there are two dozen people still missing. that number includes an american couple from minnesota. today a prayer vigil will be held with that couple. the captain is under house arrest. prosecutors are going to appeal that decision that let the captain out of jail. plus, very more tapes between the captain and port authority that are emerging and remember how stunned we were just reading the transcripts yesterday of the audiotapes i think are even worse. it appears to show the captain safe in his life boat while ignoring the orderis to return back to his sanking ship. listen. for our non-italian speaking viewers like myself who are having a hard time. pop that back on the screen. this is basically what we were telling you in the transcript yesterday where he was saying, i understand, listen, because you can hear schettino's voice panicking. i understand there are people coming down the ladder. you must take that ladder the opposite direction. get on board the ship. tell me how many people are on board and how many in each category. remember, they want them by women and children and disabled so they can figure out how to do the rescue operation without leadership on board they can't do that. absolutely amazing to hear what we were talking about in those transcripts yesterday. let's get right to dan rivers because he's in italy and he can update us on what the latest is in this story. good morning to you, dan. >> reporter: good morning to you. rescue operations were suspended for a short time. this morning over behind me. the boats background the ship. again, let me step out of the way, you can have a look at what we've got here. they've started to put boons just around this little beach that we're standing in front of. i think in anticipation of any fuel spills the ship. we've been blessed with really calm clear weather a bit concerning, if you get a big storm then this is going to make things a whole lot worse. and that's why they've put those boons out. there are forecast for winds to pick up later in the week. in terms of the mission, the number of bodies recovered and number are missinging 11 confirmed dead, 23 still missing. we've just been talking to a brother of one of the missing crew members. it's really difficult for these people to come here, seeing this wreck behind them, and really they're totally helpless. they can't do anything but watch and wait and just pray that they get some good news. they have now brought in a big crane to this island which they may start to deploy today and we're told that we're going to use explosives again today and try to open up more of the ship to getting a cess so the divers can get in under water. but it's a really long, complicated, laborious job they've got here. >> it looks horrific for the family member just sitting there and waiting to hear any word as every minute clicksab by. let's get right to jim staples, he's a captain, been a captain for 20 years, master mariner in the u.s. merchant marine. we appreciate you've been joining us all week with your expertise. you heard me read a little bit of the debate going back and forth between the port authority and captain schettino. at the end of the debate it ends like this. the port authority says to captain schettino, get on board, damn it, like they have to convince him that the role of the captain is to go back to the ship. as someone who has been a captain for more than 20 years, what's your reaction to that debate? >> well, exactly. the captain should have stayed with that vessel until everybody was known to be off or until the rescue operation started and there was no more that he could do. he should never have left that vessel. to get back on would have been a physical difficulty but it could have been done. he's being paid to take charge of that vessel. that's his responsibility. he should have stayed. >> i have found it so surprising to hear that and hear the audio of the debate going back and forth. >> yesterday we were saying, isn't the rule the captain goes down with the ship. and now today we're also seeing that women and children first issue. and he ignored both of these tenets of what we know as the law of the seas or what at least is proper. >> the hallmark of a bad movie is that the bad guy is i impossibly weak, impossibly cowardly. you can put him in the seats of ree vial. life is not that complicated. here we have a character who seemingly is all of those things. he seems to be that cowardly, that weak. it makes me wonder are we missing something. are we being so judgmental. >> you're looking for the exmachine nation. it can't just be that the captain of a cruise ship with thousands of people has somehow decided just not to go. let me ask calm tan jim something. they talked about the first officers has also been arrested. what are the rules for the officers? because when we talk to the people trying to get off the ship they will talk about the wait staff helping him, talking about some of the people who worked in the lower levels of the cruise ship helping them. no one is talking about the officers. >> the first officer is second in command. he's under the captain. we need to find out at what point he left the vessel also. he may have left at the same time. he may have been in the same boat. i don't know. but if he had stayed, then he would have been in command of that vessel once that captain abandoned that ship. and one of the reasons the captain stays is not only to preserve the lives and get the lives off safely but it also has to do with salvage rights of the vessel. >> what do you mean? >> stay there and negotiate -- salvages come alongside to make an fwreeagreement to the owners the rights of salvage. they will have a right to cargo, the ship, so the captain will stay there to sign an agreement that's agreed upon through what they called a lloyds agreement. that's one of the reasons, also, that the captain stays on board. >> have you ever heard of anything like that, the debate you hear that you have the port authority ordering the guy to go back to his ship? have you ever seen that in 20 years of this business? >> no, i've never seen that in my 20 years. that's what's so appalling is that it seemed that the port authority had more common sense and knowledge than this captain did. >> terrifying. >> it's absurd that this captain left the vessel and left during that state and didn't even realize how