our burners are being asked to come into centers of various cities for aetna. -- right now. whehowever, as soon as things gt better, they are escorted out. but we might begin to break that cycle. it is just wonderful to walk out on the street and see the world walking by. >> are you giving the twitter deal? >> yes, we are. we just founded a new nonprofit. black rock arts foundation, which is dedicated to spreading interactive, a collaborative art throughout the world. now we have founded but we call the burning and project. -- what we call the burning man project. it eventually leads to the event itself. this is a wonderful opportunity. the thing about burning man, when you look at the variety of people that go there, when you look at this environment, where all the normal boundaries are down in every department of human knowledge and endeavor. if you ask what possible application that we have created that may be useful loud in the desert, -- what would it have an application to? education, urban planning, disaster relief. needless to say, we are ambitious than we think we c

aetna is one of the most active volcanos in the world. >> starting tomorrow it will cost you more to ride al a.c. transit. basic adult fare will increase by a dime to 2.10. youth and disabled fares will increase to 1.05. trips to san francisco and peninsula will cost 4.20 for adults. more fare increases are planned over the next three years. >> changes are coming for passengers who use the bay link ferry. current bay link ferry, a scheduled of 12 runs will be cut back to 10 and the morning will be eliminated to bus service. reducing the runs florida 14 to five. bay link tries to deal with declines in riders and state funding. >>> a lot of tired runners this afternoon. 25,000 people hit the streets to take part in the 34th annual marathon. the race started this morning on the embarcadero and went along the waterfront over the golden gate bridge and back to the city to finish at the ferry building. michael wardian won the race with a time of 2 hours, 27 minutes and 6 seconds. it is first win in san francisco. past two years he placed second. hundred thousand spectators lines the race r

aetna has erupted four times this month. ending six months of calm. >> straight ahead, student loans. look before you borrow. that story is next. facing the y with less chronic low back pain. imagine living your life with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is a non-narcotic treatment that's fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing of the skin or eyes. talk with your doctor about your medicines, inc

. >>> in sicily the rumbling mount aetna volcano is at it once again. just over a week after the last eruption. yesterday, again, stepping up its explosion of lava and ash. there are no reports of injuries. >>> and money was falling from the sky in the netherlands after it apparently fell off the back of a vehicle transporting cash. people started scooping it up off the roadway. people who took the money are being asked to return it. too good to be true there. >>> now here's an early look at how wall street is going to kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,539 after jumping 254 points yesterday. the s&p hiked up 33 points, and the nasdaq soared 82. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei gained 102 points, while in hong kong the hang seng rose 339. >>> with spotty service from new york's transit systems after irene, monday many wall street traders stayed home, but those that made it into work were optimistic buyers. the dow down more than 7% for the year. just three weeks ago. it's now virtually eased. for 2011 after monday's

a rumbling mount aetna lights up the skies of sisly. a very good morning to you. those stories and much more straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. we begin this morning with a budget breakthrough. president obama announced last night that lawmaker mis-washington have reached a last minute agreement to raise the nation's debt ceiling before tuesday's deadline. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with the details. good morning to you. >> reporter: veronica, good morning. the deal will raise debt ceiling and deal with most of the tough questions well before the 2012 elections. the white house and top democrats and republicans agreed on over $2 trillion in budget cuts, allowing the u.s. to borrow that much more. >> it will allow us to avoid default, it will allow us to pay our bills, it will allow us to start reducing our deficit in a responsible way. >> reporter: here's the deal. almost a trillion in cuts now, much of it from the military, another trillion and a half decided by a panel of democrats and republicans in the fall, including tax reform an

that's mount aetna. europe's most active volcano more than half a million years old. stirring to life yet again with eruptions attracting both attention and concern. in this country today is the 50th anniversary of the debut of an invention that revolutionized our workplace. the ibms selectric typewriter. it replaced most other models with individual keys, because it had this revolutionary ball of type. you could switch it out to change fonts. they were responsible for just about every business letter eve: typed for decades before the pc and the printer then came along and the selectrics then became the wallies of the salvage heap. >>> two stories from the world of sports making news. plaquesco burress, the wide receiver who shot himself in the leg, spent 22 months in prison. signed a one-year deal with the other new york team, the jets for a little over $3 million. he'll be back in the nfl this season. and peyton manning is staying in indianapolis. the 35-year-old quarterback agreed to a five-year deal with the colts that will pay him $99 million. when you do the mat

