46 deg >> more and more signs point to a likely merger brief -- between american airlines and united airways with a formal announcement perhaps coming this week. what would this mean for ticket prices? >> if you already bought -- thought you were paying a lot to fly, a merger between american airlines and usair was could add insult to injury. >> this is the fourth mega- merger in three years. >> in the long term, there will be less competition and this will raise ticket prices. in the short term, we are already going to seek higher prices. >> there are bright spots to this potential merger. travelers may have a better experience in the long run. >> you'll get on airplanes and there is moonlighting and you will look up and the bins will hold your bag. you will sit down in seats that were built in the last two or three years that have better seat capacity than that got accolades from for some travelers. >> i did as a great idea. if it serves us well and we have better service and more access to flights, that would be good. >> dfw see an economic boost where a smaller airports could lose out. >

airlines in united airways merging. both companies approved the merger. in the state of new jersey. we are on it. ♪ real this time. real this time. step seven point two one two. rify and lock. command is locked. five seconds. three, two, one. standing by for capture. the most innovative software on the planet... dragon is captured. is connecting today's leading companies to places beyond it. siemens. answers. but that doesn't mean i don't want to make money.stor. i love making money. i try to be smart with my investments. i also try to keep my costs down. what's your plan? ishares. low cost and tax efficient. find out why nine out of ten large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possible loss of principal. ♪ stuart: new jersey is looking to legalize online gambling. chris christie vetoed an online gambling bill last week, but he said he would be willing

airways and united airlines will create the largest airway in the world. some analysts say you could be paying more. frequent flyer dean kempsly isn't sure what to expect when u.s. airways merges with american airlines. it will be the largest carrier in the world with more than 300 destinations in 56 countries. frequent flyers from both airlines should keep their miles, but some analysts think this may not be a sweetheart deal for passengers in the long run. >> consumers end up paying more for tickets in general. they have less convenience because typically during americaners there's cutbacks in flights. >> reporter: the new company will take the american name and a brand-new logo. the ceos of both airlines will stay on board. u.s. airways chief doug parker will take the top spot. >> we'll work together to make sure we have a good transition. >> reporter: the merger will bring major logistical challenges. recent union of united and continental led to a spike in consumer complaints. this is the fourth major airline merger since 2008. >> i think it's just so

united and delta. they want more choices and opportunity. they have been telling us directly and indirectly by leaving american airlines and leaving u.s. airways to fly on delta and united new bigger networking. we help our customers by the merger. second, we help the employees. u.s. airways is a smaller airline and smaller networking and revenue disadvantage. as a result to be successful we have to pay the employees less. we have made a bargain with the employees over time we can give them good jobs and benefits they're going to be less than those enjoyed by the counter part at delta and united. by merging and creating a networking like delta and united we can pay our employees more and we have agreed to pay them the same as delta and united. in addition, when we talk to people in the hubs we talked about so many times today, they don't talk to us about price issues or price concerns. they talk us to about finding ways for there to be more service to grow the hub, finding ways to create more december makes for travel. all of that can be accomplished by the merger, congressman. that's what we're trying to do today. >> well, you're both doing o

. >>> united states airways and american airlines could announce a merger as early as tuesday.can's creditors are scheduled to meet on monday and the board of directors for both airlines could meet later that same day. analysts say both would benefit since they have few overlapping routes, the airlines aren't commenting. >> all right. san jose mayor sounds optimistic in his state of the city address. >> this year we are able to balance the budget with no layoffs and start to restore services. >> but he said he may need voters to do one more thing to help the city out. >> just in time for valentine's day. new survey reveals about what you need to do to catch the attention of the opposite sex. . >>> in his 7th state of the city address the san jose mayor said despite budget challenges, the city is moving ahead. >> my priority for the coming year will be public safety. as we start to realize more savings for measure b and see now revenues the fiscal reform plan, we will hire more police officers. >> the mayor thanked voters for supporting measure b, that was his pension reform mea

