Report. Foreign policy reporter about the situation in ukraine. We begin with megan hughes and the growing mystery surrounding the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370. Good afternoon. Indeed. Ry more than 60 hours since flight 370 disappeared. Still no one seems to know where or how the plane went down. Malaysia did send ships to check for debris near hong kong after investigators worked to solve the mystery. Investigators expanded the search area today, pushing the hunt into the south china sea. So far no success finding evidence. Oil slicks investigators were looking at turned out to have come from a boat, not a crash. Here is what we do know, the jet we are talking about was in route to beijing from kuala. Umpur most of those on board were chinese travelers. There were three u. S. Citizens. Authorities say two men used stolen passports to board the plane. Authorities say they have identified one of the men. Also five passengers who checked into the flight but did not board. Malaysia Airlines Report baggage was removed before take off. This has fueled speculation of terrorism that at this point than more questions answers. Is there a possibility we might never find out what happened . Certainly a possibility. Since 1970 authorities have managed to find planes boston. Ire water smiles the experts say the technology is absolutely there. The waters around where they believe this plane went down are pretty shallow, about 50 meters deep. Plane case of one other like this, air France Flight 447, that was 3900 meters. A big difference. I did take two years of searching but the wreckage was found. Not knowuestion we do in this case, what happened to the black box . That should continue sending out information 30 days after a crash, even under invest even if it is underwater. Thank you. Ukraine has begun military drills testing the combat readiness of its troop. Crimea saw its first violent demonstrations over the weekend. With secretaryls carry. F what is the latest in crimea . We heard about the first violent demonstrations you talked about between the prosecretaries and her test or says in crimea. We have seen reports a check a combinationby of Russian Forces, as well as prorussian the wishes. Mercenaries from elsewhere in. Urope also hearing reports about Russian Forces firing shots at a ukrainian motorized battalion. There is reports of what is going on on the ground. What is the latest on the diplomacy sanctions front . We were with secretary kerry last week and elsewhere in europe working on diplomacy. Secretary kerry over the weekend, according to the russians, did give a followup raposo, onepage proposal sunday. He had an invitation to meet in russia to meet today with vladimir putin. For postponement of that, because according to the state department, he wants to see evidence that russia is serious about negotiations and they wanted css station in the back committees in crimea and elsewhere. Over the weekend we heard about the on call between andolan merkel, David Cameron and vladimir putin, and the germans have underscored they think this is the most serious crisis since the fall of the berlin wall. They have warned him unless he gets involved in diplomacy, there could be european sanctions coming. The white house spokesman said he sees very little chance of the g8 summit going forward. All of this diplomacy, economic sanctions is increasing until we see real diplomacy on the part of the russians. What is the latest on the International Aid fund. Aid front . No doubt a conversation president obama will have when he visits the white house wednesday. Very important. You mentioned fullcourt telematics press. He is coming on wednesday to the white house. Thursday as the United Nations making his push for keeping a united ukraine. Back in 1 billion in loan guarantees which congress has said it is behind. The white house trying to push through changes in funding that would allow that to go up to 1. 6 billion. Right now seeing a battle between republicans and democrats on the hill about whether the changes would go through. Person is he,f and is he firmly in charge in the ukraine . He and others of the acting government had said as this point they are trying to do a caretaker government. Not claiming they will be there for the long time. They are part of the liberal prowestern camp that wanted to sign an agreement with the European Union or a trade association, as well as the possibility for future number ship. They have said they will go forward with the moves. I think this will be a chance for president obama to say the u. S. Is behind the newly democratic ukrainian government. They have really made clear they will not support a referendum happening this weekend, sunday march 16 in crimea, which the russian government is supporting. You bring up the referendum. What is the runup to that . The likelihood the referendum well past . Russia and the prorussian separatist have been very confident about this, to the point that we also hear it the American Ambassador saying we will not recognize the results of this. The results are not necessarily preordained because we have seen polling that shows not necessarily majority of folks other in crimea and heavily prorussian areas are necessarily in favor. It. R than 50 supporting we also saw more people supporting trade pact with your rep then with russia. Remains to be seen what the results of the vote will be. On ukraine,t russia, in crimea, thank you. Coming up, the European Union and united trade talk United States trade talks under way at. We will talk about what is likely to be accomplished in the fourth round of negotiations. He joins us when we continue in