properly but some parents do not agree. >> i don't think i agree. >> that's -- i don't get that. now to politics where the republicans are closing ranks. rick santorum officially announced his support for mitt romney's presidential bid in an e-mail to his supporters. santorum says that after romney visited him in pittsburgh last friday he was impressed with his deep understanding of the importance issues. santorum also said he will keep pressure on romney to hire more conservatives for his team. and president obama, meanwhile, is going positive. he's out with a new tv ad that says america is on the rise and credits the president with pulling the economy back from the brink. it also detailses president obama's foreign policy accomplishments, including the killing of osama bin laden n ending the war in iraq. the new ad called "coming back" will air in nine politically important states. >> it's going to be a long, hard slog until early november. well, oprah winfrey's golden touch is apparently not working when it comes to her struggling cable network. >> the oprah winfrey network has reportedly lost a staggering $330 million since it launched last year. there's been a recent up tick in ratings thanks to shows featuring oprah herself. industry insiders believe without a dramatic turnaround, the own network won't survive another year. >> she had the midus touch for so long. she said we kind of launched this before we were fully ready. she compared it to sending out the invitations but you weren't really ready for the wedding. she launched too much, too fast and now -- >> i still believe in oprah. she's the oracle. i think there's something there still simmering. >> if anyone can pull it off, i think she can. not a pretty start. here's a look at your forecast. snow ramps up in the mountains near denver. scattered thunderstorms across new mexico and texas. severe weather from laredo to san antonio. a chance of showers and thunderstorms from the deep south to the northeast. cooler with showers from the dakotas to wisconsin. >> just 57 in fargo. 63 in the twin cities and 71 in chicago. 68 right here in new york. 86 in miami and 76 in dallas. phoenix hits 90 and albuquerque, 67. it was a slice of hollywood here in new york. a parade of a-list stars all glammed up for the biggest night in fashion. >> sarah jessica parker, look at her. oh. and she's accompanied by valentino. she's wearing valentino. hit the red carpet at the m metropolitan museum of arts. that's gisele. scarlett johansson. kanye. linda evangelista. michael bloomberg. ryan seacrest. tim tebow. a parade of stars. >> the fashion is really gorgeous, though. i think there were more hits than misses. well, and then anna winter. she's always, i think, ahead of the fashion curve. look at her. just gorgeous. >> the event is dubbed the fashion oscars. where was our invite? again, we didn't get the white house correspondents dinner. >> this is 2 for 2. >> i'm feeling no love for the overnights. i'm feeling jilted. >> we need to make up our own gala. right here and get dressed up. >> nursing moms, hospital workers, strippers, crackheads. everybody. you all are invited to our party. >> that's going to be a good idea, actually. coming up, generation xxx. >> the secret online epidemic boys and girls as young as 8 addicted to internet porn. we'll hear from a young ex-addict. you're watching "world news now." >> announcer: "world news now" weather brought to you by consumer cellular. ♪ ♪ you're gonna have to face it you're addicted to love ♪ this next story, i'm not quite sure exactly what to make of it. a 17-year-old says he became addicted to porn at the age of 12 and actually this is not a problem unique to just him. >> it's a scary epidemic growing among teens lured by images that are just a click away on a smartphone or computer. here's abc's john donvan. >> reporter: it's after school and nathan is out walking bonnie, the family dog in alpine, utah. because it's his turn. and that's the kind of kid he is. >> these are just like a fraction of all my merit badges. >> reporter: on his way to eagle scout. and a 3.75 grade average. student council. and the sports. and his connection to his family. he is one of eight children and at 17, the oldest of those still living at home and it almost doesn't fit that nathan once managed to cover up from everybody a habit he could not shake. until he finally did. an addiction. online pornography. >> so 12 to 13 all the way up to probably 14 it was kind of there, uninterrupted. i became almost numb to it. >> meaning what? >> it became such a part of my, pretty much daily routine. >> it was automatic. >> it was automatic, exactly. >> reporter: nathan is far from alone. there is still little research on just how many u.s. kids are addicted to online pornography. one study reports exposure can begin at a very young age. for some as young as 8 years old. nathan would view it late at night on the