about the financial crisis whereas contrasting the principles of benjamin grant that warren buffett just follows and charlie munger espoused to what happened during the financial crisis and i think the preliminary draft of my name is chris. came out in july two thousand and eight i sent it to warren buffett he looked at it he liked it and in there of course i'm a big critic of the rating agencies and all along i've been criticizing the rating agencies were in some a distribution list in february of two thousand and seven i wrote a letter to the f.c.c. and by the way he. gives me feedback on it and i wrote to the f.c.c. saying that the rating agency should have her an arrest her own designation revoked that the aaa ratings were phony i gave an example of a phony product that was rated triple a that within a year the principals of the investors lost ninety percent of their principle and i was warning about it when the product first came out was rated aaa and that was in my letter to the f.c.c. which is still on their website so it's not as if he didn't have the facts in hand yet but w

warren buffett's banker in california. a one hundred sixty million dollar fine for laundering nearly four hundred million in mexican drug money why no prosecution. well you know i think there's been no prosecution because again of our captured regulators when you look at the horrific press that this is gotten were basically well kofi was laundering money for a mexican drug cartel that is killing next to consider a sentence so basically the united states has helped aid and abet this through. vehicles like money money laundering through a kofi and mccovey i think by the way wasn't alone in that but these are very serious issues and that's not the only serious issue that we had to recall that we'll call you about golden west those you know loans from golden west many of them were just circling the drain at the time that well kovi of gold and last they were securitizing those loans they had a problem with the c.d.o. is that. put together because he was also acting essentially media for toxic c.d.o. from other investment banks

suggesting to have a call the sense we spoke the insiders got out there mr warren buffett apparently he's not wearing any shorts now tell us about the departure of heir apparent and the with a front running insider trading what it says about the bigger picture and u.s. banking that it's out of coley own necks this is kind of case of telling the truth slowly i think you're aware that warren buffett issued a press release and memo talking about the departure of david so call who was the head of american energy and david so call. was also somebody who looked at acquisition candidates for berkshire hathaway now as the facts are coming out it appears that he was in a meeting with citi group bankers on december thirteenth and the next day he bought shares in a country called oversaw not in a company called loopers are now the day before the citi group think ors understood that they were talking to david so call in his capacity as an officer of berkshire hathaway in a capacity of an officer who evaluates potential acquisition candidates for it sure hathaway that seemed to be their clear und

or is this about the way buffett runs his company? is it about buffett as a manager? >> the big picture is buffett as a manager, his practice of delegating so much and relying so much on people he's personally chosen to the point you get a situation like this, that blows up in his face. >> where was the board of directors in all of this? >> it sounds like they were a little bit late to the party. it sounds like they found out about sokol's resignation on the eve of it happening and now, the audit committee is coming in. the report they put out is only preliminary, so i don't think they're fully caught up, yet. >> you were a morgan stanley analyst for many years covering berkshire stock before you started writing books. tell us about your views on the berkshire stock. will this whole situation hurt the stock? >> berkshire's been cheap for a while, and it is probably going to get cheaper unless something dramatic happens because what used to be called the buffett premium is turning into a buffett discount as warren gets older and people are fearful of the future. unless

right hand man and now david sokol who is supposed to be the heir apparent to warren buffett had to resign after it turned out that he could have been front runner insider. trading on lubrizol which he bought shares in his company prior to convincing warren buffett to buy huge chunk of it well david sokol appeared on c.m.t. c. and said sure which i don't believe i did anything wrong charlie monger among my own three percent of b. y. d. before he asked me to look at it for this is that chinese car manufacturing of electric cars that charlie munger apparently owned before he convinced warren buffett to buy it said because warren buffett was really the last man in finance in america that had any moral authority whatsoever and the oracle of omaha and he was constantly referenced as the quiet a studious graham following a good guy who would come in and see goldman sachs or before that it was solomon brothers and it turns out he's just a conniving backstabbing insider trading market manipulating schmock like dick sold or jamie diamond or lloyd blankfein or any of the other crooks on wall

to buy and it's sad because warren buffett was really the last in a finance in america that had any moral authority whatsoever of the oracle of omaha and he was constantly referenced as the quiet a studious graham following a good guy who would come in and see goldman sachs or before that it was solomon brothers its arms out he's just a conniving backstabbing insider trading market manipulating schmock like. or jamie diamond or lloyd blankfein or any of the other crooks on wall street the fact that he's in omaha doesn't make him any less of all street crooks and charlie monger. needs to to excuse himself from the public forum and just disappear for a while because he's told all embarrassment i don't care how old the guy is they put on your depends and get out of dodge because your back your stinking up the joint charlie munger get out of here david sokol thinks that he would be able to get away with the same crimes that a guy like charlie monger can but i think remember there longly apply selectively to certain people some guys are just totally exempt from them and you see this in t

