this is "nightly business report" with bill griffeth and sue herera. >> deal approved, a judge decides that at&t can go ahead with the $85 billion acquisition of time warner, potentially settinghe stage for even more mergers. holding steady. investigators take the historic sum knit stride and now turn their attenti to the federal reserve and the possibility of an interest rate hike tomorrow. safety issues. why a new round of crash tests are raising questions about two popular suvs. those stories and much tonight on "nightly business report" for this tuesday, june 12th. and we do bid youg.ood even sue is off tonight. a big victory for at&t. a judge today approving the

company's $85 billi acquisitio of time warner without conditions. the judge said the governmented fa to provide sufficient proof that the deal would harm rsmpetition or consu this was one of the most widely watched anti-trust trials in decades. hamilton pierson is outside of the courthouse in washington decision was released and he joined us now. hamilton. >> reporter: hello, bill. a stunning decision. as you were just talking about,e a federal jas cleared the way for the at&t takeoverf time warner, some 20 months fter the deal was originally announced, the $85 billion takeover that is. u.s. district judge richard leon told a packed washington courtroom that the justice department in h view simply failed to prove its case, that the combination would lead to higher prices for pay tv subscribers and more leverage for the merged firm with its competitors saying at one point, i conclude the government has fail to meet its burden of proof. and now after that ruling,

government anti-trust chief left the courthouse avoiding cameras and nemicropho but the doj did issue the following statement, quote, we are disappointed with the court's decision and we continue to believe that the paid tv market will be less competitive and les innovative as a result of the propod merger between at&t and time warner and the at&t legal team basically plead with the stunning legal victory. >> we're up to 600 days since the merger was announced backn october of 2016. and that it unfair to the defendants, to the hundreds thousands of employees and their companies whose lives have been hanging in the balance and to hoall of the shaers and all of the other constituents of these great companies. it is time to comete this transaction and move on. >> reporter: now the judge put

no conditions on thaerger going forward. he also urged the government to think twice about any possible further delays like maybe seeking a stay. at this point, the deal is now set to close before june 21st. bill, back to you. >> hamilton pierson in washington. thanks very much. so what does thisan decisio or future mergers? joining us tonight is erik gordon from the ross school of siness. good to see you again. welcome back. >> hello, bill. >> it is widely believed this kind of a decision could bring on other mergers to get past regulator. do you buy that notion or not? >> you know, i thinkt will make it somewhat easier but i think it is easy to overstate the effect of this case. the judge didn't say something like we should have more media or vertical rgers, he sa in this case the government failed prove what it had to prove.

interestingly the judge didn't even say because he didn't need to well this is a case which the government could have won or copt -- or could not have one but all i he said the government failed to convince him. so you don't want to overstate it. but clearly i think we will see more merger attempts. because if the case had gone the other way, it might hav slapped the door on mergers. >> and a vertical merger is where a company buys one of the suppliers and that is what happened with at&t and time warner. and tomorrow we're hearing that comcast will make its bid formal for assets of fox, a $60 billion deal. they said they would only do that if this deal went through. does that become an easier deal to get through, do you think? that is not a done deal by any means. >> yeah, i think i plaque-- it it easier, if the judge held against &t, comcast would have walked away and said it is not

worth goinghrough the same ringer went through and we'll just let disney buy fox. >> and the judge pointed out thm dous changes going on in the media business. i know you agree with that and ybe this deal, this time warner/at&t deal is one that leads to that transformation, right? >> yeahi i that the judge was pretty well informed about how the changes in technology have enabled changes in consumer taste. changes in how we like to consume our media. and i think if theres a flood gate that will be opened it is a reement of assets in the media industry because the assets pro probably not arranged in the best possible way. they are arranged they happen to be arranged over the0ast years. but the media industry and some other industries probably rearrange the assets to be more efficient and help consumers. >> vy quickly, there is the

deal between cvs and aetna health for example. that is outside of the purview of media but we're still waiting r regulation -- regulators approve of that one if they are going to, does it make this o easier f like that, do you think. >> i think so. that is another one of the vertical mergers that you explained and health care is another industry whereasets are arranged improperlyo i think that one and the express scriptm cignger and i think they are feeling better tonight than yesterday. >> erik gordon with the ross scol of busines thanks for joining us tonight. >> my pleare, bill. >> to the economy. consumer prices posted the largest annual gain in more than six years last mon o. the repor this morning is just the latest sign of brewing price pressure in e economy. the consumer price index which measures what consumers pay rose

