>> from bloomberg world headquarters in new york, i am mark crumpton. this is "bloomberg bottom line." today, vice president biden visits ukraine. amid tight security, an american wins the boston marathon. versuse or break case t.v. broadcasters. to our viewers in the united states and those of you joining us around the world, welcome. we have full coverage of the stocks and stories making headlines. we have a preview of how the

supreme court justices might rule in the aereo case. peter cook is in washington as vice president biden travels to ukraine. those stories in a moment. we begin with the 118th running of the boston marathon one year after two bombs exploded near the finish line killing three people and wounding more than 260 others. on a spectacular spring day in new england, nearly 36,000 runners took off on the 26 mile course. the firstighi became american in 31 years to win the men's race. the woman from kenya won the women's race. before the race began, there was a moment of silence. "america the beautiful" was played over loudspeaker. security was tight. more than 100 cameras were installed along the boston

portion of the route with 50 observation points near the finish line to monitor the crowd. about 3500 police officers were on hand at the race. i spoke by phone with austin mayor martin walsh. i began by asking about his reaction on seeing the near record number of people who turned out for this year's race. runnerlutely incredible, after runner. some elite athletes and some doing the running because they want to be part of this. it is incredible, the spirit is remarkable. the crowds are warring as people go by -- roaring as people go by. changed inyour city the year since the attack? >> i think we have shown the world [indiscernible] just seeing the families

affected by last year's tragic events, their strength. today, many at the finish line. people running in memory of all the things that happened last year. it continues to strengthen our city. >> you were not mayor at the time of the attack last year. in bostonhen you won that this day was coming. how did you plan for it from a personal standpoint, from an emotional standpoint? >> after i got sworn in as mayor, i had a chance to meet most of the survivors. i have a personal relationship with richard's family, just feeding off their strength. for me to be here for this, that is not overcoming anything. watching these survivors overcome losing limbs and other things that happened to them and

their families, losing loved ones, i feed off of their strength. >> what is the economic climate in downtown boston like? have businesses fully recovered from the shock of that day? >> i think they have. today, they are going to do well. there's life on boylston street. the 118th boston marathon is a success. the determination of everyone in the race is just incredible. that is part of the strength of our city. i want to thank people around the united states and around the world that came to our assistance. thank you for your love and support for our city in boston. >> for however successful this year's marathon has been, it has been changed forever.

there was a massive security presence today. >> it was changed in some senses, and it was not changed. we are not giving our marathon up to anybody that wants to change it. today's marathon, between the runners and people watching, this marathon is stronger than any other we have had in this city or country. >> what have citizens been telling you today? reactiontherir been to take back the city and stare down people who would do them harm? >> they are excited. people are excited to be here. they want to do their part and be part of this history in this marathon. people are very excited. i had to come off the stands for a few minutes to make this phone call. people are excited about what is happening in our city today.

>> what is your reaction to being near the finish line? >> incredible. i am watching the runners come in and the excitement. kid from boston, i am honored to be part of this and be the mayor of this wonderful city, just to be with so many great people around me. it is just incredible. >> i would be remiss if we did not take time to remember those who lost their lives in last year's attack. what are your thoughts on them and their families on this day? >> my thoughts and prayers are family andollier's the others. they are four remarkable families who suffered great loss and tragedy. the city rallied behind them in the early days. since that point, they have rallied us as a city to get through it as well. they are strong people. all those families have somebody

running for them today. down the sharing them marathon route -- i plan on sharing -- cheering them on down the marathon route. matt miller has breaking news. >> we are hearing mark feels will be named c.o.o. ford. this is according to people familiar. the company is declining to comment. we are hearing he will be named c.e.o. soon trade he is the chief operating officer. he is 53 years old. he has long been talked about as to the one who has done an incredible job of boosting the company since 2006. he is 68. the people we are talking to, inside sources, are saying he may retire as early as may 1,

just a few days from now. the company declining to comment on that. mark fields has long been said to take over for mulally. there were some other candidates that may have taken it. jim farley is the chief marketing officer and in charge of the lincoln brand. , the president of the americas, a salt of the earth kind of manufacturing guy from the great state of ohio, a lot of people talk about him as a possibility. mark fields has been the choice most expected to be named. we are hearing that will be the case. the question is how soon. we are hearing may one could be the date. it could be very soon that mul ally steps down in his tenure from ford motor's. > the other big story on this monday, vice president biden is in ukraine.

