essentially, he needs the support of nicolas sarkozy.ven though he came third in the primary, he still has a lot of influence in the party. what is difficult for franÇois . what is difficult for franÇois fillon is that he had indirectly criticized sarkozy through the campaign to get the candidacy. he said, could you ever imagine general de gaulle being indicted? in other words, nicolas sarkozy has been indicted. he is now going to have to do an about turn. he is launching -- lunching with him behind me today. there was another man who will be coming here later today. the man tipped to be the prime minister if sarkozy were to go ahead as the candidate. that is no longer the case, but some are suspecting that he could be drafted in as a vice presidential type figure llon's ticket. so there would be a clear replacement if the scandals do get worse. nicolas sarkozy mica -- might ask for one of his lieutenants are close supporters to be tacked on to the ticket. needing the support of nicolas sarkozy and those loyal to him. genie: james, thank

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 campaig

nicolas sarkozy is expected to appeal a magistrate's decision that he stand trial. that is amidst claims that he illegally financed his 2012 reelection bid. . high-stakes legal battle rulepeals court is set to on president trump's travel ban, which is currently suspended. in reaction to a new law passed by israel's parliament which legalizes dozens of jewish outposts in the west bank. tom: thanks for joining us. pariseveloping story in -- the judicial source says a magistrate has ordered nicolas sarkozy must stand trial. to answer allegations that he illegally financed a 2012 reelection bid. that was a bid that ultimately failed. overspending on the campaign trail as well as funding irregularities are among the allegations. from 2007 toice 2012. he could face one year behind bars. france 24's claire williams joins us now on the set. tell us what is the latest you are hearing on this. claire: we are hearing that this investigating judge was working on the case and believes that sarkozy and his election campaign, his reelection campaign, which was eventually unsuccess

but did mr sarkozy? i asked naomi grimley, who's in paris for us. doing. essentially the pr companies accused of invoicing for his campaign funds twice over, once to his campaign and once to his party. the question is whether nicolas sarkozy knew about this at the time. he today through a lawyer said that the sums involved were fanciful, and he denied and said he was going to appeal the decision to ta ke was going to appeal the decision to take it to trial. he is going to carry on fighting but this comes at a time when french politics is mired in other financial scandals and of course we're counting down to the presidential election with the first round at the end of april. picking up round at the end of april. picking up on your point, this tweet from a senior writer at politico, saying that six months later we are ready for the same old presidential election with sarkozy and so on but we have nothing like that. no, take for example the front runner until two weeks ago, francois fillon, who has been in this scandal. his wife was employed by him and

presenthe chose to francois hollande over nicolas sarkozy. it an alliance of two weaknesses and that he is trying to run after influence he no longer has. them sendingshows in an elevator. hop is nicolas sarkozy. it's a nod to his new job on the board of directors at a hotel. in mexico rex tillerson is in town and arrived to a chilly welcome. >> this comes a day after the u.s. government released new immigration guidelines that are a huge source of tension with mexico. the visit is taking place under quite high security. the washington post reports the american delegation received a chilly reception. measures thatn has been the most upset is that the u.s. will send immigrants back to mexico to await proceedings even if they aren't mexican. this is an attack on their sovereignty. the foreign minister said they don't have to accept them. inie: women in the army turkey now have the right to wear headscarves as part of their uniform. >> this is a very controversial position in turkey. controversial subject for decades. the government lifted the b

the conservative candidate held a meeting with his former boss, president nicolas sarkozy, earlier in day. his campaign has been in turmoil since allegations surfaced that his wife was given a fake job on the french taxpayers dime. rebel lawmakers in the conservative party or renewing their calls for him to drop out or risk defeat at the polls. >> he served as nicolas sarkozy's prime minister for four years and then defeated him in last year's party primary. is turnings fillon to the former presidents support as he struggles to rally his party ahead of the upcoming election. of meetings come as members the republican party put pressure on him to quit the race , rebel spearheaded by lawmakers close to sarkozy. question image that fillon promoted of high moral standards has now been shattered. .t's now about trust there are other members of our party who are respected, young, and capable of leading our party. managed toay, fillon persuade them to back down on a plan to convene a crisis meeting . but according to the newspaper, about one third of the party members are refusing to campaig

