♪ ♪ all right, so it is tax season. usually when some americans do some of their most creative writings. but what are some legal tricks to get the best refund. senior consumer analyst vera gibbons with ideas, details. good morning. >> good morning. >> you can't just do, write whatever you want, yes that was -- that was -- >> if you want the irs to come knock, knocking on your door. >> what about, start with housing? what can we write off? >> mortgage interest. points. that is all legally tax deductible. we are talking about -- your big mortgage up to, $1,500,000, married, filing separately. your points are going to be deductible in that year. now if you, refi, second home. different system. take a portion of the point. 1/15. 15 year mortgage. mortgage points. interest deductible. things like home renovations not deductib deductible. don't try to fool the irs. unless there is look a medical reason you are doing a ramp for accessibility. for, someone in a wheelchair. >> home office. >> well -- >> home office people tend to get audited quite a bit. so, home offices are a little tricky. but yeah, if you're just renovating your home to increase the value. no. >> okay. no. >> what about job hunting costs? i assume yes? >> if you look for a job in the same field. you itemize your returns. yes, the job hunting costs are in fact deductible. but, couple of caveats. can't be your first job out of college. and -- when you bunch those expenses altogether it has to exceed 2% of your adjusted gross. people say my gosh. how ham i evam i going to do th? you would be surprised how quickly, transportation costs, knelt wo networking costs, maybe you flew to meetings, meet with people. it does add up quickly. >> yeah. >> actually point out, if you actually, got a job, and you had to move for the job, moving costs. deductible. >> dedkt abeven if the company that? >> that is a good question. even if the company pays for that. that would be a different situation altogether. >> which is one of issues that i had to deal with in the last year. curious about that. charitable time. >> your charitable time -- you cannot deduct. a lot of people are -- confused about this. >> all those sundays and saturdays i spent at the soup kitchen. my church. >> but your out of pocket costs you can. like if you did special things for your soup kitchen or your church. made baked good for an event. you can deduct the cost of the ingredients. stamps. if you made sweaters, or -- >> clambake i made. >> whatever you did. then those costs are actually deductible. and of course, you have got miles. optional 14 cents a mile. or do the variable cost which would be your gas, oil, those types of things. gas money, from the gas money blog, run the money both ways. because you may come out ahead the other way. you will have had to be diligent bookkeeper over the year to take variable cost over 14 cent. >> as somebody two years out of college. i assume student loans are interest loans? >> one of the good things about student loan interest. we have so much student loan interest department. it is just, crazy, right. so 1.4 trillion, spread among 44 million borrowers. crazy. deduct the interest. a good thing. very good thing. we'll take it. >> okay. that said, i have a lot of credit card interest. i can deduct that as well? >> right, right. ding, ding, ding. red flag. red flag. no that would be your personal credit card. so that -- that is not deductible. nice try. >> if i spent it on something that was deductible then the interest could be -- >> no. >> wow, you are a buzz kill. >> ha-ha. i always have fun with you. >>'goi not going to have you as ghost writer on my taxes. >> anything on the return, you are responsible for. could back to bite you. >> thank you. appreciate the advice. we have more advice on our website at atmfans.com. vera gibbons joining us now. you're watching "world news now." flonase allergy relief delivers more complete relief. flonase helps block 6 key inflammatory substances that cause all your symptoms, including nasal congestion and itchy, watery eyes. flonase is an allergy nasal spray that works even beyond the nose. so you can enjoy every beautiful moment to the fullest. flonase. 6>1 changes everything. hey, searching for a great used yeah! you got it. just say show me millions of used cars for sale at the all new carfax.com. i don't want one that's had a big wreck just say, show me cars with no accidents reported pretty cool i like it that's the power of carfax® find the cars you want, avoid the ones you don't plus you get a free carfax® report with every listing start your used car search at carfax.com (male #1) it's a little something i've done every night since i was a kid, empty my pocket change into this old jar. it's never much, just what's left after i break a dollar. and i never thought i could get quality life insurance with my spare change. neither did i. until i saw a commercial for the colonial penn program. imagine people our age