victory over the battle of mariupol. >> i consider the proposed the storming of the industrial area pointless.

there is no need to climb into these industrial facilities. pluck up this area so that not even a fly comes through. anchor: russian forces say they captured 42 villages in the donbas region. u.s. president joe biden has committed a $100 million in military aid to the ukraine. the support package will include drones. this comes as ukraine's prime minister visited washington. european leaders play to send more aid to ukraine. they also made a trip outside the capital. spain condemned the atrocity of

what they called spoons were on the streets. former funders presidentj juan orlando hernandez has been extradited to face drug charges. he denied charges. 21 palestinians were injured after israeli forces fired bullets and it used pepper spray to disperse them. there has been tension fueled by visits of ultranationalist groups. those were the headlines.

anchor: president macron and marine le pen go head to head on several critical issues. they both appeal to their bases. but who was more convincing? this is inside story. anchor: hello, welcome to the program. with just days to go, the french presidential contenders have held a televised debate. president macron and marine le pen are each trying to convince

french voters they are the right candidate for the job. but a lot has changed since they first went head-to-head in the 2017 election. ukraine is that war, the eu is in crisis after brexit and france is facing numerous challenges. opinion polls suggest president macron may have a lead, but it is a tight brace and anything could happen. we will bring in our guess in a moment. reporter: it did not take longer for things to become tense. soon after the start of the debate, emmanuel macron put the far right can dictate marine le pen on the spot by questioning her links to the kremlin. >> you were one of the first european leaders in 2014 to

recognize the annexation of crimea because you depend on the merchant regime and you depend on mr. putin. you took out a loan in 2015 from a russian bank. reporter: the presenter was called for, as the candidates disagreed over issues including climate change, education, immigration and beg european union. president macron believes the block should be stronger. the far right leader also said she would make it illegal for muslim women to wear the headscarf. president macron said such a more -- move would incite the civil war. >> i believe most young women who wear a have no choice. >> that france would be the first country of the world to

bennett religious symbols in a public space. that is what you are proposing. reporter: at times, president macron seemed overconfident, but he had the upper hand. leaving marine le pen looking frustrated or confused. she gained ground on some social issues, including health care. >> the reality is during your presidency it has only been crises that make you act. there have to be a pandemic to make you realize that health workers have been in a terrible way for years. reporter: a debate that is usually watched the millions of people. from fiery exchanges to theatrical flourishes, the debates are often highly anticipated. over the years, the

protectiveness and politics have changed, but one thing has remained constant. the person most widely perceived to have won the debate usually wins the election. voters will decide whether history will repeat itself. anchor: let's bring in our guests. jack, senior research fellow. in paris, our political analyst focusing on europe. in bristol, united kingdom, professor of french politics. welcome to the program. james, there is a prevailing sentiment that emmanuel macron was more convincing during the debate. but is this on its own enough for him to win the election? >> i think that is indeed the prevailing sentiment. marine le pen she needed to do

two things in this debate. she needed to do much better than in 2017 where she had a disastrous debate, peering bill compared and out of her depth. this she did achieve, coming across as much,, more serene, less aggressive. however, she did not have to her second objective. she needed to land some real blows to close the gap in the polls and she did not manage it. marine le pen needed a win. what we got was a draw or maybe even a win for emmanuel macron. i do not think the debate in that sense shifts the picture much. anchor: jack, anyone would be

looking for a moment that would be widely seen as a game changer. for many, that did not happen. does marine le pen have a chance to narrow the lead of emmanuel macron before the vote? >> no, i do not think so. she needed to challenge the president and she did not do it. instead, president macron was the one on the offensive. and marine le pen was on the defensive. she proofed her composure, but the debate showed she still is not really credible.

she did not appear more confident. anchor: do you think that she gave the impression to many people in france that she would be the right person to rule the country? >> no, and i think that is the right question that was alluded to. the way she performed, even though her posture was much calmer. she kept on looking at her notes. she had multiple moments where she was not able to respond to the president's level of expertise. on the other hand, i would say president macron, his posture

really missed the reinforcement of the prevailing picture amongst very french -- many french that he is arrogant and detached from the reality of what the french live every day. that is the risk i see on his side. definitely not a game changer, but i think a debate that if it was watched by somebody who was hesitant, maybe that is a voter that could have been convinced she is not in a position to rule the country. anchor: to what extent has the war in ukraine undermined marine le pen chances to win the election? >> this is trouble for her. her past position vis-a-vis

russia. she has done quite a lot to position herself, let us say by comparison to the other candidate in the race. marine le pen made a point of saying we will send a bus to pick some of them up. she has been trying to get on the right side of the street in that sense, but it is a problem area for her. her parties and did in this -- indebtedness to russia's bank. anchor: are we likely to see this race being censored on

issues such as immigration and islam and particularly marine le pen's position on the headscarf. >> regarding headscarf. marine le pen should have tried to attract the mail voters. president macron was quick to point out the issue of the headscarf. as he said, the country of the enlightenment would be the only country in the world to ban the scarf.

