patrick armstrong, they both stay with us.ll talk about an accord, whether -- have some sort of accorded that involves china. up next, european leaders try to forge ahead without britain. we speak to a merkel ally. ♪ francine: welcome to "the pulse." live from london, i am francine lacqua. let's get to the bloomberg first word is. nejra: negotiations between bayer and monsanto appear to be advancing. they have made progress on issues including the purchase price and determination fee. the ceos have had a series of constructive meetings and could reach an agreement in the next fortnight. representatives declined to comment. the euro area economy maintained composite pmi data rose for a second month, marking the best reading in seven. donald trump has called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate what he called hillary clinton's e-mail crimes. speaking at a campaign rally, he focused on her use of a primate -- private e-mail server and the pay to play actions of the clinton foundation. mr. trump: the amounts