weather might be giving you a break, we're not getting a complete break from the backup. >> phenomenal news on the economy. the american economy adding tons of jobs. there's america online, celebrating on the nyse. there's the nasdaq. we'll check your numbers in just a minute. >> and a live look outside right now on your friday morning. this a live picture of downtown san jose. the day getting ready to break. it is of course a friday and it is december the 5th. you are watching "today in the bay." >> announcer: from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." >> good morning. i'm sam brock. >> and i'm kris sanchez in for laura garcia-cannon. today president obama will announce his choice to replace chuck hagel as the next secretary of defense. he is expected to nominate ashton carter in about 30 minutes. trac tracie potts joins us from capitol hill. he's an unknown name, though not unknown to the administration. >> he was the number two at the pentagon until last year when he was passed over for the top job by chuck hagel. he is initially an academic but also has a long history at the pentagon managing defense cuts. he's

stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york. >>> this was a big day for the american economy. the dow went above 18,000 for the first time ever and finishing there on strong economic news. the government reported the fastest third quarter growth in more than a decade. and it has risen largely on the shoulders of more confident american consumers. our report on this development tonight from nbc's john yang. ♪ >> reporter: at the crowded christmas market in downtown chicago, the miring family is an engine of economic growth. they're spending. >> usually i get my shopping done, then i'm kind of done. i think i've been spending more the last few days because i keep buying. >> reporter: strong consumer spending is a big reason today's government gdp report, the broadest measure of the economy, found it grew a robust 5% in the third quarter. also today the consumer confidence index hit an eight-year high. what's behind it? for one, the longest consecutive declining gas prices on record. it means an extra $1,100 in the pocketbook of an average family of four. plus job growth. more tha

so, barbara, we need to get the american economy growing again. we've got the resources we need, the finance, the technology to be energy independent, and i believe we can do it in a way that's environmentally sensitive and puts us on the road to dealing effectively with global climate change. what we need is to bring america together. the question is, senator, are you willing to participate in that effort? will you come together with senator inhofe from oklahoma? will you sit down with him and say we can work together as americans to make this country great and strong? or is each of us so caught up in our particular interests that we can't come together as a nation? and then i'd say, barbara, don't wait for the next war. because that's what this is about. [applause] >> so to go further down the democratic party politics rabbit hole -- [laughter] there are two questions specifically, about specific individuals in your party of leadership. the first is, first question that an audience member asked is has hillary clinton read your book, and how would

now that america's economy is finally appearing on the rebound, there's a feeling among american that's it's lifting yachts. without a strong middle class, america's economy falters, and together we all pay the price. in order for all americans to prosper. the sabinos and the williams and the bowlinss, we need to prosper too. that's our show for today. >> three days of mourning in pakistan, the nation saying goodbye to 130 children, as we get a first who can inside the school where they were killed. >> the raid to rescue hostages during the cafe siege in sydney, new information about the gunman. >> a scare for passengers onboard a flight, heavy turbulence leaving some onboard hurt, forcing t

the american middle class. that is coming up in about five minutes. a.re is among economists that the biggest problem with the american economy is a lot of americans don't have the calendar -- talent to compete in the global marketplace. that there he misses a damaging development over the past several decades. the economy has suffered at the hands of some of its most skilled and talented workers who saw escalating pay under wall street. this is a story from "the washington post here co it's available online. prices, andt gas i'll boom has -- oil boom has pushed gas below two dollars per gallon. pockets of low prices have two dollars popping up across the country. the average cost is tracking at $2.43 a gallon. the president needs to support the keystone pipeline it. newsissue came up in the conference with the president. he said he doesn't see a need for it benefiting the u.s. economy. this is the republican response. the president said he would bankrupt the coal industry. presidencyt his doing that. two power plants in my district of closed over the past two years. -- set toore are shut shut down. tohas put so many roadblocks american energy that all

now that america's economy is finally appearing on the rebound, there's a feeling among american that's it's lifting yachts. without a strong middle class, america's economy falters, and together we all pay the price. in order for all americans to prosper. the sabinos and the williams and the bowlinss, we need to prosper too. that's our show for today. >> protestors took to the streets in a st. louis suburb christmas eve, a second emotional night after a police officer shoots and armed black teen. >> a new ebola scare, the lab mixup that has the c.d.c. monitoring a technician that may have been exposed to the virus. >> sony makes a you turn on the most talked about movie in the world. not only can you watch it, you can stream it. >> christmas at the

