. >> host: howard, berlin germany on our republican line. hi howard. >> caller: yes, hello. yes, i have been studying some of the bureaucratic machinery of the 1930s here in germany where i am studying and there was a huge bureaucratic machine involved in confiscating jewish property at that time but based on legal means. so when i see some of the stories you refer to like if your son is smoking marijuana in his bedroom and the police come they can seize the whole house and the house of the parents who had nothing to do with it based on the fact that the house is being used in a crime possibly involving the sale of marijuana. so just to give you a minute here we have something called form-based plundering where the jewish poor example -- for example were told they had to make arrangements for immigration however when they started making these arrangements such as getting their money out of the country to another place, they then found themselves in violation of fiscal regulations and called the rise capital flight tax. these all existed before hitler. they just enforce them

. >> this is peter, 46 years old from berlin germany. this was a bucket list item i believe, for him, and also for his wife suzanna, who can be seen swimming through this wall of golden jellyfish, and don't be afraid these do have the stinger cells but they aren't powerful enough to actually harm a human. some people say you can feel something on the more tender parts of your body if they brush against a lip or something, but other than that you're going to have sensation of these awesome jellyfish bumping up against your body. ♪ >> so cool. >> look at that you can barely see the water there are so many of them. >> looks like swimming through big piles of snot. >> it's cool. this is on my bucket list. >> yeah? >> it really is. i'm going to do this one day. >> have fun. >> you are welcome. i will send you pictures. >> a homeless man with a message. >> i'm still alive, and i miss you. >> he hasn't seen his family in decades. >> how a youtuber and the social media community are helping him reconnect. >> this is your brother. >>> a chemistry

germany. euro-dollar just missed session lows. let's get some more detail on the german pmi number. hans nichols in berlin. y germany is the one that outperforms. this data is not so good. hans: surprisingly, there's a miss on the manufacturing. the manufacturing miss was the greatest of all three. it is manufacturing we expect to be stronger because of quantitative easing. in the last 3-4 weeks, we've had mixed economic numbers out of germany. there has been concern about the slowdown in greece. for the most part, the view was the german economy would be able to withstand that. on tuesday, you had the new gdp figures updated from 1.5% to 1.9%. the other data is troubling. earlier in the week, we got the eew number -- the z.e.w. number. that was disappointing. a lot of attention is going to be paid to that number. jonathan: data disappointing. i imagine the railways disappointed of you people this morning. what is going on? hans: we've got a 2-3-day strike. the passenger strike is going on until the end of the night. huge, massive lines all throughout german rail stations. the local news have been playing i

the chairman of the council of economic advisers spoke to bloomberg tv in berlin germany.id not fixing the greek problem is a risk the world should avoid. >> greece is struggling right now. that is part of the problem. you need economic strength in order to make those repayments. that's why coming together in figuring out how to strengthen their economy is in everyone's interest. people need to get down to work. there is not a lot of time. they are further behind than they should be. stephanie: u.s. officials are not convinced by european promises that the fallout from a greek euro exit would be contained. shares of under armour are lower in trading today. the company forecast full-year sales that missed analyst estimates. under armour is making it tougher to post the massive sales gains investors of got youtube. projected revenue increase this year am a 23%. the lowest since 2009. jordan spieth, that kid won the whole masters. ibm's first-quarter profits beat analyst estimates. it held course that those estimates had been lower. ibmerik: beating guidance that you lowered.

palpable today at the capital's biggest mosque. >> people gather for friday prayers at berlin's largest mosque. germany's recognition of the armenian massacres of 1915 as a genocide is on everyone's lips. they say the move will harm relations between germany and turkey. >> we cannot just go and college genocide without checking the facts. germany is a democratic country, isn't it? it's difficult. i don't understand what that german governmental president are getting at. he keeps on meddling in turkish affairs. there's no proof that it's true. >> nearly everyone here has turkish roots. the islamic cemetery that adjoins the mosque was established back in 1866 for the ottoman empire. turkish traditions are taken very seriously, as our ankara's official positions. >> we don't think that it was a genocide. that's a false accusation. there are two schools of thought on this. there are historians, even armenian and western historians who show that people died on both sides. >> nobody here thinks ankara will call the massacres a genocide any time soon. >> other news now -- the standoff continues between greece a

