wealth editor robert frank is live in manhattan with the details on that. , robert. >> reporter: hi, sue. thanks so much. we normally think of the private jet industry as riding above the economic clouds, kind of immune to problems, when in fact this industry took a huge hit during the recession. prices down, the wealthy cut back, companies cut back of course. we had had that huge scandal with the car executives in washington. still, there is no sign of recovery but that has led to some great opportunities for buyers and some great real bargains in this business. let's take a look at this plane as part of that whole value proposition. it is made out of a special carbon composite. it makes it lighter, far more fuel efficient and the cabin is bigger so you can squeeze more people in there. where we've really seen a big change is in the prices of used jets. we've got a couple examples we're going to show you now. first, a falcon 900. this sold for $18 million before the crisis. now selling for about $8 million. we also have a hawker that's selling for $9 millio

our wealth editor robert frank coming up on the hopes of revivingand.back in a moment.clearing throat) thank you, mr. speaker, uh, members of congress. in celebration of over 75 years of our government employees insurance company, or geico...as most of you know it. ...i propose savings for everyone! i'm talking hundreds here... and furthermore.. newcaster: breaking news. the gecko is demanding free pudding. and political parties that are actual parties! with cake! and presents! ah, that was good. too bad nobody could hear me. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. when we got married. i had three kids. and she became the full time mother of three. it was soccer, and ballet, and cheerleading, and baseball. those years were crazy. so, as we go into this next phase, you know, a big part of it for us is that there isn't anything on the schedule. >>> welcome back. facebook approaching 1 million members. in a fight to monetize the business, they're finding ways to leverage its greatest asset, information on its users. they're tracking

. >> our wealth editor robert frank looks at the impact.h julia on just how bad it is. >> it certainly looks lime game over after the company announced disappointing third quarter results. zynga shares are trading at new all-time lows. they were off more than 20% earlier today, though they have bounced back a bit. the problem here is that users are shifting away from social games to mobile apps and new titles like chefville and the 'ville are falling short of expectations. they've even pushed into mobile games but it's costly. they're writing off between 85 million and $95 million associated with that acquisition. because facebook drew 14% of its revenue from zynga in the first half of the year, this news today sent facebook's stock down over 2%. analysts have all lowered their estimates for facebook's payments revenue based on zynga's warning. in a blog, ceo mark pinkus wrote about zynga's potential in online games, but he acknowledged he needs to do some cuts. >> thank you so much, julia. before we get to robert frank, let's point out the

our web editor robert frank is in ft. lauderdale, florida, at biggest gathering of mega yachts in the u.s. quite an exclusive club, robert. >> reporter: it is, sue. every single mega yacht behind me that you see was made in europe. europeans account for 85% of the mega yacht market. a few years ago an american businessman asked an obvious question -- why? why can't americans also build mega yachts as big and as grand as the europeans? the last huge ship to be made in the u.s. was in 1930s for jpmorgan. why couldn't we do it now? >> the owner was really -- he's american and he just thinks that you could still get things like this built in the united states. and he wanted to give it a try. >> reporter: so the result is a boat called "cakewalk." the boat is more than 280 feet long, more than 12,000 square feet inside. again, the largest boat built in the united states since the 1930s. it was built in bridgeport, connecticut. more than 1,000 people were employed by this project. it's got six guest rooms. it's got a pool upstai

robert frank is on the story for us. robert, is there any plan in the next couple of hours, days, to secure this crane? >> there is, brian you and it is more days than hours. this is a very complicated rescue mission to get this crane secure. mayor bloomberg talked earlier about the need to get the winds down below 35 miles an hour before they can even send inspectors up to that crane. once they get there they are going to try to tie the crane to the support system and then figure out whether they need another crane to rescue this crane or whether they can take it apart piece by piece. either way, it's going to be days, perhaps over a week, before they can really at least secure it and maybe even start to take it apart piece by piece. meantime, this entire two-block area has been evacuated. now, the crowds and the traffic jams are really back in midtown, except for that two-block area underneath the crepe where, of course this 30-ton piece of steel is swinging above manhattan's tallest res depps skyscraper, still a very

