doesn t make sense. you sit down and say, how do we solve this problem rationally? metaphors for the family archt perfect, but when a family hacça problem, they sort of try to figure it out. we can figure this out, but revenue has to be part of the package. all right, no crisis, but revenue s got to be part of it. great column today, really sort of taking apart the republicans argument. thanks. appreciate it. coming up, does sarah palin know something we don t know about the recent spike in gas prices? and check this out. italian premier silvio berlusconi. issues a new defense against sex charges. his age. the 74-year-old says he s too old to have all the sex prosecutors are accusing him of. berlusconi tells an italian opposition newspaper, quote, 33 girls in two months seems like too much for even a 30-year-old. time for the your business entrepreneur of the week.
the military intelligence analyst, manning brought unauthorized software into work and used it on government computers to download classified information to store it and then make it public. that most serious charge aiding the enemy can get manning the death penalty but right now the military is not seeking that. and this may be a strategic move to get some leverage with manning and his defense attorneys. the military is clearly ramping things up on him. now with a total of 34 charges, shep. shepard: catherine, is there a clear tie now to julian assange and wikileaks? well, there is not a clear tie, but there is an important development. julian assange and his defense team are fighting extradition from britain to sweden on those sex charges. once in sweden they have argued that the u.s. government will try to have a bite at the apple so to speak and seek its extradition to this country where he could face capital charges that seemed like a stretch or at least hypothetical until lat
his family did not know about the whole thing. madoff tell s today s new york times that numerous banks and hedge funds were complicit in the scheme. he claims the attitude of those unnamed institutions was, quote, if you re doing something wrong, we don t want to know about it. the plot thickens. overseas now where italy s leader is now facing a trial on sex charges in april. prosecutors say silvio berlusconi paid an underage girl for sex and then tried to cover it up. italians in general have been forgiving of berlusconi s behavior but now millions of italian women are putting the pressure on. t.j. winick with more details. t.j.? reporter: good morning, rob and vinita. it s not against the law in italy to hire a prostitute. but prosecutors in the predominantly catholic country now say the prime minister s behavior has finally crossed the line. even for a 74-year-old billionaire politician who has weathered several legal battles, this will be the toughest of berlusconi s car
do? you know, keep up the good work. 19 past the hour. time to look at the morning papers. the houston chronicle congresswoman gabrielle giffords is speaking for the first time and continuing to improve in all areas. aides say her simple request to have toast for breakfast signaled a milestone in her recovery. and the wall street journal, video game sales in the u.s. dropped 8% last year. meanwhile, i guess rock band must have been stepping on them. financial times italian prime minister silvio berlusconi is lashing out at prosecutors who asked him to face an immediate trial on sex charges.
is most comfortable with the prospect of omar suleiman taking over from president hosni mubarak. it will be interesting, of course, to see, shep, how the idea of israel actually backing suleiman may effect his chances of leading a transition among egyptians. shepard: interesting information from those weeks cables and today the man behind all of that julian assange was in a british court because the swedes want him to come to their country to face some charges. is he trying to fight extradition. yes, those are the sex charges being laid against julian assange, the founder of the wikileaks web site. in court today his side argued he couldn t get a fair trial in sweeden. they said taking him back there was simply a cover for the sweeds to hand him over to the u.s. for trial here. the swedish government s lawyer argued that is not the case that he will get a fair trial, that there is no collusion with the u.s. after the hearing today, julian assange spoke outside the court