The CNN Daily - 2010 03 01.avi

This is what it looks like and sounds like when an 8.8 quake hits, when every second
feels like an eternity.
Someone was recording this as it happened. We've got several seconds where all you can
see is the shaking. Then all of a sudden the video goes black
/ when the power fails. Take a listen.
As you can see the lights¡¯re out. No, no matter what the language, fear needs no translation
here. One man urging others just to stay calm.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be delivering condolences to the Chilean government
tomorrow. She's scheduled uh, a Latin American trip just before the quake
had struck. She arrives in Santiago Tuesday and will meet with the outgoing president
and the president- elect.
You can visit our "Impact Your World" page to find out more about the quake and how you
can help with the relief effort. That's at CNN.com/impact.
PHILLIPS: So how's this for an example of "Broken Government"? No more time, no more
money. And if you're depending on unemployment benefits
to get by, forget about it.
Christine Romans joining me now live from New York.
Not good news, Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, it's not good news for, frankly, millions of people
here.
Kyra, normally uh, -- in normal times if you're out of work you can apply for an unemployment
insurance and you get 26 weeks / of unemployment benefits / on average. Ah, but now because
of so many extensions in this great recession, not normal times, you can get up to 99 weeks
of unemployment benefits.
And this federal extension, most recent federal extension, is slated to run out today. As
of today. And on Friday, a lone senator, Jim Bunning from Kentucky, did not
vote to uh, vote to, to help another,.. another extension go through. Actually a roadblock
to that extension.
So you have 1.2 million people in March will lose their uh, federal unemployment benefit
extension. Five million by June. This is according to the National Employment Law Project.
There are 11.5 million people right now, Kyra, / receiving unemployment benefits. Some of
them for many, many months uhm. On average some 400 and some dollars a week that people
are getting, and for many people / who've been out of work for six months or more, this
is how they are feeding their families.
So this is a, pretty critical time for many people who are looking for those unemployment
benefits to be extended. And they haven't yet. Ah, COBRA health insurance, as well.
There's -- you might not know this, but taxpayers, you and I are helping pay the premiums for
people out of work. People who are out of work, 65 percent of their premiums for their
COBRA health insurance are paid by taxpayers. That also died on Friday uh.., in the Senate
as well.
Now here's a little bit of glimmer of hope here. Some of the Republicans are signaling
and suggesting that they may be open to a patch, some kind of a near-term fix, ahm,
but the longer term, since we've had so many extensions already, they want to have a big
discussion, Kyra, about how we're going to pay for this. It doesn't come for free.
How are we gonna pay for it? If it's so important / to keep people getting these checks, then
(the-y), they wanna know where we're gonna get the money and are we gonna take the money
from someplace else.
So that's where we stand here right now. Looks like there could be some movement on this,
this week. Of course, no one's gonna get backup checks for that. Ahm¡¦, this is sort of
lost time for those people who will not be able to get a federal check. So this is literally
millions of people -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, and the Senator Jim Bunning is the one right there that's voting against
it, has a lot of people angry, and everyone is trying to talk to him and we haven't heard
a peep yet. So we're still working that.
Christine Romans, thanks.
ROMANS: And he's taking a fiscal stance, you know. He's saying if it's so important, tell
me how are we going to pay for it. What are we going to take from someplace else to pay
for it? But other Republicans are signaling that they might be ready to move forward
-- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks, Christine.
Keeping an eye on Iran as well. Are they really trying to build a nuclear bomb? Inspectors
are going over their notes right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Kyra Phillips.
PHILLIPS: Wall Street investors hope to build on the stock market gains of last month, so
let's see how March is going to come in. Like a financial lion or lamb?
Alison Kosik, she's at the New York Stock Exchange.
What do you think, Alison?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, on this first trading day of March, Kyra, we
are expecting to see at least modest gains at the open. There is some news out there
that could move the markets.
Investors are pleased to see that AIG is making a big effort to shore up its balance sheet
and pay back taxpayers some of the $182 billion the government gave it in the bailout.
