tonight on "nightline" -- cruising for disaster. a rescue mission, forced to halt. a rising death toll. and families beginning to lose hope. the very latest on the "costa concordia" wreck. and one passenger that may have ended his life saving others. "the end of illness." i told you about the test that may have saved my life. but that's just the beginning. we take you into the world of medical testing. and offshore millions. it's a beautiful, caribbean island. but it's also where superrich keep vast amounts of wealth. a special "nightline" investigation. why does presidential candidate

mitt romney? good evening. i'm bill weir. thank you for checking in tonight. we have a first, haunting glimpse inside the mangled sea wreck off the coast of italy, that just days ago was a proud ocean liner. and here in the u.s., the tragedy has just begun to hit home, with one midwestern couple among the souls still missing. and doubts are intensifying about the captain's story of what exactly happened onboard. from italy tonight, here's abc's lama hasan. >> reporter: today, new video from inside the doomed "costa concordia" cruise ship, shows the treacherous conditions the divers have been working under. rooms on their side. chandeliers and floating debris

blocking the way. for what has now become a recovery effort for the bodies of the missing was suspended this morning, after the ship shifted position on its precarious perch, making it too risky. 11 bodies have been recovered so far. and today, the first was identified. the 38-year-old sandor feher, a violinist, who worked onboard, as an entertainer. seen here in a youtube video he posted looking for employment. witnesses say he had last been seen helping crying children into their life vests, before returning to his cabin to get his violin. a tale that conjures up images from the "titanic." tonight, half a world away, in white bear lake, minnesota, people attending a prayer vigil for barbara and gerald heil, awaiting any news. >> if you can thank the rescuers

and all the people that have been affected in this event. >> reporter: as people back home in the u.s. wait for information, families here in italy are taking desperate measures, like posting up information of their loved ones. the accident tore a 156-foot gash in the ship's hull, leaving the ship without power and rapidly listing to one side. almost immediately, the focused turned on the captain, francesco schettino. he claims he tripped falling into a lifeboat, rather than intentionally abandoning ship. schettino also claims he was alone at the helm of the ship at the time of the accident. but several crew members told abc's chris cuomo he was at dinner. >> you saw him eating at 10:30 at night? >> yeah. >> reporter: this has shocked italy. >> do you realize it's dark out

there. and we can't see anything. >> it's dark, so you want to go home? get on the stern of that ship. climb the ladder. and tell me, what can be done. >> reporter: in fact, the coast guard captain is now seen as a hero by many, imploring schettino to get back on the ship. schettino was hired in 2002, initially as a safety officer. and he became a captain in 2006. in 2010, he gave an interview to a czech newspaper saying, quote, i like the moment when something unpredictable happens. what derails you from the standard procedure. it is a challenge to deal with, which i enjoy. the captain insists the crew and the cruise company knew the route. he told the judge that something went wrong with the maneuver. navigating the "costa concordia" when it plowed in the rocks. the ship was following the same approved route it had in august,

when it passed by the island during a celebration. >> the vessel probably came within spitting distance of the rock that it actually hit on an authorized trip. >> reporter: adam smallman believes the company bears some of the blame, as well. >> did this event, where lives were lost, differ dramatically from what happened in august last year? no, it didn't. >> reporter: the costa cruise line refused to comment on lloyd's claim. the chaos was caused by what happened after the accident, when the ship listed to one side. >> and the lifeboat tipped sideways. and it fell. and swung and everybody's screaming. >> the lifeboats would not be able to be lowered because gravity would not take the boat down in a straight maneuver. it would lay against the hull of the ship, therefore, not able to be lowered. >> reporter: and in the best

conditions, trying to evacuate 4,200 people takes time you may not have. >> that's a lot of people trying to get off in an emergency situation. but if it's done and it's practiced and the crew's well-trained, it can be done. >> reporter: recovery efforts are expected to continue in the morning. but life goes on in these waters. the "costa sarina" set sail today. and it passed by the ship in the start of its journey. >> so many angles to this tragic story. and you can see many of them on the "20/20" hour-long special friday night, "cruise ship confidential." lots of new information emerging from the accident. just ahead, the promise of full medical checkups with just the simple prick of a finger. [ male announcer ] lately, there's been a seismic shift in what passes for common sense. used to be we socked money away and expected it to grow.

