brent: this is "dw news" live from berlin. it is a day that could make or break the candidates for u.s. president. white house hopefuls are campaigning in overdrive across the country, with several states having their impact. we will take you to the state of for grabs that is the biggest -- texas. also, can a ban curb extremism? and french police use force on

migrants protesting the demolition of a makeshift camp in calais. authorities have orders to clear the camp, which is home to thousands of people trying to reach britain. i'm brent goff. good to have you with us on the super tuesday, the biggest single day in the race to determine who will be the final contenders for the u.s. presidential election. let's take a closer look at the front runners vying for the vote . billionaire businessman donald trump is coming out of three consecutive primary victories in his bid for the republican ticket. if he continues, he could be well on the way to securing his party's nomination. a take a for ted cruz and his home state of texas could help him regain lost ground to trump and the latest polls to just

that marco rubio may be the only candidate to come out of super tuesday with a winning chance against donald trump urea let's take you to the democrats. hillary clinton hopes that momentum from her landslide win in south carolina can help her defeat her challenger -- you are going to see him here -- bernie sanders. the 74-year-old has strong support in five states and hopes to announce back against that bruising defeat from the former first lady. one of the big surprises is texas. richard walker is there. i asked how ted cruz is coping with a neck and neck battle with firebrand donald trump on his home turf. richard: that's absolutely right. ted cruz voted at the polling place a little while ago in he was asked for his attitude on exactly that question and he

implicitly said if he did not win texas, he would probably be on the way out. the way he put it was any candidate who fails to win their home state has big problems. he can probably be reasonably confident he will not face that dilemma because the polls in the last few weeks of put him pretty solidly ahead of donald trump, but you underestimate donald trump at your peril. one or two that of the last polls did put him very close on ted cruz's heels here. it will be very interesting to see the results in texas as they come in in a few hours time. brent: let's talk about the democratic side. hillary clinton, bernie sanders, most of the polls saying that clinton will definitely win texas. are we saying that it our own peril? -- at our own peril? richard: this year, making

predictions is a bit of a mug's game, but there is the sense that the early charge that bernie sanders showed in early states this year has lost a bit of momentum. also, it underscored how strong her support is, particularly among american ethnic minorities. many votes -- you have substantial minority votes. bernie sanders will lovably safely when his home state of vermont, but there is a sense that hillary clinton is getting very close to sealing the nomination. brent: all right, richard there for us in houston, texas. thank you very much. in germany, the country's highest court is considering should an extreme right party be banned? back in 2013, lawmakers in the

upper house of parliament moved to have the npd party designated as unconstitutional. it would be the first ban on a political party in half a century. reporter: safety precautions in front of the courthouse. those inside the courtroom are taking their own precautions, double checking to make sure they have a solid case. chef but we are prepared. we have used the last two years -- >> we are prepared. we have used the last two years wisely. reporter: this is the second attempt to the clare the npd unconstitutional. a previous attempt failed. they recalled agents ahead of the court proceedings. the npd has questioned this, but has not offered proof. now the npd is trying to project a less provocative image. during elections in saxony on

hot -- the city is almost empty. their chance of winning seats is low. but they maintain they represent the will of the people. >> if the people's elected representatives choose to ignore the will of the people, then one day the people will take it into their own hands. reporter: the party chairman only hits at it, but breaking the law and resorting to violence are part of the npd toolbox. many of the party members have criminal records. in 2009, the chairman described germany as "a jewish republic" and was sentenced to 10 years of probation. a former chairman was also sentenced for hate crimes and the suspected connections to a

neo-nazi terrorist group could affethey edited a neo-nazi group with "the fight continues," the first written evidence of the group's existence. seven of 10 murders associate with that group occurred after that message and the former in pd chief was -- mpd chief was accused of supplying the murder weapon. the problem cannot be solved with a legal ruling. >> whatever happens in the high court, it is society's job to fight against racism, anti-semitism, and xenophobia. reporter: the leadership has no plans to give up. >> if the proceedings are

constitutional, you are in will not be banned. of course, there is a plan b. there always is. but we will not comment on that until the time comes. reporter: its membership will keep trying to find new ways of spreading its ideology. brent: we want to take you now to france where authorities continue demolishing parts of the calais migrant camp. about two dozen people climbd on rooftops in protest, clashing with police to try to bring them down. the camp, known as the jungle, has been the home to thousands of migrants trying to reach britain. >> after two days of work, much of the jungle has been flattened. the french government says that work will continue calmly and methodically. that aid workers remain skeptical.

