this is d.w. news live from berlin tonight taking the case for impeachment to the people who will come to order. the morning everyone the u.s. house of representatives opens historic public impeachment hearings against president. in the biggest challenge yet to his presidency democrats want to prove he have views his office also coming up palestinian militants maintain their rocket

barrage on israel after the killing of one of their leaders in gaza israeli retaliation has now killed 23 palestinians in the territory plus a state of emergency venice and suffers its worst floods in half a century the 2nd highest ever recorded and the mayor is blaming climate change. and made in germany electric car maker tesla will build its new european gigafactory near berlin c.e.o. you long musk says he's plugging into germany's reputation for excellence in engineering. i bring golf it's good to have you with us we begin in the united states with high drama and history being made on. apple hill lawmakers have begun the 1st public

hearings in the impeachment inquiry against president donald trump democrats are trying to prove that trump abused his office by threatening to withhold millions of dollars in aid to ukraine unless that government investigated the family of his leading political rival joe biden today lawmakers are hearing testimony from 2 top diplomats trump has called the process in use won't a witch hunt here's a democratic house intelligence committee chairman adam schiff highlighted what is at stake when he opened today's impeachment hearing if we find at the present united states abuses power and invited foreign interference in our elections or if he sought to condition coerce extort or bribe an ally into conducting investigations to aid israel lection campaign and did so by withholding official acts a white house meeting or hundreds of millions of dollars of needed military aid must we simply get over it is this what americans should now expect from their president

if this is not impeachable conduct what is what we've got complete coverage of today's impeachment hearings w.'s oliver salad he's on the story for us tonight in washington and here in the studio i'm joined by boris foreman he is a political scientist a us politics analyst from bard college here in berlin gentleman welcome let me start with you oliver what new information has come out of today's hearing. well brant the hearing today is not so much about new information because both of the diplomats that have testified here on capitol hill did do so before behind closed doors but what's different obviously now is that from today on all the hearings will be broadcast live on t.v. and made public so it's all about what can be brought out to the american voters

obviously the democrats are trying to capitalize on that they need to get their message out that president trumps phone call with the ukrainian president volodymyr zelinsky was impeachable that he essentially pressured zelinsky to investigate joe biden his most likely political rival in the elections of 202020 coming up now and bill taylor today confirmed 3 that me and meeting a potential meeting between trump and alinsky as well as military aides hundreds of millions of dollars were in fact conditioned to such investigations that would be a quid pro quo and that in fact would be a betrayal of president obama's oath of office that's at least the line here that the democrats and chairman adam schiff are following here the big question of course will be do the voters see that as well the voters in the entire world watching these hearings which began today and people were expecting to see somewhat

of a partisan fight if you will going on you were inside the chamber there where the hearing was taking place i mean what was the atmosphere like today. well the atmosphere was quite a sober one but of course the republicans are under enormous pressure and you could feel that here today in the hearings and the run up there was a memo circulated addressed to republican house members where they lined out the strategy of their defense and that was basically to say that the president did do nothing wrong and then to fight back and you could really tell that today in this hearing the republicans also were talking about an attempted coup such as the same wording that the president is using to defend himself at the same time i have to stress that there were 2 diplomats here testifying that they were chosen by president truong that they were working for the u.s. government and they certainly have a high level of credibility and that is exactly what the democrats are trying to

capitalize on today here on capitol hill words you know i said at the beginning of the program that history is being made today and this is the 3rd time that we've had impeachment hearings public hearings that they've been televised it's the 1st time that witnesses have been shown publicly to basically to tell the story of alleged abuse of power are we looking at a tipping point right now in the trump presidency well i think maybe one thing we should also emphasize is that yes we have seen impeachment hearings before. and yes they were aired on television but television meant a very different thing at the time and now we have social media we have all forms of media forms of mitchell when nixon was going to be impeached or when the beach maturing started there was one public sphere there was 3 t.v. church there were 3 channels of the time so there was at least a consensus on what truth is and this seems to be different this time around the public sphere splintered we have

a deeply polarized vision of the political system and even though this is being shown on television the interpretations will differ vastly if you ask a republican or democrat. and we also have a u.s. president who was using social media to let the public know what he's thinking you know several times a day we never had that richard nixon bill clinton did not have that luxury did they it's a technology that's let let let's him short circuit certain mechanisms of democracy and you might say well this is perhaps more democratic because he can speak directly to the people but he also doesn't when it comes to democratic institutions checks and balances the independence of the judiciary so there's a there's a short circuiting of all sorts of different types of institutions that are meant to check power and i think this is what the democrats have seen as a major threat and this is the reason why they launched the impeachment. well hearings and one reason also why everything is supposed to be public from here on al it's how are you expecting the republicans to defend the president moving

