hi, everybody. welcome to "on the money." i'm becky quick. this week, we're on the road just outside of charlotte, north carolina where a new law is taking center stage. he came close to winning "american idol" and a seat for congress. clay aiken is anything but quiet about the new law. plus the new rules that will affect your retirement no matter what. and it could mean more money in your pocket. >> and the big movement in tiny houses. why less is more when it comes to space and money. >> some people give you weird looks when you come out of your bus or tiny house or what have you. >> "on the money" starts right now. this is "on the money." your money, your life, your

future. now, becky quick. we begin with a controversial new law in north carolina called hb2, but there is an important story behind the letters and numbers. depending where you stand it's either a new civil rights battle or a matter of civil conviction. the impact is being felt way beyond the tar heel state. that is our cover story today. >> in february the city of charlotte passed a bill prohibiting discrimination against the lgbt community. the lawless was opposed. and then on a single day in march, the legislature passed and the governor signed a new law overturning the charlotte civil rights statute. the state law has two parts. the first part requires transgender people to use bathrooms in public schools and state agencies that matches the gender on their birth certificate. the second bans any county from creating new anti-discrimination laws, but is carefully worded to

not name lgbt by name. more than 140 corporate ceo signed a letter to the governor. they include facebook, pfizer, citi bank. and plans to invest $3.6 million to open a global organization center that would have created 400,000 jobs. still the state's lieutenant governor is calling the controversy and corporate threats a big bluff. >> happened in houston with the ordinances, all the same cast of characters came out saying they would pull out of business, houston is still in business. >> joining us now is clay aiken. he ran for congress in the state's second district in 2014. he is a native of north carolina and a graduate of unc charlotte. you may also recognize him from "celebrity apprentice" and "american idol." he joins us right now from los angeles. what did you think about your homestate's most recent move? >> i think most everyone was quite disappointed in it. i think not only was it something that is obviously

discriminatory which is ironic considering it's an anti-discrimination bill, but done under the cloak of night. something that legislatures came back into special session for. and sort of snuck in to the state books. so, it was not only disappointing, but it was surprising and frustrating. >> north carolina's seeing a lot of pressure from big companies. do you think that will have impact and eventually change the law? >> unfortunately the governor signed it into law and at this point the governor doesn't have say in it. i think he's the only politician in the state that is in the position to be swayed by that type of pressure from businesses. republican legislators in the house and senate have gerrymandered themselves into such safe districts their not worried about that type of pressure from their constituents. so i'm hopeful that the business community will continue to put pressure and some of those state

legislators will have to realize they made a mistake. but i'm not convinced at this point they have the foresight to necessarily worry about something like that. >> as recently as six, seven, eight years ago, when municipalities made moves like this, it didn't get much of a backlash from the corporate community. do you think this push back is an altruistic move by these companies or a marketing strategy? >> it is an altruistic move and it is also a business move. it's okay to be both. they don't want to be working or asking people to come work in a state like north carolina where they might be kicked out of their apartment or their home because they're gay. they might not have the same rights as they would if they went to another state that was more welcoming. i think that is incredibly important for the company to do. >> do you think the governor expected such a loud, national backlash when he passed this law? do you think he was anticipating that. >> i think he absolutely was.

he saw what was going on in indiana, in georgia, that's why he did this under the cover of night. he did not give time for the state and business community to read over the bill. he knew exactly what he was getting into. i think it was a big miss calculation on his part. >> let's talk about the presidential election what do you think of the trump phenomenon and what do you think of trump himself? >> i think mr. trump is someone i don't know. i knew him when i was on celebrity apprentice, but i don't know the person running today, and i don't think donald trump knows the person is running to today. i think the phenomenon is powerful and it is something he needs to pay attention to. he has tapped into an ugly part of the republican electorate. i don't know he's the appropriate spokesperson for it because i'm not completely convinced he believes everything he's saying. >> this last week "american

