housing market as foreclosures jumped 9% in july. >> brown: spencer michels wraps up his series on cyber security with a spotlight on online crime. >> it's a constant game of cat and mouse, right. we build a better mousetrap, the hackers basically create a better mouse. >> lehrer: margaret warner talks to michelle shephard of the "toronto star" from guantanamo naval base about the opening arguments in a war crimes trial of the youngest detainee. >> brown: and paul solman examines the pros and cons of a massive infusion of chinese capital into greece. >> the port of piraeus, which is a traditional port in the mediterranean but it was a declining one and now will become the basic hub for all chinese products to come to the european union. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> lehrer: there was a pair of big news stories about general motors today. the balance sheet is in the black again and the man in charge is leaving. g.m.'s earnings report marked the second straight quarter of profit for the auto maker. the company made more than $1.3 billion from april through june- - its best report in six years. that's on top of $865 million it made for the first three months of 2010. it was welcome news for a firm that went through bankruptcy protection a year ago, after receiving $50 billion in federal bailouts. >> in short, our goal is to get g.m. back on its feet, take a hands-off approach and get out quickly. >> lehrer: despite that pledge, g.m. was derisively dubbed "government motors." still, the company emerged from bankruptcy in just 40 days. in the process, it shed hundreds of dealerships, plus its pontiac and other unprofitable lines. instead, it focused on a core group-- chevrolet, buick, g.m.c. and cadillac. fritz henderson was c.e.o. at the time. >> from this point on our efforts are dedicated to customers, cars, culture and paying back the taxpayers. >> lehrer: henderson was replaced last december by ed whitacre, who announced today he will step down as c.e.o. come september first. whitacre had made clear his tenure would be brief, and today, he said, "i believe we've accomplished what we set out to do." the new c.e.o.-- the fourth in just over a year-- will be g.m. board member dan ackerson. he's also managing director of the private equity firm the carlyle group. ackerson will oversee efforts to ramp up u.s. sales and production of new lines, including the chevy cruze, due out next month. later this year, g.m. begins selling the chevy volt, an electric car that got a presidential test-drive last month. g.m. hopes the volt will help reinvigorate and recast its image. the government still owns 61% of g.m., but the auto-maker plans to file soon for an initial public offering of stock. that could lead to reducing the federal stake later this year. and to david shepardson, who covers the auto industry for the "detroit news." and george magliano an analyst with i.h.s. automotive in new york. david, is it correct to say that g.m. no longer wants to be known as government motors? is that their priority right now, right? >> absolutely. i mean, that label has cost them a fair number of sales, given the anger over bailouts in general and the fact that some of those customers have shifted to ford or chrysler or toyota. i mean, their first priority is to launch this i.p.o. and get the government out of the business, as ed whitaker said, "we want the government out period." >> lehrer: the i.p.o. meaning... explain what that is. >> meaning as early as tomorrow g.m. will file paperwork to set in motion the public sale of its stock. it's not currently traded publicly, that will allow the government to sell off the first big chunk of its stake. the canadian government owns some stock, too, in exchange for the $12 billion it lent g.m. as well as the former bondholders and the united autoworkers health care trust fund owns about 20% of g.m. >> lehrer: mr. magliano, how did g.m. do it? how did they get to where they were a year ago to where they are today with a big profit? >> well, they put the steps in place to become profitable before the bankruptcy. but the bankruptcy was the catalyst. they were closing plants, trying to divest themselves of brands, trying to trim down their labor force, become a much more global player. they were moving in that direction, but they weren't moving fast enough. and the big catalyst at the end of the day was the bankruptcy proceeding and the fact that the government ... >> lehrer: all right, we've lost mr. magliano in new york. so pick up the answer there for me, david. >> well, he was right, part of it was before the bankruptcy, the bankruptcy allowed g.m. to shed $30 billion in debt. what it's also done is allowed the company... >> lehrer: because under bankruptcy law it was possible to do all of this. you could reshape labor contracts, you could do all of that they that they could haven't done through negotiation. >> absolutely. and as the promo pointed out, they were also able to get rid of a lot of dealers, too. hundreds of dealers and get rid of unprofitable contracts, they were able to negotiate with the u.a.w. a new long-term agreement that allows them to hire new workers at just $14 an hour, or about $32,000 a year. all these things allowed them to shrink their costs so this company can be profitable at a far lower sales volume. remember, g.m. lost almost $90 billion between 2005 and 2009. that's like some small countries' g.d.p. it's a lot of money. that was when the market was selling $16, 17 million vehicles a year. now g.m. can be profitable. today booking $2.2 billion in the first six months even though auto sales are relatively low, although up from last year. but all these changes they've made and the new leadership has had a big impact where they are. >> lehrer: picking up on your word "shrink," is the scale of everything more in sync now in? in other words the scale of their labor force? the scale of the plant s. is that more in sync with what they can produce and sell and all of that? >> absolutely. a big problem g.m. had for years is underutilization of their capacity. they had lots of factories that were only working on one shift. factories that... they were shutting factories for a few weeks in the summer. this year they didn't shut nearly as many factories. they said their utilization was 93% versus last year about 40%. so... >> lehrer: that's a huge change, is it not? >> part of that was related to the bankruptcy because they shut down for a month