post-game and go to the streets with monty francis to see if there's something going on there. "nbc nightly news" is next and more local news on the bay area at 6:00. ship captain arrested. what happened? tonight harried stories of survival and a frantic search for the missing. winter arrives with a vengeance for much of america. new rules for the airlines and big changes coming to the way you buy your tickets. give me a break. employees send a message about blackberry burnout and some companies start to listen. >> and baby love.

seal pups separated at birth getting a helping hand at a second chance at life. from nbc world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >> good evening. we start tonight with a deadly cruise ship disaster in a small island along italy's tus can coast. it happened in the dark of night when the huge vessel, carrying thousands of vacationers, including more than 100 americans, ran aground, and tipped on its side. about 40 people remain unaccounted for and the ship's captain is under arrest. survivors, some of whom literally swam for their lives, are telling harrowing stories of panic, fear and confusion as they desperately looked for a way off the stricken ship.

eventually they were taken to an island where we stand by. good evening. >> reporter: the passengers are now being taken to the city of rome for which they will go back to their home countries much earlier, of course, than they expected. the u.s. embassy has also gotten back to us saying none of the 126 american passengers that were on board that ship were injured, but for all of these passengers, this was the longest day. a shocking scene today off the picturesque italian coast as rescuers frantically search for any survivors aboard the ship wreck of the concordia. the cruise line was carrying 4,334 people, including 126 americans when it ran aground last night. amateur video shows chaos as survivors were brought to land in lifeboats.

daybreak revealed a gash 150 feet long on the wrong side. >> we were having dinner and all of a sudden the ship teetered. obviously it was not fine. >> at first the crew tried to reassure passengers saying there was a technical problem. but there was panic. >> we had a blackout and everybody was screaming, running up and down. then we went to our cabins to get to know what's going on. >> in the very end, before we jumped off, one of the crew members was actually telling us we need to stay on. >> the ship had left civitav civitaveccia before it hit land. >> translator: i can easily

understand comparisons to the film. there were people scrambling all over each other. >> reporter: the concordia is one of the largest ships in the concordia fleet and makes trips around italy regularly. in the last few hours, the captain of this ship was arrested and allegations of manslaughter and of a ban dband the ships. the parent company also issued a statement saying it is deeply sad d saddenned by this tragedy and it is working to fully understand what happened. >> just a short time ago, we spoke with a college student from bowling green, kentucky who was on vacation with friends aboard the ship when it ran aground. here's how lauren moore described to us what happened.

>> it started during dinner. we were all seated. suddenly there was a loud noise and the boat started tilting, and you could hear glasses and plates hit the ground and shatter. the lights started flickering and people just started running in all directions. some people were telling passengers there was no need to go to the boats, some people were telling others to put their life vests on, but there was no directions. and that went on for about at least an hour before the siren finally went off that signalled, go to the boats. it was completely tilted at that point. we ran, really, toward a lifeboat and that's really where the chaos set in. everyone was trying to fight their way onto a boat, and the crew members were having to knock people back. the crew members were definitely having a hard time patrolling the situation at that point.

>> an american passenger aboard that ship in her own words. now back in this country. we knew old man winter would eventually wake up. tonight he's put much of the country in the group of a deep freeze, an arctic blast punching quite a punch after what's been an unseasonably warm winter. the weather channel's mike seidel joins us now from sunny beechwood, ohio. good evening, mike. >> good evening, lester. everyone was wondering, why is the ice, the cold, the snow. many are saying it's about time we got some winter weather. temperatures today on this map, these are all below average. notices those highs in chicago only in the teens. here in chicago more lake effect snow and wind chills only in the single numbers. and speaking of lake effect, how about 31 inches of it south of buffalo. by the way, u.s. snow cover has doubled to 33% in the last couple days. across new england and new york

city a numbing 27 degrees. but tonight, lester, there are no signs that the wholesale weather pattern is undergoing a major change. and we're not going to see the persistent snow and cold that we dealt with the past two winters. with that said, the east coast, although cold tomorrow, will start to warm up on monday and tuesday once again. lester? >> mike seidel from the weather channel. thank you. there's good news for folks up in nome, alaska where they're iced in and desperately awaiting a fuel delivery. a tanker is cutting through the ice a mile offshore preparing to pump a million gallons of gas through a pipeline. without that delivery, nome would have run out of fuel soon. big news tonight from state college, pennsylvania. former penn state coach joe paterno is telling his side of the story, speaking out for the first time since the jerry sandusky sexual abuse allegations first broke. here's our national investigative correspondent michael isakof who has what

paterno had to say. >> reporter: legendary football coach joe paterno was abruptly fired last november in the wake of the jerry sandusky sex abuse scandal, sitting off a near riot for penn state students. now the 85-year-old paterno, frail and fighting lung cancer, speaks for the first time about the scandal in an interview with the "washington post." >> and then i called my superiors and i said, hey, we got a problem, i think. would you guys look into it? cause i didn't know. you know, i had never had to deal with something like that. and i didn't feel adequate. >> reporter: paterno said he was confused about what to do in 2002, then graduate assistant mike mcquery first told him he had seen sandusky fondling a young boy in the penn state locker room the night before. he reported this to then athletic director tim curry but said he didn't follow up. i didn't know how to handle it, he told the post.

