damage control after this one and republicans are in full investigation mode. >> wildfires raging from maine to miami. flames threatening homes. thick smoke stopping traffic after one of the warmest and driest marches -- march ever. >> you don't just come to miami and say the things this guy said. ozzie guillen, manager of the marlin, boy, is he getting off on the wrong foot with the fans. he said something about fidel castro that not too many people like. george zimmerman speaks. well, sort of. the man who alleshot trayvon ma launched a website that solicits donations from supporters. it contains a personal message, the first time we're hearing from him since the sohooting. it case "it led me to become the subject of intense media coverage. as a result of the incident and subsequent media coverage, i have been forced to leave my home, my family and ultimately my entire life." its sole purpose is to ensure my supporters, they are receiving my full attention without any intermediary ya intermediaries. they have decided against sending it to a grand jury and will decide whether to charge zimmerman on her own. martin savidge is live in florida. i want to start with family reaction. how are they reacting to the special prosecutor's decision? >> reporter: right, you know, there's a lot of reaction down here. the family of trayvon martin has basically taken the attitude of wait and see. they are somewhat encouraged by the fact that an will curry says she will make the decision on her own. they don't believe anyone could blame a grand jury if the decision does not go their way. ben crump, the attorney who represents robin meade trayvon's family was speaking to cnn last night. here's how he reacted. >> we've always believed that convening a grand jury was really passing the buck. we thought from day one as we've always believed there was enough evidence there to simply arrest george zimmerman. we were not asking that he be convicted, but a simple arrest and over the last 42 days as evidence has unfolded, we think there is a plethora of evidence to simply effect probable cause to arrest george zimmerman. >> i had a conversation also with hal uric. he sort of defined the ruling by the state attorney as courageous. what we don't know, though, is really does this give us any indication as to how angela curry could rule and when will angela curry will rule and that's what everybody is waiting on. we do know a couple of things. we won't charge george zimmerman with first degree murder. what could she charge him with? probably manslaughter because the fact that robin meade trayvon was a juvenile george zimmerman, the max would be up to 30 years but we're putting the cart before the horse here because we still have not heard if there will be charges at all, zoraida. >> i want to get back to zimmerman's website. how much money has he raised there, do we know. >> we don't know exactly. we do know there was at least one group out of texas that donated early on $10,000 towards his defense and supposedly those operating that website have told us he is getting interest, at least, and donations from all around the world but we don't have an exact figure for you. we'll try to get it. >> martin, in sanford, florida, thank you very much. coming up at 5:30 we'll talk to brad conway about the trayvon martin case. it is four minutes now past 5:00 and the brother of one of the tulsa shooting suspects is speaking out saying that his brother is not racist. 33-year-old watts is accused of killing three black people and wounding two others and charged with multiple counts of murder and now prosecutors are deciding whether to charge hate crimes charges. jake england is also charged and wa watts' brother is blaming him for being a bad influence. he said when he moved in with him, things changed. >> my brother was raised in the middle of what you would call the hood. he was raised in the middle of black schools. he went to black schools. i did too. it was a machismo thing. it was i don't want to be a punk. he's 5'2". he weighs 110 pounds and has a bad little guy's complex. >> england posted a facebook message that used a racial slur to describe a black man would killed his father. authorities ruled that a justifiable homicide. >> it is five minutes past the hour. the scandal involving wasteful spending at the gsa is growing. more embarrassing videos have come to light and another top level government employee has been disciplined. >> alina cho has been following all the latest on this. this would be something where the republicans would want to dig pretty deep. >> that's right. the democrats are quick to point out this has been going on since the bush administration, nonetheless none is good. good morning, everybody. you're right. not just one investigation, we're talking about three. republicans have scheduled three hearings to look at spending at the general services administration. remember, that's the government agency in charge of buying big signature items. all of this is coming after an inspector general blew the lid on this. this was a four-day gathering back in 2010. the gsa spent nearly a million dollars for $4 shrimp, a clown and mind reader. the most damaging this video made by government employees brags about spending taxpayer money. now, it was all meant to be a joke. it was part of