robert frank tells us why ellison may have just tipped his hand. >> thanks, michelle.arry ellison made that lakers comment, i did a little poking around and found that, in fact, a piece of the lakers was for sale. the piece was owned by aeg. that's the sports group. aeg is currently up for sale for more than $10 billion. that's including the lakers piece. i posted a story two weeks ago after that interview saying that ell ellison's $4 billion in, quote, shopping money, as he called it, could, in fact, be used for an aeg bid. media reports confirmed that and said he is considering a possible bid for aeg, but the interest is preliminary. bankers say ellison probably wouldn't want all of the companies. $10 billion is a lot, even for ellison. he probably could just want the lakers piece. the l.a. kings, that's the hockey party of aeg, and maybe other pieces like the ten notice tour finals in london. that's also part of aeg. larry ellison also a big tennis as well as basketball fan. these sports trophies would add to ellison's personal empire, which by my account is the lar

robert frank joins me now for more on the crane in midtown manhattan. outside the building, robert? >> reporter: yes, we are, maria. as you heard the governor say, they're trying to get structural engineers here. in the meantime, the police and fire department have blocked off the entire area between 6th and 8th avenue on 57th street. it's a huge area. but if you look up at that crane, which should be pointing to the sky rather than toward the ground, that's a seven-story piece of crane that's hanging off there. i don't know how they're going to get up -- get workers up there to secure it or even to inspect it. so, in the meantime, they're trying to keep everybody clear of the area so there are no damages. a couple of important storylines with this building. it's not just any building. this one57 tower is the most high-profile residential new luxury development in manhattan. several billionaires are on the penthouse floors, purchasing apartments for more than $90 million. again, one of the most expensive buildings in the city. also the construction comp

robert frank is joining us now with the unbelievable story, a ceo basically said you're fired if you vote for romney. we have bertha coombs here with a company that's thinking about cutting back on hours if obama is re-elected. uber long intro aside, robert, let us -- >> i need a whiskey! >> i just work here. who was that and why did he say it? >> this story has exploded on the internet. the guy's name is david siegel. he's the ceo of westgate resorts. he sent an e-mail to employees saying if obama wins they could all lose their jobs. the e-mail said if any new taxes are lev veed on me or my company as our current president plans, i will have no choice but reduce the size of this company. he said if obama wins, you can find me in the caribbean sitting on the beach with no employees to worry about. what makes this e-mail so explosive, david siegel built the largest home in america. he and his wife built versailles, a 90,000 square foot palace near orlando. story was first told in the high beta rich, my book. in a phone interview last night, david told me, "i hav enough money to last t

robert frank on the story. >> very swanky. the tax breaks are amazing.stion everyone will be asking -- do billionaires pay $90 million for an apartment really need a tax break? a tax break aimed at low income folks? we'll dive into that issue next on "power lunch." [ male announcer ] what if you had thermal night-vision goggles, like in a special ops mission? you'd spot movement, gather intelligence with minimal collateral damage. but rather than neutralizing enemies in their sleep, you'd be targeting stocks to trade. well, that's what trade architect's heat maps do. they make you a trading assassin. trade architect. td ameritrade's empowering web-based trading platform. trade commission-free for 60 days, and we'll throw in up to $600 when you open an account. a short word that's a tall order. up your game. up the ante. and if you stumble, you get back up. up isn't easy, and we ought to know. we're in the business of up. everyday delta flies a quarter of million people while investing billions improving everything from booking to baggage claim. we're rai

back to you guys. >> cnbc's robert frank. thank you for that update and super storm sandy is causing a travel nightmare. 6,000 flights have been canceled for today, raising the total to nearly 16,000. there are headaches on the rails as well. amtrak canceling for a second day. let's bring in orbitz.com senior editor john tornatore. good morning. >> how long will it take to get things back to normal? do we even have an idea at this point? >> no one knows exactly when air travel will get back to normal, but certainly it won't be until late this week -- this coming weekend or early next week. it all just depends on when the airports in the new york metro area open back up and flights start resume schedules and certainly travelers who are planning to head out later this week should keep checking back with their airlines, but don't expect it to be so early next week. >> is there any trick of the trade if you're unlucky enough to be stuck somewhere? is there any way to get to where you need to go sooner? >> well, in a situation lik

