breaking political news this morning. >> mitt romney releasing his tax returns overnight, hours after the latest showdown with a surging newt gingrich. another politician causing a stir by are e refusing ar airport search. and who will win this year? the academy award nominations just hours away. good muse morning. i'm paula faris. >> and i'm rob nelson. the details coming just after midnight. mitt romney's income a secret no longer. >> it comes after the latest prime time clash with newt

gingrich. tahman bradley has it all from washington. >> reporter: good morning, rob and paula. mitt romney's 2011 and 2010 tax returns are expected to show he made more in a day than a average american makes in a year. newt gingrich has pulled even with mitt romney. romney is changing strategy. he's releasing some of his tax returns today. his 2010 returns show he drew most of his $21.7 income from investments. >> that's where the profits and rewards came. >> reporter: with a 14% tax rate, he paid $3 million in taxes and gave almost as much to care that. at last night's debate, he labeled the former house speaker as failed leader. >> i don't think we can retake

the white house if the person leading the party is a person working for the chief lobbyist of freddie mac. >> reporter: he still had to respond to attacks. >> i have never, ever gone and done anything lobbying. >> reporter: gingrich says he was hired at an historian. at $300,000 a year, romney wasn't buying it. >> as an historian, they don't pay $25,000 a month for thee years. >> reporter: the man in washington is gearing up for a state of the union. like last year, it will be date night with some republicans and democrats sitting together. they could be tweeting or following along with the president's speech on their ipad tonight. >> back to the romney tax issue, he's struggled in multiple states. with the blue collar, middle

class workers. how much less did he pay because his earnings were from investments and not a direct hallry. >> reporter: tax expert said, if alex rodriguez paid the same amount of romney, he would have paid the 24% rate. that abc $2 million more than romney. >> it's not a romney issue. it's an american tax code issue. as a reminder, join diane sawyer and george stephanopoulos for complete coverage of the address. congresswoman gabby giffords will attend the state of the union. an emotional moment for sure. yesterday, she visited a food bank in tucson that has been named in her hon yor. the last event in her congressional drir congressional district. one member of congress that

won't be there tonight. mark kirk. he suffered a stroke over the weekend. he could lose the use of his left arm. however, it should not affect his ability to think, speak, and understand. in other news, the south is cleaning up today after a freak outbreak of tornadoes. 26 twisters reported in four states just over a 24-hour period. that's more than what usually strikes entire country in january. steve osunsami reports. >> reporter: the tornado that tore through the heart of alabama had wind speeds of up to 150 miles an hour. it was moving on the ground at 50 miles an hour. it was moving fast. it tore through some of the same neighborhoods hit so hard by the devastating tornadoes last year in april, when nearly 240 people died. one woman i talked with said she

wondered why god was so angry with alabama. the families this morning will be cleaning up and picking up the pieces there. so many pieces of families' lives strewn about. it will be a long cleanup. a long road for many of these people who are starts over again. steve osunsami, abc news, center point, alabama. >> steve will report live from alabama later today on "good morning america." well, the first of three public memorials for legendary head coach from penn state joe paterno takes place today. smaller tributes are cropping up as well. like the impromtu shrine near his statue on campus. divers have recovered two more bodies. the number of dead is now 15.

on top of that, at least 17 people are still missing. including a retired minnesota couple barbara and jerry heil. the cruise line is offering a 30% discount on future cruises to the people that were on board. time for the weather across the nation. a quieter and milder day across the country. one severe patch in texas, oklahoma, and louisiana. light snow in buffalo and rochester. a new storm in the pacific northwest brings more rain and a flood threat. >> it will be 45 in seattle. 59 in sacramento, 66 in l.a. dallas, 62, miami, 81. in the east, 10 to 15 degrees above normal. seasonal ever where else. >> the goal is to get where it's

yellow not blue on the map, right? >> amen. still ahead, secret recordings from the kennedy white house released overnight. and martha stewart facing a new lawsuit this morning. plus, bottom's up at starbucks. the rollout of beer and wine. >> yes.

