>> welcome to "lunch money." i am adam johnson. the former ceo and what he hates about washington and why he is telling google. how did he get here anyway? the head of the world passes largest ad company tells you how he got to the top. and why the long face, amazon worker? we will take a look inside the fight to unionize this giant. the man who gave us the real world knows how to win. that is coming up. finally, in sports, brooklyn going to london as pro ball goes global.

we are kicking it off with a story everyone is talking about. cars. the detroit auto show. it is open today. so far, hot new models and high tech concept cars and auto executives talking shop. >> allen has been terrific and he is a great ceo. he gets the whole conversation off the table. >> we are expanding production capability. >> it is a different capability equation but most importantly, a different operational cost equation. >> 16% of total volume is hybrid and i think that will only go up over time. >> sales have recovered fantastically since the recession. >> it is really strong. a nice year. >> our customers to create demand for a product, and the number of sales. >> ok.

that is the word. did you notice something? is all men at least until today. >> mary starts her first day at the home of general motors today, the first time a woman sat at the helm of a global automaker. >> you could tell what a big deal this is by the throng of reporters that rushed her into the show. she was there monday. swarmed again the next morning when the north american car truck of the year award went released on her watch. she has been at gm for a long time. >> she has been at gm her whole adult life, starting as a college intern and working her way through. an engineer by training. vehicle manufacturing engineering, and she ran product development. she did time in hr, where she really brought engineering if those there to try to streamline the paperwork and simplify things and get stuff done without mucking everything up.

she has a really strong understanding of the fundamentals of how the company worse, how the car business works, and what she brings that gm has not seen for at least a couple of ceo's. >> is a good day for ceo's. a modest improvement. it has brought back the dividend $.30 per share. >> there is a lot of pressure. it is time to turn my back. one of the biggest suppliers in america just increased their dividend by about 50% yesterday. ford increased theirs by 25% last week. there has been appetite for some of the cash being generated to be returned to shareholders.

mary feels like gm is not just profitable but will be consistently profitable in generating cash and they can't afford to do that. it was well received before today's guidance. >> gm benefiting from new or refreshed vehicles in the u.s. the automaker coming back from his government bankrupting organization. she is still got a lot of work to do. >> it is always important to detroit and industrial america that gm be a healthy company. when it is not good, it sends a really negative and profound signal about the whole u.s. economy, but especially industrial companies. a talented person who does not have enemies around the industry. there is a lot of sense they want her to succeed. as far as the cutting for breaks, what she has is a healthy company in a healthy industry. everybody's making money now. gm is making money. for years, when it made money, such a small amount, it is really truly competitive now, so

she has the opportunity to run a confident, global automaker and there is a lot of work to do to keep making better integration globally with product development, more growth in china. there is a lot of work left to do. they have a balance sheet that is competitive, they are paying a dividend, good worker relations right now. a lot is going in their favor. they have invested in the product and they keep improving to really win back customers and build their place in the market. >> first day on the job. it helps to have a good luck which from an experienced chief executive like this guy. >> all the tickets are punched. a gray background. started at 18. she worked her way up there and went to stanford. let's give her every break in the world and hope she knocks it out of the park.

>> the former chief executive knows a thing or two about leadership. we will hear a lot more from him coming up on plug next. another chief executive shares his secrets on getting ahead. as we head to break, morning fog is rolling in over new york city. we sped it up. how cool is that? ♪

♪ >> this is "lunch money." i am adam johnson. a few business leaders are as realistic as jack welch. >> eager profits at gm tenfold -- he grew profits at gm tenfold. the always outspoken ceo discusses how brian moynihan is doing, especially given the news this morning that the bank had its most profitable year since 2007. >> i think he has done a hell of a good job. nothing against him, but you know these guys in washington going to the piggy bank as often as they can go. they're dipping in over there and dipping back again. jpmorgan i thought was done. there is never an end to the piggy bank attack. >> you do not think it is justified?

