staples and office depot reportedly in advanced talks to combine forces, a move that would be a big stepdating the office supplies market. this on top of news that amazon and staples and office depot competitor may be making its biggest move yet into brick-and-mortar operations. but how? who better to discuss all of this, steve odland, former office depot chair and ceo and committee for economic development ceo. good to see you, steve. >> hi, liz. liz: when you heard this news they are possibly trying to merge once again, what was your first thought? again they tried this years ago and the regulators said no way? >> they tried it in 1997 when the world was entirely different. remember the latest commercial with katie couric and bryant gumbel saying, what is internet? that wasn't that long ago. the whole world changed. it was rejected by one vote back then. i think the whole world has changed and i think the merger makes a lot of sense. the whole industry have changed and the two of them together would have a very small percentage. retail is only small percentage of all of office products

staple agreed to by office depot. the value has pushed for the deal, saying the combination could push -- save more than $2 million. surely, you buy everything on amazon. in brazil, the ceo of the state-run oil company has resigned in the middle of a corruption scandal. five of the company's directors have also quit. accused of accepting bribes to award construction contract. we will go in deeper a little later. shares of general motors, beat estimates. gm's most lucrative light truck and suv's. federal investigators are looking for a deadly train accident less than 30 miles from here, new york and the train slammed into an suv in the middle of rush hour. at least seven people were killed, six of them on the train. a dozen were injured and authorities say the crossing gate came down on an suv that was trapped in traffic on a track. >> the woman stayed there. >> apparently, she got out of it and got back in and try to move again. maybe she thought she could get more space than she did not get out before the train came.

. >> it is official staples buying office depot, $6.3 billion. an office supply giant created but questions on antitrust. >> earnings from gm disney chipotle stocks making big moves in the premark. >>> futures falling, the morning after the rally which the dow jumped 305. s&p nearly wiped out all of last month's prices. oil prices pulling back following surge. wti crude above 53. ahead of the jobs numbers friday. adp said private sector added 213,000 jobs in january, below forecast although december payrolls were revised higher just another macro data point that failed to impress, at least, markedly to the upside. >> eurozone retail numbers third straight best in seven years chinese stimulus program, very real. i'm absolutely convinced, once again, the reason we've been having this rally is because of overseas. can oil pull back? it should pull back. the last bit short squeezed. rich kinder on last night, the real demand is 65.70. as it comes in start thinking well, oil is probably not going to go back to the low 40s. he does point out that there'

>> this is not like office depot is going out of business. your gift cards are going to be good good. your loyalty cards will stbe can take a matter of months. any changes in the reward programs pay attention to those terms over time how they might shift the program. if there are certain benefits through office depot that might not transfer over you want to be aware of e-mails telling you you need to use that benefit before this date or lose it. >> you mentioned this is not going to happen overnight. let's talk about that a little bit. i think some consumers thinking they are going to walk outside and see that the office depot has a staples sign over it now. that's not the case. >> this is something that has to be approved by boards, shareholders the companies have said they are aiming to wrap this up by the end of 2015. we still have months ahead of us before you're really going to see major changes in place. as consumers if you shop regularly, you're going to get some regular communications from the companies as they figure out how things a

staples has agreed to buy office depot.ll have the details on this merger. ♪ >> atop argentine prosecutor found dead last month. he accused the president and other officials in a plot to cover up the 1994 bombing of a jewish community center in when acai press. his death by gunshot was ruled a suicide by officials. a gunman in libya has seized control of an oil field. the militants are looking for an independent source of funds. libya remains in turmoil. in the u.k., politicians have voted to allow the creation of babies with dna from three parents. it will allow the use of a technique that uses dna from a third parent to prevent genetic diseases being passed from mother to child. mom, mom, dad. dad, dad, mom. southern company reported earnings this month. sales beat expectations. just as important as investors are the details of budget and schedule overruns. the global plant is the country's first since the 1970's. a coal plant in mississippi with the latest in cold -- carbon capture technology. tom fanning is the chairman

you may remember office depot bought officemax back in 2013. hard to keep track of all the office office stores. if the new merger is approved, it could help the office supply chain giants complete against the online retailers like amazon. >>> monopoly turns 80 this year. to celebrate, get this, hasbro is replacing the fake money in the monopoly games with real cash. >> you've got my attention. >> you will be able to find it in about 80 games sold in france, however. it's worth about $23,000 u.s. dollars. >>> from winning to try to steal it, a close call for a clerk at a houston gas station where four men rammed the pickup into the store, tried to leave with the cash man. their plans hit a snag. the pickup truck wouldn't start after they smashed the front wall. th ey left with no money. the clerk got minor injuries and police are still looking for the suspects. >>> first alert weather time, howard, is here. wow, no alert to talk about except sunglass alerts. >> a nice day. i know a lot of folks like my wife like to get outside and exercise regu

