that bodes well for general motors. in the broader context what does this all mean from the toyota story to the general motors story? i think the decade long shift of share from the dom tess-- domestics to the japanese has ended. and you are going to see stability around share because the quality has genuinely closed, its quality gap that existed ten years ago and now the perception gap is closing for all these different reasons. and they have excellent products today. >> autonation clearly has a large national footprint but it is concentrated in florida which has been one of those states that has been dramatically hurt by the economic slowdown over the past two years. what does your florida sales in the first quarter tell you about the recovery? >> our business in the first quarter is up a full 29%. it's leading the country. and i think this is an important statement for both the overall economy and for the auto industry because neither of them will ever be healthy again without california and florida. >> mike jackson,

the vice chairman of general motors is joining me now, steve girsky.e to ask you this, because it's clear when we were talking to ed, he said just you wait and see what we do in the first quarter. are we looking at gm being back in the black in the first quarter? >> we're making progress every day, phil, and we take it one step at a time, and we'll see when we get there. >> reporter: but the sense is on the street that you guys are out-performing even your own benchmarks. accurate? >> we're feeling better about everything we do here. >> reporter: let's talk about paying back the government. this is happening roughly within nine months of coming out of bankruptcy. and it frees up some restricted cash for you guys, allows you to make even greater investments in the future. did this happen even faster than you expected when you guys were first going through bankruptcy? >> i think everybody who sat here in april and may and june of last year never thought that we'd be able to pay this loan off by april. in fact, they gave us a lot -- they gave us five year

the previous was $1 million against general motors in 2004. the amounts are symbolic, given that these are companies with hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue. $16 million is a rounding error for them. >> what happens next? have you heard from toyota? have you heard from toyota? if it goes@@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is there some history of fines against auto companies? >> it was not until 2000 that fines for increased to $15 million. there are going up at the rate of inflation. with the exception of that 2004 find against general motors, $1 million because they failed to notify nhtsa about when chilled wiper defects in 600,000 vehicles -- the evidence suggested that gm had known about this for two years. there have not been a lot of fines because of the companies generally want to recall the vehicles quickly. that is fewer vehicles you have to fix and there is less damage to their reputations. nhtsa needs the cooperation of the auto companies to make the current regulatory system work. >> the transportation secretary also said that nhtsa will

they out sold general motors for one month which was pretty rare. uço will cost toyota hundreds of millions of dollars if not billions of dollars to get through this period of recalls. they will have to work to amend its reputation with the american people. that will take a lot of time. this was the same thing as firestone a few years ago. it will be a heavy lift for toyota going forward they are strong company financially and they have the resources host: our guest writes for "the detroit free press." thank you for your time. coming up, we'll take a look at how the senate works especially specific rules the use today -- to debate. >> lets look at another winner. we ask students to tell us about one of the country's greatest strength or a challenge the country is facing. today we talked ioa broad neck high school in maryland. her documentary is on military service. what made you want to choose that topic? >> august this year, my grandfather was buried in arlington cemetery ,x was a moving ceremony i started thinking about doing the video later in de

the interesting thing to keep in mind is that for general motors, this doesn't mean everything's clear. they have two things in the future -- getting back in the black, which probably will happen in the third quarter, early fourth quarter, and then going public. if they get a couple good quarters of financial performance under their belt, first quarter, second quarter, then they are likely to say to wall street and to the people who would be underwriting going public, look, we have the performance benchmarks here, we're ready to start going public. and that's what we have to see from this company over the next six months. once they go public, then you see the federal government getting the opportunity to sell shares of gm over time and make back more of the $50 billion that was funded to this company as part of its bankruptcy plan. so, a huge day for general motors, and that's what ed whitacre is talking about right now. guys? >> and i know, phil, that he may

at general motors, we first learned about the chip onboard from general motors. we did a crash investigation that cost us $14,000. very concerned. the gentleman had almost pulled out to seat belt. we figured there was a defect. we calculated $14,000. a 22-26-mile-per-hour crash. this thing shouldn't fail. general motors, it turn out the crash was 56 miles an hour. we said where did you do that? we have to put this information in. general motors has always allowed and i think ford, too, to allow anybody to download the information. the other companies, some have said this is proprietary information. they could talk about things like whether they had the brake on or not and speed and things like that. . sh re been concerns about the integrity of the box. if you look at the emergency medical service providers, they say they can do a better job at determining whether someone is injured or not. the national academy of sciences, and just a few weeks ago put out some basic standards that should be there to protect privacy in protect the integrity information and the abi

