>> from bloomberg world headquarters in new york i am mark crumpton. today, russian troops massed in grade as president obama concludes his european trip and then chinese ambassadors overwhelm the u.s. green card program. today's version of rosie the robot or -- riveter. to our viewers here in the united states and those of you joining us from around the world, welcome. we have full coverage of the stocks in stories making headlines today.

we have details on chinese advocates overwhelming the u.s. immigrant program. basis, andy-state the overseas trip t. talk to us about the trip. he was in saudi arabia, the president was. he spent most of the week in europe, talking about russia and ukraine. going to saytually he accomplished, and isn't enough to change russia possibly never? >> the president set out to really rally western nato allies and nuclear power alleys on this. everyone seemed to be on the same page of being tough on russia, the sanctions are not resolved and all. focus a little bit on energy independence. however, there are still tens of thousands of russian troops

along the border guard and the 's goal of having them step back was not accomplished great what was the most important publishing that of the trip? the two most of our things were not about russia. one was hitting the 6 million enrollment figure on the affordable care act which was a big domestic accomplishment for the president. the second one was his visit with pope francis, which was the bright spot of the entire european trip. he got what he wanted out of that visit, which was a partner to focus on immigration and intimate -- income inequality issues. for once, a little bit of a break from the concern about russia and ukraine. >> inning back of course to ukraine and russia, what about the overall context? the president was there to try to rally international support for condemnation and for

sanctions against moscow. >> that is right. he brought the condemnation part ofit, but in terms sanctions, there's not quite enough momentum yet to go much further than ploys for these sanctions. europe is still very incorrect -- worried about these, and russia's not showing their cards. if it is going to go further. whatare living to see resident put and that's -- president putin does. >> al hunt joins a from washington. the president's trip to europe and the vatican, the g-7 meetings, was it a success? >> symbolically it was. i do not think substantively it is you don't whole lot. , think it will be interesting

the symbols where he giving beatable speech at the cemetery commemorating world war i veterans and the pitchers and the meeting with pope francis -- caninstriped 4-me strike for him. mccain, a man that you were going to be interviewing on political capital. he said that vladimir bowden is a kgb sound that will never be a partner to the united states. what are your thoughts on that? >> i wish money -- john mccain would speak his mind. [laughter] look, he has a worldview, a very top and aggressive and muscular world view. he's going to accentuate that worldview when we talk later today. he really thinks much more aggressive action is necessary against russia.

>> ended or mccain is telling for military aid and defensive weapons to be sent to the ukrainian army. he is worried that president clinton will laughter kiev next. what will the international community think of that? is that justified? do think -- do they think he has an expansionist policy? >> a lot of people think he does, but the ukrainian army is 6000, a they are just ragtag output. we give them weapons, and how quickly good you get them there? it is not an easy call it all. >> what else is on your agenda with the senator duties cost today? >> he usually carries those conversations that we have. i would like it if i could talk to about nsa surveillance. he feels broadly about that. -- strongly about that. >> no doubt. you can get that at 9:00 p.m.

tonight on bloomberg television. we will have reactions to comments from new jersey governor chris christie's news conference that is agile for 2:30 p.m. new jersey time from the statehouse in trenton. we will have live coverage. it can watch a entirety -- in entirety on our bloomberg channel. >> with just three days before the sign up dead like a man has met its rejected target of halving 6 million americans enrolled in health care changes. but if you take a closer look around the country some states are doing far better than others. the winners and the losers, they may surprise you. megan hughes reports. >> with days to go before the end of opener enrollment, a dozen states are far behind expectations. with fewer of 50% of the sign-ups the government projected. the worst in the nation, massachusetts. so far it has met just 6.5% of its target.

