line. and talking migration. syria and military cooperation. francois hollande and david cameron have been keeping cross

channel relations friendly despite talks of a brexit. france announcing plans for a military drone. thanks for being with us. we are going to start off with a ,ew insults, "a phony, a fraud without the temperament to be president." the stinging attack against donald trump from one of his own party members, mitt romney, calling on people to shun donald trump. mitt romney: this promises are as worthless -- his promises are as worthless as a degree from trump university. [applause] catherine n.: that message has not gone down well with the

property tycoon. mr. trump: he failed horribly. he failed badly. that was a race, i have to say, folks, that should have been won. i don't know what happened to him. he disappeared. and i wasn't happy about it, i will be honest, because i'm not a fan of barack obama. and that was the race that i backed mitt romney. you can see how loyal he is. he was begging for my endorsement. i could have said, mitt, drop to your knees. he would have dropped to his knees. catherine n.: just a snippet of what mitt romney and donald trump have said to each other -- about each other today. more from philip crowther, who is on the campaign trail. mitt romney coming out all guns blazing to try and pry republican support away from

donald trump. how much sway does he have with the voters? hilip: he was, after all, the chosen candidate in 2012. we will have to wait and see what kind of impact these words by mitt romney will have. donald trump will remind voters of this. he eventually ended up being a loser of the 2012 contest. that's why there is a question mark about the impact mitt romney has in the republican party establishment. what he is is a member of the republican party establishment. that's what he was chosen as their candidate and why he got there. full 2012 -- he got their support in 2012. calling donald trump "a phony" -- strong words indeed. the whole ticket from 2012 has been critical of donald trump today, including the vice candidate, paul

ryan, now the speaker in the house of representatives. he has criticized trump and said people should not be voting for him. there is also the presidential candidate on the republican ticket from 2008, senator john mccain, who says he has serious worries about donald trump. this is precisely what we were expecting. this is the republican party establishment calling on republican voters to shun donald trump as much as possible. catherine n.: donald trump has already spoken out in maine about what has been set against him. there is another candidates' debate heading our way. down to just four candidates now. what are we expecting later on? philip: we say this a lot that it is the last chance for the other candidates to criticize donald trump on stage, but this is another one of those, this republican presidential debate, this time in detroit. donald trump is the clear front seven ofw having won the primaries during super tuesday and three beforehand.

standing on his left and right will be marco rubio and ted cruz to attack him head-on and in the public eye before republican voters go back to the polls. there are some crucial contest coming up -- contests coming up. the biggest one of all, florida. that is marco rubio's home state. if donald trump gets that one away from marco rubio, he is on the clearest path possible toward the nomination. you will see a lot of attacks on donald trump on that stage, this time in detroit, michigan. catherine n.: we will come back to you, i'm sure, for reaction on that. thank you so much, philip crowther. looking to the middle east now, in iraq, the army is continuing wo-pronged offensive against the islamic state group. offenses have been moving north

toward the militant stronghold of mosul and west toward solutia fallujah. we have this report from anbar province. reporter: gunfire and panic at this checkpoint. these soldiers had just crossed -- have just crossed the borders of the refugee camp, escorting the bodies of their fighters who died on the front lines. they are on their way to baghdad. the head of their unit, the major, takes us to the battlefield. on the way, he explains what happens. >> the engineers moved up with bulldozers to create an opening. when we got there to build a protective embankment, they went over a mine. reporter: the major first access to an outpost that overlooks the fallujah plain.

the whole battlefield is visible from here. the men are about to fire a mortar shell onto a position held by the islamic state organization. did you hit the target? >> yes, we hit it. fullback by 200 -- pull back by 200. beinger: this outpost is used to sell islamic state positions which are 1.5 kilometers away -- to shell islamic state positions which are 1.5 kilometers away. the objective this time is to retake the city. we move closer to the combat zone. fighters have entrenched themselves along a long line. there are regular army units and groups of city volunteers. trucks are loaded and ready to move forward. reinforcementse

who will help hold positions we have taken over the last twoday -- the last two days. >> then god we took several zones yesterday. -- thank god we took several zones yesterday. we held our positions and we are advancing onto fallujah. reporter: iraq's forces are holding ground. they are trying to force the jihadists into defensive positions. they are preparing for what they hope will be a decisive push to retake fallujah. catherine n.: joining us live in baghdad with more on the situation in iraq. we have just seen a report regarding fallujah. how is that part of the iraqi army's mission going? reporter: they are really trying to cut the city off from the roads to mosul, in order to

block the jihadists inside the city, in order to make the final push. but what they are doing also at the moment is they are trying to a city thaty -- is north of baghdad. they are moving forth quite strongly there. the prime minister was there today on the frontline. they are also trying to surround this city before the final push. is big problem in the city that civilians are still inside the city. they are trying to open quarters to let -- corridors to let the civilians out of the city, so that they can get the assault to drive the islamic state organization out. catherine n.: looking at another significant city that was retaken by the iraqi army in december, ramadi, what kind of state is it in right now? ramadir: to be honest, is complete we destroyed.