the previous was $1 million against general motors in 2004. the amounts are symbolic, given that these are companies with hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue. $16 million is a rounding error for them. >> what happens next? have you heard from toyota? if it goes to court, how long would the process take? >> toyota has two weeks to respond and say they will pay the fine or challenge it. nhtsa has to decide if it is going to uphold the fine. if toyota continues to challenge it, they will go to the district court to get a job to uphold it. that process could take several months if toyota decides to fight it. >> the transportation secretary ray lahood put out a statement saying that toyota failed to live up to its legal obligation. worse, they hid a dangerous defect four months and did not take action to protect millions of drivers and their families. we are seeking the maximum penalty possible under current law. this is unprecedented. is there some history of fines against auto companies? >> it was not until 2000 that fines for increased to

at the same time general motors, which also received government rescue help, begins to bounce back. >> i am very pleased to announce that as of today general motors has repaid in full and with interest and for profit -- gwen: but there's always another big debate just around the corner. next up, energy reform. covering the week, john harwood of crime scene crime scene and "the new york times," janet hook of "the los angeles times," david shepardson of the detroit news and jeanne cummings of politico. >> this is "washington week" with gwen ifill. produced in association with washington journal. corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> funding for "washington week" is also provided by exxonmobil, constellation energy, the annenberg foundation, the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again, live from washington, moderator gwen ifill. gwen: good evening. another reform bill, another round of closed-door negotiations, another furious flurry of lobbying and another partisan drama. it stars pr

but general motors and chrysler, to companies that for generations were a symbol of america's manufacturingmight, were on the brink of collapse. the rapid dissolution of these companies, followed by the certain failure of many of parts makers, car dealers, and other small businesses, would have dealt a crippling blow to our already suffering economy. the best estimates are that more than 1 million american workers could have lost their jobs. the previous administration extended temporary loans to both companies. even so on, when i took office, the situation remained dire. we had to determine if we could justify additional taxpayer assistance. many of the problems and of industry were a direct result of poor management decisions over decades. it was not an easy call. but we decided that while providing additional assistance was a risk, the far greater risk to families and communities across our country was to do nothing. we agree to additional help, but only if the companies and their stakeholders were willing to break with the past three that had to finally reorganized, with new management

i'm ed whitacre, from general motors.ot of americans didn't agree with giving gm a second chance. quite frankly, i can respect that. we want to make this a company all americans can be proud of again. that's why i'm here to announce we have repaid our government loan, in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule. but there's still more to do. our goal is to exceed every expectation you've set for us. we're putting people back to work, designing, building, and selling the best cars and trucks in the world. with our 100,000-mile, 5-year powertrain warranty to guarantee the quality. and the unmatched life-saving technology of onstar to help keep you safe. from new energy solutions. to the designs of tomorrow. we invite you to take a look at the new gm. >>> wish we could have done better in hindsight. but at the times we made the decisions, i didn't think we did anything wrong. >> larry: we're back with michael moore. congresswoman marcy capture of ohio and a number of other democrats are calling for a cr

. >>> general motors says it is on the road to recovery. the automaker announced today it plans on paying back billions of dollars of bailout money and early. meanwhile, polls show that americans' opinions of u.s. cars are improving. jay gray has our report. >> reporter: this morning, general motors officials announced they had written their final check to the federal government. >> i'm very pleased to announce that as of today, general motors has repaid in full and -- >> there is apparently plenty to cheer about. not only has gm paid back its loan well ahead of schedule, there are indication it is last payment comes with some big dividends. an associated press poll released today shows that 38% of americans believe u.s. automakers now make the best and most reliable vehicles. compared to 33% who sided with asian manufacturers. >> that main like a slim margin but most agree the numbers indicate a huge shift in perception. for first time in a long time, americans feel that the best cars on the road are homemade. surely some of the shift can

