Good morning, everyone. And happy st. Patricks day to you. It has quickly turned into a Major Political battle talking about president obamas desire to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court. And right in the middle of it is judge Merrick Garland, who president obama has tapped as his nominee. Today garland begins what is going to be a long road, and that road ultimately could lead nowhere. We get the details right now from abcs Kenneth Moton who is joining us from d. C. Good morning, kenneth. Reporter good morning, kendis and reena. Senate Republican Leaders have made it clear they will not fill the Supreme Court vacancy until after the november election. But that wont stop the president s nominee from marching up to capitol hill today. This morning Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland will meet facetoface with democratic senators, but its the republicans who control his fate. At a time when our politics are so polarized, this is precisely the time when we should play it straight. Reporter the showdown over filling the high Court Vacancy intensif the second president obama introduced his pick, the rose garden moment emotional for the 63yearold husband and father. This is the greatest honor of my life other than lynn agreeing to marry me 28 years ago. Reporter the harvard educated chicago native has dedicated his life to the law. A top prosecutor in the Oklahoma City bombing, nearly two decades spent serving the d. C. Circuit court of appeals. Hes also known as a moderate, a compromise in the heat of this partisan election year. Its the senates constitutional right to act as a check on a president and withhold its consent. Reporter the senates Top Republican is holding his ground. The next president should pick the next justice, but Mitch Mcconnell did take a call from garland reiterating his feelings before wishing him well. His fellow republicans falling in line. Any chance youll be changing your mind . None. Reporter but we found at least six republican senators who are open to meeting with garland. That includes senator orrin hatch who once praised garland. I didnt say that he belongs on the Supreme Court. I said he belonged on the d. C. Circuit court. Reporter Senate Judiciary chairman Chuck Grassley announced hes also open to meeting with garland, but at this point there are no signs that any of these meetings will lead to confirmation hearings. Reena and kendis. Political lines already being drawn. Okay, Kenneth Moton live in washington, kenneth, thank you. Well, the battle of garlands nomination will run right alongside the ongoing president ial campaign. After tuesday nights primary results, its looking more and more likely Hillary Clinton and donald trump are heading for a showdown. Both of them already seem eager for the fight. Its your voice, your vote. Abcs Lauren Lyster joining us now live with the latest. Good morning. Reporter good morning, reena and kendis. A closed door meeting is scheduled today in washington with some influential conservative leaders to talk about how to stop donald trump and plot a third party run should he become the gops nominee. In the gop race for president a debate over the next debate. Donald trump backing out prompting Ohio Governor john kasich to do the same. Ive had more attention in the last two weeks than ive had in the last six months, so its fine, and im pleased with how its all going. Reporter debate host fox news then canceling mondays event in salt lake city, utah, saying obviously there needs to be more than one participant. Ted cruz firing back. Meanwhile, trump is swinging at different targets, first the republican establishment saying an attempt to block his nomination would lead to chaos at the convention. I think youd have riots. I think youd have riots. You know, we have im representing a tremendous, many, many millions of people. I think you would have problems like youve never seen before. I think i think bad things would happen. I really do. Reporter also attacking Hillary Clinton releasing this video mocking her as a weak leader in Foreign Affairs showing her barking like a dog. Overnight, clinton getting the last laugh literally appearing on comedy centrals broad city. Oh, no, no, its a she. Reporter shell then hit 11 upcoming fundraisers in 12 days. And reena and went dis, a wellrespected Global Analysis firm, the Economist Intelligence unit named a Trump Presidency a top ten global risk event saying it could disrupt the World Economy putting it on the list right along risks like the fracture of the eurozone. Wow, thats unbelievable. Thank you, lauren. Well, three days until spring, and snow is pummelling parts of the country overnight. Take a look at the radar. Winter weather warnings posted in the midwest, snow falling right now. Up to a foot expected in parts of michigan, minnesota and wisconsin and 60mileanhour wind gusts expected this morning in chicago. That same system tore through several states yesterday spawning at least five tornadoes. Piles of rubble where homes once stood in clinton county, iowa. And cleanup also under way in illinois. Debris hanging from the trees. Yet another after another tornado tore right through peoria county. This morning, the white house is demanding the release of an American College student in north korea. The country sentenced 21yearold Otto Warmbier to 15 years hard labor. He is accused of trying to steal a propaganda poster from a pyongyang hotel. Press secretary josh earnest says the white house is urging north korea to grant warmbier special