an extremely powerful earthquake rocked chile last night. it struck while most people were asleep. details are just coming in. the northeast is trying to dig itself out from a massive winter storm, and this one is a record breaker. just days after a 7,000 pound orca killed a trainer at sea world, the crowd will get to see the killer whales perform again, but expect some changes. so glad you're with us. i'm susan hendricks. we start with breaking news this morning. a massive earthquake at central

chile. it happened early this morning. the magnitude 8.8 quake was centered off the coast near the city of concepcion. the earthquake triggered a tsunami, and witnesses say it lasted between three and five minutes. already there have been numerous aftershocks, including one that measured 6.9. many people were still in dead, so damage reports are still coming in. more than 50 people are known dead. rolando santos of "headline news" is now president of cnn chile. this morning he spoke with our sister network about the earthquake. >> you see a lot of collapsed buildings, a lot of facades. lots of people are on the streets of santiago to be out of the building because of the aftershocks. i lost count at 23 aftershocks. the initial hit was at 1:30 this morning. one minute i'm in bed, the next

minute i'm on the floor, and everything is coming off the walls. i'm a big man, 120 kilos. think about that for a second. as i left my apartment to get to the office, there was not a thing on the walls or on the shelf in a kitchen or anywhere else that was still on the shelves. >> that gave you an idea of just how powerful it was. it was 64 times stronger than the earthquake that recently hit haiti. we are learning more almost by the minute on this massive earthquake. we will update the story throughout the morning and the rest of the day here on hln. right now we'll move on to some of the day's other top stories. thousands of people in the northeast are sitting in the dark this morning because of that massive snowstorm. repair crews from new jersey all the way to maine have been working since thursday to fix broken power lines, but toppled trees and up to 30 inches of snow in some areas are certainly getting in their way. the power situation got so bad in new hampshire even a state of emergency center was working on

a generator. new hampshire's governor says itted can be a week before the power is back on there. look at this video. it says it all, doesn't it? the storm was so brutal, even in areas that didn't see any snow, the wind ripped the roofs right off some buildings. the wind reached 90 miles an hour in portsmouth, new hampshire. that is well above hurricane level. and heavy winds and flooding caused damage in coastal areas. this is what one man in gloucester saw. >> trees went down. i went to open up the door, and the whole roof blew off, 20 feet up in the air. you can see the back. it landed almost on a house behind me. >> in upstate new york, hundreds of cars and trucks got stuck when snow shut down the i-84. the 40-mile stretch of highway was closed for about five hours yesterday, a real nightmare there. there was so much snow that state troopers used snowmobiles and atvs to reach stranded

drivers. new york's central park got almost 21 inches of snow, which makes february the snowiest month in the city's history. some stranded truck drivers were surprised by all of this. >> new york is known for keeping the roads really, real lly impeckably clean. >> if they got stuck, they had to wait for the tow truck to pull that guy out and clear that spot up, then it's like a domino effect. a river dam that was threatening to collapse because of this storm will likely hold. that is good news. it is word from officials in freetown, massachusetts. the water started spilling over the dam this week, and about a dozen people were advised to get out, leave their homes. just last night, officials said the water will probably recede, and the dam should be okay. this, of course, was a huge relief because safety experts were pretty concerned yesterday. >> if there were to be a catastrophic failure, there is a strong likelihood of very

significant impacts downstream. the dam is in an unsafe condition, which means we are concerned. how does it look where you are? who will see stormy weather today? we will get an update from meteorologist karen mcginnis in just a couple of minutes. sea world will start doing killer whale shows today for the first time since a trainer was dragged into the water by an orca and killed. there will be changes, though. handlers will not get into the water with the animals, which means certain stunts will not be done. meanwhile, the company's president says the 12,000 pound whale that killed the trainer will remain active at sea world. >> he's an extraordinary animal. he's a large animal. frankly, there probably wasn't another facility in the world that could accommodate him. having said that, he's been part of our team. he will remain part of our team. he's a very special animal that requires special handling. obviously, the procedures we've had in place is something we're

revisiting at this point. >> sea world and two federal agencies are now investigating the trainer's death. a student whoed admitted hanging a noose in the campus library at the university of california san diego has been suspend. it is the latest incident to ignite racial tensions on campus. students have been protesting since an off-campus party mocked black history month. hundreds rallied yesterday, denouncing the noose as a sign of intolerance on campus. >> people are aafraid, and they need to know what the chancellor is going to do to keep them safe on campus. >> it seems like this whole rally is insinuating this effect that everyone at ucsd is not supportive of this rally is somehow a racist and not supportive of stopping racism when i feel like the majority of the students, if not all the students are not racist. >> some students blocked the door to the chancellor's office for a while, but they did leave peacefully.

new york governor david paterson now says he will not seek re-election. he just announced his campaign last weekend. he took office in 2008 when former governor eliot spitzer resigned amid a prostitute scandal. paterson recently had a scandal with one of his top aides. the aide was suspended, and paterson has denied any wrongdoing. a motivational speaker charged in the deaths of three people at an arizona sweat lodge is now out of jail and breaking his silence. james arthur ray, seen here, was releaseded yesterday a day after a judge reduced his bond. here is what he had to say. >> i'm really, really grateful for the love and support and the prayers i've received during this time. i have tremendous faith in our legal system, and i look forward to my day in court. >> prosecutors say ray

recklessly crammed more than 50 people into a sweat lodge last october while he led a spiritual retreat. ray insists it was a horrible accident and not homicide. he has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter charges. a car hit an elementary school bus in kentucky yesterday, and nine students were injured. the children were taken to a louisville hospital, luckily with just minor injuries. 38 students were on board. the car rear-ended the bus as it tried to make a left turn. the driver of the car was charged with not having his driver's license on him at the time. white house social secretary desiree rogers is quitting her job. rogers' office was the focus of a recent investigation caused by a security breach of president obama's first state dinner. you may remember the salahis were able to crash the dinner in september. the couple did not have an invitation but were allowed inside. desiree rogers' office planned that event, but she says her decision to leave is not related

to that incident. it is seemingly the winter that just won't end. just a little more than 20 days until spring, if you would believe it. we check in with meteorologist karen mcginnis to see how it is where you are. >> hey, susan, you are absolutely right. in some cases, places like pittsburgh and new york city have seen record snowfalls since the beginning of february. by the end of february, i think we'll see record snowfalls for the season. area of low pressure is going to be slow to move in, and still on the back side, plenty of cold air will introduce the snowfall all the way from cleveland extending up towards bangor, maine. little bit of a break for the nation's midsection, not quite as cold as it has been. here comes a storm system for the west coast and the sierra nevada and into southern california. we're looking at mountain snowfall and into those lower elevations there's going to be rain, like in los angeles. high temperatures for los angeles, 58 degrees. denver, 48. for miami, a little on the cold

side about 69. new york city should only make it to 38. for hln, i'm meteorologist karen maginnes. another major sponsor walks away from tiger woods. why the company says it's made that move, but it's not cutting all ties with the disgraced golfer. plus this. i went to that vet thinking they were trained to take care of my dog properly. >> this playful little dachshund bit someone at the vet. now he's being called vicious. should this miniature pooch be put down?

training for the new york city triathlon is not the biggest challenge angie has faced. >> i was diagnosed with breast cancer last april, and i was out of shape. when the challenge came along, i thought it would be the perfect thing not only to get myself back in shape again but to show other people that they can get in shape too. >> as you sort of looked at the challenge that lies in front of you, what are you most nervous about and most excited about? >> i'm excited because i think i'll be in really good condition. i think i'll be really healthy. the swimming will be great. that's what i'm most worried about, the swimming. i can swim, but i've never really swam. >> it hasn't been as big a challenge as she anticipated either. with the help of a swimming trainer, she's getting more and more comfortable in the pool. >> every time i feel stronger. i can go a little further before i rest. so it's coming. >> our other participant, meredith clark, had her own concerns. >> there's, of course, the huge

possibility of crashing and burning on tv. >> turns out it's real life that presents the greatest challenges. >> being in the office is difficult, especially in a newspaper office because we believe in eating and eating well and eating a lot. >> and schedules. >> the workouts themselves aren't really difficult. what i find hard is managing my time to fit the workouts in. >> but she's fitting it all in, walking around the parking lot at work, exercising with the help of a trainer, early morning kettle bell classes. she's even spinning on her own. for both triathletes, the journey ahead will be long but doable. >> there's only 150 days left, so it makes me kind of want to ramp up my efforts. >> i feel stronger all the time, but i feel like, once i can get this done, i feel like i can close that chapter. i can put that breast cancer behind me, and i'll feel like it's over and i've conquered it.

>> dr. sanjay gupta, cnn reporting. we have no lights, no basic services, a few damages, but luckily our hotel is built for this case because in chile is happens really a lot of times. >> a hotel operator there describing what it was like after a massive 8.8 earthquake hit chile earlier this morning. the death toll there continues to climb, and the entire pacific, including hawaii, is under a tsunami warning. chile's president is warning people in coastal areas to move to higher ground. be sure to keep it right here on hln for the very latest on this developing story. we have an update for you on a story we have been following very closely here on hln since the disturbing video first surfaced. remember this? seattle transit officials are dumping the security company that hired the guards who are just standing by right there and

watching a 15-year-old girl get beaten. the guards were told to observe and report and to call police but not to intervene when they witnessed criminal activity. that's what they did. transit authorities says replacing the company is the best way to help challenges feel safe. the gold medal showdown is men's hockey is all set, team uflt sa against team canada. joe carter has more on the dream matchup. >> team usa and team canada will play on sunday. it's the rematch everyone wants to see. team usa advanced to that gold medal game after beating finance lan on friday afternoon. going into the game, many expected a tough semifinal matchup between the two teams, but instead it was usa's biggest breather of the winter games. they scored six goals in the first period, coasting to victory. >> we seemed to roll there. we kind of caught them off guard and just kept on attacking. it was fun to be part of. >> it was pretty unbelievable that you're in a semifinal game in the olympics, and you're up

6-0 ten minutes into the game. it was pretty unbelievable. we played well and capitalized on the chances we had and opportunities they gave us. that was the difference. >> it wasn't so easy for team canada to advance to the gold medal game. they nearly blew a three-goal lead in the final period against slovakia. it wasn't pretty, but it still counts as a win, which of course sets up sunday's dream matchup against team usa. the puck will drop for the gold at 3:15 eastern time. well, add gatorade to the list of sponsors to cut ties with tiger woods. the company officially ended its relationship friday, saying they no longer see a role for the world's top ranked golfer in their marketing efforts. we, of course, are continue to go get new information about that massive earthquake that struck chile this morning. the latest just ahead. also, why friends and family of military personnel are now more likely to get a tweet from troops.

very big earthquake. this one was very strong. last time i was in an earthquake, i was at ground level. now i'm at the top of a building. it really moves around a lot. you can really feel the local walls moving from side to side. all the big windows making lots of noise. it felt really strong. >> that man says he was asleep in bed with his pregnant wife when that massive earthquake, 8.8, hit chile earlier this morning. he says the earthquake lasted between five and six minutes. several aftershocks were reported in the hours following the earthquake, including one that measured 6.9. stay with hln for the very latest on this breaking news. if you can't apply for unemployment benefits on monday, it's because of the efforts of one law maker. we're talking about republican senator jim bunning. democrats were unable to overcome bunning's objections to

extend unemployment and health benefits scheduled to run out this weekend. the debate on the senate floor was intense at one time, with bunning at one time cursing against another senator. in the end, bunning won out, and the senate adjourned without approving the legislation. >> i'm trying to make a point to the people of the united states of america. >> to help pay for groceries and rent and things of that nature, and to see a guy nonchalantly say, okay, no problem. i'm just going to say no every time. well, i think somebody needs to step in and talk to him. >> bunning says he simply wants to find a way to pay for the extension without adding to the deficit. the earliest the senate can move on trying to pass a new extension will be on tuesday. we, of course, will continue to follow the breaking news from chile, where a massive earthquake hit early this morning. stay with us for continuing updates. also ahead, they were kicked

out of a state university 50 years ago. now they get a special invitation to return and talk about lessons learned from a tense time in history. 

an extremely powerful earthquake hit the coast of chile overnight. it struck when most people were asleep. details are coming in. we'll have them for you. the northeast is trying to dig itself out from a massive winter storm, and this one is a record breaker for some areas. just days after a 12,000-pound orca killed a trainer at sea world, crowds will get to see the killer whale perform again. but expect to see some changes. you're watching hln on this saturday norng. so glad you're with us. i'm susan hendricks. the death toll from a massive earthquake that hit

central chile this morning is now at nearly 80. the magnitude 8.8 earthquake was centered off the coast near the city of concepcion, about 200 miles southwest of the capital. the earthquake lasted between three and five minutes. already, there have been numerous aftershocks, including one that measured 6.9. it happened while most people were in bed, so reports are still coming in. rolando santos of "headline news" is now with cnn chile. this morning he spoke with our sister network about the earthquake. >> you can see now a lot of collapsed buildings, a lot of facades. lots of people are on the streets throughout santiago to be out of the building because of the aftershocks. i lost count at 25 aftershocks. the initial hit was at 3:34 this morning. one minute i'm in bed, and the next minute i'm on the floor, and everything is coming off the walls. i'm a big man, about 120 kilos.

so think about that for a second. as i left my apartment to get to the office, there was not a thing on the walls or on a shelf in the kitchen or anywhere else that was still on the shelves. >> that gives you an idea of just how powerful this earthquake was. it was 64 times stronger than the earthquake that recently hit haiti. we are learning more almost by the minute on this massive earthquake. we will update the story throughout the morning and the rest of the day here on hln. right now the rest of the day's top stories. thousands of people in the northeast are sitting in the dark this morning because of that massive snowstorm. repair crews from new jersey all the way to maine have been working since thursday to fix broken power lines. there was up to 30 inches of snow in some areas. the power situation got so bad in new hampshire even a state of emergency center was working on a generator. new hampshire's governor says it could be a week before the power

is back on there. look at this video. it says it all, doesn't it? the storm was so brutal, even in areas that didn't see any snow. the wind ripped the roofs right off some buildings in gloucester, massachusetts. the wind reached 91 miles per hour in portsmouth, new hampshire. that is well above hurricane level. in maine, heavy rain and strong waves caused flooding in some coastal areas. this is one what man in gloucester saw. take a listen. >> trees went down. i went to open up the door, and the whole roof blew off. 20 feet up in the air. and then you can see the back. it landed almost on a house behind me. in upstate new york, hundreds of cars and trucks got stuck when snow shut down the i-84. the 40-mile stretch of highway was closed for about five hours yesterday. a real nightmare there. state troopers used snowmobiles and atvs to reach stranded drivers. new york's central park got

almost 21 inches of snow, which makes february the snowiest month in the city's history. some stranded truck drivers were surprised by all of this. >> new york is known for keeping the roads really, really impeccably clean. >> they got stuck and had to wait for the tow truck to pull one guy out and clear that spot out, and it was like a domino effect. a river dam that was threatening to collapse because of this storm will likely hold. that is good news. that is word from officials in freetown, massachusetts. the water started spilling over the dam this week. and about a dozen people were advised to get out, leave their homes. but just last night, officials said the water will probably reed seed, and the dam should be okay. this, of course, was a huge relief because safety experts were pretty concerned yesterday. >> if there were to be a catastrophic failure, there is a strong likelihood of very significant impacts downstream.

