really does post continue to give merkel c.d.u. a double digit lead why has it been so hard for any candidate to really break through and pose a serious challenge to merkel merkel spoke of personal standing is not restricted only to voters of her own party the c.d.u. there are in fact voters also in other parties stretches as far as the environmentalists greens and also of course in the. social democrats they are people who respect her for her political achievements in the last twelve years and there is also a sense that medical is a. guarantor of stability that in difficult times worldwide she. stands for continuity and allows people to live their lives without being too strongly affected by what goes on in the world these same polls place the far right populist party a.f.d. in third place what with their election mean for poland parliament what it means for germany you can say that in a sense it's a kind of normalize ation if you look at all neighboring countries of germany here in europe there are far right wing parties in all of those countries in france we know about the fullness in all and even beyond that in britain the brics the decision was based on vo

merkel's to lose? i'm joined by three seasoned observers of berlin politics, beginning with petra pinzler "zeit."e weekly she says angela merkel will be the next challenger, so the question is which small pararty leader will win the seat next to merkelalso with us, derek scally who writes for "the irish times." derek argues that merkel is facing serious unresolved challenges. he adds germany is sleepwalking through its next economic crisis. and a warm welcome to christine meier. she says no strategy against the .ar right afd party the challenge, however, might be an opportunity. interesting. i would like to begin with you, petra pinzler, and go to the international stage. there's talk of a nuclear war on the korean peninsula. trump, aired elan, and putin are kicking up trouble left, right, and center. germany is still mired in the refugee crisis. so much at stake, and german voters are mired in apathy. they are saying, i can't generate any enthusiasm for this election. what is going on? petra: what merkel did during the last couple years is pretetd that vototers don't have to care for politics. she just will deal with it. when you look at history, the last 12 years, it was all right. went quite well. if you look at the german situat

merkel. it's riding a wave of economic prosperity in germany and a popular feeling that merkel offers stability in an uncertain world. >> my party is in front now. i'm sure the chancellor, angela merkel, will win this election. >> reporter: merkel manages the biggest economy in europe. with a budget surplus for five straight years and record low unemployment, a recent poll found 64% of german voters approve of the job she's doing. talking to people on the subway in germany's capital, berlin, we found plenty of support for the chancellor. >> ( translated ):she has been good for germans. i like her very much. over the course of the years, i think it's very good what she has done. >> she's more of a conservative, but she often made the... made the right choice, i think. >> but for the country, in general, i think she made the right choices. >> reporter: her choice in 2015, to admit more than a million migrants and refugees from the middle east and africa, has defined this election. >> she thought at this particular time it was a humanitarian responsibility. >> reporter: reuters' berlin correspondent, andreas rinke, has covered merkel since she was first elected chancellor in 2005 and ha

merkel back home. >> merkel has won every direct mandate here. more and more voters feel alienated, most of all by a anga merkel's refugee crisis. >> merkel opens herrms wide and says come in, everyone. >> as i see it, letting all these asylum-seekers in just was not well thought out. it went all wrong. >> did merkel disregard a widespread fear of foreigners and give the afd a boost? melinda: an area that has been through profound structuraral change over the past 25 years, basically since the fall of the wall -- in many respects, it almost visible's a state like iowa in the united states, which, of course, gave strong, strong support to donald trump. is this really only about that fateful decision in 2015 to take in refugees, or is it about deep-seated structural change and its effect? barbara: it is absolutely about the changes that took place. we learned really from the people democracy is not served for free. .ou have to discuss with them not only merkel, i think most of the established parties did not look into it. show thatolls seem to many afd supporters are by no means at the bottom of the economic pyramid. what is driving the frustration a

merkel was it. i believe in angela merkel was it. i believe in angela merkel was it. se i think she isn't here with the same position as ten yea rs isn't here with the same position as ten years before. she has the same values and the same principles, but she is translating her position to the actual challenges, and i think thatis the actual challenges, and i think that is something which is really healthy. but of course i think the government, which is covered by the biggest two parties, isn't healthy for the democratic systems. just behind us, the beautiful reichstag building, insight, the bundestag, for the first time since the 1950s will see a right—wing nationalist party represented. how do you think the afd will approach opposition?- be honest i think they will be very shrill, is there a word like that? they will be very loud. the top candidate of the afd said earlier this week, we are going to track down the government, we are going to hunt them, sol down the government, we are going to hunt them, so i really think they are going to put a lot into the language.

