silvio berlusconi. a billionaire prime minister of italy elected three times even though as they say in rome, he was corrupt. >> the italian prime minister is no stranger to scandal. charges of bribery, corruption and embezzlement. >> officially guilty of tax fraud. >> sentenced to newshour years in prison for tax fraud. >> a serial flanderer. >> tales of lavish orgies. >> notorious all night so-called bunga-bunga parties. paying for sex with an underage prostitute. >> he was saying he could haven't sex with 11 women so instead he had sex with eight women. (laughter). >> jon: a man who had sex with eight women. that's the worst bond villain ever! (laughter) and if you pull one of them off, you just grow back. last november with the italian economy tanking, voters replaced berlusconi with his polar opposite, mario monti, an academic economist who promised to balance italy's books with strict austerity measures. that's not an easy choice. the country basically deciding it would be better to live with its

more because this idiot berlusconi is around. i hope it's a good smashed in the face. -- i hope he gets a good smash in the face. >> but berlusconi is a formidable campaigner. he will tell people that he will ease their economic agony. he will cut their taxes. some, at least, will like the sound of that. >> modern technology has given us medical advances once never imagined. britain is starting an ambitious new project. 100,000 patients with serious diseases are going to have their dna fully ampped in the hope that will help doctors develop new treatments. it is the first country to launch such an extensive database. our correspondent has the details. >> cancer happens when our dna mutates and our normal cells grow unchecked. mapping the mutations that drive cancer is already happening. for the first time, it will be offered to huge numbers of patients. who will carry out the sequencing and analysis over the next five years has not been worked out, but the prime minister on a visit to cambridge said the project has the potential

berlusconi has announced he's creating a new center right grouping. meanwhile, mario monti has been accused oversimplifying solutions during the fiscal crisis. carolin is joining us now from rome. do we expect more of this rhetoric today? >> oh, definitely. not just today, but specifically over two months. elections will only be held probably on february 24th. we've got about two months of the silly campaigning season to follow. so yes, as you said, the verbal exchange is definitely heating up. it started with mr. monti's response criticism coming from officials about his renewed request for the prime minister post yesterday. he said this criticism was out of place. it was offensive not just for him, but also for all of the people in italy who have the freedom to vote. this morning, he did an interview with one of the channels here in italy and he said, i don't really care about this spread because the spread is based on fraud. that's the direct translation. meanwhile, if you take a look at the spread, they are moving higher again. 4.9%. italian equit

berlusconi is usually telling people. they know these are just lies. >> coming back to bersani, you say that he will stick with the austerity drive. i'm wondering because marto monti's popularity has suffered over the last couple of weeks because the italian population is feeling the pain of austerity. will he have to backtrack somewhat on how harsh these austerity measures are going to be? >> the decreasing popularity of mr. monti is probably related to the fact that just in the last few weeks, people in italy had to pay for the first time a new tax on their home. obviously, particularly on the so-called first house is something that the italians were not used to in the last few years, but is something that is familiar to americans or to other people in northern europe. and, obviously, this particular time, we need to understand that the time is the time of the most severe crisis after 1930s. and we need to work in a direction where obviously we will have more taxation, but only through that direction we will get to a po

. >>> but he has competition in the form of sylvia berlusconi. he tells cnbc he feels a responsibility to run. >> feel the need to return to the political arena to prevent the country from being delivered into the hands of a leftist party. >> and the crowds are out, the stores are ringing up those sales, but u.s. shoppers may be running low on holiday spirit. and analysts say that they're spending less, as well. hi, everybody. welcome. merry christmas out there. thank you for joining us here on the show. what we're looking at today, we've got slightly quiet markets ahead of the u.s. open. what we're seeing, though, that all the markets are being called lower across the board stateside. the dow is being called a bit lower, nasdaq is being called a bit lower and the s&p 500 being called down by a bybit, as well. we saw markets coming off on friday stateside. pretty significant drops, as well, given that we now seem to be a clashing of heads between the republicans and the democrats in regards to moving forward on the fiscal cliff issue. it does see

