tv Power Lunch CNBC May 14, 2013 1:00pm-2:01pm EDT
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the day after he said he was bullish right here. that does it for us. don't forget to catch more "fast money" that's of course took at 5:00 p.m. "power lunch" starts right now. breaking news, attorney general eric holder about to -- it has to do with fraud in the medicare system. we believe he will be asked about a new headache and a week of them. this one involves the seizing of records from the associated press involves intelligence leaks. sue? >> ty, we have a market alert, or should we call it a david tepper alert. he was indeed very bullish. the markets riling now are responding to that.
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right now the dow jones industrial average is up 85 points, up almost triple digits a short while ago. >> up 13 on the trading session, we'll get back to the growing problems for the obama administration, but first more on the markets and the -- bottom line, he is actual bullish. he thinks even once the fed cuts back, the rally will still run. take a listen. >> i think it will be a -- into the future because of the defici deficits, and the gap, how they can take it down. you at some point they'll want it to go up. anybody who's been on a diagonal knows you can get off the jelly doughnuts and survive.
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>> he's managing directors. he is not one he believes we need that -- >> he's also quite a winner. so i don't know if i'm going to basically put the stamp of approval on his predictions. but clearly he knows what he's talking about. pretty strong performance there. >> as aggressively as all these nay sayers having saying. so even if there were a modest pullback. we've also outlasted any void of buy side that would fill in. i think any time we did have a pullback, you'll see people come in and say maybe here is the first step to come in.
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>> are you one who worries about the possible tapers about the fed? >> it would come at some point. >> it's undeniable, and in the first four months out of the years. but that selling that's going to come when it steps away will be slow. we've seen them hint at it twice in the past few months. both times they sold off only a bit. i believe as much as mr. teper does, any pullback will be met with buys. companies are still doing a lot. once the home builders kick in, there are so many legs that can continue here if we get a bit of that confidence in the market. >> all right. joe, thank you so much. appreciate it. >> any time. >> ty, back up to you.
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>> sue, thank you very much. another big story, the heat is getting hotter. in the wake of admissions that they were zeroing in on conservative groups. >> i'm calling on everyone, who can answer the questions to what's been going on at the i.r.s., who knew about it? and how high it went? no stonewalls, no more incomplete answers. >> kay bailey hutchison is a former republican senator from texas. good to see you. >> thank you, tyler. good to be here. >> what were your first thoughts when you heard the i.r.s. was in fact singling out conservative
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political action groups as they went through the nonprofit applications. what did you think? >> tyler, i was one of 12 senators last march that wrote to the commissioner of i.r.s. and said we are getting reports from four different states, from these conservative organizations saying that they've been asked for every donor with names and contact information, and how much they have given to these 501 c-4 organizations, which is way out of bounds, it's not in the law at all, and so we wrote to the commissioner in march, again in june, again in august, and never got definitive answers. so it's been going on for over a year. >> what was the nature of the answers you did get? did they smell fishy to you? were they squirrely? what did he say? >> that's why we kept going back again and again and again. it was gobbledygook, is what it
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was. it was, well, we have had this in place since 1959, and we are just following the law, and clearly now because of i.g., we know they were not just following the law. they were targeting patriot and tea party as flags to determine who their contributors were. it's outrageous. >> you've just heard and the president characterized it yesterday as outrageous. what do you think of the obama administration's -- the white house -- let me say that more precisely -- the white house's response to this budding scandal, and what could the administration do right now to satisfy you and lower the temperature? >> the white house needs to show that, of all things, the i.r.s., with the information they have on every tax-paying american, must regain its credibility.
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to do that, the white house needs to -- well, the president needs to take stepping to, first of all, determine exactly how -- where this landed, and take steps against the people who would do something that is so unprofessional and dishonest action and they've got to get to the bottom of it and show that he's taking it seriously. his words are good, and now let's see what the actions are. >> talk is cheap, as the saying goes, or as mommy told me, it's the actions that count. stick with us, if you wouldn't mind, as we bring in john harwood and eamon javers. the white house is facing heat over benghazi, the i.r.s. matter, the associated press. the attorney general will hold a news conference in about 20 minutes, delayed from a 1:00 p.m. start time. he's going to be talking principally on medicare fraud, but do you expect he's going to get queried about this a.p.