laila: germany says new efforts will focus on refugees fleeing conflict in syria and iraq. berlin will send manpower to italy and greece to help register migrants. brian: just today, italian authorities rescued 274 migrants in the mediterranean. the coast guard ship came to their rescue about 40 nautical miles off of the libyan coast line. europe's budget for rescue missions as he has just been tripled -- missions at sea has just been tripled. laila: people on the ground in italy need to be convinced. we have this special report from our correspondent. reporter: migrants arriving here have all survived and arduous journey across the mediterranean -- survived an arduous journey across the mediterranean. this group takes in migrants from sub-saharan africa. they wait to be transferred to other camps in sicily or on the mainland. he still wears the id bracelet given to him by the italian authorities when he arrived in sicily. he and a friend spent 14 months working on building sites in the libyan capital, tripoli, under appalling conditions, saving up for the crossing to italy. >> th

germany, berlin. we get the employment numbers. dropoff of unemployment change of 8,000.od as many expected but the unemployment rate stays at a record low of 6.4%. that is some strength in that labor market hans. hans: 6.4%. that is what was expected. no movement there. the fact that the number came in lake-effect lower, people dropping off the rolls, that could be a little bit disappointing whsm when you compare the german market to the spanish, italian, it is a much healthier labor market. they fundamentally changed the dynamic here. stick with the program. stick with austerity. balance your books. pay your debt. that's what you hear from angela merkel and her partners. jonathan? jonathan: it echoes around germany. thank you very much. 56 minutes into the session here in europe. let's bring you your market check. it had been a selloff in the first hour of trading in the equity market. the dax goes .5% lower. switch up the boards and bring up the euro. euro/dollar goes higher in that german unemployment number. it stays higher. after all of that weakness in the first th

manus: top stories this hour foreign ministers from russia, ukraine france and germany meet in berlino distrust the fragile cease-fire agreement as both the ukraine and russia accused each other of violating the accords. u.k. leaders say easing economic sanctions depends on full compliance. george osborne laid out the conservative party's plan to ease the tax threshold. >> the basic human instinct to some -- provide for your children and we believe that the home that you paid for should belong to you and your family so we will take family homes out of inheritance tax. so that only millionaires pay inheritance tax. manus: on the same program the deputy leader criticized the conservative plan. >> we don't think it is a priority to give tax relief on inheritance tax, we think if your home is worth more than 2 million pounds you should start to pay a mansion tax. they would give people with more than 2 million pounds inheritance tax relief. it is becoming clearer and clearer as we get to the election how the tories are helping a few people and we want everybody to be better off. manus: ma

after a truce was announced in february the foreign ministers of ukraine, russia france and germany in berlinnday to discuss the ceasefire agreement. hillary clinton announced her campaign and the favorite to win the democratic party nomination and hit the road heading towards iowa the traditional first stop for presidential hopefuls. tom ackerman reports from the state capitol des moines. >> reporter: made announcement without cheering crowds or spot-lit stage, the message delivered in a glossy two-minute video with diverse middle class americans voicing personal hopes for the future. >> everyday americans need a champion and i want to be that champion. >> reporter: clinton's first campaign stop will be the state of iowa to win the democratic party's popular caucus there. it's where up start barack obama beat her in 2008 with a grass root effort that should her route to the white house should not have been taken for granted. before arrival parents watching over their children play football told us hillary ought to do better if she doesn't campaign like the inevitable winner. >> she has to ac

. >>> a the red army drove forces of nazi germany back to berlin, they aim to reach the german capitalay 9th. polish officials say they will stop the riders at the border. poland worried about the presence of groups of members of the nationalist night wolves. >>> 350 migrants are coming ashore on the island of sicily. these are just the latest to be rescued by italian coast guards. the flow of boats coming out of north africa in particular from libya shows no signs of slowing down. now these migrants from different boats. it's about 60 kilometers off the coast of libya. and then they were taken to an italian naval vessel. in a separate incident 80 more people were rescued by tunisian fisherman and they were taken to the coastal town of zarzise. >>> now before they set off from libya, many of the migrants already faced terrible difficult journeys across different parts of africa. ethiopia one of the main countries they try to leave. people trying to rescue rescue people from smugglers as they try to reach europe. >> everyone here knew least five young men who were killed by isil in liby

driving the red army the forces of nazi germany back to berlin. they aim to reach the can you remember german capital may 9th, but they say they'll stop the riders at the border. they're worried about the riders from the nationalist night wolves group in the convoy. >>> in the next hour we'll see the election of the togo president. 300million voters are choosing between five candidates. elections will be over the next ten days. the electronic system was abandoned over fears of over its reliability. let's hear now from the capital. >> this is the polling station where the main opposition candidate cast his vote earlier. the whole place went while as they inspect the different polling stations after they cast votes. the incumbent is going for a third term in office. and this debate whether the president should have a third term in office is something that is being talked about across the continent. in this west african region there are only two countries where there are no presidential term limits. that is here and gambia. so that is why there is a

