diana alvear reports. >> reporter: who could forget billy crystal at hannibal lecter. the other seven times he's hosted the oskars. well get ready, because he's back. >> they were charged with tracking down a legend. >> reporter: his seven-year hiatus from hosting was spoofed by the academy. >> we come to you on behalf on an old friend. ♪ >> you could have just texted. >> reporter: crystal came to the rescue after real-life drama rocked the awards. unfortunate comments by the original show director, brett ratner, forced him to design. his hand-picked host, eddie murphy rezined as well. >> i think he'll deliver on every front. >> reporter: after last year's pairing of james franco and anne hathaway was widelied, it's no surprise that the academy is serving up something familiar. >> he's been working on the movie skits that are going to open the show. i hear they're outrageous. >> reporter: as for crystal, he may be a little poermd he's more than ready for one more round as master of ceremonies. >> to find that way to come back, there's so much expected of this. we just

diana alvear has more. >> who could forget billy crystal as he opens the academy awards in 1992?en times the beloved comedian has hosted the oscars? get ready, because he is back. >> we are charged with tracking down a legends. >> his seven-year hiatus from posting was spoofed by the academy as they journeyed to find him. >> you could have just tex ted. >> he came up to their aid after comments by the director originally chosen was forced to resign and eddie murphy dropped out as well. that is when they convinced billy crystal to come back. >> i think he will deliver on every front. >> after last year's hosts were widely panned, no surprise the academy is serving up something familiar and reliably successful. >> billy crystal has been working on movie skips that will open the door and they are outrageous >> . billy crystal may be a little older, but he is more than ready for one more round as master of ceremonies. >> to find a way to come back, there's so much expected of this. if we tell people to please lower your expectations. >> diana alvear, abc news. >> the pressure is on.

diana alvear outlines this growing dispute. hey, diana. >> reporter: rob and paula-g morning. i've seen my share of hearings, and this one by far was one of the nastiest i've ever seen. members of the congress blast add toernlg eric holder for "operation fast and furious." no scandal seemed too controversial to reference. at thursday's contentious capitol hill hearing on "operation fast and furious." >> my question for you is what's the difference between the case of joe paterno at penn state and the justice department under your leadership? >> reporter: members of the house oversight and government relations committee grilled attorney general eric holder. >> how many more border patrol agents would have had to die as a part of operation fast and furious for you to take responsibility? >> that kind of question i think is frankly and again, respectfully, i think that's beneath a member of congress. >> reporter: the atf's gun-running scheme was supposed to infiltrate and identify high-level drug runners and criminals. instead the agency lost track of hundreds of guns, some of wh

we begin with diana alvear outside of the staples center. >> reporter: rob and paula good morning.he grammys are about celebrating. that's exactly what happened last night. whitney houston was there in spirit. as star after star took the stage to honor her night and legacy. on a night when the music industry honors its biggest stars sadness tinged the celebration. >> there's no way around this, we've had a death in our family. >> reporter: they opened with a prayer. >> to have a lasting memory of music to cherish and share forever. >> reporter: her legacy was honored throughout the show. >> i just want to say up to whitney up in heaven, we all love you, whitney. >> reporter: one of her biggest fans singing houston's biggest hit, in tribute to her idol. ♪ and i will always love you >> reporter: as the show began, the los angeles coroner announced houston's autopsy was complete but it may be several weeks before they determine what killed her. >> because the death is deferred, pending toxicology and other findings. >> reporter: her daughter was taken to the hospital and treated for s

abc's diana alvear is joining us this morning from hollywood. good morning, diana.h us. >> reporter: rob and paula, good morning. this red carpet really is the a-lister's highway right now. everybody who's anybody is walking by. we saw sandra bullock, steven spielberg, rooney mara, all of the nominees walking past. some holding their oscars. looking fabulous on what has become a fabulous and memorable night. the drama began before the academy awards even started. when sacha baron cohen, the dictator, dumped what he said were kim jong il's ashes on ryan seacrest. >> if somebody ask you what you are wearing, you will say kim jong il! >> reporter: the show kicked off with a montage. host billy crystal on a mission to see the nominated films. then it was time to announce best supporting actress. a standing ovation greeted octavia spencer. >> thank you steven spielberg for changing my life. thank you staszy snyder for changing my life. please wrap up. i'm wrapping up. i'm sorry. i'm freaking out. >> reporter: 82-year-old christopher plummer became the oldest best support