the dam is in an unsafe condition, which means we are concerned. how does it look where you are? who will see stormy weather today? we will get an update from meteorologist karen maginnes in just a couple of minutes. sea world will are start doing killer whale shows today for the first time since a trainer was dragged into the water by an orca and killed. there will be changes, though. handlers will not get into the water with the animals, which means certain stunts will not be done. meanwhile, the company's president says the 12,000-pound whale that killed the trainer will remain active at sea world. >> he's an extraordinary animal. he's a large animal. frankly, there probably wasn't another facility in the world that could accommodate him. having said that, he's been part of our team. he will remain part of our team. he's a very special animal that requires special handling. obviously, the procedures we've had in place, we'll be revisiting at this point. >> sea world and two federal

agencies are now investigating the trainer's death. a student whoed admitted hanging a noose in a campus library at the university of california san diego has been suspended. it is the latest incident to ignite racial tensions on campus. students have been protesting since an off-campus party mocked black history month. they rallied yesterday, denouncing the news as a sign of intolerance on campus. >> they're afraid. they need to know what the chancellor is going to do to keep them safe on campus. >> it seems like this whole rally is insinuating this effect that everyone at ucsd who is not supportive of this rally is somehow a racist and not supportive of stopping racism when i feel like the majority of the students, if not all the students, are not racist. >> some protestors blocked the door to the chancellor's office for a while, but they did leave peacefully. new york governor david paterson now says he will not seek re-election. he just announced his campaign

last weekend. now remember, paterson took office in 2008 when former governor eliot spitzer resigned amid a prostitution scandal. paterson himself has faced criticism for his handling of a scandal involving one of his top aides. there are reports of a domestic dispute between that aide and a woman and allegations that state police pressured here to keep quiet about it. the aide was suspended, and paterson has denied any wrongdoing. a motivational speaker charged in the death of three people at an arizona sbaet lodge is now out of jail and breaking his silence. james arthur ray, seen here, was released yesterday a day after a judge reduced his bond. here is what he had to say. >> i'm really, really grateful for all the love and support and the prayers i've received during this time. i have tremendous faith in our legal system, and i look forward to my day in court. >> prosecutors say ray recklessly crammed more than 50 people into a sweat lodge last

october while he led a spiritual retreat. ray insists it was a horrible accident and not homicide. he has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter charges. a car hit an elementary school bus in kentucky yesterday, and nine students were injured. the children were taken to a louisville hospital luckily with just minor injuries. 38 students were on board. the car rear-ended the bus as it tried to make a left turn. the driver of the car was charged with not having his driver's license on him at the time. if you can't apply for unemployment benefits on monday, it's because of the efforts of one law maker. we're talking about republican senator jim bunning. democrats were unable to overcome bunning's objections to extend unemployment and health benefits that are scheduled to run out this weekend. the debate on the senate floor was intense yesterday with bunning at one time cursing at another senator. in the end, bunning won out, and the senate adjourned without approving the legislation. >> i'm trying to make a point to

the people of the united states of america. >> to help pay for groceries and rent and things of that nature, and to see a guy nonchalantly say, okay, no problem. i'm just going to say no every time. well, i think somebody needs to step in and talk to him. >> bunning says he simply wants to find a way to pay for the action tension without adding to the deficit. the earliest the senate can move on passing a new extension will be on tuesday. white house secretary desiree rogers is quitting her job. rogers' office was the focus of a recent investigation caused by a security breach of president obama's first state dinner. you may remember the salahis were able to crash the dinner in december. the couple did not have an invitation but were allowed inside. you may remember that one. desiree rogers' office planned that event, but she says her

decision to leave is not relateded to that incident. it is seemingly the winter that just won't end. just a little more than 20 days until spring, if you believe it. we check in with meteorologist karen maginnes. >> in some cases some of these northeastern cities like pittsburgh and new york city have seen record snowfalls for the month of february, and i think by the end of winter we're going to see some record snowfalls for the season. area of low pressure is going to be slow to move away, but still on the back side of this and plenty of cold air will still introduce that snowfall all the way from cleveland extending up towards bangor, maine. little bit of a break for the nation's midsection, not quite as cold as it has been 37 here comes a storm system for the west coast and the sierra nevada and into southern california. we're looking at mountain snowfall, and into those lower elevations it's going to be rain like in los angeles. high temperatures for los angeles, 58 degrees. denver, 48. for miami, a little on the cool

side with 69. new york city should only make it to 38. for hln, i'm meteorologist karen maginnes. another major sponsor walks away from tiger woods. why the company says it's made that move. but it's not cutting all ties with the disgraced golfer. plus this. i went to the vet thinking, you no he, they were trained to take care of my dog properly. >> this playful little dachshund bit someone at the vet. now he's being called vicious. should this miniature pooch be put down?

we have no lights, no basic services.

a few damages. but luckily our hotel is built for this case because in chile it happens really a lot of times. >> a hotel operator there describing what it was like after a massive 8.8 earthquake hit chile earlier this morning. the death toll there continues to climb, and the entire pacific, including hawaii, is under a tsunami warning. chile's president is warning people in coastal areas to move to higher ground. be sure to keep it right here on hln for the very latest on this developing story. a miniature dachshund named spork has been labeled a vicious dog. under a town law in colorado, this little guy could be euthanized. it started when spork bit a vet tech in the face during an exam. they filed a report with animal control who ticketed the pet's owner. >> we felt that was a death sentence for our pet. >> this speaks to the people of

lafayette to be warned, be a little fearful of going to veterinary care facilities, to go to groomers because, if your dog bites one of the workers, your dog could potentially face euthanasia. >> if spork's owners are found guilty of biting, he could be put down. they've started a facebook page for spork. so far he has 14,000 fans. the vet's office say they are worried for everyone in the case, including spork and the injured tech. we are following a story very closely on hln since the disturbing video surfaced. seattle transit officials are dumping the security company where the guards watched a 15-year-old girl get beaten. the guards were told to observe and report and to call police but not to intervene when they witness criminal activity. that's what they did. transit officials say replacing the company is the best way to

help passengers feel safe. the gold medal showdown in men's hockey is all set, team usa against team canada. joe carter has more on the dream matchup. >> good morning, susan. team usa and team canada will play on sunday. it's the rematch everyone wants to see. team usa advanced to that gold medal game after beating finland on friday afternoon. going into the game, many expected a tough semifinal matchup between the two teams. instead, it was the usa's biggest breather of the winter games. they scored six goals in the first period, coast to go victory. >> we seemed to roll there. we kind of caught them off guard, i think, and just kept on attacking. it was fun to be part of. >> it was pretty unbelievable that you're in a semifinal game in the olympics, and up 6-0 ten minutes into the game. it was pretty unbelievable. we played well. we capitalized on the chances we had and opportunities they gave us, and that was the difference. >> it wasn't so easy for team canada to advance to the gold medal game.

they nearly blew a three-goal lead in the final period against slovakia. it wasn't pretty, but it still counts as a win, which, of course, sets up sunday's dream matchup against team usa. the puck will drop for the gold at 3:15 eastern time. well, add gatorade to the list of sponsors to cut ties with tiger woods. the company officially ended its relationship friday, saying they no longer see a role for the world's top ranked golfer in their marketing efforts. however, gatorade's partnership with the tiger woods foundation will continue. that's a look at sports. i'm joe carter.

another very big earthquake. this last one was very strong. last time i was in a big earthquake, i was at ground level. now i'm at the top of the building. it really moved around a lot. you could really feel the walls moving from side to side. all the big windows making lots of noise. it felt really strong. >> that mans says he was asleep in bed with his pregnant wife when that massive earthquake, 8.8, hit chile earlier this morning. he says the earthquake lasted between five and six minutes.

several aftershocks were reported in the hours following the earthquake, including one that measured 6.9. stay with hln for the very latest on this breaking news. members of the military are now allowed to tweet. it is part of a new policy the pentagon unveiled yesterday. it allows service members to use social media like facebook, twitter, or youtube. up until now separate military branks had different social media policies. a deputy assistant defense secretary among themselves and stay in touch with loved ones, of course. the policy bans the websites that promote gambling, pornography, or hate crimes. take a look at this picture. a massive search under way for this missing california teenager. 17-year-old chelsea king failed to return home after a run thursday. vo volunteers and deputies are looking for her.

an experiment got range russly out of hand for two university of south carolina students. mat wolfer and paul bowers planning to spend a week being home unless columbia, south carolina. before going for a week, they decided to take a test run, so to speak. that's when they ran into trouble. while trying to sleep in a park, three men with guns tried to rob them. >> until we saw the guns and realized kind of, what was their intent. >> he had it pointed me at my chest, asking for cell phones, wallets, we don't have anything. >> i heard paul get slapped and shoved. >> matt looked over and got pistol-whipped a couple of times. >> the two guys say their experience shows how vulnerable the homeless are. they also say they still plan to follow through with their experiment to be homeless for a week.

an extremely powerful earthquake hit coast of chile overnight, truck while most were in bed asleep. details just beginning to roll in. the northeast is trying to dig itself out from a massive winter storm, and this one is a record-breaker for some areas. just days after 12,000-pound orca killed a trainer at sea world, crowds will get to see the killer whales perform again but expect changes. you're watching hln on this saturday morning. glad you're with us. i'm susan hendriks. breaking news. the death toll from a massive earthquake that hit central chile early this morning is put at nearly 80.

the magnitude, 8.8 earthquake centered off the coast near the city of concepcion, 212 miles southwest of chile's capital. the earthquake triggered a tsunami and witnesses say it lasted between three and five minutes. already, there have been numerous aftershocks including one that measured 6.9. it happened while most people were in bed so damage reports are still coming in now orlando santos, the president of cnn chile, he spoke with our sister network cnn about the earthquake. >> you can see now some building -- a lot of collapsed buildings, a lot of facade, people on the streets of s santiago to be out of the building because of aftershocks. i lost count at 25 aftershocks. >> oh, my. >> the initial hit at 3:34. one minute i'm in bed, the next minute i'm on the floor, and everything is coming off the walls. now, i'm a big man, about 120

kilos, okay? think about that for a second. as i left my apartment to get to the office, there was not a thing on the walls or on a shelf in the kitchen or anywhere else that was still on the shelves. >> that gives you an idea of how powerful this earthquake was. it was 64 times stronger than the earthquake that hit haiti. we are learning more, almost by the minute, on this massive earthquake. we will update the story throughout the morning southwest of the day here on hln. we'll move on to the day's other top stories. thousands of people in the northeast are sitting in the dark this morning because of the massive snowstorm. repair crews from new jersey, to maine have been working since thursday to fix broken power lines. but toppled trees, up to 30 inches of snow in some areas, are getting in their way. the power situation got so bad in new hampshire, even a state of emergency center was working on a generator. new hampshire's governor says it could be a week before the power's back on there.

look at this video. it says it all, done it? the storm was so brutal, even in areas that didn't see snow, the wind ripped roofs off buildings in gloucester, massachusetts. the wind reached 91 miles per hour in portsmouth, new hampshire above hurricane level. in maine, heavy rain and strong waves caused flooding in coastal areas. this is what one man in gloucester saw. take a listen. trees went down, i went to open up the door and the whole roof blew off, 20 feet up in the air, and then you can see the back. it landed almost on a house behind me. >> in upstate new york, hundreds of cars and trucks got stuck when snow shut down the i-84. the 40-mile stretch of highway was closed for about five hours yesterday. a real nightmare there. there was so much snow that state troopers used snowmobiles and atvs to reach stranded drivers. that's what they had to use. new york central park got almost 21 inches of snow which makes

february the snowiest month in the city's history. stranded truck drivers were surprises by all of this. >> new york is known for keeping the roads really, really impeccably clean. this is odd. i've never seen this before. >> get up to a certain point if they get stuck, we have to wait for the tow truck to pull one guy out, clear that spot out, it's like a domino effect. >> a river dam that was threatening to collapse because of this storm will likely hold. that is good news, word from officials in freetown, massachusetts. the water started spilling over the dam this week. about a dozen people were advised to get out, leave their homes. but just last night officials said the water should recede, and the dam should observe kay. this, of course, a huge relief. experts were pretty concerns yesterday. >> if there were to be a catastrophic failure, there is a strong likelihood, a very significant impacts downstream. the dam is in an unsafe condition, which means we are

concerned. seaworld will start doing killer whale shows today for the first time since a trainer was dragged into the water by an orca and killed. there will be changes, though, handlers will not get into the water with the animals, which means certain stunts will not be done. meanwhile, the company's president says the 12,000-pound whale that killed the trainer will remain active at sea world. >> he's an extraordinary animal. he's a large animal. frankly, there probably wasn't another facility in the world that could accommodate him. he's been part of our team. he will remain part of our team. he's a very special animal that requires special handling. obviously, the procedures that we've had in place are something we're revisiting at this point. >> seaworld and two federal agencies are investigating the trainer's death. a student who admitted hanging a nus inoose in the cam library of the university of san diego has been suspended.

the latest incident to ignite racial tensions on campus. students have been protesting since an offcampus party mocked black history month. hundreds rallied yesterday, denouncing the news as a sign of intolerance on campus. >> they are afraid and they need to know what the chancellor is going to do to keep them safe on catch us. >> it seems like this whole rally's insinuating this effect that everyone who is not supportive of this rally is somehow a racist and not supportive of stopping racism when i feel like the majority of the students if not all of the students are not racists. >> some protesters blocked the door to the chancellor's office for a while, but they did leave peacefully. new york governor david paterson now says he will not seek re-election. he just announced his campaign last weekend. remember, paterson took office 2008 when eliot spitzer resigned amid a prostitution scandal.

he has faces criticism for handling of a scandal involving one of his top aides. there are reports of a domestic dispute between an dwraaide and woman. the aide was suspended and patterson denied wrong doing. a motivational speaker charged in deaths of three people in a sweat lodge is out of jail and breaking his silence. released yesterday, a day after a judge reduced his bond. here is what he had to say. >> i'm really, really grateful for all of the love and support, the prays are, i've received during this time. i have a tremendous faith in our legal system and i look forward to my day in court. >> prosecutors say ray recklessly crammed more than 50 people into a sweat lodge last october while he led a spiritual retreat. ray insists it was a horrible accident and not homicide. he has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter charges. a car hit an elementary

school bus in kentucky yesterday, and nine students were injured. the children were taken to a louisville hospital. luckily with minor injuries. 38 students were on board. the career-ended the bus, as it tried to make a left turn. the driver of the car was charged for not having his driver's license on him at the time. white house social secretary deserie rogers is quitting her job. rogers' office the focus of a recent investigation caused by a security breach of president obama's first state dinner. you may remember, the salahis were able to crash the dinner in december. the couple did not have an invitation but were allowed inside. you may remember that one. deserie rogers' office planned that event but she says her decision to leave is not related to that incident. another major sponsor walks away from tiger woods. why the company says it's made that move, but it's not cutting all ties with the disgraced golfer. plus this -- >> i went to the vet thinking they were trained to take care of my dog properly.

