this is not my first stint at the ftc. i served as director of the bureau of consumer protection from 1973 to 1975. i have an abiding interest in the agency's welfare and reputation. that said, i have been free to disagree with my democratic colleagues. and i have disagreed with them, hopefully without being disagreeable, i number of matters over the last seven years. this includes the agency's 2013 budget submitted to this committee. the president's policy decisions are reflected in the budget. the areas of disagreement with my colleagues have included [unintelligible] generics, which i know you have an abiding interest in as well, chairman, since you have pending legislation on the subject. financial services and enforcement needs in case selection, as we share jurisdiction with a new dvpd -- over my dead body, i might add. oil and gas prices, staff preliminary privacy reports. i will answer your questions about my views on these or any other topics. i want to emphasize that despite these areas of disagreement, collegial

i basically answer ftc to 500. and one of the commissioners whispered to me, i wish we would go that. we're not perfect, but an examination by your outside stake holders, can a good thing to do. >> i don't think so. and this is an area where i disagree with the chairman. you know, he has mentioned to you that we used to have, i don't know, 1750 -- close to 1,800 ftes back in the 70s. and today, we have 1,200. you know, frankly, i think that every law firm in the united states has seen a particular contraction of its support staff and the answer can be summed up in one word, computers. that is exactly what has happened. and yet we have not contracted accordingably. i think there's more that we can do in templg of support staff. >> clearly computerization is a reason whooo! for why government has downsized and can down side. and nen congress by the way has been very good about growing our agency when we can do it, is entirely about computerization. but i certainly understand. >> i appreciate your comments, i might ju

so i'm pleased to hear that is the way it happens at the ftc as well. i am going to ask my first question about the consumer financial protection bureau and if memo of the understanding that you have. i vubsly i know that -- obviously i know that since it was over your dead body that the functions, some of the functions of the ftc would be merged with the cfpb, i'll ask process questions first. but, chairman liebowitz, i read the mou, explain to us, your interpretation of what part of ftc's jurisdiction is transferred to cfpb, how you all are working together and i also want to know that because of that, and the fact that you all are working together and some of your jurisdiction was transferred, then, it seem s to me that you do not need as many resources as you have requested. >> that is a fair question, and that is part of commissioner rush's concern as well about the creation of the cfpb, as you know, we have a memorandum of understandsing we do it because we do not, we want to make sure that we are efficient. as you know, from the complaints that w

and the question is, we are hearing some reports that the ftc will recommend in its forthcoming privacy report a government imposed regime data collection, and that could starve the economy for the information that it needs. have you done any sort of economic analysis before making such a dramatic recommendation? >> let me take the second question first, which is with we have not finished up our final privacy reports and our privacy -- so, i do not want to comment on what we will do. it is circulating around though. it is largely about best practices. in other words, and we -- more privacy by design, more choice for consumer s, and more transparency. very few people read privacy notices online, it's not about enforcement efforts or regulation, we see ourselves as as an enforcement agency in the privacy area and i know we all have concerns about privacy, it's about the enforcement cases that benefit brought for than 100 social security cases. i hear your concerns there and we are not going to -- and i don't want to say exactly what we will do, but we will not be regulating, we are not a

why aren't we just leaving it in the ftc, period? >> because none of us has a imagine i believe wand and if we did, we might do things differently. but i would like to think that -- in fact i know, because i look at our complaint database, that this is a very target rich environment. there are more people who are doing bad things to consumers than we can go after. but the other thing is, why don't we leave it to the federal trade commission? it wasn't a unanimous determination, but they would create this new agency and so we work with it and, you know, i hear what you're saying, i understand your concerns, you know, there was obviously some debate, as you know early on about whether to just make those functions a part of the federal trade commission. >> so the opposite question is, why don't we just send that whole piece of what the ftc does there and you will focus on all of the things that you do well? >> there i would say, i think there are some people who believe overtime that that night happen. but there we had a very bipartisan

