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Chile's Earthquake; President Obama Speech on Education

Aired March 01, 2010 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And it is the top of the hour. Thanks for joining us here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

You've seen the video of this man talking before. He's believed to be the suicide bomber who killed seven CIA operatives in Afghanistan. Now an expanded version of this pre-bombing video has been posted on radical Islamic Web sites. The suspect talks about how he became a double agent.

Utility companies making progress in getting power back on in the northeast. But tell that to the people in 200,000 homes and businesses still in the dark after last week's storm. Crews are removing trees that knocked down power lines and replacing snapped utility poles. At one point more than a million people had no power.

And we're waiting to hear from the president live this hour. He's going to be speaking in just a couple of minutes about new efforts to keep our kids in school. We're going to bring you his live remarks from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., as soon as he begins.

The road to health care reform could take a Democratic detour around a Republican roadblock. Democrats are talking more and more about using the parliamentary procedure reconciliation to get a bill passed. In English? The move would require a simple majority vote, bypassing a Senate filibuster. Republicans, outraged.

But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the legislation is not a Democratic-only bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE SPEAKER: The bill can be bipartisan even though the votes might not be bipartisan. Because they have made their imprint on this. As I say, we were all for public option. We're now going with the Republican idea in exchange.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Let's bring in our Ed Henry who's at the White House. So, Ed, what happens now with health care? That's the $50 gajillion question.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm not sure anybody knows quite for sure. But what is the most likely scenario is that the House of Representatives would take up the Senate passed bill. The bill that passed there late December that did not have the public option.

And then the second step in this process would be for both the House and Senate to push through by reconciliation as you mentioned this budgetary maneuver where you just need a simple majority, not a super majority of 60 votes in the Senate, for example, with some fixes, if you will.

Because the Senate bill that passed in December is not something that a lot of liberals in the House, for example, really appreciate because of it not having the public option, for example. But I think the bottom line is that even though it would make it easier for the president to get his plan passed, it does not guarantee it will get passed for two reasons.

Number one, since it's a budgetary maneuver, even some Democrats like Senator Kent Conrad are pointing out that certain pieces of it could be ruled out of order. It's not clear from a parliamentary standpoint that everything could be pushed through. And secondly, you need the votes. You need, for example, in the Senate 51 votes to get it done.

And I think it was significant that yesterday the president's health care czar Nancy-Ann De Parle was asked about three times on NBC's "Meet the Press" whether they have the votes right now. She kept saying we will have the votes. Basically dodging whether they have them right now. That's a clear indication the White House today does not have the votes to get this passed and they have a lot of work to do between now and when they eventually bring it up in the House and Senate, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: We'll track it. Ed Henry, live at the White House. Ed, thanks so much.

PHILLIPS: As lawmakers tackle health care reform, how about a cure for that $100 aspirin that you get at the hospital? Yes. You think the bar at the hotel is outrageous, at least you can just say no to the $10 snickers. Well, a recent study found that more than half of all health spending in this country is wasted.

CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen counts all the so many ways.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There are so many ways. You know what it adds up to in this country? A trillion dollars in wasteful medical spending. A trillion dollars. I'll tell you, I got to take a look at some hospital bills and saw some charges that will make your eyes pop.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (on camera): When you or I go shopping for a toothbrush, how much do we pay? $2, $3, maybe $4? Well, guess what one hospital once charged a patient for a toothbrush? $1,000. Can you believe it? $1,000 for a toothbrush. You know who ends up paying for that? You and I. We end up paying for it. It comes out of our pocket in one way or another.

And that's not the only crazy hospital cost I've run into. Come on. Come with me.

And at the store, how much does a bottle of Tylenol cost? $10 for 100 pills. Well, we know of someone who at the hospital was charged $140 for one Tylenol. Can you believe it? $140 for this. Now, here's a box of disposable gloves. When you buy them here at this store, they come out to 24 cents a pair. But I know of a hospital that charged $53 for a pair of gloves. That's right. $53 for a pair of disposable gloves. What the heck is going on here?