to easee signs the deal tensions could be unraveling. more sanctions on russia could be coming. peter cook has the latest. the vice president visit is a show of support for the ukrainian government. >> a very strong show of support. he is the highest-ranking official to arrive in ukraine. he arrived a short time ago. he has meetings tomorrow. tois delivering a message nearby baltic states that the u.s. does care about what is happening and the new effort by russia in the region. it is a message to the russians they are not doing enough to implement the geneva agreement from last week. we had violence over the weekend with three people shot and killed in ukraine. the ukrainians and russians blaming each other for what happened. even the u.s. says we are not sure what happened in that instance. biden will make the case that

the russians need to do more with there is the threat of more sanctions. it was a message reiterated by jay carney at the white house a short time ago. >> as we have made clear should russia continue to engage in destabilizing actions in ukraine, there will be costs. there have been already. should they escalate destabilizing activity, the costs will escalate. jay carney would not offer a specific timeline as to when the decision on sanctions could be made. if they did move forward, what would they look like? we are talking about asset freezes on some of the cronies seen as part of vladimir putin's inner circle. we could see more targeting of accesslocking them from to the international financial system. since we are getting the sense -- the sense we're getting is sanctions across the broad

russian economy would be on hold unless something takes a turn for the worst. >> coming up, more on ukraine. the national security adviser to clinton will weigh in on the ongoing crisis and u.s. efforts to de-escalate the situation. "bloomberg bottom line" continues in a moment.

>> a reminder, there are multiple ways to watch bloomberg television. we are on the web at bloomberg.com, on your mobile device at apple tv, and amazon fire tv. more on what the u.s. can do in ukraine. sandy berger served as national security adviser to president clinton. he's now the chair of a commercial diplomacy from. he's involved across all of the firm's engagements with a strong foe shall does -- strong focus on asia and the middle east.

line -- bottomer line." thank you for your time. vice president biden is in the ukraine. what does he hope to a conflict? >> he's there to bolster the ukrainian government, which is under enormous pressure externally from the russians and internally from an economy in a dire situation after years of mismanagement and corruption. he will be talking to the ukrainian government about how we can be helpful to them as they undertake the kind of economic reforms they need to bolster their economy now that they have commitments from the imf and united states for economic assistance. those will be difficult reforms.

aboutlso talking to them how they can break the stranglehold russia has on their energy supply. externally, go ahead. >> as peter cook said a moment ago, there was a shootout yesterday at a checkpoint in eastern ukraine. at least three people believed to be progression insurgents were killed. last week's agreement in geneva included having insurgents lay down their arms. is it safe to say that is probably not going to happen? >> there is no evidence the russians are doing anything to implement the agreement and get the progression malicious -- mil itias to lay down arms or leave the buildings they have seized. it is clear the professional russian military elements in eastern ukraine instigating disruptions, there is so far no

evidence the russians are trying to diffuse the situation. i think their objective is to try to weaken the ukrainian government, alternately to -- ultimately to see a pro-russian government in kiev. we need to be clear that is not a result acceptable to the west. andoody's investor service fitch ratings say russian companies are facing $115 .illion in debt due next year they will have the funds even as markets shut because of the ukraine crisis. they also say the russian government stands ready to offer support using its golden atrency reserves which stood $477 billion. why should president vladimir putin be concerned about sanctions if there is that much

money on hand? >> i think it is unlikely sanctionswill go to unless there is a movement of russian forces in ukraine. over $50 billion of capital flight in russia since the beginning of this crisis. the former finance minister believes there will be $200 billion of capital flight over the rest of this year. the russian growth estimates have been decreased to 1%. some believe there will be negative growth in russia. the ruble has fallen. in the short term, russia can withstand this. but investor confidence has decreased. i think in the long term russia will pay a price for this. i don't know that putin in the

short term will be driven by economic considerations. in the short term, he is driven by a vision of a greater russia, his desire to put russia back on the world stage. in the longer term, he will have to deal with the reality of the economic costs. he can absorb crimea. expense. big i think in the long term, economic realities will have an impact. >> you have met vladimir putin. does he not care about being isolated by the international community or of the economic consequences sanctions could have on his country? >> i think he is a calculating person. 1999 when heim in was forced out soon -- boris yeltzen's national security advisor. president bush once said he looked into his eyes and saw his

soul. i looked into his eyes and saw a pair of steely eyes looking back at me. i think he is very calculating. i think he wants to restore russia to the global stage. i think he has a vision of greater russia. i don't think he has a master plan that. i think to some degree it depends upon how the international community reacts and whether he sees the costs of that larger vision as being unacceptable and too steep. i think at this point what he is doing is popular in russia. he is playing upon strong russian nationalism. i think he is quite determined to continue to move on the course he is on. >> mr. berger, we have about a

