a lot of people wondered if this day would ever happen and senior business correspondent anthony mason is here with the story. anthony, good evening. >> reporter: hi harry, taxpayers own 60% of g.m. but the government... and they still owe the government $43 billion. what taxpayers get back will depend on just how successful this stock offering is. g.m. has been jokingly called "government motors" since the bailout, but today general motors formally filed to become a public company again. >> this is not just an effort to raise $18 billion or $20 billion it is a major relaunch of the general motors brand. >> reporter: the filing comes just 13 months after a leaner, meaner g.m. emerged from bankruptcy. it has trimmed its models from eight to four, paid off almost two-thirds of its debt and in just two years cut its work force from 93,000 to 53,000. a date for the stock sale has not been set, but it's likely to happen by november. >> the president does not want to have the obama motors or government motors chant on the campaign trail. >> reporter: the government is not expected to sell it

i'm anthony mason in new york. thanks for watching. good night.onsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org to walk down the aisle. >>> the marriages aren't legal but they might be soon. the gay couples already planning to walk down the aisle. >>> from a wealthy neighborhood to jail, accused of sexually assaulting boys. the additional charges this mother faces tonight. >>> hope is still alive. the efforts to find a missing east bay boy one year after he miss appeared. cbs 5 eyewitness news is next. ,, [ female announcer ] jobs leaving. a budget disaster. california on the brink. jerry brown's plan? you run for office and the assumption is, oh, i know what to do. you don't. i didn't have a plan for california. [ female announcer ] with our state in crisis,

anthony mason. thanks very much, anthony. in the gulf, those who have lost money because of the b.p. oil spill have someone new to call. kenneth feinberg, who was appointed in june, officially took over today as the administrator of that $20 billion compensation fund. he promises to process claims to individual within 48 hours and within seven days for businesses. as kelly cobiella tells us, he's about to get very busy. >> reporter: jenny sherill runs a beach wedding and catering company with husband chris in gulf shores, alabama. when oil began to gush, a dozen brides canceled their plans and asked for their deposits back. what's left in your savings account right now. >> nothing, nothing. we're check to check, must be to money, day by day. >> reporter: the sherills filed a $42,000 claim with b.p. and, like 45,000 others received a check, but only for $10,000. >> there's been a lot of false advertising by b.p. stating that we've been taken care of down here. >> reporter: now everyone with a claim has to refile with the gulf

anthony mason, cbs news, new york. >>> this morning wikileaks is about to release more leaked documents according to its twitter feed. last month wikileaks made headlines when it put on its website 67,000 classified documents from the wars in iraq and afghanistan. pentagon officials call that a threat to u.s. troops and the people helping them and demanded the documents be returned. >>> there was deadly violence across iraq this morning. a suicide car bomber killed at least 11 people near a police station in northern baghdad. 34 others were wounded. two policemen were killed in separate attacks as well. the violence comes as u.s. ends combat operations there. >>> well, the drug war in mexico gets more brutal by the day. the bodies of 72 people killed and left behind by drug cartels were found neert border city of matamoros after police had a shootout with one of the cartels. >>> on the "cbs moneywatch," another tough day for stocks in asia. we have the latest on that. good morning, peggy. >> good morning. tough day in asia, tough day yesterday on wall street. asian markets saw a big sel

anthony mason is our senior business correspondent and has that story. anthony? >> reporter: the steep falloff in housing a sales highlights the degree to which the government has been propping up the housing market and the two biggest pillars of that support system-- fannie mae and freddie mac-- are facing a crisis. in florida this month, fannie mae auctioned off nearly 100 foreclosed properties. in chicago, freddie mac was offering help to homeowners in distress. the two troubled mortgage giants seized by the government nearly two years ago now own or guarantee nearly 31 million home loans-- more than half of all american mortgages, and they're bleeding billions in losses. >> fixing this system is one of the most consequential and one of the most complicated economic policy problems we face as a nation. >> reporter: the treasury kicked off the debate over how to fix fannie and freddie at a washington conference last week. the stakes are huge. even now fannie mae; freddie mac and the federal housing authority are propping up the housing market. >> more than nine

anthony mason, cbs news, new york. >>> and that's the "cbs morning news" for this thursday.hanks for being here with us. we hope you'll join us a little later for "the early show." i'm emily smith. have a great day. ,, ???????? and i'm julie watts. sydnie on vacation. >>> good morning. it's thursday, august 19. how are y'all doing? >> oh, i'm okay. >> waking up. >> hey, egg

