Transcripts For BLOOMBERG Bloomberg Bottom Line 20150212 : c

Correspondent, hans nichols in brussels where european leaders are meeting to discuss the potential greek debt default. Where do things stand now . Has there been any progress in stalks collapsed last night . Good evening. Eu leaders are having a conversation. The portion dedicated to greece will happen at the end of the evening. They have dealt with ukraine and other issues. On a technical matter, and this is important, if there are going to be advisers working with the greek side on what the common set of numbers is going to be. The idea of having technical experts and a solid, trusted data set is going to be crucial if there is going to be any progress on the talks. They need to agree on the numbers for there to be any meaningful opportunity for progress. How close to they come to a deal last night . It was reported they had a deal in principle and we were among the organizations that that they were moving toward a deal. The greek finance minister then checked with athens and from athens, the line was he could not sign off on the common language that everyone in the room. They had agreed to. To give you a sense of how final people thought this was, the german finance minister was in his car, in the parking garage ready to leave and received a message that no deal yet and he ends up leaving. Then they had another few hours of negotiations where they did not make progress and at the end, they had two as they did not have a deal, just greater clarity of both sides positions. Next the british Prime Minister had some strong words for the greeks. Who else has been critical . In some cases, cameron did have did have some strong words. Some of the more peripheral countries lets say the premise or of finland was quite strong. You are hearing from countries that have helped greece with their bailout. This hard, almost austere line is continuing with the greeks and angela merkel, who is not really changed her tone continues to say the greeks must abide by the rules regardless of whether theres an election. They must continue to honor their commitments. Hans nichols joining us from brussels, thank you. Thomas miller is a former u. S. Ambassador to greece and is the president and ceo of the International Executive service corps, a not for profit based in washington. Welcome back. Appreciate your time today. We have been hearing about greeces financial problems for the last seven or eight years. How vital is greece to americas interest . In some ways it is peripheral but in some ways it is very important because greece is a member of nato, its a member of not only the eu, but the eurozone and those are core u. S. Interests. The greek Prime Minister said we will need to find a solution that respects the positions of all parties. But the german chancellor said although her company is ready for compromise you have to say europes credibility depends on us sticking to the rules. Where is the middle ground . I think there is middle ground. I think the rhetoric has got to tone down because that makes finding a middle ground very difficult. Particularly out of the greek side. They cant be speaking to the domestic audience and european audience with the same words. I think there is a middle ground. Not so much debt cancellation but extension of terms, relaxation of terms on the debt. I think there might be some things they can do on the austerity front. I dont think anyone is in favor of hiring more Civil Servants back on, but i think there is a deal if both sides want it hard enough. Next gary jenkins, the chief credit strategist at lng capital said if you change the terms and conditions of the contract, have you created a new contract or do you have the same contract with minor adjustments . He noted greece wants the original bailout terms decreased. Does a deal involved both sides saving face at this point . That is a very important point. Both sides have their domestic constituencies and while the greeks are making a strong point that a were elected on the basis of what the voters wanted to see , the reduction of austerity the germans the finns, the dutch and others have their domestic constituents saying we have already helped enough. Has austerity made things better or worse in greece . For the common person, no question, they have done much worse. I go to greece a couple of times you a couple of times here and its not hard to see. When you are looking at the standard of living of your pensioner or person who does not earn a lot of money, they are definitely worse off than they were a couple of years ago. In your opinion, the Prime Minister has only been in office a little while he and the party, did they understand what they were up against as far as greeces debt and it financing . I think you have to ask them. To go from a politician who came in third in the athens mayors race to being Prime Minister of the countrys white elite. Adding in terms of their opening sell those on the rhetoric, i would have done it a different way. Im not sure they fully appreciated the reaction they would get from european colleagues. As a former diplomat, what do you think is going on in the room . How are these negotiations what are the what is the main Sticking Point . I think there are several Sticking Points. The big one is making sure you come back with a minimum to satisfy your domestic constituencies. The greek party was elected on a platform the sole platform of reducing austerity. So they have to come back with something that minimally satisfies those who elected them. By the same token, the europeans, led by germany and others, have to make sure they dont give in here because if they do not only are they worried about their domestic constituencies, but they are worried about the spillover effect in two places like spain and