peter cook, thank you. president obama is about to enter the east room of the white house where he will deliver remarks on raising the federal minimum wage. the president was then signed an executive order requiring federal contractors to pay their federally funded employees on new contracts a fair wage of at least $10 and $.10 -- $10.10 an hour. we will monitor this event and bring it to you live. coming up, we will look at the impact of easy money on your nest egg. ♪ according toin, espn, the new york yankees captain and shortstop derek jeter says one to 14 will be his last. he says he will retire after the season. according to the philadelphia fed, 80% of the decrease in the american labor force participation rate was due to retirement. discourage baby boomers jobseekers are giving up looking for work. wants to be known as america's retirement company. of chief financial officer ing u.s. is with me in the studio. welcome to the show. thank you for your time. before we get to retirement, let's begin with

back to you. >> thank you very much, peter cook. joining us from our nation's capital where the u.s. house of representatives has just voted to lift the debt ceiling. the talk about something called the playbook for the playbook, for your pocketbook. the average cost of a wedding budget is more than $28,000 and if you live anywhere in the metropolitan region, it could cost you an average of more than $75,000. here now to help us figure out how to pay for one of life's biggest expenses, michael levenson, the cofounder of present value. it is a cash registry. before we get to the business, i want to find out a little bit more about your background and then -- and some tips on how to pay for a wedding. as i said, it can be expensive. you put together some ideas on how people can save money at that particular time of life. >> absolutely. and thanks for having me on. i actually started my career in finance. at jpmorgan, i had a fantastic for years there and i worked on allocation and financial planning and things like that. a wedding can

peter cook looks at what's on the agenda at the senate democrats annual retreat.nd we will have the latest on its doorsorts to open to global trade. we begin with matt miller and plan toon cbs -- cvs's stop selling tobacco. quick this is really huge news from cvs. it is the first national chain to stop selling tobacco products across the board. focus in on what it means for the shareholders and the bottom line. about $2it will lose million in annual sales from tobacco customers. that is not clear if it is alsot to macro sales, or the indirect sales of things like magazines and sodas that smokers tick up when they come in -- pick up when they come into by cigarettes. shareholders don't seem very bothered. after an initial drop to less than $65, the stock recovered to about $70. only losing about 1/10 of one percent. add up tollion does about three percent of total sales for cvs. merlot, said he will find ways to offset those losses. >> why would the company do this? it is obviously great to embrace wellness, but wall street is not so altra stick. soal is not -- is

peter cook is with us. olivia sterns, who is looking at the date for the presidential election. it sounds like protesters don't want to wait this long but walk us through the timeframe. >> i wanted to add context about russia house -- russia's role. his all caps off 3 months ago because viktor yanukovych took a away from a trade agreement with closer ties to the eu. it looks like russia had the upper hand. they offered a $15 billion lifeline to keep ukraine afloat, a gas deal that was going to save the economy. look at what has happened in the last 24 hours. eu foreign minister's in kiev overnight brokering this power deal could it sounds like the power has shifted back into the eu sphere perhaps vladimir putin's options for controlling ukraine are running out. we heard from the foreign minister survey log rough -- sergei lavrov in baghdad, saying that sis just a ploy to get ukraine to make the eu choice. today, the russian finance minister said that the ukraine political crisis has raised many questions ab

peter cook with that, a defense contractor for the nation. all things washington, look for that at 2:00 p.m. this is "bloomberg surveillance," i am tom keene. adam johnson is in, olivia sterns is here before she jets off to sochi. scarlet fu is figure skating. >> better her than me. another big move from yahoo!, marissa mayer, according to the wall street journal, partnering up with yelp. this is right up your street, olivia. >> trying to improve the local search. when you put in bergdorf goodman, normally what would, is bergdorf goodman.com, they are going to have the young local were a few -- they are going to have the yelp local review.