airways, currently applied to united, will shift to american, but not right away. in fact, it may take seveal months before passengers see any significant effect. the merger still has be approved by federal anti-trust regulators, american's bankruptcy judge and shareholders of u.s. airways. carnival is working to get passengers home following a four-day cruise that turned into a more-than-week-long nightmare. the triumph cruise ran into trouble last weekend when an engine fire left the ship adrift on the ocean. carnival is offering passengers $500 on top of paying for their travels home. the company estimates repair costs will cause an 8- to 10-cent drop in earnings per share. but the pr damage is unclear. europe remains a cause of concern for general motors. european auto sales dragged down overall gm profits in 2012, while china, north america and south america all delivered returns. in the fourth quarter, overall gm profits were up 89% from 2011. looking ahead, the company says it has taken significant action to put itself on a path for growth in 2013. however,

airways passengers is a benefit taken away from american airlines with united airlines. to have co-chairs, they still do. they have joint frequent flier benefits and so on. so they're giving with one hand and taking away with the other. and i do expect this merger to go through but i'm hoping that congress and the d.o.t. will allow us to get some things like airline fees disclosed so that consumers can actually compare prices across airlines and have more competition there. >> brown: all right, charlie loka, holly hegeman, thank you both very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: still to come on the "newshour": the hold up on the hagel nomination; four freshmen on capitol hill an olympic star charged with murder. and a president's love story. but first, the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: senate democrats moved today to find a way to prevent the sequester-- across- the-board spending cuts, set to take effect march first. they called for smaller reductions in farm subsidies and the pentagon budget, plus a minimum 30% tax on million- dollar inco

airways and united back in 2001, and briefly the discussions in 2008 and 2010.industry feel and the passengers feel with this merger. any difference? fewer routes, more routes? >> i think we have seen a lot of that. since 2008, domestic capacity is down between 10 to 15%. you look at today the top four carriers, they own about 83% of market share versus 10 or 11 back in 2000. a lot of this has already happened. we are seeing prices higher in some of the french markets you have seen capacity reductions. i think overall in the smaller areas, you can expect to see fewer routes and higher prices. david: what about the cultures. very different management teams, different cultures, american airlines is twice as large when you consider its root system. the u.s. airways is going to be managing this new company. will there be a culture clash? >> that's a great question. just look back and see what they did. they actually went to the labor union before the labor union was announced today. thirty to 40% salary cut to save the irline in 2003. >> that is an understatement. i

united-continental. if this goes through, american and us airways.ix, where we had six different chiefs out there making decisions on pricing and air fares and rules and those, now we will have three. so it is easier for collusion and things in the airline business. again if you live in a small regional airport not served by a low-cost airline you will probably end up paying a little bit more. even if you are in a hub like, you know, could still end up paying a little more with the merger but i think the big issue over the next few months is not so much this merger but if you go six months ago we were paying $80 a barrel fuel. now hovering almost like 100. that is our biggest eni, not this merger but the price of fuel will make air fares go up. lori: when you use terms like collusion it sets off an alarm. the regulators have to have something to say about this. i know you're raising the fuel price issue. fuel prices are high these airlines can't merge, right if they get into cahoots about raising air fares much higher than they already are? >> again,

airways. the result of outsize united, which merged with continental in 2010, and delta, which merged with northwestn 2008. rick seaney is founder of the air traveler advice web site farecompare.com. >> in airline mergers the people that benefit the most are wall street to be honest. consumers end up paying more for airline tickets in general. they have less convenience because typically during mergers, there's cutbacks in flights and schedules. >> reporter: after delta bought northwest the decreased competition sent ticket prices up more than 20% between detroit and atlanta. the united-continental deal resulted in 30% price increases between chicago's o'hare in houston and newark and san francisco. the biggest factor pushing consolidation is the price of oil. fuel accounts for 33% of an airline's operating cost. that's more than doubled over the past decade. industry analyst darrell jempgins. >> the biggest changing point in the last decade and even more so than 9/11 was the price of jet fuel. that became so bad that everybody was looking at a kind of "last man standing" scenario. >> reporter: jenk