What's happened is AIG has agreed to sell AIA Group, that's its Asian life insurance
business to Britain's Prudential. The price tag on this deal? $35 billion most of it in
cash. It's AIG's biggest asset sale since being rescued by the government.
Wall Street is also hoping that Greece may finally get a bailout of its own. European
and Greek officials are meeting today and there is talk that a deal could be hammered
out soon. If there is, investor would definitely like that.
The U.S. transportation department will lay off 2,000 workers today. They're going to
be furloughed without pay because the Senate failed to pass a bill to extend highway and
transit programs. This is all part of the unemployment benefits extension that you heard
Christine talking about a few minutes ago.
All right. Taking a check on the early numbers. We're seconds away from the opening bell.
Before we do take a look at the numbers, Kyra, we are watching copper prices. We don't usually
copper prices. But we've noticed that they've gained about 6 percent. And that's because
of the devastating earthquake in Chile.
I don't know if you knew this but Chile is the world's leading producer of metal, and
there are concerns about supply disruptions because production could be affected because
the infrastructure there could be affected.
Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: OK. Alison, thanks so much.
All right. the bell is going to ring there in just a second, you see, as we tip-off at
the half hour. There we go. Just got to get it on record there. Just about to hit 9:30
a.m. Eastern Time.
All right. Search for survivors going on right now in Chile. The defense minister said more
people would have survived if the Navy issued a tsunami warning. 605 people of the known
708 deaths in that earthquake were on the coast. The Chilean Red Cross reports at least
500,000 homes have considerable damage. Heavily populated parts of the country have no water
or power, and people are scavenging for food right now. Others are just plain looting.
And while all this is happening, aftershocks. More than 90 since Saturday.
Right now, live pictures from Concepcion as we follow the aftermath of the earthquake
in Chile. Our Karl Penhaul is actually on the scene along with this reporter -- I have
no idea who that is, but I will try and find out. Here's what the deal is: rescue workers
-- that's not it, but the other shot you saw -- trying to get in a apartment building
where rescue workers were trying to get into. They heard some tapping, possibly three, maybe
50 people still trapped. Is this the same apartment building, just another side? Okay,
another side of the apartment building where we were.
And they heard tapping and they are trying to get inside to see if anybody is still alive
and pull them out. It's a rescue effort in progress. We are tracking it live with Karl
Penhaul. We'll bring updated -- if we get any good news.
So is Iran working on a bomb? That's what the United Nations Nuclear watchdog agency
is looking at this week. And our senior international correspondent, Matthew Chance, is joining
us live from Moscow this morning. Give us a reality check, Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, we don't know the answer to whether
they are working on a bomb or not, but certainly that's the suspicion among many companies,
not least the United States. And that's what the IAEA, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, which
is meeting today in the Austian capital of Vienna.
And they say they are deeply concerned that Iran may be developing at the moment, currently,
some kind of nuclear war head. That's fueling the debate about whether there should be tougher
sanctions imposed against the Islamic Republic of the United Nations Security Council. Obviously,
Russia and China in the past have been against that, but the outcome of the meeting in Vienna
today, which is expected to censure Iran, may be fuel for the ongoing debate, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: What is the next step then? What will happen now?
CHANCE: Well, we are expecting four days of meetings in Vienna. They'll discuss in detail
all the issues, including that of Iran's very controversial nuclear program. Then the matter
over the course of next month or so will go to the U.N. Security Council in New York where
the five permanent members of the council as well as others will decide whether kind
of sanctions and whether sanctions are appropriate against the Islamic Republic.
In the past, Russia and China provided diplomatic cover for Iran. They've got deep commercial
and diplomatic ties to the Islamic Republic. But there is a sense that at least from the
Russian point of view, and I am speaking to you from Moscow, they have spoken much more
tougher words in recent months toward the Iranians. And they are much more frustrated
with what the Iranians are doing, not cooperating with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Matthew Chance, we'll follow it.
