use the word lynching but you said they were shot and often we think of lynching as a hanging. what exactly is lynching? >> is a complicated word but it include shootings, hangings. it is a vigilante justice outside of the legal system but also just is that is accepted by the legal system which is to say it is not prosecuted. the first lynchings to a place during the american revolution when the legal system was falling apart and used to discipline people who did not support the patriotic cause and also lynching was common and frontier areas where there were not a lot of cords then post reconstructions south they began to be used by whites to discipline african-americans sometimes it involved hanging that was the most ritual form but also could involve shooting or other forms of a murdered. >> host: when she writes about this lynching from the three men from the people's grocery store, what is that she is writing about? wetter her ideas? what does she think can be done at that time? >> guest: she is writing about it and partly in answer to the white papers that are just a fine

you seemed to lay out a defense for john fein, merrill lynch. >> i didn't own merrill lynch stock but if i had, i think anybody would be defending john fein. there was a man who come in to run merrill lynch for 10 or 11 months. he was completely unemotional. he saw within 24 hours, 48 hours in the famous speech in the middle of september when lehman brothers fell, he saw what was likely to happen unless he took very quick action. and he did the deal bank of ame. >> but you think he saved merrill lynch? >> he did a fantastic job for share holders. he said merrill lynch, unless we do something, the bank will go. >> and paulson actually did everything he could do to save lehman brothers. >> yes, i think when history is

keep in mind, bank of america acquiring merrill lynch last december. although the sec says bank of america said merrill had agreed not to pay year-end performance bonuses before the closing of the merger but no such agreement had been reached, there's been a lot of controversies over the $3.6 billion in bonuses paid out by merrill lynch even as the company lost $15 billion, and all of this happening before the deal was finalized between merrill lynch and bank of america. lastly the sec saying that bank of america said merrill had quote agreed not to pay year-end performance bonuses -- that's the wrong one. this is the last one. sec said bank of america had agreed to pay up to $5.8 billion in merrill bonuses contrary to statements in the merger

lynching doesn't stop, but lynchings go down. is redefined. she is defended blacks pretty successfully. and yet, i remora coming across in her daybook which she wrote some notes in the 1930s. this was a year before dedrick at this point she was running for a state senate seat in illinois. a year before her death she writes about going to a negro history meeting with her daughter. and she says, and they are discussing the book by carter woodson, who is known as the father of negro history. . . was she who -- was it significant this campaign as i fought but of course it is. all the evidence is. and what i came to the conclusion this was -- she does have -- excuse me, i have allergies killing me. she does have -- she is so transcripts if even along reformers and so i had of her time largely because i think also of her class ideas because the progressive reformers were going on many levels but they were mosul agreed on class and they believed the elite should get together and solve the nation's problems. and wells believed in this insurgency of th

charges it misled investors about bonuses for merrill lynch execs. and b-o-a hires one of the best- known women on wall street shaking up its top management. we get insight on both moves from veteran banking analyst dick bove. >> susie: cash for clunkers drives a rebound in auto sales giving ford its first positive sales growth in over a year. but the program's future and funding are still up in the air. >> paul: then the markets start the month on a tear with the s&p 500 pushing above one-thousand for the first time since last fall. how long will the rally last? some answers, coming up. >> susie: then, a problem at apple's core. google c.e.o. eric schmidt is stepping down from apple's board of directors. we'll tell you why. >> paul: i'm paul kangas. >> susie: and i'm susie gharib. this is "nightly business report" for monday, august 3. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> susie: good evening, everyone. a management shake-up and a $33- m

that is what merrill lynch came, ultimately to the shame of the ceo.only done in an understood that when it was too late. tavis: davod fid faber, "an then the roof comes in." thank you. coming up, davis guggenheim. stay with us. davis guggenheim produced the al gore film "an inconvenient truth." he has a new music filling out called -- music film coming out called "it might get loud." >> we are all attempting to share something with another human being. >> it was living, totally living. >> total commitment. getting across what you wanted to say. >> just coming from a creative spot, really. >> that a family of storytellers. you're supposed to join the family, become part of it. >> it is where i am. >> right. tavis: these guys are all pretty good byd is 3, davis -- these three guys are all pretty good, davis. why them? >> the edge from dublin. jimmy page. these different guitarists. the wanted to say something very different korea what did they do with this piece of wood, and how did they express themselves -- they wanted to say something very different.