now that america's economy is finally appearing on the rebound, there's a feeling among american that's it's lifting yachts. without a strong middle class, america's economy falters, and together we all pay the price. in order for all americans to prosper. the sabinos and the williams and the bowlinss, we need to prosper too. that's our show for today. this is al jazeera. >> hello and welcome to the news hour. i'm elizabeth in doha. >> to the terrorists. let me give you the verdict of the nairgs, your days are numbered. >> pakistan's president says it's time to pay the price. >>> jordan tries

now that america's economy is finally appearing on the rebound, there's a feeling among american that's it's lifting yachts. without a strong middle class, america's economy falters, and together we all pay the price. in order for all americans to prosper. the sabinos and the williams and the bowlinss, we need to prosper too. that's our show for today. give me a big hug. >> hi, everyone. this is aljazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler in new york. pakistan horror, scores of children slaughtered in school. who is behind the attack? an extraordinary move to prop up russia's economy. why it might not work. under surveillance, police body cameras now mandatory for one of the biggest forces in the country. and prior knowledge. what made the comic legend tick. we'll talk to the man who wrote the book

now that america's economy is finally appearing on the rebound, there's a feeling among american that's it's lifting yachts. without a strong middle class, america's economy falters, and together we all pay the price. in order for all americans to prosper. the sabinos and the williams and the bowlinss, we need to prosper too. that's our show for today. >>> the top stories on al jazeera. the presidential candidate for tunisia's secular party is claiming victory in the run-off vote, but beji caid essebsi's claim has been dismissed by his rival moncef marzouki, who says it's too early to call a winner. official results are expected on monday >>> human rites watch says muslims in central -- human

now that america's economy is finally appearing on the rebound, there's a feeling among american that's it's lifting yachts. without a strong middle class, america's economy falters, and together we all pay the price. in order for all americans to prosper. the sabinos and the williams and the bowlinss, we need to prosper too. that's our show for today. > >>> praying for the victims of a taliban attack. pakistan begins three days of mourning after a school massacre >>> you're watching al jazeera, live from our headquarters in doha. also coming up, the u.s. secretary of state talks to the arab league as palestinians call for an end to the israeli occupation much >>> violence on the streets of haiti, the prime minister quit. they want the president out as well >>> and so near, yet so far. the migrants living on france's stre

more than 300,000 jobs were added to the american economy. the unemployment rate sticks to 5.8%, a huge number. >>> now, we were expecting this morning maybe to hear in the ipod trial a testimony, a taped testimony, from steve jobs, but instead there was an incredibly bizarre twist this morning. now, in a class action suit, a few plaintiffs represent the class, a huge crowd of people, in the case of the ipod suit, the plaintiffs who alleged apple treated them unfairly might not own the correct ipod. and so the whole case is in jeopardy. apple lawyers had asked to see the ipod and the receipt from the woman on the left there. they told the judge the ipod she owned falls outside the time of purchase in question. the mercury news reporter who's in the courtroom says the judge seems very annoyed. this case has been winding its way through the courts for ten years. it is very peculiar that the issue was not noticed until now. kris? >> that is interesting. >>> the land trust of santa cruz county hopes to raise $1 million to pay for a rather unique p

the way to between a betwetween, we an outlet for you. >> do you see the economy track in your sales, what do you think the american economy looks like based on your ticket sales. >> our fourth quarter has been very, very strong. in the middle of the year we saw a little bit of a slump. but first quarter always is really strong, you know, just in the first week we'll have over 30 live events debuting and play to a million people with all of the feld entertainment brands in the first week. that's really significant. we're looking forward to that. gas prices are a huge factor. when they are lower we tend to do better. people are able to travel more. >> feld entertainment started when your grandfather bought the rights to wringling brothers barnum and bailey. >> that's right and then in the 1980s they acquired ice follies holiday on ice, this is my dad and grandfather and disney on ice was the brain child of my father who went to disney and said i have a great idea to put all your characters on ice. they were taken back but eventually agreed and we are now one of the longest licensees offer the disney company, it's been almost 40 years. >> yo

