letta did not get along.ave seen italian bonds at most -- at multiyear lows falling amid this power struggle for control. so again, italian prime minister enrico letta has said he will resign. he has 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

letta he was in london. any idea of what happens now?ankly, i am not very much interested in this debate. first of all, because i do not choose my shareholders. they choose to be our shareholders. i love all of them wherever they come. and second, because this idea that any can be taken over through -- is unthinkable. the companies of our size are never taken over. the country in which they are located is not in agreement. so i think this is not really very important as an issue. up, and thereied are rumors that you have been in talks. he says he wants to focus on commodities. have you had discussions with them? >> not really. i know they own two percent of our stake. and they might be increasing their stake, which would be good news. we are not in qatar. we have been there but unfortunately, we sold our position there in 2002. and now it is too late to go back to qatar. >> talk to me about the fact that with all of this political turmoil would you like to go for another mandate at eni? >> my term is coming up. in principle, i am availab

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

that renzi has ousted letta, rens see in the submissive position because he needs letta on his sides transition a successful one. >> hans, great stuff. thank you very much indeed. hans nichols joining us from sunny rome. >> now let's talk tech. japanese onlean retailer is buying the mobile messaging service for $900 million. let's get to ryan for more on the story. it's a big number. >> rakuten wants to go international. they're the biggest internet retailer in japan, but to get the kind of global scope they want, to get away from the sluggish japanese economy, to reduce their competition with companies like yahoo!, they need to go international. what viber has is a user base of more than 200 million users. they can add to their existing 200 million users they have at at rakuten, and they're in 193 countries. >> talk to me about rakuten. it needs to expand. i don't know a lot about them. they've taken this business into all kinds of different areas. is eah, so the c.e.o. japan's third richest man. he's worth more than $9 billion, almost all of which comes from his 40% stake that he

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

letta and renzi, a big upward push in gilts yesterday. and a suggestion, a hint yields might go up next year. sterling moving a lot higher, as well, against the dollar. back over 1.66. still there, 1.6637. not far away from the three-year high which we hit about a month or so ago. the aussie/dollar has fallen back below 90. jobless data came in weaker than expected. dollar/yen, a little weaker against the yen this morning. and euro/dollar, bag over 1.3622. pushed down yesterday after it was suggested well, yeah, it's possible, it's feasible we might look at cutting overnight rates into negative territory. that's where we stand in european trade. let's bring you up to date on the asian markets. no better lady than sixuan. >> thank you, ross. the shanghai composite slipped 0.6% ahead of more daddy, including money supply and loan growth numbers later this week. and the hang seng index in hong kong pulled back from its three week highs. and we saw profit taking in japan with the nikkei 225 ending lower by 1.8%. brewers fizzled after providin

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

therwards, letta goes to cameras and gives his new economic proposal. here is what he is talking about, a payroll tax cut, budget reductions and ways to strengthen the legal system. one final note, investors don't seem to be worried. bond levels are at historic lows even with public debt at around 133% of gdp. youth unemployment at 40%. what enrico letta's argument is, is that he is the best person to stay the course and get the economy back on track. >> thanks, hans nichols live in rome. >> a bloomberg exclusive, the french finance minister is currently in the united states with president hollande. he told our chief washington correspondent peter cook that france is open for business. >> this country, our country, is back on track. we are in the innovative creative country and we are open to business, to foreign business. i say, welcome to american investment. already, two companies from the u.s. hiring about 500 people in france -- 500,000 people in france. we have got 60 billion euros between france and the u.s.. are reforming, leading structural ref

one is renzi becomes prime letta doesn'tse have support anymore. 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 gre

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

letta said he didn't know if he still has the support of his party.he 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 in of political risk. >> i wonder why that is. i wonder why the markets are the shrugging it off. what did enrico letta proposed to matteo renzi? is he trying to find some kind of agreement? >> what he is trying to do is make his case that he has an economic plan going forward. once they get rid of this political instability, here is what he wants to offer. a payroll tax cut, budget reductions, ways to strengthen the legal system. he didn't actually tell his counterpart, his challenger, the details of the plan. he gave those to the press afterwards. today, there is the meeting of the parties. as we have been saying, it is going to be renzi's decision. does he have the support to challenge? if he does challenge, can he then govern without forcing new election