amnesty. The sentencing comes as president obama issued new sanctions against the north in response to missile and nuclear tests. Good news for the washington, d. C. Area, the metro system reopens this morning after a 29hour shutdown for safety inspections. Those inspections turned up three areas in heavily traveled parts of the system with Severe Damage to power cables. Youre seeing it right there. A faulty cable is believed to have caused a fire in the subway on monday that sent smoke pouring inno a tunnel on monday. It is the second busiest in the country with 700,000 rides a day. Okay, youll probably be seeing plenty of green today. Of course, we already donned our own. Were sporting our own. With it being st. Patricks day, that means its time for the 255th edition of new yorks annual st. Paddys day parade. Estimates are that about 2 Million People either will watch it or march in the parade. About half of the official groups in the parade are marching bands. The grand marshal of the parade is former senator George Mitchell. An important voice there, George Mitchell there. Yes. Well still ahead, a major change coming to america and American Made cars. And new this morning, flames shooting from a refinery, hazmat crews rushing to that scene. How a balloon likely caused this. Plus, special bond. A woman in a bitter battle to keep her pet alligator. What in the world. Dramatic images of a private yacht engulfed in flames in the u. S. Virgin islands. The blaze filled the sky with plumes of smoke. The u. S. Coast guard helped tow the yacht to a remote location so crews could contain that fire. No injuries were reported. Authorities are investigating the cause. Also burning, part of an exxon mobil refinery near los angeles. Authorities say massive flaring at the plant was a result of a power interruption. That interruption apparently happened when a mylar balloon hit a power line in that area hazmat crews called in and roads nearby were closed. This is the same plant that suffered an explosion last february. Well, a major safety step is being announced by automakers. Theyve agreed by 2022 to make automatic braking standard on cars and midsized suvs and on large suvs and pickups by 2025. Automatic braking uses cameras, radar and other sensors to see objects in the way and slow or stop a vehicle if the driver does not react. Auto brakes could cut rear impact collisions by about 40 . Hoverboards are being banned and its not over safety issues. The u. S. International trade commission is blocking the imported products that infringe on segway patents. A number of hoverboard makers are based in other countries like china. Segways initial complaint involved 13 companies but at least 5 have settled. Well, those efforts to keep those airline fees in check failed in the senate. Democrats on the Senate Commerce committee tried to prohibit airlines from setting unreasonable fees. They also wanted the Transportation Department to establish what is reasonable. I cant stand that on my when i pay for an airline ticket. Then you have to pay for all the extras. Uhhuh, seat belts. When we come back, brazen prison break, hoisted to freedom by a helicopter. And also caught on camera, a quickthinking clerk saving a baby seconds before a mother collapses. With the pain and swelling of my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. Ordinary objects often seemed. Intimidating. Doing something simple. Meant enduring a lot of pain. If ra is changing your view of everyday things orencia may help. Orencia works differently by targeting a source of ra early in the inflammation process. For many, orencia provides longterm relief of ra symptoms. Its helped new ra patients and those not helped enough by other treatments. Do not take orencia with another biologic medicine for ra due to an increased risk of serious infection. Serious side effects can occur including fatal infections. Cases of lymphoma and lung cancer have been reported. Tell your doctor if youre prone to or have any infection like an open sore, the flu, or a history of copd, a chronic lung disease. Orencia may worsen your copd. If youre not getting the relief you need. Ask your doctor about orencia. Orencia. See your ra in a different way. And save on early birds till this 1pm. Rday like 40 to 60 off dresses. Save on sport shirts and knit tops for him. And on all cookware and food prep. Everyone get kohls cash too this saturday only at kohls. Mabecause its the only almondmilk made with californiagrown blue diamond almonds. Of course, if you ask one of our almond growers. Theres no maybe about it. Almond breeze. The best almonds make the best almondmilk. Is better for your skin than wearing no makeup at all . Neutrogena® cosmetics. With vitamins and antioxidants. Now with foundations in shades for more skin tones. Surveillance video from monday night in florida capturing a car fleeing police careening over a bank flipping over and bursting into flames. The car had been stolen last month. Two teenagers inside were rescued and treated at a hospital. When they were released they were arrested. Well, there will be wet roads there in florida this morning as well as along most of the gulf coast. Same goes for parts of the northeast. Slippery around the northern great lakes and mountain snow in the northern rockies. If youre flying on this st. Paddys day, morning airport delays possible in minneapolis, no luck of the irish there. Well, we are learning disturbing new details about the Fatal Shooting of a maryland officer outside a police station. Authorities say