that's the word from new york attorney general andrew cuomo. who's investigating compensation at banks that got tarp funds. he says bonuses stayed at bull- market levels despite the financial crisis, with large paychecks becoming a "cultural expectation." citi and merrill lynch combined got $55 billion in tarp money and lost $27-billion last year. but the firms' still paid $8 billion in bonuses. cuomo says there's no rhyme or reason to how wall street pays employees. a house investigative panel agrees. it will look at payouts by tarp banks after it sees cuomo's report. meanwhile you and uncle sam became citigroup's largest shareholder today. citi finished converting the government's stake in the firm to common equity giving tax payers a 34% piece of the banking giant. the move is aimed at boosting citi's common equity, jeff, a measure seen as key to withstanding further losses. >> jeff: suzanne, the company says with the exchange complete, citi is now among the best capitalized banks in the world. now let's take a look at our stocks in the news

cuomo came to give us the line he did.nd is had the mac clause been completely valid, had ken lewis renegotiated, had they agreed to new terms or to auto break-up, isn't it through that, in fact, we would have had a long period of time well noticed wsh statutory notice for stockholders and then a stockholder vote occurred? >> yes, there is -- if there had been a renegotiation, there would have been an extended period and there would have been a revote is my understanding. >> and isn't it that which is at the center of you why you issued the threat and why ken lewis ultimately decided that the damage from that period, even if he got a better price or broke it, either way, could be disastrous to both firms? >> again, ken lewis didn't characterize it as a threat and i -- >> no, actually, he did characterize it as a threat. he managed to say that he didn't feel threatened while receiving a threat. >> i prefer to characterize it as me explaining the fed's supervisory authorities to him. but in any event, whatever we -- i like m

older cuomo. up next, is governor mark sanford still wearing his ring? we'll tell you the "hardball" sideshow. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. summer clearance is here, and it's the best time to get some of the best deals. get in now and get the chrysler town & country with a generous cash allowance, or 0% financing for 60 months. the trail rated jeep grand cherokee also comes with a cash allowance or 0% financing for 60 months. or choose a hard working all new dodge ram truck with a cash allowance that's tough to beat. all with our best in the business lifetime powertrain warranty. so hurry come see the deals we've built for you at the dodge chrysler and jeep summer clearance. you have questions. who can give you the financial advice you need? where will you find the stability and resources to keep you ahead of this rapidly evolving world? these are tough questions. that's why we brought together two of the most powerful names in the industry. introducing morgan stanley smith barney. he

but cuomo's report questions that argument. >> attorney general cuomo found that even people working in unprofitable units of these firms were also highly compensated. >> reporter: not mentioned in the report was that top executives at all of the nine big banks give up their bonuses. but for congress that wasn't nearly enough. >> the bill is passed without objection. >> reporter: today the house voted to ban incentives for risky trades and to give shareholders more say on compensation. >> the soundest course is the one that is the central thrust of the legislation, which is give the shareholders the power. that's what the market is supposed to be about. the owners of the company control the company. >> reporter: some exports i spoke with today question just how much impact congress' efforts will have on what's known to be a deeply rooted industry pay culture. many banks have already responded to bonus backlash by simply shifting the bulk of compensation from annual bonuses to base salaries, for fear of losing top talent to rival firms. >> continues to be a controversy. bianna, thank

but cuomo's report questions that argument. >> attorney general cuomo found that even people working in unprofitable units of these firms were also highly compensated. >> reporter: not mentioned in the report was that top executives at alall of thee bibibabanknks uththeir bonuses. bufor congress that wasn't nearly eugh. >> the bl is passed without objection. >> reporter: today t the houses vod to banan incentives for risky trad and to give compensation.s m more say on >> the soundest t course is s t one thats the ceral rust of the lislation, which is that's wt ththe markrkets we supposed to be about >> reporter: some exports i spoke with tododay question jus how much impt congress' efforts willavave on what's induststry p pay c culture.ed many bananks have already responded to bus backlash by simpmply s shiftining the bulk compensationon from annual bonus to basase salaries, for fear of losing top talent to rival firms. >> continues to be a controversy. bianna, thank you. >>> we have a death to report tonight. koraino who led the popular uprising has died. her people power movement l