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story as well as the other things in the news? >> tyler, if you look at that front row, that press conference that you just saw, the empty podium, the front row of reporters are all chomping at the bit, i can guarantee you to ask questions about eric holder's personal knowledge about this organization, what did he sign off on, and when did she sign off? one of the question toss watch for is whether or not eric holder will recuse himself in any of they. the question here is why did the department of justice feel it was necessary to go after phone records for over 20 phone lines impacting as many as 20 reporters, the department of justice was trying to figure out who it was who gave information to the u.ap, but we also have in this weird split-screen moment, we have the press secretary coming out to talk about that piece. >> let's listen to karney here
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for a second, folks. see what he's asked. >> reporter: -- on the i.r.s., and on the injures department issue yesterday in your statement, you want those matters are handled independently by the justice department, but it is the president's at mrgs, so i wonder doesn't the responsibility for setting tone, setting direction ultimately rest with the president on these matters? >> well the responsibility to set tone and to focus on the priorities of the american people is absolutely the responsibility of the president. you see and hear him do that every day, as he fulfills his duties as president. you know, i think you have to separate these issues. i think if you look at the answers the president gave yesterday in response to questions on the one hand about the clear political circus that benghazi has become, and his response to questions about the
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reports of activity by the i.r.s., i think you see something different. he made clear that if the reports about the activity of i.r.s. personnel prove to be true, he would find them outrageous, and you would expect that appropriate action would be taken, and that people would be held responsible. he has no tolerance for targeting of specific groups, conservative groups, if the reporting is true on this, and they would expect action to be taken. but this is a matter, when it comes to the i.r.s., that is under review by the independent inspector general. we have not seen that -- >> that's the press secretary jay carney reiterating the president's sense of outrage if the facts bear out that i.r.s. employees were unfairly and inappropriately targeting political groups that carry the name "tea party" or "patriot" in
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them. >> john harwood, this has not been a good week for the white house. how do you see this sort of trio of issues playing out over the next weeks and months? >> well, on separate tracks. first of all, the i.r.s. story that jay carney is addressing right now, the critical thing there is whether or not anyone can connect that scandal, the misconduct by i.r.s. employees to the white house, either in terms of being informed of it early on or condoning that behavior, or explicitly giving those orders. if it does, that is a big and continuing serious scandal for the administration. benghazi and the issue of what happened there less so. this has been brooded about for a long time. there's no evidence that the american people in particular have focused on it, unlike the i.r.s. scandal, one in a everyone can understand the in terms of the a.p. phone records thing, that's more of a media
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preoccupation than for the american people. when you think about it, americans want the government to be very aggressive and forward-leaning in terms of protecting them from threats. they're a bit less concerned about the rights of journalists than us journalists are. so i think they're divergent tracks, all problems for the administration, all provide political static and make it difficult for them to advance their agenda, but they're not moving in the same direction necessarily. >> senator hutch sison you just heard mr. karney characterize benghazi hearings as a political circus, what do you think? >> not at all. what i think you see, tyler is an administration where the top people in the administration, the justice department, the i.r.s., the cia, the state department, are all in credibility gaps.
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i think the american people are looking at this, and they're saying cynicism? really? i mean, c'mon, we've got to have transparency and integrity, especially in these very sensitive areas like justice department, cia, and most certainly i.r.s. so i don't think it's a political theater, except that if there is going to be a cover-up or a delay or kind of shuffling off, as i'm hearing from jay carney, i think they're not taking it seriously, and i think the american people are. >> senator hutchison, thank you very much. good to see you again, ma'am. >> thank you. john and eamon action thank you as well. ty, the federal government wants the states to get tougher on drunk driving. phil lebeau has the story. >> sue, this would be a recommendation from the national transportation safety board, a recommendation that board would
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then make to states and up to the states to actually change the blood alcohol level that is determining drunk driving. right now for most states it's 0.08 is the level for impaired driving. some states it's still 1.0. but when you also have -- or 0.10, but you also have the ntsb saying it should be lowered down to 0.05. they believe that would save between 500 and 800 lives. buzzed drive is the same as drunk driving, and you can lower that threshold and save about 500 to 800 lives, sue, just for a point of reference, go back to 2010, the most recent statistics, more than 10,000 people in the united states drive in drunk driving accidents. 1.4 million were arrested for drunk driving. they believe they can cut that number dramatically as states lower the level to 0.05. >> phil, thank you very much. let's look at shares of dell
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today. right now the stock is trading down about half a percent. the report is that penza assets is supporting carl icahn's bid for the pc maker, saying hess $12 a share cash offer is superior to mr. dell's offer to take the company private. morgan stanley holding the annual shareholder meeting. a lot of those shareholders are very angry and restless, not at all thrilled with the ceo's performance. the shares are down 25% since he took over three years ago. we'll talk about that next. morgan stanley, though, is up 3% today. and is the nation's food supply at risk due to a declining honey bee population? we're back in two minutes' time.