. >> brown: and, margaret warner gets an update on general motors as it pays back its government loans. >> ifill: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: pacific life-- the power to help you succeed. and the william and flora hewlett foundation, working to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> brown: there was movement on the road toward financial regulatory reform today in washington and even some talk of compromise. it came on a day when a key part of the reform package-- regulating derivatives-- advanced in a senate committee. >> i think we are in a good position, i'm very optimistic, and this is the way that i think legislation should be approached. >> we have to do it now and the time for discussion, the time for consideration privately has passed, and now we have to

. >>> general motors is ready to pay up. the automaker will pay more than $6 million of its government aid earlier than expected. the government gave general motors a total of $52 billion inned a. the balance of which will be repaid once the company sells stock possibly later this year. gm's ceo will reveal the details tomorrow when he visits a kansas city assembly plant. >>> wall street companies continue their parade of shame on capitol hill. president obama predicts a big battle in the senate over new regulations he wants to slap on wall street. the president says they are needed to head off more financial turmoil. he calls for financial reform that's being echoed on capitol hill today. the federal reserve chief and treasury secretary are being grilled on the role the government played in not bailing out wall street giant lehman brothers in 2008. the decision ultimately led to the company to bankruptcy costing investors billions. republicans unanimously debated it and the hard-line appears to have softened. >> both partie

. >> general motors act set rated on the road to recovery. the auto company announced it paid back billions of bailout money to the government and paid it back early. vehicles made in the usa are getting a new vote of confidence lately. jay gray reports. >> this morning, general moat oshs officials announced they have written their final check to the federal government. >> i am very pleased to announce that as of today, general motors has repaid in full and -- >> there is apparently plenty to cheer about. not only has they paid off the bill but paid it off early. associated press gm poll released today shows that 38% of americans believe u.s. automakers now make the best and most reliable vehicles. compared to 33% that sided with asian manufacturers. that may sound like a slim margin but most agree the numbers actually indicate that a huge shift in perception. for the first time in a long time, americans feel the best cars on the road are homemade. purely some of the shift can be to high profile quality problems with toyota cars and trucks. b

i'm ed whitacre, from general motors. a lot of americans didn't agree with giving gm a second chance. quite frankly, i can respect that. we want to make this a company all americans can be proud of again. that's why i'm here to announce we have repaid our government loan, in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule. but there's still more to do. our goal is to exceed every expectation you've set for us. we're putting people back to work, designing, building, and selling the best cars and trucks in the world. with our 100,000-mile, 5-year powertrain warranty to guarantee the quality. and the unmatched life-saving technology of onstar to help keep you safe. from new energy solutions. to the designs of tomorrow. we invite you to take a look at the new gm. >>> today some news for the troops. this is for staff sergeant david bryant. his wife sent in via webcam. family and service are two important things to him but he's an avid red sox and patriot fan. >> good morning, robin. i'd like do a salute to my hu

. >> larry: as general motors goes, so goes the country? >> that has to stop.se that puts all of us at risk. and a lot of people, a lot of everyday people and their pension funds lost a lot of money. >> larry: all right. the s.e.c. has filed suit against goldman sachs, accusing the firm of defrauding customers in connection with the sale of a complex mortgage investment. that's what i meant by mortgages. named in that suit is trader fabrice tourre, now on paid leave from goldman. tourre defended himself vigorously in today's senate testimony. watch. >> mr. chairman, as you know, the securities and exchange commission recently filed a civil suit alleging that i failed to disclose to investors certain material information regarding a transaction that i helped to structure named abacus '07 ac 1. i deny categorically the s.e.c.'s allegations, and i will defend myself in court against this false claim. >> larry: what is your read on him? >> well, i mean, going after a guy named fabrice, come on. it's just like in junior high. essentially, they've singled out the fre

general motors nationalized. chrysler nationalized. the c.e.o. of general motors, fired and replaced by the president of the united states. the president of the united states appoints all but two of the board members of general motors and the shareholders, secured creditors, saw their assets in those companies wiped out, even though they were secured assets, they wiped them out and handed over ownership 17.5% of general motors over to the unions and the speaker of the house made the statement that she would not give bargaining leverage to the auto makers over the unions and that's the way it shook out. the unions got bargaining units. and the united states have an ownership share at least in general motors to a significant amount, 17.5% is my recollection. and then on top of that, if you are the federal government and running a car company like general motors or chrysler, you are also running the regulatory organization. so i'm not suggesting that i know anything that the american people don't know about what might have brought about the intense

