>> i don't want to pull that. melissa: next up, a tokyo sushi chain paid a record amount of money for this single 489-pound bluefin tuna. that is all the company is going to assert the tune at a huge discount. the price for a piece of sushi will range from a dollar 76 to $4.65456. there would have debt sell 10,000 times that much to make money. the chain president said they should be charging 100 times that much. i think it's more than that. how can this possibly be a smart move? you want to do the math? >> economically it's terrible, but the fish looks incredible, and i want to know how to get some. it's amazing. >> over at costco. i'll send it. >> about the same price. >> isn't it an honor when you buy the first tuna of this season? melissa: i guess. >> the reason it is so expensive

is because it is being over faced. melissa: all right. that's all the "money" we have for you today. we will see you back here tomorrow. here is "the willis report". ♪ gerri: hello, everybody. i'm gerri willis. this is the things we get. bailed out insurance giant aig now considering suing the federal government after it received a $182 billion taxpayer bailout, just a few years ago. why? well, it claims shareholders were cheated. fox business liz macdonald joins me with the inside scoop. >> reporter: you know, the inside scoop is that basically this has d.c. reacting big time. we have congress saying, wait a second. you guys got a big taxpayer bailout. nell you guys are basically the poster company for corporate

greed. now you're the poster company for corporate heads but, and actually, it was a letter sent to the board and ceo of aig that said, don't even think about it from the congressman. gerri: they don't like that. >> did not like that. and for this to be going on, it has really gotten d.c. in an uproar. the white house is weighing in saying it defends the aig bailout. we have a life jicama and skied democrat saying this is sort of like suing the paramedic who gave the cpr for not giving you a pillow in the process. what is going on behind the scenes. some funny lines coming of washington d.c. aig is telling fox business that, yes, the board will need to let me to consider whether the companies to join former aig chief lawsuit against the government. a $25 billion lawsuit. he has hired at really high-powered attorney, david boyce, defend, basically file

lawsuits. it's against the new york federal reserve. he is contending the government took a ig assets and basically use private property for public use. what he is saying is that aig was actually destroying the government overseers run amok. the afg sold of 66 billion in assets, but what he is saying is that afg was overcharged punitive interest rates by the new york fed. gerri: they have a lot of complaints. no surprise. hank greenberg knows how to complain, and vociferously. the new york fed itself said that, you know what the option to this was? you go bankrupt. >> that is exactly what the new york fed said. there is no merit to the allegations. but, you know what, the interesting sidebar to this was what hank has been saying since 2011 when he filed these lawsuits. his investment vehicle, look, the problem is that aig was used

as up -- there is a response. he is saying, wait a second. used as a backdoor bailouts for goldman, a deutsche bank, and general. it is an interesting position to take because what happened was, your member in that dark days of september 2008 when a add g collapsed. the thinking was of the treasury secretary tim geithner said if aig folded, collapsed, the world economy would be in dire straits. the u.s. economy would be in dire straits, and the retirements would direct. it needed to bailout. and what happened was, behind the scenes, yes tall wall street firms, lot of money out of aig to settle derivative contracts. by the way, erotically the controversy now is that even though the derivatives were cooked up an aig, so that temerity frantic of borden do this lawsuit, i mean, it's quite striking. that is where the crux of the suit hangs. that is, the fifth amendment part of it is that taking private property to settle

government, you know, for government use to bailout other wall street players, i think that is where the lawsuit said. gerri: a big lawsuit. i am always interested in what hank greenberg does. a smart guy. >> and very colorful. gerri: and very powerful. >> his insider nickname at the company, a cranky tank. just thought i would share that with you. gerri: that is probably true. always good to see you. thank you for helping us out. appreciate it. on to another story, and you probably heard about this. eight and a half billion dollar settlement with the country's biggest banks has critics wondering if the government is trying to shake down these financial industries in the wake of the mortgage miltown. consumer advocates say, it's consumers who are getting the shaft. banks, they say, should put a more. joining me now, anthony sanders to real-estate editor and ceo of the neighborhood assistance

corporation of america. welcome to you both. great to have you here. i'm going to start with you because you told us that you thought what the government was doing here was wealth redistribution plain and simple. what do you mean by that? >> what i mean by this, this is really the 15th administration loan modification program. they cannot go through congress and get another. fhfa won't approve the big principal reduction is the way demonstration has helped, so the regulators, the occ is now engaging in, whether it's eight and half for $10 billion of new modifications. this is just something, kind of like the trillion dollar coins that are bypassing the constitution. gerri: but you're not answering my question. why is this wealth redistribution? >> taking money from the banks and handing it out to people that they be more the. gerri: all right. do you agree? >> let's feel sorry for the banks. i mean, come on.

