Page 616 - Fireman News Today

Pension pay at the very same time. is this another example of inefficiencies and local budgets? host of bulls and bears, brenda butner. and reporters at southern california radio. they investigated this and what they found, is astonishing in this program called draw? >> basically you can be a police or fireman, you can retire and then immediate collect your lump sum pension and then immediately go back and collect the pension then. you are getting both a salary and pension. waver talking about y...

And meanwhile, consultations will continue this week at the white house. the president meets tomorrow with ban ki-moon, the u.n. secretary-general. lester? >> mike viqueira at the white house. thank you. we want to turn now to the tragedy in christchurch, new zealand. the death toll from this weeks earthquake is now around 150, but officials warn the number could go well over 200 by the time all of the bodies are found in the rubble. but tonight, rescue workers remain focused on trying to find...

Encouraging the rescue workers, updating the public, and granting endless press interviews. hes been called the earthquake mayor. a former tv host, bob parker has used his communication skills to rally his people, the way rudy giuliani did in new york after 9/11. trying to keep hope alive here amid the ruins. a quarter of downtown christchurch may have to be demolished. >> what keeps you going is that this city is my home. this is where we live. this is everything to us. >> reporter: and to anyo...

She was rescued 12 hours later. anne bodkin got out with barely a scratch after 25 hours, her rescuers braving aftershocks to save her. >> in the midst of what is by and large one of the bleakest days in the story of our city, the sun came out at the same moment as they removed ann from that building. >> reporter: in the canterbury television office building, authorities fear as many as 100 dead could be buried beneath the rubble. they have given up hope finding anyone else alive here. >> i dont...

Chance. the next time a teacher goes in to ask for a raise in wisconsin, shes not going to have a chance. and if a fireman asks the governor to take his call for 20 minutes and listen to his ideas on how to run government, he wouldnt have a chance. if youre going to be indecent enough to rub or democracy into a ground, at least have the decency to not rub our face in it.

Away in indiana prisons came out and called the union, the quote, privileged elite. the elite? are you kidding me? the average guy working as a cop or fireman or teacher is the elite in this country? i think thats an unbelievable insult. do you know how much the average public union worker makes? in 2010, full-time union workers had median weekly earnings of $917. thats $47,684 a year. that does that sound elite to you? you know who are elite? the guys on wall street. do you know how much they m...

Its just huge. its huge. >> reporter: office workers pulled the injured from the rubble. emergency workers are rushing in from around the world. medical teams created triage centers in open areas. one woman said, it was our 9/11. sarah james, nbc news, christchurch, new zealand. >> just an unbelievable situation there. and now around the other side of the world, theres been a tragic end to a very tense situation for four americans on board a small yacht that was hijacked by pirates in very dan...

Alive. the quake shook the downtown core right at lunch time reducing new zealands oldest city to ruins in a matter of minutes. >> we were in the building and it just collapsed. >> reporter: aftershocks kept survivors running for cover. those who were safe frantically worked to locate the missing. >> hello! shes in the classroom! are you in the classroom? people are doing everything to save you! >> reporter: the damage is extensive, from buckled roads and flooded neighborhoods to broken power li...

Some broke through office windows to escape. the damage, staggering. buildings flattened. sidewalks buckled. cars destroyed. people still trapped in the rubble. reports of some phoning out to rescuers from crushed office buildings. one woman pulled out alive. >> i was buried under part of the ceiling. when i looked out, i saw that we were on the road and people were looking at us. >> reporter: at this school, rescue workers searched for young survivors. across the city, bloodied survivors collap...

Apparently provoked the shooting." katie? >> couric: david, why didnt the navy seals board the yacht sooner? >> reporter: the seals didnt think a rescue mission was a good bet. 19 pirates aboard a ship that size would be very hard to take down without getting hostages killed. >> couric: all right. david martin, thanks a lot. in other news, the search is on in new zealand today for survivors of a powerful earthquake. the 6.3 magnitude quake hit just outside of christchurch, a city with a populati...