diana alvear, abc news, los angeles. >>> the son of new york city's police chief will not be charged on a rape claim. last month, a woman reported she met kelly for drinks in october and he then sexually assaulted her. they decided no criminal charges are appropriate. >>> a soul train will be rolling through chi town tonight as the city remembers don cornelius. his legacy will be celebrated at the museum of broadcast communications in his hone town of chicago. >> i've been there to that museum. very cool. >>> time for the weather across the nation. cooler on the east coast. rain and snow showers in new york and washington, d.c. thunderstorms and heavy downpours in florida. up to an inch of rain in south texas. morning showers in california, los angeles, palm springs and san diego, a few sprinkles in the pacific northwest. >>> 44 in salt lake city. 20s from fargo to omaha. 44 here in new york. near 60 in atlanta. and 81 in miami. >>> coming up, new details in the story of josh powell. and his sons. from the 911 tape just released. did authorities delay getting to the scene? >>> also,

you know, i would just tell people to please lower your expectations. >> reporter: diana alvear, abce going to be high. he's my favorite host ever. i think billy always is brilliant up on stage. it's good they're going back to old faithful. he's good. he nails it every time. >> and our facebook question of the day. how important do you think the host is to the oscars? make sure you jump on to facebook. it's crucial. last year -- >> last year was kind of not so great. yeah. i think billy's going to be great and nail it again. so make sure you tune in sunda night. i think it's 7:0estehing>> phbe

abc's diana alvear has more. good morning, diana. >> reporter: rob and paula, good morning. positively balmy where you're at, but texans are struggling with both storms and drought. water, water everywhere. in fort worth. not a drop to drink further south. >> just praying for rain. hopefully we'll get some. >> reporter: after water levels in spicewood's well dropped, local officials were forced to begin hauling in water on tanker trucks. >> if they don't truck us in water, then we're completely out of water and we will not be able to function at all in this community at all. >> reporter: rain is falling in texas. even spicewood will get storms. but meteorologists say mere inches won't make up for months of drought. spicewood will keep trucking in their water for the next several weeks. they have no choice. and if the heavy rains in other parts of texas let up, they may not be the only ones. and some experts are predicting that texas's drought will last through the end of april. so no relief anytime soon. rob, paula? >> diana alvear, thanks for that report. here is your wedne

abc's diana alvear looks back on this amazing legacy. good morning to you, diana. >> reporter: rob and paula, good morning. i don't know about you, but i grew up watching "soul train," and i always wanted to dance like those dancers. so the news that the conductor of soul himself had passed away hit close to home. >> one of the baddest things around. it's what they call bayero. >> reporter: don cornelius was the coolest of the cool. revolutionizing the world of music and television one classic "soul train" line dance at a time. for a man who introduced so much joy, his life came to a tragic end. the 75-year-old died wednesday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. a journalist by trade, cornelius was concerned african-american culture was virtually ignored by the mainstream media. so he set out to change that. ♪ soul train "soul train" barreled onto the scene in 1970, bringing with it singing, dancing, and so much more. breaking barriers for black artists. >> gladys knight helped us do the first show for syndication. we didn't really know w

diana alvear, abc news, los angeles. >> i love the commercials are as big as the game.heck out wnnfans.com. >> and if you're right, rob's going to send something special. >> yeah. don't lie. don't tease like that. can cost you some money. and whatr that's why you should consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. all medicare supplement plans can help pay some of what medicare doesn't, so you could save up to thousands of dollars in out of pocket expenses. call now for this free information kit and medicare guide. if you're turning 65 or you're already on medicare... you should know about the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp; see if one's right for you. all medicare supplement plans let you choose any doctor or hospital, that accepts medicare patients... and could help you save up to thousands of dollars in out of pocket expenses. plus, there are no networks... no referrals needed to see a specialist... and virtually no claim forms to fill out. how's that for convenience? and when you travel, your pla

