. >> the eu has never really forgiven the three big agencies, moody's, s&p, and fitch for not giving enough warning about the credit crisis in 2008. they are a bit angry they have not given the uncomfortable truth about the exact amount of that we're sitting on these european books. they're angry that these agencies have not given europe the credit for all the work they've done post crisis. some even think that these agencies are a bit u.s.-centric, despite the fact that fitch is based in france. we are expecting this. they're expecting possible regulation on the agencies. a new eu regulator. we are expecting to limit or reduce the reliance on these agencies, especially in europe. more transparency. perhaps more important some would say, a penalty for misconduct by these agencies. this could all open the dialogue for an alternative. listen to this one. >> [speaking foreign language] >> i believe this will start the discussion again that an independent european ratings should be founded, which would give an alternative to the american ratings agencies, which are dependent on private e

super committee to strike a deal to cut the deficit and there is concern that the s&p, moody's and fitchould cut the u.s.'s credit rating but the agency says this news doesn't affect their current outlook. keep that in mind. in terms of data a revised look at gdp or how much the economy grew this summer and minutes in this month's fed meelgts. the dow dropped monday closing at 11,547, back in negative territory for the year. the nasdaq losing 49 to 2523. if doorbusters aren't enough to get you in the door on friday retailers are ready to do what seems to work every time, give out free stuff. old navy is giving away kodak digital cameras to a limited number of customers. jc penney handing out disney snow globes and sears offering free collectible christmas ornaments to the first 200 shoppers who buy clothes and accessories. if you don't sit in the parking at best buy and bored while waiting for it to open the chain will be screening the final harry potter movie in the parking lot of many of their stores. they're trying to keep their customers busy aswell. back to you. >> they are thinking

in the s&p 500 which is the broader market if this supercommittee does not reach a deal which is looking very likely. and it also puts the nation's credit rating at further risk because moody'ss&p, they said if you don't get your cede rating in line, we might downgrade your credit rating as well. this is a terrible story for the united states of america. >> one way to put it. coming off a pretty bad week last week. is there anything else we are watch something. >> we continue to watch europe. spain has a new leader, a new government at this point. that is the third nation in three week in europe to have a toppled government because of their debt crisis. if you look over in asia, the nikkei, japan stock market closed at its lowest level since march of 2009. so, with my hoarse voice, steve, i can tell you that markets around world are sick this morning. it is not looking good. >> all right. well, we hope you certainly feel better, lauren and we'll see you again tomorrow. >> thursday, the markets are closed for thanksgiving and friday, the half day. there is your good news. >> we won't have any losses on thursday. at least we know that much. thank you. feel better. >> there you

stocks sank on that news, but at the same time, investors breathed a big sigh of relief after moody's and sit could knock down the outlook for the u.s. rating, but it won't have a decision until the end of the month. >>> more than $1.2 billion in customer funds may be missing from the bankrupt brokerage firm mf global. that's nearly double the original estimate. now the federal prosecutors and fbi are investigating the firm once headed up by former new jersey governor jon corzine. >>> delta is cutting back on international travel. most of the cuts come from transatlantic flights. high fuel costs and economic uncertainty. delta plans to trim its flight capacity by 2% next year. >>> consumer reports is putting out its annual holiday list of naughty and nice companies. take a look, the naughty ones include airtran for tacking on fees. if you want to choose advertised vacation prices and siriusxm radio. what about the nice list? free movie tickets. american express for providing providing refund of $300 if a retailer won't accept returns within 90 days of purchase and costco for automatically e

debt and moody's who do what s&p did and downgrade our aaa rating. would you back that move? would you say it would be warranted? >>guest: well, at the level the committee is talking about we are under threat of another downgrade of our credit rating so we still have that threat. we have not fixed anything long term. i came here to offer solutions and a last the new freshman claim came to fix problems and we have tough votes and we need the fortitude to do it. >>neil: as a tea party favorite i want your thought on the occupy wall street movement. we are waiting to hear what a judge will allow them to reoccupy lower manhattan. compare their grievance with family grievance. >>guest: they are very different. i don't know what is motivating occupy wall street. i don't their point, or purpose. what they hope to accomplish. and we have seen incidents of violence which i don't remember that happening with the tea party movement. so, they are two different groups and at the end of the day protesting what this government does or does not do is our right and our freedom but to be hones