our robert frank is on the phone. you've covered that high rise on wealth report. it's been under construction for a while. what can you tell us? >> reporter: as you mentioned, this is a very high-profile building to begin with. 90 stories tall. several of the penthouses have sold for more than $90 million apiece. so, we have several billionaires living in this building. the reason it's already been under scrutiny is there getting some tax breaks for buyers as well as the developer, originally aimed at low income tax pairs. so, this is a building already under some scrutiny, some controversy. no indication whether they've done anything wrong here but it means people will be watching this very closely to see if anyone was at fault with this crane or anything could have been done earlier because this building is so high profile. >> whoa heard reports they have evacuated the area below and around that building there just in case. certainly we hope for the best there. the reports we've this is the wind -- that high up, that's why they've encouraged people, even if you

our wealth editor robert frank is with us. this story literally blew my mind. >> it is amazing when you look at these numbers. more than half of the members of congress are in fact millionaires. many have seen their fortunes increase even during the recession. a report today from the "washington post" says that 253 members of congress are millionaires. their median net worth for the house is $746,000. for the senate it is $2.6 million. now wealth is spread equally between the gop and dems. 72 members have doubled their wealth since 2004. 73 of them have helped draft laws that help their companies or industries. voters are talking more and more about crony capitalism. to be fair, members of congress aren't doing as well as the rest of the millionaires. there are fewer millionaires in congress than there were eight years ago and 1 in 5 is worth less than they were in 2006. steny hoyer, for instance, lost 97% of his wealth even as his power in d.c. was growing. american millionaires have gotten most of their wealth back and the p

cnbc's robert frank joins us with all the details. good evening, robert. >> reporter: good evening, larry. very clear indeed. david siegel, the ceo of westgates resorts sent an e-mail to employees say figure obama wins, they could all lose their jobs. quote, if any new taxes are levied on me or my company as our current president plans, i will have no choice but to reduce the size of this company. he says, you can find me in the caribbean sitting on the beach with no employees to worry about. what makes this e-mail so explosive is that its author is david siegel. the man who built the largest home in america. he and his wife built a 90,000 square foot palace near orlando. he said it's not about his own fortunes. he said, i have enough money to last the rest of my life and for my children. but his workers, he says, are the ones who will be in trouble if obama is elected. he said, quote, i'm not telling them who to vote for, i just want them to be informed when they pull that lever. back to you, larry. >> robert, let me just clarify. is

cnbc's wealth reporter robert frank is live inside the swanky new learjet. off to us, robert. >> you either have to be really rich or the wealth reporter for cnbc. this certainly beats jetblue. i'm sitting inside the learjet 85. it is the latest weapon in the private jet wars. now this plane took years and billions of dollars to develop. it's being flex jet and bombardier. what makes this plane amazing is the materials. it is all made from a special carbon fiber composite which makes it lighter, more fuel efficient and faster and also it allows more people to both stand up, which i can almost do, as well as to fit inside this cabin. normally it fits around eight people which is highly efficient for a lot of companies doing many cities in one day. this aircraft was started with a clean sheet of paper. instead of flight logs, can you now put all your flight information on the ipad. instead of a lot of those busy knobs, they put it all on a giant flat screen. bombardier and flex jet are hoping that this plane can help them out of one of the worst crises in this

robert frank joining from us midtown. meantime we want to go to jon fortt back to the big story out of apple. heads of the ios as well as retail leaving the company. major management shake-up. all-important holiday season. what's the latest? >> couple of things i want to point out about this. i had a chance to get on the phone. also think about this a bit more. two key players who are staying in this shake-up, first of all, john, increased responsibility over user interface, software. that's particularly important because up until now has been -- harvard guy. now is having this leadership and advisory role over software. that reminds me of the sort of key jobs used to have in guiding the overall looking feel of apple's products. and -- he described him as being part of the soul of apple. johnny has always been very important to this organization. now his role even broader over all of apple's products. not just how they physically look and feel but how they actually work. that cannot be discounted. the other in this shake-