>> this playful little dachshund bit someone at the vet and now he's being called vicious. should this miniature pooch be put down?

we have no lights, no basic services. a few damages, but luckily our hotel is built for this case, because in chile it happens really a lot of times. >> a hotel operator there describing what it was like after a massive 8.8 earthquake hit chile earlier this morning. the death toll there continues to climb. and the entire pacific, including hawaii, is under a tsunami warning. chile's president is warning people in coastal areas to move to higher ground. be sure to keep it here on hln for the latest on this developing story. a miniature dachshund labeled a vicious dog. under a town law in colorado,

this little guy could be euthanized. it started when he bit a very tech in the face during an exam. the worker filed a report with animal control who ticketed his owners. >> once holding the ticket we felt like it was a death sentence for the pet. we vowed to fight it as hard as we could. >> this speaks to the people of lafayette be warned, be fearful of going to veterinary care gro your dog bites one of them they could face youthens a shah. >> people started a facebook page for him. he has 14,000 friends. the vet's office hasn't pushed for his owners to be prosecuted. they are worried for everyone in the case including spork and the injures tech. the gold medal showdown in men's hockey all set. team usa against team canada. joe carter has more on the great

matchup. >> team usa and team canada will play sunday, it's the rematch everyone, everyone, wants to see. now, team usa advanced to that gold medal game after beating f finland friday. many expected a tough matchup between two teams but instead usa's biggest breather of the games. they scores six goals in the first period coasting to victory. >> we seemed to roll there, we kind of caught them off guard, i think, and kept on attacking and it was fun to be part of. >> it was pretty unbelievable that you're in the semifinal game in the olympics and you're up 6-0 ten minutes into the game. it was unbelievable. we played well. we capitalized on the chances that we had and opportunities that they gave us, and that was the difference. >> now, it wasn't so easy for team canada to advance to the gold medal game. they nearly blew a 3-goal lead in the final period against slovakia. now it wasn't pretty burke it still counts as a win, which of

course sets up sunday's dream matchup between team usa. the puck will drop for the gold at 3:15 eastern time. well, add gatorade to the list of sponsors to cut ties with tiger woods. the company ended its relationship friday saying they no longer see a role for the world's top-ranked golfer in their markets efforts. gatorade's partnership with the tiger woods foundation will continue. that's a look at sports. i'm joe carter. for nearly 30% of children in colombia under age 16, access to school is limited or nonexistent. this week's cnn hero is on a mission to stamp out childhood illiteracy with two unlikely helpers. >> translator: in the villages, life goes on in the stationary way. there is no change. reading has made me laugh and dream. it has also shown me things i

won't see in my lifetime. alpha and i share the fact that we always lived here. my name is louis soriano ands my classroom is not traditional. it consists of books placed on saddles on top of my donkeys. it's not easy to travel through these valleys. the burning sun or too much rain, you sit on a donkey for five or eight hours, you get very tired. it's a satisfaction to arrive to your disten nation. we go to places that are not on the map. where a child has to work or ride a donkey for up to 40 minutes to reach the closest school. when they learn how to read, the child discovers a new world, like i did.

someone once said to me, you've educated a lot of people. you ridden the donk y-like no one has. these children need it. of course, they want to learn. that's what keeps motivating me to ride. >> louis soriano's work provided reading instruction to 4,000 kids. for more information on him or to nominate someone who you think is changing the world, go to cnn.com/heroes.

another very big earthquake. this one was very strong. last time i was at an earthquake i was at ground level. now i'm at the top of the billing. it really moved around a lot. you could feel the walls moving from side to side, all of the big windows making lots of noise. it felt really strong. >> that man was asleep in bed with his pregnant wife when that

massive earthquake, 8.8, hit chile earlier this morning. he says the earthquake lasted between five and six minutes. several aftershocks were reported in the hours following the earthquake, including one that measured 6.9. and stay with hl flchlt for the very latest on the breaking news. members of the military are now allowed to tweet. it is part of a new policy the pentagon unveiled yesterday. it allows service members to use social media, like facebook, twitter, youtube. up until now separate branches had different social media policies. the new rules will help troops share information among themselves and stay in touch with loved ones, of course. the policy bans the websites that promote gambling, pornography, or hate crimes. democrats are considering use a controversial device to pass a health care bill. yesterday nancy pelosi said democrats are making tentative plans to use the so-called

reconciliation process. basically, reconciliation means democrats in the house can vote on the health care reform bill the senate has already passed. when they would be able to use reconciliation rules that would only require a simple 51-vote majority in the senate to pass a package of changes that mirror the president's plan. if you can't apply for unemployment benefits on monday, it's because of the efforts of one lawmaker. we're talking about republican senator jim bunting. democrats were unable to overcome bunting's objections to extend unemployment and health benefits that are scheduled to run out this weekend. the debate on the senate floor was intense yesterday, with bunting at one time cursing at another senator. well, in the end, bunting won out, and the senate adjourned without approving the legislation. >> i'm trying to make a point to the people of the united states of america. >> to help pay for groceries and rent and things of that nature and to see a guy nonchalantly

say, okay, no problem, i'm just going to say no every time, well, i think somebody needs to step in and talk to him. >> bunning say his simply wants to find a way to pay for the extension without adding to the deficit. the earliest the senate can move on trying to pass a new extension will be on tuesday. take a look at this picture. a massive search is under way for this missing california teenager. 17-year-old chelsea king failed to return home after a run thursday. hundred of volunteers are combing the area for any clues. king's car found in the parking lot of a community center. her cell phone and ipod were inside. we, of course, will continue to follow breaking news from chile where a massive earthquake hit early this morning. stay with us for continuing updates. also ahead -- they were kicks out of a state university 50 years ago. now they get a special invitation to return, and talk about lessons learned from a tense time in history.

an extremely powerful earthquake hit the central coast of chile overnight. it struck while most were in bed asleep. details just beginning to roll in. we'll have them for you. the northeast is trying to dig itself out from a massive winter storm, and this one is a record breaker for some areas. just days after 12,000-pound orca killed a trainer at sea world, crowds will get to see the killer whales perform again but expect to see some changes. you're watching hln on this saturday morning. so glad you're with us. i'm susan hendriks. breaking news. the death toll from a massive earthquake that hit central chile early this morning is put at nearly 80.

the magnitude, 8.8 earthquake centered off the coast near the city of concepcion, 212 miles southwest of chile's capital. the earthquake triggered a tsunami, and witnesses say it lasted between three and five minutes. already there have been numerous aftershocks including one that measured 6.9. it happened while most people were in bed, so damage reports are still coming in now orlando santos, the president of cnn chile, he spoke with our sister network cnn about the earthquake. >> you can see now some building -- a lot of collapsed buildings, a lot of facade, lots of people are on the streets throughout santiago to be out of the building because of aftershocks. i lost count at 25 aftershocks. >> oh, my. >> the initial -- the initial hit was at 3:34 this morning. i've got to tell you, one minute i'm in bed, the next minute i'm on the floor, and everything is coming off the walls. now, i'm a big man, about 120 kilos, okay? so think about that for a

second. as i left my apartment to get to the office, there was not a thing on the walls or on a shelf in the kitchen or anywhere else that was still on the shelves. >> that gives you an idea of how powerful this earthquake was. it was 64 times stronger than the earthquake that recently hit haiti. we are learning more, almost by the minute, on this massive earthquake. we will update the story throughout the morning and the rest of date on hln. we'll move on to the day's other top stories. thousands of people in the northeast are sitting in the dark this morning because of the massive snowstorm. repair crews from new jersey, to maine have been working since thursday to fix broken power lines. but toppled trees, up to 30 inches of snow in some areas, are certainly getting in their way. the power situation got so bad in new hampshire, even a state of emergency center was working on a generator. new hampshire's governor says it could be a week before the power's back on there.

look at this video. it says it all, doesn't it? the storm was so brutal, even in areas that didn't see snow, the wind ripped roofs off buildings in gloucester, massachusetts. the wind reached 91 miles per hour in portsmouth, new hampshire, above hurricane level. in maine, heavy rain and strong waves caused flooding in coastal areas. this is what one man in gloucester saw. take a listen. trees went down, i went to open up the door and the whole roof blew off, 20 feet up in the air, and then you can see the back. it landed almost on a house behind me. >> in upstate new york, hundreds of cars and trucks got stuck when snow shut down the i-84. the 40-mile stretch of highway was closed for about five hours yesterday. a real nightmare there. there was so much snow that state troopers used snowmobiles and atvs to reach stranded drivers. that's what they had to use. new york central park got almost

21 inches of snow, which makes february the snowiest month in the city's history. stranded truck drivers were surprised by all of this. >> new york is known for keeping the roads really, really impeccably clean. this is odd. i've never seen this before. >> get up to a certain point if they get stuck, we have to wait for the tow truck to pull one guy out, clear that spot out, it's like a domino effect. how does look where you are? who will see stormy weather d d today? we'll get an update in a couple of minutes. sea world will start doing shows today sense a trainer was drag nootds water and killed. there will be changes. handlers will not get into the water with animals which means certain stunts will not be done. the company's president says 12,000-pound whale that killed the trainer will remain active at sea world.

he's an extraordinary animal. he's a large animal. he's part of our team. he will remain part of our team. he's a very special animal that requires special handling. obviously procedures that we've had in place are something we're revisiting at this point. >> seaworld and two agencies are investigating the trainer's death. add gatorade to the list of corporate sponsors to walk away from tiger woods. joe as more on why the business relationship between two is over. >> good morning. the news comes as a surprise as gatorade generally stood by tiger throughout the ordeal. friday, it too, relented becoming the third major sponsor to drop the golfer. tiger was first signed with gatorade back in 2007, the company launched his own brand of sports drink that paid the golfer around $20 million a year. in november of 2009, gatorade decided to discontinue that tiger drink, saying the move had nothing to do with the recent scandal. gatorade cutting all ties with tiger when it comes to marketing

efforts the company did say friday it would continue to support the golfer's foundation. so, while gatorade is stepping away from tiger woods, michael jordan is taking on a bigger role with the charlotte bobcats. i'll have that later in sports. a student who admitted hanging a nhang ing a noose in a kfrp campus li has been sus spender spended. students protesting sense an offcampus party mocks black history month. hundreds denoiuncing the news a a sign of intolerance. >> they are afraid. they want to know what the chancellor will do to keep them safe on campus. >> it seems like this whole rally's insinuating the fact that everyone at ussc who is not supportive of the rally is somehow a racist and not supportive of stopping racism when i feel like the majority of the student if not all students are not racist. >> some protestors blocks the

door to the chancellor's office for a while, but they did leave peacefully. new york governor david paterson says he will not seek re-election. he just announced his campaign last weekend. now, remember, paterson took office in 2008, when former governor elliott spitzer resigned amid a prostitution scandal. paterson himself faces criticism recently for his handling of a scandal involving one of his top aides. there are reports of a domestic dispute between that aide and a woman and allegations that state police pressures her to keep quiet about. paterson has denied any wrongdoing. seemingly the winter that just won't end. just a little more than 20 days until spring if you would believe it. we check in with meteorologist karen maginnis to see where you are. >> absolutely right. in some cases some northeastern cities like pittsburgh and new york city have seen record snowfalls for the month of february. i think by the end of winter,

we're going to see some record snowfalls for the season. area of low pressure's going to be slow to move away but still on the backside of this and plenty cold air that will still introduce some of the snowfall all the way from cleveland extending up towards bangor, maine. a break for the nation's midst section. not quite as cold as it has been. a storm system for west coast and the sierra nevada and into southern california we're looking at mountain snowfall and into the lower elevations it's going to be rain like in los angeles. high temperatures for los angeles 58 degrees. denver, 48. and for miami, a little on the cool side with 69. new york city, should only make it to 38. for hln, i'm meteorologist karen maginnis. an "american idol" star in chile early when the massive earthquake hit. hear how he reacted enhis hotel started swaying.

i just feel very lucky to have sought out safety, you know? i took the steps. there was one lone person who happened to be my neighbor, who was left on the floor at the time, and as i was yelling out i saw him peek around the corn somewhere he head for the stairs and i misses the building rumbling. it was like a movie, like a hollywood film. you know, we're running down the hall as we're being kind of stroen about the hallways. we reaches the staircase, ran down six flights of stairs and came out un-yated. >> describing what he fell when an 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit

chile this morning. staying 90 milts fr miles from epicenter. he was tweetsing at time when the building started swaying. it is not clear how much damage the earthquake caused. but there are a lot of reports of collapsed buildings widespread power outages. stay with hln for the very latest on this developing story. a miniature dachshund names spork labeled a vicious dog. it started when he bit a vet tack in the face during an exam. the worker filed a report with animal control who tick et ceteraed his owners. >> once we're holding that ticket, we felt like it was a death sentence for our pet. we vowed to fight it as hard as we could. >> this speaks to the people of lafayette be warned, be fearful of going to veterinary care facilities, groomers because if your dog bites one of them they could face euthanasia.