merkel. they still like angela merkel. they still like angela merkel. kel and i think the reason why they like is that she is very calm in her politics, that she is dealing very calmly with problems and that she has the possibility to bring different factions together. she can govern with the liberals, the greens and the social democrats. we have covered the dutch elections where we saw the freedom parties saying that the mainstream parties at the same. it quite different way, donald trump won the white house because he said i am not a politician. the brexit vote was related to that sentiment as well and we have this in a different form here in germany with the afd in particular on their right wing but also the far left party saying that the main parties all agree on the main issues. on september the 24th, we will find out how many germans have decided to go with the more extreme parties. stay with us on outside source — still to come. and a change in the transfer window for clubs in the premier league. tulsen tollett will be here to explain. how likely

merkel. -- angela merkel. we have to analysts here. our chief political correspondent and alexander. how did his speech go down there in the assembly? >> i would say from what i saw, pretty well. germany is seen as a trustworthy , which is respected by many members of the u.n. general assembly. many of them were quite astonished and happy to see me german foreign minister here, only a few days before the german election. the reason for that speech going down well might be because he tried to set a counterpoint to mr. trump's message to the u.n. general assembly, saying that putting your country first cannot solve any problems and only lead to more conflicts and less prosperity. germany had experienced that and learn from its history. it's international and european responsibility first that helps germany become a respected nation. >> in addition to those comments, he also tried to save the nuclear deal with iran. let us take a listen. >> it is more important than ever that the architecture for arms control does not crumble. existing treaties must not be called into question. this goes especially for the nuclear agreement with iran. >> what you think? did he manage to position himself as a strong leader for europe and the world? >> he has a strong case. there is nobody who doesn't see it that way. the reason he says this is so important right now is that agreement with iran can serve as some kind of model for a possible agreement with north korea, and to throw that iran treaty overboard now -- even if the u.s. were to say, in three weeks they are not going to certify compliance, donald trump cannot simply throw away this treaty on behalf of all the partners of iran. clearly, the treaty would be undermined if the u.s. decided to reimpose sanctions. he is saying, why would we do that, when this is our only chance to resolve conflicts, and get north korea to the negotiating table? i think pretty much everybody except for the japanese leader is on the same page. the other european parties to the treaty with iran -- there is no country that believes there is a good military solution. >> we have seen the vice chancellor position himself against trop. i would love to get your field. -- your view. what does it mean for u.s. relations to have them taking on a strong anti-trump position? >> gabriel told us those relationships -- this relationship is restrained. it is difficult to cooperate with the united states, with donald trump, who considers the international stage a battle arena. we have to add that both countries are connected in very many different areas. we can assume they will find a way to cooperate in the future. >> one of the ways that many countries cooperate is through the united nations. he underlined the special role united nations place and mentioned the importance of germany peacemaking efforts in particular. >> germany is committed to providing political, humanitarian, and peace building support in many crisis regions. sometimes, military engagement under the auspices of the united nations is also necessary. when it comes to peace building, we have to make sure we do not create an imbalance here. >> you have a unique view on this. you are an american living in germany for a long time. do you think the world sees germany as a peacemaker now? >> the world sees germany as a very important player on the international stage. you probably remember some of the headlines after trump was elected, saying merkel is now the leader of the free world. germany has shown it is willing to take more responsibility and that was reiterated. a lot of countries are looking for it to do so. >> thanks to both of you for your thoughts. also, at the general assembly, donald trump says he signed a you executive -- an executive order that will allow tough economic sanctions on north korea. he made the announcement while the japanese and south korean leader discussed the threat posed by pyongyang. >> we cut off north korea's efforts to develop -- to develop the deadliest efforts known to humankind. the order enhances the treasury departments targets to any individual or entity that conduct significant trade in goods, services, or technology with north korea. >> we will be getting the view from wall street to see how u.s. businesses are going to be affected by those sanctions. stay tuned. turning now to other news around the world, more than 230 people are confirmed dead following tuesday's earthquake in mexico

merkel a historic fourth term in office. partyr right alternative entered for the first time with just under 13% of the vote. how will a weakened angela merkel respond domestically and internationally? our question this week on quadriga. what now, frau merkelandrea'skluth, who says angela merkel is now a lame-duck and will get weaker as a four term progresses. but in a world of bullies, dictators, prima donna's, she last best hope. , ao with us is werner familiar figure. he believes europe needs angela merkel's leadership more than ever, but after her devastating election setback, she faces a desperately complex task of forming a new coalition. hu,a warm welcome to pascal she says with agues weakened angela merkel -- welcome to pascal hugues. let's begin with you, pascal. give us a little bit of the flavor of how the election outcome here in germany has gone down, with all the surprises it brought with it. shockingk it's a bit and probably a disappointment for emmanuel macron, who two days ago made a big speech about europe, presenting his vision of europe for the future, and he coalition,,t the big the grand coalition, was re-conducted. he had a chance of realizing partly his program. but now it's going to be very , i think it's a bitter