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>> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city, with bill weir. what does it take to save a man from himself? you know, the kind of guy who enjoys ribs by the slab and beer by the yard. and never, ever gets a checkup? well, if you watched last night, you saw for this knucklehead, it took a controversial procedure known as a cardiac c.t. scan.

and tonight, i think about life and health like i never have. but could such a test be right for you? and what about other amazing devices just on the horizon? here's the latest in our series, "the end of illness." >> your heart rate is beating at 50, which is slow and good. >> reporter: my accidental ride to enlightenment started here. courtesy of dr. david agas. he has treated lance armstrong, ted kennedy, steve jobs. and this way he was able to illustrate the theories in his book, "the end of illness." agus believes that americans should be focused on preventing sickness altogether, by using the best diagnostic tools we have. and it was all very fun and interesting, until the c.t. scans were revealed. and he pointed out the sickness in my heart. >> these lesions at significant arteries in the heart can cause

heart attacks in the near-term. we read in the paper about the 45-year-old who went jogging and died of a heart attack. these are the things we worry about. >> reporter: that picture and his description of it shook me to the core. i had no idea. and ever since, i'm eating better, moving more. dedicated to my own health like never before. and since sharing the story, i've had dozens of people ask the same question i asked him. should everybody have one of these? >> everybody should discuss this with your doctor. >> reporter: and if you do, you'll learn just how controversial this test really is. especially if you are a seemingly healthy person, like me. the american heart association would not have recommended that test for me. right? >> you're probably wright. you would have, it sounds like, based upon your history, and what you told me thus far, you would be at low risk. so, we probably wouldn't have recommended that you get a calcium scan at this point in time. >> reporter: the fda and others agree. warning that this machine's

radiation risk. and the chance a false reading could bring unwanted cost and stress. >> there are false positives and false negatives of any technology. to me, this is an art. it matters who does it and where it's done. >> reporter: dr. agus believes that much like other gadgets in our lives, medical technology is getting better and more reliable, father than we can keep up. for example, the dna test. i spit in a tube, and he can tell me what my chances are of developing certain diseases. >> we somewhere you on a page. when i did this at first, it was almost religious. i went, oh, my god. this really is me. and i made behavior changes. >> reporter: right now, this kind of testing takes around a week. but by 2014, the fda is expected to approve a machine from life technologies, that can decode the secrets of your body in almost real-time. the human genome project took

ten years, $3 billion. and now, you can do it in two hours for 1,000 bucks? >> for the genes, it costs dollars. that's the power. >> reporter: the idea of instant care will really take hold around 2015, as machines once the size of major appliances, fit in the palm of your hand. >> instead of you going to the machine, the machine will be there. for example, this is the next generation ultrasound machine, where it's hand-held. >> reporter: will it get to the point where you could have this in a smartphone one day? >> yes. >> reporter: around seven years from now, say 2019, we'll see a device that can measure every protein in your body. >> those proteins float through the blood. and they tell things what to do. they tell your heart to beat. they tell your body to grow, if you're a young child. those proteins are basically the messeng messengers, if yu will. we can take a look at the messengers. just like in world war ii. they were able to decrypt the messages. we're going to decrypt the human

body with technology like this. >> reporter: and in a decade, 2022, dr. agus believes your checkup will look like something from the movies. >> we're going to prick your finger. there's going to be technology that takes that information out of you. and coupled with your medical records, everything your doctors or nurses ask you. >> staggering to think about. back to the present, for everyone who reached out with concern, thank you. and whether my test is right for you or not, by discussing it with your doctor, you're taking a huge step. coming up next, why does mitt romney have millions offshore? [ female announcer ] experience dual-action power,