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take a look at shares of sony. they're surging today, up almost 11% now. billionaire hedge fund manager daniel lobe wants the company to sell up to 20% of the entertainment business and use that money to prop of its ailing unit. >> ty, up to you. >> sue, morgan stanley holding the annual meeting today. james gorman was expected to get heat from shareholders about the share price the shares down 20% since he became the ceo three years ago. mary thompson is covering the meeting for you. hi, mary. >> reporter: hey there, tyler, the meeting was a quick 55 minutes, not only a lot of heat about the share price at the
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meeting. however gorman and some of the directors did talk about a key driver of the stock prices, that being return on equity, a measure of profitability. gorman say they are targeting a return on equity of trouble spo f.i.c. business is a long-term work in progress. kidder, the director, added that the bank is looking to scale this business to its customers' needs, not to the size of rivals like jpmorgan. other highlights from the meeting, all director are with his reelected by a high margin, all the proposals passed. there were no shareholder proposals. gorman also talked about the regulatory environment, saying that any higher capital requirements would inhibit the economy, because it would inhibit lending. he said that regulators should fin working on dodd frank before they start adding new capital rules. he ended with a note -- or didn't end with a note, but also talked about the pending
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completion of the acquisition of the rest of the wealth management business, which the fed has approved. he says ones the final process has been done, he goes, it will be a significant event for morgan stanley. back to you, sue. >> we have breaking news now. steve liesman's got it for us. what's up, steve? >> thanks very much. we have a statement from the bank of england regarding the bloomberg breach, where a spokesperson said while bloomberg appears to have done with data is reprehensible. it goes on to say they're in close contact with bloomberg which has given assurances, quote, this won't happen again. finally they say they are lee acing with -- so i think the significant here, sue, is that it's the first central bank to make negative comments about this, at least publicly, and give their sort of peace of mind over this breach that we've been talking about the last couple days, sue.
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>> steve, thank you very much. steve liesman. ty, up to you. >> thank you, sue. the blackberry 10, remember that? what can the company do for an encore? seema mody is at the annual blackberry developers' conference down in orlando. seema? >> tyler, blackberry trying to reinvent itself, nos just in the smartphone base. i'll get you the details after this break. "power lunch" is back in two. with fidelity's guaranteed one-second trade execution, we route your order to up to 75 market centers to look for the best possible price -- maybe even better than you expected. it's all part of our goal to execute your trade in one second. i'm derrick chan of fidelity investments. our one-second trade execution is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. now get 200 free trades when you open an account. [ agent smith ] i've found software that intrigues me.
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the conference taking place in sunny orlando, at least i think it's sunny. the introduction of the blackberry 10 has come and gone, and what can the ceo do for as encore is it it's ultimate 30% or more year to date. seema mody is covering it for us. >> reporter: a lot of announcements made in the keynote today, but here are the major takeaways. first blackberry is unveiling the new phone, the q5, set to come out this summer, bbm, a messaging service will be vain as well. blackberry is also launching bbm channels, a social engagement platform. theably announcement andenists say this could be a game changer. 10.1, it's updated mobile computing platform. to focused on being a dominant leader, of course, that's definitely one of
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the big plans, but they also see blackberry being a leader in the mobile computing space. down just slightly on the day. tyler? >> back to you. >> i'll kick it down to sue. thank you, seema. we're going to have a lot more on whyon stocks with the dow jones industrial average up 90 points. we're going to talk more about that. and it has been a very tough year for the short sellers. we'll look at what the future holds for anyone going the other way. more "power lunch" in two minutes' time. are you still sleeping? just wanted to check and make sure that we were on schedule.
