race against time. fighting looters and lawlessness in chile as earthquake aid slowly begins to arrive. road block. thousands of americans remain out of work while the senate squaub wells over a budget bill. and back to late night. jay leno tries to recapture the magic following a nine month hiatus. >> i'm jay leno, your host, at least for a while. this is the "cbs morning news" for tuesday, march 2nd, this is the "cbs morning news" for tuesday, march 2nd, 2010. captioning funded by cbs good morning. glad you're with us. i'm michelle gielan. in earthquake ravaged chile this morning, lack of communication,

clogged roadways and continued aftershocks are hindering relief efforts. aid is beginning to arrive. but there's also a growing immediate for security. the curfew in hard hit concepcion has been extended until noon came. lawlessness is increasing. looters moving from ransacking stores to robbing private homes. the death toll now taps at at least 723, but is expected to rise. hillary clinton is planning to visit today. mark strassmann reports from santiago. >> reporter: central chile's a landscape of ruin. communities battered beyond recognition and in many cases still cut off from relief. broken homes and lives lie scattered on the ground or adrift in the waves offshore. of the 2 million people forced out of their homes, many now sleep outdoors because they're too frightened to go back to rickety homes. many people severally take what they need. looting has spread from store to store in concepcion. chile's second largest city. so 10,000 chilean soldiers

patrol with police to keep order and to help rescue the helpless. in concepcion. three children pleaded for help. their neighborhood gone, their father missing. after the quake hit, chile's navy made a deadly blunder. waited a half hour to sound the tsunami washing. too late for hundreds of people who authorities fear were swept out to sea. in the coastal resort town of iloca, survivors ran for their lives. >> translator: the only thing we did was grab the children and run up into the hills. chrt chile has so many searing snapshots. a store set on fire by looters. a woman's parents lost in the rubble. a coastal town of 6400 simply

destroyed. and with each day, the desperate need breeds complaints about the slow pace of relief. >> translator: i don't even have a bed. only the clothes on my back. chrt chile's human loss was huge, but it could have been epic. this cups that very tough construction standards and without them, the hundreds who were killed here do have soared into the thousands. mark strassmann, cbs news, santiago, chile. those two remaining american missionaries being held in haiti on child kidnapping charges may be released today. they were part of a group of ten americans arrested for trying to take 33 children out of the country following january's earthquake. the missionaries said the kids were orphans, but they didn't have the proper paperwork. and it turns out most of the chrn had parents who were alive. eight others have already been released. toyota executives testify on capitol hill again this morning. this time it's a senate committee asking the questions. the third hearing in seven days. meanwhile, the "new york times"

reports that toyota camrys built before the 2007 year pot covered by recalls also have speed control problems. also today, toyota's expected to announce that former transportation secretary rodney slater will lead an independent review of its quality control systems. general motors plans to recall 1.3 million cars because of potential problems with their power steering. the cars in question, 2005-2010 chevy cobalt, 2007-20u 20 10 pontiac g 5, 2005 and '06 important yak pursuits, and 2005 and 2006 pontiac g 4s sold in mexico. gm says all the cars are safe to drive. today the supreme court hears arguments in the case that goes right to the heart of the second amendment. the right to bear arms. the case involves a challenge to chicago's 28-year-old ban on the sale and possession of hand guns. in 2008, the court struck down a

similar handgun ban in washington, d.c., but the d.c. case is unique because of its federal status. now the court is considering if the d.c. ruling also applies to state and local laws. president obama is tweaking his health care reform bill. he's expected to announce what's being billed as a plan forward tomorrow. last week's health care summit did not produce much progress and the president is ready to go to without republican support using a procedural measure known as reconciliation. >> i do believe the president believes that an up orroved bills to revamp health care by cutting costs and regulating insurers, but the two measures were never merged and without republican support, health care reform has hit a brick wall. today president obama travels to savannah, georgia, the third stop on his job creation tour. he's already been to pennsylvania and ohio. he'll promote programs that

encourage spending and create jobs. the president is proposing that homeowners get rebates of up to $3,000 to make their homes more energy efficient. a budget impasse is hitting unemployed americans, highway workers and doctors. it involves some political high drama and a kentucky senator ready to make a point. tara mergener is in washington with all the details. tara, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. well, senator jim bunning says the point is not adding to the $1.5 trillion deficit, so he blocked the bill. workers on the hump back bridge in northern virginia were told to pack up and head home monday. the bridge is among 41 infrastructure projects around the country that ground to a halt due to the wishes of one senator. >> and i'm going to object every time because you won't pay for this. >> reporter: republican jim bunning of kentucky stunned both parties by single handedly blocking a routine piece of