peter cook also debuting here. he's joining us from washington. good to see you. the tonight show, the story is a lot bigger than that. >> is not just about the tonight show. it is a wider trend in hollywood. losing some of those production dollars of the last couple of years. we have heard of the big migration to canada for a lot of the shoots. others states have sweetened the pot, like new york. wages all tied to the entertainment industry in california. but, the reality is they have taken a hit since 1996. .a.er jobs in l county. what happened with the tonight show is symbolic of the larger story. >> what is the governor of california doing? >> the mayor to theangeles has said governor and the legislature, we need to step up here. we need to double the incentives that california offers to the industry. taxt $100 million a year in breaks. that pales to the $420 million in new york. even the wheezy and offers more than california these days. again, those offers are making a difference. that is one of the big reasons they are losing out right now. >> talk was abou

peter cook joining me here in new york. thank you. up next, the first-hand look at the job in california -- drought in california. erik schatzker is live. mark, the white house is busy responding to the ukraine. last week, the president was here in california visiting with -- dealing with domestic issues. he was investigating california's worst drought in more than a century. i have been here all week and i spent time talking to all types of people across the state. including one farmer who met with the president. stay with us. ♪ >> today, the u.s. department of agriculture released its first production forecast for 2014. on the phone from crystal city, virginia. alan, what does the usda say? what they said is that farmers this year are taking flight from risk. you are seeing koran down 3.5%. and a 3.9% increase in soybeans. see the usda reducing its profit forecast and commodity prices starting to go down, you're beginning to see a supply response as well. farmers don't want to take on the same sort of risk that they get from foreign

washington correspondent peter cook. our next guest wants to take some of the financial pain out of dealing with insurance companies rolling a car accident. he are ready handles a quarter of the world's auto claims. this is "taking stock,." ♪ >> perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the 10 -- successful entrepreneurs are their humble starts. mark zuckerberg started facebook in his dorm room. elon musk taught himself programming at the age of 12. our next guest went from hanging -- in his father's uncle auto garage defending a company focused on modernizing the insurance industry. good to have you on "taking stock." you have done four other companies, created them and sold them. what guides you? >> well, i worked primarily in the automotive industry. that is my passion. i think what guides most of us improvingsion for things or inventing things and trying to get people to see a different way. giving them an opportunity truce -- terry use it in a massive scale and finding solutions. >> you grew up around cars big-time. >>

peter cook a looks at the call for a smaller army. raking developments at the world congress in barcelona. >> good afternoon. one of the comments has been from mark zuckerberg -- sort -- mark zuckerberg who did this. this is a company that positions itself as a leader in mobile communications. no surprise to see mark zuckerberg at an event focused on mobile here it they're trying to reach out to phone carriers to see if facebook in the near future can find more partners to basically get the internet into the hands of work he will. working between three and five carriers to help a spaghetti people who do not have access to data on their phone access to it. a big factor from that would need facebook. if successful, it would get facebook in the hands of more people. the company looks to grow. example was last week's $19 billion purchase of the messaging app. he was asked about the purchasing price. he thinks despite all the wall street controversy that the business could be worth more than $19 billion just because if it is a platform tha

peter, here is peter cook, our chief washington correspondent. ter, you've got to rob peter to pay paul or however the phrase goes, where are the public and getting up the money to make the military happy? >> tom, it is not even certain that that is the provision the republicans will fight. i talked to a top republican yesterday, he does not like that idea. the notion here, tom, is that speaker boehner has to come up with something to show for their efforts before they can agree to a debt ceiling increase, but right now, you cannot get to any sort of agreement among his own troops, among his house republican conference, so at the end of the day, much greater likelihood here is that we are looking at a clean debt ceiling increase but we have got to get there and the clock is ticking. unlike all the previous ones as you and i talked about, there is not a lot of time this time. there is much less wiggle room this time around. peter, and of the weekend, i have never seen such gloom in the papers about the republicans. not only the debt ceiling this or

chief washington correspondent peter cook has more. peter, the debate is what? over the weather? >> they are fighting over the weather and debating how much the poor weather has factored into that economic outlook. two weeks ago, janet yellen was supposed to testify at a snowstorm prevented that. today she finally appeared and she was forced to acknowledge .hat some of the softer numbers how much is whether responsible? >> part of that softness may reflect as -- adverse weather conditions. it is difficult to discern the effect. in the weeks and months ahead, my colleagues and i will be out whethero figure the recovery is progressing in line with our earlier expectations. >> why this important? the increased economic outlook is a big reason the fed began to yell back at on this is. we were at $65 billion per month stop there is a tapering question altogether. senator chuck schumer put toward janet yellen. here is what she had to a test site. >> if there is a significant change in the outlook, we would be open to reconsider. i do not want to draw any conclusions here. up,f the fore