forward is it going to be an attack on the process or an attack on the allegations i think both i think all over also give us a couple of clues already the process itself is being criticized there's i think a strong argument that republicans or the republicans believe to be strong that he did nothing wrong that this is just normal real politic and this is how politics are being made it's ugly but this is the way that they say some are saying it would have been inappropriate what he did but it's not impeachable right this is so this is the line of defense plus there's another aspect which is to say the democrats are paradoxically undermining democracy because they want to undo the election of 2016 which is also a bit of a strange argument given that trump is already in office or has been in office for 3 years but the similar argument is being made about 2020 that democrats want to circumvent an election that's

a drop of are moving forward bring us up to speed on what else we can expect this week. well the impeachment hearings are going to continue on friday brant and then we're going to hear my real you'll vanya a witch and she was the former ambassador to the ukraine so the predecessor of bill taylor who was testifying today she was removed in spring and she's essentially saying that rudy giuliani president trump's private lawyer campaigned against her that he wanted to get rid of her because he believed that she would stand in the way of potential investigations against president trump's political rival and bill taylor today also spoke about the role she had in there talking about highly irregular channel of policy making on the ukraine so he also had a very critical take on the role of judy rudy giuliani president trump's private lawyer here w.'s correspondence oversoul in washington boars formant political

scientist the college she had the studio with the gentlemen to you both thank you. ards tonight's other big story 23 palestinians have been killed after 2 days of israeli airstrikes on the gaza strip israel has been targeting militants in the palestinian territory in response to dozens of rockets being fired into israel the latest flare up in violence between the 2 sides comes after the is really killing of a senior member of the palestinian militant group islamic jihad on tuesday a report begins in israel. was. sent to silence. and then. this is a current operating procedure at the by sea knight hospital located several kilometers from gaza. but not even an iowan dome defense system can ease anatoly is fia's his newborn is somewhere in the hospital. 2 days ago

i became a fossil but now the rockets called me in the hospital we don't get used to this and it's. the rockets have been relentless gaza militants have been firing them into israel since tuesday when behind and up to a senior commander from the palestinian militant group islamic jihad was killed by israeli forces israeli warplanes have responded with a series of strikes. and with no way to run for cover gaza residents and lashing out but. the jews are lying this is my home it had 3 floors in it was destroyed during the night it's not a military site it's the home of 8 people. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has want further escalation if strikes from gaza continue egypt is reportedly working as a mediator to deescalate tensions between the 2 sides in the meantime basil i hospital is continuing its operations underground for people here this is an all

too familiar scenario sirens heraldic an attack then you have only about 30 seconds to find shelter and even if a cease fire stops the rockets many people here feel that this is only temporary that without a political solution another escalation is just a matter of time found ukraine with their reporting from israel where some of the other stories now that are making headlines around the world to students from mainland china are leaving hong kong saying they're being targeted in escalating protest against beijing's influence over the territory it comes as intense clashes continue to rage on university campuses between protesters and security forces police have warned that the violence has reached dangerous and deadly levels paris is marking the 4th anniversary of the islamic state terror attacks that killed more than 100 people ministers and the city's mayor laid wreaths in remembrance of the victims jihad is targeted the concert hall as well as bars and restaurants near the

national stadium. at least 7 people have been killed in a car bomb explosion near the interior ministry in the afghan capital kabul the group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast comes a day after a prisoner exchange between the government entirely by insurgents which was aimed at diffusing violence in afghanistan. chilean authorities say hundreds of people have been injured and over a 1000 arrested in nationwide riots fresh protests erupted on tuesday after the country's currency fell to an historic low demonstrators are demanding wide ranging social reforms and they want press president sebastian pinera to step down. for staying in south america bolivia's interim president is promising to hold elections as soon as possible conservative jeanine on yes assume the role of president on tuesday following sunday's resignation of former leader abel morales

the left as president fled to mexico and he has denounced his elsley as a coup. there fighting for their president demonstrators in the city of an alto don't want to simply accept the change of olivia's leadership they want they will not only is back. they shout step down damn it and they mean her janine and he is previously the senate finance president on tuesday evening she declared herself interim president of bolivia and the parliament in my ha's but how she assumed the senior office remains controversial. during the senate session the seats of former president ever more alice's party colleagues were empty the result no competent majority that could decide the appointment of an interim government that level with but that didn't stop on the as. he then said it as president of the chamber of sen i immediately

