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result of the near collapse of the financial system and credit markets seizing up. he is taking his message to cities in illinois and iowa hardest hit by the financial crisis. live pictures now from the senate subcommittee hearing. what happens here could affect the future of the entire financial industry and that includes your bank, and your retirement savings and your 401(k) and even your mortgage. i asked the cnn money team to explain why this hearing should matter to you. >> i'm stephanie e larm in new york. you may not think goldman sachs has anything to do with you, but what happens on wall street impacts main street. so if you need proof just take a look at the housing crisis. three years ago most people had never heard of subprime mortgagees, but last year there were a record number of foreclosures affecting people with good credit, too. so we've got to learn from the past. if goldman sachs had brought down the mortgage market, we need to figure out how so we can make sure it doesn't happen again and that's why you should care. i'm christine romans on capitol hill. why does this matter to you? you'll get a look at how wall street works than you've ever seen. does wall street work to make the economy grow or help companies get bigger so they can hire people or was wall street working against main street? that's what we'll find out today. let's get to the action on capitol hill, our man in the hearing room, chief business correspondent ali velshi and doctor, to you, the same question. j does this hearing matter today? >> reporter: i don't know if you have a picture of it, tony. i'm just hearing myself so i'll take this out of my ear for a second. fabrice tourre is speaking now. what we're listening to and this is the 31-year-old executive director and vice president, he's the guy who the sec, he's the only goldman employee, by the way, that the sec has named in its charges. this hearing is different from the sec, this is senators who are trying to figure out what role the investment banking community, investment bankers as a whole had in this financial crisis. we knew there was a recession anyway. did these guys and the things that they were doing, doing more to make it worse? that's what we're listening to. let's listen in to fabrice tourre, fabulous fab, you may have heard of him. >> yes. >> permit sophisticated institutions to customize the exposure they wish to take in order to better manage the credit and market risks of their investment holdings. mr. chairman, as you know, the securities and exchange commission recently filed a civil suit alleging that i failed to disclose to investors certain material information regarding a transaction that i helped to structure named abacus o 7ac-1. i deny categorically the sec's allegations, and i will defend myself in court against this false claim. since the suit was filed, there have been many questions raised about the ac-1 transaction, and my role in it. i appreciate the opportunity to answer those questions, and i want to make a few points absolutely clear. first, the only two investors in the transaction, aca and i kbwere institutions with extensive experience in the cbo market. second, i never told ata, the portfolio selection agent that paulson and company would be an equity investor in the ac-1 transaction or would take any loan position in the deal. although i don't recall the exact words i used, i recall for aca that paulson's fund was expected to buy credit protection on some of the senior tranches on this deal. this meant that paulson was expected to take some short position in the transaction. moreover, from the early stages of the transaction in january 2007 to its completion several months later, none of the offering documents provided to aca indicated that paulson's fund would be an equity investor. if they say i was confused about paulson's role in the transaction that every opportunity to clarify the issue, representative of paulson's fund and in all of my meetings with aca regarding the transaction. i do not ever recall aca asking me or paulson representatives if paulson was an investor. they had several discussions about the transaction and at least one meeting without goldman sachs representatives present. quite frankly, i'm surprised that aca has believed that the paulson fund was an equity all along in this deal. third, the ac-1 transaction was not designed to fail. ac and ikbwere two of the most important clients in my desk. the securities transaction depend underperform the ratings class in vintage. in fact, all those securities performed poorly because the subprime mortgage market suffered a broad collapse. goldman sachs also had no economic motive to design the ac-1 transaction to fail. quite the contrary, we held long exposure in the transaction just like aca, and just like ikb. when they referenced in value, we lost money, too, including $83 million with respect to the loan position. finally, aca selected the portfolio securities referenced in the transaction and not paulson. aca had sole authority to describe what securities would be referenced in the transaction and it does not dispute that fact. neither the paulson fund or goldman sachs could have the security reference in the deal. paulson's funds made suggestions to aca as did ikband goldman sachs. they rejected most of paulson'sing ises while accepting others. so while paulson, goldman sachs, and ikball had input and had security in the transaction. when they selected the reference portfolio, that statement was absolutely correct. mr. chairman, the last week has been challenging for me and my family as i have been the taggest unfounded attacks on my character and motives. i appreciate the opportunity to appear before the sub committee to answer these false charges. i wish to repeat i did not mislead aca and i kb. >> well, we want to hear the questions and mr. tourre, we'd love to hear your answers. let's bring in our chief business correspondent ali velshi. ali. >> yeah? >> what we were listening to there is fabrice tourre defending himself and goldman against sec charges? did i hear that correctly? >> there's not a general disagreement in most of the facts. the issue is this, how much did goldman allow this hedge fund investor, john paulson to influence the selection of this particular portfolio that he's talking about and how much of that information was passed on to the people who made that investment? how much disclosure was there, basically? i mean, look, this comes down to every business deal you ever do. off the top of my head you think about buying a used car. if you know something about it you don't disclose it, so basically the allegation here is that fabrice tourre, structured a product that was sold to people that he thought it was something and he might have known something more about it and he was saying that is incorrect and basically the position he's taking is that you all meaning politicians and regulars you know enough about this stuff and we're all sophisticated and the buyers were sophisticated and we all knew what was going on. a touch deeper here is that this paulson group and goldman sachs work together to develop this portfolio this they had the suggestion is that they had a strong indication would fail and that they bet that it would fail even as the portfolio was being sold to investors as something they could make money on. >> right. which from the paulson hedge fund group was doing something wrong. i can bet that the mets are going to lose x number of games. that's fine. the issue is if you're selling the other side of that bet, you might bet that the mets are going to win all of these games, but what if i know something about the mets that you don't know or what if you're selling something to you and you don't know that i actively am working against that. that's where the gray area comes in and that's what they're making the argument about. as for the larger argument they think most of our viewers are interested in, is this moral? is this ethical? they're not touching that right now. they're just talking about the strict legality of what they did and whether or not they broke any laws. >> good stuff. thank you. we want to hear from you on this financial reform issue. what are your questions? what are your concerns. if you would send them to me at cnn.com/tony or post them at cnn.com/ireport. we will try to address them right here over the next couple of hours and throughout the day, really, in the cnn "newsroom." watching today's hearings on the financial meltdown, most of us face a steep learning curve when it comes to understanding investme investments. i know i do. we'll meet school kids who are getting an early start on their financial education and rob marciano. where is he? tracking a storm that is brewing out west. we'll check in with rob in a couple of minutes. you're in the cnn "newsroom." we are keeping an eye on capitol hill where senators are questioning wall street executives about events leading up to the mortgage meltdown. right now, though, we're going to take a look at some younger investors. cnn's christine romans reports that students at an inner city chicago school are learning about money by investing it. >> reporter: meet america's future investment bankers and accountants. >> you have to look out for the dividend. >> i like checking the dow. >> my favorite stock would have to be apple. >> at ariel academy, students learn how to make money. >> the financial ratio, it helps the business, like -- >> save money. >> i think everybody should at least save half of their money. >> reporter: and invest money. real money. thanks to the school's unique saving and investment curriculum. >> the incoming first grade class gets a $20,000 endowment. when they get to fifth grade, students