making news in america this morning. >> state of disaster. in chile, a race against time to find survivors and to get supplies to the most needy. a tale of two quakes, while the death toll is far less in chile than haiti. and canada with the olympic win for the ages. >> monday, march 1st, 2010. and good morning on this 1st day of march. in the word of chile's president, the earthquake created a catastrophe of unthinkable magnitude.

>> some towns are still cut off, so the number of deaths could climb. hundreds of builds have been destroyed, including huge buildings, this one split in two. >> and a tsunami followed the quake and people are dperate with sporadic looting. they've reached a deal to get food to the needy. >> viviana hurtado begins the coverage this morning. >> reporter: with terrifying jolts and shocks, like many of the buildings left standing. hundreds of residents are waking up outside after a night of camping because they're scared to stay indoors. their focus and that of the 2 million thought to be homeless is survival. this woman said, it's safer to be outside than inside because our house can collapse at anytime. buildings are flattened. bridges and highways are mangled by the powerful 8.8 earthquake. rescuers are are digging through

the rubble to save those trapped. people are leveling accusations against the government. they say food and water is trickling in slowly to those who are desperate. is woman said, there are kids dying who just need to drink and eat. but they accuse the government of rushing in 10,000 troops and a curfew. the mass earthquake caused massive flooding. this man said, a wave that was 30 feet high destroyed my house. some families tried to reach higher ground before the powerful wave hit. some were swept away. a man asked what happened to his wife said, i can't find her. i've been looking everywhere in the hospital. i can't find her. secretary of state hillary clinton is on a prescheduled trip. she's expected to stop in chile tomorrow and reinforce president

obama's promise for aid. >> and in santiago when the quake struck. >> she explains what she was seeing. >> reporter: i toured an area, actually, that had a devastating amount of damage. it's an upscale office park that has lots of restaurants, cafes. office space. and essentially huge, huge sides of buildings have just crumbled to the floor. we went by a car dealership, a land rover, porsche and essentially the entire facade was blown out. the ceiling had actually fallen to the floor. all the inventory was crushed. looting is definitely a concern, i think one of the primary reasons, a lot of the areas still do n have water and they still don't have electricity. obviously, as people are becoming more uncomfortable, there is a certain that they're going to break out into buildings.

>> abc news producer meli amount patria there. waves of about five feet developed along shores of hawaii bit no hatch. and in california, the opposite effect, as the wave receded, it drowned the harbor with boats there. other news, in southern california, the search for a missing teenager has taken an ominous turn. chelsea king disappeared. now, a registered sex offendered named john gardner has been arrested in connection with the case. >> we gathered numerous pieces of physical evidence, and some of that physical evidence tied to us identify mr. gardner and that's what led to his arrest. >> gardner could be linked to other sex assaults in southern

california. the sheriff says the investigation is not over. the goal is still to bring chelsea back. a facebook page dedicated to finding her already has 24,000 fans. now, to washington and the battle to health care reform. it seems more likely that democrats are now ready to move legislation forward, whether republicans want to come along or not. rachel martin has more from the white house. >> reporter: democrats the time for debate is over a republicans must either sign or step aside. >> time's up. yes. we really have to go forth because what's the point of talking that any longer? >> reporter: democrats are prepared to use a maneuver called reconciliation. and there are still some moderate democrats in the house who aren't on board. some say it's too expensive. others want tougher language to prevent federal funding on abortion. >> do you have the 217 votes

necessary to pass that? >> rightow, we're working on the policy. >> reporter: and even if democrats get the votes, republicans say using reconciliation could backfire. >> if you use reconciliation on this held care bill, as we see today, what you're going to have is a thumbing of the nose at the american people. >> it would be a political kamikaze mission for the democratic party. >> reporter: they hope to bring a vote on the revised bill sometime in the next coming weeks. meantime, president obama is expected to make remarks this week on the state of health care and the steps forward. thousands in the northeast face a fourth day without heat, lights or hot water after last week's snowstorm. more than 200,000 homes and businesses are still without power. new hampshire and new york are the hardest hit without 80,000 outages each. maine has about 16,000. snow is still 2 feet deep in