. >> the storm caused severe disruptions to germany's rail services. berlin was just one place where downed trees and power lines meant delays of several hours. the aftermath was still visible on wednesday with long lines at information counters. although most services had returned by morning a railway operator warned of ongoing cancellations and delays. >> it's really a herculean task so there will still be more delays. the priority is to be operating on time on thursday and good friday, which are heavy travel days. >> they have not come up with an estimate of the cost of the damages. >> they were not prepared for it. i had to walk to work today because the train wasn't running. ben: that would have been a hard walk against the wind. thanks for joining us. sarah: we're back again at the top of the hour with more news and updates from the heart of europe. see you then. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> hinojosa: did you know that there are more chinese re

this can be criticized, but, of course, there is a large turkish community here in germany, so it seems that berlin took care not to offend them and not to offend that important partner in turkey as well. brent: it is easy to see how sensitivities can change, even if it does take a decade. michaela, thank you very much. michaela: you're welcome. brent: the number of environmental activists killed for taking a stand is on the rise worldwide according to a new report by global witness. matt: that group says 116 green activists were killed in 2014. that comes during the awarding of the goldman environmental prize, which honors wrasse roots activists -- honors grassroots activists. brent: our next report looks at the struggle felt by two of them. reporter: berta caceres faces constant death threats. she and her family are members of the indigenous lenca community in honduras. they live along a river which is sacred to their people. in 2006, work began here to build a hydroelectric dam. it would have cut off the water supply to the lenca community and the land they live off. caceres organized peaceful p

reporter: the foreign ministers of france, germany russia and ukraine issued a joint statement in berlin on monday, calling for both sides to withdraw heavy weapons from the front. in lubeck, authorities deployed right control vehicles to keep anti-globalization protesters in check. so far, their numbers are less than expected. critics accuse the g-7 countries of dominating world politics with their own agenda. >> we don't want to live in this world, we want direct democracy. reporter: the ministers will have a lot to talk about including iran post-nuclear program and the war against islamist terrorism. anchor: our correspondent is covering the g-7 meeting and joins us now from lubeck. clearly the ukraine crisis is high on the agenda for that foreign ministers meeting, but the foreign ministers have a lot more to think about, don't they? reporter: yes they do and they have a lot more to think about. this is an interesting thing. russia might not be sitting at this table with the g-7 formerly the g-8. but just 24 hours ago, german foreign minister was talking to his russian counterpart ab

soldier here at the opening in berlin of an exhibition of the war made a special plea for the protection of children and mothers in times of conflict. reporter: germany'sast and present were summed up i this handshake -- summed up why this handshake. -- summed up by this handshake. he was one of survivors imprisoned in berlin during the exhibitions opening. he spoke of present day responsibilities. >> back then germany was a destructive horse. which it -- destructive force. which is why it must become a constructive agent order and peaceful development. more than anyone else it must fight for political solutions to conflict and to sustainable pulled -- sustainable he's. cheers. reporter: that is -- sustainable peace. cheers -- sustainable peaceful structures. reporter: it is up to all of us. >> securing peace, human rights, children's rights, is and never ending fight. it is not a given. reporter: with conflict raging across the world this message rains especially true in 2015. brian: we would like to recap our top story for you. europe has promised swift action to halt the ongoing loss of life in the mediterranean as tens of thousands of people contin

restoration of justice, which in its significance is equivalent to the fall of the berlin wall the re-unification of germany. >> western leaders, u.s. nato and the u.n. refuse to recognise the move. the cost to the economy reached $27 billion. that figure could balloon to more than 80 billion this year. >> hard times may be on the way. reports say european regulators announce antitrust charges against the energy company. the charges accuse gazprom of inflating prices and forcing out the constitution it could mean a billion in fines. >> japan and the u.s. hope to create a trade pack. talks on the trans-pacific partnership are in their final stages. the economies of japan and the u.s. would make up 80% of the entire group. >> japan's prime minister xi jinping sent an offering honouring the war dead. china calls on them to acknowledge the contep somehows hist -- contentious history, before the two nations plan to met at app asian summit in indonesia. they are hoping to improve strategic ties. >>> more than 20 years ago ecuador jans went to court over an oil drilling operation. chevron refused to pay the cost.

