. >> reporter: historic buildings in downtown athens went up in flames.vie theatres, cafes and shops. rioters fought running battles with police, hurling rocks, molotov cocktails. greek police answered back with volley after volley of tear gas, dispersing crowds and trying to keep protestors from storming the parliament building. inside, lawmakers debated a deeply unpopular austerity package that will mean one in five public sector workers loses a job. it also slashes minimum wage from $5.80 an hour to $4.50. and sharply reduces pension payouts. the savage cutbacks are the only way greece can qualify for the latest $170 billion international bailout and avoid bankruptcy next month. many say they sacrifice too much already. >> there is no future now. you cannot survive in greece, the average greek cannot survive now. >> reporter: the greek prime minister argued that bankruptee would be catastrophic creating conditions of uncontrolled chaos. he said the country would be broke, no one would be paid. but protestors aren't prepared to swallow the bitter pill a

then next to that flak in downtown athens was a huge american flag. [applause] i know that some of you know this next part. when my grandmother and grandfather would come to wisconsin where i grew up -- they stayed for a couple of months. my grandfather for whatever reason all day long would read the world's books. he would sit on the couch for hours and read them. i remember eight or nine years old listening to him tell me stories. he would take the letter p off the shelf for presidents. he would read me stories. for him, it did not matter who it was. it could be a democrat or republican. every one of these guys had great stories. to be a little boy and said on the couch listening to stories for hours because the person i loved the most in my life loved this country. he was not from here, but he loved every single thing about it. before i became chairman of this party, i never made a penny in my life in politics. i promise you, i love this party. but what this election is about is not this party. that does not matter. this election is about this coun

to live pictures for you right here downtown central athens as a people stand in protest and the greek lawmakers pounded to brussels with more cuts in exchange for a bailout cash people are venting their frustration on the streets of athens in all of this thirty six ministers have resigned in protest of further austerity measures which now have to be given the green light by parliament these live pictures being streamed on t.v. dot com. all right the cause report is right now stay with us. i'm max keiser this is the kaiser report we got him just where we want to go. well max this first headline is the theme of the show k. it's all who walk by our. gold bar we're all terrorists now.

to live pictures for you right here downtown central athens people stand in protest and greek lawmakers pound out of brussels with more cuts in exchange for a bailout cash people are venting their frustration on the streets of athens in all of this thirty six ministers have resigned in protest at further austerity measures which now have to be given the green light by parliament these live pictures being streamed on r.t. dot com. all right the cause report is right now stay with us. i'm max keiser this is the kaiser report we got him just where we want to go they say well max this first headline is the theme of the show ok it's all new akbar alou gold bar we're all terrorists now believe in a return to the gold standard you are now officially an extremist according to the f.b.i. yeah we got of just where we want to you know they're trying to keep the gold price keep because it makes a mockery of the u.s. dollar so the f.b.i. is saying if you buy gold you're a terrorist thus increasing the panic buying of gold around the world this is just like the federal reserve chairman ben bernanke t

some of the scenes of a weekend of shocking riots across greece that led to massive fires in downtown athens. firefighters are still deathing with ash hot spots in the rubble after dozens of buildings were torched. even after politicians passed severe budget cuts that sparked this kay i don't see. some say those cuts still might not be enough. ashley webster is covering this really important global economic story for us live from athens. good morning, ashley. >> reporter: yeah. yes, hi, it is a cold, somewhat miserable afternoon in athens. that pretty much describes the mood of the greek people. greek leaders trying to prove to the european union they are worthy of another round of bailout money that they so desperately need but in exchange more severe economic cuts and because of that we're facing more wages that will be going down, taxes that are going up. many greeks are now doing whatever they can to survive. that includes selling jewelry to get cash. >> business is very slow and also, us, we're getting a double whack because the gold price is up and no one is thinking about buying gold

. >> this is live pictures in downtown athens outside of parliament. >> my favorite aneck dote in the times is a greek woman, and she said 20% off of what? i haven't been paid by my employer in a year. that's sort of what they're dealing with. >> a religious country, religious leaders have already spoken out against this. >> i think we go down. i am not going to say we shouldn't be a buyer. i just think today may not be the day to be a buyer. i think the xlf, the financial etf had reached a level where it clearly was extended, but again, look, i'm not saying that greece is the be all and end all. we will have a better day to buy later on. that jives with what a lot of technicians are saying, that the chart is heady, so consider this part of a pattern. >> but jim, if we get back to headlines, the likes of which we were seeing late in the year, it's march 20th, of course is the deadline for the 14 billion they need to pay back, but let's even assume they do leave the euro, and then port gale is next. after portugal, is it ireland? is it not? we may be back in a pattern that's dangerous