some places. and it could be midweek before all power is restored. now, for this morning's weather around the nation. another round of snow for parts of update new york. imto half a foot in maine, plus wind gusts between 30 and 50 miles an hour. snow in the southern rockies through the gulf coast states. >> 46 in dallas. 60 in new orleans. 73 in miami. boston gets up to 39. baltimore, 38. atlanta, 54, 30s across much of the midwest today. and 60s from seattle to sacramento. >> well, it's all over in vancouver. last night's closing ceremonies had its stranger moments including some that involved inflatable beavers and moose. and canadian mounties. >> the athletes are looking forward to a black sea russian resort in 2014, that is if you're counting just 1,439 days

from today. and u.s. versus canada in men's hockey may have been the most exciting. the u.s. was down 2-0 before tying the score in regulation. canada claimed the goal with an overtime goal. we will have the final olympic count. and some squabbling takes thousands of federal workers off the job. >> a presidential checkup with a nasty habit. and more on the top story. day three of chile's earthquak

insurance giant aig is about to take a big step towards repaying its huge government bailout. the company is reportedly close to selling its asian life insurance dision to a british company for about $45 billion. the money would help repay the more than $100 billion in taxpayer aid aig received. the company is working on selling off other units. 2,000 department of transportation workers are out of a job today, at least temporarily. they're being furloughed without pay because of a dispute in the senate. republican senator jim bunning blocked a bill. well, copper prices are surging as a result of that massive earthquake in chile. chile is the world's biggest copper scomborter.

exporter. there are concern that supplies ardisrupted temporarily and that sent prices jumping more than 5%. investors will try to figure out where the economy is headed. the biggest hit may come friday with the monthly jobs report. the companies have slashed another 20,000 jobs from their payrolls february. stocks have had no clear direction in recent weeks. the dow fell 77 points last week. at the movies, another win for "shutter island." the psychological thriller with leonardo dicaprio took on $22 million. the movie "cop out" in second place. and "crazies" third. and the president would probably rather keep a secret. and the skwak zone. and close call. a police officer in the path of an out-of-co

now, for a look at morning road conditions. windy with snow-covered highways in the northeast. rain on i-10 from texas, louisiana, mississippi and alabama. and snowy roads in the southern rockies and southern plains. expect airport delays in denver, philadelphia, boston and new york. and recapping the powerful earthquake in chile. here's the latest. the death toll now over 700. it's certain to go higher. 10,000 troops have been ordered in to present looting. >> this quake was 500 times stronger than the one that hit haiti. and yet the death toll is so much lower. how come? here's our ned potter.

>> reporter: these are shake tables at engineering labs where houses are mounted to see how they'll do in an earthquake. the house on left was reinforced with extra beams and steel rods. the other was not and look what happened. in chile, they were mindful of such experiments. >> this is the ultimate earthquake. this is the earthquake that we can learn the most from, both the positive and the negative. >> reporter: after record earthquakes in 1960 and '85, chile's government got serious, demanding that buildings be reinforced. contrast that to what happened in haiti last month, where poverty rules and cheap cinder block buildings. >> the fors essentially collapse on each other. >> reporter: in california, as in chile, taller buildings can be held together. others are placed on shock

absorbers so if the ground vibrates, they will absorb that. the carnage in chile was still tremendous, but engineers say you can build to be ready for it. ned potter, abc news, new york. and scientists say the likelihood of another big one is very real. they say this recent state of earthquakes follows a 50-year psych that is once again producing major quakes. in the world of other earthquakes of haiti, it's a rainy recovery. in the shattered city of port-au-prince ahead of the rainy season, many of those canals are clogged with trash and earthquake debris. but amid the hardship, some hope. a wedding was held yesterday in front of a devastated cathedral. the bride and groom were to be married there, but the

earthquake struck four days early year. near cleveland, take a look at this. this shows a police officer on a ramp trying to help a motorist. another driver comes up, losing control and slams into the cruiser. the officer there is recovering from multiple fractures. president obama has been declared fit for duty, but he still needs help kicking the habit. after a 90-minute physical, the white house said the president is in excellent health and urged him to continue efforts to stop smoking. another red flag for the president, his cholesterol had climbed to 209 which is considered borderline high. and now a check on the olympic medals count. united states finished with 37. germany second. and the host did have the most gold with 14.