germany. hans nichols is in berlin. what can we take away from wolfgang and what he has to say. nothing has really changed. he is not offering concessions and greece is not blinking. >> you have seen the government all but destroyed the efforts and the improvements the previous government had started. here is the important thing about the interview, he is publicly contradicting the idea advocated by the finance minister that there can be a deal. he says it is a non-starter and there is more work to do. it brings us back to looking at the counter and when the big payments have to come. they are rolling out one billion in t-bills and we have a meeting with important actions happening. they will have to pay salary and there are big payments that will come due. we have is him publicly saying opposite things. the important thing is that they will not get it done. you want to see some cash and he needs to watch to see how markets react. there is a piece of optimism and the advisor close to the prime minister has the possibility of a referendum in greece. that kind of vote could allow

helmut kohl was the chancellor of germany when the berlin wall came down. he had a vision, born of a lifetime of experience that included obviously living through world war ii of a united, peaceful, and prosperous germany in the united democratic peaceful europe. both of these developments may seem normal to you. they were virtually unimaginable for most of european history. germany was not a separate country, but a collection of city states and united under bismarck. kohl began became the second longest-serving chancellor of history, second only to bismarck. he had a strategy, which he pursued with extraordinary discipline. it was first, to unite germany after the wall came down, which required very large transfers of money from west to east germany to begin the long process of equalizing economic opportunities for both sides. second, to expand and strengthen the union, he wanted all of central and eastern europe to come to the eu so germany would be in the middle of europe, not on the edge where it had been a source of instability and conflict throughout t

foreign ministers from france germany, russia, and ukraine met in berlin and called for both ukrainian troops and pro-russian rebels to withdraw their heavy weapons. french president francois hollande is meeting with the ceo's of and alcatel lucent today as considered as a purchase of the french company. such a deal would be the largest acquisition in nokia history and would create the world's biggest maker of wireless equipment. we will talk about this, coming up. annual takes aim at google and facebook with new advertising technology. aol unveiled an open programmatic and platform designed to help advertisers figure out how to spend their dollars best. the technology takes all of aol's ad tech and puts it into a one-stop shopping ad platform could they will allow brands to measure the effectiveness of their adsd on all platforms from desktop to television. should google and facebook be worried? cory: they should be concerned about what aol is doing. they're providing not just for their own network but for the web writ large on all devices and even in this case for television. really

helmut kohl was the chancellor of germany when the berlin wall came down. he had a vision. born of a lifetime of experience that included obviously living through world war ii. of a united, peaceful, and prosperous germany in the united democratic peaceful europe. both of these developments may seem normal to you. they were virtually unimaginable for most of european history. germany was not a separate country, but a collection of city states and united under bismarck. he became a second longest-serving chancellor of history, second only to bismarck. he had a strategy, which he pursued with extraordinary discipline. it was first, to unite germany after the wall came down, which required very large transfers of money from west to east germany to begin the long process of equalizing economic opportunities for both sides. second, to expand and strengthen the union, he wanted all of central and eastern europe to come to the eu so germany would be in the middle of europe, not on the edge where it had been a source of instability and conflict throughout the 20th century. third, he

he sought closer ties with france and cultivated germany's friendship with france and the united states. he also improved berlin's relationship to the soviet union after mikael gorbachev became leader. in the 1990's, he made further european integration a top priority, strongly backing the creation of the euro. in 1998, his fortune soured when he lost the elections. then he was exposed in a party donation scandal. that cost him the party leadership. his wife committed suicide a looming years of illness and loneliness. in 2008, he was severely injured in a fall, but he also remarried. his reputation has slowly recovered. international commentators have called him a great european statesmen. even so, as he turns 85, he remains a controversial figure. sarah: that's going to do it for us. we're back at the top of the hour with more news and updates. stay with dw. >> see you then. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] c anchor: good evening. the day after reaching an agreement for the framework of a nuclear deal, the ira

berlin for talks on ukraine. that wrapped up last night ahead of this g-7 summit in germany that starts later today. s: what actually came out of the foreign ministers meeting in berlin? it us a bit of a context on that. hans: it went five hours long. there is a joint statement from all four parties. that is france, germany, russia, and ukraine. they expressed grave you -- grave concern about the situation in ukraine. there are separate russian media reports that ukraine and russia had agreed to some sort of limit on small caliber weapons in eastern ukraine. perhaps the most negative out of all this was the german foreign minister who talked about the cease-fire being close to being in tatters and a real danger of an escalation of violence. manus: hans nichols in berlin. caroline: let's take a look at some of the other top stories. greece has denied a report that it is preparing to default. a paper reported that the country would withhold payments if no debt deal is reached with creditors. meanwhile, the singapore dollar climbed after the central bank kept its policy unchanged. that is following unex

