france says that never again will another country need it so we get the impression of broken promises fitch which is a major credit rating agency has downgraded greece is that level now there was supposed to have been a deal struck between leaders formally or informally that the credit rating agencies would give greece some time to breathe and to to recover from this news but this bombshell pretty much has blown that out of the water that has been one of the deals done by the e.u. leaders was to create a new european credit rating agency that of course on suspicions that the three global agencies which are all american fitch and moody's all robe oya against

(laughter) china has been spooked by reports that rating agencies like fitch and moody's may drop the country's credit rating. but they shouldn't worry, folks, because just yesterday fitch reported that even if we defaulted they'd only drop us from a.a.a. to b+. i mean, b+ is fine. who needs straight as? we'd look like fiscal nerds. (laughter) and a.a.a. to b+ is a drop of only 13 levels, putting us on par with zambia. (laughter) that could be good for us. after all, zambia's life expectancy is just 38. so social security and medicare, solved. (laughter) so, folks, just remember even if we default on august 2 we'll be no worse off than subsaharan africa. but i don't even buy that august 2 cutoff date. and i'm not alone. jim? >> is that august 2 deadline really a deadline? >> this is the fourth time they have set this artificial limit. >> here we are up against an august 2 deadline. >> these are arbitrary dates made up out of thin air. >> these dates and times are made up! >> stephen: yes! it's made up! it's just another arbitrary madeup government date, like thursday! (laughter) does

france says that never again will another country need it so we get the impression of broken promises fitch which is a major credit rating agency has downgraded greece is that level now there was supposed to have been a deal struck between leaders formally or informally that the credit rating agencies would give greece some time to breathe and to to recover from this news but this bombshell pretty much has blown that out of the water that has been one of the deals done by the e.u. leaders was to create a new european credit rating agency that of course on suspicions that the three global agencies which are all american fitch and moody's all robe oya against europe are really hostile to europe so we wait to see what will happen there on the markets reaction has been positive investors have seen their shares rally all. however historically also to such deals we do see around the week over improvements before falling back again now we've had reaction from e.u. leaders today. of course has been criticized for really coming out and saying she wouldn't help greece and doing everything really to s

fitch is played as you say to work to bring greece is the level to default is the strengthening here for a new european credit rating agency into the real problem of course is that it doesn't tackle the issue of the unsustainable some call it that. eurozone states so greece people protesting against the really very painful cuts that are being imposed on it just last week it's really very difficult to package which has been met with fury by the italian people who are threatening all sorts of very difficult very initial reaction from them and portugal from is that the quit when he unveiled the proposals which were rejected by that country's parliament and there are fears the spain will be next so a lot of concerns around europe but the experts here are stressing that the rest of the world continue to go on and countries like india china even latin america will continue perhaps to take the growth of the world economy on its own shoulders and really help to compensate for the problems here in europe something that is really being stressed increasingly by analysts here in brussels. but yo

it depends on moody's, standard & poor's and fitch. and they're very slow moving.country has $10 trillion to $12 trillion worth of outstanding debt. in addition, however, we've got about $60 trillion worth of liabilities. i call this a debt man walking -- you're a debt man walking. i'm a debt man walking. we all are. basically what that means is that instead of a piece of paper at $10 trillion to $12 trillion and counting, we have liabilities going forward for medicare, for medicaid, for social security that total about $60 trillion. so in combination, we have a $70 trillion debt that's five to six times gdp. it puts us in the categories of the countries in the worst debt. >> bill, stay where you are. we're going to take a break. we'll be back in a second with bill gross, co-chief of pimco. ♪ my only sunshine ♪ you makes me happy ♪ when skies are grey ♪ you'll never know, dear ♪ how much i love you ♪ please don't take my sunshine away ♪ [ male announcer ] as long as there are babies, they'll be chevy's to bring them home. ♪ didn't really know what i wanted to do. d

host: bradford fitch of the -- bradford fitch, president and ceo of the congressional management foundation have about 20 minutes left to talk about the best way to influence your lawmaker. what has your experience been? does the use of social media break down along party lines? is one party better at it than the other? guest: there is research that suggests republicans are doing a better and more robust job on twitter. they have set contest between members of congress -- a contest between members of congress for who could do the most wheating -- tweeting. tthere -- there is a differential, but not much. democrats are very much involved and engaged in the online communications using show full media -- social media. host: why is john mccain's twitter page so popular? guest: he was running for president at the time when twitter was coming on line. -- online. free media drives online media. this has been the case sicne the -- since the beginning of online. john mccain won the new hampshire primary in a surprise move in 2000, raising all that money in one week. take a member of congress who was

