>> good evening. we begin tonight with stories of fear and panic from the ship costa requested equality concordia" as it ran aground and keeled over near a small island near tuscany. at least three people are known dead, dozens more unaccounted for. alan pizzey picks up the story. >> reporter: passengers had just sat down to dinner when they heard a loud bang. the impact tore a 160-foot gash in the hull and an eight-day mediterranean cruise turned into what some passengers described as scenes from the movie "titanic." with water pouring in, the costaa "concordia" began to list. the lucas family from girdwood, alaska knew it was time to go. >> when tiffs listing, you thought, there's water coming on board. there's something wrong if it's tipping like that. we went to the high side. that was chaotic. in the hallways, people had lifejackets on. the power was out. ( screaming ). >> reporter: at least they were on the side of the ship where they could get off. but the only way down was a rope ladder. >> people were panicking and yelling and pushing. they wanted to be the first on the life boats. we didn't get on the first life boats and they were gone and there we stood. >> reporter: the ship appears to have struck a reef. some passengers decided their only chance was to jump into the dark, freezing cold sea. mark and his wife, sarah, and brother justin baines were among them. >> the ship started moving very fast so we knew we were going to be underwater quick and we started jumpin jumping and there 200 people who jumped and swam 100 meters to rocks and we got up on the shore. >> it's a good thing we did. the part that is now underwater is where we were standing. >> reporter: you were standing in the part that is underwater? >> very far underwater. >> we had beacons on our life vestvests that were blinking, be waited and wait. >> 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. >> reporter: safety measures aworld the costa "concordia "were lax or unenforced, according to comments from surviving passengers. one, a french military officer, said she'd been on board for typh days and there had been no life boat evacuation drill in that time. >> i would be shocked and extremely disappointed. >> mark rosenker is a former chairman of the ntsb, cruise industry safety one of his specialties. >> why they would not hold a muster drill is beyond my comprehension. >> reporter: many passengers described scenes of chaos unabated by the crew these two spanish men said they did not explain anything to us at all. they told us not to worry because the problem was with the generators. this italian woman said, "i saved me with a life board we my ownasties. i'm happy i'm here and alive." this is not the firs first deady accident for the costa lines. two years ago the costa "europa" smashed into rocks at sharm el sheikh, egypt. two crewmen were killed. this ship, the "concordia" had a similar accident in 2008 when strong winds forced it to slam into rocks in italy. the ship sustained damage but no one was injured. whatever caused this accident, it is publicly unusual for a vessel so modern to capsize, says mark rosenker. >> these vessels are built with water-tight safety precautions built into them. so there will be questions asked about the design of the vessel and if in fact various water-tight precautions that were built into it failed. >> reporter: the italian coast guard has recovered the "concordia's" black box. if intact, it will provide crucial information to investigators, including voice recordings that will reveal how the crew reacted when the ship ran aground. tony guida, cbs news, new york. >> turning now to campaign 2012. today, rick santorum won the endorsement of a powerful group of evangelical christian leaders. the move comes as social conservatives try to unify around a single, alternative candidate to the front-runner, mitt romney. our bill whitaker is on the trail in charleston, south carolina. >> reporter: the news from texas couldn't have come at a better time for rick santorum. winning the blessing of evangelical leaders could be just the boost the former pennsylvania senator needs. >> they've looked at not just what we've been able to accomplish during this primary season so far but they've looked at the track record of someone that has been a strong, consistent voice across the board on all the conservative issues. >> reporter: santorum, who almost toppled mitt romney in iowa with the help of born again christian voters, fell to fifth in less-religious new hampshire. since then, he's been struggling to remain a serious contender, even here in south carolina where more than half of g.o.p. voters call themselves evangelical christians. the evangelical elite now are pinning their hopes and prayers on the devout conservative catholic santorum. >> we need to come together. if you add up all of the votes for the conservative candidates in the-- for instance, in the polling in south carolina, between santorum, gingrich, and perry, that would put a candidate at the top. >> reporter: the good news for santorum is bad for newt gingrich who has been courting the same conservative christian voters. but it could be even more damaging to front-runner mitt romney. 