do you regret having criticized nicolas sarkozy in the past? francois: if you're eluding to a phrase which i criticized mr. sarkozy, i said if i am placed under investigation, i would not remain, i will not remain a candidate for the election. and i did say that the general would never have stood for presidency if he was placed under investigation. the situation makes me think about a situation, but my determination remains entire. perhaps i will take one more uestion. reporter: these accusations probably efer to will generate tensions among the people in your own camp. how do you plan to unite all those who support you and the right? francois: well, i am now going to chair a meeting during which all the personalities you have just referred to will be present. reporter: some people are against you still. francois: well, political life is like that. it's not my way of acting. what will count is that we're all going to come together and start a new campaign now because there's no other solution. there's no plan b. it's if the right of the center

do you regret having criticized nicolas sarkozy in the past, if you are a alluding to the phrase which i criticize mr. sarkozy and i said that if i am placed under investigation, i will not remain a candidate for the election, and i did say that general de gaulle never would have stood for the presidency under investigation. the situation makes me think about it, but i will not retirement questions? these accusations that you refer to will probably generate tepgss among the people in your own camp. how do you plan to unite all of those who support you and the left? >> >>. >> translator: well-- >> well, i am going chair a meeting of those gaiagainst you. and some people are still, and well, political life is like that and not my way of acting. what is going to count is that we are all going to come together and start a new campai campaign, because there is no other solution, and no plan "b" and the right of the center plan to be present at the runoff of the election, and so three months before we must unite. we must come together, and that is what the swrvast ma jo are tf the family hav

the big question for the magistrates and this is where sarkozy comes in, did he know about it and didk about those polls with brunojeambart from the 0pinionway. it is clear it is bad news for francois fillon who was the favourite for the french presidential election because after five years of false or her longed people are dissatisfied with the way things are going on in the country. —— francois hollande. so they wanted a right—wing candidate is the best way for them to change. but now it seems it is going to be a very difficult campaign for him. the problem is he cannot talk about anything except this affair. of course the man profiting from this is emmanuel macron and yet he has not yet put out a manifesto and of course he was a former minister in the socialist government that was so unpopular. that is one of the mysteries of this election, the fact that people are really dissatisfied with the last government but for the moment the new favourite is someone who was a minister for two years, minister of the economy and also before the campaign he wrote the president's economic progra

and nicolas sarkozy has had some bad hello there.tart in australia. it has been a summer so far of extreme heat and intense storms in sydney. the story continues. sydney experience its warmest consecutive night for more than a hundred years at the weekend. temperature didn't drop much below 26 degrees. what comes after that heat is storms. this is a of ,-,: 254: of thunderstorms, sweat . . w. of thunderstorms, and sweet — 7 w— of thunderstorms, and flooding = rain and thunderstorms, and flooding scenes like this across the city. it has brought a drop in temperature back into the mid—20s. in the next few days the heat builds again. by friday, highs 38 degrees. across the other side of australia, this cloud could be a potentially developing cyclone. as it spins away to the north—west, it is dragging moisture down to the south—west. some of those storms would be forcing across perth in the next few days. it is at this time of the year when pratt has a dry season. ten millimetres of rain ina a dry season. ten millimetres of rain in a mon

nicolas sarkozy is expected to appeal a magistrate's decision that he stand trial.t is amidst claims that he illegally financed his 2012 reelection bid. . high-stakes legal battle rulepeals court is set to on president trump's travel ban,