what is, you have to do your homework. the independent consultants. if you talk to the independent consultants, what they say is that they are documenting that the banks of modifications that were available for tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of homeowners, and those banks did not give those home owners the opportunity to save their homes, so they lost their homes. so the independent consultants are out there showing that these banks were doing violations, doing illegal activity, taking people's homes, the opportunity was there. also, this is not a net billion dollars. it's just over 3 billion because the soft money is not real. gerri: oh, come on. let's let anthony get in here because i think he will probably make some important points here about who is getting this money, first of all. a lot of it is going directly to borrowers. one of the questions our viewers as prehnite, should we be bailing of consumers who made

bad decisions about loans? >> well, first of all, he card leak -- he called me karl. secondly, the issue, but any case, the problem, this is real money. point of view on this. i think this is coming straight out of the banks. this will end up mummifying the mortgage market even more. fees will go up, and there will be less mortgage availability. i don't think this is a particularly good idea. >> but to the banks want this settlement. the banks want the settlement. gerri: anthony sanders. >> anthony. okay. the banks want the settlement because the independent consultants at the bank's are showing that the banks are engaged in this activity.

listen to this. the homeowners were available, modification that was available based on the lenders' underwriting criteria. the lenders never provided it to the home owners. the homeowners lost their homes. the independent consultants -- gerri: come on. you know what kind of mortgage you can afford. you know what you can pay each month. why is the consumer responsible? >> this is what -- this is what modifications out there that were available and the home our's lost their homes. of course they need to compensate the home owners for their activities that were wrongful acts. that is the american way. if you are regulated -- gerri: that is the american way? the american way, is it the american way to make consumer so when they make bad decisions? >> no. [talking over each other] gerri: let at the talks. please. let anthony get a word in edgewise. >> if i get to las vegas and gamble my money and lose, don't

code to a tent and say, can i -- can you please reimburse me. just for the record, starting in 2001-8, fannie mae and freddie mac purchased 30 percent of the portfolio. that means low picus court. so they have been brewing this risk, giving its homeowners of canada for the loans. suddenly everyone goes to moscow, my gosh. those eu evil banks lend me money when i could not afford to repay it. we have to draw the line somewhere. gerri: and i have a question for you. one of the findings that the sec talked about in their conference call with reporters and others was that the number of people who are harmed financially by these loans, only six and a half% of the total. this is interesting because you would think that everybody who would be eligible for money who would get money would have been harmed financially. it seems that that is not the case of all. how do you respond to that?

>> if you talk to the independent consultants out there that we have been talking to, they are telling guess is that they were just getting that information now, and they were finding wide spread abuses by these banks, but now they're stopping. the one time in really history where you do independent review where they are finding gross misconduct, they stopped it in their tracks. the lenders wanted this to end. a delicate one. and just to go back to the previous point, when they're is a violation of the law we used to have a standard where everyone was responsible. some of these lenders are getting off without. gerri: that argument works against you. quickly, what both of you to state what should happen here. and i will start with you. what should happen here? >> the home owners who lost their homes through the wrongful acts of lenders need to be properly compensated and where

appropriate their homes back. gerri: all right. what do you say? >> i don't disagree. there was a wrongful foreclosure or default, there should be compensation. the problem is, think the vast majorities or not our fault. there is nothing wrong, and if you misspell mississippi, that does not qualify you for lama of -- la modification. >> but you and i -- >> uni agreed. gerri: one at the time, please. all right. respond, and then we will leave it there. >> we agree to the point that if there was damage done to the households, but in the case of the robo-signing, you cannot really show damages. that's mile point. gerri: okay. we have to agree to disagree. i think both of my guests were coming on tonight. thank you for being with us in the ticketing your point of view. i think it is an important one. always a pleasure to have you want. thanks to both of you. >> thanks. >> thanks. gerri: a fox business alert for you now. well, i have reported a lot of