then it bought merrill lynch, which got 10 billion. then b of a spent nearly 6 billion on bonuses to merrill execs without telling shareholders, mostly the taxpayer, and then agreed to settle the charge by paying 33 million to the s.e.c., which is also the taxpayer. all four of those items are filled with taxpayer cash. you also have the s.e.c. suing regents bank, another bank bailed out by taxpayers. so once again we are suing ourselves. then there is the 70 billion spent in the auto bailout by taxpayers followed by a taxpayer subsidized incentive to get taxpayers to buy cars from taxpayer owned banks -- excuse me, taxpayer owned automakers. except congressman brad sherman says all the money here is not going in a circle.e. >> half the money is going to cars engineered, designed, mostly made abroad. >> all right. finally, take aig. please. it got 170 billion in taxpayers' money but ate lot of that money went straight out the door to creditors like goldman sachs, who now along with taxpayer bailed out banks may charge us a billion doll

and i used merrill lynch as an example. i might've used bear stearns, lehman brothers or citigroup, merrill lynch means a great firm that it was of course being on its knees as well last september 14, openly sold to bank of america i felt would be a good example. so that's what i tried to do in the book. there are any number of different things i think that our significant in terms of the focus, but other things that i was trying to do more to combat some of the i think myths that are out there that have been promulgated. for example, that fannie mae and freddie mac caused the economic crisis or caused the credit crisis. visited something that is been bandied about certainly in political circles. and it is really not a big fannie mae and freddie mac at many wrong things but ultimately, if you read the book, i think i try and explain that it was in fact their absence from the market for mortgages that allow wall street to move in and overlake ao many of the problems that we currently are still suffering from. rather than the

. >> reference the merrill lynch acquisition? >> i'm going to assume so, but i don't know officially but mary thompson is working on that and more details any moment now. the stock is up 4%, but it is coming off the highs where it had been enjoying for the last hour or so here. i'm sorry, go ahead. >> that'd be huge news if that were true. >> i was wondering if the obama administration might be charged that way eventually because if you look back and they said we will not raise taxes on anyone who makes less than $250,000, not their payroll tax, not their income tax, if you look at these things they're talking about from cigarette tax, to soda tax, to value tax, that's breaking the promise. >> when larry summers is asked directly, no increases on the middle class? and he can't give a definitive answer. what are we supposed to take away from that? >> i disagree, he says we have not raised taxes on the middle class. >> hold on, wait a minute. replay that, can we replay this sound bite. that is not what he said. replay this sound bi

have a lot and ordered him to bail out merrill lynch. you put people in headlocks you could put the seal of u.s. bancorp and said phe reason that is important you can have 700 billion worth of commercial residential real-estate oil, ld, stocks andonds they had a lot of assets when you have a company that goes into bankruptcy come you have a reorganize the -- a reorganize there come in and they are just interted in selling assets and unwinding their risk and this was the most horrifying of unwind in theistory of all bankruptcy is. no preparation. of the documents, the initial document was only5ages long this is almost a 700 billion-dollar bankruptcy and the initial document that they've presented to the judge's only 15 pages long. this document should ha been pre-hundred pages to articulate how they would unwind theirisk per after it failed to have this and why did that was so nasty that is where when you're sittingt home and you remember how the stock marketent down every day that is because lehman was then there unwind a it was bringing

lynched in effigy, because of health care reform. meanwhile, the rhetoric behind the anti-health care reform movement is also taking a radical turn. here's a protest outside democrat congresswoman betsy marky's democratic office, a protest including the sign with the president's name underneath a swastika. a protest outside a town hall meeting by a democrat of texas this past weekend. look closely at that sign there, notice the nazi "sf" lettering. another congressman that day brought along a doing duggett tombstone. and talk show host rush limbaugh is pushing the nazi theme, comparing on his website the obama health care logo with the nazi swastika and devoting plenty of air time comparing the president's the united states and house speaker nancy pelosi to adolf hitler. >> the obama health care logo is damn close to a nazi swastika. there are far more similarities between nancy pelosi and adolf hitter than between these people showing up at town halls to protest a hitler-like policy. that's being heralded by hitler-like logo. oh, an