>> reporter: many public relations executives give buffett high marks for getting out in front of the story and crafting his own press release. the next step, they say, is for buffett to personally call for an internal investigation. >> he shouldn't wait for the press to do that. he shouldn't wait for the investors to demand it. he should say "i'm taking responsibility. we're going to look at whether there's any more of this, and if so, we are going to stamp it out." >> reporter: the oracle of omaha is considered one of the greatest investors of all time. but some say he may not be keeping close enough tabs on his employees. >> i think this is very poor corporate governance. i think many companies want their senior executives to clear

of impropriety taint warren buffett and berkshire? erika miller reports. >> reporter: there's court, and then there's the court of public opinion. both matter in determining whether david sokol did something wrong. law professor jack coffee says criminal charges are highly unlikely. >> i think he may have done something that was morally wrong, reckless, even self- destructive. but i don't think he has violated the insider trading obligation, because he wasn't an insider of the company he was investing in. >> reporter: but to many, it appears that sokol violated berkshire hathaway's code of conduct. in it is warren buffet's rule of thumb: >> "i want employees to ask themselves whether they are willing to have any contemplated act appear the next day on the front page of their local paper." also at issue is whether sokol's personal trading will tarnish warren buffett's golden reputation. brand expert kelly o'keefe says the answer is unclear. >> if you have an issue in your company where somebody is found doing something that looks self-

sokol was considered a leading contender to succeed buffett as c.e.o. joining us now, tom russo of gardner russo & investments. berkshire is a top holding at his investment firm. nice to have you with us. >> nice to see you. >> susie: what's the next thing that's going to happen? do you think that there could be legal action taken against david sokol? >> i don't really know whether it will lead to that. i do know that this is tragedyic. it's a tragic situation. a person's career on the side rails, and really the audit committee today, i think, put clearly forth what the standards of conduct are within berkshire. and whether or not there was insider trading or whether this was a misleading transaction is really not the whole story. the whole story today was that the audit committee said that there are procedures recovered prifred individuals in berkshire like david that require a person to receive approval of before they can trade. this is something that's quite important. >> susie: the timing on this is really interesting, because on saturday barren buf

in a statement, buffett said neither dave nor i feel his lubrizal purchases are in any way unlawful. he told me they were not a factor in his decision to resign. >>> a strong first quarter, encouraging news on jobs. the markets shrugging off higher oil and commodity prices. where do we go from here and what is next? joining me now to talk about is nariman behravesh. he is chief economist at ihs. great to have you on the program. welcome back. >> thank you, maria. >> let's talk about the jobs numbers to start off. the economy creating 216,000 jobs in the last month. the unemployment rate moving lower to 8.8%. that's a two-year low. encouraging news. it is enough? >> indeed. and in fact as you well know, the private sector created even more jobs, 230. but it was the government that was sort of pulling things down a little bit. this is really good news. and what we have seen over the last two quarters is actually an acceleration of jobs creation. so we're on a very good momentum here in terms of the economy, and in particular in terms of the jobs market. the march number was a very good

sokol revealed he bought shares in a company before pushing buffett to buy it.rld trade organization revealed boeing received at least $5.3 billion in illegal government subsidies to develop and build new planes. >>> finally, what housing slump? a russian millionaire bought a lavish 25,500 square foot single family mansion in silicon valley for $100 million. one of the largest home sales in u.s. history. wow. >>> in health news, prostate cancer testing provides evidence that getting screened doesn't cut the chances of dying from the disease. the study found no difference in the rate of death between the men who were periodically screened with a physical exam and a psa blood test an those who weren't. for more information on this and other health stories, you can also always head to the web at msnbc.com. >>> the crack of the bat, the flash of the spikes and the smell of the hot dogs on baseball's opening day, including curtis granderson settling the yankee's opening tilt against the tigers. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look"

what did you find in terms of difference between what warren buffett calls the money sperm club, the millionaires like the dot com boomers, and those who earn their money over time, over decades. what did you find? >> people who earn their money, they don't have to worry quite so much about their self-worth, because they know they can do t the inheritors, they always have to wonder. they don't have to go out and be entrepreneurs like their parents did, and they always have to worry that maybe it was their parents who were the really the ones with merit in the family. and they're just eating the leftovers. so to be the inheritor -- go ahead. >> no. go ahead. >> to be the one who has the money just given to you means that you're not sure if your life is going to be one that will be remembered as one with merit or if you're just lucky, as warren buffett said. >> folks will read your article. they'll see the study when it comes out. they just won't be able to associate with it. there's some sort of i don't like them because they have so much money. are they good people, from what you fou

