Good tuesday morning, everyone. Lets get right to that breaking news out of egypt. At least 19 Foreign Tourists killed in a tragic hot air balloon crash. It happened just hours ago, in the ancient city of luxor. Officials say there was an explosion and a fire, 1,000 feet in the air, just before that balloon plunged from the sky and slammed into a sugar cane field. Vacationers from europe, japan and hong kong are among the victims. No word if any americans were onboard. The balloon pilot and two passengers reportedly survived the crash. Well have much more on the story at abcnews. Com. Another major story were watching all night, is the blizzard roaring through the middle of the country into the midwest. The storm fanned several fires across texas last night, as a major rainmaker moves across the east coast. The white you see in the nations midsection is whats left of the big blizzard. Tahman bradley details its numbers. Reporter a ferocious blizzard buried the texas and oklahoma panhandles. 19 inches of snow fell, along with gusts of up to 77 miles per hour. See what its like so far. Here we go. Reporter its a traffic nightmare on roads and highways. So many drivers were stranded, the National Guard had to be called in. In oklahoma, whiteout conditions closed all highways in the panhandle. In albuquerque, new mexico, i40 was shut down, forcing Truck Drivers to wait out the conditions. It costs money to sit still. And it costs money to run that thing empty, as far as fuel. So, hopefully they get it cleared out. Reporter the monster storm even brought hurricaneforce winds. Look at this building in north texas. The winds there so ferocious, it peeled bricks from the side of a building. Like someone ran into the building and it was falling apart. Reporter the storm is headed further northeast. But the heaviest snow is slated for the midwest. Kansas, which barely recovered from last weeks monster storm, is bracing for even more punishment. We had a nice winter so far. And now, boy, in the last two weeks here, its like jeez. Reporter new hampshire, which has a foot on the ground, is gearing up. Its crazy. Reporter today, theres worries about more than snow. Severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall are possible across parts of the south and midatlantic. Tahman bradley, abc news. The first day of spring is march 20th. My watch is set. Just hang on a little bit longer, folks. Lets not get ahead of ourselves just yet. Now, to the forecast from jim dickey and accuweather. Good morning, rob and diana. Dealing with a wintry mess this morning in the midwest. The blizzard conditions across the plain. Snow ending across the plains. Heavy snow into kansas city. Thats extending towards chicago. Amid in chicago, three to six inches in the chicago area. Most of this has fallen, by the time is said and done. The snow ends in the morning through kansas city. Likely over a foot. The snow that extends towards the northeast, into wednesday. Rob and diana, back to you. Thanks, jim. Appreciate that. Keep it here for the latest forecast, coming up on good morning america. In other news this morning, the president travels to virginia today to highlight the impact of the looming budget cuts on the defense industry. Yesterday, he spoke to the nations governors on that same issue. But Top Republican leaders accuse the president of simply trying to scare americans. Karen travers reports from washington. Reporter congress has a major deadline looming on friday. And president obama says its time to put politics aside. At some point, we have to do some governing. Reporter if lawmakers dont come up with an alternative plan, 85 billion in automatic budget cuts go into effect. President obama asked governors to put pressure on the state legislators in washington. Congress should not allow the sequester cuts to go through. And hurt our economy. Slow our recovery. There has to be a better way. Now is the time to cut spending. It can be done without jeopardizing the economy. Reporter lawmakers cant seem to agree on much these days. Except that the cuts are basically inevitable. Expect the Obama Administration to keep up its steady drumbeat on the dire consequences. Disruptive and destructive to our security and economy. Reporter the white house says there will be cuts to education programs, fewer federal meat inspectors. And travel disruption because of furloughs of airport workers. Its already a twohour wait. Its suggested you arrive at the airport two hours early. Whats it going to be now . Is it going to be three hours early . Reporter House Republicans blasted president obama for not leading the way to a compromise. They say hes more focused on rattling the public at campaignstyle events than sitting down with lawmakers. Rob and diana, back to you. This morning, a major split is developing in the gop over the issue of gay marriage. This mornings New York Times reports that a group of prominent republicans has signed legal papers say gays have a constitutional right to marry. Among the republicans are former white house advisers, four former governors and two members of congress. And after more than a century, the u. S. Census bureau has decided to drop the word negro on its forms and surveys. Negro will no longer appear as an option for race, alongside black or africanamerican. Many americans view the word as offensive and outdated. Duh. C. Everett koop, the nations most famous and influential Surgeon General has died at 96. President reagan appointed koop in 1981. He was instrumental on changing americas views on smoking. He endorsed condoms and Sex Education to help stop the spread of aids. He was a frequent visitor to dartmouth until his death. Pope benedict is leaving it to the cardinals of the catholic church. Benedict changed the rules, allowing the cardinals to move up the can clave start date if all of them arrive at the vatican before the 15day waiting period ends. Benedicts resignation takes effect on thursday. Prosecutors