The ntsb has released underwater video of whats left of the cargo ship el faro. It took on water and sank in a hurricane last october. The el faro sits in water deeper than the titanic in the heart of the bermuda triangle. All 33 crew members were lost at sea. The worst american shipping disaster in 35 years. The exact cause of the wreck remains a mystery. Scott pelley has the story for 60 minutes. Reporter september 29th, el faro left jacksonville, florida. Captain michael davidson, who steer 65 miles south of the storms predicted path. Even in a hurricane, the ship could likely survive by using its turbine engine to keep the bow pointed directly into the waves. A ships most survivable angle. But in 18 hours, joaquin spun into a category 3 and slid southwest toward el faro. David made an emergency call to the ships owner, tote maritime. What do we know from the captains last report . We know that he had lost propulsion, that the engineers were unable to restart the main engine. The vessel was listing about 15 degrees and one of the hatches had popped or come open. Watter . Correct. Reporter if the ship lost power as the captain reported, you would expect her to turn sideway to the waves, and that thats correct. Reporter the ship was approximately here, miles from the eye of the storm. The forecast predicted gusts of 150 miles an hour, and seas of 30 feet. Three weeks later, apache arrived in a search area of 198 scale miles. Charles kapeka towed a side scan sonar for five days, when he spotted something you dont see in nature, a right angle. Its very straight with a shadow. At this point im calling over saying i think theres something coming up you want to seechlt reporter as the sonar scan unfurled, the sound waves reflected the shape of a shift, about 800 feet long. At that point, we talked to the ntsb and said we believe we have found it. We then put our curve in the hull with moving and still photography. Reporter the cable controlled underwater recovery vehicle can reach 20,000 feet. And these are the cameras . Correct. So heres a pan and tilt camera. You have some lights right here. Reporter there is zero light at 15,000 feet. Correct. Reporter total utter darkness. So any light you have, you have to bring with you. Absolutely. Reporter apache dropped down 15,500 feet, nearly 3 miles. The pressure is more than 3 tons per square inch. Flurries of tiny marine life drift by, by fish are rare in the impenetrable darkness. This is from el faro came to rest, upright, hull largely in tact. Her name mangled on the stern. Her depth markings reported that her autopsy revealed a body that had been savagely beaten. Steel crushed. Equipment collapsed. There was no sign of the 33 crew members. Equipment and cargo litter the seabed. Thats a microwave oven. On the right, thats a printer. Here is the top of a car with a sunroof. Part of the cargo. What do we see there . That is a liquid storage container. You can see that its kind of compressed, kind of imploded by the pressure of the sea. Reporter of its 400 cargo containers, only two remain on deck. And toward the stern, in the structure called the house where the crew lived and work, he discovered the most chilling evidence of the power of an unforgiving sea. At the top of that white line there is the most surprising part of our video survey. Reporter what should be there . There should be two decks above that. The lower navigation bridge deck and the bridge deck. Reporter the two top decks had sheered off, including the ridge where captain davidson would have been fighting the storm. They were nowhere near the ship. Also missing, the voyage data recorder, like a socalled black box on an airplane. It had been bolted to the top of the bridge and was the one piece he wanted most. Because it would have told us what the crew was experiencing at the time in the minutes before the vessel sank, what they observed, the extent of the flooding, how they are responding. Essentially the events leading up to the actual catastrophe. Reporter im curious. When you first saw the video of the ship, what did you think . Were looking, of course, for we got up to that level and to see just openness was extremely moving and difficult to it was a very big surprise to see that. Reporter moving in what way . Just to see the violence of the sea and winds that would have had to have occurred to cause that kind of im sorry. To cause that kind of an event. Reporter because certainly there would have been people on the bridge. Yes. Reporter when that happened. Yes, quite certainly. And the shock and surprise to them, as waves and whatnot, and theyre just washed into the ocean. Reporter when you found out the news, how did you tell your son and daughter . How do you say anything to your kids . Behind two children, 13 and 22, and his wife, tina. And that was hard, because i guess i was in denial. I thought we had to tell my kids that it wasnt looking good for daddys ship, and that was terrible. It was like my chest collapsing and i couldnt breathe. Reporter deb roberts lost her son, michael holland. Deb, do you have an opinion on this . Not an engineer. Im a business manager. I think it was a series of unfortunate events, and without any other information, i truly blame it on hurricane joaquin. Reporter glenn, in your estimation, where does the responsibility for this lie . Squarely on tote maritime. Youve got to understand, commercial shipping, theyve got to keep that ship moving to make thats the whole horror of this tragedy. 