robert frank is live in new york city with more on that. robert? >> reporter: thanks, guys. well, i'm standing on 57th and 8th, just a couple of blocks from where this crane is hanging like a giant sword over midtown manhattan. here's what we know so far. at approximately 2:45 today the boom of that crane was blown over the cab, over the top and is now hanging over the building. the mayor has evacuated this entire area, all of the buildings directly surrounding 157, have been evacuated and including a hotel. the d.o.b. and the fire department has sent personnel up into that building, but as winds and rain get even worse here in midtown, it's unclear that there's any kind of temporary fix. for now, everybody is just waiting and hoping that this crane does not fall. now, this, of course, was already one of the most high-profile buildings in new york city, the tallest residential tower in manhattan, penthouses in this building selling for more than $90 million. the construction contractor who is ultimately responsible for the crane is also under scrutiny. this is the company th

our wealth editor robert frank is here with more. >> thanks, tyler.ell, china has been the lifeline for the luxury industry through this recession but the country's love of luxury may be cooling. look at this chart. revenue growth for luxury companies has fallen by more than 50%. now at 2009 levels really near the crisis. also concern maybe chinese wealthy and their overextension. millionaires in china are now spending twice as much on luxury as millionaires in europe or the u.s. more than $22,000 a year. now economists say that level of spending by these millionaires may be unsustainable. this could be a temporary pause in china but signs are that the chinese wealthy or what i call the ka-ching dynasty may be cutting back on their bling. tyler? >>> joining us here to discuss the state of the luxury retail market, the president and ceo of omega, which, by the way, is the official watch of james bond. welcome. more about mr. bond here in just a moment and how he likes his watches. i assume he likes like shaken and stirred, but let's talk a little bit f

robert frank will call in after this quick break to give us more on this.e has covered this particular building extensively. stay tuned. all energy development comes with some risk, but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today. domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... thank you, mr. speaker, uh, members of congress. in celebration of over 75 years of our government employees insurance company, or geico...as most of you know it. ...i propose savings for everyone! i'm talking hundreds here... and furthermore.. newcaster: breaking news. the gecko is demanding free pudding. and political parties that are actual par

cnbc's robert frank is in midtown new york, normally, robert, just because a crane disaster happened,t was right outside a $90 million condo, which is being constructed and hence, that's the correlation that i figured out. that's why we have you on this beat, right? >> reporter: exactly. where there are wealthy i'm there, and it's interesting a meeting has just started behind me. the oem, office of emergency management, the fire department, the building engineer, the crane operator, they're all meeting behind this fire truck to figure out how they're going to get this crane boom secure or down. if we take a look i was just talking to a building engineer who said that boom that's hanging off is more than 30 tons, so that's a seven-story piece of steel that's more than 30 tons, could be a very bad situation if it fell. now even though there's not much wind anymore it's still swaying, still some risk there. mayor bloomberg yesterday was quick not to assign blame, pointing out that it could have been just a freak gust of wind, perhaps 95 miles an hour around 2:00 yesterday that caused the

republicans and dems cannot agree even on a small cut like fundsing for pbs, as well as wealth reporter robert frankointing out yacht owners don't need the money but get a bunch of tax breaks. tell us about this, robert. >> that's right, maria, if you own a mega yacht behind me you've probably gotten a visit from the tax man. they are becoming targets. brazil launched a team of $30 people boarding yacht by helicopters looking for tax evasion. italy and france throughout the summer were boarding yachts in the mediterranean. if you put the word yacht in your tax return you're guaranteed an audit in the u.s. three main tax strategies are under scrutiny. first is sales taxes. a lot of boats in ft. lauderdale were registered offshore. remember, john kerry got in trouble for this in the u.s. for registering his boat in rhode island, ended up paying the massachusetts tax bill anyway. the second area is mortgage deduction. under certain circumstances you can deduct the mortgage of your yacht as a second home. people are increasingly looking at this. democrats every year, every six months ask for this to be