than 2%, a day after the resignation of david sokol, widely viewed as the likely successor to warren buffett. sokol resigned after buffet revealed he bought shares in a chemical company before pushing buffet to buy it. sokol told our sister network cnbc he did nothing wrong in buying the shares. >>> the royal trade organization ruled boeing received $5.5 billion in illegal government subsidies to develop and build new planes. >>> finally, what house slump? a russian millionaire bought a lavish 25,500 square foot single family mansion in silicone valley for $100 million. one of the largest home sales in u.s. history. wow. >>> the crack of the bat, the flash of the spikes and the smell of the hot dogs on baseball's opening day, including curtis granderson settling the yankees opening tilt against the tigers. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. >>> after a very active start to our april, the weekend forecast actually looks pretty nice. that's coming up. you're watching "early today." >>> good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, if the weather

. >> reporter: so, this incident may be more than a wake-up call for buffett and berkshire hathaway. it may be a lesson about the importance of disclosure and proper management for other firms, as well. erika miller, "nightly business report," new york. >> suzanne: higher interest rates could be in the works as early as this fall. the president of the minneapolis federal reserve bank said today a boost in short-term rates is, "certainly possible later this year, especially if inflation heats up." also today, the central bank today released thousands of pages detailing which banks took money from the discount window during the financial crisis. in the past, that info had been kept secret to protect banks from any appearance of weakness. today's release of names was prompted by a court fight with news agencies. >> tom: here are the stories in tonight's "n.b.r. newswheel." wall street wrapped up the first quarter with a relatively quiet day of trading. the dow fell 30 points, the nasdaq gained four, and the s&p 500 was off two points. we'll dissect the quarter with s&p's sam stovall in

. >> this could be a tough weekend for warren buffett as he is grilled about the david soakle controversy. i will have the full story on monday and tweeting throughout the weekend. >> tom: here's what else we're watching for next week. our friday market monitor guest is robert stovall, managing director and strategist at wood asset managment. we'll also see the april reports on employment, chain store sales and auto sales. and monday, congress is back in session and the new budget debate tops the agenda. get ready for $4 a gallon gasoline nationwide early next month. a.a.a. says the national average today stands at $3.91. that's up six cents from last week and more than a buck higher than last year. it's now just 20 cents below the record high. but experts say there's a chance the price could start to creep down after memorial day, when more gasoline is in the supply pipeline. meanwhile, higher fuel costs are also hitting the airline industry and fliers are going to pay for it. united and continental are hiking fares on many domestic routes by up to $20 a round trip ticket. u.s. carriers

as warren buffett likes to point out, because most of his income is from dividends taxed at 15%, his tax rate is far less than people who clean his office. >>> speaking of the very rich, a russian billionaire made headlines recently when he plunked down $100 million for a mansion in palo alto. so that made us wonder, what do you get for that kind of money, or let's just say half that price. so here is vicky nguyen with a look inside some of the most exclusive and expensive homes for sale in the bay area. ♪ >> reporter: touchdown in jerry rice's mvp mansion. priced to sell at $13.8 million. >> welcome to one of the finest custom homes in atherton. so diane, this is one of the most state-of-the-art entertainment systems in the world. >> with just one touch, you can control the lighting, the hvac, so the heater, the air conditioning. >> reporter: six bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a sauna and full gym. who knew jerry did pilates. and this all comes with the house? >> yes, this is available with the home. >> reporter: another unique feature of this home is the fully equipped beauty salon. do

successful in the world today headline reads bill gross says treasuries have little value echoing buffett so bill gross we've spoken of him many times he runs the world's largest bond fund and he writes on his website that his firm has been selling treasuries because they have little value within the context of a seventy five trillion dollar debt burden the u.s. has own record instead of seventy five trillion or close to five hundred percent of gross domestic product counting what it owes on its bonds plus obligations for social security medicare and medicaid he says if the us doesn't reform it's in title meant program it's going to have to go bankrupt and is technically bankrupt and talking about the u.s. bond market because a lot of these bonds and up and pension accounts from the people who are getting these so-called entitlement programs people who see money over many decades who created the backbone for the american economy who actually are the capital to create the capitalism that is america those people are being disenfranchised by bond speculators who are laundering their losses a