minute left. what needs to be done to improve communications between the white house and the kremlin? president obama has had a steady conversation with president clinton -- president putin. i think that is good. whether they are communicating or talking past each other, it is good to remain in contact. we have little communication with moscow. i think it is a good idea to establish as many lines of communication as we can. ins is a precarious moment terms of miscalculations. i would encourage the administration and others to keep lines of communication open at various channels. business-to-business, military to military, and other avenues because we don't want miscalculations. the more we understand each iher, even if we disagree,

think the safer we will be. former national security adviser under president clinton, discussing the situation in ukraine. thank you for your time and expertise. next, we will get to a monday on the markets check. plus, the u.s. supreme court will hear arguments tuesday in what could be the most important media case in years. that story when "bottom line" continues in a moment. ♪

3:00, don't miss "street smart." trish regan will examine the growth of the marijuana industry and the latest from washington,

colorado, and everywhere in between. that is coming up in about 35 minutes only on bloomberg. it is 26 minutes past the hour. that means bloomberg television is on the markets. >> want to get you caught up on the trading session. we are up across the board. if we hold, it will be the fifth consecutive day of gains for the s&p 500. the dow jones adding 43 points. a couple of individual stocks we are watching, we talked about ford 25 minutes ago. the automaker has named its c.o.o. mark fields takes the reins when alan mulally steps down according to people familiar with the matter. i previously said that could come as early as may 1. i meant the announcement could come as early as may 1. it does not mean alan mulally will step down in nine days. we're watching at&t.

the mutations giant is planning the tonding -- medications giant is planning on spending its web service to give super speeds. -- ♪

welcome back to the second half-hour of "bottom line" on bloomberg television. i am mark crumpton. let's check top stories we're following. bloomberg has learned ford will soon name mark fields as the new chief executive officer and reveal when alan mulally will retire. he will step down before the end of the year and be succeeded by fields, who is now chief operating officer, according to people who asked not to be identified revealing internal plans. ford may announce the move as soon as may 1. elon musk says tesla will start

making cars in china within three to four years. electric car is about to go on sale in china. building in china will save tesla the 25% tariff the chinese impose on important cars -- imported cars. the south korean resident says the captain and crew committed unforgivable, murderous behavior . theivers continue to search interior of the submerged vessel, the confirmed death toll rose to 86. more than 200 remain missing. tomorrow, the u.s. supreme court will hear oral arguments in the aereo case. what is the legal issue the court will be deciding? by now, you may have heard about aereo. launched in 2012 and backed by barry diller, it allows you to watch broadcast t.v. over the internet. is aereo legal?

here is how it works. in 13 cities, it has created antenna farms. these work much like the rabbit ears at home. they receive free signals from broadcasters like abc, cbs, nbc, and fox. aereo takes the signal and rescinds it to subscribers via the internet. you can watch live t.v. on your computer, tablet, and smartphone. aereo will let you record shows to the cloud for later viewing. it costs about $12 a month. aereo has three ways to watch broadcast television. you can bolt and antenna to your roof or computer and get it for free. you can pay a cable or satellite company for a dish. while you are paying them, they are paying broadcasters to retransmit program and to the

tune of about $4 billion a year. aereo pays broadcast networks so each -- zilch. they argue they are pulling down the same signal anyone can get with their antenna. the fact they happen to be in warehouses and not on roofs should not matter. broadcasters say this is a problem and aereo is no different from a cable company. in march of 2012, they sued aereo for violating copyright law. the broadcasters lawsuit hinges on one thing, whether the retransmission is considered a public performance. if it is, aereo is infringing because they have not paid for the programming like cable companies do. if the court decides the service is a lot of either performances -- private performances, aereo would not need to pay the broadcasters. both the lower and appellate courts have sided with aereo. now it is up to the supreme court to decide. arguments will be in april and

there will be a ruling by july. >> joining me with more , theective on the case bloomberg reporter outside the supreme court in washington. joining me in new york, jon erlichman. greg, what is the main issue for the court? the issue is whether this little aereo antenna, about this big, when it captures the signal and sends it to a customer, whether that constitutes a public performance. becauseters say it does we are talking about thousands of these little antennas, and that is no different from what would happen if a satellite company captured it with one big dish and send it to a lot of customers. aereo says no. the technology is one antenna per customer. that is a private performance. >> jon erlichman, what is at stake for hollywood?