general motors, i believe it is around $50 billion. there is the biggest banks -- bank of america and citigroup. general motors is still a question mark. they have not pulled a profit. they said they it might do so this year. how well they do this year will ultimately determine how much the government can recoup from that the bailout. bankamerica and citigroup -- bankamerica was able to pay back the money it received and the government made about $4.6 billion profit on the need that they gave parrot -- that they gave. citigroup paid back $20,000,000,000.20 $5 billion the government holds as common stock that they will sell all over the coming months. others, the other wall street banks -- wells fargo and j.p. morgan chase -- they have returned the money. j.p. morgan shays, that bail out individually, and with a profit of about $1 billion and the government will auction off the warrants it is holding on with wells fargo, and i think that should pull about 1 billion as well. so, as i said, when you have aig, you put more than $45 billion

>> remember who owns general motors. s now government motors and owned by the federal government. the same with chrysler. and now the federal government is calling the shots and the federal government has a large ownership stake and, as a matter of fact, the federal government overturned 150 years of bankruptcy law and took assets held by bond holders, those are the investors in chrysler. their assets were taken away and given over to the uaw, the unsecured creditor. the people who took less interest and put money into chrysler had their rights taken away from them legally and given to people who were unsecured and they were given rights. these are moves that are not in line with the rule of law or with the sanctity of contract. the united states we believe in the sanctity of contracts and the rule of law. >> gangster government. >> all the rules of business have changed. >> geraldo: what exactly is the -- better question, don't you feel you are going against the tide in the case of financial reform? don't most americans

qué tal, les habla enrique teuteÓ ..general motors anunció que pagó "totalmente y con intereses" losnaimpactpor - tendrian desviaciones sexuales. y obiernivh@develó el nuevo billete de 100 dólares, que comenzará a circular en febrero de 2011.los detalles comenzará a circular en febrero de 2011.los detalles hoy por ur impasión.ápriimpacto, áp esr impatomand(m-f analgo que acmás rá que nol rareleaslsunh@áprimer impa@ h@mero (m-f y noh@o más do, ién es fuert ay mejlivio éste. vil. ♪(música) >>> de qué te ríes? >>> estamos recordando anécdotas del bar de la república. >>> es unh@áprimer impacto (m-f. >>> y hablamos con univh@áprime mucho provecho. >>> físicamente el equipo va agarrando forma, intentamos absorber todo lo que se pueda en esta semana. >>> esta noche cruz azul y pachuca tendrán el primer agarrón en la final de la liga de campeones de la concacaf, y los tuzos buscarán jugar su tercer mundial de clubes. >>> y vamos al partido de ida entre bayern y el lyon de francia. el bayern ganó 1 por 0. yh@mer impacto (m-fh@ aeuunivis para el inicio de la copa del mundo? >>> 50 días, nada

of general motors. just simply fired the c.e.o. of general motors. didn't try to take his fingerprints off. didn't imply it was a decision that came about some other way. didn't try to hide it. he proudly accepted the -- some will call it credit. i'll call it blame -- for reaching across the line between the public and the private sector and firing the c.e.o. of general motors and deciding who would be the new c.e.o. of general motors. he sent his car czar to do those deals. he replaced and named all by two members of general motors and wasn't quite engaged in chrysler but some of the activities took place. and the white house, and when it's the white house it's the president of the united states, mr. speaker, dictated to the bankruptcy court exactly the terms that he -- merged from the bankruptcy courts in general motors and chrysler. that situation is appalling and breathtaking when you think of the nationalization that's taken place. and, mr. speaker, when you look at the beginning of this is at the end of the bush administration, henry paulson, s