so we really have a three-pronged approach to going after these scams at the ftc. first and foremost, of course, we want to stop these scams. we want to close down the boiler rooms. we work very closely with the canadian authorities, the jamaican authorities and others, to try to find these guys and to stop them. we also are trying to go after what we think is the pivot point here. at some point the elderly person needs to send money to the scam artist. and that is the point where we can go after them wholesale not retail. so we have money gram under water, we have western union agreeing to agree to essentially the terms we have in our money gram order. one of the things we have done and is really starting to yield results is we've insisted on really clear consumer ad. so if you walk into many walmarts today, homefully within a year if you walk into any walmart money gram's principal outlets are in walmart stores. they are under our order. you will see facing you as a consumer a miranda warning. if you think you've won a lottery, guess again. if if you think you're

why do a three-pronged approach in the ftc. first and foremost we want to start the scans and close down the boiler rooms. the very closely with the canadian authorities, jamaican authorities and others to try to find these guys and stop them. we also are trying to go after what we think is the pivot points here. at some point the elderly person is to send money to the scam artists. and that is the point where you can go after the wholesale, not retail. so money program is the second largest money transfer, and the underwater. we have western union agreement to abide essentially the terms we have in our money clearwater. one of the things we've done and starting to really yield results this week insisted on bravely clear consumer ad. so if you walked into many wal-marts today, hopefully within a year you can walk into any wal-mart. many grants principal outlet or in wal-mart stores. they are under our order. you'll see facing u.s.a. consumer interbrand of mourning. if you think you've won a lottery, guess again. if you are send

of course, it's backed up by ftc oversight and enforcement. if they don't enforce it and i'm sure they can, we can. more recently, industry has gone further, no releasing browsing data for sensitive practices. it's moving towards simplifying the opt out page and ensuring when consumers do elect not to be tracked their choice stays with them. in a related effort, very early on the companies that make web browsers, microsoft internet xploer, firefox and apple step ud up to the challenge to give consumers choy how they are tracked online. they did. up until now, the advertising industry and browser operators operated in pail letter tracks bus separate ones. today wit advertising industry announcing that it will honor consumer choices about tracking made through web browser settings, the two initiatives are beginning to come together. as a result, consumers will be able to opt out of tracking through either the icon on advertisements they see or through the browser settings. and america will really be moving further down the road to protecting con

working with states and the ftc? >> the department of justice consumer protection branch has participated in all of the sweeps with the federal trade commission and the state counterparts and the last several speaks we added criminal prosecutions of to 140 criminal prosecutions of business opportunity fraud thursday over the last several years. those have included defendants sentenced to prison terms of a few years, ring leaders have gone sentences of ten years, 15 years and 20 years in jail for this fraud. we have had some defendants who are fearful of criminal prosecution and fled to other countries and we have been successful at arresting these folks who have fled in countries like coast arica and the philippines and foreign governments have been cooperative at expediting these individuals back to the united states for prosecution. it serves a terrific deterrent effect. civil and criminal. >> this is nationwide. in a world of dwindling resources the task force models seem to work. the big cases we get from our par

consistently a top complaint getter and the ftc receives over the course of the year last year ftc received 1.8 million complaints. business opportunities for the top 20. >> nx is rich goldberg. he did a lot of work in this area involved in conserving prosecution. but let you talk about one of the schemes he worked on and how you did investigation what you found. >> typically the business opportunity firms to investigate about the sale vending machines, coffee machines, internet kiosks, dvd kiosk of any kind of self-contained unit that can be placed in a retail outlet in the locations are promised by business opportunity for them as well. these are high-traffic, high profit locations where the buyer at the machine is going to earn a large profit. so frequently these salespeople use earnings claims. they tell prospective buyers that they will make their money back within a year or so and from then to references to claim falsely that they own it has full opportunity with these vending machines. truth laid bear the cousins are brothers rather salespeople who are posing as real customers, but i

now, protecting privacy online and off is a central part of the ftc's mission. we have gone after dozens of

