laura: i'm laura cellier a. the top stories this hour. president -- françois fillon is accused of using public funds to pay family members for doing nonexistent jobs. on erdogan whock setting up a diplomatic war with europe ahead of a referendum at home. lateillions affected as a winter snowstorm slams into the eastern coast of the united states.

thousands of flights canceled and a state of emergency is declared. ♪ laura: first, with 40 days to go until the first round of the french election, the candidate who was once the favorite to win has been placed under formal investigation for corruption. appearing before a magistrate today, françois fillon was accused of misusing public funds during his time is prime minister. denies any wrongdoing and has attacked the media and the legal system over the timing of the case. >> six weeks before election day, troubles are piling up for françois fillon. french magistrates have now placed the conservative candidate under formal investigation. he is suspected of misusing

public funds by paying his wife penelope and children for jobs, despite a lack of proof the actually did any work. according to several french media outlets, fillon told judges that the reality of his wife's work was undeniable. was backafter, fillon on the campaign trail. >> in this presidential campaign , i can tell you i'm quite happy to be here. >> making matters worse, fresh allegations of corruption in the newspaper, accusing to his children of paying tens of absence of euros to their parents. they earn the money working as legal assistants for their father, despite questions about how much work actually did. earned 40,000 euros 2016en october 2005 and

she allegedly transferred 33 paris -- 33,000 euros into her parents account. according to a lawyer, she was paying her parents back for her wedding that took place in 2006. in january 2007, her brother started tolon also transfer 30% of his monthly salary into his parents account. his lawyer lames the money was to cover rent and spending money given to him by his parents. the scandals have been especially hurtful for fillon who built his campaign as a clean-cut, family oriented man who would/public spending. laura: it's a boost to the other candidates including green le pen. here she is earlier this afternoon speaking to "france 24 ." if people have made up their

minds, a formal investigation will do little to change their opinion. we may finally get. about something else, immigration, society, security. the french people have made up their minds about fillon, the man who paid himself as having contract -- traditional, conservative values. him for thedge disparity between him and she wanted to portray and the reality. the route between turkey and the european union has taken another turn for the worse after banning dutch diplomats, the turkish president erdogan accuse the netherlands of being behind the worst massacre on european soil since the second world war. he was talking about the 1995 massacre when dutch peacekeepers failed to stop the slaughter of 8000 innocent men and boys in the former yugoslavia. he slammed the eu for siding with his own member states.

>> and new verbal onslaught from turkey's president. despite calls for calm from each officials, he hardened his tone, leveling fresh insults at germany and the netherlands. this time he called them bandits states who were harming the eu. >> europe is too important a continent to be abandoned to the mercy of bandits states. he accused the dutch of being behind the slaughter of 8000 men and boys. >> we know how right in their character is, from the massacre of 8000 bosnian's there. is unprecedented slurs have provoked outrage and rush -- in european capitals, days before dutch voters head to the polls. erdogan first last out after

series of rallies were canceled across germany and the netherlands this weekend. in rotterdam, fighting broke out in front of the turkish consulate after officials barred a plane carrying the country's foreign minister from landing. on monday, turkey retaliated by cutting top diplomatic ties with the dutch. dispatchingeen ministers across europe to convince ex-pats to approve aprils referendum. a yes vote would give learned and sweeping new powers. germany's interior minister has ofurs -- accused erdogan playing the victim to win more votes. he's put ankara on guard, saying his patients had run out. laura: dutch voters will head to the polls on wednesday. the party of the far right leader is expected to come second in parliamentary elections with the center-right holding on to its slim majority. talk of immigration has dominated the campaign and mainstream politicians are warming -- warning of a domino effect in the wake of brexit.

in amsterdam, the financial district of the dutch capital is expanding. the netherlands economy has been growing for 11 consecutive quarters. unemployment is at a five-year most of the population is still planning to vote party with positive results. >> there optimistic about the future. it's about 35% of the dutch population, usually with lower education, who are favorable to the other party. demographic is the one he is targeting when he promises to cut taxes and referendum on leaving the european union like the one organized in the u.k. within any other campaign issue, that segment of the population is interested by the far right's plans on immigration or whether

the slashing -- or rather, the slashing of immigration. [indiscernible] they are coming here with no education and no work experience and wanting money from the government. >> you can imagine what a mess it would he in the zoo if all the cages were open. that is what is happening currently in europe. all the borders are open and anyone can come inside. another major campaign issue is the anti-islamic sentiment in the netherlands. the far right has repeatedly attacked islam, prompting hostility among some against the religious minority. dutch muslims are estimated at 5% of the population. showing for extremist parties could worsen attacks against them. there is already a reported increase in recent years.

laura: let's go to amsterdam. i'm joined by a political analyst based there. thanks for being with us tonight. as we heard that report, feelings are running high over this election and it is rare for the whole world to be watching an election in the netherlands. that ayou explain country with such a history of tolerance and inclusion such as the netherlands as a candidate who wants to close down mosques and banned the koran. how do you explain that? the story is really exaggerated. longsaid, there's a tradition of religious tolerance.

catholics and jews were celebrated everywhere. laura: gay-rights, drug decriminalization, the netherlands have been at the forefront of these issues. it is tolerant as long as you are dutch. seen that against islam in holland it is really nasty. is really nothing new. laura: are there legitimate concerns about immigration in the netherlands that have not been talked about by the mainstream parties? and that lack of discussion has buildersdoor for because he's the only one who is talking about it.