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under pressure here, down about $10, just under the 14 ha level. we're watching as equities continue to gain down action an there's interest in the precious metal exchange traded funds remain steady. what is on the up side? platinum group metals. meanwhile, other metals are certainly on the defense. a key left there around $23, but
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it's bounced a bit from the lows of the day. keep an eye on the copper. copper prices are significantly under pressure. a lot of traders are watching the data, worrying about slowing growth there. looking at the increasing supplies and also what some of the lead miners are sigh about what their forecasts are, meanly bill i t bill iton is even selling one of their mines in arizona. to the bond market, where rick santelli, but the big moves that we've seen in the dollar and the yin lately. ricky, over to you. >> absolutely. there are big moves, but today in particular, with the equities taking on a pretty good rally, if you pair it up with a chart of the ten-year, pay a bit more takenings to the rally, and that does make sense. if you open the chart up to
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april 1st for the ten-year, based on closes, the low yield is 162. currently at 195, but about 32 basis points up. contrast that with what's going on in ten-year jgbs. if you look at the april 1st of today, they basically double a yield from 44 to 86. today alone they were up 11 basis points, almost a 15% move in one day. and if we look at the currency side, as sue is referencing, we are now solidly passed 102, we're hovering just a bit below 102.40, so it all continues. the issue is, will it all hold together? not many aren't worried, but there's a lot of eyeballs watching that jgb. remember how many outstanding jgbs there are? about 9.3 trillion worth of them. back to you. >> with a "t." that's your bond report for today. attorney general eric holder has
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just begun his news conference at the in washington. he is expected to be questioned and queried on the a.p. controversy. if indeed he does comment on that, we will bring it to you. meantime, let's get the trading action. up almost triple digits again. birtha coombs is with with me. >> a new all-time record for the high. art cashin is calling this the tnt rally, as in tuesday and tepper. on tuesdays for the last 17 we have been up every single tuesday, a very long streak. today would make it 18, the longest streak for a trading day is on wednesdays. david teper this morning making have i strong, and say citi is still his top holding, and financials today no surprise are among the strongest sector,
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we're seeing strength as well today in energy. wpx regulators have cleared that company in terms of its drilling activities and any kind of contamination with gas. also biotech is high today, in particular i want to highlight myogen the maker of the braka-1 test, angelina jolie talking about that and how she maid the decision for a radical mastectomy after having that test. >> bertha, thank you very much. touch ago 12 1/2 year high, some of the big name tech stocks are faring pretty well today in general with google leading the way with a better than 1%. apple is lagging behind, down almost a full percent on the trading session. intel and ebay are also on the list. the market overall rallying on the bullish comments.
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he made those comments on "squawk box" this morning. >> very similar to early stage economy. utilization is low, so you have room there. we have a bit of room to run. >> well, is mr. tepper right? good to see you again, andrew. >> thank you. >> you're thrilled. you've been bullish on this market for some time. >> basically what david tepper is saying the whole rally from the low has only been about earnings. and so we could have a combination of pretty good earnings plus p.e. expansion. that makes for a pretty good market. i think that's what we're on the cusp of. i would call the second stage, which is the p.e. expanding market. we interview so much people that are looking for what they kerr a healthy correction in the market.