could silvio berlusconi make a comeback? and apocalypse not. we're all still here. >> america's powerful gun lobby wants armed guards at every school in the u.s. the national rifle association came a week after 20 young children and six duments were killed. >> 26 bell tolls for the moment the shooting happened a week ago. washington, d.c. protestorses toled with security outside the national rifle association event. inside two protestors disrupted proceedings twice. the n.r.a. is a powerful lobby inner the constitutional rights to bear arms. n.r.a. speakers marked the start of a serious national conversation to prevent school shootings. their main idea, more guns in schools. >> the only way -- the only way to stop a monster from killing our kids is to be personally involved and informsed in a plan of absolutely protection. the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. >> the n.r.a. is launching a national school shield program to work with schools to beef up security on sight. >> i call on congress today to act immedi

berlusconi says monti could not follow. after the press conference mario monti returned here in the officials prime minister residence. where he was still live there -- whether he will still there will be whether the law and to finish the job he has started. >> he is trying to stay in power while avoiding disgruntled italians. >> the capability to be useful when the election can maybe give a result. the necessity of this can be useful to the government. >> i do not think that his manifesto will change anything. politics is quite embarrassing. we sell its -- seed every day from berlusconi. i do not think his resignation will bring much cheer or in europe. >> i hope that even if the distances himself he will contribute to the rebirth of our country. our country is in a difficult situation. >> campaigning for the elections will start officially with the biggest player in italian politics. in the end he may be called again to leave the country out of the economic crisis. al jazeera, rum. >> still to come, the egyptian president

mario monti was talking about silvio berlusconi's ideas. it would be wonderful if the things could be scrapped. he has come out with popular statements that we will scrap what monti has done. monti has said it is not possible because italy needs the money. he is laying out an agenda. he was still doing it and will live. they are things he hopes will take place next february. we do not know what party will play in the government. he has not announced who will run as. mr.. will he play any part in the next government? will he allow them to use his name? we do not know yet. we will listen. >> the vote is over but not the controversy. the muslim brotherhood says the people who voted in favor of the new constitution. official results will not be known until a released monday. the draft constitution would represent a significant political -- tryout -- triumph for morsi. >> this result will not help healing any rifts between the opposition and president. the onus will be on the leadership of both sides to show some sense of compromise. 30% turnout

berlusconi's party taken back support from the current government. but could this mean the return of the former prime minister to politics. we'll get more from our correspondent. having you ship my gifts couldn't be easier. well, having a ton of locations doesn't hurt. and a santa to boot! [ chuckles ] right, baby. oh, sir. that is a customer. oh...sorry about that. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. fedex office. ♪ mom? dad? guys? [ engine turns over ] [ engine revs ] ♪ he'll be fine. [ male announcer ] more people are leaving bmw, mercedes and lexus for audi than ever before. take advantage of exceptional values during the season of audi event. >>> earthquake strikes the northeast coast of japan producing a meter high tsunami. sandy expected to make its presence felt again as november payrolls look set to fall. but bundesbank warns of an imminent recession in germany. italian president suggesting there is no political crisis this italy, trying to reassure investors after the party led by berlusconi has withdrawn support for the m

ready to step back in and leave this lead to success quite possibly out of the euro sincerely silvio berlusconi well we'll have to wait to see if their christmas wishes come true but santa did you get my letter yes was i on the nice list you're on minority list. peter all of a. many people in europe are sharing the same christmas wish this year and then to the blocks suffocating austerity drive and later this hour we'll take a closer look at the massive protests that have been raging across europe in our special and. plus. it's a cold night so. the holiday season in the u.k. may well turn elderly when so many brits just too tempting to over indulge in the festive spirit. of these here she reported on the

prosecutors in italy demanding a one year prison sentence now for former prime minister silvio berlusconi the charges relate to his alleged role in revealing transcripts of private conversations in a newspaper owned by media empire back in two thousand and five a discussion between leading italian politician and a financial company president apparently was a legally but a scary denies those charges lawyers suggested the courts want to rush the verdict to negatively impact his chances of returning as prime minister in february selection. thanks for being with us tonight just after twenty five minutes past midnight moscow time as culture with a touch of scotch joins me in the studio with the business update of course tonight nice to see again and the president. yesterday and looking ahead to twenty thirty the addressing what russia's going to do in twenty thirty well one of the key issues of course is stopping massive capital flying and trying to bring at least some of this money to the big headline maker of this year was absolutely and it continues to be so that's one of the issues he addr