italy. If germany does not get on board, does this mean the deal doesnt get done . I think germany is an extremely important player but it is not germany alone and i think people should not mistake this as germany versus greece. One of the things that is not helpful to this whole situation is the Prime Minister keeps referring to german war reparations from world war ii. If anything infuriates the germans as horrific as a german atrocities were, that was settled many years ago. Greeces that is more than 170 of the countrys gdp. At that level, even if they optimize is reached, what does the countrys Economic Future look like in the near term . In the near term, its going to be dire. And the longer term, greece is starting to grow. It has a primary Budget Surplus, one of the few countries in europe that does. It has a vibrant tourism season so they have plenty of potential and i think if they can reach an agreement i would say extend and pretend. Extend the loan provisions and pretend you still got these loans out there. You cant just this miss them. I think there is a potential greece could recover. Bloomberg news is reporting, according to government officials taking part in his discussions, they are pursuing a deal on conditions required to continue the greek bailout. Germany will not insist all the elements of the current aid program continue as long as the program is prolonged and germany would be open to talking about the Budget Surplus requirement and conditions to sell off government assets. Is this a good enough starting point to reach a deal . I think it is. I noticed yesterday one example. They said no more privatization, we are going to cancel the ongoing deals and just yesterday, they agreed to go ahead on the sale on a large part of the big concession on which was a big concession on their part because they said no. I think there is the makings of a deal here. Ive been appearing on this programs you that on this program many times over the years and we always come to the precipice. I think we will again. Mr. Ambassador, its always a privileged to have you on the broadcast. Thank you for your time. Still to come, and allnight bargaining session has led to a ceasefire in ukraine. Now the question is will it last any longer than the previous ceasefire agreements . Peter cook will give us an up date when bottom line continues in just a moment. Welcome back. 15 minutes past the hour. Lets check bloomberg world news. The governor of the bank of england says Interest Rate could be cut further of low inflation persists. Mark carney went on to say the uks likely to see inflation turned negative in the spring. The governor said the biggest factor contriving to falling inflation in the u. K. Was the drop in oil prices. After reporting a 5. 7 billion loss for the Fourth Quarter of last year, oil giant total is cutting spending and imposing a hiring freeze to deal with the following oil prices. The companys ceo said they had to react. If we do it, it is a reaction. It is not a noble reaction, to be clear. We dont want to overreact, but we have to react. It represents 10 billion in cash. A former korean era executive has been sentenced to a year in prison for an onboard tantrum over macadamia nuts. The daughter of the korean air chairman did not like how the nuts were being served and heard behavior sparked a debate on whether familyowned conglomerates and south korea have too much power. Thats the latest world news. We will have another update at 45 minutes past the hour. The Obama Administration is cautiously welcoming word about a ceasefire in ukraine. Our chief washington correspondent, peter cook, has the latest. Is the u. S. On board with this deal . The u. S. Was not the bigger shooting table, but the white house calls it a potentially significant step forward toward a peaceful resolution, but the administration is taking a wait and see approach. During those allnight talks by the german chancellor, the french president and they russian and ukrainian president takes effect on midnight sunday and calls for a 30 mile buffer zone, the removal of foreign troops from ukraine and the release of hostages. The u. S. Wants to see those terms carried out. Our view is words are words and action and implementation is what we are looking for. A piece of paper is a piece of paper until it is implemented. Tax a white house statement called on russia to withdraw its soldiers and clement from ukraine. The u. S. Expressed concerns some concerns about though violence even as negotiators were working. What happens to u. S. Sanctions and the prospect of shipping more arms to the ukrainians . The reality is the sanctions will stay in place right now, though john kerry said the United States is prepared to consider rolling back existing sanctions if russia honors this agreement and the earlier one from september. But the threat of further sanctions seems to be on hold. Likewise, the u. S. Is not taking the threat of sending more arms to ukraine off the table but that decision is on hold until everyone sees the ceasefire is holding. More than 5400 people have been killed in the ukraine crisis and in chancellor merkels work today, this is a glimmer of hope. Peter, thank you. Up next, former Florida Governor jeb bush and the search for big ticket donors at egg park avenue dinners. Hes not the only one looking for cash. Phil mattingly will have that story when bottom line continues in just a moment. And now a bloomberg exclusive Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader ginsburg sat down for a rare exclusive interview. In this expert in this excerpt, she discusses how the court is not like the u. S. Congress. This court gets no easy cases in the sense that all people would agree on the judgment. We tend to take cases only one other judges have disagreed on what the federal law is, whether a statute or constitutional provision. Even so i know the focus is often on five to four splits and all would love if some of the unusual lineups in the cases that dont make the big headlines you will see this court does not operate like the congress does. You can watch the entire interview with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader ginsburg at bloomberg. Com or on the bloomberg tv plus app. Warmer governor jeb bush at the fundraising circuit in new york city and last way hours and the cost for his time was not cheap. 