at the heart of the matter, billions of dollars in bonuses paid to merrill lynch employees. will this latest debacle seal ken lewis's fate? joining me now to discuss, robert hime, senior partner at meyers & hime.. also a former s.e.c. enforcement official. let me get right to the deal with the s.e.c. what do you read into that?? $30 million on 5.8 billion in bonuses doesn't seem like a lot to us. how severe does it seem to you? >> well, it's not when you compare it to the amount of bonuses, but certainly a $33 million fine by the s.e.c. on any company is really meant to send a message to that company that the s.e.c. won't tolerate investors being misled. and i think here you had a pretty egregious example based on the s.e.c.'s complaint of investors being misled to approve this merger. >> i mean, what does it really mean from there, though? because they didn't have to admit wrongdoing, which i understand is standard. but it just -- it seems like kind of a rounding error on their balance sheet. should it have been more? >> well, i think you can always make arguments for havin

. [ applause ] you're not approving lynchings, because you don't -- but people are really upset at some of this -- and for very good reason they're upset. >> mr. aiken, never assume. largely upset because of 9 misinformation by the republican spin and astroturf groups formed by the health care industry. unlike democrat colleague, congressman aiken did not take questions from his audience. an unruly crowd, the leader of the blue dogs when those congressmen took questions at arkansas children's hospital in little rock, one woman nearly reduced to tears. not because she fears health care will be taken away but she fears her america has been taken away. >> i cannot believe america has turned into what it has turned into, and -- i don't think they're going to be able to do it. i'm scared. >> we all are. >> much to talk about with our own john nin alter, senior editor of "newsweek" magazine. thanks for coming in. >> thank you have that scare, that evidence at that town hall meeting and others about the health care plan negotiated by congress or fear and anger about the man who won the preside

this does not mean i'm approving lynchings. the point is people are really upset at some of his legislation and for very good reason they were upset. >> mr. aiken, never assume. largely upset because of the misinformation they had been fed by the republican spin and astroturf groups born by the health care industry. congressman aiken did not take any questions from his audience. an unruly crowd, ross the leader of the blue dogs when those congressmen took question at, a's children hospital in little rock. one woman nearly reduced to tears because she fears her america has been taken away. >> i am an american citizen. i hate what my america has turned into. i want it back. i don't think representatives and senators are going to be able to do it. i'm scared. >> we talk tonight with our own jonathan alters. is the fear, is that scare that is in evidence at that meeting and other town hall meetings, is it about the health care plan or fear and anger about the man who won the presidential election november last? and is there an odd

bill: hanging somebody in effigy is not a lynching.at goes back hundreds and hundreds of years, so there is no lynchings in play here right now, nothing, and the other thing is, courtney, you have a real tenuous relationship between health care and racism. i am not getting this. >> watching this video, i immediately as a reporter wanted to contact them. bottom-line, like to put on his blog, he was just offering this up. -- like he put on his blog. bill: i do not know if national television is the place to do that. ok. miley cyrus. big star. disney manufactures her. she goes to the teen choice awards and does a rather risque performance. am i correct? let's go to this. she has a little pole here. i do not know what that means. she has got the short pants on. it is summertime. >> she is 16 years old, and she has got some short shorts on. per brought initially, and is definitely questionable scenery -- her bra was showing, it is definitely questionable scenery. she is only 16 years old. bill: if you were her mother, which you have approve

over allegations about how they reported the bank of america merrill lynch bonuses deal. that stock is trading up. a brilliant series of commentaries in the middle of the day from bank of america on the cyclicals. the weak dollar you see here. breakout. these are essentially new highs going back to september or october for most of the major cyclical names here. on the autos, ford's at a new high, toyota motors also at the highest since september. and even the car dealers are doing better today. look at sonic automotive. all the car dealers are up. you know what's not doing well in the auto group? anything that's like those replacement parts like auto zone. they were doing better when the sales were terrible. now sales are doing a little bit better they're a little weaker here today. take a look at the defensive names.s. the only groups holding back here is your classic pepsis and colgates, your heinzes as well. we had comments from clorox this morning that were a little disappointing. finally, here's the big story about being over 1,000 on the s&p. it's usually just a ro