detective jacai colson was shot by a fellow officer who mistook him as as a threat. Colson was stopping by the station on his day off even was wearing plain clothes and michael ford opened fire at the station and he was charged with Second Degree murder. And in canada, a brazen prison break that turned into a comedy of errors. Struggling to climb to a hijacked helicopter, two inmates and freedom. One almost makes it to the top, even gets a hand from a partner in crime only to fall a minute later. The chopper tries taking off but failed. All of this while the unarmed guards are watching and recording the spectacle prevented by prison policy from intervening in an escape where guns may be involved. The cons finally flew off and were quickly caught. Well, a sudden passing overnight. Frank sinatra jr. Has died. His family says he died yesterday of cardiac arrest while on tour in daytona beach, florida. As a teen he was kidnapped. His family paying for his release. He then followed his famous fathers footsteps into the music business eventually becoming his dads musical director and conductor. He most recently did voice work on the family guy. Frank sinatra jr. Was 72. To colorado now and an alarming moment caught on camera. A story clerk grabs a baby before her mother falls to the ground during a seizure. Rebecca montano then handed the baby to a customer as she rushed to help the mother. The woman is fine now and so is the baby. Thanks mostly to montano. Some are calling her a hero, but the grandmother says that she was just trying to do good. And another heartwarming save. A beloved dog luna has returned after more than a month when she fell overboard in the Pacific Ocean and was presumed that she had drowned. The beautiful German Shepherd the dog on San Clemente Island turned up tuesday at a navy base 70 miles off san diego. Yesterday luna was handed over to the owners best friend who will care for the dog until the owner returns from out of town. Just absolutely incredible. Swimming there. All right. Well, we call today thrilling thursday earlier because today, st. Patricks day, is also the first big day of march madness. And we now know the full march madness field of 64 so lets get some hoop highlights from espn. Hes stan. Im neil. Steph curry just scored again. Scored in bunches, once again warriors taking on the knicks in oakland. The warriors trying to get to 500 in their last 50 regular season games at home and, well, steph is going to step. 12 for 20 from the floor. 8 for 13 from three including that one. His ridiculous shot of the night which he seems to have every game, 34 points even though he didnt play in the fourth quarter. And the warriors win again at home, 320 at home this season. Theyre taking on san antonio saturday on abc. He didnt play in the fourth, knicks didnt play in all four quarters. Michigan is advancing to get notre dame. This is your first four or whatever fancy phrase theyre u using for it this year. Zach irvin there. Pat burt there. Wrong there, that was irvin there. This is burt here for the tie. No. It was harrison who started it out. Wolverines win and advance. Thats all we got. Back to you. A friendly reminder to everyone at home, arent brackets due at noon today . Yes, got to get them in. I have suny oswego going all the wait, theyre not in it. Kansas, who do you have . The women of uconn. Okay. All righty. Thats a copout. Up next in the pulse, nike going back to the future for its newest kicks. Im trying to remain neutral. And a professional baseball player, why hes walking away from 12 million. But youre going with uconn . Yes. N . vo if you have type 2 diabetes, you may know what its like to deal with high. And low blood sugar. Januvia sitagliptin is a oncedaily pill that, along with diet and exercise, helps lower blood sugar. Januvia works when your blood sugar is high and works less when your blood sugar is low, because it works by enhancing your bodys own ability to lower blood sugar. Plus januvia, by itself, is not likely to cause weight gain or low blood sugar hypoglycemia . Januvia should not be used in patients with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. Tell your doctor if you have a history of pancreatitis. Serious side effects can happen, including pancreatitis which may be severe and lead to death. Stop taking januvia and call your doctor right away if you have severe pain in your stomach area which may be pancreatitis. Tell your doctor right away and stop taking januvia if you have an allergic reaction that causes swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat, or affects your breathing or causes rash or hives. Kidney problems sometimes requiring dialysis have been reported. Some people may develop severe joint pain. Call your doctor if this happens. Using januvia with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. To reduce the risk, your doctor may prescribe a lower dose of the sulfonylurea or insulin. Your doctor may do blood tests before and during treatment to check your kidneys. If you have kidney problems a lower dose may be prescribed. Side effects may include upper respiratory tract infection, stuffy or runny nose, sore throat, and headache. For help lowering your blood sugar talk to your doctor about januvia. Time to check the pulse and for kids of the 80s, your futuristic footwear is finally here. Nike has unveiled selflacing shoes 27 years after marty mcfly made us all want our own pair. Yeah, apparent think they are part of they are called the hyper adapt 1. 