campaign financing. the former french president accused of colluding with a public relations firm to create fake invoices. and romania's president said his country is in a political crisis. our master ministrations against the government continuing.

saying early elections would just make the matter worse. we will go to bucharest later in the program. first, a u.s. appeals court is set to rule on the legality of donald trump's travel ban. lawyers for the president have been arguing that the ban on travel from seven mainly muslim unlawful is an exercise of the presidents authority and the restrictions are aimed at muslims. the ban was temporarily halted after a judge in washington deemed it unconstitutional. i washington correspondent has just stepped out of a white house briefing with more on that now. philip, what is the view from the white house as we await that ruling? the white house still

sounds pretty confident it will prevail. in a few hours time the oral arguments will be heard at the ninth circuit court of appeals. a career attorney will be there for the justice department, the essentiallyrtment representing the presidency here and the executive order that was signed by president trump just over a week ago at the pentagon. you set it at the top, the white house firmly believes that the president, in this case, donald trump, has the authority to decide who gets to enter the united states and who doesn't, especially when it comes to matters of national security, and that, according to this administration, is the overarching team and the reason for this executive order having been signed in the first place. the white house and also optimism on behalf of those who managed to stay this executive order, the travel and immigration been in the first place and the states of

washington and minnesota brought the stay in the first place. they are helped by quite a few other court cases that could possibly happen in the following days or weeks. it all depends on what happens in this appeals court. in just a few hours time we will hear oral arguments. we don't know whether the judges will come to a decision straightaway but we know there will be three judges listening to the oral arguments, two of them having been nominated by democratic presidents and one by a republican president. in other words, another reason for democrats and the left to be a little bit more optimistic going into the next round of the appeals process. remember there could be a few .ore rounds still to come the supreme court might well be where this whole executive order in zap. laura: and it -- where the executive order ends up. >> betsy devos will now become

the education secretary. veryter: and for extraordinary reasons. what we saw today in the senate in the vote for her confirmation of education secretary is something we have never seen before when it comes to the nomination of a member of the cabinet. it was a crawl between senators -- between republican democrats -- republicans and democrats, draw.g -- it was a 50-50 the tie-breaker had to be mike pence, donald trump's vice president who gave the deciding vote to betsy devos, who will be confirmed as the education secretary in just a few hours time here at the white house. she is the most controversial because democrats decided to essentially gang up on her and decided she would be the one they would be able to stop. democratsicans joined in opposing her but in the end, that was not enough.

still the same situation we were predicting when all of the cabinet nominees were first announced i president donald trump. he will get the cabinet he wants . betsy devos was the one who was in a little bit of doubt but she has now made it through as well today, meaning that everybody -- donald trump will have the cabinet he announced when he was voted in and these were all cabinet nominees that he announced at the beginning. donald trump's america first policy has been winning him few friends abroad, but no one expected china's to start giving the united states lessons in democracy, but that's exactly chinesepened when one person chose to lecture donald trump. >> it's an extraordinary lecture in democracy from chinese judge

to donald trump. he has left to the defense of jobs -- judge james robards after donald trump criticized him for blocking the ban on twitter. derided him as a so-called judge. response, the judge posted this on a chinese social media page, calling trump an enemy of the rule of law and saying-- bein a country claiming to the most him a credit on the rule of law, for the president to lead the charge in scolding judges makes him no different from a bully without dignity. >> think the important thing is whether the chinese judges will .ive up to what they say if they do, it's not a bad thing at all that a country like china can have a justifiable grounds

to say that the americans are doing not quite as well. >> as criticism mounts against trump, china is hoping to solidify its diplomatic ties. a foreign minister met with his australian counterpart in a visible push to show unity with australia. he also played down rumors of possible tensions with the new u.s. administration. >> any sober minded politician can clearly recognize that there cannot be a conflict between china and the united states because both will lose, and neither side can afford that. tense timecomes at a in australian american relations. this after donald trump abruptly ended a heated phone call with the prime minister over the two countries refugee resettlement deal. france, a judge

has ordered nicholas carr so -- nicolas sarkozy to face trial on illegal campaign finance. election bid in 20 tell. he said he will appeal the decision. will be the second former french president to face trial. nicolas sarkozy will have to answer to judges in the so-called pig malia in case. he is accused of illegally funding his 2012 presidential campaign. french investigators say that a public relations firm allegedly issued fake pills to sarkozy's party -- fake bills in order to hide the fact that his campaign had exceeded the limit on spending. investigation revealed that 18 million euros worth of fake bills were issued, bringing sarkozy's campaign financing to nearly 50 million euros, twice the legal limit.