it was done so considering the competition as office max, office depot and staples at the time. ow the world has changed and there's a thing called the internet that's created. amazon is one of the largest players in office products. there are hundreds of internet only office products providers. there's also walmart and target and virtually every grocery store, drugstore, every store you can think of you can get office products. the market is highly fragmented. the combination of the two will still be a relatively small share and still be approved. >> and you trust defense attorneys love amazon because it becomes the de facto excuse for anything, any kind of market, if you will. here's my question. if three retailers separately, office max, office depot and staples would not win independently, why should we believe they can win together? >> every specialty retail segment is consolidating to one. this is no different. the only segment i can think of that can sustain two is home improvement with lowe's and home depot. you have the internet but you have a need for retail. small busi

there's the office depot transaction.ice depot had already bought officemax, which is something geoff davis had pushed for as well and yahoo! selling its ali baba stake is something he push for as well. he says yahoo! and aol should merge that has not happened yet. >> any others that are under the radar? >> he has push for changes at one that is being acquired by rock 10. he has a number of smaller semiconductor makers were he's made changes to the board of directors. one of them is exploring options, which is wall street speak for potentially looking for a sale. there are some outstanding situations among these smaller players. >> thank you so much. coming up, global investment opportunities -- we will talk to mark t's at pimco about how global monetary easing will impact investments this year. "bottom line" continues in just a moment. ♪ >> welcome back to the second half-hour of "bottom line" on bloomberg television. i'm mark crumpton. thank you for staying with us. let's start with the price of crude oil as floor tradi

meantime shares of staples and office depot up in the premarket. both companies reportedly in some advanced merger talks. activists investor starboard value pushing for a combination of two supplyretailers. believe we're overstored. >> yeah. these guys are up against costco, tremendous business at am ma amazon. versus cisco, the other sys. trying to stop the food service that's anti-competitive. we'll hear from david. to me this one of those things they would have hated it a few years ago but so many plays to get office supply it done matter. >> you mentioned david faber. i think we have him on the phone. >> yes. >> good morning. >> holy cow. >> good morning, guys. good morning. >> where are you? >> say again? >> where are you? >> i'm in a trailer, actually. >> trailer? >> yeah. yeah. i'm doing a little tv work other than our own. >> i hope it's the hoord kindhollywood kind. >> yeah, it is. >> your take on office depot. >> listen i think not unexpected, we know what starboard's view as been. i've had opportunities to speak with them numerous times.

. >>> staples is buying office depot in a deal worth $6 billion, the cash and stock agreement comes inr, too few stores were fighting for too few sales the new company formed between the staples and the office depot merger is expected to bring in $39 billion a year. >>> health check this noon, a new breast cancer drug gained approval from federal regulators pfizer makes the drug and is used in connection with another cancer drug on the market. it's improved for most menopausal women it slows the progressive disease and they can live up to 20 months longer before the tumor worsens. >>> and 6 abc has a video chat later today. from main line health knee pain and treatments to relieve it. log on to 6abc.com to submit your questions throughout the day and log back on to get the answers. >>> alicia vitarelli is live in the newsroom with a preview of 4:00. >> there could be trouble on the home front for chris christie as the new jersey governor heads home from new and, from a new poll showing he is struggling in his home state, what that poll also says about his presidential chances and a tas

. >>> shares of office depot and staples surge on merger reports and that's where we begin tonight's market focus. the office suppliers in advance merger talks according to the reports. together the firms have about 4,000 stores and about $35 million in annual sales. this comes as activist star board value publicly called on both chains to merge. shares of office depot surge to $9.28 and staples to $19.01. macy macy's out with strong guidance. hiked the 2014 outlook with plans for the beauty products maker, blue mercury with more than $200 million. shares popped initially after the close and then fell back a little bit. before the bell the stock up about 3% to $66.07. ups also out with a down bate forecast. the package delivery company provided disappointing earnings forecast for 2015 because of a drop in fourth quarter profits caused by extra expenses during the holiday season. the company said it will control the cost and raise prices this year. still, shares finished higher to $157. >>> etna matched. hiked the full profit outlook but still below the street's forecast as it's seen u

office depot and office max merged last year >>> that is a volcano exploding today. no one was hurt. the peak is one of japan's most active last erupting in september. an eruption in 1914 was the most powerful of the 20th century >>> al jazeera journalist peter greste is back home in australia three days after being freed from an susan shaprioegyptian prison. a smiling peter greste greeted family and girlfriends. -- family and friends. he spend 400 days in prison. he said it was hard to leave mohamed fadel fahmy and baher mohamed behind. >> we knew there was a chance someone would leave and others would have to stay. that doesn't make it any easier. you know we all - having talked it through, we understood what the circumstances where, and, you know they were all very happy for me. you can imagine after 400 days in prison with these guys we are very close. it was very difficult to leave them behind >>> peter greste says he was never abused and was able to keep himself in shape mentally and physically. i'm antonio mora. thank you for joining us. for the latest news he

