fineberg. we feel mr. fineberg has had extensive experience and he will bring his experience and objectivity to assess what are the appropriate next steps because we do understand that we have civic responsibilities as well as legal responsibilities. >> are you saying that the hiring of mr. fineberg indicates that gm will give some kind of settlement with those individuals whose -- the families whose loved ones lost their lives? >> we are -- we have just begun to work with mr. fineberg. in fact, our first meeting will be on friday. it will take probably 30 to 60 days to evaluate the situation, so we have not made any decisions. we have just started this process with mr. fineberg. >> and that might include people who have been injured as well? >> again, we have not made any decisions. >> let me ask you this. during gm's restructuring, did the company disclose what it knew about this ignition switch defect? by 2009 there is no doubt officials in gm were aware of this problem. >> i was not aware o

all remains to be seen. >> fineberg said it may still be several weeks before he has a sense of how the fund will be structured. >>> now, even though those faulty ignition switches have been getting lots of attention, general motors is also looking forward. it is exhibiting its newest models along with the world's other automakers at the new york auto show. phil lebeau has been at the auto show kicking the tires and has the latest. >> reporter: here at the new york auto show, three of the most well known names in the industry are getting plenty of attention, starting with this car right here, the all-new toyota camry. they are changing virtually everything to pump new life into the sedan, toyota has given the camry a likely more aggressive look and a more refined interior in hopes of keeping the car on topment speaking of being -- speaking of being on top, look at what is on top of the empire state book, the limited edition mustang. ford is selling over a thousand editions of the copy of the car to commemorate the fact it was unveiled in 1964 here in new york. >> we literally had about

fineberg brings expertise and objectivity to this effort.s i have said, i consider this to be an extraordinary event and we are responding to it in an extraordinary way. as i see it, gm has civil responsibilities and legal responsibilities. we are thinking through exactly what those responsibilities are and how to balance them in an appropriate manner. bringing on mr. fineberg is the first step. i would now be happy to answer your questions. thank you. >> thank you, miss barra. i also want to acknowledge the families are here today. know that we are aware and have the sympathy of all the committee here. kelly erin rudy of scranton, pennsylvania is one of those we offer sympathy to the families. we have all of you in our hearts. miss barra, our committee reviewed more than 200,000 pages of documents. what we found is that as soon as the cobalt hit the road in 2004, drivers began to immediately complain to general motors that the car's ignition systems didn't work properly. you can imagine how frightening it is to drive a car and suddenly lose

. >> gm has hired kenneth fineberg to help deal with the cases. fineberg has earned a reputation, for the bp oil spill and most recently the boston bombings. senator edward markey noted compensation could have been avoided if gm thanld situation earlier. >> the difference between this switch and one that would have worked was a difference between life and death. and do you mo the other difference that it would -- know the other difference? that it would only cost $2 to repair, $2. and it was apparently $2 too much. >> the question of money was a big one for mary bar rarvetiona, some lawmakers -- 2009 government bailout. >> in 29, the federal government owned 60% of the company because taxpayers bailed the company out. so gm knew of this issue in some capacity ten years ago. they changed the part but didn't tell anyone. through all of this gm was unable to determine that they should pull 2.2 million vehicles off the road. you said it yourself yesterday, ms. barra, gm has a culture based on cost not safety. >> on the issue of safety senator boxer is

fineberg. our first meeting will be on friday. it will take probably 30 to 60 days to evaluate the situation. so i have -- we have not made any decisions. we have just started this process with mr. fineberg. >> and that might include people who have been injured as well? >> again, we have not made any decisions. >> let me ask you this. during gm's restructuring, did the company disclose what it knew about the ignition switch defect by 2009 there is now doubt that officials in gm were aware of this problem. >> i was not aware of this issue. i can't speak to what was disclosed but -- again, our investigation will cover if there was any information. but to my knowledge it was not known at the senior leadership of the company. >> does gm accept responsibility for the accidents caused by the company's defective vehicles? >> first of all, i again want to reiterate we think the situation is tragic and we apologize for what has happened and we're doing a full investigation to understand -- >> i'm talking about responsibility and even liab