just a moment. Welcome back. This is btoottom line. And theweather situation in ukraine mean higher global food crisis. Alan bjerga joins us from washington with the latest. Record expecting koran and solely been prices. Prices have been rising. What is going on . What you see is a lot of concern about what is happening overseas. While the u. S. Is supposed to have record crops this year, you have seen prices go up. Gave a monthlyg forecast. They say brazil soybean crop will be smaller than they were expecting a month ago. Nine. Nstead of there has been a drought situation and wet situation with rains in the recent weeks. You see markets going down today. To hover over the markets. Problems with major markets may be driving up commodity. Significance to global great markets and what are traders worried about . This is something you are not hearing a lot about in the ukraine coverage. This is an you here, important commodities market. The black sea is an important region for production and export. The unrest has been jittering markets. The usda did not change the forecast for any of the numbers, but the markets are watching very closely for any unrest and changes. If there is disruption in the ukraine, given the size of it, it will be a big deal. If you are a u. S. Farmer, what does this mean to you . It means the u. S. Continues to play the role as the buyer of last resort. When you have unrest, whether problems, the u. S. Has a very consistent crop. The weather conditions tend to be better. Keeping thes technology the Technology Keeping the bride these. The world still needs the u. S. Farmer. Nothing like the past few weeks has been around to prove it like that. Farmers will be out in the field in the next couple of weeks. What do we need to know about what to expect in farm reduction this year . This year you see farmers a little bit more conservative. That means more for the price return. Little bit ofa found in cattle supply. Hauled are dealing with problems with the virus decimating some herds. Basically a little bit of a pullback from the records we have seen in the past. Of a pullback in acreage and supply. Thank you. Delegates areade meeting in brussels for a fourth round of talks. Their aim is to create the Worlds Largest free trade zone. Was a member of obamas, serving as the principal trade negotiator, advisor and spokesperson on trade issue and joins us now from brussels with the latest. Welcome back. Good to see you again. Good to be with you. You believe delegates from both sides are negotiating from a position of strength. How so, and what are the shared objectives, considering they u. S. And eu rad have the Worlds Largest trade relationship . It in youron introduction. One of our shared objectives is comeof us, the eu and u. S. Are looking for ways to further stimulate economic recoveries. Of a totally liberalized trading regime between the worlds two largest Financial Partners would have a very accretive effect on our economies. From a position that this is an unusual negotiation in that typically the United States and europe are negotiating with emerging economies and others that may regime,e our same legal the same respect for intellectual property. We have very mature systems. We both have strong environmental rep labor rules. So this is really getting down to the nittygritty. Ok. You talk about the nittygritty. Tall weedsin the right now dealing with a lot of technical issues. When does the heavy lifting start, and what are the thatical road locks the might threaten consummation of the deal . We have done the heavy lifting before we launch this. When president obama met with the president s of European Union and commissions in december of 2011 when he hosted them, he charged me and the counterpart for the eu to explore all of the alternatives for a trade agreement between the u. S. And eu, and we took the time we did because there are certain legacy that have always frustrated having a completely liberal agreement. Many are based on agricultural differences, aviation subsidies, and certainly the interception of tensions around the leaks by nsa haveen and the complicated that. These are issues we knew we had to overcome but we have a shared commitment to deal with those aggressively and honestly and try to work through them. One Sticking Point could be terrorists. Duties average about four percent. Because that number is so low, could not lead to the removal of nonterrorist barriers put in place by elected officials in europe . That is one of the bigger challenges. Areorisrofs pretty low. Are pretty low. Our challenge, because we have such mature regulatory systems, behindget out those those that influence trade and whether it is very us to agriculture in the name of culture or preference or whether it is longheld regulatory regimes. Those are some of the more troubling issues the negotiators are working on. One of the other issues, food the. Regulators have said lowering standards in the name of sealing a deal is not except a ball. Why do you think the public has not been given a stronger voice about the risk poised by less stringent Safety Standards . First of all, i take issue with the last standard, because the United States, and i am sure the European Commission and parliament have some of the most open, transparent systems for moving forward trade agreements than any country in the world. It has been exceptionally open process with input from stakeholders that are in favor of it, stakeholders against it, and any notion that somehow the United States and European Union do not have the protection of the Public Health and safety am a particularly when it comes to food in Public Health, i think its