>> the scale is wild. >> what were the issues, also high scale as well. >> you cannot fight the government. let's face it. they win. the game is over. they went. a number like this -- >> they repaid what they owe the government. >> that is the craziest in the world. they brought the data to him. he threw it away. give me a break. it is crazy. >> what about all the bad mortgage loans? bundling up that mortgages and selling them to investors who did not know better. >> they did not know. come on. >> another company he took a swing at was google. >> google is doing the right

thing taking swings. when a company has got a dominant position, it is time to spread its wings. it has got its own search now. what else can we do with this money and not sit on it. >> like microsoft? >> i do not want to criticize microsoft. i want to talk about google. the fact this company keeps going after new stuff in different segments is a big deal. a great idea. >> we need to talk about other companies. we could name a bunch of them because they're not doing what google is doing. some people out there are tired of hearing ceo after ceo complain about in action in washington and the white house. the bottom line is they are not taking risks or spending the cash piling up. they are not investing in or hiring people. >> the other point -- >> you hire people and pay

people wages and you create demand. >> google is in part of that in silicon valley, when you have green days and you take a week off and free this and that. they have got the world by the tail. most of us are out here, i have got 50 or 60 in every company. we are grinding out one percent, two percent growth, in a crappy economy, fighting to get a little cash flow. they are loaded. they would be criminals not to take some of the enormous cash flow they have and go spend it. >> may be private equity portfolio companies -- what about microsoft? what about apple? the reason karl is in a war with apple is because apple has got 160 billion dollars. >> he wants dividends. >> a company has got to make a choice. we have got cash, and what do we

do with it? hitting skimpy returns on cash, do we invest in the business, do we make acquisitions? >> do not let them burn a hole in your pocket. you do not. >> do they run the risk if they do not do this of becoming the next hp? >> there is no question. you cannot say that about microsoft in terms of their budget. they are spending a crazy amount of money. >> they are doing great internally. should they be on the acquisition trail? >> profits grow. microsoft, profits have grown pretty nicely. >> if google can make it work -- >> we do not know these acquisitions. they will be lost in the rounds.

the nice thing about google, i always say, when you are in this position, there is no chance of you getting ahead if you stay. google in fact has this position, the juiciest is position you could have, a dominant position, tons of cash. swing at it. >> when it comes to jobs and minimum wage, there needs to be about between free-market and innovation. >> government intervention is by definition disruptive. it is not a free market. it messes things up. on the other hand, there are more studies saying it helps the economy by giving more money to people to spend. i am not getting into the debate about who is right. you cannot totally disrupt.

>> you want to get rid of the minimum wage altogether? >> i am for minimum wage and gradually increasing it. >> another influential ceo. his thoughts on leadership and who should succeed him at aig. that is next. plus, sir martin saurav, the head of the world's biggest ad firm. ♪

>> in career today, we focus on what ceo's say you need to get ahead. we ask the readers what they think got them to the top. the largest advertising agency, we ask what has been the secret to his success. >> the biggest difference, if you found something and noticed the man having a baby, not physically, but giving birth to an idea and you start something from scratch as we did 28 years ago, it is very much personal. my dad made a reputation for himself. people say nowadays you should

fish around for opportunity. he said, stick with the company you like and enjoy an industry you like and when you are ready, go off and do something on your own. do what you enjoy and do not have the objective of making money. it does not work that way. >> lack of consistency, you could apply that principle to marketing or campaigning or corporate strategy. if you can go deep, as opposed to broad and be superficial, i think that is very important. >> good advice. betty also spoke with the aig ceo and he told her he answers every single employee e-mail. she asks him how he finds the time. >> you do not put it off. a simple thank you is important. i make sure they know.

e-mails are actually easier to do. in the old days, used to get letters and notes and i would handwrite on the note, saying thank you so they knew it was coming from may, anybody who sent me a note or letter, i would handwrite "thank you very much, keep up the good work." maybe i do not have long drawnout statements, but enough to be able to acknowledge what the person said and if nothing more, a thank you note. >> what helps you get employee more out up? >> my mother told me, respect the people you work with and do not take yourself too seriously in life. do not think you are so important. at the end of the day, you will not be that important once the

job goes away and you're are just a human being like everybody else. i learned early on to respect the people. the people of aig had been through hell. they were being criticized and vilified in the press every day. people were afraid. >> there were death threats. >> they were afraid to have aig on their badges and so on. my job was to let them know i would work for them and that i would protect them and we would get this vision worked out and we would make this company viable again, working together. that is what they wanted to hear, to make sure people could get a vision of where you want to take them, to make sure you show respect for them, and keep people from attacking them. >> how long will he stay? >> i told them i would stay if my health holds up, that i am prepared and we are going through a plan.