acknowledgeave knowledge existence of fraud and false accounting and one of sarkozy's party members resigned in may 2014. one of the magistrates in charge of the case says sarkozy did not heed warnings from his accountants about spending too much, but sarkozy has denied being aware of the alleged financial fraud. name alongearned the come after the presidential campaign. >> the trial will focus on whether or not sarkozy was aware of the fake invoices and whether or not he played a hand in the fraud. ,3 others will also face trial including sarkozy's former campaign manager. if found guilty, the former french president could face a year in prison. laura: the president of romania said his country is in a full-fledged political crisis. hundreds of thousands have been

protesting every night for a week, demanding the government that down on plans to suffer the penalty for corruption. it's the biggest show of public unrest since the fall of communism. today telling parliament that the majority of people in romania thought the country was going in the wrong direction. he did stop short of calling for fresh elections, saying that would only make the matter worse. our correspondent is there in bucharest. what is happening on this seventh straight night of protest? bucharest, the number of people protesting the government, were talking about who are requesting the government to step down, to anothernd make room for and whois less corrupt

in their opinion will do more for the country. the interesting part is that three kilometers down from here we have another protest organizing in front of the presidential palace with around 2000 people participating this evening who are supporting this government. so for the first time after the communist revolution in 1989, romania is divided between people who support the president and the ones who support the government. laura: and of course the president has been pretty vocal in these protests. earlier he addressed parliament. he has ruled out fresh elections. how is that news likely to be received? reporter: he stated very clearly that he doesn't want fresh elections. he wants this government to take responsibility for what it is doing, to protect the democracy and ensure economic development

of romania. also he mentioned that the social democrats, they won the parliamentary election last november with a huge majority of more than 60% of the vote, but one month after the elections, they have disappointed the people who voted for them and that's why the president made very clear and appeal to them to stay on board the program to govern the country. laura: thank you very much for that report from bucharest. internationalng condemnation after a new law that legalizes thousands of outpost built on private palestinian land, the latest in a series of pro-settler steps taken by israel's government since the election of donald trump in the united states. today, the paris palestinian president said it

was a violation of international law. simon harding has the story. >> it's a decision that has sparked outrage, condemning a controversial law that retroactively legalizes israeli settlements built on palestinian land. many see it as a continuation of the illegal colonization of palestinian territory. they're confiscating land and expanding settlements which makes it harder for us to have land to live on. there will be ghettos and a part -- apartheid state for us on palestinian land meant for a palestinian state. it gives the settler's license to embark on a land grab and to steal more land with full impunity. >> the decision was passed in the israeli parliament and has attracted heavy criticism from the international community.

the u.n. resolution at branded settlement building in palestinian territories as illegal and stated they were flagrant violation under international law. since donald trump's inauguration as u.s. president, israel has accelerated plans to develop the colonies. now palestinians want the international community to take byisive action, a few echoed palestinian president mahmoud abbas. we will work with the international courts to preserve our existence and our land. attack on our sovereignty and we asked the help of the international community. >> israel's actions clearly go against the u.n. resolution passed last december but is still unclear what sort of influence the u.n. will have no that israel is fiercely protected by the new u.s. administration. afghanistan, at least 20 people have been killed in a suicide bombing at the supreme

court in the capital of kabul. there's been no immediate claim for the attack. the latest target -- to target the country's judiciary. many suspect the taliban or at islamic state group. u.n. says civilian casualties have reached a new high with over 3000 people killed in 2016. our correspondent has more on today's attack. reporter: i was able to speak to a health ministry official who said at least 21 people, including nine women, or among those killed. at least 42 people are injured, including nine women and two children, most of those killed and injured or employees of the .upreme court in afghanistan several top female judges, lawyers, and prosecutors, and that in itself is a huge blow because that was an investment over the last 17 years. level,a very human another mother has lost a son.

we heard a medical university student was among those killed that spoke of becoming a doctor in helping afghanistan. our these attacks show us constant security and intelligence failures in a culture of impunity where the government does not transfer or sack those officials who are , whong to do their duty are failing to keep the people in kabul safe. been to mortarve attacks close to somalia's international airport as the country prepares for wednesday's presidential election. fears of violence by out to bob have already delayed the vote several times and somalia has not had a fully functioning government in 25 years. soldiers thousands of fan of costless emollient capital of mogadishu. group have prompted

closing the airports and impose .raffic restrictions residents are skeptical that these measures will prevent a terror attack. >>'s security forces have closed all the roads to tighten the capital security, but it's not enough. i can see some security lapses and anything could happen. some, security fears are secondary to the accusations about buying and selling graft that has earned somalia the dubious title of the most corrupt country in the world. --'s amaga does not elected leaders by popular vote. the mps will decide which of the 22 candidates will become the next president. elections have already been delayed four times.