the rd, this is the state that inspired the law. rather than upgrade massachusetts oscar already existing universal health care exchange, they decided to start from scratch. the new website has been a technical disaster. the second worst estate, or about -- worst state, oregon. no one has been able to sign of completely online. rankedd also close to the bottom. just last month of the prime contractor meter indian health care solutions was fired. on the opposite end of the spectrum, connecticut signed up more than twice the number of people expected. likewise, the biggest estate to be expectation was the empire state. the fourth best reframing best-performing nationwide. what about the 36 states to use the federal website? several, like north carolina and florida have already beat

projections. glitches andarly governors who have been loud critics of obamacare. >> my colleague megan hughes joins me now. what is the thing that surprised you the most looking at what is happening in different states? >> what was most interesting was looking at the states that decided to run their own website. a lot of these were state to a governors that really backed obamacare. they were either at the top or at the bottom. even a slight connecticut, like new york, like california, which did pretty well that were all big supporters and that argues the top of the list. then you had states like massachusetts, like maryland, came the governors there out right after the obamacare law was signed saying we are going to do this right, we are owing to be a leader, and it has been a big embarrassment. >> the days that did use the federal website about men he did alright despite those early glitches with healthcare.gov.

>> they did. those were governors that were less important. in florida, north carolina, and north carolina was interesting because the governor there was actually supposed to be a eight one exchange under a democratic governor. the republican governor took over and decided we're just going to look the federal government handle it. it turns out the but they met their and rolet targets. these are also states that if you look ahead to the midterm elections, there is already a lot of anti-obamacare sentiment that is being played on in these days. we look at the numbers, people are signing up for the exchange of those states. >> megan hughes, thank you. about up, we talk rebuilding ukraine's economy. ♪

a reminder, there are

multiple ways to watch bloomberg tv. we are on the web at bloomberg.com, on your mobile device, and also on apple tv. ilcome back to bottom line, am mark crumpton. in addition to the political and military crisis in ukraine, the country also faces growing economic and financial turmoil. on thursday, the international monetary phone -- fund agreed to provide aid contingents on ukraine taking steps and its economy. joinsrector of the imf me in the studio. welcome back to bottom line. good to see you again. the prime minister of the ukraine told us that it was the time to tell the truth to do the difficult and unpopular things brady said ukraine is short about $26 billion. he needs another 30 5 billion of

the next two years or else it will go into default. what unpopular and difficult things as ukraine going to do to stay so let -- to stay stal olvent? tomost importantly will be try to do something with the ruinous energy subsidies that has been afflicting that economy or some years now. it has opened an distortion in their production, and cost them enormous amounts and foreign exchange. this has to be dealt with. >> what is the best way to deal with that? >> for one, the subsidies have been highly in effect therefore the economy. the goal was protection of the least favored, the lowest income, and that can be done at much lower cost with a much more targeted regime than the blunderbuss approach that has been the source of massive corruption. >> the board demanded of ukraine

up by the imf, they include the following, raising taxes, raising the minimum wage, and freezing energy prices. that is going to cause economic instability, especially if people take to the street and start demanding these measures which are already called draconian, are we had a point for ukraine has no choice? cannot impose anything. this is an agreement by the ukrainian authorities and the imf, and ultimately put to the imf's membership on a plan of economic reform that destabilizes and the short run, and put them on a path to growth which has been absent for year. the short-term answer is that without act -- action they face financial disorder. cannot demand this or

impose this, but they can strongly. money, bute you this you have to write your own ship as well. of lands that have a chance for success -- in the absence of lands that have a chance for success. >> rather than going into details, it is a requirement for the imf that the program be supported and sustainable. and provide the promise that it will be paid back. returningat is resources linked to another member. >> what about congressional action on this? we heard that the house and senate are getting together on this. they want to get some final legislative approval within the coming days. as this process been fast enough? has there been a sense of urgency, or have all of that in the way?

