>> from bloomberg headquarters in new york, this is "bottom line." today come ukraine's prime minister needs president obama at the white house. two people are dead following a massive building explosion in new york city's east harlem neighborhood. a daredevil attempts a win suit flight off mount everest. -- a wind suit flight off mount everest. to our viewers in the united states and those of you joining us from around the world come welcome. we have full coverage of the stocks and stories making headlines today. yang yang has exclusive

reports on the minimum wage. julianna goldman is up the white house where president obama and ukraine's new prime minister will hold talks. we will get to giuliana in just a moment. breaking news on herbalife. the embattled company says it received what is called a civil investigative demand from the federal trade commission. bloomberg's senior market correspondent joins me now with more details. >> good afternoon. a victory for the hedge fund manager. he has been pushing for regulators to investigate the company. herbalife confirms that the at opened an investigation into the company. they welcomed the inquiry given the tremendous amount of misinformation in the market

place. they say they will fully cooperate with the ftc. on the company has been unrelenting. even as he switched most of his bets from the short sale on the stock to more of and options related that. a long run atins a high-profile. just yesterday, he presented what he said was evidence of the companies illegal activities in china where he says it is violating multiple marketing laws there. he made similar allegations here in the nine states? -- in the united states. engage with to latino groups and other community organizers to try to find evidence of what he says is the pyramid scheme operating at the company. sohas not been successful

far. the shares have rallied. that is put him in the red on his short bets. the stock is falling right now with the announcement of the investigation. it is not clear how long this could take if the federal trade commission is looking into herbalife's activities. when might it come out with some thisof resolution to this? is definitely not the end of this saga. just another development in it. >> julie hyman. thank you. to our other top story, two people are dead and dozens more have been injured and several more remain unaccounted for following an explosion that leveled to new york city buildings in upper manhattan. you are looking at a live shot there. new york city mayor bill the blodgett says -- build the deblasio says there was

a report of a gas leak. those heading southbound into the city will only be able to go as far as the bronx, at which point they will transfer to subway service into manhattan. president obama will host the ukrainian prime minister this afternoon in the oval office. that meeting comes just ahead of a march 16 referendum on crimea russianthe roug federation. it is being seen as the president's latest demonstration of support for ukraine's new government. julianna, why is this meeting so important? >> it's all about showing support with the ukrainian government at the highest levels of the u.s. government. ukraine's prime minister and john kerry went into a meeting at the state department and they will travel over here to the white house where they will meet in the oval office with president obama and vice president joe biden. all eyes are watching ukraine

and crimea at head of this referendum on sunday. they got something today. a statement from the g7 disapproval of the upcoming referendum and saying that it would not be recognized by the international community if they do go ahead and break off from the ukraine. this is part of the diplomatic effort of the u.s. to isolate russia and speak with one voice with the international community. carney was asked, what if this referendum goes forward? putin does not move into other areas? carney did not directly answer that. while the u.s. was become with one voice with allies in europe ahead of the referendum, it is

still going to go on. >> is the prime minister going to go home with the usa advantagee? tying the package of $1 billion loan guarantees with the provision with the imf to reallocate funds. loan guarantee that was passed last week did not include the reallocation of imf funds. john baeder came out and said the two should not be tied. the action we need to watch is in the senate. whether or not they go ahead with what the house past or whether it will have to get renegotiated. >> julianna goldman with the latest on that meeting. thank you. coming up, the u.s. china race. tell you about the

push in africa when bottom line continues in just a moment. ♪

>> president obama's pick for janet yellen's top attendant needs to maintain monetary policy. stanley fischer testifies on thursday at his senate confirmation hearing but is prepared -- but his preparator comments of artie been released. peter cook has more on his message. the reception is expected to get? >> generally expected to be pretty warm. this is the first time fischer has faced questions since he was nominated. ot.re is a lot o the fed has made significant progress in recent years.

