here's matt gutman. >> reporter: there are over 4200 people aboard the carnival triumph, a drift off the yucatan

abc's matt gutman shows us. >> oh, man, did you heart that?reporter: listen to the chatter of hundreds of dolphins, off the california coast. and watch this exclusive video we recently shot off the bahamas. a dolphin mother, caressing her call of, and these dolphins greeting us, heads down. you hear those clicks? dolphins can learn to read. signs like this, use tools, even communicate with humans. this one telling a diver to cut it free of fishing wire. but use names? a new study out today shows dolphin communication to be much more like ours than we ever thought. that each dolphin has own distinct sound. essentially its own name. listen to this. one male bottlenose clicking out his signature sound, basically calling out his name. almost instantly another dolphin responds, calling back to him by his name. >> these whistles are actually used as names. they use in keep in contact when they are swimming through very murky waters so they can keep their social groups integrate and operating as a unit. >> reporter: the dolphins that most commonly co

matt gutman has the details. >> reporter: it was vintage nascar. the fireworks, bravado.mmie johnson taking home the biggest trophy in nascar. danica patrick who made history earlier in the week be being the first woman the take pole position, finished eighth. most of the cars come around the bend with such force, it's incredible. they're flying in at 200 miles an hour. when they pass, you can't hear anything. and it was that speed when -- >> contact! >> reporter: an artillery blast of debris right into the stands of the nationwide race. a pack of cars, waiting at the finish line, as kyle larson's 32 car cart wheeled into the stands. >> all you could do was get down. you could see the stuff coming. >> reporter: you can see his car disintegrate. one of his tires launched into the crowd. 28 injured. two seriously. a minor. look at this speck tark ducking. the engine piercing the metal catch fence. >> the car was right here. the axle. engine, everything. >> reporter: right here? >> right here. >> reporter: look at the fence fix at uncanny speed. >> a piece of wire came up an

matt gutman, abc news, miami. >> we'll have the latest on the fate of the "triumph" later on. on "gma." >>> but we move on now to another story. wild weather ripping through six states from texas to alabama. >> those severe storms triggered as many as 15 tornadoes, including an especially destructive one near hattiesburg, mississippi. the ominous twister was captured on cell phone video as it descended on the town, as well as the university of southern mississippi. >> it touched down around 6:00 in the evening. it damaged hundreds of homes and ripped the roof off a building on campus. many trees were snapped in half and scattered around the streets. more than a dozen people were injured. but good news here. no reports of any fatalities. >>> and hundreds of miles to the north, drivers across the upper midwest are facing a treacherous morning commute after getting clobbered by a foot of snow and freezing rain. hundreds of cars crashed on slick highways yesterday. blowing snow created near-whiteout conditions in duluth. and several cities declared know emergencies, including minn

here's abc's matt gutman. >> reporter: stranded at sea. it is the holiday from hell for more than 4,000 aboard. brett's wife, bethany, is aboard. they spoke briefly before the phone cut out. >> all you hear on the phone calls is crying. >> reporter: with scant news from the ship or passengers, we flew 100 miles from shore to find the "triumph." carnival dispatched a third tow ship to get the ship to bart. >> we've seen boats out here and rigs. as far as cruise ships in distress, no. >> reporter: we saw no visible damage. but we did see curious passengers on deck, looking up at us. deck chairs seem to have been converted into beds. but sleeping outside will be increasingly miserable during the voyage's final hours in the cold rain. for three days, not a single carnival cruise line representative appeared publicly. until president gerry cahill spoke tuesday. >> we're very, very sorry about what's taking place. >> reporter: this is the third time in a month this very ship has had engine trouble. "the triumph" had to limp back to port on its t

abc's matt gutman is at the speedway with the latest. >> reporter: tonight it was vintage nascar, the fireworks bravado, and the speed. jimmie johnson taking home the biggest trove ne nascar. danica patrick, who made history earlier this week by taking pole position, finished eighth. >> the fers with which these cars come around that bend is absolutely incredible. they're flying in here at 200 miles per hour, and when they pass, you can't even hear anything. and it was that speed which overshadowed today's race when -- bang! an artillery blast of debris right into the stands on the last lap of the daytona nationwide yesterday. a pack of cars pirouetting at the finish line. and as kyle larson's number 32 car cartwheeled into the stands . all you can do is get down. you could see the stuff coming. >> reporter: you can see larson's car disintegrate, one of his tires launched into the crowd. 28 injured, two of them seriously. even a minor among those hospitalized. and look closely, this spectator ducking and hopping over wreckage. >> now each one of these weighs about 75 pounds. imagine o