we were there a couple of days ago. most buildings are destroyed or at least very damaged. the city is completely mined. the bomb squad of the iraqi army are working 24/7 juice -- to try to secure different parts of the city. they control the center and the southern part, but there are pockets of islamic state resistance up to the north of this provincial capital. they are also working at driving them out. the big problem is now it is a ghost city. absolutely no civilians are living there at the moment. the big problem now is to secure the city enough to put public services back in motion, such as electricity, water, also to manage to make the houses that are still standing livable, so that these people come back. because ramadi is in a dire state at the moment. that's what they are really working on right now. catherine n.: another big question is lingering -- about

lingering political tension over who is actually going to run the city going forward. james: absolutely. that was a question today at a conference where most of the shoot me -- the sunni sheiks were present. haider al-abadi, the prime minister, was there and he addressed them. said they wanted this, this, this, and he was responding to their reque sts. course, the balance of power now has to be changed in order for the situation not to replicate. this is the big question. who is going to rule ramadi? the authorities in baghdad have already said it will be a sunni shake -- sheikh.

the question is how is that going to work out. there is a lot of power brokering going on right now. theking ramadi has changed momentum in this war against islamic state, and now it does appear that the iraqi forces, the program that forces are stronger than -- the program dad -- the pro-baghdad forces are stronger. catherine n.: thanks so much, james andre, reporting for "france 24" from baghdad. in europe, a warning for potential economic migrants -- "do not come to europe." tusk delivered that message as he met with the greek prime minister in athens. take a listen to what the two men have had to say. pres. tusk: i want to appeal to all potential illegal economic migrants. wherever you are from, do not come to europe.

do not believe the smugglers. do not risk your life and your money. it is all for nothing. greece were any other european any other greece or european country will no longer be a transit country. the schengen rules will enter into force again. tsipras: greece has already undertaken a burden that is disproportionate to its powers, but our response to this crisis has been immediate. and this does not regard our obligations vis-à-vis the european union, but it mostly regards our duty towards our own principles and our own culture. for 10,000 or more migrants already gathered at the greece-macedonia border, there is still no clarity on the way

ahead. macedonian officials are allowing just a few hundred of territory each day. the numbers may be small, but it is leaving those migrants with folks they may be allowed to cross next. dupuis isy -- aurore at the border. upore: thousands are queuing to eat the only meal of the day. migrants are helping to prepare the meal. some 10,000 migrants are still stuck at the macedonian border has greece -- in greece. they are very hungry indeed. some of them have been here for two weeks in the cold, waiting to go through the border, to continue their journey through the balkans route. behind me is a group of local chefs from greece who drive every day one hour to cook for the syrian migrants to help them out. take a listen to one of them. >> we can cook up to 3000 portions day in this kitchen.

today, we are cooking lentils with rice. we hope that, at some point, the border will open so that we can meet everyone's needs. it is humanity above all. we want to help those in need, because we are all human beings. aurore -- >> i'm waiting for my turn to eat and then we are hoping to cross the border. we have been stuck here for eight days, in the rain and the sun. we are hungry. >> the lines are very long and we are old. we need to eat. i have blood pressure issues and i need special meals. : faced with an increasing number of migrants and refugees flooding into the border, humanitarian aid workers say that they are struggling to feed them. the u.n. says that the humanitarian crisis is looming and that overcrowding could lead to thirst, water, and sanitary shortages.

catherine n.: was it propaganda and scare-mongering or a realistic assessment of what might happen if the u.k. leaves the european union? one thing is for sure, there is probably every action by france -- there is plenty of reaction --france's economic minister the economy minister. the french president has somewhat backed up emmanuel macron's promise at the summit held today in a particularly significant location, as claire williams reports. claire 100 years ago, british and french: soldiers fought side-by-side in these fields. britain and france are holding their 34th annual summit close to the old battlefield in northern france. top of the agenda, the migrants camped out in and around kelly who are trying to reach the u.k. is who arecala

trying to reach the u.k. cameron: ther money will go towards efforts to move people from the camp in calais toward other facilities in france. towill fund joint work return migrants not in need of protection to their home countries. re: cameron also said britain's borders would be more secure if the country stayed in the eu. as french authorities continue to dismantle parts of the jungle camp in calais, france police, bound by european border agreements, patrol the area to stop migrants from jumping on lorries and crossing the channel to britain. hollande said there would be consequences if britain left of the eu. hollan this won't putde: won'ts. hollande: this

put in question the historic relationship between france and the u.k., but there will be consequences in terms of how the migration is handled. france is trying to convince migrants to apply for asylum in france. both countries have agreed to meet -- make the process of transferring them to the u.k. easier and faster. catherine n.: the two men also announced they are going to be funding a 2 billion euro project to put into operation a special military drone. let's get some more info on this announcement with a specialist in these matters. he is joining us live from london. this drawing is described as a multiuse unmanned aircraft. what does that mean? what is it for? >> essentially, the idea is that it will be an aircraft that will be able to penetrate to carry