warren buffett running one of the world's biggest businesses at 80.y senator frank lautenberg still going strong at 87. but linsey davis found a school teacher from senator lautenberg's state who has them all beat. >> reporter: growing old gracefully is nothing new to agnes zhelesnik. she's had 97 years to learn. >> today we are making banana bread. >> reporter: "granny" is what everyone calls her and this is how she spends most of her time. >> putting a teaspoon of vanilla in here. >> reporter: a dash of energy, a pinch of persistence and an extra dollop of work ethic. >> whenever she makes a recipe, she adds one little touch which is love to it. >> reporter: mix it all together and you have the woman who's believed to be the nation's oldest full-time teacher. >> ready to work today, gran? >> i sure am. >> reporter: a discovery her daughter made when she recently filed her mother's taxes. >> they said, "she still has a w-2 form?" i said, "yes." she said, "well, when was she born?" i said, "1914." >> reporter: she was a teenager during the great depre

billionaire of course somebody who watches the show is trying to corner the silver market like warren buffett tried in one nine hundred ninety eight like the hook brothers tried back in one nine hundred eighty what is this man and named the price is going a lot higher will it then drop you know because the dollar is being rejected as the world reserve currency we're going back to a precious metal standard and that high that gold and silver achieve will be the permanent plateau upon which the global economy will be reordered tech to be a major. it's a server talk to me the next we're going to get to those rumors but i think those rumors are actually being spread by the obama administration and to me geitner but because we're going to look at the globe fleeing the dollar flood and the dollar fraud so this is our first headline gotta love it i take this from max keiser dot com you did a good some nation there but it's a picture of you holding up fraud and you did want this is you on some news program a few years ago and you were warning of exactly what we're seeing now insurance with the currenc

warren buffett suggested avoiding betting on the u.s. dollar because he believes it's about to tank. wall street is increasing their interest in what they call tail risk. what that is, is funds that are being set up by pimco, deutsche bank now and other wall street firms. we have been called crazy and we told you prepare. prepare. for massive stock market dives. the funds lose 15% per year in normal conditions but they are structured they're structured to cash in big-time in a time of crisis. nobody has done these before. people are now saying, i don't think this is good. something is going on. what else can i do with my money? now people are lining up to lose 15%. because they think massive trouble is ahead. wal-mart, the world's largest retailer working with suppliers now to minimize the impact of increasing cost to you. ceo bill simon of wal-mart says the cost increase are coming at a rapid rate. and that inflation is going to be serious here in america. the president just called to reduce oil consumption, and increase ethanol. the pr

warren buffett does not need another tax cut. not if we have to pay for it by making seniors pay more for medicare or by cutting kids from headstart or by taking college scholarships that i would not be without and some of you would not be without. i believe that the most wealthy americans would agree with me. they want to give back to their country. it is a country that has done so much for them. it is just that washington has not asked them to. others will say that we should not even talk about cutting spending until the economy is fully recovered. these are most folks in my party. i am sympathetic to this view which is what of the reasons i supported the payroll tax cuts we passed in december. it is also why we have to use a scalpel and not a machete to reduce the deficit so that we can keep making the investments that create jobs. doing nothing on the deficit is just not an option. our debt has grown so large that we could do real damage to the economy if we don't begin a process now to get our fiscal house in order. finally,

on monday, we'll look at the fallout at warren buffett's investment company as a top executive is suspectedtrading. i'm margaret warner. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. "washington week" can be seen later this evening on most pbs stations. we'll see you online and again here monday evening. have a nice weekend. thank you and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> auto companies make huge profits. >> last year, chevron made a lot of money. >> where does it go? >> every penny and more went into bringing energy to the world. >> the economy is tough right now, everywhere. >> we pumped $21 million into local economies, into small businesses, communities, equipment, materials. >> that money could make a big difference to a lot of people. >> and by bnsf railway. pacific life-- the power to help you succeed. and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the

long-term outlook for the country, standard & poor's came out and showed they were pessimistic, warren buffett saying don't invest in long-term base asset. that's why they're pessimistic. >> juan mentioned speculators before. the two biggest speculators that damaged the economy are barack obama who had a stimulus package. we now have $2.6 trillion of deficit under obama, which created a huge fiscal problem for us. and ben bernanke who did quantitative easing, sect quantitative easing with $600 billion. that was buying up government bonds. government paper. to try to stimulate the stock market which he did a little bit with a little bit of a -- >> chris: and lower interest rates. >> kept interest rate at 0%. we have had wildly stimulative fiscal and monetary policy. growth is slowing down anyway. it's been a total failure. the key for republicans in my view is run comprehensively against obama, bernanke monetary and fiscal policy and say the keynesian model failed. this is a perfect test of it. >> chris: that's the bumper sticker. "keynes was wrong." >> obama and the establishment was wrong. be