meantime, four members of bernard madoff's family were sued today for nearly $200 million. madoff's brother, sons and a niece worked at madoff investment securities for years as senior executives. the suit claims they should have known what was going on under their own noses and done something to stop it. the family members say they knew nothing about the ponzi scheme and the allegations are baseless. >> paul: october 15 is an important date for the nation's seniors. it's the day the next reading on consumer prices comes out. that is the final piece of information the government uses to calculate the cost of living adjustment or "cola" for social security. as darren gersh reports, this year's adjustment will almost certainly be zero. >> reporter: a funny thing happened while so much of wall street was worrying about inflation: consumer prices actually fell over the last 12 months. for social security beneficiaries, that means there will most likely be no annual cost of living adjustment or "cola." lawmakers like vermont's bernie sanders say that's unfair, because seniors pay

. >> susie: onof bernard madoff's biggest investorss being asked to returbillions of dolrs to victims of that ponzi heme. former nework lawyer jeffery picower may have to give bk $7 billion he me investing with maff. the trustee recoveringadoff's assets wants that money retued to pple who were scammed. picower says that claim has merit. >> paul: if you're thinkin about buying a house or refinancing yo mortgage-- now could be theime. mortgage rat fell below 5% last wk with the 30-year fixed rate at 4.94%. the average te on 15-year home loans dropped 4.36. that's the lowest the 15ear rate has bee since freddie mac begatracking the numbers in 1991. >> susiethe nation's banks are being asketo pre-pay billions in iurance premiums. night's "two ways to play" asks the question: what's int for the banks? here's kevin dew of minyanlle and minyanville's kevin depew with some answer >> the f.d.i.c this week, said it is planningo raise $45 billion to help stave ofa cash crunchs it deals with troubled banks. so far, nearly 100anks have been taken over by the f.d.i. this year. how are they goingo d

. >> susie: one of bernard madoff's biggest investors is being asked to return billions of dollars to victims of that ponzi scheme. former new york lawyer jeffery picower may have to give back $7 billion he made investing with madoff. the trustee recovering madoff's assets wants that money returned to people who were scammed. picower says that claim has no merit. >> paul: if you're thinking about buying a house or refinancing your mortgage-- now could be the time. mortgage rates fell below 5% last week with the 30-year fixed rate at 4.94%. the average rate on 15-year home loans dropped to 4.36. that's the lowest the 15-year rate has been, since freddie mac began tracking the numbers in 1991. >> susie: the nation's banks are being asked to pre-pay billions in insurance premiums. tonight's "two ways to play" asks the question: what's in it for the banks? here's kevin depew of minyanville and minyanville's kevin depew with some answers. >> the f.d.i.c., this week, said it is planning to raise $45 billion to help stave off a cash crunch as it deals with troubled banks. so far, nearly 100

jeffry picower is worth at least $1 billion after investing with bernard madoff, and cashing out rightore the ponzi scheme collapsed. a lawsuit may knock him off of next year's list. but either way, the 2008 red ink bloodbath makes this list one to forget. even for those who can afford to lose $1 million an hour. bill weir, abc news, new york. >> lots lost. >>> stay with us for "good morning america," coming up at 7:00. >>> and for updates anytime, check out >>> just moments away, an off- duty officer shot in the hand by a carjacking suspect. the hunt for the gunman is on. a carjacking suspect. the hunt for the gunman is on.

. >> bernard madoff. >> the octomom. >> sorry. >> michael phelps. >> serena williams. >> i want to apologizegn. >> i'll truly sorry. >> michael vick. >> i was wrong. >> joe wilson. george michael. kanye west. and a special lifetime achievement award to mel gibson. the 2009 sorries. you'll be sorry you missed it. >> jimmy: i would watch that. i would watch that. [ cheers and applause ] we've got a good show tonight. a 10-year-old vacuum expert gregory evans is here with us. we have music with pink. and david alan grier. >> no, you won't. he's my guest! ♪ for joint pain. for joint pain. but you wouldn't believe the stains we get. (thud) with outback detergent, stains are a thing of the past. outback detergent... free at your local subaru dealer, while supplies last get it fast. sarah! you're home! (announcer) on the nation's fastest 3g network. at&t. now get 50% off these samsung touchscreen phones after mail-in rebate. only from at&t. playing monopoly at mcdonald's. last year michele won playing online. and this year every day's another chance online... to win a roll for a million bucks. so w

landfill in georgia. >>> the florida medical examiner says the friend of convicted wind is letter bernard madoff suffered a massive heart attack. jeffrey picower's wife found him yesterday at their mansion in palm beach, florida. investors accused him of getting $7 billion in bogus profits from madoff's scheme. his attorney says picower had parkinson's disease and other health problems, as well. >>> parishioners in chat am, new jersey are mourning the death of their priest, stabbed to death. 150 people attended an early mass yesterday to pray for reverend ed hines a long-time janitor is charged with stabbing him 32 times with a kitchen knife thursday. many people in the community are just stunned by the brutality of this crime. >> we're all praying for ourselves that we can get through this. >> we're just hugging each other, and just coming together as a family. >> i really can't get over it. it will be a while. it will take us a while to get over it, because we're -- no, it just came so fast. couldn't believe it. >> 64-year-old jose feliciano is being held on $1 million bail. heinz's body was f

