the main lines of his political program. finance is high on the agenda. need to invest and spur growth and create the conditions for true economic and social mobility. he wants to create a universal benefits system for those seeking work with better checks and balances. macron wants to also overhaul the pension system to make it fairer without changing the retirement age during his five-year term. education and culture were a key concern as he promised to create 5000 additional teaching positions and allocate bonuses of 3000 euros to teachers working in business -- working in disadvantaged areas. you -- he wants to limit 12 pupils per teacher. the independent candidate responded with a program that

will seek 10,000 additional police officers, 15,000 extra places in prisons. he also wants to increase military spending to 2% of gdp. as allegations of corruption cast a shadow over this boat, macron warned against tarring all officials with the same brush. >> we will prohibit any member of parliament from taking on outside consulting work, whoever that member of parliament is. it is impossible to build republican legislation while also depending on funding from outside interest, that is, while being paid from a third party. that is also why we will push through reform that will prohibit mps by employing france or members of their fat -- employing friends or members of their family. reporter: the center-right

rival, francois fillon currently at the end -- currently at the center of a scandal. it is estimated he would be national front leader marine le pen and a second-round runoff. meanwhile, things have gone from bad to worse for conservative candidates francois fillon. he is five points behind macron in the polls. police reportedly raided his paris home this morning and more senior staff have quit his campaign. reporter: another emergency meeting at francois fillon's campaign headquarters. the party bigwigs not talking. fillon's former finance minister had this thought. >> it is between him and the voters now. , theter: but, for fillon bad news gives piling up. one day after announcing he would stay in the race despite

in approaching judicial investigation, many key supporters are abandoning ship. thursday, his former campaign manager publishes letter of recommendation -- letter of the nation. -- letter of resignation. the defections keep coming. partyeputy from fillon's demands to withdraw. >> he went on the evening news and said that if he was put in an investigation, he would drop his campaign. now he knows that investigation is coming and he has to keep his word. wednesday,ince nearly 30 elected officials said they would no longer support the center-right primary last fall. >> at this point, we need a candidate who is totally dedicated to the residential campaign.

reporter: his closest supporters circle the wagons. -- we support him. not onlys to support to help him win but to head off the menace that threatens the country. march in support of him is organized for sunday in paris. laura: far right candidate marine le pen is facing legal action herself. she is under investigation for the dissemination of violent images. she retreated brutal images of islamic state executions in 2013, including the decapitated body of journalist james foley. reporter: with a show of hands, marine le pen loses her parliamentary immunity. >> i think the result is clear.

a large majority is in favor of lifting immunity. reporter: a blow for the presidential candidate. she is using her twitter account to share several violent images from the islamic state group, including the execution of an american journalist. le pen was summoned by the investigating judge but she refused to attend, invoking her parliamentary immunity. here in france, the public prosecutor's office has been requesting that her immunity be lifted. now that it has, the case can move forward. she is being investigated for publishing violent images, which can carry a 75,000 euro fine or even imprisonment. however, the lifting of her immunity is specific to her tweets. it does not apply to the ongoing investigation over whether she

misused european parliament finds. of paying several national front party staff members as parliamentary assistant, allegations she denies claiming they are a plot to derail her campaign. meanwhile, she has refused to attend police interviews regarding this case. people in northern ireland are voting to choose a government for the second time in 10 months. it was called after the resignation of former deputy prime minister martin mcguinness. ireland, the government must be run by irish nationalists and unionists together. make anfail to agreement, the power returns to the british parliament in westminster. egypt's top appeals court has acquitted former president hosni mubarak of killing protesters

during the demonstrations that led to his downfall. spentrmer strongman has most of his time in a military hospital. reporter: hosni mubarak may be bedridden. the former egyptian president could soon be walking free. the ailing 80-year-old is airlifted from a military .ospital in cairo after an all-day hearing, mubarak is declared innocent of his alleged involvement in the killings of nearly 900 protesters. the verdict is the final outcome of a battle that began after the uprising that ended his rule. mubarak was first put on trial in august, 2011. >> i deny all the charges completely. reporter: in june of 2012, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

the court conducted a retrial, dismissing the murder charges two years later. >> the court has ruled that he is innocent. reporter: the public prosecutor appealed, paving the way for a final retrial. the case is now closed. the court rejected the victims being able to open civil suits. on a separate corruption theging january, 2016, appeals court upheld a three-year prison sentence for mubarak and his three sons on corruption charges. but the sentence took into account time served. both his sons were freed. ofra: in iraq, hundreds civilians are fleeing mosul. the u.s. says 28,000 people have been forced from their homes since the operation to liberate the western part of the city