he reproached her for linking the headscarf with islamism and terrorism. and that is not right. she was on a week ground. the problem for her is the issue of the headscarf overshadowed all the other issues. maybe some people feel it was strong to say such a position would probably lead to civil war. that is what her supporters say. but on the whole, most people in france agree, her position is not right at all. anchor: marine le pen has

reinvented herself in one way or another, softened her stance when it comes to many issues. particularly the issues of the european union. particularly when she says she is open to a reform from within. has this been a very good point, selling point for sure? helping her build a robust support base over the last few weeks? >> it is interesting because if we take a step back and look at history, she has moved from calling for france leaving that you. -- european union. and just remaining euro sceptic.

she is trying to gain votes. she suggests a lot of the things are actually anti-constitutional in france and their not compatible with you law. -- eu law. anchor: if president macron was seen more convincing during the debate. however many still say he looks arrogant and elitist. is this something that could haunt him in the future? >> undoubtedly. this is his achilles heel. it goes all the way back to bigelow vest uprising. he finds it difficult not to exude arrogance.

he did it again last night. marine le pen went in having to have competence and composure. president macron had to underplay his natural tendency to look superior. he did not achieve that. this could come back to haunt him and i will say it will come back to haunt him. the problem is this is a runoff that the french did not want. they expected it. the polls were clear. when asked is this the run-up you want, the vast majority of respondents said no. the first problem is that there was a hunger in france for something different that is not marine le pen or president macron. president macron is likely to

win this election by default. he won by two thirds in 2017 through a mixture of his own talent and look and default. he is likely to win this one by default. that i think is a big burden for them to carry into a new mandate. i do not think he will be given much of a honeymoon in that mandate if he is reelected as we expect. anchor: jack, should not president macron be concerned? all of those who voted for the far right or far left candidate remained quite skeptical. they will not be able to forget anytime soon the lockdown. they will not forget the impression that this is somebody who has always been seen as friendly to the bankers and the wealthiest of france. >> i would like to tone down

what he just said. that could have been the impression given before. but after the first round of the election, president macron went to the people. he was in the heartland. where most people voted for marine le pen. today again after the debate, he has been within slapping distant of talking with everyone. you can see that he is ready to be challenged. marine le pen has been sheltered from any kind of position. she is always unfriendly ground, to consult these -- taking

selfies. these images are quite strong and undermine the acquisition of arrogance. president macron is somebody who likes to discuss with people come with anyone. he likes to be sure that he takes risks and that is something that people like in him. it is bravado as some would say. but i think it has been good for smh. his image has changed a lot over the last 10 days. anchor: has marine le pen saved the political discourse in france.

president macron himself had to reinvent himself to appeal to the people who support marine le pen. >> i would moderate it to a certain extent. on the issue of immigration and security, it has been a very important issue in the past and over the last couple of months. i would certainly agree that president macron have gone into that territory in order to be able to speak. the real issue that the french are concerned about is their purchasing power, and their ability to continue to maintain a certain standard of living. it is interesting to see that much of the public debate continues focus amounts to charity -- on security and immigration when the real

concern is purchasing power. anchor: when you look at the growing support for marine le pen and for the far right candidates in this particular election, this is leading many people to say if marine le pen does not win this election, most likely whoever leads the far right in the upcoming elections, five years from now, will definitely become the first far right president of france. >> i think there is a graph that points in that direction. if we think no, that is three of the last five presidential elections where the run-up has been contested by marine le pen or her father. she scored 34% five years ago in 2017. if the polls are correct and president macron wants, she will

have put on 10% to that score of five years ago. there was an inexorable logic that seems to suggest the tide is rising. part of the problem here is that president macron, partly through his doing, partly through the tiredness of the old pillars, those have collapsed. president macron stands on the centrist island surrounded by nothing but extremists parties and leaders. 50% went -- 58% went to extremist candidates. the problem is that unless something else comes along to

fill the gaps that have been created since 2017, my expectation is that this upward tied up far right and possibly far left, but it is to stop it from continuing? anchor: is it better to characterize this election is a race between two visions. one which is pure -- pro europe. one which has the potential to undermine many of the basic tenants of the french republican system? >> the new divide in france is no longer left or right. people who realize the welfare of france depend on the welfare of europe. you have two francis.

--frances. marine le pen represented the poor france. it is a bit like brexit camp and those who are looking back to the past. but i wanted to go back, i feel that it is not the extremist vote. yes, it will be very interesting after the election. the french political landscape is in tatters. i can see it happening.

anchor: this is going to be my last question. if president macron wins, will he have the same luxury to follow his agenda in the future, or do you think the political landscape will be forever changed in france? >> it will be whether she manages to get a majority in the legislature. and that will really be key to watch. apart from that, unless we have another crisis, which is

something we have to remember, he had to manage the covert crisis and the war in ukraine. the question on top of that is how does the french electoral party landscape evolve because as we have seen right now, the traditional mainstream are in tatters. anchor: thank you. thank you very much indeed for your contribution. in -- and thank you too for watching. you can also join the conversation on twitter. on behalf of the entire team here, goodbye for now.

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