. >>> a major deal announced this morning between staples and office depot. the company taking control. plus a travel website from a kid's point of view. the local 11-year-old sharing >>> news today, a major office retail merger is now official. staples will buy office depot in a cash and stock deal. the merger is valued at nearly $6 billion. office depot shareholders will receive a cash payout and a share of staples. the deal is expected to close by the end of the year. >>> the university of the district of columbia could be renamed in honor of the late mayor onbary. council member introducing a bill naming it the marion s. barry jr. university of the district of columbia. warn says it could be referred to at mbudc saying barry was the university's biggest champion. >>> your kids may not be able to attend kindergarten for a full day in prince william county schools next year. today the school board considers making $11 million in possible cuts to next year's budget. the chairman of the school board says the system will need to make cuts if the county approves

"the wall street journal" reports staples and office depot are in advanced talks to combine -- depot -- >> where are you, in england? >> watching a lot of the wrong stuff apparently lately. staples has a market value of about $11 billion while office depot's value is estimated around 4 billion. analysts do warn the proposed deal would likely get a very close look from antitrust regulators. >>> this next story will be in american english. radio shack is in talks to sell some of the stores to sprint and even amazon which we know that company has been making a push to open traditional stores. the new york stock exchange started a process of delisting radio shack and has suspended trading of its shares. >> watching too much "downton abbey." >> is that what it is? >> i love the accents. i'm from arkansas. i got a southern accent. >> "frozen" spawned a short sequel. it reunites the original cast and directors and songwriters screened ahead of "cinderella" which opens march 13th. both from our parent company disney -- be forewarned "frozen" fever is said to have a catchier tune than "let it

staples has a market value of about $11 billion while office depot's value is estimated around 4 billion. analysts do warn the proposed deal would likely get a very close look from antitrust regulators. >>> this next story will be in american english. according to bloomberg struggling electronics retailer radio shack is in talks to sell some of the stores to sprint and even to amazon which we know that company has been making a push to open traditional stores. the new york stock exchange has already started the process of delisting radio shack and has suspended trading of its shares. >> you've been watching too much "downton abbey." >> "downton abbey," is that what it is? >> that's what it is. >> i love the accents. i'm from arkansas. i got a southern accent. >> i know, that's why it's so weird. >> depot. >> here's a hit movie, "frozen," now spawned a short sequel, "frozen fever." it's a seven-minute film that reunites the original cast directors, even songwriters. it'll be screened ahead of live action "cinderella" movie, which opens march 13th. both films from our parent company disney

the wall street journal is reporting that office supply chain staples and office depot are in advanced merger talks. last month an investment group called for the companies to merge saying it would lead to greater savings. the two companies tried to merge before, but regulators rejected the staples attempt to buy office depot back in 1997. the federal trade commission approved office depot's takeover of officemax. >>> new research finds more people are buying their basics online. everyday household products are tied with media-like online books and movies as the second most popular category of items bought online. clothing is number one. researchers say incentives like free shipping are adding pressure to the traditional brick and mortar stores. >>> the energizer bunny will soon be really keeping going and going as they say. the company will begin selling aa batteries made from partially recycled old batteries. the echo advanced batteries are the first of a major brand to use recycled material. it is part of energizer's efforts to reduce the environmental impact of powering all of our

office depot and staple both sales big -- both sell big-box office supplies.ns prevented that merger from going through. today, you look at this world with e-commerce and suddenly it seems more competitive. >> i am buying office supplies from amazon. opening bell in a few moments. we will be back. ♪ >> welcome back to "in the loop." matt miller and leslie picker joining me this morning before the open. let's talk about oil prices expending their gains -- expanding their gains. health care was a final point of contention that caused talks to break down between oil workers and major producers like shell. not sure that will have much of an effect on prices. we have been asking for the bottom in oil. maybe , we've hit that. >> at this stage, it is all about supply. when you look at what is going on on the labor side, it does not seem to have as much of an impact. >> i think anybody looking for an excuse to find some bottom. any piece of news to say, this is it, we have seen the bottom. >> four days of gains for oil is like an amazing headline for us. not just beca