>> i would not want to judge the politics. but the $27 billion figure for over two years, i would know that $14 billion of that would come from the imf. other potential sources of the funds being guaranteed by congress if they go ahead and pass, which they have not done to date. >> yesterday in capitol hill new of foreigncrat head relations committee said we are in a dangerous moment of history with global consequences. talk was about the possible ripple effect if ukraine's economy does not get back on stable footing. >> ukraine's economy itself is relatively small. as someone has pointed out of the gdp of ukraine is about that of new york city. the real problems would be it would cause wider disorder in terms of interruption of energy supplies, problems in terms of disrupting financial flows.

the cost would be more indirect. you can see what our folks are looking at at home, the ten-year inflation rate in ukraine. does that if you pause or cause for concern? >> they have been following a set of ruinous policies. they have to be changed to put ukraine on a sustainable path. they have not been growing, they've been earning large deficits, both externally and internally, and it is the time for change. see similarities between that and what happened and greece? >> in some ways. the details are very different, and therefore the specific measures needed to be taken are very different. for example, ukraine has been running an editor new subsidy program -- an energy subsidy program that has been a great cost to their economy.

bythey did not seem bothered that. moscow says that it will set up its own payment system to rival the zen master card, both of those companies told their services from some russian banks. is that move by these and mastercard areas of weight, or was it more symbolic? >> we will see what happens in the long run. it is hard to imagine that after all that is happened in the past 20 years that russia would want to once again detach itself from the world economy. majorall, it is a producer of energy, and it needs to sell that energy in the world markets. i believe that the russian populace has become used to consuming western goods. it is hard to think that the testing would be a popular outcome. >> it is always a pleasure to have you on. thank you so much.

coming up, a growing number of chinese immigrants have their sights set on the american dream. but it comes at a hefty price. ♪

>> this reminder, we're standing comments from chris christie. we will have live coverage, and you can watch it in its entirety on our live event channel at bloomberg.com. the american dream is alive and well in china, if you're willing to pay up. there is a special invest in it these of program the chinese are using, but it is threatening to overwhelm the program with demand.

we are in washington with more on that story. the visa has a empty price tag. >> that is right. upwards of $600,000 of that is how much you will need to invest u.s..ome welcome into the many are seeing it as worth it for that coveted american education for their children. eb5, employment-based, build investors and workers, and five is the category specific to immigrant entrepreneurs. tworeign national has invest a minimum of $500,000, and unique to this by the category -- visa category, as feeling to the creation of 10 full-time jobs, or they face deportation. last year they counted for more than 80% of the total eb5

issue. green cards and citizenship should not be for sale, say critics. as for klein,ors she says the naysayers are missing the bigger excerpt rate >> most of these people are and that moaning, they did not inherit. they are already showing entrepreneurship that somebody are lacking in this country. all levels of income, i do not think that should be the gate for the right for the visa. >> the numbers vary, but one report credits the program with nearly 86,000 full-time jobs and approximately $5 billion in direct investments. >> thank you very much. we are approaching 26 minutes but they are, that means that bloomberg is on the markets.

olivia sterns is standing by with the details. the markets today showing some strength across the board. >> they appearing to be paring gains. they were stronger earlier after we got a good report on consumer spending, showing its rose by the most in three months. consumer spending and 70% of the u.s. a copy, so the nasdaq now let for the day, the s&p still up by 5.5.5 the dow off by about 23 point and we are also walking some individual movers for you. tesla, they are adding shield the needs the model as to protect those batteries. s willodel now be outfitted with the shield. money will be used to upgrade the plant to support production

of the new 2.7 liter ego boost engines used in -- used in the new f one 50's. more bottom line is coming up on bloomberg after the break. ♪

welcome back to the second half-hour of "bottom line." let's check some of the top stories we are following for you. australian officials move the search area for that lost malaysian air -- jetliner by 680 miles to the northeast. move comes following an analysis of radar data. planes from multiple objects in the new zone. yesterday maritime safety authority said five out of 10 aircraft searching for malaysia airlines flight 370 found objects of various colors. it was not clear if the objects