harker has to say. >>> france's former president nicolas sarkozy will stand trial over allegations thatfinanced his failed 2012 re-election bid. 13 others are due to stand trial over the so-called affair. it involves accusations of spending and funding irregularities. >>> in trump news, the u.s. justice department has defended donald trump's immigration order saying it's a lawful exercise of the president's authority. a possible middle ground emerged as dov lawyers argued the suspension of the travel ban should be limited to people already granted into the country and temporarily abroad and not people trying to enter the u.s. for the first time. a federal appeals court hearing will rule on the policy later on today. >>> speaking to reporters aboard air force one, white house press secretary sean spicer said the administration was not rethinking its strategy over the travel order. take a listen. >> when you look at the case in massachusetts where the judge in massachusetts clearly the law is on the president's side. the constitution is on the president's side. he has broad discretion do

the primaries saw political heavyweights such as nicolas sarkozy lose to lesser-known political figures. it also takes a look at the corruption scandals engulfing the conservative candidate and the leader of the national front. the paper concludes that no outcome not even marine le pen's victory can be excluded. genie: the conservative candidate has vowed to fight back in the midst of allegations that he created a fictitious job for his wife and paid her hundreds of thousands of euros over several years. they could face legal proceedings as early as this week. does that mean his campaign is over? >> he has said he would quit only if he is placed under formal investigation and we are not there yet. he spent the weekend campaigning . he can win butes even his most loyal supporters are having doubts. the damage is done, there is a risk that some voters will either abstain or vote for marine le pen. genie: a rather unusual experiment. several cities have decided to get rid of traffic lights to make streets safer. >> it may sound counterintuitive. newspaper reports that traffic lights can of

charles: some police officers are pointing the finger especially at sarkozy's decision to roll back amunity policing program. >> i believe it was a serious mistake. we went from dorm prevention work where the was not necessarily sanctions to repressive system that is counterproductive. response, the government's desire to fight against discrimination and appease tension. one way he hosted do that through the use of body cameras which are currently being tested -- he hopes to do that is through the use of body cameras which are currently being tested. askingights activist are for a system that would document all police stops. genie: in the meantime, the front minister and runners for the presidential election in algeria. he met with a country's prime minister in addition to members of the local french community. the visit is being closely watched as france and algeria has along the tumultuous history. >> embracing algeria's foreign affair minister and the head of role of state he aspires to on a two-day visit to algiers. the 39-year-old former bank investor was trying to prove his fore

sarkozy as we have been speaking. world,french prosecutors config that mr. sarkozy will face trial. nothing but dull -- is anything but dull at the moment. up next, francine lacqua and tom keene. matt miller and i are going to bloomberg radio. "daybreak europe." this is bloomberg. ♪ overine: frexit fears plans to take france out of the euro. llon says he is into win. b.n.p. paribas this is fourth-quarter earnings and lays out a multiyear cost-cutting plan to save the large bank. penarations for a le victory. >> if something is changing in our environment, we adapt to serve our client. francine:

nicholas sarkozy has been a lot more quiet about the issue. this kind of issue where you see who your real friends are. you can see the couple falling off a cliff. fillon is asking his wife where everyone? after the allegations of fictitious jobs, some of our friends are fictitious. genie: all right. he is not the only french politician who is in the midst of a scandal over alleged fictitious jobs. you've got the far right leader marine le pen in trouble with the european parliament. >> you can get all the details today. she is a member of the european parliament. she is accused of hiring a parliamentary assistant with european funds. she allegedly hired an assistant who actually was not working for the european parliament but working for the national here in france. the european parliament is asking her to reimburse the 300,000 euros that they gave her to hire her assistant and she says she is not going to do it because she is being persecuted. genie: this assistance in question has been questioned by the european anti-fraud office. >> they g

mr sarkozy has repeatedly denied knowledge of the overspending.ainees as "the slaughterhouse" because of the number of executions taking place. amnesty international says up to 13,000 detainees were executed between 2011 and 2015. the human rights organisation report is based on the testimony of former prisoners and guards at saydnaya jail who say prisoners were hanged, and their bodies buried in mass graves. sarah corker reports. the civil war in syria has raged for five years and claimed the lives of more than a quarter of a million people. this is the prison, a secret jail where amnesty international alleges opposition supporters were held and executed in their thousands. the group says it has evidence of an extermination policy here, ordered by the highest levels of syrian government. ones or twice per week, during the course of five yea rs per week, during the course of five years between 2011 and 2015, 20 — 50 prisoners are called upon, they are transported to another building on the grounds of the prison, huddled into an underground room, a