former prime minister silvio berlusconi slammed his political rivals aspirations to run in the italian parliamentary election he blamed outgoing head of state mario monti for the country's deepest and konami crisis berlusconi pledged that if elected to the top post again he would launch an inquiry into the appointment of monti as premier in two thousand and eleven monti headed to the country after berlusconi's last term but resigned thirteen months later after his government lost its majority. and coming up after the break we take an in-depth look at the russian a ballroom and culture and visit the best ball of the year. the sun rises over what seems like and list forest but here in the new directions cry for hundred kilometers north of light of all stalk and much of the world it's disappearing at a catastrophic rate. walkers both illegal and those finding ways to outsmart the system of filing down the forests of the more ski region for them profit goes well beyond the future of our planet and the result could be an ecological crisis we are on the hunt for illegal loggers and it's not

in october, a milan court sentenced berlusconi to four years in prison for tax evasion. he faces trial on charges that he hired an underage prostitute and then tried to use his political connections to get her out of jail when she was accused of theft. >> still ahead. three stockton women demanding an apology. after finding an offensive remark on their dinner check. >> and the creepy crawly discovery in books at a library in washington state. >> three friends out to eat at the cameo club casino in stockton were shocked when they got their bill. and saw the word "fat girls". written on the recipt. immediately the women brought the check up to a manager. the manager tried to remedy the situation by offering them 50 percent off. but they say that isn't enough. >> i still cannot believe it, it was just over and over again. that is something that we cannot change. >> the man responsible for the words winding up on the check. was already off work by the time the womennow he is suspended while the casino reviews the incident. >> conventional wisdom says that bed bugs are found

it's one of the reasons silvio berlusconi was outed. mario monti came in as the leader of this technocrat government. he had to walk a tightrope. he had to calm the market. he did that. the cost of borrowing came down. the markets and investors look at this uncertainty and they are all over the place. the cost of borrowing is on the way up, and the market has fallen. the main one is down by 3.5%. some of the banks have fallen by six. -- 6%. >> this crisis has always been a crisis of confidence. lately, confidence has improved. markets are doing much better. the ec become a bureau -- the central bank has improved -- the ec beet -- the ecb has improved. we could see up. -- a period of nervousness again. clearly, this is not a good development. >> it is all about the same issue -- austerity and taxes. >> la grande sortie. the exit of their rich friends who are getting out -- of the rich french who are getting out. anybody earning over 75 million -- over 1 million euros paying 75%. >> your political determination determines your point of vi

it's not like berlusconi has a record of fiscal spending. >> no. but i guess also the times were different. >> the times were different but the interest rate was slightly higher than it is now. but the primary surplus of the country ran over that period which was an acceptable 3% on average is already right now reached once again. so all the parameters are in the right place and the only thing the next government needs to do is actually nothing. if it does nothing, if it doesn't reverse the reforms -- >> what's interesting is what berlusconi is campaigning on is austerity. he's running on an ant anti-austerity pro eu package. while it's untenable, it does have a certain amount of certainly backtracking the fiscal returns for them. >> exactly. this property tax, i think that's a cause for concern. if you were to repeal that, the fiscal position on would be unsustainable and he would have to raise taxes elsewhere to make up for that. that would be some messy negotiations with him on a european level. markets would be very concerned already heading in

that's because berlusconi. it's been said a couple things this morning, that italy is now the problem child in europe, more than greece, more than spain. but conversely, china, if gdp is coming back, they are in what many consider to be a sweet spot. >> the numbers came out saturday for china. i think italy has been remarkably good. so this was a big game changer. italy had been a part of the good story of european recovery. now it's back. >> all to monti was never intended to be there for the long term. >> sure. >> in fact, he may be leaving a month earlier than originally planned. this should not be a surprise in the larger context. while we may mention berlusconi's name right now, he's not expected to win. >> look, we knew that monti was successful. >> it may be whoever follows him is going to roll some of the gains that he's had. so-called gains. >> that's going to cause ripples here. look, on saturday night, i said, we're going to have a nice opening. china's good, people know that monti is not really goin

