cnbc's julia chatterly is outside the parliament building for us tonight. what is the scene there?er, tonight's vote was an essential step for this country to secure another huge bailout and prevent a default. it comes as over 100,000 people gathered to protest in the square outside parliament. it was a display of fury and contempt, both at their politicians, but also at what many greeks here fear are the too difficult demands for austerity. the protests began quite peacefully but then violence erupted, almost immediately. some protesters began throwing stones and gasoline bombs at police who responded immediately with tear gas. more than 15 buildings have been set on fire and dozens of people were injured. for many greeks, these new measures will mean a substantial loss of income, reduction in pensions, but also job losses at a time when unemployment in this country has surpassed 20%. the question going forward, though, is will these new reforms be sufficient to save this country from eventual default and will the people here be willing to accept the additional austerity cuts to c

where else, bailout deal falling apart, riots erupt in the capital city, and lucky julia chatterly of cnbc of europe has been covering the great soap opera that has been going on in athens. what's going on, julia? what's the outlook for the weekend? >> well, we estimate around 5,000 people took to the streets today in protest, chanting things like you're setting us back 50 years, and things like hang the politicians. it actually started quite peacefully but it ended rather violent. the police had to use tear gas to disperse the crowd. the protests were called before the meeting when it was told deeper cuts were going to be put in. more protests called for tomorrow. and again, on sunday, ahead of what was expected to be this key meeting of the politicians in parliament to vote on this reform deal. we heard this afternoon that five cabinet ministers have now resigned. the question we're asking is, will this mean a cabinet reshuffle and see yet another delay again on this vote that it's expected in parliament on sunday. that's what we're waiting for here in athens. back to you. >> thank

cnbc's julia chatterly back with us again from athens with the latest details on a wild day, and perhaps getting ready for a wild weekend as well. julia? >> quite possibly, we've all been talking about these five cabinet ministers that resigned. there's a question of a cabinet reshuffle or whether it would delay this key vote on reforms due sunday. i'm hearing that the vote will go ahead. it will be focusing three different points, the psi initially, the debt writedown deal will be agreed first. then the bank recapitalization for this country. then third, they'll vote on giving permission to the finance minister and prime minister to sign off on the 130 billion euro bailout deal. so this is not confirmed as yet, but this is what we're hearing now on the ground. maybe a glimmer of light on the horizon. of course, at the same time, 5,000 people are taking to the streets today to protest. they were chanting things like the troiker is setting us back 50 years, fight back, also things about the politicians here. it started quite peacefully, then the violence escalated. they had to use tear ga

and our julia chatterly is in athens with the latest. good evening, julia. >> reporter: hi there. we estimate there are around 5,000 people in the square behind me earlier today. that was despite the rain. they were chanting things like "the troika is setting us back 50 years," "fight back" and other things to do with the politicians here. protesters throwing petrol bombs at the police. they were quite restrained for a while and then ended up using tear gas and that dispersed the crowd. the key point is the protests and strikes ongoing were called before the euro group meeting last night. and then it became clear of course that there were going to be additional cuts required. and that certainly heightened the sense of anger and frustration that the population is showing here. you mentioned the greek police union potentially issuing arrest warrants for eu and imf officials. this anti-europe, antiimf sentiment matches with what we saw earlier in the week when some protesters set fire to a german flag outside the parliament building. it is a concern here, but i would have to point ou

cnbc's julia chatterly is live in athens. how close do we think fwrees is greece is to a debt deal? obviously we're having an issue with her shot. why don't we go to diana olick right now. and talk about the housing market. it's a big overhang in the economy after more than a year of talk. we may soon be to a settlement. diana olick has the answers. diana? >> reporter: i hope so, sue. from what we know, this settlement could help close to 1 million troubled borrowers with mortgage implications of a principal reduction. but this deal only addresses foreclosure paperwork abuses. it's not going to help anyone buy or sell a house this year. for the five banks in the settlement, b of a, jpmorgan, citigroup, wells fargo and al lied financial, it's one of still of a growing number of legal actions. bank of america alone which took on countrywide is facing or has settled more than a dozen lawsuits. the same five banks are being sued by fannie mae and freddie mac's regulator, the fhfa for allegely misleading the government-sponsored entities about the mortgages they were buying. just last fr

julia chatterly is in athens with the latest. >> reporter: the greek government have agreed a deal on reforms, but the next step is addressing that demand from the troika that the two remaining coalition leaders sign a written confirmation that no matter what happens at the next election these reforms continue to be implemented. it's not just an economic problem now for greece, but it's also political problem too. and if you look at the recent polls, the two far left parties and the communist kke party now total more than 40% of the votes polled. so that means nicole ligs that leads on from that election will look very different from what we have here now. and of course that could be a real problem irrespective of whatever agreement gets signed right now. now, of course, we saw that 43 mps were lost or expelled as a result of not agreeing to reforms overnight. the question for the government is they need an immediate cabinet reshuffle. and it's just how quickly they can implement that going forward. now, people that i'm talking to are saying that this is essential not just to present

there's a two-day general strike, as you are aware, under way in athens from where cnbc's julia chatterlyve. julia, what are you able to tell us? >> reporter: it's actually gone much quieter in the square, but earlier we estimated around 5,000 people despite the rains. initially it's quite peaceful, but then some of the protesters were throwing pet roll bombs, and p all the shops and restaurants were shuttered, our hotel included. it remains that way, very much on lockdown around the central square. a key concerns is this strikes were called before the euro group meeting last night, and news of potential additional cuts only heightened the anger and frustration of the people we're speaking to here. the strikes today are -- we have more protests planned for tomorrow and they're planning to do this again on sunday around 5:00 p.m. when parliament votes on this deal. it's expected to pass, given the government's currents majority here. the finance minister said morning -- that's the key dichotomy here. recent polls show that over 70% of the population wants to remain in the euro. they're jus

a lot of sweeping rocks and -- julia chatterly is live with that. ing. obviously deep in study. we'll come back to julia in a bit. >>> a bold call on a down-and-outstock. back in two minutes. >>> he's actually speaking at a community college to tout the community college to career fund, which is part of the budget and would train some 2 million workers, trying to review them with skills and try to get back into the labor market. >>> true religion apparel getting as union grate, from a buy to a hold. this after disappointing fourth quarter results. getting hid with four different downgrades. true religion with a small gain earlier this morning. >>> rick san tellist is over at the cme, watching numbers after an eventful weekend. good morning once again. >> and ira harris is my guest today. so many stories, but i continue to think as many as my peers on the floor story about the chinese sovereign wealth fund and what they may or may not be doing down the road. thoughts? >> if we go back when this all started to break open, it was the chinese that origin

cnbc's julia chatterly joins us live from athens with the latest. julia. >> thanks very much.ll, we are still waiting for a decision on the agreement here from the reform agreements from the greeks here. but the focus really has been on something different. one other piece of the puzzle, the bailout puzzle that we're trying to work through. and it's been about the psi, the debt write-down. it stems from the "wall street journal" article that we got last night in your time that discussed the fact that the ecb may be ready to make concessions on their holdings of greek debt. this is called the osi, the official sector participation in this deal. which subsequently had the esf announce that they are likely to play a significant role in both the bailout and in the psi, the debt write-down deal. so that's the latest on that element. the deadline for that is february the 15th, just to keep in mind, and that's when the draft agreement on the debt write-down needs to be presented. at the same time, i'll bring it back to coalition leaders. they are now in possession of the draft agreem