airways and united airlines? sandra: the availability of those seats has already been scaled back.ning us now. are we going to lose out, i mean, a lot of us are frequent fires on american airlines or u.s. airways. >> do not panic. there will be big changes. everything is fine. we have seen in past mergers -- sandra: united. >> there will be some road bumps. airlines have terrible it. sandra: it could be messy. >> you should review all your miles. there is still great mile to be had. american is with one world. they have 12 different global partners. u.s. airways is a current star alliance member. i just used 110,000 air miles to go to south africa. when they finally merged the two frequent flyer programs, my guess is they will keep those higher levels. sandra: if you are a frequent flyer, you may be saying, hey, at least i am already on board on what is the largest airline in the world. >> one of the things to look into is the elite status. american gold wires do not get upgrades, but u.s. airways do. they do not want to make people angry. sandra: the upgrade on u.s. airways sales

airways will be slightly bigger than united airlines. >>> well, there are more questions this morning on the shooting of a police trainee that happened in owings mills in baltimore county. police have not released the identity of that trainee. and abc2 news' sherrie johnson joins us with more on the story. what do you have for us this morning? >> reporter: at last report megan the trainee was in critical condition at shock trauma. this morning there's some dispute over the details at the former rosewood center. the only public comments we received from investigators came tuesday night in a briefing outside of shock trauma. sources say roughly 50 trainees from several police agencies were involved in the training on tuesday. a baltimore city police instructor fired a live round hitting a trainee from the university of maryland police department in the head. there have still been no answers on how a live round could have been fired during training. a state police representative said police training has been going on at rosewood quote for years. if that's the case, a woman who lives righ

airways which has been going, the shares have been going up a little bit. united continental also on the upside. delta nice move there on delta shares. as you assess these three companies, whose's the best, its strongest play frere the point of view of an investment. >> as i look at all three of these stocks, i like delta the best. right here i know as you mentioned this stock has been up 50% since the beginning of december, that's a big move. they just reported earnings that were soiled. they have a cost advantage versus the other guy. and also given their cash flow we could see a buy back from them as soon as june of this year. they're also trading at a discount to the group is so this is where i find the most value. united continental has been a more volatile stock. they're still working through the merger of those two companies. they're working on bringing costs down. they have a lot further to go. u.s. airways, the stock has been up a little bit on this news of this potential merger, which could be a great ne'erterm catalyst but just remember, i just talked a

airways. we saw united combine with continental. delta deal worked out well. so far that united deal has not worked out at all. what it will do for american, we'll find out eventually. >> all right. thank you so much. >> thanks a lot. we'll find out how it affects our ticket prices as well. 5:14. christina loren, it sounds like we couldn't ask for a better day for valentine's day. >> especially if maybe you forgot about valentine's. somebody out there, you did. you still have time for breakfast in bed. let's take you outside and show you what it looks like. beautiful san jose. 5:14. a little bit of fog by 10:00. all of it will be gone and temperatures will soar today under full sunshine. that sun will be out quickly. i don't know about you, yesterday it was warm where i live in campbell. you notice the difference today. we'll climb by an additional two to three degrees. temperatures are mild already to start in many cities. i want to point out even though we have fog out there, winds are coming out of the east-northeast in most cities. that's indicative of off

the merge of american and u- s airways will be slightly bigger than united airlines. >> the californiag some baby spinach because it could be contaminated with e-coli. check your fridge before you make that salad. the spinach was sold in several states under five market organics, full circle organic, simple truth organic, marketside organic and taylor farms organic. the company, taylor farms retail, says no illnesses have been reported. >> a developing story. that crippled cruise ship is expected to limp into an alabama port sometime tomorrow. more than 4-thousand people are on board.and it sounds like they're pretty miserable. after an engine room fire four days ago - a power outage has reportedly led to sewage-filled hallways and long lines for food. people who have managed to reach relatives by phone are talking about what they're hearing. >> he said the conditions have gotten so bad that they're asking to use the restroom and backs and they're eating onion sandwiches on monday using the restrooms- in bags.. >> the daughter she is afraid to hear that she is never going to be possibl

airways agreed to an $11 billion deal t combine forces. this would be the latest industry merger. over the past five years, we've seen unions between delta, norris, unitedental, southwest and airtran and now american and u.s. airways. of course folks want toknow how the proposed merger will affect them. one lawmaker warns reduced competition could mean higher fares. airline weekly columnist seth kaplan joins us. for the average traveler, what do you think this means when they try to purchase a ticket? not now but maybe a year from now. >> well, it would be dishonest to say this is going to have no impact on fares. after all, one reason companies in any industry, certainly airlines are not exception, merge is to reduce competition and maybe push prices up a little bit. on the other hand, it's not true to say airfares be going to skyrocket. we've had several mergers. yes, afares are higher than a few years ago but they're still a good deal. >> does this get by the antitrust division? there are concerns of monopolies in 12 yearswe've ge from ten major carriers to four. >> great question. it's especially good when you think even under the bush administratio

