good wednesday morning. coming up on "early today." deadly quake. a huge magnitude 8.2 kills six. hundreds of thousands flee from their coastal homes. grace under fire. gm mary bara faces tough questions, apologizes for defects. what's next for obama care now that 7 million have signed? a bizarre and frightening chainsaw accident and how that patient is doing now. it's wednesday, april 2nd. "early today" starts right now. very nice good morning there in the east i believe. somewhere in washington d.c.

i'm richard lieu. good day to you. breaking news. chile's president has declared an emergency. the magnitude 8.2 quake happening off chile's northern coast. the survey saying over three dozen after shocks over 5.0 on the richter scale. there are deaths reported, fires, landslides, homes destroyed and power outages. the trimmer sent people scrambling for safety. tsunami warnings were issued but later cancelled. there is one in effect for hawaii this morning. during the jail evacuation, 300 female inmates escaped. we get more from nbc. >> chile tv broke in with image as from the first moments the

quake hit. objects rattling from ceilings and rattled nerves causing drivers to clog roadways as they tried to vak waevacuate. the first wave hit the coast in 45 minutes of the quake. the quake struck northwest of a port. no serious damage was reported to operations. the secretary of the interior ministry appealed to resident who is evacuated from coastal regions to not return until they get the all clear. neighboring peru and libya felt the effects. in the city, residents poured into the streets and clung to whatever belongings they could carry. nbc news. >> chile is one of the world's most earthquake prone countries. strongest ever reported happening in 1960, magnitude 9.5 quake that killed more than 5,000 people.

the saving grace as we've been reporting, no major tsunami effects. the new ceo of gm says she's deeply sorry about the defect. she cannot turn back the clock of time, but says gm will do the right thing. good morning to you tracey. how did she deal with lawmakers yesterday? >> those answers didn't satisfy lawmakers or families that thought she should have been better prepared after thousands of pages sent to capitol hill before her testimony. today she gets a do over, another chance. she'll be talking to senate subcommittee that deals with consumer protection and product safety. >> general motors ceo faces more questions today. >> my sincere apologies to everyone who has been affected. >> but apologies weren't enough for victim's family or lawmakers frustrated when barra could not

explain why gm failed to replace faulty ignition switches when they first detected almost a decade ago. >> i cannot tell you why it took so long for a safety detect to be replaced. i can tell you we'll find out. >> why would the company with a stellar reputation like general motors purchase a part that did not meet its own specifications. >> give us the truth, nothing but the truth. >> the government industry overseeing auto safety said gm did not share key information. >> if we had any of those pieces of information i truly believe it would have changed the approach. >> it angers me we had a situation that took over a decade to correct. >> i didn't know what was going

on. that's >> now she's hired someone to compensate gm victims. today we might hear more. a 57 cent part would have cost gm $100 million to fix back in 2007 now costing the company and families so much more. >> richard, this is not the only recall gm is dealing with. so far, 6 million vehicles this year have been recalled, the bulk from the ignition problem, another million or more just the week from power steering that may be related to that 6 million. initially they said they could have them fixed by fall, by october. now a spokesman said with the new recall, it could take longer. >> tracey pots in washington d.c., thank you so much. now to a pennsylvania tree cutter lucky to be a live after a close call with a chainsaw. this x-ray says it all. james does cutting in a tree

when the chainsaw kicked back at him, slicing his neck, stopping centimeters from his artery. >> i felt it. i shut the saw off because it was in me still running. i saw blood. i was like oh my gosh, what in the world? >> certainly amazing she's still talking. the the 21-year-old was rushed to the hospital with the chainsaw blade lodged in place. doctors saying it missed every important structure and valentine is doing well since the accident. the tree cutter says he plans to go to work. the health care law is here to stay after confirmation of 7.1 million signed up. it passed the white house's initial goal. this is an unexpected comeback after the disastrous roll out. >> overcoming skepticism and fear of something new is hard.

sometimes people prefer the devil they know to the devil they don't. this law is doing what it's supposed to do. it's working. >> in a few weeks we should learn more about enrollment. more details like how many healthy young people signed up for it. still considered a major sticking point for midterms as well. the search continues in washington for remains of 20 missing. the deadly mudslide happened two weeks ago. more have been found in 24 hours. there's now 28 confirmed deaths. crews are catching a break as flood waters are allowing them to look for bodies inaccessible before. >> this was a vibrant piece of this small town of oso. >> reporter: now it's a square mile of mud and debris. >> we have rock and clay piled on top of each other.

the hill didn't slide away. the bottom blew out with an incredible amount of energy, came across the field and pushed this material. >> reporter: for an 11th straight day, crews of national guard, search professionals and volunteers from nearby communities dig through that material. >> the debris field is up to 75 feet deep in places. >> reporter: it's a grim, heart wrenching tasking picking through scattered possessions and hoping to bring answers to the families of the missing. >> we're a close knit community out here. we have volunteers to show up everyday, cook, support us. it's been after maizing. >> the commitment from community extends away from the search area too. >> reporter: volunteers helping those who have lost so much. >> it's been overwhelming the amazingness of community members that have come together. >> reporter: in the face of such

devastating catastrophe as the search continues. curt gregory, nbc news. >> all right bill karins is here with today's weather. we have what's happening in the northwest and also in chile. that's a huge earthquake. >> scary. we saw reports of 8.2, 8.3 and the thought of tsunami. there were fears all over the place. this was a huge earthquake. 12 miles down under the ocean. it was bad as it was but could have been a lot worse. on the frequency of the magnitude scale, on this entire planet, only one 8.0 a year. we saw it last night. we've had overnight rain in los angeles and san diego is about to get rain. it's knocking on your door, roll in in the flection half hour. more showers behind it and possibility of downpour with isolated thunderstorms.

not going to see widespread heavy rain. roads will be wet for your morning commute. much of southern cali in most cases. best chance of rain southern california on and off throughout the day. take a look at the end of the weekend forecast coming up. >> downpour in southern california. we'll take that word for now. thank you bill. one of the faces of greed and corruption in the 1980s has died. criminal charges in this pipeline explosion that killed eight. we've got details in two minutes. i'll just press this, and you'll save on both. ding! ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, llllet's get ready to bundlllllle...