silvio berlusconi will pay his former wife $4 million a month in spousal support. they settled their divorce on christmas day. what he is paying is more than 132,000 a day. berlusconi does get to keep the couple's estate according to an italian newspaper. neither party is being blamed for the divorce. berlusconi is 76-year-old now, currently we are told he is date ago woman about 50 years his junior. >>> a 20-year-old surfer is recovering from a shark attack. it happened this morning off the coast of australia. he's expected to be okay, but he lost two fingers in the ordeal. winnen witnesses say he used his surfboard to fight off the fish. >> he was swimming arnhem, and he took about three chunks out of him. >> paramedics say quick thinking probably helped save his life. >>> road crews getting ready for a storm tonight. northern virginia bureau reporter david culver joins us from vdot's headquarters in leesburg. >> reporter: officials say their crews will have to prepare for what's going to be a really long night. they've taken a break from that for now. they'll re

former prime minister silvio berlusconi slammed his political rivals aspirations to run in the italian parliamentary election he blamed outgoing head of state mario monti for the country's deepest economic crisis berlusconi pledged that if elected to the top post again he would launch an inquiry into the appointment of monti as premier in two thousand and eleven on the head of the country after bella's county's last term but resigned thirteen months later after his government lost its majority. now if you're seeking to give yourself the gift of good health this holiday season well and stay tuned for this edition of technology update where we examine all the latest medical marvels by russian scientists that's after a short break. the legacy no one should be proud of keep subscribe nationally touring pristine arctic landscape building stilton over their foundation pipes spinning black smoke over the snow covered peaks the traces of the soviet industrial activity on the spitzbergen archipelago don't make a pretty picture if the guiding principle here is the worse the better locals like to

announced he's to run for office in next year's parliamentary elections on thursday berlusconi's people of freedom party withdrew its support from the government he says monastery policies have harmed italy and he hopes to leave the country out of financial crises the sixty to seventy six year old has already served as italy's prime minister for three separate terms he's currently caught up in a number of scandals including tax fraud convicted convictions which he's appealing and accusations of paying for sex with an underage prostitute something he denies. nearly two hundred countries have agreed to stand the kyoto protocol treaty that limits the greenhouse gas output of some nations it hopes of curbing global warming the legally binding plan was approved by un delegates during climate talks in doha the summit established for the first time that rich nations should move towards reimbursing poor nations for losses due to climate change. and we want president has announced he's suffering from cancer again the leader says tests showed a return of some malignant cells in the same area were

announced he is to run for office in next year's parliamentary elections on thursday berlusconi's people of freedom party withdrew its support from the government he says montes a sturdy policies that harmed italy and he hopes to lead the country out of the financial crisis the saudi six year old has already served as italy's prime minister for three separate terms and he's currently caught up number of scandals including tax fraud convictions which he's appealing and accusations of paying for sex with an underage prostitute something he denies. and as well and president hugo chavez has announced he is suffering from cancer once again the leader says tests showed a return of some malignant cells in the same area were tumors have been previously removed he will return to cuba are worried he's already received cancer treatment to undergo surgery in the coming days the news comes two months after her child as was reelected asked president in a tie vote. he was authorities can obtain and study data european storen live overreaching you are strict privacy protection laws and that's according

monti says he's lost the backing he needs to do the job after berlusconi's party withdrew its support some known whether monti will run again but those county has put himself forward for the post he's already held three times in the boarded up with. delays long running street battles over education reform have seen more trouble in the capital hundreds of students have again clashed with police in what's been more than a year and a half of progress leaders of the movement say they are fed up with low standards at private universities the students want to major victory two days ago when chile's justice minister ties to one of the colleges was forced to resign over a corruption scandal there. a space capsule carrying three astronauts has successfully docked with the international space station it took two days for the craft to make it into position four hundred and ten kilometers above the earth the russian canadian and american crew have joined up with three others already at the station where they'll stay until march the rocket blasted off on wednesday from the baikonur cosmodrome in c

