let's talk to aetna and how the company plans to stay ahead of the cur2012.ning me now, the company's ceo. good to have you on the program. >> thank you, maria. >> what drove the quarter? >> strong quarter capping off the full year of a very strong 2011. and real solid momentum heading into 2012. >> where is the momentum coming from? what drove that? >> first, very good execution on our pricing. but probably more importantly, a very stable medical trend environment. actually, about as low as i've seen in my career. >> so stable medical environment, how do you ensure that continues? you've got to stay price competitive. some analysts are concerned that you're lacking the scale in regional markets to negotiate the best prices. >> you know, i think first of all, utilization can't stay as low as it is. i think it's driven in large part by the economy. so we have to be responsible in our pricing since we price about 18 months ahead. secondly, i don't think there are only going to be one or two competitors in this industry over the long term. it's not being the big

our burners are being asked to come into centers of various cities for aetna. -- right now.wever, 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 can aff

. >>> well, red hot explosions of lava are spewing from europe's only volcano, italy's mount aetna lit up the sky with a pretty impressive display overnight. this is one of the several eruptions so far this year but geologists say no risk to the population. just a nice show. we can live with that. >> with can. >>> topper is back, good to see you my friend. >> thank you. not a bad day and 47. you can't complain about that. >> we could. >> it's funny because i was thinking gosh, where's my coat? >> [laughter]. >> i forgot my coat. >> we got used to the 50s. >> i know and the trouble is now when we go down to the 30s it's going to feel super super cold and so get ready. i'm putting that out there. let's start with a live shot, this is our live weather cam, live shot of the capitol. very nice and we have high mid level clouds over the district and points south but it's clear up toward fredrick. 41, that's keeping the temperature up a little bit too, and dew point is 31, pressure is steady at 30.20 inches of mercury, winds negligible out of the south at about three. well here is the deal. w

now a catholic hospital says i don't want to offer contraception, aetna. aetna says, okay, we'll reevaluate your policy, here's the cost without contraception, it's no longer part of your package. but the employee, because they have a conscience of their own and if they want that preventive care, if they want birth control, they get it straight from the insurer. so the catholic -- >> how do they get it straight? >> it's not part of the package, larry. >> serious question. how do they get it straight from the insurance company? in other words, does the tooth fairy hire this insurance company or did the catholic hospital hire this insurance company? >> no, because -- >> that's the part i don't get. it's got to be the hospital. and whether the hospital delivers the mandate or whether the insurance company delivers the mandate, the mandate is delivered and paid for by the hospital. the delivery and the accounting is irrelevant. >> the -- if you read the reg, it specifically says that that money comes out of the reserves of the insurers. the insurers pay for it

this is mount aetna in italy spewing rhett hot lava into the air.int officials had to close down a nearby airport because of the ash. there have already been several eruptions there this year. geologists say those who live nearby are not at risk. >>> a plane taking passengers from montreal to ft. lauderdale didn't quite make to it the terminal. the khan jet airline plane landed after 1:00. shortly after landing one of the tires blue, passengers had to be bussed from the runway to the terminal. >>> cosco is king of the retail giants. a new survey looked at ten major retailers. cosco was the only one to earn an outstanding rating for overall quality of its merchandise. its website also earned cop marks for layout, product value and checkout. target, walmart, sam's club and kohl's are among the other companies included in this survey. >>> new details about the tv anchor bitten on tv by a dog. >>> search nbc washington on >>> a news anchor in denver are recovering from reconstructive surgery after being bitten by a dog during a live interview. kristen d

they will begin legislative work aetna and including a measure condemning iran for sentencing one ofgressman jason chavis will talk about the gop presidential race. new york rep carolyn maloney previous federal reserve chairman ben bernanke's testimony today. and then our weekly spotlight on magazines continues with roger magazines continues with roger

standpoint, like bank of america needs anymore problems and aetna, well --.st: you have to do the right thing. on the other hand this is tricky because this is a precedent so if there are thousands of soldiers behind this guy who are going to claim the whole thing, you have to be sympathetic, you have to be concerned, and you have to explain here's what we are deciding. can you not hide behind confidentiality because it is already public. what i would say, you research how many are behind him. if it is four weeks we can make an exception and do it on principle. we did it. if this is a way for bank of america to compromise ... you have to confront it. you cannot hide. >>shepard: it is not often that a pekingese wins best in show. have you seen this thing? one quote said "it looks like you could wash the car with it." which i didn't think was very nice but i heard the dog was not listening. shaggy pup has done it and the winner is here live each year in "studio b" after the westminster kennel club "best in show." it will be lin-sane. hey, keep it down mate, you

services and the women can accept or not accept, and the health care -- the health care provider, aetnall pay for it. is that where we are now? >> let me tell you where we are, can candy. the president has two principles very important. one all women have a right to all forms of health care, including contraception. secondly, in greatest tradition of the we have to respect the religious liberties of people with very different views. where i think where this policy has come out the initial announcement of a policy said it would take some time to work through details because of the concern that arose, we speeded up the process. on friday the president announced we think a very good resolution of the problem. it's gotten the support of a wide range of organizations, from catholic charities and the catholic health association, to planned parenthood. it respects both core principles and we think it's a good solution. >> it did not win the support of the u.s. conference of catholic bishops, which put out a statement friday and said, today's proposal, being the compromise proposal continues to