2.8% in may compared to a year ago compared to the prior month. that was released just as the federal reserve started the two-day meeting this week. central bankers are widelyed expeo announce an interest rate increas and while investors watch fed policymakers,he world was transfixed on the historic summit thousands of miles away. president trump the first sitting president to meet with a leader ever north kor -- leader trying to convince kim jong-un to end the nucle programs. michelle caruso-cabrera is in singapore where that meeting took place. >> reporter: a historic handshake watched around the orld as the leaders of two countries, long bitter enemies, met for five years culminating in an agreement to forge a new relatietship. >> theter that we are signing is veryen comprsive and i think both sides will be very impressed with the result. orter: in the agreement signed here in singapore, the north koreans committ to the

denuclearization of the korean peninsula and both sides to recover the remains of soldiers from the korean war including the immedia repatriation of those already identified. in a we-ranging news conference afterward, president trump announced that he is suspending the annual military exercises the u.s. conducts with south korea. long despited by north korea. the president described them as provocative and very expensive. and he was asked repeatedly about how the u.s. will verify that north korea is trulydi antling the nuclear arsenal. >> we'll have a lot of people there. and we're going to be working with them on a lot of other things but thi is complete denucleariza kon of northea. and it will be verified. >> will those people be americans or -- >> combinations ofan both. d we have talked about. >> reporter: reaction from e plomatic community were decidedly mixed. >> i am extremely unimpressed.

let's be clear what reaffirmgr that the north koreans had already signed up to in april. so that is not progress, folk that is not moving the ball forward. >> reporter: others call it a significant first step.nk >> i tim jong-un has made that strategic decision to focus on the economy and to realize that the part of achieving that goal is toormalize relations with the united states, bring and thean war to an end peace on the korean peninsula and move in that direction. and i think the summit is moving direction.that >> as night fell, both eaders supported singapore. at this early stage it is hard to estime what the historical significance might be of what happened here today.re north ko leaders have been trying to get a meeting with thr ident of the united states for more than six decades. the lingering question, will this meeting actually change their behavior? for "nightly business repor" michelle caruso-cabrera,

singapore. and if north korea does change the behavior, it could alter the politics and economics region. and china is paying very close attention. eunice un has reaction tonight from beijing. >> reporter: china said the history,s creating new even before the joint statement was released, the foreign minister said that china would want to see dialogue, denuclearization and a stable peace mechanism out of theei summit and bjing got all three. the statement reads like a letter of intent, suggesting that the time frame for denuclearization will be longer than the trump administrainon's orig demands of up front concessions and more in line with china preferred phasedch approach beijing believes will promote stabili and ensure beijing maintains a dominant role with nth korea. interesting comments also came out of the foreign ministry. which suggested that ternational sanctions could be lifted on pyongyang.

the ministry saidjustment to the sanctions have to be made id acce with the situation and how north korea has implemented the agreement, including suspending or removing relevant sanction measures. thatad conts what president trump said at his press conference where trump said the sanctions wouldtay in place. >> the sanctions right now remain. but at a certain point i look forward to taking them off. reporter: at the briefing, president trump acknowledged i china's roln the summit and thanked president xi jinping for his sport and that raises questions about how the leverage with north korea willinactor other negotiations with the united states. on friday the u.s. will release the list of products potentially $50 billion worth that could be hit with tariffs. now that the summit is over, people here are asking, whether president trump get tough on trade with china or will he choose a softer stance because he needs china in order to carry out the agreement with north korea.

secretary of state mike pompeo arrived in beijing on thursday to discuss the issues with offials here. for "nightly business report" i'm eunice un in beijing. and on wall street, stocks were subdued after the conclusion of the summit. the dowell jus over a point today to 25320 and the nasdaq added 43 and the s&p was up four. m bob pisani hase on why the marks reacted the way they did. >> the markets shrugged off donald trump's meeting with kim jong-un in singapore last night, just like it shrugged off the twitter fireworks that came out of the g7 meeting. why the indifference? well many people say the markets are becoming desensitized to the endless barrage of tweets and others belie this is not affecting the marketls fundamenarticularly in the united states. the corporate earnings rem strong and earning isn't peaking. first quarter earnings surged