cuomo ys there's no rhyme or reason to how wall streepays employees. a house investigive panel agrees it will look at payos by tarp banks after it sees cuomo' report. meanwhile you and une sam became citroup's largest sheholder today. citi finisheconverting the government'stake in the firm to common equityiving tax payers a 34% piece othe banking gian the move is aimed atoosting ti's common equity, jeff, a measure seen as keto withstanding fther losses. >>eff: suzanne, the company says with the exchan complete, citi inow among the best capitalized banks in the wor. now let's take a look our stocks in thnews tonight. and those are the stoc in the news tonht, suzanne. >> suzanne: thks, jeff. medicare'selebrates its 44th birthday today. 1965 president lyndon johns signed medicare to law proving low-cost hospitalization anmedical insurance for the nation's seniors. now the ogram covers 44 llion people with a yearly dget of nearly half a trilli dollars. bujust 10% of medicare patien account for nearly two thirds of the program'cost. toght, stephanie dhue in

cuomo came to give us the line he did.y understanding is, had the mac clause been completely valid, had mr. lewis completely renegotiated, had they agreed to new terms or to a breakup, isn't it true that we would have had, in fact, a long period of time, well, statchri'ú notice for sto holders, and then a stockholder vote occurred? >> yes, if there had been a renegotiation there would have been an extended period there would have been a revote, is my understanding. >> isn't that at the center of why you issued the threat and why ken lewis ultimately decided that the damage from that period, even if he got a better price or broke it, either way, could be disastrous to both firms? >> again, ken lewis didn't characterize it as a threat. >> he didn't characterize it as a threat. he managed to say he didn't feel threatened while receiving a threat. >> i prefer to characterize it as me explaining the fed supervisory story to him. >> i like margaret thatcher's way of doing it. >> however we characterize it, the concern that i had

when recipients tried to access the photos, cuomo says they became new members of the site. cuomo says he will sue the company for deexceptive e-mail marketing and invasion of privacy. tag.com suspended the internet campaign last month after users complained. >>> construction on the department of homeland security's new headquaser is set to begin thi i ll . fa ginn theew ng odb buicilwh gd ish oing to be on w isthetests campu ofst elsabh'et h'starts ierde cemb. elear holmes norton says this will be one of the biggest developments ahead for the city. >>> when "news4 at 5:00" continues tonight, area cyclists out on a charity ride learn the rules of the road the hard way. >>> a police chase ends in a violent crash and caught on tape. warning against comacency as officials update efforts to keep the swine flu at bay during the next flu season. >>> they grow up so quickly about the giant panda a teen in bear years. there is his little cake. we will see how he celebrated. >>> people are thinking about the swine flu in the summer but government, state and local leaders are gearing

chris cuomo, diane sawyer, sam champion. morning that sam brought us. >> gorgeous morning after a really bad night of rain. but come on. it's a weekend. we're getting our friday party started with sean paul this morning. by the way, if you're not listening to his music at your party, you're not having a party yet. >> no. >> it's awesome. >>> we also have our friend cameron mathison here this morning. he's going to show us how to camp in your own backyard. he's joined by two lovelies. those are his own. so cute. >> making the backyard experience adventurous, as if you went out in the woods. >>> and also, michael schlow's here. and you heard yesterday the butchers say that the flank steak is the cut of meat they prefer. he's going to do flank steak. he's going to show how to do a very tasty cut of meat that's not always as pricey as the others. >>> before we went to the break, we were talking about the youtube video. jill and kevin heinz. they showed a new way to come down the aisle. jill loves to dance. she always had the ide

diane sawyer with chris cuomo on this monday, july 20th. robin is off today. >>> that video of that frightened young private being held by the taliban. we are going to hear from the secretary of state on a wide-ranking number of things including how the u.s. government is working to get him home. >> but the you are general circumstance the urgency of this situation for 23-year-old bowe bergdahl, you see him right there, the distress when he's talking about his family and his fiancee. it has gotn the search for him up and under way especially in his small hometown of haley, ida idaho. we'll talk to one of his friend there is. >> we begin with the search. jon karl talks to us from washington. >> reporr: the release of this chilling video confirms what the military had already suspected. that u.s. soldier who went missing three weeks ago in afghanistan has been taken hostage. >> my name is bowe bergdahl. >> reporter: the video is dated july 14th. private first class bergdahl appears physically okay but frightened. >> i am scared, scared i won'