So I'm here in the home office of a medical billing advocate. This is Cindy Holtzman. She helps people cope through these crazy charges. She has all sorts of examples. I got to tell you, Cindy, this is one of my favorite ones. This is just like a little alcohol prep swab. We've all had these. How much did a hospital charge for these one?

CINDY HOLTZMAN, BILLING ADVOCATE: $23 a piece.

COHEN: $23 for this little tiny piece of cotton.

HOLTZMAN: And on one bill there were 44 of them. It becomes very expensive.

COHEN: Oh, my goodness. And this isn't even the craziest thing you've ever seen. Tell me about one of your crazier charges.

HOLTZMAN: Well, recently I had somebody that was charged for 41 IV bags when she went to the E.R. for a two-hour visit.

COHEN: Oh, yes. You heard that right. A woman went to the emergency room with a migraine headache and they gave her one bag of saline. And then they charged her for 41 bags of saline. To the tune of $4,182.

Now, the really crazy thing about this is that her insurance company actually paid this bail. They didn't even question it. So why did her insurance company pay for this when it was obviously wrong?

HOLTZMAN: There's not many people working at these companies anymore. They're very busy. And usually any kind of bill that's under $100,000, they don't look at the detail.

COHEN: So they just write a check?

HOLTZMAN: They just write a check.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh. Just astounding.

COHEN: Isn't that amazing? PHILLIPS: Yes. We'll talk about our personal stories in a minute. Everybody seems to have one. We got talking about this. But what did the hospital and insurance company, I mean, say about this?

COHEN: We asked the hospital who charged for the 41 bags to talk to us. They declined to talk to us. The insurance company said for privacy reasons they couldn't talk to us about why they actually wrote the check for that erroneous charge.

PHILLIPS: OK. So to add another little twist here. So I had a similar situation. Almost $2,000 that I was being charged. And it was for work on behalf of doctors that were not even there. So, of course, I went to the insurance company. I said, this is crazy. I'm not going to pay this money. These doctors weren't even there. And why are they charging me this?

In addition to that, my company here at CNN has a contract with this facility that says you can't charge for those certain fees. So they just seemed to push and push and push unless you're an advocate for yourself and you just pay it. I mean, you're getting hosed.

COHEN: Right. You are getting hosed. So if you're getting charged, if you're responsible for the bill, ask for an itemized bill. And you got one, it sounds like.

PHILLIPS: Right. When I saw how it was itemized, I thought, OK, that's funny. I don't know that doctor.

COHEN: Who are those guys?

PHILLIPS: Right. And what the heck is this, you know, fee, this operating room fee. It made no sense.

COHEN: Right. It makes no sense. So what you have to do is do what you did which is call the insurance company and they can often help you out. Another hint is to call your human resources if you get your insurance through your employer, call your benefits office and they can help you out.

Another option is to call the Medical Billing Advocate Association. If you go to billadvocates.com, you'll see it right there, and they can help you out as well. It doesn't end up costing you a fortune to use these folks. You know, they'll go through these long ridiculous bills for you if you think there's something amiss.

PHILLIPS: I have to say I was impressed with my insurance company. Because I explained to them. They didn't have to do that for me. But they sent a letter saying our client should not have to pay this, prove that this doctor was there, prove why you're charging that. It was a long process, but it finally paid off.

COHEN: And if you fight it, it usually does work. That's what I hear all the time. If you fight it, it works. It feels like a David- Goliath situation --

PHILLIPS: But it's worth it. COHEN: But it's worth it and.

PHILLIPS: Also we have our HR that comes to the rescue.

COHEN: Right. Absolutely.

PHILLIPS: Human resources department.

All right. So let me ask you this, so let's say I didn't get a bill like that or you didn't get a bill like that. Why should we still look at our itemized list even if, like, if the insurance company is just going to pay it, why should we care?

COHEN: Well, a lot of people say yes, I went to the hospital. The insurance company paid everything. I had a littl $100 co-pay. I'm not going to look through that itemized bill. You can do that. But here's why you should worry about it. When these medical bills go sky high because of these crazy charges like $1,000 for a toothbrush, you will pay for it. You'll pay for it in your premiums.