many people were still on board. >> the captain has said in his defense, well, you know, i was actually heroic. i turned the ship into, you know, witness we had this accident, once we hit the rocks that he claims that were not on his map, he actually was doing this maneuver to turn the ship. trying to spin his reaction. >> that may be but, in fact, as it seems like he was pushing women and children out of the way to get in the life boat. one thing that i'm curious about going forward though does this remind you tht case of that american girl getting caught up in the italian legal system. we're going to have american interest going up against the italian legal system going forward. we've already heard the captain was under house arrest, now released, now back under -- >> wonderful tease for later this morning when we talk to a maritime legal expert because it's not only the case is in italy, it's also maritime law which makes it much more complicated. >> a friend of mine says that the captain should be under cabin arrest right now, back on the boat. but the big issue is what's going to happen to the cruise industry. hundreds of thousands of workers who work on these ships are going to be possibly out of work because americans and people all over the world are going to stop booking their cruises. >> wow, this is not -- i've been on a bunch of cruises. sometimes you cover them as stories and you get the sense that it's all -- it's all a system and all this big giant thing going down, protected, and there's a system. you muster, et cetera. and now you're like, wow, if the captain can leave and it's like every man or woman or child for themselves, it's sort of. >> terry: terrifying. when the captain says what he was trying to do in this maneuver, i know now you've studied this maneuver a lot, where he says he actually was trying to turn the -- bring the ship into port, is that -- from what you've seen, does that seem like it's a possibility? >> well, actually, cruise ships are probably one of the best maneuvering vessels in the world. they have what they call bow thrusts and stern thrusts. soma noouferring a cruise ship is not as difficult as maneuvers a single screw deeply laid denned freight vessel because you don't have the thrusters or the nozzles that these ships can turn. you can move these ships in almost any direction. not knowing the speed that he was going or that much about that actual characteristics of that vessel, i will say there was really nothing spectacular about what he did maneuvering that ship. >> that might be the understatement of the morning for us. captain jim, like we're like this, but he's been hanging out with us this morning. other stories, of course, making news and christine has that for us. hey, christine. >> it's all clear at the white house this morning. after a smoke bomb was tossed over the fence. it happened during an occupy wall street protest where more than 1,000 people were demonstrating. president obama, the first lady were not home at the time. they were out celebrating the first lady's 48th birthday. no one was arrested. today is the house of representatives is expected to take a symbolic vote not to raise the debt ceiling. it's a chance for conservative lawmakers to show their opposition to president obama's request to raise the debt limit by another $1.2 trillion. coming up, soledad will talk to maryland democrat chris van hollen who served on a debt super committee and georgia republican tom price. newt gingrich believes he's the only candidate that can betemit romney. he has a message for gop rivals rick santorum and rick perry. his message, drop out. >> so i'm respectful that rick has every right to run as long as he feels that's what he should do, but from the standpoint of the conservative movement, consolidating into a gingrich candidacy would, in fact, virtually guarantee victory on saturday and i would be delighted if either perry or santorum want to do that. they have to make that decision. >> speaking of that, it's close. sarah palin says if she lived in south carolina, she would vote for newt gingrich. last week palin's husband todd went rogue and threw his support behind gingrich. wikipedia and other online websites pulling the plug for 24 hours. they're protesting anti-piracy legislation that's working its way through congress. they say that legislation would censor the web. minding your business now, let's check the markets. futures for the dow, nasdaq, s&p 500 all pointing to a higher open right now. today greece's government meets with private investors trying to work out how greece with keep paying bills on time and make good on loans. also today, big wall street bank goldman sachs will report its profits from the last three months of 2011. soledad? >> christine, thank you for the update. let's turn to seattle now. you know, everyone knows in seattle they're used to rain but not snow. there's a storm in the pacific north west and that could mean more than a foot of snow and it would be if that happens more than they've seen in 70 years. thelma gutierrez is in seattle. that's a fun assignment for you. good morning. what are they expecting and how bad is it expected to be? >> reporter: soledad, if the snow does come down right now we're just seeing flurries, but later on this morning if the snow starts to fall hard, five to ten inches. doesn't sound like a lot to people who live out where you are. but out here, it's very treacherous because you're talking about steep hills, you're talking about lots of traffic in this downtown area. you can see right behind me, a dusting of snow on the cars still though that snow has not yet started to fall in the way that it's expected to a little bit later today. soledad, the city officials have said that they feel that they are prepared for the storm. they have already started to ice the bridges, the roadways, overpasses. they've opened up emergency shelters for the elderly and the homeless. and they've also closed schools. in fact, several of the airlines have canceled dozens of flights in anticipation of the storm. but we'll see how it transpires. back to you. >> always wurch of those things, you know, everyone can predict a lot and then it doesn't happen. let's get to rob marciano who can update us on the likelihood of the flurries that thelma was describing turning into a massive snowstorm for them. >> they're going to see five