chris cuomo, kate snow.ne and robin are not here this morning. >>> alalso, new studies coming t on alzheimer's. just released including one that tested the effect of dha, that's found in popular fish oil supplements. people think it helps boost your memory and prevents alzheimer's but does it really? we'll get into that. a "gma" medical alert. >> put the science to the test. dr. tim helping us out with that. >>> tough job market out there. maybe especially so for workers who are 40 years old and over. what are they facing in interviews? is it different for them and if it is, how can you combat that and till get a job? >> but first new details from our exclusive interview with michael jackson's father, joe, about his son's upcoming run of 50 sold out performances in london about concerns for his health. we'll also talk exclusively to one of michael's oldest friends and ask was the king of pop really ready for such a demanding tour schedule. here's abc's chris connelly. ♪ really care about us >> reporter: what

says that in 2005, eliot spitzer brought this action and he has been succeeded by attorney general cuomo. but several people had their heads spending as to why he was mentioning the person who was not the attorney general and it seemed to invoke an attorney general in this way, to mean that the attorney general was going to lose. but that is not what happened. what the court held was that, with the justice joining the courts, for the traditional members. congress could not free of them from regulating the business of banking. if they bring the action in court to enforce the fair lending law, they cannot utilize the independent authority with the attorney general and the authority over the corporations to act on this, even with the court looking for a subpoena. new york judges, or actions by the state officials, against national banks, are fine. this is really summing up the court, if they look for the enforcement of the court, they must survive a lawsuit to risk -- to persist for risk sanctions so the judges are prevented from having fishing expeditions or looking through the books, prot

charlie, we fight about a lot of things -- >> your publicity hound friend andrew cuomo repackaged old information. >> if the bank lost money, where do you get the money to pay the bonus? bailout money was $32 billion. the banks lost $81 billion. i'm a taxpayer. explain to me, charlie. >> listen, i can't believe i'm agreeing with andrew cuomo and donny deutsch on this one. it reminds me of the immigration debate. milton freeman said you can't have open borders and a welfare state. the banks have been bailed out, they have been subsidized. do you realize goldman sachs is considered a commercial bank too big to fail. that means we, the taxpayer, are subsidizing their risk-taking, which paid off last quarter, $3 billion. we have every right to put controls on their executive compensation. >> but nothing has changed. this is egregious. you know better -- >> i would say this. >> it's going to get ugly. >> donny, i would say this, you have one person -- you have two people to talk to about this. you have barack obama and you have ben bernanke. >> barack obama. >> and here is why. >> did you

just last month new york attorney general andrew cuomo subpoenaed information from 14 loan modification companies as part of a nationwide investigation. the ftc bureau of consumer protection is out with a new fraud warning video. listen to what one former telemarketer convicted of fraud had to say. >> you never saw me in your life. you saw a commercial on tv. you got on the phone and spoke to me for ten seconds. i gave you some names to call and things to look up and you called me back three days later and you wrote me a check for $50,000. that sound a little screwed up? >> up next we'll tell you the warning signs and how you can protect yourself from getting ripped off. >>> just last week we had a story of an 86-year-old woman who lost her life savings to telemarketing fraud. she was defrauded out of about $200,000. >> they called me and told me i had won a certain amount of money and different ways for me to acquire it. i would have to send money. i just kept thinking, when i talked to people, i believe what people tell me. >> so sad. well, lois, like many victims of fraud, says she f

. >> steve, one of the things that mario cuomo said, liberal democrat, they should have a constitutional convention in new york to rewrite the state constitution to make albany more accountable. you think that is the path some of the states is going to go? >> i think its potential path. the same thing is being talked about in california. dan's pointed, i think it's interesting. california and new york the chrysler and gm of states because they can't pay their bills. dan, i would not be surprised if both california and new york come hand in hand in washington and say bail us out. washington can't pay its bills either. let's not forget one other point california and new york haven't been involved in these kind of cap and trade schemes. california has renewable energy standards, they passed their own cap and trade and businesses are moving out of the state because of those, as well. >> these do have very high tax rates. every time they say, let's raise them some more. and the states with a biggest budgets. >> part of the reason why, people are picking up their bags and going because they do