A giant billboard is turning heads and in some cases, turning stomachs. Makes that whole
Brooke Shields thing with her Calvins seem pretty tame, doesn't it?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: We have video that could make you flinch in our top stories.
A police officer in Ohio recovering after this. Too close of a call this weekend. Officer
John Lambert was helping a stranded driver when another driver lost control. That vehicle
then hit Lambert and he went flying over the guardrail. He has a bunch of fractures, but
believe it or not, he survived.
Jay Leno back in his old stomping grounds tonight. He turns as the host of the NBC's
"Tonight Show." Leno's seven-month primetime experiment failed in the ratings and with
local affiliates, so we'll see how he does now. Back in his own time slot.
And a new billboard is downtown Newark is grabbing a lot of things, including attention.
A giant ad for Akoo jeans shows a woman pulling down a man's denims. The Akoo brand is rapper
T.I.'s line, but the billboard is getting a bad rap from the locals.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My daughter asked me what that girl was doing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do that make you feel as a mom?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bad, because I don't know what to explain to her. She is just 5
years old.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Newark mayor Cory Booker says he will address the steamy ad controversy.
He fought for his country and found himself late in life asking for a handout. Now his
community is answering the call for help.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: A helping hand for a veteran in need. In Bakersfield, California, a World
War II vet had been asking for money while sitting in a chair on the side of the road.
Sure enough, he got it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ORVEL BAGGETT, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: I didn't expect volunteers to come together to help
us like they have. I think we will be okay from now on. I hope to God I don't have to
get on the side of the road no more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Aww. Well, those volunteers, many of the young people cleaned up the Baggetts'
new digs, even the mayor joined in. He arranged for a wheelchair accessible van, and it didn't
cost Mr. Baggett a dime. Jacqui Jeras, we always like the stories about taking care
of the vets, but I know you are talking about taking care of the weather right now.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: OK. I always have to work on meteorologist. Jacqui Jeras--
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's the ologists part of it, isn't it?
PHILLIPS: That's a tongue twister. Thank you, Jacqui.
We've talked a lot about Chile. Now, let's talk about Haiti. Many people there asking
where are we supposed to go as the rainy season begins? They could be washed out of their
temporary tent cities. CNN's David McKenzie has more now from Port-au-Prince.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MACKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Reeling from tragedy, another
layer of misery in Haiti. Southwestern Haiti, rains hammering the people, leaving at least
eight dead and a warning of the coming rainy season.
More than six weeks after the Haiti's devastating quake, hundreds of thousands are still stranded.
Anger and frustration spill over. One of the biggest tent cities they have been waiting
all day to get registered to move. But moving half a million people seems unrealistic.
MARK TURNER, IML. ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION: The scale of the problem is absolutely enormous.
It's really hard to actually explain how big it is until you are in a place like this,
and you really get the sense of we have an entire city that needs to be basically reconstructed,
rebuilt.
MACKENZIE: Rudy Aine waited all day to register. He has no idea how it will help him, but he
is clinging to hope.
RUDI AINE, DISPLACED HAITIAN (via translator): I don't know what is going to happen, only
God knows, he says. They told me to come and register. What happens afterwards I don't
know.
MCKENZIE: Rudy is not alone in his confusion. At first, the government said it would move
people to large camps outside the city. Now they say they want to send them home to smaller
camps, and displaced Haitians don't know their fate.
So, I put the question to the man charged by the government to rebuild Haiti.
(on camera): They are not hearing anything from the government. Why no communication
to the people? LESLIE VOLTAIRE, HAITI RECONSTRUCTION: I think the government is not very good at
communication, but they are working very hard to get material.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): He told me the government is holding on to tens of thousands of tents
until structural engineers can assess which buildings are safe and which need to be destroyed.
Most Haitians are too afraid to move back inside.
(on camera): If the government wants to fix peoples' homes before they move there, they
will face an uphill battle.
Just here in this neighborhood alone, there are hundreds of destroyed homes.
(voice-over): One of those homes belongs to Rudy, who lost his business and six relatives
in the quake, including his two-month-old daughter. He says he relives the quake every
time he comes back.