>> matt gutman tonight from florida.att, our thanks to you. >>> we're going to turn now to the major health headline tonight, and it involves a very popular diet, the mediterranean diet. and what we've learned tonight is that in the middle of a new study, researchers were so astounded by what they found, they halted the study, made it public and jumped on the diet themselves. it looked at people at very high risk of heart disease and it reduced that risk by nearly a third. let's bring in dr. richard besser tonight. rich, you've done many studies yourself. how common is it that you would stop before it's even done? >> reporter: this is really unusual. so are the results. they found reduction of 30%. if you think about statins, that only reduces your risk of heart disease by 25%. >> so, this diet even better than the statins. for people at home tonight, the bottom line, remind them what the diet inclaudes. >> reporter: it's rich in fresh fruit and vegetables, fish and chicken and beans. and then you want oils that are heal

it could take longer than that for carnival to repair its reputation. >> matt gutman again tonight. matt, thank you. one more note. the coast guard pays for the cost of rescuing those cruise ships. that's your money, tax money. on capitol hill today, outrage over that. jay rockefeller writing in a letter to the coast guard that, quote, it's time that the cruise line industry, that earns more than $26 billion a year, pay for the costs imposed on the government. >>> don't miss a special "20/20" tonight. troubled waters, an in-depth look at the "triumph" disaster. and the cruise industry. what every family should ask before taking that next cruise. tonight on "20/20." >>> we continue this evening. if you were on facebook today, perhaps you noticed something. facebook coming clean that the site was hacked a month ago. turns out some facebook employees visited a website that was infected. facebook says it quickly fixed the problem and there's no evidence that facebook users had information compromised. >>> we turn to the national conversation on gun violence. and a gripping scene at the

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>> all right, matt gutman reporting in from mexico tonight. >>> and coming up, look closely.here are imposters among these penguins. what are they doing? can you spot them? we'll show you in our "instant index." index." [ female announcer ] caltrate's done even more to move us. because vitamin d3 helps bones absorb calcium, caltrate's double the d. it now has more than any other brand to help maximize calcium absorption. so caltrate women can move the world. but they haven't experienced extra strength bayer advanced aspirin. in fact, in a recent survey, 95% of people who tried it agreed that it relieved their headache fast. visit fastreliefchallenge.com today for a special trial offer. can be the worst part. my medicine alone doesn't always give me all the congestion relief i need to sleep. [ female announcer ] adding breathe right nasal strips can make all the difference. it's proven to instantly relieve cold or flu nasal congestion. [ stefan ] and because it's drug free, it's safe to use with any medicine to relieve my nighttime stuffy nose. so i can breathe better and slee

abc's matt gutman joins us now from the scene. good morning to you, matt. >> reporter: good morning, bianna, nearly 200,000 people were on hand to watch that near-physics-defieing crash. launch into air. disintegrated as it hit that fence. 28 people hurt, including a child. all of them this morning are in stable condition. this morning, fans and drivers, alike, recovering from near-death at nascar. >> stuff was flying everywhere, like you were in a war zone. >> reporter: this massive shotgun of debris, came after this tangle of cars on the last lap. >> and contact! >> reporter: watch these cars heading toward the finish line, where kyle larson's number 32 is launched airborne. >> the front of the car was gone. >> reporter: this video shot by a fan, you can see chunks of the car into the stands. this 25-pound car tire plunged ten rows into the packed stands. nearby, he rushed to the aid of his brother eddie. >> i grabbed my belt and tied it around the leg. that seemed to help. >> reporter: rescuers came quickly, but more than two do

abc's matt gutman joins us now from the scene. good morning to you, matt. >> reporter: good morning, bianna, nearly 200,000 people were on hand here to watch that nearly physics-defying crash. a 3500 pound stock car launched into the air, disintegrating as it launched into the fence. parts sprung into the crowd, 28 people hurt, including a child. all of them this morning are in stable condition. this morning, fans and drivers, alike, recovering from near-death at nascar. >> stuff was flying everywhere, it was like you were in a war zone. >> reporter: this massive shotgun blast of debris in the stands came after this tangle of cars on the last lap. >> and contact! >> reporter: watch these cars heading toward the finish line, when kyle larson's number 32 is launched airborne. >> the front of the car was gone. and the rest of the car was sitting in the stands. >> reporter: in this video shot by a fan, you can see chunks of steel shooting into the stands. >> oh, my god! >> one of the fires flies over the fence and into the stands. >> r