getting life insurance at such an affordable rate. it's true. if you're 50 to 85, you can get guaranteed acceptance life insurance through the colonial penn program for less than 35 cents a day, just $9.95 a month. there's no medical exam and no health questions. you know, the average cost of a funeral is over $8,300. now that's a big burden to leave your loved ones. as long as you're 50 to 85, you cannot be turned down because of your health. your premium never goes up and your benefit never goes down due to age. plus, your coverage builds cash value over time. call now for free information and a free gift. all i did was make a phone call and all of my questions about the colonial penn program were answered. it couldn't have been any easier and we both got the coverage we should have had for years now. mm-hm, with change to spare. (laughing) (colonial penn jingle) ♪ just a simple touch and it can set you free ♪ ♪ we don't have to rush when you're alone with me ♪ ♪ i feel it coming i feel it come to me ♪ ♪ i feel it coming >> weekend. >> relaxing. >> very relaxing. >> it's only tuesday. but we are going to take-up to a one-on-one with alec baldwin. opening up in a memoir about his struggles with drugs, alcohol, and role impersonating the president on "saturday night live." >> remember the rough times, the tirade he had screaming at his 11-year-old daughter on the phone, been seen shoving reporters, berating one from fox 5 here in new york. clearly had rough times. he discusses with george step st how he changed >> reporter: in his new book alec baldwin digs deep. go become to your childhood. vivid memories. the pain you saw in your father's life. >> i was obsessed with work and making money, because of my dad. they want to be happy. they were crushed by debt, money. my whole life, i got to make money. don't want to be like my dad. >> do you think i need help. >> the first big role, knots landing. first time he abused alcohol. and hitting bottom. and overdosed on location. >> at the time when i describe overdosing on drugs, i have kept very private for years and years and years. i think i would have gotten eventually. but i am glad i got it when i did. not many people get sober when i was young. i got sober when i was to turn 27. >> reporter: confronts bouts of anger, run-ins with paparazzi and voice mail for ireland in 2007. you have written it before. the voice mail, you say caused a permanent break in the relationship, permanent? >> it is thrown in your face every day. as i mention in the book there are people who admonish me or attack me and use that as a constant spearhead to do that. >> reporter: that relationship is mending. and baldwin is happy at home and at work. even though he doesn't always love playing donald trump. kind of stressful to play in. >> stressful to play in. not somebody i am in love with. >> final question? seems as you wrap up the book and talk about l alyour wife an kids. you are happy as you have ever been? >> you talk about in the business you have to be lucky. i am luckier in my personal life. i am glad that i am luckier in my personal life. if i had to choose, i would peck that. >> good to see him doing so well. >> yeah, especially coming back from the rough days, as you recall, that voice mail, had epic lines in it. >> that's the news for this half-h this morning on "world news now," republicans in congress looking to go nuclear. >> democrats are poised to pounce looking to block judge neil gorsuch's ascension to the supreme court. hear what the so-called nuclear option is that lawmakers say would blow up the traditional rules. >> we have new developments this morning on the deadly blast in a russian subway. some russian officials calling it an act of terror as president putin and president trump speak to each other about that attack. >> three people are dead after an explosion launched a boiler through the roof of one building, and down into the street into another building. a helicopter shot, shows the path that the boiler took, in the air, before crashing below. so what happened? >> and why the biggest headline from major league baseball's opening day included football stars. rob gronkowski and tom brady on the baseball diamond. what was going on? another stolen jersey? can you believe it? brian ross unit investigating on this tuesday, april 4th. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." we are keeping our investigative unit very busy. >> very, very busy in the corner. brian ross is look i want to school for this? to be placed in the corner to investigate these sort of stories? >> no. >> no. >> lucky for him he did not. start things off now with the new champions. >> congratulations. >> men's college basketball. >> yeah, congratulations to north carolina, tarheels. this was in arizona last night. outlasted gonzaga to claim the school's sixth national title. they're kind of good. north carolina took the lead for good with just under 2 minutes to play. they held on to win 71-65. >> this victory avenges last season's championship game loss to villanova. the coach roy williams, the third time he led the tarheels to a title. thousands of fans who didn't make the trip to arizona watched the game at unc arena. afterward, williams talked about winning it all a year after a heartbreaking loss. >> it made them work extremely hard in the off-season to be the best player they could be. to get become to this. it is amazing that we got back. it is hard to get here. and then to finish the game out li like that. pretty special. thousand of unc students, fans, poured into the streets of chapel hill to celebrate the big win. they also by the way, ignored warnings, not to light the traditional been fires that usually follow big victories. >> details. >> surprise. >> there were three bonfires reported overall. things remained calm for the most part. they have been there before. this is their sixth time. we say congratulations to it. of course, going to have much more on march madness in our next half-hour and later on "good morning america." but, let's move on to a full-court press of a different kind. the one taking place on capitol hill. the full senate is now poised to take up the bitter fight over president trump's pick for the supreme court. >> judge neil gorsuch cleared key senate committee along party lines as democrats secured votes to mount a filibuster. republicans are not backing down. they're ready to rewrite long standing senate rules. get more now from abc's jonathan carl. >> reporter: on capitol hill, a supreme court showdown. likely to end with a move so controversial, it's called the nuclear option. it comes after democrats one by one, came forward to say, they will vote no on president trump's supreme court nominee, neil gorsuch. >> i cannot support this nomination. >> i will not. i cannot support advancing this nomination. >> i will not support judge gorsuch's nomination. >> a handful of democrats said they would vote yes. but now, at least 42 democrats say they will not only vote against gorsuch, but will do something that is almost never been done. use a filibuster to block his nomination. >> republicans are crying foul. >> if they will filibuster neil gorsuch, they will filibuster any nominee from a republican president. >> now republicans are preparing to exercise the so-called nuclear option, forcing a change in senate rules that would mean supreme court nominees would no longer need 60 votes to be confirmed. instead, a simple majority. either party could push through a nominee with just 51 votes. republicans acknowledge it is a move with far-reaching implications. >> we are headed to a world where you don't need one person from the other side to pick a judge. and what does that mean? that means the judges are going to be more ideological, not less. >> reporter: democrats are still furious at the way republicans treated president obama's nominee merrick garland refusing to give him a hearing more than nine months. still the move to filibuster president trump's pick isn't about pay back it is about the judge. >> judge gorsuch dodged, deflected his responses to members of the committee, cagey and evasive. >> reporter: in his hearing, gorsuch revealed little about hot button issues, gun control, abortion, dekneeinying he discu the matter with the president. >> did he ever ask you to overrule row v. wade. >> no, senator. >> what would you have done if he asked? >> senator, i would have walked out the door. with the debate raging, the senate majority leader is making a promise. >> neil gorsuch will be confirmed this week. >> he says neil gorsuch will become a justice of the supreme court even if it means going nuclear. president trump endorsed the idea of the senate going nuclear before he nominated gorsuch to the supreme court. the white house knows if there is another vacancy on the court, they believe here there will be, that it will make it easier for the president to get his next nominee confirmed as well. jonathan carl, abc news, the white house. sequester terry of state rex tillerson heads to the united nations for the first time later this month. tillerson will chair a u.n. security council meeting on reining in north korea's nook leer program. a top priority for the trump administration trying to convince china to put pressure on pyongyang. now, u.s. enjoy, nikki haley says the focus of the meeting will depend on the outcome of president trump's talks with the chinese president set for later this week. >> at least 11 people are dead. dozens wounded after a bombing in the subway system of russia's second largest city. the blast went off under two stations downtown st. petersburg. conflicting reports if it was the work of a suicide bomber or not. hours later police found and diffused a devicen a station. officials are kidding it a terrorist attack. russian president, vladamir putin was in st. petersburg when the explosion occurred. and later placed flowers at