>> if his owners are found guilty of owning a vicious dog, he could be put down. that is upsetting to so many people they started a facebook page for spork. he has 14,000 friends. the vet's office hasn't pushed for his owners to be prosecuted. they are worried for everyone in the case including spork and the injured tech. we have an update on a story we've been following on hln. remember this? seattle transit officials are dumping the security company that hired the guard bhoz were standing by right there and watching a 15-year-old girl get beaten. the guards were told to observe and report and to call police, but not to intervene when they witnesses criminal activity. that's what they did. transit officials say replacing the company is the best way to help passengers feel safe. olympic skier lindsey vonn ended her trip to vancouver on a disappointing note, you could say. joe has more on vonn's rough

ride at the winter games. >> you know, lindsey vonn started as the star of the games winning a gold medal but injuries took a toll. one of the three races came friday in the slalom, vonn disqualified after she missed a gate during the first half of a run. she said afterwards, it just wasn't her day. with a broken pinky and collection of bruises, vonn leaves vancouver with one gold and one bronze. speed skater apollo opaloll for causing a crash in the final turn. night wasn't a total loss. ohno managed to win a bronze medal. his career medal total now stands at eight, which is more than any other u.s. winter athlete. so, as we enter the final two days of olympic competition, the united states still the overall leader in medals with 34 but canada leads in the gold medal count with ten. michael jordan is now the

controlling owner of the charlotte bobcats. the deal went down late last night. no word on the purchase price. the team valued at $278 million in december. jordan turned 47 this month and has been part owner of the bobcats since 2006. so, here we go again. is he coming back? brett favre, or is he going to retire? the vikings willing to be patient when it comes to the answer. childress is not going to put favre in any box. after 19 nfl seasons he's earns that latitude. that's a look at sports. i'm joe cart. >> we, of course, continuing to get new information about that massive earthquake that struck clooil this morning. the latest ahead. also, why friends and family of military personnel are now more likely to get a tweet from troops. this is hln. time for nans fancy

footwork. fakes out chris andersen, giving curry the easy layup. what a move as he impresses teammates. curry finishes with a team-high 30 points. that's fancy footwork.

other very big earthquake. this one was very strong. the last time i experienced an earthquake i was at ground level. now i'm at the top of a building. so it really moved around a lot. you could really feel the walls moving from side to side. all of the big windows making lots of noise. it fell really, really strong. >> that man says he was asleep in bed with his pregnant wife went that massive earthquake, 8.8, hit chile this morning. he says the earthquake lasted between five and six minutes. several aftershocks were reported in the hours following the earthquake, including one that measured 6.9. stay with hln for the very latest on this breaking news. members of the military are now allowed to tweet. it is part of a new policy the

pentagon unveiled yesterday. it allows service members to use social media, like facebook, twitter, youtube, up until now separate military branches had different social media policies. a deputy assistant defense secretary says new rules will help troops share information among themselves and stay in touch with loved ones, of course. the policy bans the websites that promote gambling, pornography or hate crimes. democrats are considering using a controversial parliamentary device to pass a health care bill. yesterday nancy pelosi said democrats are making tentative plans to use the so-called reconciliation process. now, basically reconciliation means democrats in the house can vote on the reform bill the senate already passed. when they would be able to use reconciliation rules that would require a 51-vote majority in the senate to pass a package of changes that mirror the president's plan. if you can't apply for unemployment benefits on monday, it because of the efforts of one

lawmaker. talking about republican senator jim bunning. democrats were unable to overcome bunning's objections to extend unemployment and health benefits that are scheduled to run out this weekend. the debate on the senate floor was intense with bunning one time cursing at another senator. in the end, bunning won out and the senate adjourned without approving the legislation. >> i'm trying to make a point to the people of the united states of america. >> help pay for groceries and rent and to see a guy nonshah atlantaly say, say, okay, no problem. i'm just going to say no every time, well, i think somebody needs to step in and talk to him. >> bunning says he simply wants to find a way to pay for the extension without adding to the deficit. the earliest the senate can move on trying to pass a new extension will be on tuesday. an experiment got

dangerously out of hand for two university of south carolina students. the matt and paul are planning to spend a week being homeless in columbia, south carolina. before going for a week, they decided to take a test run so to speak. that's when they ran into trouble. while they were trying to sleep in a park, three men with guns tried to rob them. >> we weren't quite sure what was going on until we saw the guns and realized more of their intent. >> he had approximate pointed at me at my chest. they were asking for cell phones, wallets. we don't have anything. >> i heard paul get slapped and then shoved. >> matt looked over and he got pistol whipped a couple times. >> the two guys says their experience shows how vulnerable the homeless are. they say they plan to followthrough with their experiment to be homeless for a week. we of course will continue to follow the breaking news from chile where a massive earthquake hit early this morning. stay with us for continuing updates. also ahead, they were kicked out of a state university 50 years ago. now they get a special invitation to return and talk

about lessons learned from a tense time in history.

>> the temperatures may be frigid, but the atmosphere here is red hot. welcome to comcast on the red carpet. i'm at the 14th annual maryland state police polar bear plunge, maryland's premier winter event. >> this is my kind of weather. >> perfect day for a plunge. >> you got to get in. >> this is a huge event. it's amazing. we started back in '96 and it was probably like hundreds of people, and now it's just thousands. it's turned into a major standout event for the state of maryland. >> this is the it first time we've had a snow like this and it really does tell who this is

all about. it's raising money for a special group of people and they're coming no matter what the weather is. >> how do you do this? >> why? because i love the energy. >> the show must go on. the polar bear plunge, great benefit for special olympics, one of the great charities in maryland, and a ton of people out here. everybody is warm and in the spirit of giving, so it will be a great day. >> for one of the rookie soup sr plunger, this was an item on his life to do list. >> i've never done it. you've heard of the movie the bucket list. this was on my bucket list of things to do. i've accomplished it and can check it off my list. it was a great, great opportunity. >> this is the most amazing group of people i've ever worked with. for those of you who have not been here before, you'll leave here with life long friends. >> as a first time plunger, it's not what you expect. i never expected to cry, but i

did yesterday and today because the super plungers were so much. to hear the stories are heart-felt. >> i was a first time super plunger in freezing cold water. >> what's the water temperature? >> cold. >> my first time, i could never do it. this this year, i was like, alright, i'm here, i'm going to do it. we're in little costumes. it's cold out there. nothing compares to how cold it is out here. >> it's rewarding because of the smiles you put on the athletes faces and the camaraderie you get to be with the parents, then the family atmosphere that keeps drawing everybody back. >> are you ready? are you ready? >> it gets better every time. >> this is serious business. >> every year i challenge all of the delegates and the house delegates to come out and plunge f they are not going to plunge, they should give us money for

the special olympics. >> it's a wonderful cause, special people, and an important segment of our society, and we have to step up and be there for them. >> for law enforcement, it's a special, unique connection with the spec olympics. police officers love to be out there among the crowd, and they love to be around everyone, the young and the old. >> the 2010 marked the inaugural year, a special plunge on friday for maryland's elementary and high school students. >> we had about 2,000 students out here yesterday. the energy was amazing. these kids embraced the concept. for them to do something bigger than themselves and be active, it's awesome. >> it's for the special olympians. we live for, go for, die for, is to give them an opportunity to participate if the games. >> our athletes are children and adults. we have athletes in their 70's. they can choose from 28

different sports all year long. we're not a one-time a year attraction event. everyday of the year an athlete is benefits from the funds raise. >> with over $3 million raised from the efforts this year, some may wonder where the money goes? >> it goes straight to the athletes like myself and show that athletes with disabilities can do anything that they put their minds to. >> think about it t you can sit there as a child and see kids playing tennis, basketball, football, running track. now as a kid because somebody looked at you as having some type of disability, you don't have a disability. this allows you to go out there and do everything that everybody else can do. you're just like everybody else. >> the bay may be chilly, but you see the steam off of me. that's the warm from our hearts. >> this is what you call freezing for a reason. to learn how you can contribute to special olympics maryland,

check out smoddot organize. go to on demand and click get local for what's going on in your community. for comcast red carpet,

an extremely powerful earthquake hit the central coast of chile overnight. it struck while most people were asleep. details are just coming in. the northeast is trying to dig itself out from a massive winter storm, and this one is a record breaker for some areas. just days after a 12,000 pound orca killed a trainer at seaworld, the crowd will get to see the killer whales perform again, but expect some changes. so glad you're with us. i'm susan hendricks. we start with breaking news this morning. chile's president declared a state of catastrophe after a

magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck the country this morning. it was centered off the coast near the city of concepcion. the earthquake triggered a tsunami, and witnesses say it lasted between three and five minutes. already there have been numerous aftershocks, including one that measured 6.9. most people were in bed so damage reports are still coming into us. one witness said he felt shaking and heard screaming in his building. >> people from higher floors started screaming. my glasses were broken. >> to give you an idea of how powerful this earthquake was. it was at least 1,000 sometimes

stronger than the earthquake that recently hit haiti. we're learning more almost by the minute on this massive earthquake. we'll update the story throughout the morning and the rest of the day on hln. right now we'll move on to some of the day's other top stories. thousands of people in the northeast are sitting in the dark this morning because of that massive snowstorm. repair crews from new jersey all the way to maine have been working since thursday to fix broken power lines, but toppled trees and up to 30 inches of snow in some areas are certainly getting in their way. the power situation got so bad in new hampshire even a state of emergency center was working on a generator. new hampshire's governor says it could be a week before the power is back on there. look at this video. it says it all, doesn't it? the storm was so brutal, even in areas that didn't see any snow, the wind ripped the roofs right off some buildings. the wind reached 90 miles an hour in portsmouth, new hampshire. that is well above hurricane level. and in maine, heavy rain and

strong waves caused flooding in some coastal areas. this is what one man in gloucester saw. >> trees went down. i went to open up the door, and the whole roof blew off, 20 feet up in the air. you can see the back. it landed almost on a house behind me. >> in upstate new york, hundreds of cars and trucks got stuck when snow shut down the i-84. the 40-mile stretch of highway was closed for about five hours yesterday, a real nightmare there. there was so much snow that state troopers used snowmobiles and atvs to reach stranded drivers. that's what they had to use. new york's central park got almost 21 inches of snow, which makes february the snowiest month in the city's history. some stranded truck drivers were surprised by all of this. >> new york is known for keeping the roads really, really impeckably clean. this is odd. i have never seen this before. >> if they got stuck, they had to wait for the tow truck to

pull that guy out and clear that spot up, then it's like a domino effect. a river dam that was threatening to collapse because of this storm will likely hold. that is good news. it is word from officials in freetown, massachusetts. the water started spilling over the dam this week, and about a dozen people were advised to get out, leave their homes. just last night, officials said the water will probably recede, and the dam should be okay. this, of course, was a huge relief because safety experts were pretty concerned yesterday. >> if there were to be a catastrophic failure, there is a strong likelihood of very significant impacts downstream. the dam is in an unsafe condition, which means we are concerned. sea world will start doing killer whale shows today for the first time since a trainer was dragged into the water by an orca and killed. there will be changes, though. handlers will not get into the water with the animals, which means certain stunts will not be done. meanwhile, the company's

president says the 12,000 pound whale that killed the trainer will remain active at seaworld. >> he's an extraordinary animal. he's a large animal. frankly, there probably wasn't another facility in the world that could accommodate him. having said that, he's been part of our team. he will remain part of our team. he's a very special animal that requires special handling. obviously, the procedures we've had in place is something we're revisiting at this point. >> seaworld and two federal agencies are now investigating the trainer's death. a student who admitted hanging a noose in the campus library at the university of california san diego has been suspend. it is the latest incident to ignite racial tensions on campus. students have been protesting since an off-campus party mocked black history month. hundreds rallied yesterday, denouncing the noose as a sign of intolerance on campus. >> people are afraid and they need to know what the chancellor is going to do to keep them safe on campus.

>> it seems like this whole rally is insinuating this effect that everyone at ucsd is not supportive of this rally is somehow a racist and not supportive of stopping racism when i feel like the majority of the students, if not all the students are not racist. >> some protesters blocked the door to the chancellor's office for a while, but they did leave peacefully. new york governor david paterson now says he will not seek re-election. he just announced his campaign last weekend. he took office in 2008 when former governor eliot spitzer resigned amid a prostitute scandal. paterson himself has faced criticism recently for his handling of a scandal involving one of his top aides. there are reports of a domestic dispute between that aide and a woman and allegations that state police pressured her to keep quiet about it. the aide was suspended, and paterson has denied any wrongdoing. a motivational speaker charged in the deaths of three

people at an arizona sweat lodge is now out of jail and breaking his silence. james arthur ray, seen here, was released yesterday, a day after a judge reduced his bond. here is what he had to say. >> i'm really, really grateful for the love and support and the prayers i've received during this time. i have tremendous faith in our legal system, and i look forward to my day in court. >> prosecutors say ray recklessly crammed more than 50 people into a sweat lodge last october while he led a spiritual retreat. ray insists it was a horrible accident and not homicide. he has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter charges. a car hit an elementary school bus in kentucky yesterday, and nine students were injured. the children were taken to a louisville hospital, luckily with just minor injuries. 38 students were on board. the car rear-ended the bus as it tried to make a left turn. the driver of the car was charged for not having his driver's license on him at the time.

white house social secretary desiree rogers is quitting her job. rogers' office was the focus of a recent investigation caused by a security breach of president obama's first state dinner. you may remember the salahis were able to crash the dinner in december. the couple did not have an invitation but were allowed inside. you may remember that one. desiree rogers' office planned that event, but she says her decision to leave is not related to that incident. another major sponsor walks away from tiger woods. why the company says its made that move but it's not cutting all ties with the disgraced golfer. plus this -- >> i went to that vet thinking they were trained to take care of my dog properly. >> this playful little dachshund bit someone at the vet and now he's being called vicious. should he be put down?

>> we have no lights. no basic services.

a few damages. luckily our hotel is built for this case because in chile it happens a lot of times. >> a hotel operator there describing what it was like after a massive 8.8 earthquake hit chile earlier this morning. the death toll there continues to climb and the entire pacific including hawaii is under a tsunami warning. chile's president is warning people in coastal areas to move to higher ground. be sure to keep it here on hln for the very latest on this developing story. a miniature dachshund named sport has been called vicious. it started when sport bit a vet tech in the face during an exam. the worker filed a report with animal control who ticketed the dog's owners. >> when we were holding this ticket we felt it was a death sentence for our pet.

