presidential race. pointing to ans outcome few would have predicted. the independent centrist candidate is for the first time -- first time forecast to win round one. until now the polls have put le pen in the lead. conservative party candidate francois fillon is embroiled in a deepening financial scandal, placed third in the polls as he comes under fresh pressures to drop out of the race altogether. a string of closest advisers and backers have designed, took theg alain juppe helm. >> his campaign is run rather lay -- is unraveling. becoming the latest to resign.

but to 70 members of fillon's campaign team threw in the towel. urging him to withdraw his bits. on wednesday he received a court summons. his allegations he paid wife and children for fake parliamentary jobs. the former prime minister is still sitting tight. >> seven days a week, 24 hours a day, the new scoop machine is always grinding. the rumor machine never sleeps. at i am telling you i have no intention of giving up. hoping -- he has so far remained tightlipped. but more and more close aides are rallying behind him. he would get first place with 25.6% of the vote in the first round.

but if fillon doesn't withdraw drawters say he would fifth, eliminating him from the race. fillon looks increasingly isolated. rally organized by supporters on sunday looks set to be fast. anchor: the u.s. president donald trump is continuing to defend his attorney general jeff amidons, who is under fire allegations he met russian ambassador twice. he denied any such content from his confirmation hearing. session is no big forced stay out of the inquiry into allegations moscow metals into the 2016 presidential election. we can speak with david smith in washington. tell us what the president is saying about this particular issue. david: donald trump is staunchly

defending jeff sessions, who was the first senator to endorse him for president. a real loyalist. trump says he's an honest man, he's a victim of a witchhunt, as he describes it. the one thing he did concede is perhaps jeff sessions answer could have been more accurate when he testified at the senate hearing about contacts with the russians. standing byrump is him and saying the bigger picture here is the democrats are still reeling from their election defeat, still somehow trying to find an alternative explanation. is he wental policy on the defense and hit back harder. anchor: he's heading to florida for the latest weekend in florida, he will be at his ranch there. he must be hoping this whole issue is going to blow over. how likely does that look?

>> it seems unlikely. -- russia club question is a darkening cloud and it just won't go away. we saw that this week where trump gave his first address to congress. it was pretty well received, --n some of his critics there was real hope in the white house that maybe they can reset and relaunch on a better note. or two later and suddenly it is an golf in scandal again with these revelations over jeff sessions and many unanswered questions about russia. some people are comparing it to , aergate and richard nixon constant trip drip of fresh revelations.

that did take a long time, well over a year, but it did bring nixon down. trump's critics hope this will go the same way as investigations continue. anchor: jeff sessions meeting -- he is by noei means the only person in the trump administration we know who with theirect contact russian ambassador, is he? emerged trump's son-in-law, jerod kushner, was present in the meeting with the russian ambassador and michael flynn, who of course has already been fired of national security adviser for giving misleading information about his contacts with russians. some other trump campaign aides were in direct contact with the ambassador. these are various pieces in a jigsaw.

can claim this shouldn't be seen as extraordinary or newsworthy, it's pretty normal for various diplomats and ambassadors to seek out members of potential incoming government. -- that is not us not going to satisfy democrats who are calling for a special prosecutor to look into trump's ties with russia and an independent commission along the thes of that to investigate september 11 attacks. anchor: thanks again. a contentious travel ban on seven majority muslim nations. the executive order was knocked down by the courts and a second order has been delayed. number ofme, the people leading the united states -- leaving the united states and

crossing the border into canada is on the rise. reporter: this pakistani family hopes making -- hopes they are make in the walk to freedom, from the u.s. to canada. >> we are afraid. scared of deportation. always need is to cross the border, that's it. reporter: they are among the hundreds who traveled for miles to cross here. the migrants no crossing the hill get them arrested by canadian police. worried they will be deported back, they hope canada will bring them asylum. the migrants are not always muslim, but the anti-immigration stance concerns them. >> maybe we could have stayed in the united states. but given the situation with trump, we don't want to stay here.