francine: there is also news about sarkozy under investigation this morning. caroline: kerley, this is a reminder that the french people take the ethical issue more and more seriously. this is why francois fillon wanted to apologize, because he understood the ethical question. the allegations against nicholas sarkozy date back a few months. it is the big affair. nicholas sarkozy is allegedly accused of exceeding the limits he declared during the 2012 campaign. adjusteddly could have some fake bills to this company that was organizing all nicholas or cozy's rallies during the 2012 campaign. francine: thank you so much. caroline is in paris. as investors take stock of increased political risk, the spread between french and near the whitest of 2013. a huge spike the past couple of days. mario draghi said he will do whatever it takes. but if you look at the premium it takes to hold french bonds, it has increased. it hasn't had much impact on the euro. but it has really been played out here on the terminal. you can go to this chart if you are a bloomberg user. 15.

another option is the former president nicolas sarkozy, he came in third in the primaries. names -- including the former finance minister, and the head of the north region, who already has an advantage, he has beaten marine le pen in regional elections in 2015. vonnie: lets the a with the candidates we have now, how does campaigning work in this next stage? , the campaign is in two rounds, the first round is april 23 and the two candidates who will come with the best result in the first round will face each other in the runoff on may 7. at this stage, marine le pen, even if she is leading in the first round, has little chances according to the opinion polls, she would be beaten by macron or fillon in the runoff. the interesting thing, time is running out for the republicans if they want to change their candidate because any presidential candidate has to submit 500 signatures from elected officials in france by march 17. mark: you will be there to take us through every step of the way. this is the outlook in europe, coming up, general electric ceo jeffrey m l gives on take o

with all the allegations we have seen around the former french president, nicolas sarkozy, the francee french are taking the ethical question more seriously than they used to and the fact that francois fillon is acknowledging this in his press conference, he says even though everything was legal and all the cell in the -- all the salaries of his wife and children were justified, he understands the normal questioning of the french people. that is why he wants people to apologize to them. themost roaring thing was sunday newspaper saying that 68% of the french did not want fillon to maintain his candidacy in more than 70% were not sure if he was honest. mark: thanks a lot. reporting from paris. for more on the french elections and brexit, we turn to gerard mestrallet. he is in charge of developing and promoting france's financial industry and also owner of the french energy company. , he joins us now with win why. thisat extent is uncertainty surrounding the campaign meeting businesses in london are wary of committing to paris right now post-brexit? situationnds on the and financial ins

we are in unpredictable territory, he beat him easily and beat nicolas sarkozy, so there are people,candidate who they thought would be the next french president in that second round on may seven is completely embattled. we have to say that the allegations are one thing but the way he has mishandled it, he said it was misogyny, he accused the media of being totally unfair, says it is a coup by the left, and institutional coup. he's making all kinds of accusations. i want to push, who will benefit, you could say it is marine le pen, will say that the establishment are all in it for themselves and they must choose an anti—establishment candidate, or is it macron, the bright younger guy coming through now, who picks up the votes? i think they will both pick up some. notice how silent marine le pen is being on this. she has her own problems. she had untiljanuary 31 to repay to the european parliament 300,000 euros, she did not do so. the accusation stands that she abused european funds, she abused them for her assistance in france and not brussels. we will find out more about mr macron.