idol" aired its last show after 15 seasons. you were the winner of season two. what do you think about the evolution of the show, and american culture more broadly? >> i was on the final episode this week, and i was moved by the president's speech at beginning. he talked about how much idol has really made the importance of voting evident to a lot of young people. and i think if there is anything that idol has done, it is allow the people at home to be involved in helping to make people's dreams come true. giving opportunity. i think that is something that people in politics need to take note of. they need to make sure they're giving people opportunity that they don't have. we need to make sure people at home are voting like they have so readily on idol for so many years. >> clay, thank you for joining us today. appreciate your time. >> now here is a look at what is making news. as we head into a new week "on the money." america's economy is on a solid course.

those words from federal reserve chair janet yellen on thursday night. she made a rare appearance with her three predecessors in new york. she also said the labor market is near full strength and that the fed is on track for future rate hikes. the dow had the worst week after following the price of oil. and stocks rebounded on friday. alaska air will be buying virgin america. it will be the fifth largest in the country. the deal valued at $4 billion. even though it won't be out until the end of 2017, tesla's model 3 that will sell for about $35,000 appears to be a big success before the car is even out. the company says it has received 325,000 reservations for the all-electric car. that would translate into $14 billion in sales. all they have do is build and deliver those cars. this week, we're coming to you from the brand new head

quarters of movement mortgage located outside of charlotte in fort mill, south carolina. last fall we introduced you to the former nfl player and ceo casey crawford. he told us how he started the company. get this, it began with a simple google search. >> this looks fantastic. >> casey crawford wasn't drafted out of college but he spent two years as a tight end with the carolina panthers, then he got cut. but he joined the tampa bay buccaneers in 2002 winning a super bowl. >> i need to set up a call with the head of sales. >> reporter: crawford began to flip homes while he began to play football. he was doing so well he quit the nfl. he wanted to build a mortgage business but didn't know how to start, so he googled it. a year later in september of 2008, crawford's mortgage company, about 20 people, opened for business. just before the mortgage crisis hit. >> we had a full 30 days before

october of 2008 before the whole world came collapsing down. >> his company survived. today, movement mortgage and it's 300 employees are an $8 billion business. charlotte is the second growing city in the united states. is the advise you're getting from your financial adviser really the best for you? the saanswer is not always. right now, a look at how the stock market ended the week.

we are here in the rapidly growing charlotte area, and powering that growth in the area is duke energy.

it's the largest electric utility in the country. lynn good is duke's energy chairman, president and ceo, and is number 13 on the fortune list of most powerful women in business. thanks for being here today. >> it's a pleasure. thanks for coming to the carolinas. >> here in north carolina, 40% of the power that you're generating is coming from nuclear? >> new technologies are an important part of our business and impacting our industry as it has been impacting others. we have been retiring coal plants, introducing natural gas and renewables. one of the great things about duke energy is that we have an extraordinary nuclear fleet. 40% of the power comes from carbon free generation. that's legacy that's been a part of for years. we will continue to operate

those plants as safely as we can, pursuing extension of licenses, it that is popular. if we look ahead, one of the considerations that impacted new nuclear is natural gas because of the low cost natural gas. the economics of new nuclear is something you have to look carefully at. it's a long-term investment with all of the change that's going on in this industry, you have to be really confident before you begin a process at building a plant that you hope is a great technology for 50, 60 years. >> let's talk about solar. you recently opened a huge solar generating farm as well. that's the type of thing people think this is great what are the upsides and down sides of solar? >> solar is an important resource. the costs have been coming down. it's a peaking resource available, of course, when the sun shines. we see it as being increasingly important in our portfolio. i would emphasize, becky, it's in a portfolio. because we're responsible for