merkel —— angela merkel, but they are likely to get a say in parliament for the time since the second world war and peers from the far rightare second world war and peers from the far right are expected to take seats. in this state, polls suggest in five voters support afd this man standing against angela merkelstakes. people he realised that. they are upset about many things. it began with the euro crisis would cost of billions on where she broke the law. are nuclear power policy was wrong and she called the refugee crisis in 2015 by single—handedly opening the board of. anti— migrant, anti— islam. this is a straightforward campaign. new germans, this post says, we make ourselves. burgers? we like our bikinis. the vast majority of germans are horrified still by afd, by its xenophobic rhetoric, but nationalism. it appeals to voters who are fed up with angela merkel and the refugee politics. that there isa and the refugee politics. that there is a broader appeal here as well. aplin macca's attracting people who feel forgotten, ignored, even, by germany's centrist policies and its mainstream political parties. those parties vow they will not do business with afd. but it may yet emerge as germany's third—largest party. hard to ignore the current carving its way through the political establishmen

merkel and merkel and her christian democratic union and the social democratic party and their candidate martin shultz of course the former european parliamentary president put it back in march it seemed really close right now where there is a good fifteen percent in the lead merkel in the lead then enough prompted our colleagues at the wall street journal even to come up with the headline wow it's boring and i have to say it really is heading that way with just a couple of weeks to go as i say around fifteen percent ahead angle of merkel it doesn't look like it's going to change we may have to put up with these little tit bits such as the the booing the cheering the whistling hopefully we won't see any. being thrown but those are the crumbs that we're having to survive all the find some drama in the lead up to the selection for the border stuff but as i think as a euro correspondent piece all of us thanks for that piece well if you have something to say on the day's stories to get in touch and share it with us by following us on facebook and twitter my colleague andrew pharma will be with you in about thirty minutes with the headlines. you know ylem must go with. mark zuckerberg at first but. arguing about artificial intelligence is going to destroy the world. s

angela merkel, they feel like, people from the world know this, they like stability, there are historic reasons for that, there's been through the major upheaval of unification, mutti merkel, money merkela bit of an edge to her, she sticks to her principles when she feels that it's right. and so i think also she has not had the content up against her and when martin schulz said she could be vice chancellor in her government, the country fell apart laughing. i think the afp and the mood in the east is very unpleasant, they were worse than i had expected. how did you feel about nigel farage going over there? very badly. i'm usually one of those people who doesn't mind people being a bit off at having their views and you know, you have a perfect right to exist and all of that but i think it crossed a bad line when he went up there and campaigned with the alternative fur deutschland, that was in many way a racist rally and you have to be very careful that this extreme sort of end of euroscepticism doesn't change to that. tony, do you agree he was wrong to address the afp?” that. tony, do you agree he was wrong to address the afp? i do and it makes life leavers and those of us it makes life

very little contrition sharrod by angela merkel, i thought, little contrition sharrod by angela merkel, ithought, in little contrition sharrod by angela merkelt, in the early hours —— afd. merkel, i thought, in the early hours -- afd. she lost, what, 70 seats? i'm sure it was worse than she expected, she would have expected it to be tough because of the immigration issue and she let in more thani the immigration issue and she let in more than 1 million the immigration issue and she let in more thani million migrants, primarily from syria, and it was always going — she knew it would overs ha d ow always going — she knew it would overshadow the election. but even she didn't quite expect, i think, it to be this bad and i think le figaro has this right, bitter victory, she does much helmut kohl 's victory for wins but the same time, she has this issue now of how to put together a coalition government. and it won't be so easy. the resulting quite staggering about the far right in such numbers, probably 90 in the german parliament, returning to a position of relative prominence in german politics. we don't know much about them in terms of policy a

merkel pauses victory marred by the worst than expectedangela merkel pauses viy marred by the worst than expected results facing the most splinter parliament in modern history. the prospect of another round of elections prove to be unattainable, it will certainly weigh on the euro in the medium-term. an important chart to keep an eye on as merkelries to form a coalition. vonnie: a big weekend for sure. let's check in with the first word news now. emma: president trump and republican leaders plan to release this week will dramatically cut taxes. proposal to cut the corporate tax rate from 35%. tax lobbyist familiar with the changes, cutting the top individual tax rate to 35% down from the current top rate of 39.6%. meanwhile, the president is about nfl players. he says nearly has nothing to do with race. it is about respect for the country, flag, and national anthem. the nfl must respect it. about 200 nfl players set to neil while the whole team stood with locked arms to display unity. brexit negotiations resumed in brussels today and they come after theresa may except for the first time that britain would pay its dues, contributing to the european union budget in 2020. she is also said she would honor the commitment more broadly. the german press is calling it turned nightmare victory. she won a fourth term as chancellor but w