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not too far up the florida coast, certain tiny islands hold a staggering amount of american money, thanks to offshore investment funds.

and a very famous name in politics is tied to several of those funds. tonight, abc's brian ross investigates. brian? >> reporter: bill, mitt romney and his supporters say his wealth is a sign of his success that will make him a great president. but at the same time, romney has gone to great lengths to keep secret many important details about his wealth. including, as abc news discovered, whether he uses tax loopholes available only to the superrich. ♪ to find answers, we followed the romney trail of wealth to the cayman islands in the caribbean, where he has millions of dollars of his personal wealth in corporations set up here. while some people come for the beautiful sea and white sand beaches, the caymans are best-known as one of the world's great tax havens, where secrecy is the rule. >> if you have a cayman corporation, you don't pay any tax to the cayman government. and the cayman islands don't report the income that's made to the u.s. government.

>> reporter: nothing in romney's financial disclosure forms, required for all presidential candidates, revealed his connections to the caymans. but listed under his investments are at least 12 pratt funds, with potentially as much as $30 million, that we were able to track back to the island. for example, the fund listed in tiny print as bain capital fund viii, officially registered in the cayman's by romney's former company, bain capital. in fact, official documents show bain capital has set up some 138 secretive offshore funds in the caymans that are nothing more than a post office box. there are rows and rows of post office boxes here at the central postal station in grand cayman, for all of the companies who come from overseas to take advantage of the tax haven here. this is the one used by bain. this is their post office box, 908. other than the box number, everything else about the bain

accounts is kept secret from outsiders. can you confirm there are accounts here? >> no. >> reporter: as we found, when we went to see bain's registered agent, who set up the accounts. you're familiar with bain. >> i've heard, yeah. >> reporter: but because of governor's romney's run for president, we're all interested in why he has -- his company had accounts set up here. >> unfortunately, i couldn't comment at all on that. >> reporter: you couldn't talk about that? >> no, i cannot. >> reporter: nothing at all? >> nothing at all. >> reporter: nor can the people who gets the mail at post office box, bain capital, about the funds, the investors and what they own. companies like bain set up their accounts here in the caymans and in other tax havens, primarily to attract foreign investors who want to invest in u.s. companies without having to pay u.s. taxes. that's great for bain and for the foreign investors. but not so great for the u.s. treasury and american taxpayers.

>> the honest taxpayers are the losers because, to the extent any of the investors in those funds are avoiding paying those taxes, whether u.s. or in some other country. the rest of us taxpayers make up the difference. >> reporter: as for his own taxes, romney says the cayman accounts are taxed no differently than they would be than in the u.s., without saying why he put his money there in the first place. >> i can tell you, we follow the tax laws. and if there's an opportunity to save taxes, we, like anybody else in this country, will follow that opportunity. >> reporter: as a candidate for senate against ted kennedy in 1994, romney demanded kennedy make his tax returns public. asking, what he had to hide. now, those same questions are being asked about him in this campaign. >> every candidate up there, they should put their taxes out. including mitt. >> the idea that you can run for president and not release your taxes is an absurdity. >> reporter: and this week, romney admitted, his effective

income tax rate is far below the 35% tax bracket for the wealthy. >> closer to the 15%. >> reporter: romney says he may release his latest tax return in april. and it may be the only way for him to answer all the questions about his taxes, and his offshore account. >> his personal finances are a poster child of what's wrong with the american tax system. if he doesn't disclose that, and we can't see it, whatever he says about tax is certainly quite suspect. >> reporter: romney's critics are already crying foul. saying he has to release more than just the latest tax return to give a full picture of his affairs. and, bill, tomorrow night, more on the political investigative beat, when we will hear from one of newt gingrich's two ex-wives, mary ann, breaking her silence here on "nightline." saying, there are things voters need to know about her ex-husband. >> i just stared at