[swords clank] watch out! give me all your treasure! imagine what a little time can do for your family. ah, ha! take that! missed me! ah! scores, and has had five principals in the last six years. last month, school officials told the teachers they could keep their jobs if they agreed to work longer days. but officials say the talks broke down in part because the teachers wouldn't have been paid for all the extra work. george and ann mclaughlin, the chemistry teacher and guidance counselor, say they have no problem working longer hours but school officials seemed hell-bent on firing everyone without taking into account the difficult nature of the student body. people call your school a failing school. your argument is they're not taking into account the kind of children who come into the school. >> never. >> we did an amazing job with what we have on our hands. >> reporter: the school board voted for an extreme makeover. >> i don't think it's fair. we wouldn't be nothing without the teachers. >> when your names were called out and they voted to fire all of you, what was that like? >> like being shot through the heart. >> yes, it's difficult. yes, it's disruptive. but it's very necessary for us to completely turn the school around. >> reporter: this housecleaning may be a necessary wake-up call for teachers and teachers unions all over the country. with the obama administration now insisting that every state find and fix its lowest-performing schools. education secretary arne duncan came out in support of the firings. >> enough is enough. we can't continue to wait. our children have one chance to get a qualify education. >> reporter: the teachers at central falls high will get to keep their jobs until the end of the school year. in the meantime, they say that like the school mascot here, the warrior, they are going to fight. dan harris, abc news, central falls, rhode island. time for your thursday forecast. another powerful winter storm in the northeast today. powerful winds and up to 2 feet of snow could fall on parts of new york and pennsylvania. heavy rain across new england today and nearly 1 foot of snow in the utah and colorado mountains. rain later on north of san francisco. and up to seattle. >> 40s in billings, boise and salt lake city. 18 in fargo. 22 in omaha. 26 in chicago. new york will hit 36. atlanta 45. and miami is 65. nothing says shock value these days more than lady gaga. now her outrageous ward remember is serving as inspiration for a british farmer. >> desperate to frighten away birds the farmer has created a lady gaga scarecrow, sporting an over the top outfit the singer wore to the awards show last week. he thinks it's pretty scary and the birds seem to agree. >> that's mean. birds have not come near the farmer's crop since the new scarecrow went up. he's thinking of making more ga-ga scarecrows for other farms at all. >> i bet she wouldn't mind at all. >> you're probably right. >> we'll be right back with more world nauz now. 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[ record scratches ] that's right, febreze freshness... to help eliminate odors, while you clean and condition. so your furniture is "swiffer clean"... and your home is "febreze fresh." swiffer gives cleaning a fresh new meaning. ♪ awake again? government-backed mortgage giant freddoreheareddie mac is a huge loss. during the final months of last year the lender lost nearly $8 billion. freddie mac lost nearly $26 billion during the entire year. the lender could face more problems in the months ahead as homeowners fall behind on payments. with home sales at a 50-year low and homeowners in trouble there's plenty of financial advice offered during the recession. >> including one preachy money adviser who thinks credit cards and dent are ungodly. that's what dave ramzi tells his flock as vicki mabry reports. >> reporter: like a fired-up southern preacher -- >> you're not getting out of debt unless you go, go, go! >> reporter: dave ramzi asks his flock to stop spending. >> change your life! >> reporter: their sin, living beyond their means using devil credit cards. >> target that, chase this, what's in your wallet, discover freedom. >> reporter: on stage, on radio, on tv, he's preaching the gospel of financial peace. getting out of debt and staying out of debt. and if in the process you want to praise jesus, that's okay too. >> give no sleep to your eyelids, no slumber to your eyes, and deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, the bird from the hand of the fowler. >> reporter: what is the gospel according to dave? >> if you will live on less than you make, if you will live on a plan, if you will stay out of debt, if you will save for the emergencies, for purchases and for requirement. if you will gave. if you'll do those five things, anybody given a little bit of time can win with money. all right, rock 'n' roll i've got to get set up over there. >> reporter: be a winner with money. a common refrain from a self-help financial guy, right? what may surprise you where his advice comes from. you see, before there was dave ramzi, financial guru, there was dave ramzi, financial failure. >> they were going to take the furniture out of the house. i finally just said, you can't have the baby bed, i've given you everything else. >> reporter: back in the '80s he started out as a successful real estate flipper. >> i was buying and selling real estate. i was doing flip before there was a "flip this house." it wasn't clear. we had about a $1 million net worth. >> reporter: it all came crashing down. >> we hit bottom. >> reporter: ramzi and his young family lost it all. >> it was really, really hard on our marriage. it was -- i was so scared, i didn't know what to do. a 28-year-old kid with a little baby and a toddler and a wife ready to leave. if she had the money she'd have left. >> reporter: is that the best teacher? >> no, no. but it's a thorough teacher. >> reporter: it's a thorough teacher. >> you won't forget the lessons. >> reporter: he slowly dug himself out of debt and had an epiphany. if he could do it, anyone could, if they followed seven simple rules. seven baby steps, he calls them. >> step one, $1,000 in the bank. baby step two, the debt