as mogadishu struggles to recover from a recent spate of al-shabab attacks. >> it's their purpose to prove that whatever is happening on the battlefield, the large majority of the country, i'm not saying all the country, is wanting to move in a certain direction. >> the incoming president is said to have the edge, but is in no way guaranteed to win a second five-year term. laura: get some visits news for you -- some business news, kate moody is back in the studio. growth aftern to years of job cuts and strikes. prices of raw materials are rising, leading to more upbeat

mood at the annual conference in cape town. quick south africa's mining sector has been hit by years of plunging prices. now the price of commodities like iron, copper, and 10 is on the rise. it has created a sense of optimism among investors and mining firms gathered at cape town's mining conference. >> i think the global outlook for africa is improving. the same time i think the outlook for the mining industry is improving. improving not maybe to the extent that we enjoyed in the last decade, but compared to the conditions that existed two or three years ago. 2012e aftermath of the mine shooting and frequent later a labor strikes has created volatile climate, exasperated by slumping prices. now the world bank forecast says the worst is finally over. due to strong chinese demand and tightening supply. they predict the price of metals

will jump by 11% this year, a boost for many countries. story whole africa rising really arose out of the last boom in africa. if there's another commodities boom, that will be potentially quite transformational for african economies. >> some warn against over optimism. >> companies have gone bust, a lot of had to merge or retrench. evil are very wary. >> the industry makes up 7% of south africa's economy, so the us and downs of mining have a direct impact on south africa's growth. but the new draft of the country's mining charter slated howe published next month, the government, businesses, at minor see the future of the industry will once again be up for debate. >> six gulf countries are preparing to introduce a new value added taxes early as next year.

they hope to begin imposing of 5% levy on some goods by next january. the start date could be delayed by about a year if they need more time. many oil-rich countries have been trying to diversify their economies and bring in new revenue. slow oil prices continue to slow regional growth. >> i don't think there's been any major shift but if you look , it started before the drop in oil prices. very efficient plan in place and if you look at what we've achieved in the last few years, it will reflect that. >> we've been seeing both the nasdaq and dow jones industrial average heating new record highs on wall street, since the

earnings that are driving today's trade are among the top gainers. the dow hit 20,155 and the nasdaq at a record 5680. a mixed picture in europe, paris dragged down a little bit by bnp paribas. moving on to other business headlines, workers at general motors will receive their highest ever bonus checks of up automaker after the reported booming sales in north america. the company said its overall netted clone -- net income fell but still beat expectations of over $9.4 billion. volkswagen is considering a cap on executive pay and bonuses to help restore its image after the emissions cheating scandal. the issue will be on the agenda at a board meeting later this month. some executive receive

evenmillion euro payouts after the dieselgate affair was revealed. the solar energy is responsible for one out of every 15 new jobs created in the u.s. last year, according to new figures from an industry group that pushing back against the trump administration's plans to roll back tax incentives for the solar foundation is asking the white house to recognize the potential of green energy both on the environment and the u.s. labor market. --er a two-year down downturn, tourism and france's rebounding. the number of international visitors at the end of last year surpassed figures from 2014. 56.3 million tourist registered across the country. >> a positive trend for tourism in france. freshly released data show arrivals by three point -- up by 3.9% in the fourth quarter of 20

-- 2016, indicating an approval over the previous year. but it's not all good news for the french tourism industry. overall numbers for the year as a whole show a decrease of 1.3%. the tourism sector has taken a beating since a series of terror attacks struck france two years ago, and once again last summer in the coastal city of nice. ans been attributed to increase in mainly european arrivals. tourists from belgium, switzerland, and spain came in record numbers in the last quarter of 2016. there was a decline of 3.4% for tourists coming in from across the channel, as the british pound lost value against the euro post the brexit referendum. a drop in the number of chinese and japanese visitors will likely have industry officials on edge as france tries to reassure asia -- a rate -- reassure asian tourist the country remains a safe

destination. >> pairs is hoping to lure more tour is back with its bid to host the limbic games in 2024, but the campaign is facing criticism for its slogan, made for sharing. a group of french language purist have launched a petition calling for campaigning in the native language rather than english. not a trademarked phrase, so doesn't inherently cause any legal problems. it has raised questions about the originality of the paris olympic bid. and some question what that has to do with the olympic games. it's making me think of the

slogan they used to try to your british bankers to paris. goodbye to the fall, say hi to the frogs. thanks very much, kate moody. we're taking a short break.

qwueeewep@1@1pxxxxxxvp

02/07/17 02/07/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> betsy devos nomination is very personal to many people who live in michigan because betsy devos is from michigan. and her vision of education and her actions have, unfortunately, played a major role in undermining our public schools. amy: the democrats launch a 24-hour protest on the senate floor in a last ditch effort to block the nomination of trump's