24/7power. so putting solar with a compliment of hydro and nuclear and natural gas and coal makes a portfolio that our customers can rely on for reliable power and affordable power. >> the question then is how to store some of that with batteries. where are we in that battle so you can have solar power being stored when the sun is shot shining. >> batteries are still under development. duke is a leader in looking at battery technology, piloting battery technology throughout our system. but the cost effectiveness, and the ability to scale battery technology is the challenge that we face. so i think it will be incremental overtime as the technology continues to improve, but we'll need a portfolio of other resources for a long time to provide power that customers rely on. you have customers in north carolina, south carolina, florida, illinois, kentucky, how are your customers doing right now? >> power generation, the growth in power, has been slowing for some time, becky. really coming out of the

economic downturn. so there has been a nice rebound and a number of industries, but we're still not selling as much electricity as we did during that peak period. i don't think that's all bad. energy efficiency, something that both industry and residential customers care deeply about is a part of that equation. heating and air conditioning system, new refrigerate their customers are buying, as well as the programs we offer are continuing to drive efficiency. that's an important part of the mix. >> that's a good thing to point out. lynn, thank you very much for joining us. >> it's my pleasure. up next, we are "on the money." major changes on the way for anyone with an ira that could add up to billions of extra dollars in pockets. we'll tell you the details and what you need to know next. later, the tiny home trend is getting big -- especially in north carolina. we'll tell you what you gain and what you give up when you go small. cathy's gotten used to the smell of lingering garbage... ...in her kitchen yup, she's gone noseblind.

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do you have the courage to stay up all night?

because this is our time! the greatest tv week of our lives! ladies and gentlemen, in the business of binge-watching, sleep is for the week! so i want you ready to order takeout, every single night! now are you with me? to awesomeness! to watchathon!! big is back. xfinity watchathon week starts april 18. the greatest collection of shows free with xfinity on demand. there are big changes coming when it comes to your retirement money. the department of labor is rolling out new rules that it says will save americans billions of dollars. it all has to do with the type of advice you receive from your financial professional. joining us with more on this important story is our senior personal finance correspondent sharon epperson. sharon what kind of changes are we talking about when it comes to the advice you get on your retirement money? >> there's big changes and they

impact a lot of money. we're talking about $24 trillion that americans have in retirement savings, and 7 trillion in individual retirement accounts. that's the pool of money that will be most affected. right now the obama administration is saying if you have an adviser for your ira or other retirement accounts they have to make sure they have your best interest in mind. above their own profits. that's what is called a fiduciary standard. it will make sure they uphold that standard. a lot of advisors today, investment or advisors or brokers or insurance agents advising you on your retirement money, not all follow that stand. some of them, particularly brokers and insurance agents, only have to recommend what is suitable for your account to meet your financial needs. so now they're going to be held to a higher standard, and if there is a conflict of interest in terms of commissions they'll receive for a product they'll have to tell but that up front. >> that seems like pretty basic stuff. stuff you may have assumed was already happening. how do i know if my money is

being effected by the changes? >> that's a big thing. a lot of people just assume their financial advisers always have their best interests at heart. that's not always the case. now if you have a traditional, roth iraf you're considering rolling your 401(k) money into an ira, using a financial professional, they'll have to uphold this fiduciary rule and make sure there is no conflict of interest when suggesting things to you. >> what can we do meantime while we wait for this rule to go into effect next april? >> next april it phases in. right now you can figure out what your adviser is doing in terms of the advice they're giving you by asking the question, are you fiduciary, do you follow the fiduciary standard. investmented invest mement advisers already registered have to follow this rul

rule. >> are there any downsides to this rule? >> now some of the boutiques and smaller brokerage firms are going to have so much happening, they may not want to take on a smaller client. but there are studies that have shown that they knew this was coming down the part-time, they will be ready and they are still going to want your dollars and to advise you on your retirement savings. >> sharon, thank you very much. >> sure. up next "on the money" a look at the news for the week ahead. and the growing trend of tiny houses. why it became such a big movement and the reasons that people are going small. >> school's expensive, it was another way to save there.