snowball. list your debts smallest to largest, pay them off in that order. then you move on to baby step four. that's where you start saving 15% of your income into retirement and you don't do it until then. then baby step five, which is kids' college. six is pay off the house early. that leaves us with baby step seven, which is become very wealthy and give a bunch of a way. >> reporter: he put his commonsense theories into a book. he was selling it from his car when he went on a local radio show to promote it. when the host quit randy took over the show and had his bully pulpit. >> take that, sallie mae, take that, baby, i've out of here! >> reporter: after his bankruptcy, ramzi loathed debt. credit card debt in particular. >> it's called plastic surgery. >> reporter: what does that plastic represent? what does cutting up that plastic represent? are you going to cut something right now? >> sure. there's something metaphorical or symbolic about it. what does it represent? i've had people walk up to me and say, i can't cut this one up. we know we're getting ripped off. there's this hitting back thing with the big scissors. i get to say, enough already. citi bank, what's in your wallet? money! not you. boom! there's a sense of, i've got power again as a consumer. and i get to hit back. >> reporter: there are critics of dave ramzi who claim he's getting rich off of people in trouble. >> well, somehow i got to keep this place open. there's 300 people in here. they expect their checks to clear. >> reporter: that's another criticism, that people are paying for something that somewhere deep in the back of their minds they already know. >> well, absolutely. and they're more than welcome to listen on the radio for free. you could have sat down and listened to your grandmother, you wouldn't have needed to listen to dave ramzi. >> reporter: commonsense advice and plenty of faith. in himself, is american economy, and of course in god. over the course of this journey, how have you changed? >> i think when i first started i was so sure i was right but i didn't have the proof, i felt like i had to fight so hard and i was mean. and now i'm like, well, if you don't get it, it's okay, everybody else gets it, you're the only guy. and now it's up to you. it's as you will it. it's kind of weird because it's made me more confident and gentler. thank you, houston. you're awesome, we love you. thank you. >> reporter: this is vicki mabry in brentwood, tennessee. >> people really rise to this level of success without some sort of scandal following hip. for his it was a newspaper column. one of his employees was making up the names of people writing in for financial advice. the company that owned the newspaper ended up dropping the column. he apologized and offered to return back all the money. that sort of adds to the skepticism about what he's doing. >> he certainly hit on the right formula. religion and money. things that a appeal to so many of us. when we return, challenges for team usa and vancouver. >> the latest win are winter ol skiing, skating and hockey competitions resume today at the winter olympics games in vancouver. >> team usa remains in the lead with a total of 28 medals, one as of last night. the germans in second place, norway's in third. and with highlights from vancouver, here is abc's. >> reporter: in vancouver an unexpected medal for the women's short track relay team. in the 4,000 relay the south korean skater bumps the chinese. south korea wins the race but is disqualified and the u.s. women take the bronze, their first short track medal in 16 years. also on the short track, reigning 500 meter sprint gold medalist apolo anton ohno cruises to the quarterfinals. but look at this spill by teammate jordan malone. it's the second event he's been unable to finish in. american skier lindsey vonn will leave vancouver battered and bruised. the two-time medalist competing in the giant slalom when she loses control and skis off the course and slams into the barrier. teammate julia mancuso, who's already on the track, has to stop, then skis over to vonn who hurt a finger but will compete friday. the u.s. men's hockey team wins against switzerland in the quarterfinals. two american goals disallowed, including this one, as time runs out in the second period. zach parise of the devils gets america's first goal. with 12 seconds left to play, parise again with an empty netter. 2-0 the final. on the bobsled course, erin pac and elana meyers end up with a bronze medal. the fog's so thick you could barely see the women's freestyle aerials. 16-year-old american ashley caldwell enters the finals in first place but can't withstand the power of the chinese who take two medals. australia claims the gold. brad wheelis, abc news. >> there's some good news there. looks like they're starting to get some snow finally. >> we should show you there was fun in the streets of varch do you have late last night. the canadian hockey team beat rival russia. >> boy, russia, they've got to be mad. they're really not happy about how things are going in these olympics. >> no. >> look out. >> although i'm sure canada thought things would be going even better for them. you don't need a rematch-- but a re-think-- with lunesta. lunesta is different. it keys into receptors that support sleep, setting your sleep process in motion. lunesta helps you get the restful sleep you need. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving or engaging in other activities while asleep without remembering it the next day have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. allergic reactions such as tongue or throat swelling occur rarely and may be fatal. side effects may include unpleasant taste, headache, dizziness and morning drowsiness. stop fighting with your sleep. get a free 7-night trial on-line and ask your doctor about switching to lunesta. discover a restful lunesta night. about switching to lunesta. assistance getting around their homes. there is a medicare benefit that may qualify you for a new power chair or scooter at little to no cost to you. stay tuned for this important medicare benefit information and free scooter guarantee. imagine... one scooter or power chair that could improve your may entitle you to pay little to nothing to own it. one company that can make it all happen ... your power chair will be paid in full. the scooter store. why should you call the scooter store today? 