minister enrico letta plans to resign today.ident must decide whether they want to appoint a new prime minister or call snap elections. desperate and's environmental minister says river levels are going to rise. ofer more than two months downpours, the new storm rings downpours and wins. shimon paris says israel's expansion of the tech industry is vital to the country's future. he says the feature is galloping like a horse during if you don't ifl up with the course -- you don't gallop out with the horse, the horse will gallop without you. >> you must have a new system. >> welcome back to "countdown." 7:31.s day fore's day is a big lovebirds, but also for retailers. british able are expected to spend more than one billion pounds on gifts. zak edwards of prezzybox.com joins us. how is valentine's day? >> we have had a good year. year fromll up this the previous year. the trend has continued. 70% up. >> one of the sort of gets people are buying? -- what are the sort of gifts people are buying? --this is one annas >> i'm going to ha

you will see enrico letta offer his resignation and a new cabinet is likely to form. the question is, can matteo ofzi avoid a vote no-confidence and snap elections? it looks like you well and he will start governing as soon as next week. >> what is amazing in all of this is that markets are not reacting all that much because they think it's a ration -- the situation is enhanced. manus, we have earnings and data and politics. what else are we watching? >> china. inflation has gone to its lowest level since the 1990's. could that be an opportunity for the chinese to reconsider the stimulus? industrial utilization in the u.s. will come out later on. michigan consumer sentiment. readingsd of soft data are fairly important to the overall complexion of what is going on in the u.s. story. so europe manages to eke out small gains at the start of the trading day. let's move to italy and see what is moving, since it is a big political day in italy. finmeccanica up. alsado dropping by four percent. european equities getting a little bit of a bump. and anglo american. is germany'

enrico letta is likely to be leader ofy the new the center democratic party. mateja renzi is a popular figure with the italian people. renzi has long called for drastic measures to deal with italy's economic problems. more reforms are needed to combat high unemployment. he said strong action is the only way to shore up public faith in the country's future. >> everything changes but it will all stay the same. there is nothing, no democracy. everything is finished. it is nothing more than a power game. >> this is an emergency. in an emergency, you need to find alternative solutions. option, but ibest don't think we have a choice. >> renzi could be elected on set -- renzi could be appointed on saturday. he would be italy's third unelected leader in a row. >> the president has been meeting political leaders all day. what has come out of those talks so far? >> it is pretty clear that renzi will get the nod to form the next government, but it may take a little bit longer than people were expect them. the coalition that will back him will be the same as the one the b

so again, italian prime minister enrico letta has said he will resign.as sent the statement to president napolitano. for more, let's head over to hans nichols, who is in italy. hans? it is dark and we thought it would have the same radiant experience as earlier. it is obviously an exciting day here in italian politics. i will just walk you through the last 2, 3 hours. what we saw is matteo spoke to his party, and he thanked letta for his experience was about a clear indication that letta would be on the way out. but we had not heard from letta yet. now we have, he said he will resign. that means they will have to gather all the party that are in this governing vision, ask them zi would be accessible to be the new prime minister. if that is the case, you can essentially's switch the head of the government, switch the premier without actually having to call new elections. if that is not the case, if you have to call new elections, then we're into a further layer of turmoil. and that we still do not know about, and we are still hopeful that we may hear from

>> italy's prime minister enrico letta expected to quit today. making my for a new government headed by his chief rival, matteo renzi. >> europe's recovery gains traction. a new connection. paysese online retailer $900 million for an internet messaging app. good morning. you are watching "the pulse." i am guy johnson. >> i am francine lacqua. also coming up, another setback. we follow the highest that cost the black market site a lot of bitcoins. >> almost balanced -- on this valentine's day, we speak about helping the mega rich find love. >> we are just getting some italian gdp numbers. maybe nothing to write home about. but we are not in a recession. gaining some 0.1%. >> pretty much in line with forecasts. that is the good news. >> the bad news is that we had to revise quite significantly the year on year gdp figure. >> to put it mildly. to q3 gdp figure revised -1.9. that is with the economy contracting 1.8 from a year ago. this is the first quarterly gain since the second quarter of 2011. yay. >> we will take it. enrico letta says he will re