this show about the stock market and how it can be every game, how individual investors have to play second fiddle to the pros. one of the places where they have the upper end is so-called dark pools. these are price changes up to the general public the new york stock exchange and the nasdaq. nearly one in seven stocks are bought and sold in the pools. now, the financial end of -- financial industry regulatory authority is stepping of oversight of these trading platforms and increasing its surveillance of high-speed trading. the moves are part of an overall effort by regulators to try and keep of with the fast-changing market. boy, i hope they do for our sake. if you are fired up about this or any of the issues on the program, john b. -- drop me an e-mail at gerri@foxbusiness.com. ♪ >> coming up on "the willis report," planned parenthood milking taxpayers for every penny it can get. new figures are out. oliver how much is coming at a your wallet next.

in 2013 consumer electronics show is off and running, promising to be bigger and better than ever. "consumer reports" joins us to preview some of the hottest gadgets this year. also, should we prepare for more road trips this year? will well 2013 have in store next time you travel? nutrients for your trip planning. we're on the case next on "the willis report." ♪

♪ gerri: well, you might remember last year about this time, planned parenthood were in the headlines after the susan g. coleman foundation cut off funding for the not-for-profit. for its part, susan k. komen said that planned parenthood was doing fewer and fewer mammograms. the nation's primary advocate for the prevention of breast cancer.

planned parenthood to the planned parenthood president says they could not believe other about to this kind of bullying for anti-abortion advocates. that was one of the nicer comments. i have to tell you. other women called the move disgusting and acts of cowardice. on and on. ultimately, they change their mind, but not until after some of the most brutal women on women named calling i have ever which brings me to today. planned parenthood, which prefers to be described as a woman's health organization rather than the go to abortion source that it is largely known as. reporting a record year for both abortions and taxpayer funding. here are the numbers. planned parenthood performing a loss 334,000 abortions during the last 12 month timeframe. that is up from around 329,000 in 2010. and it had a record year, a banner year when it came to government funding. look at this. al system the process live group susan b. anthony shows the

organization that a record $542 million in taxpayer money by the way of government contracts, grants, and medicaid reimbursement. that's almost half of the organization's budget. ultimately, the reverse the stands and gave planned parenthood money because the outcry was fierce and ferocious. about what today's record budget reveals is planned parenthood is not under arrest, certainly not financial dress. next time you hear planned parenthood is being held back in some way by anti-abortion advocates or others, don't believe it. they're doing just fine. in fact, they're doing better than ever, and you are picking up the tab. that's what i think. we want to know what you think. here is our question. should taxpayer money goes to planned parenthood? log on to gerriwillis.com. but on the right-hand side of the screen, and i will share the results of the end of the show. we have more coming. democrats trying to get the supreme court involved in the debt ceiling, and we will take you to the annual gathering of each and gadgets that the

consumer electronics show in las vegas, including the world's first smart fork. i'm not making that up. they say it will appeal lose weight. stay with us. ♪ ♪

[ male announcer ] how do you make 70,000 trades a second... ♪ reach one customer at a time? ♪ or help doctors turn billions of bytes of shared information... ♪ into a fifth anniversary of remission? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it. whatever your business challenge, we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much. i appreciate it. i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money?

if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. your money needs an ally. gerri: we are covering in like a blanket. what is the craziest new invention? you're going to want one and will show you next.

♪ gerri: the world's biggest annual consumer electronics trade show. kicking off today in vegas. he would collect some of the year's most wacky gadgets is paul reynolds, an electronics editor for "consumer reports." good to see you. you have some pretty silly stuff there.

i want to hear all about the smart for that is going to turn me into some kind of stuff person. how does that work? can you show me? >> this is a $99 gadget. and what it does, it is called the happy fork. what it does, it actually keeps track of how quickly you eat. you can program it to tell you if you are eating more quickly than you should to lose weight, for example, or if you have acid reflux, and it will program you to eat more slowly which is shown tell people reduce weight. you look this up your computer. it programs it. it vibrates when you're eating more quickly than you should. gerri: one of those things that sounds good in theory, but in reality i don't know if that is going to stop me from reading, my friend. >> well, you know, i guess anything is worth a try. a figure for $99 this thing will be out in april.

