right now. that's as a new witness comes forward claiming to have seen the deadly shooting and aftermath. and chilling new video of those deadly tornados that flattened henryville. a school bus was thrown through a window. and a 12-year-old girl being brutally beaten. this morning, new developments involving four of the rhode island teens behind the attack. and are you feeling lucky this morning? millions of other folks like you are lining up for a world record lotto jackpot. the mega millions is staggering, $540 million, and it could go up by more today. this morning we have your odds of winning and some good advice on how to play the very best numbers. >> we're asking the question, would you come back to work the next day? >> heck yeah. >> i'm not so sure. and a smaller jackpot on this highway. a crane with a huge magnet attached picking up millions of coins after a brinks 18-wheeler leaves the road. we'll tell you where it happened and how. we want to begin with new voices in this extraordinarily highly-charged debate over the death of trayvon martin and whether the man who shot him, george zimmerman, acted in self-defense or not. we're hearing now from the first time from someone who claims to have witnessed this shooting and its aftermath. that person is speaking exclusively with cnn's "ac 360." >> it was dark, but after the shots, obviously someone, a man, got up. and it was kind of like that period of time -- i can't say i watched him get up, but maybe only within a couple seconds or so, then he was walking towards where i was watching. and i could see him a little bit clearer. i could see it was a hispanic man, and he didn't appear hurt or anything else. >> cnn altered the voice of that witness and we are not disclosing whether it is a male or female. we have another exclusive for you at cnn. george zimmerman's own brother coming to his defense on our air. martin savidge live in sanford, florida. run through the things zimmerman's brother said and whether there was anything significant regarding details to this crime that he was able to fill us in on. >> reporter: good morning, ashleigh. as you say, the family of george zimmerman continues to stand behind him and more continue to speak out. the latest is the brother, the older brother, that is robert zimmerman jr. he was on piers morgan tonight last night. and, first of all, he launched into more detail as to the actual struggle and how this life and death situation played out. listen. >> the gun, i believe, was in his inside -- tucked inside his pant waist. >> reporte >> so he has pulled it out and fired it. >> he has taken control of his firearm. he prevented his firearm from being taken from him and used against him. that's called saving your life. what trayvon said was either to the effect of, i believe, you -- this is going to be easy, you die tonight or you have a piece, you die tonight. and attempted to disarm him. so, when you say have a bag of skittles and ice tea, nobody just stood there with a bag of skittles and an ice tea. you return force with force when somebody assaults you. >> reporter: the emotional toll, the impact this has had on george zimmerman, they say he is not the same as he was prior to the shooting. again, the brother. >> he has very severe emotional injuries. he has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. he was not right from the moment it happened. he didn't call his family and express anything but, you know, sadness. it was just a darkness. he had changed. he wasn't the same. he would never be the same. he was very disappointed that none of the neighbors came out and helped. that the whole situation potentially could have been avoided by someone coming out and saying, hey, what's going on out there? >> reporter: that is an interesting point. there were a lot of people who were on the telephone to the police department, many of them said they heard cries of help. and that those cries of help went on for some time. but apparently nobody went outside, nobody intervened, and the zimmerman family says perhaps if they had, this whole tragedy could have been averted. robert, just like his father, george zimmerman's father yesterday, was not an eyewitness to this. what he is retelling is what george zimmerman told them. ashleigh? >> martin savidge, thank you. out west, firefighters say they are finally gaining ground on a deadly wildfire in the foothills west of denver, colorado. the fire has already killed an elderly couple. more than 4,000 acres have burned. at least 27 homes are confirmed destroyed so far. at this hour one woman is missing inside the fire zone. a team of 32 people, six dogs have covered 200 acres so far, but so far no luck. >> just awful. you see those pictures and you think how quickly that probably happened. at last count the blaze was 45% contained. rob marciano is live in the cnn weather center. weather always plays in so heavily on the future of these fires. what's going on? >> they had good weather today, and today the weather will be good, but going forward not so much. relatively light winds, low levels of humidity once again today, between 11% and 17%. we could see winds gust this afternoon to 20 miles per hour. but tomorrow, there's a potent system coming through for the west coast, gusts 40 miles per hour to 60 miles per hour. this piece of wind energy will be getting into the fire zone tomorrow. look at this complex south of the border of mexico. this is what it looked like yesterday afternoon in monterey, mexico. two women driving down the road there saw this. they are saying things like we're scared, we're okay it doesn't go up mountains. they got closer and said let's pick our seat belts up in case it picks us up. unbelievable how close they got there. i guess ignorance is bliss there. not many tornados that come through this part of the world for sure. my goodness, that one is vivid, there was one tractor trailer that was turned over the side of the road that those ladies passeds a this storm and tornado passed over the road that they were driving down. another little complex running through louisiana right now, pretty tame, but later on today we'll likely see thunderstorms that may bring damaging winds and isolated tornadoes across the ohio river valley stretching up towards western pennsylvania as these two complexes move this way. decent day for new york city, but the potential across northern new england and the northeast of seeing snow during the day tomorrow. >> rob, i have to reiterate. as you were showing that video and those ladies were watching that tornado get bigger and bigger, i notice they went right under an underpass and kept on going. please give our viewers advice if you are driving, you don't go away from an underpass. you stay under the underpass. it's your only hope of survival. >> underpasses, get in a ditch. you may want to get out of the car at some point, but that was after this -- the tornado passed the road. earlier in this video, you can actually see it on the left side of the road. they're barrelling right towards it. they slow down, stop, wait for it to pass, and then this is on the right side. >> there's the safety of the underpass, the trucker knew to stop and stay under the underpass. lord. >> not sure how the seat belts would have helped this that situation. >> always buckle up. >> exactly. >> rob marciano, thank you very much. we have a lot going on. >> oh, do we? really? you wouldn't know from the cover of the "new york post." fortune hunters. >> did you buy a ticket? >> heck, yeah. >> originally i was going to cover this story and say, great, i'm going to buy a ticket. >> you're not in the office pool? >> i got to get in. >> i have a guy. >> the question is what would i do with all of that money? a record $540 million and counting. the largest lotto jackpot in history. it's mega millions madness. 42 states, dc, the virgin islands, people like me dreaming of what they will spend it on as they line up for a shot of the jackpot? >> we made it, finally. >> we were in line from the desert. >> i will take care of my family, friends, we are doing an animal sanctuary, taking care of soldiers. >> i would make a lot of my grand kids happy, a lot of family happy. >> generous guy. alison kosik is live in times square with more on this. it's early, 5:10 on the east coast, are people out there buying tickets? >> reporter: yes, they are. they are buying coffee, doughnuts and tickets. a lot of tickets and it's only 5:00 in the morning. the jackpot right now is $540 million. you're wondering how did it get this high. what happened was the last time someone won the jackpot was back on january 24th. a woman in georgia took ohome te $72 million jackpot. since then, the jackpot has rolled over 18 times. so today, tonight could be the night. you want to play? throw up that map and see if you fit into this situation where you can buy mega million tickets. it's played in 42 states including the u.s. virgin islands and washington, d.c., but not in alaska, florida or hawaii. so what do you do? send some money to friends in states where it is played. this is a record jackpot. lottery officials say this is the biggest ever. you want proof? the last time we saw jackpots anywhere coming close, back in 2007, 2009, even last year, but none come close to $540 million. you know what i'm seeing as people funnel through here and buy their breakfast and lottery tickets? a lot of people are buying lottery tickets and they never played before. they say i got that lotto fever, i'm buying in today. alina? >> all right. alison kosik, thank you very much. we'll check in with you all morning long. >> lots of tickets still to be sold. you don't need to live in new york to know about this lottery institution. have a listen. >> good evening, everyone, for the new york lottery, i'm yolanda vega. >> you bet, yolanda vega will join us to talk about not only this record breaker but the last time she was in on calling the numbers for the record breaker. what's the secret? >> i just met her this morning. it was like the most exciting part of my morning. incredible video. look at this a tornado picking up a school bus and tearing it to shreds. kids were inside that bus just minutes before, and they had the bus driver to thank for saving their lives. if you are heading out the door, you will want to set the dvr for this one. and you will not believe how close it came. look at these pictures, video, a motorcycle dodging a car that spins out of control. there's the motorcycle, will you find out how this ends in a moment. exactly as planned. 