defense over that period, something i know is anathema to you, but if it comes to that moody's hinted it could follow s&p and downgrade u.s. debt from aaa to not triple a. would that be warranted? >>guest: probably is. in fact, even if we meet our $1.2 trillion dole, that is not cutting spending. that is just instead of borrowing $10 trillion over 10 years we might just borrow $8 trillion or $9 trillion. we are not talking serious cuts or reduction in debt and we are still planning on deficits so we are not close to where we need to be and the democrats are not going do cut spending as we saw in what happens in ohio year where you have government workers controlling the political agenda, we have that same problem here with the democrats in control of the white house and the senate. they are not going to cut anything because government employees are their constituency. unions are their constituency and republicans cannot compromise in a meaningful way and come up with something constructive. so we are in a tough spot and only a big election in 1212 is going to allow us to avoid what your colleague was t

moody did not downgrade but s&p did. they saw it because of the political dysfunction.f there is a failure and looks like it is going to be on the super committee that is political dysfunction extended and decreased could that impact the credit rating? >> guest: i don't think the super committee fails it will not impact the credit rating, no. in current law and if policy makers do nothing we'll achieve the four trillion in deficit reduction. we get automatic spending cuts that begin in 2013 and the bush tax cuts expire in the end of 2012 and everybody's tax rates go up. that is a lot of revenue and more than we need to achieve the goal of four trillion in current law we got what we need. the rating agencies will wait to see whether the law has changed and how it is changed before they change their mind before the rating of the u.s. treasury debt. >> there are hopeful signs for the u.s. economy. it looks like growth will be over three percent which is about double what it has been for the first nine months of the year. if you get the super committee failure and looking a

>>chris: when moody's did not downgrade but s&p did, they downgraded because of the political dysfunctionthe country. if there is a failure, as its looks like there is in the super committee, that is the political function extend asked increased could have have an impact on our credit rating? >>guest: i don't think the super committee failed which it looks like it will, there will be any impact on the credit rating. no. i think in current law, if policymaker dozen nothing we will achieve the $4 trillion in ten year deficit reduction and then some because we get the automatic spending cuts that begin in 2013 and the bush tax cuts expire at the end of 2012. so everyone's tax rates will go up, and that is more than we need to achieve the goal. so in current law we have what we need. now, i think the rating agencies will wait to see whether the law is changed. and how it is changed. before they change their mind about the rating of the treasury debt. >>chris: there are hopeful signs for the u.s. economy right now and, in fact, it look like growth not 4 the quarter will be over 3 percent which

did lead to some downgrade, but it won't because two major ratings agencies came out tonight, s&p and moody'se aren't going to downgrade you based on the flop -- that's my words, not theirs, but even if there was a downgrade, what that means is u.s. bonds might not get paid back and they are riskier. that means you have to pay higher and to get people to buy them. after the last downgrade bond interest rates actually went down, not up and that's because so much panicked money went into bonds that it made the actual interest rates go down and that means they didn't believe at all that the u.s. was some kind of credit risk. furthermore, can we talk about he's automatic cuts? one reason ratings agencies aren't going to reduce our credit ratings again because the automatic cuts, $1.2 trillion, shannon, and now you are here and everybody talked about how terrible it is, right? >> let me ask you this. there are a lot of unfinished things because of what happened in this committee that will roll out over the next few months that will start concern. things like the payroll holiday. >> and extending j

and moody's and fitch and s & p and all the other rating agencies have downgraded our state and saysit's the worst managed state in the united states of america. it is. we're in trouble. we have unfunded liability. we have unemployment insurance debt. and we have a huge gaping hole in our budget. and the governor is trying to make the citizens of the commonwealth think otherwise so he can get re-electeded. >> let's hear frommed that mccormick from henderson county. mr. mccormick a question for the candidates please. >> i need clarification on this issue. this would be for gubernatorial candidate david williams. i understand mr. williams was voted -- he voted against the slot machines at the racetracks some time ago. but yet we also understand that mr. williams doesn't mind gambling too much himself. so it seems like a double standard to me. i would like him to clarify his position on gambling. >> i do not gamble. i have not gambled for several years. i don't hold it against anybody that does gamble. but i will tell you this. gambling is an issue for only one person on this panel righ