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

for more we are joined by letta tayler. she wrote the new report entitled "a wedding that became a funeral: us drone attack on marriage procession in yemen." we are also joined by jeremy scahill, cofounder of as thept.org, as well producer and cowriter of the documentary nominated for an oscar, "dirty wars: the world is a battlefield." letta, you recently came back from yemen, tell us about your findings. on a weddinge convoy in yemen killed 12 people, injured 15, including the bride, who received a face over and. wound. we are concerned this may not have only violated international law that flies in the face of president obama's policy on targeted killings. he says they do not strike unless there is near certainty that no civilians were killed. but the evidence suggests that at least some and possibly all of them were civilians. could you talk about what your research involved in producing the report, and also you seem to have found contradiction between what national yemeni officials say and what local officials closer to

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." >>

letta? >> well, this is a good question. he will have to deal with when the same about the same majority mr. letta had. this remains an open question. certainly he's a very charismatic person. certainly he would try to give a kick to the reform process, but at the end of the day he would have to deal with the same people. so how much he would have to compromise remains to be seen? that's what really would drive his success or not. >> what are the expectations that are going to -- are investors going to build in? and does it make any difference for italian asset prices? >> there are a lot of expectations with respect to what mr. ren zi can do. we know he has a strong endorsement coming from employers but also from labor unions so definitely there is some big expectation of the lever in structural reform. the real issue is by how much he will have to compromise. how much mr. alfano, the new right party, will try to raise the barr when it comes to drafting the new agenda, the new government and whether mr. renzi will have to co

that is what letta wanted. he wanted to win the election. his approval rate is strong. first of all he says he needs to change the voting law. as it stands now, it's unconstitutional because ittal yeents vote for their open -- ilialians vote for their own candidate. >> interesting times for italy. >> that report from rome. >> an eemergency vaccination program is under way in northern kenya after a measles outbreak in a camp. the highly contagious disease is thought to have emminated from refugees from south sudan. we have that report from a town bordering the equatorial state of south sudan. >> this mother buried her son on thursday. he was sick sips an infant. he got measles, it weak eped his immune system he could not fight a pneumonia attack. >> translation: he was my only son. i have no husband. i thought hoo wee be the -- he would be the one to get us out of here. >> sick children have to be guarantee eed inside the camp, and the camp hospital. the outbreak of measles has worsened. >> when you are dealing with a situation where you have many people coming into act.

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 a given, we want to see the program renzi is supposed to bring forward. if the policies are too left-leaning, he says, they are not going to go for that. we will have to see what happens but as far as we know, alfano's party really does not have that ish public support so there an incentive to support renzi's program. in terms of the timetable, media reports say they expect him to perhaps be sworn in either wednesday or thursday and then there will be that vote of confidence in both the lower house as well as in the senate for it to move forward. the passengers on board the hijacked ethiopian airlines flight are all safe and sound. that plane bound for rome was to geneva's international airport by the plane's copilot who was reportedly trying to seek asylum in switzerland. the copilot is now in police custody. a passengers and crew walks -- walk safely off the plane at geneva airport with their hands in the air after a brief hijacking drama. the boeing t

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

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

letta handed in his resignation, and florida's mayor is next in line. if chosen italy may have its youngest prime minister in history. >> a grine light by the obama administration for banks to do business with the marijuana history. the banks have been avoiding the pot industry over fear of prosecution. the sale and use of marijuana is illegal under federal law. >> those are the headlines. up next "consider this".