robert frank has the latest on the news today. robert. >> thanks, michelle.l's e-mail touched off an online fire storm after we first reported it yesterday morning. this was the e-mail in which the westgate resort ceo told his employees if obama is elected i might have to lay off all my workers or shut down the company and fire all 7,000 of them. yesterday, david siegel told us he wasn't threatening his workers, just educating them. mark cuban isn't buying it. he said he thinks siegel's e-mail shows perhaps poor judgment. telling or forcefully suggesting how your employees should vote is the exact way to create problems among your workers and reduce productivity, he tweeted. i received calls from many westgate employees yesterday. their reaction was a little more mixed. some said they agreed with siegel and were proud of the comments. others say he did the same thing in the 2008 election and that siegel was again strongly suggesting that workers, quote, vote for his party. look, it's his company. he can do what he wants. while this may not be the textbook man

robert frank has been there all day today. he joins us on the telephone. robert, what can you tell us? all day yesterday we were asking, how is it possible that the construction company left this crane on the top of this high rise knowing what we were expecting? >> yeah, that is the question that everyone's going to be asking. lawyers in particular over the coming days. right now it remains a very dangerous situation here in midtown. as you mentioned, there's a multiton crane still hanging from more than 70 stories above one of the busiest streets in midtown manhattan. that's 57th street. mayor bloomberg said before once the winds die down, they have to die down to below 30 miles an hour, the crews can start to get up there and secure that giant boom and then either start to dismantle it or bring up another crane, which will have to rescue this crane. we've seen crane crews try to go up there today, but it's been too windy. the lawsuits on this, the blame game that hasn't started yet in public, but you can be sure it's going on behind the scenes. not just t

our wealth editor robert frank explains why. >> withis is the e-mail that's exploded on the internetay. it's written by david siegel, the ceo of westgate resorts. he said if obama wins, they could all lose their jobs, quote, if any new taxes are levied on me or my company, as our current president plans, i will have no choice but to downside. you can find me in the caribbean sitting on a beach with no employees to worry about. what makes this e-mail so provocative is its author, david siegel. he's the man best known for building the largest home in america. he and his wife jackie built a 90,000-square palace just outside of orlando. he said it's about his workers. they would be the big losers if obama gets another four years. he told me he wasn't threatening his workers or even telling them how to vote, just to educate them before they pull that lever in 27 days. bill. >> robert, thank you. >> don't move, robert. we're going to bring in the ceo who actually wrote the letter. westgate resorts david siegel joins us now on the phone. also joining us is carly fior a fiorina, who sat at t

our wealth reporter robert frank is at the largest mega yacht show in america, down in ft.auderdale, florida. is that a yacht you are standing on? >> it is, brian. >> good grief! >> especially these super yachts are really the ultimate luxury. you can imagine getting on to the swim deck with a nice cold one after swim being in the mediterranean. but these hyperluxuries come at a hyperprice. let's say you spent $40 million or $60 million on a boat. well, the costs are just beginning. to keep that boat afloat costs mlgs more every year. the biggest costs of owning a yacht is crew. like these guys. a boat of 200 feet or more could have a crew of 12, 14, even 20 people. at over 100,000 euros per crew member per year, they liked to paid in neurowe in euros, that'n to $2 million a year. these diesels use up to a half million dollars just to fill the tank. insurance could be up to 7.5% of the boat's value. that could be up to $1 million a year. we also have the costs of food, beverages, all that wine andcha flowers. all of which could add up to between $1 million and $3 million a

robert frank -- >> i do own a tv. >> fair enough. what happened last night?ll started with president obama's little jab at donald trump and his, well, smallness. during the tax debate, romney said the top earners are really small businesses and they should not be taxed more. obama said they're more like donald trump and they should pay more. >> i'm not going to reduce the share of taxes paid by high-income people. high-income people are doing just fine in this economy. they'll do fine whether you are president or i am. >> after the trash talk on donald trump, obama attacked -- >> they're all a bunch of millionaires and billionaires who are small businesses. donned trumps is a small business. i know donald trump doesn't like to think of himself as small anything, but that's how you define small business, if you are getting business income. >> that's the right sound bite. after that sound bite, obama then attacked jet owners saying if you have a private jet you should be taxed more. even romney, he's pretty wealthy himself, he refused to come to the support of