americans living in the u.s. the money they send back is one of the top contributors to the cuban economy. avel will also become easier. americans will be allowed to bring back $400 worth of cuban goods. cigar aficionados will be interested to get their hands on the previously banned products. it is interesting to know that president obama cannot single-handedly left trade restrictions. he can liberalize trade, but it is up to congress to overturn the embargo. the other business stories we have been following, following the plunging of the ruble. russia says they may take more measures to prop up the currency a day after the ruble lost 11% of its value despite a 6.5% increase in interest rates. the central bank said it could provide additional capital to banks and financial companies and the finance industry said it was ready to sell up to $7 billion of foreign currency reserves. earlier today, we spoke to an analyst in london and asked if he thinks the ruble can recover. >> the one benefit that russia has over the 1998 crisis in which we saw much larger swings much greater depreciation rel

this is a 20 year problem in the american economy. u cannot blame barack obama unless you want to blame every president going back to jimmy carter. >> there are things -- the luck of confidence in washington, things that affect people's confidence been -- business spending and investment and what is the president's theory based on the economy? what policies will he pursue? it would be great if he could get this higher. but the problem -- he is running out of time to put in place the fundamentals -- not just long-term, but medium-term. >> the president ends his term in office with 3.9%, people will be happy. >> they may be skeptical, particularly with consumer spending the way it is right now. >> [indiscernible] make a personal commitment to doing that. ok, the staff member who wrote a facebook post criticizing the obamas' daughters at the turkey pardoning ceremony last week has resigned. president's children have been considered off-limits for several consecutive presidencies. people have largely laid off of his daughters, but what hap

one of the things that comes out of those debates is, well, tribes, because of the way the american political economy works, can't nationalize. they can't nationalize these industries within the american legal structure. what they can do is tax them. a series of tribal taxes are placed on the companies. it ends new the beginning of the imagination of what does it mean to kind of have indian owned development? no longer going off. and the search for joint ventures. my understanding of the casinos is that they are mostly joint ventures between tribes and gaming companies. and the things that are proposed, the joint venture between exxon and the navajo tribe to develop uranium. though that model, i think -- would be interesting to chart the development of this overtime. but that joint venture becomes the way that tribal gaming is really kind of becomes articulated in the northeast. and i think in the northeast is also key because there is a kind of spatial proximity going on of where the casinos are that make it not quite as available in the other parts of the country. but in phoenix there is certainly,

the money goes up? most of americans will have a difficult time engaging in the american economy. t to say now? 15 million americans in poverty. 15 million on food stamps >> and will get worse. >> we've been broke a long time. and it has been both. >> why would they fund obamacare throughout the year? >> there is no way you can say what is passed was a good thing to do. now, argument is that they did it for political reasons you know? american people are tired of that. they're not looking for a politician, looking for ways to get out of a tough spot. they've had all year so this idea we've got to get this, we have to get out of here, no. get the job done. and >> that is what i try to do. if you are tell people what you believe in, then do it, they'll support you. even if they don't agree with the plan. what's happening now is that people are saying one thing, getting to washington and, i think it's a big mistake. tell me now five things, big things, solutions that republican party is going to accomplish in the next congress? >> i can't tell you that. >> i can't, either. i have five

brought us out of the united -- out of the depression and into the war, but so redesigned the american economy that by september 21945 when the japanese were surrendering, more than 50 percent of all of the manufacturing in the entire world took place in the united states, largely because franklin roosevelt having worked through the depression to lift up ordinary people turned around and make sure the great industrialists made enormous profits and the whole of the economy grew. you can say that world war ii was one on the backs of american technological expertise and productivity. >> let me just add to that, eleanor roosevelt once said the whole.of the new deal was to see capitalism. the charge that he somehow allowed the russians to take over eastern europe was based solely on a misunderstanding. when the conference at which things were divided, the russians already occupied most of eastern europe, and we have been fighting work for a long time and certainly were not going to turn around and attack our allies. >> the biggest army on earth >> exactly. so roosevelt knew that he had done the bes

that increase unseen for more than a decade is a reflection across the american economy. consumer sentiment was at its highest form. much of the cash for the shopping spurt provided by a drop in petrol prices, equivalent to a 75 billion tax cut for american households. >> reporter: employment gains from a factor. >> offer the past four years we put all people back to work than all other advanced economies combined. >> they are out pacing 2016. it's cautioned that there's room for improvement on the job front. >> with too many people who want jobs being able to find them. too many working part time, but would prefer full-time work, and too many that gave up searching for a job, but would likely do so if the labour market was stronger. >> some warned that the oil price benefit was you unlikely. growth is coming. >> what we saw in the third quarter doesn't offset or undermine or reverse long-term depressed condition for capitalism in general or its leader in the united states in particular. >> the numbers give americans reason to believe that things are looking up. still ahea

a big breakthrough for the american economy now growing faster than we've seen in over a decade. >>> he snowball express for an unforgettable christmas vacation. "nightly news" begins now.