moody's did not downgrade u.s. debt but s and they did it less -- they did raise the debt ceiling, they did it primarily because of what they saw as the political dysfunction in this country. clearly if this thy is a failure as it now looks like there will be on the supercommittee, you know, that is the political dysfunction extended and increased. could that have an impact on our credit rating? >> i don't think the supercommittee fails which it looks like it will that it will have any impact on the credit rating, no. i do think that in current law if policymakers do nothing we will achieve the $4 trillion in ten year deficit reduction and then some, right, because we do get the automatic spending cuts that begin in 2013. and the bush tax cuts they expire at the end of 2012 so everybodies it tax rates are going to go up on january 2, 2013. that is a lot of revenue and more than we need to achieve the goal of the $4 trillion. in current law, we have got what we need. now, i do think the rating agencies will wait to see, you kn

matter for the average person sitting out there, if we get another downgrade from s&p or a first downgrade from moody'sh? what will happen if that happens to america? >> reporter: immediately, there will be some disturbances in financial markets, as there was the last time. but then they will calm down. the reality is it won't much affect the borrowing rates of the united states, because u.s. treasuries are the asset of last resort, we can print money to cover them, and with what's going on in europe, the flight to u.s. treasuries and the dollar is going to continue. also, what's going on in china, for the first time, china is aborting capitol because folks are worried about their -- about its accounting system. if people buy u.s. bonds, they'll be safe. megyn: do you take the warnings seriously, do you believe this is saber rattling by these credit agencies because they don't want to see the cuts roll back? >> no, this is normal operating procedure. they're also warning france if it doesn't get its finances in order it will lose its aaa rating and it's quite appropriate. u.s. finances are out of line,

there are three premiere debt rating agencies: s&p 500 which lowered that aaa rating, and that was a smack. and moody'sed of a similar move to follow. we have not heard from moody's. but this means two of the three rating agencies have at the least revised their out look for u.s. debt to negative. and s&p could move to downgrade debt if this quagmire in washington over getting spending under control continues. >> in the meantime, burning our flag despite billions in aid? pakistanis take to the streets torching the flag and president obama after strikes kill 24 pakistani soldiers. and here is michele bachmann on the phone with us now. the congresswoman serves on the influential house intelligence committee. what do you make of this? >>guest: well, it is disgusting to see that because we have tried in every way we can to extend a hand to pakistan and this is the kind of thanks we get. but pakistan is a volatile, volatile neighborhood. the united states has given security assistance to pakistan and pakistan is a nuclear country. they have over 100 nuclear weapons. they also have terrorist militias and al

as you know, jenna, remember back in august, we had the downgrade of the debt by s&p and moody's. i don't think it's going to happen eminently, but there is now a lot of talk about possible second downgrade of our debt. by the way, jenna, as you know, it's been 50 years since we had a downgrade of our aaa bond rating. we had one in august, and now we're looking at a second one later this year. that's pretty glum. jenna: that does sound glum. first i'm going to talk to you as an economist, and i'm going to talk to you as a psychologist. >> i need a pay raise, too, jenna! jenna: so let's start with the economy. first of all, based on what the folks you talked to in our article today said, some say that they actually prefer the sequestration, these automatic cuts, to the tax increases, in that in some ways, if we're talking about silver lining, it could actually turn out to be a silver lining that the cuts are happening and not the tax hikes. >> it could be, jen kwrafplt i find myself in that camp, too, if the choice were a trillion dollars tax increase, which is what the democrats w

moody's of course downgraded us. >> so s&p s&p downgraded us, right? >> moody's. >> moody's. that's right. >> there is discussion that other downgrades could be coming down the pike because the super committee fails. i must admit i'm confused this morning. >> you should be. this is a mess. here is why. i thought that the sequestration the trigger effect was put in there to avoid a downgrade. we have plan. beings n. case we can't come to an agreement we have plan. >> the downgrade, the ratings agency says we don't want the trying tore go into effect because that then proves the solvenciy of the united states. if the super committee can't find where to cut money and put triggers in -- >> who called the super committee the dumbest thing? >> newt gingrich. >> it was newt. maybe that's why he is going up in the polls. >> speaking of that the candidates out there in iowa last night. iowa voters, politico giving newt gingrich a lease on life back when they met with him in february of last year weren't terribly impressed with him. weren't sure why he is running. they is gotten fired