family computer. he got good at covering his tracks. >> eventually it got to deleting that and deleting specific searches and clining my mess afterwards. to the time where i timed it masterfully. >> reporter: the warning signs for those who become addicted may include depression, poor school performance, self-isolation. also lying. >> it seems silly to me. i would catch him in a lie and -- >> silly things. >> yes. like why would you lie about that. it just -- it seemed unnecessary, but i could tell it had become a habit. >> reporter: studies show that seven out of ten teens have been accidentally exposed to pornography online. boys are more likely to view it but, yes, girls get hooked, too. like bre ann of austin, texas. >> i started to isolate myself because i hated what i was doing. i hated that i couldn't stop. >> reporter: she is now 22, but remembers how she was addicted during all of her high school years. >> i would say that this is something that was not just me. i knew tons of students who were in my grade, my peers who were struggle with the same thing. >> reporter: while not yet formerly recognized by the psychological association as a listed addiction, people who work in the field, like psychotherapist matt boclee are treating it as one. >> a lot of times the pornography becomes a coping style. a way they deal with negative emotions in their life. pornography provides a euphoria, a high. >> reporter: and he warns -- >> i think we're at the front end of it. i think in the next five to ten years is this rising generation moves into adolescence, i think that we're going to have an epidemic, really. >> we're just at the beginning of it? >> absolutely. >> reporter: breann appears on the fight the new drug sight as someone who beat the addiction. that's the good news. the addiction can be beaten. >> because all it takes is for someone to say, oh, my gosh, i am addicted. this is an addiction. women do go through this. >> reporter: the point game for nathan, too, when he became a program the church designed. he got himself unhooked and now he's putting himself throughout to help other kids who are trapped. >> i know there will be someone out there in my life and they'll have this attitude. they'll maybe tease me if they want. but it's not up to me to care because for all i know, they are suffering from the same problem. >> reporter: so today, he's back on track, and that ipod touch he's listening to is set up so that even by accident, no kind of risque image can get in there because as he and many other kids know, that's how it starts, if you're not careful. i'm john donvan, in alpine, utah. >> see, and therein, i think, lies one of the solutions. you have to put those parental controls on the computer. on the iphone, on the itouch, whatever your kid has that you are providing to your child. you have the responsibility as a parent to try to help. >> technology has gotten to that point where you can control what is seen as parents. it makes sense. why not take advantage of that. because those kind of images, 8, 9 years old, that's -- >> how did that happen? >> scary. >> anyway. >> i'm glad everybody in the piece got their sight back. coming up next, 30 years of letters to mom. >> yes. this is a great story. he's written his mom every day. and has no plans of stopping. stay tuned. you're watching "world news now." ♪ if i could save time in a bottle the first thing i'd like to do ♪ there's a man in new hampshire who takes being a mama's boy to a whole new level. >> he's been writing a letter to his mother, sending it by snail mail every day for the past 30 years. reporter adam sexton has this mother's tale. >> reporter: every day for the last 30 years, four months and ten days, mike jirosi has written a letter to his mother gloria. >> you should appreciate the ones that you love and show your appreciation, and -- because you never know. one day they might not be there. >> reporter: on christmas night 1981, her chevy citation was hit by a drunk driver. >> the dash was into my knees and they had to use the jaws of life to pry me out. >> reporter: michael was 19 years old and 3,000 miles away in california starting a career in the budding computer industry. he wrote a letter and mailed it the day after christmas. >> i wish so much i could be by your bedside right now. >> reporter: gloria needed four months of therapy to learn how to walk again. every day, a new letter arrived from mike full of love and encouragement. >> i thought it was wonderful. >> reporter: even after she recovered, he didn't stop writing. weeks turned into months, months turned into years. not a day passed he didn't put pen to paper. >> i enjoy writing the letters to her, and i knew it gave her joy to read them. so i thought, why not continue writing. >> reporter: as a software engineer he knew about e-mail a long time before the rest of the country. while he considered moving his letter writing online, ultimately