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"world news now" delivers your "morning papers." >> time for your "morning papers." you have recently lost a lot of weight. >> yes, as we keep discussing. >> i like to bring it up at every possible juncture. here is a story and perhaps a reason why you should not lose any more. >> okay. >> this woman in st. peters duri burg, florida, she was in atlanta city. she's walking outside a nightclub and feels something. at first she thinks something had hit her. she looks down and sees blood and she realized she's been shot. she goes to the doctor and they say her love handles, this is a quote, her love handles, also known as fat, stopped the bullet before it did any serious damage. >> i'm glad they clarified what love handles are. >> in case you were curious. the woman had been saying, all this time i really want to drop an extra couple of pounds, now she says she will not be losing any weight. >> what a flattering picture too, gorgeous. just the opposite end of the physical spectrum now, we want to show you a kid who has washboard abs, which is great, especially i guess if you're 5 years old. giuliano stroh has just shamed other professional body builders by breaking the world record for air pushups. you can see what that means. basically you push your whole body up. >> wow, those are hard. >> you're telling me, look at that. he's got washboard abs, his dad's been taking him to the gym ever since he was born. of course a lot of critics are like, what is all this? he'll be get ac lot of girls at preschool, i'll bet. >> you'd think he'd have bigger arms. >> well, that will come later. >> oh, okay, sorry. >> let's get to the headlines. >> "the huffington post" did a story. these are the funniest headlines of all time. these are hilarious. let's start off because there's a decided theme in all of them. there's the first one. that was in the paper. sex offenders pitch tents. >> yep. yeah, they do. >> let's see the next one here. mississippi's literacy program shows improvement. unfortunately, the newspaper headline writers did not. >> not gad on that one. okay, let's move on to the next one. statistics show that teen pregnancy drops off significantly after age 25. >> all right, on we go to this one. hooker named lay person of the year. >> yes, her name was hooker. her last name was hooker. take a look at this one. royals to get a taste of angels -- we think that's supposed to be colon. angels -- we think that's supposed to be colon. >> his name is colon, to be yah! [horse whinny] [wood breaks] crack! help meeeee! somebody help her! c'mon deputy, let's go! hold on! yah! take my hand! what are you guys doing out here? dad was just helping me take care of katie. you know... runaway stage. well, dinner will be ready in a few minutes. imagine what a little time can do for your family. whale attack. a crowd watches in horror as a killer whale turns on its trainer at a popular amusement park. it's not the first time it's happened. plus, feeling the pinch. the price for some of your favorite produce is through the roof. >> $19 a case. now it's $39 a case. >> and, quick fix. remedies people are taking to detox their bodies. it's a booming business. it's thursday, february 25th. >> from abc news, this is "world news now." >> good morning, thanks for joining us. i'm jeremy hubbard. >> i'm vinita nair. it was a horrible scene at seaworld in orlando. an animal trainer was snatched from a poolside platform by a giant whale and drowned. >> it was the third time this particular whale has been involved in the death of a human. our orlando affiliate wftv has more on the story. >> reporter: those attending a noontime show at seaworld's famed shamu stadium left distraught and horrified after one of the whales attacked and killed one of the park's veteran trainers. according to seaworld, 40-year-old dawn brancheau, seen here in a 2005 photo hugging an orca, was petting the whale when she was grabbed by the waist, pulled into the water, and violently thrashed about. >> they just shut the show down right away. >> reporter: the killer whale, 30-year-old tilikum, or tilly, is known for his violent past. in 1991 at a canadian park, the six-ton bull was one of three orcas blamed for killing a trainer who lost her balance and fell into the pool with them. steve huckster, who was in charge of animal care and training there, said tilly was never expected to be a show animal. >> the incident in victoria where the young woman passed away in the tank. because of that incident there's always the odd chance, although very low, it might repeat itself. >> reporter: again in 1999, tilly was involved in another death. the body of a man who had sneaked past orlando seaworld security was found with bite marks, draped over the whale. animal experts say there is an inherent risk working with killer whales, who are known to be notorious predators. >> this is a situation which is going to happen again and again and again. there's a long history of these animals being aggressive, some of these animals being aggressive toward people. >> reporter: seaworld maintains because of tilikum's size and involvement in two previous deaths, trainers were not supposed to get into the water with him. abc news, orlando. >> dawn brancheau is being remembered as an avid animal lover and a leader in her field. family members say even as a child, brancheau recognized that whales were her calling in life. >> when you talked to her about the whales you thought you were talking to her about her children. she'd tell you who's acting up today, who's not behaving. she loved them to death. >> she says her sister would not want anything done to the whale in question and she understood the risks of her profession. the other big story this morning, the global head of toyota has personally and repeatedly apologized for the problems with his cars. akio toyoda, whose grandfather founded the company, appeared before angry lawmakers on capitol hill yesterday. t.j. winick