making news this morning, cause of death. >> the official word on what killed whitney houston. her autopsy says she drowned but was under the influence of several serious drugs. calls for an arrest in the death of trayvon martin are louder than ever this morning. but police aren't sure where his killer are. louisville crashes the march madness sweet 16 party, sending the first number one seed back home, plunging brackets into further disarray. and kim kardashian on the red carpet, goes from this to this. the flour bombing on the red carpet that left her covered in white.

good morning. i'm john muller, in for rob nelson. >> good to have you here this friday morning, john. i'm paula faris. whitney houston drowned in that beverly hills bathtub. >> coroner's report says she was musing cocaine just before she had died. it was the tragic news that friends and family feared. >> reporter: after weeks of speculation, the results of whitney houston's autopsy may not be surprising. the singer's death in a bathtub at the beverly hills hilton was caused by what her friend, family and fans had feared. >> the final cause of death has been established as drowning, due to ath row cler rottic heart disease and co >> reporter: water in houston's lungs indicated drowning. her heart was weakened by blockage of her arteries.

long-time cocaine use contributed to her death. there was no foul play. >> it appeared that the cocaine had been used in the time period just immediately prior to her collapse. >> reporter: houston's family was informed about the coroner's findings before the public. sister-in-law pat houston said, we are saddened to learn of the toxicology results. although, we are glad to have closure. houston had other drugs in her system that did not contribute to her death. among them, marijuana, xanax and b benadryl. the superstar had struggled for years with drugs and alcohol. she had this conversation with abc's diane sawyer in 2002. >> i can tell you that, i am not a person who wants to die. >> reporter: ten years later, houston's life would end. her addiction, overpowering her.

tahman bradley, abc news. >> we'll, of course, have much more on "good morning america." our other major story this morning is the growing demand for justice in the case of trayvon martin. >> florida's governor has appointed a new prosecutor to take over this investigation, has thousands turned out in sanford to call for an arrest in this case. abc's matt gutman has more. >> no justice. >> no peace. >> no justice. >> no peace. >> reporter: not far from where trayvon martin died, protesters were shouting his name. he was killed on these streets after buying candy. >> we want to see, zimmerman in cuffs with hands behind hiss back. >> reporter: george zimmerman, the 28-year-old neighborhood watch captain, said he opened fire in self-defense. but martin's family says that's a lie. >> we want an arrest. we want a conviction.

>> reporter: there is more anger over police conduct. abc news has learned that they never interviewed key witnesses, such as martin's girlfriend, who was on the phone with him as the incident happened. and they never gave zimmerman a toxicology test. the police chief stepped down temporarily. >> i do this to bring some calm to the city, which has been in turmoil for several weeks. >> reporter: we have learned more about george zimmerman's checkered past, including arrests for battery of a police officer and domestic violence. and he seemed to keep an eye out for black people. >> two african-american males. two black males in their late teens. >> reporter: pick him up, said protesters. but police don't know where george zimmerman is. matt gutman, abc news, sanford, florida. robert bales is expected to be indicted later today on 17 counts of murder.

the staff sergeant is accused of killing innocent civilians during a nighttime rampage earlier this month. he is being held in kansas and was able to talk to his wife yesterday for the first time since the killing. they spoke about their love for one another, and their family. not the case, which could drag out for years. late tonight, president obama leaves washington, for a long flight to korea, where he will attend a nuclear arms summit. meanwhile, mr. obama is catching heat from republicans for opening up the line of the keystone pipeline. and who can forget the protests in egypt? despite that egypt is backsliding on the promises of reform, the government is going to release $1 billion in aid to egyptians. the move is designed to maintain stability. the senate has approved a bill to ban members of congress, and thousands of federal workers to engage on insider trading.

it's passed in the house. and president obama will sign it into law. from the campaign trail, as always, a sharp, new attack by rick santorum, against front-runner, mitt romney. santorum telling republicans in texas that republicans should give president obama another term, unless santorum is the nominee. romney called santorum's charge disappointing. newt gingrich said any republican would be better than a second obama term. in italy, five more bodies have been recovered from the wrecked cruise ship. italian officials said the victims were found between the hull of the ship and the seabed. 30 is the number of bodies recovered so far. there could be weeked before they're positively identified. a couple from minnesota is among those who is still missing. we finally have an answer this morning from the eastern wisconsin town plagued all week by mysterious booming noises. geologists say the noises were the sound of a 1.5 magnitude

earthquake that hit tuesday morning. but because of the low magnitude, most people were not aware of that. they were just stumped. on the welcome sign, it said clintonville is booming. there you go. it was an earthquake. take a look at the weather across the nation. another day of near-record highs in the northeast. wet from the upper midwest to the gulf coast and southeast, with periods of rain in detroit and chicago. several storms from new orleans, to birmingham, excuse me. showers in kansas city and st. louis. also some snow in northern idaho. >> 80 in colorado springs. 70s across the nation's midsection. 82 in baltimore. breaking business is next. another major airline merger could be in the works. the young man convicted of the hate crime in the rutgers bullying case. he tells his story in an abc news exclusive. and check your brackets, everybody. a mighty team falling in the sweet 16.