26% and third quarter earnings will jump 23% to likely surpa f thest quarter and the same story with the small and mid cap stocks an the s&p 600 an 400 and no sign y and that ishat is moving the market. investors turn their attention tohe federal reserve two-day meeting on the interest rate and the markets are anticipating a rate hike and they don't want to raise rates too quickly. wage growth is growing but consumer prices did rise in m s and that cll more upside for the stock market. for the "nightly business report" i'm bob pisani. and more marketpside is what billionaire hedge fund manager sees as well. paul tutor s jonesd today he believes the second half of this year is going to be in his word, phenomenal. even with higher interest rates >> think we'll see rates lose -- significantly higher

beginning in the late third quarter and early 4 fourth quarter and i think it is interesting because i think the stock market also has the ability to go a lot higher at the end othe year. >> but he added that move higher will not be sustainable and said higher interest rates could lead to arecession. tuones famously called the stock market cash back in october of 1987. and today's upgrades an. downgrad dumont mine grading was rated from morgan stably the potential approval of new projects and price target now $40 and that stock was up slightly to $38.79. that same analyst at morgan stanley downgraded brett gold from equal weight and the firm said the stocks underperformance looks set to hrntinuegh the rest of the year, price target now $12 and that stock fell a fraction to $13.16. twitter price target ras

raised to $50 in morgan stanley and one of the highest and the nall sites the potential for higher advertising revenue and the firmaintains the over weight rating on that stock as well. shares rose 5% to $43.49. still ahead, the biggest problem facing small business owneri general motors is watching development on trade very os y. gm ceo said today the automaker has not altered its investment plans but she did add that the uncertainty will have s somet of impact eventually. >>e we seeing cost increases but again i think there is

still -- depending on how decisions were made will have an impact on that a we're working hard to understand the impacts to working to offset to the extent that we can but i think it is early days. >> as we have been reporting, gm make more than 1 million vehicles in canada and in mexico annually, most of which are imported for sale here in the united states. meanwhile, tesla is cutting the work force. th electric carmaker said today it is laying off 9% of the 46,000 employees primarily salaried workers. the move is part of a lger restructuring and the company said it should not affect production. that help lift shared by 3% in today's trade. a n round of crash tests are raising questions about the protection that certain vehicles offer in commoncrashes. the suvs in focus are two of the most popular onesht r now. built by jeep and ford. ur storbeau has >> the impact at 40 miles per ho is jarring. and in some cases the results are troubling.

crash tests by the insurance institute for highway safety, known as iihs, show the jeep grand cherokee and 2018 ford explorer struggling to protect parts of the dummy. in one case it starts to slide outside of the door after an airbag failed to deploy. >> for both the jeep grand clairo key and the ford explorer, the big problem is the structural one in the rightt fr smaller left crash test we see the safety cag collapsing in toward the right front passenger dummy. fiat chrysler and ford said the crash test paint an re incomplete pic and both point out the grandherokee and explorers have received t marks in other crash tests by the iihs. and fiat chrysler adding its vehicles are engineered to address realvi world d situations. no singl test measured overall vehicle safety. ford said we continue to makeo improvementsur vehicles to

help customers stay safe on the road.ar 4,000 front seat passengers were killed in auto accidents in 2016. the most recent data available. these tests measure how well mid size suvs protect people in thea front during certain collisions. with the kia sorentoag and volk atlas and gmc acadia gets top marks. >> one of the things we observed is that the three -- the good rated vehicles are newer designs than the poor rated grand cherokee and ford explorer. >> the jeep and ford suve h been popular for years. and that is unlikely to change. even though these crash tests could give buyers something to think about the next time they go in theoo sho phil be low, "nightly business report," chicago. >> h&r block hikes the dividend and thais where we begin tonight's market focus. the tax company raised the quarterly dividend to a dollar a

share after the bell and came an h&r block announced the revenue and profits with both measures topping expectations but investors want more and they sent shares lower andishi -- finishing up a fraction. and eli lilly and [ inaudible ] are experimenting after a treatment was unlie likely to b effective at the dis and they still plan to work on another alzheimer' medication. shares were off to $85.49 and astrazenecaa fell to $31.16. stage therapeutics has been granted whats its called break through designation status by the fda and that designation allows them to skpet expedite development and they said the medication is unlike any other on the market.

