scott cohn, cnbc, reston, virginia. >>> bad weather in florida tonight. we just learned it's a scrub for the shuttle mission. the fifth attempt to get it off the ground. they'll hope six is a charm tomorrow night. they have to take one new astronaut up, take one back from the international space station. 16-day scheduled mission. >>> finally tonight we take you to washington, d.c., where the line of tourist buses coming into town starts in about may and runs through late august. it's a hugely popular summer vacation destination, for good reason. if you go to washington this summer, specifically arlington national cemetery, we want you to look for some very special people. their job is to care for our nation's treasure in a way. they make personal sacrifices for those who made the ultimate sacrifice for country, and they are making a difference in the process. their story tonight from our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski. >> reporter: it was shortly after sunrise today when the small army began to arrive. >> it will be a good day. >> reporter: 400 s

breaking news, scott cohn. scott. >> thank you, michelle. the justice department is asking for a stay of discovery in the s.e.c. case against stanford d financial group. this is fairly common when you have parallel civil and criminal investigations. the justice department says in a motion just filed in dallas, that it would give the discovery -- the defense is allowed to conduct discovery here, it will give them some peek into the government's evidence in the criminal case. but the potential here is that it will delay things further for the alleged victims in this case. many people have had their assets frozen since february when the s.e.c. filed suit. and in the criminal case, the judge in that case has just approved an unspecified delay in a trial that was supposed to start on august 25th. they won't set the new schedule until august 17th. so the effect here is that things have slowed down now considerably in the legal proceedings in the stanford case. that can't be good news for the alleged victims. guys? >> back to julie and steve. steve

surviving and me re the story tonight from cnbc's scott cohn. >> reporter: our annual cnbc study ranks0 states in ten categories, including the quality of work force, infrastructure, cost of doing business there. at number five this ar, utah. it wins points for its quality of life but falls two places from last year on a wave of foreclosures. climbing to number four is iowa. which boasts the lowest cost of doing business in the nation. number three, colorado, is fighting the slowdown by pushing green jobs. allowing companies like bella energy in the solar business to double its work force. >> we have a statewide initiative to require the utilities to use a certain percentage of renewables. and that forced the utilities to develop solar friendly rates that spurred the market. >> reporter: texas number two. it was tops in our study last year. but with energy prices half what they were then the state has lost some steam. america's top state for business, 2009, virginia. a perennial business favorite for its friendly regulatory client. even in the recession some businesses are growing. lik

cnbc's senior correspondent scott cohn is outside the federal prison in butner, north carolina. hey, scott. >> trish, today is the first day of the rest of bernie madoff's life, and it's here in butner, north carolina. a medium security institution where he arrived a short time ago. we will show you that, and tell you about his new digs. when "the call" continues. come on in. you're invited to the chevy open house. where getting a new vehicle is easy. because the price on the tag is the price you pay on remaining '08 and '09 models. you'll find low, straightforward pricing. it's simple. now get an '09 silverado xfe with an epa estimated 21 mpg highway for under 28 thousand after all offers. go to chevy.com/openhouse for more details. last month, this woman wasn't even able to get around inside of her own home. they chose mobility. and they chose the scooter store! if you or a loved one live with limited mobility call the scooter store! no other company will work harder to make you mobile or do more to guarantee your complete satisfaction. if we pre-qualify you for a new power cha

we begin here tonight with cnbc's scott cohn. good eveni. >> reporter: good evening, brian. for all the glimmers of hope we have seen in the economy this is just the opposite. mes in record numbers. their one in every 84, at least threatened with foreclosure this year. among them, maricella and burt hichner in san diego, after trying to work something out with their lender for a year they could lose their home as soon as next week. >> it is causing a lot of stress in my family, in my kids, and especially my husband. and i just -- you know, want this to be over. >> reporter: the housing market and the job market are spinning the economy in a vicious cycle. people losing their jobs, then falling behind on their mortgages, and losing their homes. sending home prices falling, hurting the economy even more. 22% of homeowners are under water on their mortgages they owe more than their home is rth. so some are just walking away. all this despite the massive mortgage relief program unveiled in february. >> this will enable as many as 3 million to 4 million homeowners to modify the t

we've got to go to scott cohn, he has breaking news right now. thanks, gentlemen. scott? >> melissa, confirming a story we broke on cnbc on wednesday, bernard madoff's outside auditor david freelying, waiving his indictment, waiving his right to be charged by an indictment in the case against him. he was charged in march in six criminal counts, but it's not a done deal as far as any plea agreement. so he has pleaded not guilty for now, as the two sides condition discussions about whether he will come to some sort of plea agreement. he has waived his right to indictment. that's a step. if he was going to fight the charges, he would have insisted on a grand jury indictment. but pleading not guilty and department of justice saying that -- that the discussions continue, apparently aimed at t some sort of a resolution. he remains free on bond, and the next hearing is not until october. so it could be a while before we find that the -- the fate of david free ling, who the government had until today to indict, but that has been continued now as freelg waves the indictment. >> th