given to west germany to restart and economy to strengthen the economy and that's what we need for europe and for greece too. >>reporter: one analyst told me it's wrong to think leaders in berlin can compel other governments to do what they want. >> not only germany but all the european institutions are in effect -- to introduce the basic structural reforms. so the german power in europe is conditional. it has its limits. and germany cannot do everything it would like to do. >>reporter: but thoughts like that do not pacify people in greece who say eu imposed austerity policies have killed jobs and livelihoods. many say germany should still pay reparations from the war in the 1940s. modern german governments have rejected that saying they pay more into the eu budget by billions every year. >>> still ahead on the news hour we'll be live in switzerland where we've heard there will be announcement shortly on the iran nuclear talks that have been going on for some time now. extended past the deadline. we'll have the latest with our diplomatic editor. >>> also nigeria's newly-elected president turns to problems facing his country, including the economy. >>> why the care takers of a

baker who was then secretary of state told him that if you agree to the unification of germany and taking down the berlin rall, i tell you that nato will not move 1 inch to the east. now you may say he's lying, but i don't think he is. is. i think he's telling the truth and the thing is that during the soviet period which didn't last very long after that, nato did not move to the east. it moved under clinton. when the russians started saying what's going on here he was told no, no we have no agreement with you, we have an agreement with the soviet union but it's no longer there. so in 1991 poland czechoslovakia became members of nato. it was followed by romania the argument isn't about dates -- i may have gotten a date mistaken but finally nato found itself on russia's border in estonia and in latvia. you may say but there's nothing dangerous about that. i'm telling you this is cold war mentality that nato is seen as a threat. what the russians have set about ukraine, rightly or wrongly, is we will not allow nato to be on our border in the southwest. will not allow. just as american will not allow the mi

. >> i went to an apartment in berlin to show what it's like to live in east germany.hink cuba is going to do that. how can we have a free and open conversation or diplomatic ties with a dictator in our own hem nis miss fear? >> because i think they have to open up. i'm one of the ones on the right -- one of the few apparently on the right who think this is is a good idea. >> if it's handled property, yeah. >> human government cannot be involved in everything. you have to go through the cuban government and it's their partner. you have to break that. i think that's being worked on. number two, you have to float the currency. let it stand on its own and float and then you can start to do business with the country. 11 million new customers for 40 years, they haven't bought anything, no iphones, no corn flakes, so sara lee cupcakes whatever. there's opportunities for american businesses but the human rights issues you have to get over -- >> cop killers over there. >> they are harboring fugitives. >> is it a big if if you can fix those things and -- >> yes. >> when i look

germany's record and actually moving here. reporter: he discovered he can make more money selling french food in berlin than at home and rants. -- in france. he closed his restaurant and moved everything but the kitchen sink to berlin where he gets a better deal. others were just too high to make a living. >> there is not enough dynamism in france to create jobs. and we don't do enough to support entre nous hours. brought he will be there to help people. reporter: some surveys suggest half of young people are toying with the idea of leaving. the issue is now on the radar of the powerful french union. a union that says immigrating to germany may create problems. >> in germany, you have to supplement the state pension with a private pension fund if i understand it correctly. there are some differences. reporter: many young french people cannot begin to find steady work. france's unions rejected germany's more flexible approach to the job market. they have ideological issues. >> the main reason new jobs and not being created in france is the tendency for companies to put profit above all other priorities. this is happening here,

treasury secretary jack lew speaks with bloomberg about china and germany's finance minister talk to us about greece and what berlin event of a grexit. start --"street smart" starts now. ♪ here are the top stories we're watching at the closing tell. a war