100,000 was the reported cost to participate in last night fundraiser at the home of henry kravis. Phil mattingly joins me now from washington. What do donors get for their 100,000 . There are a couple of ways you can look the people who attend these events particularly early on the campaign cycle, as this one was they are the true believers. They are the ones who believe in what this potential candidate brings to the table. They are the people who are going to stick with the party no matter what. Jeb bush with his fathers lineage and brother, they will back him. This is one of the important elements early on they there is access. You are getting in at an early stage with big money. You will be privy to early information like pulling data that other people are not. A lot of this people just want to be part of the game and this gets them an early and probably closer than anyone else. Governor bush is flexing his fundraising muscle in a big way but of 2012 is any indication, it may only take one person to fund his competitors. Is that still the case . Is an interesting element. What you see from jeb bush from what ive seen from republican aides that he is working hard to wrap up as many bigname donors as possible. That could push his competitors out and strike some fear in the people who might be a trying to dip into that same fundraising network. But what we saw was fascinating in terms of what the new super pac word world looks like. Newt Gingrich Sheldon Adelson putting in more than 15 million to keep Newt Gingrich going and you had foster freeze put in 2 million just to keep Rick Santorum going. Both of those candidates gave mitt romney fits because they had individual backers. While jeb bush is making major headway on the finance circuit right now, it mainly take one to give him Serious Problems going through the next year. A lot of donors on both sides will be making their way to the national conventions. For democrats, that might mean philadelphia. Why is philadelphia the choice . It was philadelphia over brooklyn. It was primarily logistics. The difficulty on the Security Side of things in brooklyn but also in columbus philadelphia offered a better venue, but you always have to look at politics. Pennsylvania is an important state and democrats like the idea of the organization they will be bringing to the state early in 2016. Phil mattingly, thank you. Coming up health risks facing americans. I will speak to the director of the National Institute of allergy and Infectious Diseases about the challenges facing Public Health care. Stay with us. Bottom line on Bloomberg Television continues in just a moment. Welcome back to the second halfhour of bottom line was quoted on Bloomberg Television. I Mark Crumpton in new york. Now, another bloomberg exclusive the head of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve will retire at the end of february. Earlier on money clip he sat down with Michael Mckee for an exclusive interview and michael asked him what could go wrong with zero on from an analytic aces. A number of things could go wrong. The fed has opted to want to keep a large Balance Sheet and raise rates. We dont know if in some form or fashion we will have to raise rates are how the economy will respond to that and how to respond to the Balance Sheet. Everyone thought would week but buying assets after qe3 that rates were going to skyrocket but theyve done nothing but go down since then. I think there are a lot of unknowns and we are in uncharted territory. You can watch the entire interview at bloomberg. Com or on the bloomberg tv plus tablet app. Lets get you some of the top stories we are following on this wednesday. The price of crude oil at the close of floor trading today, up at 51. 22. Congressional republicans have won a hollow victory on the keystone pipeline. Both chambers have passed a bill approving keystone and its on its way to president obama who has already promised to veto it. Neither the house nor the senate have enough votes to override veto. Consolidation in the Online Travel industry expedia has agreed to buy orbitz for 12 a share, a 25 premium to their Closing Price yesterday. It has an enterprise value of about 1. 6 billion. Just last month, expedia. Travelocity. Thats a look at the top stories we are following this hour. The u. S. Government has pledged to reduce the case of cases of measles in the country to 30 or fewer in next fiveyears years compared to 600 last year. The director of the National Institute of allergy and Infectious Diseases one of the 26 institutes of the National Institutes join me joins me from bethesda, maryland. Thank you for your time. Is the measles making a comeback in the United States just 15 years after was declared eradicated or is what we are witnessing a medical anomaly . I hope it is going to turn out to be just an anomaly, but there is a reason for the synonymy this anomaly and that is the growing number of parents who for one reason or another did not have their children vaccinated against measles. It was a bad year last year and as you mentioned with 23 outbreaks and over 600 cases and this year, we had close to 150 cases. We have a situation where weve got to turn around and get the rational reasoning for why the riskbenefit of getting your c