he decided to keep doing things the old-fashioned way. >> i could never do that, sit down and write every day. you know, he's lucky to get a letter from me once a year, you know? >> reporter: mike started a tradition for every 1,000th letter. sending a framed note or plaque etched with words of love. >> i have no plans of stopping ever. so i'm here to stay. the letter writing will continue on. >> reporter: after more than 11,000 letters, the feelings haven't changed. and tomorrow's handwritten "i love you" will be just as heartfelt as it was so many years ago in letter number one. >> you're the love of my life. >> oh, here we go again. >> what are they saying, though? that's a lot of words. a lot of letters. >> a lot of letters. i'm sure an interesting life. just wants to share it with mom. >> that's lovely. >> we know she'll have a good mother's day. 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[ beeping, ticks ] and when their devices are powered by a battery, there are athletes everywhere who trust duracell so whether they're headed for london or the journey has just begun... they rely on copper to go for the gold. duracell. trusted everywhere. >> announcer: "world news now" delivers your "morning papers." >> well, my, my, my, some eastern michigan students were quite upset recently when they received a dismissal e-mail. the entire student body -- >> 23,000, right? >> 23,000 received a dismissal e-mail that basically said you are dismissed from the university because of poor academic performance. apparently the e-mail was only supposed to go out to 100 of the students. but went out i the entire student body. of course, the university has apologized. the president herself, susan martin, apologized to all of the students explaining that the e-mail was not a breach of security or an incident of hacking. just a very terrible mistake. >> that must have been an awful feeling when you hit that send button. oh, that went to everybody. >> can you imagine receiving it? it's like a student's worst nightmare. how do you explain that to your parents. >> you are dismissed. >> oh, glad they cleared that up. sure not a good moment for a couple thousand kids in michigan. this picture is getting a lot of play out here. we always hear how in america we're falling behind educationally in terms of other countries around the world. china especially is known to be tough with their kids. they get -- it's very strict educational system. but take a look at this picture here. apparently they are in some classrooms here where these kids who are studying for their college entrance exams are hooked up to an i.v., literally as they are prepping, as they are working to keep their energy levels up at the time. so they are getting like vitamins or getting their nutrients there as they work there at their desk to keep their energy up. the government gave them a subsidy to graduating seniors who particinate the exams. an incentive to do well. now they're saying they are bringing these i.v.s in to save a trip to the school nurse for not feeling well. they can bring the equipment to the classroom and be hooked up so they stay alert and fresh while studying. >> while studying. i need an i.v. i need one right now. >> i got something special. >> it's ridiculous. >> china, relax. >> relax. a los angeles city council committee, this is very interesting, apparently in l.a., they will ban paper bags and plastic bags from about 7,500 supermarkets. >> so gone. >> gone. paper and plastic. so you'll have to sort of use something else. take it with you. and it's about recycling and i think it's about, you know, the environment and when you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. plastic and paper bags, why use that? why not just use something you can bring with you. >> that makes sense, too. take a look at this guy. one man's symphony going this morning on "world news now" -- bomb plot spoiled. >> the cia ended the latest plan by an al qaeda affiliate group to take down a u.s.-bound airliner. the bombmaker is a familiar foe. it's tuesday, may 8th. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." >> good tuesday morning, everybody. i'm rob nelson. >> and i'm sunny hostin. that familiar foe is said to be the same bombmaker who was behind the so-called underwear bomb plot. and he's still on the loose. >> scary, to too. that was, what, christmas day 2009? so 2 1/2 years ago, what have you. and what's scary about this incident is this bomb, this plot, the bomb itself was a lot more sophisticated than the one we saw on that christmas day morning. >> and there could be problems detecting that kind of bomb at airports all over the country. and we have so much enhanced security. and i think that's what's so scary about it. >> we get smarter and so do they. these latest bombs don't have metal. sobering news this morning on that. also coming up today, the raging debate over gay marriage. new