hampton pearson looks now at filing season 2014 and what to expect. >> the 2014 tax filing season may have started two weeks late because of the government shutdown, but if last year is any guide, by april 15th, the internal revenue service will process the neighborhood of 147 million returns, with more than 109 million taxpayers receiving refunds, averaging $2700. on his first visit to capitol hill since confirmation, the new i.r.s. commissioner, said the agency needs to focus on better service to taxpayers and restoring trust. after more than a year of controversy about political targeting. >> i want everyone in the united states who's a taxpayer to understand and be confident that when they deal with the i.r.s., we will deal with them in a straightforward way, no matter their political beliefs, religious organization, whatever church they belong to. >> most of them will impact high-income families and individuals, 39.6% for singles earning $400,000 and married couples at or above $450,000, the capital gains tax rate goes to 20%, but the real eye-opener, two new medicare taxes to pa

first hampton pearson with more on janet yellen's testimony to lawmakers and then courtney reagan with reaction on wall street. we begin with hampton. >> reporter: in her first report to congress as chairman of the federal reserve, janet yellen said the u.s. economy would have to take a sharp downturn before monetary policymakers would consider halting the reduction of bond purchases. >> the last two months of disappointing job growth, she said, does not meet that standard. >> i was surprised that the jobs reports in december and january, the creation was running unde what i had anticipated, but we have to be very careful not to jump to conclusions in interpreting what those reports mean. >> reporter: the bond-buying program now at 65 billion per month, is not on a preset course says the new fed chairman. and -- >> we have been watching close lit reason volatility in global financial markets. our sense is that at this stage these developments do not pose a substantial risk to the u.s. economic outlook. >> reporter: as far as forward guidance on raising key short-term interest rates, th

hampton pearson takes a closer look at this latest jobs report and some encouraging trends behind the numbers. >> for a second straight month, leading economists and market analysts didn't know what to make of a government report telling two different stories about the job market. employers added fewer workers to payrolls than expected, but the unemployment rate dropped again. >> i think it's a lot of weather still in this number. in the 30,000 decline in government, something odd is going on there. i think the thing to keep in mind is this divergence where you're getting plus 600,000 employment on the household survey and getting only plus 100,000 on the establishment survey is going to be a big problem. >> reporter: while the january headline number of just 113,000 jobs is weak, trend underlying the employment rate decline are encouraging. in january, the number of people with jobs increased by 638,000. the labor force increased by nearly 500,000. and the number of people out of work six months or longer fell by 232,000. all are indicators, economists say, of new businesses and jobs

hampton pearson, what are the possible road blocks to the deal and what hurdles does it have to overcome? >> reporter: well, first of all, the justice department is going to review the proposals for basically harms to competition, some of which julia touched on in her report. while comcast and time warner have no overlap in their respective cable businesses, that merged company would see comcast with about 30 million households just in cable tv alone. it's also being argued that the company would have leverage with the content providers when it comes to distribution. comcast of course owns nbc universal. but what about major content providers like cbs and disney? would the merged comcast-time warner have too much leverage if you will as far as fewer negotiations in things like retransmission deals? also that merged company would put comcast in 19 of the 20 largest markets with about a 30% share of the paid tv business and also a strong position for providing broadband and internet services as well. comcast of course argues its real competition in all those venues is satellite tv and tele

with that and the rest of the news it's hampton pearson. good morning. >> how you doing, scott. the futures which are mixed as markets are coming off their best week of the year. the rally fueled by comments from the new fed chair and a rise in commodity prices looking for data later today on housing and earnings from coca-cola, the dow closing up 126 points to close 16,164, the nasdaq to close. a major merger in the drug sector. reportedly in talks to buy a rival forest labs up to $25 billion, a combined company would offer a wide range of generic and brand name drugs. kick starter the latest to be the target of hackers. the site said this weekend no credit card information was compromised but hackers did get access to user names, encrypted pass words and mailing addresses and phone numbers. kick starter is urging users to change passwords. have a great day. >> you too. >> let's check in with christina. she has look at the forecast. a lot of kids off. >> a lot off for ski week, 4:48 now taking a live look, a clear start here over the bay bridge. what you can't see from this dar

let's turn to hampton pearson. good morning. >> how you doing, scott. let's start with the futures right now poised for a slightly negative open after the fcc 500 taking out the level yesterday. the the nasdaq ending the day at a 14-year high, the major indexes are on pace for a positive week. investors gother in cupertino later for apple's shareholder meeting. a variety of proposals are on tap including one that would give more access to proxy information and one related to share buy-backs. a look at business headlines and good luck with all of that rough weather on the way. back to you. >> good luck with the cold, hampton. a great weekend. >> we want to check in with our bay area weather alert going on. the heavy rains, strong winds pounding the bay area as we speak. this is a live look if you can make it out through the raindrops on the lens t bay bridge toll plaza. not a lot of traffic there at least but across the bay area you have to allow time. >> 87 northbound, ponding. bob redell got to the scene of severe flooding. tell us what you're seeing.