will start to choose stocks that they think we should be buying and we will buy them. >> $67.58 and the dividend is 14 cents per share. >> when students graduate from eighth grade, the $20,000 goes back to the incoming first grade. any profit above that amount gets split. half goes to improving the school or to charity. the other half gets divided among the kid. >> you're not going to invest in that at all? >> some years like 2009, there's no profit and the kids learn that investing is no slam dunk, but that doesn't deter kids like ariel graduates ariel and myles gauge. >> i'm able to take everything that i learned at ariel to the next level. >> mario and myles weren't the only ones getting education. >> i was looking at the materials that they were bringing home and it was foreign to me and they broke it it down like children do and i started getting excited about that and then the knowledge and i'm, like, wow! you know what? this is fun. >> fun and finance don't often appear in the same sentence, but that's not true at ariel. from age-appropriate learning to an inspiration allen viernment and the ultimate reward, attending mcdonald's annual shareholder meeting. making this all possible is john rogers, chairman and founder of ariel investments after which the school is named. ariel, along with marter in nevin investments put up the $20,000 for each grade. in 1991 ariel started working with this public school on the south side of chicago because it was one of the most underserved in the city. 98% of the student body is african-american, 78% are considered low income. nowadays, test scores are on the rise. outperforming the district and the state average with the help of teachers like connie moran. >> good morning. take that off. >> named teacher of the year by the national foundation for teaching entrepreneurship in 2007. >> ever since i listened to miss moran in class, i heard her say invest in your money, invest in your money, invest in your money and now i'm going listen to her. >> reporter: christine roman, cnn. >> i love it! as we keep an ear on the hearings, we're also tuned in to what you're saying especially josh levs. we're following your responses and your questions. what doesn't make sense and what do you really want to know. there's josh, if you would, keep those messages coming on our page and we'll share with them later this hour. josh is back in a minute and there are the sites. send in your comments right now. josh is back in a couple of minutes. you're in the cnn "newsroom." hi, we're the campbells. here's what we can do with 4g from sprint. using the overdrive 4g mobile hotspot, jimmy's playing some video game online, jenny's video-chatting with a friend, and i'm downloading a huge presentation. and while that's happening, we'll enjoy some family time. [ computer beeps ] that was good. what can you do with 4g? [ male announcer ] experience 4g from sprint. it's more than a wireless network. deaf, hard-of-hearing and people with speech disabilities, it's a wireless revolution. access www.sprintrelay.com. live pictures on capitol hill. there's the committee chair, carl levin. executives from wall street's -- really, the most profitable firm on wall street, we're talking about goldman sachs, defending the company's actions during the housing meltdown and facing some tough questions. we will, of course, keep an eye on the hearing throughout the day for you. what exactly could we hear from goldman sachs today? cnnmoney.com has answers and for that we turn to our josh levs. good to see you. what questions some these executives be facing today? that's one of the big questions being tackled. there's so much going on alongside this hearing if you're watching it. by the way, it continues to be live right here on cnnmoney.com. we encourage you to check it out because we want you to see every little bit of it, but stay with us as well. we'll bring you the most important parts here. here's what i have. one of the big stories on cnnmoney.com today is the top four questions are that people should be asking, that lawmakers should try to tackle today? the first one here, is this the work of a single employee? as we know there is one employee whose name has been coming up, and the 31-year-old tourre. is this a case where it can say, it's one person that they can distance themselves from. and what kind of oversight they have within the company and how much is really being done to watch what the employees are doing to protect everyone affected by their decisions? the second question -- we skipped ahead here. why spend so much money on lobbying this year? you and i were looking at this today. >> yeah. >> goldman sachs, making millions and millions of dollars in contributions is one of the big places that makes contributions to lawmakers and you know, our folks at cnn money, a great story from this writer, david ellis, who says they should have to stop and say exactly what they're looking for. it's a big chunk of cash. what exactly do you want by spending this money? the fourth one, how does a company that generates so much money from trading help the economy grow in the slogan that they use is that they do help the economy grow, but what the story points out and i learned a bit from this, they're making a lot of money. they're making billions of dollars and what they're doing is not the small businesses and individual consumers. if the decisions that we make are good for the economy, they should have to break that down today and that is what the folks at cnnmoney.com ask. >> i love, love, love that. >> i'm hoping that enough lawmakers read that list before the hearing started today or are checking it on their blackberries if they get them in there. >> back in the day, that's why we gave our money to these investment houses so that they would find the innovation, the innovative company that would spur on the next big growth cycle. >> yeah. >> and hiring, right? and employment and everybody would -- all right. >> banks used to pay you for holding on to your money. >> how about that? >> everything has changed in the world. >> josh, we're also hearing from our viewers as well, correct? >> we'll be bringing you answers next hour. we'll be sharing some of your words next hour, but what we're seeing in a lot of cases is a lot of people very angry. the anger doesn't just go out to goldman sachs or toward these companies. we're seeing a lot of people question why should we trust the sec or congress to do anything that's going to mark a lasting change? a lot of people saying that doesn't make sense, that the sec missed it this time, what's to say they're not going to miss it next time. cnn.com/josh or cnn.com/tony. let's get you caught up on top stories. president obama takes his push for financial reform to main street today. he will stop first in iowa, one of the states hardest hit by the economy. and he will meet with farmers. the president began the day by announcing a new commission on fiscal responsibility. >> i want this commission to be free to do its work. in theory, there are few issues on which there is more big risk, bipartisan agreement than fiscal responsibility, but in practice, this responsibility for the future is often overwhelmed by the politics of the moment. a record drug bust in hong kong. police acting on a missing person tip stormed a home in a small village. no missing person there, but they did find this huge stash of cocaine. estimated street value more than $43 million. eight people arrested. a parliamentary vote in ukraine became a free for all. take a look at this after opposition members began hurling eggs at the speaker, but as you can see here in a second. that's the egg-throwing part. there's the umbrella. break early. the meeting divulged from here to open first a cuffs. to extend russia's naval presence in the ukraine for another 25 years. did we ever see the fist a cuffs? not sure we did. still to come in the "newsroom," one simple task and things began falling into place for a school in haiti. how a game of dominos is helping rebuild the battered country. dominos falling in texas and the efforts helping to rebuild haiti. each domino is worth a dollar at the st. george, pis copal school, so far $27,000. that's a nice round number. that's real money that will help rebuild a school in haiti. >> for every dollar that we raise we put a domino in the floor of our gym and so by having all of the dominos lined up people can see how little efforts and little bits of money can add up to make a big difference. >> and it does. it really does. there's the man, rob marciano. feels good, huh? >> it does. fun illustrative ways to raise money for a good cause. >> think beyond yourself, right? >> you know, those are perfectly spaced dominos. we should watch it for a second. that's a work of art right there and -- oh, just -- i cursed it. that was the kiss of death, wasn't it? >> yeah. raising the flag of haiti. awesome stuff. definitely some snow across parts of the northeast. can you believe that? and the end of april and we're talking about snow. we've had reports of a couple of inches in upstate new york, if your mind has switched gears to reach the summer time. it has 6 to 12 inches of snow in the forecast. they're posted for the adronned axe of upstate new york and the green and white mountains of new hampshire and vermont and maybe getting into maine before this thing is all said and done. it is the same system that brought the severe weather across the plains and the deep south. we really want to kiss it bye-bye. by tomorrow it should be gone. this system headed across the tennessee and ohio valleys, want terribly strong and just a cool pocket of air and that may trigger a couple of showers and thunderstorms and for now, just east of knoxville into eastern kentucky, light to moderate rain with