When bills get high, premiums get high. And Kyra, we've seen our premiums go way up over the years. I mean, there's a hike like this every single year. That's true for most Americans. Premiums are ridiculously expensive. One big reason is these crazy wasteful charges.

PHILLIPS: Yes.

COHEN: So do your part. Do your part and fight these charges.

PHILLIPS: Fight the charges. It's worth it. Yes.

COHEN: If you see a doctor's name on a bill and you're like, who is this guy, call the insurance company and say I don't even know these people. Why are they charging me?

PHILLIPS: And usually the doctors when they get a letter, I don't want to be tied to this. Let it go.

COHEN: Right. They fix them pretty quickly. I think they usually do.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Elizabeth.

COHEN: OK. Thanks.

PHILLIPS: So we're talking about crazy medical charges on the blog today. Our question, have you ever had to fight a medical charge? Did you win? Did you lose? Tell us what happened. Go to my blog, cnn.com/kyra. Post your story. I'll read some of them later in the hour.

And two days after Chile is rocked by a devastating quake, voices in the ruins. Right now firefighters in Concepcion are trying to reach someone in the collapsed apartment building. More on that in just a minute. A quick overview of the situation there. Chile's defense minister says more people would have survived if the Navy had issued a tsunami warning. One of the known 708 deaths, 605 were on the coast. The Chilean Red Cross says at least 500,000 homes have considerable damage. Heavily populated parts of the country have no water or power. There have been more than 90 aftershocks since Saturday.

Tomorrow, secretary of state Hillary Clinton arrives in Santiago.

All right. Let's get to the rescue effort now in Concepcion. Just minutes ago Karl Penhaul told us that the voices were so faint the CNN crew had to actually turn off their truck's engine to be able to hear better. Karl joins us once again. So Karl, firefighters trying to send a small camera now into the rubble? Have they done that yet, have they heard anything more?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. What they're trying to do first actually, Kyra, is to drill a hole probably about an inch in diameter inside the apartment building where they've heard the tapping coming from. Let me just locate you there a little bit.

You can see two firefighters standing there by some holes that they've cut into the side of this building. That is the sixth floor. They've heard the tapping sound they believe come from apartment 602. According to the administration building records, there could be up to three people or at least three people inside that apartment. And so that is why they need, as you say, to get either the camera in there or to get an eyes-on inspection to see really how many people are alive.

Now that is good news two days after the quake. The bad news is, though, that at least 40 to 50 other people are still unaccounted for from this building, according to firefighters. And they believe that they may have tried to take refuge in the stairwell. Right now they've heard no signs of life from them and have no way of telling whether they may be alive or dead, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Please let us know as you get more information, Karl. We'd like to follow along with you as that rescue continues.

We also are waiting for the president of the United States to step up to the mike. He is going to be speaking live at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington. You know, millions of Americans are waiting for word also on jobless -- on a jobless benefits extension. And this is the guy that's holding it up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JIM BUNNING (R), KENTUCKY: If we can't find $10 billion somewhere for a bill that everybody in this body supports, we will never pay for anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Any hope that the bill can get passed? We're going to take a look at it for you.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. Hundreds of thousands of people woke up in the northeast this morning without power. The storm that just doesn't want to go away. The latest on your forecast and travel delays is coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Waiting right now for the president of the United States to step up to the mike. This is a live event that's taking place at the U.S. Chamber of commerce in Washington. The president is going to be talking about education and new efforts to keep kids in school. And when he begins, you will see it right here live.

It was the reshuffling heard throughout the world. You know, Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien and all that drama. Well, Leno returns to "The Tonight Show" tonight. But will his former fans follow? CNN entertainment correspondent Kareen Wynter has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: It's "The Jay Leno Show."

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jay Leno recently signed off from his short-lived primetime gig admitting the show was a bomb.

JAY LENO, TV HOST: It seems like just yesterday I was telling NBC, this is not going to work. But no.