33 people died so that frozen chickens could be delivered on time in puerto rico. Thats it. Reporter the safety board told us that tote maritime, the owner, is cooperating fully. Tote declined to talk to us, other than to say it created a fund for the families and that el faro was regularly maintained. The ship had past two inspections. A week after we left, the two bridge decks were located about a half mile from the ship. The windows were blown out. The voyage data recorder was not there. But based on the captains last message, investigators have a lead on the loss of propulsion. I believe we have an understanding that it was actually the main turbine, the steam turbine, that was lost. Violent seas, the propeller might have been thrust out of the water, causing it to spin too fast and shut down the turbine. The captain sailed into this hurricane, we know that much, but what we dont know is why. So were looking at the oversight and the direction, the advice provided by the operating company, tote, to see what information was available to him. Certainly also were looking at the weather forecast. The accuracy and the timeliness of the information when he made his decision to sail where he did. Reporter to your knowledge was he receiving orders from the company to press on . No. From what weve identified so far in the information that weve reviewed, there has been no direct guidance by the company to sail on the route he chose. You can see scotts full report on our website, cbsnews. Com. cell phone rings where are you . Well the squirrels are back in the attic. Mom . Your dad wont call an exterminator. Can i call you back, mom . He says its personal this time. If youre a mom, you call at the worst time. Its what you do. If you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. Its what you do. Where are you . Its very loud there. Are you taking a zumba class . Boy now, youve probably seen a lot of Christmas Trees out on the curb waiting to be picked up by sanitation. Steve hartman checked back in on the ugliest Christmas Tree hes ever seen to find out whats become of it. Reporter we returned to redding, pennsylvania to investigate reports that the has been immortalized. You may remember back in 2014 it was all the rage. And i do mean rage. I think Charlie Brown has a better tree than we do. Everybody who brought this tree here should get fired. Reporter the tree is so ugly, the city decided to take it down before christmas. Workers removed the lights and the pretzel of bethlehem and made arrangements to bring in a new strew. Francis acosta told me this was like that tree in the Charlie Brown story. Although the lesson had obviously eluded him. Who was the moral of that story . Being together. Reporter what did they do with the tree at the end . Save it, embrace it. But its not about Charlie Brown or not Charlie Brown tree, its about a beautiful Christmas Tree for the city. Reporter they really were until the phones started ringing off the hook at city hall. Public opinion changed. And the mayor issued a stay of reexecution, if you will. We will keep this thing here. Reporter and that was the end of the story. Or so i thought. I said were going to do something with it. Reporter luke was on the crew that was supposed to mulch this tree after the holidays. But he didnt. I thought there was no way we were going to run it through a chipper. Reporter so luke turned that pull try pine into a piece of art. A bench as quirky as the tree it came from. Today, it sits in city hall. A reminder that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And ugly, nothing more than attitude. Steve hartman, on the road, in will be right back. Embarrassed by a prostate exam . Imagine how your doctor feels. As a urologist, i have performed 9,421 and a half prostate exams. So why do i do it . Because i get paid. Und. On this side of the glove i know prostate exams can save lives. So, if you are a man over 50, talk to you doctor to see if a prostate exam is right for you. If we can do it, so can you. Star wars continues to conquer the movie universe. For the Third Straight weekend, the film was number one at the box office. Its already the second highest grossing domestic movie of alltime. Worldwide records will likely fall when the force opens in china. Vlad dutiers reports. You might need this. I think i can handle myself. Chapter the Star Wars Franchise hit theaters three moviegoers to sink the titanic and pass jurassic world. Now its climbing toward the top spot of the north american box office. Shut up and fly straight. Reporter surpassing avatar as the biggest grossing domestic film of all time. When star wars passes avatar, it will be the first time in 18 years that a James Cameron film is not the top of the highest grossing film list. Reporter its that star power that helped make 2015 hollywoods biggest year yet, pushing it past 11 billion in domestic sales for the first time. More than 20 of that came from the top five movies, as the Film Industry battles competitors like netflix and on demand cable. There is concern that so much of the money was in the so few of the big movies. I think as long as those smaller movies are still making money, overall. Just because i think those big films just overperformed. Reporter the top ten highest box offices of all time include 1999s the phantom menace and the original star wars. A phenomena even critics of the force awakens cant deny. Its destined to be a hit. Reporter whether the latest installment will take the global record remains to be seen. Its not showing avatar legs, its making so much money, who cares . Reporter what is clear may the force be with you always. Reporter is that the force is here to stay. Thats the overnight news for this tuesday. For some of you, the news continues. Little later for the morning news and cbs this morning. From the Broadcast Center in new york city, im elaine quijano. The president does an end run around congress to restrict gun sales. Also tonight, armed protesters versus the feds in a dispute over private property. I want the federal government to abide by the constitution of the United States. A levee proves no match for the mighty mississippi. El nio storms are about to hit the west. And getting fit. Orange is the new way back. Its pretty powerful in improving peoples risk factors for Heart Disease and diabetes. This is the cbs overnight