this is a battle between enrico letta and matteo renzi. what is going to happen today?> we don't know. essentially, this is renzi's moment here whether or not he is going to challenge enrico letta. it is his decision whether or to challenge him today or put office challenge to become premier later on. yesterday the two men met. the mayor of florence, the head of the democratic party, let me just hold up a newspaper for you. this gives you a sense. what renzi is creating here, distrust between the two parties. ahen they met yesterday, lett seemed like a man who could envision leaving government. >> i lived every day as if it was my last one. brought elevation change after just two or three months. i had to follow the development of the situation step by step very carefully. letta said he didn't know if he still has the support of his party. the party will be meeting later today. this is really a question of what happens next. one thing we haven't really seen much movement in the bond market , and the stock market as well. there doesn't seem to be that much of a pricing i

for his rival enrico letta to lead a new government. >> we will have economic numbers as they break.> and the subdued inflation report from china. hello, welcome to "countdown." >>

the mayor of florence has aftered widespread reform ousting enrico letta. gave the latest a short while ago. tomorrow, officially, he will meet with a different political party, represented in parliament. mr. renzi said he wants to take all the time that is necessary, but recognizes the urgency of the situation. he knows he needs to move fast. he wants the support of center-right parties, including the new center-right party. he is crucial. he said he wants to listen to what renzi has to propose in terms of a program, and is probably holding out for more in terms of negotiation. when renzi does come to power, he has presented a very ambitious agenda, particularly in terms of timing. he says he wants to lay out the reforms. the electoral reform, the labor reform. public administration in april. tax reforms in may. >> he is standing on a platform of change from outside. it is not a shock to see the italian government falling. it happens every few months. >> it still remains to be seen. just today, you had the itch ratings agency -- fitch ratings agency keepin

enrico letta is still expected to resign today.r matteo renzi will likely take over the reinses as the fourth prime minister in a little over two years. renzi gave a speech to the democratic party yesterday outlining his plan for a new government. sgl >> translator: if we don't take risks and if we don't take responsibility now, the slow pace of reform without a strong push on our behalf could result in losing our economic competitiveness and could result in our institutions losing credibility. >>> still to come, find out about the current health of banks after the break. ♪ ♪ ♪ where you think you're gonna go ♪ ♪ when your time's all gone? [ male announcer ] live a full life. the new lexus ct hybrid with an epa estimated 42 mpg. the further you go, the more interesting it gets. lease the 2014 ct 200h for $299 a month for 27 months. see your lexus dealer. >>> and the headlines, a political shakedown in italy. growth figures across countries in europe held markets over to the upside. but will there be love for u.s. equities? historic

already the democratic party leader and he has been remover -- numeral -- maneuvering to replace enrico letta for months now. here is what he had to say. >> the president has given me the task of trying to form a new government. i accept it, as you know, in full knowledge of the responsibility and the importance of the challenge. thanked the president and assured him that in these difficult circumstances, he will have the utmost of my and our energy and commitment. >> now that renzi has been confirmed, the hard work at about to begin. he actually has to form that government and make it stick. our rome correspondent explains. >> the president has handed that mandate over to matteo renzi to form the next government. though now, he is the prime minister in waiting, if you like. what happens next is that he really has to begin those consultations with the various groups of people, particularly he party of angelina alfano, leads the new center-right party, the smaller party that was part of the left-right coalition led by the former prime minister enrico letta and he needsa his support. not

. >> enrico gonzalez is in charge, but the government refuses to acknowledge paramilitaries are carrying out the killings. insisting they're criminal bands or drug traffickers. >> in the mountains, it seems difficult to reconcile what the government says with the accounts from civilians living in the middle of the conflict. and on our way leaving, something surprising happened. >> they are not military. the first thing they do is identify themselves. further down the road we came across an army patrol. is this country is so complicated, the military, paramilitary, grille la guerillas, are all dressed the same way. >> filled with doubt, we took our video to show to one of the leaders. f . >> a week after we left the community, five teenagers were kidnapped by the agc paramilitary group who accused them of being guerillas. according to local accounts, the agc walked into the local police station, and handed them over. and then walked out. another example of why people here don't trust the colombian state, because it feels like the past is repeating itself. >> this is al jazeera america. i'