the best two quarters since 2003. and this has not gone unnoticed by consumers by americans. for the first time in seven years the majority of americans think the economy is good. this is a remarkable turnaround, folks. likely because of crashing gas prices where every drivers feels whereas half of americans are invested in the stock market. >> with the president in the polls taking action in cuba and the economy ticking up, 48% of americans now approve of of the president bres j president's job performance. 50% do not. >>> a former navy s.e.a.l. who claims he killed osama bin laden is under investigation. cnn has learned the naval criminal investigative service is trying to determine whether robert o'neill revealed classified information. the former s.e.a.l. team six-member made several television appearances last month retelling the story of operation spear, the incursion into pakistan that led to bin laden's death. >>> that brazen gun smuggling ring, remember, involving former and current delta airlinesle employees, it's being called a huge wake-up call for the nation. >> now, this scheme really poses a threat in terms of terrorism. if they can put

. >>> welcome back. 2014 has been the year that the american economy may have really truly bounced back. a similar story in 2015 would >>> welcome back.. 2014 has been the year that the american economy may have truly bounced back. a similar story in 2015 would have an impact on the dynamics of how washington works and the 2016 presidential race. let's look at the end of the year numbers, the latest growth figures show the economy grew at 5% in the third quarter this year. in the three months before, the growth rate was nearly 5%. 4.6%. making it the best six-month stretch since 2003, more than a decade ago. there's been good news on the unemployment rate. it peaked in october of 2010. now it dipped to 5.8%. then there's gas, big news for consumers. prices have fallen dramatically. in may of 2011, we were paying nearly $4 a gallon. now the price is $2.31 and in many places below $2. all of this has added up to consumer confidence going through the roof. look at the michigan consumer sentiment index from the first quarter of 2009 when president obama entered office. it was 58%. now it's

the u.s. economy was three types the size of china. and americans since 1945 have grown used to having the number one economy and must have taken it for granted. get ready to the new ranking or get angry and we'll do something about it. our current president said running up the huge debt on children and dprand children was irresponsible and unpatriotic. if so, he is the least patriotic president in history. our debt topped the 18 trillion mark. that is more than double than it took the first 43 presidents to create. his solution. keep borrowing and then give out free cell phones and paying people additional money to not work. and he wants to ignore the constitutional process of law and open america's door to cheap labor and make its harder for the american family to stay afloat or get ahead. and he thinks we ought to punish productivity of works by putting in the largest corporate tax rates. they are higher than those than france and they elected a real socialist to be their president. and while china is building up the free market, the u.s. letses

the american economy reaped immediate benefits from europe's rebuilding. ast as theollars were pumped overseas they floweback here to pay for american machinery and goods. in the decade following the war, europe importedbiiof dollars worth of products from the united states. but by theid-'50s, europeancomies were no loer so dependent upon american goods. byhe 196 our paymen abroa for imports,nvestmen and foreign aid had far exceeded our receipts. why did this payments deficit occur? dr. joan spero senior vice-president, coorate affairs at american express. a payments deficitemerged inhe late 19s for three fuamenl asons. the u.s. economyas heating up due to t war in vietm and due to eentus on treatociety anweadtionhomeasheolr came overed we begano suck mompor anwe began to exrtess inelation imporso we wentntoalanceade" deficit finally, in 1971 anthe ird factor is the capital outflows omhe u.schontinued throughout the96foinstment reasonsand fofinancial ows. scumache where a decade before there had en an internationa dollarhortage, now the world faced a dollar

they saw higher education as the ticket to a better life for people in california, and to a better economy. and when you think about what california has contributed to the americannomy, you can trace so much back to its higher education system. >> there was a tiered system with the community colleges, state colleges, and the great research universities. a system that virtually guaranteed college education to every high school graduate in the state of california. the vision of clark kerr would provide instruction at all levels and students could move upward through it. >> california prospers in large part to the extent that it provides ready opportunity for all of its citizens to secure education, appropriate to their interests and abilities. >> the california system is still a model for the rest of the nation. the problem now is that as the state has pulled back on its financial commitment to those systems, the ideal there is really under threat. >> the idea of a public college, that's publicly funded and accessible is under attack. so we're really creating hierarchies where the students who can afford it work with teachers have one-on-one face time with faculty

a big breakthrough for the american economy now growing faster than we've seen in over a decade. >>> and making a difference. on board what they call the snowball express for an unforgettable christmas vacation. "nightly news" begins now.

