. >> reporter: this latest threat from iran came through reuters from the iranian ambassador to moscow. at the white house the president's press secretary was asked about this threatening statement and here's what he had to say. >> rest assured, we are extremely confident in our

i'll get you in a minute. >> from today's hearing, we're joined again by sarah lynch of reuters. explain what that was all about. >> the credit rating agencies have been under great scrutiny since the financial crisis for giving rosy ratings to toxic subprime mortgage bonds. now this issue of hem not doing a good job is coming up again at mf global. in may of 2011, mn global had disclosed that it had this $6.3 billion exposure to european sovereign debt in a 10 k filing with the sec. and despite that being out there in the public be fear, neither of the ratings agencies took any action until october that moodies had downgraded them to near junk status the 24th of october and downgraded them again to junk not till october 27th and s&p didn't downgrade them till the actual day of the bankruptcy. so it raises a lot of questions about what they're doing, why they didn't see red flags and could this have been spotted sooner. >> and so from your standpoint as somebody covering this story, where does it go next? >> well,ern the chairman of the subcommittee of investigations and oversigh

meaning the reuters journalists.e apaches opened fire, american troops were conducting a raid nearby when they were hit with small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. reuters conducts its own investigation and can find no one in the area who saw any clashes that day. one week later the news organization demands an official u.s. investigation. it also specifically requests access to the apache on board cameras and voice communications. all their requests are denied. the government makes no further comment on the incident until three years later when wikileaks, which had received a leaked copy of the classified video, releases it under the provocative title "collateral murder." >> the video is important in a number of ways. one of them is better scrutiny of how pilots behave when they fire on people. >> they released it in a couple different forms. they released it both in a long form, then a more concise form with the high points or highlighted the incident. the effect of that release was devastating. >> the u.s.

according to reuters it takes six hours to draft a single sentence in a one hundred page document as e.u. leaders have strong rubble to work out the fine print of new financial rules and on this side of the atlantic in the u.s. we've seen this most recently with the fight against the volcker rule now the volcker rule was part of dodd frank it's supposed to ban proprietary trading that's where banks speculate with your money with customer money to make a profit for themselves by taking huge risks while doing it the problem with it is when too big to fail banks do this and something goes wrong and they're highly leveraged they could get wiped out only they won't get wiped out will they because they're too big to fail so they'll be bailed out by you and me now wall street is fighting the volcker rule tooth and nail and you can imagine why but even without wall street fighting it the five hundred thirty page monstrosity of a bill allows for plenty of loopholes according to critics as you can imagine in five hundred thirty pages now they've been outlined by the financial activist group oc

so rather funny examples in reuters where you've written about it talking about your friends is that sometimes these people they can't drink get so they can't even go to social engagements to network they can't rent a car they can't even lease an office space or a house because they don't have enough credit built up and they need someone else to sign for them and so you know from the people that you wrote about that you know that are friends of yours acquaintances and whatnot who is usually the group that's able to be a young entrepreneur right is interesting because i have a lot of friends young friends in their mid twenty's who are trying to start companies but in fact the median age for a successful entrepreneur is thirty nine so what we really want from a public policy perspective is a policy that addresses both the risks and concerns of these young entrepreneurs and these older entrepreneurs and one of the elements of i that i pointed out was health care you know being afraid of not having health care is one of these things that keeps young people from starting companies because

valley generation of young entrepreneurs are trying to change the gate so every bride writes and reuters today despite little data on this phenomenon venture capital say that they're finding more chief executives under age twenty one than ever before the problem is that it takes money and a support system to start your own company so often the young entrepreneurs in silicon valley are those who come from families with money and time to help how do you make of the more young people actually take this route joining me to discuss it is derek thompson senior editor at the atlantic and they can our social on serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist also the author of the gardens of democracy gentlemen thank you both for joining me tonight and i guess nick i want to start with you since you are a venture capitalist have you noticed this trend of you seen more young people that are c.e.o.'s that want you to invest in their companies you know i mean i think one of the most exciting parts of our economy and trends in our culture is how. so many young people are to start businesses and indeed yo