this is a big issue in the cuomo household, by the way.t saying. >> hmm. >>> let's head off to sam champion, who is all kind of water in boston, to show us the tall ships. sam? >> we've got lots of water. diane, robin, chris, good morning. we're in boston harbor. we'll talk about that throughout the morning. let's talk about the weather that moved through this area and across the country. we'll show you pictures of a hailstorm that moved through the hopkinton, massachusetts, area. ten tornadoes yesterday. severe weather today, in the midwest and central plains. hurricane-force winds already this morning, near sioux falls, south dakota. from minneapolis, to des moines, to k.c., to omaha, 60-mile-per-hour winds today. texas is involved in this. near-record-high temperatures. five to ten degrees above normal. >> it is another gorgeous start to our day. we will have added cloud cover. you can see the clouds rolling over the skies. 66 right now at reagan national. it is steadily -- still fairly low humidity. arlington, 59. leesburg, at 60. a mi

alongside chris cuomo, i'm robin roberts. diane is off on this friday, july 17th.re working on two breaking stories right now. in a moment, we'll have the latest on the pope, undergoing surgery for a fractured wrist. >>> but first, powerful blasts in jakarta overnight. >> take a look president this is the marriott hotel. this is the first of what's believed to be two explosions. that's the hotel lobby. it's unclear where the source of the bomb is. if it was a decide bomber. if it had been placed. we do know there were two bombs. one in the lobby of the marriott. another in the lobby of the ritz carlton across the street. a third bomb was found on the 18th floor of one of those hotels unexploded. it was then attained by authority there's. nine have been killed. the other victims are listed in the dozens, 50 or more. it's early in the situation there. they do believe it is over for know. but there's a lot of questions going on. >> we are covering all the angles for you this morning, beginning with our senior foreign correspondent, jim sciutto, who has been tracking t

>> well, the cuomo report is interesting.nd i can understand the frustration, particularly for banks getting support. but it doesn't go to the mirt. as usual it's headline grabbing, pointing fingers, bashing wall street. but it doesn't say whether the people that got million-dollar bonuses produced profit. i don't understand, i've never understood this argument, that boards of directors and top management reward for failure. if a trader makes $50 million on his book, he's going to make a $5 million bonus. he can make that across the street. he can go to a hedge fund p he can go to a foreign bank. the notion that everything's broken, so they're going to pay him whatever they want, they can't go -- they can't do anything else, is wrong. >> all right.. maybe we should let him go. maybe we should let him go. go to the hedge fund. go across the street. go to another country. the bottom line is these firms took money from the government. >> but let's say the trader that made the $50 million profit leaves the bank because we can't p

one of the things that's just also now come out from the attorney general in new york state, andrew cuomo is new bonuses, $9 billion for at least two of the companies that still have not repaid their t.a.r.p. funds. and when you look at these kind of losses and bonuses, do you think this is something that congress will want to take a closer look at? >> absolutely. we've already seen action in the house where they're empowering the stockholders to be able to do more in individual companies, concerning the management's bonuses. i think this is somewhat -- this is obscene. and i think congress is going to want to empower the owners of companies to do more to reinin these types of outrageous bonuses. >> when you look at citi and merrill here, this just broke within the hour, we talk to cuomo's offices, put calls into these companies, but i expect they would say, we need to pay these bonuses to be competitive, to turn these companies around. is that useful argument? is that a compelling argument or persuasive argument with y'all? >> no, not at all. look, people are entitled to fair compensatio

diane sawyer with chris cuomo. robin is off on this thursday, july 23rd, 2009. as we said with the president, the topic was health care. but it was that question at the end of the hour that has everyone talking this morning. >> president, of course, was asked about this controversial arrest up in cambridge, massachusetts, of harvard professor, henry gates. and you heard the tough language he used that's making this discussion go to another level. >> and abc news senior correspondent, jake tapper, is at the white house to lead us off this morning. jake? >> reporter: good morning, diane. it's those comments about the skip gates arrest, that has the nation talking. not talking about health care reform, but about racial profiling. president obama said he may be biassed in favor of professor gates, because he's a friend. >> there was a report called in to the police station, that there might be a burglary taking place. so far, so good, right? i mean, if i was trying to -- i guess this is my house now. so -- it probably wouldn't happen. but let's say my old house in c

