ng making news in america this morning, breaking overnight, an inferno in downtown, raleigh, north carolina, flameshe air. people running for safety. a crane collapsing amid the chaos. the new details just coming in. no proof. the senate intelligence here is evidence president obama tapped president trump's phone. but the white house still defending president trump's claims in a fiery back and forth with reporters. we're live in washington. winter's last stand. a few days until spring. but the bitter cold is sticking around. freezing temperatures i and even more snow heading to the northeast. midflight mishap. a plane loses a propeller. how did this happen? but the bigger mystery, where did it land?

we do say top of the morning on this st. patrick's day. >> exactly. >> kendis o'gibson with you. >> i'm eva pilgrim in for diane macedo. a massive fire erupts in downtown raleigh. >> the fire engulfed the fire-story building under construction and unoccupied. this is what it looked like before the fire. this picture, that picture was taken just days ago and then it turned to this overnight. all that wood fueling the flames. overnight a raging inferno in raleigh. >> we're not going to be able to control this fire. >> reporter: an apartment complex under construction and unoccupied catching fire then spreading to at least three other buildings as the flames engulf the construction site, watch as a crane suddenly comes

crashing down. >> wow. >> reporter: the fire burning out of control for hours reaching five alarms. one witness describing the scene. >> its torch. you can feel the heat. it's enormous. the gods are 50, 100 yards into the sky. black smoke everywhere. >> reporter: the intense flames forcing hundreds of people in nearby buildings to evacuate. >> i looked out and i saw that everything around me was orange. my phone and my keys and that's it. >> it looked like the entire block was on fire. it was much more intense than what you see now. as we got explosions. >> reporter: the flames visible for miles. people taking to social media to share videos. this twitter user saying this was her view as she enjoyed dinner in downtown raleigh. >> the firefighters obviously so early haven't determined a cause but witnesses say that it appeared as if it started on the

second floor. we should point out no injuries reported. to washington where president trump holds important meetings today with the leader of germany. angela merkel was supposed to be at the white house on tuesday. but that was canceled because of the snow. >> you may recall president trump criticized merkel during last year's campaign. they are known to have disagreements on both trade and immigration. merkel's visit comes amid the raging firestorm over the president's wiretapping claims. >> abc's kenneth moton joins us from washington with more. good morning this morning, kenneth. >> reporter: good morning, eva and kendis. bipartisan congressional party leaders are flat out saying there is no proof that president obama wiretapped president trump. the white house still not providing evidence or any type of proof in this issue on this allegation but it says it believes the president will be vindicated. on this st. patrick's day -- >> i really love ireland. >> reporter: president trump may need the luck of the irish to defend his unsubstance yachted

claim that president obama wiretapped him. >> i've been reading about things. >> reporter: but not from the cia, the fbi or any intelligence agency at the the president's disposal. >> i read in january 20th, "the new york times" article where they were talking about wiretapping. >> reporter: "the new york times" never reported president obama ordered any wiretapping of trump tower. the 45th president adamant on twitter the 44th tapped his phones now says wiretapping meant surveillance. >> does the president still stand by -- >> you're mischaracterizing what happened. >> reporter: the top democrat and republican members of the senate intelligence committee declared we see no indications that trump tower was the subject of surveillance by any element of the united states government either before or after election day 2016. the committee says it was briefed by the appropriate authorities. even house speaker paul ryan chimed in. >> no such wiretap existed. we cleared that up. we've seen no evidence of that. >> reporter: sean spicer not backing down spending nearly eight minutes reading media

reports and conservative commentary. >> let me quote them. >> reporter: one alleged president obama used british spy tos gather information on then press-elect trump. the response, these are complete and utter nonsense. monday a big day on capitol hill. the justice department has to hand over any evidence on the president's wiretapping claims and the fbi director is set to testify in front of the house intelligence committee on the russia investigation. eva and kendis. >> you can bet he'll get questions about a number of different things there on capitol hill. kenneth, thank you. another big fight just getting under way in washington. senators on the president's new budget proposal. the white house calls it an america first spending blueprint. >> the $1.15 trillion proposal includes big spending increases on defense, veterans affairs and homeland security. you see the increases there but there are deep cuts for the epa, state department, education and even big bird.