march madness, all the mayhem is coming up.

welcome back on this friday morning. major merger news. a rival of thinking of acquiring american airlines. bloomberg reporting that u.s. airways has talked to creditors of the bankrupt carrier about its merger. and reception has been positive. labor has been a key issue in american's bankruptcy. and its biggest unions are among its creditors. bank of america testing a program involving foreclosed properties.

it would allow some the option of remaining in their homes and renting from the banks. the underwater homeowners would sign over the deeds. and the bank would forgive the outstanding debts. and t-mobile, the nation's fourth-largest cell phone carrier is cutting 1,900 jobs. t-mobile last more than 800,000 contract subscribers. so, the company is forced to cut back. and americans lost about $30 billion worth of cell phones last year. philadelphians seem to lose more phones than other people. hold on to your phones in philadelphia. overseas markets, mostly down overnight because of worries about china again. tokyo's nikkei average lost 116 points today. hong kong's hang seng off about 223 points. in london, the ftse opened lower. on wall street, the dow declined 78 points yesterday. the nasdaq index fell 12. mitt romney's opponents aren't the only ones profiting from an aide's comment about

etch-a-sketches. the sales are up 15%. the ohio company is glad to see etch-a-sketch drawing so much attention. did you get one for christmas? >> used to love it. love when old-school toys come back as a child. we don't need to rebrand them. next on this friday morning, a big loss for a number one seed. plus, some courtroom rage caught on tape. we'll show you the outburst after a controversial vote. and we'll go one-on-one with a young man convicted of a hate crime after his college roommate killed himself. it is an abc news exclusive. we're right back. [ virginia ] i do have a healthy diet, but there are foods that i had no idea had so much acid in them. my dentist said that the acid in fruit, or fruit juice or fruit teas softens the enamel so that then it can potentially erode. once that enamel is gone, it's gone. my dentist recommended that i use pronamel to help harden that enamel so that it's not brushed away. pronamel protects your teeth

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spring forward this weekend. should be plenty of folks waiting to try out this chair. it's supposed to be warmer in britain than bermuda. >> how do you launch yourself up on that. now, for a look at morning road conditions. snow on i-15, in idaho. i-40, in tennessee and i-70, from illinois to ohio. flooding on parts of i-90 and 94 across minnesota to wisconsin. >> and if you're flying, airport delays possible in atlanta, chicago, cincinnati, new orleans, new york, philly and d.c. and for the first time the world is hearing from the former rutgers university freshman, using his web cam to spy on his gay roommate. >> that roommate, tyler clementi, killed himself shortly after the incident. dharun ravi sat down with chris cuomo, insisting he is not to blame for clementi's death.

>> looking back, i was very self-absorbed. it was just about what i was thinking, what i was -- how i was reacting. it was never, what if tyler finds out, how is he going to feel about it? i was 18. i was stupid. i wasn't thinking about my actions like beyond a minute into the future. >> reporter: did you bully tyler clementi? >> no. no, i didn't bully tyler clementi. >> reporter: do you think tyler clementi thought you were bullying him? >> no, i don't think he thought that at all. >> reporter: did you want to intimidate him? frighten him? >> no. >> reporter: shame him? >> no. >> reporter: make him feel that what he was and what he was doing was wrong? >> no. i would never feel that about anyone for any reason. >> reporter: do you hate gay people? >> i don't. i don't hate gay people. >> reporter: do you believe tyler clementi was intimidated by you and your actions? >> he knew that i wasn't trying to, like, intimidate him because he was gay and scare him because he was gay. i think he understood that. >> he faces up to ten years behind bars. you can catch more of that on a special edition of "20/20," at 10:00, 9:00 central, on abc. a boston jury acquitted a man accused of shooting three adults and a toddler to death.

the deadlock on his accomplice now stands. and it outraged the victims' relatives. the state's case rested largely on the credibility of one witness. unfortunately, he confessed to being an accomplice before striking a plea deal for his testimony. in houston, emergency crews spent more than an hour trying to pull a construction worker to safety. he was working in a 20-foot-deep trench when a boulder shifted. suddenly, he was buried to his waist. his leg was pinned against a drill he was using at the time. this morning, he's hospitalized with a leg injury. time for our march madness. and the first number one seed of the tournament, bye-bye. >> so many upsets. last night, louisville, taking on michigan state. the cardinals giving the spartans fits. louisville made it look easy, knocking off michigan state, 57-44. >> next up, florida facing off

against marquette. and this one was dominated by gators' freshman bradley beale. poured in 21 points. as the gators jumped out to a double-digit lead. in the second half, they earn held on to earn their second-straight trip to the elite eight. they face louisville on saturday. syracuse versus wisconsin. a game that goes down to the last second. the orange took the lead with six minutes to go. but that lead was never more than three-points. the badgers had a chance to win it at the end. but they could not get it to go. syracuse holds on to that win, 64-63. they face ohio state on saturday. the buckeyes beat cincinnati last night. >> best one of the night. the pros were also in action last night. we get some of the highlights from espn news. >> good morning. cole wright here with your espn news update. thursday evening, chris paul makes his return to the crescent city, this time a member of the clippers. taking on the hornets. blake griffin on the break. bowled over by jason smith.