>> they can only apply for asylum in canada if they don't come into contact with u.s. authorities. the canadian police believe microsoft and can -- have been given information in their country. >> most of them are running away from other events in their country of origin. is thathave noticed there are agencies that explain to people how to get here. >> a number of migrants on the road to canada shows no sign of falling. anchor: foreign ministers of germany and turkey have a queue to meet next week. ties soured after a turkish minister was blocked from addressing in a desperate addressing a rally. hand additional powers to present erdogan.

and turkey's nationals could prove pivotal in that vote. >> a row has erected between ankara and berlin over the cancellation over to turkish rallies set to take place in germany. they were set to feature turkish governor -- turkish ministers in attempts to woo the roughly 1.5 million turkish citizens living and voting yes in favor of increasing presidential powers in a referendum to take place in april. officials say their event was called off because they didn't have the resources to cope with the numbers expected. authorities canceled their rally because they said they felt misled about the nature of the event. turkey saw things differently. it accused forces of working for a no vote and issued a threat to berlin.

>> if you want to maintain your relations, you need to learn how to behave. you cannot tackle these with these methods. they cannot go on this way. we will retaliate without hesitation and then you can think about the rest. this is our message to germany. >> the german government says it was not involved in these decisions as all -- decisions at all. >> the decision was taken by municipalities and we applied freedom of expression in germany. i also think it was right for us to criticize any restriction. >> merkel and her government have a difficult balancing act. , such is issuing demands as the release of a journal list. tois also counting on turkey

stick by a deal to tackle the migrant crisis. iraqi forces remain locked in an operation north of the country aimed at liberating areas from the city of mosul. this phase of the operation began two weeks ago, but in a new development the red cross says a number of people amongst them, children have been ofpitalized, showing signs exposure to chemical weapons. it is not clear who is responsible but the islamic state group is reported to have used chemical weapons in the past. we can speak now to a spokesperson for the icrc who joins us on the line from the iraqi capital. just how many people are understood to have been next -- have been affected by these chemical weapons? , three our children

-- n we cannot confirm who is responsible for the attack. our main concern is for the people who were affected. these are civilians. -- one of the children -- in addition to all chemical substances also has a head injury and fracture. we are making sure they are ok. they have been decontaminated. it -- being treated inside. they are well trained. indication as to what chemicals might have been used in that attack? >> it is very hard to determine.

optionse a couple of that some of the experts are saying. up to now no one has been able to determine. in addition to what they have seen, very harsh. a lot of them who came in were coughing. and they are kept under monitoring. onthe icrc has a major job its hands there with the humanitarian situation and and around mosul. a warrior teams prepared for the eventuality that there would be a chemical weapon used in that area?

>> we put this as -- more than a month ago. in addition to two other medical facilities. especially during the operations in eastern most so. patients can bt contaminated -- can be decontaminated. this is when our team was in the hospital, and they have received -- the patients have received

decontamination since then. have -- ow they [indiscernible] anchor: thank you so much for that update. the spokesperson for the icrc in baghdad, thank you very much. let's turn now to news from around the world. player hasadrid died. the man they called a napoleon of football was the first french player to win -- he was 84 years old. simon harding has this report. >> he was regarded as the first andnd of french football, was the first frenchman to win int walls greatest prize

1958. his early career was marked with difficulties. he worked in the mines, a job which gave his -- later in life. time in the north of france where we didn't have any option but the mines. those were three difficult years where i worked 100 that's why worked in the ground and in the dust. and attacking midfielder, his illustrious area started in 1951. he stayed with them until 1956, reaching the final of the -- toan cup which paved the spanish giants. my greatest achievement was my moved to madrid. you need to get used to the lifestyle. to play for a team like madrid,

though sacrifices were worth it. copper would become the first abroad.layer to move in 1958 he was named best player of the world cup, surpassing another legend. was the one who modernized the game and changed things. madrid at a time when it wasn't easy to play here. he will forever be part of the history. >> and inspiration, and idle, he was also a pioneer, introducing to change, becoming the first footballer to transition to business, opening up his own clothes brand. closed on this extraordinary man who dazzled innovation, and his avant-garde approach to sports.

anchor: it's time now for a check of the top business news stories. the u.s. federal reserve showing signs it is going to raise interest rates and perhaps soon. >> for the last decade america central bank has only raised interest rates twice. was lifted.rk rate the u.s. economy has been getting stronger. u.s. unemployment is steadily low end inflation is creeping low the -- is creeping closer to the feds 2% target. has given allen clearer sign yet that the bank will win d to at its next meeting. >> we currently judge that it will be appropriate to gradually increase the federal funds rate if the economic data continue to come in about as we expect.