a memorial. >> back in this country, and to missouri, where investigators are looking into the cause of a deadly boiler explosion in st. louis. this industrial boiler, 12 feet long, weighing more than a ton, launched like a rocket through the roof of a box factory and get this t. it flew 500 feet and then crashed through the roof of a nearby laundry business. initial explosion killed one man inside the factory. two others were killed inside that laundry company. wrong place, wrong time. both reportedly were new hires filling out paperwork at the time. fire officials believe the blast was accidental. >> it takes a licensed boiler operator to operate these things. so, we are going to be looking at all the record. make sure that everything was up to date. >> a third building was damaged by an 8-foot pipe piercing its roof and a pipe flew through the windshield of a truck across the street. amazing. >> stock markets will open down this morning after a third straight month of slum subpoenaing auto sales. overall auto sales fell 1.6% due to poor passenger car sales. suvs and trucks doing well. analysts expect that to continue. auto industry is coming off a regard year. that pace may be hard to maintain. sales of used vehicles are also down. >> and nhl says players won't be going to next year's winter olympics. the pros have participated in the games since 1998. that will not be the case next year in south korea. the nhl says it sees no benefit halting play for three weeks during the games to allow players to represent their countries. the players union says it adamantly disagraees with the league decision. >> move on to major league baseball now. every major league team has 161 games left to play. now that they're opening days are all done. the season's fir skps tra inning game was decided when baltimore's mark trumeau homered in the 11th inning, gave the ore yer orioles, a 3-2 win. >> milwaukee, opening day means the sausage relay. the brewers famous racing sausages teamed up to run the ceremonial first brat to miller park. when they raced each other during the game, the hot dog won. and the actual game, however, the brewers lost. to colorado. >> oh, hot dog is always a winner. >> we arthur rowly entertained. >> the hot dog is always a weiner. >> maybe the hot dog won that guy stopped to take selfies on the way. i mean what are you crazy. i'm in the middle of a very important race right now. the chef. >> come on in shorts. in these conditions. in boston, patriots quarterback, tom brady showed off, not again. >> oh, no. >> super bowl jersey. gronkowski took off. not ready to surrender the spotlight after the epic, wrestlemania appearance. then they watched the red sox beat the pirates. >> on silt of when fans streak the field. they have security chasing them. gronk grabbed extra clothes. >> how did he do on the first pitch? >> not bad. that tom brady he always connects. coming up. >> man crush. >> well, you know. >> man crush tuesday. >> yes, admit it. man crush, tom brady. do you blame him. no ryan reynolds? >> or ryan gosling. >> all right, truce. coming up, the flooding down under causing incredible scenes like this house, floating down the river. the family managing to escape just in the nick of time. >> in texas, the manhunt for a suspect in the cold-blooded killing of a deputy shot outside the station. just as he arrived for work. what we are now learning about the investigation coming up? you are watching "world news now." ♪ ♪ d b and want more coverage. guess what? you could apply for a medicare supplement insurance plan whenever you want. no enrollment window. no waiting to apply. that means now may be a great time to shop for an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. medicare doesn't cover 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funerals taking place, hopes fading as rescuers search for survivors. colombia's president declared an emergency. >> in the meantime here at home, a sixth person died in that line of severe storms slamming the south this week. a man in his mid 60s, killed when a possible tornado flipped his mobile home in south carolina. at this hour, millions of americans in the southeast are facing another round, and rough night of severe weather. stretching from northern florida into virginia. >> to intense manhunt and the killer of a police officer in texas. the 30-year veteran gunned down as he arrived for work. >> a 65,000 dollar reward offered for information leading to arrest. abc's clayton sandel with the latest. >> reporter: investigators call it an ambush and are engaged in an all-out manhunt. outside this courthouse, harris chief constable, clinton greenwood just arriving for work. then some one opened fire. >> as officers arrived on scene, assistant chief deputy, clint greenwood found shot one time. a helicopter rushed greenwood to an emergency room. he did not survive. greenwood was a 30-year law enforcement veteran. >> grew up in west houston. i-10. got my