assumed the presidency of the state as forseen and the constitutional order before i commit myself to exact responsibility for all necessary measures to pacify the country. by. the opposition is rejoicing they have no doubts about the legitimacy of the new president they have now taken power for the 1st time in 14 years. the question was that this is a further step towards a constitutional successor hopefully democracy will recover in the months ahead so that in the crisis. the tensions are not easing in the eyes of murali supporters what's happening in la paz is a coup. that's also morality his message from his exile in mexico on twitter he speaks of the most scheming and sinister coup in history believe me a is divided the majority is simply hoping for an end to the weeks of unrest that

have recently intensified. the new self-proclaimed government has a clear expiration date the constitution requires new elections to be held within 90 days. one of europe's most important cultural landmarks and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world is now dealing with a catastrophe venice is small suffering from the highest tide in more than half a century the tide level peaked at just under 2 meters leaving homes inundated boats stranded and tourists wading through historic st mark's square the mayor is urging italy's government to help and says that the cleanup and rebuilding will cost hundreds of millions of your. alarm sounds throughout venice's historic center warning people to find higher ground to escape one of the worst floods in decades high winds and rain caused the

water level to surge to almost $0.19 a meters with waves crashing into buildings. mayor luigi broken out of a film can sell for the famous scent marks square and blamed climate change for the extreme weather. some applies to all but after thousands of political divorces we just can't wait unfortunately. we have reached a new negative record join a few we have to stand together against the effects of climate change and to reform tide accusing us in a little bit in your face to the community. now it's all hands on deck to push stranded boats back into the water. larger vessels require more than manpower. tourists are taking raised walkways to reach the city's famous sites including st mark's basilica.

the basilica itself was flooded for only the 6th time and its 1200 year old history . workers are assessing the damage. there is plenty of anger here the more a system designed to protect vendors from high water has faced constant delays on this sort of did she added for the movie been on it for 10 years but they've done nothing it's in total neglect it doesn't work and it's only $6000000.00 euros in italy unfortunately that's the way it is our politicians are all thieves we should all be in jail and it will be in a t.v. if god gerri. as locals taking the aftermath city officials say the damage totals hundreds of millions of euros face as people prepare for yet more days of flooding . where you're watching news live from berlin still to come climate change activist gratitude there was he's looking for a boat to take her back to europe for the next big climate change conference in madrid it looks like she's found one but it's going to be

a race against time with no carbon footprint. tesla is set to build its 1st european factory on the outskirts of berlin c.e.o. must announce the planet an award ceremony in the german capital the new gigafactory will produce vehicles power trains and batteries musk says it has chose germany because of the country's reputation for engineering prowess the new plan is expected to create around $10000.00 new jobs and will be based near berlin's new yet to be opened long delayed airports. are for more on this now i'm joined by our very own anthony howards good to see anthony well well well mr musk has come to berlin i mean his company is not just any company. why did he decide to build a factory in germany they closing their production loop they started in fremont california in production hell as you might remember that moved to nevada to build

their fisc a factory that adds 500000 cars to the so the annual output that factories not yet built by the way to china puts another $500000.00 that factory comes on board next year it was built in one year so it's about they learning i spoke a lot in the early days about learning to build a machine that makes the machine he's come to germany in the middle of red bull hicks technology and expertise and fabrication he's come to the right place to expand on that to sort of got the motts they've been making cars for electric cars for a lot longer than anyone else they want to keep that lead that they need to get bigger gigafactory is make them bigger faster or not. well yeah i mean i wonder though if he's coming here if that's going to lead to this new airport being opened at some point in the future we're still waiting for that what about production starting i mean it will be billed as quickly as it was in china i have published a promise he this is not my punch line it's the lungs he says 2021. it's fast that's very very fast anyone who lives in berlin wants to lock because of the

airport the one that they haven't built in a live in the. u.k. so he's trying to build a factory that makes $500000.00 cars a year that is $120.00 football fields in footprint right and he's going to do that by the end of 2021 but it's an insight into the man isn't really he pushes into a breaking point on people on norms and all structures he can see i mean this is definitely an alpha move is it going to give the likes of votes wagon a dime a run for their money it will literally and figuratively i think it will give them a run for their money in terms of investment from the german government site but it's also about their product if you asked a year ago will it give these giants of the industry of run for their money i'd say no and you probably associate musk with the guy who's smoking marijuana on a podcast or building flame throwers or insulting kind of rescue dogs as there was a year ago and then last month they announced that in one quarter in california