players have to be separated. this is worth two more looks. griffin, on the move, to the cup. smith, robs him. without trying to make a play on the ball. smith gets a flagrant two. he's ejected. blake griffin, in physical pain. fans in new orleans, not big fans of that. boyd shoots. couldn't get this one to go. they hold on for the win, 97-90. gilbert arenas, back in the league. making his grizzlies debut as they take on the blazers. arenas baseline. "j"s like he never left. fourth quarter, memphis within four. tony allen, athletic. for three. yes. grizzlies within one. later on, blazers with a four-point advantage. felton drives. gets the buzzer. and the foul. blazers win 97-93. that will do it for this espn news update.

don't forget, for the latest on the sports scene, tune into "th. >> looking forward to the rest of the sweet 16 games. golf has been called a long walk spoiled. for one guy, it's a really long walk. >> this is bayless chastain. 70 years long. he played 78 holes of golf on his 78th birthday. >> he's been doing it since he was 62, increasing the number of holes by one. mr. chastain walks the whole way. he has no plans on stopping. i love that. up next, "the pulse." kim kardashian in a red carpet mess. we'll show you the flour bomb attack just hours ago. and the reviews are in from the overnight showings of "the hunger games." like congestion, runny nose, itchy nose and sneezing can hit you year-round,

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so your skin looks and feels healthy. get a money-saving coupon at cerave.com. all right, everybody. it is time to check "the pulse," your pulse, on stories we're going to be talking about today, beginning with kim kardashian. and it turns out she is a pretty good sport. >> yeah. you have to be a good sport. a woman douses her with an entire bag of flour at a red carpet event in west hollywood last night. police nabbed the culprit. kardashian refused to press charges. she joked that she wanted some more powder from her makeup

artist. just not that much. >> good to see was a good sport about it. they were worried it wasn't just flour. >> i didn't think about that. but you're right. >> but flour from the cabinet there. and the wait finally ended overnight. "the hunger games" is here. >> people lining up all across the country for the midnight showing. we checked some twitter to see what people are saying about this. >> these are actual tweets. joe says it was awesome. luke says it was incredible. tyler said it reinforced his fear of knives. shayna is excited that she could pee herself. >> really? >> that's really excited. really excited. >> i laughed. i cried. incredible story of survival in boston. a death-deflying plunge that the victim lived to meow about. >> sugar the cat fell 19 stories. no broken bones. no cuts. sugar's owner wasn't home. but she had time to leave the window open. and the cat is doing just fine. >> experts say cats can survive

falls by flaying their legs like a flying squirrel. >> something we have to remember if we have to take a fall. for some of you, local news is next. [ male announcer ] this one goes out to all the allergy muddlers. you know who you are. you can part a crowd, without saying a word. you have yet to master the quiet sneeze. you stash tissues like a squirrel stashes nuts. well, muddlers, muddle no more. try zyrtec®. it gives you powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because zyrtec® starts working at hour 1 on the first day you take it.

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updating the top stories. autopsy results revealing that whitney houston died of drowning. but cocaine use and heart disease were also factored in her death last month. army sergeant robert bales is expected to be formally charged with 17 counts of murder today. there will be other charges, stemming from the shooting rampage in afghanistan. and taking a live look at the airport in roam, where the pope leaves for mexico and cuba. abc news will be with the pope throughout his trip. a wet day from the canadian border to the west coast. severe storms in new orleans, nashville and birmingham. mountain snow in northern idaho. near-record warmth in the northeast. you all can get out your shorts and sleeveless shirts. >> nobody is complaining with this warm weather, right?

finally, from presidential politics to spring break on tv. the late-night comics are on fire. >> check it out in this morning's friday funnies. >> we're right in the middle of the presidential republican primary season. it's getting interesting now, isn't it? no. here, now, a list of the republican primary candidates' secret service code names. >> mitt romney, javelin. rick santorum, petrus. newt gingrich, gyaccgh. this concludes gop candidates' secret service code names. >> code names. >> today is ann and mitt romney's 43rd wedding anniversary. wow. good for them. yeah. this means -- this means 43 years ago, mitt proposed to his wife. and due to a weak field of candidates, she said yes. [ laughter ]

>> there's an interesting campaign going on in canada right now, for a seat on the legislative assembly of alberta. and what's interesting about it, there's a candidate named danielle smith. she unveiled her campaign bus yesterday. as you see here, the tires are right where one would normally place their breasts. and she said it was an accident. and they're going to fix it as soon as they can. >> speaking of spring break, all of the cable networks are lining up their spring break shows. >> next week is spring break. that means a lot of people will be traveling the next few days. it means that the cable networks are looking to capitalize off it. mtv is hosting their spring break. the e! network is having their own. but c-span is having a congressional spring break, which is sure to be a hit all across the country. >> yeah. >> did we have to see