so the numbers are a little bit skewed. but you have the new management team coming in and running this company like it hasn't been run in decades. >> lehrer: how much of all of this... of the good stuff is... should be credited to ed whitaker? >> part of it. certainly the product portfolio, the new products like the cruise you mentioned. these are products that were launched or the development under rick waggner two c.e.o.s ago. but he deserves a lot of credit for focusing the mission on simplicity, keep it simple, the mantra g.m. has is deliver, sign, and sell the world's best cars. also accountability. people who don't do the job or he doesn't like, ed whitaker has been able to move out or shift or basically push out the door. >> lehrer: yes, mr. magliano, you're back now. >> good to be back. >> lehrer: david shepardson finished your sentences for you. but let's pick up on what i was talking about david right now which is how much of the positive stuff right here should be given to ed whit dismer in other words, the credit for it should be given to ed whitaker? >> i think he gets a lot of credit for pushing it through. and number one, he changed the corporate culture or start to change the corporate culture in g.m. g.m. was known for bureaucracy, slow-moving, very inbred and, you know, bringing somebody in from the outside. he really shook things up. he caused a lot of consternation but he got the job done and got them moving in the right direction and the bankruptcy, as we said before, enabled him to get out... close down a lot of those plants that were totally unused and now they can match production to sales which makes it that much more profitable. they don't to give the vehicles away like they used to in past when they were just sitting in the dealerships and they couldn't sell them. that's a big change. >> lehrer: whitaker, of course, came out of the communications business. he had been the c.e.o. of at&t. didn't know anything about cars. how was he able to do that? what did he bring to it that was able to produce this kind of result? >> i think what you need at the top is leadership. you don't need a quote/unquote car guy. you saw it with alan mulally but he had a lot more manufacturing ... >> lehrer: he's the head of fort, right? >> yes, and basically you need a guy on top to set the direction to get people moving and then to put good people down below that know the business and to really let them do their job. and that's what he did and that's what we expect from the new c.e.o. >> lehrer: now, the government involvement in this. david, is there any direct government involvement in the operation of general motors at this point? >> no. i think it's pretty clear that the obama administration, general motors, you know, the administration is not running general motors for the simple reason that they don't want to be accused of making decisions for environment or other political reasons like where to put plants. i mean, if they open the door and started running general motors as an arm of the government, it would make it far more difficult for the administration to get out of the company. and i think, you know, over the last 18 months we've seen no evidence that the government has actually stepped in and picked the paint colors or something. >> lehrer: mr. magliano, what's the word within the industry about the new products that general motors has already produced? we talked about some of them in the introduction. is general motors... has general motors got its product act together? >> it's getting its product act together. when bob lutz was doing the product development or heading up that team in general motors, they got high marks for the new products and the aggression in the new products. but at the time, gasoline prices were relatively low. they shot up and now they had to rethink where they were going and the new cruise is their number one big shot in the compact or small car arena and this is going to be a big test for them. and the jury is still out. it's an improvement over the replacement that they had before, the cobalt, which was a very bland vehicle. this is much more upscale. but it's going to go head to head with the focus which just came out which ford has and that's a pretty upscale small car as well. of course you've got the stalwarts outs there, the civic and corolla in that class. so it's a tough segment to compete in. so we have to see what happens. >> lehrer: and in that regard when we look ahead to see what is going to happen, general motors is not out of the woods yet, is it? >> no. they're off the operating table, but still there's a long way to go. they're going to have to keep working on costs. we've got a new union contract coming up. and they have to keep working on product. and the name of the game in the industry is product, product, and more product. you can't hound on that enough and it's... that's why you've got to sell the best cars and trucks in the business. and then they've got to keep doing that. they've got to keep doing it to survive. >> lehrer: based on your reporting, david, the people who follow this industry would agree with you, right? >> yeah. i think g.m. is in the best shape it's been in certainly ten, 20 years. the company has lowered its costs, it's bringing out new products, it's a very competitive market, as george pointed. there's lots of new vehicles, lots of competitors, all over the globe. but g.m. is in a very good spot but it still has a lot of work to do in europe and north america to be certain. >> couric: gentlemen, thank you very much. george magliano, sorry about the technical problems but we got it all in anyhow. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> lehrer: still . >> brown: still to >> brown: still to come on the "newshour": rising home foreclosures; cyber threats; a war-crimes trial at guantanamo and chinese investment in greece. but first, the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan in our newsroom. >> sreenivasan: former illinois governor rod blagojevich will have to wait a while longer to learn his legal fate. the jury in his federal corruption trial sent word today that it is not close to finishing. blagojevich appeared upbeat this morning, as he entered the federal courthouse in chicago. he's accused of trying to sell an appointment to the u.s. senate seat vacated by president obama, and of trying to use his office for personal gain. but after deliberating for nearly two weeks, jurors told the judge that it has been slow going. they reported they've reached decisions on just two of 24 counts, without saying what they decided. they've discussed 11 more counts, but appear deadlocked on some. and, they have not yet gotten to 11 counts of wire fraud. the judge then told the jury to resume deliberations. blagojevich is 53 years old. if he is convicted on all counts, he could face $6 million in fines and 415 years in prison. a federal judge has delayed resuming gay marriage ceremonies in california, until at least next wednesday. the same judge ruled last week that a voter-approved ban on same-sex unions-- known as proposition 8-- was unconstitutional. today's ruling gave opponents of gay marriage more time to ask a federal appeals court to intervene. wall street struggled again today, and ended with a third straight losing session. the dow jones industrial average lost nearly 59 points to close below 10,320. the nasdaq fell 18 points to close at 2,190. and the price of oil dropped for a third day falling below $76 a barrel. it's down almost 8% in the last week. the u.s. senate has given final approval to $600 million for more agents and equipment along the mexican border. the voice vote came in a brief special session in a nearly empty chamber. it was only the second time since 1970 the senate has reconvened during an august break. the legislation now goes to president obama for his signature. the president of pakistan visited the country's flood zone today more than two weeks after the crisis began. he toured areas around the city of sukkur in the south, where many refugees say they had no warning of the flood danger. we have a report from jonathan miller of "independent television news." while we were filming, president asif ali zardari arrived on his first visit to flooded areas since the catastrophe enveloped pakistan two weeks ago. the only t.v. cameras accompanying the president were from state t.v. it was a carefully staged managed event. he briefly got out to look at the water before being briefed by provincial officials. the government has said it will compensate flood victims, but what's on offer won't match the value of homes, livestock and lost crops and, as i discovered, there's another problem, banditry, for which part of sindh is notorious. >> (translated): i am chief of my tribe. when we escaped, we were robbed of everything we had. a truck driver took pity on us and brought us here . >> reporter: when the flood came i was preparing meals for the children, i just ran with them but we were robbed. i still don't know what happened to my husband. >> reporter: it's a pretty grim camp wedged between a busy road and the canal and it's open to the elements. it's also a very unhealthy place. people are sick. there's no hygiene to speak of. today save the children warned that if this health crisis in sindh is not tackled fast, millions of children will contract deadly diseases. >> sreenivasan: more than 1,500 people have died in the pakistan floods, and the u.n. estimates as many as seven million need assistance. today, a u.s. navy ship carrying helicopters and 1,000 u.s. marines arrived off karachi, to boost relief efforts. hundreds of angry villagers in eastern afghanistan protested today, after an overnight raid by u.s. troops. protesters blocked a main road for several hours, burned trucks, and shouted "death to the united states." the villagers accused the soldiers of storming a family home and killing three innocent brothers. nato insisted those killed were insurgents, who pointed their weapons at the troops. iraq may need u.s. forces for another ten years. that warning came today from the country's senior general. he said the iraqi military might not be able to maintain security on its own until 2020. the u.s. officially ends its combat role in iraq this month, drawing down to 50,000 troops. under current plans, all of them are expected to be gone by the end of 2011. those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to jeff. >> brown: and we turn to housing: its impact on millions of americans and the national economy. >> brown: the news on the home front today was less than encouraging. it showed a new surge in foreclosures. the private firm realty-trac reported re-possessions rose 9% from june to july. all told, almost 93,000 homes were taken over by lenders. realtytrac also estimated more than one million u.s. households will lose their homes to foreclosure this year. the obama administration has created several programs to try to help people stay in the their homes, but with only limited success. in its latest step, the government yesterday announced it would provide $3 billion in housing aid. $2 billion of that will go to federal grants in states with the highest levels of unemployment aimed at providing bridge loans for homeowners to pay their mortgages. for a barometer of where housing stands across the country we turn to four reporters for public media. karen kasler is bureau chief for ohio public radio in columbus. gene grant is a correspondent for the public television station knme in albuquerque, new mexico. erik anderson is an editor and anchor for kpbs public radio in san diego, california. and mark quinn is producer and anchor of "the big picture" on south carolina's e.t.v. let me get you all in here first on the foreclosure problem and today's report. karen kasler, you start. what are you seeing in your area? >> well, this this report, the realty track report, 13,5111 foreclosures and filings in ohio in july. that's a 27% increase over june. and one in 376 ohio homeowners received a foreclosure notice in july. what i couldn't believe, though, in this information was a 68% increase in the amount of sheriff sales in ohio. so ohio's housing problems, we've been in the top five or top ten for years. it's obviously stale problem. >> brown: mark quinn, let's go to columbia, south carolina. what are you seeing? >> this is something just emerging in the headlines. we did not have a huge housing boom like states like florida and nevada and california so we didn't have a huge housing bust. but as unemployment has continued to drag on here over the last two years now, two years into the great recession, we're seeing a lot of people with un'm moment benefits expire. those are the folks having real problem. so just now in the last several months many of our major metropolitan areas like greenville spartanburg, columbia reporting more foreclosures. >> brown: gene grant in alb