embedded thunderstorms as well. out west, this is a pretty potent storm for this time of year and it had wind damage for western oregon and it will be traversing the colorado rockies over the next day and a half and thursday and friday we set the stage for seeing another batch of severe weather break out in the plains and then friday, saturday and may be getting down into the same area that saw the severe weather the past couple of days, but at this point it doesn't look to be the prime time setup like we saw earlier in the week, but we're getting into prime time as far as severe weather goes in may, so we'll have to watch it carefully. >> thank you, sir. wall street big wigs on the defensive in washington. we are live into the hearing into the role goldman sachs played in the mortgage meltdown, plus a live report on efforts to push financial reform forward. oui all about your money today in the cnn "newsroom." a clash of wall street giat goldman sachs facing tough questions from senate lawmakers. live pictures here of the subcommittee hearing on capitol hill. goldman sachs denying allegations it made billions from the housing collapse at the expense of their own clients. >> as we speak, lobbyists fill the halls of congress hoping to weaken or kill legislation aimed at reforming these abuses. wall street is on the wrong side of this fight. it insists that reining in those excesses would unduly restrict a free market that is the engine of american progress, but this market of ours isn't free of self-dealing or conflict of interest. it isn't free of gambling debts that taxpayers end up paying. i hope the executives before us today and their colleagues on wall street will recognize the harm that their aks have caused to so many of their fellow citizens, but whether or not they take responsibility for their role, i hope that this congress will follow the example of another congress eight decades ago and enact the reforms that will put a cop back on the wall street beat. >> all of you were lemming-like. you were chasing each other. what you worried about most was a bad article in "the wall street journal" not a regulator. you were chasing compensation. you were chasing your colleagues and other investment banks, and you were trying to make a killing. let me just tell you, you think it's so complicated and you think you're so smart. any street gambler would never place a bet with a bookie or a house with the record that is revealed in the documents that this committee has gathered. >> wow! it's going get hot today. look, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again, right? that is the plan for senate democrats after an expected setback in the push for financial reform and an effort to start the debate came up short. >> on this vote, the yeas are 57. the nays are 41. three-fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted in the affirmative, the motion is not agreed to. >> congressional correspondent brianna keilar live from capitol hill where all of the action is today. good to see you. when do democrats plan to hold another one of these test votes? >> 4:30 p.m. eastern time we've heard that from senate majority leader harry reid. and the thing that's interesting and we're not expecting the vote breakdown to be any different. we're expecting this to fail as well so why are they doing this, you might ask? this is part of democrat strategy to keep the pressure republicans, to paint them essentially as standing by wall street instead of main street as they force them to take these votes that are expected to fail. why? well, behind the scenes what you have is the top democrat and the top republican on the banking committee. they're trying to negotiate and work out a deal, but top democrats feel that republicans are dragging their feet and they're not going quickly enough about this and so they're going to keep putting the pressure this promising to have votes not just today, tony, but there's also another one that's expected to take place tomorrow. republicans on their side, they say wait. we want some changes. we're not going to sign on to something that we don't like, and we think this could be made better and this is really our one shot because the only other shot in legislating, tony will be the process of amendments. you need 60 votes to pass an amendment and clearly republicans don't have that. so they're holding out a negotiation position trying to get some of the changes they want. >> let's talk about changes. what are some of the points here of the legislation that republicans don't care for some. >> reporter: let's talk about a couple. one is how do you end a bailout? what they have is a $50 billion fund. the money from this fund would come from wall street firms, not from taxpayers. so wall street firms would be paying for it and then when the government, if one of these big companies were to fail, winds down, has a new ability to wind down one of these companies, it would be paid for with this fund instead of taxpayers. well, democrats say that that's kind of -- pardon me, republicans say that's a self-fulfilling prophecy because you're giving these companies a promise of a painless wind down, they say so you're kind of encouraging them saying there's a safety net and you can go ahead and take it and maybe the government could read into it more and use it as a bailout fund rather than a wind down fund and the other issue is how do you protect consumers. there are things in this bill that are supposed to protect consumers from things like predatory lending and the like and the entity that would be given and the power to do that would be too far reaching and it will be unchecked power. >> briana keilar. thank you, going after goldman, the wall street powerhouse already facing fraud charges. today executives faced some tough questions from lawmakers and our guests drilled down on the allegations. let's get started here right now. there is ryan mack and john vogel joining us. ryan, let me start with you. the allegations here against goldman, is there any there there? >> well, they really don't have that strong of a case. the sex will essentially say that, essentially that paulson and company helped to assist and to create this portfolio that goldman went out and essentially started to sell to investors, but then paulson was essentially shorting the market and so therefore, goldman was shorting the market and then goldman would say look, we lost $1.2 billion in 2007 and 2008 in the subprime market. so we have a duty to our shareholders in order to hedge our bets. i think the larger picture is the fact that in terms of moral, you don't allow an arsonist to sell fire insurance. so while they might not have a strong case and i don't think it will hold water for the long run, i just think that the public perception of what goldman hatches the gold through of potentially shorting the securities that you're shorting against is not morally sound and the simple fact that it's illegal, we can do that and the glaring conflict of interest points to the lack of regulatory and the necessity for financial and regulatory reform. let me come to you on the same point. what the fcc is alleging took place at goldman. is it simply bad pr or is it illegal? >> well, to begin with, if it's still true that where there's smoke, there's fire and there's an awful lot of smoke that's created out there and it's possible that before this is all over there will be some fire burning down underneath everything. i don't think we have nearly enough facts to decide whether it's illegal or dare i say, merely unethical and unethical behavior will get you into a lot of problems even though it's not technically illegal. if i had to take a guess in all this, i would guess that at the end of a long and expensive process with goldman's ability to hire the most expensive lawyers and most of them in the u.s. that there would be settlement with the se drshgs and nobody could be talking about that now. >> ryan, tell me what you mean when you say goldman sachs is essentially a master at manipulating the system. what do you mean? >> goldman is one of the best traders out there. essential essentially, if you're looking at the differences between standardized derivatives versus customized derivatives. that comprises 80% of the market and they're able to create these collateralized debt obligations that go beneath the radar. so they're good at making money and they're one of the best at it. so when they find ways and the problem if you don't have that proper infrastructure, that necessary regulatory reform that really allows to watch the chicken coop and make sure no one's escaping then what they'll do is to take full advantage of that and make tons of money doing it and we have to rewind and say what things can we set in place to make these things illegal. i can't agree with mr. vogel any more. we have to make sure that these unethical things are eliminated completely so they're not allowed to take advantage of the loopholes in the system at which they're tremendously great at doing. >> last question for you, if you were in the hearing room. you than inside out. both of you do. what question would you ask and help the viewer here with this? what question would you want asked and what kind of an answer, an honest answer do you think you would get to your question? >> well, let's take one example. let's take these on eye think it's called abacus securities that were created so that john paulson could be short then. somebody has to be long them and my question would be, assuming i've got the name right, abacus, would they have shown abacus, recommended abacus to their very best and most important clients. if the answer to that question is yes, they would. i think a lot of the ethical question disappears, but i'm going to guess they wouldn't