. >>> general motors is making good.s paid back the government billions of dollars from the auto bailout. the auto maker is revealing plans for major investments in two american factories. we have more on gm's fast road to recovery. >> reporter: coming in way ahead of schedule, general motors ceo whitaker says the company has repaid the $4.7 billion owed to the u.s. and $1.1 billion owed to the canadian government. >> we were able to repay the taxpayers ahead of schedule because we are designing, building, and selling the best cars and truck gm has produced ever. >> reporter: they got a total of $52 billion from washington last year to keep it a float. gm clearing the debt five years ahead of ever. its cash flow is better than expected because of the sale of new cars. they have plans to pump $250 million into auto plants in kansas city, kansas, and detroit. >> this investment represents a further commitment to gm's future, to communities that support us like here, and to the united states, canada, and ontario governments

i'm ed whitacre, from general motors.f americans didn't agree with giving gm a second chance. quite frankly, i can respect that. we want to make this a company all americans can be proud of again. that's why i'm here to announce we have repaid our government loan, in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule. but there's still more to do. our goal is to exceed every expectation you've set for us. we're putting people back to work, designing, building, and selling the best cars and trucks in the world. with our 100,000-mile, 5-year powertrain warranty to guarantee the quality. and the unmatched life-saving technology of onstar to help keep you safe. from new energy solutions. to the designs of tomorrow. we invite you to take a look at the new gm. about all the discounts boswe're offering. i've got. i some catchphrases that'llideas make these savings even more memorable. gecko: all right... gecko: good driver discounts. now that's the stuff...? boss: how 'bout this? gecko: ...they're the bee's knees? bo

. >>> joe motors says they have repaid over $8 billion -- general motors says they have repaid over $8 billion. they call this a sign that gm is recovering. the u.s. government now owns 61% of gm. >>> dangerous storms in california on tuesday. the work jackknifed semi trucks all across the state. trees and power poles were knocked over. the rain is expected to continue through thursday. >>> time for a look at our weather right now. >> showers pretty regular today. just a straight chance tomorrow. the weekend will be a washout. we do need the rain. it will help the trees and washed away the pollen. watched the plane come in pre you can see -- you cannot say. it is pretty gray out there. i want to show you some rain totals since the rain began this morning. over half an inch of rain has fallen in fredericksburg. 1/3 of an inch of rain at the banner school in frederick. quarter of an inch of rain in dale city. temperatures will not move too much. we will have clouds and drizzle conditions. we do have some heavier bands of showers up near frederick. another pocket over parts of the norther

it cannot conceive of general motors going out of business. then you ask what to do about that? and i think and to take over general motors and not think the man tried to the way it works of workers retire early sometimes when their industry is in decline and the young workers come in with new skills i guess i don't have a great answer for that there is a case to try to develop a sound and compassionate safety net that is more oriented to being a safety net and the political mishmash of the accidental welfare state the accidental state we have developed a that is difficult politically. the solutions come in the other book where we have wilder ideas of competitive government the brief point* i don't think there are scale economies and government that justify 300 million per cent policy. if you needed to have some of the things decided for 300 million people out of washington d.c. then switzerland could not possibly work. singapore could not work. denmark could not work. the fact that those much smaller policies would be some welfare states and

auto makers ford and general motors for march. 40% gain for ford. 21% for g.m.oyota sales surged, too, by whopping 41%. glenn beck returns in a moment and judge napolitano, but first, chris wallace previews special report. >> coming up, we look at what republicans need to do to regain control of congress. and why the catholic church is striking back at the "new york times." join me at 6:00 eastern for "special report." ♪ ♪ >>> the $1 trillion gap in retiree benefits in this country, according to the pew center on the states. and since state and local governments will be footing the bill for the shortfall, it works out to more than $8800 for every american household. now cities like memphis, toledo and los angeles trying to pinch pennies leaning on the unions. have unions priced themselves out of a job in ask mark mix, president of the national right to work committee and charles payne ceo of wall street strategies and my colleague, contributor on the fox business network. charles, to you first. what is the problem? what is happening? what have governments just r