i want to bring in our chief washington correspondent peter cook. peter, the president described it as deeply this day blazing -- and the stabilizing -- des tabilizing. is that the moment to talk for i'm very annoyed? >> you are right. this is a situation that is getting worse, not better, and it is a warning of sorts. ukrainiann of the sovereignty would be deeply destabilizing to the region. he is deeply concerned by the reports that these russian , and this isments a warning street to the russian military, that the rest of the world is watching you. what sort of consequences would there be for the russians if they have indeed crossed that line? and where do we go from here? this was an effort to have this white house ratchet up the pressure on the russians, and escalate this into a larger crisis than it was just a few hours ago. >> the president also talked about how we invited the russians to be a part of the international community's effort to stabilize the situation and the sovereignty and integrity of ukraine. ,hat is an invitation to russia wh

we begin with peter cook, who has breaking news. the release of the latest fed minutes. good afternoon. >> good afternoon. these minutes, the last meeting under fed chairman ben bernanke, when the fed chairman continue to scale back its bond buying program another 10 lane dollars. another jobs report. the first testimony of janet yellen. they saw the economic outlook basically on track despite volatility in emerging markets. they made very few changes in their statement. the minutes say all members agree the cumulative improvement and the likelihood of continued improvement indicated it would be inappropriate -- appropriate at this meeting. at the table, i number of participants noticed they should be ready to adjust if the economies took a turn for the worse. they indicated changes are coming and that is important. participants agreed with the unemployment rate approaching, it would be appropriate for the committee to changes forward guidance for the committee to make decisions. . range of ideas were discussed including changing thresholds other spoke about, listing mor

chief washington correspondent peter cook is with us.nd it looks like, and i am just looking at the numbers here, the very cursory numbers, they are making a killing in giving it all back. isn't that great? >> they're making a lot of money. $84 billion in 2013. >> $84 billion. with that into perspective. that is more than goldman sachs, morgan stanley, and jpmorgan's annual profits all put together. >> and the profit all goes to treasury? >> almost all the goes to treasury, yes. it under the terms of agreement, after it went to conservatorship, we have lawsuits pending, but the bottom line is, the total bailout to fannie mae was about $116 billion, and now the dividend amount on paper, not a direct payment back, but on paper, taxpayers are ahead, 121 $.1 billion. the same is basically true for freddie mac as well. >> gse's are, like, minting money for the government -- >> are they, though? is there a catch? >> this is real cash, and this is money that again not a lot of people had anticipated a couple of years ago that these companies wo

let's begin with peter cook in washington with the fallout from the january jobs report.ood afternoon. >> it was not the report that the white house wanted to see, this was the report that was decidedly mixed on the u.s. economy, raising questions about the strength of the economy as we head into the new year. a complicates janet yellen's job, and it adds more fuel to the fire in the debate in washington. 113,000 jobs added, but well below the estimate of 180,000. the unemployment rate down to 6.6%, a five-year low. the administration highlighting some of the positive signs in this report, but also saying it makes the case for extending those emergency on implement benefits that have expired. >> we are making progress. this report showed about 47 consecutive month up in the air job growth. rateong-term on implement is still 2.3% will which is historically and a near high. we need to extend those benefits. clearly a blow to democrats who thought that the economy was ready to fly in 2014. reportcans feeling this bolsters their case that the obama economy is still in trouble

jon erlichman is with us from l.a., peter cook is in washington dc with the political angle. i will start with jon. how did this happen? >> this interest from charter, to get bigger in a world where we have a lot of options. it has to get bigger, more meaningful to people. obviously, charter had this great interest in doing this deal. time warner wanted charter to pay more money. the possibility of comcast acquiring some of the assets of time warner cable. along the lines, they ultimately decided that comcast was the better move for them. getting bigger than everybody else and having control over markets like new york, los angeles, chicago, philadelphia, the d c area. they are the biggest cable player in the united states. to gothis deal going through? peter, the regulators made it clear with at&t and t-mobile that they wanted more wireless carriers. will it be different with cable companies? >> it will be different because they are different businesses. the government is going to scrutinize this very carefully. you get number one and number two joining together, it raises a

