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Good morning. Today is Monday, April 11th, and I'm your host Rina Schirbel. Our top stories today.

Election runoff in France, Banks Q1 earnings, and Musk changes his mind.

Leading today's news in a replay of the 2017 presidential

election, French voters have advanced incumbent Emmanuel Macron and

candidate Maureen Le Pen to the second round of runoff election. The two-round system has been

in place since a 1962 referendum and while it's costly and can weigh on

logistics many cite benefits like the prevention of vote splitting or giving the opportunity

to elect candidates with the most winning potential. French elections only

proceed to a second round if in the first no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, which is rare for

presidential elections, though sometimes occurs in local ballots.

Macron landed 28.2% of the estimated vote ahead of Le Penh with 22.9%. The two will now face each other in an

April 24th rematch that decides whether Macron will stay in power. In recent surveys,

Macron led Le Pen in the runoff by just two percentage points,

down from a double-digit lead a month ago.

The two differ heavily on political policy like immigration in France's role in Europe,

and both are wrangling over the cost of living and the economy.

Record high inflation has seen Macron order a cap on electricity and natural gas prices,

though the measures haven't stopped Le Penh from climbing in the polls. She declared,

I'll put money back in your pockets, promising to cut taxes on fuel and other

essentials while giving businesses incentives to raise wages.

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