just not one founded in reality. These are very stable, strong, safe. Safe tour food is consume. This gets into some levels of protectionism because the farming lobbies in both countries are very powerful. These are all issues we knew we would have to confront, and that is what negotiators are working on today. Is the crisis between russia and ukraine impacting talk that all talk of the backdrop would be the United States playing a larger role in supplying natural gas to europe . I do not think it will have any impact on the talks right now. There is the practical reality. President obama has noted, even though we are enjoying a surge in natural gas in the United States and on the path to being energy independent, the reality is we do not have the capacity to refine it and export it. Sense, europete could not turn to the u. S. To provide the gas that might be denied were they to put sanctions on in the ukraine. I think negotiators will stay focused on the task at hand, which they should do and keep whittling away, agreeing where. E can political issues are always resolved at the end. This is very much worth doing. This would be the most dynamic trade pact in the world between the worlds two largest economy. It could spur Economic Growth on both sides of the atlantic and help stabilize the world looking for economic prosperity. Us lived kirk joining from brussels. Always a pleasure to have you on the broadcast. Thank you for your time. Up next, the latest check of the markets, including chiquita joining forces with an irish company. Later, we will go to San Francisco with the cuttingedge looks of the design conference. The shape of things to come when we return. A reminder, there are multiple ways to watch Bloomberg Television. We are on the web at mobilerg. Com, your device and apple tv. Coming up on 22nd 26 minutes past our work and that means Bloomberg Television is on the markets. Taking a look at what is going on with stocks today. We have had declined ever since we got data overnight from china that showed worse than estimated export data. Sharestyrelated following among the worst performers. Taking a look at individual stocks. Chiquita brands is one of them. They are doing an all stock deal that will form the Worlds LargestBanana Company with revenue of over 4 billion. Withholders will end up about 51 of the new company. Investors will control the remaining stakes. Facebook in the spotlight. Shares are getting a boost to 90 each. Adlyst site traction at pricing and increased attraction with brands, including the recent partnership. Bucking the overall market trend. They are up by about three percent. More on the market and what has been going on with commodities in 30 minutes time. More after the break. Welcome back to the second halfhour. I am Mark Crumpton. Thank you for staying with us. Top stories were following at this hour. Rushing to investigate a yellow object that looked like a life raft. Turned out to be the trash floating in the ocean. More than three days old fruitless searches for the pain that disappeared in route to beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board. The lease travel question those who sold travel information for men linked to stolen passports. Filing for bankruptcy protection for the second time in three years. 800 restaurants in the United States. Last month at chain said it would close more than 300 at the stores. Mcdonald said sales at Stores Opened a little more than a year. Felt 3 10 of a percent percent in february. Trying toas been attract americans with coffee and breakfast foods. Reasons include shaky Consumer Confidence and severe winter and severe winter that hurt mcdonalds sales. It says sales were hurt. Overall u. S. Samestore sales fell 1. 4 in february. A look at the top stories in the news at this hour. Still dealing conservative heat for support of immigration reform, marco rubio shifting gears to the u. S. Economy. The potential 2016 president ial candidate just unveiled ideas for jumpstarting growth in a washington speech. Our chief washington correspondent peter cook joins us with more. What does the senators plan look like jacob r . Calling for a tax code overall, assessment regulations and repeal of obamacare and a few other ideas that are not giving the same play in republican circles. Just laying out his ideas at the Google Office here in washington. Part of his message came directly to hightech community specifically. His main message overall, the son of cuban immigrants so the American Dream is at risk aimed atajor policies changing Economic Growth. In order for us to harness the promise of a new era and build another american century, what we are going to need our millions of new, middle and higher income jobs, and we will face them face unprecedented global competition for the jobs. ,t is a competition we can win but not unless waiver form the current policies in washington. Some of his specific ideas are to overhaul the tax code for the corporate and individual code he wants to shift. He proposes a National Regulatory budget. Federaly a cap on regulations. If there is a cost to regulation in one area, it has to be reduced somewhere else to the cost. They want to reallocate the body broadband spectrum owned by the federal government and give it back by the private sector. Another in portland idea for it that Companies Like google. Will propose consolidation of internet regulation in the United Nations, an issue not off the radar of Silicon Valley and certainly countries where Internet Freedom is not always taken for granted. ,ne issue he did not talk about immigration reform. Not talking about it as much in washington. I will sit down tomorrow to