>> i put myself in the shoes of that steelworker in ohio, the coal miner, the coal mining family in virginia. the mother of two in detroit and say i have to ask these folks for money and i have to tell them where i'm going to spend it. can i really go to those folk, look them in the eye and say, look, i want to take money from you and give it to the corporation for public broadcasting. >> also on the chopping block an after-school program that feeds underprivileged children. mulvaney says there's no evidence it improves their performance in school. one family disagrees but the cuts have to come somewhere. >> honestly if they weren't in the program they probably wouldn't excel in school as good as they are right now. this is a program that should not be cut. >> cutting back on different things kind of hurts but i would say our national security is more important. >> yes.

>> it received a lukewarm reception on capitol hill. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle saying the proposal is just the opening offer in a long annual negotiation. >> the new bill to replace obamacare has one more obstacle before reaching the full house of representatives. the budget committee has approved the american health care act, now it moves to the rules committee. it was one republican vote shy of being stalled and the gop pushback isn't over. some republican governors have told congressional leaders it doesn't wok for their states and at least one republican senator has come out against it. the white house is being called on to provide more details about payments that former national security adviser michael flynn received from russian companies. newly released documents show flynn received more than $67,000 in fees and expenses. elijah cummings, the ranking democrat on the house oversight committee believes flynn may have broken u.s. and military law.

the u.s. is denying reports it bombed a mosque in syria. an international monitoring group says dozens of worshippers are dead after the air strike in northern syria and did not identify the country responsible but both the u.s.-led coalition and russian, syrian aircraft operate in that region. the pentagon says that it was neighboring buildings but did not damage the mosque. a fire department paramedic and mother of five killed while on duty. a man jumped into her ambulance after she got out to help him. he started to drive away but arroyo grabbed onto the vehicle and was dragged. the suspect backed up the ambulance and it ran over her. that man is now in police custody. it is the final full weekday of winter. spring is officially here, monday morning. it doesn't feel like it. for nearly half of the country. take a look at these morning

low, teens in new england, below the freezing mark from new york, down to south carolina, 32 degrees in jacksonville, florida. and another winter storm is brewing. it'll move across the midwest today and then on saturday it hits the northeast where people are still digging out from the blizzard of this week. another one to four inches expected. >> that is not looking happy for the weekend. >> spring here soon enough. still ahead, a home leveled after an explosion. the new video coming in. plus, magma and ash shooting into the air. the dramatic escape from a volcano eruption. a reporter caught in the middle of it telling her story. another lucky escape. a man in a store nearly hit by an out-of-control suv.

new this morning investigators are on the scene of a house explosion outside washington, d.c. the blast completely leveled the single story home. a fire department official called the damage catastrophic. it's too early to know what may have caused it and the whereabouts of the home's occupants are unknown. overseas, terrifying moments for visitors as europe's most active volcano erupts. italy's mt. etna sent hot volcanic rocks and ash spewing through the air. magma hit the snow and caused an explosion of steam. a bbc tv crew was among those making a dramatic escape. the reporter rebecca morelle speaking with terry moran. >> everyone started to run and all the while being pelled with all this material but we couldn't see anything because it was a whiteout. >> so there was a moment when you thought you were going to

die. >> yeah, there was a huge explosion. we thought that might be it. >> understandably. at least ten people were injured. some with head injuries, but none serious. the mountain continues to spew lava into the air at this hour. nearly 40% of colleges are experiencing a drop in applications from international students and school officials attribute the decrease to the immigration policies of the trump administration. the new survey finds the biggest declines in students from the middle east. there won't be any more stars at netflix in the ratings system, that is. the streaming service is ditching the five-star system for a simpler thumb's up, thumb's down one. netflix says the system feels yesterday and users are much more likely to give ratings with the simpler system. subscribers will start seeing the thumbs next month. >> i like the variables, though. >> with the stars. >> you know how good or how bad it is. >> thumb's up.

