Helicopter, rising into a brilliant blue sky, rounding st. Peters and the coliseum. Within minutes, the arrival at castel gandolfo, the vacation retreat of popes. Crowds greeting him outside his new, temporary, home. And then, one last time as pope, benedict stood on a balcony. He spoke, saying, i am no longer the pontiff of the catholic church. I am simply a pilgrim, beginning the last leg of his pilgrimage on this earth. [ speaking Foreign Language ] reporter after blessing the faithful, he disappeared. And hours later, at 8 00 p. M. Local time, those swiss guards leaving their post. The gates closing. One chapter ends, a new one begins. Benedict told the cardinals today that he will be close to them in prayer as they choose his replacement. And diane, tonight, this 2,000yearold church, steeped in tradition, is improvising its way into a new reality. All right, george, our thanks to you. And, of course, tonight, at the vatican, the papal apartment has been sealed with a red ribbon, awaiting a new occupant. And a modern twist. The popes twitter account has a new message sede vacante. Vacant seat. Tonight, everyone wondering whether the new pope will represent the old European Church or emerge from the changing world. And abcs david wright studied the images of this day for clues. Reporter save these images. Because in all likelihood, one of them is the new pope. Maybe angelo bagnasco, the son of a baker. Or angelo scola, the son of a truck driver. Italian power players both. And italians do have the home court advantage. 1 out of every 4 votes in the conclave. Cardinal scola, cardinal bagna bagnasco of italy, now, seem to be mentioned more and more. But these names are being floated right now without much conviction, frankly, among the people ive been talking to. Reporter but vatican insider john thavis says benedicts historic departure has shaken things up. Quite honestly, its an open conclave. Reporter the americans dont really expect to win. Europe has more votes in the conclave than africa, asia, latin america and north america put together. A canadian could be a compromise that gives a nod to the new world. Marc ouellet grew up in a tiny quebec village. He played ice hockey. Still does. Not that hed be the first pope to do so. Oscar maradiaga of honduras plays saxophone, and Cardinal Tagle of the philippines hosts a tv show. You say i am a king. Reporter Peter Turkson of ghana is affable and african. He might bring incremental change to the churchs views on condom use. Austrias Christoph Schonborn is a longtime friend of Pope Benedict and an outspoken critic of the churchs handling of the sex abuse crisis, saying the days of the coverup are over. Change wont come overnight, but it will come, as sure as tomorrow. David wright, abc news, rome. And we thank you, david wright. And now, back here at home, news of an Unlikely Alliance on a controversial topic. Clint eastwood has announced he is joining the side of president obama, in one of the most polarizing debates in the nation, gay marriage. Abcs chief White House CorrespondentJonathan Karl explains. Reporter less than a year ago, the president still personally opposed gay marriage. Now tonight, he is urging the Supreme Court to strike down californias ban. The move puts president obama on the same page as clint eastwood. So, mr. President reporter the man with the empty chair who ridiculed him at the republican convention. Both now are part of a Broad Coalition urging the Supreme Court to strike down californias proposition 8, which defines marriage as only between a man and a woman. The case against prop 8 is supported by a long list of companies from apple to xerox and a long list of influential republicans, including four former governors and top advisers to president george w. Bush. Obamas views on gay marriage have changed dramatically since he was first elected president. Marriage is between a man and a woman. My feelings about this are constantly evolving. I struggle with this. I think samesex couples should be able to get married. Reporter at the time of that interview, the president still said the issue should be left to the states. But his evolution continued, and in january, a hint of what was to come. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law. Reporter the Supreme Court will hear the case in less than a month. Possibly deciding for the first time whether there is a constitutional right to marriage. Jonathan karl, abc news, the white house. And now, the sequester. The countdown on, 85 billion in budget cuts set to kick in tomorrow night. Will the consequences be dire or is the Obama Administration crying wolf . Abcs White House Correspondent jim avila looks at the big argument today. Reporter another showdown, deadline washington cliff that has even crisis veterans ashamed. God, if we cant do better than that, all of us should be fired. Reporter as the clock ticks, a parade of cabinet secretaries warning of doom. At airport security. Youre going to see those lines really grow. Reporter from the White House Briefing room the education secretary, claiming teachers are already getting fired. These are teachers who are getting pink slips now. Reporter turns out the schools say thats premature and today, arne duncan softened the word into maybe. Tens of thousands of teachers will potentially lose their jobs. Reporter at this white house event highlighting defense contractor furloughs, even the workers had doubts. I dont think, personally, that my job is going to be one of the ones at risk. Reporter skepticism amplified by the independent mayor of the nations largest city, an obama supporter. I live in that world. I mean, come on. Lets get serious here. Reporter is the administration losing credibility by overstating the crisis . In an exclusive interview with abc news today, Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano said no. Its all coming, just not tomorrow. And nothing that you warned about was crying wolf . People need to know that lines are going to end up being longer. They need to be able to plan that way. Reporter but she did admit her own departments release of low risk undocumented immigrants from Detention Centers to save money for the sequestration was a badly timed surprise to her. Do i wish that this all hadnt been done all of a sudden, and so that people werent surprised by it . Of course. Reporter the brinksmanship will continue here tomorrow at the white house, when congressional leaders, both democrat and republican, will meet with the president. Diane . Thanks, jim. And last night, we told you about a change in u. S. Policy. The possibility of a big move. The u. S. Poised to start sending aid to the rebels in syria. Tonight, its official. The u. S. Will give 60 million in nonlethal aid to syrias opposition forces. And also will provide the rebels with food and medical supplies. And now, a question answered on those wikileaks. The u. S. Army private who leaked hundreds of thousands of classified documents from his laptop in iraq. Finally, he gave his reason today. Bradley manning pled guilty to ten charge thes today, not guilty to 12 other more serious charges in the case. And painted himself as a whistleblower who just, quote, wanted to spark domestic debate because he was disillusioned about military decisions. He could be sentenced to 20 years for his guilty pleas today and may get life in prison for the other charges. And now, we move onto a new report on obesity, with a surprising conclusion. Researchers say they have found a link between a womans weight and the amount of work done around the home. Abcs cecilia vega takes a closer look tonight at a headline that is already drawing fire. Reporter all that grueling housework . The homemaker walks miles every day. Reporter a group of South Carolina researchers says one reason modern women may be packing on the pounds . Is because theyre not doing the heavy lifting like they used to. Even an efficiency expert would be staggered by the amount of chasing around and indoor road work that the little woman takes as a matter of course. Reporter researchers compared activity logs kept by stay at home women from 1965 until today. And this is what they found. Back then, women spent 25. 7 hours a week dusting, mopping, cooking and washing. Fast forward to 2010, just 13. 3 hours. The study says, from 1965 until now, the average American Woman who works at home has gained 22 pounds. People will see the headline from this study and say that youre telling women that they are fat because theyre not doing housework. What were saying is, theres been a decrease in physical activity across all of daily life. Reporter experts say thats not all. Its diet, genetics, economic status, more time in front of the tv. And they also question the motives of the studys sponsor coke. It makes no sense for cocacola to be funding studies on causes of obesity, because they are one of the causes for obesity. Reporter and in todays modern world, women fired back on twitter, saying, uh, excuse me . The 1950s called and they want their article back. Today, a third of all American Adults are obese. 50 years ago, the number was fewer than 10 . And both sexes are expanding at an equal pace. Proof that when it comes to growing waistlines, there may be equality after all. Cecilia vega, abc news, los angeles. And still ahead on world news, talk about a weird picture. How did Dennis Rodman end up as an unofficial ambassador in north korea . So, this board gives me rates for progressive direct and other Car Insurance companies . Yes. But youre progressive, and theyre them. Yes. But theyre here. Yes. Are you. . There . Yes. No. Are you them . Im me. But those rates are for. Them. So them are here. Yes you want to run through it again . No, im good. You got it . Yes. Rates for us and them now thats progressive. Call or click today. Until i had the shingles. I have never encountered such a burning sensation. It was like a red rash. Like somebody had set a bag of hot charcoal on my neck. I had no idea it came from chickenpox. Its something you never want to encounter. For more of the inside story, visit shinglesinfo. Com i love the fact that quicken loans provides va loans. Quicken loans understood the details and guided me through every step of the process. I know wherever the military sends me, i can depend on quicken loans. America has just witnessed a truly strange encounter tonight. No one could have guessed who would become the First American ever to meet with the leader of north korea. It turned out to be the wild child of basketball, Dennis Rodman. There he is, splashed all over the front page of their newspap newspaper, with the dictator, kim jongun. And abcs john donvan tells us why. Reporter Dennis Rodmans arrival in north korea early this week, the diplomatic stunner of the year so far. A meeting by the Basketball Court with kim jongun. No american gets in to see the north korean ruler. Not even, say, google founder eric schmidt, whose visit was not well regarded by the u. S. Government. We dont think the timing of this is particularly helpful. Reporter but maybe thats because schmidt was never an nba star. While one of the known things about the secretive kims private life, from his days as a student at a swiss boarding school, is that he was an nba nut, especially big on rodmans old team, the bulls. And when vice magazine pitched north korea on bringing over rodman and some Harlem Globetrotters to do some exhibition play for its new hbo show, it was, sure, come on in. And so, Dennis Rodman is there among the uniformly attired, stifffaced north korean elite. The nba star, as known for his hair and for his flamboyant outfits, as for his hook shot. The hall of