. >> italy on the brink, prime minister enrico letta makes a last-ditch attempt to hold onto the support of his coalition. >> a $44 billion deal that will combine the largest two u.s. cable companies could come today. comcast is said to a great to buy time warner cable. >> hello, i am mark barton. this is "countdown." >> i am anna edwards. we are getting numbers from france's largest lender, bnp breaking earnings right now. let's get straight to that. >> a surprise drop in fourth-quarter profits. $1.1 billionide tied to a review of payments to parties subject to u.s. economic sanctions. 76% to 127falling by million euros. the lowest quarterly results since the fourth quarter of 2008. it is a mess, missing the one billion euro average estimated by analysts at bloomberg. decision after it paid to settle u.s. allegations carried out in proper transactions with countries such as iran. the company also announcing today that it intends to increase return on equity which is a measure of profitability to 10% or more by 2016. return on equity stood at 7.7% last year. it will present its three-yea

the other is a cabinet reshuffle where enrico letta puts renzi's people in cabinet. the third is the call for new elections in the spring. scenariow election would be if renzi decides to go for it today and decides he wants to be the leader. and the president will have to talk to all the coalition partners, see whether that would be acceptable. if not, having a swap at the premiership from the democratic party, you would have new elections. then we would have to see what sort of coalition could be cobbled together. >> it is all about coupling coalitions. this is the story of italy. hans nichols in rome. posted the slowest sales growth in four years. we are alive with the ceo later on. where is the worlds largest food company turning for growth? ryan chilcote has more. price climbed since the loss we saw earlier in the morning. the company just said they intend to announce a share buyback program. the details as soon as they close that sale with l'oreal. the big issue here is, they grew sales by about 4.5% last year. that is in-line with estimates but it is their wors

renzi is replacing enrico letta. >>> venezuelan president is expelling three united states diplomats. >>> venezuelan foreign minister gave a press conference and here's what he had to say. >> translator: in light of these acts of aggression, of these fascist like groups who are supported and financed when i will give evidence and proof of this. but from u.s. government institutions, we have received broad support, and so many dater from the international community. more than 20 countries have taken a position in favor of democracy, stability and peace for the venezuelan people. >> the venezuelan government has issued an arrest warrant for those rallying against the maturo administration. >> time and patience are in short supply for most of these venezuelans who said they are fed up with nicholas maturo and his revolution. >> we are tired of crime, censorship and people getting killed every day. >> reporter: but even as they stood together, some questioned how eurched they really are -- united they really are. >> there is a lot of division right now, we have to be strong and not give i

will it be similar to the one of his predecessor, enrico letta? there are concerns within his own party. the more left-wing members within his party are not exactly happy with the way in which he came to power, the fact that it was done through this so-called backroom coup. others are not exactly happy with the fact that he struck a deal with the disgraced former prime minister, silvio berlusconi, on the ways to reform electoral law. we will have to see what kind of support he has. slower -- raised the alert system to orange for the first time. heavy smogn came as was forecast to roll into the city over the next three days. let's get more from our correspondent in beijing. she joins us by skype. what does an orange alert means of the population? >> orange alert means that pollution will be high for several days in a row. it means that production at factories is cut, at some factories entirely. some have to reduce. neighboring provinces and cities to beijing have also forced some cars -- odd-numbered license plates, for example, off the road. the g

