might want to refinance but you just don t have the credit score. so also the other problem is that the economy is also bumping along the bottom here. if you feel that maybe things are going to get worse and maybe you can get a price that is even cheaper in three months time, maybe you d say well why would i want it buy now. but to your point about the american dream being slammed, americans who own their homes have seen the biggest decline since the great depression as you mentioned. in fact the rate of home ownership is now even lower than it was back in 2000. so we re kind of like worse than we were a decade ago. really quickly here, bank fees, a lot of folks very angry about these things. bank of america of course announcing that $5 fee for purchasing with a debit card. citi bank charging fees for checking accounts unless you maintain a minimum balance now. what s happening here? are we going to start seeing every major bank follow suit? reporter: it wouldn t surprise me. it d
all the world. everywhere i travel overseas, i hear about america being a leader in freedom from young people and business people. i get pleas for america to rise again because they still admire american ingenuity and, yes, even after the financial crisis, they admire american financial power. today the ultimate image of american power, not an fa-18. no. it is this. the iphone 4s. it had its own press conference today to debut. we did the numbers. there are 128 million iphones in the world right now and there isn t a child anywhere i ve met who doesn t want one. in china, actually, i think iphone is a synonym for america. and that s why every night we re counting up. we re going to count how many days since america lost its top credit rating. it has been 60 d dand our goal is to get it back because psychologically, it matters. so to get there, we have enlisted a team of 0 of the most important business leaders in america. it is called the strike team. the strike team members
political candidates yet. although some famous people have shown up. people with political leanings and they seem to be on the liberal end of the spectrum so far. i do agree with robert in that. they are like a tea party perhaps for the left so far. it s not clear what exactly they re going to tie themselves to. all the stories are a group of people who don t know what exactly they re demanding except that they re angry. they ve asked for specific things in terms of bank fees. there s no real political movement here. erin, let s get to the report by bank of america. reports that they ll be charging people $5 a month if they ever use their atm cards anywhere other than just getting cash out of the bank. also, report now that citigroup will start charging fees to customers with low balances. so do these protesters have legitimate gripes? they seem to. again, as they were saying earlier, the idea that the tea party movement actually was borne out of this anger about wall street and th
happening today, at the trial of jackson s doctor. now, court reconvenes in about 45 minutes or so dr. conrad murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter jackson s death. yesterday a security guard testified that murray asked him to help gather up drug vials before even asking him to call 911. i was standing at the foot of the bed p he reached over and grabbeded a handful of vials and then he reached out to me and said, here, put these in a bag. and engineers are back at work today rappelling down the sides of the washington monument, they are looking for any damage the earthquake caused last moment. the work has been delayed by some weather. still a ways to go but one of the engineers says so far, good. not a bad way to spend a work day as well. incredible, not only because of the actual history of the structure but the area and being the view. and just knowing what you re doing and seeing what you re seeing after the earthquake. we have the drawings from repair
all right, the holiday season is getting closer which mean means a lot of us will fly home to see family and friends, but some are getting upset with what the airlines are not doing well. casey stegall is joining us live from los angeles international airport with more on how people are dealing with the flying frustration. it never seems to be a peaceful experience anymore, casey. reporter: it is never easy, shannon. times have changed. remember the days when flying on an airplane was a treat. you didn t have to pay to check the baggage. sometimes booze was free and you got a hot meal. well, sorry to disappoint but those days are long gone. according to the analysts, they re probably not going to come back. the airline industry started to hemorrhage money after september 11. major carrier forced to start charging fees to record a profit. in turn, passenger