questions about the president's position just as voters in a key battleground state go to the polls today to decide whether to ban it. a big vote in the state of north carolina coming up today. >> that's right. listen up, everybody. remember that mother's day is sunday. yes, coming up. still time to get your mom a pretty cool gift. one that she will actually use. we have some high-tech gift ideas for the tech-savvy mother in your life. something a bit different, right? instead of just candy and flowers. >> something a little more pricey. >> yes. >> sophisticated. also a big announcement here at abc news. we are teaming up with spanish language tv giant univision to launch a new 24-hour channel. it is exciting, and it is coming to a tv near you sooner than you may think. a big, big announcement from our news division yesterday. >> that's a big deal. >> a growing demographic. there are huge numbers out there. we're trying to tap into that market. big day for the division. so hola, everybody. >> hola. but first, the threat is far from over this morning as the bombmaker behind this latest plot as we said is still at large. >> and there's an urgent question as to whether airport security is sophisticated enough to stop these kinds of attacks. abc's karen travers joins us this morning with the latest. good morning, karen. >> reporter: good morning, rob and sunny. government officials say that the plot was foiled before any flights were in any potential danger. but officials here and in europe say the threat is far from over. the cia, other u.s. counterterrorism agencies and partners around the world foiled the latest plot to blow up planes. following a man who had not yet picked a target or bought a plane ticket. the cia seized the bomb in yemen, but it is still not clear what happened to the alleged bomber. >> this incident makes clear is that this country has to continue to remain vigilant against those that would seek to attack this country. >> reporter: authorities tell abc news this latest bomb was an improved version of the so-called underwear bomb made only of chemicals used by omar abdulmutallab in the failed attempt to blow up a delta flight on christmas day 2009. the fbi later demonstrated what would have happened if the bomb had detonated successfully. what's even more frightening, this new bomb has a highly redefined detonation system without any metallic parts, making it harder for security systems to detect. one security expert said there's no guarantee the most sophisticated airport scanners would have caught the device. >> we're dealing with a dynamic adversary here. so they're going to try to always identify the vulnerabilities and the work-arounds in our own system. >> reporter: u.s. and other intelligence services say al qaeda bombmaker ibrahim al asiri is the mastermind of previous bomb threats and this new one. securities officials say that they have not caught the bombmaker and he could be building other devices or training potential suicide attackers. rob and sunny? >> scary news here. interesting, too, kip pauley, the former head of the tsa has a book out. take the comments in context. but he doesn't think that first underwear bomb in 2009 would have been enough to take down the plane. interesting note there despite the video you saw there. body scanners, the poof, poof machines we get into, they are helpful but he's advocating a better system of patdowns which have been pretty controversial before. he's saying that's what we need to focus on more so than the body scanners. >> that's interesting because so many people, myself included, i just prefer the poof, poof and just get there and have the body scan. >> we all do but it may not be enough. >> interesting. the u.s. and china are pledging to work together against the threat of cyberterrorism. defense secretary leon panetta and china's defense minister announced the agreement after high-level meetings in washington. it's quite an about-face since just six months ago the u.s. accused china of systematically stealing american eye-tech data for its own national economic gain. investigators say they found no foul play in the death of a soldier who died while skyping with his wife. captain bruce clark collapsed back on may 1st in afghanistan during a simple video chat. his wife had suggested her husband had been shot but now the military says there is no evidence to support that. the exact cause of death is still pending. there's a new grim turn in the search for a missing mother and her three daughters. the fbi now says two bodies found behind the suspected kidnapper's home in mississippi are those of the mother, jo ann bain and her oldest daughter adrienne and there are heightened fears over the safety of the two remaining girls who are 12 and 8. they are believed to be with adam mayes, a longtime family friend who is the subject of an intense multistate manhunt. more grim news this morning. a minnesota wo