peter cook looks at regulatory issues behind the comcast time warner deal. we look at the stock moves in the $45 billion acquisition. good afternoon. >> one thing that's important to note about this acquisition is it's a stock transaction. shareholders will get stock of comcast in return for this deal. they are going to get 2.875 for every time warner share they old. that values the company at about 17% higher than yesterday's close. if you look at the time warner cable shares today, you'll notice theorizing which is what you might expect but they are trading below that offer price. there could be a couple of reasons behind that. first of all, comcast shares are declining so the value of the bid is declining to some extent. second of all, it's going to take a long time for this deal to close. it could be the end of 2014. and third of all, and of course peter is going to get more into this is the regulatory risk associated with this deal. that's why the time warner cable shares are rising but not as much as you might anticipate. as for comcast, not usual for

on's begin with peter cook the marijuana industry and new guidelines from the department of justice. good afternoon. >> good afternoon. this is another step forward to legalize marijuana use in the united states, specifically in the state of colorado and washington, which have allowed for the recreational use of marijuana. the federal government, the justice department and the treasury department possible euro of crimes enforcement are releasing guidelines to banks in those states that would allow actually provide services to marijuana businesses, to marijuana customers. federal government still views marijuana as an illegal substance, treated that way although these laws have changed and those businesses in colorado, the only place where you can actually buy marijuana, for recreational use, those businesses have not been able to bank with anyone. they have been cash only business is because the federal banking laws against them. this allows banks to move forward and actually signed them up as customers. the guidance is specific as to what they need to do. do thorough due diligence o

our chief washington correspondent, peter cook, has more on the testimony. fed isate with in the over the weather right now. >> it's fitting. delayedimony has been for two weeks because of a snowstorm back on february 13. the fact that janet yellen and is in factues fitting. it was supposed to be a match to it she told the house committee back on february 11, but in the two week interim, we've gotten a host of economic numbers that have come in weaker than expected. today, she straightened her oral testimony and acknowledged the softness and talked about it directly with the committee. asset purchases are not on a preset course. if there's a significant change in the outlook, we would be open to reconsidering. i don't want to jump to conclusions here. was janet yellen, talking about what might happen to the bond purchases going forward. the fact that she has acknowledged some weakness in , that iscan economy significant. chucks pressed by senator schumer about whether these weaker numbers could get the fed to pause on the taper. the mesa -- the message she s

peter cook is in new york with this story.t know about you, but midnight is too late for me. >> too late for me as well. i saw a few clips. this is a big story in new york. it is a symbolic loss for hollywood. the tonight show has moved back to new york. assuming there is plenty of production being done in los angeles, 191,000 jobs in california and $70 billion of wages in california because of the entertainment industry. that is far more than new york. the total entertainment employment is down 6.6% since 2000. the l.a. mayor is pushing the government and the current $100 million a year in tax breaks at the state awards to the industry. that is well below what you see here in new york. $420 million a year and $100 million in los angeles. the tax breaks are making a big difference. >> i know he wanted it in new york. how did other stuff play into it? >> he is a new york guy, but the tax break did make a difference. the show did start here. there was a bit of a history. 30% tax credit offered by the state of new york. you have

i spoke with jon erlichman, chief washington correspondent peter cook, alex sherman about the deal and started by asking on how it all came together. >> charter had this great interest in doing this deal with time warner cable. time warner cable wanted them to pay more money. they worrying about the possibility of comcast acquiring some of the assets of time warner cable and along the lines they decided comcast, it's a better move to get bigger than everybody else and have control over marks like new york and los angeles and chicago, philadelphia, the d.c. area. they truly are the biggest player in the cable business in the united states. >> right. but is this deal going to go through? the regulators made it clear with at&t and t-mobile they wanted four wireless carriers. is it going to be any different with cable companies? >> it is because they are different businesses. yes, the government is going to scrutinize this carefully. you get number one and number two joining together, that raises a lot of flags here in d.c. because there is that full spectrum of competition from the satell

peter cook well interviewed dave camp.iscuss, among other things, his new tax plan, and we will hear about it. stay with us here on "street smart." ♪ >> if you missed everything that happened during today's session, do not worry, in 45 seconds we will get you caught up on the only stocks you need to know about today. surging 25%cpenney after forecasting an increase in revenue. same-store sales will increase mid-singlets -- by digit percentage and gross margin will significantly improve this year. >> number nine, rbs shares down six percent as they report the biggest full-year loss since the bailout in 2008. the new ceo is trying to revive earnings by combining units, shrinking the investment bank and cutting jobs. likes number eight, blackstone. agreeing to buy 25% of gianni first half cheaper $287 million. this marks the end of a lengthy search for for saatchi family owners to find an investor. versace. motors.r six, general seven, general motors. up twober six kohl's, percent. toer jaffray continues recommend the shares