. >> may 19, new york attorney general andrew cuomo also sued credit solutions and launched an investigationre debt settlement industry. >> they are very good at what they do and this is what they do. they perpetrate the frauds. >> may 28, the missouri attorney general piled on. accusing credit solutions of fraud. credit solutions blames the legal troubles on a one-year period from december of 2006 to 2007, during which the company was under different ownership. >> so there's a period of over a year that we have been working diligently to clean up. >> but the man who ran the company in the interim says that existing problems within the company were deep and ingrained. and all three attorneys general say the lawsuits cover a period of time when the current ceo was running t>>his iscohempany. >> this is the beginning of our busy time at the call center. >> once again, congratulations. >> we asked her about this internal sales script that "nightline" obtained from a former employee. it instructs them to tell the customers what we'll do is reduce your debt down from the 350% of the original amou

andrew cuomo released the report on the bonus payments that bailed out banks that showed no rhyme oreason to the way banks compensate or reward employees. when the banks did well, employees were paid well. when the banks did poorly, employees were paid well. even banks that were bailed out by the taxpayers still paid their employees and doled out bonuses. >>> southwest airlines istrying to acquire denver- based frontier airlines. the move could strengthen southwest's position in denver and speed up new routes such as atlanta. the sale was already approved to republic airways but that can be canceled if a better deal comes from southwest. those are the business headlines. >>> musicians from the southwest orchestra have agreed to salary cuts. the bso already had furloughs as well as job cuts. remember, everybody's struggling right now. we want to help you out during these tough times. check out the financial survival guide. today, three money handcuff saving ways to save on ketchup. >>> plus, ready to fall without breaking your piggy bank? higher unemployment equals competition. some a

iane sawyer and chris cuomo, we welcoming you. republicanen is off on this wednesday, july 22nd, 2009. and it was pitch black out there. >> oh, boy. >> for half of the planet. >> what a spectacle. so rare. people, millions across the globe, getting out their telescopes. and of course, there's stopwatches. ocd kein at over six minutes, thisd eclipse. a really big deal. and also an opportunity, to fashion that special eyewear you need to look at an eclipse. >> solar goggles to welding masks, tinfoil. special charter flights that promised a bird's-eye view of the eclipse. people having to turn on their lights. our reporter, clarissa ward is in beijing. she got a glimpse of all this. clarisa? >> reporter: good morning, diane. it truly was a historic moment today, as millions of people from around the world, gathered to witness what scientists are calling the longest solar eclipse of the 21st century. billions of eyes from all walks of life were glued to the sky across much of asia this morning, to witness a daytime of darkness, from a

but let's go now to chris cuomo. he has other major news this morning.he president heading off to russia. >>> that's right. the president, president obama, is now in moscow for a high-stakes summit with russia's president. he arrived with the rest of the first family this morning. the major issue on the table, reducing the number of nuclear weapons held by each country. our senior white house correspondent jake tapper is with the president and now with us this morning. good morning, jake. >> reporter: good morning, chris. well, sources with both president obama and russian president medvedev say everything is on track for an announcement later today of a joint understanding that both will commit to reducing the nuclear warhead stockpile from roughly 2,200 per country to about 1,500 but the devil is in the detail, of course, how to verify these commitments and how to reduce the nuclear weapon delivery system such as nuclear submarines which the u.s. has more of, in addition, the russians want the u.s. to commit to getting rid of their plans for a missile

when president clinton was looking for a supreme court nominee, he tried to get governor cuomo becausewanted someone who had experience in politics as opposed to getting everyone from the ivory tower. i mean, that's what this is about. this is bringing a diversity of experience. she really does have it in her personal background and in her legal training. >> john, you asked what she gains by answering the question that way. she gains senate confirmation to become a supreme court justice. look, she wasn't -- >> without controversy. >> without controversy. she wasn't gonna answer that question in any other way, but let's face it, when president obama made that statement about empathy, that was one of his criteria for a nominee. and look, frankly, i lack empathy for empathy on the bench. that's not what the law requires. >> too bad mario didn't make the bench. >>> exit question, is judge sotomayor a shoe-in, pat buchanan? >> 60 democratic votes and i think she'll get more than 10, i would guess around 15 republican votesp. >> so what does that come out with? >> that's a question. >> that'