legislation meant to extend certain benefits and subsidies. because the bill didn't pass by monday, 2,000 federal transportation workers had to be furloughed without pay. 400,000 americans risk losing their unemployment benefits over the next 7 to 10 days. and medicare fees for doctors were suddenly slashed by 21%. bunning held up the bill because democrats hadn't come up with a way to pay the $10 billion price tag. >> we cannot keep adding to the debt. >> but where was my friend from kentucky when we had two wars that were unpaid for during the bushed a men vags? >> reporter: under senate rule, any member can object to moving forward on legislation. just last month, another republican, richard shelby, employed a similar tactic. but that only held up a few dozen presidential appointments. >> when the victims in the middle of the debate are unemployed people, i don't think that's fair. >> reporter: and republicans blame democrats for not bringing up the bell much sooner.

both sides are working together to try to restore benefits over the next two weeks, and by the way, michelle, bunning is not running for re-election. back to you. >> tara mergener in washington. thanks. just ahead on the "morning news," the u.s. postal service proposes some big changes. plus, jay leno gets back in the saddle as host of the tonight show. but first, katie couric has a preview of the "cbs evening news." in a city where hundreds of thousands live in poverty, one surgeon is always on call. the incredible story of how he found his true passion. it's "the american spirit" tonight only on the "cbs evening news". (announcer) powering that fan is one little battery...

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keeps 'em full. keeps 'em focused. hoo hooo! nd and now, jay leno! >> nine months after leaving "the tonight show," jay leno is back. his prime time show tanked and nbc bought out conan o'brien to put leno back in late night. he was still razzing nbc as he began listing his guests for his first show. and praising the american

victories at the winter games in vancouver. >> how about our olympic athletes? pretty amazing. 37 medals. we have leindsey vonn on the shw tonight. she was amazing. when it comes to going downhill, nobody's faster. okay, except nbc. but other than that. >> leno returns to a more difficult ratings waltz with david letterman who picked up viewers while leno was away. on the cbs "moneywatch," stocks in asia were mostly higher this morning and emily smith is here with that and more. >> reporter: good morning. well, most asian markets made mod you efsz gains after it the unplamt rate fail. the nikkei added a half percent while the hang seng bucked the trend losing 0.75%. on wall street, the major indexes edged in to positive territory for the year after monday's gains. the dow claimed 78 points while the nasdaq added 35.

we'll find out can today how much toyota's troubles have hit the company's bottom line when automakers release their february sales numbers. edmunds.com predicts toyota's u.s. market share nell to its lowest level in five years. and that sales tumbled 10% in february because of the massive recalls. ford is expected, though, to come out ahead with a 35% jump in sales last month. toyota is also reportedly set to announce a new package of incentives to woo buyers that would include 5% financing up for up to five years and free maintenance for two years. the postal service is making drastic cuts to close a massive budget deficit. today the post master general will ask congress to approve ending mail delivery on saturdays nap would save about $3 billion a year. express mail, though woorks not be faegded. about f. congress gives the green light, the changes could go into effect by the middle of next year. and more than 2 million playstation 3 owners are being asked to keep the console off

while tony oig piks as technical glitch. the problem is believed to be rated to the console's internal clock. similar to the y2k bug everyone walling so worried about ten years ago. it make you call ps 3s to be unto be connect to and online network. sony hopes to have the issue resolved today and did so i do you because there were so many questions about what happened to my p 167893. >> people immediate to know. and you're the woman it-to-tell them. emily smith, thanks. o.j. simpson's so-called acquit it will suit can be donated to a museum. the sdwrunlg has ruled that the suit simpson was wearing when he was acquitted of murder in 1995 could be given to the smithsonian or some other museum. several son agreed with the plan from his jail cell. ending a drawn out legal battle over his clothes that he was wearing and the battle that he's been in with the father of ron goldberg, one of the people simpson was accused of killing.

no one's going to siberia just yet. but russia's president was not happy with his country's performance at the winter olympics. president dimitri med did he ever has ordered olympic officials to quit or be fired. he wants big changes in training procedures after the russian team finished in 11th place in the medal count. it was especially embarrassing because russia is due host the mix winter olympics in 201437 >> straight ahead, your tuesday morning weather. and in sports, lebron james and cleveland win their biggest blowout of the season. unless ta. he recommended citracal. it's different -- it's calcium citrate, so it can be absorbed with or without food. also available in small, easy-to-swallow petites. citracal.