while prosecutors in italy at the moment a one year prison sentence for former prime minister silvio berlusconi the charges relate to his alleged role in revealing transcripts of private conversations in a newspaper owned by is media empire a two thousand and five discussion between a leading italian politician and a financial company president was apparently illegally tapped berlusconi for his part denies those charges there's lawyers suggesting the courts want to rush the verdict and negatively impact his chances of returning as prime minister in february selection. thanks for being with us tonight alex who international we do appreciate it after the break much college and stacy herbut the wool street comparing some of the dealings to a wild west oh shoot enjoy. the legacy no one should be proud of keeps of scrap metal littering pristine arctic landscape building stilton over their foundation pipes spilling black smoke over the snow covered peaks the traces of the soviet industrial activity on the spitzbergen archipelago don't make a pretty picture if the guiding principle here is the worse t

we know the sell-off that we saw on monday and the monte/berlusconi news, now berlusconi might be indicating willingness to let monti govern. the xetra dax is lower this morning. the ftse 100, too, down about 0.2% respectively. take a look at the bond curve. spain, this will be a good proxy for now. we'll get the ten year for italy in just a second. 35.34% is the level there. u.s. benefiting from fund flows well. choppy trade across the picture here. let's look at the italian curve before we get the results later today. we are seeing green across the board, so yields dipping before that probably has more to do with the political rhetoric we're seeing especially coming from berlusconi. under 4.6% for the ten-year and on the short and two, a bit of a rally. finally, let's close taking a look at the forex. euro/dollar is weaker. and it's holding just above 1.30. and the dollar/yen, this is the one sixuan mentioned to watch. heading into japanese elections, stocks outperform adding oots .1% to 83.35 this morning. >>> south korea's central bank may be worried about factors in the economy, but the

berlusconi. >> look at his hair. what is he, 76? >> 76. he just sat down with cnbc italy over the weekend. silvio berlusconi says he does not want to run for prime minister, but, he is obligated to, because the country needs him so desperately. he is the only one that can bring together 40% of the people who vote for him, so that way the left does not control italy. >> he could not get 40%, could he? or could he? >> i don't know if he could get 40%. he thinks he can get more than anybody else. >> really? >> yes. >> now the question is, 40% isn't enough once you're in a parliament, right, because of a parliamentary system and two other parties that used to support him no longer do. it's not clear what they would ultimately do, would they really link to the left? it's hard to say. more than italy, remember, they would never agree with this, but they're far more dramatic than southern italy. >> as someone that just likes global politics, i like him. >> oh, he's so fun. >> on the world stage. >> he was sentenced to priso

monty said he can't leave the country after losing the support of sylvio berlusconi's party. apple stock is back around $531 a share after a leading investment firm, jeffreys, cut the future price target by $100. a leading analyst says smart phone saturation may lead to slow growth in the coming years. the new price target is $800 per share as opposed to 900. apple stock is down 25% since the record close above $700 a share in september. and the world's biggest hamburger chain, mcdonald's, saw sales increase 2.4% at restaurants open more than a year. growth was bigger than expected. breakfast items and limited time only cheddar bacon and onion sandwiches boosted sales. the stock is up 2.5% in trading yesterday. the results represent a rebound. in october mcdonald's had its first ever decline in same-store sales in nine years. back to you. >> hampton, thank you. >> back pain affects 80% of americans a at some point in their lifetime. it comes in many forms. here with ideas hon how to help is kim from boundless yoga. who did you bring? >> i brought carol. she's been studying wi