i could sign the 10k the first quarter of 2015. everything seems to be ok and they are ready for the next leader to come in, i'm prepared to step down. i will be close to 71 years old then. >> are you interested in moving on to another job? or will you go back to your vineyard and enjoy good life there? >> i am feeling pretty good. to the extent there is a challenge i could enjoy doing, here or someplace else, i am prepared. i am prepared to spend a lot more time with my vineyard, and i only make about 5000 bottles of wine a year. it is not like it is a business. i could have a lot of time during wine tastings to new york and other parts of the country. >> it sounds fun. tomorrow, we will hear from the founder of tom's shoes. all week, we are featuring betty

liu's interviews with leaders. amazon. it avoided going union but that could change tonight. we will tell you how 30 people could have a very dramatic impact on the world's largest online retailer. that is next. plus, going global. we will hear from a ceo coming up in sports. as we go to break, serena williams had a 6-16-2 win. it was hot. 106 degrees fahrenheit. that is hard work on that blue court. ♪

we are also streaming live on your tablet and smartphone. i am adam johnson. today's moving picture is where the video is the story. a shoe factory in china, killing at least 16 people. the blaze was the latest in a series of deadly industrial accidents in the country. need a reports that the owners of the factory were taken into custody. heavy rain and flooding and mudslides have less residents in southeastern brazil without power or water. a state of emergency was cleared after a river overflowed and forced hundreds to evacuate. rescuers are still trying to reach others as dams worst. took weeks, but the russian ship stuck finally reached port.

seven days after he was freed from the ice, the ship was trapped. there were more than 50 passengers aboard. amazon.com normally makes headlines for accomplishing big things. their fulfillment centers are massive. multiple football fields long. volume and staffing surged during the holidays. jeff bezos made a splash recently when he showed off the package delivery drones amazon has been working on. stocks continuing to hit records even as margins are razor thin. what you do not hear about very often, labor problems. today, a group of 30 equipment technicians will vote on whether to form a union. >> they would be joining the international association and aerospace workers, if they vote to join the union.

we are talking about 30 workers voting and being affected at a 1500 person distribution center out of a company that has at least 88,000 employees. that was the latest number at the end of 2012. >> employee dissatisfaction in amazon may be news to us, but not so overseas. unionize workers have gone on strike several times last year. they are demanding higher pay and other benefits. german workers even say demonstrations outside of amazon'seattle headquarters in december, american trade union reps even joined them in solidarity. >> what amazon is doing is taking the american race to the roadshow to the consonants, to germany, and they are trying it out on german brothers and sisters. we are here to say we support german brothers and sisters. they came all the way to germany

to come to these corporate headquarters and say, they will not put up with it. >> amazon should treat workers fair and with respect in every country. >> right. >> i am here to support our american brothers and sisters in their fight, and to get moral support and show the marketers they are not alone in their fight. >> the vast majority of workers in that little town will not participate in tonight's vote, nor will they be covered by the union if the vote goes through. there are more than 1000 pickers and packers the guys who move boxes. to give you an idea of what it is like, cory johnson caught up with one of them right before the holiday season. >> the job is simple. you go around the customer orders that pop up on the scanner screen and pull it from the bin and after you do that, you scan the item and send it. >> you are looking for 612, c