shares of office depot are up as much as 21% today. staples and office depot are in merger talks.t investor star board capital has been pressuring both to pool their resources. they have stakes in both staples and office depot. a warning about dietary supplements in new york. the state attorney general's office has accused for retailers of selling fraudulent product. they did not have the herbs named on the labels including gnc, target, walmart and walgreens. president obama is putting limits on the national security agency. the administration says data collected on foreigners will be deleted after five years if it is not relevant to national security. the white house will reveal spying on foreign leaders in the wake of edward snowden's leaks. >> it is game over for radioshack. people tell bloomberg the nearly century-old retailer is officially preparing to liquidate after years of absolute losses. it would sell about half of it store leases to sprint and shut down the rest. yesterday nyse suspended trading. an inside look at the fall of the iconic electronics retailer in the late

>> well look i was going to make one point, first, i'd like to if you take office depot and staples. and two? >> they are one and two in the market. >> so the argument is amazon or something. >> right. or walmart. i bet walmart sells more office supplies at some point. >> you're going to have to redefine the marketplace. big time. >> i don't know you just raised the question. >> good point. >> with sirius xm and spotify. they still look at it. >> you never know. and you're using the earthing ball which is an index. >> they did to at&t they did it to t-mobile. >> and they can do it with this for sure. you want to make it amazon. you want to make it walmart. you want to make the market bigger. >> right. >> we'll see. >> they would have prevented some companies, some merging, five years ago. even though it's all digital now. they still would have done it based on that -- this is your fault, too. >> why is it my fault? >> your dad's -- you oppose all these deals. >> i'm desperate. i told you this as a time warner subscriber in new york city, all i want is the comcast deal happen because

office depot & officemax. gear up for great. . >>> breaking news talks over the iranian nuclear program resume on friday. the talks will start with mid level diplomats with the foreign minister and secretary of state john kerry in geneva on sunday and monday. >>> former governor jeb bush promises to be his own man when it comes to foreign affairs. why is he saying this? the former governor has a brother who was president and father who was president. now trying on put distance between himself and them. let's get more from athena jones. >> reporter: good morning. jeb bush was critical against president obama's foreign affairs policy aspect ed expected. the big question is how governor bush would distinguish himself from his father and brother on foreign affairs matters. >> i have been fortunate to have a father and brother who helped shape america's foreign policy from the oval office. i recognize my views will be held up in comparison to theirs. this is a fascinating thing in the political world. for the recor

office depot & officemax. gear up for great. shopping online is as easy as it gets.t be great if hiring plumbers, carpenters and even piano tuners were just as simple? thanks to angie's list now it is. start shopping online from a list of top-rated providers. visit angieslist.com today. >>> one minute till the top of the hour. before you leave the house here's what's happening today, egypt bombing isis overnight in libya after the terror group released a sickening video allegedly showing the exegd of 21 -- beheading of 21 christians in egypt. >>> two suspects arrested in copenhagen. >>> a manhunt underway for a gunman who killed a las vegas outside her home in a horrifying incident of road rage. >>> a woman found her dog five months after it ran away. next the bad the oscar myer weiner mobile burned after a crash in pennsylvania. the driver slipping off the road, ran into a pole smashing the windshield in the front of the bun. finally the ugly. paying the price for love. a teenager couple caught on surveillance robbing a store and celebrating with that smooch. police

office depot up 17%, staples of the present.his was an idea that was floated by hedge fund starboard last month, got a cool market reception but back on the table, wall street journal says they are in advanced talks. is not a guarantee that these two can get together. they face some heady regulators have to deal with but in the meantime the synergy between the two companies would be good. $2 billion in cost savings and certainly would make a more competitive against the on line guys like amazon and walmart where they had better savings and that is one of the problems with the brick and mortars. tom: the brick and mortar would be a good combination. nicole petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange. in washington are as commissioner john koskonen is testifying on capitol hill. any talk about our friend love was learned? >> that is how this led off. lawmakers love using stacks of paper as props. oren had presented a few thousand pages related to the investigation into lois lerner and the irs that targeting of conservat

officers shot and killed her. a vigil turned violent after they marched to a home depot store. demonstrators painted the woman's name on windows. they say the woman was shoplifting at the store yesterday. officers chased her down the street into oakland. they say she was armed. the officers opened fire. a witness was caught in the middle of the shooting. >> there was gunfire right next to me. next thing i know the windows were being blown out in my car. i was ducking for the floor board of my car. that's where it ended. >> there are three separate investigations going on into what happened. they are being conducted by police and the district attorney's office as well as the oakland police department which is leading the criminal investigation into the shooting. >>> and the man shot and killed by officers in antioch is defined as dewayne ward jr . they say it was happening as deputies were a move out order. ward charged at them with a knife forcing one of the deputies to shoot him. the sheriffsdepartment and antioch police are investigating. >>> a sketch of a man accused of moles

