brian ross, thank you very much. brian ross is the chief investigative correspondent for abc and the full interview tonight on "night line," 11:35 p.m. newt gingrich will be my guest tomorrow night. we're going to talk about all of this the day before the crucial primary here in south carolina. all right, we are about 40 minutes away from a debate. as good and exciting as a debate could possibly be and ahead of that, the senior senator from south carolina, lindsey graham, going to come "outfront." i'm hopeful. senator? >> yeah. >> he's over there. i see you behind the lights. maybe he will have an endorsement. and what's the number one car company in the world? hint. guess what? made in the u.s.a. we'll be right back. >>> we are live from the north charleston coliseum in south carolina. the site of tonight's cnn debate. it's going to begin as you can see in just over 30 minutes time. tonight, exclusive interview with lindsey graham, who's endorsement has been highly coveted. >> unbelievable. >> is it going to come ou

i think abc and brian ross were on solid ground there. newt gingrich himself says character are legitimate issues. if it was legitimate for newt gingrich to go after bill clinton on the monica lewinsky affair as he did, then this is legitimate as well wrrch. >> does it feel like a late hit? >> would you drive yourself crazy. there are primary from january 3rd to the convention, and then how close -- i think big stories are very, very close to the general election, there's a serious consideration there, but the south carolina primary, i don't think so. there is after pa the debate. >> brian ross says there wasn't anything new here except she said it in front of a camera. she had made these abbing zags before. >> many people are not familiar with them, and i would argue that there were more interesting, more relevant questions from that esquire interview that she did in 2010 that were not as sensational, but i think abc would have gotten more mileage out of had they asked her about. one that he was giving speeches to morals groups at the ti

>> i loved your interview with brian ross. i think brian ross has done some great reporting over the years chief investigative correspondent for abc news. the key question is here is news worthiness. for the most part, ebbs settlement for the open marriages claim, open marriage claim, this was a rehash of the esquire article. i find the fact that abc is putting all this effort into promoting it, they were on "the view." he was on morning radio. and now he is on "the o'reilly factor." forget desperate housewives that airs on abc. desperate news department of abc. newt gingrich sought forgiveness and received forgiveness from his family, from his daughters and obviously sought it from god. and for brian ross and abc news to sit on high and say well, he holds himself out as family values guy. people can make the moral judgment on their own. i hope they have that same kind of higher, you know, sitting on their high horse attitude when families complain about modern family the other night. their hit show where the little kid, you k

brian ross spoke exclusively with one of newt gingrich's to go former wives. she says she thinks that there are things that voters need to know about her former husband. >> he asked to have an open marriage and i refused. >> he wanted an open marriage? >> yes. but i accepted the fact that he had someone else in his life. >> and heyou said? >> no. >> this into new -- this interview will air tonight. crews are searching once again for 21 people who are still missing six days after a cruise ship capsized. that ship was carrying more than 4200 passengers when it ran aground on friday. 11 people are confirmed dead. rough seas later today will complicate the search for the missing. and plans to start pumping fuel out of the ship. >> i just stared at him. he said, colistin does not care what i did. >> a bombshell for gop hopeful newt gingrich. his second ex-wife is wrecking her silence. we have a preview with her shocking allegations. critics of airport security have even more ammunition. a woman was able to board a plane carrying a pistol. the son is back today, >>

tonight, abc's brian ross investigates. brian? >> reporter: terry, tonight, one of them is breaking his silence. his second wife, marianne, who says she does not believe gingrich has the morals necessary to be president. marianne gingrich was married to newt for 18 years when he asked her for a divorce. >> it started with a phone call at my mother's house. and he asked for a divorce. >> reporter: on the phone? >> on the phone. and he said, i want a divorce. i said, is there somebody else? and it was quiet. and i knew. >> reporter: now, 12 years later, marianne gingrich is talking on television for the first time. a kind of january surprise for her ex-husband, as he faces a crucial presidential primary in south carolina this saturday. >> if he's running for president, he has answers to give. >> reporter: you know his secrets? you know his skeletons. >> i know some of them. >> reporter: gingrich is now married to that somebody else, the other woman, callista, a devout catholic, who claims she was newt's mistress for some six years w