berlusconi said no. that was all deutsch bank's fault. at the same time the equivalent of almost a coup detate he said. it was a big lie. that's the reason why italian interest rates rose and he had to step down for wrong reasons. >> yes. >> they must be giving a way of escape for christmas in italy. >> oh, yes, yes. it never ends over there. >> thanks, michelle. happy holidays to you. >>> we'll take a look at what is moving on this shortened day. >> going to ring the closing bell, we'll chat with him about the music business. the big debate is, is there a plan c for the whole fiscal cliff issue? never mind the pundits and the jokes. plan c doesn't stand for canada. the brief outline, the choices are getting narrow and not that hard to figure out. put up what that plan c looks like. the one on the table is still the old plan a. president obama's offer to raise taxes on the top 2%, restore the bush era tax cuts for the rest of us. yes there is talk about putting in spending cuts, raising medicare eligibility and changing the inflation meas

berlusconi and mr. monty. he agrees with mr. berlusconi on one thing. he says spreads are all just based on speculation. >> translator: the spread is completely detached from the real economy. the spread is mental hallucination created by speculation in the banking sector because half of the italian debt is owned by foreign banks. these banks try to get high rate in order to earn more. so we are a victim of banking speculation, of both foreign and domestic banks. we shall detach from the real economy. we need to stop this vicious cycle of debt that is strangling us. >> reporter: many would argue it's the right time for mario monty to leave the political scene. would you agree? >> translator: he needs to disappear. he was, as the americans say, a bluff, a bubble, a bankruptcy curator. our country went bankrupt last year. half of the debt was in french and german banks. had we gone bankrupt last year, europe would have ended. so they sent in monty to manage the situation in order for the german and french banks to get their money back. the ucb printed out

of the tough sacrifices and they have made over the past year in order to come out from the abyss of berlusconi's government. the government should be inspired by very simple rule, who has more has to give more. who has less has to give less. >> pope benedict has made a surprise visit to the jail holding his a former butler for stealing and linking his private documents. it is allowed to return to his family. >> it is the season of good will and the christian world. nowhere -- nowhere more so than the vatican. there is one of the biggest pre digit -- security breaches in living memory. he stole an elite vast numbers of private documents. pope but it made a visit to the jail where he was being held. he gave him a pre-christmas pardon. he was convicted of aggravated that in october and sentenced to 18 months in prison. it was a case that rocked the foundation of the catholic church establishment, revealing greaseless power struggles and making claims of sexual misconduct with high-level corruption. now he is free to spend christmas with to his family. >> this is a gesture toward a person with whom

take vo ---unos 4 millones de dolares al mes es lo que tendr que pagar silvio berlusconi a su ex mujer, vernica lario, segn la setencia de divorcio "no consensual" que se ha hecho pblica este viernes. ---en medio del proceso iniciado en 2009, lario abandon poco despus la mansin de villa belvedere en macherio, cerca de miln. la residencia se convirti en el centro de las fiestas "bunga-bunga" del entonces primer ministro de italia, que ahora enfrenta cargos judiciales por abuso de menores, conocido como "caso ruby". ---lario es madre de tres de los cinco hijos del ex mandatario stop open roll weather open cesar vamos con ariel rodriguez y el pronostico del tiempo, adelante ariel take pkg cu nueva pausa su en noticiero telemundo 48, pero al regresar... take vo el padre de la diva de la banda nos dice porque su familia decidi no enterrar aun a jenni rivera... take sot n maria antonieta mejia y un avance del mensajero pkg hola qu tal los saludo desde la redaccin de el mensajero... primero que nada todo el equipo de el mensajero esperamos que pasen muy feliz fin de aÑo y que el 2013 les tra

this video would -- this would be silvio berlusconi's third marriage. is he now fighting charges of having sex with an underaged woman known to the world as ruby the heart steeler and using his office to cover it it up. in october, another court convicted him of tax fraud and sentenced him to four years in the clink. but he is appealing that conviction and says he is considering running again for prime minister of italy. the syrian regime can and will deploy chemical weapons on its own people unless other nations step in. that's the word now from a former syrian general who now leads the rebels. plus, investigators say this beauty queen died after a shootout in mexico and they have now linked one gun at the scene to the failed operation fast and furious. plus, the latest winter storm could throw a huge wrench into travel plans across several states. we'll tell you where it is headed and how much it's about to dump as we approach the bottom of the hour and the top of the news as fox reports live tonight. and 320 calories. marie callender's. it's time to