investigation continues on him, he had to meet with nicholas are cozy this week, fueling speculative nicholas sarkozyg moment in france, the latest on the upcoming french presidential election. european equities, this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ mark:mark: live from london and new york, this is the european close, i am a mark barton with vonnie quinn, stocks finishing , two, by a small margin days of declines following seven days of gains, the best winning run since the middle of 2015. we are heading for the second weekly gain in 3, 2 days of decline. personal household goods best-performing industry group krafte of this story, unilever, offered sending shares up 15%, the biggest gain ever to a record high, unilever rejecting the $50 per share offer as too low saying it fundamentally undervalues the company. some say it is very low multiples but this could run and run. we will have more on this in a second. ollie and shares up, the biggest gain -- a stronger than estimated 23% rise in the fourth quarter, it has announced its first share buyback, spending up to $3 billion over 12 months, europe's biggest insure

out of the election so far, from president holland to the leader of the greens to former president sarkozyany places these days, france is a country where they just want to throw the bums out. the correct answer to the gps challenge question is d. the discrepancy between cumulative, provincial and national gdp data in 2016 was $400 billion, according to reuters. roughly the equivalent of thailand or norway's gdp. but the days of fake numbers, well, may be numbered. this week the head of china's national bureau of statistics vowed to severely punish those responsible for creating these alternative facts. perhaps we need an agency like that right here in the united states. thanks to all of you for being part of my program this week, and i will see you next week. >>> hello, everyone, thank you for joining us this sunday. i'm fredricka whitfield. we start this hour with an urgent plea from sweden to the u.s. government, asking what is your president talking about? here's why sweden is asking. >> you look at what's happening in germany, you look at what's happening last night in sweden, sweden,

what has happened with sarkozy's party, this guy needs to get out of the race quickly.here's a lot of damage going to be done to the party. these two outsiders, i think macron could pull this out. he will be able to coalesce the two thirds that are always against le pen. francine: it also goes back to what the voters are voting on, security or the economy. morris: i think the french want to vote on restoring their historic place in the world. it is a funny thing. the french have now priced in terrorism. this is the one place we know terrorism will happen. they know how to deal with it. i think what the french want is the economy to turn around and to reestablish the greatness of france. francine: thushka, how do you position yourself in the market? the markets cut brexit wrong. they got trump wrong. thushka: there are some differences with the french election. it is a slightly different environment. but i think you are right. because of the experience with brexit and trump, we need to price in more uncertainty around an antiestablishment candidate. the fact that we coul

they appointed nicolas sarkozy to their board earlier this week.e will be an independent director at the group. falling from a year earlier according to data compiled by the french national statistics agency, underlining the challenges for business or 20% of your rooms aren't france. they operate in the asia-pacific and globally also. corporate earnings and bring up the risk radar on various assets. we start with the dollar index. the point to be made, it's a narrow range as we wait for the fed minutes later today. what without tell us about donald trump's policies and the fed perception of them? the fed does not want to surprise markets. were also waiting for data on the u.s. housing market later on. a little momentum is go through the session. the japanese market is fluctuating as dice fluctuating as it tends to do. stocks in the retail space doing nicely. .4%, pricing in its best rally in two months. the message from the secretary general of opec saying it's going for 100% compliance. hery: the u.s. government has outlined a sweeping crackdown o

meanwhile, they have named former french president nicolas sarkozy to the company's board.ational strategy. so down but not out. on the topic of french politics, growing concerns over front national party marine le pen's support ahead of the first-round election in april. moments ago, french center risk politician bayrou seen as a heavyweight proposing an alliance to manuel macron. sara? >> seema, thank you. >>> the trump administration out with two sweeping new immigration orders, promising to swiftly support more of those living here illegally, but what's the true economic cost over moving undocumented immigrants? a recent paper from the national bureau of economic research suggests it could be as high as $5 trillion over the next ten years. and joining us, the report's co-author, queens college associate professor of economics frances ortega. thank you for joining us, professor. >> good morning. glad to be here. >> you really dive into the various industries that could be affected, both in terms of output and employment. who's most exposed here when it comes to cracking