. >> standard and poor's, moody's, and fitch all have their headquarters in the heart of manhattan. these agencies have a 95% market share of the ratings market. they decide how creditworthy countries and companies are. and they have a massive effect on the fate of europe's economies. there are plenty that want to and the stranglehold of the big three. >> is not good when the entire world is being governed by three american companies. it would be better if there were more competition. and i would be very keen to see european and asian agencies as well. the situation as it is now is not healthy and we must put and intellect. -- an end to it. >> european lawmakers helped create that unhealthy situation. the european union strengthen the role of credit agencies when it adopted the international banking agreement. the question the wisdom of that move. he helped lay the foundation for the single european currency while at the european commission. he is analyzing the efforts to save the ural -- euro. >> if they are a minimum requirement, the agencies would not be so powerful. >> they are

lake. >> reporter: in an industry dominated by three global players, standard & poor's, moody's and fitche co-founder has battled the primacy and cloud of the big three for years, crediting with making gutsy calls well before the come decision. after his downgrade of u.s. debt one week ago, he finds himself in the spotlight as never before. >> sean, you already lowered the rating on u.s. debt. why? >> eagan-jones did because of our concern about the relatively high level of debt to gdp. that's a primary measure for the credit quality of countries. >> it doesn't matter whether they get a deal on the debt ceiling. >> it's almost secondary. that is secondary. it's akin to your forgetting the pay the mortgage payment before you go on vacation. it doesn't affect your ability to pay. the issue of a slight delinquency is far less important to us than the overall ability. granted, the u.s.'s reserve currency still has a huge number of resources. but in our view it doesn't quite rise to the aaa level. >> lowering even a notch even a rating o of the u.s. is a controversial thing to do. politicians

no, jimmy, i didn't say abercrombie and fitch models, i said the fec. [laughter] oh, that's them?amn they're good-looking. my subcommittee just filled the entire chamber. [laughter] tomorrow, i'll be at fec headquarters -- 999 e street north west -- to answer their questions. after the hearing, let's say, eleven-ish, i will meet you all in front of the building to announce the results and chart a new course for the colbert nation. be there. and this is not just about the cash. i will also accept credit cards. [laughter] here to prep me for my historic testimony is former chair of the fec and my personal lawyer, trevor potter. trevor, thank you so much for coming on. good toll see you, my friend. [cheers and applause] should i bring this with me tomorrow? >> very bad idea. >> stephen: very bad idea. okay. first of all, i could not be more excited to go down and testify before the fec. they love it in washington when i testify. [laughter] it's a very welcoming town that way. >> i've heard that. >> stephen: what can i expect tomorrow? how is it going to go down? >> it's a hearing roo

fitch also got into the business earlier. together, the firm's fate founded are known as the big three, and command a 93% share of the market. they look at the books of businesses and countries and judge how able they are to pay back financial observations. in a complex internet -- international economy, this information is vital to investors. when the bretton woods system of monetary management fell apart in the 1970's, the role of ratings agencies became even more important. the u.s. government gave them the task of assuring financial reliability. the european union has also require banks to increase capital in line with risk exposure. that risk is measured by the ratings agencies. >> the influence of ratings agencies lies on the one hand in the way their evaluation system has been incorporated into legislation. on the other hand, many business contracts are tied to the marks of the ratings agencies. that means certain private investors will only invest if there is a certain rating. >> one such example is the insurance gian

fitch, moody's, s&p, have become bad words. they are coming under increasing scrutiny in europe. the european commission president has condemned a decision by moody's to downgrade portugal's credit rating. the german finance minister has said that he would like to "break the power of rating agencies and limit their influence." recent ratings have put a lien european countries like portugal under pressure. portuguese treasuries went on sale and they reached their highest yields ever. >> the government is outraged by the downgrading. the portuguese bonds have jumped started even though the government recently introduced drastic austerity measures. moody's is concerned that portugal will need a second bailout despite spending cuts and this has angered the finance minister. >> the reasoning behind this assessment is very hard to understand and even more so that it has come at this particular time. >> portugal's government says they are just getting to grips with the crisis. some economists support that view. >> things are progressing relatively well with the national budget. the defi