but the bankruptcy trustee, irving picard, saying in this lawsuit, that the madoff family used bernard madoff's investment security business as the family piggy bank. again, seeking $198.7 million. we're also seeking a comment from shauna madoff, who was a compliance officer at the madoff firm, as well as peter madoff, the close confidante of his brother. and no word back from them yet. the sons saying they disagree with this claim. but irving piccard trying to get everything he can to give back to the victims. >> thanks for the update. we've got about 20 minutes before the closing bell. dow jones industrial average right around the 9500 level. that seems tob the sticking point for the last couple of hours. 9501. maybe it can get back to positive territory. for the nasdaq, take a look at lower by 3.75 points. the s&p 500 as well, interaction to the job numbers this morning, 1,026. bob? >> michelle, for another take on the markets, let's turn to our investor network. straight from annapolis, maryland. adrian day, standing by. we've got weak economic numbers the last few days. is it possible here

. >>> a court-appointed trustee is suing bernard madoff's brothers, sons and a niece for almost $200lion. the lawsuit says madoff's relatives used a fraudulent family finance business like a piggy bank to buy multimillion dollar mansions, cars, and yachts. now back to "hardball." >>> let's get some reporting here. welcome back to "hardball." more fallout to report over nevada senator john ensign's affair with the wife of a former aide, doug hampton. "the new york times" reports that ensign helped get a job and clients for hampton that may violate a ban on lobbying for a year for a senate staffer. before you leave the office you're not supposed to work as a lobbyist for a year. apparently the senator helped him set up for just that. and the ethics committee is investigating him for allegations of improper conduct along those lines. eric broke the story for "the new york times" today. and lisa, thank you, lisa, for joining us, the washington correspondent for "the las vegas sun." you're up on the hill. eric's with me. let me go to eric now. what has he done wrong legally? the senator?

jeffrey is worth at least $1 billion after investing with bernard madoff and cashing out right before a lawsuit may knock him off of next year's list but either way, the 2008 red ink blood bath makes this list one to forget, even for those who can afford to lose a million dollars an hour. bill weir, abc news, new york. >> a million dollars an hour. how unfathomable, yet he's still at the top of the list, warren

jeffrey pickaur, an associate of bernard madoff was found dead at his home, he was being sued by the trustee seeking to recover money from madoff's victims. in other news, gas shot 18 cents to an average of 2.66 a gallon. i'm russ mitchell, cbs news. [music playing] when you take away all the canned chicken broth that adds msg, one stands alone. the secret is swanson 100% natural chicken broth. the forecast is full of ifs. if i'm too exposed to downturns. if i'll go through my savings too fast. to help you feel more confident consider putting a portion of your savings in a metlife variable annuity. when the market goes up, it gives your assets a potential to grow. while protecting you if the market goes down with a steady stream of income. let america's number one annuity provider help you stay on course with guarantees for the if in life. get answers about annuities at metlife.com. but i can serve my family a meal that's just as delicious from walmart for less. just one wanchai ferry frozen dinner a month saves us over $450 a year. save money. live better. walmart. >> couric: as pre

. >>> $530 million has been returned to victims of convicted swindler bernard madoff.t's accord ing ing to picka . he expected $1.5 billion to have been recovered from madoff but that actually pales in comparison to total losses which exceed $19 billion. madoff pleaded guilty in march to several federal counts related to a massive long-running ponzi scheme. he is 71 years old and he's been sentenced to 150 years in prison. >>> after several delays for low-hanging clouds nasa's finally launched its first ares i-x rocket. i hope you were riveted by the pictures, we were in the newsroom. took off from the kennedy space center this morning. nasa's hoping that it will replace its shuttle fleetand it will help future missions to the international space station. the ares is also part of nasa's plan to return to the moon and eventually mars. >>> president obama helped honor former u.s. senator edward brooke with the congressional gold medal today. brooke was the first african-american elected to the u.s. senate by popular vote. the republican represented massachusetts for two

. >>> convicted ponzi schemer bernard madoff accused of using investors money to pay for massive amountse. and exact words here, culture of sexual deviance in the workplace. alleges in the 1970s he sent employees to buy drugs for company use. it claims also he used the money for escorts and masseuses and company parties that included topless dancers. his attorney wouldn't comment. >>> another big batch of earnings set the tone on wall street today. stephanie elam, the business desk in new york with the trading details and the latest on the government's efforts to limit executive pay packages. all right stephanie. uss mentioned that and people get all fired up don't they? >> kind of fodder for the watercooler chat around the offices. you're right. giving the market a nice boost. the biggest gainers on the dow, all three posted better than expected results. major averages all posted solid gains, 131% to 10081, s&p up. >>> barack obama pay czar for the administration kenneth fineberg confirms he's putting a cash on salaries at the seven firms that received bailout money. limited to $500,000