NPR 2010-03-01

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

Hundreds more Chileans are confirmed dead from one of the worst earthquakes ever in the South American country. Today, President Michelle Bachelet said the death toll 1 had pushed up to 708 across central and coastal 2 communities shattered by the 8.8 temblor. The BBC's Candace Piette reports the infrastructure 3 damage is severe and widespread.

The quake, which hit early on Saturday morning, has wrecked 4 much of Chile's road system and plunged 5 large parts of Santiago into darkness. To the south near the epicenter of the quake near Concepcion, TV pictures are showing severe damage. Whole apartment buildings and bridges are down. The damage to the road systems and to communications has made it impossible to find out the true scale of the impact of what has been called the worst earthquake in Chile in 50 years. The BBC's Candace Piette reporting.

There are also reports of widespread looting, and police had to use tear gas and water cannons 6 to disperse 7 the crowds.

Congress’s leading Democrats 8 are calling on the party to unite behind healthcare legislation and get it passed with or without Republican support. They’re expected to use a procedure known as reconciliation 9, generally reserved for budget measures. But Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey 10 says it may be necessary to overcome GOP opposition 11.

"I think Americans should know that when we hear the words about reconciliation, it is simple - simply a majority vote, 51 out of 100, on certain budget elements."

But Republican Senator John Kyl of Arizona says the reconciliation rule should not be applied 12 to healthcare legislation.

"Robert Byrd, who actually wrote the reconciliation rule, has said that its application in this case would be an outrage 13 that should be, that must be resisted."

Senators Menendez and Kyl both appeared on Fox News Sunday.

Islamist extremists' websites are posting a posthumous 14 video message from a Jordanian-al-Qaeda double agent, who killed seven CIA operatives in Afghanistan. We have more details from Dale Gavlak in Amman.

The video of Jordanian doctor Humam Abu Mulal al-Balawi was apparently 15 filmed shortly before he blew himself up late last year. Al-Balawi spoke 16 of his recruitment by Jordanian intelligence and how he double-crossed them after they sent him to Afghanistan to spy on al-Qaeda. He said he had only expected to kill his Jordanian handler Ali bin 17 Zaid, a member of the royal family. Killing 18 CIA personnel was an incredible game, he said. Al-Balawi called his suicide bombing the best way to teach a lesson to both Jordanian intelligence and the CIA. The blast was one of the worst losses for the CIA and exposed the close cooperation between the US and Jordanian spy services. For NPR News, I'm Dale Gavlak in Amman.

Power outages persist in storm-hit northeastern US, 200,000 without power.

This is NPR.

A ice hockey frenzy 19 comes to ahead this hour when the US and Canada meet each other in the gold-medal game. From Vancouver, NPR's Dianna Douglas reports.

All the hockey fans, who were left unsatisfied by the first Canada-US game and they were mostly Canadians, have gotten their wish for a rematch. This time, the winner takes the gold. Canada felt hard to the US in the preliminaries and has fought their way back from the brink 20 of elimination 21 to get into the gold-medal game. The US team has played with discipline and focus, and has won decisive victories in every game so far at this Olympics. This game will settle the hockey question for the next four years, although it won't decide the overall winner of the Olympics medals race. That is a question of accounting 22. The US will take home the most medals while Canada has won the most golds. Dianna Douglas, NPR News, Vancouver.

The president of Toyota is trying to repair his company's image with the trip to the world's largest automaker in the coming week. Akio Toyoda is due to speak to reporters in Beijing tomorrow to ease consumer concerns over the safety of the Japanese company's cars and trucks. Toyota has recalled millions of vehicles worldwide over acceleration 23 and braking problems. The majority of the recalls are in the US. Toyota's executives were grilled 24 by US lawmakers last week, and they're expecting a similar reception from Canada's parliament.

Haiti's struggle to rebuild from an earthquake in January is further complicated this weekend by severe flooding along the southern peninsula. Authorities say at least eight people are dead. They also say that a prison flooded is prompting them to evacuate 25 hundreds of inmates 26.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News, Washington.