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it's $540 million we're talking about here. the jackpot. you have to be in it to win it, right? that's what they always say. mega millions, lottery fever is hitting much of the country. at 11:00 p.m. eastern time tonight, the numbers will be announced. 42 states in our union as well as the district of columbia and the virgin islands are in this game. who better to talk than the queen of lottery herself. no one can quite say her name the way she can. have a listen. >> good evening, everyone, for the new york lottery i'm yolanda vega. >> for more than 22 years, yolanda vega has been calling the new york lottery number winners, and she has become something of an icon. and joining us in the studio today is -- i won't even say your name, i don't do it justice. >> good morning, ashleigh, i'm yolanda vega. >> reporter: you talk to people who are not even from new york and they know you. >> yes. >> when a story like this breaks, all of a sudden you become this massive presence in new york city. you can't even walk down the street right now, i'm sure without people saying touch me, give me some kind of luck. tell me what i need to know. what do people need to know? >> what they need to know is a ticket basically caosts $1, everyone has mega millions fever, i say go in, by one dollar of quick pick. >> just one dollar. >> one dollar. let the machine select your random winning numbers, hopefully. everybody plays the birthdays, anniversaries, kids ages. that's all good. maybe a dollar on that, but put a dollar down on whatever five numbers, six numbers come to you. maybe those are the ones that win. >> the strategy here is if you pick birthdays or something, will you always have low numbers. >> if the numbers come in 1 through 31, you will share. that's all good, because $540 million is a lot of money, but if you get in on a random quick pick, and you get these really bizarre numbers, you get it all by yourself. >> at this point i don't know that anyone is strategizing that i want to win this by myself. i don't want to have to share. i will go over some statistics on your chances of winning. we all love to jump in on it. we know we will probably not win. but when you see the actual numbers, it's remarkable. the big number is 1 in 176 million to 1. that's a lot lof numbers, and here is what it really means. your odds of being killed by lightning, 3 million to 1. the odds of dying from flesh eating bacteria, 1 million to 1. and your odds of dieing from a bee sting, 6.1 million to 1. it's remarkable. more than anything, is your dollar a chance to win or is your dollar a bit of camaraderie getting in on the social fun? >> it is a chance to win. people are thinking about the jackpot. but you know what? if you get the five number the and not the mega millions number, you still win $250,000. >> quarter mil. >> a quarter million dollars. >> did you buy a ticket. >> we can't play at the new york lottery. >> i tell you what, if i win, i'll take you to breakfast. >> that's awesome. a lot of friends play. we encourage groups to play. we had the albany seven last year, seven people pooled their money together and won $319 million. >> we are already way ahead of you, this whole group. yolanda vega, nice to meet you. >> thank you. good luck. best part of the day, meeting yolanda vega. coming up, our neighbors to the north getting rid of the penny, could we be next? and we'll have a check of the gas prices and the unbelievable rise since the start of the year. g... progresso this reduced sodium soup says it may help lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just have to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. ifif y youou'r're e lolookokinio geget t totogegethther, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy yoyou u cacameme t to o ththe. bebecacaususe e heherere a at, wewe'r're e ononlyly a abob. fifindndining g yoyou u ththe e isis a allll w we e do. wewelclcomome e toto h hot. the passat is one of nine volkswagen models named a 2012 iihs top safety pick. not that we'd ever brag about it. turn right. come on, nine. turn left. hit the brakes. huh? 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[ male announcer ] we can't hide how proud we are to have nine 2012 iihs top safety picks. so we're celebrating with our "safety in numbers" event. that's the power of german engineering. right now lease the 2012 passat for $219 a month. just in this morning, gas rising almost half a penny. this is the 21st day in a row that it's gone up. gas prices now averaging 3.93 for a gallon of regular self serve. close to the $4 mark. >> we are it's up 65 cents from the beginning of the year. christina romans is here. why is it going to keep going up? >> will keep going up from mid-april to may. it will be a few more weeks of this. gas prices are already up 20% from the start of the year. look at how prices have seesawed during the obama presidency. you can see it's been a slow and steady advance. you know, prices go up and down. but we're trying to show you the longer term here. when the president took office in late january of 2009, gas prices were about 1.80 a gallon. why were they so low? we were in the middle of a terrible recession. since then prices have gone up, down, and gone up again to almost $4 a gallon. the highest since back in 2008, that's when george w. bush was still president. and higher gas prices hit american families hard. that's why every day you are complaining about gas prices. they're so dependent on our cars to get around, this is something you feel every week. let's assume for argument sake that gas prices stay static. look at how much american families can expect to pay at current prices. when you are talking about gas prices at this level, you are talking about $4,300 a year in costs, that compares with $2,000 at $1.85 a gallon. gas doesn't stay at the same price, they go up and down. but basically families are paying a couple thousand dollars a more than a few years ago for gas. that's why this is such a political story and why on the campaign trail people want to blame someone or the other and there's misinformation about what makes gas prices go up and down. one last point, this is one of the reasons why the white house was so keen on the payroll tax, that's another $1,000. that takes some of the sting out. you get a little more money in your paycheck even though you're paying more at the tank. i was looking at this poll that came out yesterday that we conducted saying the number of americans who say gas prices are the most important economic problem facing the country has more than tripled since december. >> that's because they feel it every day. >> but i was surprised by that with everything else going on. >> this might be one of the thing that's president has the least control over. he can tap the strategic petroleum reserve but the rest of the world is gobbling up oil. we are using more oil than ever before, and that will not change. >> christine romans, thank you. >> you're welcome. ahead, never before seen video of a school bus driver with 11 children on board face to face with a tornado. we're talking about 175-mile-per-hour winds. so what happens next? we'll tell you about that. and former president george h.w. bush endorses mitt romney and then asks him a question that makes for an awkward moment. you're watching "early start." ♪ [ female announcer ] introducing new nature valley protein bars. 100% natural ingredients like roasted peanuts... ♪ ...creamy peanut butter, and a rich dark chocolate flavor. plus, 10 grams of great tasting protein in every bar. so it's energy straight from nature to you. new nature valley protein bars. find them in the granola bar aisle. monarch of marketing analysis. with the ability to improve roi through seo all by cob. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. i'm going b-i-g. 