>> they said they would only tear down the huts that to not have anyone living in them, but now they have destroyed ones that were being used to. reporter: they are facing hard choices. many do not want to leave. some are already moving on to another improvised camp in nearby dunkirk. mohammed, a refugee from afghanistan, says he will continue his journey if he can. >> [indiscernible] a lot of people go. i want to try to go to england. reporter: the camp was also home to an estimated 300 unaccompanied minors. a handful of volunteers have been working with them, offering them basic education.

>> they should have appointed people to guide them. they should have appointed people to take care of them. and they didn't. not only that, in the presence of these minors they are destroying this camp. you saw children walking among the tear gas canisters. it was very shocking. it was inhumane. reporter: with further cold nights ahead, hopes are the french government can move quickly to relocate refugees. >> during the second day, they remained relatively quiet. earlier in the day, there had been minor scuffles with police. all of this was finished rather quickly. the french riot police came out in force. it seems that the work. is perceiving really quickly and the french authorities want to see this finished within a you days to avoid further -- within a few days to avoid further public embarrassment.

some of the refugees have stayed in this camp for more than six months or more and do not know where to go. some have been offered places in the container camp put up in place here, but others have said they do not want to go there. they still hope to somehow reach great britain, even though it is unclear how this could be done. and others say they do not trust the french authorities at all. they do not want to go to other parts of france, because they fear there they will just the taken back to their home countries without being able to stay either in france or able to reach britain. reporter: our correspondent -- brent: our correspondent braving the elements in france. could this be the turnaround she means? angela merkel's policy has gained popularity for the first time in months. a new poll shows her housing

back. it also shows an increasing skepticism a united european response -- which she championed -- can be found to the migrant crisis. reporter: german chancellor angela merkel and talks with the croatian prime minister on tuesday. she is calling for a joint eu effort on the balkan route being used by migrants. >> all 28 of us must decide together and decide what it means for each member state. reporter: europe has yet to agree on how to move forward. even so, the german chancellor is gaining support again in her home country. she has made up for the loss of confidence prompted by the refugee crisis. her popularity recently increased by eight percentage points to 54%. 52% of the german population feels that for integration to succeed, migrants should be

limited. only 32% of germans think a european solution to the crisis will be found. the other two thirds believe any hope of that has been exhausted. the steady stream of migrants is continuing cause for concern among germans. 76% fear it will increase the budget deficit. 71% are afraid there will be more competition for housing. and 62% fear it will lead to an influx in crime. but germans are also concerned about crimes against migrants. 83% are ashamed of threats made and attacks on refugee shelters. a large majority feel that the authorities need to do more to protect refugees. brent: the legendary rock band the rolling stones will soon be taking to the stage in cuba, as part of a seven-country latin

american tour. they took to twitter to announce the concert. the concert is expected to draw a huge audience. the stones will perform two days after u.s. president barack obama is scheduled to pay a visit to give up. we have a lot more to share with you on "dw news." still to come --"dw news" is at the geneva car show. and how the vw ceo is taking on the admissions scandal. remember that one? and you can always get "dw news" on the go. downloaded on google play or the app store. you can enable push notifications and you can send us photos and videos. we like it when you share. i will be back after a

62nd break and mariano will be here with the business news. stick around.

brent: you are with "dw news" live from berlin. time for the top stories at this hour. it is make or break time for u.s. presidential candidates. it's a chance for would-be republican and democratic nominees to secure a big chunk of the party delegates that they need to run for the white house. germany's highest court has begun hearing a landmark motion to ban a party. a ruling is not expected for

several months. our time now for business news. mariano rivera -- mariana is there with that. mariana: we start with volkswagen? that's right. six months after the omission scandal report came out, it is far from over. cars have been refurbished in europe and class-action lawsuits are looming in the u.s. what has hurt the company the most is the damage to his brand. sales in the u.s. continue to drop and in europe, they are damaged, too. we spoke to ceo midtier similar -- matthias muller at the geneva car show. reporter: whenever he appears in public, it is all about the emissions scandal.

can europe's biggest automaker recover from the disaster? >> i cannot say when the emissions topic will be over. we are working closely and constructively with authorities in europe and the u.s., so we hope the topic can be closed in the foreseeable future. reporter: the scandal continues to paralyze vw and the automaker is lagging behind the competition when it comes to electric cars or digitization. the real trendsetters aree toyota, mercedes-benz, -- >> dw is in a --vw -- vw is in a transition phase. and we still have a way to go. reporter: folks where can appears to be going for modesty to win back customer trust.

