. >> reporter: most of the passengers ended up in nearby porto santo stefano. the operation to bring passengers off the stranded ship included life boats, helicopters, and ferries, like the ones behind me, which make regular runs from the mainland to the island of gillio, where the cruise ship finally ran aground. there was no time to salvage belongings. most arrived in what they had been wearing when the ship started to go down. nine-year-old isabelle and six-year-old molly lukeez were in their pajamas. >> lucy lost her tooth on the ladder. >> reporter: the tooth fair segoing to have to go looking a long way down for your took the. >> that was the scary part. >> reporter: asa many as 40st more than 4,000 passengers and crew remain unaccounted for. divers will start searching the submerged hull again in the morning, and the captain has been detained. alan pizzey, cbs news, porto santo stefano. >> so how does a modern, huge cruise ship roll over in such shallow water and how could the crew appear to be so unprepared? tony guidaa has that part of the story. >> re

well, from here in porto santo stefano, the passengers are being taken to the city of rome from which they will go back to their home country. much earlier of course than they expected. the u.s. embassy has got back to us, saying that none of the 126 passengers -- american passengers that were on board of that ship were injured, but for all of the passengers, this was the longest day. a shocking scene today off the italian coast. as rescuers frantically searched for any survivors across the board. the luxury cruise ship dubbed the floating temple of fun was caring are 4,234 people including 126 americans when it ran aground last night. survivors would go to land in lifeboats. day break revealed the gash 150 feet long on the right side of the ship. the survivors recall the first terrifying moments. >> all of a sudden, everything shifted on the ship. fell off out our table at dinner. and they said everything was fine. obviously, it's not fine. >> reporter: at first, the crew tried to reassure passengers saying it was simply a technical problem. but there was panic. >> we had a blackout,

. >> abc news, porto santo stefano, italy. >>> now, the forecast certified most accurate by weather rateto look at today, but definitely cold outside. dealing with mostly clear skies. that will be the scenario through the rest of the evening. as we check out the temperature now at 31 degrees, the winds are finally dying down. nice and calm. that barometer at 30.50. it is rising and not dealing with fog. we won't deal with that through the overnight. baltimore today, look at the crystal blue skies out there. not even a cloud to be found. a gorgeous day. hopefully, you got out there and got to the game, supported the team and if you did so you know we won. that is good news. manchester the same thing. bellaire, still blue skies to be seen and had but like i said before cold temperatures. i'm going to show you those in a second. maryland's most powerful radar is dry. we're not going to deal with any type of rain as we go through the rest of tonight, but that is in the forecast. we're dealing with the fact that today was cold. highs only made it up to 34 degrees. this is below average. cambr

either coming through the port of porto santo stefano on the mainland where people have been processed by the italian authorities and the cruise ship company. what we don't know, though, is whether or not those people belonged on the list or if they actually got on the ship or not. there have been reports in the last 20 to 30 minutes, though, that there has been potentially not -- this is not confirmed but some indication there are still bodies in the boat. this is coming from divers who are out in -- at the site. that is an unconfirmed report but there are people coming back to the shores here that are saying that there are some bodies left in the ship which, you know, i think everyone's expecting this death toll could rise with an accident like this and the sheer number of people, 4,434. the rescue effort in terms of the live passengers have gone fairly smoothly. all of those people dispersed to various ports in italy to be sent home or they'll continue their mediterranean vacation, i suppose. some people still will. what we don't know, though, is what caused this accident. all of th

stefano, we're glad that you could join us tonight and that you and your family members are safe.nk you, and to hear me and my story, this tragedy. >> harris: you bet. >> there were things happening in my life. and it's a movie thing, i think this was a movie thing and now i realize it could happen to anyone. >> harris: stefano, thank you. i tell you, we continue to hear the stories and we know they're early in the investigation and you wonder what the cruise company is being told by all of these people. there's some consistency that you hear from each one. we'll continue to bring you the stories and latest as we hear it. have you ever heard of patriot guard riders? they escort military fumes. as you're about to see, sometimes their jobs expand into saving lives. it's a fox trip across america. indiana, that group of patriot guard riders, springing into action when a jeep catapults into the path of their communal motorcade. they were escorting procession for the military man. and a man and her six-year-old, a grandmother and another six-year-old boy were pulled out with less sever