i'm ed whitacre, from general motors. a lot of americans didn't agree with giving gm a second chance. quite frankly, i can respect that. we want to make this a company all americans can be proud of again. that's why i'm here to announce we have repaid our government loan, in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule. but there's still more to do. our goal is to exceed every expectation you've set for us. we're putting people back to work, designing, building, and selling the best cars and trucks in the world. with our 100,000-mile, 5-year powertrain warranty to guarantee the quality. and the unmatched life-saving technology of onstar to help keep you safe. from new energy solutions. to the designs of tomorrow. we invite you to take a look at the new gm. this is data. data generated by people moving through a city. people in cars, on trains, on buses. when you can see data as it happens, it can help cut commute times by 50%, reduce carbon emmissions by 14%. on a smarter planet, we can capture, analyze,

i'm ed whitacre, from general motors. a lot of americans didn't agree with giving gm a second chance. quite frankly, i can respect that. we want to make this a company all americans can be proud of again. that's why i'm here to announce we have repaid our government loan, in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule. but there's still more to do. our goal is to exceed every expectation you've set for us. we're putting people back to work, designing, building, and selling the best cars and trucks in the world. with our 100,000-mile, 5-year powertrain warranty to guarantee the quality. and the unmatched life-saving technology of onstar to help keep you safe. from new energy solutions. to the designs of tomorrow. we invite you to take a look at the new gm. >>> saving lindsay lohan. what needs to be done? disturbing new reports about her behavior and her mother coming to her defense in a brand new interview today. welcome back to "showbiz tonight." i'm brooke anderson in hollywood with a.j. hammer in new

we tried to general motors and ford and everybody and they just kept turning us down. >> with the invention, they do not want to pay royalties on an outside invention in the automobile industry. gm has recently installed some heater window wiper devices. getting the company to put it on their cars, you are up for a battle. in terms of your buick, there were a couple recalls for cruise controls that did exactly what you talked about on gm vehicles and you can contact our website and file a complaint >> another tweet from one of our viewers. what are their extremely few unresolved cases in europe where there is a larger economy and population? he is making the claim that there are fewer unresolved cases in europe compared to the u.s.? >> they have to define unresolved cases. europe, if you look at those vehicles, there are a lot more vehicles with break overrides. that would explain fewer sudden acceleration cases in europe. second, european drivers are more adapted shifting into neutral and using breaks to bring a car under control. >> back to this country, how many complaints does nhtsa get

general motors chief financial officer said the company doesn't need to see a significant improvement in industry sales to break even for 2010. he says health care reform will have little to no impact on the company's bottom line and general motors still expects to pay back the american taxpayer and canadian taxpayer in full by june. obviously gm not the same as gmac. a stat worth noting, as the housing market struggles to recover, as tom hoenig says he wants rates to goup, mortgage rates are nearly at an eight-month high. the average 30-year mortgage rate, a fixed, jumped more than a quarter point last week, 5.31%, which prompted about an 11% drop for the week. apparently it's going to be an above-average hurricane season this year, which is the word from the colorado state forecasters. they've predicted 15 named storms, the atlantic hurricane season begins june 1st. over the past few years those forecasts have proven to are very right some years and utterly wrong some years. >>> bob pisani is on the floor. a bit of a comeback after a drop. >> reporter: that's because the ten-year au

. >>> car sales jumped 4%, and general motors seeing a rise. >>> coming up, a hearing in a murder for hire plot. how the suspect is related to the victim. >>> and you're already paying for it, but now the state says you might have to pay a little bit more. i'm megan gilliland, why getting behind the wheel could cost you. >>> the search continues for a missing baltimore county woman. >>> welcome back toe fox 45 morning news. 5:29 is the time. i'm patrice harris. >>> it is friday, we have made it to the weekend, but before we get into the weekend, it's time for you to sound off on our fiesboofacebook page about anytg

." >> tom: toyota marches back, while ford and general motors share in the gains. here's a rundown of march's car and truck sales. toyota played comeback kid-- sales rose 41% on hefty incentives after the recalls. aggressive incentives also boosted sales at ford motor, up 40%. and at g.m., march sales were up 21%. the numbers are exaggerated by easy comparisons to last year, when the recession was in full swing. but chrysler is still struggling to gain traction-- sales there fell 8% last month. >> susie: auto dealers are still counting on a blockbuster spring selling season. consumers are back in showrooms, and it looks like they're ready to buy again. but as diane eastabrook reports, the economy is still the wild card. >> reporter: they're back. consumers flocked to dealer lots last month, thanks to warmer temperatures, a string of incentives, and optimism about the u.s. economy. tom bavone is seeing a complete change in customer attitude at his ford dealership. >> they talk about their jobs are doing well. they feel more secure in their jobs and they seem happier

