at extraordinary risk unless something really goes wrong. reporter: so, why the mixed messages? until about a week ago, they didn t even have electricity there, which meant they were truly in the dark. that is, they had no lights, they had no instrumentation. reporter: after all, last week there was good news. power to the cooling pumps had been restored, radiation levels were falling. the situation in general continues to further stabilize, although there are many hurdles that remain. reporter: one thing most experts can agree on, the land and water inside the exclusion zone of 12 1/2 miles around the plant could take years to recover. peggy and rob? amazing pendulum of news. it seems like a little good news, a lot of bad, vice versa. it s hard to keep track of it all. it s very tough when we hear about the radiation and at the same time governments saying, it s fine, don t worry about it, it s safe levels. later on you hear it wasn t so safe.
the rating agencies said homeowners like james were likely to pay their mortgages, very likely. so they gave those mortgage securities their top marks. an effort, critics say to generate more luke a lucrative with from wall street. if you want to betray the people by relaxing their standards by not recognizing the objective risks in the field. geselle james was a poor credit risk, she fell into foreclosure, just like millions of other home buyer who is could not afford their mortgages. it turned out that, no, this wasn t so safe, these ratings firms had been way overoptimistic. let s hope we re all wealthy and retired by the time this house of cards falters. based on aaa ratings, ohio s pension funds bought 263 of the
it turned out that, no, this wasn t so safe. the rating firms had been way overoptimistic. reporter: some analysts at the rating agencies knew it. let s hope we re all wealthy and retired by the time this house of cards fallters, e-mail one analyst. based on aaa ratings ohio s pension funds bought 263 of the mortgage securities. when the housing bubble popped, the investment plummeted. s&p and moody s and fitch cut their ratings from supersafe to junk, but it was too late. ohio s pension plan lost $456 million. our investors and retirees were certainly victims of what the rating agencies did here. it s very upsetting for our investors and retirees. many know the systems have been hurt, they worry about getting their checks every day. reporter: ohio is not alone. connecticut and california also lost millions and they along with ohio are suing the rating
having models that did not recognize the objective risk conditions in the field. reporter: giselle james fell into foreclosure just like millions of other of home buyers who could not afford their mortgages. it turns out that, no, this wasn t so safe. the rating firms had been way over-optimistic. reporter: based on aaa ratings, ohio s pension funds bought 263 of the mortgage securities. when the housing bubble popped, the investments plummeted. s&p 500 and moody s and fitch cut their readings from super safe to junk. but it was too late. ohio s pension plans lost $456 million. our investors and retirees were victims of what the rating industries did here. it s up setting. many of them know the systems have been hurt. they worry about getting their