indeed at our meeting later this month, the committee will evaluate whether employment and inflation are continuing to evolve in line with our expectations, in which case a further adjustment of the federal funds rate would likely be appropriate. >> investors have been watching the fed fairly closely. chairs have rebounded slightly following those remarks. the nasdaq just flat there. the dow jones just a smidge under the flat line there. it is still trading around that 21,000 benchmark to cross the first time ever on one stay. indices didmajor report their best weekly reforms. , it ended on the week friday's session up two thirds of a percent. the big star of thursday's trading days continuing to soar.

the parent company of snapchat rose 16%. it was launched on the nasdaq on thursday. it is up about 10%, trading at $27 per share. $17 thatompared to the was initially targeted. and video messaging cap was valued around 33 billion dollars, despite never having turned a profit. what thatt you know valuation is at at the close of wall street next hour. now to international creditors, continuing talks whether to release the next bailout payment. the greek government gave in to demands for more on pop or austerity measures and reforms, but sticking points are made, notably on the issue of jet relief. in french prime and mr. was athens to offer support and encouragement. >> the last visit this week was

a friendly one. the french government has backed its greek counterpart amidst bailout talks. prime mr. alexis tsipras -- the latest talk over greece's braille -- over greece's bailout ongoing in athens. >> the results of the reforms undertaken come of the efforts made are there. they are spectacular. they should be furthered, of course. >> greece has achieved better than expected results on its primary budget surplus. 3.5% to is to reach approve its finances. creditors want to bring in tax reform so more people would pay income taxes. creditors say pensions should also be reviewed and lower it. greek government

hoped to avoid as the population feels it already has made enough sacrifices. the imf says greece should also get debt relief, something germany has resisted so far. reach aks want to long-term agreement. >> it will be a decade after the program. greece's debts must we reduced. and so like rhys's reentry to the markets will not need support. >> the preliminary deal needs to be reached by march 20 when euro zone ministers meet again. moving on to other business headlines. 20th century fox has notified the european commission of its $14 billion bid for full control of sky. that means eu regulators have 30 days to make a pulmonary ruling on the proposed deal. uk's culture secretary said she had potential concerns about

broadcasting the standard the merger goes ahead. battles lost a legal that could see a lose drivers in the u.k.. the service was trying to stop transport regulators from employing newom rules that would require drivers to pass an english-language test. uber argued that the standard of reading and writing was too high. having adequate liquid skills was a safety issue they said. amazon said its web hosting service was knocked off-line earlier this week by simple typo. dozens of websites that rely on amazon's technical cape -- was affected.city one of its data centers bugged when of command was entered incorrectly and restarting the server took longer than expected. nintendo has released its latest gaming costs hope it is a hybrid

of the home plug-in consul and a handheld device. the japanese firm hopes it will be a big enough success to reverse the sliding fortunes. >> braving the cold for a chance to get their hands on the newest nintendo gaming console. went on saleswitch early friday morning and supply was limited. had onlytronics store 300 units available for the first day of sales. travel longasts distances to make sure they were among the first to try the new toy. >> i couldn't sleep last night. i'm very excited. >> the switch is a big gamble for nintendo, which faced slumping sales following the failure of its last consul. selling only 13 million copies.

the company is looking to turn its luck around with this new gaming system, a home consul and portable device. >> some would say nintendo trying to kill two birds with one stone and the could land in the middle and not really catch any of the target group because they are not satisfying either of the target groups. >> the stakes are high for the switch to be a hit. nintendo's annual sales have been falling for years and there is steep competition from microsoft and sony, which scores huge sales. >> some exciting action there. thank you very much. i'll be back half past nine. don't go away.

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03/03/17 03/03/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> i have decided to recuse myself from many existing or future investigations of any matter relating in any way to the campaign for president of the united states. amy: jeff sessions has recused himself from any investigation into the presidential campaign following reports he met twice with russia's ambassador to the u.s. at a time when he was serving as both a senatod