When you look at it, you shiver, he says, because you see it's a disaster. It's like
a desert, because there is nobody around.
Rudy says he wants to stay in his tent. Like thousands of Haitians, the only thing he can
salvage from his home is painful memories.
David McKenzie, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: A special what the update, a lady who might have blown her chance at mother
of the year. When you allegedly coach your child to snatch a purse, bad things kind of
happen.
We head to the park for "This Day in History." In 1872, Yellowstone became the country's
first national park. Back then, Congress called it a, quote, "pleasuring ground." Now about
three million people visit that park every year. Most go see "Old Faithful" of course.
Yellowstone was the first but now there are 392 national parks for all of us to enjoy
here in the U.S.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: We have a couple very special "what the's" for you, updates shall we say? Remember
the mom in Indianapolis, allegedly coached her five-year-old daughter to steal a purse
at Chuck E. Cheese. It was caught right there on security cameras, the highlight of the
low light in parenting. Well here's the update, mom and her boyfriend busted, arrested, charged
and get this, the prosecutor says that poor little girl didn't even want to do it. He
says that the mother told her to do it for your mommy as if she were trying to eat her
green beans.
Remember the chef in Italy, who shall we say, let the cat out of the bag on TV? Watch the
translation on the bottom, unless you can speak Italian. Good to know. Well, you're
fired. Italian state-owned TV canned the famous chef for those catty comments. The look on
his co-host's face pretty much mirrored the whole country's reaction. He's not apologizing,
either. He says he's just stating what folks in Tuscany have been doing for years.
The show "Desperate Housewives" may light up television screens, but it's this church
sign advertising desperate sex lives, it's igniting controversy in Hampton, Virginia.
The problem is, location, location, location. It's across the street from an elementary
school. So would you want to explain that to your grade-schooler? Many parents are upset
as you can imagine. The pastor says he isn't after publicity or shock value. He's just
trying to help out couples.
Let's see what's shaking on CNN.com. We like going to the news polls part of our web page.
Up at the top left corner if you haven't checked it out, basically gauges what stories you
are looking at, the most popular stories online. Right now the most popular story you're looking
at, America's hidden debt bombs. Our total debt load on pace to top $1.3 trillion this
year, $22 trillion rather by 2020. People are interested in knowing how much we continue
to go into the hole.
Second most popular story right now, will Toyota's problems hurt Honda? This is interesting
because Toyota's image has been tarnished so greatly. Now there's concern that other
Japanese car brands will also be in trouble.
The third most popular story right now, Marie Osmond. Her 18- year-old adopted son dying
by suicide. More details from police there and the third most popular story.
Number four, Jessica Simpson. Looks like she's starting her own show. "Showbiz Tonight's"
Brooke Anderson and also -- actually sat down to interview her to talk about that new program.
To get to the website just go to newspulse.CNN.com. The page is updated every 15 minutes.
Health care front and center next hour in the NEWSROOM beginning with Ed Henry in Washington
-- Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well Kyra, all signs pointing to the White
House likely to use that method known as reconciliation to push through health care reform. But do
they even have the votes to do that? A surprising answer from a White House aide. We'll have
that next hour.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Obama today is talking about what Federal money
is doing to improve schools. Well, already billions of dollars have poured into schools
from that stimulus. What is all that money paying for? I'm Josh Levs. I'll have that
at the top of the hour.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Elizabeth Cohen in Atlanta. A toothbrush
that costs $1,000, $140 for one Tylenol? What's going on here? These are charges from hospitals
that are coming out of your pocket and mine. I'll have that at the top of the hour.
PHILLIPS: All right, thanks guys, all that plus President Obama speaking live from Washington
on his latest education initiative. That's straight ahead.
Also, the Olympic gold medal report from Vancouver, Mark MCKAY is here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Rescuers in Chile still hearing sounds maybe from survivors right now. There's
a rescue effort taking place and our Karl Penhaul is right there to witness it.