talk more about the ideas. Opening to have part of that conversation right here at 2 00. The big question is marco rubio running for president jacob sure sounds like someone toying with the idea. He spoke of the political conservative action and said he will make his decision as he decides about what to do for running for reelection in the senate. Talking about host of policy ideas. Obviously keeping the avenue open. Chief washington correspondent thomas peter cook. It used to be wrist watches were just the stuff of movies. Not anymore. These gadgets are every day. I will speak with a designer who is making wearable designer. That is next. Robert simmons is partnering up with u. S. And chinese financiers in the new studio venture. Planning to invest more than 1 billion over the next five years. They plan to produce and self each year. 810 films joining us with more on the plans is christina alessi. Then, the west coast correspondent. Talk to us about the genesis of the deal. What do we know . We know it is a group of private act witty investors. The private equity firm from china coming together, along with other producers as well. You mentioned simons but there are others involved. They have raised a million dollars, presumably most in the debt market. They have done this to produce movies but not big block busters like those we have seen from hollywood like avatar and the hunger games. Between 20cost million and 60 million. What they believe is hollywood has gotten out of business so they are filling a gap. They say hollywood big studio you big studios, they have to do bigger and bigger films and are neglecting this one area. At the same time, starving for content. That is the idea and the beginning. Talking about the hollywood angle. Why is hollywood attracting so much in Investor Sentiment from china . I think that is because it is the biggest film market in the world right now. Andersations taking place American Films making their way to china. Part of thatther is there is a fascination with hollywood overall and ability to track capital. And thendio to be born cut deals directly with the theaters, as opposed to dealing studio says something. Says a lot of the theater chains across the country have more cinemas available but may have movies. On top of that, there is a willingness to bet on 50 milliondollar films, which in some cases have been a really small investment. In the middle, it can be a met in the middle can be a tough place to invest. Talk to me about the importance the new studio will have, specifically with the direct distribution agreements. They are crucial to the deal. That is what distinguishes this arrangement from the other financing funds we have seen out there. This is a tough is missed. A great to generate return on the business. Distribution deals are key. The fact that they have raised a billion dollars and willing to raise more is a point of distinction. This is a tough business. Mr. Simons not hurt is a known quantity, two. A bunch of Different Things from some that is a little more serious to the projects for adam sandler. I think adam sandler projects are great example. What was very clear in the announcement was they will make sure if they are doing 810 movies per year that they have known one 80s. I mentioned open road earlier. They do the same thing. Only a certain amount of dollars available for marketing so they want people who can go out and do the talkshow circuit and build awareness. That is one of the ways you can avoid paying a maximum amount of marketing and get the word out about your films. How do they plan to capitalize on what is described as a massive Chinese Market . Partner,ave a local which is always helpful when you talk about getting movies in front of the chinese audience. About 20,000 new theaters have opened. They are demanding content. This is supposed to fill the role. The other thing i wanted to , when a Production Company works with the theater, the theater limits the amount they can distribute to the movie , specifically at home. Want theer does not Production Company to go ahead and make it available to everyone at home because you take away the business from the theater. Seems like they have negotiated a deal where they have more liberal the ready in getting the content outside and into the homes. That is also another feather in the cap. Cristina alesci joins us. Thank you. One of the fastestgrowing areas in technology, wearable devices. Product that a marries form and function. Donnie arnold is a visionary in the visionary in the field of design. He led the team of design at fitbit. He joins me now from San Francisco. Welcome. Thank you for your time today. Thank you. Design is a marriage between form and function. Is that still the case in a world dominated by technology . Actually even more. Out ofto take technology the realm of bits and bytes and get it more culturally grounded. To do that, we need to engage with designers really early on and make sure we get the right emotional qualities, rather than just functional. The collaboration between designers and engineers. How has that changed during your , closer or more distant . It is amazing how close it is today. Earlier on in my career designers were doing a skin deep job. Have thesey when we wearables, we have to make sure the form is conducive to the thousand sizes and features will have to be reduced or eliminated. This is where the designers are basically architect from of physical perspective, making sure they are not becoming too bulky or cumbersome to wear. Words, nearly sensual. How do you humanize a design and how will that enhance the Consumer Experience . We need to make sure that these are conducive