aetna as it springs back to life.eight days after the latest eruption began. yesterday's eruption tapered off after about two hours or so. aetna has several villages on n its slope. air traffic was not affected this time, but airliners often have to alter routes to avoid clouds of ash. >>> a feud between dick chen and colin powell that simmered during the bush administration is now at full boil thanks to the former vice president's nene book which goes on sale today. abc's jonathan karl has details. >> reporter: they've been two titans of republican foreign policy for decades. working side by side through no less than three wars. >> first we're going to cut it off, then we're going to kill it. >> reporter: but in his new book, dick cheney unloads on colin powell. accusing him of undermining president bush as secretary of state, being "openly disdainful of the president's policies." cheney claims credit for kicking powell out of the administration after the 2004 election. now itit powell's turn. >> they are cheap shots

. >> reporter: in this 1985 nbc interview, a year after his rampage, his wife, aetna, talks about james's generally volatile state of mind. >> i told the kids that i kept them away from him as much as possible, told them not to talk back, not to act up. try to keep him calm, don't agitate your father. >> reporter: in october 1982, the power generating plant where huberty works as a welder shuts down. he cannot find work. he moves his family to mexico, but their stay in tijuana lasts only three months. from there, the hubertys move to san ysidro, california, the site of the mcdonald's massacre. >> he was not adapting down here, and there was nothing to go back to. >> reporter: and nothing to look forward to either. huberty again has trouble finding work. he finally lands a job as a security guard, but even this is short-lived. like many rampage killers, huberty's life was beginning to fall into a deadly pattern, an unstable, angry personality fueled by increasing feelings of helplessness and the desperation of unemployment. >> he was frustrated. it's like putting pressure on a container

that's why certain markets already we are seeing in connecticut, aetna has cut premiums by 10% on an average. do you think the medical loss ratios will bring down health care costs or cost of premiums? >> senator harkin, in oregon, since we have high medical loss ratios, i don't think the medical loss ratio will make a big difference. i am not as familiar with other states in terms of medical loss ratios. it certainly could have an impact in other states. >> in other states that -- minnesota has over 90% medical loss ratio. that is because oregon and minnesota are high-value states. parts of -- one thing i believe is going to bring down the bench in the cost kerf is -- the bend in the cost is we will -- incentivize states that have high value cost. senator hatch, earlier said the purpose of the health care reform was not to reduce the rate of growth of premiums but to reduce premiums. i don't think that is the case. i don't think anybody ever said that the purpose of health care reform that we were saying to reduce premiums. and sometimes i hear that from opponents of health reform w

aetna grew steadily up to $8 billion in profits. as i mentioned, united healthcare is growing and net profits last year were lrs 4.6 billion. and just last week, united healthcare announced profits up 13% from the same period last year. shares have risen 44% this year. 44%. and the standard & poors index for large health insurance overall has climbed at a 40% rate, one year. so it's no mystery. i think what's feeding this, if you look at the growth in the profits and that's on the left side and right side is the family preliminary yulls. those two lines just about parallel each other. as the premiums go up, profits go up. so given these numbers, mr. larsen, what is your perspective on the ability of insurance companies to remain viable in the the health reform area? we have heard a lot of these numbers have gone up. certainly premiums have gone up. some people may say, well, if we hadn't passed the affordable health care act, that wouldn't have gone. i don't know, because the senator alluded to, are they trying to get in before the

and for the fourth time in july, mount aetna, look at her go.f the most active volcanoes in the world erupting over this past weekend. the volcano on the island of sicily sent flames shooting over 800 feet into the air and lava fountains nearly 1,700 feet. look at these pictures. no casualties or damage reported. and finally, the contest i might be signing up for today. the iconic seattle space needle is holding a contest that will send one lucky winner into space. 1,000 people who entered this contest will be randomly selected in november. then they have to submit a video saying why they should be chosen. don't go out and buy moon boots just yet, though. the actual trip will only be about six minutes of zero gravity before returning to earth. i still say pretty cool. the contest is being held to celebrate the space needle's 50th anniversary and it was built back in 1962 for the world's fair to mark the beginning of the u.s. space race. and now this -- >>> hospitals are overwhelmed. a big meeting could go down that could have a huge effect on wh

