with the current economic crisis from pat robertson founder of the christian broadcasting network. cnbc commentator barry ritholtz >> the entire book tv schedule is online with great new features including streaming video and easy to search

archives, booktv.org. >> now remarks on regulation in the financial markets from the chairman of the financial accounting standards board. from the national press club, this is about an hour. >> thank you, donna. thank you for that very generous introduction. it is a real pleasure to be here today, a real great honor. i've been on panels here at the national press club. i've been in the audience a number of times. i've watched many of the speakers on c-span and i've always had -- watched with great envy not only because it's a terrific venue to speak at but also you get awarded the npc coffee mug at the end. [inaudible] [laughter] >> but now i got an incentive, okay. [laughter] >> before i start my remarks, do i need to say that the views i

will express today are my own and not official positions of the fasb. but what i can assure you that any opinions that i give today, do reflect the opinions of our chairmen. [laughter] >> by most measures, the past two years have been a very difficult and challenging period for virtually everyone. as we continue to examine the causes of the global financial crisis, many important lessons are emerging. lessons for all of us in the capital markets, lessons that challenge some of our core beliefs and our core operating principles. history does not repeat itself. people repeat history. so hopefully the lessons learned will help us build a stronger, solid, financial system going forward. i think there's a general consensus that the excess

leverage at many levels and lax lending practices fueled the creation of complex and risky structured commodities and derivatives that were spread across opaque and unregulated markets around the world. when the risk was evident the important infrastructures in terms of timely and accurate information flows, clearing mechanisms and price discovery compounded the problems, leading to freezing credit markets, plummeting equity markets and significant downward pressure on economic growth. however, one very welcomed development arising from the financial crisis i believe is that a much broader constituency is calling for greater transparency as a necessary ingredient for recovery and rebuild of investor and public confidence. included in this has been the need to improve and strengthen certain accounting and reporting

standards. while accounting did not cause the crisis and accounting will not end it, it did reveal a number of areas requiring our attention. and so over the past 18 months we have responded vigorously with a number of new standards and enhanced disclosure requirements relating to securitization, special purpose entities, credit default swaps, derivatives, financial guarantee insurance, fair value measurements and credit exposures. unfortunately, there have been certain major companies including some of them that subsequently failed and had to be rescued by the government and some industry trade groups that have sought political intervention into accounting standard-setting. while that is certainly their right and while we welcome active dialog with lawmakers, politicizing standard-setting by special interests does risk undermining public confidence in the whole financial reporting system.

the investing public expects and deserves unbiased and transparent financial information. that's not skewed to favor particular transactions, particular companies or particular industries. we work hard to meet that expectation. trying to be very open, thorough, objective, and timely in responding to reporting issues that arise in a very challenging environment. transparency is not just a buzzword or a cliche. it's a fundamental and absolutely essential attribute of sound financial markets. relevant trustworthy, and timely information is the oxygen of financial markets. depriving the markets of such information or polluting the information can have very adverse consequences. systemic actions are needed by others, i believe, particularly in the areas related to the

complexity and risks inherent in complex financial products and to the information systems around the markets for structured securities and derivatives. transparency to the american public around taxpayer-funded investments of financial support of major u.s. companies is also essential. as donna said, last week, the administration issued their plan for financial and regulatory reform. the gop has also released a proposal on regulatory reform. various private sector groups have also issued lengthy studies with detailed recommendations on changes to our financial and regulatory systems. congress has begun discussing these and other proposals for change. while i may not be the best position to offer an overall blueprint for regulatory reform or the particular structural elements of it, i do have some strong views on the subject.