lama hasan joins us from porto santo stefano. lama, still unaccounted for? >> good morning, rob. yes, i think they just don't know where the unaccounted for people are. i mean, they're going to keep with the search that they're conducting right now. they don't know if these unaccounted people are either still on the ship or if they're staying with people on the island of giglio which is very close to where the rescue is. don't forget, many of the locals provided them with shelter. they took them in. as i said, rescuers going with the search and recovery efforts. we spoke to people at the scene who told us they're going to do whatever it takes so everyone unaccounted for is found at the moment. the number missing 16, two of them are american passengers, rob. >> lama, whether or not there are survivors of the 16 remains, we are hearing incredible stories of survival, people that have escaped? >> reporter: oh, absolutely, yes. this is hearing all the stories, people comparing it to the "titanic." this is a massive operation. the italian coast guard, scuba divers, rescuers. they're u

stefano, are you standing because you are going to make public comment? it is not. seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioners, i entertain a motion. mr. king, call the rollbacks -- call the roll. congratulations. you are the fastest permit tonight. we are all going to be going down to hit some strikes and spares, i am sure. good luck to you. next permit. edmund chain -- edmond chang, doing buisiness as shabu pub. mr. king, you are up. what happened to mr. king? nicolas? go for it. >> there was a belated request for a cantonese interpreter. i am checking with the applicant to see if he wanted to proceed or not. vice chair joseph: do we have an interpreter? >> no. vice chair joseph: and you just got the request? does the applicant want a continuance? >> i just checked with him and he said no. this is mr. chang, the owner and operator. this is a place of entertainment permit for karaoke. i'll turn it to him. vice chair joseph: mr. chang? do you speak english? >> a little bit. vice chair joseph: a little bit. can you tell me about your operation? can you tell

stefano, are you standing because you are going to make public comment? it is not. seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioners, i entertain a motion. mr. king, call the rollbacks

countries much earlier than they expected, offcourse, but the story here in porto sant porto santo stefano isn't over here. there are reports that two people might have been found alive inside the ship. this raises hopes that more could be found alive in the next few hour s days. among the many still missing -- >> we are counting the people. we are counting the number of people rescued. until now, they are 400 something. we are still counting. just, for example, we found four american boys, they were rescued last night. and they were asleep and now just wake up. >> well, at least the u.s. embassy told nbc that 126 americans onboard that ship are fooi fine. and now the attention is shifting towards what really caused this tragedy. >> they didn't have enough room on the boats for us. so we had to wait. they said they were coming back to get us. and at that point, the boat started sinking more and more on the side we were at. and we made that decision at that point we had to get off. it's a good thing we did. because the part that's now underwater is where we were standing. >> the captain of

we could put in the fifty's you could put him in the press and be screwed stefano clearly. cloyd we could all anyway will because the great players and i am almost without question comes into that category. now the n.b.a. is back in action with players returning stateside from all over europe to play in the best league in the world russia hasn't really been affected with only to my famous golf leaving richard poole fit assesses the mood amongst the fence and players. russian basketball fans of hardly been affected by the resumption of the n.b.a. has very few stars came to the country in the first place but a few players like andre carolyn go have decided to stay in europe robin the move back stateside a k forty seven decision to stay puts has certainly earned the praise of one of his rivals are things is a lot about russian gas war thing that overseas loyalty to the country and so for that i think it's great to think that some of might that decision and it could be good for the sport especially in russia so. he will be only russian club that was seriously affected by resump

prove to be unscrewed stefano. cloyd we could all anyway will because the group wears a moment most without question comes into that category. to the hardwood now where the golden state warriors have beaten the miami heat on the road one hundred eleven to one hundred six their hosts were in control for most of the game but even the wayne wade's season high thirty four points were not enough for the heat to weigh in right scored twenty points on the night including this shot from behind are to tie the game nine to six all with just that one seconds to go in the fourth quarter to the match in overtime right was instrumental that adding five of the fifteen points. in total one hundred eleven one hundred six the final score there. so the n.b.a. is back in action with players returning stateside from all over europe to play in the best league in the world russia hasn't really been affected with only to my famous golf leaving richard assesses the mood amongst the fence and players. russian basketball fans have hardly bee