general motors, i believe it is around $50 billion. there is the biggest banks -- bank of america and citigroup. general motors is still a question mark. they have not pulled a profit. they said they it might do so this year. how well they do this year will ultimately determine how much the government can recoup from that the bailout. bankamerica and citigroup -- bankamerica was able to pay back the money it received and the government made about $4.6 billion profit on the need that they gave parrot -- that they gave. citigroup paid back $20,000,000,000.20 $5 billion the government holds as common stock that they will sell all over the coming months. others, the other wall street banks -- wells fargo and j.p. morgan chase -- they have returned the money. j.p. morgan shays, that bail out individually, and with a profit of about $1 billion and the government will auction off the warrants it is holding on with wells fargo, and i think that should pull about 1 billion as well. so, as i said, when you have aig, you put more than $45 billion

and our client was general motors, so we have 200 and some people that are just virtually out of work. >> reporter: but this spinoff was small enough to remanufacture itself. >> this is our 5.7 liter general motors engine that we converted for natural gas application. >> reporter: natural gas engines became backup electricity units for irrigation, oil drilling. the old engines found new customers, like the u.s. postal service. result: no layoffs during the crisis. and now, workers are doing 50 hour weeks; the company, hiring again, by following the familiar formula, learn the financials, share the proceeds; stay small. and that's what it teaches to others like juliet mee, who owns this massage training center in springfield. >> i had no idea about how important the numbers were in my business. >> reporter: once a math-phobic masseuse, the newly confident mee has since stabilized the school, even spun off companies to clean linens, manage benefits for her staff and those at other small firms. >> we'll start with some simple compressions on your back. >> reporter: uh huh. >> reporter: t

let's take the common stock in general motors. this is allowed to trade after the public learned the details of who the new owners would be after it entered inevitable prepackaged bankruptcy. you could keep buying the old gm shares even when everyone knew that the common stock would be canceled, thrown out, and a new stock would be issued to the owners and the government taking 70%. once we knew who would own to company, it was cynical and outrageous to know that gm's old stock was still out there trading millions and millions of shares and hurting ignorant investors who thought they had a play on the turnaround. it was the height of irresponsibility to not cancel that common stock when it looked like gm's bondholders would get nothing. and remember in bankruptcy, the bond boys get paid ahead of the shareholders. they are ahead of you in line, and they are usually the ones who get the loot from the company and turn out to be ahead of the game. fannie and freddie were allowed the keep trading despite the fact that buying either of

i'm ed whitacre, from general motors. lot of americans didn't agree with giving gm a second chance. quite frankly, i can respect that. we want to make this a company all americans can be proud of again. that's why i'm here to announce we have repaid our government loan, in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule. but there's still more to do. our goal is to exceed every expectation you've set for us. we're putting people back to work, designing, building, and selling the best cars and trucks in the world. with our 100,000-mile, 5-year powertrain warranty to guarantee the quality. and the unmatched life-saving technology of onstar to help keep you safe. from new energy solutions. to the designs of tomorrow. we invite you to take a look at the new gm. welcome to progressive. nice calculator. i'm just trying to save money on my car insurance. you know, with progressive, you get the option to name your price. is that even possible? uh, absolutely. trade? and i still get great service? more like super gr

. >>> general motors says things are looking up, despite losing more than $4 billion after emerging frombankruptcy last year. it could turn a profit as early as next year. >>> the era of record low mortgage rates is over. rates climbed to more than 5.3% in the past week, up from just over 5%. many buyers are racing to close deals locking rates before they go higher. improving economy and end of the government programs designed to push them down. tax day is just a week away. for half of the americans, april 15th is just another date on the calendar. estimated 47% will pay no federal income taxes for 2009. eighth their incomes were too low or they qualified for enough credits, deductions and exemptions. most people are required to file deadlines by the return. >>> the queen of day time tv is ready to take on the night. oprah winfrey will host an evening show on her new cable network. the show will be called oprah's next chapter. it's expected to debut late next year. that's your moneyscope report, i'm vinita nair. >>> good morning, 6:23. we have ourselves a warm one to start. ranging from

