Hes haunted by a stint at the wall street bank that received a massive taxpayer bailout and whose investors lost millions. Fighting for lincoln. Shes up for oscar number three. Tonight, sally field tells us about her fight to play the president s wife. Keep it right from new york city, this is nightline with cynthia mcfadden. Good evening, and thanks for joining us. Tonight, a fourday Pleasure Cruise turned hellish ordeal. 4,200 people are being towed back to shore tonight trapped aboard the Carnival Cruise ship that lost power in the gulf of mexico sunday. The passengers onboard describe nightmarish scenes of squalor. Reporter tonight, stranded at sea. As seen today from above, the carnival triumph being towed to port in mobile, alabama. It is day four of what has turned into the holiday from hell for the more than 4,000 people onboard. Bethany is aboard, they spoke briefly before the phone cut out. All you hear on those phone calls is crying and talking about im gonna die, im gonna die. Reporter rob and stephanie had hoped for a beautiful wedding at sea. Married on the ship just a few days ago. They are now spending their honeymoon in squalor. The sparkling city on the sea topped with pools, food, and boow . Seen in better times in these carnival ads was far from the dream vacation when the ship went dark sunday as it sailed from mexico back to galveston, texas. It started wha eed when a fire in one of the engine rooms. It burned out the four engines. Theres no lights, no water. We cant flush. Reporter and barlow seen here hamming it up before boarding the triumph in galveston texted a chronicle of misery. There is sewer running down the walls and floors. We are camping on deck. Passenger Shelly Crosby texted us we just stood in line for four hours to get a hamburger. With scant news and few images from the ship or passengers, we flew 100 miles from shore earlier today toxd find the triumph. Carnival dispatched a third tug boat out today to help assist in towing the ship to port. Have you ever seen anything like that . Were used the seeing boats out here and riggs, but 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 voyages final hours in the cold rain. With the ship rung on emergency generators, its communications are also crippled, leaving family members tonight frantic. She was scared. She was crying, mom, im so scared. Reporter mary drove through the night from lufkin, texas, to be here, hoping to be the first to see their 11 and 12yearold daughters. My baby is on there and i dont know that shes okay. Reporter for three days not a single Carnival Cruise line representative appeared publicly until president jerry cahill spoke tuesday. We obviously are very, very sorry about what has taken place. There is no question that conditions onboard the ship are very challenging. Everyone shore side is doing everything they can to make our guests as comfortable as possible. Reporter and then later that very same night, carnival owner did appear publicly at a miami heat game, a team he owns, but that picture ignited anger online. These people got on their ship expecting a fun vacation. Safe to say this has not happened. The conditions, from what we know, onboard the ship are quite bad. 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 two previous voiages. And in 2010, another carnival ship lost propulsion a few days from land and required spectacular rescue. Navy choppers flown in dropped 70,000 pounds of supplies, including lots of spam. They were aboard that voyage in 2010 and recall that nightmare. We started to smell some smoke coming into our cabin. It was a the announcement over the loud speaker woke everybody up and we knew then that there was something serious. Reporter things can go spectacularly wrong on cruise ships. Just over a year ago, the Costa Concordia collided with rocks just off the coast of tuscany. 32 people died. But travel experts say those are the exceptions and that no one on the carnival triumph is in any imminent danger. The people onboard that ship are horribly uncomfortable. But, from everything we know, they are not in any danger. So at the very minimum, carnival seems to be keeping them safe. Reporter tonight as the ship is towed to shore, the port of mobile is dealing with the delicate task of docking the boat. And perhaps the most delicate maneuver for Carnival Cruise lines, dealing with the disembarking passengers for the holiday that wasnt. Well, today Carnival Cruise lines announced that in addition to issuing a full refund for the cruise, it will give each passenger at least 500 additional dollars in compensation. Next, the angry investor still battling the wall street bank whose bailout cost taxpayers millions, and what president obamas pick for treasury secretary has to do with it. [ stefan ] with a cold or flu, nighttime nasal congestion can be the worst part. My medicine alone doesnt always give me all the Congestion Relief i need to sleep. [ female announcer ] adding breathe right nasal strips can make all the difference. Its proven to instantly relieve cold or flu nasal congestion. [ stefan ] and because its drug free, its safe to use with any medicine to relieve my nighttime stuffy nose. So i can breathe better and sleep better. [ female announcer ] go to breatheright. 