time but thank you for your thoughts i'm sure we'll get you about another interview about that again stefano about from a journalist pirate party thanks very much. iran is threatening to switch off its oil supplies to europe before the e.u. embargo comes into force in july parliament will discuss whether to make the move next week the e.u. decided to stop buying iranian oil in a bid to force to back into talks over its nuclear program to share in share fade from the campaign against sanctions and military intervention in iran he explained to me what message this move sends to europe. the grace period that the i had envisioned for six months for does go to take place may actually not be that graceful so iran is taking matters into his own hands another issue is that it shows the complex city of feeling in domestic politics and the power that the iranian parliament holds and that is accountable to its people and it's not going to just sit back and watch what's going to happen to the national sovereignty off of the wrong there near chose the disconnect between. his harlem and him people because

lama hasan made her way out to the wreckage today and she starts us off tonight from puerto santo stefano. lama. >> reporter: good evening, diane. well, italian coast guard officials have raised the number of missing to at least 29. and tonight, the captain of that ship, well, he remains in jail, facing allegations that he was one of the first to abandon the vessel. and we're learning new details about what he was doing before this tragedy unfolded. late this afternoon, the first underwater images of scuba divers searching beneath the ship's hull. a desperate search for survivors. above the surface, questions about just how this could have happened. today, the emotional owner of the cruise liner, a subsidiary of carnival cruises, accused the italian captain of deviating off course, dangerously close to the island. crashing into the rocks and tearing a hole 160 feet long in the hull of the ship. new indications today that he might have veered on purpose to show off the impressive ship. the sister of a waiter on the ship posted on facebook -- "in a short period of time, the concordia ship w

the rescued were taken to the main land town of porto santo stefano where michelle kosinski is tonight to bring us the very latest. michelle? >> reporter: good evening, lester. what happened here? from the beginning, questions surrounded the captain. he was arrested, under investigation. well, tonight his employer says it appears he brought the enormous cruise liner too close to shore, then made mistakes handling it, plus investigators now say he himself was on shore while passengers were still scrambling to get off the ship. this was friday night. and the latest rescue from on board was this afternoon. 48 hours after the costa concordia began its panic inducing roll, rescuers keep looking. this man saved, a ship's officer trapped for more than a day and a half. but soon after, searchers reached two elderly men, who had not survived. new video emerged today from around 10:00 friday, just after passengers heard a loud rumble, felt a sharp tilting and then got a reassuring announcement. >> due to an electrical function, which is currently under control, we're currently in a blackout. i w

lama hasan, abc news, porto santo stefano, italy. >> and of course the search for victims right now isramount, too, but there's a half million gallons of fuel on that ship as well. you can see some of the boom they've laid around it to kind of contain it because it's a sanctuary out there. you can see there, the lower part of your screen there. so there's an environmental concern as well as of course the concern for human life. >> yeah. it's -- we're just holding out hope that -- we're going on five days now. >> that captain is under house arrest. and i have a feeling jail may be in his future as that investigation moves forward. >>> well, in texas several children involved in a school bus crash remain in a hospital this morning, one in critical condition. the crash happened when a lowe's hardware truck apparently ran a stop sign, clipped the bus, which then flipped onto its side. 32 people were treated at a hospital. 29 of them kids. 5 of them were later admitted. >>> houston police are now seeking information about the death of a woman who was active in promoting iranian women's righ

we are joined from porto san stefano, italy this morning. >> reporter: good morning, jeff. many people rescued came off the ship you can see behind me. they dropped their lifejackets into a pile and went into medical and reception tents, counting themselves very lucky indeed to escape scenes one passenger described as being like something from the "titanic." 4,000 passengers and crew will to be evacuated from the ship, many ended up in porto san stefano, the town near where the ship ran aground. the impact ripped a 160-foot gash in the hull. the captain ran aground. there were scenes of panic and chaos as the ship began to list. >> everybody was screaming out. passengers running up and down. >> reporter: because the angle of the ship, some of the lifeboats could not be launched. the "kosta concordia" was on an eight-day cruise around mediterranean ports. it happened during a late dinner serving, about three hours after the ship sailed from an earlier port. the first evacuation drill wasn't scheduled until late today, and complained the crew had not given cleary evacuation o

michelle kosinski is in porto santo stefano, italy. what's the latest. >> reporter: questions have surrounded the actions of the captain. he's under arrest, under investigation. his employer said he made an unauthorized deviation from the ship's course, brought it too close to shore and made mistakes in handling it. also, investigators say he himself was on shore as passengers were on board scrambling to get off that ship. this is friday night, the latest rescue from on board was just yesterday. so the question also continues. why would he go off course with more than 4,000 people on board? sometimes they buzz is shoreline, sound the horn. >> again that was michelle kosinski live for us. we apologize for the technical difficulty. with five day bfrs the primary the republican presidential field is getting smaller. jon huntsman is dropping out, endorsing mitt romney. huntsman has single digit support in many national polls. iran is stepping up the rhetoric against the west. this morning the intelligence minister warned americans, israeli