he praises the fed's moves as courageous and effective. normalcy has not been restored in his words. the unemployment at 6.7% -- the fed's job is still not done. requires theeserve continuation of expansionary even though the degree of expansion has been cut back. fischer gives no indication that she does not support that scaling back of the bond buying program. which has been called into question recently given the economic data. his confirmation is not in doubt in the senate. republicans and democrats alike cap raised his record. have praised his record. some democrats on the panel have questioned his experience as a

bank regulator and his past ties to wall street. he tries to address that in his testimony, saying the fed is to remain ever vigilant in regulating financial institutions and markets. he adds, the great recession has driven home that the fed has not only fulfilled its dual meant, dual mandate, but also to contribute as part of the maintenance of the stability of the financial system. but each of them must be an explicit focus of fed policy." certainly some tough questions on his views on regulations and how tough he will be on wall street. >> he's not the only one who will be on the hill. who are the other nominees testifying? the top international official at the treasury department hundred tim gardner tim gardner.garn

don't be surprised if regulatory issues dominate that hearing. >> peter cook, thank you. eight of the 20 fastest-growing economies in the world are in africa. it is home to about one million people. the continent is on the verge of a growth spurt similar to that seen in china 30 years ago. in recent years, the u.s. government has been making a big push for american companies to do business there. , theore on this campaign ambassador joins me from washington. for your time today. during his confirmation hearings for secretary of state, john kerry said the following, "with respect to china and africa, china is all over africa." there is no doubt that china has theblished what could be

beachhead in africa. why is the united states late to the game? chinese true that the have been very active in africa during past years. it's a question that for some reason we have been a little late in turning to the potential of the research and africa. under president obama's leadership and under secretary kerry's leadership as well, we that we a firm posture have to be more active in the continent. just because china has been active and other european powers -- it does not mean there is not room for us. even at this point, the american brand has a tremendous amount of credibility. even though we are competing with the chinese and others, our companies have a lot to offer.

to dore very well-placed very well in africa, especially in ghana. relationshipe between china and ghana? how is that relationship affected your ability as the top american diplomat there to convince local officials that the u.s. could be a ready and willing business partner? >> to be honest, we have had little impact. there have been some projects that the chinese have been able to acquire in ghana. it is clear to me, and my 18 months in ghana, it's the american brand able want. we have been working very hard for merit embassy -- from our embassy to convince american companies that this is the time to come to ghana. the innovation and quality of american goods and the ethical practices that we have and the corporate social responsibility that we practice make is a very competitive -- make us a very

competitive country. that's in addition to the normal a sympathetic ties between ghana and the united states. one area where the u.s. could make its presence felt in africa is in energy. what market is therefore for american businesses in the energy sector? >> this is a tremendous opportunity for american businesses. ghanaians are coming up with a gas framework that could help lay out the plan of their economy over the next several years. this has been president obama's signature policy this past year. the clearing power africa a major initiative. the united states also has other initiatives with respect to power in ghana. the partnership for growth is a government approach to helping

ghana solve its power problems. in addition, we are now negotiating with ghana for a second millennium challenge compact which will also be on power. the power sector is one of the critical areas that the president has identified. the future of africa is increasing -- is in increasing power. there are tremendous opportunities for that. the dollars and cents aspect of this is intriguing. where's the money for u.s. backed projects in africa coming from? has been tremendously supportive. any company that wants to work in ghana goes to xm or opec and will find a willing ear. they are very bullish on ghana. moving a bit away from sovereign debt. any company that is able to from anyvate financing

of our government institutions or banking institutions will find a very welcome reception. >> the u.s. ambassador to ghana. discussing u.s. business in ghana. joining us fro from our washington bureau. in ont, we will get you the markets update. later, we meet the daredevil flier looking to conquer mount everest. ♪

>> malaysian officials are investigating an unexploited radar blip detected far off the course of flight 370. --s is be enemies officials

vietnamese officials check on the root. as object is described potentially significant. radar picked up the unknown -- 45 in the area of minutes after contact was lost with the jet whose rude to beijing win over the gulf of thailand on the other side of the country. there has been confusion and signs of tension among nations in the search. countries including india, japan and 42 ships and aircraft are looking for the boeing 777. better tracking information would be a big help. bloomberg news has learned that malaysian airlines opted out of the service to collect real-time performance data from jets like flight 370.