here's matt gutman. >> reporter: there are over 4200 people aboard the carnival triumph, a drift off the yucatan peninsula. >> carnival called me to tell me that there was a problem. that there was a fire in the engine room. and that the fire was contained. everything was all okay. they have no running water. they have no way to use the bathrooms. >> reporter: emergency generators are providing some electricity. but the ship has no propulsion. carnival cruise lines has said no one is hurt, there's plenty of food. but has urged guests to congregate in common areas and on the decks. a tug boat has been dispatched to tow the 900-foot boat back to land in case engineers can't fix the problem. >> we'll have the latest on the fate of the triumph later on. >>> we move to another story. wild weather ripping through six states from texas to alabama. >> adds many as 15 tornadoes were spawned. the ominous twister was captured on cell phone video as it descended on the university of southern mississippi. >> it damaged hundreds of homes and ripped the roof off a building on campus. many trees wer

abc's matt gutman starts us off with what's happening right now, matt? >> reporter: from a boat in the mobile bay, moments ago, we learned one of the passengers aboard the ship suffered a stroke and had to be medevacked. check out the tug boats, trying to nudge that 900-foot ship ideas a quarter mile channel. veering either way and it could ground. tonight they're doing that in the dark. >> reporter: tonight, with the lame colossus finally within sight of land, we get our first look inside -- the grim ship's log. >> been shipwrecked for three days. >> reporter: the hours long lines for food, after eight full days at sea -- five of them without power and sanitation. sewage seeping down walls, and this sandaled foot testing urine soaked carpets. the images showing shanty towns that sprang up on decks -- tent cities that carnival has denied existed. outside, the foot checkered with towels and bedding. some unfurling white banners. right there, above the lettering -- i carnival triumph -- those dressed for the tropics, huddling in bathrobes and blankets agai

here again tonight, abc's matt gutman. >> reporter: they sprinted ashore. 3,000 passengers -- so relieved to be on dry ground, they kissed it. >> that's my first cruise. that's my last cruise. never again. >> reporter: five days after an engine fire left the carnival "triumph" dead in the water. >> everything is under control. nothing to worry about, folks. nothing to panic about. >> reporter: and tonight, this new video shows the extreme conditions on the triumph. people camping on deck, lining corridors with mattresses and sheets, turning couches into beds -- anything to escape a in darkened cabins, passengers used flashlights to show us water seeping under doorways. >> look at this. that's still running out. the stench is horrific. >> reporter: days spent trying to phone home. >> we have tug boats coming out tomorrow at noon to pick up our boat. we're in the middle of the gulf of mexico. >> we're out in the middle of the ocean, dude. the boat caught on fire this morning at about 4:00. >> reporter: for its part, carnival provided vouchers. >> it's degrading. demoralizing. they want to i

here's abc's matt gutman. >> reporter: there are over 4200 people aboard, adrift about 150 miles off the yucatan peninsula. the fire e ript ee eed -- erupt one of the engine rooms. >> an audible called me to tell me that there was a fire in the engine room and that it was contained and everything was all okay. they have no running water. they have no way to use the bathroom. >> reporter: while emergency generators are providing some electricity, the ship has no propulsion. carnival cruise lines has said no one is hurt and there's plenty of food, but urged guests to congregate on the decks. a tug boat has been dispatched to tow the 900 foot boat back to land. matt gutman, abc news, miami. >>> the ntsb and faa are investigating a fatal helicopter crash in southern california. three people died when the chopper went down in northern los angeles county yesterday. it's believed the aircraft was involved in a film shoot. a production company was issued a permit for a reality tv show. >>> there's now a $1 million reward for information about suspected killer christopher dorner. a possible s