ordered that master back on to his ship just as the coast guard officer in italy ordered captain stefanoon his ship. this is actually a disgusting and unforgivable lapse in responsibility and leadership. and if you talk to the passengers on this ship, what they say is there was nobody there supervising or acting as a leader. >> they were saying everybody, man for themselves. the old expression, captain goes down with the ship, how does that stand up in modern maritime law? >> well, you know, there's been a lot of talk about this. the captain does not go down with the ship. he is supposed to, he or she is supposed to live to fight another day, but the captain is supposed to be the last person on the ship. now, where does this come from? this comes from hurricanes if not thousands of years of maritime standards. number one, number two, it's in every manual. it's in the merchant mariner's officers manual as the very first principle for a master and it's not in a strictly federal statute, but whether it's an italian statute, i don't know, but my sense of it is the prosecution is not just for

from porta santo stefano, italy. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, dan. helicopters have just lowered more rescuers onboard the ship. when you look at wreckage and the scale of the disaster, it's hard to believe it, they're finding passengers. trapped alive. just moments ago, a survivor was rescued. this morning, an italian crew member was pulled out alive after rescuers found him inside the ship. there is still hope. this south korean couple rescued after being trapped in their cabin for 24 hours after the ship went down and the investigation into what happened is now in full swing. the captain of the ship is now in custody. facing possible charges of manslaughter and abandoning his ship. we are learning new details this morning about what appears to be complete chaos on board. >> i was crying. i was terrified. i was just telling my husband, we're going to die here. >> reporter: the nightmare began at approximately 9:15 on friday night. just as passengers were having dinner. investigators now believe that the ship was dangerously close to the shore and h

michelle kosinski joins us live from porto san stefano with more on this.ight now. >> reporter: we saw the last person rescued off that ship just yesterday afternoon. amazing because that was 36 hours after this happened and you see the state of that ship right now. but that's given a lot of people hope. there are estimated to be 15 or 16 people still unaccounted for. even though people have been rescued, as well as bodies recovered. so there's a question mark associated with the number of people that might still be in this ship and the number of people that might be alive. that's why these efforts right now, even days after this disaster happened, are so vital. so divers were able to work for these three days. they had to stop briefly this afternoon because of rough water that's been moving the ship, creating dangerous conditions, but now we know they've been able to go back to it and they have actually been risk their lives in doing this work. early on, the coast xward was talking about their efforts to try to get under the water, break windows and try to

first pivotal person in that investigation and they have already questioned him here in porto santo stefanoship ran aground. >> barbie nadeau, thank you so much. on scene there at the site of the italian cruise ship that ran aground and now under water. >>> well, front-runner mitt romney is a focus of competitors but can the attacks and negative ads slow down the march towards the presidential nomination? what we're seeing in south carolina. >>> plus, the saints versus the 49ers. yes, it is game day. chilly temperatures and snow might make for, you know, some interesting play. >>> so, can mitt romney add another win to his victory column in south carolina? romney's record of cutting jobs as ceo bain capital is the subject of attack film produced by a superpac supporting newt gingrich. take a listen. >> the story of greed. playing the system for a quick buck. a group of corporate raiders led by mitt romney. more ruthless than wall street. for tens of thousands of americans, the suffering began when mitt romney came to town. >> now, mitt romney, of course, not taking that lightly. he fired ba

lama hasan, abc news, porto santo stefano, italy. >>> one woman in southern california is anxiously awaitingho survived this ordeal. jeanette trumbull says she's been communicating with her mom and dad online and says they appear to be fine. the couple was celebrating their anniversary on that cruise. trumbull says plenty of time for blame will come later. >> our thing we've been focusing on is just being overjoyed at the fact that they're safe. >> the american embassy in rome now says 118 of the 120 americans on board the "costa concordia" have been accounted for now. however, a minnesota couple is still missing. so at this hour at least six fatalities, 14 still unaccounted for. like something out of the movie "titanic." it's scary. >> what was really tough for a lot of these passengers, too, you think about it, they're from international, they're from all over the world. how do they get back home? >> some left their passports on board. >> they're on the cruise ship right now. >> 11 million -- >> they're stranded in italy. >> 11 million americans take cruises every year. so this affects a p