formed from observing and participating in the events of the past few years and from a career dedicated to improving the functioning of capital markets through the enhanced quality of information provided to investors. so i'd like to provide my thoughts on some of the key objectives and principles that should guide the reforms. kind of an outcomes-based approach to it. what would be desirable outcomes from regulatory reform? i do so without any pretense that these are the only or the most critical matters that need to be addressed. but i hope that my thoughts will be useful in evaluating the many detailed proposals now emerging. and i will comment also on the relationship between these matters and our role and activities as the nation's accounting standards-setter. as we address and evaluate potential reforms, i think we need to strike the right balance. between regulation that's

respected and that effectively recognizes and manages risks and regulation that fosters sound economic growth and competitiveness and that lets those who fail, fail. i believe that the primary objective of any redesign of our financial and regulatory systems should not only be to avoid a repeat of the financial crises of the past 20 years, but moreover, to create a solid and durable platform for sound and stable economic growth through an effectively functioning financial system that deserves and that maintains public trust and confidence in our capitalist system and our way of life. while that may sound rather grandiose and somewhat vague, isn't that what financial institutions, capital markets and financial regulation are all about? to promote and protect our economic well-being and those of

future generations. sustaining public support for our way of life, including the many wonderful freedoms we enjoy depends on people believing that our system offers the promise of a bright future. investors seeking to build wealth, to fund the increasing costs of healthcare and college tuition and to provide retirement security cannot have their nest eggs broken and scrambled every six or seven years. reform of our financial and reform of our financial and regulatory system is

>> the final weekend of interleague play providing plenty of intrigue. the subway series heads to citi field with both the yankees and mets in second place. we have a 1993 world series rematch between the phillies and the blue jays. >> oh, yeah. >> the red sox and braves clash in the battle of boston teams past and present. and the red hot mariners head to l.a. to take on the best team in baseball, being the dodgers. our "baseball tonight" crew

takes a couple of cuts. >> steve berthiaume here with tim kurkjian who takes his three swinswgs., the t tim, the three things you're foa most looking forward to around the meanings on friday. we' >> we'll start with cc sabathiae of the yankees. remember, he had to be taken out of his last start because of tightness in the forearm. last he didn't want to come out ofnin the game. h he said he was fine and he said he'll be fine for this start. i believe he will. he'll love citi field. 1.6 home runs per game there compared to 3.4 at the newared t yankee stadium.th new second beck josh beckett. we know how good a pitcher he is, but beckett against the graves the last 40 innings, he'a allowed two earned runs. that's domination of the highest order. and finally we'll watch the rays against the marlins. keep in mind, both of these teams are in contention again. the marlins have won five in a row only one game out of firstle place. hanley ramirez has really got it going. goi he had 13 r.b.i.s in his last series including two grand slams

in one series.ra the last national league playere to hit two grand slams in the same series was robin ventura in 1999. he hit slams in both games of a doubleheader. >> we'll have all the highlights for you on the next "baseball tonight," 10:00 eastern on espn. >> thanks, fellas. the chicago baseball writers who hold hall of fame votes met today to discuss what to do about players tied to performance-enhancing drugs. six of the eight most prestigious sluggers in the steroid era have been directly tied to p.e.d.s -- bonds, mcgwire, sosa, a-rod and manny, leaving just ken griffey, jr., and jim thome unscathed. chris deluca is the national baseball columnist for the "chicago sun-times," one of the hall of fame voters at that meeting. chris, what happened today? >> i think everybody wanted to get together and just talk about this.

it's become such a hot issue since the sammy sosa revelation. people needed guidance. rick calendar, one of my colleagues at the sun "times" asked about this last week. we decided to get together before this cub-sox game at u.s. cellular field, and there was a lot of spirited debate. it's very clear that the voters are very passionate about what they're doing. >> what was the heart of the debate? >> well, i think the real issue was do we want guidelines? do we want anything delineated that says, these guys played in a steroid era? we didn't come to any hard and fast conclusions, but i think it weighed heavily and let's just keep going on. we're going to vote the way we voted. guys have already had to make this decision with mark mcgwire. it's going to be a hot topic obviously for next ten, 15, maybe 20 years. and i think everybody kind of realized we really have to weigh the integrity and character issues that are already in the guidelines guidelines, and nobody really wanted anybody to else us