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[ male announcer ] good choice business pro. good choice. there's another way litter box dust:e purina tidy cats. tidy cats premium line of litters now works harder on dust. and our improved formulas neutralize odors better than ever in multiple-cat homes. so it's easier to keep your house smelling just the way you want it. purina tidy cats. keep your home smelling like home. it is 30 minutes past the hour on the east coast, 5:30. i'm ashleigh banfield. >> good morning. i'm alina cho in for zoraida sambolin this morning. time to check the stories making news this morning. $540 million and counting, millions lining up for a world record lottery jackpot. the winnings are a staggering $540 million and it's expected to shoot up again this afternoon. the big drawing, tonight at 11:00. also happening overseas, a massive raid in france today. 20 suspected islamic militants taken into custody. most of the arrests happening in toulouse. that's where a gunman killed three children earlier this month. filmmaker spike lee doing the right thing for a mistake he made after retweeting an address claiming to be the home of trayvon martin's shooter. lee has agreed to pay for the expense force them to move out. lee is paying them an undisclosed amount of money. and a motorcycle dodging a car that is spinning out of control. look. whoa. imagine this? he makes it. he makes it. this is a highway in san antonio. it basically looks like he went through the car. >> that is unbelievable. >> you look close, that guy has nine lives. the video is posted on youtube. it's not clear why anyone was rolling on this the car missed the bike by a few inches, it looks like and kept on going. if you're out there, buddy, please buy a mega millions ticket today. >> unbelievable. you're canadian, explain this to me. they're ditching the penny in canada the government says it will save $11 million a year because it costs more than a cent to produce one. just like it does here. pennies will be rounded up or down. people are urged to donat pennies they have to charity. >> i cannot stand the bulk in my wallet. >> there is already a movement here to follow canada and get rid of the u.s. penny. >> for retailers who like that $1.99, it's tricky. it's a sticky wicket, but it's a pain in the butt for women who carry purses and wallets. enough talk about the chump change. we are hours away from being billionaires. we're in the office pool, and the mega millions is a record $540 million. well over a half billion. >> it's rolled over 18 times over the past nine weeks. hasn't been a winner since january 24th. so, alison kosik is our girl following this. she is live in times square. the ticket buying has already started, hasn't it? >> it has. right now it's a little quiet. we hit a lull. but as people have been buying their coffee and doughnuts, they are also buying lotto tickets. there's been a lot of dreaming over here about if they won what they would do with the money. we talked to some people yesterday and listen to what they had to say. >> first of all, i would have to go to church. then i told my son i would buy a block in brooklyn and open up a school and community center. >> i don't know i'd try to help people. i'd be getting a lot of phone calls. >> the dream is to help a lot of people that could use it. because if you win that much money, there's plenty for everybody. >> see, so new yorkers, they get a bad rap for being rude and nasty. but there are a lot of people who say i will give away the money. i want to help others. i want to give to family members. if you're of the selfish type, here are some things you can do. you and 29 million of your favorite friends can go see "the hunger games." check out how many rings you can buy, that beautiful sapphire ring. that. you can buy a lot of things for $540 million, but it would wind up being 389 million, yes, that's after taxes. >> you could buy 500,000 ipads. >> i know. i will test you on this one. if you stack the ipads up, alina, how high would they go? i'm kidding. that would be so unfair. keep an eye out for crazy people going crazy in line today, alison kosik for us. >> you got it. we have unbelievable video. you have to watch this. if you're brushing your teeth, put down the toothbrush and come to the tv. this is what happened when those deadly tornadoes tore through the northwest earlier this month. storms that ended up killing 14 people in the state of indiana, the number could have been higher if it wasn't for a fast-thinking school bus driver in henryville. this is the video first of the tornado itself. which is absolutely remarkable in its own right. this is a massive f4 tornado that struck on march 2nd at 3:00 p.m. angel perry was driving 11 of her students home from school when she radioed dispatch. listen to what she said about what she saw. >> i'm about a minute and half from the school. >> there is a tornado touching down about one mile from me. >> oh, my gosh. >> oh, my gosh is right. angel had to make a quick decision and she made that decision to turn around, head back to the school, get there and get those kids off the bus fas fast. >> everybody stay together. the group together right now. go. go. go. go. one, two, three, four, five. six. seven. eight. nine. come on. come on. ten. go. go. >> calm and cool. look at the video from her school bus security camera. three minutes after the kids got off the bus. >> man. >> look at this. hail and 175-mile-per-hour winds ripping through that bus. the kids are inside the school at this point, they're safe. but that 18-ton bus wound up being launched across the street. look where it ended up. right across the street, stabbing into a local diner. soledad o'brien had a chance to talk to the owner of that restaurant earlier this month. >> behind you i see this big giant bus going through the window of your brand new restaurant, which, my understanding is, you put $100,000 into building it and you are not insured. what's the plan now? >> don't know. i know we have to go forward. and wherever that road takes, we'll soon find out. but, like he said, it's these people that have lost their homes. you know? they have nothing. >> and ultimately people who lost their lives. it's a miracle those kids are okay. we thank that bus driver. >> it's incredible, we didn't know the back story at the time of what happened inside that bus. when you hear the driver counting. >> the calm, too, critical calm. there is that story again, alina. she saw a story touching down, she went for the safety. other people watch, film it, keep on driving. you got to get to safety. >> she had 11 kids on board that bus. >> big difference. >> that's right. we want to move on to the campaign trail. cnn has confirmed a meeting between presidential candidates mitt romney and newt gingrich, not clear what they discussed or whether they cut any deals, but sources tell cnn it happened last weekend in louisiana, taking place right before that state's primary, which, by the way, rick santorum won. sources told cnn's john king that the meeting was productive and pleasant. a bit of an awkward moment on the campaign trail for mitt romney, gop front-runner picked up an endorsement in houston yesterday from former president george h. walker bush. afterwards reporters wanted to know if mitt romney heard from george w. bush in town. listen to romney's answer and then carefully as george bush's dad leans in and asks romney a question. >> you know, i have not met with president george w. bush. we speak from time to time. >> we'll talk about that. has he endorsed you? >> no. no. >> that's right. bush 43 has not yet endorsed mitt romney. did you hear what barbara bush said? always a mom. she said we'll have to talk about that. >> yes. i love it. >> we'll she what she tells her son later on -- or not. it's 39 minutes past 5:00. yeah. you just got on that flight. remember those flights you have been on before where kids are misbehaving so badly? >> oh, this story. >> sometimes kids are so bad it effects the actual flight path and parents who are powerless to stop them struggle to get over this. you won't believe what happened to one set of the parents. >> as our executive producer shannon said imagine being the parents of those kids? and three firefighters in michigan are in a tight spot. roof collapses under them. look at that dramatic video. we will tell you how it terned out. you are watching "early start." goes from here to shanghai, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ chips from here, boards from there track it all through the air, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ clearing customs like that hurry up no time flat that's logistics. ♪ ♪ all new technology ups brings to me, that's logistics. ♪ and who ordered the yummy cereal? 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[ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. shot of the capitol in washington, d.c., our nation's capitol. it's 44 degrees, going up to a high of 64. 44 minutes after the hour. $540 million and counting. millions lining up for a world record lotto jackpot. expected to shoot up again this afternoon. the big drawing at 11:00 p.m. eastern tonight. a pennsylvania teacher accused of driving drunk and hitting five high school students. the teacher is facing multiple felony charges. three students had to be hospitalized, but are expected to survive. 