it was sarkozy who did that.u has a horrible history of going back and asking the question get again -- question again and finding a way around the original vote. i think matt's question has an interest in genesis in, why is he doing this? is this part and parcel of the way the eu has traditionally operated? i don't like the answer, i will ask again or find a way around this point. i think there is a lot of people in the mainstream of the conservative party that worried this is exactly what will end up happening again. it is an interesting point of view that tony blair brings into the debate, because it will highlight that. but he is also trying to highlight the idea that there is a silent majority becoming increasingly concerned. we will find out. what you think? as you look at this from the other side of the pond, how will this be received in berlin, paris, munich? think it will be very interesting to see how this is received in munich tonight and this weekend. because angela merkel will be here, donald tusk is

sarkozy says he does not exactly agree. there is a pretty powerful crack that is taking place. look these negatives have aspects. there is parts in the negative market there. this.e been concerning loring craigie is stepping down. is a profit of $1 million. we have a coming through that the company opportunity to retreat from the chinese market. that is really interesting. we were expecting a lot of that to be on the burning, but with these delays. >> precisely. we are seeing 15 rather than 18, that takes the number 214. that is new today, that probably should be clarified. picture,of the bigger there is that marketing in china. they have to move that two other places, it could be an option. they are very much saying it is a pause. scrapped the hotels. it is another change and strategy. , the state in milk oh crown said they do not need the proceeds from that ipo. it is in-house for now. date on thisany up stuff. , john alexander who was saidxecutive chairman there are legal processes underway. he said their employees have been arrested and they need to tot for the legal proces

president will face trial on campaign finance fraud charges, the paris prosecutor's office says nicolas sarkozy and 13 others will go to court to answer allegations that his failed campaign in 2012 went well above the legal ceiling, he plans to appeal the ruling. global news 24 hours a day, powered by more than 2600 journalist and analysts in more than 120 countries. i am mark crumpton. this is bloomberg. vonnie: thanks. turning back to politics, vice president mike pence could make history today by breaking an expected time in the senate, to confirm betsy devos as education secretary, you are watching live pictures of the senate floor, they have begun voting on her. the first test of the democrats ability to sort donald trump -- thwart donald trump's nominations, this is after two gop senators said they would not vote for you how likely will we see mike pence to make the tiebreaker? >> it is looking likely that mike pence will become the first sitting vice president to cast a pick, thecabinet broader story is republicans have begun cracking away from president trump and his agenda, this coming

sarkozy bow out of the race. this election is extremely volatile.d is ahead now, but who knows what it would look like. francine: a difficult and unfair , if you have a marine le pen and francois fillon second round, or marine le pen and emmanuel macron, who is more likely to meet madame le pen? >> the polls show very clearly that emmanuel macron will be le pen handily, and it is tighter for francois fillon. that is partly the legal cloud hanging over francois fillon's head. both of them will win according to the polls, but in a world of brexit and donald trump come all bets are off. tom: when did you learn over the weekend about the trump of boat in france? we talked about this before. to me, it is a complete mystery he has the surprise constituency. is that same constituency in france? >> i think you are talking about angry people, people who left behind by globalization and not part of the elites and paris, washington, and new york, and those people definitely exist here. the trump victory matters a lot here. in a way, it gives permission for peo

angela merkel and sarkozy came clean about by greece was so important to them. at that point, a lot of banks, including u.k. banks, had major exposure. that is why they could not afford greece to they'll and fall out of the eurozone. now we are in a situation where no one has admitted to this really, so it remains in play, but it will have to be some form of debt forgiveness. years,his year of all they don't want to offer any way out. david, thank you very much. he stays with us. let's check in on bloomberg first word news. thee are sticking with europe story. ministers meeting on the greek bailout. once again, they will tell greek officials they need to do more to get a new round of eight. germany wants to make sure the cooperation with the u.k. on military matters survives brexit. bloomberg spoke to germany's defense minister at the munich security conference. >> we want to have very close ties with our nato member and friend, the united kingdom. to work onty started the bilateral roadmap. we want to pursue it because we know we need each other. we are both me