we first learned about the chip on board with general motors. a gentleman in the crash had almost pulled out the seat belt. we thought there was a defect. we calculated about $14,000, about 26 miles an hour, a fairly serious crash. but things should not fail. it turns out the crash was about 56 miles an hour. we paid $14,000 to be 200% wrong. they said they have to put this information in. anybody can download the information and look at what happened in the car crash. some companies have said this is proprietary information. was there the brake on? the speed, all of that. i am not sure the information even exist after the crash because there have been concerns about the integrity of the box. if you look at the emergency medical service providers, they say they can do a better job at determining whether someone is injured or not. the national academy of sciences, and just a few weeks ago put out some basic standards that should be there to protect privacy in protect the integrity information and the ability to retrieve it. we are on the verge of

i'm ed whitacre, from general motors. a lot of americans didn't agree with giving gm a second chance. quite frankly, i can respect that. we want to make this a company all americans can be proud of again. that's why i'm here to announce we have repaid our government loan, in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule. but there's still more to do. our goal is to exceed every expectation you've set for us. we're putting people back to work, designing, building, and selling the best cars and trucks in the world. with our 100,000-mile, 5-year powertrain warranty to guarantee the quality. and the unmatched life-saving technology of onstar to help keep you safe. from new energy solutions. to the designs of tomorrow. we invite you to take a look at the new gm. in what? imported ice? yeah! i mean, people love imported water. so this is the next logical step. i think i'll stick with following my green line. oh, come on! hey, working with my guy at fidelity could have me retiring in a few years. and besides, co

general motors and honda rose more than 20% each. chrysler was down 8%. wall street closed out the week on a high. the rally followed reports first-time jobless claims fell this week and factory output rose in march at the fastest rate in five years. as a result, the dow jones industrial average gained more than 70 points to close at 10,927. the nasdaq rose four points to close at 2,402. the markets will be closed tomorrow, for good friday. overall pay for corporate executives fell slightly last year. that finding came today in a survey done for "the wall street journal". it said executive compensation has been down two straight years-- the first time that's happened in 20 years. at the same time, "the washington post" reported companies are ignoring federal guidelines and paying more executives in cash. the guidelines are designed to shift the focus of pay to longer-term corporate gains. the confessed killer of an abortion doctor in kansas was scott roeder has admitted he shot doctor george tiller last may at a church in wichita. he said the killing was

. >>> major auto companies from ford to general motors report monthly sales numbers today. analysts are betting most companies will post gains. we've already heard from toyota at new york's auto show on wednesday, a top toyota executive said incentives pushed sales 40% higher in march. >>> amazon is bracing for the ipad. the online retailer has struck new e-book pricing deals with two major publishers just days before apple's launch of the new tablet computer. that's expected to take business away from amazon's kindle. the agreements will allow both publishers to set their own prices. apple has already made similar deals. >>> the home buyer tax credit which expires at the end of april sparked a huge rush in mortgage applications last week and industry reports says home loan applications rose nearly 7%. that's the largest number of applications since october 2009. >>> and this is census day. the government hopes you'll return the forms sent out over the past month or so, but be sure to be careful, there are scam artists sending out phony forms to try to steal your personal i

we saw that in the general motors deal.overnment treated the unions better than it did the bondholders. we need to have creditors understand that they're likely to be treated very, very similarly to the way they would be in bankruptcy law in this country. that kind of stability, i think, is a better place to start in the senate than this partisan dodd bill that came out of committee without a single republican vote. >> chris: and you are saying until you get satisfaction on the issues -- and it sounds like there are several issues, not just the $50 billion fund. >> yeah. >> chris: you're saying until then you believe you have a solid republican vote to keep the bill from getting to the senate floor. ye yeah -- >> yeah. it's not ready yet. over the weekend the democrats were arguing themselves over the derivative part of it. they're not even in agreement on that. chris, this is not a situation where anybody i know in the senate wants no bill to pass. but it is important to pass a good bill. >> chris: you just heard the two c