here's jeffrey kofman. >> reporter: talk about pushing the limit.e divers william and fred can hold their breath for four or five minutes. and they do it while swimming with sharks. why do you do this? >> it's an opportunity to find occupant where my limits are. explore the potential. >> reporter: to get a sense of this extreme, extreme sport, we travel to greece. >> two minutes dive time. >> reporter: site of the international freel diving championships. here, it's not just about holding your breath under water, it's about suppressing your fear, as you endure crushing undersea pressure. william suggests i try it. >> don't let the air out. >> reporter: when do i? when i panic? >> no, no. you don't panic. you let the air out when you are back at the surface. >> reporter: you make it look so easy. graceful, i'm not. even with an expert at my side, it is impossible for me to stifle the urge to breathe. i'm up against powerful mental and physical barriers and i'm losi losing. >> put your mask on and -- >> reporter: a few feet away, diver mark the ghon s

here's abc's jeffrey kofman. >> reporter: it is the papal punch line that is rocking the vatican -- "e butler did it." his name, paolo gabriele. that's him pouring wine for benedict xvi. and that's him sitting in the front seat of the pope mobile. literally at the pope's right hand, where he always is. he dresses the pope. travels everywhere with the pope. and now he is accused of betraying the pope. >> that he could be involved in what most people would see as one of the most significant acts of betrayal in recent vatican history obviously is going to be a source of particular concern for the pope and for the vatican. >> reporter: vatican investigators say they found a stash of stolen papal correspondence in gabriele's home. that, they believe, proves he is the source of a flood of leaks to italian newspapers that have embarrassed the pope and exposed a poisonous atmosphere behind the ancient walls of the vatican. they include searing allegations of corruption and cronyism at the vatican bank. a bizarre plot to kill the pope allegedly by a cardinal hoping to succeed him. and a nasty

jeffrey kofman, abc news, cavezzo, italy. >> we want to get a little technical.point magnitude earthquake maybe in california will not feel like a 6 point magnitude in italy because in california, the plates are going to rub against each other, but in italy, they will actually slide around on top of each other. >> different kind of motion. >> you mentioned earlier there was a mild earthquake out in malibu last night. >> a 4.0 off the coast of malibu. obviously, 4.0 in terms of what californians are used to, that is not a big deal so this one, in light of that story, wanted to put that out there as well. keep an eye on that throughout the morning. so far, no serious reports. >>> speaking of weather, severe storms raked over the northeast well into the night unleashing some high winds, hail and drenching downpours. too much rain came down too fast in eastern pennsylvania pushing creeks and streams out of their beds. trees and power lines snapped in new york, and tornado warnings were issued as far north as new hampshire. even stormier in the southern plains where t

for more here's jeffrey kofman from london. >> reporter: he is not a fit person to run an international company. he is media titan rupert murdoch. the skailting words come from a british parliamentary committee. >> everybody in the world knows who is responsible for the wrongdoing of news corp. rupert murdoch. more than any individual alive, he is to blame. morally, the deeds are his. >> reporter: the blistering committee report slams murdoch and accuses his son james of willful ignorance in not knowing about the corrupt media practices of their british tabloid "news of the world" and accuses senior executives of lying under oath. >> we find news corporation carried out an extensive cover-up of its rampant law breaking. >> reporter: just last week murdoch appeared before a british inquiry into the conduct of had is papers. >> i also have to say that i failed. >> reporter: that may not be enough because what was a public relations problem for the head of a global media empire that includes fox news and "the wall street journal" is now a question of integrity. >> it's a sad thing but he's

the latest quake, a 5.8 and abc's jeffrey kofman is there. >> reporter: as the ground shook the buildingsumbled. it hit during this morning newscast, sending the nudes reader fleeing from the studio. but for people here, it's as if the quakes don't stop. a staggering 800 aftershocks since the first big quake hit this region on may 20, killing seven. "we thought the worst was over," she says, yet three big quakes struck today. thousands still living scared, now joinds by a new wave of homelessness. the mayor says they're starting not from zero, but from below zero. seismologists tell us when they see this many earthquakes happening with this frequency it's a sign the seismic terror here isn't likely to end anytime soon. >> thanks so much. >>> now there's growing outrage around the world at the atrocities in syria, which have been laid at the feet of the asatd regime. 108 villagers killed in their homes, nearly half of them children, shot execution style, a bullet in the head. today the u.s. and eight other nations expelled syrian diplomats in protest. they warned syria's president that tim

here's abc's jeffrey kofman now. >> reporter: for centuries, the ancient walls of the vatican have held firm keeping the secrets, the power struggles far from the public eye. now, those walls are cracking. because of this man -- the pope's butler, paolo gabriele, one of only a handful of people in benedict xvi's circle. now, the butler accused of betraying his boss, leaking to the media secret vatican documents that show corruption at some of the highest levels, alleging kickbacks and money laundering at the secretive vatican bank. gabriele is being held in the tiny vatican police station. today, through his lawyer, he pledged "full cooperation" with investigators. >> even if he's somehow involved, he may also be a convenient scapegoat for people who are higher up in the system. >> reporter: one respected italian newspaper described a deep throat inside the vatican who described a network of conspirators, leaking secrets, including cartenals. some to protect the pope, some to undermine him. it's war, says the insider, and you no longer know which sign -- side anyone is on. the pope spok

