>> reporter: for los angeles shopkeeper virgie lyons, her phone is a blessing and a curse: a blessing it's provided the only contact with her family in tacloban-- a brief call from her brother saturday before his battery died. a curse because she hasn't heard from him or anyone else since. what did he say? >> he said "we're okay, don't worry." he's like screaming. "tell them we're okay. after that we got cut off." >> reporter: her sister in manila heard two young nieces survived the typhoon but died yesterday, whether from dehydration, hunger or injuries, they don't know. what is it like for you, this not knowing? >> it really, really hurts. i want to know now if they're okay. there's nothing i can do, just pray. >> reporter: california's filipino community is praying and mounting a relief effort. nurses are sending medical supplies, neighbors are chipping in, too. the bay area organization stop hunger now is shipping 285,000 meals. in l.a., a red cross telethon raised more than 100,000 for relief aid. virgie lyons was comforted by one thing her brother said in his brief call: he and

virgie lyons was comforted by one thing her brother said in his brief call.d his family survived huddled in the sturdy house she built for them with money she earned in the u.s. still, the tv images are painful. >> really, like a nightmare. >> reporter: not hearing, not knowing is unbearable. >> hello, hello, hello. >> reporter: bill whitaker, cbs news, los angeles. >>> well, coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," the fallout over the low enrollment numbers for obama care. we'll get analysis from john dickerson. >>> plus a crack down on the illegal ivory trade. we'll tell you what the u.s. government is doing. >>> and charlie sits down for a rare interview with best-selling author donna tartt. that's the news for this morning on this thursday. thanks for watching. i'm anne-marie green. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> your realtime captioner is mrs. linda m. macdonald >>> good morning. it's thursday, november 14. i'm frank mallicoat. >> i'm michelle griego. time now just about 4:30. let's get our first check of weathe