it's going to fall on the ftc. >> and we already know they're sort of overburdened anyway. >> exactly. >> at this point -- >> any estimates how many jobs might come out of this? >> no. there's none. so the question is, what is the accountability on this? a general sense, yeah, they'll be more fraud, but there's always more fraud when you tweak regulations, and there's a sense there will be more jobs. i don't know. i assume people will measure it. >> this got more support from republicans than democrats? >> republicans supported it. democrat was a bit of a holdout near the end. and, but the problem with it, obama signaled he was going for it, and so -- so, too, did the party. >> okay. so we turn, then, to another topic, and that is what was going on in washington all week. one of the longest hearings before the supreme court in a long time. david lazarus, tell us what was the temperature of the justices as they heard all of the arguments on affordable care? >> it was hot, belva. earlier, the fate of health care reform is largely sealed at this point, and a secret vote was taken just ho

the panelists are lois greisman, associate director at ftc, andre birotte, the united states attorney for the central district of california, richard goldberg the assistant director of the consumer branch in the civil division of the department of justice, ed mierzwinski, program director with the united states public interest research group, known as pirg, and peggy shanks is a senior examiner of the maryland attorney general. with that i turn it over to chuck. >> thanks, mike. as my panelists take their seats here, i'll begin with an observation. who among us hasn't at one time or another thought, gee, wouldn't it be great if i could go out and start my own job? maybe it was a fleeting thought but i suspect if if we tack a poll of consumers many of them think they have within them some place the ability to make it on their own, to start their own business. to at the very least go out and do something that will make them extra money. in many instances it stops right there. consumers think it would be nice if i had my own business, but they pretty much stop at that point. and in times

so i want to talk briefly about the ftc enforcement mission. when we bring an enforcement case, we have three goals. stop the fraud. get whatever money we can find. and return it to consumers. and then, refer it to lanny, tommy, and andre and hope that the justice department puts these guys in jail. let me talk briefly about the breadth of our enforcement work. as long as we are gripped with this economic downturn, people, homeowners are going to be in default or facing foreclosure. that is a breeding ground for abuse by fraudsters. earlier this week, we filed our 35th of defendants engaged in loan-mod scams. and we will continue to do this work at a high volume, until we root this problem out. mortgage servicing, yes, there is a tremendously good settlement against the top five. there are more mortgage servicers out there who need to see the federal government. we are working, i snow, i know the cfpb and department of justice are also working on these issues. dealt, debt its, in terms of -- resources, the largest issue we confront. we confront

there another example of where industry has come together and developed rules of engagement and the ftc has enforced those rules that were developed outside of the regulatory -- >> yeah. let me get back to you on that. early on there were lots of codes of conduct. i think we got away from them in part because for the most part, with a few exceptions, we thought our unfair practices authority works and we weren't in the business of regulating for the most part. here we don't feel like we're in the business of regulating but we're encouraged by what companies voluntarily want to do. >> this is a unique model that i have not heard of before where you have a private sector do this. >> that's because -- >> without the government. >> that's because, frankly, congressman, because it is a tautology. if it's truly voluntary, then it's not enforceable at the federal level by the ftc or by an act of congress. on the other hand, if there's a federal legislation that makes it enforceable, it's not truly voluntary. now, why are these people interested in doing it? the chairman has offered you one exp

call us at 1877 ftc help. one of the things we do is collect consumer complaints and then actually sue companies that are violating the do not call list. we also sue these debt relief and loan mod companies that promise to provide you service that is they never provide so the information in our complaint data base is very useful and i would urge you to complain. host: we are talking with the privacy division associate director at the federal trade commission. we have another tweet talking about cookies. how does she deal with that? guest: that's a really interesting question. so one of the thing that is we've said is that if there's a first party cookie, then that should be allowed without consumer choice in most cases. for example, i'm on amazon and amazon drops a cookie so that next time i come back they can recognize me as the same consumer so i don't have to reload my shopping cart that's a good thing for consumers. the third party cookies, yes a lot of companies do at allow third parties on their site and