. >> reporter: in the last year germany has seen a rise to the number of asylum seekers it has being gotten. dominic kane, al jazeera berlin. >>> we meet maoist female soldiers surviving after the war. war. >> part of al jazeera america's >> special month long evironmental focus fragile planet around here, we're all about fast. that's why xfinity is perfect for me. with millions of wifi hotspots all over the place - including one right here at the shop - now we can stream all things fast and furious. you've done it again, carlos! ♪ with the fastest in-home wifi and millions of hotspots xfinity is perfect for people who love fast. don't miss furious 7 in theaters april 3rd. >> hello again the top stories here on al jazeera. in yemen the saudi led coalition has started a bombing campaign from the sea. targeting ammunition linings in aden. stormed homes and detained journalists and politician he. the situation at syria's yarmouk refugee camp is aing example of shame. >>> an example i.s.i.l. can't be defeated if it continues to use radicalized foreign fighters. haider al-abadi wants the cessation ever reciting to of re cruetin

berlin to discuss the ceasefire agreement. >>> thousands of supporters of a march in germany, organized by the antiislamic pegida movement. recently supporters have dwindled. >> translator: if you love germany then raise the alarm. if you love your husband or wife you must raise the alarm. if you love your children, then raise the alarm. warn your neighbors colleagues or friends of the threat islamization poses a threat to your country your children and your freedom. >> people shopping in hong kong will have to apply for a vee is visa. as liddy gopalan reports. >> baby foods snacks and hygiene products are cleared off the store shelves. almost every other retail outlet in this border town is a pharmacy catering to these shoppers who are called parallel traders. they buy and sell the goods for a profit. higher safety standards than those in the mainland. the new visa restrictions limiting the number of trips are meant to clamp down on the trade. this pet shop has been changed. only a river divides hong kong and the river of shenzen. you can see it right behind me. six years ago the residents could be the only on mainland c

this is being called a major cultural coup for germany, neil macgregor stepping down from the prestigious british museum to lead the cultural forum here in berlin. we are joined by our culture editor. e is considered a museum guru for the planet, the best man in the world for the job. why do you think he is the best pick for berlin? >> we have to be careful with these titles. perhaps if it's true for someone , it is certainly for neil macgregor. he is a great mind, just on a international level he is venerated in britain. he is an incredible expert in art history. he brought the british museum which was a venerable institution 20 years ago to the forefront of museums worldwide. it's the second most visited museum in the world after the louvre. also he is a great communicator. he does podcast for radio, he does tv series. he writes incredibly best-selling books. he is kind of all multi-targeting genius. >> a stellar track record, evidently. so he has something to back him up. is he the right person for this job? he is not a german. is he the right person? >> it's going to be a difficult job. the museum is scheduled to open in 2019, and no one kn

james baker who was then secretary of state told him if you agree to the unification of germany take down the berlin wall. i tell you that nato will not move 1 inch to the east. you may say he is lying, but i don't think he is. i think you saw the truth. the thing is that during the soviet time nato did not move to the east. it moved east. it moved under clinton. and when the russian star saying what's going on here now, we have no agreement with you. we had an agreement with the soviet union which is no longer there. you are russia. and so in 1991 czechoslovakia became members of nato and then it follow later on. >> 1991. >> ninety-nine. it was followed by romania. >> ninety-eight. >> it's not about dates the facts. [laughter] all right. i right. i may have gotten the dates -- [inaudible conversations] finally nato found a cell phone russia's border in estonia and latvia. now, again you may say that there is nothing dangerous about that. i am telling you a cold war mentality. nato was seen as a threat. with the russians upset about ukraine rightly or wrongly is it will not allow nato to be on our b

berlin. joining us now is the former chairman of germany's budget committee. and an mp.to you. thank you for taking the time. do you think the problem we have between greece and its creditors is a personality problem or a numbers problem? >> it is both. it is definitely a numbers problem. personality wise, if you see what happened in riga, you could see that the finance ministers and my colleagues in other countries don't want to hear any stories from a professor telling them how the economy should be. that is what we do see right now. there has to be a political solution. you can neither do this by just going through the numbers, nor by being a professor. francine: what is the plan be that we need in place for greece? otto: here comes the big problem. if you have no plan b, you have a problem. if you have a plan b and you talk about it, you have a problem too. you have to live. that is what many politicians these days have to do. from my experience, whenever we have a problem, there are smart people in the government's trying to find a plan b. i think the plan b, or wha

germany. he was in frankfurt yesterday hanover for the rest of the day today, then he will make his way to berlin for that meeting with angela merkel. it is one of opportunity. that's how the german press seems to be taking this. you look at germany's industrial strength. they see india and their burgeoning middle class as a real opportunity. you compare it with china, almost 10 times as much trade with china as with india. india has their own problems. they have a bureaucracy. mr. modi has been cutting down red tape. mr. modi is advertising his own country, but there seems to be an acknowledgment from mr. modi and the german press that india needs to tweak their economy make it more open, for this relationship to really blossom. guy: pons, thank you very much indeed. francine: here's a look at what else is on our radar this monday morning. after months of speculation, hillary clinton has announced that she will seek the democratic nomination for u.s. president in 2016. clinton made the announcement in a web video yesterday. it is the second presidential run from clinton who will become the count