enrico letta lasted just 10 months as prime minister.sident obama is offering millions of dollars of aid to california farmers, ranchers, and communities hit by one of the worst droughts in the state's history. the drought has forced farmers to leave thousands of acres idle and the state may have to truck in drinking water for some communities. >> a whole new level. i saw a snow chart yesterday that showed the snow destruction and the glacier destruction north of california in the glacier national park. >> they finally did get rain and about two feet or 18 -- or eight feet drop in the top area but not enough to get weight back to where they were. >> a great morning must-read. here's adam johnson with the economic outlook. >> martin wolf, economist at the here is what he has to say. interesting lesson for all of us here. an expansion of private borrowing to buy every more expensive houses is sometimes -- is deemed good but an expansion of, boring, roads or railways is not -- none of it makes sense. >> with the flooding in the united kingd

he's replacing enrico letta, renzi will be sworn in on thursday. >>> facing court in guantanamo bay faced with charges of recruiting suicide-bombers. the judge has halted the proceeding since the accused man may want to fire his attorney. >>> a pennsylvania woman and her husband are accused of murdering a man they met online. the couple have been called the craigslist killers. now when a jailhouse interview the woman claims to have killed at least 22 other people. al jazeera's erica pitzy reports. >> reporter: the headline of this small town pennsylvania newspaper suggest the accused craigslist killer said she lost count how many people she killed at number 22. >> she said she has done it before, and i said what's the actual number? she said, under 100. >> tough words spoken through a soft voice according to daily item newspapers reporter francis garcella who interviewed barber from jail. she lured troy laferera by offering cheap sex on craigslist. on her signal her husband sprang from the backseat and strangled laferera with a cord while she stabbed the man 20 times. >> she said in the i

enrico then to announce he was stepping down as italian prime minister after losing the support of his party. less than twenty four hours later he chaired his final cabinet meeting and formally tendered his resignation at the presidential palace. his democratic party rival much the rnc is poised to take over. he's been a mecca for not doing more for italy's economy during his ten months in office. monday the sand of the city directed a chilly need radical change we needed new government if we want to get out of the square miles he said. you share the top of that. after years of recession. europe's third largest economy is still plagued with problems unemployment is at twelve percent and millions of frustrated by falling living standards. remedies. one prime minister takes our money. another arrives and they take more. at thirty nine wins he would be the country's youngest ever head of government. dennis dunn angered the united states by releasing sixty five inmates from bagram prison. afghan officials said they have no reason to keep them in in jail. the us military says they do the ta

george on the poly tunnel has been holding consultations throughout the day to find a replacement for enrico lead to who was ousted by his own center left democratic party. but his party colleague with children see is widely expected to get the country's top job the thirty nine year old mayor of florence would be italy's youngest prime minister political leaders are meeting with italian president giorgio napolitano at the queen on palace. it's part of the process for deciding who will form the country's new government after the democratic party withdrew their support for the ruling coalition. that is likely to be replaced by the new leader of the center left democratic party the trio rinsing is a popular figure with the italian open up of the tunnel wants to know that the present era florence also has support in parliament. ramsay has long called for drastic measures to do with italy's economic problems. more reforms are needed to combat chronic high unemployment. he says strong action is the only way to shore up space in the country's future. i'm going to rome ga to get everything changes b

one final question for you now i'll take a trip from our friends to italy it only is our premier enrico letta if he's going to resign after losing a key vote and now thirty nine year old not hale renzi will become the youngest prime minister of italy ever what politically do you expect to happen in italy regarding austerity and structural reform we've got thirty seconds can you give it to me fast. we have a political system which is displaying all the signs of the malays. underpinned by an economy that is stuck in a round with a credit banking system which is incapable of financing any prospect of what it covered with. so good times right away had is what you're saying. you're honest thank you so much that was our political economist and author yanis varoufakis time now for today's big deal. and joining me now is dr phil is not a doctor but he is just mr edward harrison and we're going to talk about european the european continent most western country portugal portugal now official figures released at the end twenty thirteen showed the property prices across portugal have sunk to unpers