>> this speaks to the people of lafayette to be warned, be a little fearful of going to veterinary care facilities and goes to groomers because if your dog bites a workers, they could face death. >> he has more than 14,000 friends. the vets' office says it hasn't pushed for the owners to be prosecuted. they say they are very worried for everyone in the case including the dog and the injured tech. we have an update for you on a story we've been following very closely on hln since the disturbing video first surfaced. remember this? seattle transit officials are dumping the security company that hired the guards who are just standing by right there and watching a 15-year-old girl get beaten. the guards were told to observe and report and to call police but not to intervene when they witnessed criminal activity. that's what they did. transit officials say replacing the company is the best way to

help passengers feel safe. the gold medal showdown is all set. team usa against team canada. hi, joe. >> team usa and team canada will play on sunday. it's the rematch everyone, everyone wants to see. team usa advanced to that gold medal game after beating finland on friday afternoon. going into the game many expected a tough semifinal matchup between the two teams but instead it was usa's biggest breather of the winter games. they scored six goals in the first period coasting to victory. >> we caught them off guard and kept on attacking and was fun to be part of it. >> it was pretty unbelievable that you're in a semifinal game in the olympics and you're up 6-0 ten minutes into the game. it was unbelievable. we played well. can he capitalized on the chances we had and opportunities they gave us. that was the difference. >> it wasn't so easy for team

canada to advance to the gold medal game. they nearly blew a three-goal lead against slovakia. it wasn't pretty but it counts as a win which sets up sunday's dream matchup against team usa. the puck will drop for the gold at 3:15 eastern time. add gatorade to the list of sponsors to cut ties with tiger woods. they no longer see a role for the world's top ranked golfer in their marketing efforts. that's a look at sports. i'm joe carter. we are of course are continuing to get new information about that massive earthquake that struck chile this morning. the latest just ahead. also, why friends and family of military personnel are now more likely to get a tweet from troops.

very big earthquake. this one was very strong. last time i experienced an earthquake i was at ground level. now i'm at the top of a building. it really moves around a lot. you can really feel the walls moving from side to side. all the big windows making lots of noise. it felt really strong. >> that man says he was asleep in bed with his pregnant wife when that massive earthquake, 8.8, hit chile earlier this morning. he says the earthquake lasted between five and six minutes. several aftershocks were reported in the hours following the earthquake, including one that measured 6.9. stay with hln for the very latest on this breaking news. >>. >> members of the military are now allowed to tweet. it is part of a new policy the pentagon unveiled yesterday. it allows service members to use social media like twitter, youtube and facebook. a deputy assistant defense secretary says the new rules

will help troops share information among themselves and stay in touch with loved ones of course. the policy bans the websites that promote gambling, pornography or hate crimes. democrats are considering using a controversial parliamentary device to pass a health care bill. yesterday house speaker nancy pelosi says democrats are making tentative plans to use the so-called reconciliation process. basically reconciliation means that democrats in the house can vote on the health care reform bill the senate has already passed. when they would be able to use reconciliation rules that would only require a simple 51-vote majority in the senate to pass a package of changes that mirror the president's plan. take a look at this picture. a massive search is under way for this missing california teenager. 17-year-old chelsey king failed to return home after a run on thursday. hundreds of volunteers and sheriff's deputies are combing the rancho bernardo area for any clues. her cell phone and ipod were

found inside her car. if you can't apply for unemployment benefits on monday, it's because of the efforts of one lawmaker. we're talking about republican senator jim bunning. democrats were unable to overcome bunning's objections to extend unemployment and health benefits scheduled to run out this weekend. the debate on the senate floor was intense yesterday, with bunning at one time cursing against another senator. in the end, bunning won out, and the senate adjourned without approving the legislation. >> i'm trying to make a point to the people of the united states of america. >> to help pay for groceries and rent and things of that nature, and to see a guy nonchalantly say, okay, no problem. i'm just going to say no every time. well, i think somebody needs to step in and talk to him. >> bunning says he simply wants to find a way to pay for the extension without adding to the deficit. the earliest the senate can move

on trying to pass a new extension will be on tuesday. if you are looking to buy a new car without rolling over your wallet, your budget really, clark howard says there's one part of the vehicle you should pay attention to. >> okay. you filled up your car recently, not very pleasant again. the price of gasoline moving up a whole lot. think about what we've been through over the last couple of years. we started with gas prices about a buck 50 a gallon. then we went all of the way to $4.11 a gallon and then we dropped back down to $1.65 a gallon and now we're looking at over $2.70 a gallon. now, you and i can't control that at all. whether it comes time to replace the vehicle you're driving, that's when you do have power because now there are very

powerful four cylinder engines available except for suv but even minivans are being introduced with four cylinder engines. instead of being underpowered they have decent power and great fuel economy. i'm clark howard. for more ways for you to get more out of that gallon of gas, check me out at cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> we love clark. you can find more ways to keep money in your pocket by watching clark's show today at noon eastern time. he will help you save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. we, of course, will continue to follow the breaking news from chile, where a massive earthquake hit early this morning. stay with us for continuing updates. also ahead, they were kicked out of a state university 50 years ago. now they get a special invitation to return and talk about lessons learned from a tense time in history.

an extremely powerful earthquake hit the coast of chile overnight. it struck when most people were asleep. details are coming in. we'll have them for you. the northeast is trying to dig itself out from a massive winter storm, and this one is a record breaker for some areas. just days after a 12,000-pound orca killed a trainer at seaworld, crowds will get to see the killer whale perform again. but expect to see some changes. you're watching hln on this saturday norng. great to see you. i'm susan hendricks. the death toll from a massive earthquake that hit central chile this morning is now at nearly 80.

the magnitude 8.8 earthquake was centered off the coast near the city of concepcion, about 200 miles southwest of the capital. the earthquake triggered a tsunami and witnesses say it lasted between three and five minutes. already, there have been numerous aftershocks, including one that measured 6.9. it happened while most people were in bed, so reports are still coming in. rolando santos of "headline news" is now with cnn chile. this morning he spoke with our sister network about the earthquake. >> been through some quakes in san francisco and california. this was one of the worst. driving into the cnn chile headquarters here, the city was virtually dark. i didn't see any collapsed buildings but we have reports of that. it happened at 3:40 in the morning local time. it's a little difficult to see what was going on. >> to give you an idea of how

powerful that earthquake was, it released 500 more time energy than the quake that hit haiti last month. that earthquake had a magnitude of 7.0. we are learning more almost by the minute on this massive earthquake. we'll update the story throughout the morning and the rest of the day here on hln. for now, we'll move on to the day's other top stories. thousands of people in the northeast are sitting in the dark this morning because of that massive snowstorm. repair crews from new jersey all the way to maine have been working since thursday to fix broken power lines. toppled trees and up to 30 inches of snow in some areas are certainly getting in their way. the power situation got so bad in new hampshire even a state of emergency center was working on a generator. new hampshire's governor says it could be a week before the power is back on there. look at this video. it says it all, doesn't it? the storm was so brutal, even in areas that didn't see any snow. the wind ripped the roofs right off some buildings in gloucester, massachusetts. the wind reached 91 miles per

hour in portsmouth, new hampshire. that is well above hurricane level. in maine, heavy rain and strong waves caused flooding in some coastal areas. this is one what man in gloucester saw. take a listen. >> trees went down. i went to open up the door, and the whole roof blew off. 20 feet up in the air. and then you can see the back. it landed almost on a house behind me. in upstate new york, hundreds of cars and trucks got stuck when snow shut down the i-84. the 40-mile stretch of highway was closed for about five hours yesterday. a real nightmare there. there was so much snow, state troopers used snowmobiles and atvs to reach stranded drivers. new york's central park got almost 21 inches of snow, which makes february the snowiest month in the city's history. some stranded truck drivers were surprised by all of this. >> new york is known for keeping the roads really, really impeccably clean.

this is odd. i've never seen this before. >> they got stuck and had to wait for the tow truck to pull one guy out and clear that spot up and it's like a domino effect. >> how does it look where you are? who will see stormy weather today? we'll get an update from meteorologist karen maginnis in just a couple of minutes. seaworld will start doing killer whale shows today for the first time since a trainer was dragged into the water by an orca and killed. there will be changes though. handlers will not get into the water with the animals which means certain stunts will not be done. meanwhile, the company's president says the 12,000-pound whale that killed the trainer will remain active at seaworld. >> he's an extraordinary animal. he's a large animal. there wasn't another facility in the world that would accommodate him. he's been part of our team. he'll remain part of our team. he's a very special animal that requires special handling. obviously, the procedures we've

had in place, we'll be revisiting at this point. >> seaworld and two federal agencies are now investigating the trainer's death. add gatorade to the list of corporate sponsors to walk away from tiger woods. joe has more on why the business relationship between the two is over. >> the news comes as something of a surprise as gatorade had generally stood by tiger throughout this entire ordeal but they became the third major sponsor to drop the golfer. tiger was signed back in 2007. the company launched his own brand of sports drink that paid around $80 million a year. in december of 2009 gatorade discontinued that drink. while gatorade is cutting ties with tiger when it comes to marketing efforts, it will continue to support the golfer's foundation. while gatorade is stepping away from tiger woods, michael jordan is taking on a bigger role with the charlotte bobcats.

more on that later in sports. a student who admitted hanging a noose in a campus library at the university of california san diego has been suspended. it is the latest incident to ignite racial tensions on campus. students have been protesting since an off-campus party mocked black history month. hundreds rallied yesterday denouncing the news as a sign of intolerance on campus. >> they're afraid. they need to know what the chancellor is going to do to keep them safe on campus. >> it seems like this whole rally is insinuating this effect that everyone at ucsd who is not supportive of this rally is somehow a racist and not supportive of stopping racism when i feel like the majority of the students, if not all the students, are not racist. >> some protestors blocked the door to the chancellor's office for a while, but they did leave peacefully. it is seemingly the winter that just won't end. just a little more than 20 days

until spring if you believe it. we check in with meteorologist karen maginnis to see how it looks where you are. >> you are absolutely right. in some cases some of these northeastern cities like pittsburgh and new york city have seen record snowfalls for the month of february. i think by the end of winter we'll see record snowfalls for the season. area of low pressure will be slow to move away but still on the backside of this and plenty cold air that will still introduce some of that snowfall all of the way from cleveland extending up towards bangor, maine. a little bit of a break for the nation's midsection. not quite as cold as it has been but here comes a storm system for the west coast and for the sierra nevada and into southern california we're looking at mountain snowfall and into those lower elevations it's going to be rain like in los angeles. high temperatures for los angeles 58 degrees. denver, 48. for miami, a little on the cool side with 69 and new york city should only make it to 38. for hln, i'm meteorologist karen

maginnis. >> an "american idol" star was in chile early this morning when that massive earthquake hit. you'll hear how he says he reacted when his hotel started swaying.

>> i just feel very lucky to have sought out safety. there was one lone person who happened to be my neighbor next door to me who was left on the floor at the time and as i was yelling out i saw him peek around the corner and then he started heading for the stairs and amidst the building kind of rumbling, it was like a movie. it was like a hollywood film. we're running down the hall as

we're kind of being strewn about the hallways until we reached the staircase and ran down six flights of stairs to safety and luckily got out unharmed. >> that was "american idol" finalist describing what he felt when an earthquake hit chile early this morning. yamin is staying 90 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake and was in his hotel room tweeting at the time when the building started swaying moving back and forth. it's not clear how much damage the earthquake caused but there are lots of reports of collapsed buildings and widespread power outages. stay with hln for the very latest on this developing story. a miniature dog has been labeled a vicious dog. under a town law in colorado, he could be euthanized. >> once we're holding that ticket we felt like it was kind

of a death sentence for our pet. >> this speaks to the people of lafayette to be warned, be a little fearful of going to veterinary care facilities, to go to groomers because, if your dog bites one of the workers, your dog could potentially face euthanasia. >> if spork's owners are found guilty of owning a vicious dog, he could be put down. that is upsetting to so many people they even started a facebook page for spork. so far he has 14,000 fans. the vet's office say they are worried for everyone in the case, including spork and the injured tech. we have an update for you on a story we've been following closely on hln since the disturbing video first surfaced. remember this? seattle transit officials are dumping the security company that hired the guards that are standing by watching a 15-year-old girl get beaten. the guards were told to observe and report and to call police but not to intervene when they witness criminal activity. that's what they did. transit officials say replacing

the company is the best way to help passengers feel safe. olympic skier lindsey vonn ended her trip to vancouver on a disappointing note. joe has more on vonn's rough right. >> injuries really took a toll. she failed to finish in three of the final four races. one of those three came friday. vonn was disqualified after she missed a gate in the first half of the run. she said afterwards it wasn't her day. vonn leaves vancouver with one gold and one bronze. speed skater apollo anno was disqualified in friday's 500 meter race for apparently causing a crash in the final turn. but the night wasn't a together loss. ohno did manage to win a bronze medal in the short track relay team. his career medal total now

stands at eight which is more than any u.s. winter athlete. as we enter the final two days of olympic competition, the united states still the overall leader in medals with 34. but host country canada now leads in the gold medal count with ten. michael jordan is now the controlling owner of the charlotte bobcats. the deal went down late last night. no word yet on the purchase price. "forbes" did value the nba team at $278 million back in december. jordan turned 47 earlier this month and has been part owner of the bobcats since 2006. is he coming back or is he going to retire? the team's head coach brad childress says he won't put favre in any kind of box. he said after 19 nfl seasons he's kind of earned that latitude. that's a look at sports. i'm joe carter. we of course are continuing to get new information about that massive earthquake that struck chile this morning. the latest just ahead. also, why friends and family

of military personnel are now more likely to get a tweet from troops. this is hln.

>> another very big earthquake.

this one was very strong. last time i experienced an earthquake i was at ground level and now i'm at the top of the building. it really moved around a lot. you could really feel the walls moving from side to side and all of the big windows making lots of noise. it felt really, really strong. >> that man says he was asleep in bed with his pregnant wife when that massive earthquake, 8.8, hit chile early dwlier thi morning. several aftershocks were reported in the hours following the earthquake including one that measured 6.9. stay with hln for the very latest on this breaking news. members of the military are now allowed to tweet. it is part of a new policy the pentagon unveiled yesterday. it allows service members to use social media like facebook, twitter, or youtube. up until now separate military branches had different social media policies. a deputy assistant defense secretary says new rules will help troops share information among themselves and stay in

touch with loved ones, of course. the policy bans the website that's promote gambling, pornography, or hate crimes. take a look at this picture. a massive search is under way for this missing california teenager. 17-year-old chelsea king failed to return home after a run thursday. hundreds of volunteers and sheriff's deputies are combing the rancho bernardo area for any clues. king's car was found in the parking lot of a community center. her cell phone and ipod were inside. an experiment got dangerously out of hand for two university of south carolina students. matt wolfer and powell paul bowers were planning to spend a week being homeless in columbia, south carolina. before going for a week, they decided to take a test run, so to speak. that's when they ran into trouble. while they were trying to sleep in a park, three men with guns tried to rob them. >> we weren't quite sure what was going on until we saw the guns and realized more of their intent. >> he had it pointed at me, at my chest. they were asking for cell phones, wallets. we don't have anything.