30 itchy kids after a crop duster drops a pesticide on their school bus. this happened in bakersfield, california. firefighters said a crop duster slightly oversprayed and hit the bus. three firefighters battling a fire at dry cleaning business and look at what is about to happen. the men were trying to poke a hole in the roof to ventilate the building. that's when it gave way. two of the firefighters barely pulled their partner to safety. they were all okay. ashleigh? >> alina, that video. >> i know. >> it's harrowing. look at those brave men. good lord. thank god they're okay. that tells you how dangerous their job is. at disruption in the sky to tell you about and the troublemakers this time, two kids. mm-hmm. two kids. the crew of a sky west operated alaska airlines flight from long beach to californ beach, california to portland, oregon, asked police to meet their flight after two young kids refused to stay in their seat belts and buckle up. joining me now is the international president of flight attendants. this is the second time i'm talking to you or we're talking to you in two days. again, it's about disruptions on flights. this time kids are the culprit. i got to say, i'm not exactly clear why police had to be called because kids wouldn't buckle up. could you help me out with this one? >> sure. just to give a background. it was a whole family traveling together. it was a family of four. i don't know if it's entirely the children, but it's also about the parents. obviously passengers are required to wear their seat belts for every takeoff and landing. and there's a reason why, because that can prevent injury and unfortunate -- in the unlikely event of a crash t could save your life. it's an issue in flight, when the seat belt sign is on, you are required to remain seated with your seat belts fastened and keep your seat belt fastened at all other times when you don't need to be up. not only was that not happening, but then there was the refusal to comply with the crew member instructions. >> so refusal meaning that i don't care that my kids don't have a seat belt on? it's not a problem? or a refusal that i can't get my 3-year-old to stop this tantrum? >> i wasn't on the flight. i haven't spoken with any of the crew members or the passengers, just from reports that i have read. i understand as a flight attendant it can be challenging for a 3-year-old. obviously we wouldn't believe that they would have that cognitive ability to fully understand the issue of having to have your seat belt fastened, but working with the parent to encourage your child to comply or to fasten the seat belt. it's about making sure that the parents understand the rules and regulations. >> we were trying to get to the bottom of it, too everybody has been all over claalaska airline about what would happen on a flight that would require you to radio ahead and have police meet you at the door. they said during the flight the children became disruptive and wouldn't stay in their seats and wouldn't fasten their seat belts, which is against federal regulations. here's my thought, if it were the parents -- clearly i don't think they want to arrest a 3-year-old or an 8-year-old, but if it were the parents who were seriously disrupting or endangering the lives of other passengers, wouldn't they be arrested? my understanding is that they western. they were just escorted to another flight and there were no other incidents. >> i've been flying for 23 years, and it's incredibly unlikely that you have to call law enforcement. if the flight attendant is letting the passengers know what the rules and regulations are and why, and if there's not follow-through and if it becomes disruptive to the follow passengers or becomes a safety issue, then the flight attendant called the pilot and the pilot made reminder announcements, it's my understanding, and then when those were still not adhered to, other passengers described that the parents were not cooperating with the crew member instructions, then they felt compelled, the crew did, to have law enforcement meet the flight on the ground to reinforce the rules and explain those to the parents that they would understand. and they did and took a following flight. >> it's got every one of us out there who has had to fly with a child under the age of 5 shaking our heads and fearing for our next flight. >> i can appreciate that as a parent. i am a parent of two i understand the stresses, all parts do, of traveling with children. so we want to make your flight safe and comfortable. >> good to see you. hope i don't have to see you again. i don't like to say that to a guest, but i hope we don't meet under these circumstances. good luck with your mega millions ticket if you bought one. >> you, too. this is a story you don't want to miss. ahead on "early start" it got our attention in the newsroom. a new report on osama bin laden's rilife on the run post 9/11. how many times he was on the move and how many children he fathered. and what is the big deal about this car and driver? the driver is blind and the car is driving itself. it's google's amazing test ride. we'll show it to you. you're watching "early start." [ car braking ] [ male announcer ] brake problems? stop in to meineke today for a free brake inspection and you'll say... my money. my choice. my meineke. what is trending. google's blind test drive. have a look. ♪ >> away we go. ♪ >> look, mom, no hands. >> no hands anywhere. >> no hands, no feet. >> no hands, no feet, no nothing. >> he said, look, mom, no hands. he's blind and behind the wheel. google posting this on youtube. one of the test drivers of something called a self-driving car. this thing stops at stop signs and using sensors it even took the guy through -- ready? it's a taco bell drive through. it took him through a taco bell drive through. >> does it order for you as well? >> i love this. imagine the things it will allow those with certain disabilities to do? google's car. >> or women who need to put their makeup on in the car. >> alina cho -- >> i'm just saying. some people need that extra time. >> i hear you. >> calling it drunk karaoke -- >> really? >> in the back of a police cruiser. guy was picked up by the royal canadian mounted police for being intoxicated. after he rants for a while, he goes into queen's bo hehemian rhapsody. listen. ♪ ♪ mama ♪ just killed a man ♪ i see a little silhouette of a man ♪ ♪ got a muche thunderbolts and lightning ♪ ♪ galileo ♪ galileo ♪ galileo ♪ for me ♪ ♪ so you think you can sell me and spit in my eye ♪ whew! >> i'm thinking the mounty in the front is rocking to it. here is something we loved. talk about wiping with your words. hate to say it. there's a new website out there that wants to print all your twitter feeds on your toilet paper roll. >> come on. >> i'm not kidding. pick your favorite celebrity tweets or your tweets. look at your screen. i can't say this. the company's name starts with s-h and rhymes with twitter. you got it. the slogan is social media has never been so disposable. here's the catch. it's about $9 a roll. there you go. >> kind of a party favorment. >> the business model not so smart. >> 130 million tweets a day we're spitting out these days. who's reading this? >> that's true. coming up, millions of dollars, millions of dreams. you're looking at live pictures of a lottery hot spot right in times square. people are lining up to take a shot at biggest jackpot of all time. and an exclusive interview with george zimmerman's brother. he reveals new details about what happened moments before trayvon martin was shot dead according to his brother and what this family is going through. turn left. the passat is one of nine volkswagen models named a 2012 iihs top safety pick. not that we'd ever brag about it. turn right. come on, nine. turn left. hit the brakes. huh? how'd that get there? [ male announcer ] we can't hide how proud we are to have nine top safety picks like the passat and jetta. so we're celebrating with our "safety in numbers" event. that's the power of german engineering. right now lease the 2012 jetta for $159 a month. just about 6:00. good morning, everyone. welcome to "early start." i'm everybody, thanks for joining us. i'm alina cho. zoraida is off this morning. we're bring you the news from a to cho. has a certain ring to it. >> 6:00 a.m. in the east. >> cnn exclusive, george zimmerman's brother calls the trayvon martin case a tragedy, but says his brother is nothing like he's being portrayed. >> he's a neighbor that everybody would want to have. >> robert zimmerman jr. revealing more details about his brother's version of events on the night trayvon martin was killed. nearly a month after a deadly tornado flattened henryville, indiana, these pictures, incredible video of a twister that tossed a 36,000 pound school bus right through a diner. that bus was carrying 11 children just 3 minutes before the pictures show what happened. >> 42 states, d.c. and the virgin islands watching the mega millions jackpot this morning, a staggering $540 million. as of this morning a world record and expected to shoot up again this afternoon before the big drawing tonight at 11:00. osama bin laden fathered four children and had five safehouses during his nine years on the run in pakistan, according to the "new york times." at least two were born in a pakistani government hospital. the information coming from one of bin laden's widows and testimony to pakistani investigators. >>. this will make your heart skip a beat. a group of firefighters on a roof when it caves in, in dearborn, michigan. the men were trying to poke a hole to ventilate when it gave way. two firefighters grabbed their partner and pulled them to safety. >> remarkable video. we begin with