60% of republican voters tell cbs news it's important that a presidential candidate share their religious views. mitt romney's mormon faith is problematic for some undecided south carolina christian voters like joe grinson. >> mormonnism is a sect. i'm not voting for somebody in a sect. >> reporter: brad atkins is president of the southern baptist convention with 600,000 adherents, baptists are the state's largest christian denomination. he says he could embrace romney as aa moral man but can't embrace mormons as fellow christians. >> to me it's just a different group of people, a different group of faith, just like islam is a different group of people, different group of faith. >> reporter: on the campaign trail, romney is asked to explain his faith. >> i happen to believe that jesus christ is the son of god and my safer. >> reporter: still, for many south carolina voters, the issue of romney's religion is a nonissue. >> it's what the person does on sunday really doesn't have an effect on what they do the other five or six days of the week when they're supposed to be leading this country. >> reporter: the evangelical leaders who met today in texas say it's not mitt romney's religion that concerns them but his commitment to conservative values. they say he's not conservative enough. it's rick santorum, they say, who upholds their core black fridays. >> bill whitaker, thank you very much, tonight. and for more perspective on the republican race we're joined by cbs news political director john dickerson. john, good evening to you. so, this conservative support for santorum tonight, how much does it really help him going forward? >> well, it's a nice shot in the arm for santorum. he's been third in some of the polls, so it gives him some attention now that he need it. but the question is how much does it really help him? this group got together. they said he's the one, but they didn't call for any of the other candidates to drop out and that's been the problem with those candidates running against mitt romney. they're all splitting the vote. so this group of conservative elites didn't call for anybody to drop out. they didn't say that mitt romney was absolutely unacceptable. although, that's, of course, the energy behind why this meeting was put together. so santorum needs a big boost. this gave him a little one. we'll see if in the coming days he can make more of it. >> i think i hear you saying this is still romney's race in south carolina and beyond, right? >> that's the way it looks now. mitt romney won in iowa. he won in new hampshire. he has momentum. that's showing up some some of these polls. his events are also very well attended, and also if you look at south carolina in 2008, which mike huckabee ran, he was a big favorite of a lot of conservative elites, well, john mccain won that state. he also won 30% of evangelical voters which means evangelicals are not just voting for the candidate the elites in their order tell them to vote for. so this is a state that has a lot of votes that mitt romney can get. >> okay, political director john dickerson tonight, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> iran today claimed it has reliable documents-- this is a quote-- and evidence that the c.i.a. was behind the killing of iranian nuclear scientist. he was killed wednesday by a magnetic bomb attached to the side of his car. the united states has denied any role in the killing. a suicide bomber outside the iraqi port city of basra killed 53 people and wounded more than 100 others today. the victims were pilgrims on their way to observances at a shiite mosque. more than 140 iraqis have been killed in apparent attacks against shiites by rival sunnis so far this year. later, bronco tim tebow's moment of truth in tonight's play-off game. how peanuts are turning young lives around in haiti. and in-sourcing-- the campaign to bring jobs back to america. those stories when the cbs evening news continues. >> presdent obama is pushing his new plan to help u.s. companies in-source, bring more jobs home. in his weekly address, the president urged congress and businesses to get on board and to help make his point, mr. obama showed off some items made in the u.s.a. elaine quijano tells us how one u.s. company is in-sourcing. >> reporter: after seven months of pounding the payment, customer service agent tiphani edmonds is happy to be working steps away from her newborn son. >> i don't have to put him in daycare. i don't have to fight traffic. gas. gas is very expensive. >> our job is to educate the customer on the first contact. >> reporter: janet hess, a customer service instructor, came out of retirement when her husband became ill. >> i did not want to compete with a 25-year-old for a corporate position again. >> reporter: both women are part of a trend to bring call center jobs back to the u.s. from overseas, a move that's actually better for business. >> if you're calling because you need to get your snowblower repaired, speaking with somebody in india who likely doesn't even know what snow or a snowblower is will be a very difficult conversation. >> reporter: angela selden is cochirm of arise virtual solutions, a florida-based company that's bringing 11,000 call center jobs back home to service fortune 500 companies like walgreens, a.a.a., and carnival cruises. arise calculates that to solve a customer issue, overseas operators require 2.3 calls for every one call answered in the u.s. >> if you have to do two or three calls to get that single question answered, in the end, it's about the same or even slightly more expensive to have it done offshore. >> they're part of a hopeful trend. they are bringing jobs back to america. >> reporter: seldon was invited to the white house this week where president obama made a pitch to bring manufacturing jobs back home. >> thank you for choosing sears. we appreciate your business. >> reporter: but this repate riated job comes with a catch-- edmonds gets no benefits or overtime. in return, she can set her own hours and work for the companies she chooses. >> all together it's working great for me. >> reporter: edmonds makes $10 an hour now but there is room for advancement to trainer, supervisor, or sales, maurice. >> elaine quijano, thanks so much. former penn state football coach joe paterno has meade his