the ftc says there's little more the agency can do.an't regulate size or potency. >> i don't think it needs a label. i think parents need to talk to their kids about underage drinking and stop blaming the particular drink. >> reporter: they do not promote binge drinking. >> the ftc will make a final decision on regulations sometime later this year. >>> baltimore city schools are short on cash, but that's not stopping the school system from spending millions on employee overtime. our media partners at the baltimore sun report the school spent more than $14 million on overtime over the last four years. the biggest earner was a driver, he more than doubled his $76,000 salary with overtime. >>> fire works light up the sky over downtown baltimore tonight. it is not a holiday, but the city is celebrating a major innovation project. tear down the sky walk over baltimore street, add new landscaping to spruce up the area. >>> a brand-new children's hospital comes to sainai. the center will allow families to stay together through a sick child's

microsoft is hiring a key attorney from the ftc which may not make google happy. >> with more on that, that said the morning to lend at bloomberg headquarters. >> hello. we do have a lot of economic data coming out. we have any factoring. we'll see how hard u.s. factories are working. they will expect to say a fourth straight month of growth. they also have weekly jobless claims. the jobless picture is improving. the average unemployment rate is dropping in 48 states that have risen in two states. tech companies have been hiring more antitrust lawyers as the increasingly face more patent investigation spirited a senior member of the ftc has been hired by microsoft. he led several of the agency's controversial antitrust investigations into google. breaking up is hard to do when it comes to your pet. i will have more on that. that is all coming up in the next hour. that is business news in new york. reporting for abc 7 news. >> we will be waiting. we are looking at 57 degrees. >> it is very warm. still to come, an update on a house fire that sent fire fire seven firefighters to the hosp

>> ftc shut down what they're calling a company. >> there is a good chance they called you, too. the company is based out of los angeles and known as sbnperipeherals. this is one of the call autos we have critical information about your automobile warranty that is about to exexpire sent several notifications by mai. have you yet to respond. >> and yeah, investigators say nearly 13 million people bought into the scheme buying what investigators say are worthless auto warranties. ftc confiscated $1 million from the company's account and put a lien on a home and taken 50% interest of an office building. it's a shopper delight right at your finger tips, apps out there that pull together catalog offerings from hundreds of specialty stores. just click on a single item and it takes you to the site. face book youngers being warned of a con, sending out links to apps supposedly identify who is looking at your profile on facebook f you click on the link you're opening up access to your facebook account. experts say you shouldn't click on anything your friends share with you on a social net

they could not comment on the terms of this ftc settlement. reporting live in hamden, mike hellgren, wjz eyewitness news. >> the ftc will make a final decision on four loko regulations sometime later this year. >>> a baltimore man is convicted in the brutal killing of a standoff high school student. vic is in the newsroom with details of the jury's decision. >> reporter: jurors find daunte perry guilty. jason madison was killed inside his aunt's east baltimore home. prosecutors say perris showed up at the house. his handprint was found in the teen's blood on a bedroom door. the killing happened just after perish is freed from prison in another murder case, with the help of the innocence project. mary, back to you. >> thank you. perish will be sentenced on april 3rd. he maintains that an unknown man is responsible for the murder. >>> mystery continues to shroud maryland's largest public university. the president of umuc is placed on administrative leave, without any explanation to the faculty and 90,000 students who use the online university wo

the ftc wants to know how google became the preferred search engine on the mobile devices.t's the latest twist in the ftc's year-long investigation into whether google has been abusing dominance. sources say ftc has subpoenaed a number of documents but the thing they're interested is in checking out agreement that google made with the preferred search engine on the mobile devices. google's rivals like microsoft have been complaining that the agreement is anticompetitive. and meantime, is an apple tv set coming soon? this analyst tells us apple will be introduction of sets by early summer hitting the market by the end of the year, this after a recent trip to asia and says parts for what he he's calling itv are being shipped. and lastly, retail giant walmart is partnering with five movie studios to try to keep dvd sales from slumping further. the partnership allows customers to convert physical dvds into digital versions storing them in the clouds. -- cloud. walmart's service will be available in 3500 stores next month. at bloomberg studios i'm emily chang with bloomberg west