>> it will take a long time. it is happening, actually. be here inestion may holland, most of the people live in amsterdam. the rest of the country is a bit empty. if you travel the rest of europe , it is really empty compared to amsterdam. and at this time of economic fears, the dutch economy is actually doing pretty well. theployment is falling and economy is doing well. the kind of figures most countries in europe would be envious us. -- envious of. >> when you look at the economic figures [indiscernible] a negative,have comment. -- toxic

economy.w, modern it's not the economy that was there in the 1980's and 1990's. considering the figures, you might expect it to be smoother, actually. laura: we will have to leave it there. thank you very much indeed. the worst man-made disaster since the second world war. that's how the u.n. commissioner for human rights has described the situation in syria. it follows yesterday's report by unicef's claims a record number of children were killed in the conflict last year. tomorrow, the country marks another grim anniversary. the war will enter its seventh year. it began with a crackdown on antigovernment protests in march of 2011. six years later, the syrian war has claimed more than 320,000 lives.

the entirennocents, country has become a torture chamber. a place of savage horror and absolute injustice. as the conflict injures its seventh year, this is the worst man-made disaster the world has seen since the second world war. reporter: an independent u.n. report found the syrian government guilty of several war crimes, including use of chemical weapons, cutting off the water supply around the , damascus, and delivery bombing a school in october. the u.n. also said the group allied with the rebels as well as u.s. backed kurdish groups were responsible for recruiting adolescent. on monday, the u.n. charter relief agency reported that 2016 was the worst year on record for syrian children. over 650 were killed in the conflict just last year. 850 were recruited by armed groups and forced to join the fighting. the u.n. commissioner accused the syrian government of waging

war on its own people and suggested that russia has been complicit. they have pushed back hope for and into the senseless carnage and for the alleged international criminals to go to the international criminal court. governmenthe syrian has repeatedly denied accusations of war crimes. the u.n. rights counsel has made allied russia called a waste of time. is nowin most, fighting focused -- fighters are trying to slow down the army's advance and civilians have been streaming out of western cities. as many as 600,000 civilians are caught with the militants inside offl which has been closed to the other territories still under islamic state control. a quarter million people were killed and tens of thousands

went missing. columbia is trying to move on from decades of four with marxist insurgents. ae country will set up special war crimes tribunal to try former rebels. those who confess to their crimes will be able to avoid jail. therter: it has been called backbone of colombia's peace process with farc rebels and now it has been approved by the senate. lawmakers have voted in favor of a constitutional reform called the special jurisdiction for peace. the commission will be -- a truth commission will be set up in the unit to look for missing people and crucially, an independent or crimes tribunal will be created. farcorporal prosecute rebels but also paramilitary civilianshe army and for other crimes like drug trafficking. the maximum punishment will be a years and it will not include prison. allowuth commission will

defendants to avoid prison altogether in exchange for confessions. the colombian government signed a historic peace deal last year with farc members am ending over 50 years of conflict and aiming to integrate rebels back into society. but it has been fraught with discord. over 7000 rebels have begun handing in their weapons and moving into temporary camps under u.n. monitoring, but authorities complain that have been too slow to disarm. rebels accuse the government of not providing adequate shelter, food, and clothing. there are also concerns about how the government will finance this promised a, education, and protection of farc rebels from right-wing paramilitary groups. schools are close and thousands of flights of been canceled after late winter storm hit the eastern coast of the united states. the weather is so bad, state of emergency has been declared. new york, new jersey, and pennsylvania have been affected and is called german chancellor

angela merkel to postpone her trip to washington. she will now meet president trump on friday. jessica has the latest from new york city. the snowplows out in forcrce here in new york city. some 5000 of them are trying to clear the streets. there is a state of emergency here. new york is among many states affected by this winter blizzard in mid-march. 18 million americans are affected. here there is a state of emergency. that means people are advised not to go out into the streets unless completely necessary. the subways are still working but pretty much everything else is closed. schools are closed today and the airports here in new york city still close. been canceledave tuesday wednesday and it's expected the snowfall will continue for about seven hours. .t's not as deep as expected

it's quite painful to stand under. there braving the cold for us in new york. let's get the business news, kate moody is in the studio. close look atken how pound sterling is reacting to all the action on brexit. it hit its lowest levels in about two months since theresa may promise to hold a parliamentary vote on brexit. that was the weakest the pound has been since the brexit referendum in june. you can see has recovered slightly but is still down about .5% against the dollar at 1.2 16. overall the pound has lost nearly 1/5 of its value against the dollar since june. most analysts eight is likely to fall still further as the proceedings get underway. i asked a senior currency strategist how low she expects the pound to go. >> it's dropped an awful lot since last june.

