Lori our top story, new developments in the us airways and american air merger. The department of justice in six states filing a antitrust lawsuit to stop the merger. The airlines were expecting to seal the deal in the next couple months. It could be taking a nosedive in light of the suit. Although the Justice Department suit might keep the merger grounded for a while, the airlines are not taking it lying down. Fox businesss rich edson is live at Reagan National airport with the latest. Rich, what is going on . They thought they would wrap this merger up, us air and American Airlines this quarter. We may have to go to court because of this one. Department of justice, six other jurisdictions filing suit, saying uhuh, no way. This is from attorney general eric holder saying this transaction would result in consumers paying the price. Higher air fares, higher fees and fewer choices. Todays action proves our determination to fight for the best interests of our consumers by insuring robust competition in the marketplace. Now the airlines always argued as part of this, in order to compete, american and us air, they had to merge. It would be a win for consumers if they were allowed to merge. In a statement responding to this action by the department of justice today, the airlines say we believe the department of justice is wrong in its assessment of our merger. We will mount a vigorous defense and pursue all Legal Options in order to achieve this merger and deliver the benefits of the new American Airlines to our customers and communities as soon as possible. And one analyst says, eventually, they will merge. I think that it will go through. I dont think that this merger will be blocked. I think that overall the concerns that dojs been be addressed. And that, American Airlines will emerge as a large, number one, carrier in the world. Lori, in the past there have been antitrust suits filed against mergers for the government to step in to try to move the merger on certain conditions to try to get some conditions that the government finds amenable to allow this mergetory move forward. We asked the department of justice about that today. Doj officials said, no, the best thing for consumers in this case for this merger to never go through. Again this well could be an opening negotiating position. Back to you. Lori many, thanks, rich. Assuming the merger takes flight it would create the largest carrier in the world but experts and travelers are worried it would cut competition and service all the while sending fares skyhigh. Here with how the merger will hit you and your wallet, Airline Consultant george hamlin. George, do you agree with the department of justice, will this result in higher air fares . Weve weve seen in the recent mergers, delta northwest, united continental, air fares are going up in the industry. On the other hand this industry for the most part was going broke. There has to be a middle ground here someplace. But what concerns me is having approved the other two megamergers how can you not do this one . Lori absolutely. The previous couple mergers that the doj did not stand in the way with, ultimately, didnt it, inevitable that us air and amr would get approval . Otherwise the two airlines, amr is restructuring out of bankruptcy will not be able to compete in this environment, do you agree . I think american would emerge successfully from bankruptcy but it would be handicapped long term and it would be like competing with one arm tied behind your back and tied to your ankle. Lori reading about the story today, a lot of consultants and Airline Industry experts says this is political. This hinges on us air getting monopoly at Reagan International airport which is the closest airport to washington, d. C. Lawmakers dont want to pay higher air fare. That is why theyre targeting this particular merger. Could this be as simple divesting some of those landing and takeoff slots . I know there is issue with having monopoly of nonstop flights as well out of that particular airport, Reagan National . I think yes, they may need to shed some slots. That will be part of a garr baining process. When you say monopoly, ignores the fact of almost every airline hub with the exception of chicago with two carriers competing at hub, hub carrier dont have monopoly but they have the vast majority of the traffic. At Reagan National here in washington, d. C. , us airways is Offering Service to a number of smaller points just as an example, nonstop to huntsville, al back if the slots for that go away, it is likely that one of the other carriers will use that for service to one of their large hubs or another large city. Plus theres competition in the huntsville market with united at dulles airport, 30 odd miles from Reagan National, this is a bit after red herring in my opinion. Lori maybe i chose the wrong word with monopoly but if the merger approved, us air at Reagan National would control 69 of takeoff and landing slots and likely hold on to those and not give them up to other airlines. What incentive would they have for doing that . The e. U. , the european union, go ahead and approved us air and amrs merger on the understanding it would divest landing and takeoff slots at two airports, heathrow in london and the airport in philadelphia. What sort of concession would the doj accept. I dont know what they will accept but again this ignores the dominant carrier at a hub, and us airways alone even before the merger was intending to do some hubbing at national, basically have the ma the i dont have operations. It is not unusual. As a matter of fact part of this result of trade with delta that has 50 or more of the slots