germany with u.s. forces. including as a witness to the berlin crisis in 1961, the beginning of the cold war. he was an advisor in 1969 and became a senior member of kissinger's national security council. he was responsible for vietnam affairs. after leaving in 1971, he served as political advisor and became deputy high commissioner for refugees and he is now a perverse or at georgetown university. next is winston lord. he was one of kissinger's closest advisers. he worked on every aspect of foreign policy including the china, arms control negotiations, peace talks. weston went on to become president of the council of foreign relations and assistant secretary of state and u.s. ambassador to china in which he helped develop a diplomat relations. john negroponte was an officer in saigon in the late 1960's before joining the delegation. he was at the first paris peace talks. he went on to work on the -- he later served as ambassador to honduras, mexico, and iraq. he was also an assistant secretary of state and secretary and most famously known as the first director of national intelligence after

james baker, who was secretary of state, told him, if you agree to the unification of germany and taking down the berlinall, i tell you that nato will not move one inch to the east. you may say he's lying, but i don't think he is. i think he's telling the truth. the thing is, during the soviet period, which didn't last long after that, nato did not move to the east. it moved under clinton. when the russians started saying, what is going on here -- i mean yeltsin -- he was told, we have no agreement with you. we had an agreement with the soviet union. but it is no longer there. you are russia. in 1991, poland, czechoslovakia, became members of nato. then it was followed later on -- anne: [indiscernible] garry: 1998. vladimir: the argument isn't about dates. i may have gotten the dates mistaken. anne: it matters. vladimir: finally, nato found itself on russia's border. in estonia and latvia. this is russia's border. again, you may say there's nothing dangerous about that. i'm telling you, this is the result of the cold war mentality. nato is seen as a threat. what the russians have said about ukraine, rig

berlin. our correspondent peter told us about reactions here to greece's latest call for reparations. >> it's a huge claim, 278 alien euros. -- 278 billion euros. germany has responded by pointing to a much smaller sum of money. germany paid to greece in, but -- and compensation back in 1960, so long time ago. germany has been most adamant that with that payment all that time ago it met its obligations fully and the case is closed in international law. that is germany's position on the -- on all this. the rotation is on the part of the german government that the greek government is trying to link reparations with greece's current desk crisis in germany's role in it. germany's very irritated about that. we had feisty talk from the minister today coming out and saying it is tom and stupid and the two things simply don't belong together. greece does not see it the same way. for greece, they are linked especially for the greek people. it's not going to go away anytime soon. i think germany will have to revisit the issue in the near future. >> we are joined by our correspondent in athens. the german government has rejected the greek commands and call them d

baker, who was then secretary of state, told him if you agree to the unification of germany and taking down the berlin wall, i tell you that nato will not move one inch to the east. now, you may say he's lying, but i don't think he is. i think he's telling the truth. and the thing is that during the soviet period which didn't last very long after that, nato did not move to the east. it moved under clinton. and when the russians started saying, what's going on here? i mean yeltsin. he was told, no no, we have no agreement with you. we had an agreement with the soviet union. but it's no longer there. you're russia. and so in 1991, poland czechoslovakia, which is still czechoslovakia, became members of nato. and then it was followed later on -- yes, it was. >> i think it was in 1991. you'll find it was later than that. >> it was followed by romania -- >> '98 and 2002. >> well, look. the argument isn't about dates. it's about facts. >> please. >> all right. i may have gotten the date mistaken, but nonetheless -- >> no, it matters. i'm going to explain to you why. >> finally, nato found itself on russia's