brian ross, a very good reporter went on the radio. to promote the show last night. promote the nightline. he went on radio yesterday morning and he actually said this. we start by knowing that what an ex-wife we have to say we all take with a grain of salt. really? if brian ross is telling the reporters we need to take this information with a yan of salt why are you running this interview in the first place. >> bill: i told him on this program last night i would have not have done the interview and run it the reason is there is no corroboration for the personal attack launched at the speaker by his former wife. this is the key. this is the key. and goldberg knows this because both bernie and i came up the old fashioned way. any gutter snipe in the world, and they do it on television and radio every single day in this country and it's disgusting can attack somebody personally. and get somebody to back it up. i saw o'reilly do this. i heard o'reilly do that. but you -- if you don't have corroboration independently as marianne gingrich absolutely does not. absolutely t

thank you so much. >>> and as you heard our chief investigative correspondent, brian ross, conducted that headlinemaking interview, with the ex-wife of newt gingrich. and you can see this "nightline" exclusive and the reaction. it's all later tonight on "nightline" on abc. >>> we move overseas, now, to the new clues about what really happened when that cruise ship ran aground off the coast of italy. another recording, a new recording, from the moment of crisis. and who was the mystery woman with the captain that night? abc's chris cuomo on the scene in italy again for us. chris? >> reporter: diane, we've learned captain francesco schettino has been suspended by costa cruise lines. and the company will not provide a defense for him. we also have new information on the delay of ordering the evacuation from the ship. but tonight, there is a woman at who may be at the heart of this story. her name is dominica cermotan, a 25-year-old from moldova. on the fateful night, she was seen dining with the captain. later with him on the ship's bridge when the accident happened. crew members we spo

taxes. >> the treasury loses an estimated $100 billion a year because of tax havens. >>> and brian ross is here, now. brian, as you know, the romney camp sent us another note saying, romney's investments of funds in the cayman islands are taxed as they would be if the investments were in the u.s.? >> reporter: that's right, diane. this same issue was raised when romney ran for president the last time. he said the same thing. but he would not answer questions then as to why he put his money in the caymans in the first place. and without access to romney's tax returns, it's impossible to know all these details. he now says he may release his latest tax return in april. and if he does, it would be a rare window into how the superrich are able to arrange their affairs. >> ryan ross, thank you. >>> still ahead on "world news," the security scare at a major american airport today. a 65-year-old woman boarding a plane with a gun. >>> a reality check in the most widely-prescribed drug to fight the flu. does it really work? >>> and ending illness. you'll see our friend and abc news reporter on t

tonight, abc's brian ross investigates. brian? >> reporter: bill, mitt romney and his supporters say his wealth is a sign of his success that will make him a great president. but at the same time, romney has gone to great lengths to keep secret many important details about his wealth. including, as abc news discovered, whether he uses tax loopholes available only to the superrich. ♪ to find answers, we followed the romney trail of wealth to the cayman islands in the caribbean, where he has millions of dollars of his personal wealth in corporations set up here. while some people come for the beautiful sea and white sand beaches, the caymans are best-known as one of the world's great tax havens, where secrecy is the rule. >> if you have a cayman corporation, you don't pay any tax to the cayman government. and the cayman islands don't report the income that's made to the u.s. government. >> reporter: nothing in romney's financial disclosure forms, required for all presidential candidates, revealed his connections to the caymans. bu

brian ross has interviewed newt gingrich's ex-wife mary and. -- marianne. a preview of tonight's interview. >> first chris van cleeve is live. >> the race is tightening up ahead of a key debate tonight. the candidates are in charleston, south carolina a couple of hours from here preparing for that. they are preparing for what must opponent as one can it pulled the ejector tab today. >> the final debate tonight before a make or break primary vote on saturday. the day started with a boost to newt gingrich from somebody who hours earlier was competing for votes. >> today i am suspended my campaign and endorsing newt gingrich appeared >> rick perry was pulling at the bottom of the pack. the fact he called it quits was not a huge surprise. >> i was a little disappointed. i think he would make a good president. >> i do not believe he was going to be a contender in the way. it does not matter to me. i will still vote -- my guy is still in. i am still going with run paul per se >> i do not think he was well not enough. >> the conservative vote will be split between

