good morning, america. i'm dan harris. >> and i'm bianna golodryga. it's sunday, november 14th. this morning, in with a bang. parts of the midwest get walloped by the biggest pre-thanksgiving storm in 20 years. more than a foot of snow in some places. and the winter season is already off to a brutal start. freshmen orientation. more than 100 new members of congress arrive in washington. one of the biggest freshmen classes in years. and various forces and factions are now vying for their allegiance of these newcomers, including sarah palin. survival story. 3 men cling to their overturned boat for 18 hours in heavy seas. we'll tell you about their amazing rescue in the gulf of mexico. and surprise visit. britain's prince william makes a rare trip to afghanistan to visit the troops. he has long said he would like to serve there. but will he ever get the chance?

so, will you be tuning in to "sarah palin's alaska" tonight? >> i think i will. i think i will. >> it will be interesting to see how this affects her career long-term and in washington. and also the fact that there are two palins on reality tv shows. >> i know. i think you nailed the question, though. is this going to help her hurt her if she wants to run for president being a reality tv star? >> we will get into that. we do have a lot of other news, including new details on the missing family in ohio. worried friends and family are out searching again this morning for the mother, her two children and a family friend. but now, police are telling us more about just what they found in their home after they went missing. we have also have a story this morning about devil. catholic bishops say there is a shortage of exorcists in this country. so, they met this weekend to talk about how to manage the demand for an ancient practice. a practice that is sometimes ridiculed and is alive and well in this country.

and even more so overseas. we'll talk to the bishop in charge of this closed-door conference coming up. but we'll start with the weather. >> yeah, some devilish weather to tell you about, indeed. parts of the midwest are breaking out snow blowers this morning to dig out from one of the heaviest pre-thanksgiving snowstorms in years. in minnesota, the storm is being blamed for more than 400 traffic accidents and 2 deaths in wisconsin. j.c. monahan from our boston affiliate, wcvb, is here with morning. good morning, j.c. >> good morning, bianna. a look at the landscape has changed. you have to go back to 1991 to find a november storm that hit parts of the midwest this hard. this morning, across three states they're digging out from this unusually early winter blast. it was a prewinter wallop. the twin cities got the worst of it, with snow falling at an inch an hour, making road conditions miserable. >> it's pretty crazy. we've been seeing cars going sideways on the freeway, cars sliding through stop signs. >> i've lived in minnesota long

enough. i should be able to do this, right? >> reporter: the heavy, wet snow made for heavy lifting and caused more than 100,000 customers to be without power in parts of minnesota and wisconsin. the storm also dumped up to 14 inches in northern iowa. and parts of the texas panhandle were pummeled with snow. >> it's cool and wet. >> reporter: all this, after a record-setting 68 degrees in parts of the midwest on wednesday. >> is it actually november right now? >> reporter: some hearty midwesterners made the most of it. >> i love it. this is wonderful. why would we move? >> reporter: even turning a fall wedding -- >> i'm going to get married whether it's snowing or not. >> reporter: -- into snow-filled fun. >> a little change of plans. probably make a snowball fight picture or something to make the best of it. >> that can add some great photos for your wedding. and as you see, the storm is pulling away. so thankfully, we're only dealing with a dusting to another inch or two to those states. on a sunday, the kids can get out and play.

but it certainly has changed the way things look this weekend, after a very mild autumn. coming up in the next half hour we'll take a look across the country. dan? >> thanks, j.c. politics now. the welcome wagon is out in washington this morning after a long, hard campaign season. the freshmen congressional class of 2010 is getting a crash course in how to operate on capitol hill this weekend. our david kerley is in washington with more on what these newbies can expect. david, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, dan. it's going to be crowded around here. the lame ducks are coming back, and some of their replacements, as well. as you said, the newbies. and today is orientation day. but many tea party groups did not wait till today to start orienting their members. there have actually been dueling meetings to keep the congressmen and congresswomen-elect in line. in fact, this one in baltimore was by freedom works on thursday and friday. the tea patriots -- tea party patriots held a meeting elsewhere. and reportedly were angry that a conservative thinktank scheduled a meeting at the same time. they're all basically meeting trying to keep these members in

