this is d. w. news coming to live from berlin german chancellor angela merkel tells t w she's ready to join talks to resolve the north korea crisis and she says donald trump is doing it all wrong in my opinion sanctions and enforcing the sanctions are the right answer but anything else with regard to north korea i think is wrong. and

that is why we clearly disagree with the u.s. president. in an exclusive interview chancellor merkel tells d.w. that diplomacy is the only way forward with pyongyang also in the program hope and heroism in mexico as efforts continue to find survivors in the rubble of tuesday's powerful earthquake we'll go to mexico city for the latest. and hurricane maria paralyzes puerto rico leaving much of the u.s. territory without power or communications it's the worst storm to hit the island to been eighty years. hello and welcome i'm terry martin good to have you with us germany's chancellor has spoken out on the north korea crisis just days ahead before germany's general election head of john john. it is gen x.

and i'm going to michael said she disagrees with u.s. president donald trump's military ultimatum to north korea in an exclusive interview with g w merkel offered germany's assistance in negotiating a diplomatic solution on tuesday trump told the u.n. that america would destroy north korea if it continued to threaten the united states and its allies. promising is the only way to solve the north korea conflict according to the german chancellor in an exclusive interview with g w hunger merkel spoke out in favor of multilateral negotiations involving international partners such as china russia and the united states even if this conflict is far away from germany it's one that also affects us that's why i'm prepared and this is the foreign minister to assume responsibility here. we took part in negotiating the iran agreement which i think is good and better than having no agreement at all. it took many years but in the end it did limit iran's

possibilities for nuclear armament. and then. addressing the u.s. president's threats to destroy north korea angela merkel had a special message for donald trump. we consider any type of military solution to be absolutely inappropriate and we're counting on diplomatic efforts this must be vigorously implemented in my opinion sanctions and enforcing these sanctions are the right answer but anything else with regard to north korea i think is wrong and that's why we clearly disagree with the u.s. president. with holes in her favor until america can feel confident that she'll be reelected as chancellor of the a if he is likely to win seats in parliament for the first time machall ruled out ever cooperating with the far right party and she promised to take the concerns of those who feel disadvantaged seriously. my you

know my answer is clear to solve people's problems the worries they have having their own jobs as well as decent schools and doctors to really take care of these issues but on the other hand to signal a clear stop to hatred and violence. the interview with chancellor merkel was the last in a series of seven that included all top candidates of germany's major parties recent surveys are correct on sunday on conservative c.d.u. c.s.u. will become the strongest political power and she could become one of the longest serving chancellors in german history. and you saw his editor in chief in his poll there interviewing a german chancellor angela merkel and getting a selfie done i thought good morning in as you did that we thought oh ok so. you've got a real collection then do indeed so many parties vying for places in the business

are now there's just a couple of days to go before the election sunday is the big day chancellor merkel is looking at possibly winning another term she is confident it looks good right i mean it. will be the next well well she's confident but she does have a lot of respect for the office for the office called the chancellor rhee and you can feel that you know she's she's absolutely not full of herself she's a very decent and very serious politician so yes she knows that she probably will be the next again but she doesn't take it easy ok maybe not taking it fully for granted at this point that is democracy ok well merkel is stressing the need for diplomacy right now on a number of international problems let's break it down for you just a little in our interview she first said she was willing to take a role in dealing with north korea and in the same breath she called for a deal with iran to stand let's listen in. even though this conflict is far

away from germany it's also affects us all and that is why i am prepared to assist the foreign minister to assume responsibility. we took part in negotiating the iran agreement which i think is good and better than having no agreement to toll. it took many years but in the end it did limits iran's possibilities for nuclear armament. and i think we must take the same path or a similar one with russia with china together with the us also in the case of north korea. so chancellor chancellor merkel are taking a very strong stand against donald trump with respect to the year round deal and on north korea. looking at that hearing the chancellor tell you that so clearly doesn't give you this sense that she is planning to give germany a more active role on the world stage yes indeed i mean she really says she would be willing to be the hell in this whole conflict with north korea that's pretty big

isn't it we also would you be willing to to call. and she said yeah if i would get also i would do so so i think this really reflects the new role of germany was in europe but also the new stand from europe against the united states which is led by a president on the truck she just doesn't trust him i think you can feel she doesn't really like him we saw that early on and she's willing to really take this responsibility chancellor merkel has already been in office now for twelve years when she finishes this term she she's already one of the world's most powerful leaders she's obviously a heavyweight within europe what do you think she is going to focus on in her next term assuming that she does win another term that's a good question i mean she's a true european so she will really do everything to keep europe together we have many problems you know that we have coming the negotiations are so difficult she