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>> not happening. >> it's absolutely not happening? >> i think maybe this summer, but the fact is the last time this was on, i was worried about the earnings, revenues were light, earnings okay, but the market looked right through it. the whole bull market is predicated on the economy picking up in the second half of this year. we're not going to know that until later this year. what's going to keep this market down? >> let's listen to mr. tepper on that. here's what he had to say. >> so overwhelming. the economy is getting better, housing is better, autos are getting better. they can't find enough people to work, housing is the only thing holding it back right snow. >> before we get to that, josh, what are dell's earnings looking like? >> this is via dow jones, first quarter e.p.s. of 20 cents. looking for 35 cents. in terms of revenue, roughly 14
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billion. the street was looking at it for 13.5. interestingly you don't see the stock moving much. you do see earlier this morning, 11:00, it did take a pretty sharp drop. dell was going to report earnings, but again, according to dow jones, first-quarter eps, 20 cents versus the street, guys, back to you. >> to be clear, josh, this is an earlier release than the street expected. is that correct? >> that's correct. we had david earlier this morning sook. this is even earlier than expected. >> thanks very much, josh. back to andrew now, you basically agreed with what david te peismt peismter said. if up to p-- i'm an equity mana. i think what has been left
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behind so far is really growth stocks, technology, health care has started to pick up. those are cheap relative to where they have traded in the past. the high dividend-yielding stocks, that's a bubble. these stocks are way too expensive. it's the growth. at the later stages, people reach for growth appreciation. i think that's where the money will be made. >> let's talk about where you are making money. you were early and right on japan, but since that call, we've seen japan with -- >> big moves. >> would you add -- >> i would add to europe. let's not forget that the stock market is up, and we've had anemic growth. it's a you will about expectations. in europe, expectations are really low. so stocks are very, very cheap there. and so i think they'll play catch-up with the rest of the world here, and there are a lot of very good multinational companies that are based in europe, and because they're
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based in europe, they don't trade the same valuation. >> they're being punished for being in europe? >> exactly. >> automakers have rebounded, as we know, the car loan delinquencies are on the rise, which doesn't sound like a good phenomenon going down the road, phil. >> it doesn't, but take a look at the latest data. what we're showing you is what happens with repossession rates, and what's important to keep in mind is we're still below the rates of what we saw, up 16.9% year over year, but below the 2007 levels and 2008 levels. we're still only talking about half a percent of all auto loans where it ended where they had to go out and repossess the car. buyers with subprime credit are fueling sales on the lots, but most people are saying this is a natural expansion in terms of who is buying cars. 2.36% of all auto loans were 30 days delinquent in the first
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quarter, the average charge-off for bad auto loans about $7400, still most who track this industry say it's at a healthy rate right now. >> i don't think there's need to be concerned with the industry right now, we are seeing some slight increases in delinquency. however, there's they're still at historic lows. even despite a slight increase in delinquency, the charge-offs are lower today than they've been in years. >> what we are seeing, more people on the lower end of the economy, those subprime borrowers, they're coming into the market. that's increasingly what's fueling the auto sales right now. >> phil lebeau, thank you very much. andrew, do you worry about statistics like that at all? does it factor into your investing strategy? >> always. >> housing cycle is turning up, consumers will feel better about spending money. >> how about the fed tapering off? >> that's an issue. they've floated that idea. that's a 2014 story, so kind of the tragic story here is a that
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most retail investors are underinvested in equities. so we'll have another good year, even from here, and just at the time when people actually start to step in, just as the feds taper off. so we've seen this movie before. >> we have, unfortunately. >> i think this is the big year for equities. next year when the fed tapers, it's going to be tougher. >> we'll see. you've been right so far. andrew, thank you so much. it's great to have you back with us. ty? >> thank you, sue. the three major indices up for the year. it has been a tough year for short sellers, and it doesn't look like it will get easier. josh lipman is at our market desk. >> what david had to say to the long-only crowd. he also had words for investors who like to go short. let's take a listen. >> if there's a true taper, there had better be a true taper or else you're in the last half of '99. so like guys that are short,
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they better have a shovel to get themselves out. >> in fact, shorts are already getting buried. bob hickey of bespoke, in the s&p 1500 with the highest short interest as a percentage of float, some of these that bear names, which the shorts bet lower actually bounce higher. gamestop, super value are up double digits. j.c. pen yes also short of the s&p 5001500, so why the bounce? is the market keeps moving higher, so the investors are willing to step in. they also reported better than expected quarterly results. regarding, this could all be bad news, as hickey says, unless the market changes course. a lot of bearish portfolio managers may find themselves with dwindling assets or out of