cnbc's wealth editor robert frank is here with more. they are going to spend. >> americans as a whole are expected to spend about 3% less this christmas but the 1%ers, they're going to be burying the tree this year with gifts. a survey from american express publishing shows 1% plans to spend 33% more this holiday season on gifts. their total spending will rise by $600 million. that's more than $3,500 per household and more than seven times what the rest of the americans will spend, on average. now the tale of two christmases is really being driven by economics. the wealthy have recovered almost all their wealth since the crisis. that's because of these booming stock markets. the rest of america is still dealing with high unemployment and the weak housing market. so gifts are the rich buying, to your question? well, 39% of the percenters plan splurge for their spouses. that's spend more than $5,000 for a single gift. women will get clothing, jewelry, spa treatments. they're extremely likely to buy gifts for themselves. they're also buyin

and our wealth editor, robert frank. >> who needs wings?id you can get private jets cleeper now. facebook, 1 billion active users today despite the social network's growth. ceo mark zuckerberg admits the road has not been easy after the ipo debacle in may. shares of facebook down more than 40% since it went public. a billion users. this is good news for you. >> sure. it's good news. we saw this coming. i actually think the more interesting number is not the billion number, it is the 600 million mobile users that facebook announced it has. that means that facebook's mobile users continue to grow faster than its overall user base which has a double edged sword there. it is good news but they're also not making as much money from those users as their desktop users so they got to get to work. >> i'm one of the 6 billion people who don't have a facebook count. has facebook hit its peak? >> the two numbers i found interesting. first is number one. that's how many drawers mark zuckerberg has in his closet. he has $57 million house. you think you c

our wealth reporter is robert frank. you have details. >> that's right. now may be your time. may be in luck. many of the french rich are planning to leave the country after its tax on millionaires. that's caused a huge jump jump in the number of high-price the homes for sale, especially in paris. brokers say there are 400 homes that have just come on the market in recent months priced at $1 million or more. that's a 25% increase. prices are also under pressure, down by around 5% from last year. that doesn't mean you're going to get bargains here, however. paris real estate is still scarce. that's because the city's building restrictions demand from other europeans who want to be in paris but wouldn't be affected by these taxes. what do you get for more millions in france? not much. $5.5 million will get you a 1900-square foot apartment. that's three bedrooms and two kitchens. a little more pricey, $18 million gets you a little more space around 5200 square feet in an exclusive community in paris with a terrace and garden. if the french riviera is more your thing, there's a pi

walker evan, dorothy lang, robert frank. their iconic images documented the plight of the poor and divisions in race and class. >> doug has a similar, you know, sort of social dock euptary purpose behind this work. it's art but it also has a deep sort of political message to it. >> the sort of drive-by picture-taking is symbolic in a way of the anonymous, you know, nature of how these people live. even the textures of the images which is almost broken down in terms of the digital artifacts and the picks layings, it feels poetic i think is the right word. >> reporter: rickard manipulates the original google images to heighten that sense of isolation. like his predecessors, he wants to sh a spotlight on those often out of view. >> they're invisible. you know, they're cordoned off. in terms of voice and in terms of economic power. >> there's beauty but there's also, you know, sort of desolation and loneliness. >> reporter: rickard says all he has to do is type three letters into a search engine to delve into an america in strug

. >>> it was a story that our wealth editor robert frank -- we called him swanky franky -- brought to a couple of days ago here on "power lunch." millionaires and billionaires, the swanky, getting massive tax breaks for moving into a swanky condo building in new york. we said it would cause outrage, and indeed it has. robert is here with new developments. >> just to continue the rhymes, it's made some people cranky! well, city officials are now taking a closer look at those tax breaks that are given to new york's tallest and most glamorous condo tower. the tower is called 157 and at least two billionaires have shelled out more than $90 million for penthouses in that building. but along with great views they're also getting sky high tax breaks of up to $200,000 a year, each. it is part of a program designed to encourage low-income housing. now city councilman brad lander told me that the tax breaks are "an outrageous giveaway." he says it is costing the city millions of dollars as a time of austerity and now sources tell me that the city's building department is scrutinizing the applic