reuters thompson -- thompson reuters? >> thompson reuters.t's our name day. >> we just call it reuters, lovingly. i hear you've got a great book called "how to be black" no one gets, it's satire, but i love the book. it's awesome. will cain is back as well. i have to explain to our new panelists that we have an all request musical day, which means if you want something played, you have to e-mail our producer who will then eventually get on the air probably by 8:45, five minutes before 9:00. welcome. that was stevie wonder, "superstition." you knew that, though. >> i know all that, soledad. >> he lives it, yes, he does. >> superstitious dude. >> we begin this northemorning iran. defense secretary leon panetta says there is a growing likelihood, quote, that israel will attack iran this spring and try to destroy its suspected nuclear program. israeli defense minister ehud barak said this, quoek, iran must be prevent fred becoming nuclear and no option should be taken off the table. let's get right to barbara starr this morning at the pentagon. g

the debt deal that finance ministers just agreed on for greece may only be making things worse than reuters reports the venture capitalists are dealing with more under twenty one feet than ever so how to make sure this boom of young entrepreneurship continues and spreads beyond silicon valley and that at an annual conference of thousands of scientists they spoke gloom we're going to talk about how citizens united and anti-science lobbying as a powerful force to be reckoned with are not all bad warfare night getting a dose of happy hour but first take a look at the mainstream media has decided to miss. so today just like every other day the mainstream media spent hours obsessing over really silly political stories and if you don't believe me take a look for yourself. the energy of santorum is crowds contrasted sharply with the single blue energy event romney held yesterday in cincinnati amid a pile of boxes i'm going to talk first about bill and barbara here separated for some reason by a box you're at maybe a lecture but sure you say santorum has searched for three reasons what are the yes

reuters news agency says the chair of the group is calling for greece it ratify its austerity plan by sunday, and then find a further 325 million euros worth of spending cuts by next wednesday. after the talk rs, the finance minister said it will approve extra funding for greece by wednesday. greece needs more money from the eu and fund to cover bond payments worth 14.5 billion euro. those payments are due march 20th. the bailout package would help defer a fault. they are now wondering if the european bank would suffer as well. >> the eu holds a lot of greek bonds. the ecb should hold losses if private financial institutions should do so also. >> everybody has been talking about at they cou do and not do. ecbd t sgforthecb e it will mean out fosparties. anddung48-hostemovi th aar terr do fsee s.olr n adg onth id mni.g ke on d r cle beedhety d ip of rsn s. egs 0 t ort, n erre ffinnof ay cs. rorr:t is sll ct t skieder weave the rugs by hand. th ke carpetfrom dyed strands of wo yarn. as well t eopnsnd americans, many admire e gs beauty a in sold.ewer iranian sanctions against iran for th

this is according to reuters news agency reporting this as well.ou may remember that 20 minutes ago we told you that the british journalist paul conroy of the sunday times, a photographer accompanying marie colvin on her expedition to homs was also safe and well in lebanon according to diplomats following his case and also the case of buf yea out there. he is safe in lebanon. she is safe in lebanon according to these sources. both of these two requiring urgent medical attention. there was concerns about their well-being if they were continuing to be stuck in homs because they weren't able to be treated the way they should be and receive the necessary medical a teng. they're both safe and well according to reuters news agency. >>> still to come, gordon gecko becomes something of a chameleon. find out why he's trading in his greedy disposition. please stay with us. for my arthritis, i use new capzasin quick relief gel. (announcer) starts working on contact and at the nerve level. to block pain for hours. new capzasin, takes the pain out of arthritis.