0 and once you step into the shoes, your shoes hit a sensor that causes it to tighten, and the shoes will be available in three colors out at the end of the year but you must be a member of the nike plus program to buy them. And i imagine theyre probably be pretty expensive. I would think so but still cool. Renaldo loves them so why shouldnt we all . You do whatever renaldo tells you. A Major League Baseball player and devoted dad is retiring rather than take agent cutback on the team time that his teenage son can spend in the clubhouse. Chicago white sox first baseman adam laroche will lose about 10 million thats left on his contract. The decision getting plenty of support from fellow players. Mvp bryce harper tweeting nothing like father and son in the clubhouse. Its a family game. Laroche, by the way, knows about that. His dad played in the majors, as well. Daddy standing by his son. Although the team did say, he keeps his son in the clubhouse 100 of the time. Nothing with that. How about cutting back a bit. Nothing wrong with that. Your kid is over there. So, this is a baby, a green and scaly one that only a mother could love. Mary thorn of lakeland, florida, says this alligator named rambo is her baby. Hes nearly 6 feet long and 15 years old. She hugs it, she kisses it, rambo even sleeps in her bed like they sleep together but state Officials Say the gators got to go. Thorn says that shell die if they have to part and so will rambo. And she says that he is too domesticated and just cannot survive in the wild. I understand her love for her child rambo. But i think one day she might worry that he finds out that hes hungry and bites her head off. I hope she survives that feeding time. Come on. Really . No. The florida resident and i side with the state officials on this one. Some issues there. A video of a magic trick going viral. 5 million views all because of a baboons priceless reaction and take a look. A man visiting a zoo standing in front of the animal and he pulls out a card, and it disappears with a flick of the wrist. This is just priceless. Look at that. The baboons reaction, amazed like a little kid. The baboon has a similar reaction when the magician makes the card reappear. What is this . See. What is this magic thing . Yeah. Baboons are much smarter than we give them credit for, kendis. They know its fake. Theres no such thing as magic. Maybe hes waiting for his fortune to be told. Im going to cuddle with my alligator over there. More news after this. Cuddle with my alligator over there. More news after this. And looking good and sandwich and soup and a new personal best. And a little help and soup and sandwich and study group. Good, clean food pairs well with anything. Try the clean pairings menu. At panera. Food as it should be. Only kraft natural cheese has a touch of philadelphia cream cheese, so whatever you make, is creamier than ever. So there will be things toes. Keep us up. But tonight johnsons can help with a bedtime routine. Clinically proven to help them fall asleep faster. And stay asleep longer. Tonight, we sleep. Maybe almond breeze tastes so good because its the only almondmilk made with californiagrown blue diamond almonds. Of course, if you ask one of our almond growers. Theres no maybe about it. Almond breeze. The best almonds make the best almondmilk. Live from the kgotv Broadcast Center this is abc7 news. It is the 4 30 club. I am reggie aqui. I am natasha zouves. We have mike . Mike . No, sue is here. We have a bart issue if you have been following since yesterday morning there was equipment problem in the pittsburg and bay point line. This morning they are still working on the problems and the line is back up but there is a bus bridge between North Concord and bay point. Allow extra time and there be shorter trains. Mike has the forecast. Good morning, everyone, live doppler hd is showing absolutely nothing going on. Here is a look from the camera, it is clear outside. We will talk about the day planner. What we are dealing with is temperatures that are milder. Look at the midtoupper 60s by noon. Mid60s at the coast at 4 00. Mid70s inland. In the evening you need a light coat, 58 to 64. More on how long the warm weather will last ahead. Sue mentioned this problem on bart that continues this morning. Bus bridges, shorter and more crowded trains around the system and more people getting in their cars rather than bart. This closure of a section of track has implications beyond the people who take the pittsburg and bay point line. Tiffany is at the North Concord station. Yes, reggie. There are some commuters starting to trickle in. The big problem has to do with where we are stand and the pittsburg bay point bart station. Now, the issue is the power subject. It has taken out 24 different bart cars. A bart span said they cannot afford to lose any or cars so they set up a bus bridge between the stations yesterday. Bart said the bus bridge will last at least through this mornings commute as the maintenance crews work with pg e to resolve the issue. Commuters will be able to take trains from the North Concord martinez station into oakland and San Francisco but those will be shorter trains and less frequents than normal. The power surge they are trying to figure out is similar to the surge that knocked out 80 trains in the transbay terminal a few weeks ago. A bart spokesman said to allow extra time. Riders are frustrated. Crowded. We are dealing with the traffic. Bart is trying to help with that. With different businesses and employers and commute times but we are all frustrated with the commute times