when we come back, peter cook's exclusive interview with the ceo of lockheed martin. ♪ >> no companys more business with the u.s. government than lockheed martin, so the budget deal in december finally gave the company some much-needed certainty. let's go to our chief washington correspondent peter cook and his exclusive interview with the lockheed martin ceo. >> good afternoon. the days of skyrocketing defense budget are over, so that's got marilyn houston looking overseas, even for sports business. i asked her about her outlook for defense dollars going forward. >> i must say that i'm very encouraged that we do have two years of stability now and what it does help is our customers and industry to be able to better plan for the future. that was very important with his current budget that was put in place. to look beyond that, sequestration is still not good public policy, so i would like to see it rescinded. i hope that our lawmakers will take the action that they need to, so we can address a long-term fiscal stability problems without across-the-board cuts. >> we are winding down i

the only one up in the entire city, peter cook. up one. that futures up to. headlines. >> in bangkok, and the explosion at a main shopping district that killed three people, including two children. the attack came at the heart of the city. an area where one of the protests have been staged for antigovernment rallies. jason collins became the first openly gay nba player by signing with the brooklyn nets. he played 10 minutes in the victory over the lakers. he was signed to a 10-day contract. 10 days. he is a 12 year veteran of the nba. the box office, the lego movie held off. i walk in a movie to keep the number one spot. have you taken the kids? >> watched at the first weekend it was out. >> would you go? >> i have not gone. >> it would be creepy to go to the lego movie. >> worse if i went. tom and adam can go together. time for the morning must reads. jonathan golomb working at ubs. a great research note. tapering expected to continue while u.s. import should rise on stronger u.s. gdp. emerging market concerns are likely exaggerated. we recommend overweighti

peter cook with that, a defense contractor for the nation.ll things washington, look for that at 2:00 p.m. this is "bloomberg surveillance," i am tom keene. adam johnson is in, olivia sterns is here before she jets off to sochi. scarlet fu is figure skating. >> better her than me. another big move from yahoo!, marissa mayer, according to the wall street journal, partnering up with yelp. this is right up your street, olivia. >> trying to improve the local search. when you put in bergdorf goodman, normally what would, is bergdorf goodman.com, they are going to have the young local were a few -- they are going to have the yelp local review. yelp reviews local businesses, trying to compete with the bigger players, microsoft's bing and google. >> they have been doing this for 20 years. >> when mercer mayer was at google, she tried to buy yelp. >> help us with a perspective. would never bele bigger, they have relentlessly gotten well over 60%. >> 67% for december. >> who is behind them? >> bing has 18%, yahoo! has 11%. >> yahoo! is the largest web

he told our chief washington correspondent peter cook that france is open for business. >> this country, our country, is back on track. we are in the innovative creative country and we are open to business, to foreign business. i say, welcome to american investment. already, two companies from the u.s. hiring about 500 people in france -- 500,000 people in france. we have got 60 billion euros between france and the u.s.. are reforming, leading structural reform, being more open to business, wanting to have a simple administration, better regulation. that is what we are doing in france. the climate of this visit i think is positive for business between the u.s. and france. will bring you more from our exclusive interview with the french finance minister later on in the program. >> u.s. treasury secretary jack lew is urging china to stop cyber theft if it wants more influence in global decision-making. he made those comments on the charlie rose show. >> cyber security and cyber theft are somewhat different issues. the issue that we have raised with china is the protection of intellectual

peter cook has more on plan.ssman dave's this is the most sought-after document in d.c.ight now. >> if you could only understand the phone calls i've been getting in the last few days from lobbyists. other players here in washington. they want to know what dave camp wants to do with the tax code because they are worried about what might happen to their individual companies and industries. they want to know how hard they are going forward. be camp plan is said to unveiled tomorrow. it remains top-secret. he has been keeping a close to the vest. nobody expects this plan to pass congress and its midterm election year. this proposal is a very big deal here in d.c. because it is the most detailed effort to overhaul the tax code in years. it will become the standard by hich other tax proposals are measured. it is a chance for him to carve out a legacy before he asked to give up his gapless chairman of the house ways and means committee next year. a big moment for dave camp and a big moment in washington for anybody that wants to see an overhaul of the tax code. >> give us a se