in hindsight, i should have done more. he never had any ideas about sandusky prior to that time and was never aware of an investigation of him. his relationship with sandusky was professional, not social, he says. sources close to paterno said he was at first furious when he was fired in a phone call, but in the interview, paterno tried to stay positive. >> i've had a wonderful experience here at penn state. i don't want to walk away from this thing bitter. >> penn state's new president rod erickson said they will pay paterno's legal fees and continue to pay his contract even though he's been fired. penn state wants to honor him for his past service but not, a spokesman says, for his conduct in this matter. michael isakof, washington. a major push tonight by social conservatives against mitt romney. 150 evangelical leaders are rivalling behind one of romney's

rivals in an effort to stop him from running away with the nomination. we're in south carolina with the details. >> reporter: as most of the republican field gathered in charleston today, hoping to sway this state's large social conservative voting block at a forum hosted by mike huckabee, rick santorum got a big boost from 150 evangelical christian leaders in texas who today decided to endorse the senate. >> we're obviously going to be in touch with all the people who were there and encourage them to be as supportive as possible within their area of influence. >> reporter: santorum's strong second place finish in iowa was largely fueled by his focus on social issues, important to evangelical voters. >> we always need a jesus candidate. >> reporter: the influential leaders in texas rallied behind support of an alternative to mitt romney. just four years ago, john mccain won south carolina's primary

with christian conservatives when six out of ten voters in the state split between huckabee and fred thompson. with barely a week before the state's primary, the impact is unclear because the group made no effort to push newt gingrich or rick perry out of the race. >> i'm not afraid to admit that i'm a christian. >> reporter: several of the candidates are directly courting the evangelical vote, including perry, who hopes they will keep him in the race. and romney's recent mailings to south carolina voters have touted that he, quote, shares our values. and after days of bitter attacks on mitt romney's business background during his time as the former head of bain capital, newt gingrich was booed by an undecided crowd of voters when he began to criticize romney once again. >> peter alexander, thank you.

much more on the decision 2012 tomorrow morning on "meet the press." harry reid will be among david gregory's guests. after months of controversy, there is word that the quote on the new martin luther king memorial will be changed after it was said it did not accurately reflect his words and sounded arrogant. it says, i was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness. the phrase was shortened by a speech dr. king began when he said, yes, if you want to say i was a drum major, say i was a drum major for justice. overseas tonight, the united stat states' war of words with iran is becoming more heated. we get more from our tehran chief ali ruzi. >> reporter: tensions remain high with this long-running feud between iran and the u.s. today iran reported that it had

strong evidence that this week's attacks on one of its nuclear scientists was planned and reported to the cia. angry mourners marched through the streets of tehran yesterday chanting, death to cheamerica a death to israel. the supreme leader said that the cia and israeli intelligence was to blame. he vowed revenge. the most likely place this bitter exchange of rhetoric could turn into an exchange of blows is the straits of hormos where 20% of the world's oil passes through. iran has repeatedly threatened to shut down the waterway if new american sanctions are imposed. washington says it will not let that happen. earlier this month the u.s. navy and coast guard ships had two close encounters in the persian gulf with high-speed iranian na navy boats that showed provocative behavior. no shots were fired and it rain yann boats backed off. the danger is that one

miscalculation could set off a chain of catastrophic events. lester? when nightly news continues, full disclosure from the airlines. big changes coming to the way you buy your ticket. and later, separated at birth now being nursed back to health together.