thumb's down. age landing. a propeller falls off midflight. how? and where did it land? and the first round of march madness. the big upsets and one team getting their first tournament win ever. i survived a heart at. i'm doing all i can to keep from having another one. and i'm taking brilinta. for people who've been hospitalized for a heart attack. i take brilinta with a baby aspirin. no more than one hundred milligrams as it affects how well it works. brilinta helps keep my platelets from sticking together and forming a clot. brilinta reduced the chance of another heart attack. or dying from one. it worked better than plavix. don't stop taking brilinta without talking to your doctor since stopping it too soon increases your risk of clots in your stent, heart attack, stroke, and even death. brilinta may cause bruising or bleeding more easily, or serious, sometimes fatal bleeding. don't take brilinta if you have bleeding, like stomach ulcers, a history of bleeding in the brain, or severe liver problems. tell your doctor about bleeding, new or unexpected shortness of breath,

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here's how benefiber® works. inside us are trillions of good microflora that support digestive health. the prebiotic fiber in benefiber® nourishes them... and what helps them, helps you. clear, taste-free, benefiber®. this is the south lawn at the white house among many landmarks around the world going green today to mark st. patrick's day. dyeing the water is an annual tradition there. >> i love food coloring. so great. drivers today will get the green light in much of the west and midwest. watch out for wet roads in the northwest and mountain snow? the cascades and roads may be slippery around the great lakes and wet in the ohio valley and appalachians. flying, airport delays most likely in detroit and chicago. police in colorado asking the public to help solve a murder mystery. two teens best friends and high school classmates found dead on the side of a road.

>> police searching for clues and the killer. two heartbroken families seeking answers. officials are on the hunt for the killer of these two colorado teens. >> it was not a murder/suicide. we are investigating this as a double homicide and so we are aggressively aggressively investigating this case. >> reporter: a driver drove by two bodies lying on the shoulder of the road later identified to be 15-year-old derek benjamin greer and 16-year-old natalie poretita. both families speaking out for the first time. >> he was always just so loving and he was my best friend. >> she walked into a room, she took your breathe away. >> reporter: the sheriff's office is not commenting on how they were killed. they are awaiting autopsy results which could take weeks. the school's principal says that counseling can available to any student who needs help. much more later on "gma."

a man in washington state is said to be fine following drastic action when his phone caught fire. the phone was left on the floor of a costco south of seattle when it started burning. he took off his pants to avoid being injured. he said the phone was an lg. it's unclear why it went up in flames. no comment from the company about this incident. a regional flight in australia made an emergency landing in sydney after losing a propeller. there were no injuries aboard the plane. but the propeller has not been found and it will likely be a key piece of the investigation evidence there. it could help explain whether there is a defect in this type of aircraft or whether there was a lapse in maintenance. also caught on camera, a store clerk in georgia just b e barely avoiding an suv. look at that. it came through the front window. police say the woman behind the wheel forgot to put it in park. then she got back in and hit the gas instead of the brake.

the clerk wasn't hurt. neither was the driver but there as you can see was a lot of cleaning up to do. the first big day of march madness in the books. 64 teams now down to 48. >> the eight night games went according to form except for in the west region. number 11 xavier beat six seed maryland, 76-65. the musketeers face florida state tomorrow. >> the other upset of the day came in the south region, number 1, middle tennessee state, led by as many as 17 before knocking out number 5, minnesota, and the blue raiders beat butler tomorrow and the toughest moment came in the west region, vanderbilt's riley lachance put the commodores up by one on northwestern with only 18 seconds left but then his teammate matthew fisher-davis forgets the team is leading and does a foul. brian macintosh would make them pay with two free throws. northwestern winning it, its

