making news this morning -- cruise ship crisis. >> as divers search for the missing, there's a new threat. could half a million gallons of fuel begin to leak? all this as the captain heads to court today and americans on board that ship begin arriving home. and the battle for south carolina. a tense debate with the remaining five candidates. and a surprising admission from mitt romney. and new signs this morning that americans are over the kardashians. and welcome to "america this morning." i'm paula faris.

>> and i'm dan kloeffler in for rob nelson on this tuesday morning. rescue crews have returned to that crippled cruise ship in italy. to search for more than two . dozen people still missing. among those, a retired couple from minnesota. >> as american passengers are making their way home, we're getting a better picture of the chaos that unfolded on that day. we begin with the search. abc's lama hasan is currently on a ferry en route to the accident sight. >> reporter: good morning paula and dan. today, so far, we have clear, sunny skies. we heard that the forecast could turn today, which would hamper the search and recovery operation. which is back on today. as you rightly said. it was suspended yesterday for a short while because of bad weather, rough seas. which caused the ship to move 1.5 centimeters. it was too dangerous for the rescue crews to operate under those conditions. it resumed later in the day.

we're expecting the weather to turn today. that's the weather forecast that we were getting. a firefighter yesterday told us that they -- it was like a labyrinth. in the wreckage. it was very difficult for rescuers to navigate their way around the ship. he described it as -- all the floors had turned to walls. it was like walking on walls. especially underwater. that's been very difficult for them just to navigate under the water. >> have they said how long the search could take? >> reporter: as i said, the firefighter we spoke with, he told us that the search and recovery operation would continue for as long as possible, as long as they can find all of those unaccounted for at this point. that number stands at 29 missing. it went up late last night because authorities discovered that those who were previously

accounted for and were thought to be safe had not contacted their families. that's 29, 25 passengers and 4 crew members. >> the captain is in court today and could face a lot of charges. anything new to the reports that the captain swerved the ship to wave to some friends on the i land? >> reporter: the cruise company said the captain made an unauthorized change to the ship's route. sailing very close to the shore. that's when it collided with the rock. there are several theories about why he did that. one, it could have been a favor to the headwaiter on board, who comes from the island of giglio. in a facebook post by the waiter's sister, before the collision, she posted that the vessel was going to pass very close to the island. that's one theory. another one was that the captain himself wanted to sail very close to the shore to wave to an old friend who was on the island. there are a couple of theories that the judge will look at today.

as you rightly said, he is being questioned. the judge has to decide whether or not there is enough evidence to keep him in jail. dan and paula? >> lama hasan, live in italy. thank you. from pennsylvania to georgia, kentucky to california, americans who escaped that ship are returning to hometowns they thought they would never see again. >> so many harrowing stories. the survivors are being interviewed by our stations across the country. >> i'm so glad to be back in the united states. the boat was tilting on the side that we were in. there were people that jumped off the lifeboats to swim ashore. they were afraid that the boat was going to come on top of them. >> we were sitting. it was like a big, round, formal dinner table. we heard a bang. dishes started shattering. our table slid. everyone started to run. we literally ran up and grabbed a ledge. and people were grabbing our arms and legs to try to not

slide down. >> he was helping people out of the live boat. you could not see any costa crew members. nobody. there was nobody to be found. everybody was running for their own safety. >> if the evacuation procedure worked properly, i don't believe that six people would be dead now. later on, abc news investigates the captain, what may have caused him to put the ship on a path to disaster. switching gears to politics now. mitt romney with a nearly 2-1 lead over ron paul and newt gingrich. who are far behind in second and third places respectively. 57% of respondents say he has the best chance to beat president obama. come november, giving him a major advantage among his republican opponents. despite the strong poll numbers, mitt romney had a