were from the plane. the photos will be analyzed overnight. consumer spending in the u.s. rose slightly in february 2 .3% -- the .3% gain was the biggest in three months and match the median forecast. americans are shaking off the effects of the coldest winter in four years. household spending on services including utilities rose .2% in the month. it was a little easier to get into harvard college this year. the school accepted five point nine percent of applicants to its freshman class, that is .1% 2013. than in the admission rate has declined for seven straight years. is charlie rose's guest tonight. you can see it at 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. eastern. that is a look at the top stories this hour. the governor of new jersey, chris christie, holding a press conference at the statehouse in trenton. as you know, the governor has been plagued by that trent --

controversy dubbed bridge gate. let's go to that conference. one thing was clear from the beginning. i told them to find the truth, no matter where it led. i had to turn over every rock that we can get to in order to get to the bottom of what happened, and let me know what the truth was. they conducted over 70 interviews, reviewed over 250,000 documents and had access to both personal and business devices, e-mails, text of my current and former senior staffers, of the lieutenant governor, and me. consistent with the call i made in january, we made the report public as soon as we received it. i want to thank randy and his team of former federal prosecutors and other members for the extraordinary amount of work they did in a relatively short window of time. as for the recommendations, i

fully embrace the reforms as it pertains to my office. it has been my resolve from the beginning to learn from this and to do whatever we can to be better, to be a better governor, to be a better staff, and to be a better administration. we owe that to the people of new jersey and that is what i will attempt to deliver. there will be further announcements in the coming weeks as we were to effectively implement these recommendations and their structure and to find the best possible people to fill these roles. as for the port authority, i agree with the main thrust of the report and the need for fundamental, structural change at the port authority. i am particularly intrigued by the idea of dismantling the port authority operations. from under one roof to two. i think the report is replete with examples of the new york new jersey rivalries which have allowed this place not to work as one, but to an effectively work as two.

i intend to work with governor cuomo to further explore these recommendations and other ideas to bring a new day to the port authority. lastly, i received a call from david samson, who informed me that after reviewing the master report, that he completely supports the recommendation laid out for the port authority, and that he believes the best way to start a new era at the port authority is with new leadership. in line with that belief, david tendered his resignation to me this afternoon, effective immediately. i want to thank him for his service and friendship. i look forward to discussing with governor cuomo, ushering in a new era at the port authority in light of the recent offense, past history, and the recommendations laid out in the report. questions?

>> [inaudible] >> those are two different questions. running as a choice, i'm telling you it will not. the fact of the matter is, i have nothing to do with this, as i said from the beginning. this report has supported exactly what i said. in the long sweep of things, any voters, if they consider this issue at all in considering my candidacy, if there ever is one, i have a feeling it will be a small element, if any element at all. ,n terms of my decision-making simply not the way i would make a decision. the way i would make a decision to seek any future office would

be, do i think it is best for me and my family? secondly, do i believe i have something unique and particular to offer that office at that particular time? the twonswer to questions is yes, i will seek the office -- atgovernor chris christie the statehouse in trenton discussing the bridge gate scandal. we will monitor this news conference. you can watch on our live events channel at bloomberg.com/tv. let's go to washington with a host of political capital, al hunt is standing by. governor christie says if he does consider another office, be it the presidency or somewhere loss, he believes this would be a small part of the narrative. is he right? >> i do not know where somewhere else would be, but i do not think it would be a smart -- small part of it as of today. this was a law firm hired by the governor, they came up and said he did not know anything.

the fellow that presented those findings was singularly unimpressive. i do not know what we will find out once the legislative committee finishes, once the prosecutors finish. i would be very surprised if the governor has any culpability in that sense, but my guess is it will not be quite as clear-cut as he said today. there were high-ranking appointees that engaged in this. why word they not tell him anything -- why would they not tell him anything? he just asked today for the resignation of a very close confidant, the bridge authority. i do not think that was accidental. >> as you and i both know -- i realize this is apples and oranges, but if you go back to the 1980's and the iran contra scandal, president reagan gave an oval office address where he said i did not know anything about this. but as the president i should have and am sorry. is chris christie following the same script?

