making news on this wednesday, november 10th. >> stuck at sea. running low on food and still more than a day and a half from land. thousands enduring a nightmare on the high seas. unprepared. bp's former chief admits he wasn't ready for the gulf crisis. so, would he take anything back? stunning answers. and only four more. despite a last-place score, did viewers save bristol palin?

good morning. and thanks for being with us. we begin this morning with the cruise to nowhere. the vacation disaster that's left thousands of tourists stranded, right in the middle of the ocean. >> right now, the luxury liner "carnival splendor" is being towed back to san diego. it's been dead in the water since monday, when a fire broke out in the engine room. >> it could take days to get everyone back home. >> reporter: on the first day of a week-long mexican cruise, a fire in the engine room meant "carnival splendor" would not live up to its idyllic name. >> the fire has been put out. the vessel is safe. however, it's unable to make way. and will need to be towed into port. >> reporter: 4,500 passengers and crew are now stuck on a ship that's been stranded in the pacific 80 miles off mexico's coast since monday. >> it's my understanding that all the passengers are safe and as comfortable as they can be. >> reporter: the toilets are working after a day when they

didn't. but there's no air conditioning, hot water or hot food. it's taken a navy airlift to get more food onboard. 50,000 pounds so far. >> delivering this stuff to the carrier. and the carrier's going to get that over to the carnival cruise line, to get the supplies they need, to make their passengers happy. >> reporter: the ship is huge. twice the size of the "titanic." this is home video of the ship from a june cruise. plans are to tow the ship to san diego. carnival says in a statement, conditions onboard the ship are very challenging. the company's offering a full refund, plus a free future cruise. but some passenger's family members doubt their loved ones will want to sail anytime soon. you think they're going to want to go again? >> no. i don't think she will. this was her one chance. i don't think she will. >> reporter: carnival says its passengers are free to roam all about the ship. and there are things like children's activities and entertainment still on the schedule. but still, it could be days

before these passengers are finally able to make it home. rob and vinita? >> understandable why some don't want to go on a cruise again. do we know how the passengers themselves are doing? >> reporter: the most important thing is we know no one was hurt during the fire. beyond that, we don't have firsthand accounts. the power failure knocked tout phone systems, the communications systems with the internet. passengers can't get the word out. the ship has a backup communication system that has been used to coordinate the rescue effort. rob and vinita? >> emily schmidt, thank you. we have breaking news out of iraq this morning. a series of bombings and mortar attacks in baghdad appear to be the latest to target christians. at least four people were killed in the violence. more than a dozen explosions were heard all in the city's main christian neighborhood. last week, a bombing at a kath lidge church killed 58 people. the president was on the move overnight. his latest stop in asia, an important summit of the 20 largest economic powers. air force one left jakarta,

indonesia, for seoul, capital of south korea. that's where world leaders are arriving this morning. the focus will be economic recovery. but the president will meet with u.s. troops. he had symbolic stops in jakarta. karen travers is there. >> reporter: president obama toured the largest mosque in southeast asia. he later said the mosque symbolizes the diversity and tolerance of the world's most populist muslim nation. >> this house of worship for muslims was designed by christian architects. development is strengthened by an emerging democracy. ancient traditions endure, even as arriving power is on the move. >> reporter: at times, the president's remarks echoed his speech in cairo last year, where he called for a new era of engagement with the muslim world. >> relations between the united states and muslim communities have frayed over many years.

as president, i made it a priority to begin to repair these relations. >> reporter: he acknowledged that no single speech can rewrite years of mistrust. >> in the 17 months that have passed since that speech, we have made some progress. but we have much more work to do. >> reporter: for four years, mr. obama called indonesia home. >> as a young boy, i was coming to a different world. but the people of indonesia quickly made me feel at home. >> reporter: in 1967, the president's mother remarried an indonesian man and moved her son to the pacific nation. >> i learned to love indonesia, while flying kites and running along the patty fields and catching dragon flies. >> reporter: karen travers, abc news, traveling with the president, in jakarta. singapore airlines is replacing engines on three of its double-decker a-380s.

officials at singapore airlines say oil stains were found on the three engines. but they insist it is unrelated to the qantas incident. the qantas flight made an emergency landing safely in singapore last thursday. all of its a-380s have been grounded ever since. another setback for boeing's dreamliner after years of delays. the pilot of a boeing 787 reported smoke in the cabin during a test flight. he was forced to make an emergency landing in laredo, texas. the dreamliner is boeing's next passenger jet. the former head of bp is now admitting mistakes in the wake of that gulf oil spill. in an interview with the bbc, tony hayward says the company was completely unprepared for the disaster. and the intensity of the media scrutiny that followed. hayward also talked about why he spent some time on his yacht, while the situation in the gulf was still out of control. >> i have to confess, at the time, i was pretty angry, actually.