good morning, america, i'm steve wiseman with your update. on the track. carl edwards. first race is a bother. first lap, past kurt busch to take the lead. that's the las vegas motor speedway record. 34 laps to go own a restart. gordon going low. it's around clinton boyer. jimmie johnson also passed bowyer. 60 laps to go, johnson, he's been inching closer the whole time. one last lead. the four-time champ doing what he does best. he's got the horse sure. jimmie johnson cruising, back-to-back weeks. his fourth career win in las vegas. meanwhile, in the nba, it's carmelo and the nuggets takes on kobe and the lakers. picking up third quarter.

nuggets up, three, carmelo going baseline. misses. try, try again. nuggets up five. to the fourth, and lamar odom, kobe just 3 of 17 shooting. but that one, he also had 12 assists. o minutes to go. nuggets down four. keep an eye on melo. melo fouled out. lakers win it 95-89. that's your espn news update. i'm steve weissman, back to you in new york. in australia, thousands of people have been captured on camera baring it all for the sake of art. >> and we mean it all. about 52 baring souls of all shapes and sizes and ages stripped down to nothing on the steps of the sidney opera house.

they spent about an hour getting into position. >> it was fantastic. there were so many people here, when they said, you can take your clothes off, everybody stoot up and said, airport. >> it was organized by american artist spencer tunic who is known for nude pictures in public places. we couldn't zoom in on anything too tight there. >> that's right. up next, the stories we're following, including the secretary of state, how the u.s. is helping chile. and jay's big return, while conan finds a new way to entertain his fans. robin. i am a wife. i am a mom... i do remember sitting down with my boys, and i'm like, "oh, promise mommy you'll never ever pick up a cigarette." and brian looked at me at eight years old and said, "promise me you'll quit." i had to quit. ♪

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stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away. tell your doctor which medicines you're taking as they may work differently when you quit smoking. chantix dosing may be different if you have kidney problems. the most common side effect is nausea. patients also reported trouble sleeping and vivid, unusual or strange dreams. until you know how chantix may affect you, use caution when driving or operating machinery. chantix ould not be taken with other quit-smoking products. ♪ my benjamin, he helped me with the countdown. "ben, how many days has it been?" "5 days, mom. 10 days, mom." i think after 30 days he got tired of counting. [ male announcer ] talk to your doctor to find out if prescription chantix is right for you. that's why nature's bounty makes... a full line of high-quality vitamins, like fish oil for heart health. go to naturesbounty.com now for a $2.00 coupon. nature's bounty. perfect for every body. prescribed millions of times, is now available over-the-counter

in prevacid®24hr to treat frequent heartburn. it's now the fastest growing heartburn relief on the shelf. prevacid®24hr. same medicine. new location. the shelf. now, a look ahead to the stories we'll be watching on this monday. the government of chile is speeding to get food, water and medicine to thousands of earthquake survivors. the president says it's going to take a giant effort for her country to recover. >> secretary of state hillary clinton will be in chile as a show of support. clinton is on a five-nation tour. searchers will be out again looking for chelsea king, a teenager who disappeared last week. a registered sex offender has been arrested. and dawn brancheau was buried this week. after being killed at seaworld in orlando.

and jay leno has taken to the air tonight. conan commented that now i have a twitter account. how about a bedtime snack? yay! come here. favorite. perfect. put your milk in. okay. ♪ whoa. okay, that's good. [ female announcer ] at the end of the day, a bowl of rice krispies... what do you hear? i hear..."pop." i think it's saying, "night night." [ female announcer ] ...sounds pretty good. all done. good job. mustache.

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finally from us this morning, back to vancouver,

where 17 days of olympic competition has come to an end. >> more from abc's todd ant. >> reporter: for canada and the olympics, it doesn't get any better than this. canada versus the united states, going for hockey gold. a game so heart-stopping, just seconds left in regulation -- >> they scored, zach parise! and the game is tied. >> reporter: -- american zach parise scored to send it into overtime. but leave it to nova scotiaen sid the kid. >> scored! >> reporter: this may be the only event that mattered and winning was especially sweet.

is not just because it was two high-profile rivals, but it gave the country the gold. it thought the u.s. to 37, the most medals won. and then the closing ceremonies and a chance to finally do it right. to light the last pillar of the flame, and refusing to coorate just days ago. sunday's celebration included a perfect end to the games. >> and they say right around 2:00, canada stopped selling liquor. they closed all the alcohol shops after the hockey game. >> we saw the women's hockey game earlier in the week. they found a way