a cnn exclusive, hearing from a witness to the shooting that killed 7-year-old trayvon martin last month, comes after the release of police surveillance tapes that appear to show george zimmerman with no obvious injuries. zimmerman claims that martin brutally attacked him before the shooting and here is what the witness told cnn's anderson cooper. >> it was dark, but after the shots, obviously someone, a man, got up, and it was kind of like that period of him, i can't say i actually watched him get up but maybe only within like a couple seconds or so then he was walking towards where i was watching and i could see him a little bit clearer, i could see that it was a hispanic man and he was, you know, he didn't appear hurt or anything else. >> cnn has altered the voice of that witness as well to protect his or her anonymity at this point. another cnn exclusive george zimmerman's brother, robert zimmerman, jr., is breaking his silence about his brother and what his brother did. marvin savidge is live in sanford, florida, with more on this story. i'm not sure how much we learned in terms of the fact pattern, what happened, which is so key in this story. we certainly heard for the first time a lot more from this family, martin. >> reporter: yes, exactly right. a lot of people talking about both the interview of that unidentified witness you're talking about there and also about robert zimmerman's interview. it's clear the family of george zimmerman continues to rally around their son, trying to make sure his side of the story is being told. robert zimmerman jr. is the older brother of george and spoke exclusively to piers morgan tonight last night and gave us more insight into the fight between george zimmerman and trayvon martin. >> the gun i believe was tucked inside his pant waist. >> so he has pulled it out and he has fired it. >> he has taken control of his firearm, prevented his firearm from being taken from him and used against him and that's called saving your life. trayvon said either to the effect of, i believe, "this is going to be easy you die tonight" or "you have a piece you die tonight" and attempted to disarm him. when you say have a bag of skittles and iced tea. if you return force with force when somebody assaults you. >> reporter: keep in mind of course george zimmerman is simply recounting the story that george zimmerman told him. he was not a witness to the events but what robert zimmerman is witness to is the change in his brother, george is not the same person he knew prior to the shooting of trayvon martin. >> he has very severe emotional injuries. he's been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder. he was not right from the moment it happened. he didn't call his family and express anything but, you know, sadness. it was just a darkness. he had changed. he wasn't the same. he would never be the same. he was very disappointed that none of the neighbors had come out and helped, that the whole situation potentially could have been avoided by just someone coming out and saying hey, what's going on out there? >> reporter: whether that's the case, nobody really knows at this particular point but it is quite clear that george zimmerman, the family of trayvon martin, of course, all deeply impacted as a result of what happened that terrible night. >> so now we've heard from his father and brother and obviously everybody wants to hear from george zimmerman himself. martin savidge thanks so much. one of the more incredible stories of the morning, this chilling new video of one of the deadly tornados that ripped apart the midwest, the storms killing 14 people in the state of indiana and that number could have been much higher if not for a hero bus driver in the city of henryville. it was a massive f-4, flattened henryville on march 2nd, struck just after 3:00 p.m. angel perry was driving 11 of her students home from school when she radioed dispatch right in the middle of it. >> this is 211, about a minute and a half from the school. >> this is 210, i'm seeing a tornado touched down about one mile from me. >> oh, my gosh. >> right. angel decided to turn around and head back to the school, when she got there, she had to get the kids off the bus and fast, and just listen to how she did it. >> everybody stay together. our group together right now. go, go, go, go, go, go, go! one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine -- come on! 10, 11, go, go! >> see that there? that's the video from the school bus security camera, just three minutes after the kids got off the bus, hail, 175-mile-per-hour winds ripping right through the bus. imagine if those kids had still been on board. instead they were safely inside the school. the 18-ton bus wound up launched across the street, flew right through the local diner. >> thank god for angel perry. thank god for that quick thinking. that could have been a horrifying story. as it was, it was a terrible story but at least not the tragedy it could have been. >> that's right. seven minutes past six on the east coast and a world record jackpot, 42 states in mega millions madness. people like everyone in this studio dreaming what have we're going to do when we win because we also stood in line to try to get a shot at this mega jackpot. >> we made it finally. >> we were in line from the desert. oh, i'm going to take care of my family and my friends and we're doing a dog sanctuary, animal sanctuary and taking care of soldiers. >> i would make a lot of my grandkids happy and family happy. >> i love when people say that, it's about my family and grandkids. alison kosik, i'm holding up "new york post" "fortune hunters, new york's rich and poor in $540 million mega frenzy." >> reporter: you're right as people have been streaming in buying their morning coffee and doughnut they're talking about what would i do with the money. hearing a lot of tahiti here i come. a lot of people saying i'll share the money, too. we are here in new york outside of times square at this convenience store watching people trickle in and dream before they head off to work. it is not just new york where you can buy the tickets. 42 other states across the country, but here is where you can't buy them. alas alaska, hawaii, florida, mississippi, alabama, et cetera. if you're in one of the states, if you can't buy the tickets, call somebody you know in the states where the mega millions jackpot is playing and give it a try. slap down that dollar. this is the biggest jackpot in lotto history. that's what the lottery folks are telling us. there hasn't been a winner since january 24th, the last time someone hit the jackpot. a woman in george won the $72 million sweet pot then. the jackpot's gotten sweeter and sweeter and you look back in time, there have been some sweet pots over time, the jackpots in 2007, 2009, even last year but this $540 million, got to take a breath with that one. after taxes, ashleigh, it's $39 million, not too shabby. >> oh forget about it then, that's a rip-off. are you in our office pool, alison, did you get in on it? >> reporter: nobody asked. how could you? >> oh, honey, you must have been absent that day. >> reporter: i'll come back and have to try to get into it. >> you know we love you. get a ticket while you're there. alison kosik live in new york times square. >> the key is you have to put in five bucks to be in the pool. i said i want to be in it, i got to pony up. >> you can't just show up and get your money. uh-uh. >> i'll do that before the end of today for sure. still ahead, the fate of president obama's health care law will be voted on today, what that vote means and when you'll find out. we have to wait a little while. a mug shot of an nfl cheerleader, smile. former teacher accused of having sex with a student. you won't believe how close it came. take a look, watch the motorcycle driver, car spins out of control. what happens next? we will show you. you're watching "early start." 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? 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[ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! water, we take our showers with it. we make our coffee with it. but we rarely tap its true potential and just let it be itself. flowing freely into clean lakes, clear streams and along more fresh water coast line than any other state in the country. come realize water's true potential. dive in-to the waters of pure michigan. your trip begins at michigan.org. it is 1 minutes past 6:00 on the east coast. welcome back to "early start." i'm ashleigh banfield. >> i'm alina cho, this friday, mega millions friday. we have to wait until june to the outcome but the nine supreme court justice also know the case by the end of the day. they'll vote on the fate of the health care overhaul. they will read each other's briefs and opinions and that could change the ultimate decision so wait until june on that one. >> bated breath on that one. a raid by police picked up 20 suspected islamic militants and most are coming from toulouse. sound familiar? that's exactly where a gunman, mohammed merah killed several people. police are saying there isn't a connection between that case and these arrests but you can draw your own conclusions. an nfl cheerleader indicted for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a student when she was a high school teacher in kentucky, sarah jones, captain of the cincinnati bengals