bank of america bought merrill lynch in this winter.hen it was bought with its executives were awarded big time. they got $3.60 billion in bonuses. now, here is the shady part. the shareholders were not told of the $3.60 billion paid to executives at merrill lynch. bank of america and got expos. the sec jumped into it, hit bank of america with a civil suit, and now, that suit may be settled with millions of dollars, but a federal judge may say not so fast. he wants to know whose idea it was to hide the bonuses. it was yours during a caught my attention, louise. attention, louisour story that t my attention. >> it was somebody looking for some answers. greta: what ij the excuse the bank is giving? the judge wants to know, a ok, who sort of hid this from the shareholders and thought it would be ok to do it -- the judge wants to know, ok, who's sort of hit this from the shareholders and thought it would be a gate -- this sort of hid this from the shp)eholders and thought it would be ok? >> there is a turney-client privilege, so right now,

t.a.r.p. 2, $15 million to merrill lynch. then the alleged bonus fiasco. then the stress test where they came out to be very under capitalized. but then things started to turn. they were able to raise $13.5 billion of equity. they then did a convert to $14.8 billion. then they sold assets for another $7 billion. 30-some-odd billion dollars -- ish. it is an extraordinary amount of money. if you think about this franchise, they're in 1 of every 2 homes in america. you got countrywide cranking it. that refinancing business is huge. they've got the thundering herd. good or bad depending on how you look at it but the potential profitability here is enormous. they have survived the onslouth of all of this crap from 2008. here they are. i like bank of america. we are early -- common shares, i am long. preferred shares, i think the preferred that have less risk, less return. the common, it is nice to have a guy like john paulson, yes winl's the fourth largest shareholder now. he it buy these as of uni30. the stock wasn't priced that different from here. it is a bi

the family of lynching victim emmitt till is donating his casket. 54 years ago that till was lynched reportedly for whistling at a white woman. officials say it will go to national museum of african- american history and culture expected to open in 2015. >>> tonight a registered sex offender says he have him all wrong on the other hand, now authorities say they found evidence in the murder of several prostitutes in the home. he and his wife are held on kidnapping charges in the disappearance of jaycee lee dugard 18 years ago. it is believed he and his wife kept jaycee lee dugard confined to an encampment in the backyard and officials say she gave birth ilch o en bliedilrrphgap ilwho chtwdren feared by phillip garrido who claims he iso >> reporter: as for the evid ce linking him to the murders of the prostitutes police are not saying what they found but they will say that several of the murdered women's bodies were dumped near the suspect's home. >>> coming up, you are going to have to buy your kids books for college any ev why why spend top dollar? >>> plus, topper is back with the f

it wasn't to make merrill lynch a profit.art of their bonuses was part of their compensation package they should be entitled to if they have done what they need to do. >> do you think they need to be punished. everyone keeps saying they did a bad job and don't deserve bonuses and want all the employees punished even the ones who didn't do the particular bad job, debra. >> i don't think those employees did a particular bad job. they're throwing the baby with the bath water. those employees, if they met their obligation and did what they were to dine their job, unless their job was specifically making merrill lynch a profit, they did their job and should be paid their compensation. >> traders, that is their job to make a profit. al, do you think this kind of bonus backlash can hurt the recovery. i keep thinking we can make a recovery if this doesn't get in the way. >> absolutely. 63% of americans are shareholders and watching this go back and forth. shareholders be wear, caveat emptor, this will turn into a very serious problem

cheering at the idea that somebody might actually get lynched. well, one group of -- conservative group, americans for prosperity says this anger is not being manufactured here in washington by conservative groups. instead, they say this anger is real and widespread. joan walsh is the editor in chief for salon.com. what do you make of that claim that this is not manufactured, this is all just grassroots just springing up on its own. >> right. it's bogus. it's a completely bogus claim. we know. we have grover norquist and dick army's freedom works. we have the largest trade association of health insurance companies, sorry, who are produced -- and this isn't bad, but they're producing talking points and they're deliberately organizing to send people out into these town halls to -- they would say not to disrupt them but to ask questions. they are being disrupted. the other thing i think is not kosher, as you heard in that one confrontation, well, obama supports single payer. he does not. the campaign combines both frenzy and lying so that you're get