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a job come summer. sue, back to you. >> thank you very much, josh. i'm still talking to andrew over here. he's fascinating. there's a serious risk to the nation ease food supply. jane wells has the buzz, literally, on that. >> reporter: hey, sue, check it out. i'm surrounded by pomegranates and al months. bees pollinate our -- but do we have a bee-pocalypse? we go over the facts when we come back. as with el go to the break, two stocks that having a favorite, tesla and green mountain, both surging in just the last week alone. [ male announcer ] my client gloria has a lot going on in her life. wife, mother, marathoner. but one day it's just gonna be james and her. so as their financial advisor, i'm helping them look at their complete financial picture --
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becoming part of the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ trees will talk to networks will talk to scientists about climate change. cars will talk to road sensors will talk to stoplights about traffic efficiency. the ambulance will talk to patient records will talk to doctors about saving lives. it's going to be amazing. and exciting. and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away. the next big thing? we're going to wake the world up. ♪ and watch, with eyes wide, as it gets to work. ♪ cisco. tomorrow starts here. in today's question of the day, we want to know with david
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tepper saying, would you follow his advice? that's an even split, and 13%% say you're selling. let's see what's coming up on "streets signs." mandy, what are you selling? >> i'm peddling information and info-tainment. you want big changes at sony, right? but the question is, can a westerner really muscle in on the japanese corporate culture? it's a good question. you may notice it's been a few tough weeks for the obama administration. just headlines maybe to you and me, but are there some economic implications in all of this? and some youngsters saying facebook has never quite been the same since their mom friended them. is it becoming mom-book? all those things are coming up.
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"street signs" is the name of the game. back to you. >> thank you, mandy. is the nation's food supply at risk? the alarming drop of the honeybee population is raising fears. jane, what is the buzz inevitably? >> reporter: here i have my live "bee" roll. it used to be you lose 15% to 20% of your population and then you rebuild. usda said last year it jumped to 30%. gordon handles bee for paramount farming company. he says it's become an issue as they're trying to figure out why. they bring in 60% of the u.s. commercial bee colonies every year to pollenate, and this year beekeepers couldn't keep up with the demand. >> we went to producers and said can i rent a couple thousand colonies, so we tapped into resources this year for bees
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that we never tapped into about of. >> eric mussen is a bee expert at uc davis. he says you can't blame one thing for the collapse of bee colonies, parasites, maybe pesticides, the midwest drought. a lot of beekeepers say they're starving to death as urbanization replaces bee food. >> we've converted some of the lands that used to have nice food for bees to places where they can't find food anymore. they're just plain short on food. >> reporter: what are people trying to do about it they're trying to plant flowers and bee food. europe is considering banning pest cites harmful to bees bottom lines colonies will rebuild, food will get pollenated, it just will take longer and cost more. >> yeah, it will cost a lot more. thank you, janie, very much. last night was the annual
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robin hood gala. "power lunch" was there. see what the biggest names on wall street were talking about over dinner. you're not going to believe how some tour ises are trying to get ahead at disney world. we're back in two minutes' time. with the new staples rewards program you get 5% back, on everything.
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welcome back. we have breaking news about google ceo larry page. he just posted about his voice condition. a lot of us were wondering -- he took some time off for a while. his voice still sounded softer than in the past. in his posting, he says he's got two paralyzed vocal cords. he had one paralyzed about 14 years ago, then last year had an issue with another one. he's funding some research into the condition. it's a very interesting case, given the news of the day. we know that sergei brinn has funded some research, he has a genetic marker, and angelina jolie today out with news about a double mastectomy because of a
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genetic marker. we see these wealthy individuals funding research based on conditions they have. this answers the question why his page has been soft. matt, over to eamon javers with more breaking news. >> eric holder is taking questions about the question of who authorized a subpoena to obtain phone reports at the associated press. the attorney general is speaking now. he said that he recused himself early on in this investigation, and said in fact that the deputy attorney general was the one to horridize the subpoena. he also said the people in this information did things according to the department of justice rules. let's take a listen in.