megan hughes is here with more. do we know why at this point echo >> the airline is not saying. what we are-- talking about here -- if the plane did have the system, it would have provided a backup to the airlines surveillance. what we're talking about here is the boeing health management program. it pulls and performance data to help airlines spot mechanical problems early. , it taps onboard computer data via satellite links. about 75% of boeing's 777s use the system. a maintenance and monitoring system. really designed to be used post flight, not as in-flight monitoring. this could have provided valuable information on what was when radarn board

contact was lost over the weekend. >> we have talked so much about the search for those black boxes containing so much flight data. why is that data stored on the plane in the first place echo why not have live streaming ? >> that's a good question. every time there is a crash, this is brought up. the technological capabilities are there. the big obstacle is finances. in a conventional black box, $10,000. a one-time expense. compare that to the hardware needed to transmit all of that information. just a hardware come around $50,000 per plane. this is according to the new york times. expensive.st is more the real expense comes from when you look at the volume of data. black boxes contain 25 hours of information. one analyst estimated it's a

terabyte of data. the cost to send it via threeite can be dollars-five dollars per minute. for major airlines, we're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars a year. it,lators have not demanded so airlines have not made that investment. >> before you go, do we have any indication of how much aid that areican airline officials giving to the malaysian government? >> so far, we know boots on the ground. i don't have any dollar figures on that. megan hughes in washington. thanks. we should note that the national transportation safety board is offering its assistance in that ongoing search for malaysian airlines flight 370. it's 26 minutes past the hour. that means bloomberg television is on the markets. sterns is standing by

with the latest details. >> good afternoon. it's a mixed picture on the markets right now. the dow and s&p are slightly in the red. the s&p off by about .1%. a lot of action in the stock market today. let's start with pfizer. words are halted, but no on what is behind the slide. we will bring you the latest. the second stock we are watching is herbalife. the nutritional company that was earlier halted. the ftc has started a civil probe into its practices. they have been accused of operating an illegal pyramid scheme. they're claiming that herbalife has misrepresented its sales figures. herbalife says it is complying with all laws and regulations. we are watching shares in solar city. they are teaming up with best buy to offer solar power to best

buy stores. they would give a $100 best buy gift card that sign up on earth day on april 22. we will be back again in 30 minutes. ♪

welcome back to the second half-hour of online. i'm mark crumpton. let's take a quick look at commodities closing on this wednesday. $100 atrading below barrel right now. $98. natural gas down 2.5%. gold futures raising 1.5%. that's checksum of the top stories that we are following for you at this hour. an explosion leveled to new york city apartment buildings, killing two women and injuring more than a dozen other people.

and number of people are still missing. the new york city mayor saying the explosion was caused by a gas leak that had been reported 15 mins before the blast. firefighters continue to battle let five alarm blaze that broke out at 9:30 a.m. new york time. host the obama will new ukrainian prime minister at the white house in an effort to cement the west's allegiance. we got word that secretary of state john kerry will meet with the russian foreign minister in london on friday. that's a look at the top stories in the news at this hour. a group of seven world leaders will say they will not recognize the results of a referendum for crimea for that region to split and join russia. the referendum is scheduled for this weekend. it will have no legal effect. the leaders have said they will take further action individually

and collectively if russia tries to annex crimea. more and breaking news on pfizer. my colleague olivia sterns is standing by with more details. >> pfizer is saying they're going to appeal a court decision regarding the reissue of their patents for celebrex. pfizer putting out a statement, this is why shares are currently halted pending this news that a u.s. district court granted them a summary judgment invalidating the reissue of this patent for celebrex, which is a drug that helps treat osteoporosis. pfizer says they disagree with the ruling and will pursue all available remedies to create an immediate appeal. pfizer saying they will appeal the court's decision on the reassuring of the patent. >> olivia sterns with at breaking news. thank you. with a population of only 8 million, the same number of people here in new york city, israeli companies have long looked outside the country for

growth. they're looking at china. it has been difficult for most of them to get into the chinese market. bloomberg's middle east correspondent spoke with the founder of pto group. they help industries gain a foothold in china. >> we hope that this will be the trend for the next 5-10 years. the big market is over they. a lot of big companies that already have infrastructure globally out there. the younger, smaller companies lack the know-how and the resources to go there. in china, if you come with the result, you are bound to have troubles. the idea is to bring them there before they have the support and develop them up to a level that they can understand the market locally. >> what is the kind of exit you will be looking for? what timescale? what kind of multiple will you be looking for?

that at thearing for beginning of ipo foreign invested companies, which is very interesting news for us -- >> will we see israeli companies offer china more than the u.s.? >> not going to china is the wrong move for many companies. especially those were active in the markets. and is new energy alternative energy. electric power -- >> do israeli companies need to be more concerned about alleged electoral property -- about intellectual property ipo >? >> they need to be concerned anyway. that's not only the chinese.