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But today saw a strange twist. The president s choice for treasury secretary had to defend his time as a wall street insider. While republicans railed against bailout bonuses within banks once considered too big to fail. The same banks whose investors lost millions in the financial meltdown. My coanchor bill weir has the story. Reporter a ghost of the financial crisis came to haunt Congress Today in a most unlikely forum. There are risks that we need to be very much on guard against. Reporter his name is jack lew, a guy with one of the most sterling reputations in washington. Mr. President , its an honor to be here. Reporter as a loyal and lowkey numbers crunching wonk, he has worked his way up to white house chief of staff and is the president s choice for treasury secretary. Wall street dives more than 360 points. Reporter but a few years ago, as the American Economy was melting down, jack lew was an executive at citigroup which sheila bair describes as the most toxic of all those troubled banks. They were the poster child in need of government aid. Reporter citigroup needed three government bailouts. Over 460 billion in taxpayer dollars and loan guarantees just to survive. But at the same time, they still managed the pay lew a bonus of nearly 1 million. Explain why it might be morally acceptable to take close the a Million Dollars out of a company that was functionally insolvent. Senator, in 2008, i was an employee in the private sector. I was compensated in a manner consistent with other people who did the kind of work that i did in the industry. Reporter lews tenure included a post as the chief operating officer of alternative investments. And when he arrived in 2008, when he arrived the division was in deep trouble. Bleeding money. Both investors and citibanks own Financial Advisers were in open revolt which you can see in internal emails obtained by abc news. Im watching a slowmotion movie of my life being destroyed, reads one with a subject line im frightened. It was written by skip sussman, one of citis own Financial Advisers. Addressed to then ceo panit and it drips with desperation. I have not slept in a month, he wrote. My wife looks at me, begins to cry and asks what are we going to do . Im crying now just writing this. It was like a slow water torture of pain on a daily basis as clients would call in asking me, how could i have done this to them . Reporter the source of his pain, Investment Funds called mat and falcon created by citigroup and sold by hundreds of advisers like skip to thousands of clients like chris. As the mat provides investors with a stable above market return reporter a jersey guy looking to park some of his selfmade wealth somewhere safe. His adviser steered him to citi and chris bought a Million Dollars worth of mat 5, one of the funds built around lowrisk municipal bonds. Pretty much as low on the risk scale as you can get. Reporter thats what you were looking for. Yes. Reporter what was it really . Within a year period, it went to zero. Reporter you lost everything . I lost everything. Reporter chris, his adviser and many others say they didnt know that these investments were really kind of a hedge fund, the sort of risky investment that can go bad fast. I wouldnt have invested, it wasnt for me. Reporter as it all came crashing down in 2008, emails like this showed the level of anger and panic within citigroups ranks. My integrity has always meant more to me than anything else, wrote a Financial Adviser in despair. I trusted you, i trusted the fund manager, i trusted citi. On one of the angry conference calls, an adviser named Jennifer Krauss summed it up. The clients got duped. Reporter jack lew was not at citis alternative investment wing when mat and falcon were created and solds and he insists his duties there were only administrative. I was aware of things that i was working in a financial institution. I learned a great deal about the financial products. But i wasnt designing them and i wasnt opining on them. Reporter but he was there for the implosion and the aftermath, a time when advisers were begging citibank to do the right thing and make customers whole. But instead of offering full refunds, citi offered around 20 cents on the dollar in exchange for silence. They offered me 50,000 for me to waive my rights essentially. Reporter most people took that deal but chris was too angry. The people that are managing these funds are so separated from the skin in the game that they become so arrogant and disconnected from the actual emotion of wow, we just lost two billion dollars worth of customer money, it meant nothing to them. Reporter he bit the bullet, hired expensive lawyers and went into arbitration, a long shot. What did you think your chances were . I thought they were zero. Reporter but then he saw the emails from inside citi. All the facts of the case were overwhelming. I didnt know if i was going to get all my money back, but i was convinced that the panel would rule in my favor. Reporter and they did. They did. They gave me 100 of my money back. Reporter hes not alone. So far citigroup has been forced to pay back at least 85 million, as 14 arbitration panels around the country ruled against them. Theyve also settled with dozens more. But the bank insists they adequately disclosed the risks to advisers and investors and admit no wrongdoing. We believe citi acted appropriately at all times, a spokesperson said in an email, we disagree with those arbitration panels that have ruled against citi. We are in the midst of a horrendous recession right now. Reporter two years ago during his confirmation to head the office of management and budget, lew was asked if he thought looser regulations on wall street led to the financial collapse. I dont consider myself an expert in some of these aspects of the financial industry. My experience in the financial industry has been as a manager, not as an investment adviser. Reporter but now as treasury secretary, lew will be tasked with making sure too big to fail never happens again. It does reinforce a cynicism that wall street runs this town. But