that's something for ken fineberg and mary berra to keep in mind as they decide what is fair and whatnot. all right. it's a busy week for me and this show, but it's always a opportunity for you. on wednesday i'm going to washington where the world bank and the international monetary fund will put issues at the forefront. i'll be speaking with the world bank president. and i would like you to tweet me questions for him. you can watch my interview with dr. kim on "real money" at its regular time. that's our show for today. i'm ali velshi. thanks for joining us. ♪ >>> hi i'm lisa fletcher, and you are in the stream. diabetes is growing twice as fast in the u.s. as western europe with some 80 million at risk, we discuss the sharp rise in one of the leading causes of death, and the solution many doctors say is surprisingly simple. ♪ >>> my co-host and digital producer, wajahat ali is here bringing in all of your live feedback throughout the show. today is world health day, so we're dedicg

that's something for ken fineberg and mary berra to keep in mind as they decide what is fair and whatnot. all right. it's a busy week for me and this show, but it's always a opportunity for you. on wednesday i'm going to washington where the world bank and the international monetary fund will put issues at the forefront. i'll be speaking with the world bank president. and i would like you to tweet me questions for him. you can watch my interview with dr. kim on "real money" at its regular time. that's our show for today. i'm ali velshi. thanks for joining us. ♪ ... ♪ >>> sending a robot to the depths of the indian ocean. the latest tactic in the race to find malaysian air lights flight 370. >> i had to come and knock on peoples doors to get them to evacuate their cars before it took them under. >> a severe storm in the south. two young lives swept away. >>> a historic day. two equal pay executive orders sitting on president obama's desk just waiting

here she went out, she's been accountable, she's been apologetic and it looks like in hiring ken finebergrse, the great mediator of victims' suffering with monetary damages and the old pay czar. he's like the solomon of the modern world, a national treasure, for them to bring him on board is very encouraging. >> this week on equal payday the president sign an executive order prohibiting federal workers from being punished for talking about their compensation. what do you think about a more open and trusting conversation about what people are paid for? is this a good thing or a bad thing? >> there's a huge sensitivity there. we constantly see somewhere depending on whose research it was and what occupations we're looking gap a pay gap of 70%, 80% of men versus women in terms of persistent issue. as we see, i don't know, 8% or so women in top leadership ranks and 14% or more in -- having been perhaps more women on the board, we're seeing improvement in women's representation but slow improvement. however, what we really don't see is closing of that pay gap. and people haven't wanted to disc

fineberg. our first meeting will be on friday. it will take probably 30 to 60 days to evaluate the situation. so i have -- we have not made any decisions. we have just started this process with mr. fineberg. >> and that might include people who have been injured as well? >> again, we have not made any decisions. >> let me ask you this. during gm's restructuring, did the company disclose what it knew about the ignition switch defect by 2009 there is now doubt that officials in gm were aware of this problem. >> i was not aware of this issue. i can't speak to what was disclosed but -- again, our investigation will cover if there was any information. but to my knowledge it was not known at the senior leadership of the company. >> does gm accept responsibility for the accidents caused by the company's defective vehicles? >> first of all, i again want to reiterate we think the situation is tragic and we apologize for what has happened and we're doing a full investigation to understand -- >> i'm talking about responsibility and even liab

