system. >> as lehman brothers filed for bankruptcy protection just after midnight. with $613 billion in debt on its books, lehman is by far the largest bankruptcy ever in this country. >> while merrill lynch, the giant brokerage firm, sold itself to bank of america in order to save its own skin. >> as the merrill lynch deal was harm hammered out, word came late that insurance giant aig was also struggling to raise $40 billion to stay afloat. >> good evening and even congratulations. you are now the proud owner of a massive insurance company. >> the federal government steps in to rescue insurance giant aig to the tune of $85 billion. >> so many people within the industry, within the banking industry, tell me they have never seen anything like this. >> that was almost five years ago to the day, september 15th, 2008, the beginning of the financial disaster, a by-product of decades of deregulation and malfeasance, that threw the country and the world into complete panic. and as americans began to grow increasingly anxious about their