the whole negative pan plea, overreaching for merrill lynch after overpaying for countrywide, gettingined for statements related to that merrill lynch buy, getting pushed around by the feds when he tried to back out from his ridiculously high bid for merrill. heck, it's true, ken lewis waited a few weeks in both cases, he might have been able to buy countrywide and merrill for nothing. and you know what? we don't care. we don't care, because we've got one of those opportunities that i live for when i ran money at my hedge fund. the moment when both charts and the fundamentals -- both charts and fundamentals are screaming -- ♪ hallelujah >> buy, buy, buy. >> and the spread quadrupling this year, i think bank of america could rally another 50%. >> all aboard! >> and maybe even double, thanks to a coalition of the ruling buyers who can't stay away from the stock. that's why i've made bank of america one of my largest positions in my charitable trust portfolio. so, first, what are the charts saying about the future? what are the technicians who interpret these pick toe -- picketo graphs s

the family of lynching victim emmett till is donating his casket.it was 54 years ago that till was lynched for reportedly whistling at a white woman down south. officials say the casket will eventually go to the national e ltlticich h whfafaand culture in the year 2015. ur >>> welcome back. teens abusing prescription drugs, not a new problem, but a new study this week in the syurnlt of -- journal of pediatrics show teens using attention deficit hyperactivity medications incorrectly increased by 98% between 1998 and 2005. >> i can tune it out, all the distractions. >> you don't really think about anything else. you don't look at the clock, you don't think about wanting to go to bed. you just keep reading and reading. >> reporter: on school campuses across the nation, young people are using rit lan to -- ritalin to study longer. getting ritalin illegally is a cinch. >> when abused or used more than properly, then it can do serious damage to the human body. >> reporter: when abused, ritalin is in the same class of drugs as amfet means and -- methamphet

ed maxwell is lynched, one of the brothers, and one gets away and he is lynched, touching off a nationwideiscussion of lynching in 1881 but he did not create or want the psychological problems, social conditions, and public attitudes that produced him. and the same was true of -- they were fated to be themlves. impoverished, shamed ienated, insecure and frustrated, self-absorbed young men who resented authority an yearned forespect and loved guns. those factors and penitentiary dehumanization which ty also didn't choose, shaped their experience including their sudden response to armed strangers in the street who pulled guns on them, and could have shot them down, and if the causal history o a violent @ct extends back well past the mediate provocation, to powerful unchosen forces in the perpetrator's life, what response by society is appropriate? and what must we also think aboutur own lives? as far as that is concerd? and believe me, the weight f scholarship in those fields is now coming down hugely and introduction to the oxford book ofree will will tell you coming down hugely to the fact we don't

and so -- >> you hear him there talking about lynching. there seems to be applause.ight now? >> carlos, i think people are just a little bit nervous about too much government. if you remember, we had fannie and freddie may in their bailouts and the bank bailouts in the fall and then aig and then the car companies and the stimulus and i think people are just a little bit nervous. i think claire spoke to it directly. you got both sides but people are nervous. the government has just taken over too much of their lives and so they're expressing their outrage and i think they are nervous about their jobs. if they don't have a job, obviously, they probably don't have health care unless they're on medicare. but people are just nervous. >> congresswoman, it's always hard to be the party out of power, particularly a power in power so long. how do you assess how the republican party is doing at handling that role and what more would you like to see the republican party do this fall in terms of presenting ideas or however they ultimately want to engage in the larger public deba

. >> no question about that if we take the situation at bank of america versus merrill lynch, if anybodyook the time to actually look at the income statement and balance sheet at bank of america, they would see, number one, merrill lynch has aed to the earnings of bank of america, the acquisition has been good for bank of america and therefore bank of america's shareholders benefitted by it. amazingly from september 29th, when i guess people thought the deal should have been called off to the present time, bank of america's stock has gone up. what is this guy being criticized for? because he strengthened the company, increased the earnings and at least december 29th to the present, he increased the price of the stock. what did he do wrong. >> yet congress continues this big investigation whether bernanke and paulson pressured ken lewis going forward with the acquisition. maybe at this point they should be thanking him for pressuring merrill to go with the acquisition. maybe they need a scalp here to show middle america, look how we punished the ceo of this big bank who got a bailout? >>