welcome back, everybody. there's a mixed economic outlook for 2012 from business

economists. most expect the u.s. economy to show modest growth this year. however, they don't think it will be enough to significantly reduce unemployment. only a fourth expect hiring to pick up. we're learning just how angry bank of america customers were over the $5 debit card fee last fall. account closings jumped 20% in the fourth quarter alone. that's why the fee was dumped. consumer advocates say that should be a lesson to other banks as well. overseas markets were up despite niches the greek debt talks. tokyo's nikkei average gained 19 points. hong kong's hang seng was closed for the lunar new year. the dow slid 12 points yesterday. the nasdaq lost 2.5. macy's and j.c. penney are

fighting over a woman. martha stewart. macy's is now suing stewart's company. and youtube is racking up some impressive numbers. visitors to the site now watch 4 billion videos every day. it was just 3 billion eight months ago. every minute, 60 more hours of video are uploaded. site admits it makes money on only about a tenth of the videos. while starbucks helps many people start their day, it wants to help end it as well. they're adding beer and wine to the menus in 12 cafes in atlanta and southern california by the end of the year. they're ex3er789s with beer and wine in a few locations in the pacific northwest.

it recently bought a fruit juice company. >> doubleshot? >> express sow or wine. the scare for an entire family. falling through the ice into some chilly what person the rescue caught on tape. and the u.s. senator who said no wra to an airport pat down. we're right back. ♪ i am you ♪ you are me i'm jennifer hudson, and i believe. i was strong before weight watchers, but i'm stronger with it. i believe weight watchers can do the same for you. i believe you have more power than you think you do. i believe because it works. ♪ if you want it, you got it your turn. your time. your year. join for free. weight watchers points plus 2012. because it works.

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and really soft is really important. quilted northern ultra plush®. for a comfortable, confident clean, or your money back. whoo! >> oh, a lesson in how not the drive in the snow, everybody. this is bountiful, utah, during the weekend storm. a demolition derby. this is one of the most popular on youtube right now, closing in on 800,000 hits. no pun intended. >> oh, man, rough going out there. stay inside if you can. a look at morning road conditions.

i-90 from seattle into the rockies, and i-84 from portland could be icy in higher elevations. i-10 will be okay until the afternoon. if you're flying, airport delays possible in dallas and houston. reaction to rand paul's tussle with security screeners seems to be split down the middle. >> he was stopped for a personal patdown. he refused, asking to go through is a scanner a second time. the tsa refused. paul missed his flight. >> it was an ordeal. i think it is for a lot of travelers. it's an indignity. it's not making us safer. >> the tsa says senator paul was treated the same as anybody

else. once the machine alerts something suspicious, everyone muz allow a targeted patdown or leave. gay marriage is on its way to becoming legal in washington state. a key lawmark said she would vote in favor of it, giving it the vote it needs to pass. washington would be the seventh state to allow gays and lesbians to marry. secret recordings from inside the oval office are being made public today. made by president john f. sendy days before his assassination. it shows the more personal side of the president, as he introduces caroline and john to a soviet official. and evening stroll under the into a nightmare for a massachusetts family when they fell through thin sis on a pond. a 911 call brought firefighters right away. they waded in with a rescue cled

to reach the couple and their 3-year-old son. all three were rushed to the hospital. they're doing okay. big props to the heroes. we all know that football fans get rild up this time of year. some, now, maybe going a little bit too far. security is increased around 49ers head quarters after kick returner kyle williams started getting death threats. he fume b8ed in o.t. over the weekend setting up the winning field goal for the giants. before sunday's game, he only fielded punts twice in the regular season. folks, it's just a game. the latest highlights from espn news. good morning, i'm jorge andres. we start with college hoops. number four syracuse taking on cincinnati. cuse down three. a deep three. cincy up by six. later, cuse down seven.