. >>> also on the knew the niewpt front, bien ross -- newt gingrich front, brian ross talked to newt's second wife. it airs tonight. here's a preview of what you can expect. >> i said to him, newt, we've been married a long time and he said, yes, but you want me all to yourself. calista doesn't care what i do. >> reporter: what was he saying to you? >> he was asking to have an open marriage and i refused. >> reporter: he wanted an open marriage. >> that i accept the fact that he has someone else in his life. >> reporter: and you said -- >> no. no. that is not a marriage. >> after his adult daughters her about it they came to his defense. they said anyone one who has been through a divorce knows it's a tragedy. the full exclusive interview with newt gingrich's second wife is scheduled to air on nightline right after abc2 news at 11:00. >>> you've seen gas prices continue to go up. the numb -- how some of these thieves are being more brazen. >>> teens with unand pregnancies said they didn't know they coulr become pregnaá<- i'm jamie costt(Ñixdxdo#óÑi?; . >>> listen to a song or eat

ross. >> he was asking to have an open marriage. i refused. that i accept that he has somebody else in his life. >> and you said? >> no, no, that is not a marriage. >> the story is false. >> reporter: also last night, rick santorum, who it turns out won the iowa caucuses, tried to position himself as the conservative alternative. >> i'm steady. i'm solid. i'm not going to go out and do things that you're going to worry about. >> reporter: romney took heat for his career as an investor. >> i find it strange to have to describe that. >> reporter: mitt romney was asked if he would release several years of tax returns. he said maybe. the crowd booed. >> newt is having a surge. in some polls, as close as seven points. what can mitt romney do to slow newt down? >> reporter: they're going after newt gingrich's claims of him creating jobs back in the '90s. he said he read the reagan diaries, and he only saw one mention of newt gingrich. >>> well, president obama is also running hard. yesterday, he appeared at four, high-rolling fundraisers

the full brian ross interview with newt gingrich's second ex-wife marianne is scheduled to air tonight on "nightline" at heaven:35, right after -- at 11:35, right after abc7 news at 11. >>> mitt romney declared victory a couple weeks ago, the final vote count now shows that rick santorum finished ahead but he's not being declared the winner either. final tally shows santorum wound up with a 34 vote advantage over romney. republican officials are calling it a split discussion some votes from eight precincts are missing and weren't certified by yesterday's deadline. the state declared romney the unofficial vick for by eight votes. >>> president obama stopped by the -- happeniest place on earth this morning to push for tourism. one of his opponents wasted no time taking a dig at him. the president announced it easier for tour -- newt gingrich who just saw a minute ago immediately went on the attack. >> >> the president: we want people visiting not just epcot center but everglades too. the more folks who visit america the more americans we get back to work. >> to close half of the magic ki

the full brian ross interview with newt gingrich's second ex-wife marianne is scheduled to air tonight on "nightline" at heaven:35, right after -- at 11:35, right after abc7 news at 11. >>> mitt romney declared victory a couple weeks ago, the final vote count now shows that rick santorum finished ahead but he's not being declared the winner either. final tally shows santorum wound up with a 34 vote advantage over romney. republican officials are calling it a split discussion some votes from eight precincts are missing and weren't certified by yesterday's deadline. the state declared romney the unofficial vick for by eight votes. >>> president obama stopped by the -- happeniest place on earth this morning to push for tourism. one of his opponents wasted no time taking a dig at him. the president announced it easier for tour -- newt gingrich who just saw a minute ago immediately went on the attack. >> >> the president: we want people visiting not just epcot center but everglades too. the more folks who visit america the more americans we get back to work. >> to close half of the magic ki

. >> reporter: thursday morning brian ross of abc news revealed more details on "the view" of how gingrich conducted the affair. >> he said she used to call her at nature and tell her how much he loved her and later admitted he was in bed next to callista. rchts newt gingrich would not talk about the interview thursday, instead directing questions to his adult daughter from his first marriage. i'm not going to say anything about mary ann. my two daughters have already written to abc about this complaining that it's tawdry. >> reporter: gingrich now faces questions of hypocrisy after statements opposing gay marriage. >> vote yes on proposition 8 to defend and protect marriage. >> reporter: the bright spot for gingrich thursday came from texas governor rick perry. >> therefore, today, i am suspending my campaign and endorsing newt gingrich for president of the united states. >> reporter: meanwhile, in a surprise announcement, officials in iowa announced the winner of its caucus was not mitt romney, but rick santorum. >> if there's ever been a time the nation needs a real leader who knows how