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>> again, i don't know what the circumstances were, how things are done in a particular investigation have to be done by the facts, and i frankly don't have knowledge of those facts. >> reporter: the underlying question is the policy of the administration when it comes to the ability of the media to cover the news. i think the question for you, given the fact that this news organization was not given an opportunity to try to quash this, it leaves us in a position of wondering if the administration has somehow decided policywise it's kind of going to go after us. >> that is certainly not -- i can talk about policy. that is certainly not the policy of this administration. if you will remember during
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meyer confirmation hearings, i testified in the position in favor of such a law, didn't get the necessary support we investigate investigated not a result of a policy or the facts of the law have dictated our actions in that regard. >> you want it's notice hyperbole that this put american lives at risk, it's the underlying investigation was basically run with the knowledge and with the hand of the u.s. government. why is there any risk to americans when that information came out. >> i can't answer that question. >> on your decision to recuse yourself? >> towards the beginning of the investigation, perhaps we can get for you the exact date. i don't know when that was, but as i said, it was because i was
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one of the people that had knowledge of this matter, i have frequent contact with the media, and try to make sure that this investigation was seen as one that was independent and to avoid even the possibility of an appearance of a conflict, i made the determination to recuse myself. >> reporter: on the irs controversy, is there any concern that criminal laws have been broken, and if so, have you ordered an investigation? >> i -- i have ordered an investigation to be begun. the fbi is coordinating with the justice department to see if any laws were broken in connection with those matters related to the i.r.s. those were, i think, as everyone can agree, if not criminal, they were certain outrageous and unacceptable, but we are examining the facts to see if there were criminal violations. >> reporter: are you also reskewed from the stocks net
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investigation out of maryland? >> i'm not going to comment on that. >> reporter: with the i.r.s. and a.p. situations, a lot of americans say they don't trust the administration right now. what can you say to them? >> well, to the extent that we have determined that actors in government have gone beyond what they were supposed to do action broken regulations, broken rules, broken the law, we have prosecuted people. we have held people accountable. we have tried to do things according to the rules. there are going to be people occasionally who will not do so. it is then incumbent upon us who have enforcement responsibilities to make sure we hold those people accountable, and i think our record shows over the last 4 1/2 years we have done that. >> >> the regulations require them to be drawn as narrowly as possibly, do you believe in this case where there's a two-month period, is that in your view a narrowly drawn request? >> i would refer to you to the
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deputy attorney general has written a her in response to the a.p. letter. i would assume -- i don't know if it's been made available yet, but that has a number of assertions in it that contradict some of the assertions that were made by the letter that came from the a.p. i would refer you to that in regard to response to that question. >> the a.p. story, the i.r.s. story, the failure to close guantanamo. there's a growing sense this administration arecord on civil liberties has not lived up to the promises that you and others made in 2008 and the criticisms of the past administration. looking broughtly at the civil liberties record, are you disappointed? and why hasn't more been done? >> i'm proud of what we have done. the policies that we put in place with regard to, let's say, the war on terror, we decided
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that certain interrogation techniques were not going to be used. we have, i think been been aggressive in or enforcement of the civil rights laws. there's a whole host of things this administration has done that are consistent with what i believe the president campaigned on and what we promised at the beginning of this administration. >> reporter: -- during the last administration, president signed executive orders that effectively continued what had already happened. you mentioned civil rights laws, better there are so many other examples that -- both on the left and the right. do you need to change course? aren't you trampling on civil liberties the same way the bush administration is? >> no, we're not. this administration has put a real value on the rule of law, and our values, as americans, i think the actions that we have
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taken are consistent with both. if one looks in a dispassionate way, what we have done in a variety of areas i've found a more abundant civil rights division. that is a division now that has brought record numbers of cases, protected record numbers of people, i will take issue with you with regard to how we have conducted the war on terror, and with regard to interrogation policies. there were changes made by this administration, a repudiation of opinions that existed when we came into office. so we're talking about, i think, changes that were consistent with what the president campaigned on. carrie? >> reporter: expressed some concern about lack of transparency with regard to the administration's drone program and promised more transparency. what are you going to do about that? >> we are in the process of
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speaking to that. i made a promise that i think will be kept both by me and by the president in a relatively short period of time. >> the phone records, the notification spoke to phone records, because the justice department's speaking to, it doesn't speak to e-mail reports. based on your briefings either at the time or now, can you say whether journalists' e-mail records, including contents that may be older than six monies were accessed as part of this investigation? >> again, you would have to refer to the letter that the deputy attorney general prepared. it actually i think is from what i understand -- i've only seen it in draft form, but it is pretty specific about to
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