airways will be slightly bigger the united airlines and it reduces the number of major u.s.irlines to 4. >> this year, gross cost of launching a cookie finder app to help connect scout cookie mongering customers. the app allows users to find out when and where a local group is having a sale, and then create calendars marking down upcoming cookie sales. >> if there are no both sales nearby, users can enter the contact information and ask to be contacted by their local scout with further details. >> users can share their findings with friends of facebook followers on twitter. >> still ahead explosive devices in a santa clara homes in the neighborhood is a panic mode. the welcome back. let us get a full forecast of the weather with erica. >> good morning james. visibility is at 0 in navato. it took a wild fog to develop yesterday's it is out of the gate early around oakland and as at all this morning. by half moon bay visibility at 3 tenths of a mile. >> drive with extra caution. we have fog advisory's i will talk about in a minute. temperatures not bad. upper '40's in san fran

airways and america west, delta and northwest, contiinental and united, and southwest and airtran. "well, it's the business travelers who are the most nervous here. on the liesure end there's some much diversion to discount airlines. but you take places like philly, new york out east, there's a lot of concentration there and there could a few effects." that was depaul economics professor joe schwieterman. he does not foresee regulatory obstacles for amr and u.s. airways to merge. boeing is giving its customers a heads-up that dreamliner arrivals will likely be delayed. manufacturing on the troubled aircrafts will continue, but boeing has said deliveries that were expected in the near future are either delayed or at risk of being delayed. some carriers such as norwegian air are giving customers the option of changing flights to later dates. the dreamliner has been grounded since january 16th. the faa is still investigating the aircraft's battery issues. your tax refund may be delayed, and the heming and hawing by lawmakers in washington over the fiscal cliff is blamed. according to

airways will be slight bit bigger than united airlines. >> the current cruise ship that has been without power since a fire at its engine room is expected to report today and will will alabama. the cut will triumph is being towed from where it broke down in the gulf of mexico. more than four dozen people on board. carvel cruise lines says it is canceling another 12 voyages for the disabled ship. the cruises aboard the triumph were taken to placto take placem february 21st of their april 13th. passengers will be fully refunded at get discounts on future cruises. a future cruise probably would not sound so good at this point. >> expect more stories to come to light once they get off that cruise ship and start telling their tales. it is foggy over the city right now, fog is in other parts of the bay as well. erica will have your forecast in a minute and george will keep an eye on a growing problem in the east bay, we will find out if it is a hot spot. you can't move the tv there. yuh-huh. we have a wireless receiver. listen. back in my day, there was no u-verse wireless receiver that let yo

united with continental. if u.s. airways and american get hitched, that leaves just those three, big carriers and low-cost giant, southwest. one thing passengers won't have to worry about is losing their coveted frequent flier miles. and a combined airline allows more chances to wrack up those points. now, this merger still needs approval from the american airlines bankruptcy judge, as well as the department of justice. so, for now, it's business as usual. if you're holding a ticket on american, well, you head to american. if you're holding a ticket on u.s. airways, you are leaving on one of their jet planes. josh? >> great work on the story, lisa stark. thank you for it. >>> meanwhile, troubling, new signs this morning that iran may be looking to expand its nuclear program. "the washington post" reports that iranian agents tried to buy tens of thousands of specialized magnets from china, unsuccessfully. the magnets are part of a key component used in making nuclear fuel and weapons. >>> and authorities have uncovered a new