211. c is probably the third row up. and right there. >> yes. all kinds of items. >> it is a cable with a television or something. -- right next to some kind of vitamin c supplement. next to sunglasses. wine corks, next two cups, next to baseball caps. does this computer know where you are in the building? could he be running from one and to the next? >> it sometimes sends you from one to the next, but the location to give you is the one the scanner will know you are at. >> in other words, it is feeding you things to pick somewhat near your current location. >> correct. i picked until the whole tote is full and then i put it on the conveyor to send. >> when we have new people come

in, temporary workers, what is the first thing you have got to get them used to? two things, the amount of physical labor i tell them it is very physical for about your first week and then it becomes routine. the other thing is navigating throughout the building. you just have to remember it starts low to high and low to high. >> in terms of your work, this seems grueling. you're going to school, a full- time picker and student, is that exhausting? >> i love my job. probably my favorite job so far because i get to be so active and walk around all day. it makes the time go by quickly and it gives me an idea of what to give other people for the holiday season. >> he likes working at amazon. the vote is happening tonight. "american idol" is back. do not expect the usual. we will tell you about changes

coming up next. and the nba's going global. the ceo tells us. ♪

>> this is "lunch money." tonight, "american idol" kicks off its 13th season on fox but do not expected to be the same franchise it once was. they have been tinkering with the show trying to improve ratings. they brought back one judge from last season, keith urban, join now by jennifer lopez and a new judge. last season, ratings nosedive because viewers were fleeting the cat fighting.

>> it still commands the second- highest ad rate among primetime shows. even as it lost viewers, 10 million over the past few years. competitions from other shows. >> i stopped watching after kelly clarkson. >> they changed the whole industry. >> it did. it was a live talent competition. they debuted in the summer when networks used to air reruns. you now have this event television you could not dvr or tape. you had to participate and call in to vote for your favorite star and singer. they had product placement before there was really product placement. >> it is true. this show has launched a bunch of careers. jennifer hudson went on to win an oscar. carrie underwood and kelly clarkson became multiplatinum. kelly clarkson made an impression on alan krueger.

>> kelly clarkson was one of the winners. negative star. she sang at the inauguration. >> she did. i may have stepped on her down. >> way too many with alan. >> i love that. before "american idol," there was mtv's real world, a show that was a kind here in reality television. times have changed in the business. here is the executive producer and cocreator. >> we did research not long ago and the premise was you put seven diverse individuals together and it was unique we had a gay guy living with a black woman from the city and a southern woman very today, diversity is very different. for most young people, it is whether you like to party, whether you hook up to much, not the color of your skin or who you sleep with.

it is a very different generation. >> i hope you got some who like to party and hook up to much. then i will watch. >> we of course have that. >> this is part of the issue. viewers like matt are accustomed to seeing a lot more on tv. in a certain sense, how do you keep upping the ante? >> we did something different this season. "real world explosion." it seems like it is a normal real world, seven attractive young people move in together and start hooking up, and then we surprise four weeks in when all of their exes show up. >> what do you think of a scripted drama? it has come back into fashion. >> reality tv seemed to rule the airwaves for decades. >> i think it is as good as it is because of reality tv. when that exploded, particularly

in broadcast television, in the new millennium, i think scripted folks realize they would have to work a lot harder. for a number of years, "american idol" and "amazing race." these shows were dominating. you had scripted people think a little more in interesting ways. you have shows like "lost." i think reality tv has been good for folks who make scripted television. we have bedded scripted tv because of reality tv. >> let's see what else is on. we are talking nba going global. just ask the ceo. we will hear about that. plus, the retired nba star is on a global mission himself, but it is not basketball. ♪

>> congratulations for winning the 2013 championship. the president thanked them for helping people off court as well. before the event, they stopped by a nearby military hospital to visit wounded service members. the president said it is an example of charitable work row athletes do year-round. now, the brooklyn nets and the atlanta hawks. an away game tomorrow in london. tickets, they are sold out. gone in about four hours. we had a chance to catch up with the ceo and we asked him about going global. >> we are excited to be here. our team has been here in london three out of the last seven years. we look at the market as being our home away from home. we love london and have been pretty successful here. we hope to have success tonight. >> in terms of money and building a global franchise?