the agency fitch gave their bonds a triple c rating or a junk status which implies a higher risk of default. they said there was growing concern over the lack of a new bailout deal for greece. police in venice william have -- police in venezuela have regained control after a standoff. more than 800 inmates have given up their weapons and have left the prison. this was the latest in a series of recent riots in venezuelan jails. five people have been killed in an explosion at an industrial unit in boston and lincolnshire. at one man has serious injuries. this has been described as a major incident. the investigation is already under way into what caused the explosion. there are tree lankan refugees in indonesia but that is not where they want to go. -- there are refugees from sri lanka and indonesia. >> they want to go to an entirely different place. they were apprehended by indonesian officials. there are refusing to leave. they say that they fled two years ago after the war and they want to go to new zealand. >> it has been a long and treacherous journey and the passengers have envied. ther

they have made it very clear, s&p and other agency that gets a little less fanfare fitch investors thattrillion is a figure you hear a great deal. even lost in that thought and i find this interesting, greg, is the details and layout of those spending cuts. if they are more outer term year cuts the markets might scratch their head as are many here, many republicans in particular and saying wait a minute, we agreed to something where the onerous cuts are coming in the future years, obligating future presidents and congress to do what this president and this congress might not do up front. they might step back and say this isn't a deal. we live in a town and an environment, i don't know about you, greg, i don't know what i'm going have for breakfast tomorrow morning. it is one thing to start laying out plans nor what you are going to do ten years from now. therein lies the risk in any ten year deal. great on paper might make sense in paper. might not sell in reality. >> neil cavuto on in less than four hours on your world. a special edition of your world, 4:00. >>> well, the showdown over

fitch said the bond holders will take a loss and that constitutes default. on wall street, stocks finished the day with mixed results, but had a winning week overall. the dow jones industrial average lost 43 points to close at 12,681. the nasdaq rose 24 points to close at 2,858. for the week, the dow gained more than 1.5%; the nasdaq rose 2.5%. those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to jim. >> lehrer: and to the crisis in somalia, which is facing the worst famine in decades. the united nations warned today 800,000 children could die from starvation. international agencies want to send in more food, but al qaeda- linked militants vowed to block the aid. jonathon rugman of independent television news traveled to a refugee camp just outside the capital, mogadishu. a warning: some of the images in this report are very disturbing. >> reporter: ahmed is eight months old and close to dying of hunger. he lies in the lap of his father, abdi. the pair have traveled for four perilous days to mogadishu from the famine zone of south somalia in what abdi kno

fitch on the symposium, all of that is available on our website. >> it has been an interesting experience. i am sure that people take advantage of the web site.

fitch rating analyst bill warlick says more recent attempts to raise fares have fallen flat with consumers >> i think we're reaching a point where fare traction is slipping. with the consumer under pressure and business demand still somewhat weak, the fare environment clearly isn't strong enough to support multiple fare increases. >> reporter: that puts airlines in a very precarious position heading into the fall, when travel usually tapers off. american, united-continental, and u.s. airways all said their earnings were negatively affected in the second quarter by a nearly 50% increase in fuel costs. warlick says if jet fuel prices keep soaring, with fewer passengers flying, airlines may be forced to trim capacity or make cuts in other areas. >> you haven't seen a large number of cost initiatives of that kind so far in 2011 but, certainly, with another round of capacity cuts, you could see an impact on labor and some of the other line items. >> reporter: experts say fuel will continue to be a wild card for airlines. carriers are trying to rein them in better by purchasing more fuel-efficie

you have s&p, moody's and fitch.silent, but both s&p and moody's have said it's entirely likely 245 they will downgrade the u.s. credit rating. the u.s. has had aaa rating since 1917. now, these rating agencies are important because what they assign your debt determines how much interest you pay on your money. those countries that are the lowest risk or companies that are the lowest risk pay the lowest interest, they have the highest credit rating. so it's important to know what they do because if they do downgrade you, there's a chance, it's not entirely sure, but there's a chance that the u.s. will then pay more to borrow and other people will look at other places to invest their money. >> and speaking of investors, the concerns over a possible ratings downgrade has weighed on wall street in recent days and sxh l. some experts say that the markets will take a huge hit if the downgrade actually happens. >>> deals on paper are one thing. actual votes are quite another. and the question isn't whether leaders like boeh