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

. >> letta handed in his resignation, forced out by his own party.e is the third to fall from grace in as many years. floren mayor is expected to take his place. >> a quarter century ago the last soviet tanks rolled out of soviet into uz beckize tap. the united states prepared to withdraw its forces. they tell us why some afghans feel abandoned. >> on the edge of iraq, captured weaponry, frames and museums dedicated for remembering the horrors of war. the names are filled with hundreds of afghans who died when the mujahideen rose up. >> translation: what people feared most was aerial bombing. what was distressing was the killing of women, children. that united us, despite the soviets, for the independence of our country. >> at the heart of the museum, life-size statues of former fighters to a diarama, taking visitors though the wall to the soviets. if history is written by the victors, the story may appear too straight forward. soviets murder villagers, they raise up. it's one of the few easily accessible accounts in the country. afghanistan's school

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 unperson den

letta is rather combative. he does not want to go. >> understandable. what will nicole itano do with itano do with this? another power struggle he has to negotiate. basically, he said that he wants them to slug it out. he wants them to figure it out themselves. as independent as possible. they have both gone to see him. we will have to see what happens. tomorrow, there is a big meeting of the pd party. they are in the same party and renzi is the head of the party. there is the possibility that, at some point, they will tell this it is time to go and will actually happen. >> interesting. thank you so much. you have to time these things perfectly because renzi possibly wants to get into power. if you mistimed it, the finger gets pointed at you for making the government fall and possibly driving yields back up. berlusconi did that at his peril at many points. toyota is recalling over -- almost 2 million prius vehicles worldwide. that is almost half of the vehicles ever sold. craig, another recall. talk to me about why this is happening. >> there is an issu

letta did. mr.y what he does and what he's able to do and what he's able to actually accomplish in the next hundred days. this is an -- he's -- he has -- he has presented an extremely ambitious, overly ambitious, i would say, political and economic agenda. that may, in fact, help him. he set the bar so high, he's upped the stakes that he is almost compelled to get something done. there's an awful lot of hope on this man. >> thank you so much for joining us, nick. still to come on the show, rumors of bankruptcy, one of the most recognizable bitcoin exchanges vanishes into thin hair. stay tuned. ...return on investment wall isn't a street... isn't the only return i'm looking forward to... for some, every dollar is earned with sweat, sacrifice, courage. which is why usaa is honored to help our members with everything from investing for retirement to saving for college. our commitment to current and former military members and their families is without equal. >>> welcome back to the show. the s&p case-s

government, but ratings agency fitch warns he faces the same challenges as his predecessor enrico lettae 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 there. but

he replaces letta, who was ousted by his own party. >> finally a break from the rain and snow, and some of the country on most of the forecast. let's bring in meteorologist eboni deon. >> we can enjoy the break for much of the east. we dealt with the rain, thunderstorm and tornadoes, and a few of those were confirmed around maryland. today we are clearing out. the front made its way up the coast. high pressure is building in, giving way to the whether that we see. we'll see a south-westerly flow, allowing temperatures to warm some. we have the impacts of the storm system as it lifts northwards. we'll have strong winds. and we'll deal with some snow, but only snow flurries, nothing to right home about. it will be more intense across the pacific north west coast. as we go through the day it will bring in the moisture and snow showers will be picking up. light snow showers, an inch or two. as the storm makes it way in across washington and oregon, that's when the know will pick up in intensity. we could be dealing with winter storm warnings in place across donald moncayo -- montana. >> cal

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 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

letta was issued a mandate to go through these mo -- these reforms and not much has changed.t matteo, what is key is least the two key reforms. he gave himself an ambitious timetable. in the last 20 years, we had no reforms. i think that gives you an idea of setting a pace. and what needs to be done, ultimately, are not overly complex, but very difficult things to achieve. we need to take away the status quo that most of the lobby did not want to give up. easiere going to find it working with people who are currently in the system? berlusconi possibly or people who are real outsiders. do we need a complete change to make this work? >> first of all, he is a total outsider when it comes down to what to do, how to do it, and the speed with which to do it. the best example is he took the leadership of the number one party in the country within four weeks and had a proposal for a new electoral. seven years they were discussing about it. >> proposals and execution -- >> that is the difference. a vote inposal needs parliament, but at least you can vote on something. until now, they

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