dream of offering that kind of merchandising, that kind of merchandise to their best clients. >> and the same question to you, ryan. in the hearing room, what's the question you want answered today? >> well, essentially is do you really care about your clients? do you really care about your bottom line? do you have an obligation to your clients or to your shareholders. if you are out there selling securities that you're shorting against you're putting your bottom line over the basic interest of your clients. you're not supposed to just sell securities for the sake of increasing your revenue. you're supposed to sell securities in order to increase the benefit of those purchasing these securities. so if you're shorting against them to increase your bottom line that's essentially the most glaring conflict of interest that is out there and we need to crack down on that. >> ryan mack, john vogel. appreciate it. thank you both. we'll keep track of goldman sachs executives and their testimony on capitol hill. more right after this. >> let's get you caught up on top stories now. a big turnaround for ford motor company from this time last year. my goodness. the automaker is reporting a surge of profits for the first quarter. net profits around $2 billion. in the first quarter of last year ford lost $.4 billion. ford says the reason for the turnaround, strong sales in the united states and around the world. the world-famous hollywood sign saved from the wrecking ball and hugh hefner is a big reason why. the playboy founder donated the $500,000 needed to save the sign. it raised more than $12 million and the money will be spent to buy land around the sign to prevent developers from building luxury homes. manuel noriega is now in france to face money laundering charges. the former dictator of panama was extradited from the u.s. where he spent more than 20 years in prison on a federal drug conviction. noriega was ousted from office in panama in the u.s. invasion in 1989. fer you an unlimited pln for $69.99, that's all it's good for -- phone calls. with sprint, for the same price, you get unlimited text, unlimited web and unlimited calling to every mobile phone in america. now that's more like it. [ male announcer ] $69.99 for unlimited text, web and calling to any mobile in america. only from sprint. deaf, hard-of-hearing and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com. [ female announcer ] it's red lobster's festival of shrimp... a chance to get everyone together for a night where everyone gets just what they want. combine two or three favorites, from new creations like crab-stuffed shrimp and pecan-crusted shrimp to classics like decadent shrimp scampi. it's everything you want in a night out. starting at just $11.99, during the festival of shrimp. executives from wall street powerhouse goldman sachs on capitol hill right now. they are defending against allegations the company bet against the housing market and made billions in the process. in addition, the sec accuses goldman of fraud. a financial legal peckser talked with sanjay gupta last night on "ac 360." >> the real crux of the problem is they went out and sold the specific instrument precisely the way one person wanted it created, and not only did they go out selling something that was sold as a aaa-rated piece of debt, but at the same time they went out and bought insurance on what they thought would be the failure of this instrument. so it was that simultaneous transaction which is what a lot of people are calling into question and whether or not in fact, they were betting against the ultimate buyer of this structured product. >> and that's a very good description. one of the best i've heard. >> complicated. >> sunny, you're a former prosecutor and you've worked on security cases like this. now the e-mails have surfaced and as joe johns pointed out, in which executives acknowledged betting against the real estate bubble. is that illegal? is it immoral? how damaging is this? >> it certainly looks fraudulent and i think that's really what the bottom line is. everyone says this is a complicated case for the sec. it really isn't, when you do something like this, you sell junk to investors and tell them it's something else, it's a material omission. you didn't say it or just plain vanilla fraud. so i really don't think this is a difficult case for the sec. >> boy, how about this next story? a good samaritan is stabbed after he went to help a robbery victim, but no one helps him. he's left to die. this story really checks your moral compass. we're back in a moment. for tw. the results? prilosec otc's 24 hour heartburn protection gave a whole lot of people their days and nights back. ♪ [ cheering ] [ man ] prilosec otc has let me live the life that i love. [ male announcer ] prilosec otc. heartburn gone. power on. ♪ i need you to reach out to the program and talk to me directly. first of all, cnn.com/tony takes you directly to this, bam, our blog page. if you would like to send us your thoughts on facebook, here's what you do. tonyharriscnn. here's my twitter address, tonyharr tonyharris, cnn. call us. pick up the the phone. 1-877-742-5760. let's have more of your thoughts on the program. hey, ask our doctor about garlique, okay? garlique's clinically proven ingredient maintains healthy cholesterol naturally. eat right. exercise. garlique. okay. so as congress turns up the heat on investment banks and their role in the financial crisis, why not take a harder look at who handles your money and how much of it they themselves get to keep. ines ferre is in new york. ines, good to see you. where do we start here? >> tony, watch out for those 401(k) fees. fees and expenses paid by your retirement plan can significantly reduce your nestg. 1% difference in fees and expenses each year would reduce your account balance by 28%. we're talking day-to-day operating costs. look at investment fees and individual service fees associated with some plans. check with your plan administrator to find out what fees you're paying. and if you're not sure who to contact, go to your payroll department and ask to talk to the right person. you can also go to brightscope.com and compare your company's 401(k) with other 401(k)s. the bottom line, you would like to keep those fees to 1% or less. >> let's talk about the financial planners. what should you look for if you're looking for one? >> well, financial planners can get paid by commission. and that's where they -- they're compensated by the products they sell to you or they can make their money by establishing a set fee or a combination of both. it's worth your while to check out fee-only advisers so you don't have to worry about whether they're selling you something because it's the best investment for you or may be the best for them. some advisers charge a percentage of assets under management. when you do well, they benefit. and to find certified planners in your area, you go napfa.org or garrett it is planning.com. it should provide the full picture, one who tells you the good stuff as well as possible risks. check on your adviser's track record and view any complaints. >> ines, one last one for you here. what if you're just not happy with your bank? >> well, we all know that doing business with a bank is getting more expensive. rising atm surcharges, increasing fees. it's more important as ever to get as much as you can when it comes to your bank. compare what other banks are offering at bankrate.com and while switching banks isn't always easy ask about switch kits. it's a way for a new bank to switch your account without having to set up your online bill pay for direct deposit from scratch. if you have any questions, tony, send them to us. >> speaking of questions, ines, appreciate it. we need your help. your thoughts really. we want to hear from you on this financial reform issue. is it still going on? maybe we can squeeze that somewhere. what are you questions on this issue in what are you questions? if you would, send them to me at cnn.com/tony or post them at cnn.com/i-report. we will address them here in the "cnn newsroom." here's the next hour of the "cnn newsroom," they are among the youngest victims of the deadly tornadoes. a baby girl and two young sisters. ed lavandera reports on the heartbreak in mississippi. from the sad to shocking. good samaritan is stabbed and collapse tons street. pictures here. but that's not the worst of it. wait until you learn how many people passed by without stopping to help. got to tell you many economists believe the recession is over but we are still facing some of the same old problems. new study shows that mortgage fraud is still rampant. stephanie elam is in new york with details. this was a big reason for the whole mortgage mess. hasn't oversight stepped up over the past few years? >> and you thought people start passing out halos and all of a sudden people stop the fraud? no. it doesn't work that way, tony. it's true, fraud often changes what w. the times, so it's hard to completely get rid of it. the number rose 7% last year. that's better than the 26% jump we saw in 2000 but economists say this study is only the tip of the iceberg because fraud isn't usually detected until the loan goes bad. when things get bad that's when we see who is up to the bad stuff. there are probably a lot more cases that we don't even know about yet. here is what people should look for. the most common types of fraud are falsifying information on mortgage applications and inflated appraisals. this idea of a liar loan, that's an issue, that's when a mortgage professional knowingly inflates the borrower's income. that's not good. if your mortgage servicer falsifies your information that means you're probably getting a loan you can't afford. that will hit you later. that's one of the reasons we have so many