what do you think the american economy looks like based on ticket sales. >> our fourth quarter has beeny strong. we saw in the middle of the year, a little slump for us. but first quarter always is really strong. just in the first week we will have over 30 live events debuting. we will play to 1 million people with all of the feld entertainment brands in the first week. that's really significant. we are looking forward to that. gas prices usually are a huge factor. when they are dloe lower we do better. people are able to travel in a car. >> feld entertainment is a third generation business. it was started when your grandfather bought the rights to ringling brothers barnum bailey circus, that fran chiess. how did you go to where you are today. >> in the 1980s, they acquired ice folly, holiday on ice. this is my dad and grandfather. then my dad -- disney on ice is the brain child of my father. he went to disney and said i have this great idea. i'd like to put all of your characters on ice. and i think they were taken aback but i eventually agreed and we are one of the longest license see

this showed that the american economy continues to recover. >> here is a quick look at the numbers forow. germany's dax rallied. across the atlantic, the dow jones industrials currently well in positive territory. on currency markets, the euro losing ground again, currently trading for one u.s. dollar $.22. the last car rolled off the assembly line this morning. >> it is closing its plant after 50 years, around 3000 jobs are expected to be lost as a result. >> opal was once a model of success in the region. built on a side of a former mine, the factory was a sign that times were changing for germany. the dying coal industry was about to be replaced by car manufacturers. it gave thousands of people their work and revive the fortunes of the entire region. the models may there, such as the opel cadet, became known throughout the world. from 1962, some 14 million models rolled off the assembly line. but then demand dropped, and opel started to go out of fashion. a petition grew as prices went down. -- competition grew as prices went down. opel factories in the u.k., poland, were performing

>> fundamentally, here we focus on restructuring the bank and we first forgot the economy. the americans focused on getting the economy going, getting the real estate market functioning again. if you wish, the whole detailed restructuring. i was talking to a minister who was telling me than i cannot -- that i cannot address the deficit until i have growth. don't tell me he was french. >> i don't know if it was wrong or right, but at the end, the way which now the supervisors are assisting the bank is still capital and not leveraged. the real problem is leverage. you have the bankruptcy lehman brothers, but a significant portion of the banks in the united states and europe that said leverage is too high. >> does the bank have leverage? >> no. >> yes. maybe not enough. >> there are a lot of leverage. there is no market. >> all the reforms in place and europe -- in europe, it means that we will not invest in infrastructure anymore. >> you have a system where it is the way in which you reduce the growth in the country. >> we are not filling the void. because regulation stops us from filling

he said there was a prominently theory that say the big problems with the american economy is a lot don't have the talent to compete in today's global marketplace. it's true the country would be better off if more workers had more training, the theory missions a crucial action damaging development of the past several decades. it misses how much the economy has suffered at the hands of some of the most skilled workers who followed escalating pay on to wall street and a way for more economically and socialable valuable uses of their talents including teaching. kay from texas saying she is worse off in 2014. why? caller: the economy is horrible, and the price of everything -- i realize gas has gone down, but it's not making up for the cost of food, your taxes, your insurance, all of that stuff. host: okay. roger from texas. you are better off why? caller: better off. we discovered the recession from the bush administration. we are much better off than we were there. i am a small business person. i am a lawyer. i can tell by the people's reaction to the problems that they are better off. our

to make the united states more unified to project abroad in strengthen the american economy. but had never jokes this one step further it is not big government's role to only improve the economy but to promote the improvement of the citizens and cultural and moral terms. he wanted to make it a positive example of what the state could accomplish. with 27 different times. end of the program failed. the presidency failed and we could talk about that later but it is the most progressive vision of government for more than 100 years. finally morality. isn't if this is an idiot to be spread around and had to be logically compelling and morally persuasive. if that would happen america's promise would be brought to my with the practice. is that what happened they would take on the problem of slavery. the biggest understatement of the year was a big problem for the united states. because it was woven into the fabric of america but yet so fundamentally at odds the declaration of independence is promise of equality put squarely at odds with contradiction of approval of slavery. as early