you know, i would just tell people to please lower your expectations. >> reporter: diana alvear, abctations are going to be high. he's my favorite host ever. i think billy always is brilliant up on stage. it's good they're going back to old faithful. he's good. he nails it every time. >> and our facebook question of the day. how important do you think the host is to the oscars? make sure you jump on to facebook. it's crucial. last year -- >> last year was kind of not so great. yeah. i think billy's going to be great and nail it again. so make sure you tune in sunday night. i think it's 7:00 eastern things kick off here, right here -- >> on the alphabet. >> abc. so there you go. >> what are you wearing, by the way? >> nothing. >> birthday suit? >> absolutely. why not? something different. >> big surprises. >> announcer: this is abc's "world news now," informing insomniacs for two decades.

diana alvear, abc news, çó hollywood. >> i'm downloading right now. >> you're into it, aren't you?s, nominee backstories, and host billy crystal's past performances. downloading it right now. >> i think i speak for a lot of people. i am happy to see billy back in the saddle again. he'll never compare to the hosting job we did, you know, in fantasyland. but i'm happy to see billy backb >>> this morning on "world news now" -- teacher's plea. the veteran los angeles elementary school teacher facing a long list of unspeakable child sex abuse allegations appears in court. >> while pleading not guilty, mark berndt claims he's the one being mistreated. it's wednesday february 22nd. >>> good wednesday morning, everyone. it's ash wednesday. >> yes. >> i'm paula faris. >> and i'm rob nelson. good morning, everybody. that teacher, mark berndt, remains in custody this morning. his bail set at $23 million. that is 1 million for each of the 23 children he's accused of molesting. the scandal of course sent shock waves through the city of l.a. and really around the world. >> you won't believe what

more from diana alvear. ♪ >> one of the baddest things around. >> reporter: don cornelius was the coolestrevolutionizing the world of music and television when classic soul train line dance at a time. for a man who introduced so much joy his life came to a tragic end. the 75-year-old died wednesday from a self-inflicted gun shot wound. a journalist by trade he was concern the african american culture was virtually ignored by the mainstream media so he set out to change that. ♪ soul train >> reporter: soul train barreled on to the scene in 1970, bringing with it singing, dancing and so much more. it was a funky social barometer breaking barriers for black artists. >> gladys knight helped do the first show for syndication. we didn't know we were going to make it until stevie wonder walkle in the door. >> and diana ross and michael jackson and even l.l. cool j. the conductor on the hippest train in america for more than two decades, cornelius family years touched by -- later years touched by family troubles and declining health. >> i'm don cornelius. as always in parting we wish you love and

abc's diana alvear has the latest from los angeles right now. go back to school until their original teachers are back in the classroom. they say bringing in a new staff is making an already tough situation that much harder on their kids. when the doors opened at miramonte elementary, many students and their parents remained on the lawn, demanding their original teachers be reinstated. >> she was nice to us. >> reporter: the district reassigned the entire staff after two teachers were arrested and charged with abusing their students. police say they've recovered around 600 photos allegedly taken by third-grade teacher mark berndt of students between the age of 6 and 10, some with their mouths taped, some blindfolded, being fed spoonfuls of what authorities say is the teacher's semen. second-grade teacher martin springer was charged with fondling a 7-year-old student. parents want to know how the abuse, especially berndt's, went undetected for so long. >> he would go to the home often. he would get to know the parents. he'd become their friends. >

. >> but with more than $100 billion on the line here, abc's diana alvear is joining us from l.a. ood morning. let me ask you a question. what were you doing when you were 27 years old? well, chances are you were not filing an ipo for your company worth billions. any news about facebook tends to be big. but it doesn't get much bigger than this. a $5 billion initial public offering. it's the largest ipo ever for an internet company. eclipsing the record set by google of 1.9 billion in 2004. and this is just the beginning. now that analysts are getting their first look at the inner workings of facebook. >> we know it's a profitable company, but we haven't known how much. >> i know it's a private company. how much profit? how much income? >> we're not going to answer that question. that's the advantage of being a private company. >> reporter: ceo mark zuckerberg's already reportedly worth $24 billion. the ipo could catapult the 27-year-old tycoon to even more staggering levels of wealth. and about 1,000 of his employees will make millions as well. going public was bound to be profitab