they had built 97000 cars in your home with all that sounds like these companies growing up the men might not have grown up but they've got the production expertise and suddenly people are tight paying attention he's also attend up here a week after angela merkel says that she's got a trillion dollars to invest in in electric cars and just as audi in force rubbing their hands together he comes through the door and says well but i believe i mean he definitely has the mind is touch but we wonder has he talked with the trade unions about labor costs and how is his mentality going to go down it's going to fit in here like a lead balloon on the floor you know down that's what's going to be so interesting that it's not going to work it's going to be a spectacular failure in many ways i'm not sure whether it's going to work or whether he's going to make money but the lithium clad guarantee here is that it's not going to be boring ok the prediction from anthony howard anthony is always thank you thank you. well the climate change activists gridded to silver cross the

atlantic to new york as part of her campaign to get world leaders to act on climate change she was supposed to continue on to the c o p 25 climate conference in chile next month but that has been moved to madrid leaving to guess what on the wrong side of a large ocean and unwilling to fly. she's found the right. back wants to go back to europe but won't take a plane so she asked if anyone was sailing her way and gotten off. fittingly for a campaign whose message spread around the world via social media she's traveling with a family that found fame and income for a instagram. many say the teenager has been pivotal in raising awareness and pushing for action on climate change she also credits u.s. president trump he's so extreme and he says so extreme things.

so i think people wakes. people wake up by that in a way so i think if he this interation would of course have been different if he was not the president. that i thought when he got elected that's now people will finally now people must find a way out. she's done her best to leave a smaller carbon footprint as possible but she's left a mark on the united states as a question to him but prepares to leave america artists unveiled in san francisco how next focus 1st the climate conference if i get to the cup 25 in time then i will participate in that because i received an invitation to do so and then i'll go home i think to go with a shy smile and a fierce message is on her way. arjun is now on the dollar has produced an

incredible comeback to be russian daniel medvedev and keep his a.t.p. finals hopes alive the 33 year old waltz the 1st set on a tie break and was almost overwhelmed in the 2nd but after saving a max point he came back to take it to this song to the final set tie break was settled by hawkeye technology after a smart challenge from the dall to deny medvedev his 1st ever career victory over the space. for a bird's argentinian captain david abraham has been banned for the the club's next 6 bundesliga games after knocking over an opposition coach last weekend that's right the defender play down freiburg coach christian sterilised during sunday's game you see it right there the resulting in a mass ball the german f.a. also find abraham 25000 euros he will however be allowed to play in frame for its 2 remaining you will probably group. this is d

w news and these are our top stories the u.s. house of representatives has begun public hearings in the impeachment inquiry against president donald trump lawmakers are considering whether trump abused his office by pressuring ukraine to investigate the family of his political rival joe by. the mayor of venice says the city is on its knees after the highest tide in more than 50 years flooded much of the city city landmarks including st marks basilica have suffered major damage. in bolivia supporters of ousted president if a morale is have staged protests in the capital of pas they are demanding that interim president jeanine onions step down and that morales be reinstated and has declared herself president on tuesday after morality went into exile in mexico. electric car maker tesla plans to build its 1st european factory outside the german

capital berlin the so-called the gigafactory will produce both vehicles and batteries c.e.o. elon musk says tesla chose germany because of its engineering expertise. this is e w news from berlin for more you can follow us on twitter at g.w. news visit our web site at d w dot com. coming up next conflict zone with tim sebastian i'll be back at the top of the hour with more world news followed by the day i hope to see you this.

end to the conflict zone subject with time running out call for us on some of them to get a fresh feel. climbing to keep the flame on the britain's fiscal negotiations fail

my guess this week here in prague is the check for melissa thomas had to check the house surprisingly clear differences with the government who saw so why doesn't he resign so far mitt. or. can. discover your concept discover with. school let it come to 100 years the ideals of the fine towns on the more relevant today than they were a. 100 years ago visionaries reshaped things to solve problems people understood design as a way of shaping society. the powerhouse of man has cost so

far. with ideas of our future. what makes the. spirit of sound how hard to. play. this world part documentary starts november 14th w. . in. little thing the. french will focus on the central europe you've seen massive demonstrations protests demonstrations up to the prime minister to decide a lot of you won't focus that besides i'm a belief in the independence so far i'll do the fury with time running out for brussels in london to get a breath to deal with climbing people all the blame on britain if the negotiations fail my guest this week here in prague is the czech foreign minister promised that

1st step he has surprisingly clear differences with the government he so of why doesn't he resign.