for that and the rest of the news before the bell let's go to hampton pearson live at cnbc's washington bureau. good morning. >> we've got futures now poised to open in negative territory, this coming after stocks yesterday eased out small gains and the nasdaq touched a 14-year high. american airlines which is merging with u.s. irways is no longer giving special fares to people who book last minute flights due to a relative's death bringing it in line with u.s airways. another development in the general motors recall of faulty ignition switches, the government is opening a proposal of time limits. it wants to know if gm followed the process. have a great day everybody. >> you as well. thank you. >> going to have a great day when it comes to the forecast. let's see. if you like rain. >> i think everybody in california at this point likes rain. good morning to you, scott and laura, as you know we need every drop in the bucket we can accumulate. light shower activity starting to move over the santa cruz mountains. that's the only place we're watch forge showers. you'll see mostly clear con

. >>> we turn to hampton pearson for your look at business. >> well, we have futures slightly higherhe markets are coming off their best week of the year. a big rise in commodity prices. look for data today on housing and earnings from coca-cola. apple may be looking for expand beyond iphones and ipads. the "san francisco chronicle" reports apple secretly met with tesla motors ceo last year, some analysts speculated apple could buy the electric carmaker. and a new survey by travel site expedia finds 60% of americans feeling vacation deprived even when they're getting r and r, two-thirds say they're still checking work e-mail and voice mail. expedia says on average people are only using ten of their 14 vacation days each year. now, that a concern. >> i was going to say, are you serious? that doesn't make any sense. if you want to share those day, i'll take them. >> absolutely. more vacation for everybody. >> yes. >>> all right. other stories making news, john kerry had strong words for russia regarding the syrian peace talks. mr. kerry accused russia of undermining gonegotiations. ker

we turn to hampton pearson. good morning. >> how you doing, yeah, joseph a. banks says it's willing to meet with men's warehouse even though it rejected the latest takeover bid. offering 63-50 a share. turning to futures poised for a negative open after the s&p 500 closed at a record level yesterday, nasdaq ending the day at 14-year high. major indexes are on pace for a positive week. back to you and have a great weekend. >> you too, hampton. thank you kindly. >> the latest storm helping california's water supply but experts say don't let your guard down. the situation is still critical. the snowpack survey found the snowpack is 24% of average for this time of the year. the good news is sierra will get a little more snow with the current storm that is moving over california. most of california getting hit by this rain today. down in malibu there are rock slides on the highway. a section of the highway closed for safety. a fire last spring burned about with 24,000 acres of land above the highway, and that really erodes the soil up there, making it easy for roc

hampton pearson is live with all of that. good morning. >> how you doing, scott. it's not enough to help the futures now in negative territory. this after stocks yesterday eeked out a small gain and the nasdaq touched a 14-year high. maybe that can give a lift to the market as we move to the opening in a little over an hour from now. back to you guys. >> all right, hampton. thank you. let's check in with christina this morning. you have got all kinds of things on the radar. >> good morning to you. you know what, these are the kinds of things that we need to see. more heavy rainfall in the forecast for tonight. i want to show you the live radar, and yeah, we're going to start in tahoe. yes, yes, yes. a lot of snowfall coming in today and tonight. we are going to get a winter wallop in south lake. i want to bring in our own bob redell live with us this morning out in king veil. bob, how is it coming down out there and what does this mean for the snowpack survey later on today? >> reporter: well, good morning to you, christina. we've been out here a few hours, we are

hampton pearson is live in washington. >> reporter: that hearing wrapped up a short while ago and nearly one month after the massive chemical leak was discovered in charleston, west virginia lawmakers convened a hearing in the heart of the spill area looking into the cause and possible solutions. but a panel of state environmental officials and even the head of the leading water company all hedged when asked is the water safe. >> as a water company, we don't set the safe standards, but we are in compliance with all the standards set by the health-based agencies. >> i believe the water, based on the standards we have, is usable for every purpose and that includes drinking, bathing and cooking. >>. >> reporter: so one month after a chemical spill that left at least a quarter million people without drinking water, there is still a lingering smell that even led to school closing last week. that odor comes from one of the chemicals used to clean coal that leaked into the elk river and into charleston's water supply. officials at today's hearing say the water is usable despite the smell. so wh

. >> so post janet yellen, hampton pearson has the wrap for us in d.c. hi, hampton. >> hi, ross. wrapping up her first report to congress on the monetary policy before the central bank committee yesterday telling investors they might explain what looks like a patch in recent economic data. she said she's not sure. unless, of course, that weak data persists for several months. >> if the economy moves forward as we anticipate, we expect reducing the push chass in steps, which would mean ending completely the purchases winding down and ending sometime next fall. >> and, of course, janet yellen's first federal meeting happening in two weeks. most folks looking for a downward revision in gdp. julia, back to you. scott, the gdp number has to be really low to move the dial as far as markets are concerned right now? >> yeah, and i guess maybe the surprise could come to the upside. but i agree with you, it has to come weaker than these weak expectations. i think we've hit a soft patch. right after we announce we're going to continue to taper. janet yellen is between a rock and a hard plac

hampton pearson is in washington, d.c. with more. the weather here, but what can we expect from janet yellen today? >> weather is going to be a big theme in her second appearance on capitol hill as fed chair. this time before the senate banking committee in about four hours. and i say that because weather is an overriding theme in what everybody believes is going to skew the data that the fed will be looking at between now and its next meeting. weather was a factor in what she was asked repeatedly about ten days or so ago when she testified before the house. specifically as regards to the unemployment numbers, which have been weak over the past couple months and when we get the jobless figures next week, there's likelihood we'll see more weather impacts than we have seen in previous jobs reports because the survey week that the labor department was in the feel have been top one of the times we had some of the worst weather of an outrageous winter here especially on the east coast any way. but remember the fed chairman told the house