at laguardia which is a larger market. Lori all right. So air fares going up, perhaps not at pace inflation but it is just kind of the new normal and Necessary Evil consumers will have to accept, given the climate, is that your takeaway, george . To a great extent. It is more nuanced than that you have to accept the fact that you let the other two do it already. How do you handicap the remaining competition . Look what will keep price honest in the market are the lowcost carriers like southwest. Lori thank you so much. George hamlin. Okay, next on money, surprise, another key provision of obamacare is being delayed and this one could cost you bigtime. Former reagan Economic Advisor art laffer joins us with reaction. Plus should ecigarettes be regulated like normal cigarettes . One mayor is looking to do that and it could be a calamity for both the booming business and Public Health across the country. Dont go away. More money coming up. Shes still the one for you you but your erectile aftedysfunction ears. You know,that could be a question of blood flow. Cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be Ready Anytime the moments right. You cabe more confident in your abili to be ready. And the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needingo gofrequentl. Tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. Do not take cialis if u take nitrates for chest pain as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. Do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. Side effects may include headache, upset omach, delayed backache or muscle ache. To avoid longterm injur seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. If you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or if you ve any allergic reactions such as rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or sllowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. Ask your dtor about cialis for daily use and a 30tablet free trial. Lori okay, news out today of another obamacare delay. And this one could cost awe lot of money. There was supposed to be a cap on hhw much wed all have to pay outofpocket for health care but that provision is now in jeopardy and it could hurt bigtime. Wendell goler is following the story for us with the latest. Wendell . Lori, federal Officials Say it turns out some insurers use separate companies to administer medical coverage and drug benefits and their computers dont necessarily talk to each other. Different companies have different limits on outofpocket costs and they say they need more time to figure out a way to keep track of all the costs that people are incurring. The result is that some people with complex chronic medical conditions could pay twice as much as they would have if the 6300 a year cap was in place. Former aetna ceo ron williams says president obama was right to warn that obamacare would have startup glitches. Theyre actually trying to recreate many of the functions at the Insurance Company have spent hundreds of years getting good at doing. What theyre going to learn is, this is not so easy. The president s critics say the change is more proof that the Affordable Care act is to complicated. Republican senator Lamar Alexander called it another sign of the obamacare train wreck coming. Republican rand paul thinks the administration is overstepping its authority. The president said he warned people there would be startup glitches in obamacare. Medicare and Social Security suffered the same fate. Lori . Lori thank you, wendell goler. The new Health Care Law delay is clearly a big blow to consumers. You heard the numbers. Since insurers have an extra year before they have to limit on how much we all spend on outofpocket costs. Here to break it down former white house Economic Advisor art laffer. Great to see you. Good to see you, lori. Lori seems like obamacare is falling apart. How could it be good and helpful to our nation at this point . I think it can be. When you give away something for nothing, people weill way over consume it. Like putting me on a smorgasbord,. Someone pays fixed costs and i eat for free and i go right to the caviar until i throw up. That is exactly what is happening and they have to figure out some way of allocating. Youre seeing first cracks in the super structure. Delays and some delays that happened. I think Lamar Alexander was correct it will be a train wreck unfortunately. Lori bottom line, how much will it cost consumers in term of their premiums . It will push them up, it must . Sure it will push up and push up insurance costs. Lori overall. The Insurance Company will bill federal government for reimbursements. Thats going to happen. If you look at Insurance Companies and look at government, Insurance Companies are far more intelligent and focused than the government is. They will be able to play the sieve. Unfortunately it will work out for the detriment of the country. Then well have to repeal it three years from now or whatever it will be. Lori art, of course this is the president s Signature Health care, this is his signature legislation. I know. Lori he will not let it go down quietly. It will go down and may not go down quietly. It will go down and it will cause a lost damage. We hope it goes down sooner rather than later. We can get pack to very Good Health Care system we had before and correct specific problems. There was no need for wholesale remaking of health care civil of america. We have a very healthy population. We have a Good Health Care system, great doctors in this country. What we need to do is have good ol competition, to keep prices and competition in line. People have to pay substantial amount for