if they can collect information and not be sanctioned for it, our personal information, why is the ftc not coming after them double barrel? >> i don't know. i wrote a piece just two weeks ago on google's top 35 privacy scandals. you have to have context. google does not care about people's privacy even though they say they do, and the ftc has been largely absent. they did do an ftc google buzz sanction, but other than that, google has gotten away with tons of violations. >> well, certainly on street view, they clearly have not been sanctioned. just for our viewers, nine countries have found that street view violated their privacy laws. all right. general leighton, and scott cleland, thanks for being with us. >> thank you, judge. >>> real life drama in a courtroom faceoff as one of the stars of "desperate housewives" takes on the show's creator. it's getting des brat 3r59ly yon hollywood. justice with judge jejudgejeanine. >>> that was the end of the line for character edie on "desperate housewives". turns there was more going on behind the scenes of the hit show than what you saw on th

instead, the ftc makes big warnings on the website. saying you should be weary of promoter who repeatedly calls and wants you to buy more merchandise to up your ante. look for complaints filed with the better business bureau arattorney general against any company trying to sell you something over the phone. and keep in mind, legitimate groups who want help you recoverwhat you lost don't trouble for help or promise big results. those that do are likely reloaders take aim for a second shot. joce sterman. >> could it become a the sucker list if you have been scamed groups like the national fraudinformation center or call for action can help for free. ftc says file a complaint with the office if -- complaint with the office if you've been victimized. we will tell you how on abc2news.com go to the scam alert under the money tab. abc2news.com. >>> 13 minutes after 6. 29 degrees. a 14-month-old girl found in a field after the violent tornadoes destroyed her home in indiana has died. official removed her from life support yesterday. four other

the ftc and new york state attorney general's office as well as ways to up prove information sharing between working group members, and partners. and where do we go from here? i can also report that one of the working group's moment beem conducting an investigation with assistance from working group members into whether gas prices have been affected by any antitrust violation or market manipulation by refineries or oil producers or transporters, marketers, fizzle caphysical, f traders. working group members ready off to act if the fcc learns anything that implicates the laws they enforce. the task force at the forefront of the administration efforts to seek justice for those devastated by the recent financial crisis. since 2009 we have helped to bring charges to secure convictions and obtain prison sentences up to 60 years in a variety of cases charging securities fraud, bank fraud and investment fraud. criminal enforcement tools, where possible, and civil penalties and sanctions where necessary. i think we have made great strides in holding individuals and ins tuxs accountable for t

the ftc is also urging congress to pass legislation to provide people with access to info compiled by data brokers who then sell it to marketers. the ftc doesn't have the power to write new rules, but it can be enforcement actions against companies that violate privacy policies. >>> and bmw is recalling 1.3 million vehicles worldwide to fix a potentially fatal battery cable in the trunk. the cable could become loose, overheat, and possibly start a fire. but to put this in perspective, bmw says they've only received one report in the u.s. about 350,000 vehicles were sold in this country. the recall affects the five and six series, model year 2004 to 2010. john, back to you. >> cnbc's courtney reagan, thank you very much. >>> at least one person has died in one of up to a dozen wildfires across colorado. the flames consumed a handful of homes in jefferson county just west of denver monday night. fire quickly grew to more than 3,000 acres. according to the sheriff's office, 128 homes have been evacua evacuated. other fires burning further west in the northern part of the state. dry, wind

the ftc received 1.8 million complaints.usiness opportunities for in the top 20. >> thank you, lois. next to loisis rh -- next to lois is rich. >> typically, these investigations we do involve the sale of self-contained units that can be placed in a retail outlet. the locations are promised by the business opportunity firm as well. they are supposed to be high traffic, high profit locations. the buyer of the machine is going to earn a large profit. frequently, these salespeople will tell prospective buyers they will make their money back within a year or so. they will send them to references who claimed they on a successful opportunity with these machines. frequently, they are the cousins are brothers or other sales people posing as real customers. in reality, they are being paid to lie to prospective buyers. the prospective buyer is sent to locators. they are just part of the conspiracy. one of these scams some of our attorneys in the office have uncovered is a particularly nefarious kind of scam. this was a scam that appea