line. saying, stay true to what you campaigned on. and turn your energy into action. dan? >> a lot of efforts to influence these incoming congressmen and women. this is a big and very diverse class. can you give us a sense of how big and how diverse? >> reporter: i'm telling you, dan, it's huge. just look at the republicans in the house. there are 85 members and more than half have never served in elected office. here's a look at who they are. nearly half of them, as i mentioned never in government. among them, six doctors, three car dealers, two funeral directors, an airline pilot, a pizza restaurant owner. seven of them are women. two are african-americans. 85 as of this morning, dan. they could actually swell a little bit because there's still some races that haven't been decided. >> we are in for some interesting times in washington. david kerley, thank you for your reporting this morning. and one of the people trying to influence these newcomers is sarah palin, as we mentioned. she's written an open letter to the freshmen republicans. in it she says, stick to your principles, the principles that propelled your campaign. this comes on the same weekend

on which palin is launching a whole new phase of her career. and linsey davis is here with more on that. the budding reality star. >> reporter: yes. good morning, dan. in that same letter she warned them to be cautious of the media, especially when they're being supportive of you. it means you may have strayed from your principles. but this weekend, she's launching a whole, new media career of her own. >> god bless you. and god bless alaska. >> reporter: the new republican kingmaker is now learning a few moves from her oldest daughter. ♪ i like when we're physical >> reporter: the former vice presidential candidate is about to star in her own reality tv show, "sarah palin's alaska." >> i'd rather be doing this than in some stuffy old political office. >> reporter: even though her name didn't appear on any midterm election ballots, a frenzy surrounded sarah palin and the success of the candidates she endorsed. out of the 55 house and senate candidates she lent her star power, 37 won. that's almost a 70% win rate. that success renewed speculation

that palin would run for president in 2012. some see her new reality show as more of an eight-part series campaign ad. >> i think she believes that as long as her fame is increasing, that can be translated and poured into a political campaign. >> reporter: stephen mansfield wrote the book, "the faith and values of sarah palin." he thinks the show isn't consistent with the image she wants to present. >> i think that it's actually going to give her more to overcome than it is going to help her. what i see of the show she's not looking very presidential. she's running around in shorts. and she's chopping up fish. >> reporter: this is a different kind of spotlight than what she recently cast on dozens of candidates. >> this is the most dangerous move we've done so far. >> yeah, it is. >> reporter: certainly more jon and kate than john and sarah. and there's some potential for upside here. the series could further boost her profile for a presidential run in 2012. or it could catapult her into a full-time media career.

of course, she's going to be cashing in on this. the question is, will it cost her some political capital? we'll have to wait and see. >> that's interesting what your interviewee in that piece said, about whether it'll make her look unpresidential. >> right. he didn't feel she should be in shorts. he felt she should be more of a statesman. and travel internationally. but we'll see. could work for her. >> linsey davis, thank you. >> we shall see. linsey, thank you. joining us from washington is "this week" host christiane amanpour. christiane, as we heard from david, this new class of congress has a huge tea party presence. how much clout will that give sarah palin over the next two years? >> well, i think a lot of clout. and i think that people and pundits are going to be obsessing about this until she declares or not for the presidency. but whatever, she will have an influence. you've just put up the numbers and the percentages of the people that she backed and how many of them were elected. she's just written, as you mentioned, this long letter welcoming the freshmen to washington. and a very wide letter in terms of advice, not that deep.

but touching on just about every aspect of domestic and, indeed, foreign policy, as well. so, she is definitely a player, and she remains that. and she is a power broker, certainly at the moment. and people are going to be watching her minutely for the next several years. >> we will be watching her. but i also want to turn to overseas news, as well, this morning. president karzai, afghan president, had an interview with "the washington post" this morning, where he's calling on the u.s. to lighten the troop presence there. and, christiane, doesn't that put him at direct odds with general petraeus who actually said the troop increase has helped fight back the insurgence there? >> you know, bianna, the bulk and substance of what he said is not that different to what he told me and what he's told others over the last few months. he does not like the aerial raids at night. he doesn't like the raids into the afghan homes. he sees that they cause consternation and destabilization amongst the population. in a way, of course, it puts him at odds with general petraeus and the nato military because they are saying that their increased attacks by night and