>> i heard paul get slapped and then shoved. >> matt looked over and got pistol whipped a couple of times. >> the two guys show their experience shows just how vulnerable the homeless are. they also say they plan to followthrough with their experiment to be homeless for a week. brand recognition is a problem many small businesses face but product recognition is an even bigger hurdle. christine romans profiles one entrepreneur up for the challenge in this week's "turnaround." >> if you don't know what this is, you're not alone. these waffle shaped italian cookies are hardly a household name but stan is trying to change that. his business, little pepis makes these in this modest factory in pennsylvania. >> the biggest challenge is getting people to know what they

are. even though the product has bee trying to make people known what it is. been around since 700 b.c. >> reporter: he bought the business in 2003 from the original owner who started out baking them in his kitchen four daek aids ago. sales began to slow. >> when i bought the business there were two big twobz, two glaring problems i saw. number one was the building was being taken for eminent domain. the second problem was the equipment was 25 years old, all electric. it was very labor intenive proc. he moved the company to a larger suburban area and bought a large waffle oven. production quadrupled and his energy bills did too. he went from baking three days a week for ten hours and able to

keep almost all of his employees, about one quarter of them have special physical needs. >> that's a responsibility of what we've taken on, the one unique thing about our business. it is a family run business. >> they are sold mainly in supermarkets and and sales have been growing steadily since he bought the company, they were off 12% last year. but an appearance on the rachel ray show gave the company a nice little boost at the end of 2009. >> i love. i know little pepis well. >> your product is like my grandmother's and we embrace that. that's why our history, our past will help us go forward. >> christine romans, cnn, new york. >> we of course will continue to follow the breaking news from chile where a massive earthquake hit early this morning. stay with us.

the state university 50 years ago, now got a special invitation to return and talk to lessons learned from history.

extremely powerful earthquake hit the coast of chile overnight. the northeast is trying to dig itself off from this, a massive winter storm. this one is a record breaker for most areas. days after 12,000 pound orca killed a trainer, crowds will see it again but expect to see changes. glad you're with us, i'm susan hendricks. chile's president has declared a state of ka tcatastrophe after

8.8 magnitude earthquake hit this morning. the death toll stands at 80 and is expected to rise. it was 212 miles southwest of chile's capital. it lasted between three and five minutes. there have been numerous aftershocks. this happened while most people were in bed. damage reports are still coming in. one witness heard shaking and screaming in his apartment building. >> i live in a really low floor in my building, but people from higher floors started to go to the terrace and screen, god stop. some were jumping -- all of my glasses were broken. >> to give you an idea how pow perful it was it was 1,000 times

stronger than the recent earthquake that hit haiti. >> we are learning more almost by the minute on the massive earthquake. we'll update the story throughout the day. for right now we'll move onto the day's top stories. thousands of people in the northeast are sitting in the dark this morning because of the massive snowstorm. repair crews from new jersey all the way to maine have been working since thursday to fix broken power lines. topple treed and up to 30 inches of snow are getting in the area. the power situation got so bad in new hampshire, even a state of emergency center was working on a generator. new hampshire's governor says it could be a week before the power is back on there. look at this video. the storm was so brutal, even in areas that didn't see any snow, the wind ripped the roofs right off buildings in glous sister, massachusetts. it reached 90 miles an hour in

portsmouth. this is what one man in glousster saw. >> trees went down and i went to open up the door and the whole roof blew off 20 feet in the air. it landed almost on a house behind me. >> in upstate new york, hundreds of cars and trucks got stuck when snow shut down the i-84. the 40-mile stretch of roadway was closed for five hours yesterday. real nightmare there. there was so much know they used a tvs to reach stranded drivers. central park got almost 21 inches of snow making february the snowiest month in the city's history. >> new york is known for keeping the roads really clean. this is odd. i've never seen this before. >> then get up to a certain point, if they get stuck you

have to way for a tow truck, like a domino effect. >> a dam that was threatening to collapse because of the storm will likely hold. it is world from officials in freetown massachusetts, the water started spilling over the dam and a dozen people were advised to get out. they said the water will probably recede and the dam should be okay. this was a huge relief because they were concerned yesterday. >> if there were to be a kas strofic failure, there is a strong likelihoihood of impacts downstream. it is an unsafe condition which means we are concerned. seaworld will start doing killer whale shows today since the first time the trainer was dragged into the water and killed. handlers will not go into the water with the animals.

and the company's president says the 12,000 pound whale that killed the trainer will remain active at seaworld. >> an extraordinary animal and large animal. there probably wasn't another facility in the world in a could accommodate him. having said that, we have -- he's been part of our team and remain part of our team. and he's a very special animal that requires special handling. the procedures that we've had in place are something we're revisiting at this point. >> two federal agencies are investigating the trainer's death. a student who admitted hanging a noose in the library of university of san diego. students have been protesting since an off campus party mocked black history month. >> they are afraid and need to know what the chancellor is going to do to keep them safe on

campus. >> it seems like this whole rally insinuating the fact that everyone you see who is supportive of the rally is a racist and not supportive of stopping racist. where i feel the majority are not racists. >> some blocked the door for a while but did leave peacefully. a car hit an elementary school bus in kentucky yesterday. and nine students were injured. the children were taken to a louisville hospital, 38 students were on board. the car rear-ended the bus as it tried to make a left turn. the driver was charged for not having his driver's license on him at the time. white house social secretary desiree rogers is quitting her job. her office was the focus of a recent investigation caused by a security breach of president obama's first state dinner. you may remember they were able

to crash the dinner in september. they did not have an invitation but were allowed inside. desiree rogers' office planned that event but her decision to leave is not related to that incident. an "american idol" star was in chile when the massive earthquake hit. you will hear how he reacted.

training for the new york city triathlon is not the biggest challenge she has faced. >> i was diagnosed with breast cancer last april. when the challenge came along, i thought it would be the perfect

thing not only to get myself back in shape again but to show other people that they can get in shape too. >> as you sort of have looked at the challenge that lies in front of you, what are you most nervous about? >> well, i'm excited because i think i'll be in really good condition. i think i'll feel really healthy. the swim be will be great. i'm most worried about the swimming, i can swim but never really swam. >> it hasn't been as big a challenge as she anticipated. she's getting more and more comfortable in the pool. >> every time i feel stronger and i can go a little further before i rest. so it's coming. >> reporter: our other participant, meredith clark had her own concerns. >> there's, of course the huge possibility of crashing and burning on tv. >> >> reporter: it turns out it real life that presents the biggest challenge. >> being in the office is difficult especially in a

newspaper office because we believe in eating well and eating a lot. >> reporter: and schedules. >> the workouts themselves aren't really difficult. what i find hard is managing my time to fit the workouts in. >> reporter: but she's fitting it in, walking around the parking lot at work and exercising with the help of a trainer. early morning kettle bell classes and even spinning on her own. for both triathletes. the journey ahead will be long about doable. >> there's only 150 days left. it makes me kind of want to ramp up my effort. >> i feel stronger all the time and feel like once i can get this done, i can close the chapter and put the breast cancer behind me and i'll feel like it's over and i've conquered it. >> reporter: dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, reporting. we have no lights, no basic services. a few damages.

but luckily our hotel is still -- in chile it happens really a lot of times. >> you were listening to a hotel operating describing what it was like after a massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit chile earlier this morning. the death toll continues to climb. then tire pacific, including hawaii is now under a tsunami warning. they are warning people in coastal areas to move to higher ground. be sure to keep it here on hln for the very latest on this developing story. the gold medal showdown in men's hockey is all set. joe carter has more on the dream matchup. >> team usa/team canada will play on sunday. team usa advanced to the gold medal game after beating finland on friday afternoon. many expected a tough semifinal matchup but instead it was us

a's biggest breather, scored six goals coasting to victory. >> we seemed to roll there and caught them offguard and kept on attacking. >> it was pretty unbelievable that you're in a semifinal game in the olympics up 6-0 ten minutes into the game. we played well and capitalized on the chances we had and that was the difference. >> it wasn't so easy for team canada to advance. they nearly blew a three-goal lead in the final period against slow vak ya. setting up sunday's dream matchup against usa, 3:00 p.m. eastern time. gatorade no longer sees a

role for the toll ranked golfer in their efforts. the partnership with the foundation will continue. we have an update on an story we've been following closely here on hln since the disturbing video first surfaced. remember this? seattle transit officials are dumping the security company that hired the guards who are standing by right there and watching a 15-year-old girl get beaten. the guards were told to observe and report and to call police. but not to intervene when they witness criminal activity. that's what they did. transit officials say replacing the company is the best way to help passengers feel safe. >> everybody wants to stretch a dollar these days, right? join hln money expert clark howard today at noon eastern. he'll show you ways to do that, to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. noon eastern on hln. we of course are continuing to get new information about the massive earthquake that struck

chile this morning. also, why friends and family of military personnel are now more likely to get a tweet from troops. this is hln.

i just feel very lucky to have sought out safety. i took the steps. there was one lone person who happened to be my neighbor next door to me who is left on the floor at the time. and as i was yelling out i saw him peek ash around the corner and headed for the stairs. the building was kind of rumbling, like a hollywood film, we're running down the hall as we're being kind thrown about the hallways. we reached the stair case and ran down six flights of stairs and got unite unharmed. >> that was elliott yamin

describing what he felt when the earthquake hit chile this morning. he is staying 90 miles from the epicenter and says he was in the hotel room tweeting at the time when the building started staying. it is not clear exactly how much damage the earthquake caused. >> stay with hln throughout the day for the latest on this developing story. members of the military are now allowed to tweet. part of a new policy the pentagon unveiled yesterday. it allowed members to use social media. up until now they had different social media policies and a deputy defense secretary it will help them share information among themselves and stay in touch with loved ones. it bans websites that promote gamble or pornography or hate

crimes. yesterday a house speaker nancy pelosi said democrats are making tentative plans to use the so-called reconciliation process. reconciliation means the democrats in the house can vote on the health dare recare reform bill the senate already passed. when they can use reconciliation rules that only require a 51% majority vote. take a look at this picture, a massive search is under way for this missing california teenager. chelsea king failed to return home after a run. hundreds of volunteers are combing the rancho bernardo area. if you can't apply for unemployment benefits on monday, it's because of the effort of one lawmaker. we're talking about republican senator jim bunting, democrats were unable to overcome the objections to extend unemployment and health benefits that are scheduled to run out

this weekend. the debate on the senate floor was intense with bunting at one time cursing at another senator. in the end bunting won out and the senate confirmed without approving the legislation. >> i'm trying to make a point for the people of the united states of america. >> to help pay for groceries and rent and things of that nature, and to see a guy nonchalantly saying, okay, no problem. i'm just going to say no every time, well, i think somebody needs to step in and talk to him. >> bunning says he simply wants to find april way to pay for the extension without adding to the deficit. the earliest the senate can move on trying to pass a new extension will be on tuesday. >> an experiment got dangerously out of hand for two university of south carolina students. they are manning to spend a week being homeless in columbia,

south carolina. before going for a week, they decided to take a test run so to speak. that's when they ran into trouble. while they were trying to sleep in a park, three men with guns tried to rob them. >> weren't sure what was going on until we shaw the guns and realized more of their intent. >> he had it pointed at me at my chest, asking for cell phones and wallets. we don't have anything. >> i heard paul get slapped and shoved. >> matt looked over and got pistol whipped a couple times. >> any also say they still plan to follow through with their experiment to be homeless for a week. we, of course will continue to follow the breaking news from chile where a massive earthquake hit early this morning. stay with us for continuing updates. also ahead, they were kicked out of the state university 50 years ago. now they get a special invitation to return and talk about lessons learned from a tense time in history.

an extremely powerful earthquake hit chile. details are coming into us. the northeast is trying to dig out from a massive winter storm and this is a record breaker for most areas. days after a 12,000 pound orca killed a trainer, crowds will get to see the killer whales perform again but expect to see some changes. great to see you, i'm susan hendricks, we start with breaking news. chile's president declared a

state of catastrophe. the death toll stands at nearly 80 and is expected to rise. it was centered 212 miles southwest of chile's capital. is tr there will be numerous aftershocks. damage reports are coming in right now. but to give you an idea of the sheer power of the earthquake, it release the 500 times more energy than the quake which hit haiti last month. that irmg quake had a magnitude of 7.0. following this morning's earthquake, tsunami warnings were issued for hawaii and australia and new zealand. california and alaska are under a tsunami advisory as well. a scientist says several tsunami waves have come ashore, the largest was about 9 feet high near the quake's epicenter.

>> people along hawaii's coast will be evacuated this morning. this is video from the last big evacuation in 1986. a meteorologist from hawaii tells our sister network, cnn, some folks are already hitting the stores stocking up on supplies. >> we're already getting reports from local markets here that people are hoarding up on food and signs are going up as well that we are looking at possibility of people just putting up signs and saying, you can only take two or three items of this type of thing. canned good, especially. >> we are learning more almost by the minute on this massive earthquake. we'll update the story throughout the morning and rest of the day here on hln. for right now we'll move onto the day's other top stories. >> nows of people in the northeast are sitting in the dark this morning because of that massive snowstorm. repair crews have been working since thursday to fix broken

power lines. toppled trees, and up to 30 inches of snow in some areas are getting in their way. the power situation got so bad in new hampshire, even a state of nj center was working on a generator. new jersey's governor says it could be a week before the power is back on there. >> look at this video. it says it all. the storm was so brutal, even in areas that didn't see any snow. the wind ripped the roofs off buildings in gloucester. it reached 91 miles per hour in portsmouth new hampshire. in maine, causing flooding in coastal areas. this is what one man in gloucester saw. >> trees went down. i went to open up the door and the whole roof blew off 20 feet up in the air. you can see the back. it landed almost on a house. >> in upstate new york, hundreds of cars and trucks got stuck

when snow shut down the i-84. the 40 mile stretch of highway was closed for about five hours yesterday. there was so much snow the state troopers used snowmobiles and a tvs to rescue stranded drivers. central park got almost 21 inches of snow making february the snowiest month in the city's history. some truck drivers were surprised by all of this. >> new york is known for keeping the roads really i am peckably clean. this is odd, never seen this before. >> get up to a certain point with the tow truck, pull one guy out and it's like a domino effect. >> how does it look where you are? who will see stormy weather today. we will get an update from karen in just a couple of minutes. seaworld will start doing killer whale shows today for the first time since a trainer was dragged into the water and

killed. there will be changes though. handlers will not get into the water with at animals. meanwhile the company's president says the 12,000 pound whale that killed the trainer will be active at sea diagnose world. >> this is an extraordinary animal and large animal. there probably wasn't another facility in the world that could accommodate him. having said that, we have -- he's been part of our team and remain part of our team and he's a very special animal that requires special handling. obviously the procedures that we've had in place are something we're revisiting at this point. >> seaworld and two federal agencies are investigating the trainer's death. >> add gatorade to add to the list of sponsors walking away from tiger woods. >> this comes as something as a surprise as gatorade stood by tiger. friday it too relented becoming the third major sponsor to drop

the golfer. he launched his own brand of sports drink. now in november of 2009 they decided to discontinue the tiger drink saying the move had nothing to do with recent scandal. they are cutting ties with tiger with regard to marketing efforts they did say they would continue to support the golfer's foundation. michael jordan is taking on a bigger role with the charlotte bobcats. >> a student who admit the hanging a noose in a campus library at the university of california, san diego has been suspended. it is the latest incident to ignite racial tensions on campus. students have been protesting since an off-campus party mocked black history month. >> they are afraid. they need to know what the chance lettllor is going to do keep them safe. >> it seems like this whole

rally is insinuating this ekt that everybody who is not supportive of this rally is somehow a racist and not supportive of stopping racism. when i feel like the majority of the students, if not all of the students are not racists. >> some protesters blocked the door to the trachancellor's off for a while but did leave peacefully. new york governor david paterson says he will not seek re-election. he noupsed his campaign last weekend. he took office in 2008 when eliot spitzer resigned amid a prostitution scandal. patterson faced criticism for a handling of a scandal involving one of his aides, there are disputes between an aide and a woman. the aide was suspended and paterson denied any wrong doing.

a little more than 20 days until spring if you believe it. we check in with karen. >> you are absolutely right. some some cases some of these northeastern cities like pittsburgh and new york city have seen record snowfalls for the month of february. and i think by the end of winter, we're going to see record snowfalls for the season. area of low pressure will be slow to move away but still on the back side of this and plenty cold air that will still introduce that snowfall all the way from cleveland extending up towards bangor maine. a little bit of a break for the nation's midsection, not quite as cold as it has been. here comes az a storm system for the west coast and sierra nevada and into southern california. we're looking at mountain snowfall and into the lower elevations it will be rain like in los angeles. high temperatures 58 degrees. ten ver, 48. for miami, a little on the cool side with 69 and new york city

should make it to 38. i'm karen maginnis. an "american idol" star was in chile when the earthquake hit. you will hear how he reacted when his hotel started swaying.

i feel very lucky to have sought out safety. i took the steps. there was one lone person who happened to be my neighbor next door to me who was left on the floor. and as i was yelling out i saw him peek around the corner and he started heading towards the stairs and amidst the building rumbling, it was like a hollywood film, we're running down the hall and being kind of thrown about the hallways. we reached the stair case and ran down six flights of stairs to safety and luckily got out unharmed and unscathed.