ha is, again, the ftc working independently of us. within the department, that oil and gas working group has been active and, as i said, has a call today and a meeting that will happy think by tomorrow. >> i would like to request that after that meeting today or tomorrow, after the phone call and after meeting today or tomorrow that task force brief me and other members of the subcommittee that have expressed an interest. >> to the extent we k we would like to see that. >> mr. attorney general, we really would like to see that. this is very, very, very important. we'll now turn to senator murkowski. >> thank you, madam chairman. mr. attorney general, welcome this morning. i want to follow on to senator hutchison's questions regarding the prosecution of senator ted stephens. i think so many of us were absolutely shocked. i was horrified as a friend and as an alaskan to read judge sullivan's comments that this ill-gotten verdict not only resulted in the loss of senator stephens losing his seat, but in his word tipped the balance of powe

if they can collect information and not be sanctioned for it, our personal information, why is the ftcot coming after them double barrel? >> i don't know. i wrote a piece just two weeks ago on google's top 35 privacy scandals. you have to have context. google does not care about people's privacy even though they say they do, and the ftc has been largely absent. they did do an ftc google buzz sanction, but other than that, google has gotten away with tons of violations. >> well, certainly on street view, they clearly have not been sanctioned. just for our viewers, nine countries have found that street view violated their privacy laws. all right. general leighton, and scott cleland, thanks for being with us. >> thank you, judge. >>> real life drama in a courtroom faceoff as one of the stars of "desperate housewives" takes on the show's creator. it's getting des brat 3r59ly yon hollywood. ♪ [ man ] hmm. a lot can happen in two hundred thousand miles... ♪ are you guys okay? yeah. you know...he's got your smile. ♪ [ man ] i had great time. thank you, it was really fun. yeah...that was...uh.

but it cannot comment on the terms of that ftc settlement. >> thank you, mike. the fcc will make a final decision on four loko regulations, sometime later this year. >>> a 70-year-old woman, caught with a gun in her carry-on luggage at bwi airport. police say she was cooperative and told them she simply forgot it was there. she was charged with possession and released. >>> right now, people in several communities of the nation's heartland. at least 13 people are now confirmed dead. terrell brown is in hard-hit illinois, reporting for wjz. >> reporter: the thick brick walls of st. joseph's catholic church were no match for the 200-mile-an-hour winds that roared through ridgway, illinois. >> history in god's hands have took care of it all these years. and i guess it was time for it to go. >> reporter: martha spar's father and grandfather, helped build the church. it's weathered many storms. >> reporter: today, the cleanup crew salvaged and presented spar with one of the building bricks. >> i've got a brick from st. joe's church, which i'm going to cherish the rest

so i want to talk briefly about the ftc's enforcement mission. when we bring enforcement case we have three goals. stop the fraud, get whatever money we can find and return it to consumers, and then refer it to lanny, tony and andre and hope that the justice department puts these guys in jail. so let me talk briefly about the breadth of our enforcement work. as long as we're gripped with this economic downturn, people, homeowners are going to be in default or facing foreclosure. that's a breeding ground for abuse by fraudsters. earlier this week, we filed our 35th case against hundreds of defendants engaged in loan mod scams. and we will continue to do this work at a high volume until we root this problem out. mortgage servicing, yes, there's a tremendously good settlement against the top five. there are more mortgage servers out there who need to see the federal government. we're working, i know -- i know the cfpd and the department of justice are also working on these issues. a debt -- a debt, in terms of resources, the largest issue we confron

no less than 90 actions filed by the ftc and its partners. this gives the ability to have a maximum of visual impact with press coverage with the whole consumer education peace. >> i know you have worked at this level. >> we have limited resources however be worked with the ftc, inspector general, and the inspector general even in the fbi. but maryland had initiated an investigation may needed additional assistance some of the fbi eight executed search and seizure resulting in a federal prosecution and conviction of the 32 year-old more been sentenced 30 months of the federal penitentiary. >> ed, you are being patient but first. [laughter] a real success all been working together with the states and the ftc. >> the department of justice has participated in the sweeps and the state counterparts. we have upped prosecutions at 140 over the last several years. including defendants sentenced to a couple years, 10 years coming 15 years, over 20 years in jail. some defendants are criminal of prosecution if we have bent successful at arresting those