thank you, peter cook.t to bring in the founder and managing art and are of capital advisors who specializes in media and digital properties. this deal was so they that you made it here in the snow and i heard this man dug out his taxicab, is that true? >> we got stuck so i had to help out. >> you really did? >> new yorkers do that. >> this time warner/comcast deal you said it they get enough and i will make my way to bloomberg brief why is this a big deal? >> it's a huge deal. the landscape is defined by these kind of transactions and there is a whole bunch of things between programmers access to the internet. this will require a very heavy review of where power sits between distributors, programmers, and the web so it is very interesting. >> if the government does not mind a monopoly because it is not affecting customers, it is potentially going to affect content producers. the government does not care about that? >> i think they will look closely at what the increase -- comcast was always a very powerful

peter cook is on the hill with more. will he get any different message from yellen today given a two-week cap? >> it is unusual. the tradition is the chairman will deliver the exact same testimony the day after. we expect the same thing today. no indication we'll get a dramatically different message. she said basically the economic forecast looks like it is holding. take a look at what you said. >> we are likely to continue reducing the pace of our purchases in measured steps. we also indicated this program is not on a preset course. it means if the committee judges there to be a change in the outlook, it would reconsider what is appropriate with respect to the program. >> we have gone weak economic numbers. sales and production. some of those things may also had to do with the weather. we have had interim time, fed policymakers, the cleveland fed president last night suggesting the taper would continue and that the dramatic change in the outlook, and, we had those fed minutes, which indicated a fed had agreed to alter t

i'll want to bring in our chief washington correspondent, peter cook it can they cut a deal in 17 days? this is the u.s. government. >> not much happens in 17 days. not much in an entire year. yes, they can cut a deal. the natureays that of this is what is important. most of those 17 days -- that is why we are in crunch time. jack lew is telling us that the 27th is d-day. start using those extraordinary measures. between, you have house democratic members going on their retreat. the house is out of session. both house and senate out next week. they have to do something sooner rather than later. you not expect to see republicans -- do not be surprised to see republicans put something on the table this week. >> i love to play it be in-house cynic. its for very 27th real or is jack lew trying to turn up the heat and make something happen? >> it is real in terms of the best guess that they can put on the table now. it is the moment when the departments extraordinary measures will run out. it all depends on the cash coming in and going out. here's what he told us. he says they will have $50

peter cook is in new york because he wanted to see the show.the research director at horizon media is also joining us. you have been looking at the tax breaks. have stayed upld too late. this is a big deal, the move from burbank to new york. it involves big money, tax credits, a lot of politics. it signifies what has been going on in los angeles the last couple of years and in hollywood. it is still a huge thing to the california economy. 100 91,000 jobs in the entertainment business -- 191,00 0 in the entertainment business. it has taken a hit. about half of the production days before it was in 1996. a very big deal. a lot of this gets back to the tax incentives that other communities have been able to offer. -- mayor of l.a. is putting pushing the legislature to double incentives. see florida and louisiana are also ahead of california. they are looking to increase those substantially. it has made a difference in this go around as well. >> what are some of the tax credits that they get? >> first of all, let me highlight what happened with "the

so in the end, what is better for the economy question mark we s.nt to ask our guest peter cook, ourwashington correspondent. walk us to this study and tell us how there's a little for both sides. >> the congressional budget office, now more controversial than the nsa and federal reserve -- the gloves are off. says matters to democrats and republicans. there is something in here for both sides will stop the threat of lost jobs, as many as a president'sthe proposal were being put in place. but there would be 900,000 families lifted out of harmony. poverty00 people out of . this is the overall net effect. >> that is their trade-off. you have republicans seizing on that. those are people who depend on minimum wage jobs. how can you lift 900,000 people out of poverty? >> and throw another 500,000 people into poverty. >> i think this is an interesting piece of research by the cbo. established the fact that you are going to raise the wages for those who have a job but there is no free lunch and there will be some loss in employment and the benefit is to those who retain their job. but ther