gerri: go get a plastic fork. >> and apparently it is even dishwasher safe, they say. gerri: i guess that is what you would call a selling point on a happy fork. let's talk a lot your wireless charging in blue to sharing. this sounds like, you know, another century invention. what is going on. >> well, here is the thing. we are seeing more wireless charging year at sea as where you don't have to look up your phone in order to do that. more and more funds that you can put on to pat that will charge them without a court. what this one does is combine that, a court on top, with the ability also stream music from the phone in to this box, so while you are charging your phone, you can also listen to music from it. that is the idea. combining to things in one. it is kind of a cool combination gerri: that is amazing, and i am sure i would have no idea how to set that thing up. you have what you call -- and this is funny, water and there's

resist -- water and air resistance cell phone. what do i need that? >> well, water resistant phone because, you know, who knows. at some point this kind of thing might happen. you might end up dropping your phone in the toilet, dropping your phone wherever. people worry about that, and the great thing about this phone and one or two others that have been unveiled here, it still works fine. you put it in the water and it will be fine for up to half an hour. and what is good about this is previously you could get these kind of phones that work weather, water resistant, but they were not great phones. these bonds, a couple of really good ones. the sony expiries see which is the new functions are found. this has very good specs, every sign of being a very different, but it also has a water resistant, so you don't have to have a big fat heavy phone anymore to have this kind of protection. people really do worry but the smart phones. they worry a lot about losing

the. gerri: that would not be bad in new york city where everything seems to be -- of all about the self-drive lexus. tell us about that. >> well, again, it is a car that will use toyota launched this research vehicle which is a self-driving a car. gerri: do you have to drive with all of that -- >> yes. gerri: you do? really? >> yes, but it is a research vehicle, first of all. second of all, to allay the idea that we are all going to be driven around by our cars anytime soon, this car is a research car, and toyota went out of its way to say, they don't expect to launch a driverless cars, what they will duke, the use of technology, radar and gps and cameras and so on, they will use that to make cars more safe in the future. there will start adding some of these things on. for example, your toyota lexus of the future might be able to tell you if a car is coming up

really fast in your blind spot. if you pulled into it it might actually automatically keep the car in its line. unfortunately we will not be chauffeured around any time soon, but it is interesting that a major manufacturer has been behind the standard technology which you've heard of for a while, and it could change cars in the future. gerri: i can barely tell my laptop on, so i'm certainly not going to test a computer to run my car. thank you for coming on. great stuff. appreciate your help. have a great time in vegas. >> thank you. gerri: all right. >> i will. thanks. gerri: that sounds like fun. coming up next, new de-day for our nation's debt. and as valentine's day present for taxpayers. the details, and president obama getting his second term administration in order to weeks before inauguration day. i will break down by one of his picks has me asking a lots and lots of questions. ♪ many of my patients still clean their dentures with toothpaste.

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♪ gerri: congress strikes again, my friends. the irs says the fiscal cliff and the late jack -- text changes that followed means a delay for most taxpayers to file their 2012 returns. the agency said 80 percent of all filers should be able to start filing on january 30th. that's more than one week later than usual. the rest will have to wait until march because the agency needs time to update and tested systems. those who will have to wait, people claiming residential energy credits, depreciation of property to more general business credits. time ticking down to fix the debt, but the government keeps fracking in up. a new report saying the u.s. might be crashing through the debt ceiling soon and that we thought. for more honest and republican congressman james langford of

obama. welcome back to the show. always good to see you. >> thank you. glad to be with you. gerri: the cbo is saying that we are on track to rack up our fifth year of a trillion dollar plus debt, and already deficits and this year alone the fiscal year alone, $2,903,000,000,000 in deficits just in this first quarter. tell me, can the american people trust congress to fix this problem with a -- fix the fiscal cliff and deal with the debt ceiling? >> the fiscal clefted not fix the debt, and that was the big debate during the fiscal of conversation. is this affecting tax policy or is this about trying to pixar debt and deficit. there was a group that said let's fix the tax policy in deal with the deficit later. as supporters sang, we must deal with the debt and deficit which is the bigger issue. gerri: you voted against it. >> i did. gerri: what can we do about this? what can we do about this? >> well, we have three things. people will hear them thrown together by the senate and

