but he was always a bookworm, more comfortable writing. many are calling for a more dynamic pope. and thanks to the first papal retirement in six centuries, cardinals might be willing to choose a young ur successor. >> the cardinals have to weigh experience and the need for a certain level of energy. >> reporter: and last night, what looked like a divine sign, lightning hitting st. peters ka reed ral. and the papers are out. this one says amen. benedict won't choose his successor. but he hand-picked cardinals who will. and his most memorable act might have been his last. rob? diana? >> nick schifrin at the vatican. thank you. >>> we'll get into who the front-runners are and what happens to a pope in retirement, coming up on "gma." >>> in other news this morning, president obama poised to lay out his second term agenda in tonight's state of the union address. the nation can expect to get an earful about immigration, gun control and the economy. abc's tahman bradley has details for us this morning from washington. hey, tahman. >> reporter: hey, rob. anticipate a speech much more ela

. >> reporter: benedict filled stadiums but he was always a bookworm, more comfortable writing.e now calling for a more dynamic pope. and thanks to the first papal retirement in six centuries, cardinals might be willing to choose a younger successor. >> the cardinals are going to have to weigh experience and the need for a certain level of energy. >> reporter: what looked like a divine sign, lightning hitting st. paul's cathedral. benedict won't choose the successor, but the hand picked cardinals will. rob, diana? >>> a showdown in the senate today over chuck hagel's nomination as the defense secretary. democrats are going to force a vote on the nomination, rejecting demands for more information on hagel's finances. hague >>> that carnival cruise ship that's standed in the gulf of mexico is being pulled to mobile, alabama instead of mexico. it's been dead in the water since sunday when a fire knocked out its engines. it's scheduled to arrive in the u.s. on thursday. there are more than 4200 people on that ship. passengers and loved ones stay it's not a good scene on board. >> th

he's a bookworm, but swing him anyway. oh, now how about this one? how'd you like that hanging?s a game. you play all sorts of games. (woman) what is your weakness, brother? holy smokes, a dropped kerchief! that hasn't been used since lily langsley. you'll have to pick it up yourself, madame. it's a shame that he'll never see it. oh, you don't like h either? well, what are you gonna do about it? oh, you just can't stand it anymore, you're leaving. these women don't give you a moment's peace, do they? go soak your head and see if i care! introduce the man and the woman in the beginning of the movie, and then you complicate it for the next 60, 70 minutes, and you know they're gonna get together at the end, but it's fun to watch how they keep missing each other. it's kind of a tough thing, because if you say, "here's a romantic comedy, and i'm trying to keep the tension alive," except the audience comes in, they know who's in it, so they know they're gonna get together. so you always throw in obstacles to keep people apart. (robert zemeckis) the stakes in the story kept getting hig

athletes beat bookworms on at least one measure of intelligence, researchers studies english soccer playersgby players and found their cognitive functioning was superior to top-rated university students trained athletes actually had increased chordal thickness in the brain the process visual themes better and are better at interpreting abstract movement. we had one of the coldest starts to february in almost two decades it will also ease up a bit in the coming days. this is america. we don't let frequent heartburn come between us and what we love. so if you're one of them people who gets heartburn and then treats day after day... block the acid with prilosec otc and don't get heartburn in the first place! [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. [ female announcer ] switch to swiffer wetjet, and you'll dump your old mop. but don't worry, he'll find someone else. ♪ who's that lady? ♪ ♪ who's that lady? ♪ ♪ sexy lady ♪ ♪ who's that lady? ♪ [ female announcer ] used mops can grow bacteria. swiffer wetjet starts with a clean pad every time, and its antibacterial clean

he's a bookworm, but swing him anyway. oh, now how about this one? how'd you like that hanging?a game. you play all sorts of games. (woman) what is your weakness, brother? holy smokes, a dropped kerchief! that hasn't been used since lily langsley. you'll have to pick it up yourself, madame. it's a shame that he'll never see it. oh, you don't like her either? well, what are you gonna do about it? oh, you just can't stand it anymore, you're leaving. these women don't give you a moment's peace, do they? go soak your head and see if i care! introduce the man and the woman in the beginning of the movie, and then you complicate it for the next 60, 70 minutes, and you know they're gonna get together at the end, but it's fun to watch how they keep missing each other. it's kind of a tough thing, because if you say, "here's a romantic comedy, and i'm trying to keep the tension alive," except the audience comes in, they know who's in it, so they know they're gonna get together. so you always throw in obstacles to keep people apart. (robert zemeckis) the stakes in the story kept getting hig

. >> reporter: he filled stadiums but he was always a bookworm, more comfortable writing.ng for a more dynamic pope. thanks to the first papal retirement in six centuries, cardinals might be willing to choose a younger successor. >> the cardinals are going to have to weigh experience and the need for a certain level of energy. >> reporter: what looked like a divine sign, lightning hitting st. paul's cathedral. benedict won't choose his successor, but his hand-picked cardinals will. they're expected to continue the conservative traditions of a man whose most important legacy as pope might have been his final act. rob, diana? >> abc's nick schifrin at the vatican for us this morning. like so many other american catholics, new york's cardinal timothy dolan said he was stunned by the resignation and looks to the future in a talk with abc's diane sawyer. >> the church is in the business of fundamental change internally. so when we speak about change in the church, yeah, there could be a change in style. there's certainly always going to be a change of heart because conversion o

why nancy grace ain't buying her bookworm makeover. >> she's a nerd as opposed to the sexy bombshelle she committed murder >> plus -- >> bethenny frankel on her new talk show going way back with a.j. >> he was very, very single and a.j. >> he was very, very single and i was very, very broke.