lynch you. might recall ta both sides along with the sec i should say, the sides being bank of america and the sec providing submissions to judge overseeing this case yesterday. the judge overseeing this says that monday's submissions raised a few additional issues about the case. essentially the judge has a couple of questions specifically for bank of america and wants to know more specifics why the bank will spend $33 million to settle with the sec without admitting or denying wrongdoing if the proxy statement was not false or misleading, including whether it settled to curry favor with the sec. essentially when both sides, the sec and b of a submitted filings, they say that they relied on outside counsel to create the proxy statement. and rakeoff essentially says it is at war with common sense for a corporate officer who produced a proxy statement to say he relied on counsel and if the company does not waive privilege, meaning attorney/client, then the officer and council's culpability are be

. >> lynch, the team's work horse for the last two seasons. find out why his pre-season game will be his biggest highlight for a while. we'll tell you why miles is a huge fan of his gator huge fan of his gator counterpart's announcer: welcome to the now network. currently, thousands of people are enjoying the new palm pre from sprint. its revolutionary web os allows multiple applications to run at the same time. - ( thunder and rain ) - millions are using the simply everything plan. - each is saving $1200 over an at&t iphone plan. - ( cash register dings ) together that's billions of dollars. enough to open a dunkin' donuts in space. from america's most dependable 3g network. bringing you the first and only wireless 4g network. get the palm pre. only from sprint. only on the now network. deaf, hard of hearing and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com. >> florida's football team, they have won two national championships in the last three years, much of the credit goes to urban meyer and the school awarded him with a six-yea

the people who were running merrl lynch, goldman sachs, jpmorgan chase, se of them saw it coming and some of them didn't but what were they thinking and how did the account for the fact that they have such big enterprises with so many people and so much skill and so many computers and so much talk about how they were managing risk that they got it so wrong? i would like to hear them explaid, so in your mind what did you get wrong so i guess those are the ones, but i can't it to see this commission go to work and i hope it is a success. there are a lot of important questis that have to be answered if we a going to learn how to avoid this. >> i listened t1 diane remold the time and really enjoy it. my question is, the point of capital markets is to allocate monay to their highest and most valuable use. powis said that such a huge amount of money went into housg, which is really consumption, our people borrowed moneynour house for consumption, instead of investment in productive activities that would allow people to get jobs, to produce wages that th could use to consume? the u.s. gover

accusations over merrill lynch bonus payouts. cisco, scheduled to report this week, up 2.6% by the end of the day. helping the nasdaq to its first close over 2,000 since last october. >>> asian markets hit 11-month highs tuesday before profittakers moved in. and the japanese automaker toyota posted its third straight quarterly loss. on the bright side, the company said it expects less red ink for the full year. >>> wall street will be watching this morning when new reports are released on personal income and spending, followed by pending home sales data. >>> keep an eye on whole foods, the upscale grocery chain is due to release its earnings after the market closed today. finally, there may be a few more college students on the beach in south florida this semester. that's because the university of miami law school accepted too many students and they're now offering $5,000 to any admitted grads who will postpone their enrollment until next semester. how's that for a deal? >>> more nfl. news from the docket. last night's baseball h

there is a lynch mob out there. don't get hung while you are doing work.an sachs is the greatest company in the capital market. if you wanted to share in their success, buy the stock. >> the stock has been on a tear recently but quentin, right or wrong message? >> look, goldman sachs was owed $6.35 billion by aig and they got it because gostz rescued aig. then they did an accounting move and hide all their losses in a previous year. now, they can't even say thank you by giving a little more money to americans hard working ferari dealers, you call that gratitude? >> at least they can do if they are making all this money, they could spend a little and share it with us. the bottom line, this is pr? they are afraid of the taxman. >> unfortunately in a heavily regulated society wall street servicing pr. >> one thing we should mention they do gifz away a lot of the money they receive. i know we would like to think of them as robber barons but there a lot of charity they use with the bonuses. >> of course. and they are concerned about the goldman sachs banks. we