famer known as the worm has taken a shot at reality television. And some high profile romances. Toning it down a little bit over there, the worm played the were all just people here card, telling a crowd that included kim, you have a friend for life. Words that are being frowned upon by groups like human rights watch, given north koreas record for brutalizing its own people by starvation and imprisonment. But rodman had already tweeted this to the world from north korea. Im not a politician. Kim jongun and north Korean People are basketball fans and i love everyone. His tweet did not note that the use of twitter is forbidden to citizens of the country he had just come to love. John donvan, abc news, washington. And coming up next right here, that video, that lovers leap, the bungee jump, after he pushed her. Well, well tell you what pushed her. Well, well tell you what happened next. Keep my eye on h but, i didnt always watch out for myself. With so much noise about health care. I tuned it all out. With unitedhealthcare, i get information that matters. My individual health profile. Not random statistics. They even reward me for addressing my health risks. So im doing fine. But shes still going to give me a heart attack. Were more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans. Thats health in numbers. Unitedhealthcare. Theyre about 10 times softer and may have surface pores where bacteria can multiply. Polident kills 99. 99 of odor causing bacteria and helps dissolve stains so dentures are cleaner, fresher, and brighter. [ male announcer ] polident. Exciting and would always come max and pto my rescue. Bookstore but as time passed, i started to notice max just wasnt himself. And i knew hed feel better if he lost a little weight. So i switched to purina cat chow healthy weight formula. I just fed the recommended amount. And they both loved the taste. After a few months maxs special powers returned. And i got my hero back. Purina cat chow healthy weight. We saw three memorable videos for our instant index tonight. Starting with texas. Tumbleweeds and what 60mileperhour winds can do. This is a house in west texas, swallowed by tumbleweeds and the homeowners reaction was priceless. Good old west texas. Theres a garage in there somewhere. The family had just taken down a fence that keeps tumbleweeds at bay when that storm hit. And because the tumbleweeds are in his yard, not on public land, the Fire Department says he has to find a way to clear them. And now, proof that a dance craze can go too far, the harlem shake. The faa is pouring over this video. Its on board a Frontier Airlines flight. One person in a mask dancing alone, and then, the whole plane it was a prank started by the Colorado College ultimate frisbee team. But the faa says they are investigating, because all those dancers in the aisle could be breaking the rules on interferes interfering with a flight crew. And file this one under a lovers spat for the ages. A young couple in utah, creighton, a veteran thrill seeker, tells us he tried to talk his girlfriend into bungee jumping into a canyon. A few false starts four, three, two, one, zero so, creighton tries to move it along and please dont push me off. Please dont. [ screaming ] im breaking up with you im breaking up with you, she screams. By the way, were told tonight, shes just fine. But they did, in fact, break up, reportedly not because of this moment, but makes you wonder. And we love what you see out there every day for our instant index. So, tweet it to me dianesawyer. And still ahead right here, youre correct. Your dog is really, really smart. But how smart . Well, get ready to give them a them a test. The middle of this special moment and i need to run off to the bathroom. Im fed up with always having to put my bladders needs ahead of my daughter. So today, im finally talking to my doctor about Overactive Bladder symptoms. [ female announcer ] know that gotta go feeling . Ask your doctor about prescription toviaz. One toviaz pill a day significantly reduces sudden urges and accidents, for 24 hours. If you have certain stomach problems or glaucoma, or can not empty your bladder, you should not take toviaz. Get emergency medical help right away if your face, lips, throat or tongue swells. Toviaz can cause blurred vision, dizziness, drowsiness and decreased sweating. Do not drive, operate machinery or do unsafe tasks until you know how toviaz affects you. The most common side effects are dry mouth and constipation. Talk to your doctor about toviaz. Tthe people of bp made aects arecommitment to the gulf. ,ion. And every day since, weve worked hard to keep it. Today, the beaches and gulf are open for everyone to enjoy. Weve shared what weve learned, so we can all produce energy more safely. Bps also committed to america. We support nearly twohundredfifty thousand jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. Were working to fuel america for generations to come. Our commitment has never been stronger. Get coricidin hbp. The number one pharmacist recommended cold brand designed for people with high blood pressure. And the only one i use to relieve my cold symptoms without raising my blood pressure. Coricidin hbp. See life in the best light. Outdoors, or in. Transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. So you see everything the way its meant to be seen. Maybe even a little better. Vsp members can save on all authentic transitions lenses, including our new transitions vantage and transitions xtractive lenses. Experience life well lit. Ask which transitions adaptive lens is best for you. The battle of bataan, 1942. [ all ] fort benning, georgia, in 1999. [ male announcer ] usaa Auto Insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaas commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. Begin your legacy. Get an autoinsurance quote. Us