this is c w news live from berlin moment of truth the most important u.s. midterm elections in a generation are under way after a fierce campaign americans are casting their ballots we'll tell you what's at stake and wind the poll numbers. also coming up it could be one of the last trials of its kind a nazi concentration camp guard goes on trial in germany he's accused of being complicit in hundreds of murders and time is running out to prosecute those like him. and outrage mounts over china's treatment of muslim minority groups the u.n.

demands china close suspected free education camps for weaker in the country's northwest but beijing claims the camps don't even exist. i'm serious oh my god it's good to have you with us well just in a few hours the first polls will be going closing in what have been called the most crucial u.s. midterm elections in decades donald trump is not on the ballot but the vote is being seen as a referendum on the u.s. president's agenda survey suggests the republicans will keep control of the senate and that the democrats could take back the house of representatives and that would put them in the position to push back against the president's policies but a battle promises to be tight. it's the american public's first chance to vote since donald trump's election back in twenty sixteen the midterms

a widely seen as a referendum on the president after a divisive first two years in office for almost two years the regret that you wish on you that you could just take back a redo well there would be certain things i'm not sure i want to reveal all of a but i would say tone i would like to have a much softer tone i feel to a certain extent i have no choice but maybe i do and maybe i could have been softer from that standpoint but he hasn't turned down his rhetoric in the midterms campaign accusing democrats of being weak on migration. democrats are inviting care of it after caravan of illegal aliens to pour it to our country overwhelming the schools you are spittles and your communities. people democrats are hoping to achieve a blue wave off to crushing results and twenty sixteen. i feel

confident that we will win it's just a question of what the size of the tree is no people asked me how is it a waiver tsunami i said all of those are drops of water these races are very close across the country. in this election even usually safe seats are up for grabs in deeply conservative texas opinion polls indicate democrat better o'rorke who seeking election to the senate could do surprisingly well. just a few weeks ago democrats were hopeful they could win back both the senate and the house but polls suggest the race is wide open. he's all over sal it is following the midterm elections for us in washington and he joins us from our high oliver good to see you the president is not on the ballot so why is there so much interest in this election. because these elections are about the future of the trump administration even if donald trump is not on the ballot himself but it's on the voters' knowledge to decide how powerful donald trump will

be in the next two years to come it will be on the voters to decide how happy they were not only with the policies of donald trump with the america first policies that we've talked a lot of a lot of volatile and recent days and months but also about the tone of the debate that we've witnessed here not only in the election campaign but in the last two years so what's at stake here is control in power over both chambers of the american congress the senate as well as the house of representatives and if one of the two chambers goes back to the democrats for instance which is the most likely scenario that the democrats would take the house back then this would certainly give donald trump a very hard time in the next two years to move on the way he governed before that will be a lot more difficult than in the future all of our if we do see a shift in power this blue wave we keep hearing about how could that affect u.s. foreign policy. well first of all it will affect the

domestic policy because of the democrats take back the house then every policy that has to be confirmed by the u.s. parliament could be blocked by that by that majority in the house but that in turn would probably lead to a situation in which donald trump could focus more on international politics on foreign policy as you've mentioned as there is certainly nobody to hinder him and that would mean a lot more america first a lot more unilateralism in the future to come. all over domestically we've seen donald trump make immigration and as he claims the democrats' failure to tackle it the centerpiece of his campaigning we'll talk about that with you in a moment but first let's take a look at this report. there's been a big turnout for early voting in the u.s. with long lines that many polling stations like this one in los angeles county but one group was noticeably absent as many election volunteers noticed i haven't seen

a lot of latinos today. that's come as a surprise since one latin american issue has played a big role in the campaign the migrants making their way to the u.s. mexican border from central america president trump has put the issue of illegal migration at the forefront of his campaigning for the republicans blaming the democrats for allowing them into the united states democrats hope to turn latino discontent over trump's migration rhetoric into votes but they don't have a detailed strategy for the diverse latino community according to sonya diaz the head of the latino think tank. almost sixty percent of latinos surveyed in a national poll have not received any sort of communication information from a candidate of latino interest groups are trying to fill the void many such as the immigrants rights organization cheered in los angeles have set up call centers