>> this is really important. there are billions of dollars every year paid to broadcasters by the pay-per-view players in the neighborhood of $4 billion. that only tells half the story. there are estimates that number is going to close to double by 2019. there is more money coming to the broadcasters from the pay-tv players. we have this great content, we want you to pay for it. it,ereo is not paying for does it call into question the money being paid? does that result in a new thestreet shakeup -- does that result in an industry shakeup? do you see new technology or industry consolidation? if you are a local broadcaster, you are not as valuable as you were before. does cbs move to cable? there are big questions. >> how does this give aereo a competitive advantage? been in argument has

the traditional world if you're using an antenna, you are allowed to do that. you should be allowed to record shows viewed by your family and friends. their argument has always been based on technology itself. that becomes their advantage if more people are not signing up and going to aereo or netflix. they have been successful in some markets with that. >> the federal judge from the court of appeals called aereo's set up a sham. he said the individual antennas are a rube goldberglike contrivance, an overly complicated device that s the simple task in a confusing way to evade copyright law. is that what the justices may be zeroing in on? >> they will focus on that.

a lot of what you just quoted the judge as saying aereo does not disagree with. they say we set it up with all of these little antennas because that is what we see as being legal. they agree they did have to do some things with the technology they would not have done otherwise. but they say that is what the copyright law allows. >> jon, we have small cable companies backing aereo, not the big guys. >> for the big players, the big broadcasters, they are generating huge amounts of money from cable players. you see comcast in the middle of a major transaction to get even bigger. cable are a small provider, you worry about the leverage you have when it comes time to renegotiate transmission fees. you would like to not have to pay them or be able to pay fewer if that is the end result of what happens in court. we will see. >> do we have any sense of how

the high court might rule? >> there is limited information based on previous rulings. we have seen justices about 10 years ago consider some of these issues in terms of internet filesharing and music. we had justices with different perspectives on this issue or variances of this issue. lower court judges have disagreed on this. from the outside, it appears to be a case that could go either way. >> that decision is expected in july. good to see you. tomorrow, betty liu will be live in washington with an exclusive interview with the aereo ceo as he takes on the broadcasters at the supreme court. that is coming up on tuesday at 8:00 new york time.

coming up, high yield bonds and loans may have trailed equities in 2013. but they were still the best performers in fixed income. we will find out if they are still good buys when "bottom line." ♪

>> welcome back. andgovernment protesters national guard soldiers battled on the streets of venezuela. the violence came after thousands of demonstrators marched peacefully through the city. began of protesters hurling rocks at security forces. that triggered the battles. violence between the sides has rocked the country since february leaving at least 41 dead. the presidents of mexico and colombia are expected at a memorial ceremony for the novelist. the homage to the late writer is being held tonight in mexico city. he had ties to both countries. butas born in colombia

spent much of his adult life and brought his greatest works in mexico. the nobel prize-winning author died in mexico city last week. he was 87 years old. that is today's latin america report. my next guest says high-yield bonds and loans have been among the best performing asset classes since the 2008 financial crisis. he is head of america's credit at blackrock. good to see you. you see a lot to like in high yield bonds and loans. why has fixed income been good? >> to separate high yields and loans, since the financial crisis, you have seen a tremendous amount of liquidity being pumped into the system from fiscal banks and governments. risk has declined dramatically. you still have good return. today's expense will be different. there's is still good opportunity to invest and own yielding assets and income, but it is not going to be the same return you saw the last couple

of years. >> and a lot of talk on wall street is centering on when the fed might raise interest rates. bonds and loans, do they offer enough insulation from raising rates? >> i think right now, they do. the difference today is the last has years, corporate credit been playing it safe. balance sheets look good. the economy is improving. that is why you expect the fed to increase rates. loans are more insulated and protected through the shape of the curve. high-yield bonds tend to be around four or five years. there's more to ration with them. there is still enough spread to the risk depending on what part of the market you are in. >> how supportive is the fixed income market right now? >> when you look at the economy,

we have gone through a lot of volatility and uncertainty about deflation, inflation, growth, recession. a lot of the central bank policy mishap -- moves have helped stabilize that. a lot of expectations are a stable, low growth profile. that is still supportive for the overall yield curve and credit assets. >> the labor market, how is that going to play into this? if companies are more confident and hiring picks up, what impact will that have on fixed income? things. are two if the economy starts to recover and corporations and municipalities need to start to invest in people, that is positive for the overall