began a week ago. in mozilla with the latest -- in mosul with the latest. reporter: war continues its progression through mosul and its outskirts. fear and sadness. >> my son waited so long for this day, for the army to save us, now he is gone, daesh killed him. >> they have left everything behind, including relatives. many resort to any available means to ease the burden. axiingehicles are also t displaced locals to say places. it is a short journey from here to the neighborhoods these residents hail from, but it is a perilous trip. >> we go to the armored

vehicles. them, weightit in walk next to them. reporter: after living under his rule for more than two years, these residents of mosul are finally able to escape. this used to be one of the main entrances to the self-proclaimed , mosul,e, and the city where they proclaimed that caliphate. this entrance has now become an exit where thousands are fleeing. claiming thatis the syrian army has now seized full control of the city of palm era from the islamic state group. russian troops moved into the city yesterday. reporter: a french company has

admitted to using unacceptable measures to keep its cement plants going in war-torn syria. allegedly paying protection money that may have ended up in the hands of the islamic state. more on the consequences of the decision to stay in syria after the outbreak of war. reporter: the world's largest cement maker embroiled in a scandal over financing terrorism. the french-swiss company has admitted that, between 2012 and 2014, it paid armed groups in itsa so that could keep cement plant open in the northeast of the country. the company says it can't be certain of who actually received the money. in a statement, the group said in hindsight the measures required to continue operations at the plant were unacceptable. the $680 million cement plant

was inaugurated in 2010. just the following year, the war in syria broke out and lafarge decided to keep the plant open. for thepaid middlemen safe passage of its employees, a sentiment kept up when the islamic state arrived in 2013. according to a newspaper, forrge paid the islamists permits like this one. then, in september of 2014, they shut down the site. after the revelations last june, the french government and ngos filed complaints and a preliminary investigation was opened in october. lafarge also says they are unaware of being explicitly named in litigation. for that reason, they don't expect a downturn in their nearly 6 million euros in annual earnings. the united nations has

been denied access to the where tensemeni city of thousands of people have been displaced. they had been under siege for over a year and the residents have been suffering under severe shortages of basic supplies. laura: blocks from reaching people in desperate need, the u.n. humanitarian chief has been blocked access to the city. >> my convoy was denied passage at the last checkpoint. humanitarian efforts to reach people in the once again thwarted by parties to the conflict. reporter: a stay, residents have to cross mountains ground to fetch water and rice. risking crossfire, it is the only route they can cross through. the east and mountaintop district under rebel control, the city center by loyalist forces. >> people were sick or injured, that is what is happening. we fled and left all that we

own. how could we stay there. made of lord deliver us and those who died. reporter: it has been under blockage by the uzis -- by the houthis for more than a year now. 7 million people require emergency food assistance in yemen including nearly half a million children suffering from malnutrition. laura: u.s. president donald trump says he has total confidence in his attorney who has jeff sessions, been accused of lying under altering his confirmation hearing. during that hearing, mr. sessions said he had no contact with russian officials during the campaign. he now says he spoke with the russian ambassador to the united states in july and september.

reporter: standing his ground, u.s. attorney general jeff sessions says he will be involved in the probe under alleged ties between russia and the truck campaign. >> if it is appropriate, i will recuse myself. reporter: he met with the russian ambassador twice last year while he was still in advisor to the trump campaign. during his confirmation hearing, sessions said he had no communication with the russians, but the former senator slightly altered his line of defense on thursday after the u.s. justice department confirmed the meeting did take place. sessions: i have not met with any russians at any time to discuss any political campaign. the white house stood by sessions saying he met with him in his capacity as senator and called reports part of an attack against the

administration. several democrats of called on sessions to recuse himself and name an independent investigator to oversee the probe. some have even said he should step down as attorney general. schumer: because the department of justice should be above reproach, senator sessions should resign. it would be an alice in wonderland quality if this administration were to sanction him to investigate himself. reporter: the scandal has begun to fracture the republican camp. ohio senator rob portman and house majority leader rob -- majority leader kevin mccarthy are among those who say he should recuse himself. laura: the winners of the 22ndval parade in the victory. it is their first since 1984.