no ostentatious show here. this is an economical city car. >> volkswagen has to steer itself into two challenging directions. it has to clear away the clouds from the emissions scandal while introducing new tech. only that way can it assure its future in the auto industry. reporter: german carmaker opel, a subsidiary of general motors, is determined to become profitable again in 2016. it has managed to increase its u.s. market share by 7% last year. sales could be given a boost by his latest award. the opel astra was selected as the 2016 core of the year. that could be an important indication the automaker is back on the road to profitability. for now, the company is still

losing money. meanwhile, google says one of its self driving cars has hit a bus. the accident in the city of mountain view, california was described as a minor crash, but may be the first case of an autonomous car running into another vehicle. in an accident report filed in february, google said a lexus suv like this one was driving itself, when it's a laser sensor detected sandbags on the road. the car moved to avoid them and then stared into the approaching bus. the leader vehicle was going particularly fast of the time. it does raise concerns about the robotic car's safety on the road. the buzz is getting louder about a possible bidding war for the london stock exchange. news broke last week that the lse is in talks with deutsche

bursa in frankfurt for a possible merger. now it has been revealed the owner of the new york stock exchange is possibly making an offer for the lse. they say that they are only looking into the possibility and has not yet approached the lse board. it has until the end of the month to make a bid. our financial correspondent and frankfurt sent us this report on how the shares of the three companies were doing following the latest developments. >> the stocks of the intercontinentalexchange lost nearly 4% this tuesday, while shares of the london stock exchange gained, and also shares of deutsche verso were gainers this tuesday, and that is despite the new competition in the takeover story. many are concerned a deal between the americans and the british would likely face

objections from cartel authorities and european market supervisors are expected to favor a european deal. mariana: despite economic crises in many parts of the world, the german labor market remains robust. the number of people out of work fell to 2.5 million in february according to germany's labor agency. the labor -- the unemployment rate is at the lowest level since german unification. but a warning -- many war and that -- many warn that it could rise. and last year's gdp shrank by 12%. in 2014, the currency lost 70% against the dollar. and to make things worse, energy prices are increasing again.

the latest price hike could be as high as 25%. to cope, some households are trying to find innovative methods. >> the lights are still on in kiev's luxury shops as if nothing has changed. ukraine's billionaire oligarchs are shrugging off a third jump in electricity prices in a single year. most ukrainians are doing whatever they can to save energy. make a left -- michanikola had o come up with a new way to heat his home. >> the oven heats the whole house. it even goes through the ceiling. reporter: the adjacent wall becomes the radiator for the neighboring room while the old electric heater gathers dust. on average, ukrainians are just 180 euros in a month.

they can hardly afford the energy prices. making every penny counts, he is insulating his house where he his wife, svetlana, is alarmed by the price rises. not everyone in the ukraine can be as resourceful. the high energy prices are causing resentment across the country. >> i have no idea how we are going to afford this. reporter: the government is seeing how much -- >> the government is seeing how much we can take. it could trigger a third lie down. reporter: another major problem for ukraine. difficult for many ukrainians, internationally kiev has gained praise for its energy market reforms, especially in the gas sector. the times of corruption might finally be over.

mariana: that's a look at your business news at this hour. now back over to brent. brent: let's get you back up today with stories making headlines around the world. a u.s. judge has rejected a government bid to force apple to unlock the iphone in the san bernardino case. they want them to unlock a phone used by these san bernardino shooters. south korea's president says the country is not losing the door to dialogue with north korea, but pressure will keep rolling on the north, which faces fresh u.n. sanctions. the president made the remarks during independence day celebrations. stargazers in northern britain got a surprise monday night when a suspected meteor blazed across the sky. look at that. that's not lightning, by the way. local residents in scotland took

to social media to discuss the celestial spectacle, which was over in just a matter of seconds. if you blinked, you missed it. there it is. much like japan's growing and aging population, the nation also has a large number of aging pets. a lucky few are spending their golden years at a special retirement home just for canines. putting up an average sized hook-checked in japan will set you back $600 a month. you might as well pay for daycare. customers say it is a better option than putting their dogs to sleep when they get older sick. and with more registered pets than children in japan, the team at this doggie retirement center have a booming business on their cute heads. here's a reminder of the top stories we are following for you. make or break time for u.s. presidential candidates.

voting has begun on super tuesday. it is a chance for would be republican and democratic nominees to secure a big chunk of the party delegates a need to run for the white house. and germany's highest court has begun airing a landmark motion to ban a political party. in the lawsuit the state calls the extreme right npd party a threat to german democracy. a ruling is not expected for several months. we will take a short break and then i will be back to take you through a special edition of the day with complete coverage of super tuesday. stay with us. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

carlos: here we go. thanks for tuning in. you are in for a treat. we have a wonderful show for you today. so sit down and get comfortable. euro max highlights has just begun. back to the roots. white house hopeful donald trump and his german ancestors. flying high. venice's carnival queen takes to the skies. haunted house featuring a spooky castle in northern england. did you know that u.s. presidential candidate hopeful and reality tv star donald trump has german roots? his grandfather lived in germany before emigrating to the united states, and some distant