merkel. this is chapter one, the extreme maker of as a merkel. -- of angela merkel. his you want to be remembered for? joyce: without a doubt, her greatest compliment has been -- her greatest accomplishment has been opening germany to immigration, not to mention the refugee crisis as substantial proof of her principled approach to a lot of issues and she knows the demographic and she understands data. another element that would work for her in the longer run with to be remembered as a person who takes a holistic approach. she sees a lot of these issues connected to each other. anna: you talk of the merkel method. what is that question mark -- what is that? can others copy it? be of i doubt she would cop -- i doubt they would be up to copy it. her transition from east to west makes her statements and her ex bolger to a different -- her exposure to a different gender , her physics training has governed her response so i think there are very few leaders on the earth who would be able to bring these personal expenses together in this very unique way. the method consists o

merkel againm are criminals. i have always voted cdu and i wanted merkel again. it is difficult. there are not many alternatives to angela merkel on haroon initiative. she reacts a lot to what others do and that is a kind of stagnation. angela merkel must now find a coalition partner. do not expect afd to be included. that the parties in parliament atoll horrifies the political mainstream. exhausted, bruised, the end of a long campaign. angela merkel‘s conservatives may be the winners but this does not feel a lot like victory. what happens with german elections is we get the result but that is not the end of the matter. the parties have to sit down and work out who can form a coalition government. if you're a student of german politics you're a student of german politics you will know there are quite a few cult —— combinations that have on occasion ended up in government. looking at the numbers now, you can knock out quite a few of those possibilities. the most likely outcome is angela merkel and her cdu party working with the green party and the free democrats. what is interesting is that because there are not any other obviou

i have seen a few comments from strategists saying the way is cleared for merkel for chancellor to be merkel get -- for merkel to be chancellor again. at best, it is neutral. if you think about a 50% lead in the polls -- a 15% lead in the polls, having to price new information is a new far-fetched. neutral forto be german equities and eurozone equities. i've seen other comments as well , what you can assume is this is the farative because of right wing. that has also been a bit too far. it is probably very neutral, the outcome for markets. august a care what the opposition is. -- markets don't care what the opposition is. matt: can the amd be much more than a sideshow? they are in the opposition, the strongest voice. but they seem to be a bit of a fragmented party as it is. they don't seem to be organized in pushing in one direction. max: what you have in the afd is two different fractions. you have a moderate one who said i am more of the moderate kind of politician. she's ahead of the elections a couple of month ago. stated the possibility of them going into a government coalition, something the others have

merkel or other biggerfactors at play? it has to do with her and the bigger factors at play. it has to do with her because there is merkel fatigue, we saw that at the end of last year when the social democrats and martin shorts when he came up as a candidate suddenly rose in the polls and everyone said he could beat angela merkel, but you saw that there was fatigue with her. then bigger things like the refugee wave, dissatisfaction, people are not all, you have the same things you see all over the world in western societies at the moment, you can see it in france, the netherlands, the united states and great britain, so you have those unsatisfied people who think they are the losers of globalisation, and are very much afraid of having too many immigrants, and the change of their societies. we will either there for the moment because we have just got through to damian magennis outside the alternative for germany headquarters, where there has been a protest going on for the last few hours. bring us up—to—date with what is happening, please. behind me you can see a row of police, quite a few going down the street, there are hundreds of demonstrators, mostly young people, lots of signs, anti—afd signs. these demonstrators are calling the afd neo—nazis and saying this party is a right—wing extremist party. they are

angela merkel looks set to leave germany for anotherfour use. angela merkel is seen as anotherfour use. angela merkelr use. angela merkel is seen as a stable force in a very u nsta ble world. seen as a stable force in a very unstable world. economic growth here is up and unemployment is down. so mainstream voters you look at the rest of the world, with the uncertainties of wrecks it and donald trump think that germany may just be better sticking with the leader they know they can rely on. but what we don't know is what sort of government angela merkel will end up of government angela merkel will end up leading. she will have to form a coalition and all of her potential partners have very different policies. that means a coalition talks could get rocky. what is clear is that the new anti— migrant ast party looks set to enter the parliament for the first time. it will not end up in government. the afd is accused of being nationalistic and sometimes even racist. so no other party will work with them. germany is the most powerful country in europe and that isa powerful country in europe and that is a con