i hadn't seen my son for three months. i was on the boat for six hours. bp's contingency plans for inadequate. we were making it up, day-to-day. >> hayward claims some extraordinary engineering was going on at the bottom of the gulf during the disaster. but he said it looked like incompetence because of the glare of the media spotlight. election workers in alaska will be going over nearly 100,000 ballots later today in the still-undecided senate race. senator lisa murkowski waged an aggressive write-in campaign, after losing the gop primary to joe miller. now, workers have to determine how many of the ballots are legitimate. miller filed the first lawsuit in connection with the election results late last night. and now, for this morning's weather from around the country. a wintry day out west. up to two feet of mountain snow in colorado, utah and wyoming. denver sees its first snow of the season. and just a few inches of lingering snow in the cascades and northern sierras.

mild with afternoon showers from the twin cities down to texas. and lingering, morning showers in eastern new england. >> 50s from boston to baltimore. 81 in miami. just shy of 60 in detroit and omaha. and 70 in indianapolis. 40s in the pacific northwest. 62 in sacramento. and 69 degrees in phoenix. and when we come back, it is being called stunning and peaceful. we have the newest pictures of the ground zero memorial. plus, an early holiday present for the legions of googlers. the newest perk for already-pampered employees of the internet icon. on top of that, the latest explanation for those strange sights above l.a.

there's fresh evidence this morning of just how hard it is out there to find a job. new numbers show job openings fell more than 5% in september. it was the second-straight monthly decline. there is some encouraging news, though. a separate report from a leading small business group finds more small businesses plans to add workers than cut them in the next three months. and a new report from online real estate firm zillow, finds the housing downturn is almost as bad as the decline in the great depression. home prices have plunged 25% from their peak in 2006. home values have dropped 17-straight quarters after falling again from july through september. overseas stock markets are mixed this morning. tokyo's nikkei average rose 1.4% today. hong kong's hang seng is lower.

in london, the ftse opened lower. on wall street, the dow fell 60 points yesterday. the nasdaq dropped 17. google is giving its workers an early holiday gift. the company sent out an e-mail telling everyone, it's getting a 10% raise and a $1,000 holiday bonus. google is trying to prevent workers from defecting to facebook, as well as other rivals. a treasure trove of american military history is being made available online for the first time. more than 150,000 west point application documents are being posted by ancestry.com. the site will be free through sunday. coming up next on this wednesday morning, why some airline pilots are now refusing new security measures. then, mystery trails in the sky. the pentagon and nasa say it was them. is there a similar explanation? and now, there are four, after the latest star is sent packing.

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♪ tum ta tum tum tums lots of treacherous passes on mt. hood in oregon this morning, after a storm unleashes seven inches of snow. snowplows were out in force, and so were the tow trucks. the snow came down quickly. and drivers were required to use chains to get around. as that storm moves east, look for snow-covered roads in the rockies for your morning commute. i-80 from salt lake city to cheyenne. and i-70 from denver into utah. wet on i-94 from bismarck to fargo. slick also on i-95, from boston to portland. >> if you are flying today, you can expect some airport delays in salt lake city, denver and boston. it was a mystery that had everybody talking. was there a secret missile launch off the california coast? >> overnight, we have learned more about that plume of smoke in the skies over los angeles.

norad said there was no missile launch. and that the nation was never in danger. and that the smoke was most likely caused by an aircraft. here's martha raddatz. >> reporter: it is a remarkable image, captured by a local news helicopter, just 35 miles west of los angeles. a huge streak, arcing across the water north of catalina island. but from the moment the video hit the air waves, the military began scrambling for answers. >> i have to say i can't really be certain. here, you see a little glint of light. that looks as though the exhaust from a rocket. >> reporter: this is taped from an actual ballistic missile launch. and there are similarities. but ulrich says that's not the only possibility. >> it also could be a jet aircraft contrail, something you're looking at horizontal. and it goes a long, long distance, almost to the horizon, it looks to the eyes that it's vertical. >> reporter: the pentagon says

the most likely theory is it is an airplane. but they don't have specific information about a plane or where it might have been headed. and other government officials say, it doesn't look like a plane at all. we are going down the rabbit hole to look at every possibility, one official said. from amateur rockets, although, that would have been a big one, to optical illusion. similar to these shots of jet contrails. but lest anyone worry it was a launch from abroad, northcom says, we can confirm there was no threat to our nation. and from all indications, this was not a launch from a foreign military. martha raddatz, abc news, washington. >> and martha will have much more on that developing story coming up later today on "gma." pilots across the country are rebelling against the new airport screening rules. two pilots unions are telling their members to avoid checkpoints with full-body scanners. the tsa insists the scanners are safe. but pilots are concerned about