WYNTER: But will his late-night return also be a bust? Leno's back on "The Tonight Show" after a highly publicized shake-up.

CONAN O'BRIEN, TV HOST: We have exactly one hour to steal every single item in this studio.

WYNTER: That pitted the comic against Conan O'Brien who bitterly left the network when he was forced out of his time slot after just seven months.

D.L. HUGHLEY, COMEDIAN: I've had an opportunity to work in television. And some of what television networks do, like I said, it defies logic.

WYNTER: Comedian D.L. Hughley says Leno can get back on top.

HUGHLEY: Like L.L. Cookjay, they don't call it a comeback, (INAUDIBLE) and for anything, he was on a brief sabbatical. But I think he'll hit the ground running like he always had.

WYNTER: Hughley says viewers want to see Leno back in the chair now that the NBC controversy has cooled.

Thanks to the ratings success from the Winter Olympics that replaced Leno's struggling prime time show this month. Still media critic Andrew Wallinstein says --

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Straight to the president of the United States right now. Going to be talking about education, keeping our kids in school, live from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- working on this extraordinary project. First of all, I want everybody to know, in case you haven't already met him, somebody who's working tirelessly on behalf of the young people of America, my secretary of education, Arnie Duncan.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I want to acknowledge Marguerite Kondracke, the CEO of America's promise, who's going to be implementing so much of the terrific work that's been discussed today. Marguerite. There she is down there. I want to thank Tom Donahue for your hospitality in this extraordinary venue. Thank you very much. And thanks for the chamber's support for this terrific effort.

I want to acknowledge Margaret Spellings, Arnie's predecessor, who helped to lead a lot of the improvement that's been taking place and we're building on. And obviously I want to thank the Powells. And I will start with the more important Powell, Alma. I want to say a word about the remarkable woman who introduced me. A champion of children, a dedicated public servant, and the recipient of numerous awards. And Alma has poured herself into America's Promise Alliance, helping make it the largest partnership of its kind to improve education and help children in this country.

And perhaps that's not surprising, because being an educator seems to run in the family, as I understand. Even though one of her mother's parents was born into slavery and the other just after abolition, both went to college, became teachers, four of their children followed them into the education profession. So her family has educated and enriched generations of Americans. And our nation is better off for it. And so we are very grateful to you for your extraordinary leadership. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: There's not much more we can say about the man that almost exceeds as chair of the Alliance that most people don't already know, anyway. I will say that I am grateful for his friendship, for his counsel, and like so many Americans, I continue to be inspired by his leadership and by his life's work.

It's a story of a son of Jamaican garment workers. A student from the south Bronx. Like me, wasn't always at his best in high school. But who went on to City College of New York and thanks to the support of his family and his friends and his community. It's the story of an ROTC cadet who went on to distinguish himself first in Vietnam, then in the Pentagon, in the White House, and in the State Department, and who after spending a lifetime fighting on behalf of America has now taken up the fight for America's children. So the leadership of Colin and Alma, they are showing by spearheading the Grab Nation campaign to end America's dropout crisis is just the latest chapter in their service to this nation.

And so I want to publicly commend them and thank them for their extraordinary service. Thank you very much.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: One last person I want to make mention of. Because I think it bears on the extraordinary public-private partnership that's taking place here. We have the CEO of the Corporation for National Community Service, Patrick Corvington who's here. Where's Patrick? There he is back there.

And so we are hoping to -- we're hoping to make sure we get a whole bunch of volunteers engaged in this effort. Now, it's fitting that we're talking about education here at the Chamber of Commerce. After all, for America to compete and to win in the 21st century, we know that we will need a highly educated workforce that is second to none.

We know that the success of every American will be tied more closely than ever before to the level of education that they achieve. The jobs will go to the people with the knowledge and the skills to do them. It's that simple. And this kind of knowledge economy, giving up on your education and dropping out of school means not only gives up on your future, but it's also giving up on your family's future and giving up on your country's future.