i'm diane sawyer, with chris cuomo.off today. >>> also this morning, everybody wants to lose weight the easy way. if only we can take a pill. now, there is a pill that some are saying could be a silver bullet, especially for americans who are obese. remember, over 20 million people in that category. we'll look at the pros and cons. >>> first, this half hour, we're going to turn to that baffling crime. the murder of two florida parents known for adopting children with special needs. jeffrey kofman has the latest from pensacola, florida. jeffrey? >> reporter: that's right. good morning, diane. we're learning a number of things from the police affidavits. bud and melanie billings were killed in their bedroom with multiple gunshot wounds. another is that the man expected to be the ringleader of these killings, had business dealings with bud billings. but we learned very different things when we sat down to talk with the billings' daughter, ashley markham. we met ashley markham at the home of the family's lawyer. it's been l

>> what attorney general cuomo's office is talking about -- the question was in december. i -- i also explained to the attorney general in january, and that -- >> is the attorney general's statement true or not true? and i'll read it again. quote, informed this office that he did not keep the s.e.c. chairman in the loop during the discussions and negotiations with the bank of america in december of 2008. >> in december, i did not. that's absolutely correct. >> and you feel no obligation -- the one agency that is out there as an advocate for the shareholders, you didn't think that that was an important effort on your part, or you didn't feel any obligation to share with the s.e.c. or other regulatory agencies? even within your own agency, your office as comp. controller of the currency? >> i would -- again, let me say two things. separate. because you've blurred two things. first of all, with regard to the relationship of bank of america to the s.e.c., that is something that is not my responsibility, it's not the responsibility of the fed. that's the role of bank america to

and he's being sued by andrew cuomo, the attorney general of the united states. i happened to be one of the others that's suing for misrepresentation and fraud. so i give you that by way of background. listen, i do think what happened with madoff is a real statement of default on the part of the s.e.c. under chris cox. it wasn't only this particular moment. this was one of the other moments when it should have been brought up to a level where he would have been properly investigated but a man by the name of harry marcopolis, whom i never heard of until this all exploded, presented a 17-page analysis of madoff's alleged form of investing and proved it could not be done. he went i think to the s.e.c. four or five times. the s.e.c. was in the mode in those days of basically letting whatever financial world was under their supervision and review to run amuck. i mean, the one thing that was even more important than that was when they basically allowed the investment banking firms to go from a leverage that's a debt to equity ratio to 12-is to as much as 30-1 to 40-1.

we go to david muir who is in for chris cuomo with the headlines. >> great to be back with you.ood morning, everyone. wall street is looking for more evidence this morning that the recession is easing. a report is expected to show that the gdp, the most comprehensive measure of our economy, shrank a much slower 1.5% in the second quarter. that's an improvement from previous months. on the verge of best july in 20 years, even though job losses still remain a major concern. >>> high-level pentagon adviser says the u.s. military should declare victory now and go home from iraq. colonel timothy reese says iraq's military is now strong enough to confront terrorists on its own. he's calling for all u.s. troops to withdraw by next august. that would be 16 months earlier than the current plan. >>> this morning, authorities in central texas are monitoring the air after a fire at a chemical plant there forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate. forced the closure of texas a&m university, as well. ammonium nitrate was released. no injuries reported. >>> a family with a 32-luxury high-

>> chris cuomo? >> that would be heidi klum. >> we have so excited.. and new york. they have big surprises ahead. and a baby on the way, too, which weir very excited about. >> we're lucky in the studio today. >>> we have heidi klum. and talking about style. keyshawn johnson. football star. but also interior design mavin. got his own show. amazing. >> own it, now. own it, keyshawn. >> he has style. >> we will. >> the guys at espn don't give you a hard time about that? >> not yet. >> not yet. >> after this morning, it may start. >> after this morning. >>> plus, michelle, come here. michelle rogers. congratulations. america's junior miss. now, here's the amazing thing. she just -- you were voted most likely to succeed in high school. >> yes, sir. >> stepped out of high school. two weeks later, you're miss junior miss. this is a scholarship pageant. so, where are you going? >> i'm going to northwestern university, in the fall. >> tell the folks where you're from. >> i'm near from where diane's from. >> that's good. come here. i was going to say. there's o