Is he joining us live from Concepcion? OK, great, Karl, I don't know if you're on phone
or you're there within that live shot that we're looking at right now, but tell me what
rescuers are trying to do as they're up there against the wall.
PENHAUL: Yes. I'm going to step out of the way and let you see actually what's going
on. And you can see there's a lot of people coming past, a lot of those associated with
the rescue itself. This is a 15-story building. That building just literally fell on its side
during the earthquake. That is the focus of the rescue operation right now. There have
been holes that have been cut into every single story there.
But the focus of attention right now is on the sixth floor on apartment 602. That's where
the head of the firefighters says he has heard a tapping sound from. And he says according
to administration records, it's a building that could be three people inside there. They
say they do have at least one person confirmed alive. They say it's a tough job from here
in. They've got to drill a hole about an inch in diameter to see if they can get eyes on
contact. After that they'll see how they can proceed to cut those people out and bring
them back to freedom after two days trapped, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: And you were saying possibly up to 50 people, is that right?
PENHAUL: Well, that's the other thing that administration records for the building do
show. They say that they have had a number of people out of this building already dead.
They've taken at least 24 out of this building alive in the immediate minutes after the earthquake.
But they say according to records there could be 40 to 50 other people still in the building.
They say that many of them could be inside the stairwell, but they say right now they
have no way of knowing whether those are alive or dead.
PHILLIPS: All right. We will follow along with you as that rescue effort continues.
Keep us posted. Karl Penhaul, appreciate it.
I can't believe it's over. Talking about the winter Olympics, of course. Now all that's
left is cleaning up the streets of Vancouver and, well, carting home all those medals.
Of course we're talking about the ones here to the U.S. You're going to need a big cart,
too. CNN's Mark MCKAY has more on America's record haul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK MCKAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The colors at any Olympics are vibrant and
everywhere. The streets of Vancouver were bathed in a celebratory red and white at all
times these past 17 days. But it was on the heels of Whistler and Cypress where an additional
color dominated the landscape. There was red, white and blue. The United States ski and
snow board team won 17 overall medals at these games. A performance all the more impressive
when you consider that the alpine team won eight of those after capturing just two four
years ago in Torino. Bode Miller was the brightest star with three medals, four years delayed.
And Lindsey Vonn found her way on to the Olympic podium twice.
LINDSEY VONN, WON 2 MEDALS IN VANCOUVER: It's been so cool to watch the American flag go
up on the podium so many times. And it seems like every single competition, there's someone
from the U.S. up on the podium.
BODE MILLER, WON 3 MEDALS IN VANCOUVER: I think this has been an inspiring Olympics.
I think this is the kind of stuff that kids get fired up about. They recognize it right
away.
MCKAY: Inspiring as always for the Americans was the dominance of the snow borders and
free style skiers. Shaun White was tops again in men's half pipe amidst nine U.S. medals
to come from the hills of Cypress.
SHAUN WHITE, HALFPIPE GOLD MEDALIST: I'm so happy it's over with but it's unbelievable.
I'm just happy I was here, happy I was able to win for the U.S. and make it a historical
day.
MCKAY: Statements were not just made on snow, but also on the ice where the men's and women's
hockey teams each earned silver. And Evan Lysacek won America's first gold medal in
men's figure skating in 22 years.
EVAN LYSACEK, FIGURE SKATING GOLD MEDALIST: This is my moment. It's kind of the moment
I've been waiting for for my whole life. And I can't help but to think that it's destiny.
MCKAY: And milestones were reached as well. The first Nordic combined medals ever, four
of them in all, while short track speed skater Apolo Ohno became the most decorated U.S.
winter Olympian in history.
APOLO OHNO, 8-TIME OLYMPIC MEDALIST: I could cross the line with a smile on my face and
know and feel content in that satisfaction that I brought every single thing that I have.
And I poured my heart and soul into these Olympic games and into this sport.
MCKAY: In total, it was a blazing show put on by the United States. Featuring all the
heat and intensity of the fire that burned throughout these games. Awash in all the colors
found in those flames. Red, white - and blue. (END VIDEOTAPE)