And, yet, that's what too many of America's children are doing today. Over one million students don't finish high school each year. Nearly one in three. Over half are African-American and Latino. The graduation gap in some places between white students and classmates of color is 40 or 50 percent. And in cities like Detroit and Indianapolis and Baltimore, graduation rates hover around 30 percent, 40 percent. Roughly half the national average.

Now, it's true that not long ago you could drop out of high school and reasonably expect to find a blue collar job that would pay the bills and help support your family. That's just not the case anymore. In recent years, a high school dropout has made on average about $10,000 less per year than a high school graduate.

In fact, during this recession, a high school dropout has been more than three times as likely to be out of work as someone with at least a college degree. Graduating from high school is an economic imperative. That might be the best reason to get a diploma. But it's not the only reason to get a high school diploma.

As Alma mentioned, high school dropouts are more likely to be teen parents, more likely to commit crime, more likely to rely on public assistance, more likely to lead shattered lives. What's more, they cost our economy hundreds of billions of dollars over the course of a lifetime in lower wages, in higher public expenses. So this is a problem we cannot afford to accept, and we cannot afford to ignore.

The stakes are too high for our children, for our economy, and for our country. It's time for all of us to come together, parents, students, principals and teachers. Business leaders and elected officials from across the political spectrum to end America's dropout crisis. And this is a problem that I've actually been fighting for years.

Way back when -- when I was a community organizer in Chicago. I saw what happened to a family or to a school or to a community when a student dropped out. So I helped work with local churches in the region to -- and public school officials to get state funding for dropout prevention programs. And brought together African-American and Latino leaders to help set up after-school program.

Because when we help keep kids off the street and we give them a productive way to spend their time, then graduation rates go up. So that's a commitment that I've carried with me to the Oval Office. And today I want to announce steps my administration will take to help end the dropout crisis in the African-American community, in the Latino community, and in the larger American community.

Because we know that about 12 percent of America's schools produce 50 percent of America's dropouts, we're going to focus on helping states and school districts turn around their 5,000 lowest performing schools in the next five years. And Arnie will be amplifying and providing details on how we can do this. We'll not only challenge states to identify high schools with graduation rates below 60 percent, we're going to invest another $900 million in strategies to get those graduation rates up.

Strategies like transforming schools from top to bottom. By bringing in a new principal and training teachers to use more effective techniques in the classroom. Strategies like closing a school for a time and reopening it under new management. Or even shutting it down entirely and sending its students to a better school. And strategies like replacing a school's principal and at least half of its staff.

Now, replacing school staff should only be done as a last resort. The public servants who work in America's schools, whether they're principals or teachers or counselors or coaches, work long and hard on behalf of our children, and they deserve our gratitude.

Keep in mind, I've got a sister who's a teacher. My mother spent time teaching. One of the most important jobs that we have in this country. We've got an obligation as a country to give them the support they need. Because when principals and teachers succeed, then our children succeed.

So if a school is struggling, we have to work with the principal and the teachers to find the solution. We've got to give them a chance to make meaningful improvements. But if a school continues to fail its students year after year after year, if it doesn't show any sign of improvement, then there's got to be a sense of accountability.

And that's what happened in Rhode Island last week. A chronically troubled school with just seven percent of 11th graders passed state math tests. Seven percent. When a school board wasn't able to deliver change by other means, they voted to layoff the faculty and the staff.

As my Education Secretary Arnie Duncan says, our kids get only one chance at an education, and we need to get it right. Of course, getting it right requires more than just transforming our lowest performing schools. It requires giving students who are behind in school a chance to catch up and a path to a diploma. It requires focusing on students from middle school through high school who face factors at home in the neighborhood or in school that put them at risk of dropping out.

And it requires replicating innovative ideas that make class feel engaging and relevant. Because most high school dropouts in a recent study said the reason they dropped out was that they weren't interested in class and they weren't motivated to do their work.

So, that's why we'll build on the efforts of places like communities and schools that make sure kids who are at risk of dropping out have one-on-one support. That's why we'll follow the example of places like the Met Center in Rhode Island that give students that individual attention while also preparing them through real-world, hands-on training, the possibility of succeeding in a career.