the ftc is looking for deeply at their business practices. >>> the city of herb lees will stay out ofess at he's for now. hercules owes more than $4 million. >>> california high speed rail authority rolled out the proposed businessman and asked for public comment. some more than 600 people showed up to give their feedback. many opposed the $100 million project saying it will cost too much and cut communities in half. supporters say it will create badly needed new jobs in california. in june the state legislature will decide if the project should get started. >>> 5:49 is the time. back over to sal for a look at traffic this morning. you are covering a few problems i would imagine with the wet roads. >> yeah there are a lot of fender benders and things that have popped up on the roads. traffic is going to be busy and slow. it has obviously been raining if it's not raining right now. it has been raining in the last few moments. as we look at this traffic continues to be a little bit slow. we're looking at highway 24 driving over to oakland. it will be kind of a tough commute. we mentione

but critics including attorneys general in more than 30 states wrote the ftc, calling for loco disarmingly sweet, eye-catching cans, normalizing and promoting binge drinking especially among youths. >> i think it is dangerous to children and that is to whom they are marketing. >> they want the agency to limit the containers to no more than two servings of alcohol. while they say it is a recipe for disaster there is little more they can do. >> i don't think it needs a label. i thick what needs to be done is parents need to talk to their kids about underage drinking and stop blaming this particular drink. >> for loco's manufacturer says it does not promote binge drinking but could not comment on the settlement. mike hellgren, wjz eyewitness news. >> the ftc will make a final decision on for loco regulations sometime later this year. >>> the man known as the east coast rapist confesses to several of his alleged crimes. aaron thomas admitted to police that he did rape two teen tricker traitors in virginia in 2009 and also complained that a police sketch of him inaccurately portrayed his looks.

the ftc chairman that supports the budget will be testifying. then, the former shell oil president on why gas prices are on the rise. that is followed by "newsmakers" with senator carl levin. >> i do not think the president could have gotten away with it. 100- details the fbi's year hidden history. >> hoover stands alone. he is like the washington monument. he stands alone like that monument in taste enc --ased in grime as one of the most powerful man in american history. from woodrow wilson to richard nixon, there is no one like him. agreed deal of what we know -- a great deal of all know about j. edgar hoover is myth and legend. >> tim weiner on the history of the fbi tonight at 8:00. >> the house appropriations subcommittee on financial services hearing on the president's 2013 federal trade commission budget request. it is more than $11 million less than this year. the chairman summarized the plan and the commissioner voting against it. he is at the hearing to explain why. rep emerson of missouri chairs the hearing. >> this is the first heari

a study found out there is debt topping a trillion dollars nationwide and another problem, now, the ftc is warning about a growing scam. conartists posing as law firms and urge being victims to join others in a lawsuit. the firms charge as much as $10,000 and claim legal action will stop foreclosures and reduce payments but losses never go forward. and there is fcc says don't pay money upfront to join a lawsuit, oofr a new under sea rover sounds like something jewels vern might have dreamed up. it's base ond simple movement of the common jelly fish and created by engineers at university of texas and virginia tech. it runs on gases found in water and designers say it could include deep sea rescues and surveillance. >> very cool. and thousands of runners will be hitting streets this weekend and organizers expect 9,000 runners for the third annual marathon. change this year is the start and finish line, moved to snow pack to avoid occupy demonstrators and will take runners past a new encampment. >> there is very, very surprised if they did anything to disrupt this event for the city. it's

the ftc said wary of any promoter who repeatly calls.ok for complaints filed by the better business bureau or attorney general against any company trying to sell you something over the phone. keep in mind legitimate groups don't charge for help or promise big results. those that do are likely relords, taking aim for a second shot at you. joce sterman, abc2 news. >> those who get scammed like this may end up on what some call the sucker list. if you've been scammed groups like the national fraud center or call for action will help you for free. all you have to do is file a complaint with their office if you've been victimized. we'll tell you how on our website, abc2news.com scam alert. you'll find it along with more information. >>> all right. let's get into it a little bit. it has been an unusual day but some of the weather we saw we would have expected all winter. 41 at bwi. winds from the northwest at 17, gusting higher and certainly making things feel more winter like. afterall, on the candidate it is still winter until we get to marc

