from berlin. u.s. president donald trump pointing the finger at china for trying to meddle in u.s. elections. at the un security council, trump said beijing is interfering because it does not like his tough trade policies. china immediately rejected the claim. also coming up, a third woman is making new accusations of sexual abuse against u.s. . supreme cot nominee brett kavanaugh. a day before he faces a crucial

senate hearing. putting on a brave face, but is it the face of a lame-duck leader? the german chancellor, more and more voices saying this is the beginning of the end of the merkel era. it is good to have you with us. with six weeks to go before americans vote in crucial midterm elections, a new warning that a foreign power is trying to influence the results. u.s. president donald trump accusing china of interfering in america's upcoming midterm elections. trump made the charge while chairing a meeting of the un security council. he said beijing did not want him to win the election because of his tough line on trade and his tariffs on chinese exports.

china has denied the charge, saying we did not and will not interfere in any country's domestic affairs. let's take this to new york. our correspondent is on the scene. good evening to you. i want to start by the shocking claim that was made today by the u.s. president against china. take a listen. >> regrettably, we found that china has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election. coming up in november. against my administration. they do not want me or us to win because i am the first president ever to challenge china on trade. and we are winning on trade. we are winning at every level. we don't want them to meddle or

interfere in our upcoming election. brent: we saw the reaction there by the chihinese foreign minist, he basically shrugged his shoulders when he or the translation. this accusation came out of the blue.. has the bryn mawr reaction --- has there e been more reaction n new york? alexandra: yououre right, , it s a real bombshell. people at the security council meeting were looking at themselves, asking what it is all about. we have to say that president trump has talked about this topic before, saying that it was not only russia that meddled in the u.s. elections, but also other nations, such as china. but to make such accusations in such a high-profile setting in the security council meeting when the chinese foreign minister was sitting at the same

table is highly unusual. according to the u.s. national security advisers, it is russia that is continuing its efforts to interfere in u.s. elections. only months ago, they told us they did not have any evidence that china is trying to interfere. the president doubled down later on on twitter, saying china is placing its propaganda in u.s. regional newspapers that look like news reports, so i guess this was his way of trying to show some evidence for his claims. brent: it is amazing, the claim that was made, because if you look at the president at the security council, the two people sitting behind him, nikki haley and mr. pompeo, both of them have said publicly that russia

has tried to meddle. they have not t said anythining about china. today, we heard the president adding that china is guilty of intellectual property theft. he said trade turf disputetes sw that the -- trade tariff disputes show evidence of election meddldling. how badad our relioions between washington andnd beijing tonigh? alexandra: we have to say that the trade war betweween the u.s. and china is escalating very quickly and it is going to have consnsequences and talks so far dd not bringng us cler to o a solution.. we are h hearing from m beijingt the chinesee government thinks that the u.s. is trying to punish china for its ecoconomic growth. experts say that president trump

is trying to increase pressure to get china to makeke more concncessions, however we have o say thahat b because our economs are so connected today, in the long term, this dispute is going to hurt china and the united states. brent: our correspondent on the story tonight at the united nations in new york city. thank you. there are n new allegations tonight of sexual misisconduct against supreme court nominenee brett kavanaugh. a third accuser claims she witnessed sexually abusive behavior by kavanaugh directed at girls at high school parties in the early 1980's. the woman also said she was gang raped at one of these parties, although she did not accuse kavanaugh of taking part. this comes one day before a critical senate hearing at which

kavanaugh's initial accuser is expected to testify. he has denied the allegations, calling them ridiculous. president trump also moved swiftly to defend his nominee. the senate judiciary committee is reviewing these claims amid calls from senate democrats for kavanaugh to withdraw. >> i strongly believe judge kavanaugh should withdraw from consideration and the president should withdraw this nomination if kavanaugh won't do it voluntntarily. if he will not, at the very least, the hearing and vote should be postponed while the fbi investigates all of these very serious and very troubling allegations. brent: that was chuck schumer speaking there. that's go to washington. our correspondent is on the story for us. good evening. these allegations are coming in fast and furious. talk to me about the new claims.

what is this third accuser alleging? >> this is an accusation that was released today in what is called a sworn declaration, meaning it is an official document that could be submitted as evidence if there were a trial, which is not on the table right now. this woman, whose name is julie, is alleging that she was at several parties in the early 1980's, at which brett kavanaugh was also attending. she claims that there was behavior that would be considered sexual misconduct. she claims he was trying to get women drunk, there was use of drugs to any brave women and she makes allegations that she was gang raped by men at this party and kavanaugh was there.