joining us is peter cook, chief washington correspondent. kiev, are managing editor. i want to ask you about the political situation, which we have not been discussing in depth here. viktor yanukovych, the president , a lot of calls for his resignation. a lot of calls for new elections. what is the state of the legitimacy of his presidency? >> i mean, his term is up and running so far. he is the legitimate president of the country, but the people in the square are saying, you promised us a free trade agreement with the european union, moving us closer to the european union, to western europe. now we are back in the hands of russia. so you have lost all legitimacy. >> i mean, what is the situation in parliament? newhere any call for elections, any call for his resignation, from actual politicians? parliament is in his hands. his party has a majority in parliament, and that is what has been so frustrating for the opposition on independence square. oppositioner lawmakers bring forward will be blocked. , has the leader of been seention party thr

peter cook joins us now. hagel should be ready for some pushback. congressman mike turner this morning. >> that is right. a preview of what is to come from chuck hagel. a variety of forces from capitol hill. he will try to sell it on capitol hill. decembert deal back in , a continuation of sequestration, forcing hagel into tough choices. this budget represents the administration's best use of shrinking defense dollars. here are the highlights. the topline number -- $498 billion. he cannot go beyond that. he will propose to reduce the u.s. army troop levels to 440,000 from the current 480,000. that is the lowest we have seen since world war ii. two spy planes would be terminated. 1%ompensation increase of and significant benefit changes, including housing allowance changes, the benefit reductions over time, and there are some winners. the f 35 among them. it will be controversial up on the hill. >> what can we expect from congress? >> they absolutely will make changes. that is the history here. the defense department proposes and then congress makes

peter cook has the latest. it seems like the house republicans are meeting today around 5:30 p.m. are we any closer to a deal? goes is not so secret what on. it will be a secret briefly until it gets only out. this meeting tonight is probably the stage before we get to a deal. john boehner is going to sample his conference, find out exactly where they stand, and make an offer to them on what they should ask for an exchange. is already running against john boehner and the republicans. you see later on house democrats are out of town for their retreat. you have both the house and senate out next week. february 27 is when these extraordinary measures get depleted. jack lew says we have the risk of running out of cash. it may not be enough to handle the tax refund in daily expenditures the government has. lawmakers are not here to cut a deal before then. i feel like we're always talking about this once a year. what makes this more extreme? >> it is not more extreme. neither side wants a crisis. a do not want another showdown but they have to come up with some sort of deal. republicans

remains extremely tense and these as i say i live pictures right now from the center of kiev and peter cook and he's a former policeman of police and serves as consultant to the u.k. he says that some protesters acting in a worryingly brutal way. i think they before to have a police officer being attacked by the protesters raises a number of questions i'm not sure whether the full facts of where the officer was deployed or what would you choose he was deployed or. my observation would be either it appeared to be in an ordinary sort of street patrol uniform as opposed to a public order uniform so it may well be that he was just an ordinary officer on the street. grabbed hold of for some reason but that sort of thing would be. inconsistent totally inconsistent with peaceful protest of any sort and it's an extremely worrying development for any place service when offices are being picked off if you like and taken in by. the u.s. ambassador to ukraine has been quick to react to the latest outbreak of unrest he said he's sorry to see more violence and urged political matters to be resolved in th

skater kenyan aunt is the fifth race winner taking the experts see as difficult to see up on this peter cook and bought for her triple triples and the quality of artistic expression. speed skater he's come on has been used her own world record last four years and a fellow with his love is to come watch at the age of five hundred meters east england with this thought our store text heater is that the bolts able to five and ten thousand year basis the speedskating trio and the short track skater is looking after basis. right after this opening weekend so be sure to test these teams ask the first nuffnang team korea may come from eastenders. and as a few days before the closing ceremony he is getting licensing and i'll be getting ready for what's expected of her cooking. however on this and that this team every year she's helping him once again tougher global becker and played her last free skating program that ten hundred learned a few teasers for the olympic preview and will also talk to you again back here next week to as the games are underway. i'll get ya the results and the skittles next