scott cohn is there. so, scott, the big reveal, where are you? >> well, we're not going to get to it right away, rebecca. we've got to tease you a little bit more. remind you of the hints we've been tormenting you with all day. let's review. the first hent is got milk? music city usa. the third hint, this place is for real. and the fourth hint, cross that bridge when you get to it. so now, without further ado, let's take a look at this year's version of america's top state for business. it has been a year of seismic shifts in american business and in the competitive landscape. an economy turned upside-down. what state has what it takes to emerge from all that? america's top state for business 2009, virginia. the old dominion state regains its dominion in business, rebounding from its number two finish last year, with 1478 out of 2500 points. virginia wins its top marks in the business friendliness category. the second friendliness state behind neighboring delaware for the second year in a row. in the state's hard fought and closely watched govern

cnbc's scott cohn is at a very secret location with the answer. tt. >> the rec set location, melissa, is the number one state. we'll give you another hint about that in a moment. we do this every year, rank all 50 states in ten categories of competitivaneness and weigh the based on how often they're cited in marketing materials. so we grade the states on their own score card. let's move ahead with our countdown now on state number four. >> iowa, the hawkeye state, makes its debut in our top five at number four, up from number nine last year. iowa scores 1394 out of a possible 2500 points. iowa boasts the lowest cost of doing business in the country. and while the national economy was melting down, iowa's mostly agriculture economy surged by comparison. the fourth-best economy in the country. it was number 29 in that category last year. not that iowa is immune to the downturn. unemployment at 6.2% is rising, though still well below the national average. foreclosures are up from last year, but still far below the national rate. the top individual inc

scott cohn has the latest on the madoff saga that continues. ott. >> maria, cnbc has learned that there is apparently a big plea coming up in the madoff case. the outside auditor david frieling who was first charged with six criminal counts in march. the government has now filed an intent to file an information. what that means is frieling is expected to waive his right to an indictment and that usually is a precursor according to legal experts of some sort of a plea. we don't know if there's a plea agreement in terms of cooperation, but clearly it looks as though an important witness is about to turn in the madoff case.e. that being david frieling, the outside auditor. maria, back to you. >> scott, thanks very much. scott cohn, an important developing there in the madoff case. we'll continue following it. and as scott has new breaking developments, of course, we'll go back to him. meanwhile, we've got the dow jones industrial average up 250 points. 8610. you've got the banks up between 5% and 12% on average. technology up between 5% and 8%. maj

that figures into it as well. >> scott cohn, thanks very much. we'll talk about all of this with our market gurus in two minutes. coming up on the program, baling out small business. uh-huh? obviously a few questions on this one like where did this come from? we will drill down with our panel, jerry boyer, rob and joe. somebody has to explain to me, the state is going to extend credit to small business, how can i pony up? and kudlow 101, why i am concerned the fed has deflated the money supply and in turn deflated the stock market rally and deflation trade for commodities and energy and selling treasury bonds. a lot of hedge funds have lost a lot of money in the last month because they bet wrong on momentum. "the kudlow report" has momentum. we'll be right back to cover it all. get ready, folks, sign up, small business loans, you to, too, can get the ta.a.r.p. money for you backya backyard. nnouncer) this is nine genations of the world's most revered luxu sedan this is a history of ove 50,000 crash-tested cars. this is the world record for longev

cnbc's scott cohn at the breaking news desk right now. >> maria, this could be a breaking turn in to who else knew about bernie madoff's fraud. the auditor for more than 15 years is apparently about to plead guilty to criminal charges. they charged him with six counts with a criminal account back in march. they have until this friday to indict him, but today they filed papers that indicate freeling is about to enter a guilty plea. they intend to file a criminal information upon his indictment. that's normally a precursor to a guilty plea. we should point out even if he does plead guilty it doesn't mean that freeling has agreed to cooperate in the investigation, but if he does, it could help lead prosecutors to the accomplices they've been looking for and investors they've been looking for. sources have told cnbc as many as ten other people could be charged with the madoff investigation which is intensifying even though the man at the top, bernie madoff, checked into his new prison home in north carolina yesterday. >> thanks very much. scott cohn has been following the madoff story fr