abc's diana alvear is in los angeles with the latest. eving the worst kind of loss after a marine exercise went wrong. they were preparing to deploy to war. seven marines never made it. while training wednesday night in arizona, two helicopters collided in mid-air, killing all on board. six of them are from camp pendleton. one from marine corps air station yuma. >> we would expect that at a war time, but it's really equally just painful when it happens in a practice training situation. >> reporter: this is the range near yuma. marines train here because the terrain is similar to that of afghanistan and other current theaters of war. experts say the nighttime maneuvers they perform are incredibly difficult. the complexity compounded by the use of nighttime vision goggles. >> the problem is these nightvision goggles have a very, very narrow field of view, which is not much more than you would look through a soda straw. it limits the peripheral vision. so the ability to see left and right while you're wearing these nightvision goggles is ver

abc's diana alvear is joining us this morning from los angeles with more on the tragedy. diana?d paula, good morning. we were all stunned to hear about that explosion that killed josh powell and his two young sons. and now investigators are saying that's exactly how he planned it. police say no sooner had his two sons entered his home than josh powell did the unthinkable. they say he murdered them. explosions that left his home a charred, smoking mess. a massacre investigators say was premeditated. >> there was accelerant spread throughout the house, and we did recover two five-gallon gas cans. we've discovered multiple e-mails that he sent to his pastor, he sent to his cousins. they dictate what to do with the utilities, what to do with his money, what to do with certain aspects of his life. >> reporter: so ended a family saga that began in 2009, with the disappearance of his wife, susan. the sole person of interest, josh claimed he'd taken his sons charles and braden camping the last night she was seen. last week josh was again denied custody by a judge. sunday was to be his f

abc's diana alvear reports from los angeles. reporter: rob and paula, good morning. let me tell you, i filled up my car yesterday at a cost of $4.29 a gallon. that sounds really painful. but it will seem like a bargain in just a couple of months. if $4 gas has you thinking about parking your car permanently, get ready because prices are set to keep climbing. global oil prices hit a new high. $105 a barrel. the spike stems from iran halting crude oil exports to britain and france and threatening other nations. retaliation for the european union's upcoming sanctions over its nuclear program. and fallout from the conflict can be felt right here at home 37 gas at its highest price ever for a president's day weekend. experts say don't be surprised if the national average reaches a record $4.25 by late april. and nearly $5 by memorial day. and when gas prices rise, so do prices for pretty much everything else. this virginia floral shop is raising the cost for delivery service. >> gas prices are a cost that people are conscious of when

abc's diana alvear is joining us now from los angeles with more on the case. know, it's still so hard to believe that just days ago whitney houston was here at the beverly hilton getting ready for a grammy preparty. and now her family is preparing for a funeral. ♪ don't make me close one more door ♪ it's the place where as a child whitney houston first found her singular voice. now new jersey's new hope baptist church will be where her loved ones celebrate her extraordinary life. monday this plane carrying houston's body left california and later landed in new jersey. authorities revealed new details surrounding her death. they said by the time a member of houston's staff found her in the bathtub she was unconscious and underwater. they tried cpr, but it was too late. the coroner would not say whether drugs were a factor in her death or if she drowned. he did confirm prescription medication was found in her hotel room. but it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. >> no matter what medications they're taking, until we run a tox and see the level and what's in the

our coverage begins this morning with abc's diana alvear. >> reporter: rob and paula, good morning.ating its best. and that's exactly what happened last night. whitney houston was there in spirit as star after star took the stage to honor her life and legacy. on a night the music industry honors its biggest stars, sadness tinged the celebration. >> there is no way around this. we've had a death in our family. >> reporter: the grammys opened with a prayer for whitney houston. >> and to have her lasting legacy of music to cherish and share forever. >> reporter: her legacy was honored throughout the show. >> i just want to say to whitney up in heaven, we all love you, whitney houston. >> reporter: one of her biggest fans, jennifer hudson, singing houston's biggest hit in tribute to her idol. ♪ and i ♪ will always love you as the show began, the los angeles coroner announced houston's autopsy was complete but it may be several weeks before they determine what killed her. >> the cause of death is deferred pending toxicology and further testing. >> reporter: houston's death was too much f