squad and charged with first-degree sexual abuse. her lawyer says she will plead not guilty. look at this camera, you can see a motorcycle and a car spinning out of control. look at this. don't worry, look how close it came to being hit. it almost looks as if he goes through the car. on closer inspection he misses by inches. safe to say, may be nervous but he is safe today or she. not sure if it's a boy or girl. >> buy a lotto ticket. >> give up the bike. in a match between a bike and a car guess who loses? battle in the big easy. final four in new orleans. have you been watching? ? not much because my bracket got busted up. >> it's louis silver success top seed kentucky and ohio state versus kansas. the winners play monday night for the national championship. >> for an expanded look at the stories we just brought to you, top stories head to our blog cnn.com/earlystart. firefighters say they are making some progress with the deadly wildfire out west in the foothills west of denver, colorado. the blaze already killed an elderly couple. more than 4,000 acres burned, at least 27 homes described. rescuers are searching for a missing woman, said to be inside the fire zone but still no word on her whereabouts. >> that blaze was supposed to be 45% contained as of late yesterday, but weather is always the factor that matters, as you move into the next day and that's where rob marciano comes in. colorado officials are worried about high winds. is there a problem this weekend? >> this weekend, yes, today, no. that's one of the reasons they went from 15% to 45% and might get containment for today. the winds will stay that way until tomorrow. today looks good, mostly sunny, 60s, low levels of humaniidity. here comes the storm across the west coast. 45 to 60-mile-an-hour winds today across sierra nevada those will get into the fire zone tomorrow. couple areas of severe weather across the ohio river valley and one across parts of texas and through louisiana as well and the flooding potential across the northwest. check out this video from monthry, mexico, this tornado touching down and these two women driving real close to it, at one point earlier in the video you can see the tornado cross the road, finally when they stopped. if you can speak spanish you can hear we got our seat belts on so we should be okay, and obviously they were, but that is a scary situation. did topple over one tractor trailer which they passed and continued to move off part of a complex offshore of brownsville, texas. >> every time i see those pictures i just feel queasy. >> it's frightening stuff. >> this is the first time, rob, i have to say that somebody's taken their camera and panned up on the funnel cloud that goes up into the sky. >> it was nice photo journalistic work by those two ladies for sure. >> i don't know if they knew how much danger they were in. that thing looks like it's getting very close to them, far too close for comfort. >> it's well done and i'm glad that everybody was okay. >> that's the important thing. all right, rob marciano, thank you. still ahead we're talking about a jackpot on the highway. listen to this story, a truck carrying millions of coins busts open during a dangerous crash. we'll tell you what happened. >> and also your morning just got a little more expensive, because if you're heading to the pump, the gas prices are, get this, oh, up a little. it's been an unbelievable rise in gas prices since the start of the year. we'll break it down for you when we come back. you're watching "early start." [ director ] cut. cut! [ monica ] i thought we'd be on location for 3 days -- it's been 3 weeks. so i had to pick up some more things. good thing i've got the citi simplicity card. i don't get hit with a fee if i'm late with a payment... which is good because on this job, no! bigger! [ monica ] i may not be home for a while. [ male announcer ] the citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. remarkable. 23 minutes now past 6:00 a.m. price of gas rising 0.4, i say remarkable because i'm feeling like a broken record. 21 days in a row. gas prices averaging $3.93 of a gallon of regular self-serve. >> seven cents shy from the high of $4. christine romans with a closer look at that. it's painful. >> fill up today, don't get a quarter of a tank of gas. just fill up because they'll keep going up. gas prices up some 20. from the start of the year. look how prices have seesawed during the obama presidency. when president obama took office in late january 2009 gas prices were about $1.80 a gallon. it was a recession. since then prices have gone up and down and up go ento around where they are now almost $4 a gallon, the highest since 2008 when george w. bush was still president. higher gas prices hit families hard because they're dependent on cars to get around and one of the bills that is a must pay bill. look at some of the numbers here, let's assume for argument's sake gas prices stay static, look at how much more families can pay. the average family consumes 1,100 gallons, so talking about two grand more. gas prices are expected to go higher as the peak season kicks in and could go down in the fall. more americans have to shell out more money from disposable income on gas, about $2,300 a year, a lot of money and a financial hardship. a new cnn/orc poll shows almost a quarter of americans say rising gas prices are causing them severe hardship. a couple things oil analysts tell me, payroll tax holiday takes a little bit of sting out of it, you get more money every week. >> we had that though. >> that's right. >> we had that with lower gas prices. >> and other things going up we're paying as well. also a mild winter, some parts of the midwest people are paying less for heating bills for the winter so it gives them a little bit more breathing space. >> offsets it. >> but it's difficult which is why it becomes a political question why people want to blame, they want answers, this is gas prices are probably going to keep going up the next few weeks. >> the gallup poll, $5.30, $5.35. >> my tipping point was about a week ago. i don't care what anyone says. 25 minutes past 6:00 a.m. on the east coast. this number will shock you 1 in 88 american children has autism, according to a brand new study by the cdc. the numbers are worse for boys. our cnn medical correspondent elizabeth cohen will let you know what's behind the numbers. talk about heart-stopping video. firefighters on a roof when it caves in. we're going to show you what happens next. ok, guys-- what's next ? chocolate lemonade ? susie's lemonade... the movie. or... we make it pink ! with these 4g lte tablets, you can do business at lightning-fast speeds. we'll take all the strawberries, dave. you got it, kid. we have a winner. we're definitely gonna need another one. small businesses that want to grow use 4g lte technology from verizon. i wonder how she does it. that's why she's the boss. because the small business with the best technology rules. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 1-800-974-6006. let me get that door for you... 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[ male announcer ] one pill a day. 24 hours. zero heartburn. 29 minutes past the hour. welcome back to "early start." i'm alina cho in for zoraida sambolin this morning. >> happy to have you here. i'm ashleigh banfield and because it's this time of the morning, time to check the headlines that are making news this morning. is it your lucky kday? i hope so. millions of people ourselves included are lining up for a world record lotto jackpot. $540 million is the total, expected to shoot up again later this afternoon and the big drawing is set for tonight, just $1 to play. >> you're 100 times more likely to die of flesh-eating bacteria than you are to win on a single ticket but hey, keep trying. >> why not? give it a go. japan ordering its military to intercept a rocket expected to be launched by north korea next month. if it flies over japanese air space, pyongyang plans to send a satellite into orbit sometime next month, mid-april. japan along with the u.s. and other countries believe it's seeking to test a long range missile capability, in violation of international rules. filmmaker spike lee is doing the right thing, to make up for a mistake that he made after retweeting an address claiming to be the home of trayvon martin's shooter, george zimmerman. spike lee agreed to pay for the couple's expenses after that couple on your screen had to move out. elaine and david mcclain's attorney says they received hate mail and feared for their lives. lee is paying them and undisclosed amount of money. what you're about to see, tornado, packing 175-mile-an-hour winds, tearing through that school, you can barely see it, tearing through a school bus in henryville, indiana. that school bus was carrying 11 children, the children were inside the bus three minutes before and we'll show you how the intense situation turned out, straight ahead. a giant version of one of the machines at dave & busters. a big giant magnet picking up little itty bitty coins, picking up millions of dollars of coins in the highway off khan ta. a truck tauling canadian currency got into a wreck. the driver was injured but police think that maybe this happened because the driver had fall an sleep at the wheel. >> oh, man. enough talk about chump change. we're just hours away from the big mega millions drawing. >> fortune hunters. >> record, record $540 million, setting off a ticket buying frenzy. 