this is news coming to you live from berlin dueling election rallies with the balance of power in washington at stake joe biden tells voters in the state of georgia they can chart the country's course for a generation by listening to democrats to the senate and repeating unfounded claims dole urges what he calls a republican victory so big the democrats can't steal it. also coming up germany ready to extend its coronavirus down as leaders seek a safer pass through the pen. following

terry martin good to have you with us u.s. president has repeated unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud on the eve of a senate runoff election taking place in the state of georgia trump made the claims at an election rally in support of 2 republican candidates trying to fend off a strong challenge by democratic rivals u.s. president elect joe biden also campaigned in georgia if the democrats win both seats there they will control both chambers of congress. a final pitch to voters that could reshape politics in georgia and the nation ahead of tuesday's vote democrats raphael warnock and john asaf were confident of victory. georges this is a bit told us to this is this is. just the title to the

what will the customer is coming to. both candidates also getting a late assist from the president elect joe biden's ability to implement his political agenda would be boosted by democratic victories here the power the power is learning in your hands unlike any time in my career one story one story can chart the course not just through the next 4 years for the next generation. democrats may also be hoping to capitalize on recent comments from donald trump on sunday audio emerged of the u.s. president pressuring the state's top election official to alter the state's presidential election results citing unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud. no not all i want to do is as i use one of the.

$11789.00 which is one more that we have. because we won the state. on the eve of the runoff georgia secretary of state dismissed trump's claims once again. it's just been a big canard it's been a red herring people trying to blame shifting find excuses why they didn't turn their people out to win as a republican i'm disappointed with those results are accurate. but trump isn't backing down the u.s. president flew to georgia to campaign for the state's republican senate candidates he once more refused to acknowledge his election defeat. i want to thank you very much georgia by the way there's no way we lost george this . was originally but his time in the white house may soon be ending but donald trump seems determined not to go quietly.

stacey bivens from our u.s. elections team is here with us good to see you stacey so this double header right off in georgia is happening under extraordinary circumstances not least because of donald trump's efforts to overturn the results of the presidential election what impact is trump having on these senate races in georgia well it's not just the senate race it's just overall we are watching an american president chip away at democracy by accepting experienced spirits he theories and misinformation and he's doing it to selfishly hung hold on to power and this phone call was amazing because we heard donald trump in his own words 1st try to control then bully then threaten the secretary of state into finding him 11000 votes it's really unbelievable and how has this played out though in the senate races in

georgia let's to really to tell because the election hasn't started just yet but it's. space is his base right so they're going to come out and vote for him no matter what there was early voting already the democrats have come out relatively strong $3000000.00 people have already voted there's 5 and a half 1000000 people that are registered in georgia so we'll have to see but his supporters say that they make excuses for why he's done with and said what he said and democrats say they're going to come out because. these senate races in georgia are hugely important everyone agrees on that cerberus what exactly is at stake in these elections george well the course of the united states it's not it's a set stake yes joe biden has won the election but he needs help from the senate so when you're looking at in order to further his agenda so when you're looking at health care handling kovac the economy the environment his nominations for his

cabinet those positions aren't set in stone yet he needs approval from senate from the senate to make it happen and then during his presidency there will be federal judges positions that might open up and who knows what will happen with the supreme court so for the democrats this is very important to stop the gridlock and for the republicans if they don't want the country to go as far left as they fear it will be they need these votes ok so the democrats are hoping to get a majority in the senate so they can help biden with his with his legislative agenda georgia is a traditional republican stronghold so why do democrats think they can flip these 2 senate seats well the ground game is a very strong number one they were able to flip the presidential race for joe biden and they've been on the ground for so long for over a decade they've been working really hard stacy abrams who lost her girl tauriel race and 2016. has been very effective in getting more black and brown

people to the polls so they feel like georgia is in play ok extension thank you so much for your insights. begins from our u.s. election. now of some of the other stories making news around the world today the head of the far right group known as the proud boys and rick a tare oh has been arrested in washington police say he was and involved in torching a black lives matter banner taken from a church during protests last month and he was also charged with possessing illegal high capacity firearm magazines. police say at least 4 people have been killed in flash floods that swept through the streets of the bolivian city of sucre after torrential rain and hail hit the city local media reported that the storm lasted only about 30 minutes. saudi arabia is opening its air sea and land borders with it's a 1st step toward ending a diplomatic crisis that has deeply divided u.s. allies in the region since 2017 the lifting of the embargo paves the way for