office depot & officemax.ther detour for lance armstrong. the disgraced cyclist has been ordered to pay $10 million to a sports insurance company that paid armstrong bonuses for winning the tour de france. andy scholes has more in the bleacher report. >> arbitrators said perjury should never been profitable. they ordered lance armstrong to pay back $10 million. this is believed to be the largest such sanction against an individual in american judicial history. the two arbitrators decided on the award cited an unparallel pageant of perjury and fraud and conspiracy. the ruling will be handed over to a judge for fine an approval. armstrong's legal team is disputing the ruling saying they reached a settlement back in 2006. >>> yesterday, a judge issued a protective order on kurt busch to stay away from his ex-girlfriend. this case made national head license plate lines when busch was needed to seek help for alcoholism and anger management. busch waiting to see if he will be charged with assault in the case. >>> co

stapes and office depot are discussing a deal.a merger could fend off competition from amazon and walmart. they tried to buy office depot before but rejected the deal. the energizer bunny will keep going. the company will begin selling aa batteries made from partially recycled old batteries. they are the first from a major brand to use recycled material. about 4%. it's part of the efforts to reduce the environmental impact of powering all of our devices. back over to you. >> thank you. >>> new this morning if your daughter or son is looking at colleges in virginia they could be writing papers with solar power there. the department of energy is spending $800,000 to start solar power programs at 15 schools in the state. that's according to the news leader. in our area marymount university and shenandoah university are listed among the schools in the program. >>> right now people across the northeast are struggling to dig out after another blizzard leaves them buried. we'll take you live to boston for a firsthand look at the conditio

office depot is expect eded to close by the end of the year if s antitrust scrutiny. >>> call it a case of fear of missing out. if you focus too much and become envious of your friends' experiences on facebook you may be more prone to depression. that's according to a new study that found lower risk among people who use the site for social content. experts at the university of missouri say most people only post positive things about themselves. something to keep in mind while you browse. >>> virginia is leading a new effort to teach sexual assault prevention in public schools. >> aaron gilchrist talked with the man behind the push. >> this idea is pushing through congress as we speak. it will become a part of the no child left behind act that's up for reauthorization. i spoke with the junior senator about the relationships act he introduced just yesterday. he says young women between 16 and 24 have the highest partner violence. a key to is getting to people before college before they are on their own and zeroing in on preventing sexual assault and domestic violence and do it at the seco

they are cutting down on competition by buying up rival office depot for $6 billion.comes to employees, they're cracking down on part-time workers. the company is threatening to fire part-times who log more than 25 hours per week. associates who clock more than 25 hours a week could face termination or multiple incidents. the note cites a recent change for the tough stance. many are questioning whether the move is related to the implementation of the affordable care act. staples denies obamacare played a part in this cost cutting. a spokesman said their part-time policy predates the affordable care act or obamacare. they say managers may have reiterated the policy in an effort to improve the efficiency and the competitiveness of the stores. the company once supported by mitt romney's bane capital is the support of romney's economy. is this being used to squeeze the bottom line on workers? your thoughts on this. >> i think it is not caused by obamacare. they are saying it is not. what's happening here is that the whole market is being squeezed and they're buying up off

. >>> there is buzz office depot and staples are in talk to join forces. if they merge and it's approved, it could help the office supply giants compete against amazon, wal-mart and other online retailers. two years ago office depot bought officemax. >>> it may soon be able to brew a cup of off brand coffee with your keurig machine. cnn money reports that an unauthorized k cupmaker has come up with a tiny plastic device called the freedom clip. the nap-on gadget tricks the keurig's new 2.0 machine into thinking that the imitation is an authorized k cuff. >> i didn't even know there was such a thing. >>> the children's charities foundation distributed 700 coats this morning handed out at the verizon center. this is the sixth year of the event made possible by children's charities foundation and the bb&t basketball tournament. coats made a big difference for some kids in need. >> it means a lot for us. some of our family are cold and their children are in need of warmth. so getting 30 brand-new coats is really going to make a huge difference for the families

staples wants to buy office depot. it still needs to be okayed by federal antitrust regulators. office depot and office max combined forces a little over a year ago. >>> prosecutors reportedly have their sights on another big credit rating agency just one day after standard & poor's agreed to pay $1.4 billion payout over credit ratings in the lead up to the financial crisis. real money's ali velshi join us with more on this. what else do you know about this aly? >> it's interesting when the government and the care justice attorney generals and the government met with s & p they claimed that they were picking on s & p and in their defends said why are you not looking at moody's and fitch? why are you not going after them? now they're setting their sights on moody's. tonight i will talk with attorney general george jeppesen in the end 19 states joined along with the government for the $1.4 billion settlement. there is talk as you mentioned that that could be a template. moody's s&p, and fitch make up the three credit rating agencies. here's the part that gets stuck in your craw. t