when the luxury cruise liner overturned, michelle kosinski joins us from porto santo stefano italy. michelle, good morning. >> good morning, lester. the press here is calling this the italian "titanic." at least three people have lost their lives. the good news is a number of those unaccounted for just dropped significantly today to 17. while people were being rescued, they were worried that passengers were still trapped on board and they were right. this happened friday night. the last rescue, an hour and a half ago. this man, just rescued. spent more than 36 hours trapped inside that ship. this video shows just a leading edge. the swells of panic that engulfed the "costa concordia" friday night. >> we're not going to make it. >> reporter: when survivors were able to climb their way into life boats, the ship already tilted sharply, and sinking. fast. it started just after 10:00 p.m. hours after the nearly 1,000 foot cruise ship left its port, many guests were at dinner. heard a loud rumble. the ship had struck a rock. lights out, dishes crashing, sending more than 4,000 passengers

lama hasan, abc news, porto santo stefano, italy. >> a terrible situation just potentially could get a whole lot worse. >> yeah, exactly. and they're going to hopefully get some more information on exactly what happened, where the ship was at as they're going to make a further analysis on the black box a little bit later today. the report should be out complete there -- >> the captain will be in court later today as well. the fear is that this cruise liner is now perched on a 120-foot ledge. but it's only moved about 1.5 centimeters. even despite some rocky waters. but they just don't want it to move into waters that -- just on the other side there, about 225 feet deep. that would be terrible for the divers. especially during those recovery efforts. >> yeah. not easy for that. no. >> it's terrible. >>> well, now to this morning's big political headline. and mitt romney's lead in the polls. our new abc news poll just released shows romney supported by 35% of republican-leaning voters, far ahead of newt gingrich and ron paul, and 57% have confidence that romney will beat president obam

lama hasan, abc news, porto santo stefano, italy. >> and of course the search for victims right now is paramount, too, but there's a half million gallons of fuel on that ship as well. you can see some of the boom they've laid around it to kind of contain it because it's a sanctuary out there. you can see there, the lower part of your screen there. so there's an environmental concern as well as of course the concern for human life. >> yeah. it's -- we're just holding out hope that -- we're going on five days now. >> that captain is under house arrest. and i have a feeling jail may be in his future as that investigation moves forward. >>> well, in texas several children involved in a school bus crash remain in a hospital this morning, one in critical condition. the crash happened when a lowe's hardware truck apparently ran a stop sign, clipped the bus, which then flipped onto its side. 32 people were treated at a hospital. 29 of them kids. 5 of them were later admitted. >>> houston police are now seeking information about the death of a woman who was active in promoting iranian women's r

nbc's michelle kosinski is in porto santo stefano, italy. good morning. >> reporter: from the beginning questions surrounded the captain. he was arrested, under investigation. now his employer said he made an unauthorized deviation in the ship's course bringing it too close to shore, then made mistakes handle it. investigators say he himself was on shore while passengers were still scrambling to get off the ship. this was friday night. the latest rescue from on board was yesterday. >> this is not happening. >> reporter: the pictures emerging from the costa concordia -- [ screaming ] >> reporter: people screaming. just after, passengers experienced a loud rumble, a shake, tilting and then a reassuring announcement. >> the situation is under control. >> reporter: the calm lasted as long as the lights did. >> people were passing out, getting nervous, having chest pains. i was having chest pains. i was having anxiety because i don't know how to swim. >> reporter: panicked passengers, desperate for escape. some fought for lifeboats. >> we were da

michelle kosinski is in porto santo stefano, italy. good morning. what is the latest?'s been arrested, under investigation. now his employer said he made an unauthorized deviation from the ship's course, brought it to too close to shore and then mistakes handling it. investigators say he was on shore while passengers were still scrambling to get off this ship. this was friday night and the latest rescue from on board was just yesterday. now the yes is why go off course with more than 4,000 people on board? sometimes cruise shims sort of buzz the shore, they come close, sound the horn. to the delight of tourists. we don't know that's what this captain was doing but he says he did not abandon ship. tamron? >> michelle in italy for us. >>> with five days until the south carolina primary, the republican field is getting smaller. jon huntsman is dropping out an gap and a shortage of advanced workforce and stop the cuts. contr was worth $24 million according to early estimates. it scored a first place debut. disney's re-release of "beauty and the beast" is runner up and "mis