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jonathan pollard's release. his actions were said quote, major betrayal. she will not support his release. mike rogers voiced concerns on angela mitchell reports. >> i think this is a serious mistake. it tells me that the administration is within here releasing a convicted spy who spied against the united states of america is nothing to do with the palestinian issue. when you merge them, you've got real trouble. >> charles keeting the emphasis banker in the loan failure of the 1980s has died at the age of 90. the senator john mccain and four other senators were accused of intervening with federal regulators. mccain has said his involvement was quote, the worst mistake of my life. pacific gas and emergency is

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this morning on "today" a study about salt. nancy schneiderman explaining too much or too little can be hazardous to your health. it's ladies first in sports. sanford back to the women's final four one year after ending the final four straight. they beat north carolina 74-65. stanford has not won a national title in 22 years. after identify ties, 12 league changes, maryland finishes the upset louisville 76-73.

undefeated noteer dame takes on maryland and stanford and undefeated uconn. big news in free agency. desean jackson signing with washington after gang affiliation rumors and unexplained release from philadelphia. the pro bowl wide receiver was com coming off his best season before getting dropped. smu beat clemson. the coach has a chance to add the nit championship against minnesota. minnesota beat florida state in overtime 67-64. ouch. yankees captain derek jeter gets tag add first at bat of his last season. astros man handled pitching in

the end for a 6-2 win. after blue jays losing his bat. two wanted it. they get it. they go old school. paper beats rock. toronto beats tampa bay 4-2. simple, quiet. they get it done. president barack obama welcomed the world champion boston red sox to the white house after slugger ortiz gets a shout out, scores a selfie to boot. o'brien is drilled against texas trivia. watch. >> jr ewing. >> largest dome in texas. >> dr. phil. >> what is the leading cause of heart attacks in texas? >> tony romo. >> maybe right, maybe wrong. depends on who you are. just ahead, she makes

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downtown san diego. gone just as fast. as far as the forecast today, showers and maybe a stray thunderstorm. maybe vegas too. san francisco northward drying out. the storm head across the country. the the storm coming in california today will cause tornados in the middle of the country tomorrow. >> friends in southern california, how did he do on that? very well done bill karins. bit of a surprise tuesday for april fool's day. >> here's your host. >> who is that? late show host craig ferguson it is. the price is right host drew kerry. they swapped places. would you do better than ferguson. he claimed he's not a people person. he also said quote i'll be in a bath of purrell two days. that's not a good way to treat

contestants. he was having fun. this $69 million plane is is helping communications teams in the search for malaysia flight 370. seven concerts were cancelled in new zealand after the death of his partner, scott. kaley cue co says getting breast plants at 18 was the best decision she's ever made. she earns $500,000 an episode. interesting. i'm richard lieu. i hope this is your first stop of the day today on nbc. before using her new bank of america credit card, which rewards her for responsibly managing her card balance. before receiving $25

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when combat deaths drop to zero. this is the first month since july 2007 no soldiers were killed in afghanistan. the fraud couple caught according to to police. they lived in expensive homes, collecting over $160,000 in state welfare benefits. colin and andrea are held by officials. we're watching a college student that helped rescue three kids. he's a warded a scholarship. 21-year-old robinson accepted

money to college. he says he gets chills every time he watches the video. hats off to him. the bishop is apologizing for his 164,000 square feet mansion. he said he failed to stop and consider the world and church have changed. harvard researchers say the benefits of mammogram screening are down played. 60% of women who have annual mammograms have one false positive over 50 years of data. this energetic group of mammals, 500 strong, dolphins often seen near japan. a group this big is a rare site. the coast guard said they're headed south. it's warmer there i guess. there's one thing missing from this video, the scene from the

film "born free." that's a lot of dolphins. >> i didn't get the born free reference. >> you didn't see that? >> i never saw free willy. it's spring gardening day at the white house. the first lady will be joined by students from local schools. they'll be planting vegetables and herbs on the white house lawn. the tallest free standing structure in the western hemisphere, the tower standing over 1800 feet, took 40 months to build at a cost of nearly $60 million. that's a bargain. >> happy years to the star who's 37. christopher melanie turns 53 and emmy lou harris turns 67. keep it here for weather, news and sports. i'm richard lieu along

good wednesday morning. it's 4:30, i'm scott mcgrew. >> i'm peggy bunker in for laura garcia-cannon. new video just into the newsroom. take a look. massive tree fell over overnight, crushing several cars below it. this happened in oakland near mcarthur boulevard. power knocked out. pg&e crews on scene trying to fix that situation. they're trying to chop up and clear the tree. no reports of i any injury. >> let's check in with christina loren as we suffer through a bit of wet weather. >> good morning. blessing and a curse, right? we need the rain so desperately, we're getting into april