And that's why we'll invest in accelerated instruction in reading and math to help students who've fallen behind make up credits and ultimately graduate on time. It's also why we'll foster better alternative high schools and transfer schools where students who have dropped out and who are at risk of dropping out can return to the classroom and earn their diploma. That's how we can curb dropout rates and boost graduating rates.

I have to point out in the 21st century, high schools shouldn't just make sure students graduate, they should make sure students graduate ready for college. Ready for a career and ready for life. That's why we'll foster what are called early-college high schools that allow students to earn a high school diploma and an associate's degree or college credit at the same time. We want to learn from successful charter schools where students can take advanced and college-level courses.

So, government has a responsibility. Government can help educate students to succeed in college and a career. Government can help provide the resources to engage dropouts and those at risk of dropping out. And when necessary, government has to be critically involved in turning around lowest performing schools. And nobody's been more passionate about this than Arne Duncan.

But as I've said before, education is not and cannot be the task of government alone. It's going to take nonprofits and businesses doing their part through alliances like America's Promise. It will take parents getting involved in their children's education, consistently. Going to parent/teacher's conferences, helping their children with their homework. I have to point out I just went to my daughter's parent/teacher's conference last week. She's doing very well, by the way.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: It will take students as well showing up to school on time and paying attention to classes and staying out of trouble. They're not let off the hook. Education isn't a passive activity, it's an active one.

So, educating America's sons and daughters is a task for all Americans. And that's what this alliance, that's what this effort is all about. Making sure that none of us think that it's somebody else's job, but rather we all accept our role to play in making sure that we have the best educated citizenry in the world. That's what has made the 20th century the American century. That's what will make the 21st century the American century.

Now, there's an old story that Colin has told about a man named George Ellis, who lived about 100 years ago. And George Ellis was a janitor whose job was to clean up after the artist Daniel Chester French. Some of you may have heard of French. He's the one who carved the figure of Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial.

So day after day, week after week, month after month Ellis went about his job, barely uttering a word to Mr. French other than to say the occasional hello or good-bye. And then one day just when French had nearly completed his masterpiece, Ellis spoke up. He said, "Mr. French, I have a question for you." The artist said, "What is it?" "What I want to ask is how you knew all along that Mr. Lincoln was sitting inside that block of marble."

As Colin pointed out, that wasn't a silly question. Sometimes in this country and in our lives, we see blocks of marble and some people can see what's inside, and some people can't. It was a question profound -- it was a profound question -- about how we recognize the potential within each of us. And chisel away at what's keeping it locked inside.

I'm absolutely confident that because of the work of Colin and Alma Powell, because of the work that Grab Nation Campaigns (ph) is going to be doing and America's Promise Alliance is going to be doing, because of the work we're doing across this nation to give our children the best education the world has to offer from cradle to classroom, from college through career, that we are chiseling away at the obstacles that lie in our path. That block our children's potential.

We want to unlock that potential. Carve it out. So that our economy succeeds, so that this country succeeds, and so that our children and grandchild succeed. So, thank you very much for the extraordinary work you're doing. Thank you all for your participation.

May God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.

PHILLIPS: President of the United States, as you can see there, with Colin Powell as well. He was speaking live at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, talking about his new efforts to keep kids in school. Education a top priority for the president. Also the first lady, as you well know. We'll just see what pans out with regard to his ideas to get more kids in college, more kids graduating and getting them out into the workforce.

Something else that we're monitoring for you. We told you about this ongoing rescue in Chile. Our Karl Penhaul is actually live in Concepcion right now. Do we have those live pictures of the rescue efforts? Okay. Not yet. But we do have a connection there. Sometimes we have to turn off -- okay. We've got it now. Let's take a look. Sometimes we have to turn off our truck because the noise, the live capabilities have been hampering rescue workers in their ability to actually hear tapping noises, possibly from survivors there in the rubble.

But this a rescue attempt around an apartment building in Concepcion. We hear possibly, maybe up to 50 people might be trapped in there. Karl Penhaul definitely said they know at least three people are in there. They did hear some tapping in the past couple of hours.