their own services otherwise they will misuse the resources. That is simple economics. Thats a law you cant break. Lori are you hopeful well learn this lesson on health care too late. No, well never learn it too late. We can always come back from it, lori. It will cause a lost damage in the interrim. Thats too bad. This country will always come back and im sure well be a lot better off five years from now. Lori Insurance Companies and Health Care Stocks have been performing well. Is that a contrarian play . No, i dont think so. Lori in other words, do those investors realize that obamacare is just not feasible . Yeah. Well i think whats happened with this, theyre able to do billings to the federal government and reimbursement for these programs and theyre able to do better as a result. Theyre getting far more of these procedures because the people dont have to pay for it and they want to get it. Youre able to prescribe all sorts of things that probably arent necessary, but would be a little it about helpful but surely not worth the cost. You can see the results in the Health Care Stocks. Lori businesses have already implemented expectations for obamacare with, you know, their hiring and capital expenditures. Isnt it amazeing . Lori how do you, you referenced this earlier in our conversation. It is going to be tough. Its going to be a challenge and probably a hit to the bottom line. Many soft ridiculous things. If you have all these rules how many hours you work and all that stuff whether youre mandated to have health care, put on to the exchanges and all that stuff, dont think these businesses dont know how to reduce the fulltime employment to parttime employment so they dont have the health care costs. They cant keep below the ceiling limit of the health care required companies for the fines. So they can do all of these things and they are going to do it. Businesses are very, very smart. What you should do have them be smart in providing highquality products at low cost, rather than smart at trying to get around the obamacare laws. That is not the way private enterprise works to make us a better country. Lori no, it doesnt. Art laffer, always a pleasure. Thank you, lori. Lori coming up on money, sues epa. Trying to get has it paid enough to get back in the game . We have both sides to debate it. Plus one city preparing a crackdown on the ecigarette boom. Should they be treated just like regular cigarettes . That is the burning question if you will for the business. It also could create a Public Health disaster and well explain. Do you ever have too much money . If youve got it, you know how hard it can be to breathe and man, you know how that feels. Copd includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Spiriva is a oncedaily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that hel open my obstructed airways for a full 24 hours. Spiryou know, spira helpsnhaled copdme breathe easier. Ment Spiriva Handihaler tiotropium bromide inhalation powder does not replace fastacting inhalers for suddesymptoms. Tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. These may worsen with spiriva. Discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. Stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if your breathing suddenly wsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, vision changes or eye pain, or problems passing urine. Other side effects include dry mouth and constipation. Nothing can reverse copd. Spiriva helps me breathe better. Does bathing with copd weigh you down . Dont wait to k your doctor about spiriva. Lori on to an oil giants fight with the feds. Bp believes it is being blocked from getting any new government contracts and is now suing the Environmental Protection agency. It all stems from the 2010 Gulf Oil Spill and the company says it paid its dues, pleading guilty to criminal charges and paying a staggering 4. 5 billion in fines. So now it wants back in the government game and that lucrative business of federal contracts. Chris faulkner, ceo of white link oil and gas. He says bp is punished enough. Here to disagree with him is tyson slocum from Public Citizen. He says repeat criminals do not deserve government contracts. What do you believe the bp is suing epa, how do you view this . If you look at that there is no Ongoing Investigation to bp. If you answer to the question the bp paid enough, the federal government thinks so. They closed investigation. What i think so the interesting is the fact that the Justice Department filed a civil suit against bp. They want 11 billion in more civil fines. I think this epa sanction is a way that theyre thumping their chest to give the Justice Department leverage to get bp to settle. Keep in mind, bp is active contractor today. They have 1. 4 billion of contracts with the government. If they lack Business Integrity which is the example government gave banning them from new contracts, why do they allow them to be a supplier to the government already . I think that contradicts their position. I think this is suspect that. Lori timing is absolutely serious. Tyson, let me let you weigh in here. You disagree. Well, of course. We at Public Citizen do not believed convicted felons whether a corporate entity or individual person should be eligible for government contracts. So the epa is simply following the letter of the law. In november 202007, bp pled guilty to 14 felony counts, 11 of them for manslaughter for the deaths of left 11 people bp acknowledged in its guilty plea it was responsible for the deaths of those 11 workers. Importantly bp also pled guiit i to obstruction of justice for lying to congressional investigators. We at