with more, here's abc's jeffrey kofman. >> reporter: pope benedict xvi spoke about unity. but he presides over an embattled church. its seven-year. a papacy. he learn more about gabriele, the pope's personal butler. gabri ele is said to be a modest man who began at the vatican as a cleaner working his way up. he has been at benedict's side since 2006. >> there are a lot of people who can't understand why he did it if he did it. and many think that maybe he was framed up. >> reporter: we are told that the apartment with the red flowers is where gabriele lives with his family and where the secret church documents were found. he is now being held in a room in the tiny vatican police station. the documents expose money laundering and kickbacks at the secretive vatican bank which has operated outside of international banking laws. the head of the bank fired last week. benedict has tried and failed to reform it. the hunt for potential accomplices of the pope's butler continues here at the vatican. court cases inside the vatican walls are held behind closed doors. so while some i

jeffrey kofman has the latest. >> reporter: could she be alive?or the first time in years, gerry and kate mccann says for the first time in five years, they have allowed themselves to believe that after five year, their little daughter madeleine, could be found. >> we're as positive as we've been in a long time. >> reporter: in an interview with britain's itv this morning, the mccanns say they are cautiously optimistic. >> we're realistic. there's a chance she could be alive. there's no evidence to the contrary. >> reporter: it was five years ago this week, that the mccanns took their three children on holiday to portugal. tomorrow marks the fifth anniversary of the dark day when they returned to their rented villa, to discover that madeleine, then 4, was missing. she hasn't been seen since. while portugal has abandoned the case, last week, scotland yard announced it was opening up a unit to investigate almost 200 leads. british police released this age-enhanced photo to show what madeleine might look like today. >> it's really key. it could be re

we get the details from jeffrey kofman in london. good morning, jeffrey. >> reporter: good morning. it has all the ingredients of a thriller. the setting, the vatican. the story, scandalous leaks of papal documents. who did it? it's hard to believe, the butler did it, and no, we are not kidding. he is at the pope's side from morning to midnight. that is butler pablo gabrielle pouring papal wine. and there there he is at the front of the popemobile, at the pope's right hand. he dresses the pope, serves him, tends to his every need. now, the vatican says he has betrayed him. >> the notion this betrayal could have come not from somebody on the outside of the system, but from someone who was in the papal apartment and a member of the papal family, obviously is going to cause a great crisis of caution. >> reporter: for months, italian newspapers had been filled with stories of corruption, bribery inside the vatican of pope benedict xvi. the vatican leak scandal, they said, had to be an inside job. but the nagging question -- but who done it? investigators said they found a stash of confi

abc's jeffrey kofman is on the ground in italy right now with the very latest. good morning to you, jeffrey. >> reporter: good morning, josh. italy on edge yet again as another big earthquake hit the northern part of the country. centered north of bologna but from there to milan people fleeingout side fearing the buildings would collapse. this is a magnitude 5.8. the tremors felt as far away as austria. now, northern italy has been on alert as quakes and tremors have been hitting the region for the last nine days since may 20th when that big 6.0 quake hit north of bologna. that quake killed seven people. left about 7,000 people homeless and destroyed historic towns and villages. because this is, again, in a remote area, small towns and villa village, it's going to take some time before we know how much death and destruction this quake has brought. josh? >> jeffrey kofman, thank you for that. >>> we're just getting word right now out of afghanistan that a senior member of al qaeda has been killed in a nato air strike. sakhr al taifi was al qaeda's second in comman

and abc's jeffrey kofman is at the vatican this morning. jeffrey, good morning to you. >> reporter: what a spectacular morning it is here at the vatican. this being sunday the pope would like catholics to dwell on questions of spirituality and faith. but, instead, the question being asked here now is, did the butler really do it? as the pope celebrated mass at st. peter's today, it was hard not to be diverted by the scandals that continue to plague his leadership. we are learning more about butler paol ochoochpaologabriel. seen here serving the pope wine, under arrest accused of leaking confidential papers. to the italian media. do you think the butler did it? >> i think the butler is a simple person to do something on his own. >> reporter: if it happened, others are helping him? >> if it happened there are others helping him and may be leading him. >> reporter: all of this talk of conspiracy and intrigue sounds much like a dan brown novel. >> open the doors and tell the world the truth. >> reporter: there are similar scenes in his book, "an

abc's jeffrey kofman joins us with the latest from rome. jeffrey, good morning to you. >> reporter: and rainy good morning to you, elizabeth. ho ho who would believe one of the pope's trusted aides who helps him dress and serves him his meals is under arrest? but did the butler really do it? he is always at the pope's side. here is butler paolo gabriele pouring papal wine and that's him in the front seat of the popemobile literally at the pope's right hand. but now the loyal butler under arrest accused of betraying the man he serves by leaking embarrassing confidential vatican documents to the italian media. do you think the butler did it. >> i think the butler is a simple person to do something on his own. >> reporter: you think if it happened, there are others helping him. >> if it happened, there are others helping him and maybe leading him. >> reporter: the leaked documents have been making headlines here for months exposing money laundering and kickbacks at the secretive vatican bank, the head of the bank who said he was trying to clean

abc's jeffrey kofman is in italy right now. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning to you, josh. this morning, a 5.8 quake hits and since then, more than 60 aftershocks. that's right, 6-0. while this is centered north of bologna, people from there to milan fleeing offices into the streets. some buildings have collapsed. they're searching for survivors in collapsed farm buildings and factories. some have been pulled out of the rubble. this is the same area hit nine days ago by the big 6.0 dwhakt killed seven people, left more than 7,000 homeless and damaged some historic vaujs. the toll now, impossible the say as the search continues. >> meanwhile, we're just getting word out of afghanistan that a senior member of al qaeda has been killed in a nato air strike. sakhr al taifi was al qaeda's second in command in afghanistan. military officials say he played a key role in plotting attacks against u.s. troops and supplying weapons to insurgents. >>> here at home a manhunt is under way at this hour for two accused killers on