airway shareholders leaving u.s. travel dominated by four more jail airlines. the american, united, delta and southwest. they would control three 40s of all airline traffic in the country. >> and the weather outside, i would put five bucks on delays flying into sfo. >> you are saying the weather is frightful in. >> fogful. >> fogful. >> okay, register that and trade man it. here is a look at what is going on, milder this morning. we have mid-30's around santa rosa and novato. everyone else including napa, is in the upper 30's to mid 40's. san francisco is at 47. san jose is at 42. we will hang out in the mid-30's to mid-40's with fog around the north bay and parts of the bay shoreline through 7:00. it will fade quickly. we will see sunshine faster today and temperatures will be nearing 60 by lunch hour. if you are headed out for an early dinner we have sunshine and temperatures in the mid-to-upper 60's and clear and mild for evening festivities on valentine's day and low-to-mid 50's. not a heavy coat needed this time. a warmest day tomorrow will be in the mid 60's to 70 again, and winds will shift on sa

airways ceo. together the two airlines will be slightly bigger than united airlines. >>> republican leadership today rallied against president obama's call to raise the minimum wage to $9 an hour. house speaker john boehner says an increase in minimum wage will translate to a decrease in jobs. the white house estimates boosting the minimum wage would help 15 million low-nfk workers. the last federal minimum wage increase was signed into law in 2007. it raise it had minimum wage from 5.15 to 7.25 in a three-sthech process that ended in 2009. >>> on wall street today stocks finished mixed. nasdaq gained ten. >>> today sis ko reported earnings that were slightly better than wall streetest mats. the san jose-based maker of compute and her networking gear said its adjusted earnings for $2.7 billion compared to 2.6 billion for the same quarter one year ago. >>> our exclusive ktvu field poll turned up some intregs findings on taxing sugary drinks. 53% of voters say they oppose a generic tax on sugary befrmgs but support jumped to 68% if voters are told the money would go towards school new trigs and fitnes

the marriage between number three american and number four us airways will create the world's largest carrier, bigger than united which merged with continental in 2010 and delta which merged with northwest in 2008. american's ceo tom horton told "cbs this morning's" travel editor peter greenberg last month that a merger was the only way to prevent collapse. >> you've got to move fast in this business and it's time for our company to start looking forward. >> reporter: four airlines would control 70% of the market. that has some concerned about the impact it will have on travelers. >> they say it isn't going to raise ticket prices. i don't believe that one bit. >> reporter: after delta bought northwest, the decreased competition sent ticket prices up more than 20% between minneapolis-st. paul and atlanta. and 30% between chicago and houston and newark and san francisco. consultant daryl jenkins says the battle between the big three may lead to a price war benefiting consumers. >> consumers are going to have a lot of choice. you're going to see fares moderated because of the amount of competition here. >> reporter

airway have been the same is true of the united delta merger.nk it's going to be bad for consumers. and like to see low air fares, but i really don't think. melissa: it does support the industry. maybe that's the reason we have come to dread line. one of the biggest problems that airlines have now is really image. it used to be before i was born that people would dress up to fly and look forward to it and it was this special experience. now we know. we all dread it. you just hear the horror stories. you expect the worst. our attitude is so poor because it has been a terrible experience. how did they turn that around? >> first of all, if you go back to southwest founded in 1971 anything but the experience, it is a no-frills airline, but it is still a great experience. most importantly with that the employees love their airline. when you look back again at the united continental merger the employees are disgruntled, not happy, and that think that if u have have the employees is going to have happy customers. when you look at their singing to you.

when united merged with continental in 2010, the group had to sell some airport slots. american and u.s. airways may have to make similar concessions for this match to go ahead. bbc news, new york. >> it should have been the turning of a lifetime. instead 4000 cruise ship passengers and crew have been living a nightmare. the carnival cruise line has been without power for days. conditions are being described as something akin to scenes from "lord of the flies." of riffe time ago, steve kingston jointly with the very latest. i started by talking about a recent setback. >> what we have had is an error- strewn final leg of what was already late -- already a calamitous cruz. this ship, unfortunately named triumph, was towed into the channel for mobile in alabama. than there were problems with the tugboat's. their mechanical issues with the first tugboat. a second boat came in, and the tow rope broke. what the cruise line was saying at a short time ago is it will certainly be nightfall over the ship is docked, and potentially another four to five hours before all the passengers are of. their nightmar