businesses in the industriesket, many like this are competing. they will try to prove who was there first. it's not a new phenomenon. it's a part of the industry. it's a part of business. companies have to protect themselves anywhere in the world. >> coming up, the growing push to increase the minimum wage. we will find out of small businesses will support a hike in wages. pfizer shares are trading again. pfizer saying it plans to appeal a court decision on the reissue of the celebrex patent. pfizer shares are falling. we will have more coming up in just a moment. ♪

>> welcome back.

the minimum wage is the main topic in our latest bloomberg national poll. my colleague is in washington with the results. where do americans stand on this issue? >> good afternoon. wind comes to the president's proposal of increasing the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, 69% of americans say they support it. 45% ofen includes republicans. as impressive as those numbers might be, congressional republicans have found some pretty persuasive arguments. one of which is a congressional budget office finding that says, yes, raising the minimum wage to a loss of 500,000 jobs. when asked about the trade-off, 57% of those polled called it unacceptable. 69%entiment shared by that

in favor of the increase. half of those respondents then move into the opposing camp. not the most encouraging numbers for a president. the white house is looking for public support and momentum, leading them into the midterm elections. as it turns out, when asked whether their stance would vote inow they november, 40% said no. only 26% called it a major factor. better news for the president is an increase in his approval ising of six points since low in december. now at 48%. that is now tied with his dues approval rating. -- his disapproval rating. there is a margin of error at 03.1%. >> small business owners are supporting the raise in the

minimum wage. an advocacy group for small businesses -- the group found that a majority of small business owners leave a minimum wage hike would help the economy. he joins me now from san francisco. welcome to "bottom line." thank you for your time today. >> good to be here. >> you just heard my colleague with the bloomberg national poll. i was wondering if i could get your thoughts. >> it all tracks with the signature can support for increasing the minimum wage. our poll found that 57% of ownersss supported it across the board. we found that 61% of restaurant and retail owners support an increase in the minimum wage. 82% of those, surveyed in our poll are already paying above minimum wage. this is not going to have a dramatic impact on the vast

majority of small businesses. our poll was a scientific poll. a four percent margin of error. it was predominantly republican. >> the small business owners in your sav survey -- who are they ? >> small businesses across the board. every possible when you could think of. as i said, often it has been said that the businesses like retail and restaurants are opposed to it. 61% of the restaurant and retail owners supported it. the support was pretty much across the board in all sectors of the economy. >> what do you say to people who say that raising the minimum wages is it effective tax on hiring? negatively no impact

on jobs. what one of the studies has $22 billionat will be pumped into the economy by adding to the minimum wage. what we find in all the polls we do is that most small business owners -- what they want the most as consumer demand. they want to know that there is money out there to buy their products and services. that is the predominant economic force that we are going to see here. thatur survey also finds more than half of small business owners agree that increasing the minimum wage would make low income consumers more likely to spend money. that in turn would increase demand for goods and services. why not expand the earned income tax credit instead? is refundable and as the name suggests, it is earned income. >> these are not mutually exclusive. don't supported

instead of increasing the minimum wage. one of the things that small business owners that was really -- it increased public assistance programs. while we are happy to have the government spend money when it is going to have an effect, it's not a substitute for getting more money into the private sector directly. a but switch gears just moment. last week, the obama administration decided to give small businesses until october of 2016 to make sure their health plans were in sync with federal guidelines. what are you hearing from the nation's entrepreneurs about this latest change? >> there are a lot more options and choices for small business owners. the challenge we all face is to get out there and educate small business owners about the law.

what the administration has done's expand the variety of options that are out there. we are interested to see the effect as soon as possible. we know there will be some fixes. we need to get it up and running . we are hopeful that the exchanges in the marketplaces will take effect and will create a lot more options for people. medicare ands for medicaid services released a report last month that showed two thirds of americans employed at small businesses are going to see their health insurance premiums increase under the law. how can that possibly help job creators and their employees ? >> the increases in our health care spending are rising at a lower rate than they have over the last 10 years rate of we have seen this over the last couple of years. there are certain groups that are going to perhaps see an increase. the older and less healthy groups will see a decrease. overall, we are not saying --

seeing a spike. of small business majority. it is always a pleasure. >> my pleasure. explaing up, we will $180 a night. hot shots is next. ♪