scoop jardine. they would cut the deficit to four. under 1:00 to play in the half, joseph, baseline with a jam. he had 17 points on the night. 28-25, syracuse at the half. three ball, please? 3 of his 11. jardine. hitting a three-pointer. syracuse goes on to win, 60-53. how about fifth-ranked kansas taking on texas a&m. kansas up, 7-0. closing seconds of the first, dash harris. finishes on the breakaway. aggies up by two at the half. taylor. how are you, please? robinson with the jam. take another look.

kansas up, 34-32. trying to pull away. three won't go, robinson with the putback. the jayhawks win, 64-54. that's your espn news update. i'm jorge andres, for more sports news and highlights, tune into espn news. and upclose and personal look at disaster on a california raceway. this is what the car looked like before the accident. on the track, the driver spun out at more than 130 miles an hour. he stopped in a cloud of dust. >> the driver was fine. so was his camera. when it was over, the cobra, pretty much a heap of junk. >> that hurt. needs a good body shop. coming up next -- >> "the pulse" including the down and out diva. which music superstar is flat-out broke.

and is "the ar tooetistarti shoo-in for best picture?

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>> get your office poll picks ready. the academy award nominations will be released this morning. early favorites, for best pictures, the artist, the descendants, the help, hugo, and 34d night in paris. >> one of our favorites, "bridesmaids" may sneak in as a best picture nominee. we'll have the nom makes thes coming up the. are we really doing an office pool? >> i know they expanded the field to ten nominees. i would love it. i thought "bridesmaids" was great. celebrities have to balance the checkbooks, too. >> now that she's pulled herself together, britney spears could regain her finances from her dad. things are not so rosie for megastar whitney houston.

radaronline reports she is broke. she's looking for $100 loans from friends. what a gifted singer she was. what a tote tl and complete fall from grace. it's sad if she's just that broke. >> you have to surround yourself with good people. talk show host wendy williams is determined to save the twinkie after the hostess company filed for bankruptcy. she invited kobayashi to come and eat them. >> he ate 14 in one minute. he holds the kurt world record for eating hot dogs. 69 of them in ten minutes. >> we need to send him some

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welcome back to "america this morning." your top stories overnight. we learned how much mitt romney earned in 2010. nearly $22 million. donating about $3 million to chasht and paying that much in taxes. tonight's state of the union address. they're calling it date night on capitol hill. and the cleanup is under way in alabama. a rare outbreak of tornadoes caused widespread damage and claimed two lives. a nice day for much of the country. strong storms possible in texas, oklahoma, and louisiana. more rain for the pacific northwest. and finally this morning, a startup american company is rolling out its first electric car this morning. >> cool story.

it's not taking place at home. it's right in the middle of where most of the world's oil is produced. abc's alex marquardt reports. >> reporter: our dependence on oil. the bane of our existence. >> a big-three hybrid. this is fantastic. >> reporter: man with a solution. >> in a sense, if you want to think about it, it's the classic batteries not included. >> reporter: he's been dubbed the electric car prophet. their vision, a world without oil. >> we came out to a slux that has the ability to charge your car at home and work. you're always coming into a full tank. and switch your battery when you're on the freeway, a longer distance than the battery. >> reporter: if your battery is dying and you have a long way to go, you come up to a switch

station. the battery goes in and out. it's supposed to take as long as pumping a tank of gas. >> when you come in and say, i would like to end the oil era, nobody says why. they say, can you do it faster. >> reporter: better place is creating a net work in australia. and in japan and denmark with taxis. they've signed deals with hawaii and san francisco. many doubt the mod would is possible in the states. >> even northern california, it would be hard to blanket that with the kind of battery-changing stations we need. >> reporter: least just asking for a shot. >> give me seven days of gasoline use in the u.s. $8 billion. and we can cover the entire country and get the u.s. off of gasoline. >> that could be staggering for this country and save a lot of money and a lot of energy. >> he says he can blanket the entire united states. that's the way of the future. that's wh