she spoke with abc's brian ross about her marriage with the presidential hopeful and former speaker. >> he was asking to have an open marriage. i refused. i didn't accept the fact that he had somebody else in his life. >> and you said. >> no. that is not a marriage. >> polls in south carolina show newt gingrich surging right now with texas governor rick perry dropping out and endorsing gingrich. there's now one less conservative in that race. >>> a final republican presidential debate before tomorrow's south carolina state primary was held last night and cnn host john king kicked things off by asking gingrich about his ex-wife's claims. the debate got off to an explosive part and just went from there. >> i think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country and i am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that. [ cheers and applause ] >> gingrich eventually went on to deny the conversation that happened between him and his ex- wife at the time, her claims that open marriage. one year after his al

not mentioning the fact that his wife, in sort of a sad interview with brian ross, acknowledged she just told him she had multiple sclerosis. this is not a man you want to tell you have a health problem, based upon his first divorce when his wife had cancer, and let's pray that callista gets a very positive report from mayo clinic. >> for a quarter of the century since of the gary hart incidents i have argued obviously with no success whatsoever that this stuff should not be part of our politics, that i am with colby on this -- reading into people's hearts and marriages is extremely hard. as an ex-psychiatrist i can tell youeven if you spend an hour a day every day, you still have no idea. i would rather have an election on jobs, the economy, iran, and we are not having -- there was not a single question last night -- i think it is true -- on foreign policy. not one. that is disgraceful. >> the oil pipeline moves. >> president obama is destroying tens of thousands of american jobs and shipping american energy security to the chinese. there is no other way to put it. the president is sell

ross did with gingrich's ex-wife. >> would you like to take some time to respond to that? >> no. but i will. i think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country. harder to attract decent people to run for public office. and i am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that. >> reporter: his ex-wife talked about the affair that ended their marriage. but gingrich lashed out at us for telling the story. >> to take an ex-wife, and make it two days before the primary, a significant question for a presidential campaign is as close to despicable as anything i can imagine. >> reporter: judging from the crowd reaction, the crowd was clearly with gingrich. as for romney, his own aides are bracing for a loss here. >> we're battling hard. the fact is, right now, it looks like it's neck and neck. that's a pretty good spot to be in. i'm pleased and proud of the success of our effort. >> reporter: and at last night's debate, romney got tangled up when asked whether he would release multiple years o

. >>> brian ross talked exclues with one of newt gingrich two former wives and she breaks her silence in a interview set to air tonight. thee says there are things voters need to know about her ex-husband and reveals what he says about his current wife. here's a preview. >> he said she doesn't care what i do. >> the he can collusive interview with newt gingrich's second ex-wife will air tonight on night line. that's 11:30 and catch it here on abc2. >>> the white house has rejected the controversial keystone pipeline project to a move forward. house republicans gave him 60 days to approve or deny the pipeline. the behight house wants to push it until 2013 after the coming presidential election. the 1700 mile pipeline would run from canada to the texas gulf coast and supporters including the oil industry and many repun cans -- republicans says it's a vital job creator and lessen the dependence on foreign oil when feel like you don't have time for lunch? you are not alone. the lunch hour is a thing of the past. pressure to perform at work and -- the pressure to perform at work and be mor

we begin with abc's chief investigative correspondent, brian ross. >> reporter: mitt romney's big money supporters say his wealth is a sign of success. >> he's what we aspire to be. >> hi there. >> reporter: but his wealth, how he made it, and the relatively low tax rate he admitted he pays on it -- >> closer to the 15% rate than anything. >> reporter: -- have become a big campaign issue. >> his personal finances are a poster child of what's wrong with the american tax system. >> reporter: for example, abc news has found that millions of dollars of romney's personal wealth is in investment funds set up in the cayman islands, the notorious caribbean tax haven where secrecy is the rule. nothing in romney's financial disclosure statements reveals his connection to the caymans. but we tracked at least 12 of the funds he lists set up by his former company, bain capital, and potentially involving as much as $30 million, tracked them all to an address in the caymans. a post office box at the central post office. this is the bain capital address, right here. post office box 908. tax experts say

brian ross, abc news, new york. >>> the moderator at last night's presidential debate wasted no time asking gingrich about this explosive claim. it actually was the night's very first question right out of the gate. gingrich was outraged at that and said the accusation is false, and that's when he turned his anger on the media for even reporting the story. >> i think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office. and i am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that. to take an ex-wife and make it two days before the primary a significant question in a presidential campaign is as close to despicable as anything i can imagine. >> very strong words last night from the former speaker. he went on to accuse what he called the elite media for attacking republicans while protecting president obama. that earned him a standing ovation. and again, we see this in every presidential race, this issue of character. can someone maybe have some moral tran