a contest among different gsa offices at the conference, but now that it's out, it all looks really, really bad and what's worse, there's more videos that have come to light. watch. >> well, i walk around and make sure everybody else is working so i don't have to do anything. >> you know, whatever it takes, dan. ♪ push it to the limit ♪ no one left to stand in your way and you'll never be safe ♪ ♪ >> karen, that was amazing. was there anybody in region 7 that wasn't in that thing? >> if they worked -- if they didn't work on friday chances are they weren't in the video. >> house investigators have also uncovered an employee awards program that violated gsa rules. now, under that program, government workers were given gifts like ipads and portable dvd players and, of course, that is well over the $99 limit that the agency allows. >> so a lot of people's heads have started to roll. >> not one, two or three but eight, ashleigh. eight have been either fired or suspended. the latest is david folly, the man you're about to see there, the deputy commissioner of the agency's public building services and on monday, he was placed on administrative leave. last week the head of the agency, remember this woman, martha johnson, she was appointed by president obama. she was also forced to resign and that came only after she fired two top deputies and put four regional commissioners on administrative leave. but, of course, those videos, remember, they were meant to be a joke, all part of a contest internally, never meant to be released but now that it's out and now that we know that they spent $823,000 on that four-day conference. >> pesky video. it tends to live in infamy. that crazy thing. >> pictures live forever, i like to say. >> thank you for that. at 6:30 we'll learn more about the fallout from the gsa scandal. we are talking to jeff denham, chair of a house subcommittee leading hearings on gsa over spending? >> nine minutes past five. dry and wind yi weather fueling wildfires up and down the east coast. they're popping up as far north as new england and as far south as florida. the worst in florida. thousands of acres are burning, one of the warmest and driest springs on records continue. look at the pictures. oh, how awful. in new jersey, the pine lands are glowing. flames have burned about a thousand acre, threatened two dozen home, so far, only good news to come out of that, no evacuations have been ordered at lesion yet. >> rob marciano is in atlanta following wertather conditions. >> it's not only been dry but dry in the northeast and across the great lakes. this fire video out of milford, connecticut, also fires in long island, but milford seeing flames whip up because of the winds there, service was suspended across metro north there for a time as they had to put out these flames and businesses evacuated. at one point people asked to leave their homes and smoke could be seen as far away as bridgeport connecticut as those whipped up. the threat today will be farther south. still dry, the radar is showing most of it up across northern new england and upstate new york. killington is seeing a foot of wet snow. new york back through raleigh where the red flag warnings will be up, dry conditions and gusty, gusty wind, unseasonably strong trough across the northeast will continue to whip those up. also will be pouring in is some cooler weather. temperatures tonight will be in the 20s and 30s in some spots. freeze and warnings and advisories for ohio river valley and western great lakes. severe weather over western oklahoma. a couple of tornadoes touching down and big hail. across parts of northern louisiana today and the winds continue in a little storm coming into the west coast if you're heading out to california. >> i almost missed it but i think you said something about snow. where was that. >> killington, vermont so a little moisture up across parts of vermont. so with the wind came some snow. >> fires all the way around the east coast and then snow in vermont. >> thank you for that, rob. >> yes. this just in, we like to do it at this time. gas prices dropping for the fourth day in a row, national price, average at least for a gal of unleaded is $3.92 per gall gallon. fourth time in a row. 12 minute past the hour. a savage st. patrick's day beating and robbery. he was stripped of his clothes, belongings and his dignity as several people record this. now the search for who did it. and you might say ozzy being ozzy, guillen, really ticking off his new fan base for a compliment of one fidel castro and i'm not kidding. 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>> george zimmerman will not face a first degree murder charge in the shooting death of trayvon martin. that possibility was eliminated when the special prosecutor decided against taking the case to a grand jury. meantime, zimmerman's making his first public comments on a newly created website telling supporters he's experienced a life altering event and promising the facts will come to light. a shocking viral video shows a tourist being beaten, stripped and robbed on st. patrick's day in baltimore. police identified one suspect although he's not in custody yet. they're asking for the public's help to i.d. the other attackers. facebook has a new friend, the photo sharing app maker instagram, facebook snapped it up for a billion dollar. it's been around less than two years with 13 employees, still hasn't made any money. instagram does have more than 30 million users. that's what counts when you talk about social immediate? >> kodak goes under. instagram makes it. >> it's a new world. 