monti was forced to resign on friday after former prime minister's silvio berlusconi's party withdrew its support. been criticized his pledge -- they criticize his pledge to retract some taxes he had budgeted last year. he returned here to the official prime minister's residence. whether he will be here after the election depends on whether the coalition allows him to finish the job. >> he has the capability to be useful in a second moment when the election maybe can give our result with not a very strong winner, but the necessity of recognition. and he is a man who can be useful to leave the government. > i don't think that monti's manifesto will change anything in the italian state. politics is quite embarrassing. i think his resignation will not bring much here or in europe. >> i heard that even if he distances himself he can contribute to contribute as a real leader to our country, because our country is in are really difficult situation. i hope that he can do something positive. >> campaigning for the elections will start officially. in the end, he may be called again to lead the

berlusconi has indicated he will run for leadership again. cnbc's carolin roth will join us from italy with the latest in a few minutes. when i was over there, i had to have the -- all the political signs translated because there's a picture of monti sitting under a beach chair drinking a drink and all the text was send monti to the beach. they already didn't like him. >> he had very high disapproval ratings. i remember last summer i had seen that somewhere. >> they want to send him to the beach. the major european averages at this hour, there they, they're all down. not great in france, but germany down about .7% and the ftse down fractionally. other news out of europe, debt tieback for from an day to receive additional buyback offers. those would be at deeply discounted prices and that would help lower the country's debt lead. >>> in asia, stocks touched a 16-month high and closed mostly higher on the session with good gains, as you can see, with the kospi up the most, 1.5 points. >> strong nebs out of china which suggest maybe the economy

berlusconi announced he would run again for prime minister. in a newspaper interview, the head of the euro bailout fund said that could mean more financial trouble ahead for italy and for the eurozone. italy has pushed through important reforms in the past year, he said. markets have honored this so far. however, they have acted with concern to the recent developments at the end of last week. u.s. ratings agency standard and poor's also expressed doubts about whether italy passed next government would remain committed to the next reforms -- italy's's next government would remain committed to the end -- italy's next government would remain committed to the reforms. >> our correspondents and does this report from the frankfurt stock exchange -- our correspondent sent us this report from the frankfurt stock exchange. >> traders have been disappointed. they have to wait another day until they get to know the outcome of the greek program. uncertainty always drags down shares, not only of traders -- if traders and investors look at greece today are

. >>> and former italian prime minister silvia berlusconi told a tv interviewer that he's engaged to be married. that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. >>> now for a look at the weather, we turn to bill karins with the weather channel forecast. good morning. >>> good morning. welcome. >> thank you. >> our new anchor at "first look". >> it's very good to be here. >> richard engel story -- >> i'm so relieved. a friend, a phenomenal person. >> five days, we had no clue. when he comes back and tells the story of what happened -- >> yeah. >> can't miss tv. >> absolutely. >> good morning. we have two storms to talk about as we go throughout the morning. one is the heavy rain heading up through new england. it's rain, not snow, which is rare for this time of year. and we are dealing with a new storm, a major winter storm as it goes through the mountains of the rockies today and through the plains tomorrow. let's start with what's happening in the northeast. that heavy rain has exited the new york city area, starting to exit long island, too. from new york city southward, philly, d.

former prime minister silvio berlusconi is rounding out his new year with a divorce, pinning his ex-wife almost $4 million per month. he was accused of having relationships with young women. the venezuelan president hugo chavez cents a message of faith to his supporters from his hospital bed. the message said that well- wishers and supporters were helping his recovery following the cancer operation. there is been speculation over whether his health has left him fit to lead the country. >>> a 6-year-old british girl who was abducted by her father and to pakistan three years ago has been reunited with her mother in the u.k. in the past couple of hours she arrived at manchester airport. she was taken from her home in greater manchester on her third birthday, found with the help of the pakistani authorities and is understood to be fit and well. the police officer who met her off the airplane has been talking to the bbc. >> she has been reignited at a hotel near manchester airport with her mother. -- she has been reunited at a hotel near manchester airport with her mother. it is a good news s