volunteers have translated voter guides and are reaching out to potential voters six out of ten latino is our millennial and many are voting for the first time the latest polls have shown that less than half of them know who's running in their respective districts with the political rhetoric high under growing distrust in the government and its institutions many have simply to date. i mean this extended. look from good ministration has had a very negative effect on the way latinos view the elections. because we now believe that our vote doesn't count or it's not going to affect the administration or mr martin kevin dileo and is a democratic candidate for senator he's been one of the most visible of all of the latino candidates in california and he's been urging democrats to articulate a position beyond stop trump during a campaign rally at his favorite taco vendor dion cold and latinos to vote for his

failure democrats to help win back the higher severe present. critical i mean very dangerous because you want to talk to religious history. about the soul of our nation the president without one that the latino vote comes out strong you know come tuesday november sixth the very clear message that we want america the latino voters represent one of the fastest growing demographics in the united states this year's met terror's me indicate where the democrats to find the key to mobilizing them at the polls. or it's all over we've seen a very sharp rhetoric from the president on immigration this is in general been a really polarizing campaign leading up to this midterm election you've been speaking to voters what are they saying. little bands of whom you're talking to you speak to trump supporters for instance they would rather say that eventually somebody mentioned things things hold they are and they're quite happy with that

others are very much repelled of this inflammatory rhetoric there's just been a growing concern over and that over an election at video that compared illegal migrants or migrants coming from southern america with rapist and murderer us and not even fox news the rather trump friendly channel wanted to air this campaign video in the end so it's a very divided country right now and it certainly will depend on how those polls parties will be able to mobilize their voter but these are all of our salat for us in washington reporting on the midterms thank you very much. well let's get more perspective on the midterms now we're joined by kodiak hill davis she's the political director of republican women for progress that's an organization working to encourage republican women to engage in politics and civic discourse it's important to say that the organization is not actually affiliated with the

republican party thank you for joining us that good to have you here and you were saying a record number of women running for congress more than two hundred fifty mostly for the democrats why aren't more republican women running. well first and foremost thank you for having me and to answer your question i think what's a little disappointing about the coverage that we've seen is that there are record numbers of republican women running for office in a cycle of course we're thrilled as an organization that so many democratic women are running for office but we also think it's important to focus on the fact that there are record numbers of republican female candidates running in this cycle many of them first time candidates and of course many many good republican incumbents this cycle to kodiak that being said let's take a look at the women voters in the u.s. right now you wrote that trump has a woman problem that suburban well educated women disapprove disapprove of the president more than they approve of him how significant of

a factor is that going to be in these midterm elections. i think it's a big factor when i wrote that piece about two months ago i think it was incredibly pression because what you're really seeing is that trump is a polarizing figure with women and maybe there are some suburban republican women who held their noses and voted for him in two thousand and sixteen and they've really been pushed kind of further further and further outside of the party and now i don't think they're we can count on their votes in the cycle i think they are disappointed in what they've seen from a policy standpoint i think separation of mothers and families at the border was certainly a polarizing issue i think a lot of the need to movement has been really difficult for the republican party to overcome and certainly the kavanaugh hearings last month really polarizing again for republican for republican women but just women in general very divisive issues like i want to ask you more about your organization republican women for pro

progress what does that mean what kind of progress are you looking for. well our organization originally started in two thousand and sixteen as republican women for hillary because we weren't sure that donald trump was the right nominee for the republican party after the twenty sixteen election we reincorporated as republican women for progress because we are looking forward to the future of the republican party and we think that future depends on women and right now the republican caucus in both the house and senate is representative the by less than ten percent female republicans that's the number is too low so our work is dedicated to building a pipeline of republican female candidates we want to empower and equip republican women throughout the country to run for elected office kodiak hill davis speaking to us thank you so much for sharing your insights with us today. thank you for having me or not some other stories making headlines around the world the french

judicial sources say they have uncovered a plan to attack president in mine one mccomb police have arrested six members of the radical for right now official said the plan was vague and not final but that it was violent. the spanish coast guard says at least seventeen migrants have died trying to cross the mediterranean from north africa in the past twenty four hours rescuers picked up more than one hundred others and took them to be on clay the. funerals have been held in the sicilian city palermo for nine members of an extended family killed in a flash flood over the weekend family drowned when the village that they granted was swept away two other people were also killed by flooding in the same region. a former nazi concentration camp guard has gone on trial here in germany the man is charged with complicity in the murder of hundreds of people at the top camp in nazi occupied poland more than sixty thousand people were killed at that camp and time