futures higher right now. >>> the stronger economy not going unnoticed by americans. r the first time in seven years the majority of americans think the economy is good. that is a remarkable turn around and sentiment. you can thank falling gas prices. they've fallen for a 90 straight days. and putting extra cash in americans' wallets this holiday season and apparently a little more confidence in the polls. >> you may want to think twice about putting a keurig under the tree. the company has recalled 6 million coffeemakers. the recalled model is the k-10 mini plus. keurig will ship a free repair kit to customers with a defective brewer. "early start" continues right now. >>> breaking news this morning, police shoot and kill a black teenager overnight in the town next to ferguson, missouri. tensions spiking yet again. we have the very latest. >>> deadly tornadoes, vicious storms ripped through the south. the vicious storm during onetim. >>> tributes and protests, they take to the streets as the slain police officers are memorialized. good morning, welcome to ellell start

it is worth reflecting on the fact that the american economy is making real progress, and if we can continue in this trajectory, if we can continue to grow robustly, and if we make sure that those companies who are seeing profits higher than any time in the last six years, that they are making sure that the workers are sharing that growth. then we can get a virtual cycle going. it can become a critical component of strengthening our national security because national security starts with a strong economy here at home. now, i know that some people think i announce cabinet positions on fake twitter accounts. [laughter] this is not the case. a year ago, when ashton carter completed his tenure as deputy secretary of defense, secretary hagel took to the podium in his farewell ceremony and looked out at the audience and said, i have known ash carter for many years, all of us today have benefited from his hard work, his friendship, his inspiration, and from his leadership. chuck went on to express his gratitude to his partner for what ash has done for this country and will continue to do in many wa

the american economy slumped into a prolonged recession as americans began thinking about the nationhas no more providential than any other country and the pundits declared that from now on successful politicians will be the ones who honored this chastened national mood. ronald reagan never got the message against the backdrop of melodrama from the oil embargo to patty hearst to the near bankruptcy of america's greatest city. "the invisible bridge" asked the question would have to me to believe in america? so i'm honored to bring out our first speaker who will be john dean. [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. i have got these new glasses in case i need to look at my notes. i typically don't but i must say i found something good about getting old and that is i had cataract surgery. as i was about to head out to do it might doctor said i'm glad for you. he said just do it. i am now better than 20/20 vision. so i got these glasses but then i started wearing these glasses and a friend of mine said he know john no one is going to recognize you. you used to wear those around kind

the united states economy. the great recession. this huge defunding of the american economy that hurt almost every american. the idea that wall street has been lobbying from the very beginning to go back to the days when they could have the heads we win, tails you lose economy. they could bet it all. bet on the credit default. if they lose we still bail them out. the american people really need to pay attention to this. >> you're right. and congresswoman, the thing that galls me. banks just had their best quarter since the crisis. posing their biggest quarterly revenue increase since 2009. yet that's not enough. more rule changes are needed? they're going to do this if democrats can't do this on this one. it will divide the party and people like me will be loud and long calling them out on this. >> exactly. as if it isn't enough, the kinds of profits they've been making. john boehner can solve this problem right now. he can take that provision out of the legislation. and democrats will vote to keep the government open, of course, we want to. but not to make the kinds of tradeoff that's say the whole economy

australia, and at the g20, what was striking was the degree of optimism that the world felt bout the american economyn optimism that in some ways is greater than how americans sometimes feel about the american economy. i think what you saw among world leaders was consistent with what we know from global surveys, which is when you ask people now, what is the number-one place to invest, it's the united states of america. it was china for quite some time. now folks want to put money back into this country. and a lot of that has to do with the fact that we've got the best workers in the world, we've got the best university system, and research and development and innovation in the world, and we've got the best businesses in the world. and so a lot of you can, i think, take great credit for the kind of bounce-back that we've seen over the last six years. having said all that, i think we recognize that we've got a lot more progress to make. and i put it in a couple of categories. there are some common-sense things that we should be doing that we're not doing, and the reason primarily is because of politics