1 million tickets an hour in new york alone. >> serious? >> just yesterday afternoon. i'm sure it's the same. lottery has not been won since january 24th. that's so the jackpot has been rolled over 18 times over the past nine weeks, that's how you get to the magic $540 million. alison kosik is live in times square talking to the people dreaming about winning the jackp jackpot. alison, good morning. >> good morning, alita. it is funny when you talk winning $540 million brings the dreamer in out of us. when commuters slap down their dollar bills they're talking about what they'd do with their money, i'd pay off my kid's college education to tahiti here i come, i talked to a few people and they were a little more charitab charitable. >> first has to go to church, my 10% tax and told my son i would open up a block in brooklyn to open up a security center. >> i don't know. i'd try to help people but i bet i'd be getting a lot of phone calls. >> dream to help a lot of people who could use it because if you win that much money it's plenty for everybody. >> reporter: so we wanted to crunch the numbers a little more and find out if you did win that $540 million jackpot if you took the lump sum of $389 million what could you get? you and 29 million of your closest friends and family can go to see "the hunger games." you can get 778 of kate middleton blue sapphire engagement rings because you need 778 of those and you need that 469,240 4g ipads 2. don't you, alina? >> how about just one. i don't have an ipad. >> come on. would that be your first purchase? >> i don't know about that, but it would be one of them. >> alison, what is your first purchase if you win, hon? >> reporter: i would hire a chef. just a full time chef. that's what i want. >> that is so smart. good one. i'd pay off the mortgage. >> reporter: because i still would work. it's a good job. >> i'd go to the bank. it's a christine romans tip. i live and die by what christine romans says and what alison kosik says, too. >> thank you. it's 34 minutes past 6:00 on the east coast, a deadly tornado that flattened the city of henryville, indiana, earlier this month. you might have seen this picture of the f4 tornado, on march 2nd just after 3:00 p.m. but may not have seen the pictures where angel perry was spending her time, driving 11 kids on her schoolbus, taking them home from school. she got nervous about what she was seeing and thought was a dangerous situation, so she thought ahead to radio dispatch. listen. >> this is 211, i'm about a minute and a half from the school. >> this is 210, i'm on the road and i see a tornado touch down about one mile from me. >> oh, my gosh. >> after an "oh my gosh" angel got smart real fast, she decided to turn around her school bus with those 11 kids on board and get back to the school, she got there safely, with three minutes to spare, got the kids off the bus fast, and then look what happened with her school bus security camera recording three minutes after that, the condition inside her school bus. those are 175-mile-an-hour winds, and hail ripping through that bus. that's an 18-ton school bus. launched like a catapult, stabbing into the side of a diner across the street. it flew right through the window. unbelievable pictures, and unbelievable smart thinking by that driver. >> incredible we're finding out about the back story of that, what happened inside that bus now. >> thank god for angel perry. >> that's right. hero bus driver. medical news and this is something you really need to listen to if you're a parent. the latest study by the cdc, the centers for disease control suggest autism is an epidemic. >> 1 in 88 american children. apparently that number is 1 in 54 when you talk about boys. clearly that is a crisis. it seems to be up from the 1 in 150 that was recorded back in 2002. our senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen joins us from atlanta. i always wonder what is behind the numbers, whether it's actually a situation whereby more kids are getting sick or we're getting smarter about this. >> ashleigh that is the million-dollar question. the answer is we really don't know. we try to figure out what's going on, a 78% increase between 2002 and 2008, what accounts for that? experts tell us that they think it's certainly a significant part of it is that as you said we're getting smarter. parents are noticing these behaviors, they're aggressive and rightfully so taking their kids to the pediatrician saying what's going on here. pediatricians got smarter in the eight years and learned more about what exactly what the signs are they should be looking for when making an autism diagnosis. so that is definitely a part of it, but here's the other thing, ashleigh. experts think maybe there really is something out in the world that is causing this increase in autism, but they don't know what it is. maybe there's something in the air that we breathe. maybe there's something in the water we drink. maybe there's something in the food we eat. kids maybe are exposed to more chemicals than they used to be, and so the kids are exposed or maybe the moms are exposed while those babies are developing in the womb. the question is, what happened in those six years and they're trying to do studies to figure that out and to read more about this, because it is a fascinating and also a disturbidisturb ing phenomenon, go to cnn.com/empoweredpatient. read a column by marianne falco, my colleague. >> it's frightening for a parent of a young child i don't know what this baby is supposed to be doing, let alone if the baby is doing a right thing. what should a parent look out for? >> certain signs the parent need to look out for. sometimes they're big and obvious and sometimes aren't. for example if your child is making poor eye contact, if you look around and friends are all making eye contact but 6 to 12 months not keeping eye contact with people is a problem. if the child doesn't gesture, you know a child will reach out or reach to you, if the child doesn't make gestures or reach out to you when you approach them, that is also a big red flag. go to cnn.com/empoweredpatient, you can read more of the signs of autism that you need to look for and if the doctor says oh, no, don't worry, your child is fine and you're still worried, you need to keep persisting because if the mommy gut says something's wrong, good chance something really is wrong. >> the empowered patient. right? >> right. you got to be for your child. you got to advocate for your child. >> elizabeth, thank you for that. appreciate it. >> thanks. still ahead, betting on a long shot. >> very, very, very long shot. >> listen to these odds, 176 million to 1. doesn't matter. people are buying up the lottery tickets and you got to be in it to have any shot at all so next we'll talk to one of the people the mega millions fever, that's just ahead. and also, they were trying to poke a hole when they got in a big one of their own. look at your screen, frightening situation for firefighters. when we come back, how that colleague fared and if his friends were able to save him. the next revolution in music is happening here. pandora rocks the big board. i get my cancer medications through the mail. now washington, they're looking at shutting down post offices coast to coast. closing plants is not the answer. they want to cut 100,000 jobs. it's gonna cost us more, and the service is gonna be less. we could lose clientele because of increased mailing times. the ripple effect is going to be devastating. congress created the problem. and if our legislators get on the ball, they can make the right decisions. i'm here to unleash my inner cowboy. instead i got heartburn. [ horse neighs ] hold up partner. prilosec isn't for fast relief. try alka-seltzer. it kills heartburn fast. yeehaw! it kills heartburn fast. i bathed it in miracles. director: [ sighs ] cut! sorry to interrupt. when's the show? well, if we don't find an audience, all we'll ever do is rehearse. maybe you should try every door direct mail. just select the zip codes where you want your message to be seen, print it yourself, or we'll help you find a local partner and you find the customers that matter most. brilliant. clifton, show us overjoyed. no, too much. jennessa. ah! a round of applause. [ applause ] [ male announcer ] go online to reach every home, every address, every time with every door direct mail. you're looking live there at times square, where people are just snapping up those lotto tickets like nobody's business. your odds of winning are 176 million to 1 but you have to play to win and trust me, you want to play the jackpot a record $540 million. lottery fever descended upon much of the country. the draw something tonight and when i say much of the country, much of the country. 