first public statement since being fired, telling the "washington post," he did not know how to handle the report he got in 2002, that accused assistant coach jerry sandusky of abusing a boy in the penn state locker room. jerry sandusky has been charged with 52 counts of child molestation. sandusky insists he's innocent. still ahead, homegrown hope for hate's malnourished children. that story is next. >> it's graduation day for student at oprah winfrey's academy, leadership academy for girls in south africa. winfrey opened the doors of her schools for underprivileged girls five years ago. this is its first graduating class. winfrey says her new graduates are now free to soar. two years after a massive earthquake struck haiti, farm thrers are now growing hope. the central plateau region was largely spared from the earthquake's physical impact but not from the economic devastation. that's tonight's "weekend journal" how haiti's peanut crop is saving lives and creating new economic opportunities. just a few weeks ago, this one-year-old boy was malnourished and underweight. but now-- for his height, for his size, his weight is normal. >> reporter: the cure wassicism eel a small daily serving of something called nur, made of just five simple ingredients-- peanuts, milk powder, vegetable oil and sight nines, it stops malnutrition in a matter of weeks. >> it's ready to eat. you literally open up the jar and you take your scoop. >> dan schmitz is a nutritional researcher with abbott laboratories, the company giving money and expertise to nonprofit partners in health which runs this project. he says the people here in haiti's central plateau about 50 miles north of the capital port-au-prince are getting nutritional and economic supports. >> we tapped into a market of about 300 local farmers but in addition to that, we're also buying raw frrlz other local suppliers here as well. stenio louis-jeune is an aged ronommist who trains farmers to grow the hearty, quick-growing peanuts. >> hate sea very rich country in terms of natural resources and people don't know how to benefit, how to take advantage of that. >> reporter: once the crop is harvested, 40 paid workers roast, sort, grind, and jar. it's hard work, done in a stuffy, windowless room. "in a country with more than 60% unemployment, michoi grazia says she is proud to have a job that allows her to feed her family and send her two children, nine and five, to school. >> the way this facility is designed-- >> by the end of the year, michoi and others will move into a new plant, increasing production 10fold and hiring more haitians. >> we're looking to provide jobs, training, and also life-saving product. >> katherine pickus, head of abbott's philanthropic ventures, says the goal is to create a self-sustaining, all-haitian business. >> it will create an incentive to grow an agricultural sector that every expert we talk to says will be a driving change for a transformative change in haiti. >> reporter: in haiti, there's a saying-- beyond the mountains are more mountains. simply feeding their people an all-too-familiar uphill climb. and according to partners in health, the vast majority of people living in haiti's central plateau survive on less than $12.50 a month and 92% don't always know where their next meal is coming from. still ahead, get ready for some tebowing as the quarterback talks football and faith. that story is next. >> tonight's nfl play-off game between new england and denver seems to be all about tim tebow, the broncos quarterback spoke to james brown, the host of "nfl today." >> i sat down with tebow in denver on thursday and for all the hype, the former heisman trophy winner remains remarkably humble going into his second-ever play-off game. he's the miracle man in the mile high city. denver broncos quarterback tim tebow has led his team to the play-offs with last-second heroics and dramatic come-from-behind victorys. >> out at the 40. it's thomas to the 10. denver is going on to new england. >> it's been our attitude all year. when we get our opportunities let's take advantage of them. let's have fun. let's play together. and even though some things might not have been going good, we might have got hit and knocked down a number of times we will continue to keep fighting. >> reporter: people paused to take a knee. they call it tebowing. >> one, two, tebow! ( cheers ) >> so how do you keep things in perspective? >> for me, one of my biggest prayers is whether i do good, whether i do bad, whether we win, whether we lose, is that i can honor the lord and i'll says the same as a person-- be genuine, be real, and be kind and caring and be a good role model. >> reporter: tebow's prayers and ability as a football player will be put to the test again tonight. the broncos square off in a rematch against the new england patriots who beat them 41-23 during the regular season. tebow says the broncos are ready. >> i'm going to go out there and have fun and, you know, go out there and live my dream is and enjoy the moment. >> reporter: you know, film will be the first to tell you that he is still unpolished as a quarterback in the national football league, but while he is learning to be a good quarterback at the highest level in the nfl he will tell you that he is more concerned about being a success in the game of life, truly impacting people. that's far more important than anything he wants to do in the game of football. as a matter of fact, of course, we'll see how well he will do on the field tonight when they take on the patriots at 8:00 right here on cbs. >> we won't miss it, j.b. >> thank you, buddy. >> and that is the cbs evening news. good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

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