our reporter robert frank is live in ft. lauderdale where they don't have a hurricane on the way. wing the yacht economy and all the details, good morning, robert. >>> good morning, thank you very much. well, the yachting industry is an $85 billion-a-year business. a little like the weather in florida this morning, the industry is going through some very stormy seas. let me give you some numbers as an example. in 2008, there were orders for more than 100 new boat of 130 feet or more, mega yachts. that number fell from 100 to 10 the following year, a drop of more than 90%. now things are coming back a little bit, but basically prices for used boats are open more than 10%, 2 0%. sales way down. china's good, other parts of the world are fine. but industry, sales are still off by more than half of what they used to be. let's take a listen. >> this is bad. it's been bat since 2008 when the crisis hit. >> we saw the two big boats, more than 170 feet, they are understanding the meaning of buying yachts. china needs. they are growing but have not passed in this business. >> now at this bo

thanks so much robert frank. i want to take one quick look at hewlett-packard. during its history. down again today. analysts are out in force. downgrading to neutral. had a target price of 21. they are suspending that and say they have lower confidence in the company's long turn around strategy. but today is the discussion about jobs. jack welch

robert frank is in new york on the scene with the latest. robert?> reporter: there is some new information. i spoke to the fire chief who came out of the big meeting with the building developer, the engineer, the crane op rater and he said they're at the mercy of the weather. they cannot do anything including inspecting the crane until the winds up there die down to less than 35 miles an hour. let's take a look and i'll tell you the latest plan for d dismantling this crane over midtown manhattan to the tallest residential building in the city. that top connector between the crane support and the building, cranes will have to walk across, climb up the stairs, get into the crane to start inspecting it. now once they're up there the plan is to try to tie that crane down, the support beam, and disma dismantle it. this, of course, as you can tell will be a very long process and could take days even if the weather improves and right now the winds up there are still gusting at more than 50 miles an hour. so there's no plan to even get up there today. this

robert frank has more on an office e-mail now being read around the world.l's the ceo of westgate resorts, sent an e-mail to employees saying if obama wins, they could all lose their jobs. the e-mail said that "if any new taxes are levied on me or my company as our current president plans, i will have no choice but to reduce the size of this company." he said he may even consider shutting down the company entirely meaning all 7,000 workers would lose their jobs. if obama wins, he says, "you can find me in the caribbean sitting on a beach with no employees to worry about." now what makes this e-mail even more explosive, simon, is its author, david siegel, the man who built the largest home in america. he and his wife, jackie, built versailles, that 90,000 square foot palace near orlando. the first story was told in the book "the high beta rich." siegel buckled under $1 billion in debt during the crisis, we to lay off 5,000 workers, versailles wanted a technical foreclosure proceedings. the house was put up for sale. siegel says he's back now, he's paid off hi

for cnbc, i'm robert frank. >> that's a lot of money for some rocks.ites, the auctions event is this sunday in manhatt manhattan. >> i know where you'll be this sunday carl. >> with my checkbook. >> don't spend too much. >> see you monday, have a great weekend. see new 30 minutes. here's what you missed earlier on this morning. >> welcome to hour three of "squawk on the street." here's what's happening so far. >> bernanke and draghi it's like babe ruth and lou goherrig, the have committed there's not going to be a depression. everyone else is worried, you have tremendous liquidity, you couldn't borrow money four years ago, now money is cheaper than it's been and you can have all you want of it. >> that's the thing that's missing in this government, a fundamental understanding of how to reward proper behavior. tax policy in america can cause people to behave in any desirable way. increase taxes and all you do is kill incentive and kill investment. >> but jpmorgan came out good, wells fargo has explaining to do. that's an unusual position. [ bell ringing

he's accompanied there my senators robert menendez, senator frank lautenberg, representative frank labdono, and the brigantine mayor, as well as atlantic county executive, dennis levenson. i want to go back to mike viqueira, are you still there? >> reporter: yes. >> you've observed this opposition to this president. we've had senator mitch mcconnell publicly say that his determination is to deny this man a second term. do you think that what is happening right now, before our eyes, is likely to spill over? should the president win re-election in some way, so that he'll be able to reach to the other side and say, look, the way we've been doing things for the last four years doesn't make any sense to the american people. >> reporter: i think that we can all hope that that's the case. i would seriously doubt it. >> really?! so another four years of gridlock. >> reporter: after we suffered the worst terrorist disaster imaginable, what was unthinkable, that happened on september 11th, members of congress joined on the steps of the congress and sang "god bless america," i was there, it was a ver