by air. and they have spiked over the last several weeks and months, are vital to get the taliban on the back foot. and then to try to get some kind of negotiating process and some kind of peace process. karzai, what he wants and what he said before is that he wants a gradual withdrawal of american troops. not out of afghanistan, but back into their bases in order to not provoke the population as much. and this has been an ongoing source of friction. but he also said that he wants a good relationship with the united states. he does want the troops there. but in a way that's not so destabilizing and provocative for the individual afghans. and he said he has a good relationship with general petraeus, as he did with general mcchrystal beforehand. >> all right, christiane. we have to leave it there. but, of course, we know you'll have much more on this story and politics. plus, a "this week" exclusive with former secretary of state madeleine albright and senator lindsey graham, debating both president obama's foreign policy agenda coming up later this morning. dan? in ohio this morning, still no sign of a mother, her two children and a family friend who simply vanished on wednesday.

now, neighbors are joining the investigation. and the police are focusing on an unusual amount of blood that they say was found in the family's home. our mike marusarz is here with the latest. mike, good morning. >> reporter: dan, good morning to you. investigators now believe that unusual amount of blood is evidence that someone was injured in connection with the disappearance. an intense hunt is under way outside columbus, ohio. family, friends and even strangers searching for tina hermann, her two children, 13-year-old sarah and 10-year-old kody, along with family friend, stephanie sprang. stephanie's father shared a message for his daughter with "good morning america." >> steph, if you can hear me out there and feel my thoughts, know this, we love you. and we need you. we will find you. >> reporter: a plane, fitted with infrared cameras, focused on a private lake about a half-mile from tina hermann's home.

but so far, the search has been unsuccessful. the only real clue in the case appears to be that unusual amount of blood discovered in the house. the fbi is monitoring tina hermann's phone records and bank accounts. but there has been no signs of any activity since her disappearance. >> i think something bad happened. >> reporter: police questioned tina's live-in boyfriend, greg borders. he said the two dated for six years but recently split up. their home is heading into foreclosure. he says he slept at a friend's house wednesday, unaware anyone was missing. >> the police really need to focus on that friend and the area around where that friend lives if, in fact, that friend exists. >> investigators are also examining tina's empty truck found near an area college campus on thursday. police hope someone spotted the person who left it there. dan? bianna? >> all right, mike. thank you for that this morning. want to turn to ron

claiborne with the other headlines. good to see you. >> hey, good morning, bianna. good morning, dan. mike, good morning, everyone. well, president obama is headed back home following a ten-day trip to asia that focused on free trade. it was his longest trip abroad since taking office. in japan, he visited the great buddha statue. and mr. obama told russia's president, dmitry medvedev, that he would press the lame duck congress to ratify the s.t.a.r.t. weapons nuclear treaty. aung san suu kyi says she will keep fighting for human rights. after being released from seven years of house arrest yesterday, she told cheering supporters, quote, the basis of democratic freedom is freedom of speech and would continue calling on the west to repeal economic sanctions that hurt ordinary people in her country. the auction of bernie madoff's property brought in some big bucks. the personal belongings of the convicted swindler included his slippers, which sold for, if you can imagine this, $6,000. i don't know about that. a grand piano went for 42,000 bucks. and his wife, ruth's, diamond engagement ring fetched $550,000. proceeds from the auction go toward compensating madoff's victims.

and have you ever set a new lego record in chile? inside joke, folks. well, some children in chile built a tower from the interlocking, plastic bricks. it was 101 feet, 8 inches tall. it beat the old record by only eight inches. it took them three days to set up the record-setting tower. and finally, three stranded fishermen were rescued off the gulf coast of florida. the three friends ran into trouble on friday when their boat capsized in rough seas. they clung to the hull of the boat for 18 hours until a coast guard plane finally spotted them. the men suffered from dehydration, bumps and bruises but were otherwise okay. after being reunited with their family members, they said they plan to go back out fishing again. >> did they tell their wives that? >> they did. and one said, i want a divorce. that's the sequel. >> apparently some nasty jellyfish out there, too. >> yeah, they were stinging them to the point they couldn't even

feel them, they were in the water so long. >> they want to go back. >> they want to go back. >> i admire their persistence. let's go to j.c. monahan from our boston affiliate, wcvb. good morning, j.c., again. >> good morning, guys. listen, the east coast is still in with fantastic weather. the temperatures at or above average. although slightly cooler than what you had yesterday. enjoy the nice weather because there is some rain going through texas and over to louisiana and alabama. and that rain, which could bring 1 to 3 inches, is going to move up the east coast later this week. so, that brings changes there. for those of you in the northern rockies, the snow is falling a couple of inches, at least. some places as much as half foot. great news for the start of ski season.