abc's matt gutman with the latest. >> reporter: tonight there are over 4200 people aboard the carnival triumph. adrift about 150 miles off the yucatan peninsula. the fire erupted earlier today but was automatically extinguished. emergency generators are providing some electricity, but the ship has no propulsion. now basically a wurn -- 100,000 ton boat. carnival cruise lines has said no one is hurt, but has urged guests to congregate in common areas. a tug boat has been dispatched to tow the boat back to land in case the engineers can't fix the problem. matt gunman, abc news, miami. >>> now to the other major story we're following tonight, the aftermath of the blizzard of 2013. the death toll rising. across the northeast today, this was the scene. this street in boston they spent all day digging out. and this evening, two days since the storm first hit, the death toll now up to 11 people across four states, and some 290,000 families still with no power tonight. our extreme weather team on all of it this evening. meteorologist ginger zee on the other threat brewing this evening, i shoul

and is working on the sanitation problems. >> obviously, don't have matt gutman's microphone. think he was in the process of telling us, this is three days the ship has been floating around there. if i were these people and i saw another cruise ship coming by, i think i would jump over. we'll be tracking that story. >> how terrible it is. >> i know. >>> not good days. we have a little snow on the aloe vera, if you would, in arizona. this from lake montezuma, arizona, near sedona. that snow kicks out of the southern rockies there and moves across, all the way toward paducah, kentucky, springfield. santa fe is getting some. amarillo, you're in line to get one to three, maybe a bit more. the southern end of that is an active day for strong to severe storms in the deep south. not what folks want to hear ino tallahassee, montgomery. northern areas in atlanta will get heavy rain. the strongest storms showing up in the areas shaded in red. a quick look at where the action is, most in the middle of the country, tall way to the deep south today. >> tuesday trivia brought to you by part

matt gutman, abc news, mobile, alabama. >>> there's big business news this morning. a year-long courtship, american airlines and us airways have agreed to join forces. to become the biggest airline in the country. details of the merger will be announced today. we know that the new company will use the american name and the u.s. airways ceo. it could have 94,000 employees, 6500 daily flights. and eight major hubs. but the merger must be approved by american's bankruptcy judge and the justice department. there's some good news and bad news to all of this. experts say you can still buy a ticket from either one of the airlines, which is good to know, but the fares may go up. that's going to upset some people. >> when do fares not -- there's always a reason for the fares to go up. if it's not the fares, then the fees for stuff on board, the baggage. it's all crazy. the deal still needs to be approved by a judge. so it's not done just yet. but in all likelihood this is a done deal. but apparently, these mergers -- we have seen these airlines come together. it's helped make

first, let's go to abc's matt gutman. matt, i can only imagine relief when the huge ship behind you hit land. >> reporter: good morning, george. being so close to "the triumph," you get a sense of the scale involved here and the difficulty in towing this city, floating on the sea, 350 miles in the gulf of mexico. but this morning, it's about the end of the ordeal. and the people getting off the ship. those that cheered, who unfurled a banner that read, sweet home alabama. overnight, the sweet taste of terra firma. >> great to be back in america and on land. >> reporter: just before midnight, more than 3,000 passengers stranded for 8 days at sea, began spilling out of the ship. some angry. >> it was degrading. demoralizing. they want to insult us by giving us $500. >> reporter: others, relief. >> i'm just happy to be alive. quite an ordeal. but we're here. >> reporter: toby barlow, sprinting to his wife, planting this kiss, hundred of several hundred emotional reunions. this morning, the first images of their hellish journe

first, let's go to abc's matt gutman. matt, i can only imagine relief when that huge ship behind you hit land. >> reporter: that's right, george. a huge relief. one last voyage for the carnival triumph. you see those tugboats, they're going to nudge that giant ship across this narrow channel when it will start to undergo initial repairs. so many of those people walking down the gangway, so happy to be off that ship. they were singing and dancing as they came down. overnight, the sweet taste of terra firma. >> great to be back in america and on land. >> reporter: just before midnight, more than 3,000 passengers stranded for 8 days at sea, began spilling out of the ship. some angry. >> it was degrading. demoralizing. >> and they want to insult us by giving us $500. >> reporter: others, relief. >> i'm just happy to be alive. it was quite an ordeal. but we're here. >> reporter: toby barlow, sprinting to his wife, planting this kiss, one of several hundred emotional reunions. and this morning, the first images of their hellish