frank somerville. >> some are calling it threatening. ktvu's robert handa is live with a look at a display by a homeowner who is denouncing president obama. robert? >> reporter: over nigh shoulder you can see the deplay some call racist -- display some call racist. thanks to the internet people can get a close look and determine its message for themselves. >> reporter: many people we saw today took a second look

frank, you have a couple people with you. >> reporter: i have robert from manteca. what time did you get here this morning? >> we got here at 11:00 last night but we slept in my car for a couple hours. >> reporter: you slept in your car? did you see mayor lee's jacket? >> beautiful colors. >> reporter: what did you think? >> very bright. very colorful. >> reporter: i'm here to tell you, folks, we found the extension cord to mayor lee's jacket. we have unplugged it and when he speaks out here in 15, 20 minutes, it won't be so bright. >> reporter: that was his joke. >> thank you. and i was just talking to our meteorologist lawrence cano told me the champagne will not rain on the parade. >> reporter: it's raining confetti. brandon you were a 5-year-old kid rooting for the giants. what must be going through your head? >> it's unbelievable. it really is a dream come true. i wanted to play with the giants. when i was in that 5-year-old picture i wanted to play for them and 20 years later actually coming true, it's awesome. >> reporter: how long you going to be a giant? >>

but -- >> jimmy: no, yeah. [ light laughter ] >> i mean, i was asked by frank darabont, who created the show along with robertmbies, so let's forget about the dialect. so he said, "would you stay in all the time?" and that's what happened. i mean, 85 -- >> jimmy: what happens when you visit home? >> well, when i come home, my wife -- my wife and kids just think i'm crazy. i have two children. one's 5, and one's 3 years old, and they just don't get it. they're like, "what are you doing, dad?" >> jimmy: she's like -- [ in british accent ] "honey, we need to change the baby's nappy." and you go -- [ in southern accent ] "we got to change the baby's diaper, woman." yeah, yeah. [ laughter and applause ] >> that's it. >> jimmy: and that's what happens all night long. >> i'm married to dick van dyke. [ laughter ] >> jimmy: my accent's not very good, yeah. >> no, it's great. >> jimmy: exactly. thank you. i'm working on that. but you did get busted though once. where you were celebrating on the set? >> yeah, it was my birthday in september. and i came out of dialect. >> jimmy: everyone's throwing you a big party. >> e

frank lautenberg and a f contributor. >> thanks so much. >> eric: you just heard john roberts say that both sides have attack ads out, calling each other liars. how do the rotors sort this out. >> >> eric: as haley barbour is fond of saying, it is not rocket science, voters want mitt romney to convince them that that he has a plan to make america recover faster than president obama and that his policies will improve the lives of all americans over the next four years. he is effective when he draws contrasts between the president's failed policies and when he would do differently and reinforcing it saying, i am a principled, but practical candidate, i am willing to work across party lines to fix america's most pressing problems. >> eric: julie, what does the president need to do to bounce back? >> what he has been doing all along, you saw him leading in the polls because the president's campaign has been incredibly effective in the swig -- swing state, convincing voters that mitt romney shouldn't be trusted and nothing in romney's record as governor of massachusetts or bain capital would reflect well in the presidency. look,

. >> bill: all right, here we go in frank sessno will be here at the top of the hour. robertit is go defense. i go to prison possibly death row. linda adds one of the casualties of war are women being raped. there are no way to defend these people's comments. and no way to defend mitt romney refusing to repudiate richard mourdock. it's a crime! build a ground-breaking car. good. now build a time machine. go here, find someone who can build a futuristic dash board display. bring future guy back. watch him build a tft display like nothing you've ever seen. get him to explain exactly what that is. the thin film transistor display... [ male announcer ] mmm, maybe not. just show it. customize the dash give it park assist. the fuel efficiency flower thing. send future guy home his work here is done. destroy time machine. win some awards, send in brady. that's how you do it. easy. [♪ theme music ♪] >> bill: good morning, everybody. it is friday, october 26th. great to see you today, and welcome to the "full court press" here on current tv. so good to see you today. thanks for joinin