rather lackluster effort in last night's debate. he came under heavy attack from rick santorum and newt gingrich. our experts say he stumbled a bit when talking about the super pacs. otherwise known as political action committees. >> this is what we have complained about. with governor romney's super pac, every which he apparently has no influence. which makes you wonder how much influence he would have if he were president. >> i already said at our last debate, that anything that is false in pac ads, whether supportive of me or you should be taken off the air and fixed. i have already said that. i can't call them and direct them to do that, as you know, because that would violate federal law, is that correct? >> absolutely. >> all righty then. and the millionaire businessman gave an evasive-sounding answer about releasing his personal tax returns. >> i looked what has been done in campaigns in the past with senator mccain and president

george w. bush. and others. they have tended to release tax records in april or tax season. i had not planned to release tax records, because the law requires us to release all of our assets, everything we own. meanwhile, funny man stephet colbert just released this ad saying that they should vote for me herman cain for president. >> comedic relief. a day of celebrations and observations marking martin luther king's before ended with a musical performance at the kennedy center. on the program, vocalist bobby mcferrin. and the let freedom ring celebration choir features the georgetown university students. finally, fuel is flowing from a russian tanker to nome, alaska, this morning. crews opened the spigot just

before sundown yesterday, capping an epic journey of 5,000 miles, hundreds of them through so a special shipment was brought in to make sure that the city gets through what has been alaska's worst winter in decades. if anybody thinks they're cold, look at that. >> very true. of course, speaking of weather, time to get the weather across the nation. new york city, d.c., seeing rain most of the day. boston starts with a wintry mix that switches over to rain. by the afternoon. there will be thunderstorms, strong winds, possibly hail in atlanta and new orleans. heavy snow in the pacific northwest. >> the coldest weather of the season pours into the upper midwest. temperatures up to 15 degrees colder than usual. cooler than usual in l.a., at 59. dallas goes from 75 yesterday to 55. honolulu and miami are near 80. don't even go there. >> we won't think about the fact that we're not there at this point. coming up, a giant fast food burger chain trying something new. delivery.

plus, the major website taking a day off? tomorrow it will go black. and a mystery at this movie theater. how did a body go undiscovered for days? or

well, the cruise ship accident comes at a terrible time for the cruise ship industry. this is the peak booking season for cruises. and the "costa concordia" disaster will discourage a whole

lot of potential passengers. analysts were already forecasting cheaper fare this is year because of the soft economy and europe's potential problems. overseas markets, they are up on a better than expected economic report from china. it's indicating europe's problems are not dragging down the global economy. tokyo's nikkei average rose 88 points today. hong kong's hang seng soared 616 points. that's more than 3% for that market. the ftse opened higher. u.s. markets, of course, closed yesterday. last week, the dow gained 62 points. the nasdaq up 36 points. well, wikipedia is going offline tomorrow. the english language version is not going to be available. for 24 hours. it's a protest over anti-online piracy bills that congress is considering. wikipedia says that the bill would make internet censorship easier. supporters of the bill say that it would crack down on online

piracy. if you're a zappos customer, you might want to change your pass word. won of their servers was hacked. no payment information was exposed, but a whole lot of other personal data for its 24 million customers was. like e-mail addresses. if you use the same pass word for other sites like a lot of us do, you might want to change the pass words. a fast food chain is testing home delivery for its food. the first burger kijs to offer the service are in washington. if it works, they may expand it. there will be a $2 delivery free. you cannot get breakfast and drinks. but you can get fries with that. >> that $2 fee, when you get whoerps that are 2 for $4, it kind of makes up for it. >> if you don't want to get out in the weather, it's worth it. >> i like it. my kind of food. next, we'll update the tuesday forecast. major winter storm for one corner of the country. if you're thinking about taking a cruise, what you need to know about safety.

