Mario Draghi Resigns as Italian Prime Minister Transcript

Kayleigh: (00:00) Prime Minister Mario Draghi has offered his resignation to Italy's President. Bloomberg's Francine Lockwood joins us now from Rome with more. Francine, is Draghi resigning now the only option and what happens next? Francine Lockwood: (00:15) Yeah. So he's resigned and, really, Kayleigh, good morning, it was 100% the only option because we thought he had support not from one coalition member, but the others, but actually the others, at the end of the day yesterday, also let him go. Now, this was not because they didn't believe in him. This was bickering between the coalition members, but it doesn't matter. He's no longer in charge. We'll go to elections probably in September and October. And the question is, what does it mean for the ECB fragmentation rule? What does it mean for access to the EU recovery funds so badly needed, 20 billion, that should be given [inaudible 00:00:48] if they continue with the reforms? And whoever the next government, whoever the next prime minister is, will they be able to guarantee, of course, to stay on the path to reforms, to make sure they have access and friendly relationship with Europe and the rest of the world? Matt: (01:02) As I was reading his emotional speech, I thought, "Man, they're going to regret this." Do they regret this? What's the reaction to the turmoil that is almost like the resting state of Italian politics? Francine Lockwood: (01:16) I know we've had a lot of governments, but think about this, Matt. If you look at the inflation, if you look at the cost of living, if you look at the need for stability to encourage the ECB to maybe give you a helping hand and that EU recovery fund, it probably could not have come at a worse time. Will they regret it? I think it depends on what investors do, on what markets decide to do, but the papers this morning were pretty punchy. Look at this, "Shame, shame on Italy," from La Stampa. Il Tempo, which is a center ... I'm going to actually not show you this because it's a swear word in Italian, but they're pretty mad about what's happening. Matt: (01:51) We're adults. Francine Lockwood: (01:52) They call it the suicide of Mario Draghi because he was uncompromising. And then this is goodbye, Mario Draghi. Look, it depends on if the next person in charge is considered a safe pair of hands liked by investors and stable to see whether markets and voters will regret it, but then it's democracy. You can't go against democracy. Something needed to happen. And an election, it is.