is running out to prosecute those who are responsible. it is likely to be one of the last cases of its kind ninety four year old johann half arriving in court today accused of being an accessory to murder. from one hundred forty two to nine hundred forty four the former s.s. man served as a garbage dump of concentration camp near the polish city of danske over one hundred thousand people were imprisoned out of sixty five thousand of them were killed most of them gassed or shot there is no evidence of the defendant being involved in individual murders but the prosecution argues he must have known about the killings and was therefore an accessory. we have information from old interrogations from the guards and witnesses people knew all too well what was going on in the camp. in addition the camp was structured in such a way that you had a good overview of the whole care from the watchtowers you could also see through

the fence that's why we assume that all the guards knew was when dawn especially when you served in the camp as long as the defendant did. seven years ago the case against the former gardai did different camp the extermination camps will be bore settle legal precedent in that case the guard john demjanjuk was convicted as an accessory to twenty eight thousand murders a german court ruled that the defendant did not have to personally commit murder to be found guilty. the ruling sparked several new trials against former concentration camp workers. in this latest trial seventeen survivors and relatives of start of victims from around the world are represented as co plaintiff's lawyer owner is a tough act for an elderly couple from israel who are interred at start off as children it's good. for my clients this isn't about

a prison sentence for the defendant they don't want to see him suffer they want him to engage with his past to tell the truth and not to obscure or trivialize or deny these crimes like so many s.s. men and others who were responsible have done in the past. here one on has never denied being a guard at start off but claims he knew nothing of the killings and was never a nazi due to his old age the trial hearings will only last up to two hours a day the case against him will continue until mid january. even if you're with business now and that will big tax base a big tax here in europe its rights i mean that's the question as you members. they are divided on a proposal to place a three percent tax on big internet companies like google and facebook scandinavian countries and ireland fear the measure would make them less attractive to tech firms while others fear washington might retaliate so others want to push through

a measure by the end of the year and italy has said it will simply go ahead on its own with a digital tax if there's no e.u. agreement. the digital tax is a fraught issue in europe taxing high tech firms like google facebook and amazon could help governments raise money some countries fear they could lose out especially if washington battalions. of course there will be a reaction from the united states which kind of reaction i do not know and of course we should decide for ourselves but we sure do think early on whether it is a good idea or not denmark says u.s. retaliation could potentially offset the benefits of a tax ireland fears it could become less competitive the irish capital dublin is home to the european headquarters of several u.s. tech firms in germany the eel's biggest market is hoping for a broad agreement between e.u. member states by summer twenty twenty france on the other hand it's a term and to push through a proposal for an eagle white tax this year. when there is

a will there is the way. and there is a we've come from time for many countries. with direct t.v. by the end of the shows and teach but old e.u. countries have to agree before a law can be adopted and things don't look promising that's why it's really is putting pressure on brussels rome has said it will impose its own national digital tax if there's no e.u. consensus. and we asked our frankfurt correspondent conrad booze and white italy of all nations eager to move forward with a digital tax. you know italy desperately desperately needs money and it's popular to tax the large tech companies popular with voters that is many people in italy and not only in this country also here in germany are angry that the tech firms pay

so little tax on their income you know by seeking the most favorable legislation in terms of taxes and here in europe they find it for example in ireland or in luxembourg and that's why countries like italy have come up with the idea to tax the revenues the sales the turn over all corporations this of course might be against internationally agreed rules for trading for taxing. corporate incomes and that's why the european union wants a common approach in those contribution or frankfurt correspondent now police in bulgaria have raided a printing workshop that was making high quality counterfeit u.s. dollar notes officers said they seized fake one hundred dollar bills in various stages of completion with a face value of more than one point three million dollars the inks that were used imitate magnetic ink making the forged notes extremely difficult to recognize as

according to the interior ministry three suspects suspects were taken into custody there thought to be part of an organized crime ring just last month old carrying authorities dismantled another counterfeiting operation and seize fake euro and dollar banknotes worth more than fourteen million dollars it began with a return of the vinyl record followed by other products like filter coffee makers and polaroid cameras around the world items that were almost extinct are now in high demand consumers increasingly want lasting durable things in a world of fleeting digital impressions retro has become a mass phenomenon and that means it's very good business. one instant camera. mid century furniture. notebooks with threats to ching products from the past in demand today. this company is located near hamburg sales have grown by twenty five percent in the last five years. keep up can