merkel is widely expected to get re—elected. there is talk of the revival of the franco—german motor driving europe forward, but if you look specifically at what macron and merkel have said about their vision of the next phase of european reform, they're not actually quite on the same page, are they? do you see the french and the germans acting in lockstep or do you see the differences between them? the differences are considerable. but i must say i have seen, because i was there with them at the same table, i've seen two franco—german couples at work. the sarkozy—merkelples. of the three, i think macron is the one who is, number one, willing to risk more in terms of domestic reforms and budgetary consolidation, which is good for france and good to open up germany. and secondly, he has a vision for europe which does not coincide 100% with that of merkel. that's the point. the french it seems have huge ambition for a much more integrated tax and spend policy across the european union, with a very powerful treasury and finance minister based in brussels. the germans are still deeply suspicious of that because they fear that means the highly successful german taxpayer will be on the hook for the irresponsible behaviours of countries such as yours, italy, and of course greece and many others too. and the germans won't stand for it. and mrs merkel in the end is the key player and power in the european union. no question about this. of course, now you are integrating europe much more than you believe because you put greece and italy on the same account. ita

merkel. in 2015 mr. scheuble supported the leaving of greece. miss merkel was against that mr. scheuble is not clearly understandable in his positions. mrs. merkel, on the other side, has shown openness for a eurozone budget that mr. macron has suggested. when mr. macron needs money for investment, this can be discussed. the european bank budgets can be made and much more an automatic financial equalization in europe through a eurozone budget does not work. other proposals such as a european finance minister is interesting. if it's an independent institution it monitors compliance with the treaties. >> one last question on greece would you say that we have to bail out greece in the coming years again and again? >> translator: no. greece must fulfill its commitments. the international monetary fund says with the current programs this is not possible a debt restructuring would be required this needs to be discussed if greece fails to meet its reform targets a deal could be that greece would receive a haircut. then it would be able to become competitive in tourism for the devaluation of the new currency. it would no longer be disguised as a europea

merkel no one that i know is a fan of merkel and i hope that we will cause a big change. there is a variety of opinions out there but really the voters can be divided into several distinct groups the merkel fireman's those who are very happy with the status quo i would be happy in fact to see another c.s.u. c.d.u. coalition with another party those who want to change and some fresh faces but within the confines of really mainstream political consensus leading to all centrist center left of center right close in place because of the social democrats or perhaps the f.d.p. the party those voting for fringe parties and those voting to stop those fringe parties coming to power i think we all know who those fringe parties are the concern for many here is that the deal terms of for germany party may get their first seats in parliament that will be the first time in german modern history since the second world war a fact that a party seen by many as far right would get seats in the in the event of a coalition they have had a late surge in the polls they gaining on the smaller parties they could well be the next german opposition which to many here would be the surprise result there's not long to

merkel isa share the centre ground. mrs merkel is a bit too soft. she seems easily influenced. i cut decide who to vote for. and michelangelo myrtle aborts. she has very good policies as i particularly like the refugee policy. —— angela merkele big parties are already in power and didn't do that much good. i don't wa nt didn't do that much good. i don't want to support them. mrs merkel's campaign team can't entirely drown out the voice of the right. the nationalist party isn't likely to enter parliament. the first far right party to win seats since the second world war. new germans, this poster says, we make them ourselves. burgers, we like amber bikinis. they are alluring voters from the mainstream parties. like this teacher who worries about german traditions, german values are being lost. in a way, the party is already sitting at the table of government. it is the most influential party in germany because it brings down the neck of the mainstream parties. you can see the concrete result of that in germany's new... people are tired of hearing the same old things. in germany's new... people are tired of hearing the same old thingsm this country, with its wartime history, he expected the right to do so well, let alone enter

merkel will be on top of the government again who will be the coalition partner is the big question mark just caught up with a very well known biographer who wrote a book about angela merkel and her world back in 2013 i asked him what he thinks would be merkel's favorite coalition >> merkel has achieved two major goals, or will achieve two major goals, she will be the strongest party and without her there will be a coalition her favorite would probably be the spd. on the other side, she preferrinprefers the liberals and greens for one reason if she picks the social democrats again, the right-wing afd will be the strongest opposition in parliament.meri >> so if it's possible, she will go for what we call a jamaica coalition? >> jamaica, difficult to negotiate, find common ground, i expect movrnnths, and you still have to ask the party members of the greens and probably the liberals if they go along with i guess this will be the solutio solution >> you're an expert on merkel. perhaps you can share your view of her being able to do that >> she was actually thinking of not running again last october and november and the final decision was actually made after donald trump was elected. she saw the west tumbling. she decided germany could not afford