according to reuters, clinton has ruled herself out of the running. it is worth noting that the imf has always had a european in charge as well. the jury is out on who could replace him, certainly an interesting development. >> could be a seismic shift if it's not a u.s. replacement there. you're watching "world business today." >>> still ahead, tensions between iran and west are rising. we take you on board a u.s. aircraft carrier stationed in the persian gulf where the crew are keeping a watchful eye on the oil-rich country. stay with us. [clucking] [clucking] [ding] [clucking] announcer: separate raw meats from other foods by using different cutting boards. 3,000 americans will die from food poisoning this year. keep your family safer. check your steps at foodsafety.gov. >>> price of brent crude dropping slightly. that's following reports that the iranian government was prepared to suspend crude oil to six european countries. those reports have been denied. it's at 118.55. welcome back, you're watching "world business today" live on cnn. >>> speaki

editor of thompson reuters digital. she's back. >> political scientist, professor at columbia university. nice to have you as well. will cain, columnist for theblaze.com. happy friday let's get to our "starting point." protests happening right now in afghanistan, protesting the decision of some nato trops to burn korans. hundreds of people to surround the embassy. five people have been hurt. nick paton walsh is live for news kabul. what's the latest? >> well, what we're hearing is that the west of the country, hurat, one of the main city there's. u.s. consulate in kabul, the u.s. consulate out there have a very angry crowd outside. hundreds of people, i had actually from an eyewitness could hear the sirens, the panic from that particular area. we understand that to the hospital in hurat, one dead body has been brought fr presumably from this protest. one injured and one lost their life. they are apparently close to the u.s. consulate, setting fire to police cars, clashes now breaking out police police and proteste prote

official tells reuters that claim is false. a court-martial in north carolina that ended this week illustrates how the war in afghanistan changed the life of an american soldier. as national security correspondent david martin reports, the serious wound the sergeant suffer on the battle field proved to be only the beginning. >> reporter: after 21 years in uniform, most of it in special forces, sergeant first class andrew mccaffrey is a broken soldier. >> i've been stripped of my special forces it credentials, and now i have a-- basically a very low-level job. you take the hand off here. >> reporter: eight years ago in afghanistan, mccaffrey lost his right hand to a defective grenade. he fought a medical discharge, learned to shoot again, and became the first soldier to lose part of an arm and return to a war zone. three more times to afghanistan. he never found glory there, just the daily grind of military operations. but even so, he seemed the epitome of perseverance. being a soldier is a hands-on job. >> yes, sir, it is. >> r

reuters reporting that objections are growing to the proposed buyout by express scrips as regulators weigh whether or not to stop that $29 billion deal. investors certainly not taking any chances. we're now approaching a 9% decline on medco. brian, over to you. >> thank you, sue. two and a half hours to trading. let's reset the marketplace for you. i wouldn't call 4.5% a spike in the vix, but we're up above 20. a 10-year at 8.9%. gold down $15. we'll get details on that from sharon in just a minute. and we do have oil now below $97 a barrel. all three major indices are to the downside. but i want to look at the sector heat map for a second because it tells an interesting story. the best sectors of the year are the worst of the day. materials and financials at the bottom. it's really reflected in the laggards within the material sector. look at monsanto for one. up 13% double digits for the year. u.s. steel has six month it's up double digits year-to-date. similar story there. energy's the only sector in the green. and refiners really showing the lead. tesoro up and sunoco up 3%. touc

a survey by the thompson reuters foundation has called pakistan the world's third most dangerous country for women afghanistan and the democratic republic of congo. from the screen to the stage now. a troupe of actors in afghanistan has begun rehearsing a play by shakespeare. they aim to perform at london's legendary globe theater. this version of shakespeare's comedy of errors has been recreated using the afghan language. actors wear local costumes. the music, story line and characters have all within given an afghan twist. the troupe plans to join a culture festival leading up to the london olympics. >> translator: three decades of conflict destroyed our artistic culture. gradually we are trying to rebuild the arts. hepfully, one day, we'll regain our glory days again. >> the group has been targeted by islamic militants who say what they're doing is unislamic. actresses especially have been threatened. in you happen to be in london in late may, why not go and show them your support. that's it for our bulletin today. >> researchers around the globe are working on a vaccine against the m