[laughter] helmut kohl was the chancellor of germany when the berlin wall came down. he had a vision. born of a lifetime of experience that included obviously living through world war ii. of a united, peaceful, and prosperous germany in the united democratic peaceful europe. both of these developments may seem normal to you. they were virtually unimaginable for most of european history. germany was not a separate country, but a collection of city states and united under bismarck. herbert kohl became a second longest-serving chancellor of history, second only to bismarck. he had a strategy, which he pursued with extraordinary discipline. it was first, to unite germany after the wall came down, which required very large transfers of money from west to east germany to begin the long process of equalizing economic opportunities for both sides. second, to expand and strengthen the european union. he wanted all of central and eastern europe to come to the eu so germany would be in the middle of europe, not on the edge where it had been a source of instability and conflict th

germany gdp. it is the lead story and is not being well-received. jon: i imagine not. hans nichols joining us from berlin. james bevan is still with us. i took a week off and came back to the same story. let's call 2015 the death of a deadline. do these deadlines matter anymore? guest: the real deadline will be the 20th of july when we have the ecb on payment. we have another hill to overcome in august. i would suggest that we get to the end of september and everything is still functioning. it will at least be put off for an extended period. the real challenge is, even talk about greece leaving the euro, it is more like they stay in the euro or walk away from it dead. if they stay in the euro and keep its debt it is revalued upwards, that is disastrous. i don't think this is part of greece maneuvering toward leaving. i do think there is a real risk that they say we cannot pay and are not going to pay. jon: as a government you can put your hand on the back of your throat and pull 450 million euros, but you cannot pull billions of euros that are due in july and august, how do they find that? -- fund that?

germany about contingency plans. caroline: hans nichols live in berlin. mark: you key election campaign heads -- the u.k. election campaign heads towards its conclusion and things look up for ed miliband. the leader is the most likely candidate become the next prime minister. here's and edwards. this is significant -- here is anna edwards. anna: this is the third we have seen in recent weeks. we have seen better and that puts them at recent weeks is over a labor minority government is more likely to be the election. these bookies are new to u.k. politics. they have not been doing it that long but they correctly predicted a couple of weeks out that it was going to be a no vote on the scottish referendum. many take it more seriously than the polls. was the polling data telling us? caroline: the polls are not helping much. we are still this area were we can't tell who will be ahead. unbelievably tight is the wording that stephan shakespeare used this morning. he was on asia edge with rishaad salamat. he said polls were unbelievably tight. is talking about forecasters shooting their view towards the ed milib

germany. the ceo making an appearance before the leadership committee overnight. fighting for his job. that comes amidst a power struggle. more from berlinris, i am looking at -- i am instant in this bmw story. chris: it was a showdown meeting. there was into court and the german peace. there was the labor council. it was all of the power players at volkswagen. we have not heard any outcome. we are expecting a statement later. we'll see what happens. it remains intense. jon: how secure is the ceos position? it seems the board was backing him at one point. now that seems that is in doubt. chris: a lot of the power players rallied -- after comments that appeared in the magazine last friday. they called in question's been decorous position. at the end of the day, he has a contract and he needs the boards support -- he needs the board's support. they have been working so closely together for years. this rift is a major blow. it appears he is willing to sacrifice his confidant in order to get a long-term management succession plan in place. he is going all in on this strategy. he is a powerful player, it is hard -- you cannot push him out. wh

treasury secretary jack lew speaks with bloomberg about china and germany's finance minister talk to us about greece and what berlin would do in the event of a grexit. start --"street smart" starts now. ♪ here are the top stories we're watching at the closing tell. a warning from st. louis fed president jim bullard. he says the fed is concocting a "witches brew" that is risky if they hold interest rates near zero for too long. in washington, a small helicopter landing on the west lawn of the capital today. one person was reportedly detained and the streets were closed. the spot where the helicopter landed is with the annual christmas tree is set up. former new england patriots player and -- aaron hernandez was found guilty of first-degree murder. the conviction carries a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. we have less than one hour until the close of trading. let's get right to the news desk where they are looking at the action. triple digit rally on the s&p 500. mirroring gains in europe. mario draghi announced that he will continue quantitative easing until he sees a sustained inflation

berlin wall. so particularly interested in the history of communism and the history of pre-communism. specialized in russia, history of germanynd history of countries that then existed like yugoslavia czechoslovakia, which of course now is fragmented. after i greated from the school of slavonic studies in london, i was a british council scholar, which is equivalent of a fulbright scholarship in sarajevo in old yugoslavia which is bosnia. this is before the civil war and before the olympics. this was '82,' 83. i came to grad school at berkeley. i came as political scientist. i had fairly unique achievement coming as scholar and being thrown out as a troublemaker. i have had my moments of failure too. cspan: what kind of trouble were you making? >> guest: made fun of stodgy academics, career academics that have too much to say for themselves. you know my work i am a little brutal. i try to tell the truth and what i see as the truth. american academia is so mired in tradition, in bureaucracy, it is so reactionary, whether from the left or from the right. you have got political correctness n england you're trained to sing to your