in an elephant around, really cracks between martin schulz and angela merkel, mostly from merkel --ide of it site. -- side. merkelsn't show that much emotion. lost 12, 13,lition 14 points. what happened? happened basically is, almost everybody assumed theel would win and after tv debate, many people thought schulz would not be chancellor. because merkel was supposed to feltnyway, a lot of voters it was safe to counter protest for the fringes. but they went straight to the other parties such as the fringes. if we look at it slightly differently, if you take the parties that are politically close, the conservatives and the liberals, together they lost 2.5 percentage points, which is not all that much. while it looks bad for merkel, for the overall conservative liberal can't, it was not such a bad thing. matt: how much of a problem was it the afd moves with better-than-expected showing in the election? guest: it is taboo for germany since the early 1950's. we have a radical right-wing party in parliament that will make a lot of noise. judging by how they are doing in a state parliament, they will expose themselves a

merkel's comments after the debate, merkel and schulz look like they can definitely do business together. there was a lot of grand agreement between them. they are both at the center of german politics. you can see them doing a deal together. not that that will definitely happen, but there is enough crossover there. i think this would be a continuity vote. i think it would be quite positive within the context of emmanuel macron winning. merkel favorable to macron. they would both be able to support macron. therefore, the political backdrop int he euroarea would be quite positive. guy: it is interesting come in the polling, someone suggest that is the best case scenario, but i agree it is not the best for everybody. that is what we have priced in now. i don't understand why a significant step forward would take us to a new level. merkel's already pretty clear that she can deliver on what she's promised in terms of europe. i don't understand -- or maybe i am asking the wrong question. maybe it is a magnitude question. how much more can we expect the euro to go up, given that we've got this in place now? >> we don't have to rewind that much, too far back, guy, to remember when there was a lot of concern in europe about populism, about the far right. this would be just the latest development in european politics that would add support to the euro. at the margin we have probably seen the bulk of the move we will see from the pos

merkel learned the language from her mother an english teacher. with turkish president regift everyone merkel talks tough. the relationship between merkel and u.s. president donald trump was described by the white house as unbelievable trump's former press secretary said the president had a great deal of respect for the german chancellor. merkel. seems to get along particularly well with the new french president manuel michael. the two leaders share a political outlook and that includes a more self-assured europe. on the domestic front merkel ruffled some feathers among conservatives in the state of bavaria with her support for a parliamentary vote on gay marriage. but they liked her pragmatic approach to dealing with donald trump's america first philosophy. besides the time when we can rely completely on others is coming to an end. and i've seen that recently myself so i can tell you this the europeans now have to take control of our own destiny. vocalise you know and i gonna hunt them. medical takes a practical approach to governing she's not driven by ideology her policies reflect the majority view of our cabinet. on the international stage sh

and what is worrying for angela merkel, this esu, the bavarian part of the ruling party, has been very upset by the way angela merkel has carried things out. angela merkelas still not apologise for the saying that she's taken in1 million refugees and that kohli is what has happened, it's open the door, let's face it, to a right—wing backlash that will bring back memories given germany's history of what can happen. but she believes to her core that it was the right thing to do. as a committed christian, daughter of a clergyman, she felt it was the right and important thing. what they did last year was passed an act is supposed to ensure better integration of refugees and one of the problems has been if you take in refugees, you have to help them integrate into the country. if they can improve on that, that will help, but this also gives a bit of optimism that in fact europe itself may reassess how it treats those who come into the country. what is worrying is after the election in france, it looked like the far right had been, if you like, sidelined. this, in germany, is in that sense, a much more worrying signal over all about how europe is reacting. an

merkel and her main challenger martin schultz are out on their final day of campaigning before germans go to the polls on sunday and while merkel has a comfortable lead in the polls she isn't taking any chances she's been meeting voters in her home district in northeastern germany pounding home her message one last time. chancellor angela merkel doesn't have to worry about keeping her campaign alive as she practiced the c.p.i. . and rates voters inch that are so and her constituency in eastern germany after all her conservatives have a healthy lead in the polls and merkel looks set to become chancellor for the fourth time. i think she has done a good job so far and that the results are tomorrow's general election will be pretty clear. but it's almost certain that the christian democrats might get enough votes to govern on their own. one possible coalition partner the free market free democrats their leader christian in the last campaign day pitching for a comeback the f.t. pay failed to make it into the bundestag in the last federal elections. merkel could also renew the current coalition with the social democrats who travel far behind merkel's party in opinion polls their leader martin schultz made a final push to sway voters at an energetic rally in african in germany's west on the eve of the rally schultz urged germans not