>> that was elliott yamin describing what he thought when the earthquake hit chile this morning. he was staying 90 miles from the epicenter from the quake. he was in his hotel room tweeting when the quake struck. there are a lot of reports of collapsed buildings and widespread power outages. stay with hln for the very latest on the developing story. >> she did get a gold medal but lindsey vonn ended her trip on a disappointing note. >> hi, jeff. >> lindsey vonn raced to gold in her first event. but then injuries took a toll and she failed to finish in three of other final four events. vonn was dissqualled during the slalom race. with a broken pinky and collection of bruises she leaves

with one gold and one bronze. as we enter the final two days. united states still the overall leading in medals with 34. canada leads in the gold medal race with 10. michael jordan is now the controlling owner of the charlotte bobcats. the deal went down late last night. no word on a purchase price. forbes valued the team at $278 million. jordan turned 47 this month and has been part owner of the bobcats since 2006. here we go again. is brett favre coming back to the nfl or going to retire? the clock is ticking but the minnesota vikings say they are willing to be patient when it comes to an answer from favre. the coach says he's not going to put favre in any sort of box after 19 nfl seasons, he has earned that latitude. that's a look at sports, i'm joe carter. we have an update on a story we have been following very closely here on hln since the disturbing video first surfaced.

remember this? seattle transit officials are dumping the security company that hired the guards who were just standing by right there and watching a 15-year-old girl get beaten. the guards were told to observe and report and call police. but not to intervene when they witnessed criminal activity. that's what they did. transit officials say replacing the company is the best way to help passengers feel safe. >> remember the ads that said milk builds healthier body. we're looking at a another way to build up your xal ton. skeleton. milk has been promoted as doing a body good because it's high in calcium. the best way to get nutrients is always through food. it's not only calcium that is important. you have to have vitamin d in your diet. without the vit mine d you can't absorb the calcium. certain food sources that are

terrific for bone health include dark leafy greens such as brussel sprouts, kale, any sort of fruit or vegetable is going to be helpful for your bones. you need to have an exercise component in order to build bones. weight bearing exercise as well as resistance, the exercise component is the mechanical stress you're putting on your bones to help fortify them.

members of the military are now allowed to tweet. it is part of the a policy the pentagon unveiled yesterday allowing service members to use social media like facebook, twitter. up until now they had social media policies. the secretary says the new rules will help troops share information among themselves and stay in touch with loved ones, of course. the policy bans the websites that promote gambling, pornography or hate crimes. democrats are considering using a controversial parliamentary device to pass a health care bill. pelosi said democrats are making

tentative plans to use the reconciliation process. it means that democrats in the house can vote on the health care reform bill the senate already passed. when they would be able to use reconciliation rules that would only require a 51% majority to pass a package of changes that mirror the president's plan. take a look at this picture. a massive search is under way for this missing california teenager. chelsea king failed to return home after a run on thursday of the hundreds of voirz and sheriff's deputies are combing the area for any clues. king's car was found in the parking lot of a community center and her cell phone ipod were inside. if you can't apply for unemployment benefits on monday, it's because of the efforts of one lawmaker. we're talking about republican senator jim bunning, democrats were unable to overcome the objections on health benefits that are scheduled to run out this weekend. the debate on the senate floor was intense yesterday with

bunning at one time cursing at another senator. in the end, bunning won out and the senate adjourned without approving legislation. >> i'm trying to make a point to the people of the united states of america. >> to help pay for groceries and rent and things of that nature and to see a guy nonchalantly say, okay, no problem, i'm just going to say no every time. well, i think somebody needs to step in and talk to him. >> bunning says he simply wants to find a way to pay for the extension without adding to the deficit. the earliest the senate can move on trying to pass a new extension will be on tuesday. >> an experiment got dangerously out of hand for two university of south carolina students. matt wolfer and paul bauers are planning to spend a week being homeless. before going for a week they decided to take a test run when

they ran into trouble. while they were trying to sleep in a park, three men with guns tried to rob them. >> wasn't quite sure what was going on until we saw the guns and realized more of their intent. >> they were asking for cell phones wallets, we don't have anything. >> i heard paul get slapped and then shoved. >> matt looked over and got and shoved. >> the two guys say their experience shows how vulnerable the homeless are. they say they plan to follow through with their experiment to be homeless for a week. hair can be a big part of a woman's self-image, so losing it can be devastating. hln's christie paul has the story of one woman who is changing lives one wig at a time. making her a leader with heart. mika hill is helping women who have loved their hair feel beautiful again. >> it's treemly important for a woman to feel like a woman. not only look, but to actually feel like a woman.

>> reporter: through her personal battle with hair loss, mika started pink barrette. the organization offers free custom wigs for women with cancer, ailo piecia and other hair conditions. >> i decided i wanted to helear how to make wigs and it snowballed. >> since 2007 mika said she's donated more than 140 wigs. >> society has put such a strong opinion of what a woman should be. so he she loses her hair, it affects everything about her. >> theresa started losing her hair when she was 13. now she has a new look and a new attitude. >> oh, wow. i do need glamour shots. >> and that's why mika makes the wigs. we of course will continue to follow the breaking news from chile, where a massive earthquake hit early this morning. stay with us for continuing updates. also ahead, they were kicked out

of a state university 50 years ago. now they get a special invitation to return, and talk about lessons learned from a tense time in history.

an extremely powerful earthquake hit the central coast of chile overnight. it struck while most people were in bed asleep. details keep coming in to us, we'll bring them to you. the northeast is trying to dig itsself out from this, a massive winter storm. this one is a record-breaker for most areas. just days after 12,000-pound orca killed a trainer at seaworld, the show will go on. great to see you, i'm susan hendricks. breaking news, the death toll if a massive earthquake that hit central chile early this morning

is now put at nearly 80. the magnitude 8.8-quake was centered near the city of concepcion, about 200 miles southwest of country's capital, santiago. there have been numerous aftershocks. you see some of the damage there. including an aftershock that measured 6.9. a number of buildings have collapsed because of the earthquake. fires are burning out of control and there are reports of people trapped underneath rubble. rolando santos, the president of our sister net cnn chile spoke to us. >> caller: the situation started about 3:30. settle was a violent shaking in santiago. no question about it, i literally got knocked out of bed and onto the floor. it was pretty clear because of the length of the earthquake, that it was going to be a major earthquake. the city almost immediately went dark. looking out from the balcony of

my apartment, everything went black. >> to give you an idea of the power of the quake, is released 500 more times energy than the quake that hit haiti last month. that quake had a magnitude of 7.0. following this morning's earthquake, tsunami warnings were issued for much of the pacific region, including hawaii, australia and new zealand. and california and alaska are under tsunami advisory as well. a usgs scientist said several tsunami waves have come ashore along chile's coast. the largest, nine feet high along the quake's epicenter. and people along hawaii's coast will be evacuated beginning at 11:00 a.m. eastern this morning. this is video from the last big evacuation in hawaii in 1986. a meteorologist from the hawaii affiliate krtv tells us that some people are already hitting the stores. >> we're getting reports from local markets here that people are starting to horde up on food

and people are looking at the possibility of putting up signs saying you can only take two or three items of this type of thing, canned goods, especially. we are learning more almost by the minute on the massive earthquake. we'll update the story throughout the morning and the rest of the day here on hln. for now we'll move on to some of the day's other stories. thousands of people in the northeast are sitting in the dark this morning, because of that massive snowstorm. repair crews from new jersey all the way to maine have been working since thursday, to fix broken power lines. toppled trees and up to 30 inches of snow in some areas are getting in their way. the power situation got so bad in new hampshire even a state of emergency center was working on a generator. new hampshire's governor said it could be a week before the power is back on there. look at this video -- it says it all, doesn't it? the storm was so brutal, even in areas that didn't see any snow, the wind ripped the roofs right off some buildings in

gloucester, massachusetts. the wind reached 91 miles per hour in portsmouth, new hampshire, well above hurricane level. and in maine, heavy rain and waves kaut caused flooding in coastal areas. there is what one man in gloucester say, talk a listen. >> trees went down, i went to open the door and the whole roof blew off, 20 feet up in the airnd you can see the back. it landed almost on a house behind me. in upstate new york, hundreds of cars and trucks got stuck when snow shut down the i-84. the 40-mile stretch of highway was closed for about five hours yesterday. a real nightmare there. there was so much snow that state troopers used snowmobiles and atvs to reach stranded drivers. new york's central park got almost 21 inches of snow, which makes february the snowiest month in the city's history. some stranded truck drivers were surprised by all of this. >> new york is known for keeping

the roads really, really impeccably clean. this is odd, i've never seen this before. >> it can get to a certain point, if they get stuck, we have to wait for the tow truck to pull one guy out and we can clear that spot up, like a domino effect. a river dam threatening to collapse because of the storm will likely hold, that's good news, it's word from officials in freetown massachusetts. the water started spilling over the dam this week. and about a dozen people were advised to get out. leave their homes. but just last night, officials said the water will probably recede and the dam should be okay. this was a huge relief, because safety experts were pretty concerned yesterday. >> if there were to be a catastrophic failure, there is a strong likelihood of very significant impacts downstream. the dam is in an unsafe condition, which means we are concerned. seaworld will start doing killer whale shows today, for the first time since a trainer

was dragged into the water by an orca and killed. there will be changes, handlers will not get into the water with the animals, which means certain stunts will not be done. and the company's president said the 12,000-pound whale that killed the trainer will remain active at seaworld. >> he's an extraordinary animal, a large animal. and frankly, there probably wasn't another facility in the world that could accommodate him. having said that, he's been part of our team. he will remain part of our team and he's a very special animal that requires special handling. obviously the procedures we've had in place for him we're revisiting at this point. >> seaworld and two federal agencies are now investigating the trainer's death. a student who admitted hanging a noose in the campus library at the university of san diego has been suspended. it's the latest incident to ignite racial tensions on campus. students have been protesting since an off-campus party mocked black history month. hundreds rallied yesterday,

denouncing the news as a sign of intolerance on campus. >> are afraid and they need to know what the chancellor is going to do to keep them safe on campus. >> it seems like this whole valley is everyone at usd who is not support i have of this rally is against them. racist. i feel that the majority of the students are not racist. >> some protesters blocked the door to the chancellor's office for a while, but they did leave peacefully. new york governor, david paterson now says he will not seek re-election. he just announced his campaign last weekend. now remember, paterson took office in 2008, when former governor, eliot spitzer, resigned amid a prostitution scandal. paterson has faced criticism recently for his handling of a scandal involve one of his top aides. there are reports of a domestic dispute between that aide and a woman and allegations that state

police pressured her to keep quiet about it. the aide was suspended and paterson has denied any wrongdoing. a motivational speaker charged in the deaths of three people at an arizona sweat lodge is now out of jail and breaking his silence. james arthur ray seen here was released yesterday, a day after a judge reduced his bond. here is what he had to say. >> i'm really grateful for all the love and support and the prayers i've received during this time. i have a tremendous faith in our legal system. and i look forward to my day in court. >> prosecutors say ray recklessly crammed more than 50 people into a sweat lodge last october, while he led a spiritual retreat. ray insists it was a horrible accident and not homicide. he has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter charges. a car hit an elementary school bus in kentucky yesterday, and nine students were injured. the children were taken to a louisville hospital, luckily with just minor injuries. 38 students were on board, the

car rear-ended the bus as it tried to make a left turn. now the driver of the car was charged for not having his driver's license on him at the time. white house social secretary, desiree rodgers is quitting her job. rodgers' office was the focus of a recent investigation, caused by a security breach at president obama's first state dinner. you may remember, michale and tariq salahi crashed the white house dinner. desiree rodgers' office planned the event, but she said her decision to leave is not related to the incident. an "american idol" star was in chile this morning when the massive earthquake hit. you will hear how he says he reacted when his hotel started swaying.

i just feel very lucky to have sought out safety. and i took the steps, there was one lone person who happened to

be my neighbor next-door to me who was left on the floor at the time. and as i was yelling out, i saw him kind of peek around the corner and he started heading for the stairs. and amidst the building kind of rumbling, it was kind of like a movie. like a hollywood film. we're running down the hall as we're being kind of strewn about the hallway. we reached the staircase and ran down six flights of stairs to safety and luckily got out unharmed. >> that was "american idol" finalist, elliott yamin describing what he felt when an 8.8-magnitude earthquake hit chile. he's staying about 90 miles from the epicenter from the quake and said he was in his hotel room tweeting at the time of the quake when the building started swaying there are a lot of reports of collapsed buildings and widespread power outages. stay with hln throughout the day for the very latest on this developing story. the gold medal showdown in

men's hockey is set. team usa against team canada. it should be exciting. joe carter has more. >> must-see tv, the rematch everyone wants to see. this time the stakes have been raised. winner takes the gold. usa beat up on finland. many expected a tough matchup. but instead, team usa crushed finland. scoring six goals in the first 13 minutes. >> we wanted to come out and have a good start. we had a really good start. and i was walking with timo contin we thought it was going to be a tight game. but fortunately for us, it wasn't. it wasn't so easy for team canada, they almost blew a three-goal lead against slovakia. it wasn't a pretty win, but canada did hold on, setting up

sunday's dream matchup against team usa, game-time 3:15 eastern. gatorade is the latest sponsor to say bye-bye for tiger woods. woods took home around $20 million a year endorsing the sports drink. gatorade did say they will continue their partnership with the tiger woods foundation. that's a look at sports, i'm joe carter. we have an update on a story we've been following closely here on hln, since the disturbing video first surfaced. seattle transit officials are dumping the security company who hired the guards who are standing by and watching a 15-year-old girl get beaten. the guards were told to observe, report and call police, but not to intervene when they witness criminal activity. that's what they did. transit officials say replacing the company is the best way to help passengers feel safe. we of course are continuing

to get new information about the massive earthquake that struck chile this morning. the latest just ahead. and also why friends and family from military personnel are more likely to get a tweet from troops.