of making false and misleading statements regarding the payment of bonuses related to its merrill lynch acquisition. the journal reports that president obama's acting cyber czar, melissa hathaway, has quit to return to the private sector. >>> and ford's july u.s. sales rose 2.3%. chrysler posted a 9% drop. while gm salesell more than 19%. all say the cash for clunkers program provided a significant boost. that's cnbc.com "news now." i'm julia boorstin. >>> stocks kick off the week with a nice rally. the s&p 500 passing the 1,000 mark. nasdaq crossing 2,000 as we enter the final and most important hour of the trading day right now. welcome to "the closing bell," everybody. i'm bob pisani at the new york stock exchange. hi, melissa. >> hey, bob. i'm melissa francis in for maria bartiromo at cnbc global headquarters. in the markets right now we are seeing strength here in the final hour. the s&p 500 crossing over the 1,000 mark for the first time since november. oil and metal stocks amog mong the movers today. take a look at the major indices today, really having a bullish day out there. 9

there was a man who come in to run merrill lynch for 10 or 11 months.ous speech in the middle of september when lehman brothers fell, he saw what was likely to happen unless he took very quick action. and he did the deal bank of ame. >> but you think he saved merrill lynch? >> he did a fantastic job for share holders. he said merrill lynch, unless we do something, the bank will go. >> and paulson actually did everything he could do to save lehman brothers. >> yes, i think when history is re-written, you know, and they had to admit the economy looks like it's better than it was. and we forget that it was henry paulson who actually was responsible for the very dramatic legislation that changed -- well, it actually saved all of wall street and the economy. wall street affects main street. hank paulson, with the fed went through a lot of legislation. and i hope his memoirs get painted differently. >> yeah, he really has. he is a guy that came out of retirement. i am sure he wishes he just would have gone to aspen. >> i think he is a better guy than that. ac

tim lynch, jay andrew: 7 months into his term in office, the obama administration and just like the bush administration before it, is acting like it never heard of the constitution. just as president bush allowed spying without warrants an incarceration without trial, president obama wants to control the salaries of private businesses, change the provisions of private contracts, nationalize insurers an auto manufacturers an dictate to every person in the land what his or her medical choices shall be. this is theft of liberty, and theft of property. is freedom a reality or a myth? are the rights guaranteed in the constitution real or just a pretense? wasn't the constitution written to define and to restrain the government? that's what supreme court justices once said, to keep the government off our back, and if the questions are no longer obvious, it's because we now have a federal government whose only self-acknowledged limitation is whatever it can get away with. there you have it. from new york, defending freedom, and your constitutional rights guaranteed. good night, america.

they are rewarding citigroup and merrill lynch who caused this thing. >> i would love it if the banks would get punched including people... but i can't think of a scenario where they would fall another 50%. >> people that make their mortgage payments. >> and ultimately the government look at all the banks have had to pay out of the fdic. they are almost out of money. if homes fell 50% more because we all stood back and watched. >> fdic is bailing out those member banks who are members of fdic. one big bank, citigroup, aig cost more than all the banks in the united states. >> between the two of them. >> i think my concern with all of those.... >> it's not, but the tip of the bubble went away. we coughed up, elevated level. they could fall another 40-50%. >> that is what needs to happen. no one likes to see people thrown out of their homes but that foreclosure profit, mortgage is between a borrower and a lender. >> it will be quicker. >> if you want to drag it out five to ten years. >> it hasn't hit the commercial real estate market. what is it going to happen next. we keep pouring mone

increasing frequency at town hall meetings all across the country with reports of death threats and lynchings against several members of congress supporting this health care reform. the white house blames conservative interest groups who it says organizes and buses in people the drown out the debate. protesters, though, they reject those claims. >>> now here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. >>> at a concert wednesday night in south dakota, aerosmith singer steven tyler was injured when he fell backward off the stage. when a sound system broke in one of the songs, they entertained the crowd while dancing. he misstepped, fell into the crowd, breaking his shoulder. he also needed stitches for cuts on his head and neck. >>> a house exploded in texas as an elderly couple was sleeping inside. this 83-year-old woman said she woke up to the ceiling collapsing on her. firefighters did manage to pull both the woman and her husband from the rubble with only minor injuries. a natural gas leak may have caused that explosion. >>> a minnesota town is improving race relati

