so far this season. are the ads pretty broad or targeting just these five states voting today? >> in the case of john kasich, yes, that's an ad in ohio. one of them is not. so the trump ad focusing on his comments having to do with women is part of a national campaign. it's airing on national cable tv and super pack behind it won't say how much they're spending but just that it's part of a multimillion dollar campaign. >> the ads tell a fascinating. >> so nice to be here. >> she's just as bright eyed and awake as she is out in the field. >> let's wait till tomorrow. >> we'll show you where the coffee is. >> thanks s

hulk hogan's major ailment and a tawdry debate over his sex tape and if it can be considered news worthy. what the writer who broke the story had to say on the stand. >> first how something that is supposed to be helping you and your health may be hurting you. why you may want to turn off the humidifier. you're watching "world news now."

♪ breathe, just breathe ♪ oh breathe, just breathe >> humidifiers. i was thinking if you have kids, thousands of americans probably have them plugged in right now but they carry a dirty secret if you don't take care of them. >> some

absomething consumer reports has asked the epa to look into. abc's gio benitez with more. >> reporter: the steam from a humidifier, seen as a way to prevent sore throats and dry signs. could that steam be spreading germs that could make you sick? most people don't know how to clean them. >> how gross. >> i don't know how to clean a humidifier. >> it's not the easiest thing to cleem. >> i'm not reaching all the tiny corners. >> reporter: or don't clean them as often as i should. >> reporter: we've collected ten humidifiers from philadelphia area families to test for bacteria and mold. almost all admit they don't clean them regularly. some have asthma and allergies. >> in what you're going to find. i'm curious to see. >> reporter: we dropped the ten humidifiers from six different manufacturers at the lab at thomas jefferson university hospital. dr. amity roberts testing water from inside the humidifier's

emits. out of the ten humidifiers, all had bacteria in the tank. two had heavy bacteria growing inside and also in the vapor that our experts say could make our families sick i was surprised by the heavy growth in a few of the devices that you tested. >> reporter: and in three of the humidifiers, mold. >> how are you? >> are you ready to see what was growing in there? >> oh, gross. >> they found some bacteria but more importantly they found mold in the vapor which means the mold was going out. >> that's not good. especially since we have asthma in our house and allergies. >> reporter: mold in this family's humidifier, as well. >> this is what was growing inside. >> oh. >> mold can cause nasal congestion, sore throat, if the individual has asthma, it can cause chest tightness or

wheezing into to you for the humidifier with the most bacteria flow here are the results right here. >> reporter: our experts labelling it extremely dirty and what's inside could cause pneumonia flow it kind of looked like maybe a swamp. >> this is what was growing inside your humid tire. >> oh, my gosh. >> and because you're a nurse, you know what that means. >> yeah, that means my kids are not safe, which is very concerning. >> reporter: bottom line, experts say you need to clean a humidifier every day. emptying it and rinsing the base and letting it air dry before refilling and every week clean it thoroughly, according to the manufacturer's instruction. gio benitez, abc news, new york. every parent in america with young children knows during the winter we all use humidifiers. i find his report terrifying. i don't know anyone who used distilled water. i use tap water. which they say don't. i don't wash it once a

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s fast to unleash max strength medicine. let's end this. okay. so it's expensive to be single. did you know this. >> i did not know that. >> it is pretty pricey. researchers did all the tally and the real cost of true love is apparently $20,000. the average person they say spends five years, five and a half years before they get married. and will spend 20 plus thousand dollars on dating. the average date is about, you know, $43. it's either dinner or a movie. >> okay. >> the average man, this is not fair. >> uh-huh. >> spends $224. the average woman spends $93. this is where i support hillary and pay equity. yes, women should pay as much

men. >> when you start letting us earn 100% of the dollar, maybe we will consider that. >> i didn't mean to start that. they did the research and found it's really expensive to be single. >> to be single? >> to be single. >> if you're dating somebody, you're paying for that. so then you're not sing. >> the valentines, the cards, the breakup flowers. >> what's the cost of being married? i want to see that report. >> you guys get it all. that's cheap. >> single versus married lifestyle. >> the cost of grief and anxiety. >> that's priceless. there was a -- you might call in formula one for drones in dubai in the middle east. take a look at this. there were $250,000 at stake for the world drone prism in dubai. look at this track the drones go through. there are pilots inside. you go around the speeding aircraft 12 lapse with skyscrapers, the dubai marine behind them

>> it was a team that was actually led by a 15-year-old pilot from england. took first place. he looks like he's 5. >> a little mario andretti of drone racing. > at any time it increditable? got his jumpsuit they all had to wear. he is the champion. $225,000 richer. >> congratulations to that kid. you'll be able to go on a few dates with that money. take a look at this kid in the meantime. woman posted to reddit. a photo of the baby girl that had a full head of hair. internet grabbed this and ran with it. super imposing head and shoulders, bottle, a little ron burgundy. let's be honest that, young lady has good anchor hair. nick opper man from parks and rec and, of course, donald trump hair. >> only thick that could top this is a tweed an tailored suit.

this morning on "world news now," primary day. the polls opening shortly in five battleground states. will today's front-runners emerge as tomorrow's presidential nominees? >> terrorist take-down. an american man who joined isis surrenders in iraq. the anger from his family here in the u.s. faced with tough questions. >> and new this half hour, the business that could blossom into a $44 billion industry. >> the latest estimate about legalized marijuana sales and why the profits are going sky high. >> later from the joy to the heart break on last night's "bachelor" finale. our senior analyst is here with his insight and to remind us about his early prediction. humblebrag in "the skinny" on this tuesday, march 15th. >> announcer: from abc news,