european stocks are rising from a six-week low, and asian shares are little changed as the s&p and moody's have maintained credit ratings even as the deficit reduction committee failed to reach an agreement. dahl futures are up about one point ahead of the opening bell. three astronauts have returned to earth after spending three have 65 days in space. they touched down safely this morning. three astronauts are due to return to earth in march. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> from the miami book fair international last weekend -- >> miami was center stage in the bay of pigs. it is where the cia came to -- recruits to the exiles. after castro became in the came into power, many of the people that did not like him very much fled cuba, and where they fled to was mainly in miami. >> the election of the first black president was a landmark that shows there has been tremendous change in american racial attitudes. had there not been that change there would have been no hope of prevailing. >> in a presidential debate is critical -- it is hard to relax, but you need to mak

s&p lowered belgium's credit rating citing a threat to exports. meantime, hungary's credit was downgraded to non-investment grade by moody's. the ratings agency attributes the move to rising uncertainty about hungary's plans to reduce its budget deficit and public debt. on wall street shares ended lower. the dow lost nearly 26 points, the nasdaq fell more than 18.5 and the s&p 500 was down three points. >> i don't know what job could be more fun than this. >> tom: still ahead, how this young c.e.o. is branching out his family's christmas tree business. black friday ended in the red for the major stock indices as they continue to lose steam over europe. let's get to tonight's market focus. it was a half day of trading in the u.s. due to the thanksgiving holiday. after slim morning gains, the market continued adding to its losses this week. the dow industrial average was down every session in this holiday shortened trading week for a net overall loss of 564 points or almost 5%. this is the worst performance by the dow during a thanksgiving week since the market began observing it in 1942. the nasdaq followed the same pattern

s&p won't downgrade america as long as the mandatory cuts remain in place. moody'se super committee's success is informative but not yet decisive in determining the u.s. credit rating. >>> the super committee a super failure ended all negotiations after failing to reach a deal to reduce debt. the committee has six democrats and six republicans. they didn't publicly address the crisis. they didn't come to the cameras as they usually do. instead, they released a statement saying "we are deeply disappointed we've been unable to come to a bipartisan deficit reduction agreement. not nearly as disappointed as we're going to be if we don't begin reducing our debt. as we said earlier in the show, this is bad news for the economy. the lack of uncertainty, the gridlock will mean we don't get hiring now. set the market down 250 pints today. that means smaller retirement nest eggs for everyone and overtime when the day comes. one thing we know, we don't know when that day will be. that's the whole problem. interest rates will go a lot higher. what can we do about it right now?

s&p won't downgrade america as long as the mandatory cuts remain in place. moody'se super committee's success is informative but not yet decisive in determining the u.s. credit rating. >>> the super committee a super failure ended all negotiations after failing to reach a deal to reduce debt. the committee has six democrats and six republicans. they didn't publicly address the crisis. they didn't come to the cameras as they usually do. instead, they released a statement saying "we are deeply disappointed we've been unable to come to a bipartisan deficit reduction agreement. not nearly as disappointed as we're going to be if we don't begin reducing our debt. as we said earlier in the show, this is bad news for the economy. the lack of uncertainty, the gridlock will mean we don't get hiring now. set the market down 250 pints today. that means smaller retirement nest eggs for everyone and overtime when the day comes. one thing we know, we don't know when that day will be. that's the whole problem. interest rates will go a lot higher. what can we do about it right now?

the standard and poor's moody's agencies say the deficit cutting super committee's failure is not going to affect america's credit rating but s to tinker with spending caps put in place earlier this year. >>> signs that the debt crisis in europe is spreading from economicic icaally weaker compao stronger companies caused the dow to plunge 250 points. >>> a man aus couped of sfirg foo irg a semiautomatic weapon at the white house was assigned a public defender to represent him. >>> egypt's entire cabinet resigned amid an outbreak of violent protest over reforms promised by its interim government. now back to "hardball." >>> welcome back. the occupy wall street movement is back on the front-runner after a video of campus police at uc davis pepper spraying, see it all right there, nonviolent protesters and that went viral this weekend. today the campus police chief was put on administrative leave. joining the two police officers who used the 11 spray. two students were sent to the hospital. "the new york times" reports after the episode the officers felt threatened by the protesters but in the video we're watching the protesters