exactly how the vote or these are the guys you have to look. a everybody wants to be able to make their own decision. >> how do you weigh the integrity issue? >> well, you know, the integrity issue is a delicate one because you've got so many players and it's hard for me to say who is clean and who is dirty. certainly we know certain guys have been implicated either through grand jury leaks or failed drug tests. other guys with h.g.h. you just don't know. there is a lot of speculation. up until a couple of weeks ago, i had a lot of speculation about sammy sosa but no hard fains facts. now we have them. i don't know if i want to give stamp of approval to other guys that have been smart enough to not get caught. and the issue that i raised at the meeting is maybe this has become such a big story that as baseball writers we shouldn't be covering this we shouldn't be part of the story we're covering. maybe we shouldn't be voting on this. maybe we should find somebody else to vote on it. >> how did that go over? >> well, not too good although i did have a couple people come up to me afterward and say you made

probably the best points of the meeting, and really the issue for me is this is going to be a big story. it's going to be a big story for next decade. i'm going to have to write about it and i would feel comfortable if another body made these decisions. this is going to be a major story and one of the basics of journalism is you don't want to be part of the story. i certainly don't want to be part of the story. >> say some of these guys were on the ballot today -- clemens,÷ bonds, mcgwire, sosa, a-rod, manny -- how would you vote? >> i go back to, as much as didn't like it and i certainly weighed their numbers a little differently now, 500 home runs doesn't mean quite as much, but if barry bonds is baseball's all-time home run king, he gets my vote. sammy sosa, three years of 60 home runs, he gets my vote. if sammy sosa wanted to sign a contract and play tomorrow, he could. if you gamble on baseball, it's a lifetime ban. you cannot be in the hall of fame.

as we see with manny ramirez, he's going to come back in a couple weeks. he gets to play for his team. he played for two world series teams with the boston red sox. those world series still count. i just think if player hasn't been banned for life by baseball, how are we going to give them a death sentence in the hall of fame. >> you seem to be on the side of you put them in. if you had to guess about the temperature of the room you were in, 14, 15 hall of fame voters, overall what percentage do you think each of those guys would get? >> i think most of the people are saying, they cheated, we're not going to vote for them. that's today. this will be a bigger issue for bonds and clemens four, five years from now. sammy sosa, three, four, five years from now. we'll see if the landscape has changed at all. the thing that also weighs for me, i'm certainly not condoning anybody cheating, but we know there are players during hank aaron's era that took amphetamines. we know there were players part of the cocaine problems with baseball in the '80s and they're in the hall of fame.

this is a problem for baseball. it was never addressed by baseball in 2004. and iing just think we're a little late to the party to come back and start saying now we're going to hand out judgments that baseball is not willing to hand down. >> what impact do you think your meet willing have with voters nationally? >> well, i think the one thing that was really positive about this is we got a dialog going and although we didn't come to any kind of great conclusion, we did decide that, let's try and raise this as an issue when all of the baseball writers will meet before the all-star game in st. louis next month. and we'd like to have this discussed. i don't know if there's ever going to be any guidelines or any conclusion, but i think it's a good debate for the baseball writers to have in one room together. >> chris deluca of the "chicago sun-times," we appreciate you joining us on espnews. >> all right. thanks for having me, steve. >> serena williams has barely been challenged challenged thist wimbledon. the most drama she faced was

made by herself. why she was late for her third-round match. there were some odd moves made for the draft last night. we're wondering which teams we're wondering which teams fared best and worst. hey, joe. if you could have a bud with anybody, who would it be? anybody? anybody. it'd be the guy that took me to my first ballgame. a guy who could command a room from a hundred miles away. it may go... popular. but humble. people loved the way he spoke. i just loved the way he listened. 5 to 4, i don't believe... here's to you, dad. what i just saw.