17 minutes past 5:00 and we like to get an early read of things. we get them delivered early so we can talk about them with you. a big controversy in miami surrounding the new miami marlins manager, ozzie guillen. have you heard of him? talk about hot water. ooh, he made some comments to "time" magazine about fidel castro. >> here's what he said "i love fidel castro. i respect castro. you know why? a lot of people have wanted to kill him for the last 60 years but that expletive is still here. guillen apologized and will again in a press conference he scheduled for today but many fans are still angry. some elected officials say they want him fired. >> you think? phil rogers in the "chicago tribune" is reporting this isn't the first time he made offensive remarks. when he was the chicago white sox manager, he used a gay slur to describe a reporter and rogers is now saying that the time has finally come to hold him accountable by saying this "a time magazine reporter simply didn't do guillen the favor that so many of us have done on an almost daily basis around the ballpark, letting his stream of consciousness rambling go in one year and other. >> ray mcnulty says it should be good enough and says, doesn't it matter that guillen doesn't endorse castro or his politics or his practices. or that guillen deeply regrets that his remarks upset the community. it should. the man made a mistake. i've done some events with him. he is famous for opening his mouth and inserting his foot. at the end of the day, you know, i think miami knew what they were getting out there. >> i don't know if they did. >> oh, yes, they d there is a lot out there he has said throughout the years. here's what surprises me. he knows miami really well. he knows the cuban community really well and even if he does feel that way, respect the community you serve now. >> well, yeah, because it might come back to bite you. turns out that the chairman of the city of miami commission is now saying that we've been overly generous to the marlins and cannot allow them to continue to treat us, the residents of miami with disdain or be dismissive of our concerns and i'm calling for rereal action to be taken and the removal of mr. guillen. >> or at least disciplinary action. >> they've called for removal. >> some say disciplinary action we want to see. >> there is a cuban-american organization boycotting -- >> consequences. consequenc consequences. the buffett rule being bu pushed. is it just a political play, though. we are minding your business coming up next. power consumption in china,en impact wool exports from new zealand, textile production in spain, and the use of medical technology in the u.s.? 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[ male announcer ] good choice business pro. good choice. go national. go like a pro. it's 23 minutes past 5:00 in the morning. futures are pointing upwards after last week's lackluster jobs report sent the markets downward yesterday so maybe just a one-day wonder. dow, nasdaq and s&p were all down 1% yesterday. >> president obama is pushing the so-called buffett rule, his proposed tax on millionaires and billion theirs. will it pass or just campaigning on an election year. christine romans is minding your business and breaking it down for us. >> no and yes. >> what say you? >> no, it won't pass, and, yes, it's campaigning but a lot of people say it's politics wrapped up in good policy. others say it's just a president trying to, you know, appeal to democrats and progressives on the campaign trail who think rich people aren't paying their share. it works in this election year when you're talking about disparity and inequality. what do people think point buffett rule? it is a po% minimum income tax for people making a million dollars or more a year making sure they pay 30%, their tax rate. this is something that might be good for the president when you look at your polling because 64% of people polled in a cnn/orc pole favor the buffett rule. that their minimum tax rate is 30%. 64% favor it. 30% oppose it. the support was strongest in our polling among democrats, 76% of democrats say they support it. and 49% of republicans, almost half, support it. here's where it gets tricky. the people who study tax policy say, well, a lot of millionaires are paying a 30% tax, in fact, and when you look at a tax rate from millionaires and billionaires compared with average joe middle class americans, their tax rate in many cases is already higher than middle class americans because of all the income tax deductions and write-offs we get in the middle class. how much would that raise? a couple of different researchers an cnn money has great research and a fact about th this saying it would raise 5 billion in new taxes a year. not enough to close much so this is where it's definitely politics. if it appeals to those thinking the rich skates by it works on the campaign trail. >> is it just on their salary? >> most people who are really rich, they're paying capital gains taxes and that's a 15% tax r