i just feel very lucky to have sought out safety. you know, i took the steps. there was one lone person who happened to be my neighbor next door to me. who was left on the floor at the time. and as i was yelling out, i saw him kind of peek around the corner. he started heading for the stairs and amidst the building kind of rumbling. it was like a movie, it was like a hollywood film. we're running down the hall as we're being kind of strewn about the hallway. until we reach the staircase and ran down six flights of stairs to safety and luckily got out unharmed, unscathed. >> that was "american idol"

finalist, elliott yamin describing what he felt when a magnitude 8.8 earthquake hit chile this morning. he's staying about 90 miles from the epicenter from the quake and said he was in his hotel room tweeting at the time when the building started swaying. it's not clear how much damage the earthquake caused but there are a lot of reports of collapsed buildings and widespread power poutages. members of the military are now allowed to tweet. it is part of a new policy, the pentagon unveiled yesterday. it allows service members to use social media, like facebook, twitter or youtube. up until now, separate military branchs had different social media policies. a deputy defense secretary said the new rules will help the troops share information among themselves and stay in touch with loved ones. the policy bans the websites that promote gambling, pornography or hate crimes. democrats are considering use a controversial

parliamentary device to pass a health care bill. yesterday house speaker nancy pelosi said democrats are making tentative plans to use the so-called reconciliation process. it means that democrats in the house can vote on the health care reform bill that the senate has already passed. when they would be able to use reconciliation rules that would only require a simple 51-vote majority in the senate to pass a package of changes that mirror the president's plan. a massive search sunday way for this missing california teenager. 17-year-old chelsea king failed to return home after a run thursday. hundreds of volunteers and sheriff's deputies are combing the rancho bernardo area. her car was found in the parking lot of a community center, her cell phone and ipod were inside. if you can't apply for unemployment benefits on monday, it's because of the efforts of one lawmaker, we're talking about republican senator, jim bunning. democrats were unable to overcome bunning's objections to

extend unploemt and health care benefits scheduled to run out this weekend. the debate on the senate floor was intense yesterday, with bunning at one time cursing at another senator. in the end, bunning won out and the senate adjourned without approving the legislation. >> i'm trying to make a point to the people of the united states of america. >> to help pay for groceries and rent and things of that nature -- and to see a guy nonchalantly say okay, no problem, i'm just going to say no every time. i think somebody needs to step in and talk to him. >> bunning says he simply wants to find a way to pay for the extension without adding to the deficit. the earliest the senate can move on trying to pass a new extension will be on tuesday. an experiment got dangerously out of hand for two university of south carolina students. matt wolfer and paul bowers are planning to spend a week being

homeless in columbia, south carolina. but they decided to take a test run. that's when they ran into some trouble. while they were trying to sleep in a park, three men with guns tried to rob them. >> well we weren't quite sure what was going on until we saw the guns and realized kind of what was their intent. >> he had it pointed at me, at my chest. they were asking for cell phones, wallets, we don't have anything. >> i heard paul get slapped and then shoved. >> matt looked over and he got pistol-whipped a couple of times. >> the two guys say their experience shows how vulnerable the homeless are. and they say they plan to follow through with their experiment to be homeless for a week. we of course will continue to follow the breaking news from chile, where a massive earthquake hit early this morning. stay with us for continuing updates. also ahead, they were kicked out of a state university 50 years ago. now they get a special invitation to return, and talk about lessons learned from a tense time in history.

an extremely powerful earthquake hit the central coast of chile overnight. it struck while most people were in bed asleep. details keep coming to us, we'll bring them to you. the northeast is trying to dig itself out from this, a massive winter storm. and this one is record-breaker. just days after a 12,000-pound orca killed a trainer at seaworld, the crowds will get to see the whales perform again. but expect to see some changes. you're watching hln on this saturday, great to see you, i'm susan hendricks. we start with breaking news this morning, chile's president has declared a state of catastrophe, after a magnitude 8.8 earthquake

hit the country this morning. the death toll stands at 80 and is expected to rise. it was centered off the coast near the city of concepcion, 210 miles southwest of the capital of santiago. already there have been numerous after shocks, including one measured 6.9. it happened while most people were in bed. so damage reports are coming in right now. they keep coming in. to give you an idea of the sheer power of this earthquake, it released 500 times more energy than the quake which hit haiti last month. that quake had a magnitude of 7.0. following this morning's earthquake, tsunami warnings were issued for much of the pacific region, including hawaii, australia and new zealand. in california and alaska are under a tsunami advisory as well. a usgs scientist said several tsunami waves have come ashore along chile's coast, the largest about nine feet high near the quake's epicenter.

and people in certain areas along hawaii's coast will be evacuated starting at 1:00 a.m. this morning. this is video from the last big evacuation in hawaii in 1986. a meteorologist from the hawaii affiliate tells our sister network, cnn, some folks are hitting the stores, stocking up on supplies. >> we're getting reports from local markets here that people are starting to horde up on food and signs are going up as well that we are looking at possibility of people just putting up signs, saying you can only take two or three items of this type of thing. canned goods, especially. we are learning more, almost by the minute on this massive earthquake. we will update the story throughout the morning and rest of the day here on hln. but for right now, we'll move on to some of the day's other top stories. thousands of people in the northeast are sitting in the dark this morning, because of that massive snowstorm. repair crews from new jersey to maine is been working since thursday to fix broken power

lines. but toppled trees and up to 30 inches of snow in some areas are certainly getting in their way. the power situation got so bad in new hampshire, even a state of emergency center was working on a generator. new hampshire's governor said it could be a week before the bauer is back on there. look at this video, it says it all, doesn't it? the storm was so brutal, even in areas that didn't see any snow, the wind ripped the roofs right off some buildings in gloucester, massachusetts. the wind reached 91 miles per hour in portsmouth new hampshire, well above hurricane level. and rain and strong waves caused flooding in some coastal areas in maine this is what one man in gloucester say, take a listen. >> trees went down. i went to open up a door and the whole roof blew off. 20 feet up in the air and you can see the back, it landed almost on a house behind me. >> in upstate new york, hundreds of cars and trucks got stuck when snow shut down the i-84.

the 40-mile stretch of highway was closed for about five hours yesterday. a real nightmare there. there was so much snow that state troopers used snowmobiles and atvs to reach stranded drivers, that's what they had to use. new york's central park got almost 21 oons of snow, which makes february the snowiest month in the city's history. some stranded truck drivers were surprised by all of this. >> new york is known for keeping the roads really impeccably clean. this is odd, i've never seen this before. >> it can get up to a certain point. if they get stuck we have to wait for the tow truck to pull one guy out. they clear that spot out and it's like a domino he can. seaworld will start doing killer whale shows today for the first time since a trainer was dragged into the water by an orca and killed. there will be changes, though, handlers will not get into the water with the animals. which means certain stunts will not be done. meanwhile, the company's president says the 12,000-pound

whale that killed the trainer will remain active at seaworld. >> he's an extraordinary animal, he's a large animal and frankly there probably wasn't another facility in the world that could accommodate him. having said that, he's, he's been part of our team. he will remain part of our team. and he's a very special animal that requires special handling. obviously the procedures that we've had in place for something we're revisiting at this point. >> seaworld and two federal agencies are now investigating the trainer's death. and gatorade to the list of corporate sponsors to walk away from tiger woods. joe has more on why the business relationship between the two is over. hi, joe. >> the news comes as something of a surprise as gaiter aed had generally stood by tiger throughout this entire ordeal. but friday, it too, became the third major sponsor to drop the golfer. tiger was first signed with gatorade in 2007. the company launched his own brand of sports drink that analysts said paid the golfer around $20 million a year. in november of 2009 gator aed

decided to discontinue the tiger drink. while gatorade is cutting all ties with tiger when it comes to marketing. the company did say it would continue to support the golfer's foundation. so while gatorade is stepping away from tiger woods, michael jordan is taking 0en a bigger role with the charlotte bobcats. a student who admitted hanging a noose in the campus library the at the university of san diego has been suspended. the latest incident to ignite racial tensions on campus. students have been protesting sis an party mocked black history month. hundreds rallied denouncing the news as a sign of intolerance on campus. >> are afraid. and they need to know what the chancellor is going to do to keep them safe on campus. >> it seems like this whole rally is insinuating the effect that everyone at ucsd who is not supportive of the rally is somehow a racist. and not supportive of stopping

racism. when i feel like, the majority of the students, if not all the students are not racist. >> well some protesters blocked the door to the chancellor's office for a while. but they did leave peacefully. new york governor, david paterson now says he will not seek re-election. he had just announced his campaign last weekend. now remember, paterson took office in 2008 when former governor, eliot spitzer resigned amid a prostitution scandal. paterson has faced criticism recently for his handling of a scandal involving one of his top aides. there are reports of a domestic dispute between an aide and a woman and allegations that state police pressured her to keep quiet about it. the aide was suspended and paterson has denied any wrongdoing. an "american idol" star was in chile this morning when the earthquake hit. you will hear how he says he reacted when his hotel started swaying.

i just feel very lucky to have sought out safety. you know, i just took the steps. there was one lone person who happened to be my neighbor next door to me, who was left on the floor at the time. and as i was yelling out, i saw him kind of peek around the corner, he started heading for the stairs. and amidst the building kind of rumbling, it was just, it was like movie. it was like a hollywood film. you know, we're running down the hall as we're being kind of strewn about the hallways. we reached the staircase and ran down six flights of stairs to safety. and luckily, got out unharmed, unscathed. >> that was "american idol" finalist, elliott yamin describing what he felt when an

.8-magnitude earth quake hit chilly this morning. he said he was in his hotel room tweeting at the time when the building started swaying. it is not clear exactly how much damage the earthquake caused. but there are a lot of reports of collapsed buildings and widespread power outages. stay with hln throughout the day for the latest on this developing story. well she did get a gold medal, but olympic skier, lindsey vonn ended her trip to vancouver on a disappointing note. joe carter is more with vonn's rough ride at the winter games. >> lindsey vonn raced to gold in her first event, grabbing all the headlines and all the publicity. but then injuries took a toll and she failed to finish in three of her final four events. vonn was disqualified during the slalom race on dpri after she missed a gate just 20 seconds into the run. with a broken pinkie and a collection of bruises, vonn leaves vancouver with one gold and one bronze. as we enter the final to days of olympic competition. the united states still the

overall leader in medals with 34. host country canada now leads in the gold medal race with 10. michael jordan is now the controlling owner of the charlotte bobcats. the deal went down last night. no word on a purchase price. back in december, forbes valued the team at $278 million. jordan turns 47 and has been part owner of the bobcats since do you 6. is brett favre coming back to the nfl or is he going to retire? the clock is ticking, but the minnesota vikings say they're willing to be patient when this comes to an answer from favre. the team's head coach, brad childress, said he's not going to put favre in any sort of box. after 19 nfl seasons, he said favre has earned that latitude. that's a look at sports. we have an update on a story we have been following closely here on hln since the disturbing video first surfaced. remember this? well seattle transit officials are dumping the security company that hired the guards who are

just standing by there and watching a 15-year-old girl get beaten. the guards were told to observe and report and to caught police. but not to intervene when they witness criminal activity. that's what they did transit officials say replacing the company is the best way to help passengers feel safe. some sewer workers got a big surprise when they found out why a sewer line was blocked. take a look. a san antonio crew had to drop a video line into the sewer to get to the root of the problem. look closely here when they spotted this turtle wedged inside the pipe. they believe it was stuck in the line for at least two days. >> she is a red-eared slider. and we understand that it is a she and we'ring did to take her and release her back into the wild where hopefully she'll live a long, happy life. >> she's doing fine. crews had to dig out the pipe to get the turtle out so they could release it back into the wild. we of course are continuing to get new information about the massive earthquake that struck chile this morning. the latest just ahead.

also, why friends and family of military personnel are now more likely to get a tweet from troops. this is hln.

i just feel very lucky to have sought out safety. you know, i took the steps -- there was one lone person who happened to be my neighbor next door to me who was left on the floor at the time. ands i was yelling out i saw him peek around the corner. and he started heading for the stairs. and amidst the building kind of rumbling -- it was like a movie. it was like a hollywood film. you know we're running down the hall as we're being kind of strewn about the hallways. so we reach the staircase and ran down six flights of stairs to safety and luckily, got out unharmed, unscathed. >> that was "american idol" finist, elliott yamin describing what it felt like when an earthquake hit the country of chile. he said he was in hotel room

tweeting when the building started swaying. it's not clear how much damage theert quake caused, but there are reports of collapsed buildings and widespread power outages. stay with hln throughout the day for the latest on this developing storstory. members of the military are now allowed to tweet, it's part of a new policy the pentagon unveiled yesterday. it allows service members to use social media, like facebook, twitter, youtube. up to now separate military branches had separate policies. a deputy defense secretary said the new rules will help troops share information among themselves and stay in touch with loved ones. the policy bans the websites that promote gambling, pornography or hate crimes. take a look at this picture, a massive search is under way for this missing california teenager. 17-year-old chelsea king failed to return home after a run thursday. hundreds of volunteers and sheriff's deputies are comb

combing the rancho bernardo area for any includes. king's car was found in the parking lot of a community center. if you can't apply for unemployment benefits on monday, it's because of the efforts of one lawmaker. we're talking about republican senator jim bunning. democrats were unable to overcome bunning's objections to extend unemployment and health benefits that are scheduled to run out this weekend. the debate on the senate floor was intense yesterday. with bunning at one time cursing at another senator. in the end, bunning won out and the senate adjourned without approving the legislation. >> i'm trying to make a point to the people of the united states of america. >> to help pay for groceries and rent and things of that nature, and to see a guy nonchalantly say, okay, no problem, i'm just going to say no every time. well, i think something needs to step in and talk to him.

>> bunning says he simply wants to find a way to pay for the extension without adding to the deficit. the earliest the senate can move on trying to pass a new extension will be on tuesday. an experiment got dangerously out of hand for two university of south carolina students. matt wolfer and paul bowers are planning to spend a week being homeless in columbia, south carolina, before going for a week, they decided to take a test run. that's when they ran into some trouble. while they were trying to sleep in a park, three men with guns tried to rob them. >> we weren't sewer what was going on until we saw the guns and realized what was their intent. >> he had it pointed at me, at my chest. they were asking for cell phones, wallets, we don't have anything. >> i heard paul get slapped and shoved. >> the two guys say their experience shows how vulnerable the homeless are. they also say they still plan to follow through with their experiment to be homeless for a week. the government of indonesia

is considering a plan to place tigers in private homes. our rick damon takes a look at this unusual ecosolution. >> reporter: for $100,000 deposit, ordinary citizens would be allowed to care for a pair of these critically endangered wild cats in their own back yard. as long as it's at least a tenth the size of a football field. the director-general of forest protection and conservation says this program will be a success. >> a lot of businessmen and top officials have dead tigers in their houses, he explains. we hope that this program will help to eradicate poaching. because in india or abroad, a lot of people want to have tigers as pets. but because it's illegal, they go and buy dead tigers. with this option, he says the ones in the wild will be left alone. illegal poaching and an 80% loss

of tiger habitat in sumatra has caused their numbers in the wild to dwindle down to a few 00. at the hospital in the park we meet month and a half old brothers. yuda is the devilish one. these guys like they would make absolutely adorable pets right now. but they won't stay this small or cuddly for long. officials say they do believe this program will be successful because it's based on a similar initiative that they launched earlier for the balinese myna bird that was near extinction. for more on the tiger story and other important environmental news, head to our website. we of course will continue to follow the breaking news from chile where a massive earthquake hit early this morning. stay with us for continuing updates. also ahead, they were kicked

out of a state university 50 years ago, now they get a special invitation to return and talk about lessons learned from a dense time in history.