your sunday outlook in the next half hour. bianna? >> all right, j.c. thank you. well, british troops in afghanistan had a surprise visitor today. prince william showed up, along with the british defense secretary, to take part in remembrance sunday commemorations. lama hasan is in london for the story. good morning, lama. >> reporter: good morning, bianna. that's absolutely right. just a couple of hours ago, prince william was in afghanistan spending time with the troops there. and he may have only spent a short time on the ground. but it is a trip that is being described as a huge boost for the troops. prince william touched down in afghanistan this morning, visiting british troops and u.s. marines. >> good morning, sir. >> how are you doing? >> how are you doing? >> reporter: he paid tribute to all the servicemen and women fighting on the front lines.

♪ >> reporter: and on this day of remembrance, honoring those killed in war zones and past conflicts, including two of his colleagues. a soldier, sailor and an airman, william is a qualified military helicopter pilot, known in the royal air force as flying officer wales. only last month, william said that he wants to follow in the footsteps of his brother, harry, and one day serve in afghanistan. >> and i still have hope and faith and real determination to go out there. ♪ >> reporter: but for the second in line to the throne, he might not get the chance to do that because it is simply too dangerous. remember when harry was with his unit fighting for his country in helmand province a couple of years ago? coming under daily attacks from the taliban. his deployment was cut short when word got out. harry still hopes he'll return

again soon. but for prince william, there may be other, pressing obligations, such as a wedding announcement to his long-term girlfriend, kate middleton. and that's certainly the question. when will prince william propose to his girlfriend, kate middleton? don't forget that they've been dating for eight year. eight very long years. dan? bianna? >> and we have been following their love life, as well. i love that it's been called obligations, when you're talking about marriage. >> well, eight years. that's longer than i've actually been married. >> it is long. that's true. >> that's common-law marriage in some countries. >> that's right. well, we want to continue with our british theme this morning. here in new york this weekend, are you going? the fourth annual quidditch world cup, dan. >> if you're not a harry potter fan, you have no idea what bianna just said. quidditch, a big part of harry potter, makes no sense to many of us. however, we sent t.j. winick there to cover the event.

he explains it all. >> hello. welcome to hogwarts, first quidditch game of the season. >> reporter: once reserved for the wizards of the harry potter series, even us muggles can now play quidditch. that's muggles, as in humans, and quidditch, a team sport sweeping across college campuses big and small. >> i think the game really allows people to return to this state of childlike joy that's just very rare in today's world. >> reporter: this weekend here in new york city, almost four dozen colleges, even some high schools, are competing in the fourth annual quidditch world cup. >> we all love harry potter. and we all feel like it's our home. >> reporter: i decided to channel my inner wizard to try and understand this competition of brains and brawn, which is part basketball, part rugby. >> each team has seven players, three chasers, two beaters, one keeper and the seeker. >> reporter: then, there's the snitch who is chased by the seeker. and in harry potter's world, the snitch is a flying golden orb. >> the ball is gold, with wings in the book.

yellow is the color of choice. >> reporter: capes are optional on the quidditch field. but brooms are mandatory. and while they may not fly, players have three models to choose from. this beauty retails for 79 bucks. >> this is one we call the sienna storm. this would be the top of the line. >> reporter: this is like the rolls-royce of brooms. >> yeah. >> reporter: after a day of watching this muggle mayhem, i still wasn't sure about those darned rules. i'm still very confused. >> i don't blame you. >> reporter: proving maybe this is a game best left to wizards. >> gryffindor wins! >> reporter: too tiring for us mere mortals. for "good morning america," t.j. winick, abc news, new york. >> do you think given that the olympics will be in london now that's going to become an olympic sport? >> i highly doubt it. olympic capes. >> that's right. coming up, the catholic church holding an exorcism conference this weekend. why now? we'll talk to a catholic bishop about what he says are the signs of demonic possession. and what's next for twitter? now that it's booming with more than 170 million people tweeting, i'll ask the founders of the innovative information network about the future. we had a mouse.