form a government, but ratings agency fitch warns he faces the same challenges as his predecessor enrico. ollie rhen is saying he is confident in the new italian government's plan. >> i am confident the new government will aim at tackling the problems of economic competitiveness of italy and public debt. and i trust that the italian government will continue to pursue economic reforms and maintain lining fiscal consolidation. >> julia chatterley is standing by in rome. we're still got peter with us from brussels. julia, we know about mr. renzi's four-point plan for italy. we know how the eurozone, how the eu stands on rome and on italy. but what about mr. renzi? what's his stance versus the eu? it's quite interesting, carolyn. he has actually said in the past that he doesn't believe italy is sticking to the 3% deficit is the right way to go. he believes there should be some flexibility there to introduce and allow the structural reforms. so it makes his choice of an economic minister crucial for whoever has to come to brussels on a monthly basis and negotiate and talk to those people ther

he is expected to favor the florence mayor, the former leader enrico leta handed out his resignation. is the third it 58ian prime minister to fall in three years. the u craneian activist said he was abducted and tortured has revealed new details about his or deal tbulletof says he believes his capital were russian. violence in kiev has flared up again. several were hurt in tra clashes clark there. now, demonstrations have been drawing new recruits including ones you wouldn't necessarily expect to see on the front lines. joining the revolution, the protesters's main command center. news recruits are vetted. she is ukrainian but lives in london with her parents. an unlikely new member? >> the first time i have seen how they burn the bosses and how the police attacking them. after that, i just went to the airport. it's a dangerous situation. what are you prepared to do? >> everything. i am ready to fight for my human rights and my country and a better life with my country even to death. she is among several hundred women wanting to play a more active role in ongoing protests and that mea

prime minister enrico letta is expected to resign tomorrow after his democratic party called for him to step aside to make way for a new government. president giorgio napolitano is expected to ask pd leader matteo renz toy form a new government. >> sue, you big dehere in the united states is a big deal. our parent company, comcast, buying time warner cable in a big deal worth more than $45 billion. julia bourorstin on how this wi impact the consumer. first to david. what can you tell us? >> last june we first broke the story of charter communications and liberty medias interest in acquiring time warner cable. sen since then a back and forth. nominated 13 directors to sit on time warner's board, creating a dist proxy fight for the company. through it all, time warner saying worth $160 a share,alities more than eight times cash flow. what cable companies go for when they get sold. particularly ones with the property we have, and comcast, would you be interested? comcast, would you consider doing it? comcast, come on. make it happen. brian roberts finally decided to do that and for rob

enrico led to a meeting of their democratic party and the team skipped by mattel. he's been under fire over the slow pace of economic reforms inside his grand coalition government. a thirty nine year olds rainsy of mayor of florence. vowing to pass on electoral reform law that would be key to breaking italy's political gridlock earlier i spoke to our own correspondence in the groove to it. the actual goal that happened i just added to that idea. we saw hundred and thirty six a bowl in favor of vinci's motion sixteen votes the gains and two at steve's and safety what he has the full leg and new fees the new government one la still twenty eighteen and will push to those much needed reforms he talked about radical profound out of the forms that the country needs he says the county's me at a crossroads and now's the time to take away some bills i want to read these words so i think the county has bolted we had prime minister that to officiate announcing that he will head out to the presidential palace tomorrow friday the militant handed his resignation and so after ten

he invited opposition leader enrico who barely lost that election to him last year by little more thanntage points, he hasn't said whether he's going or not. but meanwhile, on saturday, he stood at the massive demonstration in caracas and told protesters to stop blocking the streets with barricades, he was asking them to basically tone it down a little bit. to not have protests at night and to try to avoid any kind of violence. but given the fact that the government isn't allowing the television station to his cover these protests most of the people that he was trying to reach never had a chance to hear what he said. and is that one of the big problems here, that the opposition can't really coalesce against or around any leader because they simply just -- the government simply controls the media and they don't have access to it? >> that's a major problem. but it also shows the fact that the government decided to take the one message that might have had a chance from a position of opposition credibility to look at these and say listen blocking streets, burning things on the streets is n