>> i do not look at it from a business perspective. i look at it if we can build a brand, can we build a halo around the team that speaks to audiences. that is our goal. we have the first global -- we played with brooklyn, 150 nationalities. aspire to be global. we take it one step at a time. we will ultimately be able to monetize it. think about our naming rights with our golding. a big bank here from the u.k., that was a start for us and gave us an incredible halo effect. we have been able to attract other global partners around the world and here in the u.k. it takes time to evolve the business side. you think of the metropolitan area. nine pro sports teams. very crowded and cluttered in some respects. how do you create a point of difference?

we have chosen the global positioning as our point of difference. it is starting to resonate. i am a firm believer of, the more you tell people, the more they believe it. >> talk about global positioning. he played in china and london this week. is it far more important to be playing in china, where there are so many players? >> we have three core markets. everyone needs to be in china. russia, and emerging market for the nba and u.k., barclays is a big partner and we work with other major companies in town. those are the three markets we concentrate on. we advocate play here. moving forward, i am sure there will be other markets we consider. those of the ones we go after right now. >> 30 million people play basketball in china, one reason why they consider it a core market. the guy responsible is retired from the nba but is still making a big difference in his home country.

stephen engle step down with the star turned social worker. >> we will continue to put our effort in support of kids education, particularly in western china. we also try to create another game [indiscernible] >> you bring some of your former nba colleagues over? >> yes. we try to do that. we had success in beijing last year, or peace. also, others. [indiscernible] guys like those play against the national team. >> this will not be a dennis rodman north korea thing? that is completely different. >> no comment about that. [laughter] >> you are here at the conference and that leads to the

next question about fundraising. have you found that a challenge? you are probably the most wreck sizable not only overseas but in china. how was fundraising helped by that and what are the challenges? >> the challenge today, facing a challenge. transparency is one of the biggest issues here. you have your supporter of where the money goes. a clear message to make sure every candidate donate and spend in the right place. >> how much is needed on a yearly basis to do the kinds of programs doing the social good every year? do you really need to get the country more involved in donating to charity? >> the first year, we had 45 schools. last year, we had 79. i'm expecting this year we will have another 10 schools joining us. the budget, it will be rife a little bit. the school, i do not know how

many players will come, asking to help build a school, but in the last few years, we spent nearly somewhere around $1.5 million a year per year for those projects. it is not too big numbers. no pressure. >> we think playing yell manning ming is a challenge? today's mystery meat, competitive ice climbing in colorado. ♪

>> it is 56 past the hour. loomer tv is on the market. i'm olivia sterns. let's get you caught up. the s&p 500 closed at a new high. there was a record high for the benchmark index. the dow jones added a triple

digit gain. they are up about 108 points. the nasdaq gained almost 32 points. we saw some action in the treasury market. they came up ever so slightly. about eight to basis point movement. there are signs that the u.s. economy is improving. we saw oil climbing today, after a new report showed that u.s. inventories are at a 22-month- old low. the unemployment rate fell to a five-year low of 6.7% last month. female participation rate is at a 20 year low. one reason may be that the united states is one of the only countries that does not require paid maternity leave. two congresswomen are looking to change that. kris until around is involved in introducing a family and medical insurance leave act of 2013. reporter isews'

looking into why this is important. she joins me from washington, the. know senator gillibrand has brought her child to capitol hill, why the push now? >> it is a great question. it is a moment where the u.s. has an issue with the female labor force participation. they are looking for some way, some solution to solve that. are three states, california, rhode island, new jersey that have sponsored paid maternity leave. the two commerce from their looking for ways to introduce a nationwide. >> what are the economics europe maternity leave? have there been any studies showing what the cost is two employers or what the potential benefit is to society at large question mark -- society at large?

be a cost the employer. it will be a cost to the employees. it is worth it. women will get 12 weeks to take care of their children. then they will return to the labor force and they are more productive. >> how does the u.s. compared to other countries? >> that is a great question. it does not look great. there are only two countries in the world that do not have paid maternity leave. the u.s. is one of them. the other one is pop in new guinea. >> only 12% of americans have access to paid maternity leave. how is that possible? like bank ofyers america, dell, they offer their employees maternity leave. requirementroduce a in states like california, new jersey, rhode island where they require that women who leave benefit from that. if you think this would be a policy that the employers would want to extend to their

employees in order to keep them. so manyially, there are elements we are looking for a job. this is one way to attract them. care,mpanies that really they want to recruit the best talent, they will offer these benefits. these benefits are offered to very well educated women who are rup well. but they are maybe not necessarily offer two waitresses. >> thank you for your time. that is on the market, i'm olivia sterns.