office depot & officemax.great. >>> domestic violence charges against carolina panthers defensive end greg hardy have been dismissed because his accuser cannot be found. we have andy scholes with more. >> good morning. greg hardy convicted of domestic violence last year. he appealed the ruling requesting a jury trial. he was convicted and the appeal and prosecutors believe hardy reached a civil settlement with the accuser. they believe that is why she did not show up to the hearing and she made herself unavailable. without the testimony, the district attorney's office dismissed the case. the question now is what will the nfl do. the league says they are reviewing the matter. new rules call for a six-game suspension for domestic violence after making $13.1 million after playing one game last year hardy is set to be a free agent this summer. >>> greg popovich with his 1,000th win. and a baseline jumper with two seconds left to give the spurs the victory. popovich the third fastest to reach 1,000 wins behind pat

. >> is office depot getting ready if a mega merger in a deal new reportedly in the works and some areination. >> you can stay in the know with abc7 looking at the san mateo bridge with traffic and weather together. stay tuned. ♪ ♪ ♪ turn around ♪ ♪ every now and then i get a little bit hungry ♪ ♪ and there's nothing really good around ♪ ♪ turn around ♪ ♪ every now and then i get a little bit tired ♪ ♪ of living off the taste of the air ♪ ♪ turn around, barry ♪ ♪ finally, i have a manly chocolatey snack ♪ ♪ and fiber so my wife won't give me any more flack ♪ ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ ♪ ♪ >>> covering santa rosa, berkeley, san jose, and all the bay area, this is abc7 news. >> welcome back it is 6:43. most of us are not fond of the commute but transit officials say it is the worst in the country. this morning, a study finds while the commute could be bad at least it is reliable. >> our reporter joins us from shows with details on what this really means. matt? >> i have good news for workers in santa clara county. you have the lowest average commute time in all of the bay area.

a year and a half ago office depot bought office max for about $1 billion.ing to see strong job growth. adp private payroll tracker says firms added 213,000 jobs in januaryly in line with expectations, although it was the weakest gain in four months. most analysts expecting to gain 230,000 jobs last month. we are expecting the unemployment rate to stay steady at 5.6%. off big gains for two days including the dow, more than 300 points yesterday. that's crude posted a huge rally well over $50 a barrel. crude pulling back a little bit today so stocks are taking a bit of a breather. let's check the boards. see how we're doing. the dow down by 15. nasdaq down 22. and the s&p is down by 8 points. michelle and frank, back to you. >> we'll take it. okay, brooks brooks, thank you. >>> a mysterious minivan is cruising around the east bay. we saw it on concord boulevard yesterday. there were two people in it. the van has no markings. but it's covered in what appears to be cameras. the dmv says it is leased to apple, but the company has no comment. one tech analyst says

office depot & officemax. gear up for great. >>> welcome back. the so-called american sniper trial in texas. and attorneys for accused killer eddie ray routh wasting no time in launching their insanity defense calling the defendant's mother as their first witness. before the state ended its case they again tried to use routh's own words against him. cnn's ed lavandera following that trial for us. >> reporter: christine, another dramatic day of testimony in the american sniper trial. the prosecution has rested, but before that, they played a video of eddie ray routh inside of a police car. the video was captured just moments after routh was taken into custody by police. and in that video, you can hear routh talking about how he feels paranoid and schizophrenic. that was one of the last pieces of evidence that the prosecution put on. now it's the defense attorney's turn. and one of their first witnesses was eddie ray routh's mother who talked about just days before the murders of chris kyle and chad littlefield, her son had been admitted into the v

. >>> tell us about the merge potentially between office depot and staples. this would be huge. >> this is fascinating, 18 years ago, the regulators effectively shefd this merger plan now i guess the regulators feel that there's so much competition in the paper clips and stationery area to go through, starboard value, they own some stock in both of these businesses and they have been been saying it's a no-brainer you push these two businesses together when the wall street journal reported this story on monday we saw the share price of both of these businesses rise here. it looked like the investors are on board. it looks like a deal that will finally come to market. back to you. >> okay jeff thank you. >>> still ahead on "way too early" -- when it comes to exercise could less be more? more findings on the effects of running and your health. yeah. run less. >>> anyway up next more talk from phil jackson, the failings on the new york knicks. when we come right back. >>> the granddaughter of william randolph hearst was kidnapped. patricia, 19-year-old student wa