cnbc's senior correspondent scott cohn is hot on his heels. he is in butner, north carolina. to you, scott. >> reporter: butner, north carolina where you saw bernie madoff arrive a short time ago. he is used to villas, mansions, and chauffeur-driven limousines. but today it was a long ride on a bus from atlanta, where he was there on an intermediate stop from his jail cell in new york where he had been since march to here in the medium security federal correctional facility in butner, north carolina. it's part of a sprawling complex that madoff will be serving the beginning of his sentence in. just after 11:00 this morning, he arrived, got off the bus, with about half a dozen other inmates. and he was taken off the bus, patted down, and preparing now to begin his life behind bars. the life sentence. the particular facility that he is in is relatively small. it is about 725 inmates. and so that may give some control. but it is a medium security facility, not a low security facility.. and this is bernie madoff's new home for a typical cell in a federal medium security fast i wi

. >> but first, scott cohn is in. we don't know where he is because it's a secret as he reveals the top states for business, all day here on cnbc. scott? >> rebecca, welcome to my world. half the time i don't know where i am. i know where i am today. it's america's top state for business. annual countdown. we'll start it and give you the first of our diabolical hints as to where we are, top state for business. that's coming up on "squawk on the street." right now, 1.5 million people are on a conference call. 750,000 wish they weren't. - ( phones chirping ) - construction workers are making 244,000 nextel direct connect calls. 1 million people are responding to an email. - 151 accidentally hit "reply all." - ( foghorn blows ) that's happening now. america's most dependable 3g network bringing you the first wireless 4g network. - sprint. the now network. - ( whoosh sound ) deaf, hard of hearing and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com. know-it-all... expert. a guru. how about wu? wu will do. where t

cnbc's senior correspondent scott cohn joins us with number three state for business. scott. >> hi, steve. where are we? well, you'll find that out in due course. but let's continue with our countdown as we rask all 50 states in ten categories of competitiveness. we know utah was number five, iowa number four, and here is state number three. nch>> colorado, the centennial state, makes a return appearance in our top five. number three up from number five last year. colorado scored 1405 out of a possible 2500 points. this state makes its strongest showing in the economy category. number five, up from number eleven last year, as well as business-friendliness where it repeats its performance on legal requirements. colorado is bucking economic slow down with its two-year push toward green jobs. including wind and solar energy. which now account for as many as 91,000 jobs in the state. unemployment is still rising, but at 7.6%, holding below the national average. and colorado is rebounding from the real estate crisis, while the rest of the country suffers. foreclosures are d

. >>> i'm scott cohn with your cnbc market wrap. ocks closing mied. the d lost 37 points. down 3 ints. oil dropped below $59 a barrel adding to th biggest weekly decline sinclatejanuary. the drop com as investo brace for next week's corporate earnings reports. >>> neral motors emerged from bankruptcyprotection today leaner now that it's fre massive de and burdsome contracts. the new gm promises to be more responsive tooonsumer nee. >>> aig is preparing to pay millions of promised buses to several executives next wee but it's reportly looking to quietly get the government's approval this time arod to avoid setting off yet another firestorm of controversy. according to "the new york times," aig is looking to dole ou $2.4 milln in bonuses. that's it from cnb first in busine worldwide, now back to msnbc. >>> welcome bk. i'm david shuster live in washington. >> and i'm tamron hall live in new yorkn this friday. so this e, david, is aeal big picture. it's a small picture that launched a thousd words abo president obama. beginning late thuday afternoon,this picte appeared on thed

. >> we're going to have to stop one second, my buddy from chicago, scott cohn has breaking news. what is it, scott? >> more about the allen stanford case, the court-appointed receiver, the guy who is supposed to identify any assets that belong to stanford and recover them for investors is suing some 400 investors. he's seeking claw backs, basically, you put all of your money into these stanford certificates of deposit, which the fcc and the prosecutors say are fraudulent. the receiver is taking a position that that money all went into a pool, all was diverted by alan stanford and anybody who had any money left in the accounts that were frozen, that's something that should go back to the receivers. these people who have had their accounts frozen from february and in many cases these people with all of their life savings in here, now they're told they're never going to get any of that money back or not the flying share of it, it all has to go back to the receiver. he has filed this in dallas, 140-page filing here among lots of other filings today. basically the receiver is going aft

cnbc's senior correspondent scott cohn is at earnings central right now at the nerve center with more. scott? >> maria, general electric chairman jeff immelt said on a conference call this morning he's feeling good about the quarter and in particular the embattled ge capital segment even though its profits fell 80% from a year ago. but it eked out a half billion dollar profit for the quarter and the company says it has made great strides in shrinking that capital division, which is something they've been working on in earnest since the start of the financial crisis. still, there is some skepticism reflected in the drop of the stock today. as matt said, they were up going into the profit report but a 6% drop in the stock today, that's not pretty. analysts have been asking if the company is reserving enough for future writedowns in the real estate market. the company said today it is 173% reserved, adding another 175 million to those reserves in the quarter. and what about the quality of these earnings? a lot of that profit came from cost cutting, cutting costs 14% or so last quarter al