enrico letta resigned as premier,after a rebellion in the ranks of his center-left democratic party. that puts matteo renzi in position to become the country's youngest premier ever. he has agitated for sweeping change to rescue italy's economy. the battle over gay marriage in virginia is headed to a federal appeals court. last night, a federal judge ruled the state's voter-approved ban is unconstitutional. virginia's new attorney general, mark herring, had declined to defend the ban. he spoke today in richmond. >> the arguments raise bide those supporting virginia's wan on same-sex marriage were essentially the same arguments my predecessors used years ago to justify virginia's ban on interracial marriage and justify segregated schools. the injustice of virginia's position in those cases are not being repeated this time. >> woodruff: virginia is the first southern state to have its bar against same-sex marriage overturned. but, the ruling will be on hold, while the appeal goes forward. on wall street today, stocks ended the week on an up note. the dow jones industrial average gained

mr vaughan said there was little ceremony as enrico nasa arrived at the presidential palace on friday to hunting his resignation. he was prime minister for just ten months in prison in georgia an opponent or no will consult the cars dvd has to choose a nominee to replace and israel not to be a fast decision the president wants to announce the name by some today. it's already almost a certainty that will be in it comes to cars and intimate you're in the american forest and the settlers. he'll be inheriting and wheeled the front coalition of center left and center right. some opponents of currency within his own car seat or skeptical he can make it work. or that the minute. yesterday this at the nasa didn't do what he should have done it said that the grand coalition didn't work. it made too many mistakes. it's gonna be the same. you obviously know we are friends is adrenaline and energy. i won't be enough to change. many ordinary attorney and seemed equally unconvinced by the revolving door of prime ministers. it's a good spot it's pretty bad idea nothing will change the role the same.

he wants to start a new chapter in >> some were surprised that enrico letta letta's government lasted as it did. how will this affect their austerity campaign? is a lifetimen in a tie and politics. the reforms that have been inaugurated, they were initially on astarte measures -- they were never really put into place because berlusconi reald some of them back with a property tax. letta is a pretty fierce in fighter. he has a challenge from within his party. it looks like he has lost it. it looks like letta will no longer be prime minister. when not sure quick -- how quickly that will happen but as far as the overall austerity measures, they both want to have an economic program that gets cap -- the gets growth going in italy. we will get gdp out of italy tomorrow. this is an economy that is very much struggling with unemployment at 12% and youth unemployment at 40% and their debt to gdp ratio is second only to grace. >> you were the white house correspondent for years. how does the political divide in italy compare with the partisanship and divided government you saw in washington? on

it's very interesting how the usually quiet enrico letta yesterday took the gloves off and said if someone wants to replace me, please say it openly. >> what about getting electoral law changed? >> yes. >> we can't really do anything until that happens, can we? >> exactly. there is another one on the table. it's been discussed by the parliament. it's not perfect, but at least that one, the electoral currency being discussed would guarantee that whoever wins the elections will command a stable majority in both houses of the italian parliament, so that would be a necessary first step to consider the prospect of new elections. that said, once the electoral law has changed, i think new elections shouldn't be a taboo in italy because the risk with italian politics is people confuse political stability with political paralysis, which are two very different things. >> jules. >> i think you make a great point there. but i want to ask, we know that the deal right now that they're trying to agree on electoral reform is an agreement between berlusconi and renzi. what is the risk if renzi becomes prim

enrico letta resigned on friday after being run out by a party coup. in the next few days center left leader, the mayor of florence is expected to be named the new prime minister. he's 39 years old. if sworn in, he'll be italy's youngest prime minister in all of its history. >> new englanders waking up with another layer of fresh snow fall. the storm moved on from rhode island, but the snow is still coming down in maine. another four inches is expected before this most recent storm makes its way to the atlanta. not only did the storm bring snow, it's followed by gusty wind and cold temperatures. >> here to give us the forecast is eboni deon, meteorologist. what do we have to expect today? >> more snow in the maine, but the system is exiting. we are expecting temperatures to really cool down. that's what we are waxing out for today. clearing skies. some chilly temperatures. and the winds - they'll be gusty. happening on to your hats if you are going to be in the area. i-95 could be a challenge. winds gusting upwards of 30 miles per hour. you factor that