last year reuters reported that coke industries would be a big benefiters. we know they own an oil terminal in canada where the pipeline would begin. and we know it has a refinery in texas, near where the pipeline is going to end. last myear i contacted coke to ask about their interest in the pipeline, and they responded despite the evidence to the contrary they had no interest in whether the pipeline was built or not. i accepted that answer and then i learned that coke had told the canadian government that the company had a direct and substantial interest, end quote in the pipeline. i want to know why coke would tell the u.s. conference one thing and the canadian government the exact opposite. so i had coke industries invited to testify today, well, they refused and coke refused to appear without an invitation from the chairman. so we are left with unanswered questions. why is coke industries being placed at a witness protection program? what does the company have to hide? and why does a company get special treatment while the american people get left in th

voters' league was officially founded in january by a group of journalists bloggers activists orders reuters and other public figures and statements made tedious leg t.v. host and now activist but one of the ladies. or the head of a charity fund and blogger elizabeth also known as dr lisa. out of school math of cordoning of the blue buckets movement fighting for equal rights on roads for everyone. our league is an opportunity to gather people who are not indifferent to what's happening the more people with a civil position there are the better the league's main goal is to ensure fair elections is published a list of initiatives on the web divided into groups that everyone can be a part of public discussions and online votes are the key in strong. it's letters have been sent to all presidential candidates asking them to cooperate with the league and even though the project is less than a month old everyone has so far agreed including pledging middleton another candidate businessman mikhail prokhorov has already struck a deal with the leak to go i'm willing to authorize one hundred fifty thous

more polling today from reuters.he gaps among those three latter candidates are within the poll's margin of year. so discuss this we bring in joe williams. >> good to be here. if they are having conscious attacks, then they didn't last very long. the two words are sheldon adelman, and now allowing him to compete in south carolina and florida. the three statistics are, $15 million, the amount that mitt romney spent basically vaporizing newt gingrich in florida. and 51 million, the statistics you just claimed, raising that kind of dough in one year to defeat president obama. >> is it coincidence that the president just endorsed the idea of the constitutional amendment to overturn citizen's united? and it seemed like the white house really undersold that especially in light of the decision relative to the super pacs. >> but you have a bit of cognitive disconnect here. the president has spoken out against super pacs. he smacked the supreme court justices almost to their faces a few years ago. so this denonesation of the

it's a document that was apparently leaked to the financial times and to the reuters news agency, but nobody at this point wants to spend too much time on it in the hugh betterrous surrounding the deal. $172 billion is what the greeks get, cutting debt to 120% by 2020. >> so what does it mean for the greek economy is this we've seen the protests, buildings burning. what will greece look like with these now even more vikstrict measures being imposed? >> the reality is you cannot use austerity to grow your economy. and unfortunately that's what this program is going to mean. further public spending cuts, also cuts in areas that would support growth. so inevitably, it will be very hard for the greeks actually to grow their economy out of this debt burden. for the time being, though, i think the markets are just happy to see short term resolution. back to you. >> geoff cutmore live this morning in london. thanks so much. >>> we have new pictures from syria where actity viss say another 12 people were killed by government forces today. they're intensifying their assault on rebel positions

a survey by the thompson reuters foundation has called pakistan the world's third most dangerous country for women after afghanistan and the democratic republic of congo. from the screen to the stage now, troup of actors in afghanistan has begun rehearsing a play by shakespeare. they aim to perform at london's legendary globe theater reaching an international audience after decades of persecution and conflict. this version of shakespeare's "comedy of errors" has been recreated using the afghan language. actors wear local costumes. the music, story line and characters have all been given an afghan twist. the troup plans to join a culture festival leading up to the london olympics. >> translator: three decades of conflict destroyed our artistic culture. gradually we are trying to rebuild the arts. hopefully one day we'll regain our theatrical glory days again. >> but acting isn't a risk-free profession in afghanistan. the group has been targeted by islamic militants who say what they're doing is un-islamic. actresses especially have been threatened. >>> and if you happen to be in london in