he says i should have followed this because i am the governor of new jersey but i had nothing to do with it. could be more analogous to that than watergate, where nixon tried some of these same issues. i do not think there is any issue of criminality here. there is certainly a question of judgment, a question of bullying tactics and lyrically unappealing tactics and how that will play elsewhere. i guess i just do not think this is the end of it. this was a law firm hired by the governor, paid by the taxpayers to come up with findings that did not get to interview the deputy chief of staff, campaign manager. there are a lot of questions still out there. >> is this a question of, as the governor said, back in january, that he is trying to do some soul-searching, or at the least, trying to figure out what would give these people close to me any reason to believe that this is something i would want them to do, or that i would be ok

with? is that at the crux of this? case many ways, his best resolution is to hire a bunch of bad people that did not have enough respect or him to tell him what was going on. that was better than if you were involved himself, but i'm not sure that is a great recommendation if you run for president. >> al hunt from washington, thank you. he will speak with arizona senator john mccain. you can see that tonight on "political capital" at 9:00 p.m. eastern time. making the grade. former washington, d.c. public school chancellor michelle rhee joins me to tell me how american student can become more competitive. ♪

behindican students rank

their peers from hong kong, singapore, estonia, and poland. in 2012, and examples given to students in 34 developed countries. the u.s. court in the middle of the pack. the u.s. finished 17th in reading, 21st in science , and 26th in math. former d.c. public school chancellor michelle rhee has been at the effort of making u.s. students more competitive. she is now the ceo of students first and is with me from sacramento, california. great to see you again. >> thanks for having me on. get to thee specifics, talk about students first, how did you get started, what kind of backing do you have? >> we are a national grassroots organization with 2 million members across the country. parents,re everyday teachers, business owners, folks who know the american education system should be the best in the world and want to make sure we

are putting the interest of students above the interest of adults. we work on a state level to put pressure on elected officials to make sure they are passing policies that are good for kids. >> are the officials listening to you? >> it is tough because there are a lot of special interests that are at play. you have folks who really want to maintain the status quo, who have an interest in maintaining the system that actually is not serving kids well. it is a tough road. i actually think by having people like our members at the capital putting pressure on legislators saying it is your responsibility, not to do what is in the best interest of your political career, but in the best interest of children and the future of america, it really is having an impact. >> what needs to be done to improve basic education in the u.s. so it is competitive with the rest of the world? >> the first thing we need to do

based on research is making sure that every single child has an effective teacher in front of them in the classroom every day. whenow that the data says a student has a highly effective teacher versus an ineffective teacher, it makes a world of difference in terms of their academic achievement levels, in terms of their probability of graduating from high school, going on to college, and even the amount of money they will make as a professional. we also need to make sure there are high standard for all children. we have a set of common core standards that have been adopted by 45 states across the country. they are currently being implemented, and it is incredibly important that those plans move forward. >> where do you and your group, students first, believe the reforms should start? should it be a piecemeal approach at the local level, or more sweeping at the national level? to be at all levels.

clearly, the obama administration and secretary arnie duncan had taken a strong innd on what the reforms each state should look like. they have been holding states accountable to that through the no child left behind act, and things like ways to the top. but the states have a strong role to play as well. int of our policies education are made at the state level, so state legislators play an important role in putting in place laws and policies at the state level that will impact kids. >> where are you seeing the most improvements, which states are leading the way? >> we have seen a couple of jurisdictions that are really out in front right now. tennessee is one of them. the governor there in the legislature have taken an incredibly aggressive approach to education. you are seeing that bear fruit. national, in the last examination, found in every other jurisdiction, as did

washington, d.c., where they have implemented a lot of these reforms. >> when you were the d.c. school chancellor, you argue that performance was not always the basis for tenure. there are states that use in valuations for teacher performance. our in accurate representation of performance? seeing an improvement in the way that teachers are evaluated. five years ago, most teachers would tell you that their principal would come into their room for a few minutes, walk around, and that is how they would get there in valuation. we are now seeing a trend where it is much more rigorous and where teacher in valuations are based partially on how much academic progress of their kids is going -- of their students is growing. that is an important piece of the puzzle. money spentcism of on education is that the dollar do not always translate into improved student performance.