matt gutman was there for every exciting moment. >> reporter: for five laps, danica patrick made historyng the first woman to lead at daytona. veteran jimmie johnson would win it. but the race belonged to patrick, who finished eighth. james franco amending the traditional command. >> drivers, and danica, start your engines! >> reporter: patrick was in third place, coming down to the wire. after the race, she hinted the other men shouldered her away from the lead. >> i had a little bit of help here today here and there. i felt like if i were to dive low, i -- i had a feeling i was going to get freight trained. it was tough to tell. >> reporter: she was the first woman to take pole position at the super bowl of racing that was nearly overshadows by this crash. watch car number 32 spin, and catapult into the fencing like a spear. >> holy cow, oh my god! >> reporter: you can see a tire landing on a speck farpt but the fans came back for more. how many people sitting here got hit or saw something yesterday? medical officials tell us seven people are still hospitalized from the crash. to give

matt gutman has the story. >> reporter: this morning, the carnival "triumph" is little more than a 100,000-on the cork bobbing in the gulf of mexico. the engines are so badly damaged, a tugboat will have to tow it to mexico starting at noon today. brett says his wife called to say the plumbing wasn't work. >> there's no running water. they just really got food there to them tonight. no power whatsoever other than the emergency flasher lights that are on. she was crying and hysterical. >> reporter: overnight, carnival told abc news that many of the toilets are coming back online. the passengers are not in danger. a fire erupted in the engine room on sunday. it was extinguished by an automated system, not before it hobbled the ship. >> all the passengers are staying in the public areas of the vessel on the open dex. because there's no air conditioning. >> reporter: emergency generators are providing some power. the ship, 2 1/2 football fields long saz the mercy of the sea. tugboats are a couple of hours away. the hard part begins now. it will take three full days to get the ship back to a po

abc's matt gutman flew right over the crippled boat. he's been tracking this story all night long and joins us from mobile with the latest. good morning, matt. >> reporter: good morning, elizabeth. this narrow channel is the home stretch for the "triumph." they're still 60 miles from here. 12 more hours aboard. all the that misery for the passengers. eight days and more than a boatload of horror stories later, what those onboard call a vacation from hell, now appears to be ending. have you ever seen anything like that? >> no. >> reporter: this morning, for the first time, a bird's-eye view of the crippled carnival "triumph," as it was towed to port with more than 4,000 still stranded onboard. it's incredible to see how hard that tugboat is fighting to steer the ship. it's 900 feet long. and the tugboat in front is the one pulling it. from above, you can just make out the curious at the rails. the deck chairs turned into beds. what you can't see, the reports of elderly passengers running out of critical heart medicine. others onboard, squ

. >>> meantime, abc's matt gutman has this story. >>> as we head back to work, commuters facing a massive price spike at gas stations. prices rising another 25 cents per gallon. the national average stands at $3.59. but prices are well over $4 in states in california because of higher oil prices and pipeline maintenance. >>> and finally, the national anthem that went oh, so horribly wrong at one minor league hockey game. take a look. that's the fellow that handles the mascot for the bakersfield condors. the bird takes things into his own hand. first, he's looking for a penalty box. the announcers -- one of them saying, the greatest thing i have ever seen. the best part about it was, those big hockey players took to the ice. the bird benched himself. took himself back to the locker room. that's terrific. >> the big, burly hockey players. all of the padding. >> that has a 12-foot wingspan. i'm getting out of the way, too. >> what am i doing here? >>> we'll start out west. look at l.a., 44. fresno, 36. these numbers do come up. you have plenty of 60s. by the end of the week, maybe l.a. gets

and matt gutman is here with that. >> reporter: one of the allegations is that he didn't complete a singley labor in his home district of virginia. and he wasn't in the state on some of the days he was supposed to be picking up trash. the district attorney wants him to redo hundreds of hours of community service. this time, in l.a. chris brown, the bad boy crooner, please don't judge me, may not get his wish this morning. brown is slated to appear before a los angeles judge today, after new allegations the singer didn't do over 1,400 hours of community-focused labor he was ordered to perform in 2009. part of his sentence for pleading guilty to assaulting his then and current girlfriend, rihanna. >> the defendant, chris brown, must not harass -- >> reporter: at the time, richmond's police chief agreed to supervise brown doing tasks like cleaning up trash and removing graffiti. instead, the d.a. says its investigation revealed no verifiable evidence he did any of the work saying the police department, at best, kept, quote, sloppy documentation. and at worst, provided fraudulent reporting. >>