presidency, but there are really three different distinctly different things. the debt ceiling, the sequestration that has now been punted for two months, and we also have what is called a continuing resolution all will be abbreviated as a cr. all three are good moments to deal with spending. but they're all very different, not the same. sequestration is our agreement that we are going to cut spending, 100 billion this year. that got punted for two months as part of the fiscal cliff and will come up now march 1st. gerri: what i asked you, what i ask you is, can we trust congress, can we trust the house and senate to do the right thing when it comes to the debt ceiling? a lot of people out there, in fact are 77 percent of the american people say d.c. is hurting the nation. folks out there are on to the game being played in washington, and they don't like it. how likely is it that you can solve this debt ceiling issue and also, also save some money, which i know you want to do? >> well, that will come to

depend upon everyone coming to the table and getting a chance to work on it. we have, as you know, as senate the things one thing about spending in a house that think something different. until we can get them on the same pace mmx a tough. the senate has not passed a budget for years. makes it difficult to do budget agreements. one side says we're going to put it through committee or do anything. the deal is, we have to get to the table, and our hope is in the days at the senate will come to the table, put out a budget and get it done. gerri: congressman, tell me where you want to save. can you be specific? >> you take everything that changed in 2007. we spent a trillion more per year and we did in 2007, and that is not on any one item. you take each one of those, a little bit of time. why has increased this much and just five years time. in fact, if we took 2007 and just inflation-adjusted every single year for normal increases we would be almost in balance right now, and we talk about

$100 billion out of balance rather than $1 trillion out of balance. so we like it every single item says it does a seven. that would be free cell phones that dramatically increase the distribution in the last several years dollar gets entitlement programs and their increased, the increase. gerri: the heart of the matter, is in the entitlement programs front and center of this debate on how tax cut, where we should cut spending? of the been the president and democrats to the table? >> honestly, i have no idea how we bring into the table. the president two weeks ago said to the speaker that spending is not the problem. we don't have a spending problem in the nation. we could not make it any more stark when we increased spending 1 trillion in five years out president and say we don't have a spending problem. how we get into the table to deal with that and i could not begin to tell you. gerri: the american people, at least working americans feel like they're already doing their part. if you got paid this past friday audit date is next friday, you are seeing a difference in your

paycheck from the social security payroll tax increase. let me tell you, people are not happy. i bet you're getting an earful at home there. >> i have plenty of that, and lots of americans that have said to me in my district, not by spending more in taxes as long as we reduce the deficit with it. that is not true for this fiscal cliff agreement. the taxes went up, and there is more spending. just between what happened with the arcane, sandy, and all the different other things the president wants, we will spend more this year than we did last year, and it will equal the amount of the tax increase. we have to fix this. clearly, clearly not a tax problem. gerri: nothing you are saying is giving me a lot of confidence, but it is always a pleasure to have you on the show. thank you for coming. all right. less than two weeks away from the start of president obama's second term, and there are big changes to come to his administration. you probably heard about some of them. major players headed for the exits are out the door had been pushed out as is the case with former cia director david

patraeus. for most of these positions, the president has told the city wants to take over, senator john kerry for secretary of state, former senator chuck hegel for defense secretary and adviser john brennan for the cia. for my money his potential pick for treasury secretary has be scratching my head. white house chief of staff jet blue. here he is right here. fox news sources say that announcement to replace tim geithner could come by the end of the week. all but a done deal. but what experiences he had that would make him right for the job? the 57-year-old is not a veteran of wall street, not an economist. he is a lawyer, and, of course cannot politician. he began his career on capitol hill eventually becoming an adviser to former house speaker tip o'neill. his first foray into the world of money became in the boston office of management and budget. it was there president clinton, when the film brought into the national omb. he returned under president

obama in 2010. look, a very different bio compared to geithner who came from a prominent role as president of the new york federal reserve which is a big deal. a major player during the financial crisis, and struggle to the bailout plan, no matter what you think of it. he was in the middle of things. the sign the president feels as treasury secretary will not be focusing on wall street, but, instead, will be smack dab in the middle of more drama in battles with congress. why else would you pick a politician and lawyer to be in charge of the nation's finances? it's crazy to me. when we come back, thinking of escaping that wicked winter weather? we have some trestle account for before you travel. and health care costs that to skyrocket for another year, even with obamacare. why this massive law is once again making things worse in 2013. stay with us. ♪ [ woman ] if you have the audacity to believe