which students are seen the most gains for the dollars being spent? >> that's right. as a country, we have almost tripled the amount of money we are spending per student on public education, and yet the results have relatively remained stagnant. that dynamic absolutely has to change. part of the problem why we cannot say here are the states doing best on that, is because not all states have fiscal transparency. exactlyt always know where the taxpayer dollars are being spent and what the return on investment is of those dollars. >> i have to ask the question of teacher tenure is before the courts. is this a question of ineffective teachers or poorly run school district's? >> it is both. there are certainly some ineffective teachers across the country, but there are many more effective teachers. then you have got a system where the school districts themselves are not always negotiating contracts where they are taking

a strong stand on being able to remove ineffective teachers from the classroom, so you cannot pinpoint one place where you can rest all the problems. ceo ofelle rhee, students first, from sacramento. always a pleasure. stay with us. "bottom line" continues in a moment. ♪

>> i do not have any change -- >> governor chris christie holding a news conference in trenton at our. he said earlier a report he commissioned said that he was not involved in the decision to close lanes of the george washington bridge last year, an episode that has become known as bridge gate, and according to some pundits cast some shadow over his perhaps future political ambitions, which could include a stop at the white house. you can watch this on our live

event channel, bloomberg.com/tv. stay with us. ♪

>> get the latest headlines at the top of the hour on bloomberg radio, streaming on your tablet, and bloomberg.com. that doesn't for this edition of "bottom line." ext.the markets" is n thet is 56 minutes past

hour which means bloomberg is on the markets. let get you caught up where stocks are trading. trading higher but they have given up their early morning gains. we had a report showing consumer spending rose by the most in three months. that helped to lift the equity market but right now the nasdaq is pretty much flat, the nasdaq up a quarter percent, the s&p up .4%. we want to highlight a couple of individual names. restoration hardware. 12% as thesurging high-end home goods retailer reported and better than estimated fourth-quarter earnings driven by continued sales growth. they are focused on expanding and transforming its retail stores in 2014. another name we are watching is cbs outdoors. shares of the outdoor advertising company are rising on their oeste day of trading. go tolk of the funds will

parent company cbs, which owns 83% of the company. if you do not want to invest in individual stocks, etf's are another option. the growing trend, much like the movies, is sequels. just like movies, some will do well and someone not. joins us to look at a couple of etf sequels that have lived up to or outperform the original. you have to look at a couple that have performed as well as the godfather. fund is doing well, why invest in a sequel fund? udf officials are scrambling to come up with new products. when they had seen is the industry matures if they have a product, why not come up with a sequel to it but put a new spin on it? for example, one smash hit is the spdr high-yield short-term bond etf. the difference here is it is junk bonds and short-term. it is a big hit because there is

a demand for people concerned about rising rates. this has a duration half of jnk, and has returned about the same over two years. $2.5 billion. it is spurred by a jump trilogy. the spider international fund. they are expanding like crazy, just like movies. >> and offspring funds can even do better than the parent fund. you also have a second dividend etf fund. sdog.g, the sequel to they look for the highest dividend paying stocks in each sector and equal weight every sector. every sector has a 10% weighting. the reason why people like both products is because one of the raps on dividend etf in general was that they are very heavy on the utility sector or one or two sectors. this gives you diversification across all sectors and our all

performing. the international one is actually beating the u.s. one. another case where this is happening, vanguard has a bond etf. the sequel is new. is one it is proceeding bnd, the biggest one, $20 billion. the sequel gives you international exposure. it is so cheap it gives you 2300 international bonds in 50 countries for an expense ratio of .02%, making it the cheapest by far. >> we have to leave it there. back on the markets in 30 minutes. ♪

>> giving up some ground in the markets after two days down. the stocks still will in the week higher. i'm trish regan. "street smart" starts right now. welcome, everyone, to the most important hour of the session. 59 minutes until the closing bell. drone up, zuckerberg's deal. he snaps of an arrow space company -- aerospace company. we