guest: kaiser, he managed -- humana, united, blue cross, blue shield, aetna.re are a lot of big local plans that could be important in different markets. host: 48 million medicare beneficiaries. that makes up about 36 million traditional, and then in medicare advantage there are 12 million. by the big difference? guest: people voluntarily choose what they want. historically, people who have had the employer-based coverage or who are also eligible for medicaid have been less likely to be in medicare vantage because there is a disadvantage to being there because their employer is already paying them and it gets complicated to do so. probably about 33% of beneficiaries, or more than that now, maybe 40% now, who do not have those types of coverage at least get their part d coverage through medicare advantage. people have less choice in providers and medicare has been popular. people like to stay in the traditional program, but increasingly people find there may be an advantage for them financially so they join the medicare advantage plan. host: here is a map of th

or the ceo's salary etc., and that's why in certain markets already we are seeing in connecticut, aetna, cutting premiums by 10% on an average. is that right, ms. miller? you think the medical loss ratio was coming to bring down health care costs or the cost of premiums? >> senator cardin, just speaking for oregon, since we have such high medical loss ratios, i don't think that medical loss ratio will make a difference, but i am not as familiar with other states and what is happening in terms of medical loss ratio. it certainly could have an impact in other states. >> and other states that are not -- minnesota has over 90% medical loss ratio. that's because oregon and minnesota are high value states, and part of sexually -- one thing i believe is going to bring down the bend in the cost curve is we are going to increase the value of health care and we are going to reward and incentivize the height all you care. my time is up, but i did want to point out that earlier senator hatch said that the purpose of the health care reform was not to reduce the rate of the growth of premiums but red

guest: kaiser, he managed -- humana, united, blue cross, blue shield, aetna.re are a lot of big local plans that could be important in different markets. host: 48 million medicare beneficiaries. that makes up about 36 million traditional, and then in medicare advantage there are 12 million. by the big difference? guest: people voluntarily choose what they want. historically, people who have had the employer-based coverage or who are also eligible for medicaid have been less likely to be in medicare vantage because there is a disadvantage to being there because their employer is already paying them and it gets complicated to do so. probably about 33% of beneficiaries, or more than that now, maybe 40% now, who do not have those types of coverage at least get their part d coverage through medicare advantage. people have less choice in providers and medicare has been popular. people like to stay in the traditional program, but increasingly people find there may be an advantage for them financially so they join the medicare advantage plan. host: here is a map of th

that's why in certain markets already we're seeing, in kentucky, aetna, we're seeing them cut premiums by 10% on an average. is that right? do you think that medical loss ratio is going to bring down health care costs or the cost of premiums? >> in just speaking for oregon, in oregon, since we have such high medical loss ratios, i don't think that medical loss ratio will make a big difference in oregon but i'm not as familiar with other states and what's happening in other states in terms of medical loss ratios. it could have an impact in other states. >> yeah. in other states that aren't dish mean, minnesota has an over 90% medical loss ratio. that's because oregon and minnesota are high value states and part of the -- part of actually -- one thing i believe is going to bring down the bend in the cost curve is that we're going to increase the value of health care, that we're going to reward and incentivize states who have high value care. my time is up but i did want to point out that earlier senator hatch said that the purpose of health care reform was not to reduce the rate of growt

aetna group to almost $1.8 billion in profits. united healthcare is growing at a gargantuan rate. their net profits were $4.6 billion last year. last week, united healthcare announced quarterly profits of $2.7 billion, up 13% from the same time last year. its shares have risen 44% this year. indexandard and poor's for large insurance overall has a 40% rate in one year. it is no mystery what is speeding this. if you look at the growth and profits on the left, on the right side is the family premiums. those two lines just about parallel each other. as the premiums go up, the costs -- profits go up. what is your perspective on the ability of insurance companies to remain viable in the health reform area? we have heard a lot of these numbers have gone up. premiums have gone up. people may say if we have not passed the affordable care act, they would not be going up. i do not know if that is because they're trying to get in and give their prices up before the changes go into effect or if this is simply market forces trying to make more profit without anybody regulating or guiding it. h