. >> reporter: at the hearing, barra announced that 9/11 victim compensation czar ken fineberg is going to take on a similar role here for gm. she's not done yet. tomorrow she's going to face a senate committee as well. a eamon javers in washington. >> brian, how did mary barra do in your view? did she answer the question that is you wanted to hear? >> i think ms. barra did as well as can be expected. she's new to the job, she wasn't ceo when this all took place. i found her to be humble, apologetic. she did not speculate as to what the real answers can be. i think they're in search mode as to what the answers really are. this is very early in the process. it's not surprising congress wanted to see her so quickly. but i think to her credit she did not go so far as to make any statements that down the road could come back to haunt her. >> in some cases she didn't answer the congressmen and women's questions, did she, brian? >> no, i don't think she did. and i think that could be expected. as she said, there was a 200,000-page data dump that she and her team are working through right now

fineberg did the same for victims of september 11thth. >> thank you >> an orange county family's testhn and judith were taking out the suv and it started smoking. they were able to get out just seconds before the whole thick thing exploded. >> we're not sure if parts are going to be flying around. >> this family is in the same shoes. when did they know gm says it's aware and is investigating. >> president obama spoke to the nation about his reform act announcing a key milestone. that doesn't include the state run, surpassing the goal of 7 million. >> i will work with anyone willing to make this law work better. the debate is over. affordable care act is the same. >> people will likely face tax penalties. there is an ex-teches to sign up for people who have begun the process. >> m obama took time out of his schedule to welcome the boston red sox to the white house. now best moment came when david ortiz gave him a number 44 jersey. this is gone viral. >> let me take a selfie. >> pretty cool. >> still ahead what would you do if when you're called a nerd? >> first, caught on video. this w

. >> this morning we are learning that gm has hired disaster fund management expert kenneth finebergvaluate how they will respond to the victim's families. he helped the conversation after the 9:-11 attack. >> millions of tax dollars paying for vacant office spaces. a new shock factor on how the social security administration has been wasting our money. >> lori joinis us with the stor. >> $6 million. that's how much the office of the inspector general says the social security administration is wasting each year on unused office stays. the findings released last week show the ssa spends more than $5.6 million in rent for buildings only half full. 100,000 in rent for 171 empty work stations in the building and another nearly 85,000 dollars for vacant space used for storage. the ssa probably responded and said we agree with the oig recommendations to terminate several leases and consolidate our employees. the ssa operating 1s 11 buildin. headquarters are in woodlawn, maryland. it has been planning to consolidate offices to 2012 and sounds like this report should jump start those plans.

. >> barra announced that gm has hired ken fineberg who handled compensation for victims, to look atto take, but gm has not yet committed to establishing a compensation fund, saying they would announce the 30 to 60 days, but the hiring of feinberg -- some lawmakers are asking why the agency declined to investigate after reports that the air bags in the cobalt failed to deploy in a series of these accidents. >> nhtsa panel decided there wasn't a trend here, and decided not to investigate despite the number of complaints of fatal crashes and the warranty claims -- >> the cobalt did not stand out. it was a little above average, but several vehicles that were significantly higher. there were some vehicles -- >> i understand. but twice employees of nhtsa raised a red flag on this. it wasn't just once r once. >> in 2006, 18-year-old natasha weigel and her friend, amy rademacher were killed. the car lost power steering and braking. the air bags could not deploy. and the cobalt slammed into a telephone pole box and two trees. doug weigel, natasha's father, is a plaintiff in a lawsuit against

that's why i'm pleased to announce that we have retained kenneth fineberg as a consultant to help usluate the situation and recommend the best paths forward. i am sure this committee knows mr. feinberg is highly qualified and very experienced in handling matters such as this. having led the compensation efforts involved with 9/11, the bp oil spill and the boston marathon bombing. mr. feinberg brings expertise and objectivity to this effort. as i have said, i consider this to be an extraordinary event and we are responding to it in an extraordinary way. as i see it, gm has civil responsibilities and legal responsibilities. we are thinking through exactly what those responsibilities are and how to balance them in an appropriate manner. bringing on mr. feinberg is the first step. i would now be happy to answer your questions. thank you. >> thank you, ms. barra. >> nbc capital correspondent kelly o'donnell is back. kelly, ms. barra talking about meeting with the new vp of safety and also talking about bringing on kenneth feinberg, who as she noted viewers may remember from his role in de