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♪ gerri: well, it turns out affordable care is anything but affordable. health premiums set despite by double digits thanks to obamacare. those insured under california blue shield, aetna, or at the blue cross will face big price hikes. it not only get worse if you are young, those its 21-store teenine will see as much as a 42 percent hike in premium cost when they buy individual coverage. a senior fellow for the manhattan institute and former health care adviser to mitt romney joins me now. always good to see you. what gives? that of my prices were supposed to go down. now premiums are going up again. why? >> well, you know, the obamacare regulations are designed to do that, just like regulations and

any other sector. the more the government gets involved and melson much around, you prevent people from pricing a product and the cheapest possible light. insurance is more expensive. to your point about young people, that is the obama economy. and people cannot find work. so many unemployed people who are under the age of 30, and those very same people are going to face insurance premium increases in some cases as high as 100 percent. gerri: well, i guess everyone is getting penalized year. you know, what i cannot get past is the idea that we were mesa many promises by obamacare that our costs would not go up, keep the same doctor, and they seem to be breaking one by one. is there any chance at this point, now that the president is being reelected, that any of obamacare can be rollback? >> well, i think that if republicans are smart and pick their battles wisely, there are things that they can do, so, for example, this provision called community rating which is a provision that forces and people to spend a lot more on health

insurance so that older people will pay slightly less, it is pretty unfair and will drive up, actually, the costa obamacare. we are subsidizing health insurance for your people are uninsured. why make it more expensive. gerri: and the reason is because they really don't need it except for catastrophic issues. that's really the economic decision making that is going on in this economy. and people of that up because they could. >> the average 25-year-old spends about $700 per year on health care. yet we are being expected to spend $4,000 on health insurance plan. of course they're not going to if they have a choice. what they will do is go without coverage, paid the individual mandate fine, tax, everyone to call it, and get covered in the emergency room which is not how the system is supposed to work, not which should work, but that is what obamacare incentivize people to do. gerri: what else can we look

forward to this year and may be looking for is not the right way to describe it. are there other negative things that, frankly, are going to happen this year as we see more and more of obamacare rollout? >> there are three things to really focus on. one is what we have been talking about, these rate hikes for insurance. other people are going to find that when they get their bills, announcements of next year's health insurance that will be more expensive which is number one. number two, the tax hikes. 2013 will be a big year for installing a lot of the obamacare tax hikes along with the fiscal cliff tax hikes, and the third thing is that the implementation of the state-based exchanges in which people are supposed to get their news subsidized obamacare coverage, that is going really badly, and there is going to be a lot of delay and take up and problems with implementing exchanges, and then me not be ready in time. january 12014, which is, less than a year from today. they probably will not be. gerri: wow. okay. as always, one of the smartest guys on this topic.

thank you for coming on. >> you are too kind. gerri: i am on target that time. thank you. goodbye. well, on to this day in business beckham 1863, going way back this time. construction of the first transcontinental railroad began. building it was a huge undertaking. toddles were blasted out of mountains, rivers or braced and workers faced brutal weather conditions. two railroad companies to union pacific in the central pacific took the challenge of put down more than 2,000 miles of track. think of that. a total of more than 64 million in u.s. government bonds were issued to complete the job. the railroad was completed on may 10th to 1969. cost passengers $65 took seven days to make the coast-to-coast trip. the rise of air travel and america's of cars kill the railroad. today 80,000 passengers per day travel by amtrak. in its heyday it was one of the

most significant eric in accomplishments. construction of the first kick transcanada railroad began on this business state january the eighth 150 years ago today. still to come to my "2 cents more" on the flute, and next among the biggest trend in travel, higher prices. from air fare to a hidden fees, we will take a look at the travel picture for the year. the ceo of fare compare. there he is. ♪ what are you doing?

nothing. are you stealing our daughter's school supplies and taking them to work? no, i was just looking for my stapler and my... this thing. i save money by using fedex ground and buy my own supplies. that's a great idea. i'm going to go... we got clients in today. [ male announcer ] save on ground shipping at fedex office. gerri: get out your vacation calendar is next. important travel trends that will change the way you fly. two minutes. don't go away. ♪