repeated exposure to radiation. they're also criticizes intrusive patdowns, which one pilot compared to sexual molestation. elizabeth smart returns to the stand today in her kidnapping trial. smart told investigators she lied about her identity to police because she was afraid that brian david mitchell would kill her. she says mitchell forced her to drink alcohol and smoke pot. smart will be cross-examined by defense lawyers. it is called a stunning moment at ground zero. one of the waterfalls at the 9/11 memorial was tested yesterday. the water streamed into the memorial's north pool. the thought is to have both waterfalls running for the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. there's always plenty of hype when the miami heat take the floor these days. last night, they played a game that finally lived up to it. how it turned out from adnan virk at espn news. >> good morning. it's not been a smooth start

necessarily for the miami heat. it's liken lebron james a few games to get on track, in terms of scoring. he had a huge night for the team. 81-84, for miami. and chris bosh, working the pick and roll. later on, back would come the utah jazz. paul millsap, with 30 seconds left. hits not one three. not two threes. but three threes. going to reggie miller. the jazz are down 103-102. utah, down two, with three seconds left. milsap grabs the floor and puts it in. we're going to overtime. milsap, 11 points in the last 30 seconds. in overtime, check out dwyane wade. monster dunk. the heat are up by three. later on, utah would respond. andrei kirilenko, from downtown, count it. and the jazz are up by one. miami would not go away, though. dwyane wade dialing up. we're tied at 114-114. under ten seconds left.

jazz with the ball. man cisco francisco allison. allison goes to the line for two. 0.4 seconds left on the clock. makes the first. and then, banks in the seconds one. trying to miss on purpose. the jazz are up by two. last chance for miami. eddie house from downtown. he's no derek fisher. the utah jazz stun the heat, 116-114. coming back, milsap has 22 points. that's your sports update. back to you in new york. they called him a true sportsman. but now, it is lights out for super bowl champion, kurt warner. >> the quarterback was the latest celebrity to be dismissed from "dancing with the stars." in parts last night, he thanked his fans, his wife, and his seven children. bristol palin is hanging in there, despite coming in dead-last with the judges. >> i'm going with jennifer grey

to take it all. >> smart bet. i'll take that, too. coming up next, we'll update the morning's top story. thousands of people stranded at sea. the navy, now rushing to their aid. oh wow, look at that. calm down donkey. it's vacation time! ohhhhh, who says ogres can't surf? nice moves fiona. ha, ha, ha, i love 3d. wooo hooooo!

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and now, a look ahead to the stories we'll be watching on this wednesday. the "carnival splendor" cruise

liner is being dragged to san diego. the ship went dead in the water monday, after a fire in the engine room. iraqi christians appear to be the target of a series of bombings and mortar attacks in baghdad this morning. at least four people were killed in the violence. it comes just days after 58 died in the bombing of a catholic church. president obama arrives in south korea for a two-day visit. while in seoul, he will address troops on veteran's day and also attend the g-20 summit. back in washington, the new republican leader, john boehner, talks to reporters about the new gop majority in the house. three singapore airlines a-380s are back in commission today after getting new engines. oil stains were found on the old ones. last week, the engine of a qantas a-380 exploded. the cma awards are in nashville tonight. brad paisley and carrie underwood are up for several awards. that's tonight right here on

abc. coming up later on "good morning america," the cheating scandal that has rocked one florida university. hundreds of students were caught. and now, a professor is giving an ultimatum. z (stan lech) acid erosion is a growing problem...

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finally from us this morning, funny people saluting one of their own. >> tina fey was honored last night in washington, for the nation's top prize for humor. and she didn't disappoint with a couple good one-liners. >> and those that she has worked with got in on the fun, too. check it out. >> i'm very, very grateful. and very humbled because all the other people are very meaningful to me. >> i know a lot of people i'm really confident she's going to get it. i think she's the one tonight. my money's on tina. >> i didn't know mark twain personally. but i think there are many similarities. they are very brave. and they were humorous for their generation. >> the recipient of the 2010 mark twain prize, tina fey. >> i would be a liar and an

idiot if i didn't thank sarah palin for helping get me here tonight. my partial resemblance of her crazy voice are the two luckiest things that ever happened to me. >> i once asked tina, would you rather be remembered as a comedienne or a writer? and tina paused for a moment. and she said, steve, this is the women's restroom. >> i think she's brought her particular voice and her particular comedic voice. it is original, funny, resonant voice. >> i am happy to make my home in the not real america. and i'm most proud that even during trying times like an orange alert, or a bad economy, or a contentious election, that we, as a nation, retain our sense of humor. anyway, i don't want to go on and on, i know we have to talk about the other four nominees. so, thank you. and good night. >> and the ceremony airs sun