may, the first wing suit flight off not everest is planned. mount everest. we caught up with him on a test jump near los angeles to discuss the technology behind the wing suit. partnering with the discovery team that was behind the space jump. what he expects will go through his head before plunging 10,000 feet over the himalayas. the main thing about this

particular jump is you have to get up on the tallest mountain in the world and get to the top. i don't know any other wing suit base jumper who has ever done that. i'm more nervous now here in california working my way towards going into the fall and then i will be when actually stand a. everything about the setup is going to be different. i'm going to have all this and everything. it will be -20 on the summit. i will use a very specific mechanism to jump off and land. technology that is never been seen before. allows me a lot more flexibility in my arms and legs. i will have to take a running start and take multiple steps. all these bands are a lot bigger than it looks. i will place cameras here on the helmet so you will see multiple live camera positions inside the suit. i will also have a vast with all

the different live transmitters and batteries. i will have a survival pack. jumping off, your arms are up a bit more like this. and then, they retract a bit. about from here down to here and leaning forward, that's be generates into lift and allows me to fly out further than i'm dropping down. i don't like to use the word superhero. but i'm essentially doing something that i should not be able to do. i have done most of the things i wanted to do. the blasting cap at the end. i say that now, but i will probably jump from space at some point. time now for hot shots. i look at some of the most compelling images of the day. snow buddies and subzero temperatures may want to check out germany's igloo hotel.

it is situated in the shadow of germany's highest mountain and is made of all-natural snow. there are only 13 rooms. 150 for a night per person, dollars-100 $86. guests can expect a hot shower. but there is a jacuzzi. a dozen boats recently took advantage of the cold winter and headed to new york's hudson river to geoeye sailing. two of the larger crafts were reconditioned icecaps. it was a bumpy 30 mile per hour ride. participants ate was worth it. in colorado, an event for pipeoarders after the half in russia. americans moved back to the top of the snowboarding world. athletes showed off their double corks and 1080 degree spins.

stay with us. another check on the markets is on the other side of the break. ♪

>> get the latest headlines at the top of the hour on bloomberg radio and streaming on your tablet and on bloomberg.com. that does it for this edition of bottom line." thanks for joining us. i will see you tomorrow. on the markets is next. the hour which means bloomberg television is on the markets. i'm olivia sterns. let's get you caught unaware stocks are trading headed into the last hour of the session. you can see stocks are mixed right now. the s&p and dow trading a little bit lower. the nasdaq climbing up .25%. lingering concerns in the market

about the disappointing economic data we have out of china. on the treasury markets, rising for a third day in a row. 2.72%. i'm joined by the director of institutional equity trading. let's start with the 10-year note. we heard from jeffrey of that is goingal to 2.5% this year. >> i would not say that. able range bound -- the fed has been pretty transparent about what their intentions are. i think people are more concerned about north of three percent than the are 2.5%. >> do you think we could get to four percent? >> that would be a reach. we have to learn about that. it would be a lot to digest in a short amount of time. >> what is your outlook for stocks e >?

>> you are seeing a lot of people with concerned about valuation. buyers are being very selective. the market is better to buy, even though we have had three straight down sessions. it is very much -- people have adopted the position that earning season is over for the most art. -- most part. you mentioned china -- we have had eyes on it tonight. >> what's your expectations? >> who is to say? they are becoming more transparent. a week or so ago, we saw the first ever bond default come out of china. you never used to see that. maybe they are managing expectations a little bit. it is a bit disconcerting. down 17.5%. we have a lot of guests on bloomberg tv. it do you trust the numbers you

see? >> they put out whatever they want. see any pockets of opportunity out there? >> we're finding some pockets of opportunity and some pockets to avoid. we like a handful of select real estate places. particularly those companies with "good dirt." we have seen some good things coming out of the software space, the ipos that have relatively high valuations in a short amount of time. across the board, expect media telecom to buy 31. you are seeing a more defensive play. it's a low bit more but caution -- cautious tone. >> any bubbles out there? >> i would wait for the dip. we have heard that theme for the past five years. don't writ russians of this. -- don't rush into this.

thank you so much for joining us. we will be back in 30 minutes. ♪ >> today, fannie and freddie meet their demise. hedge funders are not so happy about it. a littley, and give me help here on my bracket. and now, the dow and s&p climbing canal. the nasdaq is shoving -- shrugging it off a bit. "street smart" is next. ♪ welcome to the most important