foreclosures now. look at the states that have the highest number of fraud cases, if you take a look at those states they might just look familiar to you because we talk about them all the time. they have some of the highest foreclosure rates in the country, tony. that's why we keep our eyes on them. also, i wanted to tell you the market is selling off right now because of greek debt being downgraded by s&p. we're off 15 points on the dow. just wanted to show you that. >> whoa! >> quick sell-off but i wanted to explain it. >> greek debt and -- >> their debt being downgraded. >> germany raising questions about oh we. >> in greece. and greece. and this is about greece again with that whole issue there. i wanted to let you know simply because it's a sell-off in the last 30 minutes. >> yeah. okay. stephanie, appreciate it. thank you. hi, everybody. i'm tony harris. top of the hour where anything can happen. here are some of the real people behind today's biggest stories. >> we did have to scale back the operation of the library system and to look more carefully at all the things we're doing. >> how secret bets on wall street impacted so many areas around your street. executives of investment giant goldman sachs answering now for their actions. plus, a deadly street. >> all i can say she was a happy baby. so precious. i will always, always miss her. i love her. >> mourning the youngest victims of mississippi's killer tornadoes. it just breaks your heart. let's do this. let's get started this hour. lawmakers demanding answers from wall street's most profitable firm goldman sachs. it is accused of helping to create the housing melt down which sparked the nation's financial crisis. millions of americans are struggling with that fallout. more than 8 million jobs lost. upwards of 7 million homes in foreclosure. it's why we care. and why many are push for financial reform. our allan chernoff explains how goldman sachs allegedly bet against you and your neighbors. >> reporter: this is the house jack bought. jack in aberdeen, new jersey, repairman. jack fell behind in his mortgage. so far behind that he lost the house to a foreclosure. on monday it was put up for auction at the momnmouth. this is hedge fund manager john paulson. he bet that jack and thousands other americans would not be able to pay their mortgages. paulson bet right and made a billion dollars. this is goldman sachs, the nation's most prestige use investment firm. goldman sachs set up the bet for john paulson. jack's house was one of the cards. and goldman sachs was supposed to be shuffling the deck. german bank ikb bet that jack and thousand other homeowners could pay their mortgages. ikb bet wrong and lost $150 million. this is the u.s. securities and exchange commission. it says goldman sachs committed fraud by letting paulson pick the cards at the gambling table without telling ikb. >> allegations against goldman sachs are that they sort of loaded the dice, stacked the deck, by designing a portfolio that was weaker than average. >> reporter: the s.e.c. says ikb was a victim, but ikb is not considered a victim in king county, washington, home to seattle. king county bought one of the investments ikb was selling. it lost more than $20 million. and these are king county's libraries, also victims of that losing bet. >> we did have to scale back the operation of the library system, and to look more carefully at all the things we're doing. >> king county is suing ikb, the very company that the s.e.c. says was a victim of goldman sachs. the county's also suing standard & poor's and moody's, those rating agencies told king county it's bet on mortgages was aaa safe. now, what if jack's house it failed to generate any bidders at monday's foreclosure auction so it goes back to the foreclosure bank and the big gamblers in this mortgage market, ikb lost so much that the german taxpayers had to bail it out. and over here in the u.s., you know what happened the the mortgage melt down forced american taxpayers to provide the nation's biggest banks with bailout money, including $10 billion for goldman sachs which the firm has since repaid. tony? >> allen, let's sort of drill down and bring this home to this senate committee hearing on investigations right now, hitting goldman for allegedly betting against the mortgage market and making big bucks on that collapse when goldman claimed it was not benefiting. right? that's what's at issue here. >> that's what's at issue with regard to the senate hearing. yeah. the senate is making a big deal over the fact that goldman was able to benefit while the mortgage market was in decline. they made a lot of right bets, they claim that they didn't make all that much and that hey actually lost in this specific deal we were referring to. the s.e.c., you know, they're charging something very different. that fraud charge, that just has to do with omitting information, not telling ikb that mr. paulson and his hedge fund were picking some of the instruments that they would be betting on. and that paulson was betting against those instruments. >> terrific, clearer lines there. >> two different things. >> good to keep them straight in your head. allan chernoff in new york for us. why should you care about these hearings today? good question. we put that question to our cnn money team. >> i'm ali velshi on capitol hill where all this afternoon sparks are flying as u.s. senators grill executives from goldman sachs. they say they're using goldman sachs as a case study to find out what role, if any, investment bankers had in the collapse of the financial system. well, we don't know if any charges will come out of this. more importantly, what the senators say they're trying to do is figure out what can be changed to this kind of a melt down doesn't happen again. >> i'm poppy harlow in new york. goldman sachs executives getting grilled today by lawmakers. you should care because it's all comes at a time when financial reform is being hotly debated and the future practices of banks are on the line. wall street's biggest players today testifying about the decisions they made as the u.s. economy was falling apart and millions of americans lost their jobs. should bankers have to change their ways or is this just the way the free market works? it all matters to you. >> i'm paula monica at cnnmoney.com. one of the things we're going to focus on is this, is this just a case of business as usual and an over reaction in washington, d.c. or did something criminal or fraudulent actually take place? >> i love it. let's get to the subcommittee hearing right now. senate lawmakers take on goldman sachs. christine romans is on capitol hill. what are they saying? >> reporter: still talking to dan sparks former of gold machine sacks, used to run that mortgage trading desk. we've seen e-mails from him. he's being grilled by senators over just what happened. the senator you're seeing right there was saying, look, all i'm hearing, ken kaufman saying, all i'm hearing is that somehow this happened, somehow the housing bubble popped and all of these things were there and it all just happened but it wasn't caused by goldman sachs or any of these products. he obviously is not buying that. john mccain said their behavior was immoral. clara mccaskill said, you know, a vegas pit boss as more oversight than you do. so from republican to democrat, getting hammered here, tony. and i'll tell you that we've been told a couple of times senator levin made it very clear that some of these answers are long, some of them are very complicated. there's a lot of going back and forth over specific details of deals. and he said we will be here as long as it takes to find out everything we need to know. so he has put these goldman sachs on notice that they can take as long as they want but he will -- we will be here for a very long time doing that. i want you to listen to something, an exchange between senator levin and dan sparks from gold machine sacks, tony. >> did you not have a responsibility when you were asked point blank, how do you get comfortable in this kind of a situation when there's so much exposure to new century mortgages. did you not then at least have an obligation to disclose, hey, we're not comfortable, we're going, selling this thing short, we're going on the short side? that's my question. you understand the question? >> mr. chairman, i understand the question. i haven't gone through all the e-mails, but what clients who did not want to participate in that deal did not. >> the client ask you a question how do you guys get comfortable? it's a question. what was your answer? >> mr. chairman -- >> did you tell him -- >> we would have had the sales force get on the with deal team and walk through each security that they had exposure to and answer any questions that they had about that security. >> don't you also have a duty to disclose an adverse interest to your client? do you have that duty? if you have an adverse duty to your client do you have a duty to expose that to your client? >> how we are positioned? >> you have an adverse interest to your client when you are selling something to them, do you have the responsibility to tell that client of your adverse interest? that's your question. >> i'm trying to understand. >> i think you understand it. i don't think you want to answer. >> reporter: as you can see, tony, senator levin, he doesn't have a lot of patience really. he wants answers. he wants answers to specific deals and specific questions and specific e-mails. what's most interesting about this, tony, what it means to all of us is that we are getting an inside look at the inner workings of wall street and what you are hearing from these senators is that, they want to know exactly how it was working and did it work to grow the economy or did it work to hurt the economy. and was that illegal and was it wrong. and that's what they're trying to get to the bottom of. >> christine, let's take a moment and clarify senator levin's question. >> sure. >> he's asking, look, as you're promoting this portfolio, as something i, as an investor, should buy, do you have an obligation to tell me that you, as goldman sachs, are banking against it? isn't that the heart of the question? >> yes. and he's also talking about a portfolio of new century mortgages, a subprime lender that eventually went out of business and was one of the first ones to go bankrupt. you heard a lot of questions as well, didn't you guys know what these mortgages were made out of? didn't you know what was being packaged and packaged and packaged and then you were writing other insurance? didn't you know what was at the core of this? >> yeah, yeah, yeah. >> no, you're absolutely right. and i think that we're going to see throughout the afternoon more specific deals like this that they're going to be analyzing and trying to take to take apart. >> christine, i want mr. sparks to answer that question. christine, appreciate it. all right. thank you, lady. as a senate subcommittee questions goldman sachs executives the full senate continues to fight over new legislation to regulate wall street as senate democrat leader harry reid says he will make another attempt today to bring it to the floor. democrats need 60 votes to begin floor debate. yesterday they only collected 57 votes. republicans say they will continue to block a measure until democrats agree to a more bipartisan approach. what do you remember most about these two young sisters? >> their smiles. you never saw them when they weren't smiling. >> heartbreak for a small town in mississippi. the weekend tornado outbreak killed three young girls. two of them sisters. now their families are trying to deal with their grief. got to tell you, hockey is no game for wimps. i want you to see this random moment from a tsn video posted on youtube from an nhl playoff game. washington capitals forward eric burlinger lost seven teeth in a collision with another player. look at him. the man pulls one of -- the teeth out of his bloody mouth and hands it to a trainer. well, for safekeeping. later he returns to the game. it is all in a day's work, i guess. three of the teeth he lost were replacements for teeth he lost earlier. that's a random moment for you. right now for tornado victims in mississippi, it might be better to laugh than cry. some have been cracking jokes today to keep from crying as they dig through all the rubble. saturday's outbreak damaged or destroyed hundreds of home, businesses and churches. ten people lost their lives. among them a 3-month-old baby and two other young girls p. here's cnn's ed lavandera from weir, mississippi. >> all i can say is she was a happy baby. so precious. i will always, always miss her. i love her. >> reporter: these are priceless pictures for patterson, the only snapshots left of his only child, 3-month-old nyla. >> they used to always tease me, she looked just like me. >> reporter: daddy's girl? >> yes. >> reporter: when the tornado struck nyla was inside this shatter shattered mobile home with her mother valerie. >> she said everything came down falling on them. the trailer came down on them. >> reporter: so valerie had the baby in her hands the whole time? >> yeah, she had the baby. actually she was -- she was on top of the baby to protect her. that's why her back is -- >> reporter: damaged. >> damaged. >> reporter: nowhere did the mississippi tornado inflict more pain than in the small town of weir, along a stretch of orange gravel called white road. it's where three young girls died. just up the road from nyla lived this family and their five children, but two daughters didn't survive. 14-year-old britney and 9-year-old tian. family and friends tell us as the tornado approached the job family ran out of the house and wanted to get in their car to race away. as they got here the winds picked up the car and thrown it beyond the house over here. they ran back inside. the father grabbed one girl, a brother grabbed his sister but the power of the storm was just too much. the girls were sucked out of the house and thrown about 100 yards deep into the woods. what do you remember most about he's two young sisters? >> their smiles. you never saw them when they weren't smiling, most britney and tian both, every day tian came up to me and hugged me and said, coach, beard, i love you. i said, i love you, too, baby. >> reporter: coach beard was a principal. britney loved to dance and tian was so protective of her twin brother. all five of the job people go to school here. this is where people know this family best. the loss of britney and tian has been a painful blow. tian's chair in her second grade class will sit empty the rest of the school year. >> that's the first thing we did this morning. told me it was her and this is tian and the heart tells how bad she's going to miss her, so bad. >> reporter: this is the girl who drew it. >> this is girl who drew it. crying. i will miss tian so bad. >> reporter: pretty powerful stuff. >> every year i'm told in this classroom we're family. we lost a family member. that's exactly how it feels. >> reporter: the last project tyann job finished at school was watching a caterpillar turn into a butterfly. a poignant final lesson. >> we have, you know, lost one of our friends. i think today will be a special thing to release them in memory of tyann. what do you think? there they go. >> mississippi governor haley barber has declared today a day of prayer to remember those killed in the tornado outbreak. i got to tell you oil from the sight of last week's offshore drilling rig explosion could reach the gulf of mexico this weekend. as of this morning the slick covered 48-mile stretch up to 80 miles wide. oil is still gushing from a broken pipe. 5,000 feet under water crews are using robot submarines in a bid to stop the flow but they don't know whether that will work. bring in chad myers here. chad, my understanding is you've got amazing pictures of this oil slick. >> new pictures from european satellite and nasa that will kind of tell the story. behind me you are looking at a map there that was going to show the wind. i'll show you all about that in a little bit. this is from the european space agency. the bottom there, the very bottom, center of your screen would be homa and way on toward grand isle. that's the bottom of the louisiana delta there. and that gray spot on the bottom right corner kind new hampshire in the shine, in the sheen of the water that is the oil slick itself. it has not reached land yet. there's something good news about that. and they are putting disbursements on the oil slick. flying over it and also from boats, putting it on so that rather than the oil all staying together, it's broken up into tiny little particles and those particles actually can float down into the water column and not stay on top and not eventually wash onshore. i think eventually we will get this onshore. let me tell you why. this is from wrightweather.com. we use this all the time. it's a raw map but it tells the story that it's offshore flow for now. after about 60 hours, which is 2 1/2 days, the winds are red, which means 25 to 35 miles her hour blowing back. see how the arrows are blowing back? today blowing off and then coming back around from the east and then finally after 60-hour, 2 1/2-day period really blowing all of that back into the grand isle area and maybe even up toward -- what's up there pascagoula and back over there even into lake ponchartrain. we'll have to see if it gets that far. the good news is the longer it stays out there the more it clumps together and then as it comes onshore it's just a tar ball. that's okay if better than an oil slick like valdez. and the longer it's out there the more they can put on it getting it to be down into the water column and sink into the bottom and be eaten by microbes out there that can actually do that. >> let's hope for that outcome. chad, thank you. good explainer as always. arizona has drawn a line in the sand on illegal immigrants but are sat lawmakers the ones who crossed it? we will show you nation wide reaction to what some call the toughest immigration law in the land. hey, one dose of this, six hour relief. chlor-trimeton relieves itchy, watery eyes and sneezing for 12 full hours with less drowsiness than benadryl. it does all that? chlor-trimeton. less drowsy relief that lasts 12 hours. national car rental knows i'm picky. so, at national, i go right past the counter... and you get to choose any car in the aisle. choose any car? you cannot be serious! okay. seriously, you choose. go national. go like a pro. top stories now. newly released video featuring one of america's most wanted al qaeda leader is born in the united states in the video the cleric accuses the u.s. military of pitting muslims against each other by blaming bombings on islamic militants. the nation's largest retailer may be facing the nation's largest class action lawsuit. federal appeals court says a case against walmart can go ahead. more than a million women are accusing walmart of gender bias in both pay and promotions. kidnapping charges are formally dropped against ten american missionaries in haiti. group leader laura silsby is still in jail on a charge of arranging irregular travel in haitian legal terms that means illegally smuggling humans. another check in 20 minutes. it has been five days since arizona passed their controversial illegal immigration law. but anger and outrage continues to spread miles away from the desert. ines ferre joining me live from new york right now. ines, it's another city where a protest and protesters are organizing, i guess right now