and the country's number one college hoops team in action, highlights are all coming up. [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus presents: the cold truth. i have a cold. and i took nyquil but i'm still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] sorry, buddy. truth is, nyquil doesn't un-stuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have a decongestant. really? [ male announcer ] you need a more complete cold formula, like alka-seltzer plus liquid gels. it's specially formulated to fight your worst cold symptoms, plus relieve your stuffy nose. [ deep breath ] thank you! [ male announcer ] you're welcome. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] and to fight your allergy symptoms fast, try new alka-seltzer plus allergy. [ male announcer ] and to fight your allergy symptoms fast, when it comes to toilet paper, there's no such thing as too soft. i know what i like. i like feeling both clean and pampered. why should i compromise? quilted northern ultra plush®, now with the innerlux layer. for a comfortable, confident clean, or your money back.

in the pacific northwest, seattle and portland are bracing for one of the biggest snowstorms in decades. drivers in portland were already challenged, as the first flakes started falling yesterday. seattle could see a foot by wednesday morning. they usually get five inches the entire winter. >> and all this that one swoop. and speaking of the road conditions, i-5 in northern california will be slick. rainy from new york city to savannah. and on i-10 from baton rouge to mobile. airport delays possible in boston, chicago, new orleans, washington, d.c., atlanta, detroit, new york city, philadelphia. a whole lot of delays.

so basically, if you're traveling, check in. >> yeah. good advice. it's the story that has so many of us talking. we're taking a look at live pictures of the stricken cruise ship off the italian coastline. >> there are reports that a seventh body was pulled from the water this morning. at least 29 people are still missing. two of them from minnesota. abc's lisa stark has more. >> reporter: if you board a cruise ship, expect that every crew member from the cabin boy to the bar tender has run through drills like this one. each has been assigned a role in the event of an evacuation. but nothing happens until the captain gives the order. in the case ofyed.w he delayed. >> please proceed to your safety area. >> reporter: as a passenger, the law requires that the shoe shows you how to evacuate by holding a drill within 24 hours of your boarding. most ships leaving u.s. ports drill before setting sail. on the italian ship, the drill was scheduled for the next day. on board, there are life jackets and lifeboats for everyone.

it should all work smoothly. all of this assumes nearly eye deal conditions. >> the current requirements for ship certification for evacuation assumes that the ship is in an upright position in dead calm conditions. >> reporter: in italy, it was hard lie ideal. passengers reported climbing over passengers to get to the lifeboats. disasters at sea are rare, but they do happen. from waves crashing on board. fires, or in this case, this ship sank. everyone got off the ship first. experts say, be prepared. >> be familiar with the ship. know where your assembly station is. take the drill seriously. stateside, police in montana and north dakota are pleading for the help of the public to find the body of a missing teacher. they believe sherry arnold is dead. her body has not been found. the 43-year-old teacher

disappeared on january 7th while jogging in her hometown of sidney, montana. two men with felony records are in custody in regards to her disappearance. police are revealing very few other details about them. a bizarre case of a colorado man missing for five days. george digragio's body was found in the locked bathroom of a movie theater. he apparently died of a heart attack. but workers hadn't cleaned the bathroom during that time and finally discovered him after smelling a strong odor five days later. five employees were put on administrative leave. time for sports. an exciting night in college basketball. we get the highlights from espn news. good morning, my name is todd grisham. this is your espn news update. great basketball tames on the floor last night. baylor had to go to kansas and face that man, thomas robinson. koo koo ka choo, mr. robinson.

later, it's robinson again. what is he going to do? he'll deliver a full facial. and a mani and a pedi. look at this from taylor for three. and then in the second half, kansas up by nine. taylor keeping it himself. good idea. jayhawks up by 11. 4:30 left. taylor gives it up to jeff withy. boo-yah. wow, kansas beats baylor, 92-74. syracuse looking to go 20-0 for the first time in school history. scoop jardine with a pass to c.j. fair. that was fairly nice. syracuse up by nine. later in the first. jardine to melo. good teamwork. second half, jardine with the steal. he'll pass. eventually. right there. that's a very unselfish play. give it to everybody.

then later, it's dion waiters. check, please. syracuse, 20-0, ladies and gentlemen. they win it, 71-63. for all of your highlights, and sports news, you know where to go. espn news, it's what we do. my name is todd grisham. have a good day. >> they do and they do it well. up next, the falling fortunes of the kardashian clan. and a quick delivery. mom gives birth on a commuter train. ck lech. ck le livery. mom gives birth on a commuter train. >> ouch.