it's closing a lot of stores, 200 this year and merging with office depot that is even hurting more. it's not on fire here. if you are going to -- go on to all the other companies that presumably do the same thing. >> i would say this. i think staples is doing this primarily because of the health care law. >> they say no. >> i don't believe them. >> they said otherwise. >> i don't care. i believe they are doing it because of the health care law. >> facts don't mean anything. i deeply admire that. >> bspr statements from corporations don't mean anything. the other half of the equation is this. companies have a fiduciary responsibility to react to costs. and stay in business. that's what you do when the government imposes a mandate like obamacare. >> you get the idea the manager of staples are there no prisons? they do offer this, one of the earliest to offer same-sex benefits. leaving that aside, why do you think staples was targeted? for political reasons or that the president is saying any of you who start blaming my health care law -- >> he'll start calling you out by name. staples

used to be office max, office depot and staples. amazon has been eating their lunch. els half of the business is online. that shows you the shift over the years. the office space is really migrating quickly so we need to close stores and we need to focus more online and rationalize the space. >> and stacy we had that slightly weaker than expected q-4 from the u.s. but the consumer itself are you positive on the outlook for 2015 2015. >> it's mixed. comparers really easy because we didn't have good weather last year particularly in the apparel sector but still you have to pick your spots and also we have new entrants coming in from europe into the u.s. in watch out for that space. >> now, summer is still months away but it's never too early to start thinking about beach season. the cover of this year's sports illustrated swim suit issue was unveiled on the tonight show last night. hannah davis landed the highly coveted spot. it's the first si cover for the 24-year-old model who is also the girlfriend of derek jeter. the swim suit issue sales about 1 million dollars on n

that on reports that staples and office depot may be considering a merger.ne of the biggest gainers in the russell 2,000 as well. there was a time when we who have thought that that couldn't happen because they were the big suppliers, the big players, but now, you can get your supplies anywhere pretty much and you can get them mailed to you, so it doesn't seem as though perhaps that would be any sort of regulatory issue of the two of them merging. we'll see what happens there. overall we're watching, continuing to move a little bit lower here. we'll see if it drags down the rest of the indices. back to you. >> bertha, thanks. you're right, the dow is up about 137, well off the highs, six straight days minus or plus 1% moves. haven't had a streak that long since 2011. sideways chop in the words of one of our viewers we are getting some of the intraday volatility for sure. auto one of the few things working. auto nation pretty nice gainer on the s&p today. of course you saw the auto numbers coming in all morning long. chrysler with a beat, ford slight miss, gm

staples is buying office depot in a deal worth $6 billion.was a couple of years ago that office depot bought office max. if this new merger is approved, it could help the office supply giants compete against online retailers like amazon. >>> we'll see if investors can keep the momentum going on wall street. the dow was up 305 points on tuesday. the nasdaq was up 51. >>> ups is raising prices this year. the company's ceo says they are adding surcharges for residential deliveries on peak days like during the holiday season. get ready to pay more for the thin mints. girl scouts are raising cookie prices by 25% in some areas from $4 to $5 a box. the girl scouts blame cookie inflation which is rising costs on everything from training materials to ingredients. frank and michelle? >> those are so good when they come to the newsroom. >> they are. i just got four box in the mail. >> we all leave with a cookie high. >>> monopoly celebrating 80 years now. they are doing something kind of cool and i guess lucrative, too, for some of the fans out there. t

think they make billions in profits when in fact some are chosing 200 stores and merging with office depot what does the president think? companies make money. they make profit. the more profits they make, the more -- >> it's not philanthropic. >> apple making trillions upon trillions, i'm an apple shareholder, that's fine by me. >> and market share is almost $1 trillion right now. the biggest company in the world. >> what i'm saying, you can't -- you have to be fair and balanced about this. >> absolutely. >> if you have a problem with one company, you a problem with all the companies that might or might not be towing your health care line. >> i don't think that the president has been clearcut on this but there is a drain on american businesses when they have to provide health care but also a huge drain on the federal budget and the deficit. >> the point that staples does. >> right. but i think we need to really move past staples. i'm totally -- >> it's one of the few companies ironically that does. >> yes. in that sense this was a huge mistake. i looked at the numbers and it goes well bef