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coming up, exorcisms. coming up, exorcisms. we've seen exorcisms performed in the movies. but they are actually a real ritual. and there is a meeting this weekend, convened by catholic bishops in this country, to talk

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♪ this beautiful place is lassen volcanic national park. it's in northern california. every mountain in the park is a volcano or part of an old volcano. they call it a volcanic wonderland. we're going to take you there in our "weekend window," coming up a little bit later. good morning, america. i'm dan harris. and that's bianna golodryga, tweeting. >> i'm tweeting away. we're going to talk to you about twitter, as well. millions of people are doing it. i had a chance to talk to a couple of guys responsible for one of the biggest innovative companies in the world right now. we talk about their incredible success and where they see social media going in the future. but first, this morning, it is a rare ritual in the catholic church, about to be revived here in the united states perhaps. a group of bishops have been holding a closed-door conference

this weekend on an often ridiculed topic, exorcism. >> the power of christ -- >> reporter: it is a ritual made famous in the movies. from "the exorcist" in 1973. >> the power of christ compels you. >> reporter: to "the last exorcism" released just this year. >> hold me. >> let him come now. >> reporter: for thousands of years, religious leaders from various denominations have used this ancient ritual to drive out the devil from those who are possessed. in the bible, there are references to jesus himself casting demons out of people. in modern-day america, exorcisms have dropped off dramatically. but overseas, they are carried out much more frequently, and sometimes by people who are frauds or worse. last year, i traveled to the congo in africa where i saw christian pastors performing cruel, abusive exorcisms on young children accused of being witches. isn't what you're doing here child abuse as a way to just make money for yourself?

it's a moneymaking scheme that involves ruining the lives of kids. you think that's funny? the vatican revised its guidelines ten years ago for exactly how priests should perform exorcisms. officials say real exorcisms are rare, carried out only as a last resort and only under strict guidelines. and joining me now from baltimore, the site of the exorcism conference, is the organizer, bishop thomas paprocki, who is from springfield, illinois. bishop, good morning to you. and thank you very much for coming on. >> good morning, dan. you're welcome. >> so, i guess my first question is why now? why hold this conference now? is there an increased demand in this country for exorcisms? >> well, contrary to some reports, this is not an emergency conference. there's no upsurge in people being possessed by devils. and so, there are only a small number of priests who have the training or expertise to handle these kind of cases. and they've been receiving

inquiries from all over the country. so, the real hope here and the purpose is to provide some training so that really every diocese could have its own resources to handle such inquiries. >> so, what do you believe are the signs that somebody is possessed? >> speaking a language that they've never studied before, that they're showing great signs of strength. the person has some knowledge of hidden things, that they're telling you things about yourself or about the future that nobody else could possibly know. and, well, we call it an aversion to things that are holy. so, saying prayers over them or sprinkling them with holy water and getting a very violent reaction. those would be some of the signs. >> how common is this? and have you ever seen it personally? >> well, no. it's not very common. the bible tells us that devils are basically fallen angels, you know, that are created by god. and like human beings, they have a free choice. and the devil and his followers, whom we call demons, they chose

to go against god. and we also believe that jesus gave the power to the church to fight against devils and demons, and so, the reality is that possession is really a very rare thing. it's not contagious. it's not like people have to worry like somehow i'll get possessed by a devil. >> i'm very curious to know whether you've ever participated in one of these rituals. and if they bear any relationship in reality to the way the rituals are portrayed in movies. >> i've been involved more in the administrative end of it but attending this conference and talking to priests who have performed exorcism, the descriptions are accurate that i've seen in many books. however, there is a tendency sometimes with the movies that come out of hollywood to really sensationalize this and to portray things not very accurately. >> so, what is the reality like in a bona fide catholic exorcism? what takes place? >> it follows a ritual. it's done in latin.

he wears a purple stole. he prays over people. he uses holy water. >> bishop, you've acknowledged this before. but there are many christians, including many catholics, who believe that demonic possession is not a reality. that, in fact, any discussion of demonic possession in the bible is either a metaphor or a misunderstanding of mental illness. how do you respond to that? >> there's something more going on there than mental illness. and that's part of the real challenge here in terms of this training. it's not so much that we're training priests how to do an exorcism. that's really not that difficult to do. just to simply pray the ritual. what is difficult is discernment. and so, we have many people who may come forward thinking they're possessed or being brought in by a relative. and we have to discern because we have to see is this mental illness? or is this something else going on here? >> bishop paprocki, it was incredibly interesting to speak to you. and i want to thank you for coming on and talking to us on this sunday morning. >> you're welcome, dan. god bless you.