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welcome back. it is that time. time to check "the pulse" the stories you'll be talking about today. apparently, our love affair might be over for the kardashian clan. >> we're saying ours. but we mean collectively. the new york post is reporting the kardashians are now quote absolutely toxic. >> their show is tanking in the ratings. and magazine sales plunge when any of them are on the covers. >> some are speculating it's backlash from kim's 72-day marriage. others say, you know what? 15 minutes. you have had it. but that fame window has closed. >> and i'm fine with that. a newborn from new jersey is coming into the world on a train. his parents, traveling to see their doctors in new york city to find out if what the mother

was feeling were labor pains. they were. it got worse. >> the train went from local to express. police were waiting when they arrived. the family is doing just fine. what ? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello ? ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. like many chefs today, i feel the best approach to food is to keep it whole for better nutrition. and that's what they do with great grains cereal. see the seam on the wheat grain? same as on the flake. because great grains steams and bakes the actual whole grain. now check out the other guy's flake. hello, no seam. because it's more processed. now, which do you suppose for you? has better nutrition for you?

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next the firsthand account of the captain and crew from two northern california passengers who were onboard this ship. who wants passes for 49er game all you need is a twitter account and one good tweet. bundle up, mike has your forecast. cold and will be through 9:00 we'll tack about the rain that is on the way. >> frances has your welcome back, everyone. the top stories now.

authorities are worried about the damage to the environment from that disabled ship, carrying 500,000 gallons of fuel off the coast of italy. also, the captain appears in court today. mitt romney had a less than stellar performance in last night's debate. but an abc news poll shows he's well out in front. bank is looking to foreclose on o.j. simpson's house in miami. he bought the house for $575,000. and looking at today's weather, rain and snow in the major cities on the east coast. cold in the midwest. the pacific northwest is going to be hit by a powerful snowstorm. so get those shovels out. we all now the perils of distracted driving. but there's new proof that distracted walking could be deadly as well. >> before you leave the house and plug in the earphones, watch this report from abc's yunji de nies.

>> reporter: watch this woman texting fall head-first into a fountain. >> is there water in there? >> oh, yeah. it's cold. >> reporter: we all know it's risky to text and walk. now it turns out popping in your headphones could be just as hazardous. the number of people killed or injured while walking with headphones on has tripled over the last seven years. in the same time, the popularity of digital music players has exploded. today, 3 of 4 teenagers use one. the problem is not as obvious as it seems. when you put these on, it's not just that you can't hear the traffic around you. researchers say that your brain actually stops paying attention to it so that even with your eyes open, you're essentially walking blind. >> your brain is sort of multitasking. and we really can't multitask haul that well. >> reporter: headphones are just the latest digital distraction that's made walking and driving more dangerous. do you worry you could get hit by a car? >> sometimes, yeah.

>> reporter: in washington, d.c., we saw this man texts almost get run over. there you are. and you're just texing away. the car goes right by. you barely notice it. you could have gotten hit by that car. what goes through your mind when you see that? >> i don't want to think about it. >> reporter: the problem is bound to get worse as more and more of us look down or listen to the tunes instead of the traffic. yunji de nies, abc news, atlanta. >> we're all guilty of that. we have all had close calls. >> i know, exactly. there's definitely panic. you look up and see, oh, okay, maybe i need to put the ipod down for a minute and watch what we're doing. >> and how distracted we are on our phone as well. >> which the study didn't even include on that. apparently more than half of those on this were hit by trains. be careful out there. listen to the songs later. stay with us for "good morning america" and have a wonderful tuesday everybody.