. >>> now chris cuomo with the morning's other headlines. the latest on the health care. that's the big story. >> a bipartisan group of senators is said to be nearing a deal that would strip president obama's reform plan of its central feature, a government-run insurance program. the modified legislation would also cut $35 billion from medicare. these changes could win over a few republicans and moderate democrats. but liberals will not be happy. >>> we also have a new warning about tanning beds. the world health organization is now listing them among the top risks for cancer. alongside cigarettes and asbestos. researchers say people who begin using tans beds before age 30, increase their skin cancer risk by 75%. >>> two of google's biggest rivals are teaming up to try to take down the internet search leader. microsoft and yahoo! are expected to announce a partnership today. they hope by sharing technology and staff, they'll be able to provide better search results. >>> and finally, here's a headline. let's say, the couple that saves together, stays together. jake and eri

. >>> we're going to turn to chris cuomo, with some of the morning's headlines for us. >> we do.ing,. we bedwin with significant news on health care reform. the nation's hospitals have agreed to contribute $155 billion, to help cover the millions of americans who don't have health coverage. most of that money would come from reduced medicare and medicaid payments. >>> police on the trial of a serial killer in south carolina say they have their man. patrick tracy burris, was shot and killed by police investigating a burglary, about 30 miles from the town of gaffn gaffney. that's where five people were recently killed. a motive for the killings remains unclear. burris had a long criminal record. >>> this morning the chaos in western china is intensifying. police clashed today with women of a muslim minority group, protesting the arrests of their husbands and sons. at least 156 people have died in 3 days of violence. >>> and finally, we have something that's sure to get a lot of buzz here. to pack more people on to their planes, irish airline ryan air, is thinking of offering standing r

the code of conduct and about after a yearlong investigation of mortgage fraud by andrew cuomo, whiched to an agreement by fannie mae and freddie mac two only buy mortgages from banks that followed the code. in part, the code prohibits mortgage brokers from selecting appraisers and prohibits lenders from using appraisal management companies that they own or control. a nationwide petition calls for revisions. >> real-estate agents are being hurt. smaller appraisers are being hurt. mortgage brokers are being heard. and consumers are being hurt. >> he says in many cases, the appraiser is not familiar with the prices of homes in the neighborhood where the appraisal was taking place. he thinks the code of conduct is misguided. >> i think it needs to be eliminated. i think they are barking up the wrong tree. >> a congressional bill calls for an 18-month moratorium. the buyers and homeowners can demand that lenders hire qualified appraisers and appeal it. if not satisfied, they can get a second appraisal. >> we have breaking news right now in baltimore county. >> this is up by dover road, no

robin roberts, chris cuomo. diane is not here today.he rest of us. >> yes, thursday morning. one more alarm clock for the week. and then, the weekend's here. >>> we have the bug man. someone we call the bug man is here. and he's going to take one for the team. he's going to let himself get bitten to show us how not to. so -- >> he's taking about 200 for the team here. >> where is he? oh. he's like stop it. stop the video. >> he's going to give us good tips. nobody likes mosquitos. >>> twb time. taryn winter brill, had a good time at the espys. the emmy awards of sports. look who she's with there, michael phelps. putting on his goggles. she's going to give us a sneak peek. >> twb having fun. and we're going to have a little music for you this morning. the soweto gospel choir. why are they here? we'll explain that coming up. >>> a lot of news this morning, as well. let's get up to deborah roberts with the headlines. >> we begin with the eighth arrest stemming from the shooting deaths of florida couple, bud and melanie billings. real estat

we brought in our resident lawyer, chris cuomo, to get some answers here. >> please. >> professor gates said to gayle king, he's in the kitchen. he showed his i.d. that had the address on it. he showed his harvard i.d. and the policeman's response was, come outside. he said no. is that, in that moment, is that disorderly conduct? can a policeman arrest you for that? >> no. disorderly conduct has to do you are threatening public safety. you can't do that very easily from inside your own home. >> okay. that is a no. the next question was, tone of voice. as i understand, disorderly conduct, it has to do with fighting words and tone of voice. i want to play what professor gates said when gayle king said to him, re-enact for me, how worked up were you? >> all i demanded was my constitutional right to know his name and his badge number. the idea that i would, in a vulnerable position, talk about the man's mother is absurd. you know me. do i talk about people's mother? on that front porch, when i was arrested, i was outraged. and i said to them all, this is how you treat a black man in america