greater china bureau chief of reuters. looking at the aussie dollar after the bank of australia surprises the market and keeps rates on hold. will the central bank ease policy further? we'll bring you analysis up next. >>> welcome back. let's get you some of the stories we're following from around the world. let's start, of course, with some rba news over in australia. that's big news here in asia. the central bank's position to leave it came as a big shock to the markets. many investors had factored in 25 basis point cut as a local economy backed with a strong currency, a slowdown in china, and with europe debt uncertainties. the rba hinted that it is ready to ease if the economy worsens but for now on trend. the aussie/dollar surged while equities fell as you can see down 0.5%, ross. >> and the fed chairman, ben bernanke, is back on capitol hill today. he will appear at 10:00 eastern. he's expected to repeat much of his testimony from last week's house budget committee hearing. investors will be listening to any changes

according to reuters, florida with its large distressed housing market is also close to joining this settlement that results civil government lawsuits over faulty foreclosures and services misconduct, the so-called robo signing issue. we'll have more tomorrow. finally tonight, if you ever thought that your doctor wasn't giving you the straight dope, you could be right. more than half the doctors in a new survey admit they've described a patient's prognosis in a way they knew was too rosy, and nearly two in ten say they hadn't fully disclosed medical mistakes for fear of being sued. and one in ten say they've told a patient something in the past year that wasn't true. the lead researcher on the study says doctors didn't set out to be dishonest with their patients. instead, she believes the untruths were meant to give people hope. >> susie: boy, a difficult situation, i guess gives new meaning to good bedside manner. >> tom: certainly does. that is "nightly business report" for this wednesday, february 8. we'll have more on the foreclosure deal tomorrow. i'm tom hudson. good night. hav

post-holiday period, with industry sales coming in better than anticipated. 20 retailers tracked by thomson- reuters reported a 4.3% increase j in january same-store sales. that's more than twice what was expected. among those stores actually reporting less than forecast sales growth was macy's. but with its stock up 3.5% today, clearly, investors ignored that disappointment, focusing instead on the company raising its earnings outlook. also raising its guidance, kohl's. shares up more than 2.5%. just last month, it lowered its guidance, but now, it increased it, thanks to growing sales of accessories, handbags and men's wear. the best and worst today was the gap, and abercrombie and fitch. the gap shot up more than 10%. while sales fell, they didn't drop as bad as feared. its earnings outlook improved, as well. but abercrombie and fitch warned its fourth quarter earnings would be disappointing, due to heavy discounting. shares plunged almost 14%. the afterglow of the facebook stock offering news yesterday was on display today in shares of zynga. this is the video game company behind farmville and w

. >> now we're joining by reuters political correspondent.d to see you. >> good to see you. >> any chance of an impact on his opponents or just preaching to the converted. >> david, i think presidents are expected to make religion a part of their routine. two-thirds of all voters say they expect a president to have strong religious beliefs. so that is something we is supposed to check off. i thought i was interesting that a lot of the republican candidates have been increasingly speaking about religion on the trail. and here is obama using religion to bolster his case. he could have gone a lot farther, i believe the gospel of matthew jesus says it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of an needle than a rich man pass through the gates of heaven. >> is this the sort of start he needs to win in november? >> those -- those states that the gallup poll are referring to are places like new york and california. >> as far as the battle about the swing states has there competition, florida, ohio pennsylvania, has the competition changed much i

that's not the raise, that's the total monthly take-home pay for the average worker, this according to reutershich says foxconn employees in china are getting their third raise in as many years. now, as you know, new apple ceo tim cook taking the working conditions of contract apple factory employees very seriously. far more seriously than the previous ceo steve jobs did, including expanded safety inspections, independent human rights checks and now more money. netflix bringing back the dvd only plan, the company had discontinued it as a way of motivating customers to move over to streaming which netflix thinks is the future. as the ceo once told me, we didn't call it dvd flinch, we called it netflix for a reason. it turns out enough people want dvds only. the company is making an aboutface. >>> the powerful house energy and commerce committee have scheduled a meeting today to discuss subpoenaing officials from the office of management and budget over the solyndra scandal. the subpoenas if they came would have marked the first time congress had subpoenaed people in the controversy. it had subp