a report from fitch ratings raised issue with a concentrated stock ownership structure and wild swings in profit margins. leading to the selling pressure. and finally, it's not often celebrity gossip finds its way into the stock market, but retailer kohl's has plans to launch a clothing line by jennifer lopez and marc anthony. it will start in september, despite the two announcing their divorce late last week. the stock price coming off its most recent high. and that's tonight's "market focus." >> susie: newscorp is in for another week of scrutiny as that phone-hacking scandal escalates. late today, standard & poor's ratings service put the media giant on credit watch with "negative implications," saying there are increased risks related to the broadening legal issues at newscorp. the action comes a day before c.e.o. rupert murdoch and his son, james, testify before the british parliament tomorrow morning, but our guest tonight says newscorp stock is still his top pick. joining us now? jason bazinet, media analyst at citigroup. hi, jason, nice to you have with us. >> thank you so much.

in the fitch or the rating agencies combined with the wall street banks of the headphones like john paulson and the wall street banks and the corrupt government officials in europe have called looted together obviously to impose dr cohen measures as a result of a racketeering charge a racketeering campaign to destabilize and confiscate this is you know terrorism but you know as a percent of the people on the fact that they don't rise up revolt the joke's on you but this is the thing that we're seeing across europe people are giving up these nations are giving out income producing assets they're basically their tollbooths right these are told to say give income to the government. first of all by giving that was over they reduce their revenue further destabilizing their own economies but it's neo feudalism some outsider some lord somewhere else is basically collecting that revenue and it's going outside of the country so in the case of greece they're going to sell the state lottery for something like four hundred fifty million and it generates i believe nine hundred million income now think o

and fitch are financial terrorists and they are purposefully targeting these countries for destruction because they want their assets for nothing well portugal's new premier a page of process coelho said moody's downgrade was a punch in the stomach at a time when the new government has done everything demanded by the e.u. and i.m.f. inspectors well that's part of the rocket motors is a publicly traded company warren buffett on the biggest shareholder they manipulate that stock price they manipulate their ratings they telegraph what the regs are going to be before they make them so the insiders can profit from the inside information inside information is legal in washington they are lining their pockets they're disenfranchising the people who live in these countries who are left austerity measures imposed upon them for things they never did and that's they never occurred and this is continuing unabated because nobody stepping in to represent the interest of the people the government like a drill in greece is in the pocket of the terrorists proper drill you are a terrorist you are a fina

thank you carrie hello and welcome to business owners it's national rating agency fitch says it could downgrade number of russian state companies up to productize ation the move will offense only the ones where the state sheryl crow below three percent i mean hailed from b. to be counted so says the possible downgrade will not change investor sentiment towards privatizing action. investors are dealing with russian corporate. doing their own research not relying much on what the rating agencies say is another thing is that they will read carefully through what perfect shows will understand what was nothing was no threat or no imminent risk or any abrupt rating moves and finally i guess they would remember back in zero eight or nine when the financial crisis hit the markets russian government was supporting not only state controlled but also privately owned companies the same was true for bonds all those thoughts pulled together and your conclusion will likely be the market moves from one privatization happens will be quite new to. let's have a look at the markets all is extending the l

keep in mind the big ones' going to hear about s & p, and fitch investments and moody's, the troika of terror increasingly at the markets because at the push of one of their financial buttons they could decide to downgrade u.s. debt. that's worried barney frank because he thinks that moody's, for example, jumped the gun hinting it would put debt on review for possible downgrade and others views that these guys have gotten to the deadlines and the ratings agencies are getting antsy and a lot of folks on capitol hill are saying that isn't fair or write. and we've got the democrat from arkansas, senator, what do you think of what barney frank is saying, look, if moody's or s & p want to move that's one thing, but to threaten a potential downgrade n now, just bad timing. >> well, there's no doubt. all of this is bad timing we are in the middle of the session, that's terrible. the bottom line the rating agencies have been around a long time and always treated the u.s. government debt as triple-a. and really the best in the world. >> neil: even though their own track record isn't great. >> n