covers washington and chief correspondent peter cook joins us from new york. julie, let me ask you. will, give $140 million per year to congressman, ford and gm, $58 million. will give another $50 million. can you give an unlimited amount of money to political ties? >> you can after the post citizens united era of super you can write a check for however much you like, putting it into a super pac and they can spin than on any political cause or candidate as isg as the super pack ♪ i not cordoning with the candidate. was few years ago, steyer in as a hedge fund manager and a legit guy, how the go from a hedge fund manager to contribute in $50 million in go >> he has joined the fray and he is late to the party. lastd a lot of republicans election and a lot of democrats introducing as well and now tom this issue, climate change and will contribute his personal wealth towards this issue because he feels so strongly about it. >> the titans of industry who have given -- how much this $50 million look like? , we sawis real money what sheldon adelson did last year, we saw so many people step

peter cook joins us with more. what happened?er decided this was a fight not worth wagering. it was a fight republicans would lose. he felt it was better for the house republicans to kick the can down the road until march of 2015, past the midterm elections, and fight the midterm elections on safer territory like the health care legislation and the state of the u.s. economy. he thought this would be a self- inflicted wound on the republicans if they lost this fight which is likely what would happen. it went on the floor last night and passed with democratic votes and in looted 28 republicans. -- included 28 republicans. he said this was a missed opportunity. >> this is a lost opportunity for america. we are on a spending trajectory that is unsustainable. the president knows it and every democrat and republican in this town knows it. it has to be dealt with. it is a disappointing moment i can tell you that. >> at the same time, this is a win for john boehner by getting this issue off the table which is a political loser in the pas

also joining us this morning is peter cook. when you look at the minimum wage and the cbo, it seems like there was something for everybody? >> much like the report they did recently on the president's health care law and the impact on employment, this is a mixed report. there is enough in here negatively that headline number about the people who would lose their jobs by late 2016 that republicans seized on immediately. if there was any chance for the president to get a minimum wage hike this year, this killed it off. there is enough in here for republicans to say hold the phone. >> how did this play in washington? when a bombshell like this comes out, how is it handled? >> the congressional budget office, we never know something is coming from them. we get a heads up that these reports -- >> frank underwood got a heads up for it >> maybe he did but this was dropped by the cbo and everybody says there's something in here for me. there is something for each side of the political debate. the cbo has become more controversial than

peter cook has more on the lobbying battle to come. the sales pitch has started in earnest. >> it absolutely has. comcast reaching out to the regulators and lawmakers who say and in the way in th of this deal. they're moving aggressively to face competition concerns raised by the steel. -- perhapsg it more making it more palatable to regulators. keep market share below 30%. that best 3 million subscribers -- divest 3 million subscribers and committing to net neutrality . no discrimination over content in their networks. this is an nbc agreement. they're planning to do the same. it is considered one of the concessions the government would want to do. another thing to remember is the key players here. comcast has a lot a powerful lobbyists already in washington. very effective lobbyists. one of them is the lead person -- the executive vp. the guy who got the nbc universal deal through regulators here. he is going to shepherd this transition or the process. happens to be a very big democratic donor. got $500,000 together for the president

peter cook. craig moffett.. >> twitter question of the day, what is more frustrating, cable airlines or washington? tweet us. >> good morning, everyone. a busy morning. this is important, the president yesterday signed an executive order on a minimum wage, $10.10 u.s. government contract workers and would like to expand that across america. the cover of bloomberg's business week. peter cory joins us. they will not allow the streets of his new jersey. good morning. know on thisd to raging debate of the minimum wage? >> this is a great question. we have it as the cover story in the new issue of bloomberg businessweek. me a few weeks ago, what should the minimum wage be? as i dug into it, i said this is not an easy question at all because i has so many different moving parts to it. there are the economics about which there is more question than there used to be than the moral issue like what is right, and then there is the engineering issue, given the fact that you get different answers from economics and social j

we need to take you to washington right now because archie for -- washington correspondent peter cook, a spoke -- a scoop. what is the story. >> we are being told house with closedeaders doors up on capitol hill this morning have reached the conclusion they cannot ask the president to approve the keystone xl pipeline and they cannot also try to push through a ban on a particular provision within the obama care legislation that would have benefited insurance companies, and it had to do with risk corridors. they concluded they do not have the votes to try to attempt those as trade-offs concessions -- they are abandoning those and considering their options. trying to figure out what to ask for for an increase in the debt ceiling, whether or not to ask for anything at all. it is likely we could be headed toward a clean increase in the debt ceiling. ideas at the table put forward at the retreat, they will not be asking for a keystone xl pipeline approval, and they will not ask for an end to the risk corridors. those are off the table. in?an i just jump specifically on keystone, why the ret