here's the stories coming up that may impact your money this week. earnings season kicks off with reports from alcoa and banks jpmorgan chase, bank of america, wells goorg and citi group. on wednesday we get the producer price index for march and we'll get a read for the consumer with retail sales for march. the fed will release the beige book, and nba star kobe bryant to the l.a. lakers will play his final game on wednesday. on thursday, the consumer price index for march comes out. the tiny house movement is bigger than it sounds. it's growing in popularity everywhere, even here in the charlotte area where home prices are not that steep. at recent conference in asheville, tiny house owners shared their homes and their ideas.

diana olick reports. >> reporter: even when you're talking tiny, size matters. while tiny homeowners share similar values, the very designs of their tiny structures are all their own. ryan mitchell owns a tiny house in charlotte, north carolina and touted tiny living at a conference he organized recently in asheville. >> people are very skeptical, but when you step into some of these houses like we have here, at the conference, things just kind of click. >> i lived here for four years. i built it myself. >> reporter: alicia built her 24-square foot home for $200. there's no room for a fridge so she uses a clay pot to cool her food. this is my plate. inside i have some yogurt and cheese right now. >> reporter: she saved her earnings to pay off student loans, but the inspiration behind the house was growing up with hoarders. that made her think small. >> stuff doesn't necessarily make your life happy, and for me

happiness is being able to go where i want and do what i want and be able to help people because i'm not attached. >> reporter: if that's too tiny for you, a 200-square foot bus might seem homeyer. >> it's 110 gallon horse trough that we got from the feed depot. >> reporter: kelly and chris converted that 1991 school bus into their home for about $17,000. it is 1/8 the size of their last home. >> the effort and the time it took to maintain a large house, and the fact that we -- we filled it with a lot of things we didn't necessarily need. >> reporter: as for the mcmansions of tiny, they measure in at about 340 square feet. this one will soon house a family of three. mike and jasmine designed their space for home and office. a tiny headquarters for their fitness business. after paying off the not so tiny $70,000 price tag they'll save hundreds of dollars a month in

rent. >> you can take that rent money, put it into something that's custom for you. it can be something that will pay off. >> reporter: home, office, it even triples as a gym, living tiny can mean living large. a tiny house is generally defined as under 500 square feet. compare that to the typical american home which is about five times that. it costs an average $23,000 to build a tiny home, and 68% of tiny homeowners do not have a mortgage. less than a third of typical homeowners can say that. this is according to tinylife.com. the trend is only getting bigger. the trend, becky, not the houses. >> diana, i understand the big backlash to the mega mansions that were really being built up in the early 2000s heading into the financial recession. some of those houses, to not have a refrigerator? it's so small. are these owners as wacky as the houses look? >> some of them are a little over the top.

could i put all my food into a clay pot? absolutely not. a lot of them talk about intentional living. that is deciding what's important to you. is it your house? for you and me, maybe it is. others have other hobbies and they want to reduce their carbon footprint. houses are the biggest waster of energy. they're empty half the time. >> i have a long way go before i could get used to that. that's it for today. we appreciate you joining us. i'm becky quick. join us next week when we will be waiting for the perfect time to sell your house if this is you, we'll tell you the best month to put it on the market. each week, keep it here. we're "on the money." have a great one. i'll see you next weekend. yeah, so? it stinks in here. you've got to wash this whole room are you kidding? wash it? let's wash it with febreze. for all the things you can't wash, use... ...febreze fabric refresher whoa hey mrs. webber inhales

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hey there. we're live at the nasdaq market site. these guys are getting ready for the big show. while they're doing that, here's what's coming up. ♪ ♪ i think i'm turning japanese, i really think so ♪ >> and that could be a problem for u.s. stocks, but we'll tell you how you can profit, plus remember those cool gap ads? >> i know you like your outfits stylish and any other line but the gap is childish. everybody working there is a personal stylist. >> not the case anymore because traders have fallen into the gap and it could signal a much bigger trend for retail and we've got the trade. and -- ♪ ♪