again, its the president s pick. I assume he weighed all those factors into the analysis of deciding to nominate mr. Lew. For this very important job. Reporter the white house declined our request for an interview with lew, and by all indications the president will get his wish and he will sail through confirmation. Ive practiced law, ive worked at a university, ive worked at a financial institution. I think if i hadnt had a set of experiences like that, i wouldnt be sitting here today speaking with confidence that i could undertake the responsibilities of secretary of the treasury. It should be noted that not only did the Treasury Department fully recover the 45 billion it invested in citi, it made an Additional Return of more than 13 billion. Next up, the role that almost wasnt. How sally field fought for the role of Mary Todd Lincoln and earned a shot at oscar number three. And earned a shot at oscar number three. When shes sad, she writes about goblins. [ balloon pops, goblin growling ] she wrote a lot about goblins after getting burned in the market. But she found someone to talk to and gained the confidence to start investing again. And thats what you call a storybook ending. Its not rocket science. Its just common sense. From td ameritrade. How advanced is the new ford fusion . Well. It has outstanding performance and handling. And it offers a plugin hybrid that gets a projected 100 mpge. Of course, theres still one thing it cant do. Introducing the entirely new ford fusion. Its an entirely new idea of what a car can be. To deposit checks from anywhere. [ wind howling ] easier than actually going to the bank. Mobile check deposit. Easier banking. Standard at citibank. Okay. [ male announcer ] with citibanks popmoney, dan can easily send money by email right from his citibank account. Nice job ben. [ male announcer ] next up, the gutters. Citibank popmoney. Easier banking. Standard at citibank. If youre looking for proof that sally field was dedicated to winning the role she played in Steven Spielbergs movie lincoln, consider this. She agreed to gain 25 pounds to play the part. Yet it was her secret challenges she says off screen that propelled her performance forward. Heres abcs Chris Connelly for our series oscar confidential. Sally field has been a beloved part of american pop culture for nearly a half century. Wow, i learned my lesson. From her 60s sitcom, smoky and the bandit in the 70s. Why so fast, you late for a big bowling date . Reporter and forrest gump in the 70s. Today at 66, she has as best Actress Academy awards as meryl streep does. Still, she was undaunted and unabashed to play Mary Todd Lincoln in Steven Spielbergs lincoln. Im proud of the film. Im proud of my work in the film. Im proud i fought to get in it. Reporter proud too to have done it all while deep in the throes of a personal heartbreak she has never before discussed. Once, mrs. Lincoln, i demand of you to try. Reporter yet this acclaimed performance, for which she gained 25 pounds, nearly didnt happen despite spielbergs initial enthusiasm for her playing the part. Because even though steven had said youre my Mary Todd Lincoln, what had happened . I just knew that it would be a battle. Because im ten years older than daniel and mary was ten years younger than lincoln. Im 20 years older than what mary was. Its just not going to work. Reporter but spielberg decided to give her one final chance. The customarily reclusive daylewis had offered to fly from ireland to los angeles for the day to act with her. When he walked across the room, i was signature at mary and i did not rise until he was literally next to me and gave him my hand, and he kissed it, and i said mr. Lincoln. And he said mother. And i whispered thank you. And he kissed the top of my head and said my honor. And it will be one of the things i remember forever and ever and ever. Reporter as she drove home, daylewis and spielberg called to say she had won the role. And action. No ones ever been loved so much by the people. Reporter that performance earned field a supporting actress oscar nomination. It already stands as a pinnacle of an acting career transformed by a key moment of selfassertion way back in 1972. What happened when you told your agent i dont want to do tv anymore, i want to do movies . They said well, its foolish. Youll never work. Youre not pretty enough. Youre not good enough. I said youre fired. And my Business Manager said the same thing. And i said youre fired. I just fired everybody. And i left my husband. It was like out all of you i started this and im gonna finish it. Reporter the results would speak for themselves. She would win a best actress oscar in 1980 for norma rae. Another in 1985 for places in the heart. Her oscar line would earn her oscar dur. I cant deny the fact that you like me, right now you like me reporter for field, there is much to be proud of. Three sons, four grandkids. For this l. A. Native, a new home in new york city. And lincoln, her performance achieved under more challenging circumstances than she has previously shared. Well, my mother passed away while i was doing lincoln, which was a huge part of the whole experience. I have never really talked about it. She had been very ill. So it was ongoing. Of course, the grieving and the things that i felt were tremendous, were tremendous. Reporter Margaret Field was herself an actress, in television and in films. It was like her gift. You know, it was a gift. It just was very, very hard, but it was the way its supposed to be. I felt finally, you know, that she had gone like this and the moth that i had been right there on her hand just i left and went to do the things i was now to do. Reporter im Chris Connelly for nightl