merkel over her handling of the russian president, vladimir putin. joining us to discuss all of this is the bloomberg editor from berlin, still with us max kettner. merkel has always had a cautious approach to the liberals in the some white know what they are doing. the issue of partnering with russia does china with german business. how would this resonate if these two were in government. ? with the approach change? guest: it is a bit early to tell. all of this is subject to coalition negotiations if this combination came to pass. what is clear is that the free democrats have been trying to state out positions. they are in a tight race for third place in the election happening six days from now and anyway to set themselves apart is welcome. certainly, russia has been one avenue for that. we have also had earlier statements on russian statements by the head of the ftp that seem to be at odds with merkel is a serious issue that the ftp actually feels strongly about and a policy sets, but you have to remember merkel has faced down a lot of people and a lot of other countries and leaders to keep the sanctions on russia. max, i wrote a position where business in germany has been favorable to russia, but the government has taken a different line and business has backed down. the fact the ftp is saying that tells us the idea of a stronger relationship with russia is alive and well. guest: that comes into play with probability of a more business friendly government if the ftp were to make it into the government. not only with regard to russia but with regard to increased infrastructure spending, digital and the sector spending, the most likely scenario one not go away quickly. merkelbably one seat backed down all of a sudden having imposed a sanction. she is also facing european countries to say, this is what we have to do. ofis unlikely to see a party a percent or 9% to change the entire s

merkel. thank you very much indeed, gavin. critics of angela merkel would say over recent yea rs angela merkel would say over recent years she'staking them on as her own. she may need to do that in coming weeks because she's going to need some help forming a coalition government. help may come from the social democrats. let's bring in damien mcguinness, live from their headquarters. this is a very disappointing result for the spd. that's right, certainly no clapping here, just glum faces. if these initial exit polls are correct, 20%, thatis initial exit polls are correct, 20%, that is the crucial mark. if the spd slips under 20%, it means it's more 01’ slips under 20%, it means it's more or less over for slips under 20%, it means it's more or less overfor this spd in slips under 20%, it means it's more or less over for this spd in this form as a major party in germany. it could be the worst election result the german social democrats have ever had. since the second world war. it would be so disappointing for the social democrats. there are a number of reasons why martin schulz, angela merkel‘s rivalfor chancellor, has done so

merkel appears to have easily won a fourth term in power as polls suggest her party won a third of votes in the parliamentary election merkel's current coalition partners the social democrats led by martin shorts are expected to win around twenty percent of the vote a historic low for the sense of their party they've said they will leave merkel's coalition government and go into opposition. meanwhile the anti islam and anti immigrant a.f.d. is on track to become the country's third largest political force the first major parliamentary victory for a far right party in nearly sixty years the mainstream parties have ruled out talking to the f.t. about forming a coalition his manifesto included a pledge to ban all mosques and criminalize people wearing the veil or merkel has vowed to win back votes from the f.t. . vision we don't have to beat around the bush of course we hope for a better result that is clear however we mustn't forget we've had a very challenging time in office and that's why i'm glad that we've achieved the strategic objective of our election campaign. we've got a challenge the f.t.c. has entered the federal parliament will have to analyze and evaluate what's happened because we want to regain those who voted for the a.f.p. in other news iran has joined turkey in putting on a show of force and its border with ira

merkel was 10% down on the last election. she says that the ft now poses a different challenge. jenny hill reports. —— afd. it has been a frustrating night for angela merkel. a brave face for the cameras at the party faithful. angela merkellection for them, but it is not the victory that they had hoped for. support for the conservatives is lower than it has ever been under her leadership. a verdict, perhaps, on her decision to open germany's doors to a million refugees. translation: let's not beat around the bush. of course we hope for a better result. but do not forget we have had a challenging four years. that is why am happy to say that we achieved the two digit goal of our we are the strongest party. mr merkel positions herself as a symbol of strength in a jetty world. her experience alone is apparently no longer enough. —— changing world. because this is today's real success story. anti—islam, anti—emigrant, anti—europe at the afd is now part of the parliament in europe. —— secretary. translation: we will hunt them down. we will hunt mrs merkel down, and we will take back our country and our people. it is a profound shift in postwar german politics. today, running together in berlin. but in the heart of this country