digitize ation hasn't come to blows the known digital and on the contrary there's a strength and awareness of known digital behavior in the age of digitization side other than to tell you all month people write more consciously they sit down and write a letter consciously or notes in a notebook while he's in a teacher who was in the team's pool even large companies like b.m.w. have jumped on the vintage bandwagon with sixty's and seventy's style motorcycles every tenth b.m.w. motorcycle sold as a retro model. almost as expensive as the motorcycles and extremely in demand furniture made in the mid twentieth century this cycle cost ten thousand euros does in the us and that's because it's a young going on the senator from the sixty's and seventy's was built differently much better in quality and it was glued an assembled differently the furniture was built for eternity. it even. linda marshall likes to buy retro clothes

she loves fashion from the twenty's what fascinates her about an era she never experienced herself. i may have to scan sumitomo so to me this has a lot to do with enjoyment the enjoyment of design music dumps out of the for a from the time back from vomits despite their style preferences the retro fans still say they feel happy in the present. back to sumi now in europe and pressure on china that's right saving we've seen germany and france also pay us renewing calls for china to cause our detention camps that act of a fair holding some one million workers and other muslim minorities former detainees have described the camps as political indoctrination centers where muslims are forced to renounce their faith and swear loyalty to the communist party they beijing has rejected all accusations of mass and turn meant calling the

charges politically motivated. we're driving through categorical and ancient away society on the silk road we're looking for a reeducation camp something the chinese government says does not exist but we find one surveillance cameras a watch tower high walls and barbed wire we have to film undercover and constantly watch out for police a passer by tells us that people study here but reports say it's more like indoctrination satellite images show the site has an eight block complex of buildings and a sports field five thousand kilometers away near stuttgart germany added incense studies the system of oppression in china's shion jiang province he is familiar with a compound we saw in cash gar he says it is clearly every education center. what color ken is hundreds you can see that these are relatively normal looking grey buildings it's not a classic prison with buildings of different shapes in china these buildings often

have similar structures because they're pre-fabricated before thought he had wished . for his data sense analyzes government documents for these camps he says there are at least one thousand in term and camps in the province the advocacy group human rights watch and the u.n. estimate the number of prisoners at up to one million it's china's biggest indoctrination effort since the cultural revolution. and education in shin jiang is so massive. and based on what we've heard from various eyewitnesses it is going increasingly in the direction of cultural genocide or skin was but what's really going on we spoke to someone here in istanbul no one engine jang province was willing to talk to us out of fear. this is the flag of the wigger independence movement banned in china a man we'll call alan dar not his real name shows it to us he escaped from china

but his sister is at one of the camps he tells us about his visit there. on my left there were about six hundred to seven hundred people there were standing at attention and singing a chinese marching song there was a sign above which said education center of the party everyone wore blue uniforms and stood still. experts say that weaker is that the camps are being forced to learn chinese and attend lectures about the dangers of islam they say beijing is trying to wipe out their islamic identity back in cashcard at one of its main attractions eat cum mosque the chinese flag flies here a sign over the entrance reads love the communist party love the country we try to meet the but we can't it's not even clear if one can pray at this mosque security checks are everywhere but only weekers have to show their id han chinese can simply

pass through and what does the chinese government say to all of this it calls the camp's vocational education china's ministry of foreign affairs keeps giving the same response only a single engine jiang province society is currently stable the economy is developing all ethnic groups live in harmony. at the main square and cash car communist party propaganda state and party leader xi jinping poses with laughing weaker. but many weekers might say there's little to laugh about. ok we just have one sports item for you when football liverpool's hopes of reaching the knockout stages of the champions league have suffered a blow they slipped to a surprise to nil defeat at red star belgrade a striker milan pub called scored both goals for the hosts the defeat means liverpool now face a tough task getting out of a group that also features napoli and paris undermine. reminder now of our top

story that we're following for you here on d w u.s. voters are casting ballots in what many describe as the most pivotal midterm elections in decades the poll is being seen as a referendum on donald trump's presidency with a strong showing democrats could take back control of congress. you're watching that being nice you can always get the latest on our web site every dot com.

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the u.s. midterm elections a battle for control of the u.s. congress and a referendum on the trunk of the president's agenda. will a blue wave of democrats shift the balance of power and what's at stake for europe and the more. join me on election night for our special coverage of the u.s. midterm elections here on d.w. news. was a human made cataclysm. the first global disaster of the twentieth century. and one. of the marks the hundredth anniversary of its. what is humankind learned from the great

one. because it learned anything about. nineteen eighteen not forgotten the w.'s november focus. a referendum on donald trump's presidency a report card for the white house that's what these momentous midterm elections are being called well look at what's at stake for the u.s. and for the rest of the world i'm sumi so misconduct in berlin this is the day. that might know whether. or not anything happened that it imported.