We'll let you know how that's going. More from the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Senate leaders say they'll try again to get a jobless benefits extension passed this week. They just have to figure out how to get the bill past one of their own. Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky has repeatedly blocked the extension because there's no plan for how to pay for it. His colleagues want to deal with that issue later.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D), SENATE MAJORITY WHIP: Now he's decided to make his stand, not when it comes to tax cuts for the wealthy, but unemployment benefits for the poorest struggling families in America. It is a stark contrast. We have begged him to save this debt debate to a different day and a different issue and please don't victimize these helpless people who are struggling to get by.

SEN. JIM BUNNING (R), KENTUCKY: If we can't find $10 billion somewhere for a bill that everybody in this body supports, we will never pay for anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Alison Kosik following this for us from the New York Stock Exchange. So, Alison, is Congress going to get its act together and pass an extension? ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: The $6 million question, Kyra. Some Republicans really expect an extension to pass this week. But, you know, it would only be a one-month extension. Congress really needs a long-term solution in this.

And in the meantime, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis coming out saying, you know, it's partisan politics as usual. Saying that if the benefit program is not extended, 400,000 Americans will lose these vital benefits during the first couple of weeks in March. By May, almost 3 million people would be left without these benefits.

And Kyra, even if Congress passes an extension, people won't be able to get missed payments. You know, it's times like these when Congress pulls something like this, it leaves reasons for Americans to think are these members of Congress really in touch with the American people, Kyra?

PHILLIPS: You're talking about a price tag of $10 billion. And this bill includes a lot more than just an extension of unemployment benefits. There's a lot of other things that are going to be impacted as well.

KOSIK: Exactly. There are. Talking about D.O.T.., the Department of Transportation is furloughing 2,000 workers today without pay. Also, Department of Transportation projects and Medicare doctors are also going to be directly affected. That's because funding for some highway programs expired last night, which means that federal reimbursement to states for construction projects are going to be sidelined.

I'm talking about stopping several projects. Some of these examples include a $36 million bridge replacement in Virginia, a $15 million stream rehabilitation project in Idaho, $8 million highway resurfacing project in Mississippi. Those are all going to be sidelined.

Also, Medicare reimbursements could be cut or are going to be cut 21 percent. What that essentially means is that it's going to force these doctors to stop taking new Medicare patients. I mean, bottom line with this is that, you know, the effects of this are far reaching, Kyra.

Stocks today, by the way, are gaining on hopes for a bailout for Greece. A deal, of course, would help with its debt problems and ease fears of another credit crunch. Taking a look at numbers right now, Dow Industrials, 59 points higher. The NASDAQ up 22. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Alison, thanks.

And if you have the tendency to get queasy because of this next story, a police dash cam next catches the action. You may want to hold off.

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PHILLIPS: Top stories now. CIA operatives were unexpected but welcome targets. That's what we're hearing in a longer video now from a suspected double agent turned suicide bomber. Seven CIA operatives and a Jordanian army officer died in the attack in late December in Afghanistan. On the tape the suspect says the Jordanian was the target but the others were, quote, "a gift from God."

I want to warn you this next story may make you flinch. Just keep in mind, no one was killed. Oh! Police officer near Cleveland recovering this morning. Talk about a close call. He was actually helping a driver on an exit ramp when the driver of another car lost control. The vehicle hit the officer. That's John Lambert there. He went flying over that guardrail. Shocking to see. He did have multiple fracturing, but he survived.

A toast of molsens (ph) and a pile of Putin for our northern neighbors. Team Canada's thrilling overtime hockey win over the U.S. in Vancouver gave them 14 gold medals. The most ever in one Winter Olympics. The U.S. had its own Winter Games record, by the way. A total of 37 medals. Germany finished second in the overall count, Canada came in third.

Lights are still out in tens of thousands of homes and businesses in the Northeast. Utility crews have been slowed down by the downed trees and the split power poles since last week's storm. At the height of that storm, more than a million people didn't even have electricity. A lot of people Northeast still without power because of the weekend storm.