qatar's ruler to attend tuesday's summit of gulf leaders in saudi arabia. and the medical and germany's regional leaders are expected to extend germany's coronavirus lockdown as infections remain stubbornly high in the country schools are currently closed because of the restrictions which were originally due to expire next week now parents are bracing for yet more home based warning monday was meant to be the 1st day back at school after the christmas holidays but classrooms across germany remained empty most students saw their vacation time extended until january 10th well there is attended classes virtually calls are growing across the country 1st schools to stay closed even longer or to only open partially in berlin opinions on the matter very. thank you know that i have 2 children myself one in high school and one in elementary school i

think schools should remain closed a little longer even though it's difficult for us parents. perhaps we can find a good balance with some learning at home and others allowed to be in school. i think that as long as the lockdown stays in place and i expect it will be extended children should stay at home. hope for a return to normal lives with the vaccine germany has so far administered almost 266000 jobs but the government is coming under pressure it's vaccination program has been criticized for being slow and chaotic. but the man who coordinated the construction of berlin 6 vaccination centers says he would like to see more doses available. we clearly don't have an effect scenes for all vaccination centers to be operational my hope or my expectation is that we'll have a lot of vaccine doses soon on the one hand though it was also good to be able to

phase in the vaccination centers in phases one after the other but if you initial problems are to be expected new cases and deaths have remained high over the holiday period and the situation in germany is hospitals is very difficult all signs point to an extension of the current lockdown. spring in political correspondent julie delhi. gave us that story so julia are locked out of measures about to get even tougher in germany or will we just see an extension of what's already in place. there is certainly consensus for an extension at least till the end of january but we've seen today ahead of the meeting between chance of the american and the state leaders that the chancellor lee is apparently going to put forward a proposal to also limit how far from their homes people can go especially specifically in areas with the high incidence of 1000 cases this proposal comes after the

chancellery spoke with health experts here in germany and we expect some debate in the meeting between the state premiers on this topic another issue is schools the meeting is going to have to decide how to move forward with schools whether they will stay closed also after january 10th or whether they will partially go back into service. well infection rates there are still high and germany is it safe to say that the government's strategy so far in tackling the 2nd wave of the pandemic has failed well one criticism point of criticism against the government that we've heard in the last few weeks is that the current tough lockdown that came in place. came too late some members of the government especially chancer have pushed for harsher measures to come into place earlier regarding the current law the current lockdown it has been in place for 3 weeks and experts had warned

that we would continue to see high numbers also during the holiday period which has occurred with some fluctuations the reports today are of almost 12000 new cases and over 900 deaths so the next few weeks will be crucial to see whether the current measures are going to work also considering that people have gotten together over the christmas holiday to see what impact that will have on the numbers with these high infection numbers julia how serious is the situation in german hospitals at the moment. the situation has been defined as very difficult of the over 26000 intensive care beds in german hospitals only around 4000 remain free that still gives some leeway but doctors expect the numbers to in intensive care to remain high and another issue is the number of specialized medical staff especially nursing staff there was already a shortage of nursing staff before the pandemic and now with specialized nurses

getting sick the situation is becoming more problematic especially in certain areas of the country where hospitals are reaching capacity surely thank you very much that was due to political correspondent julia suddenly and was take a look at some other developments in the in developments in the coronavirus pandemic worldwide indonesia will begin a nationwide bax nation program on january 13th president shoko will be given the 1st shot of the vaccine made by a chinese firm. says israel has approved its back scene and has ordered millions of doses israel has already given shots to more than a 10th of its population but is facing a new outbreak brazil is reporting at least 2 cases of the new more contagious corona virus berry and one of them after contact with travelers from europe and mexico has granted approval to the us or seneca oxford vaccine that makes it the

2nd back seemed to get the go ahead there. japan's top ranking sumo wrestler haku hole has tested positive for corona virus just days before the start of the new year grand tournaments in tokyo on sunday it's not clear yet whether the 15 day event will be postponed mongolian born a coup ho who is the longest serving top ranked wrestler known as yokozuna was tested after losing his sense of smell earlier this year 28 year old sumo wrestler show bushy conscious dive after becoming infected with a. 12 women have joined the ranks of moscow metro drivers after russia lifted controversial legislation that banned women from certain jobs a stand simply because of health reasons women began working for the subway system on new year's day previously women were employed as drivers for decades until the metro stopped hiring them in the early 1980 s.

the profession was listed among jobs with harmful or dangerous conditions the recent legal challenge changes also allow women to work as long haul truckers tractor drivers and boat skippers. you're watching t.v. news i'm terry martin thanks for being with us. young moroccan immigrants. they know the police will stop the. thing that's the root is not the solution. they know their flights could be fatal. but going back not an option shattered dreams starts january 18th on t.w. .