this is something heavy, adding to the weight on judge kavanaugh's nomination. like you said, just one day before there is supposed to be this testimony that may or matt decide whether this nomination goes forward. brent: mr. kavanaugh has released a statement in response to these accusations. maya: he has been very adamant from the b beginning that none f these accusations coming from any of these women are true. he specifically had some strong words saying h he does not know who this woman is and that these accusations are coming out of "the twilight zone." he has been on an unusual pr campaign, giving interviews to cable news in the u.s. and trying to play up this image of himself as a very serious student, a serious athlete who was concentrated on doing well in school, although he has

walked setback today, saying, i did some things and high school that i am embarrassed about, but none of this is true. brent: president donald trump weighed in today, he was a vehement in his defense of mr. kavanaugh. maya: absolutely. it has been intnteresting that e has not gone after the women making the accusatations, althoh there have been some tweets in that direction, but he is sticking by his n nominee. this is a big deal for ththe republicans. they want this win before the midterm elections happen in november. we should note that trump was particularly vehement in attacking the lawyer who put o t julie swetnick's statement today. brent: we are looking at the tweet that came from trump today. do you see that? maya: i can read for anyone who

can't see. it is attacking the lawyer who also represents stormy daniels, the poor and star who is suing trump. obviously, president trump not a fan of him. brent: you can say that again. thank you. here are some of the other stories making headlines around the world. thousands of palestinians have rallied around the border between israel and the gaza strip. some hurled rocks at israeli forces. they responded with tear gas. the gazans have staged protests since march, calling for an end to the conflict.

a man was found guilty of murdering a swedish journalist aboard his homemade submarine last year. he had appealed to the court for a time-limited sentence. a russian member of the anti-putin activist group has been released from the hospital. he believes that he was poisoned by russia's secret service for investigating the deaths arrested journalist -- the deaths of russian journalists. doctors say it was possible he was poisoned but they can't say how it happened. here in germany, the chancellor suffered a serious blow when members of her conservative block rejected her personal choice and close ally as their leader in parliament. it came as a surprise to the chancellor and the political establishment. merkel's opponents believe it could be the beginning of the end for her 13 year long

chancellorship. >> as if nothing had happened, angela merkel and her weekly cabinet meeting, not a word about yesterday's extraordinary defeat. her parliamentary bloc ousted, its long-term leader and one of merkel's closest confidence. -- closest confidants. he is expected to bolster the conservative parliamentary groups self-confidence but it will play chancellor merkel in a more difficult position, according to one conservative mp. >> i think she has to come with a group that is more self-confident and we have gained back a little more independence. that is slightly challenging, because the chancellor will need to fight. >> the new group leader promised

to listen closely to the mps and try to downplay this thickens of the vote. >> it was a routine meeting. i have been in contact with the chancellor and we will work together with total trust. >> the opposition parties are not convinced. they say the conservatives' change of leadership signals a government that is not fit for duty. >> we are experiencing a split conservative union. weak social democrats and eight coalition government -- a coalition government that is only suited to fixing the problems it caused itself. >> iron ridge seriousness in politics. have a global political situation that is chaotic and germany cannot afford to gamble. we are an anchor of stability for europe and i expect seriousness from the social

democratic and conservative elementary groups. >> the chancellor said her coalition is getting back to work, lately crisis mode has become business as usual. brent: let's bring in our political correspondent on the story. good evening. the conservatives are doing their best to downplay the negative impact of what happened this week. what are they so afraid of? rupert: the main message was the surprise new leader of the conservative parliament. the main message he tried to bring his there is no problem between me and angela merkel. that is not really the point. obviously, most of the conservative mps seem to have a major problem with angela merkel and the way she fulfills her duty as german chancellor. this was pointed out yesterday by the surprise but and -- the surprise vote and it is the

second time in two weeks that she do not see it coming. she did not see the problems that were within her conservative mps and she was struck hard and by surprise and that is one of the things that her critics see as a weakness they will try to t take advantae of. brent: it seems that the political establishment is waiting for the next crisis. how can anyone govern in this environment? rupert: the main problem is that this coalition in the past was a coalition of three parties which stood for the big majority in this country. they symbolized stability, and that was the main thing people voted for angela merkel four. what we see now is a party which is losing confidence in its leader and a party which doesn't know if it is going to win the

next election in its own state and a party which is losing massivive support over the last0 years. they have been losing 10 million votes for the last 20 years. for the conservative bloc of angela merkel, they are seeing the same thing happen to them. all three parties in the end wrecked in the same way. they are panicking and panic is not good footing to build a stable government. brent: there's a crucial regional election in bavaria. if the conservatives do poorly, will angela merkel survive? rupert: to lose an election is never helpful for a politician in crisis mode. especially as angela merkel is up for reelection as party leader just before christmas.