Jacqui Jeras, it's tough, too. We actually talked to the head of power. He said they're doing everything to get it up and running. They have fixed thousands and thousands of people's situations. Not enough, still.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right, Jacqui. Thanks.

You get lemons, you make lemonade. But what do you do when you get just too much snow? You do this. You make a snowman. Oh, sure, it's not much now. Actually, looks like a giant cake. These five brothers and sisters, they have patience. It's just a work in progress.

By the way, this is Northridgeville, Ohio. Near Cleveland. The family started working two months ago on what they hope will be a two- story snowman. They even built a pulley system to get snow up to the top of this 20-foot mound. We're going to keep checking. Maybe we'll see Frosty the Giant before, you know, the spring thaw.

More from the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead.

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PHILLIPS: The ugly underbelly of health care. Like the $140 Tylenol. Yes. One Tylenol. And other ridiculous things you get charged for. On the blog today, we're asking if you ever fought an unreasonable medical charge and won. Here's what some of you said.

David wrote, "I was transported to another hospital for a procedure and then returned to the original hospital for recuperation. Well, I received the bill. Both hospitals billed for the procedure. The cost of about $1,300. It took nine months of calls and complaints."

Susan said, "After an operation, I got an itemized bill and was double billed for the same item. I went into the hospital, showed them the bill, they took off both items."

And M.E. says, "My 70-year-old father was hospitalized, and his bill included a Pap smear. His first name was Faye. The hospital assumed he was a woman and could scam the insurance company for the charge."

Remember, we want to hear from you. Log on to CNN.com/kyra. Share your comments with me. I sure appreciate it.

They should be celebrating Black History Month, right? Instead, these college students are protesting. And the noose on campus, well, that was the last straw.

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PHILLIPS: Simmering racial tensions boil over at the University of California, San Diego. Black History Month there saw a student organized party called a Compton Cookout. People were told to come dressed, quote, "ghetto style." Then last week, a noose turned up in the campus library. That was the last straw.

Rekha Muddaraj from CNN affiliate KFMB reports that not everyone agrees there's a racial problem on campus.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm so angry!

REKHA MUDDARAJ, KFMB-TV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Following the Compton Cookout and a racist commentary that aired on campus TV, a third incident has UCSD students both enraged and anxious for their safety. On Thursday evening, a noose was found hanging on the seventh floor of the Giesel (ph) Library.

IVAN EVANS, SOCIOLOGY PROFESSOR: A noose is a special symbol of horror for African-Americans. It is not a joke. Nothing about a prank about it. It strikes at the heart of African-American community and dignity.

MUDDARAJ: Soon after word spread, Captain Tom Morris says a female student came forward.

CAPT. TOM MORRIS, UCSD CAMPUS POLICE: Apparently the student was told her about the incident by some of her friends. She said, "Oh, wait a minute. That was me. That's not what I meant." She came forward and called our dispatch and said, "I'm the one that did it. Here's why. It had nothing to do with the activities of the past week."

MUDDARAJ: Authorities say the student didn't connect the news to recent events on campus. Hard to believe since the cries for change by the Black Student Union and its supporters have been deafening.

SHEIRDRE VEMON (ph), UCSD STAFF MEMBER: The students are afraid. They need to know what the chancellor is going to do to keep them safe on campus.

MUDDARAJ: University administrators say they're taking steps to calm the racial turmoil. Even organizing a teach-in on Wednesday to help improve the campus climate.

But black students walked out, saying it wasn't enough and on Friday, continued to pound the pavement. But many students feel like Vivian Chow who says the rally is giving the campus a bad reputation and not solving the problem.

VIVIAN CHOW, UCSD STUDENT: It seems like this whole rally is insinuating that everyone at UCSD who's 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: All right. So, obviously, not everyone sees this story the same way. Tomorrow, we're going to try and get some more answers. We're actually going to talk with the president of the university's Black Student Union. Get his take on what's happening on his campus.

That does it for us. We'll see you back here bright and early 9:00 a.m. Eastern time. Brooke Baldwin in for Tony Harris today. Hey, Brooke.