>> as i said, incredibly interesting. let's check the morning's headlines, now, with ron claiborne. >> good morning again, everyone. in the news, almost a foot of snow fell in parts of the upper midwest. the prewinter storm caused power outages. and there were hundreds of traffic accidents. it is also being blamed for at least two deaths. well, it turns out the vote was close for voters in arizona where they approved the use of medical marijuana. proposition 203 in arizona won by a tiny margin in the november 2nd vote, making arizona the 15th state in the u.s. with a medical marijuana law. in boston, manny pacquiao won against antonio margarito, to win their 150-pound boxing showdown. he happens to be a congressman in his native philippines. he is the first boxer to win titles in eight different weight classes. a soldier surprised his family in south carolina by returning early from afghanistan. specialist byron rounds was reunited with his wife and three daughters. and told them he does not expect to -- does not expect to be sent back to combat. now, it's time for weather.

and j.c. monahan from our boston affiliate wcvb. j.c.? >> we're heading back to the midwest. and want to show you some totals from the storm that came through this weekend. we're in double-digits. emmetsburg, iowa, you get the jackpot. 14 inches of snow. then, we have record snow in minneapolis. 7.7 inches. greatest snow total for the month of november. while it's not strengthening it is pulling away. still that cold breeze on the back side. so, if you are headed out to shovel, temperatures will only be in the upper 30s. and you add a breeze with gusts up to 20 miles an hour, certainly will feel colder like it's in the 20s. so, bundle up for shoveling or if the kids want to head out to play. it's so tempting. how could you not? across the country, we don't have any extreme heat or extreme cold. coldest is up in the midwest over to the rockies. we have slightly cooler conditions on the west coast. and slightly cooler but still above average along the east coast.

this weather report has been brought to you by purina. bianna and dan? >> j.c., thank you. coming up on "good morning america." i tweet. you tweet. ron doesn't tweet, quite yet. but i did talk to the founders of the incredibly popular social media network. he did tell me he has gone hiking in this place that you're looking at right here. this volcanic wonderland in california. we'll take you to a national park that visitors, including ron, say is just like yellow john stone but without the crowds. acon, crispy bacon, tasty bacon! where is it? where is the bacon? tv newscaster: bacon popular, "story at 11. dog: yummy. crunchy. bacon. bacon. bacon. there, in that bag! mom: who wants a beggin' strip!? dog: me! i'd get it myself but i don't have thumbs!

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so, the question of the morning, do you tweet? dan and i both tweet. a lot of people here at abc tweet. ron doesn't, but others do. and more than 90 million tweets or twitter messages go out every day. that's pretty impressive traffic for a website that's only been around for four years. recently, i got a chance to talk to twitter's founders about the company's amazing growth and where it goes from here. celebrities do it. so do politicians. >> it's an honor to be here.

thank you. >> reporter: every day, an additional 370,000 people do it, too. they tweet. four years ago, the world was blissfully twitter-free. today, more than 170 million people launch their every thought, from trivial, to world-changing, into the twitter ether. does it just blow your mind to know that people are walking around and any number of them could be actually tweeting right now, as we speak? >> could be tweeting right there. >> reporter: right. >> is your mind blown? >> reporter: for twitter founders, ev williams and biz stone, it was a simple idea. let people share with everyone. but force them to do so in short, succinct bursts of no more than 140 characters. despite its rather meteoric rise, critics constantly ask the question, what's the point? >> people say twitter is -- it won't succeed because it's not useful. it doesn't -- it's pointless,

doesn't serve any purpose. and i commented on a blog, ice cream is not useful either. that's not -- that's not a requirement for something being successful or worthwhile. >> reporter: and it really evolved into more than that in such a short period of time. 2008 it became a key source in the election and a platform for not only voters to use, but also the candidates to use themselves. barack obama, john mccain. >> the elections were definitely one of the big, driving events in 2008. and when we found out barack obama's account was real, that was like, wow. >> yeah, that was a big deal. >> that was a very exciting day. >> reporter: last summer in iran, as protesters rioted against the government, twitter became their lifeline to the rest of the world. one of their few means of communication. >> we started seeing emergency relief services use it as a way of conveying information. >> reporter: now, most everyone know what is twitter is. and the company continues to evolve. they're partnering with itunes to allow users to share music with others.