aggregate demand of the economy. you would start to seal the yield curve steepening or inflation expectations pick up. in credit, it is positive as long as it translates into corporate cash flow growth. you would see investment from corporations starting to invest notheir own businesses and only hire people but also build out. >> talk about how investors should play this. should be a portfolio of only high-yield bonds? should it be only loans or a combination? >> over the last three years, we have been vocal about how the returns were attractive. today we are not saying that. we still think it is stable and the below-market returns around 5%. >> what does the chart tell us? the story on the right tells you

everything you need to know. >> that is 2013. that will be a different experience. we did see a steepening of the yield curve. other fixed income assets did not benefit from that. they sold off because of interest-rate duration. high-yielding bank loans were more protected. today the starting points are different. we think high-yield and bank loans have grown dramatically because these asset classes were less than $300 billion 10 years ago, now they are over $2 trillion in assets. ofy should be part portfolios but be diversified. >> what about investors? are they satisfied with incremental returns? are they trying to hit a home run? >> we work with a variety of clients. we have different clients. have theirs going to own risk-reward based on what

they are trying to achieve with a certain asset class. we see it across the board. >> a moment ago, you talked about low growth but steady. >> we are seeing that. there is volatility in the weather. the reality is a lot of risks have shifted. fromve moved a lot of debt the private sector to the public sector. the liquidity risk from the banks has been mitigated. you are a stable and improving economy and also a good profile for corporate credit. you.m keenan, good to see thanks very much. we will be right back. ♪

>> one of the things we talked about since we hired in is how important it is for a great c.e.o. to have a great transition.

deep,l our team is good, and a very experienced. it is interesting. a lot of great c.e.o.'s leave and there is chaos behind them. we talked about the importance of the final act of a great c.e.o. is having a great transition. >> that was the ford motor chairman speaking to bloomberg television last week at the new york auto show. bloomberg news has learned afford will soon name mark fields as the next chief executive officer and reveal when current c.e.o. alan mulally will retire from the anthony. --from the company. he will step down before the end of the year and be succeeded by mark fields according to people who asked not to be identified revealing internal plans. ford may announce that moves as

soon as may 1. bloomberg television continues in a moment. ♪

>> that doesn't for this edition of "bottom line" --that does it for this edition of "bottom line" on bloomberg television. "on the markets" with matt miller is next. i will see you tomorrow. hour.is 56 past the i am matt miller. let's get you caught up on where stocks are trading. we are seeing a fifth straight day of gains on the s&p 500. and dow jones industrial average is up 42 points. this will be the longest winning

streak for the s&p since october, so doing very well as a leading indicator increasing the most since march. the economic picture looking better. we want to highlight a couple of stocks. linked in now has more than 300 million members. 2/3 ofpany said about its members are outside the u.s. at some point this year, more than half of its traffic will come from mobile devices. shares of suntrust banks are getting a boost after reported that it than expected first-quarter profits. the company wrote off fewer bad loans while setting aside less money to cover future defaults. investorsf earnings, have become less concerned with a company's growth. companies that posted the best

gains this month are those whose profits are shrinking. joining me with a look at what joseph. on is talk to us about specific examples. we're looking at companies with shrinking profits doing better? is a utilities company and one of the best performers of the year. it has had shanking growth -- shrinking growth the last two years. what people are looking for our dividends. they are pretty much assured. if you put money in slow and steady stocks, you will be getting a cash dividend every quarter and more peace of mind. >> investors are going conservative. one of the reasons is they are worried about what they are selling. everyone is talking about whether we are in a bubble with tech stocks.

>> we have seen a lot of highfliers, technology stocks like facebook and netflix, have been considered overvalued. there is a consensus they have reached overstretched levels. people are getting out and taking the profits and piling into these safer, less stressful utilities. >> defensive stocks. >> we're talking health care and other industries people like to run to when things get rough. >> what to you look to to see if this is a sustainable trend? >> i ask people what could change what is going on. the answer is earnings. we in the middle of it right now. one thing that could get us out of this funk in large cap tech stocks would be good earnings, other information for the market to act on. idea and remind

themselves of the fundamental strength of these companies, we will see more strength. if you're long on them, not short. "on the markets" again in 30 minutes. "street smart" is next. >> stocks rising for a fifth day, the longest winning streak for the s&p 500 this year. earnings season gets into full swing. smart" starts right now. welcome to the most important hour of the session. especially edition of "street smart," examining the growth of the marijuana industry and its future. an