♪ gerri: never too soon to start planning your 2013 vacation stem and we have you covered with the latest air travel trends that

could change the way you fight. fare compare joins me now with the predictions. they are not all that upbeat. i have to tell you. your first one is price hikes, thank you very much. what am i looking at? >> i think you are going to see the airlines try to raise prices about every two weeks this year. gerri: every two weeks? you kidding? >> we have already seen united trier earlier unsuccessfully, might i add. unfortunately, there will probably only bat 30400. we will see six or seven hikes this year. that will raise prices about five or 6%, about what we had this year, little bit more, but the bottom line is prices will go up. all of this is going to be related to whether or not we see our fourth megamerger of the -- in the last four years. gerri: have a question of price sites before you move on to that . your notes say that you think air fares are cheap. really?

>> yeah. i mean, you know, a lot of people are trying to say, let's compare it to inflation adjusted dollars from 1978. if you can't afford your ticket, it's not cheap. other people are flying. literally, tens of millions of passengers that survivor six years ago are not flying today. a lot of it is, they just can't afford it. it is cheap maybe if you look at inflation adjusted dollars to a lot of people just cannot afford to fly today, and that is one of the problems. gerri: something interesting here about new bundle fee programs. were you talking about? >> you know those fees we all love to hate. baggies, change fees. we are going to see is airlines take those fees that we hate to pay, and many of us don't, bundling together and then discount them and hopefully make them more palatable to us. we will have to see if that works out, but you're going to see these offer to you at the kiosk, multiplications, at the gate, even sometimes when you're on the plane. the closer you get to your departure time you may get these

extras a little cheaper, see my as well wait until that if you can, but the bottom line is, we are going to see a lot more fees and bundles of these this year. gerri: you mentioned two things i find interesting. new planes, and there will be more small city cutbacks. i want you to elaborate on more merger mania. because you say there could be another combination, american and u.s. airways. tell me about that. >> yes. in fact among we will know in the next couple of weeks. american has notified everybody. they're waiting with bated breath on whether or not they're going to merge. we will have a good idea in the next obliques. i would have said this is a 50- 50 shot six months ago. i think it is more likely going to happen and not right now based upon the information i am hearing from our radius sources. the bottom line, if they do merge, your tickets are still good, the loyalty program was still probably be better than the two combined, so the big problem is is that it takes another airline off the table while it might not affect prices

early, three or four years down the road when these airlines might have competed, they will be around, so prices will be going above along all. gerri: one airline, and it will cost an arm and leg to go anywhere. thank you for coming out tonight. a pleasure having you here. >> great. thanks. bye-bye. gerri: your travels can be made better or worse by your experience with flight attendants. did you ever wonder if they weren't telling you, well, the truth. according to air fare what start, they are keeping secrets, but now they are revealed in tonight's top five. things are flight attendants will tell you. number five, when you answer the question what would you like to drink with what do you have, they want answered not a lot of time. have a drink in mind before you get on board. did you ever notice on night flights to and take a longer time to come? well, it is because they sometimes hold off on meal service so you asleep and they will have less to deal with. pretty sneaky. number three, flight attendants

can upgrade your seat after the doors closed. they just don't. the reason, more people work. they don't want the pilot, but they might decide it is worth it if you're nice. number two, unless the u.s. the captain to leave the seat belt light on some the conserve food and drinks in the aisle without having to deal with in the passengers, and the number wanting your flight attendant will tell you, that regular coffee you ordered is decaf. that's right. they are not giving you the real thing off. there rather you relax and sleep so you leave them alone. don't ask for real coffee. we'll be right back. male an ♪ no make 70,000 trades a secon. ♪ reach one customer at a time? ♪ or help doctors turn billions of bytes of shared information... ♪ into a fifth anniversary of remission? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it.

we believe the more you know, the better you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more so your money can do more. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our teams have the information you want when you need it. it's anothereason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. ♪ gerri: planned parenthood reported receiving a record $542 million in taxpayer support in 2012, huge jump from the year before. we were talking about it earlier should taxpayer money be going toward this organization? curious what your tweeting need. @gerriwillisfbn. richard says, no, emphatically. ron agrees to the taxpayer money should be used