news. Weve learned how president obama intends to tighten gun congress. The president , frustrated by mass murders that seem to come every month, has decided in his last year to test the limits of his power. Chief Legal Correspondent jan crawford has the news from the white house. Reporter well, scott, Senior Administration officials just moments ago outlined the executive actions the president will announce tomorrow which he says will help keep guns out of the wrong hands. A major focus are what Officials Say are flaws and loopholes in the nations system of background checks. Among the recommendations are requiring gun dealers, including those who sell firearms on the internet or at gun shows, to be licensed and conduct background checks for gun sales. Changing federal privacy rules to help keep people with Mental Health restrictions from possessing guns. Hiring more than 230 additional fbi employees to help process background checks. Additional 200 agents and investigators at the bureau of alcohol, tobacco firearms. Now, after meeting this afternoon with his attorney general, Loretta Lynch, the president said he was confident these changes are consistent with the second amendment, that theyre not an unconstitutional end run around congress, but, scott, one thing is all but certain these proposals and these executive actions are going to be challenged, whether in congress or in court. Just as the president s executive actions on immigration have been challenged in court. Jan crawford at the white house tonight. Jan, thank you very much. The president s shot was heard everywhere on the campaign trail today, and with less than four weeks to the first voting, candidates are turning to their own big guns. Major garrett is in New Hampshire tonight. Major . Reporter scott, republican president ial candidates condemned the president s executive action as overreach even before the details were known. Not surprisingly, president obama received strong support who today deployed one of her most potent political weapons. Bill clinton held his first Solo Campaign event of this election cycle, admitting the times feel a bit unsettling. I dont fit anymore. First of all, im a happy grandfather. Im not mad at anybody. Reporter clinton was in New Hampshire, a state where his affections run deep. The former president s second place finish here in 1992 paved the way to the nomination. Hillary clintons win in 2008 got her back into the race against barack obama. Unlike that campaign when bill clinton acted as his wifes co strategist and hyperactive endorser, today he brought a quieter pitch. I do not believe in my lifetime anybody has run for this job at a moment of greater importance who was Better Qualified by knowledge, experience and temperament to do to restore prosperity reporter clinton did not directly address Donald Trumps recent attempts to dredge up his 1990s sex scandals. Campaigning in iowa, Hillary Clinton said she had a trump inspired new years resolution. Im going to let him live in his alternative reality and im not going to respond. Reporter trump took on the democratic frontrunner in his First Television ad. The politicians can pretend its Something Else, but donald trump calls it radical islamic terrorism. Reporter the border images of migrants are not migrants crossing from mexico into the United States but crossing a border in morocco. The Trump Campaign said it used that video on purpose to show what would happen in america if illegal immigration is not stopped. Major garrett on the campaign. Thanks. Now for some insight we turn to john dickerson, our cbs news political director and the anchor of face the nation. John, what do you make of that trump ad . Reporter well, its an ad about fear and walls, fear of illegally. Trump started his campaign promising a wall to keep them out, and its about fear of islamic terrorists. Trump promises to keep them out by temporarily walling off muslims from entering america. Republican voters rank these emotional issues as top concerns and trump on these issues has a decided advantage over his opponents. The iowa caucus is february 1st, less than a month away. Where does the race stand . Reporter on the republican side the race is a battle between trump and everyone else. The alternative might be ted cruz or a mainstream candidate republicans like, someone like marco rubio or chris christie. On the democratic side, Bernie Sanders is the grassroots champion, but unlike on the republican side, establishment support is not split. Theres just Hillary Clinton, who is the stable frontrunner. With less than a month to go before the voting starts, campaigns are at the point where every decision they make about travel, about resources could john dickerson, well be watching sunday on face the nation. Thanks, john. Thanks, scott. Tonight, Law Enforcement is not moving to retake a government building at a National Wildlife refuge in oregon. The building was seized two days ago by armed protesters, another flareup in the generationslong showdown between ranchers and the largest landlord in the west, uncle sam. John blackstone is there. Reporter at the entrance to the wildlife refuge headquarters, ammon bundy declared this a fight hes determined to win. And it is left to us to decide whether we allow these things to go on or whether we make a stand so they will not happen to other people across this country. Reporter the occupation began saturday after a demonstration in support of local ranchers dwight and Steven Hammond. They were convicted for arson spread on to federal land. They arrived at a prison in Southern California today to begin a fiveyear sentence. So you want the federal government to give up this wildlife refuge, give it back to ranchers . Is that the demand . I want the federal government to abide by the constitution of the United States. Get out of here, you cowards reporter in 2014, bundys father cliven battled government officials