office depot is moving to the upside, staples down by about 11s%.l, that deal would be merging number one and number two players in the office products retail space. that all depends on how washington comes down on that. >> not a slam dunk by any means, at least that's what symptom stemberg said this morning. when we come back lending club announcing a partnership with alibaba yesterday. the ceo of lending club will join us in a first on cnbc interview in a moment and move over amazon, another company getting ready to test its delivery drones. we'll tell you who a little bit later on. and speaking of amazon, talking to the latest star of an amazon original series, jason lee at post nine later this hour. the dow as kayla said up 31, apple trying to break through 120. back in a moment. >>> welcome back to "squawk alley." lending club and alibaba partnering up to provide financing to small u.s. businesses buying parts from chinese suppliers. the move comes as founder and chairman jack ma of alibaba has been pushing to enter markets beyond its home mark

and if you have both the staples and office depot in your neighborhood that may soon change.es is buying the smaller change. the deal still needs to be approved. >>> this year's super bowl was the most watched in television history. nearly 150 million viewers. but the way we get television is continuing to change. from cable to stellate aatelli streaming. joining us is ken auletta that. great to have you here today. >> nice to be here be. >> we talked about the death of television. and you yourself say the story has been over written. where do you think we stand. >> television, you think of the traditional media or legacy immediate yarks print newspapers, declining. magazines, declining. cable television, declining. hollywood studios, declining and shrinking. television actually is not declining. even though their audience is shrinking for particular channels. cbs has a smaller audience than ten years ago or five. same with nbc and the other. but what they have they didn't have some years ago. i wrote a book called "three blind mice" and said the television of broadcast telev

office depot & officemax. gear up for great. >>> all right. this just into cnn.spokesman for the kremlin confirms that russian president vladimir putin will be in minsk today for peace talks aimed at ending the conflict in ukraine. low-level negotiators have been trying to work out a tentative cease-fire deal between the pro-russian rebels and the ukrainian military. the question now, will the leaders of russia ukraine, germany and france will they have a deal they can sign when apparently they will be meeting later this morning in minsk? nic robertson joins us live with the latest. good morning, nic. >> reporter: good morning john. what we're hearing, the latest from the french is that an gel magela merkel and francois hollande we continue to hear leaks from russian media that the talks here the low-level contact meeting talks have been successful that there is a tentative agreement on a cease-fire and some steps forward beyond that. but we're also hearing from the ukrainian side that any talk of an agreement so far of the low-level meetings is a little too hast

if you have office depot and staples in your neighborhood, that may change, staples is buying the chain. the deal has to be approved. >>> this year's super bowl was the most watched program in television history, 115 million viewers but the way we get our television is continuing to change, from old media broadcast networks to cable, from satellite and now by streaming, with netflix and apple television adding to the mix. joining us to bring us what's next is ken auletta, the author and journalist and new yorker's media critic. >> nice to be here. >> we've talked about the death of television for decades at this point. and you yourself have said that story has been overwritten. where do you think we stand? >> i think television -- you think of traditional media or legacy media, print newspapers declining, magazines declining. cable television, declining. hollywood studios, declining and shrinking. television actually is not declining even though their audience is shrinking for channels, cbs has a smaller audience and same with nbc and all of the others. what they have they didn't have s

reports say staples and office depot are looking into a merger to stem off competition from walmart. >>> and the energizer bunny will keep going and going and going. the company will begin to sell aa-batteries made from partially recycled old batteries. these are the first in the major brand to use recycled material about 4%. part of the efforts to reduce the environmental impact of powering all our devices. back over to you. >>> landon dowdy from cnbc, thanks. >> and it's a cold start this morning. 19 degrees at nbc 10. the wind blowing makes it feel like 6 degrees. the winds are not as strong as yesterday. but you still have to bundle up this morning. watch out for icy spots. jillian mele is watching the roads from the first alert traffic center. >>> good morning to you, bill. what i'm looking at is the closure point of route 22 eastbound. so for drivers in the lehigh valley, 22 is shut down at 16th street. i'll get you around it coming up in a few minutes. >>> and it may not be snowing outside, but that doesn't mean the frigid temperatures are more fun to deal with. >> katy zachry

there are numerous reports that staples and office depot are in advanced merger talks. the fed stopped a similar effort almost 20 years ago out of antitrust concerns but that was before both chains faced competition from the web and big box retail stores. >>> william holden and cliff robertson brought them to the big screen, but in real life in world war ii, the devil's brigade was a first-rate american/canadian joint special forces commando unit. today the surviving members who are able received the congressional gold medal many years delayed. they once numbered 1,800 young men back in 1942. >>> when we come back, for decades we thought the story was over, but an american classic is now getting a sequel after all. >>> nbc "nightly news" is brought to you by pacific life. choose pacific life. the power to help you succeed. >>> the great american novelist harper lee gave us a great american book, "to kill a mockingbird," and then she disappeared. she gave her last wide-ranging interview when jfk was president. she lived in relative seclusion ever since. reportedly now in