even, for a rally. >> yeah, right now they are, tony. and reactions are coming from all parts of the country. kansas city, san francisco, san diego, these are some of the cities where rallies have been held over the last couple of days. arizona, of course, has seen some of the larger ones. yesterday protesters gathered in tucson where the governor was talking about jobs. and also take a look at this. in phoenix, refried beans were used to smear swastikas on the state capitol. one of the writings said even az, or arizona, equals nazi. police were looking into this, investigating these writings, tony. >> ines, we're starting to hear calls for an economic boycott of arizona? >> yeah, we are hearing those calls. san francisco city attorney wants city officials to boycott business with the state of arizona, or businesses or companies that are based there. his office has offered to go through city contracts and see which ones are tied to arizona. listen to this. >> i think that the only way to spur folks to appreciate how draconion this law is for there to be a tangible price to pay for instituting what is no doubt a draconion and drinks criminis law. >> reporter: any boycott measure would need approval from the board of supervisors and mayor of san francisco. others have called for boyco boycotting tourism and meetings in arizona. one hotel and lanlging association said yesterday don't punish 200,000 tourism employees for politics. >> yeah. and i guess we've got a comment, some kind of a statement from homeland security secretary janet napolitano? >> she did, just this morning in front of the senate judiciary committee she said she has deep concerns with the law, fearing that it would stifen away resources that would otherwise be used to go after people who commit major crimes while they're here illegally. she also said the justice department is also looking into this arizona law, tony. >> okay. ines ferre -- a lot going on. ines, appreciate it. thank you. i believe you're actually going to head out to that rally that's organizing and getting under way here shortly in new york city. still to come in the "newsroom," they are top executives at a wall street power house. today they're testifying before a senate committee. poppy harlow will have a who's who of the power players at goldman sachs. what do you think? i think i'll go with the basic package. good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. of course, cnn is your source for money news. check us out at cnnmoney.com. big headline, page one, my goodness. wall street under fire as the subcommittee hearing continues on capitol hill. goldman sachs executives being grilled. got to find another word. everyone is saying grilled today. on the hot seat. the big board, new york stock exchange, three hours into the trading day. look at this sell-off, spurred by some real doubts over the bailout package that's being proposed for greece right now. serious questions about that package being raised by germany today. and look what's happening. the dow is down 167 points. the nasdaq, let me check here, is down 44. we're going to keep a close eye on these numbers throughout the day for you right here in the "cnn newsroom." so the spotlight is on goldman sachs today as senators give company executives the business on capitol hill but what exactly do we know about these guys? cnnmoney.com's poppy harlow is with us with a breakdown from new york. poppy, who are these players? >> some we've heard from, some we haven't. we're going to go through the top folks testifying today. you just showed the markets, dow down 171 points. looking at live trading of goldman sachs, that's the one bank right of the big banks trading higher by about half% wondering what wall street is thinking at their testimony and waiting to hear from this man, lloyd blank fine, chair machine and ceo. he's held that title since 2006, right before the economy started to tank. a lot of questions about his compensation. $9.8 million. when you look at last year. but to be fair, he took no bonus in 2008. but in 2007, this is really the construction of when these questionable trades were made at goldman sachs, lloyd blankfein took home a record. they talked a lot about him, they have different opinion of him. i talked to bill cohn. he talked about the importance that we should look back at his history, tony. this guy was a trading. traded in precious metals and other things. this is a guy who knew about all about hedging, both sides, long and short position of a trade and what that means for a firm. he said that really instilled a short-term consciousness within goldman sachs, making and betting on certain trades, not looking at the long-term effects. that's one opinion. i can tell you that the question that he had for lloyd blankfein is just because you can do something, just because you can bet on it, does it mean that you should? and that's a moral question, not a legal question. but america still wants to know what he has to say to that. another key player in this is a guy by the named of david viniar. you may not bes familiar with him. he is the cfo, chief financial officer at gold machine sacks. he's been in that role for more than ten years, 1999. he was in charge of management at goldman sachs. that's what goldman says they were doing with this move, hedging their risk. they said we think the mortgage market may fall or it may rise. we're going to be on both sides of that. this guy is at the helm of risk management. and i want to read you part of an e-mail that was released over the weekend from the senate investigation committee because it shows, and this is in response to the firm making more than $50 million in one day, betting against the housing market. he said, quote, tells you what might happen to people who don't have the big short. ie, that they will lose money. goldman sachs lost money on mortgages but made more of it by betting on the other side of the housing market. that's why these two key players are central to all of this. >> wow, good stuff, poppy harlow with the breakdown for us. good to see you. thank you. of course, you can follow today's hearing with goldman sachs executives at cnn.com. you know, a lot of what's being discussed in these congressional hearings can be confusing. we're breaking it down for you the best we can with the help of josh levs. >> we know where we are today, right? we know what we're looking at today and what's going on with goldman. there have been hearings already. what has happened so far. what i want to do is start off with that big picture. the idea behind today as lawmakers have laid it out is to focus on the role of investment banks and creating this crisis and using goldman sachs as a case study. as we all know, there were a lot of moving parts that led to this crisis. so there have been hearings up until now. they looked at reckless mortgage lending, weak regulatory agencies, misleading credit eightings and the agencies producing those misleading credit agencies. senator carl levin overseeing the hearings said if he had to choose just one thing as immediate trigger of this crisis in 2007, it would be when credit agencies downgraded 91% of aaa rated mortgage securities to junk status. >> when the credit agencies realized that their aaa ratings went hold, stopped labeling took xiks mortgages as safe investments, those mass downgrades hit the markets like a hammer. making it clear the investment grade ratings had been a colossal mistake. >> major highlight from what's happened so far. a slew of internal e-mails from the leading credit rating agencies saying they knew of this but gave them the seal of approval anyway. i'm going to show you a couple of let's hope we are all wealthy and retired by this house of cards falters. a smiley face. standard & poor's employee in 2006. here's another one. this is like another banking crisis potentially looming. from another standard & poor's employee in september 2006. now, there are a bunch of other highlights from the hearing so far. i'm going to mention one because it was significant. this is former washington mutual ceo testifying. he ran that company for 18 years until he was fwors forced out weeks before wamu was seized in the biggest u.s. bank failure. he claimed the bank was unfairly seized. our story at cnnmoney.com is from "fortune" magazine. they call him avillian of the crisis and took over more than $2 million even while the policies that were being run by his company basically were sewing seeds for investors by the bank to be wiped out. all of that leads up to today. now you have this focus on goldman sachs as an example of another leg of what came together, to all fall apart and cause this financial crisis. >> so many of us on wall street just -- just never had a chance. just -- right. and the thing is there are people along the way who spotted little bits of it. did anybody understand the extent to which all these elements would fall apart? i looked up in the thesaurus for you, you didn't like grill, sharply questioned or interrogated. >> josh, need something else. also, thank you. heated hearings on capitol hill. lawmakers accuse goldman sachs executives of creating the housing bubble then profiting from the bust to the tune of billions. josh is back to bring us some of the responses from goldman's big wigs. you're in the "cnn newsroom." [ crowd cheering ] [ male announcer ] competition... it pushes us to work harder. to be better. to win. but sometimes even rivals realize they share a common goal. america's beverage companies have removed full-calorie soft drinks from schools, reducing beverage calories by 88%. together with schools, we're helping kids make more balanced choices every day. ♪ announcer: there's an easier way. create your own business site with intuit websites. just choose a style, then