the sec is working with the ftc to write rules that strengthen the system by increasing the clearing of swaps and ensuring that margin and capital requirements insure the risk. improving transparency to the regulators to shed light on the exposures and assist and developing more robust price discovery mechanisms and increase investment protection by enhancing the swap disclosure and mitigating conflicts of interest and improving our abilities to police these markets. it is my hope we complete the last remaining proposals regarding capital market and record keeping requirements. we are beginning to transition into the adoption phase. as a first step, i expect the commission soon to finalize rules that define who will be covered by the new regulatory regime and next what will constitute a security based swap. we need to define the scope of the regime and letting the markets know whether their activities will subject them to the requirements we will adopt in the coming year. beyond this, the commission staff is continuing to develop a plan for exactly how the rules will be put in effect

at 1-888-ftc help. they will help you figure out how to get their attention properly. >> okay. we have one more question this one from tina in maryland. tina wants to know when it comes to baking is there a difference between light brown and dark brown sugar? will it affect the recipe? >> i like this one because i didn't know the answer. we called the academy cuisine for your answer. the difference between light and dark brown sugar is simply the amount of molasses. that's what makes it light or dark. the lighter version is sweeter because there is less molasses. the academy cuisine says one or the other should not really affect the outcome in a recipe. if you have a question send it to ask liz to nbc washington.com and also connect with me on twitter. just search liz crenshaw and on facebook by searching liz crenshaw's consumer watch. coming up on ask liz at 5:00 tonight can your car insurance rate go up if you are involved in an accident that was not your fault? does it matter which side of the alumin

so we really have a three pronged approach to going after these scams at the ftc. first and foremost, of course, we want to stop these scams. we're going to close down the boiler rooms. we work very closely with the canadian authorities, the jamaican authorities and others to try to find these guys and to stop them. we also are trying to go after what we think is the pivot points here. at some point, the elderly person needs to send money to the scam artist. and that is a point where we can go after them wholesale, not retail. so we have money gram which is the second largest money transfer company under order we have western union abiding by the terms we have in our money gram order. one of the things we have done and is starting to really yield results is we've insisted on really clear consumer ad. so if you walk into many wal-marts today, hopefully, within a year -- if you walk into any wal-mart, money gram's principal outlets are in wal-mart stores. they are under our order -- you will see facing you as a consumer a miranda warning. if you think you've won a lo

and yet, you've got the ftc looking into it. you have members of congress looking into it. there have been--privacy groups have lodged formal complaints. you've hired a lobbyist in washington to deal with this, so you know it's a problem. >> that's ahead when 60 minutes on cnbc returns. [ticking] [ticking] >> when it comes to the issue of privacy on the internet, facebook is sometimes distrusted even by its most ardent users. facebook ceo mark zuckerberg told us that they don't sell their users' information to advertisers, but do people on facebook really have control over their personal information? >> am i a fuddy-duddy... >> yes. >> by... [both laugh] am i a fuddy-duddy by asking all these privacy questions? >> no. >> kara swisher is the editor of all things digital, a website about high tech in silicon valley. you know, i wonder if facebook can exist if it doesn't invade privacy. >> that's right. that's exactly right. >> so it needs to invade privacy. the issue is transparency, isn't it? >> kind of, yes. >> how up front they are with the users. >> that is, i think, mark

we are working with the ftc that strengthen the rules of the financial system. by increasing centalized clearing of swaps and ensuring that margin and capital requirements reflect the true risks of the products. improving transparence of the product aassisting price discovery mechanisms and increasing security based swap disclosure, mitigating conflicts of interest and improving our ability to police the markets. it's my hope in the near term, that record keeping requirements and others will be improved. we are beginning to transition to the adoption phase, as a first step, i expect final rules that define who will be covered by the new regulatory regime and what will constitute a security based swap to come forward. finalizing these regulatories will be a first step and this will subject -- beyond this this, the commission staff is continuing to develop a plan for exactly how the rules will be put into effect. the plan smo establish oon appropriate time line and sequence fimplementation and wil avoid a big bang approach. and at all stages of implementation, tho