s & p. down graded our debt for the first time in history for much less back in august. another agencies, moody'snegative credit watch perhaps waiting for the super committee. fitch, like moody's, still gives the u.s. a top-notch rating but has concerns. many analysts believe the super committee's failure to make a deal would trigger at least one of the rating agencies to take our debt from double a plus to double a. remember the impact of the first and only other downgrade last summer? stocks sank around the world. we saw the largest one-day sell off since the credit crisis in 2008. the dow down 600 points in one day. consumer confidence also sharply declined. you would expect that a lower credit rating would send interest rates sky high. it didn't. the fed's buying binge in a time of economic certainty sent rates way down. and guess what? stocks went up later. yes, bottom line, a downgrade means our credit is riskier, just as if your credit rating fell 100 points, you would be viewed as a riskier borrower. the big difference, you don't have a money printing machine like the fed does, and you ca

s&p downgraded us in august. .ow there is moody's and fitch they said the failure of the super committeenot outright grounds for it. if the super committee cannot follow through, it will be a problem. if we do not take additional steps to deal with some debt issues, we are on negative outlook. that increases the probability of downgrade. by no means are we out of the woods with this. host: social security is on the list along with veterans' benefits, medicaid, a children's health insurance, unemployment insurance, the temporary assistance for needy families, food stamps. some other programs are exempt. does that mean there was a winner in all of this and when you lump these programs together? guest: i am not sure if anyone wins. it is just degrees of losing. you are still in the constrained budgetary environment. that scenario does not change regardless of what the super committee does. snap is basically food stamps. you have seen a huge surge in demand for food stamps. but is not a good thing. that is a step being taken to make sure people can eat in this country. the winners versus los

s&p, which cut its rating on u.s. bonds to double a plus in august says it will keep that rating in place. moody'serfect aaa. >>> and finally, john, some shoppers will go to extreme lengths the day after thanksgiving to get that perfect bargain. in fact, some are lining up for already what's known as black friday. joe who you see there in wyoming is already first in line outside

moody's economist and he said probably not. he said they have made some progress at least that is what i thought he said. and, the ratings are what they are. s took a lot of heat for cutting us the one notch they did. think about it, is france really a better rating than us? is it a better credit risk than us in >>neil: but if we are downgraded again based on this? >>guest: why should we? the market says we should have been downgraded to begin with because we are better than europe as bad as they are and i don't care what anyone says we have had arguments about this, we are not going to get or come to a conclusion on cutting the size of 9 deficit until people figure out what type government they want and that election is coming in 2012. >> here is the thing. you want higher taxes? vote for the president. >>neil: thanks, buddy, chairs, you have -- charles gasparino has been all over this. we stated here, we announced the failure and whether the super committee will address the backup cuts that are supposed to kick in and now there is talk they may not kick in. the super committee, super bummer. bummer. after this.at makes scottrade yr smartph

moody's downgraded belgium's rating from aaa-plus to aaa. the dow fell 26 points, closing at 11,231. the nasdaq dropped 19 points to close at 2,441. and the s&p 500 lost three points today to close at 1,158. >>> tonight, at&t is trying to figure out a way to save its controversial $39 billion bid for t-mobile, but it likely won't be enough. the justice department filed a suit to block the deal, saying if at&t, the second largest wireless carrier, and t-mobile, the fourth largest, teamed up, it would demolish competition in the space. at&t said it would divest 40% of t-mobile assets. but federal officials still have antitrust concerns and would likely fight the 40% offer. >>> social gaming pioneer zynga is set to go public in the next few weeks. the san francisco company is expected to have the biggest internet ipo since google. analysts say the market value could hit $20 billion just to start. 230 million people play zynga games each month, providing the company with reams of online data activity. filings by the securities and exchange commission says the company collect enough data from its users to fill the hard drives of 45 laptops every

moody's and others are going to be looking at downgrades. >> what do you think about the scenario, the downgrade scenario, jim bianco? >> it would be bad. s&p downgraded last summer and the dow jones industrial average fell 600 points that day. and most people in the market would tell you that the second downgrade is the one that matters more than the first downgrade. because that means that the majority rating of the u.s. is aa plus. right now the majority rating is still aaa, even though one of them is aa plus. so the next downgrade would be worse than the first downgrade. it would change the way we do business in the financial markets. we use treasuries as a cash proxy. we assume they're aaa rated. if they're no longer aaa rated, they're not cash proxies anymore and a lot of transactions can simply not occur, because there is no cash proxy for them. >> as you know, erin, the other part of this is, this is occurring in a context of enormous anxiety in the markets about europe. and if you combine a lack of political leadership in europe with yet now another failure of a political leadership in america, it's that combination that casts us