the merge of american and u-s airways will be slightly bigger than united airlines.t back. . well, well, well. growing up, we didn't have u-verse. we couldn't record four shows at the same time. in my day, you were lucky if you could record two shows. and if mom was recording her dumb show and dad was recording his dumb show then, by george, that's all we watched. and we liked it! today's kids got it so good. [ male announcer ] get u-verse tv for just $19 a month for 1 year when you bundle tv and internet. rethink possible. when you bundle tv and internet. get 36 months interest-free financing, and save up to $500 on beautyrest and posturepedic. get a sealy queen set for just $399. even get 3 years interest-free financing on tempur-pedic. plus, free delivery, set-up, and removal of your old set. keep more presidents in your wallet. this special financing offer ends presidents' day at sleep train. superior service, best selection, lowest price, guaranteed. ♪ sleep train ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪ >>catherine: he's the pope for two more weeks. but pope b

airways c.e.o. dug doug parker and/. >> before the deal you had two megacarriers in delta and united. now you'll have a third carrier, that is fully competitive with those two on a global basis. in fact in the global context, you have three global alliances, star, sky team and one world. this deal bringing u.s. air into the fold of american makes a stronger, more robust competitor. >> i guess as a regular flying looking at the industry, i know you will be the largest when all is said and done. but there are still only so many planes out there. demand has picked up, consumers are used to more crowded planes. good for you in the long run. but there is this concern about fees going up for everything from where you sit to what you get on plane. and it's turned out to be a ask you standings moneymaker for all airlines. billions have come off added fees. are we going to see more? >> well, there's clearly more of a trend of having customers pay for things they value most and not pay for things they would rather not purchase. that's been constructive for the industry. i think it has been one

united continental has been a more volatile stock. they're still working through the merger of those two companies. they're working on bringing costs down. they have a lot further to go. u.s. airways, the stock has been up a little bit on this news of this potential merger, which could be a great ne'erterm catalyst but just remember, i just talked about united p if it goes through, they could have these integration concerns. and if it doesn't, the stock could go down. so i'm sticking with delta. >> okay. all right. a lot of good information. lindsey, any disclosures that you want to make about thesefully stocks it, dow own them? >> i do not own any of them. >> all right. have a nice night. lindsey bell of the street.com. we continue our monday series with some of the nation's top universities, we call it "nbr- u." our partners from harvard, stanford, wharton and vanderbilt, bring us vast knowledge about business issues. and you can read in-depth articles at: www.nbr.com, just look for the "nbr-u" tab. tonight, depression babies and how our economic experiences affect investment behavior here's tom hudson and stefan nagel, professor at the stanford graduate school of business. >> w

airways. if the deal is approved, american, united, delta and southwest would control nearly 70% of the domesticc. >>> a showdown in the senate is looming over president obama's choice as the next secretary of defense. democratic leaders are expected to force a vote on the nomination of chuck hagel tomorrow. some republicans say they'll vote no unless the white house provides more information about the benghazi attack. however, hagel is expected to get the 60 votes needed for approval. >>> also president obama answers questions in a google powered fireside hangout this afternoon, two days after he delivered the big state of the union address. it will be streamed live starting at 4:50 eastern time. >>> an ailing pope benedict celebrated his last public mass at st. peter's basilica. the pope was visibly moved by the thunderous applause and in his final homily, the pope warned about internal church rivalries and thanked the faithful for their support. >>> millions of christians marked the beginning of lent by getting ashes on the foreheads in observance of ash wednesday. >> and an episcopal church

airways being marginalized without getting the deal done. tried to do it with delta and united, failed twice. this is where he takes ceo of american. he worked with the labor unions as well as the creditors to get the deal done. >> rebecca as mentioned in the piece before flyers have been down this route before, what is in store for passengers with this new partnership? >> we have been down this route before and generally speaking when two major airlines merge, prices like you just heard in the piece, prices can sometimes have a price war. sometimes the consumer initially gets a better deal but over time, less competition in general means more prices. higher prices. >> rebecca jarvis, that's the hangup, all right. >>> later we'll talk to the ceos of american airlines and u.s. airways, they will be here with us to give us the inside story about today's big announcement and if it does mean higher prices for you, that's ahead on "cbs this morning." >>> meantime the nightmare aboard the carnival cruiseliner "triumph" could finally end today. passengers are stranded in grotesque con