federal reserve snapshot on the american economy. peter cook is standing by with the details.fternoon. >> good afternoon. if colleagues are looking for signs the u.s. economy is gaining traction right now they will find it in this latest beige book. it was compiled through november 24 and paints a

economy and the americansumer. fredericka. >> good news. we like that. christine romans, thanks so much. >>> as we enter the holiday shopping season, the way we buy gifts is being changed by technology. here's richard kwaes with this week's tomorrow transformed. >>> remember the days when the only way to shop from your living room was with a catalog and a mail order form. that is until digital arrived. we may still leaf through the catalogs, but today when it comes to making the purchase, we probably use our smartphones or we go on-line where seemingly everything is available. >> in china where there are more internet users than anywhere in the world, not surprisingly, e-commerce is booming. >> one in two on-line citizens in china are now buying on-line, and that's going up. >> they're buying everything. digital shopping carts are stuffed with computers, clothing, and even fresh seaf d seafood. >> the future, e-commerce, the main battlefield will be on mobile devices. by next year smartphone users will -- you

. >> the american economy is on fire. riday the government said a staggering number of people had been added to the work force. scott mcgrew said this puts the fed in a pickle and this is the reason why the stock market want reacting. >> it's good news/bad news, isn't it? fans have been doing all sorts of things to monitor the economy. friday we learned more than 300,000 jobs were added in the month of november, the economy is back. in fact, job growth is better than what either presidential candidate promised during the elections sfw. >> on friday, rare testimony from the late steve jobs. jobs taped his testimony a few months before he died. the gist of his answers mostly i don't remember. jobs and apple accused of changing the software on itunes and ipods to lock out competing services from selling music. it would be like ford making an engine that only used chevron gas and then tweak that to keep arco gas out. >> a peek at the weather forecast. >> a little shower activity in the north bay. as we head throughout the morn

havana where almost nobody is talking about anything else than the -- >> this was a big day for the american economy, the dow went above 18,000 for the first time ever. >> the u.s. economy really took off between july and september. >> it was the best quarter since the summer of 2003. >> reporter: slate calls it the obama boom. u with the dow up, gas prices down and unemployment at 5.8%, the white house is shedding it's reluctance to talk up the recove recovery. >> the steps wes took to build up our economy helped make 2014 the strongest year for job growth since the 1990s. >> reporter: even as democrats acknowledge that recovery still hasn't reached many americans. this much is clear, if the dow was sinking and unemployment and gas prices rising, mr. obama would certainly be get telling blame. there's always a debate when an economic bounces back, how much credit does a president deserve. i put out on facebook that i was going to be doing this, i'm driving around with the family, and gas prices are down and a lot of people are talking about. we have to acknowledge all the good things that are happe

theink that will mean european economy will be great but expectations are so low it is just a little bit better and the patient is sitting up in bed. we could see the americannomy doing reasonably well and leading the world in 2015 and for all the gloom and doom about china it is the single largest contributor to economic growth next year. this divergence and monetary policy will be tightening. most other people will be giving away the u.k. -- it's a coin toss. >> everybody wants your view on europe and i pull this from your outlook -- the eurozone is a low-flying plane that constantly hits air pockets that causes near-death experiences. >> some poetry creeping in there. [laughter] >> when we talk about divergence, and the ecb doing more they are not yet. >> they have this enormous political issue to get past, it is not the central bank for a single country. there are 17 chairman around the tradable. -- table. they've reached the number of conclusions they never would have got two. -- to. there are people around the table who don't want to do it and there is disagreement so i think it is just a bit longer. qe -- we look at ecb know what it means for equitie

. >> there's no end to what marijuana potentially could do for the american economy. what has it done for us in colorado? raised millions. created tens of thousands of jobs. almost literally overnight. >> as you can see, it's not ageing hippies who are becoming potprenures. let's get our board of directors to weigh in on this. brendon kennedy is president and ceo of a firm that invests in the cannabis industry and also the president of a company that helps consumers and patients learn about different cannabis strains and products. ted is the chairman and ceo of another company. it's so great to see all of you guys. brendon, you are in the center of this right now. when i was there, it's fascinating to see this unfold because the regulations are changing every single day. so it's incredibly hard to be a business owner in this industry. >> it is. the regulations in colorado are changing on a daily, weekly basis. it's one of the things that they are doing really well there. they are constantly refining the regulations to keep tight control over the industry as it transfo