and they hope to push the boundaries of just what social networking can do. where do you see social networking and technology evolving over the next 10, 20 years? what's the next big thing? >> do you know? >> yeah. i mean i think a lot of it has to do with mobile. you know, there are 5 billion mobile phones on this planet active. there's 1.8 billion web accounts. >> reporter: an endless market of opportunity allowing people to one day have a doctor's appointment, buy groceries, furniture, even a car all from the palm of their hand. >> so, for instance, when you're talk walking down the street and walk by a building a little message will pop up and say your friend had a pastrami sandwich there. and it wasn't so great. so, stay away from the pastrami. >> the phone obviously enables you to incorporate into your life when you're not at your computer. and that means we are just scratching the surface with all of this stuff. we can't really predict what it's going to be. but i think it's pretty exciting. >> and what's interesting is that mobile technology has,

basically, been the talk in silicon valley for years now about how it's going to evolve and expand. and it's happening realtime now. >> i guess my question is watching you interview these gentlemen, is their company making any money? >> they just started to make money. they've become profitable. that's the monetization problem has been an issue for them. it was for facebook, as well. but starting to sell ads. and obviously there is a huge number of people out there who these ads can attract. >> does your husband use twitter? >> he has an account. he hasn't tweeted yet. >> have you ever gotten in trouble for tweeting? sometimes my wife looks at me and says, really, you're doing that? >> what can i say in 140 characters? it's very limiting. >> you have to do a lot of editing. i tweeted, by the way, during that story. >> you weren't watching it? >> i was kind of doing -- i'm in trouble. >> multitasking. >> we're going to take a quick break before i get yelled at. coming up, we're going to show you the geologic wonders of lassen -- am i saying that right? lassen national park in california. keep it here. [ female announcer ] imagine skin so healthy, it never gets dry again.

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up in the northeastern corner of california, there is a national park that's home to volcanos, boiling mud pots and steaming sulfur vents. >> boiling mud pots? what is that? >> i'll show you. i went visiting there a few years ago. pretty wild thing to see. but it's really actually quite beautiful. i'll take you there on a trip. >> all right. >> it's called lassen national park. and, bianna, once again, it's in high-definition. ♪

>> i work in a volcanic wonderland. every mountain in the park is a volcano or part of an old volcano. it's the jewel of this park system. lassen is a plugged dome volcano. it's 27,000 years old. >> this place is special because of its beauty and also its geological wonders. and the lakes that are nestled within these mountains tend to take your breath away. i love the cascades. you cannot only hear it. but you inhale that scent of

that fresh, clean cascade water. >> the real story here for lassen is below the surface. the hot, molten magma that's deep within the earth, miles below us here that forms the lassen volcanic center. it started erupting in 1914. and the first year was steam eruptions. it was kind of clearing its throat. it was just kind of opening up the crater. and then, created this spectacular eruption. this is the largest hydrothermal area west of yellowstone national park. it's got the hottest fumarole, which is a steam vent, in the world outside an erupting volcano. lots of pressure coming from deep within the earth. they have the boiling springs. and then, they have mud pots.

>> we're visiting all the national parks. and by far, this is one of the most unexpected, hidden gems that we've run into. >> it's incredibly beautiful. it's like a small yellowstone only without the crowds. ♪ straightening and bleaching

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we're trying to keep j.c. here in new york. not sending her back to boston. >> you guys are crazy. >> no. >> you haven't seen nothing yet. >> referring to what we say usually off the air. >> off camera. >> great to have you, j.c. thank you for coming in. >> always great to see you. >> stay tuned to abc news throughout the day, guys. see you later. >> have a good week. save $523! 16 minutes could save you 16%!

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