will try to. then we have europe that's difficult but you also have some problems to solve in your own country. yeah absolutely germany faces some issues of its own immigration playing a big role this year i'm sure we're going to be hearing a lot more about that in as paul our editor in chief thank you so much for being and being with us this morning. and with just three days to go till germany decides we invite you to join the discussion on the election you can use coverage online it d.w. dot com and get updates on our news facebook page or follow us on twitter and use the germany times hash tag our social media team is waiting to hear from you. now to mexico where more than two hundred people have now been confirmed dead after tuesday's earthquake rescue workers are frantically searching for survivors trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings one of the most desperate rescue efforts is underway at a primary school in mexico city. has signed

a fly from to the rubble rescue work is sickening for clients as they search for survive this safe spot just a little hand it's a good they ask to move it she can now begins to painstakingly slow process of freeing her. rescuers say video has told them the name is frieda. apart from just her name she told us there were two other children and that there were more bodies but we don't know if the others are alive. it's a race against time to find people trapped under the rubble and to clear the way to where they lie. there are still people in there but there are still people groaning and i have to clear the rubble from three more floors and you still hear people inside. the capital city has seen a number of traumatic rescues this man was rescued after spending more than twenty

four hours under the debris of his partly collapsed apartment building others however were not so lucky and with every hour that goes by hopes of finding survivors diminishes in a crew twist of irony the seven point one magnitude quake struck just after many in the city peteri doubt and earthquake drill like every year the trio was jailed on the anniversary of a nine hundred eighty five earthquake that killed more than ten thousand people this latest adversity has united a city in both grief and determination people from all walks of life have formed human chains to help. because you want to help but you can't do anything. you want to do everything quickly it's like the human survival instinct but you can't do anything. but the sheer number of people involved it's also complicating

efforts. rescue us regularly koehler out for silence and the sound midst supposable of life lost. as the search for survivors continues many and a city have taken refuge on the streets the second quake to hit the country in just two weeks has left them with nowhere else to go. mexico's president and he kept penny and he had to assess mike soko is facing a new national and there to see his to collect three taste of national mourning to the victims. let's take a look now at some of the other stories making headlines around the world today demonstrators clashed in kenya's capital nairobi as the country's supreme court explained his decision to nullify last month's presidential election police used tear gas to break up scuffles between supporters and opponents of the decision the court criticized kenya's election board for failing to verify results and for

allowing judges for not allowing judges to audit them. the president of iraq's kurdish region has vowed to press ahead with a referendum on independence as leaders of the autonomous region come under growing international pressure to scrap the vote scheduled for september twenty fifth turkey iraq and the us all opposed to describe his desires to form an independent country. and iranian president hassan rouhani has hit back at u.s. president donald trump's threat to scrap the iran nuclear deal rouhani told the u.n. general assembly it would be a great pity if the deal were destroyed by what he called rogue newcomers to the world of politics for. hurricane is back out over open sea and regaining strength a day after devastating puerto rico the u.s. national hurricane center now rated as a category three hurricane and has issued hurricane warnings for the turks and

caicos islands and the eastern bahamas meanwhile is starting to pick up the pieces after a direct hit by maria virtually the entire island has lost electrical power communication networks are down in many communities are cut off while officials try to assess the full extent of the damage. picking up the pieces after puerto rico's storm of the century here in san juan and across the island people are just beginning to come to grips with the aftermath of maria galland power lines uprooted trees and shredded roofs litter the streets it's just some of the damage from a storm that officials say battered everything in its path. meanwhile tens of thousands remain in shelters they're still uncertain when they'll be able to return home and what awaits them when they do. the storm

roared ashore on wednesday morning on puerto rico southeastern coast torrential rains and winds of two hundred fifty kilometers an hour destroyed homes flooded streets and knocked out power to nearly the entire island it was the strongest hurricane to hit puerto rico and over eighty years the island literally can't afford this disaster the united states territory declared bankruptcy earlier this year washington promised eight get first of all i'd like to see the same thing which is to our fellow citizens in puerto rico they are right now front and center in our thoughts in our prayers we want them to know that the federal response will be there we want them to know that we are thinking of them first and foremost right now as they combat this very very dangerous hurricane meanwhile others in the storm's path are bracing themselves maria is forecast to pass just north of the dominican republic people here are taking no chances preparing for it but hoping to

escape the worst of the storm. and before we go just a reminder of the top story we're following for you today german chancellor angela merkel offers to help resolve the north korea crisis bekele tells t w in an exclusive interview that diplomacy is the only way forward with pyongyang just days after the u.s. president donald trump threatened to destroy north. maria. and you'll find that entire interview on our website at d w dot com sumi is with you next hour with another full bulletin of news thanks for watching. the whole g.w. on one out. for in focus global insight.