there was a huge amount of negative news in the price. starting continues to be a vulnerable currency, based upon the uncertainty, the direction of the brexit negotiations could take, the level that sterling could fall to depends on a number of parameters. the french presidential huge bearing on the outlook for the euro. and the dutch elections can have a big bearing on the eu, the immigration crisis if that raises its head again. in the u.s., we have a lot of uncertainties connected with ismp's fiscal and protection policies. the outlooks for the federal reserve central bank, these all have an impact and they could all have bearing on how much sterling does fall against the dollar and against the euro, but certainly sterling does look vulnerable right now. currency has weak

given a boost to british exporters. is that something you expect to continue as long as the pound stays weak, or will it ultimately prove to be bad for business? grexit has been a boost to exporters. we have seen that in the economic data. that can continue for at least two years. weather continues after that depends on the type of trade pact the u.k. manages to negotiate with the eu, but of course there are costs to other businesses. that is largely in the form of import prices. the price of commodities, for instance, is denominated in u.s. dollars. depending on what sort of business you are, you could be benefiting from the weaker pound or perhaps it is a cost to your business. and there are other costs, what we've begun to see now is a number of eu workers begin to take off in the u.k.. potentially that could lead to labor shortages and if it does, that is likely to effect sector such as agriculture, hospitality

as well. and some other businesses such as health. the could all increase inflation u.k. consumers are already feeling. the london ftse closing down about .1%. industrial production also expanded lesson expected which slowed trade down a little bit. in the u.s., investors are focusing on the political and on the federal reserve's policy meeting which has begun in washington, despite that snowstorm hitting the northeast. the central bank is expected to hike interest rates for only the third time in a decade. not too much of a reaction ahead of wednesday -- wednesday's announcement. the s&p down about .3%.

oil prices dropping as opec set inventories had risen despite a production freeze. it is best known as a technology and electronics giant, but toshiba's investments in nuclear power are threatening to drag down its business. the japanese firm has once again delayed releasing its earnings as problems with westinghouse intensified. toshiba is considering selling off its majority share. toshiba's financial woes deepened. the japanese company said it will once again delay the release of its latest earnings report, citing an ongoing investigation in its u.s. branch, westinghouse. the firm also said it was aggressively considering it options as it grapples with a multibillion-dollar financial maelstrom. >> one of our biggest challenges, from our foreign business. were looking at a potential sale of westinghouse.

>> the cell would be the latest in a series of drastic steps taken by toshiba to cope with an upcoming $6.3 billion write-down for its nuclear business. bystems from its purchase its u.s. branch westinghouse of a construction company at an inflated price. toshiba warned investors in december it faced heavy losses linked to the deal. since then, shares have lost over half their value. to offset the damage, to shiva put its prized memory chip business, which it values at $13 billion, up for sale last month, the first ceo also denied reports that was contemplating filing for bankruptcy for its u.s. nuclear business. other business headlines, volkswagen is not ruling out potential merger talks with fiat chrysler. the embattled german carmaker appeared to do an about-face since dismissing the possibility last week.

also slashing compensation of senior executives by 37% in the wake of the emissions cheating scandal. the bank of england's new deputy governor has quit before she even got the chance to start. she hadport showed hidden the fact that her brother worked at one of the bank she would be regulating. she said she was wrong for not declaring her brothers senior role at barclays. -- yahoo! chief executive to marissa mayer is expected to be out of a job when the company is bought by verizon. she set to take, record $23 million in severance pay. she will continue his head officer until the two companies sealed the deal. thomas mcinerney will take over as for director. the show that made the world of advertising seem cool, madmen has hit real-time success.

it will be launched by the company itself. use the artwork as billboards in new york city as well as some publications and across social media. you can see why you ask their. as slightly seen controversial book as it did not show the iconic heinz ketchup bottle. the fictional heinz executive said it only looked like happen at, although the real-life heinz people 50 years later seem to be more enthusiastic. it's something of a pr stopped, i would say, but not a bad day for don draper. laura: thank you very much there with the business. taking a short break. stay with us, much more still to come. ♪

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03/14/17 03/14/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> these cbo has reported the republican bill pushes 24 million people out of health cacare. this is remarkable figure. it speaks eloquently to the cruelty of the b bill that the speaker calls an act of mercy. 24 million.

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