merkel -- angela merkel, what are the options were successful coalition? this is bloomberg. ♪ manus: it is new york city on this thursday night/friday morning. you are seeing equity futures nipping into the green on jobs day. an estimate for the number of jobs added to the u.s. economy. what will the wages be? debt ceiling, anybody? those are the issues that america will deal with. ok, where are we now? let's get to juliette saly pc standby. southwest airlines is working to ensure a steady supply of jet fuel after hurricane harvey forced a shutdown of crude oil refineries and pipelines. said "i don't excite any problems as this is an evolving crisis." along the texas and louisiana border after record rainfall. khiem: income fund -- money managers erasing the pot paid by investors. it will increase its fees for most share classes bring the cost for the institution classes to $.50. investors have been blowing this moving money, raising pressure on money managers to compete by reducing costs. shares in retailer lululemon have jumped in late trading after reassured investors that the of poetic -- that athletic apparel retail is not dead. spotify is -- the move comes after the music streaming company's initial round of graham failed to catch on with audiences. spotify will focus is video efforts around that. that is your bloomberg business flash. while angela merkelpected to keep her position as chancellor in the german election, key uncertainties remain about forming a government. possible outcomes can -- include continued -- spd. another option, jamaica coalition. what is that? that is the government a green party in the free democrats. matt miller caught up with the leader of the free democrats who destined to make alternative. >> i think this is the least likely coalition. the grand coalition is more likely and that has to do with the situation with the green party. they ask for maximum conditions expanding the ftp because they don't have any momentum at the present. they are losing support. on the bigger questions, the greens are stuck in the year 2015. manus: the jamaica coalition is something we are going to talk to geoffrey yu about. never read headline on jgb. -- we have a read headline on jgb. for anybody in any doubt about what is going on in terms of control, we had a conversation with kuroda last week. everything is working fine as f

merkel's critics. joining us for more is d.w. political correspondent hans brandt hands the latest polls continue to give merkel's c.d.u. i think an if you can double digit lead why is it been so hard for any candidate to break through and pose a serious threat to her. well she is very popular even beyond the reaches of her party even within hours of the social democratic spectrum she's as a person and she's impressed germans for twelve years that she's been in power and i think there is a sense even amongst her critics that she stands for a certain continuity and a certain. calm in dealing with a very difficult international situation so i think her personal. her personal reputation is what is really pushing the c.d.u. ahead at the moment and the same poll numbers also place the right wing populist a.f.d. party in third place not by fair elections into parliament need for germany well i mean it's obviously been as we've just heard the situation with the refugees in the last couple of years hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants coming into germany that has pushed people away from going to markets conservatives

merkel speciality take gay marriage call back this mrs merkel is offended since two thousand and five you supported discrimination against gays and lesbians and did nothing to bring about equality merkel's pod's support as opposed to gay marriage the public wanted. she led parliament legalized but voted against to save face. it's failing to steal the ideas of others and take undeserved credit that's pretty bad picked saddle unfairly by name in the finance elance they really went beyond the financiers i wound up doing was looking after. the thing that has taken that. i would be i mean. if it works it's worth stealing for the first time merkel's. campaign books plus the with the national flag. is a symbol and nationalist anti immigrant opposition. we are in times where right wing populists are stronger and we don't want to leave patriotism to these people in twelve years merkel has practiced her tricks to the fiction yet the problems. is becoming harder and harder to. get she says she's. not going to shine shah. leave you might leave me and went against him. ok let's take a look now at how germany has been readying to head to the polls and what we could expect from tomorrow's vote across

merkel. she secures a fourth term. will talk about the challenges angela merkel faces in the weeks ahead with her former defense missed -- minister. this is bloomberg. ♪ david: welcome back to "bloomberg markets: balance of power." shery: it is time now for our stock of the hour. quest diagnostics on track for the worst day since 2008. this is after centers for medicare and medicaid services announced prices for medicare payment rates. explain this to us. news is that these centers are announcing pricing payments. the drop payment rates for the medicare plan. it is lower than expected. there was discussion about whether or not this was going to with payments based on market rates. this is the result of a piece of legislation passed by the house in 2014. this is a market survey by the center to figure out where these rates are going to come in. they are looking at significantly lower rates. 12% of quest diagnostics lavrov revenues from -- lab comes from clinical labs. perhaps some of it is an evaluation situation. let's jump over to the bloomberg terminal. equity relative valuation is a great way to get a sense of how much a company is worth. this is the five-year, multiple range. historical average in orange. blue dots, where we are currently. value,retty over the relative to its -- overvalued, relative to its own history. shery: thank you so much for that. david: let us get to the german elections. falling against the dollar after what some are calling merkel's victory. to point -- our reporter is joined now. he is a former defense minister of germany. merkel from 2009 2 2011. angela merkel won her fourth term yesterday. she had the weakest margin for her party since 1949. what have you been hearing in response to the election? wrong told be entirely limit it to historical victory. it was a historical defeat for the established party in germany. there were dramatic losses in voters. nervous.es are what does this mean for the future of germany and the next coalition? seeontinuing -- they continuity with the chancellor. germanye first time in that we have a four party coalition. but then, germany will barely be prepared to shape europe at that very moment. especially when theresa may austin hack results. -- wants to have results. is that the last few years of the chancellor? maybe there will be consequences. >> are you starting to hear rumors about who might take over those leadership roles? there is not an inflation of talents across the part