have asked that manslaughter charges be brought against the Costa Concordia cruise ship. 32 people, including 2 americans, died in that accident. And coming up after the break, stocks sliding yet again, just days after a historic high. Plus, one year later. Today, a Community Remembers trayvon martin. And meltdown, bigtime. A travelers epic tantrum at the checkin counter. All of it, yep, caught on camera. Welcome back, everybody. Well, fresh fears are sending stocks lower this morning. With no clear winner in italys national election, investors are worried that europes debt crisis may return. U. S. Markets plunged yesterday because of that news and also because of budget cut fears back here at home. The dow, in fact, lost 216 points. Thats its biggest drop in more than three months. And its affecting markets this morning in asia and in europe, too. Macys and jcpenney are duking it out over a domestic diva. Macys claims it has the rights to sell merchandise with Martha Stewarts name over it. But stewart signed a deal to open boutiques in jcpenney stores. The Biggest Furniture retailer is the latest tainted by the horse meat scandal. Ikea is no longer serving swedish meatballs at its stores in europe. Some contained horse meat. The meat sold in the u. S. Companies some from an american supplier. You like those meatballs. I do. The Entertainment Industry and Internet Service providers are cracking down on copyright violators. The Internet Service will be slowed to a crawl. And the ratings are in for sunday Nights Academy award show. The average audience was 3 more than last year. Thats aided by this years strong field for best picture. You can probably credit Seth Macfarlane for the increase among those 18 to 34 years old. Get some of the younger viewers to tune in. By the end of the show, they were no longer young. He did a good job. We had a good time. It was good. Coming up next on this tuesday, the overnight search of a massive stretch of ocean after a familys boat sinks offshore. And a superstar quarterback takes a pay cut, doing a big favor for his team. Well be right back. It seems our angels have been busy building a new, stronger so it holds up better, kind of angel soft®. Its now built with two softshield™ layers. When wet, new angel soft® is one, two, three times stronger than the leading value brand. Well done, angels stronger, holds up better. All wrapped up in a value you love. New angel soft®. Now stronger than ever. The intense ache made it hard to do the things that i wanted. My doctor diagnosed it as fibromyalgia thought to be the result of overactive nerves that cause chronic, widespread pain. Lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. I learned lyrica can provide significant relief from fibromyalgia pain. So now, i can do more of the things i enjoy. Lyrica is not for everyone. It may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. Tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. Or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, changes in eyesight including blurry vision, muscle pain with fever, or tired feeling. Common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. Dont drink alcohol while taking lyrica. Dont drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. Those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. With less pain, im feeling better with lyrica. Ask your doctor if lyrica is right for your fibromyalgia pain. Updating the big weather story today. Kansas, missouri and iowa will see the blizzardlike conditions that hit parts of texas and oklahoma yesterday, the panhandles of both those states received about 20 inches of snow. That forced highways to close, with hundreds of vehicles stranded. As for this mornings road conditions, you can expect a big mess around kansas city, which should see around a foot of the white stuff. It will be icy in the appalachians. Snowshowers in the rockies. Wet roads in the northwest. If youre flying, airport delays are probable in kansas city, chicago, detroit. Morning delays in atlanta, charlotte and d. C. And problems later, in new york. Theres been an intense search for a family. A husband and wife and two children sent a series of distress calls sunday afternoon. Then, they sent a message they were abandoning their boat and were trying to make a life raft. The water temperatures, in the 40s and 50s in that area. Longterm survivor is unlikely. An american couple from california who vanished last month during a biking trip in peru may be in ecuador. Police believe they boarded a boat to the amazon in ecuador. The couple from the San Francisco bay area had been keeping in contact with friends and family through facebook and skype. But all communication abruptly stopped back on january 25th. Just hanging in there. You know, you dont know what you dont know. So, were holding on that theyre okay. The bike tour was supposed to last six months. Relatives got worried when the u. S. Embassy posted a warning about u. S. Citizens being kidnapped. Bp is being accused of putting profits before people and safety, as it faces off with federal and state prosecutors in new orleans. On day one of its highstakes trial, the oil giant acknowledged making mistakes. But denied it was guilty of gross negligence in the 2010 gulf oil spill. A possible payout from bp is reportedly being considered. Theres somber ceremonies around the country today, marking the anniversary of Trayvon Martins death. The unarmed florida teenager was shot and killed by George Zimmerman one year ago. Martins parents are here in new york city for a million hoodies candlelight march for this evening. Zimmerman has pled not guilty in the killing, based on floridas highly controversial stand your ground law. And friends and family gather in south florida to remember Mindy Mccready at a funeral. The singer died of a selfinflicted gunshot wound earlier this month. She leaves behind two sons. Now, that olympian Oscar Pistorius is free on bail, is he about to start training again . He wants to resume training while awaiting his trial for the murder of his girlfriend. Police say the issue was raised because they need to know any of his movements. Pistorius spokeswoman points out he is still in mourning. And no specific time has been decided. And moving on to your monday night sports highlights. We get those from espn. Im chris hassel with your sportscenter update. The Chicago Blackhawks havent lost in 11 months in regulation. Down 10, to edmonton in the first. Patrick kane, knocking this baby up. Look at the backhander. Chicago was down 21, in the third. They would tie it. Send it to overtime. The streak continues, with the blackhawks get the win. Skating in on nikolai khabibulin. Save. And marian hossa for the goal and the winner. Blackhawks win 32, in overtime. 