but, okay, sometimes there are some comeback kids and berlusconi could be one of them. he did say that if monti would stand, he would resolve his claim to anything, but he wanted to prevent a shift to the left in italy. that's something angela merkel could support. although she might have to face her own transition to the left as we face elections in september. it's hoped mario monti would stand again and would stay in place because clearly that was the sort of work in progress that worked well. down with the euro and italy has to walk its own way. that is not something that we would like to hear in the eu eurozone or in berlin. >> silvia, thank you so much for your time. >>> now, a weak ahead of the person of the year, the winner, north korean leader kim jong un. the magazine didn't admit that various online campaigns were at work to influence the vote. not necessarily a legitimate tell on who readers would like to see as person of the year. so we're going to cast our own poll on "worldwide exchange." who is your pick for person of the year? e-mails us here, tweet us.

former prime minister silvio berlusconi is rounding out his new year with a divorce, pinning his ex-wife almost $4 million per month. he was accused of having relationships with young women. the venezuelan president hugo chavez cents a message of faith to his supporters from his hospital bed. the message said that well- wishers and supporters were helping his recovery following the cancer operation. there is been speculation over whether his health has left him fit to lead the country. >>> a 6-year-old british girl who was abducted by her father and to pakistan three years ago has been reunited with her mother in the u.k. in the past couple of hours she arrived at manchester airport. she was taken from her home in greater manchester on her third birthday, found with the help of the pakistani authorities and is understood to be fit and well. the police officer who met her off the airplane has been talking to the bbc. >> she has been reignited at a hotel near manchester airport with her mother. -- she has been reunited at a hotel near manchester airport with her mother. it is a good news s

silvio berlusconi. convicted of tax fraud and sentenced to four years in prison decides this is the perfect platform to run for prime minister again. chris: that's how he got there in the first place prorblee. that's chutzpah. next category, the hard to -- hardest to figure out, nominees for 2012 mysteries. what president obama was thinking in that first debate and a muge mystery predicting -- and a huge mystery predicting the plot and david petraeus, his mystery and the email she fired off to the woman in florida who is a big friend of all the generals. or is the biggest mystery of the year what made romney think he had it? katty. >> i'm going to go with the first debate. we still don't really know what happened. and nor the people advising him were furious the day after about it. where was he? where was he? >> the man in charge of clandestine operations. he should know the rewards and risks. chris: why did he use that email? >> the c.i.a. director puterring that many sat risk is stunning to me. >> pet

. >> silvio berlusconi has agreed to pay $48 millio

berlusconi coming back maybe? >> i think the market is overreact ing. at the end of the day it's italian politics and berlusconi we're dealing with. it doesn't surprise me we bounced back to 1.30. it's not a december trade. when we get closer to an election in february we'll start to take a look. it was way too premature to react given all we know about italian politics, scott. >> we're watching the fed i know as you are. how does your trade factor in to the fed meeting if at all? >> look, i don't think the market will get much out of the fed tomorrow than we already know. you know, we're likely going to see operation twist get replaced with longer dated bond buying to the tune of $45 billion. we know that. i think the surprise would come if they set the target at a specific unemployment rate. i think that's premature, scott. it's january, more more likely helping along of that ilk would come out. i don't think the fed does a lot for the dollar. >> you're trading euro yen. >> a good proxy for risk. i like buying it at 107. i'm starting 110.50, stop-loss

at the same time, very controversial former prime minister silvio berlusconi also said he is run fog are the prime minister post again. so this is got markets extremely wore rid. here's why. because markets are concerned that the new government would be elected on february 24th, that this new government will not be implementing the austerity measures that mr. monti has implemented over the last couple months. but is this concern actually warranted? well, if you speak to a number of analysts, well they'll say, no, because if you look at the opinion polls you'll see that the party which will most likely win, that's the democratic party. and he said, or the leader said, look, we're going to stick to the austerity measures that were implemented by monti. >> carolyn roth for us in rome tonight. coming up, jcpenney ringing up discounts. what this dramatic change in pricing strategy spells out for its ceo ron johnson and his future. and of course, the stock, we'll be right back. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet