hello. i'm karin giannone. you're watching "gmt" here on "bbc world news." the u.s. votes to decide the balance of power in congress, as america's midterm elections get under way. as republicans threaten to take over both houses of congress, we'll ask what that would mean for president obama's final two years in office. >> reporter: i'm jane o'brien in virginia where the polls have been open for an hour, and there's been a steady stream of voters, but turnout across the country is expected to be low. a charity warns on the

devastating result of ebola on children. >> could you ask the children to raise their hands if they've been orphaned? >> after elections in rebel-held areas of ukraine, a new leader is sworn in, but ukraine's president says the peace agreement has been violated what does that mean? also, alice is here taking a look at what's happening in business. you're also focusing on those u.s. midterms. >> absolutely right, because as america stands poised for change at the top, we're assessing the current state of the economy and asking what a potential win for the republicans could mean for future fiscal policy.

hello. midday here in london. also 12:00 noon in sierra leone and 7:00 a.m. in washington, where the polls for the u.s. midterms have opened in the last hour. the big question, can the republicans win the six senate seats they need to take control of both houses of congress. if they do, it will mean president obama will find it even harder to push through legislation during his final two years in office. let's get the very latest. the bbc's jane o'brien is outside a polling station in arlington, virginia. hello, jane. >> reporter: karin, it is a beautiful day here in virginia, which is important because that could encourage more people to come out and vote. but this is a very, very unhappy electorate. they're very unhappy with president obama. the way they feel he's leading the country, and they're unhappy with democrats. that's why the republicans are poised to take the six seats they need to regain control of the senate.

rajesh looks at the key states that are in play. >> most of the races we're watching are about whether the republicans can take seats from the democrats. that is probably going to be the theme of these midterm elections. the republicans in the senate really want to get that red arch over the 50 line, taking majority control of the senate. there are three states, montana, south dakota, and west virginia where they are very likely to do that and win the seats. there are big targets for the republicans as well, other ones, too. alaska, arkansas, and louisiana there in the south. they all voted against barack obama in the 2012 presidential election, so they're red states. it's possible that democratic senators could lose their seats there. iowa, which is in the midwest and in colorado in the rocky mountain west, they went for mr. obama two years ago. but his popularity is on the wane, and democrats in those states and elsewhere are distancing themselves from him during these elections in order to stay in office.

there are a couple of other races that could slow down this apparent shift to the republicans. let me bring up what they call the peach state, that's georgia in the south. there the democrats could buck the trend and take a seat from the republicans. and in the middle of the u.s. is kansas. the republican candidate there faces a really tough re-election fight, not against a democrat, though, but against an independent candidate. now, kansas has only elected republicans to the senate for the past 80 years. it's amazing to think now that this solidly red state could be so competitive that tonight it might decide who takes control of the senate. so, those are just a few of the seat that we'll be keeping a close eye on. will the republicans be able to get a majority, push that red arch over the 50 mark, or will the democrats be able to hold on to the senate for another two years? >> jane, how much money is being

thrown at these midterms? >> well, it's quite extraordinary, for an election that most americans really couldn't careless about, it's being taken very seriously about the politicians themselves. by some estimates in october alone, $200 million was spent on these key senate races, and in the last week, 20 million a day. i mean, these are extraordinary sums of money, so it just goes to show how much the republicans feel they've got to gain by really taking these elections seriously. but as i said earlier, the americans themselves are very, very unhappy, not just with president obama. not just with the democrats. but with republicans as well. don't forget the president's approval rating is low, hovering around 40%, but congress isn't doing much better either. so this isn't a question that americans have suddenly fallen in love with republicans overnight. it's more they feel at this stage, they're a lesser of

evils. >> jane, we've already heard so much about the gridlock that there's been on capitol hill over recent years. how much more gridlock could there get if both houses were republican? >> reporter: this is a very interesting question, because you would assume with the republicans in control of congress, president obama would find it very, very difficult to get any of his legislation through. he's already had an extremely tough six years with republicans pretty much blocking most of his initiatives. but there is also a theory that if the republicans do gain criminal of both chambers, then they will have two years to prove they can govern, and that's important as we head into 2016 and of course the presidential elections. so it may be that you'll find an atmosphere of slightly more conciliation, of slightly more working together. that, of course, very much remains to be seen, but it's certainly something that americans will be hoping for. >> jane, thank you very much. jane o'brien there for the

moment in arlington, virginia. we're going to be bringing you all the developments and results as they happen here on "bbc world news." just head to our website for all you need to know about the midterms and why they matter. there's a live page running for all the latest updates. that's at bbc.com/news. we'll also have special coverage here on "bbc world news." join us for midnight "gmt" as america votes 2014. going to bring you some other news now. staying in the u.s., safety investigators trying to establish the cause of the virgin spaceship 2 crash. they've given more details about their initial findings. investigators say cockpit video shows the co-pilot moving a lever to unlock the system designed to slow the craft down in preparation for re-entry. this was done earlier than should have happened. there's been a double tragedy as australia's most famous horse race, the melbourne cup, with the death of two

horses. seventh place geraldo was put down after a serious leg injury in a freak accident, and that came after admire rakti collapsed after finishing last. the race was won by german challenger protectionist. india's supreme court has lifted a ban on female makeup artists in the country's film industry. a powerful trades union barred women from the role for almost 60 years, arguing men needed the jobs. but the court said this was illegal. the united nations children's fund says it will double its staff in the three west african countries worst affected by ebola. a spokesman said children had been particularly hard-hit by the outbreak. around a thousand have died. 4,000 more have been orphaned and are unable to attend school. the africa governance initiative has also recently found that the virus is spreading nine times faster than it was two months ago in some rural parts of sierra leone. the virus is also increasing its

hold in the capital freetown. it's recording six times more cases per day than it was two months ago. andrew harding is in sierra leone. he's been to the port loco district just outside freetown and sends this special report which contains scenes some viewers may find distressing. >> reporter: an empty road. empty houses. we're driving into the new stronghold of the virus. into one village at its heart. a cluster of children on one side of the road. we soon discover why. on the other side, everyone is either dead or dying. >> she has the sickness. >> reporter: her head is turning. so she's got a fever presumably. do you think it's ebola?

>> it is. >> reporter: we're having to be very careful where we walk. there are dead bodies all around here that were cleared up just recently, but still in the middle of this village, we have ebola victims. there are two or three here, these women and their baby daughter, and another man just down the road. they're all believed to have the virus. they've just been left here presumably to die. next door, momo is struggling with no protective gear to care for his sick wife fatu. >> he is asking the wife, that if they don't heal you, what will happen to you? the lady said she's going to die. >> reporter: i'm sorry there's nothing we can do to help you. but i'm sure help will come.

he pleads again for help as fatu drifts away. across the tarmac, the children wait. they think this side is safer. but some of them look feverish. so where are their parents? >> reporter: could you ask the children to raise their hands if they've been orphaned? >> i've been calling, calling, calling. attending meetings from the wfp and w.h.o., and i haven't got any help yet. >> reporter: nothing at all? >> nothing at all. i feel very angry about it. because my people are dying. >> reporter: mubenti is 14. when my father became ill, they took him away, she says. i don't even know if he's dead now. so many have gone. we came to this site to avoid catching the virus.

but there is no proper quarantine system here. local officials have taken a handful of the more feverish children a mile up the road. this boy is 6. are you feeling okay? his head is aching. i'm sorry. and so he returns to the others. if some of them don't have ebola yet, they're now living beside people who definitely do. andrew harding, bbc news, sierra leone. stay with "bbc world news" for all the latest on ebola in west africa, including how the virus is being tackled on the ground, the treatment centers currently under construction in sierra leone, liberia, and guinea, and the vaccine trials. that's online, bbc.com/news.

stay with us here on "bbc world news." still to come. these typical london street scenes are not quite what they seem. we'll find out how they're helping to bring down the barriers at an exhibition of work by north korean artists.

could ukraine be about to fall even further into crisis? in a few hours, the president will chair an emergency meeting after rebel areas in the east held elections on sunday. that's something the u.n. chief ban ki-moon has called unfortunate and counterproductive. and in one of those areas, donetsk, alexander zakarchenko has been sworn in. he said he promised to serve the

people of donetsk people's republic, but president poroshenko said the weekend's vote was a violation of the current peace agreement. he's thinking of scrapping part of that deal. why would it be a great loss? >> reporter: we're seeing a different type of situation. the president said that this would give the two statelets, the two self-declared republics in the east autonomy, but a limited autonomy and for a limited period of time. some felt it would give them de facto independence, but obviously the donetsk and luhansk people's republics as they've called themselves see it

differently. they have had these elections, which were earlier than what was foreseen in the peace deal. the elections weren't supposed to take place until december, and they were supposed to take place under the auspices of the ukrainian government. so everybody here in kiev and also where i am in western capitals see this as mr. poroshenko said, a gross violation. in fact, the criticism of the elections in the west is pretty much unanimous. we heard from ban ki-moon, who also called them the quote unquote elections. but the question now is what will mr. poroshenko do and will he do anything beyond revoking the special status. >> and david, looking at the cease-fire that's been in place for several weeks, what impact has it actually had on the violence? >> reporter: it's a nominal cease-fire. some people call it a serious-fire only in name. but what it has resulted in is a

deescalation. what preceded it was a conflict on a number of fronts. that's not to say the fighting has stopped. we've seen some very fierce fighting, especially around the -- or actually at the airport in donetsk. but the question -- the fear is that if the cease-fire, this peace deal breaks down, then we will see a resumption of the full scale conflict and there have been reports, in fact, more than reports, sightings of heavy artillery and fighters in the east, the ukrainians say that they came over the border from russia. we cannot confirm that independently, but there's no question that there is a buildup right now, and the fear is that this will indeed lead to a much larger conflict in the east. >> and david, what about moscow? russia has recognized those elections in eastern ukraine that happened over the weekend, hasn't it? >> exactly. it's not just a question of

tensions ands between kiev and separatists. moscow has recognized this and it was seen as unacceptable by a number of western leaders. in fact, there's some talk about increasing the sanctions on russia, although that's not anything finite right now. but there's no question that the tensions are increasing between the capitals in addition to what's happening on the ground, and the fear is also of course that there's going to be a humanitarian crisis to go along with everything else that's happening. >> david, thanks very much. that's david stern in kiev. latest reports from libya say two soldiers have been killed, eight others injured in continuing clashes between the army and militias in the city of benghazi. more than 200 people have been killed in benghazi since the army began its offensive last month. the instability in libya has led to an increase in the number of refugees trying to leave the country bound for europe. the bbc in tripoli has this

exclusive report. >> reporter: migrants attempting the perilous journey from libya's coast in the hope of reaching europe. these pictures given to the bbc were taken by tripoli's coast guard in may. a time when they still actively surveyed a 150-kilometer stretch along libya's coast. they claim these patrols stopped at least 7,000 illegal migrants from making this journey every year. these patrol boats aren't used much these days, and even when they do venture on patrol, their capacities are limited. they cannot sail further than eight kilometers from the shore. this is just a fraction of libya's vast mediterranean shoreline that needs to be monitored. but it hasn't been monitored, at least in the tripoli area, for three months. the coast guard tells me they simply don't have enough logistical support to do their job. they say the europeans are only

training them. libya today is seen as the easiest departure point for illegal migration to europe. fueled by the political chaos and militia rule, thousands have paid traffickers to take them on the risky journey to europe. many perish at sea. now the tripoli coast guard say they are no longer on the lookout for migrants. >> translator: when we see a boat in good condition, we don't arrest them anymore. we have no health insurance. we're exposed to gunfire from smugglers. so on what grounds do we risk our lives for the benefit of europe? >> reporter: but it's men like these who often end up trying to make the crossing. most spend months working and living in dire conditions just to make enough money to pay for the journey. migrants like this man from ghana say they are poorly treated in libya. he believes that in europe, life

will be better. >> i want to go for europe. >> reporter: these migrants know the danger that waits for them at sea. some have seen the bodies washed up on libya's beaches. friend and family that will not be heard again. but there are still those who are willing to risk it all. their lives are now even more at risk as both european and libyan coast guards turn their backs and allow the boats to set sail. bbc news, tripoli. police in mexico have captured the runaway mayor from the town of iguala where 43 state of the unions went missing. he and his wife were arrested in mexico city. the students were abducted by local police after a protest in late september. they haven't been seen since. mexican officials accuse him of ordering police to confront the students on the day of their disappearance. it's been ten years in the making, the north korean embassy in london has thrown open its

doors for the first time for an unprecedented art exhibition. the paintings are all by north korean artists on show to the british public for the next three days. alpa patel has more. >> reporter: lovingly painted and instantly recognizable, this, the tower of london, deluged in poppies and visitors. and this, a busy street scene in trafalga square. insights into british sights, but by a north korean hand. this extraordinary exhibition is being held inside the north korean embassy in london, which has never before been open to the public. >> the people, when they come through the door, will leave their preconceptions, their prejudices and their politics at the door, and engage in this unique opportunity to see for

themselves the art and meet the artists. >> reporter: the artists themselves also paint a very different perspective of their country. one viewed internationally as one of the most repressive in the world. >> translator: i am very happy the british people have given me this kind of freedom. but even when i'm in korea, i get exactly the same freedom the british people have given me. artists in north korea are allowed to draw any paintings that they want to because the government and politicians give total freedom to artists. >> reporter: it's undoubtedly an attempt to create a better understanding between the two nations and forge a friendship, which can break down barriers. alba patel, bbc news. staying in london, almost 60 years after he was found at a railway station here in the british capital, paddington bear

has returned. 50 statues have been designed by artists and celebrities including david beckham and nicole kidman. the bears can be found in various locations around the city. they'll be auctioned then to raise money for children's charity and also promote a film. the actor hugh bonnville told us more about the bear hunt tourists can experience. >> i think it's great. you can get off an airplane, i'm not sure which one will be there, and all through london, you can download a map online and follow through the trails online. you can follow the route through parts of london that you've either forgotten about or maybe make you look at them in a new way. >> hugh bonneville. i haven't spotted any just yet. coming up in the next half-hour here on "gmt," the new

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hello, and welcome to "gmt" here on "bbc world news." i'm karin giannone. our top story this hour, one of the uk's most senior spies accuses internet companies of being in denial about extremists using their networks to communicate. ♪ making it magnificent. we speak to debbie harry on the 40 9 anniversary of her career. and alice is here looking at the business of fine art. >> absolutely right.

it's a booming industry with big money to be made. but while sales are on the up all around the world, we've experienced something of a slump here in london. denting the city's reputation as a global art sales hub. the big question is why, with some insiders pointing the finger at brussels. welcome back. the new head of the british intelligence agency gchq has urged u.s. tech companies like google and twitter to cooperate with governments in the fight against terrorism. robert hannigan says big tech firms are in denial about the misuse of the internet, when they actually provide extremists with the communication systems they rely on. our security correspondent gordon carrera reports. >> reporter: the group calling itself islamic state is the

first terrorist group whose members have grown up on the internet and know how to exploit it. the new head of gchq says. they know how to spread their message far and wide over social networks and protect their communications. this, robert hannigan says, is a problem that technology companies are in denial about. however much they may dislike it, they, the technology companies, have become the command-and-control networks of choice for terrorists and criminals, he writes in the "financial times." the task of gchq is to intercept global communications. that, the agency's new director says, has become harder after the disclosures from edward snowden which tipped off gchq's targets. it also made some tech companies less willing to cooperate with law enforcement and intelligence, and invest more in encrypting or protecting data so it can't be read. but robert hannigan says cooperation is needed. it means coming up with better arrangements for facilitating lawful investigation by security and law enforcement agencies than we have now, he writes.

technology and privacy activists say they welcome the idea of gchq entering the public debate about privacy, but one said attacking the internet wasn't the right way to do it. this intervention, though, is a sign that in that debate, the new head of gchq is not going to shy away from a fight. gordon carrera, bbc news. >> professor peter summer is with me, specializing in cyber security and digital evidence. what do you make of the comments by britain's spy chief? >> robert hannigan was appointed as someone outside gchq so that he would be rather better at communicating to the rest of us what they're trying to do, so this presumably is his first effort. whether the "ft" article which he wrote this morning is absolutely the very best way is open to question. the fact is the major internet

service providers have always been quite happy to help law enforcement and the intelligence agencies, but not on a blanket basis. they are prepared to do it on an individual basis if there is a reasonable case to be put, and that i think is the current dilemma. >> so in "the financial times" article that you mentioned, what you think he's trying to do is to say to the public, we're on your side. we're trying to protect you. and this is how the tech companies are responsible for helping terrorism, rather than creating this image of a spy agency being there sinisterly monitoring the activities of citizens. >> i think he's got it wrong, even before the snowden revelations, obviously what he's doing is a great deal to do with the reaction to that. even before that, the likes of google were particularly keen to try and build up a better relationship with the intelligence agencies, and they started producing what they call transparency support, so the public would know not the

individual targets, but the quantity of different types of authorizations, and the public asked themselves, well, does this measure up to what we think the risks actually are,having e. going to a meeting in brussels hosted by google and some of the other big companies. subsequently to the arrival of the snowden papers, you have to remember, although there's a lot of anger about snowden, nobody's actually saying that the papers he's produced are forgeries. there may be some scope for arguing about how you interact with them. some of them may have a different status, which that one thinks they have, but nevertheless, there is a substantial problem. and the likes of gchq, the national security agency in the state have now got to justify what they're doing in much more detail than they ever had to do before. and that's proving psychologically difficult for them among other things. it's a step they have to take.

>> you say that these tech companies are pretty amenable to cooperation with the authorities. >> under the right circumstances. >> under the right circumstances. robert hannigan actually uses the phrase "they are in denial." he sees it completely differently. >> i think he's got that bit wrong. they're not in denial. it's always been possible for them to carry out covert communications on the internet. there have been books and websites telling you exactly how to do so. all that is happening at the moment is that the likes of apple and google and shortly yahoo are making it a little bit easier, provided you stay within the apple environment. so if you are using an apple device to talk to an apple device, then you have got quite a high level of protection. if you use an apple device to talk to the outside world, they're able to do whatever they're able to do. said the big problem really has been how you react to snowden. they spent far too much time blaming snowden and not enough

saying we now have a prb to explain what we're doing, why we're doing it and why it's justified in terms of the threats we all face. >> thank you very much. let's turn to alice with a round-up of business news. >> thanks very much, karin. we're actually picking up on your top story, because as you've been hearing, of course, americans vote in the midterm elections on tuesday. president obama's democrats face an uphill struggle. the republicans look poised to snatch a senate majority, taking control of both houses of congress could set the republicans on course for another budget standoff. you'll remember the last one closed down a month of the government and pushed them to the brink of defaulting on its debt. so why is the president not benefiting more from the resurgent u.s. economy? michelle fleury has been to arkansas to find out.

>> reporter: it used to be all about cotton and the mighty mississippi. the river still plays a vital part in its economy. big river steel picked this spot for its soon-to-be built factory, in part because of incentives offered by the state. >> if the state is able to help finance a project like this through some incentives, tax delayments or something like that, it does help bring the project to this area. and in exchange for that, obviously there's 500 employees that are going to have a very good income. >> reporter: when it's up and running, the steel will leave here by rail and along the river. trade flowing through here was disrupted much like everything else during the financial crisis. but now, more than five years on, and america's unemployment rate is at its lowest level since president obama first took office back in 2008. go down to the local wal-mart, though, and you begin to see the democrats' problems. voters here aren't feeling the

recovery. >> it's bad. it's not the same anymore. he's taken us down, not bringing us up. >> my daddy always taught me, i was a democrat from birth, but i'd say that he'd turn over in his grave now because i can't say that i'm a democrat anymore. >> reporter: all of which is bad news for incumbent democratic senator mark pryor, who's struggling to keep his job. another steel mill challenger. the republican hoping to steal the senate seat played on voters' economic frustrations. >> i think that arkansas can do better. i think americans can do better than we've done over the last six years. >> reporter: unless democrats can manage to convince voters along cotton highway that they had a hand in turning the economy around, they may be the ones singing the blues after election day. michelle fleury, bbc news, arkansas.

whatever your taste in art, classical, impressionist, modern, it seems that britain's status as a hub for the international art market is under threat from new york and other overseas centers. new figures show that sales slipping in the uk, but they're growing globally. campaigners say it's all down to a brussels directive that forces dealers and galleries doing business in europe to pay a resale charge to artists or their heirs where their work remains in copyright. the artist resale right levy was introduced across europe in 2006. in the uk, the biggest european art market initially covered living artists, but only in 2012, and was extended to the artist's heirs for up to 70 years after their death. so, for instance, the duty would be payable to the estate of pablo picasso on a work from

1900 but sold here in london. this is having an impact on the uk art market. sales fell 3% to $12.8 billion u.s. dollars in 2013, against growth and worldwide sales of 10%. earlier, i spoke to one art expert who explains why he wants a level playing field across the world. >> artist resale right in the uk has been here now for eight years. more importantly, the extension since 2012, and we're beginning now to see some effects on the market as this latest report comes in. the biggest section of the market globally by value is the contemporary modern section, which is the bit that's actually affected by the resale right. whilst that has grown globally, our share of it has shrunk. it's a bis masked by the fantastic totals in the london auction sales, but as a whole, we have seen a share drop to only about 15% of the market.

bear in mind the uk has been one of the two greatest art markets in the world. the difficulty is for dealers in particular, that they must pay on any transaction done in the commercial world a share on a sliding scale of 4% of the entire sum of the artwork if it qualifies, and it has to be paid even if a loss is made. it's supposed to have been kicked in for artists to help poor artists at the lower end. now traditionally, dealers have often with a new artist brought up their art, given a lump sum to go away and do some new art. they won't do that anymore, because it means that every time they resale something at the qualifying level, they're going to have to pay that fee, so they now tend to take art on commission to sell, which means those young artists don't get that lump sum to go off with. not saying that artists shouldn't get money, but the most important thing is that it should be a level playing field across the globe, even according to the eu directive.

but it hasn't been introduced in the other two great art markets in the world, the u.s. and china, which at least partially explains why our figures are falling whilst theirs are climbing in this sector. let's bring you some other business news, because the online marketplace alibaba is expected to report strong earnings for the start of its financial year. the chinese group looks set to post a net profit of $1.2 billion. sales are also thought to be up strongly. alibaba's first set of results since september. it's been another bumpy year for primark. announcing sells of up to nearly $8 billion. the fashion retailer has been opening up more branches across europe, including in france and plans to open its first stores in the united states in 2015.

finally, french scientists have warned that a decade of shift work could age the brain by more than six years. making it difficult to think and remember. there was some recovery after people stopped working anti-social shifts, but it took five years to return to normal. experts say the findings could be important in dementia, as many patients have disrupted sleep. that's all the business news for this hour. back to you, karin. >> we all know what shift work does to us. thanks very much, alice baxter. stay with us here on "bbc world news." still to come, we welcome blondie live frto the "gmt" studio. they're here to talk music and their new exhibition about the early days of punk.

you're watching "bbc world news." i'm karin giannone. our top stories this hour, americans are voting in midterm congressional elections, which may see a switch in the balance of power in washington. the ukrainian president petro poroshenko has called an emergency meeting of his security chiefs after unauthorized elections in the east of the country. now, let's talk about this face. 40 years ago in new york, a young photographer called chris stein met singer debbie harry. they formed the band blondie and went on to have hits. they were a couple for 15 years and continued to work together after their breakup in 1989. chris and debbie herself, i'm pleased to say, are with me here to talk about their music and the opening of a new exhibition on the early days of punk,

featuring dozens of remarkable photos of that new york scene taken by chris. let's briefly take ourselves back to 1980. ♪ tonight oh your hair is beautiful ♪ ♪ oh tonight atomic ♪ >> so, four decades of blondie. chris and debbie are here. debbie, when you see the pictures that are in this new book by chris, what goes through your mind looking at those times? >> it seems it brings it really back to life, and it's sort of -- as chris often says, it's like a time machine or a time capsule. >> when he was the photographer, when it was him behind the lens,

what was different about that? >> well, i always felt more relaxed with chris. he has a really great sense of humor. so we, you know -- as frustrating as things were sometimes, we always ended up with some kind of, you know, ironic joke or something. >> chris, this is a book documenting the four decades. how much is it about a personal memory? how much is about the times, the atmosphere back then? >> it's a nice, exciting period. a lot of interest in it now. the images to me all trigger memories surrounding them, certainly. >> i think we can take a look at a few of the pictures now. if we can just see one of those pictures on the screen. yeah, this one in particular. i don't know if you can see it on the screen just there. the frying pan picture. if you just look at that tv screen there, you can see the

pictures that we're looking at. crazy picture. tell us what was going on? >> well, our apartment had burned down while we were on tour, and we returned and were attempting to clear out some of the debris, and the remains of things. and we had this gown that was allegedly marilyn monroe's. it got badly singed in the fire. so we did this impromptu photo shoot. >> if we can look at the next picture. we were going to get your thoughts on and take us back to that time. what's going on there? >> that is on 14th street in new york. that's debbie in their day-to-day look. and everyone is kind of amazed by their appearance. >> and people just turned around and stared? >> yeah. >> there's one more photo i think we've got for your perspective on this photo of debbie, reading a newspaper here

in the uk, a british newspaper, on a tour bus. >> yes. >> that speaks to me of the tabloids a lot. >> there you go. it's the "sun." >> and how impromptu were the photos? when did you just pick up your camera, and when did you just think let's put some planning into this? >> some of them are a little more planned out. but none of them involved stylists or makeup people or any of that kind of situation. so it was all pretty just do it yourself. i always would have a camera handy. >> yeah, chris was always shooting really. i mean, sometimes we would go out for walks and some, you know, sort of scene or event would appear, and, you know, he would rush back to get the camera. >> were there times when you thought no, just stop, i don't want to be photographed in this moment? just leave me alone? >> oh, no.

it was never a -- i don't think it was ever -- >> yeah, i tried not to be too intrusive with it. >> one of his specialties i think is getting good candid shots and having an eye for it. and he shoots -- his compositions are full frame. and he sort of embodies something else in the shot as well. i mean, it's srt of not -- sort so formalized. arer you've been in the studio with your phone taking photos. >> well, we're in this social environment of rampant documenting. everyone is documenting everything all the time. but i see some really great stuff on instagram, out of social media. i always appreciate when i see something that you don't know if the person knows it was good or not, you know? >> and debbie, do you have a favorite out of all those pictures? >> yes. i mean, i like so many of them.

and they all bring back perfect memories of the time. even of the day when we would do the shooting. but i sort of like this one where i'm crouched in this very dark all around. it's a color shot i think, right? where i'm crouching down. and my hair is particularly good that day. and i don't know, i just like it because it's just this little -- i don't know, a little creature. >> feral. >> we wish you well, and that exhibition is also at somerset house here in london and the book, too. >> thank you. >> thanks so much for coming in. now from that, we're going to return to our top story. polls opening in the u.s. in the nationwide election being seen by many as a referendum on barack obama's time in the white house. midterm elections notoriously difficult occasions for sitting presidents, especially in their second terms. there's a good chance the republican party could win enough seats in the senate to give them criminal of both houses of congress, and if that happens, president obama will

find it even harder to pass legislation during his final two years in office. our correspondent has been to one of the key battleground states, west virginia, which may be about to elect its first republican senator for half a century. >> reporter: west virginia. america's mountain state. for more than a century, the south branch valley railroad has been used to ferry passengers and freight. >> tickets? >> reporter: for many onboard the potomac eagle tourist train, these elections are being viewed as a verdict on president obama, even though he's not on the ticket. >> as an individual, he's a nice person. however, he is inept in making decisions. he's taken this country from the preeminence of power and respect, and i believe that we're down at the bottom. >> reporter: polls suggest the vast majority of americans feel the country's on the wrong track, and more than half blame

president obama and his democratic party. >> he does err on the side of caution. so there's definitely been criticism about waiting with islamic state. i hope that we did step in soon enough. >> the republicans, if they take the whole thing over, it will just go their way. and i don't even think they'll come to consensus. it seems as though that's what's going wrong with our country now. we're just not agreeing. >> what happens here could change the country's political landscape. west virginia looks set to elect its first republican senator in 50 years. taking the party a step closer to winning control of the u.s. senate from the democrats. the feeling here and across america is that these midterm elections might not make much of a difference, unless the politicians in washington can put aside their differences and work together. something they've not managed in recent years. but the outcome in these elections will set the scene for president obama's final two

years in office. and shape his legacy. >> we'll keep you up to date with the results from the u.s. lucy is up next with "impact." i'm karin giannone. goodbye. ♪ there it is... this is where i met your grandpa. right under this tree. ♪ (man) some things are worth holding onto. they're hugging the tree. (man) that's why we got a subaru. or was it that tree? (man) introducing the all-new subaru outback. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

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