first ncaa tournament game and all that made julia louis-dreyfus very happy. her son chad a walk-on for northwestern. so, they get to dance another day. >> up next, "the pulse," the big debate about traffic tickets. should you get a bigger fine for driving slow in the left lane? >> honk, honk, right. one brave golfer taking care of a very dangerous hazard on the course. i will never wash my hair again. i will never never wash my hair again now, i fuel it new pantene doesn't just wash your hair, it fuels it. with the first pro-v nutrient blend, making every... ...strand stronger don't just wash your hair fuel it fuel your hair. because strong is beautiful. find fast relief behind the counter allergies with nasal congestion? with claritin-d. [ upbeat music ]

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away. more than 700 of the films have now been declassified. scientists hope by analyzing videos, they can learn more about the effects of nuclear explosions. up next, they say diamonds are a girl's best friend. well, this one might be some girl's best friend like forever. >> yeah, besty, bff, 706 carats of diamond found in the west african nation of sierra leone, that diamond rich country's second largest diamond ever found discovered by a pastor. >> he turned it over to the president who is having it kept in a bank. they don't know how much it's worth. eventually will be sold at auction. >> sure, it's in a bank. it could get more expensive to drive slowly in the fast lane. so, there are three more states considering higher fines for drivers who camp out in the passing lane, possibly as much as $250, five have stiffened the penalties in the past few years but no real evidence that slow

drivers are safety hazard. tell us what you think at atmfans.com. should they be punished. >> i'm not a fast driver. cody is apparently fearless. he reached out and touched an eight-foot-long alligator during the first round of the arnold palmer invitational and it quickly scrambled -- >> it came back after him. >> no, went in the water. >> that was way too close and personal as he admitted. more news after this. i take movantik for oic, opioid-induced constipation. had a bad back injury, my doctor prescribed opioids which helped with the chronic pain, but backed me up big-time. tried prunes, laxatives, still constipated... had to talk to my doctor. she said, "how long you been holding this in?" (laughs) that was my movantik moment. my doctor told me that movantik is specifically designed for oic and can help you go more often.

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>> good morning, i'm tamala edwards, it is friday, march 17. we have breaking news, a man was shot and dragged by a vehicle. police are on the scene trying to piece together whaptd in the overnight -- what happened in the overnight murder. and we can see some snowflakes yet again, karen rogers has that and talking about warmer weather over the weekend, matt pellman is here with the commute and happy st. patrick's day, all ahead on

"action news." this is how crazy rushing to the tv screaming quick, rachel maddow is about to show a 1040 form. >> we're all glued to it. i was watching the twitter feed. i watched. when 9:00 came rachel took us on an emotional roller coaster because like a roller coaster at the end you're right back where you started and feeling queasy. >> people skeptical about whether his tax form was real or not. we look at the details. it seems like trump filed it. for example, for dependents he wrote, ivanka, don jr. and what's her name. the white house is criticizing rachel maddow saying it's totally illegal to steal and publish tax returns. yep, they said the documents should be released the proper way by having a russian hacker give them to wikileaks. that's how you do it. that's how you get them released. >> after what 20 minutes of

explaining what taxes are and who donald trump is maddow was ready to show us. >> i'm sure it is only the start. but it's a start. we just got it. we'll go through it next. >> what? a cliffhanger. is this news or a reality show? i don't want to watch america's got 1040s. >> man, so many people were upset about that. >> i don't know if people wanted to see a 1040 so badly. >> let's cue the music and let's go live to dublin where this is a temple bar part of town where they're already getting things started and people getting ready for the parade. >> like the irish do. >> celebrations are starting early and will last in dublin as well as here in the united states. have a g >> top of the morning to you,

it is 4:30 a.m., friday, march 17. >> happy st. patrick's day to all of you. we're falling breaking news, a minivan driver runs over a man and realized that he had shot. a second child has died from what officials are blaming on and exploding hover board. >> trump is standing by the accusations that president obama wiretapped him during the campaign. >> let's talk about weather and traffic. karen rogers is