. we are back now with some big changes coming to the airlines and the way most americans buy their tickets. the government has ordered the airlines to make those

advertised ticket prices far more transparent so passengers know from the beginning how much that ticket really costs, including all those extra taxes and fees. here's nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: if you bought an airline ticket on line, chances are it's happened to you. you think you found a great deal, you click buy and then -- >> i'm really upset because i don't think it's fair, you're all excited, you have a budget, you think it's the one price, then they add all these other prices and it stinks. >> they don't show that on line. they give you one price but by the time you go to pay for your ticket, you see another price. >> reporter: well, all that is about to change as truth in advertising comes to the airline industry. >> total tax title, license, all airfares, any time you do an advertisement, any time you display any type of fare. >> reporter: beginning january 26, all airline ticket prices must include any government taxes and fees when the ticket price is made public. once it's added up, that can raise a ticket price by 20%.

the airlines will also have to tell you the cost up front of checking your luggage. >> all of the fees that the airlines will charge you will be listed whether it's a baggage fee, the taxes that you might pay. >> reporter: but the airlines complained they're being treated unfairly, pointing out that when you shop at a store, taxes and fees aren't included in the list price until you go pay at the register. that's what happens when you buy a ticket on line. in a statement to nbc news, they said all members provide details on ticket prices and other charges prior to purchase today before you click buy. southwest, spirit and allegian airlines are suing to block the rules, though a decision isn't expected soon. a few more customer-friendly rules take effect this month. airlines must promptly notify passengers of cancellations, diversions or delays of more than 30 minutes. and customers will have 24 hours after making a reservation to change or cancel the reservation without a penalty.

>> i just bought one yesterday that was $100 in taxes. >> reporter: at least now all those taxes and fees will be clearly stated before you click. tom costello, nbc news, washington. well, speaking of being nickel and dimed at the airport, the folks at the tsa say passengers are leaving a ton of money behind at security checkpoints. in 2010, the tsa collected $409,000 in loose change left in those gray plastic bins. it's raking in the most at jfk, in new york, lax, and atlanta. a growing backlash being chained to e-mail after hours.

back now with something a lot of folks can relate to, being tethered to e-mails responding to those messages after you've left the office. it seems many employees are fed up with being unable to disconnect from work e-mail. they're starting to make changes. >> reporter: it is a problem that's only getting worse in our constantly connected world. zlz the first thing i do when i get up is check my blackberry. >> it's pretty much the last thing i look at before i go to bed at night. >> reporter: e-mail all hours of day and night, virtually eliminating the line of being on and off the job. >> i walked down the aisle with my blackberry. >> reporter: that's when he knew he had a problem. he runs a small boston pr firm that gets 1200 e-mails each day. >> you're putting in 12, 13, 14-hour days here and then you're going home and

communicating another four or five hours. it was just too much. >> reporter: so he's trying to give his team a break. he's put up an out of office response to e-mail received after 5:30 p.m. until 8:30 the next morning. in the u.s., a recent study showed 22% of employees who use e-mail at work say they're expected to read and respond to e-mail outside of the office. and that number doubles to 48% if the company issues a smartphone or blackberry. there may be a backlash brewing. in brazil, workers who answer e-mails after the workday ends now may qualify for overtime pay. an overtime e-mail is the same as communication with the boss. and some have said they will not send e-mails after their shifts. >> i do believe we'll see policies that limit e-mail. it solves a longstanding irritant, and organizations should see productivity

improvement from limiting e-mail. >> reporter: back in boston, the new limited e-mail policy is just a few weeks old. >> we're still getting the e-mails at night and on the weekends, but we don't have to respond to them. >> reporter: if all of this turns out to be bad for business, the boss can still reach everyone with a cell phone. ron allen, nbc news, new york. when we come back, quite possibly the most adorable orphans since "annie."

finally tonight we want to show you something pretty remarkable and pretty adorable happening at an orphanage in amsterdam. it's been inundated with hundreds of newborn babies separated from their mothers. tonight there is a major effort underway to nurse them back to health and help them reunite with their families. here's duncan golistani. >> reporter: these seals are the lucky ones. they were found stranded on the dutch coast after stormy weather. so many pups have washed up, they're calling this rehabilitation center an orphanage. wrenched from their mothers, some pups still had umbilical cords attached. at least now they're being cared for in the tents put up especially to cope with the huge numbers. the director explains high water levels mean the seals can't find sand banks to rest on. >> normally it's around 150 and now we have 365, even, and today

there were another seven, so we'll go up to the 400s. >> reporter: at mealtime, every helping hand is needed to make sure the seals eat the herring, not just to rebuild strengths but also to give vital medicine that fights against worm infections. marine biologist terry utney from boston is one of the volunteers working around the clock, nursing the seals back to health. >> i come in here to get some hands-on experience with them and help with the patients. >> reporter: the seals are unlikely victims of the storms that have been battering europe. almost 60 pups have been injured in britain alone. barnacle and topaz were washed to shore a few weeks ago. they were grossly under weight. now strong, they're ready for the wild. >> we were feeding them and then

they went to self feeding. >> reporter: back in the netherlands, they're hoping for similar success. the early signs are these washed-up seals have an excellent chance of survival. duncan golistani, "nbc nightly news," london. that's nbc news for this saturday. i'll see you tomorrow morning on today and then back here tomorrow evening. good night. . good saturday evening to you. we begin tonight with a