25straight, with a point. The nba, lakers in denver. Under four minutes left in the second quarter. Steve nash, loses it. Andre iguodala, to lamelton, to kenneth fareed. Nuggets up 13. Fourth quarter, denver by ten. Ty lawson from outside. Nuggets up big. Corey brewer dishing to andre iguodala. Nuggets leading by 18. Fourth quarter, lakers down nine. Antwan jamison driving. Rejected by fareed. And lawson, on the other end, finishes. Nuggets, with a 119108 win over the lakers. Kansas, erased a fivepoint deficit in the final 30 seconds of the game at iowa state last night. And would win in overtime by 12 points. The second time those teams have gone to overtime this season. And the second time kansas has won by doublefigures. Im chris hassel. Thank you. Patriots quarterback, tom brady, is taking one for the team, with his new contract extension. Thats threeyear, 27 million deal will keep brady with new england until he turns 40. And its considered a bargain, compared to other top quarterbacks. The extension clears about 15 million from the teams salary cap. Money that can be spent to sign other players. What a considerate guy. Star quarterback, married to a supermodel. Just had a new baby. And a gentleman. Rough life, mr. Brady. Up next, the pulse, and an alister comes clean about her secret wedding. Plus, a homeless hero getting a new start, thanks to his act of kindness. Well be right back. 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Time to check, the pulse, and the stories youll be talking about today. Starting with the matrimonial bombshelby janet jackson. She married her boyfriend months ago. The couple wed at a quiet and beautiful ceremony. We say congrats to both. We can only imagine the Culture Shock when former nba bad boy Dennis Rodman arrives in north korea. We said north korea. The guy is 67, in a country where the average is 55. Not to mention the piercings, the at thes, the green hair. The trip for rodman and three members of the Harlem Globetrotters are part of a tv show. Staying in the far east for this one. It happened at an airport in china. One guy took out all of his frustrations on a checkin desk computer. And he kept on going. He grabs a sign. He started swinging this thing around. This guy is a highlevel government official, who admed a government official, who admed a missed the flight with his family. He has issued an apology. But did it feel good for somebody to let all that out at the airport. We all thought about it. Oh, yeah. And in kansas city, its a case of your cup runneth over, way over. A homeless panhandler found a pricey diamond ring in his donation cup. A woman had dumped her coin purse in that cup, forgetting her wedding ring was in the purse. When she went to see if the panhandler had it, he gave her the ring. And the couple set up a website. Total strangers have donated 150,000. I get a good feeling yeah get a feeling that i never, never, never, never had before no, no, i get a good feeling [ female announcer ] all this. Only on royal caribbean. Royal caribbeans biggest sale of the year is going on now. Call 1800royalcaribbean. Is going on now. Itand Start Talking aboutt whawhat you really wanthroom. From your toilet paper. Its time to talk about clean. Feeling clean is so important. I use quilted northern. 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Kansas city is getting about an inch of snow per hour. Chicago and detroit get half a foot tonight. There will be showers in the northwest. Snow in the northern rockies. And of course, in the midwest. And its a wet day for much of the east coast. And finally, of course, we were among the millions who watched the oscars ceremony last night. All the glitz. All the glam. But what goes on after the show is over . David muir takes us behind the curtain. Jennifer lawrence. Reporter she was the Silver Linings actress who won gold. And backstage, there was Something Else unexpected. Sitting there at the gma table with george, at first, talking about her in. It was just really shocking. Thats the first time ive ever felt, like, actual shock. You got a fan here. Reporter but then came jack nicholson. Hi. You did such a beautiful job. I dont mean to crash your interview but i want to congratulate you. Reporter and he kept going. I loved you in the moves. I like all your movies. You look like an old girlfriend of mine. Really . Do i look like your new girlfriend . I though about it. Oh, my god. Reporter and he comes back with those trademark shades. Is he still here . Ill be waiting. Oh, my god. Sorry, that was jack nicholson. Reporter one of the other golden moments ben affleck after success so young and then those bumps along the way. It doesnt matter how you get knocked down in life, because thats going to happen. All that matters is that you got to get up. Reporter we knew of the james bond tribute coming, adele and skyfall. Hold your breath and count to ten reporter she won the oscar. But it was the bond girl we werent expecting. Dame shirley bassey. 76 years old, about to perform the song she first sang in 1964. Its the kiss of death from goldfinger reporter singing it for more than 40 million in the u. S. Alone. In