to the human body. Beyond that, we have a psychology and sociology dimension, and we need to make sure people feel very comfortable with the objects they carry around and interact with other people. Createhat you need to another form of discussion that is more about the culture of use with the devices and making sure they are actually a real presentation of your personality, rather than giving you functionality. Of course there are economics involved in this. How much are we talking about for the devices and are consumers willing to step up and pay for something that i would assume is in its infancy . The next 10 years will probably go through leaps and bounds. Price points will go down. We will have many of these devices around. We will probably carry half a dozen on their body. Whether it is medical or entertainment or just announcing ourselves to the surrounding connective homes or environment. I think once the application and use will be proven will be willing to pay for it. In your opinion, are the companies in tune with Consumer Sentiment . Generally there is huge growth in understanding the merits of design and how to listen to common sense humanity. I think i see more and more sensitivity to the arguments in the board rooms and meeting rooms. Swing in theuge past 510 years, positively toward design and capabilities. Is it a general generational thing . Are you finding millenials are more than willing to give it a shot that maybe older folks like myself may not be too keen on it . Find aink you will simplified user interface design that are geared towards people who find touch controls cumbersome and too complicated. I actually think wearables could become a way to expand the reach of technology into the whole population. Having devices designed for babies, just as much for the elderly. Cofounder of new deal design. Joining us from San Francisco. Thank you for your time today. He appreciate it. Thank you. Humans try out the life of a hamster. We will explain we return. Time for hotshots, a look at the most compelling images of the day. In italy, a citrus fight. The town is holding a threeday battle of the oranges to commemorate the overthrow of the thai rent. The festival began in the middle ages when they overthrow a feudal lord. Over 6000 pounds of oranges are brought in for the event. Participants say going home with a black eye is like getting a metal. Ever feel like life is getting nowhere . To Performance Artist tried out that life. For 10 days they lived on the giant wheel because they had Nothing Better to do. Equipped with a bed, toilet and kitchen but have to coordinate the movements. The Performance Art ended yesterday but will remain on display. Get your tickets now. Stay with us. And another check of the markets on the other side of the break. Get the latest headlines at the top of the hour on Bloomberg Radio and streaming on your tablet and that bloomberg. Com. I am Mark Crumpton in new york. I will see you tomorrow. On the markets is next. Past the hour. Time to check on what is going on in the markets. Taking a look at stocks. Things are still headed on a. Ownward trajectory is exports fell when they were estimated to rise and cell biological more than even the worst case estimates. That push stocks on overall. In terms of individual stocks, shares of the fuel cell provider surging to a new 52week high. They have been on a tear rolling to demand for clean battery technology. Shares of boeing falling after they announced it sounds found hairline cracks and planes under construction. Also the maker of the Malaysian Airlines jet that went missing three days ago. No doubt no question that the problem with the plane led to the disappearance. Commodity markets are rallying. Forecasting more declines in 2014 after last year slump. Why have weve been seeing a rise in commodity . Droughts in brazil to the arctic quest across north america, extreme weather driving the rally in commodities. Coffee, sugar and natural gas in full markets this year amid escalating tension in ukraine that has created supply risk from energies to grain markets. Reached 1. 75 billion last month, the first monthly increase since the number of last year according to our global. So what does make this rally such a surprising phenomenon . We spoke to Paul Christopher at wells fargo adviser in st. Louis and said it has been a series of unrelated factors and catching commodities at a time when they have and heavily oversold. It has been a lot of weather risk, which will soon fade and with but two other analysts who said they would not throw in that i will on commodities. In the tao will on commodities. Else can you tell us about what could have been next with Commodity Prices . Some commodities in particular are expect it to keep rising. Investors have tripled the bullish bets and coffee. In coffee. The endthan 80 since of december. It is whether. Brazil. Ght in the driest january since 1954. Expecting higher prices. Gold. A lot of talk about rebound in dismalter it had such a 2013. Record outflows. Putting money back into gold funds. 22 million in gold inflows last month. Of four for three out sessions. I spoke to sterling smith who said there is an on growing ongoing tension in ukraine, the safe haven. From bloomberg offices in chicago. In the markets again in 30 minutes. On the markets. Welcome to the most important power of the session, 60 minutes left until the closing bell. Street smart is scouring every bill for the last in first trade for tomorrow. Wanting to go to julie for the stocks to watch. We have seen stocks fall because of the expert data out of china. Materials producers during the worst because china has been driving