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. [ 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. you know who you are. you can part a crowd, without saying a word. you have yet to master the quiet sneeze. you stash tissues like a squirrel stashes nuts. well, muddlers, muddle no more. try zyrtec®. it gives you powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because zyrtec® starts working at hour 1 on the first day you take it. claritin® doesn't start working until hour 3. zyrtec®. love the air. 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. your odds of winning are 176 million to 1. who cares, right? 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? how'd that get there? [ 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 b