anthony mason, cbs news, new york. >>> and that's the "cbs morning news" for this monday.th us. we hope you'll join us later for "the early show." i'm emily smith. "the early show." i'm emily smith. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> good morning everyone. monday morning it is the 9th after ought. i am sydnie kohara. john kesler is on vacation. tracy elizabeth is here

anthony mason is here now with more about that. anthony? >> reporter: erica, bernanke did not forecast another recession, but he did acknowledge the economy is slowing. at an economic conference in jackson hole, wyoming, the fed chairman said the recovery is on fragile footing. the economy, he said, remains vulnerable to unexpected developments. >> with growth so weak and confidence so fragile, we are very vulnerable to anything else that could go wrong. if anything does, we will be back in recession. >> reporter: bernanke's promise of fed support rallied the markets. the dow gained more than 160 points to close back above 10,000, but many ordinary investors have already sold their stocks. >> we've essentially reduced our equity exposure down to almost nothing. >> reporter: san francisco financial advisor ray meadows has been moving his clients into bonds. already this year, investors have pulled more than $33 billion out of mutual funds that invest in u.s. stocks. the housing market isn't restoring any confidence. existing home sales plung

i'm anthony mason, cbs news. i started managing it every day. i like to volunteer... hit the courts... and explore new places. i'm breathing better with spiriva. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled maintenance treatment for both forms of copd... which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. i take it every day... it keeps my airways open to help me breathe better all day long. spiriva does not replace fast acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. stop taking spiriva and call your doctor right away if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, have vision changes or eye pain... or have problems passing urine. tell your doctor if you have glaucoma, problems passing urine or an enlarged prostate... as these may worsen with spiriva. also discuss the medicines you take... even eye drops. side effects include dry mouth, constipation and trouble passing urine. now, i'm managing my chronic bronchitis every day. ask your doctor if once-daily spiriva is right for you. since our beginning, we've been there for clients through good times and b

anthony mason with this summer song. ♪ >> reporter: the voice is world famous.fore. but not like this. ♪ ♪ in your eyes the light, the heat ♪ ♪ your eyes >> reporter: rock 'n' roll is a new sound for renee fleming. did you listen to a lot of rock 'n' roll as a kid? >> not really. ♪ >> reporter: she's opera most celebrated soprano. >> fantastic. she's the best. >> the voice of god. ♪ >> reporter: an american diva booked years in advance by the world's greatest opera houses. fleming is that rare classical superstar. who's become an international cover girl. she even has a perfume named after her. ♪ renowned for singing mozart and strauss, she not only surprised herself with her new record but surprised her teenage daughters, amelia and same. did they want to get involved in telling you how to interpret the songs? >> they told me, you have to cut that, mom, we're embarrassed. it's not good. ♪ ♪ all my instincts they return ♪ >> reporter: on dark hope, she covers everyone from peter gabriel -- ♪ ♪ in your eyes the light, the heat ♪ >> reporter: to indie icons death

cbs news senior business correspondent anthony mason reports. >> reporter: with the latest numbers showing the economy slowing to a crawl, fed chairman ben bernanke told an economic conference in jack hon hole, wyoming, that the federal reference stands to do whatever it can to keep the recovery going. but the economy says, he said, led to economic developments. >> what was so weak and fragile, we are vulnerable to anything else that could go wrong. if anything does, we will be back in recession. >> reporter: his promise of fed support rallied the markets. the dow gained more than 160 points to close back above 10,000. but many ordinary investors have already sold their stocks. >> when the whole market goes down it takes everything with it. so we want to be protected against that case. >> reporter: san francisco financial adviser ray meadows has been moving his clients into bonds. investors have pulled $33 billion out of mutual funds that invest in u.s. stocks. >> i do think the economy will be very weak the next six, nine months. >> reporter: despite bernanke's reassurances that you will

. >> mason: that's little anthony and the imperials singing "tears on my pillow."he signature tunes of doo wop music, a song that made its debut in the summer of 1958, a summer song if ever there was one. jeff green field takes us back. hello, baby. it's a sound that was first popular before two thirds of americans were even born. so why on a summer saturday evening in new york city in a sold-out crowd of all ages turn out to hear music from the first era of rock'n'roll? music now known as doo wop. ♪. >> thank you. doo-wop was better than the beatles. >> i love it because the lyrics were simple, the song short and the message here. >> it's hip now. >> reporter: hip? well, some of these singers have gray in their hair and medicare cards in their pockets but the music they perform, some of them for more than half a century helped shape and reflect the generation of americans born during world war ii who came of age just after mid century, including this american. ♪ i only have eyes... > see that forehead? that's me waiting in line for a rock'n'roll show with the new