customize, publish and get found. sweet. get a 30-day free trial at intuit.com. let's get you caught up. goldman sachs feeling the heat on capitol hill. top executives with the investment firm are defending the company and the role in the economic melt down as they get peppered with questions at a hearing. regulators accuse goldman sachs of misleading investors tied to subprime mortgages. about face by general motors. the company isn't bleeding jobs this time, it is creating new ones. gm is announcing today that it is adding 1600 jobs as part of an upgrade at four plants in the united states and one in canada. ford motor company celebrates a big turn around. the automaker is reporting a surge in plofts for the first quarter. net profits around the billion in the first quarter of last year. ford says the reason for the turn around, strong sales in the united states and abroad. as the economy recovers, jobs will follow. and that means workers need to be trained and at the ready. manufacturing has become so advanced companies are actually paying to train employees on the factory floor and in the classroom. tune into our report tomorrow at noon, part of our series on the future of the job market. got to tell you all morning we've been hearing senators criticize those at the top of wall street's top firm. and they have been firing back. josh levs is keeping an ear to it all. especially your comments. anything striking? >> a lot of anger. i'm going to show you these because this is what a lot of people are feeling out there. not just goldman sachs but the major players. a lot of people are frustrated. let's go through a few of them. tony, facebook and twitter. when they catch wrong doing the guilty should be given jail time to set an example that crime no longer pays from wall street. here's another one. the truth is if goldman sachs and other investment banks are big skams and only a fool would invest with these lying thieves. jail them all, make an example of them. i'll show you one more. a measure of leadership is following your principles. i would argue that goldman sachs has given lip service to a core principle and as a consequence, they're morally bankrupt. we want to hear from you. what you're seeing there is what we keep getting, a lot of that. we're getting a lot of people feeling frustrate with the government and whether there's ownership of what happens here, protecting people. i want to show you one last quote that comes from theo on twitter. i'd like to know how people who are wholly unfamiliar with the world of finance plan to effectively regulate it. i spoke in our 10:00 hour with someone from the "wall street journal" who is following this closely. he said, you know what, the frustration with the s.e.c. makes all the sense in the world. they have been missing a lot. he also had a little bit of optimism for us. let's listen to this. >> i do think it could be some progress here. i mean, the s.e.c. bringing this case does send the message to people on wall street that maybe even if it's it's legal it might not be proper. there's talk with this reform bill of making improvements. it's not just talk down in washington right now. not thatsz going to be better or take care the next time but there is reason for hope. >> we all hope that's the case. we all hope that in the future we will see steps taken by the government. >> thank you, josh, thank you. you send in your tough money questions and we get answers. now that the economy is starting to grow again, how can you take advantage? our stephanie elam is standing by with the "help desk." >> time now for the "help desk" where we get answers to your questions. joining me this our, doug flynn, founder of flynn zito capital management and rod kurtz. first question, gentlemen, is coming in from an anonymous question. where can i store my extra money and get a good yield? >> your mattress. rates are low right now. i was talking with a financial adviser this week and he said there are no rates of return right now. the thing to keep in mind if you're looking at conservative investments the rates are low but they're not going to stay like that forever. the key is regardless of what avenue avenue you pursue, you don't want to get locked in because things will get better and stuck in these pe post-recession interest rates. make sure it's nimble enough that you can adapt when times get better. >> our next question comes from michael in pennsylvania. he writes in, i have been teaching science in a public high school for the last 12 years. i have been paying off my student loans religiously for that entire time. do i have a chance of getting out of those loans with the new college aid will bill? >> i hope he's not saying he wants to get out of something that he used to help him get this great job that he's been working on for 12 years because that would be bothersome. what it does do if you're low or middle income it will increase the amount of grants you can take advantage of which will help you get through college. it will lower the limit on what percentage of your income can be used toward your student loan. if you don't make a lot of money or if you have a hard time, right now it's 15%, it will go town of 10%. that will help people if if you have a good job and you have those loan, i don't think it's going to get you out of them. >> so that's not going to change that whole situation there. >> as much as he would like to it. >> thanks, gentlemen. the help desk is really all about getting your answers. so send an e-mail to cnnhelpdesk@cnn.com. we might have your answer next week. you can also pick up a issue. how good is your moral barometer? whether they were aware of it or not, some people in new york may have turned theirs off when they passed by a dying man earlier this month. our dr. sanjay gupta has the disturbing story. >> reporter: over looking a sidewalk in queens, new york, a security camera records a woman walking along the street. police say she's about to be the victim of a violent mugging. the attacker wearing dark pants and a green hat approaches her. his armed with a knife. police say a man comes to her aid, he is yugo, a homeless day laborer. the attacker turns on him and police say stabs him several times in the chest. he turns to chase the man who has just stabbed him. but after only a few steps, he collapses on the sidewalk. what happens next is difficult to comprehend. people walk by without stopping to help him. they come and go. more than 20 of them. some glance over at the dying man. others stare. these two men stop nearby. they stand there. before one of the men takes out his cell phone and takes a picture. another turns him over, presumably seeing his wounds, but, like the others, walks away. for more than an hour, dozens of pedestrians and bystanders walk by this hero who saved a life, apparently without ever calling 911. finally, firefighters respond to the scene, but it is too late. he is dead. dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, reporting. a child psychologist has an explanation for why so many people walked past that dying man. he says our brains have been desensitized to violence. here's that discussion with our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta. >> when we look at it we see a couple of things. like you said, the difficult bistander effectnd the fusion of responsibility. we've known about those for a while. i don't think there's what we're looking at in this. this is a new phenomenal, desensization to violence where we are actually changing brain structures in a way where people don't get it when they look at it now if. >> are you saying as a result of what, because of movies, video games? i've heard that before. is that -- is it as simple as that? >> it is as simple and as complex. we pound -- particularly our children -- we pound them 24/7 with what i call prompts. violent scenarios, lyrics in a song, scenes in a movie. all sorts of suggestions about violence to the point where the brain is now changing and these kids in the way it responds to real violence, it's brains can't discriminate between real violence and pain and cyber violent. president obama trying to rev up supporters for the midterm elections. a look at the president's a look at the president's political strategy. didn't agree with giving gm a second chance. white house correspondent dan lothian reports on the president's midterm strategy. >> the political climate has changed since president obama was ushered into office. a storm of sorts with angry protesters and promises to oust congressional democrats has raised the stakes in the upcoming midterm elections. >> there's deep concern of losing a lot of seats and losing control of congress? >> we will have plenty of time to debate what the outcome of or what the -- why those elections went whatever way they went. they are many months away. obviously more campaigns are gearing up and the president wanted to speak directly to his supporters. >> reporter: directly with a video aimed at rallying the troops, telling them that the special interests and others are looking to undo his administration's accomplishments. >> it will be up to each of you to make sure that the young people, african-americans, latinos, and women who powered our victory in 2008 stand together once again. >> reporter: the president touts progress on the economy, health care reform, and how america is now viewed on the global stage. even as he calls on supporters to find fresh faces. >> if you help us do that, if you help us make sure that first-time voters in 2008 make their voices heard again in november, then together we will deliver on the promise of change. >> reporter: it's unclear whether his video pep talk will have the desired effect since his own

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