"60 Minutes" and Bank of America: You win some ...

Turns out, Bank of America and its CEO Ken Lewis weren't as savvy as they appeared when he was portrayed as the good guy by Lesley Stahl on "60 Minutes" last October. The government said today that BoA needs nearly $34 billion to stay afloat, and Lewis just lost his chairman title at BoA.

Here's the piece. At about the 2:45 mark you will see the perils of reporting the story-of-the-moment. Though it's overall a solid explainer, watching Stahl all but call Lewis an anti-establishment hero — mainly for urging less executive compensation and running his company out of Charlotte, N.C. — does make you wonder if "60" wouldn't mind a do-over on this piece.

Then again, at about the 11:30 mark Stahl catches off Lewis when she asks, "Do you think your job is secure?" Maybe he should've thought about that before swallowing Merrill Lynch. That move cost BoA just about as dearly as if it had invested in subprimes. At about the 9-minute mark, watch as Lewis defends his decision to pay a premium to acquire Merrill.

The news this morning isn't as grim as it could have been. Overall, the Obama administration's stress-testing of America's biggest banks may turn out to reveal a financial sector healthier than Wall Street had feared. But when Stahl tells us that BoA is "one of America's healthiest banks, which just keeps growing!" — less than seven months ago — well, it shows you how volatile, complex and journalistically elusive (at least to television) this story is.