42 states, the district of columbia and the u.s. virgin islands, all in the game, including connecticut. so we decided we wanted to bring in ann noble, president and ceo of the connecticut lottery. great to see you. thanks for coming in. >> good morning, it's good to be here. >> this jackpot has been rolled over 18 times in the past nine weeks. no winners since january 24th. that's how we get to the magic 540 million. did you ever think? >> 540 million is just an amazing record-setting amount. >> staggering. >> we know our players are excited, they keep buying and the jackpot keep growing. >> people that don't play the lottery, like myself, i'm going to get a ticket. >> people talk about how much fun it is and what would they do with $540 million. >> everybody wants to dream of winning that number. do you have any hard numbers? in new york yesterday it got to a point where they were selling $1 million worth of tickets every hour. >> we know we're selling thousands of wagers every minute. so the numbers just keep going up and you know, we've lots of money going toward connecticut general fund since this started. good news. it's exciting, a lot of fun. >> it is all anyone is talking about, just the dream alone to think about what you'd do with the money. you brought in, we love to bring in props. you brought in a great prop this check, pete, let's have a look at it. obviously your hope is that the winner is from connecticut. knowing of course you get to hand this check and their name to the win ear long with the real one. >> i do and the best part is to meet all our winners. they're good people, generous people, talk about what they're going to do with the money, how they'll help their families and so much money would come back to the state of connecticut in taxes alone. >> what does it do to have a winner from connecticut, and what does that do? >> we could have $26 million in taxes alone that we didn't expect, and we need to fund education, the profits from this game, fund education, they fund roadwork, all the good things that the state does for its citizens are helped out when people play the lottery so it's a win/win for everyone. >> let's not forget the person who sells that ticket gets $100,000, not a bad deal. >> retailers across connecticut have earned almost half a million dollars since january on this game. >> you hear all these unbelievable stats about people buying on a single ticket, what are the odds and so forth. this might be a stupid question, is there any -- are you any better off spending 100 bucks than you are $1, buying a single ticket in terms of your odds when you're talking about 176 million to 1 you're not really increasing your odds that much. of course you want people to buy tickets, though. >> but the odds are the same for every ticket that you buy. of course if you have more tickets the probability that you could be a winner goes up but it's just $1 and just takes one ticket to be the winner and so everyone should get in the game and have a good time and know their limits but have fun. >> i'm in the office pool and think i'm going to get a single ticket, too. >> absolutely. >> anne, thank you so much. >> good to be here, thank you. soledad o'brien off this morning. christine romans joins us with a look at what's ahead on "starting point." >> we're talking about you. >> i was just saying you can look at functional mris of people who play the lottery and the brain react to the aspiration of trying to win money. it's fascinating. >> neuroeconomic science. coming up on "starting point," we'll have a better picture of the moments leading up to the shooting of trayvon martin, what we're breaking down the latest information and speaking with the man who literally wrote the book on firearms law, like florida's stand your ground. gas prices up again today, are you surprised, averaging about $4 a gallon nationwide. a lot of you in california and the midwest are saying four bucks? that was weeks ago. what's being done to lower costs? senator robert menendez of new jersey stops by to talk about oil and gas prices, author of the bill shot down in the senate that would have ended subsidies to big oil. arlen spector joins us, long time republican who made a controversial switch to be a democrat, weighing in on health care to senate er orial conduct the gym. my name is robin. i'm a wife, i'm a mom... and chantix worked for me. it's a medication i could take and still smoke, while it built up in my system. 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[ laughs ] [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. hi, everybody, it's 51 minutes past 6:00 op. the east coast. a french raid by police picked up 20 suspected islamic militants, most of the arrests coming from touloustoulouse, th where the gunman, mohammed merah killed seven people in three separate attacks earlier this month. merah was ultimately killed in this standoff last week, but police say there is no connection between this case and these arrests. here's what you need to know in the political world today, mitt romney and newt gingrich had a private meeting last weekend in louisiana, right before that state's primary, which by the way was won by rick santorum. sources telling our john king the meeting was productive and pleasant. no details what they might have discussed. dramatic video of three firefighters in dearborn, michigan, on the roof battling a fire at a dry cleaning business. the roof gives way and one of the firefighters has to grab on for his life. his colleagues barely pulled their partner to safety. we're glad to report they are okay, heroes, absolute heroes. bravery. >> and saving each other. >> incredible, look at that. >> just ahead new voices being heard, a cnn exclusive, hear from the shooter george zimmerman's brother revealing new details the moments before the shooting. and this lottery everyone is talking about, the mega millions just hours to go before the numbers are drawn for the largest lottery jackpot in the history of mankind. get in line now because the lines are getting longer as the day gets shorter. this is "early start." we're back after the break. >> just thinking about it. no matter where you go. no matter what you do. when you're living with moderate to severe crohn's disease, there are times it feels like your life... revolves around your symptoms. if you're tired of going around in circles, it may be time to ask your gastroenterologist about humira. because with humira, remission is possible. humira has been proven to work for adults who have tried other medications... but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease. in clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief. and many achieved remission. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure have occurred. before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. if you're tired of going around in circles, get headed in a new direction. ask your gastroenterologist about humira today. remission is possible. [ male announcer ] engine light on? come to meineke now for a free code scan read and you'll say...my money. my choice. my meineke. welcome back to "early start." it's time for a quick look at the day's big stories, as they progress ahead we take to youen kren's martin savidge live in sanford, florida, with the story of robert zimmerman jr. and his details about the shooting of trayvon martin. >> reporter: you're right, they are speaking out, the family, as they have done for a couple of days, the latest the older brother robert zimmerman described on "piers morgan tonight." >> trayvon said either to the effect of, i believe, "this is going to be easy, you die tonight" or "you have a piece, you die tonight" and then attempted to disarm him. when you say have a bag of skittles and an iced tea, nobody just stood there with a bag of skittles and iced tea. you return force with force when somebody assaults you. >> reporter: ashleigh one of the headlines to come out of that interview, robert zimmerman says medical records will verify what george zimmerman said all along that it was a life and death struggle. alison kosik live in times square with the mega millions record. >> $540 million. people commuting to work, slapping down their dollars, telling me about their office pools and speaking of office pools, there's one going at cnn between all of the cameramen and i was talking with my cameraman, frank, he said if they win this is what you're going to see on cnn on monday. yeah. do you think they're going to come back to work? i don't think they're going to come back to work. these are hard workers. >> if we win will there be an empty set, maybe. >> put mannequins in the seat. >> you got to be honest, alison, if you were to win, would you continue to work? >> reporter: yes, i would. because it would be much easier. i told you earlier i would hire a chef and hire a maid and make life a little easier but i love my job, i'd continue doing it. >> question for alina, would you continue working these hours? >> yes, of course. >> she's nutty, she's just nutty. this one, woo! lost it. i've been up since 2:00. >> that's why i said it. >> alison, thanks. pick up a few tickets for us. we usually say the news from a to z but today the news from a to cho. i'm the ashleigh "a" part of it. >> i'm the cho part of it. christine romans filling in for soledad o'brien starts right now "starting point." witness to the shooting. >> and then i heard the gunshot, which to me were more like pops. >> this person heard an altercation, heard someone yell for help, heard a pained scream, a detailed account of the night trayvon martin was killed. an autism epidemic, a staggering increase in the number of children with autism. plus awkward. former president george h.w. bush endorses mitt romney, then whispers to his wife giving w. a nudge. >> feeling lucky? millions salivating at the thought of winning i can't believe i'm saying this, $540 million in the