>> serena williams was six minutes late for her third-round match. she was waiting for an escort. she was on court. it didn't really bother her. she easily won first set 6-3678 second set up 4-3.

vinci with a nice backhand to keep things alive, but you know what, the power will beat you every time. serena won in straight sets 6-3, 6-4. she will next take on daniela hantuchova. here now though with suzy kolber. >> serena, lead us through the round of 16. it's an early start for you. what was your morning like gearing up for this? >> well, i'm not a morning person, so i'm like oh, but it's good to play in the morning because you can get the match over with. i do have a doubles later today, but normally my day would be done and i would have next day off. >> we've been enjoying seeing the new court, too, and certainly a totally different atmosphere from the old court. how did you enjoy that new, beautiful, intimate court? >> i liked it a lot. i preferred it over the old court. but i had lots of battles on that old court. but i really liked it. it wasn't that slippery and it moved well. the balls seemed to bounce well. it was great. >> you mentioned the time off.

and typically for singles you have the whole weekend off, but how does the doubles work into that now? >> it's good because that way i can still get some match play. i can still stay match tough and get that doubles match and hopefully we'll do well. >> i always thought it was really important if you had a team that was going to be in the singles and doubles late for the committee to get your doubles... get through in the first week so you're not starting the second week in the first or second round. >> right, right. >> i feel like the schedule has worked well for you guys. >> we were like, can we please play early. we were able to get a couple matches in early. our match was delayed a little bit, but we're happy to still be in it and having fun. we have so much fun out there. >> next round of opponent, daniela hantuchova. the last time you played her was here. how much drama was involved in that match? >> oh, that last time was insane. i mean, i cramped up. my leg stopped. it was just... oh, god. >> this is a couple years ago in the fourth round.

>> it was so painful i couldn't even walk. >> then the weather was also a factor. >> what a dreadful moment that was. i'll never forget that. >> your mom looks like she's really enjoying that. >> it was just awful. i was really shocked i was able to get through that. i think that the footage shows it all. >> there you go. but you had a win. >> i don't know how. >> you've played hanescu -- daniela hantuchova a lot of times. what's in her game that might worry you if she's praying -- playing well. >> first of all, she always plays well. she's a really solid player. she doesn't do anything bad. you think, which side do i get to and what do i do? she always keeps the pressure on. it will be really good match. >> how did you feel your serve was today? it looked like mid way through the second you relied on aces at timely moments. >> i did. it didn't work as well as i wanted it to, but hopefully it will come back.

>> serena, surprise, sadness this morning at the passing of michael jackson. what's your relationship there? >> well, i think everyone, not just one country or one continent, the whole world knows and the whole world is saddened by the news because he was such an amazing icon across the board, all races, all colors, all nations. and you couldn't get a more amazing person. he did so much for charity and his music was just so iconic. everything he did was iconic. >> what's the personal relationship? >> i met him, you know... >> went to a concert? >> i went to a continues early and i met him before. you know, he was really nice. he followed tennis, and venus and i were like, wow, you watch us? he was a really big fan. we talked a lot about that. it's just... it's kind of weird that we're talking about him right now in past tense. >> serena, you've been in the public eye since a very, very young age, known as really first

family of tennis. michael jackson and his family all in the music business. just wondering, who in the family are you closest to? have you sent any messages? you know about families who grieve. how are you going to reach out? >> well, i know his mom is a great person and she has a great spiritual background and the whole family is... actually, i just knew mikele the best. it's just really a tough moment for the whole family. it's just you lose a son, you know. they've known him since he was younger, longer than any of us, and it's just really unbelievably sad. >> often public image and people don't think about everyone else that's involved, the kids, the parents. >> the kids are so young, and they have such bright futures, and you know they're, not going to have chance to experience what a great father he could have possibly been in the future

as he already was. so yeah, it's just so much, but i think prayers are really powerful right now and hopefully that will get them through the tough times. >> friends and family help you through moments of grief, absolutely. >> serena, we appreciate you stopping by sharing your thoughts. >> all right. windy city action. south siders taking on the cubbies in the south side. we're going to get you all caught up on who has the one-game advantage after tonight. and the talk of the town has been with regards to ricky rubio. well, perhaps there's method well, perhaps there's method behind ( "tuesday afternoon" by the moody blues playing )

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