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here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. new york, mostly cloudy at 45. miami, late day storms, 74. chicago, 38 degrees. denver, sunny at 52. and los angeles, mostly cloudy at 65. time now for a check on the national forecast. the latest satellite picture shows that skies are generally clear from the rock can hes to the northern plains. and an intense storm is spreading a thick cloud cover over much of the south and tennessee valley. now, later today, it will be chilly, windy and wet across much of the southeast and@id atlantic states and skies will be mostly sunny this afternoon across the plains and the rockies. in sport, the los angeles clippers had a good fourth quarter against utah. eric gordon had 24 points as the clippers held off the jazz 108-104. los angeles has now won four of its last six games. in cleveland, lebron james

had 22 points as the cavaliers pounded the new york knicks 124-93. the 31 point margin of victory was the largest of the season for cleveland, which has had the best record in the league. dirk novitsky of dallas had 27 points to lead a second half charge against charlotte. the mafs have won eight straight games and beat the bobcats 89-84. that spoils charlotte's first game since michael jordan agreed to buy the team. and in college basketball, west virginia's desean butler scored 22 points in hess final home game. west virginia is peaking in time for the big east tournament next week, but georgetown has lost information out of five. the final, west virginia 81, georgetown 68. when we return, we'll take another look at this morning's top stories. and gearing up. the elite pair fax county search and rescue team gets ready to jump into action in chile. [ woman ] most of us don't get enough fiber in our diets.

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on the "cbs morning news," here's a look at today's weather. it will be chilly, windy and wet across the southeast and mid-atlantic states. will enjoy sunshine and the west coast will be gray and wet. here's another look at this morning's top stories. aid shipments are beginning to arrive in chile. the death toll from saturday's earthquake is at least 723. a curfew in hard hit concepcion has been extended. looters have moved from raiding stores to raiding homes. and today, the supreme court will hear arguments in a case challenging chicago's ban on owning or selling handguns. turning now abo a to being chile and the need for international aid, one critical component, the highly train trained men, women and dogs who search for victims buried in the

rubble. one team from virginia that has also helped out in haiti is ready to move out. whit johnson reports. >> reporter: task force one is getting ready to go to chile. the elite search and rescue team from fairfax, virginia, received mobilization orders monday morning. >> everyone here is trying to t trying to get us ready as fast as we can. >> reporter: that includes firefighters, engineers, doctors and search dogs. if task force one is activated, 52 of them will head for areas hit hardest in the chile earthquake. twice as many people went to haiti to help with the rescue effort. team leader says they're packing heavy. >> we take equipment to breach and break into structures, equipment to allow to us move patients, everything from rope rescue to jackhammers. >> reporter: this team knows what it takes to help people in earthquake zones. it's one of only two teams in the nation certified to perform rescue operations outside the

country. >> they're nerves whether tell's be september or not. everybody here wants to go and help people. if they're not lostered, they'd like to be. >> reporter: but before they can do that every team member has to have theirs passport checked, and go through a mini physical. >> the people behind me are some of the -- i think some of the best trained rescuers anywhere around and they do great work. >> reporter: not everyone who showed up at headquarters will be placed on the final roster. but if task force one is called to go, they've already seen the worst and they're prepared. whit johnson, cbs news, fairfax, virginia. in australia, a daredevil found a way to make a harley really fly. american seth inside low jumped 175 feet this morning to break the world record for the longest distance jump on a harley-davidson. a short time later, he jumped a second i'm and went even further, more than 180 feet. but he injured himself on the second landing, which was hard enough to crack the bike's

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we have big clouds outside. it's starting the decent and the clouds will make it for an interesting view. and we want to look at the first warning weather radar. we'll show you what we'll have for the morning. we'll have an inch or less of slush. let's look at the day part. i mean, it's close, but just not going to happen. gray skies throughout the day and 40 at lunch and going to a high temperature in the mid-40s this day. still 40s this evening and not going below 40 tonight. there's moisture moving our way and we'll talk about it shortly. >> in the news, the street race

verdict and the jury makes its decision and while there will be new charges in the case. >> new data in on the homicide rate and what's behind the drop and cutting the cost or the future? lawmakers consider sending education funding to the chopping block. more news, first warning weather and the first traffic report of the morning in a few minutes. soft! hard! soft! hard! [ male announcer ] how do you decide between crunchy and soft tacos? why don't we have both? [ male announcer ] old el paso. hard and soft tacos. ♪ feed your fiesta.

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