to ten inches not out of the question. south of seattle. east of portland, actually, this is what they will have in store later today. several inches of snow coating the roadways. several scenes in downtown portland and vancouver. here's the stream of moisture if it's not the snow it's going to be the rain and the wind. hurricane force wind warnings are in effect for the coast of oregon and southwest washington as well today. here's the radar beginning to stretch into seattle. they're just getting the northern fringe of this stuff. heavier stuff towards kelso. portland getting snow. the warm air is beginning to intrude here. change over from rain to snow there. five to ten inches of snow, basically between seattle and portland. this is stretching over nine states. winter weather warnings here with winds as well from the coastline through utah, the northern rockies. and even across the northeast, soledad. you know, some winds up there across upstate new york and northern new england. 70 and 80-mile-an-hour winds this morning. blustery day for the northeast. >> thank you for the update. still ahead this morning, new questions about mitt romney's taxes, or i should say the same questions about mitt romney's taxes bus he giving a little more information. he talked about basically he's paying about 15%. and it's the about, i believe, that everyone is kind of jumping on. we're going to dig into this story a little bit more this morning. also, the u.s. says they want back that top-secret drone that crashed in iran in december. iran says we'll send you a drone all right, but not the one you want. we'll tell you what they're doing. also, occupy wall street puts itself on a spending freeze. they're trying to keep enough cash that they can bail out the protesters. we'll update you on what's happening there. 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[ male announcer ] ocuvite. help protect your eye health. can you enjoy vegetables with sauce [ male announcer ] ocuvite. and still reach your weight loss goals? you can with green giant frozen vegetables. over twenty delicious varieties have sixty calories or less per serving and are now weight watchers-endorsed. try green giant frozen vegetables with sauce. ♪ the waiting is the hardest part, get it? what did you pay in taxes? mitt romney is now saying that he will release his tax return sometime around april. he said that in the debate and he didn't even say it that clearly. it was more maybe, um, um, maybe. he's trying to. but in trying to brush away the comment from the debate, he then said that his tax rate was something like 15%. closer to 15%. here's what he said. >> what's tektive rate i've been paying? it's probably closer to the 15% rate than anything because my last ten years i've -- my income comes overwhelmingly from investments made in the past rather than ordinary income or earned annual income. i got a little bit of income from my book but i gave that all away. and then i get speakers fees from time to time but not very much. >> not even four lines and there's so much. >> stumbling around. >> stumbling. and so, what a hot mess. decoding 2012 with our cnn senior political rob brownstein. so, he didn't let that slip, do you believe? do you believe there was a strategy behind that? i can't actually let slip what your effective tax rate is when this is an issue that's been dogging you for the entire campaign trail. >> i think he's moving toward disclosure but it's certainly going to be -- if he gets that far, a general election issue. it falls right into what we call the buffet rule, warren buffettsay hbuffett saying he we should not pay a lower tax rate than his secretary. he is one of the only candidates who would not cut capital gain tax cles is allowing him to pay lower rate on people like himself. all others would reduce or eliminate capital gain taxes. romney will only cut it for people earning $200,000 or less. but having said that, this certainly feeds into a larger narrative. you can imagine the president using -- and the democrats using extensively in the general election. >> andy, i believe that often when it comes to issues that he should -- will has described romney as just very organized, strategic, premeditated. he doesn't flail a lot. so then whenever you see him flail, on the bain issue and on this tax issue, you have to wonder why. is it that we're seeing the tip of the iceberg and underneath is a giant iceberg and the reason he's saying around 15% is that there is some big issue underneath? otherwise, why not just do it. >> i think he's very defensive about it. >> clearly, yeah. >> i think he's defensive. i think it's complicated. he is obviously one of the 1%. he's a wealthy american. this is lightning rod issue right now and he's not comfortable. >> is that the issue that it is 15%? you were saying, okay, is there something else going on here? being 15%, as someone who is a small business owner and pays about 40%, is that the issue? >> this is precisely the issue because when people who work hard every day go to work, pay 25%, 35%, up to 40%, and romney says, as part of the 1%, i made around $374,000 last year. >> it was not very much, talking about his speaker fees alone and he is talking 15% which is the tax on investments. this is not his annual income. >> when you but that in per expect i of half americans make $30,000 a year or less and they pay a higher tax rate, that's auntsi iv offensive people. >> hang on one second, ron. you saw this. the george romney, it was unprecedented years ago when he released in 1967, he was the first who said i'll release 12 years of taxes. the white house happy to point out the irony in that. sorry to cut you off. >> i think clearly the argument will be that romney embodies the inequality that the democrats will argue their policies would lead toward. that will clearly be the case against him. to clarify, most people below the median income do not pay the federal income tax. they pay payroll tax. >> because they don't make enough money. >> that has become an argument for both. this is the overall portrait that democrats want to argue is that the republicans are promoting an economic policy that diminished upward mobility, widened equality, benefited the top against the middle. it is -- there's a lot of -- argument -- >> lu beisten to newt gingrich saying this. >> yep. >> will cain just rolled his eyes. >