>> depression is a life-threatening disorder and ww believ need to treat it like a medical disorder of great urgency. current therapy require long standing treatment and our mol cures say it is 217 and a once daily pill has benefit in days an onlyequires two weeks of treatment. >> shares surged 19% to $175.76. and lands end reported a loss and a rise in sales, the top estimateand the apparel retail said results were hel by the delta airlines for clothes for the flight attendant d soaring to $29.90. small business own rrz feeling up beat. a new survey shows optimism is at a 34-year high reaching the sec highest level e ever. maect sales and proph-- and profitheo increase but national credit of independent business points to one big

headache. many shamall businesses have trouble finding qualified workers to hire and creatin a major challenge on main street. kate rogers has more tonight. >> reporter: mike frederick is desperate for workers. >> we had the people for the first shift w could have been running this all day. but we don't. so here they sit, ready to go, no action. >> reporter: the own ofm composite, a business in wisconsin said he's short 15 people and which manufactures custom thermostat moldings. >> there are no workers and there is a huge demand. economy pked up and everybody is looking for a digsal -- additional workers but the market is so thin we can't fin them and we've gone to extraordinary means to finding pendle to work including going to the local mandatory jail aeciting people to work from inside of the jail.

>> reporter: you're looking for low skilled workers who he is willing to train and pay above minimum wage but like many small businesses frederick is crunched by a tight labor market and not alone. the natioedlation of independent business found labor quality is the number one issue for small businesses for past five months, outpacing taxes an government regulation. >> finding the right person fory the job is a a challenge. but obviously in a tighter market like this it becomes far more difficult. >> reporter: bob is also feeli the shortage at his boston based consulting firm boston engineering which has 65 employees. he needs 12 more engineers and said the strong economy doesn't makeit competing w large business for hires any easier. if you can't find the right people his bottom line will suffer. >> if we can't satisfy the dend of our clients because we can't staff and there is only so much we can do with temporary resources a you have to the core people here to deliver the

quality that our clientsnd de >> reporter: another factor the labor participation rate trending downward. he plans to up recruiting amongs colleges and universities to ger younger wrs in earlier in their career. >> we have to be looking for good people and syou have to make that a long-term strategy and constantly do it and frankly it is easy to stop doing it. >> reporter: while atrong economy may benefit the main street bottom line it alsoas challenges. for "nightly business report" i'm kate rogers. but just as some busininses can't workers, there is a different message from the world's biggest banks. citigroup suggested it could cut up to half of the technology and operations staff in ext five years. because of automation. ccording to the financial times, an executive at the bank said operational positions were the most fertile for machine processing. the positions make up about two-fifths of cities investment bank employees. coming up, why charitable

giving in america is litting recoels right now. seattle city council has blinked. the council has now voted to repeal a controversial tax hike on large corporations as w reported that tax was passed less than a month ago. it wou have raised about $48 million annually to combat the city homeless andffordable housing crisis. two of thege seattle b companies, amazon and starbucks were involved in the campaign to repeal that. t finally tonight, americans are certainly feeling generous these days. a new report shows that charitable giving re to a record level lastr. yea robert frank tells us where the money is going. >> reporter: charitable giving jumped 5% last year to more than

$400 billion. that is according to the giving usa annual report. giving individuals accounted for the bulk of that as rising stock political a charged environment and tax changes drove americans to write bigger checks. religion ishe top charitable cause in the u.s. receiving more than a third of all giving. education ranks second followed by human services. the only cause that saw a downturn was international affairs. and the biggest growth in gifts was to foundations thanks in part to megagifts frombi ionaires like facebook ceo mark zuckerberg and his wife givingearly $2 billion to the zuckerberg foundation and a michael susan dell giving $1 billion to their foundation. now it is ulear whether americans will be quite as giving this year. the new tax law raises the standard deduction so there will be millions of americans,ost them middle class, who will no longer itemize or deduct their giving.w

without that incentive, some estimate charitable giving could fall by as much as $14 billion this year. but so far charitable groups say they hite seene pullback. for "nightly business report," i'mobert frank. and to read more about the record level of charitable giving head to our website at nbr.com. that is the nightly business reportor tonight. i'm bill griffeth. or watchin have a wonderful evening. sue and i will see you here tomorrow.

>> this is "bbc world news america." funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, gkovler foundation, pursu solutions for america's neglected needs, and purepoint financial. >> how do we shape our tomorrow? it starts with a vision. we see its ideal form in our mind, and then we begin to chisel. to strip away everything that stands in the way reveal new possibilities. at purepoint financial, we haven de our modern approach to banking around you -