reporter: they have gone 33 years without a crown. -- then joy.up the poor tell a group -- the group, despite being the most successful group in the carnival's history, in recent years they have lost out to competitors. the long-awaited victory felt like a homecoming. >> i am speechless from all of the excitement. we work well with a lot of love and dedication and it turned out great. a spectacularas dance with an ecological message about protecting brazil's rivers. their show recalls one of brazil's worst environmental disasters, the 2015 collapse of

a dam that killed nine people. worked totesters create a sensation of running , giving they shimmy them just enough points from the judges to get victory. laura: a quick reminder of our top stories. the friends presidential favorites emmanuel macron has unveiled his -- the french presidential favorite emmanuel macron has unveiled his policy proposals, also saying he will clean up corruption in politics. admitting the cement company paid money to the islamic state group. lawyer hasa's top been accused of lying under a. attorney general jeff sessions said he did speak to russian officials despite telling the senate that he didn't. let's get some business news.

tell us all about snapchat. it is having a big day on the stock market and making its debut. the question is, is it really worth the hype? reporter: the holding company of , have seen their shares soar since they began trading on the nasdaq hours ago. currently trading above the $17 targeted which means we could be heading for evaluation of about $33 billion, higher than the $24 billion that was targeted. is sending the app to the very photos or snp -- or snaps. there is of course much more we haven't quite discovered yet although some of the people that know about it -- young users are more than half of the 58 million daily users.

the question is, can the company keep up or is the snap bubble destined to pop? >> it is best known for its but thereng messages was no chance the cofounders would escape the spotlight after making a big splash on the u.s. stock market. they were on hand to ring the opening bell at the new york stock exchange on thursday. snapchat, has a loyal base of 158 billion daily users, setting up to 2.5 billion messages per day. the company has yet to turn a profit. >> people want to buy the dream. buy into theant to next google, facebook, microsoft

. that is why these companies are able to price their shares about really any metric that is justifiable. >> the act faces a big challenge in mays larger rivals lose out to facebook and instagram which have already adopted some of snapchat's most popular features. toof those people move on facebook and instagram, then suddenly all this growth potential is gone. and suddenly used are looking at a twitter type scenario, which has last -- which has lost half of its ipo value. >> the hard work is only just about to begin. >> snapchat may be skyrocketing but that hasn't translated into broader gains for wall street. the major indices have dropped into the red. the dow jones is still trading above the 21,000 benchmark which it broke for the first time ever

on wednesday. the s&p down half a percentage point. the nasdaq down about 1%. european stocks took a bit of a breather earlier, ending slightly underneath the flat line. saw its sharest rise. announced plans to cut its exposure to volatile energy prices. the recent inflation in the eurozone hit 2% in february, just above the european central bank's target rate. it is largely the result of rising energy prices. the ecb has been pumping about 80 billion euros per month into the economy in an effort to stimulate growth. while these are seen as positive signs, analysts say they are not enough to reduce the bond buying program ahead of schedule. a french ridesharing app has been suspended after a court

ordered its founders to pay nearly 500 euros -- 500 million euros in fees. it is based on individual, not special drivers, who want to make extra cash. itself asrm describes part of the sharing economy rather than a transport operator. it only operates overnight. cofounders say the judgment is not the end of theri -- of their app. >> it will be complicated but we decided to suspend service for a couple of days or weeks. .e want to reaffirm we continue to work abroad,

belgium, sweden. passengers. the service is very important for them. we have great technology, a great team. i hope we can continue to help people to enjoy their life. >> the american right helen hailingly -- ride service lyft looks to make money and benefit off the controversy surrounding its competitor uber over the recent weeks. laura: a new trend in japan is stirring up controversy. in citiescan be found around the world but in tokyo, owl cafes are the latest rage. people come to play with or pet the birds.

they are often tied up by their feet to prevent them from flying away. animal activists say they are increasingly concerned about the owls' welfare. they are calling for more oversight and better treatment, with perhaps the closure of these cafes. at least five establishments have popped up in the japanese capital. i just learned as i was recharging this story -- researching the story that the owl is considered a symbol of good luck in japan. laura: they are also very wise. we are taking a short break. much more after this.

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03/02/17 03/02/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >'s editor, i am not aware of any of those activities. i have been called a a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign, and i did not have medications with the russians. amy: attorney general jeff sessions is facing calls to resign over failing to reveal to senators two meetings he had with russia's top diplomat in