so today it's down because goldman came out and took aetna off the conviction buy list. think it's a very cheap stock. about 8.5 times earnings. i get obama care, maybe it happens, maybe it doesn't. supreme court decision, extremely cheap stock. you can buy the manage space here. unemployment should be up. >> enjoyed that steve. thank you very much. have a good weekend. ty, back to you. >> simon, thank you. up next, businesses sitting on tons of cash and paying historically low taxes overall. is the time right for corporate america to really ramp it up and start hiring big time? "power lunch" debate on deck. >> and at least one iconic american company is doing just that. they are highing and jane wells is live at a caterpillar plant in arkansas with the story for us. hi, jane. >> hi, sue. i have my mandatory gear on. the cap, the safety goggles, my steel toed clogs. more americans are going to be wearing this gear in the coming months, but do they have the skills to do the job? we're going to talk about that after the break. i love that my daughter's part fish. but when

aetna is spewing lava making for a spectacular sight during the night. it erupted on wednesday and lava has been trickling down the sides of the volcano since. a near byairport was closed temporarily but it is now back open. >>> the violence in syria continues. this is amateur video posted online as the city is being hit by rocket and mortar fire today. it's been the target of syrian forces for the past six days. activists report hundreds of people killed. >>> the which i am o. house financial services committee is under investigation for possible violations insider trading law. some of the transactions of republican congressman spencer bacchus's financial reform is being looked at. the house passed legislation yesterday tighten up the rules as congressmen get information that could give them and advantage in the stock market. >>> three republican candidates are looking for a huge boost today in washington, d.c. they're stepping away from the campaign trail just to be there. >> reporter: more than 10,000 die-hard republicans all in one place and the pres

among earnings, before the opening belt we have the aetna, aol, hershey and after the closing bell we'llm, chipotle, electronic arts, green mountain and las vegas sands. the other thing we'll be looking at is the expected facebook ipo filing. we still have craig mcdaniel with us and allison dean to talk about that. alley sop, i want to start with you on facebook. highly, highly anticipated ipo, raising about $175 to $5 billion. do you think it's worth it? >> you know, i have to see the numbers in greater detail, but based on how big they are in the market and the sweet spot of the market, i think it could be worth it. my background is financial, so i'm looking at low pe multiples. but i look at some of the companies that capture what's going on in the markets and the trends and my sense is they probably are worth it. >> meantime, craig, i want to get your thought on today's adp ahead of the unemployment report on friday. what are you thinking? >> well, you know, we certainly look at the jobs report. that's the last couple of months. they definitely have been moving in the right direction

mount aetna erupting again. and shutting down an airport last night in italy.. more flight disruptions are expected over the course of the next couple of days. look at this video. this is a woolley mammoth or just another hoax. the animal was spotted by a russian engineer last summer. yes, russia has a lot of engineers. way across the siberian river. he looks lonely. and old. >> like another creature with something in its mouth. >> the rest of his family has been dead for 100 million years. i would be lonely, too. >> but they're all frozen. lot of frozen mammoths. >> they're on ice. >> right. they're on ice. >> moving forward for most people, going through airport security, we all know is tedious and time consuming but maybe not anymore! >> nothing to laugh at, judge! the tsa is now expanding a program that lets frequent flyers who voluntarily provide personal information zip through security even without taking off their shoes so what problem do you have with that, judge andre? >> you know what, i think there's good sides to this and bad. good side is shorter

aetna has been removed from the conviction buy list by goldman sachs. neutral from under perform at bank of america merrill lynch. >> we told you we'd reveal the most valuable super bowl to date in terms of ad revenue. here they are. number one on the list no surprise. super bowl xlv the great one the patriots vs. the giants. the game that will essentially be played again on sunday. of course two of the most buzzed about ads this year are courtesy of honda. take a look. >> i guess it'll be okay. >> i'm calling the studio, matthew. you're not shooting today. >> he bought it. life is packed with things you have to do. sometimes you have to live a little! ♪ oh, yeah >> look, i don't know what to tell you. he's sick. actors get sick sometimes. >> life moves pretty fast. if you don't stop to look around once in a while you'll miss it. >> get going in the all new crv from honda. >> i would love to have the first one. >> you're number two in line. >> who's number one? >> that guy. >> so you're number one. >> hum. >> how would you like to be number 20? >> no. >

the aetna plan, the blue cross plan, more like $4,000 to $5,000 a year.ill think that it is generous as it should be. but we also feel we need to move in this direction to hold onto costs. those earning less than 22,000, it goes to 850. >> i wanted to follow that up. you are keeping pay raises equal to private sector raises for the next two years. the prospect of troops still being and fighting somewhere and you are tapping their paid lower than federal civilians, the private sector take it out the square that with keeping faith, unless current pay levels are too generous? >> we are looking at control personnel costs in the context of congressional requirements that would take $259 billion out of it. had there not been that requirement, we would probably not be making this recommendation. in that context, if we choose to entirely exempt personnel, we will have to make much larger cuts in force structure and we don't want to do that. it is not consistent with the strategy. these are out-year plans. there is an old saying in the budget this is that the out

the aetna plan, the blue cross plan, more like $4,000 to $5,000 a year. we still think that it is generous as it should be. but we also feel we need to move in this direction to hold onto costs. those earning less than 22,000, it goes to 850. >> i wanted to follow that up. you are keeping pay raises equal to private sector raises for the next two years. the prospect of troops still being and fighting somewhere and you are tapping their paid lower than federal civilians, the private sector take it out the square that with keeping faith, unless current pay levels are too generous? >> we are looking at control personnel costs in the context of congressional requirements that would take $259 billion out of it. had there not been that requirement, we would probably not be making this recommendation. in that context, if we choose to entirely exempt personnel, we will have to make much larger cuts in force structure and we don't want to do that. it is not consistent with the strategy. these are out-year plans. there is an old saying in the budget this is that th