if confirmed, jack lew replaces tim geithner. italy's elections for prime minister contributed to market moves in the u.s. the stock market was shaken by yesterday's news from italy that italian democratic leader pier luigi bersani shot ahead in exit polls. bersani's party opposes austerity measures, which brought fear back into the minds of u.s. investors, many concerned that italy's current debt load poses a threat to the eurozone and global economy. bersani is the secretary of the democratic party of italy. italy's outgoing prime minister, mario monti, accounted for just around 10% of the vote. "bp was blinded by greed" and the castrophe was preventable. that's what attorneys figthing against the company had to say opening their remarks in the bp trial. bp attorneys contend multiple parties are responsible. the oil giant is on trial for thde explosion in the gulf of mexico back on april of 2010. 11 workers were killed and oil gushed into into the ocean for 3 months. behind the scenes, the department of jusitice reportedly has

in a 71-26 vote the senate has given former white house chief of staff jack lew the green light to replace tim geithner as treasury secretary. lew faced questions from the senate over a million-dollar amount that he received in 2008. >>> also, president obama and congressional leaders unveiled a full-length statue of civil rights icon rosa parks. famous for her refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man in alabama in 1955. the president who said parks who died has now take an rightful place in those who have shaped history. >>> in colorado, the parents of a transgender first grader have filed a civil rights complaint after an elementary child banned the girl from using the girl's room. the parents of the child said she was born male but identified as a female as soon as she could talk. >>> millionaire space tourist dennis tito says he plans to send a married couple to mars and back by 2019 in a tiny bare-bones capsule. tito said it makes sense to send a couple because, quote, you're going to need someone to hug. >>> and prince harry showed off his royal talent in the african nation of lesotho wedne

now that jack lew has cleared approval by the senate finance committee, the full senate could vote as early as today. jack lew is president obama's pick to replace treasury secretary tim geithner. the vote by the senate finance committee came down to 19 for and 5 against the nominee. more witnesses will be called to the stand this week to testify in the civil trial against bp. yesterday a key witness testified that bp was focused on cost-cutting, which sacrificed safety, ahead of the deepwater horizon explosion that killed 11 people 3 years ago. it is the first phase of the trial, in which the plantiff will attempt to prove the severity of bp's negligence leading up to the massive oil spill. the plantiffs are expected to call the chairman and president of bp america to the stand next. a $1-billion cost-cutting plan is underway at jpmorgan chase. the bank is eliminating 4,000 jobs this year in consumer banking, mostly through attrition. eventually, 19,000 jobs will be cut from its home loan business. the firm no longer needs as many people to handle defaults, which are dwindling. meanwhile, 15,000 people will be hired in asset management and commercial banking units. meanwhile,

. >> the confirmation hearing for a jack lew to replace tim geithner who stepped down late last month. he is the former chief of staff. politico reporting they are a snagging the political rights. an investment he made in the political -- the white house says it was previously disclosed and is already a public matter. there are some concerns. this came out through the prayer of getting process to he is scheduled to appear on wednesday, february 13. paul is joining us from athens, tenn.. >> personal accountability. the government should tell us they cannot do everything for us. the republicans play against the democrats. the democrats play against the republicans. obama is the worst at it at the sunny the nation. the government cannot do everything for the people. why not pass a law that says, you cannot die? there are people who believe it. do you know who the most gullible are? the media. guess who gets the best tax breaks? the media. there is not a tax break on media. there is not personal accountability. some people cannot make it, tough. they have been living on the dole. there ar

. >> president obama's choice, tim geithner's replacement, jack lew, has a hearing before the senateinance committee at 10:00 a.m. eastern. he'll amy face questions about his tenure at citigroup amid the financial crisis. republicans will grill him about an investment in a kay splands venture capital -- cayman islands venture capital fund. lew, former chief of staff and budget director, expected to be easily confirmed, though. or is he, boris? >> he is going to be confirmed. he is qualified to be treasury secretary. what you're seeing here is the other side of the coin of the social and class warfare the president has taken on since becoming president. actually the location where that cayman islands fund was headquartered was called a tax scam by the president. you're seeing that he went after people who have any money offshore. i think all of us know that most fund or at least a large majority of those funds have some sort of headquarters or location offshore. you're seeing that come back in the president's face. there is a measure of hypocrisy there. that's what's going to be outli

opportunity it gets the treasury, whether it's the outgoing secretary, tim geithner, or his remakes, jack lew. they say -- replacementew. they say -- it would be the height of hypocrisy if the united states stepped in and started influencing the dollar. all that said, what they've -- what the americans have said and what the g-7 said last week is that insofar as these monetary policies are aimed at bolstering domestic demand, not driving the currency down, they're okay. so we'll see more of that. >> right. almost a different form of stimulus. speaking of which, on the fiscal side, there are nine days before automatic defense and spending cuts go into effect. yes, the sequester. with the deadline looming, the budget fight between president obama and congressional republicans has shifted from how to stop the cuts to who to blame if they happen. and it's -- amid all this, stocks are hitting multi-year highs, completely shrugging it off it would seem. >> i know. it looks to me like they're kind of running on some monetary fumes or something like that. i mean, the economic data in the united states has not been that great