. >> we have breaking news right now from scott cohn. breaking news on allen stanford. >> that's right, trish. this report obtained by cnbc under the freedom of information act, the internal report of the s.e.c. looking into how the matter was handled of allen stanford and the alleged $8 billion ponzi scheme. the inspector general who has been very independent throughout these financial scandals says the agency did not reach its obligation to vigorously pursue the case, but the urgency increased after bernie madoff confessed to his ponzi scheme in september. but this report raises questions, as well. the report says that the s.e.c. effectively halted its investigation last year after bringing in department of justice to assist in the case, and essentially lead the way. and that the s.e.c. halted its investigation at the request of department of justice. this is something that has ran ankled the alleged victims, although very common in cases like this, where the s.e.c. basically runs out of tools to pursue the case, and that seems to be w

i'm scott cohn. >>> and this is a live picture of wall street as we enter the final and most important hour of the trading day. we are watching this market under some selling pressure today on wall street. as we wrap up another week. we are beginning our summer on the street series. hi, everybody. welcome to "the closing bell." i'm maria bartiromo, today coming to you from outside the new york stock exchange, right at federal hall, as we kick off our annual summer on the street. we'll be here on fridays in the summertime, give you a little taste of what's going on outside the new york stock exchange. joining me for the entire hour today, duncan niederauer, ceo nyse you'euronext. we've got some sun here. >> maybe you brought it with you. thanks for being here. nicest day we've had all summer. >> glad we're able to do it now the weather's a little nicer. let me get your take real quick. we had tim geithner testifying earlier. what was your take on that? anything strike you? >> pretty consistent, priet? i think secretary geithner is continuing to say it's going to be about transparency, i

. >> scott cohn right now, detail on this breaking news, scott working it and got more for us. scott? >> james davis, the chief financial officer of stanford financial, in a plea agreement we first reported here on cnbc july 1st now confirmed in federal court before a magistrate, in at least procedurally, he has entered a plea of not guilty will be free on $500,000 bond so they can alert victims who want to speak at his plea proceeding that is what happened in the madoff situation. madoff would plead guilty, then did he so. aim same thing here, the key witness in what the government says is an $8 billion ponzi scheme scheme and sets up a dynamic so often in these cases, chief financial officer testifying against the chief executive officer alan stanford, pleaded not guilty, behind bars pending his trial. we will see james davis out here shortly and have more as we get t back to you. >> thanks, scotty. >>> earnings season under way what can we expect as the real question? joining us is jj burns, president of jj burns and company. good to see you at a decent hour. not a salacious

. >> i'm scott cohn. did bernie madoff really spill his guts to a plaintiff's lawyer in prison after refusing to name names for so many months? we'll tuck to that lawyer live on cnbc in a first on cnbc interview coming up. >> wouldn't surprise me, because in the end, they always want to talk. let's get to market action. the major averages having their biggest three-day drop in as many weeks. oil getting pummeled. bob pi san see kicks it off at the new york stock exchange. roberto. here is the big question. we have been here before, weakness in the early part of the day, but markets have been resilient, keep coming back late in the day. so here is the market test. let's see if we can come back from this minor market set back here. let's look at the steel stocks, and folks, you knew wurp going to get smacked around with commodity names. mittal, not a full recovery, and u.s. steel and nipan in japan are weak. as are all commodity stocks. chinese stocks are weak, a 5% drop in shanghai today, so all of the big

scott cohn joining us from outside that penitentiary in north carolina. >>> we're waiting for the nextthat is goldman sachs, they're on deck. expected to get their numbers in 15 minutes or so. we'll get the numbers in the instant analysis. >>> breaking economic numbers on the way, retail sales, ppi also coming out at 8:30. >>> the biggest shrub sluggers in baseball going yard at the home run derby. is the business of major league baseball knocking the ball out of the park? darren with the hits, runs and errors. one four star hotel. two identical rooms. so why does this one cost so much less on hotwire.com? because when four star hotels have unsold rooms, they use hotwire to fill them, so you get them at prices lower than any other travel site. guaranteed. like four stars in san francisco, travelocity price $195. on hotwire just $98. the same great room, just less than other travel sites. hotwire.com. four star hotels. two star prices. h-o-t-w-i-r-e, hotwire.com save big on car rentals too. from $13.95 a day. >>> goldman is out, it was up 8 bucks yesterday so it's hunched on this blowou