the case stems from charges that boa misled investors about plans to pay merrill lynch bonuses. the court is requesting additional details. >>> if you are tired of plain old vanilla, head to london for an ice cream cocktail that will cool you off. amen amenno acids make up this drink. >>> the rockies roll over the cubs. and a terrifying wreck from nascar as one car goes spinning in circles and then gets slammed by another. your early morning sports headlines straight ahead. >>> that accident was a lot worse than any weather we'll see today. actually, very typical summer. your regional forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." >>> good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, the colorado rockies are in celebration mode after their shortstop achieved one of the rarest feats in baseball. here's bill suard. >> a very good morning to you. last season the rockies were nowhere near the playoffs. in denver, big day for troy tulle wits see. opens with a two-run homer. in the seventh, needs a triple for the cycle. chugging for third the whole way.

bank of america and merrill lynch upgraded them from underperforming to neutral. that stock is rallying 7.2%. as far as my index is concerned. over to paris. >> we've got also some action in the french markets. after the strong set of results we have from french companies over the last few weeks, this new major publication expected this weekend. the cac is down 0.7%. the publication industry up 3.5% after the acquisition of razor fish from microsoft. a very achieve price tag. microsoft paid almost $2 billion for the same company two years ago. with this acquisition, they are going to reach its target in digital media one year of schedule, doing 25% of its business on the internet. they say that the company has created a huge gap between the because of the communication industry is is clearly on the internet. microsoft will be one of the main holders with a 3% stake in the economy. over to singapore with a view on the asian markets. >> the rally here owed to the better than expected u.s. jobs data out on friday. the nikkei hitting a ten-month high. that market clos

citigroup, merrill lynch, you name it. lehman brothers, bear stearns. why are they telling me this? why does anybody tell me anything? i mean -- >> they can't help themselves. they hang out with you and people can't help themselves. they come over and talk to you. i've seen it myself. it happens all the time. >> obviously, goldman sachs wants to spread around the nasty stuff. >> i think so. >> but that's how i get all my stories anyway. let them have their chance once in a while. >> this is why we love youish charlie gasparino, thanks very much. >> equal opportunity abuser. >> there you go. 20 minutes to go before the closing bell. the dow and nasdaq both in the red. the dow down about 40 points. bob. >> we'll discuss which retailers will make the grade this school shopping season. retail sales tomorrow, folks. and which you should expel from your portfolio. >> and then coming up after the bell a "first on cnbc" interview with the ceo of utility giant pg&e. hear where he thinks energy prices are headed and whether he thinks president obama's cap and trade proposal could have on his

you probably read this former mit professor, michael lynch, op-ed piece the day before yesterday, he said peak oil, we're running out of oil, said this for 150 years, seems to never changed. >> he said peak oil is utter nonsense and poppycock. this is a big story with oil prices rallying through $70, what's your thoughts about peak oil. >> i think it's this same. turns out this is the fifth time the world has run out of oil. markets do work, new resources get discovered. i thought that article was pretty much on target. >> he's talking about -- i was just going to say, he names a number of reserves out there that can be mined and brought up above the ground, something like 2.5 trillion barrels equivalent. that's a phenomenal number. thomas ma thomas malphus rest in peace and limit the growth, rest in peace, i'm all for renewable sources, drill drill drill, shale, gas, especially nuclear, do you agree lynch is right, we have oil to last us i don't know how long, hundreds of years? >> yeah. we have a very large resource actually probably much larger than 2.5 trillion barrels there. are

tom montag, a guy that ran merrill lynch's trading desk when they lost the $15 billion.ra desoer, i don't know much about her. >> she's probably thrilled about that. >> right. but what people are telling me, these are all very smart people, not necessarily someone you think is going to run something as big as b of a. they're telling me lewis doesn't want to leave immediately, year, year and a half. that does give him the time and within that period of time, they may opt for an outside candidate. here's the fly in the ointment on the outside candidates, the need to pick someone quick which would come from those five people. it's the andrew cuomo investigation. yesterday the sec ended its investigation or at least concluded a major part of it on whether bank of america disclosed the right stuff about its merrill lynch merger. they pointed to specifically the bonus information. the sec said they did not adequately disclose that investors before they voted to approve the deal in december 2008. they fined bank of america a paltory $33 million. i can tell you this. sources are