out reconnaissance, get target information for other aircraft, or to potentially conduct --rikes against what is the: interest for france and the u.k. in joining together on this project? haveance and britain both historically very strong aircraft manufacturing and design capabilities. there is a move towards stealth aircraft, u.s. manufactured stealth aircraft. both the u.k. and france fear [indiscernible] so, this project is partly to be able to maintain that capability

within your -- europe. catherine n.: we are told that this is going to be 2 billion euros, but it will only be operational 14 years from now. that's an awful lot of money to spend on one weapon that won't be in use until 2030. isn't there some scope for this to be shot down, if you will excuse the pun? >> it is certainly a lot of money up front. on the other hand, i would caution that any military aircraft program, your looking at -- you are looking at [indiscernible] and probably longer. longer than a decade from signing agreements [indiscernible] dominatert market

[indiscernible] the timescale itself isn't necessarily outside of the norm, given that it will require a and given that it will be flown unmanned and potentially very autonomously. there may be someone telling the aircraft what to do before a mission, then it goes up by itself. catherine n.: we will have to wait and see. london.oining us from we are going to move on now with business news and markus karlsson. the clouds perhaps gathering over volkswagen once again. we are still talking about the

diesel emissions scandal. markus: volkswagen has some fresh questions to answer this thursday. remember,, as you may admitted back in september that 11 million diesel cars had been rigged to cheat on emissions tests, but they admitted that former chief executive martin winterkorn had been informed about the issue as early as 2014. vw says there is no indication that he had read the note. it says that senior managers simply did not understand the seriousness of the problem. mark thompson has more now on a scandal that simply won't go away. mark: the geneva motor show, an opportunity for volkswagen to put on a united front. but whichever way the company turns, the commission scandal seems to fall -- the emissions scandal seems to follow. >> no one is going to find out about this. >> thank you. mark: the comedic stunt was not the only pr embarrassment that

the german automaker suffered this week. volkswagen admitted former ceo martin winterkorn was sent e-mail in 20 detailing how some vehicles were producing 35 more times nitrogen oxide emissions than allowed. company says there is no evidence winter quarter -- wint erkorn saw the message. it took almost another year before the company admitted to u.s. regulators that it had used so-called "defeat devices" in its diesel devices to allow vehicles to pass industry tests. it is not just both writing -- just volkswagen's image that has been hurt. some analysts suggest the initial -- eventual figure needed could be more than double the current amount. fell, at leastts partly due to the emissions scandal.

the impact has spread to other carmakers. >> there is, without any doubt, a tendency to moderate developments in diesel, because we realize there is an issue of trust, which was created because of all these incidents. : volkswagen postponed the release of its financial results last month. it accounts for almost 1/4 of the european car market. markus: the u.k. car industry remaining initain the european union. 2/3 of the members in the u.k. are backing continued membership. a brexit could be risky for both trade and business. bmw owns rolls-royce and mini. british businesses remain divided on the issue. more than 200 boxes of smaller companies have written an open bossesin favor of -- 200

of smaller companies have written an open letter in favor of a brexit. the crackdown on tax evasion paid off last year. tax authorities uncovered tax dodging to the tune of more than 21 billion euros. officials say they collected an extra 12 billion euros, almost half of it from big business. delano has more details. it is in this office where auditors from the french finance ministry have been hard at work. -- uncovered a record 21.2 billion euros in tax fraud, 2 billion more than the previous year. >> our job is to recheck what has already been audited. o: 500 auditors were charged with tracking multinationals. say, is no longer right to as we sometimes read, that large multinational tech companies manage to evade taxes.

as i have said many times before, in france, we don't have any sweetheart tax deals. it is the fiscal law, the whole law, and nothing but the law which applies. delano: value added taxes represent about half of the fiscal fraud in france. so far, the state has been paid about 12 billion euros, more than the budget for the french justice and culture ministry. despite the record, its estimated tax evasion costs france up to 80 billion euros per year. markus: looking at markets in the united states, they had edged higher in the past hour. investors are waiting for direction, perhaps, from the monthly u.s. jobs report from february, which is coming out on friday. in your earlier, the major indices closed to the downside. -- in europe earlier, the major indices closed to the downside. moodys cut its-

outlook for the pharmaceutical sector. there are warnings that latin america's biggest economy is on course for a deep recession. brazil's economy shrunkñaw=>>q

03/03/16 03/03/16 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! dothese laws have nothing to with safety. these laws are simply about stopping women from accessing the constitutionally protected rights to abortion. amy: the supreme court takes on its most significant abortion case in a generation. texas abortion providers are challenging provisions of a sweeping anti-choice law passed in 2013 that has already shuttered about half of the state's roughly 40 art