they're already rumors in berlin that angela merkel could, if the election in bavaria has a turnout as bad as predicted, she could resign from her post as party leader to focus on her post as german chancellor. this would be seen as a sign of the deteriorating power of the most powerful woman in the world. brent: rupert, thank you. we saw it coming, the era of cheap money is coming to an end. >> slowly but surely. the federal reserve has announced it will raise interest rates between 2.0% and 2.25%. this is the third raise this year, spurred on by stronger gdp growth, which hit 4.2% last quarter. the fed has been slowly tightening its monetary policy over the last several years,

marking an end to its effort to support the u.s. economy after the financial crisis. the hike is a vote of confidence in the economy, despite uncertainty on world gets in the trade e conflict with china. the fed also signaled there might be another rise coming this year and up to three next year. how did markets like that fresh interest rate hike today? >> the move was widely expected and initially there was a slight uptick on wall street, but shortly before the closing bell, we did see pressure piling up, especially, the federal reserve talking about three potential rate hikes in 2019, that sounded more aggressive than market participants had expected and hoped for. certainly, we have to wait and

see. those hikes are not set in stone, but the fed seems to be more aggressive. we saw more of a selloff here. gerhard: this is a peculiar phenomenon. since the fed started raising interest rates slowly three years ago, the euro has been gaining ground against the dollar, as much as 8%. that goes against economic theory. the dollar should be gaining. why isn't it? jens: that is the big question everybody is asking, because interest rates between the eurozone and the u.s. -- gaps between interest rates between the eurozone and u.s. are whitening and that should cause the euro to drop and the dollar to rise. one potential explanation is that all over the globe, we see

a bigger appetite for risk and that means investors are not necessarily being the safe harbor of the u.s. dollar, but they keep investing and putting money in weaker areas in the global -- at least for emerging markets for now. that is probably one explanation. the higher risk could be white advertisers -- why investors are not fleeing for the dollar. gerhard: thank you very much. coming back to germany, where daimler ceo is leaving his post. he will go on to lead up the company's supervisory board. this comes at a time of terminal -- a time of turmoil in the german car industry with the threat of diesel bands and the threat of tariffs from the united states.

he will be replaced by the first non-german to ever be in charge of the maker of the famous mercedes-benz cars. >> daimler's current ceo stands shoulder to shoulder with his soon-to-be successor. he will be leading the way to the company's future with an electric suv. despite good sales, not all has been well. in the wake of the diesel emissions scandal, german authorities forced the carmaker to recall 700,000 vehicles across europe. the ceo was strictly summoned to berlin over issues related to diesel. for years, he was a model figure among the chief executives of big german countries, afafter he jettisoned the country's u.s. partner chrysler. now he's expected to make way for his r&d chief.

the 49-year-old swede represents a new direction for daimler but the former ceo may keep a hand on the wheel. he hopes to have the supervisory board after a two-year waiting. . gerhard: we spoke to a professor for the strategic management at the warwick business school and asked him why a change was necessary. >> i think daimlerer, and thahat holds for other car companies, a little ls s worried ababout the compmpetition. in othther words, the other car companies. they are worried about some companieies that p provide softe solutionons and mappingg servics that power a l lot of thisis momobility.. they don't want to find themselves in a situatition like compmputer manufacturers in the 1990''s were suddenlnly microsot was eatingng their lunch. there is a a p partnership b ben bmw, a audi and daimler, wherere

they acquired a mapping surface -- mapping service that seems to work well. gerhard: that is it from the business team. brent: thank you very much. climate change and melting sea ice are creating new routes from europe to asia through the arctic ocean. currently, most ships travel along the southern route the of the suez canal to shanghai. that is twitter thousand kilometers. melting ice could cut the trip in half. the northern route, which looks longer on the map and it is in reality, passes by iceland. now, the island nation is planning to build a massive port on its south coast, hoping they will become the next transoceanic shipping hub. others are worried about the

impact could have on the environment. -- the impact it could have on the environment. >> tourism has not reached iceland's remote northeastern corner yet. this area earns all of its money from fishing, but iceland's watchers are warming up and that is pushing fish further north. local politician -- a local politician is on his way to the nearby fjord. he supports the construction of a deep-sea port. >> you have e ry good laland to builild on. >> project blueprints shshow the land c could support c containes anand an iustry aroround procesessing andnd shippining nl resources from the arctic. climate change is s king this sa possibility. melting sea ice could make iceland a hub for international shipping routes.

but what to locals think about the idea of a port in their backyard? >> i am worried about the nature of it. this area needs something, of course, but i don't know if it is that actually or something else. >> many people are worried about how diminishing fish stocks will affect the area, including workers at the local fish processing plant, a major employer in the region. while many are concerned about the environmental impact of the port, they say would create much-needed opportunities. -- they say it would create much-needed opportunities. >> young people are john to reykjavik and -- drawn to reykjavik and urban life, so they are moving away from rural towns, which are struggling to

survive. >> iceland is already frequented by large ships and environmentalists fear the consequences of more ships passing through. >> it could speed up global warming, because witithout the icice, there is less refeflectif sunlightht. the ice e melts faster.. > m many conveversation -- my conservationists share this unease. developers are moving ahead with the port project and investors are lining up to jump on board. brent: the date is next. -- the day is next.

[captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] le]

right. this may i am [inaudible] and there there's his made way way. we still don't date date with you and you and general assembly in a new york. u. s. it has it all from trust because she council on its in which in which case you china so he can. coming coming at me and said that lessons from trust has. there was a west. point in recent weeks motives he would have because i say