he was replaced with bob dudley. dudley would be the third ceo in four years. >> no questions guys, please. no questions at all, please. >> narrator: for months, we asked bp to grant an interview. they declined. >> what are the changes going to be? >> well, there's no question we're going to learn a lot from this accident in the gulf coast. >> narrator: they agreed to consider written questions. we sent more than 40. they gave us a three-paragraph response. in it, they pledged to restructure and improve safety in all their operations. >> several oil executives that i spoke with described this process of reforming a company culture as a monumental task. >> tony and i are going to work through a transition between now and.... >> and it's something that will occupy a chief executive's focus and attention every single day, every day of the week, every week of the year, in perpetuity. >> thanks ever so much. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you, all. >> narrator: bp now faces the largest liabilities in corporate histo

. >> before taking up his official duties, bop dudley, the first non-britt to head up -- bob dudley, the first non-brit to head up bp. the company is also splitting its expiration end -- exploration and production into three parts. >> i do think bp has a future in the u.s.. there are still fines and penalties to come along. it will be smaller, but they are important to the u.s.'s gulf coast oil production, syllabus shortly -- so they will certainly be part of that. >> it assumes control of the company whose financial position is improving but still has a big job to do to salvage its reputation. >> there has also been a change at the top of hewlett-packard. two months after the abrupt resignation of mark hurd, a new boss has been named, the former boss of the german software giant. bmw is recalling some of its vehicles because of a brake problem. in the united states, one of the 98 bmw's, series 5, 6, and seven -- some 198 bmw's, series 5, 6 and 7, had been recalled. the firm said the problem was without danger -- those were its words -- for drivers. the brakes have become slightly mo

group -- bob dudley. the allied irish banks is 19% tax owned by the taxpayer, has been bailed out by the irish government, and has been ordered to shore up by $14.5 billion. it has already sold a stake in the polish bank. you can see that the markets are steady after hitting that two- year high, and capping the weakness is the tech sector. the u.s. dollar fell, and the big story to keep our eyes on his u.s. jobs. numbers are out tomorrow, and the u.s. jobs numbers are very important for the global economy. that is it for now, george. >> it would be fair to say that things have not exactly gone to plan for the organizers of the commonwealth games in delhi, and even before the competition started, athletes and officials were grumbling about the accommodations and the quality of the athletics stadiums. to compound the misery, it seems a number of swimmers have to come to sickness. sandra, do we know yet what exactly caused this? >> no, george, it is not quite clear. you are looking at the water in the swimmi

in a speech today in london, bp's ceo bob dudley scoffed at those television news graphics during the height of the spill, showing scientist's projections that some of those 172 millions of oil gallons spilled in the gulf might actually loop around florida and then be driven by ocean currents across the atlantic. by the way, as they're trying to get the louisiana fisheries industry back up and running, reports of spilled oil in the waters off of new orleans are still turning up as recently as this weekend, including one sighting on the ocean floor. a federal investigation into the spill is under way with a report due early next year. >>> there was a reunion of sorts today in chile. those 33 rescued miners, and the rescue crew that went down and got them played each other in soccer. the winning team, the rescuers, captained by chile's president. though you guessed it, no fair. the president had to joke that the miners were great players but "a bit out of shape." >>> you could call this next item elena, get your gun. the justices of the supreme court were famously described long ago as

bob dudley said "some in our industry" joined the clamor against b.p. before the facts came out of any investigation. >> susie: still ahead, ikea. the blue and yellow retailer is going green. we'll show you why the world's largest home furnishings chain believes helping the environment is good for business. the world's biggest computer chip maker also has bun of the biggest corporate savings account. intel is spending billions of its cash on acquisitions but other companies have been reluctant despite criticism they may be hurting the economy by holding on to so much cash. stacey smith is along with us. he's with us from intel headquarters in santa clara california. welcome back to nightly business report. nice to see you. >> nice to see you as well. >> tom: let's talk about cash. at the end of the third quarter your company had more than $20 billion stashed aside. have you felt pressure to spend it or return it to shareholders? >> well, you know, we don't look at cash as a pressure to spend. what we do is we grow cash when we believe that we have compe

bp's ceo bob dudley declined an invitation to appear before the committee. markey said he's hoping dudley will reconsider. brian? >> tom costello in our washington bureau tonight. tom, thanks. >>> we now turn to politics, the midterm elections just five days out. lots to talk about, and so we've assembled part of our political team here with us in the studios tonight. chuck todd, andrea mitchell and david gregory all with us from washington. chuck, we're going to start out with you. where do we think of things five days out? >> right now, campaigns are focused on two things. number one, winning over any remaining undecides. and number two, trying to get out the democrat or republican bases who remain a tad unmotivated or unconvinced. after two days in the hospital to treat infection related to her successful battle with breast cancer, california republican carly fiorina was back on the stump today, trying to close the narrow gap with senator barbara boxer. >> this is a very tight race. >> reporter: taking a break from their own california campaigning, first

ceo bob dudley admits bps response was not perfect but accuses the media of rushing to judgment beforelso says politicians and other oil companies stoked the public's fears about the spill. >>> ford motor company is expected to announce what could be its biggest third quarter profit in history. the automaker's new models are selling. the company is ready to hire more workers. ford wants state tax credit to hire up to 1,200 in the detroit area over the next few years. the state of michigan will consider the request later today. >>> interesting story this morning, law enforcement officials in a seaside italian town are doubling as fashion police and the hemline is their target. >> the town's conservative mayor pushed through a ban on skimpy clothing. anyone wearing a miniskirt short enough to reveal undergarments could be fined up to $700. necklines too plungingh, jeans too low slung are also a no-no. >> he also put a ban on shirtless men, swearing out loud and playing football in public parks. he wants it to be civilized society. some of the women in the democratic opposition party said

american bob dudley takes over at ceo today. he takes over for hayward.nd heidi klum hanging up her halo after 13 years as a victoria's secret angel. she decided to retire from the iconic role to focus on other ventures. klum said in a statement, quote, all good things have to come to an end. she started as a model. she is a full pledged business woman now. >>> towns across north carolina have been flooded by heavy rains. roads are impassablimpassable. up next, norman broslo to tell us how they're coping with the situation there. driving home nails quickly and easily in the tightest spaces. more innovation, more great values. craftsman. trust. in your hands. it's pretty cool. [ woman ] you just feed your check in. feed the money right in. no deposit slips. no looking for an envelope. i have an image of my check right here. i can get a picture of the check, on the receipt. it even tells what kind of bills i put in. [ man ] you just put the bills right in. it even did the math for me. -four twentys. -a ten. -two fives. -a hundred bucks. -it's all right here