from berlin. as germany celebrate three of the garrison day, angela merkel says there is still much to do. >> surveys show that 29 years since reification, the majority of people in eastern germany feel they are second-class citizens. brent: the chancellor is herself from east germany. it could she do more to bridge the divide? also coming up tonight, and

extra request from the u.s. president donald trump openly urges china to investigate joe biden. a similar request to ukraine's president triggered an impeachment inquiry against the president. today, u.s. lawmakers are hearing from their first witness in the investigation. it had a knife wielding police officer kills four staff members before being shot dead by another police officer. we will get a life update from the french capital. an icy reception for boris johnson's brexit plan as the british prime minister defense his latest deal in parliament. in the eu, the word is this plan doesn't look like a deal. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff.

to our viewers on pbs in the united states and around the world, welcome. germany is marking the university -- anniversary of the reification. east and west germany became one nation after decades of hostile division during the cold war. this year's official commemoration ceremonies took place. angela merkel said more must be done to bridge the divide is still exists between east and west. reporter: sand lines evoking germany's history as the company marked 29 years of unity. angela merkel highlighted the successes of reunification. she'd knowledged that there is still work to do. >> in the 29 years that have gone by since reification, an

incredible amount has been achieved. overall, and both western and eastern germany, people are more content with their lives than at any other time since reno vacation. we also know that this is not the whole truth. surveys show that 29 years since reification, the majority of people from eastern germany feel they are second-class citizens. reporter: drawing upon her own experience, she spoke of east germans as a country disappeared. >> speaking for myself and many others, the fall of the berlin wall in 1989 and german reification in a 1990 moments of happiness. of confidence and openenness. others were intntimidated by ths new openness. for them, the east german system was a form of support. reporter: chancellor merkel also used the occasion to pay tribute to the victims of the communist regime.

>> i also want to remember the victims of the dictatorship. those who lost their lives trying to flee. those who were persecuted in prison. they should not be forgotten. even on a day full of joy like today. reporter: the german chancellor acknowledged that a cap still remains that raising a border between -- erasing a border between two states wasn't enough. >> less than half of east germans are unhappy with -- happy with democracy here. all of us, politicians and society alike have to understand that and why german unity wasn't a positive experience for many east germans. reporter: a day of celebration for germany but also an occasion to look at how differences that still exist between east and west can be mended. brent: for a closer look at what

the chancellor said today, i am joined by my colleague. at what did you make the chancellor speech? reporter: i found it interesting that she drew on her personal experience having grown up in eastern germany. she made similar references to that saying that reification was to her and to many other eastern germans a shock. she says for herself it was a cultural shock. she also said that many eastern germans considered themselves, they thought of themselves as second-class citizens. it is quite interesting that she played the east german card because she didn't used to do that. as an east german, having grown up in east germany, she could have used that during her mandate to champion the eastern german state. brent: that's a criticism of her

today that she has been the leader of the country almost 15 years. someone would argue she could have used her status as the first east germaman chancellor o champion east germany. reporter: exactly and now when you look at those east german states, there is a steady economy growth in the east but you can still see those states lag behind compared to western states. if you look at the -- where you have the 30 big german companies, not one has its headquarters in the east. if you look at unemployment rates, it is higher in the east than in the west. when she says that reunification wasn't seen as positive for everyone, there is a -- brent: there has been de-urbanization in the east. the theme is courage connects. what was her message there?

>> there was a message of remembrance. she talked about the victims of the coming as to regime. she said they should not be forgotten even if it is a day of joy and also she called out for politicians to face the fact that they haven't always been aware that even if the border had been erased from the map, the border in people's minds wasn't necessarily erased as well so she called for politicians to make more to acknowledge the differences and mentalities between the east and west. brent: we hear that all the time that the wall in the mind is still there for many people. thank you. now to the united states. in washington, d.c. congressional investigators heard testimony today from their first witness in the impeachment inquiry against president trump. card for was questioned behind closed doors about --

he was donald trump's special envoy for ukraine. he resigned last week right after a whistleblower filed a complaint about the now famous phone call betweenit is said t's constitute an abuse of power. let's take the story to washington. my colleague is standing by. the first hearings include -- into what could be a long or short road. when will we know what cripple percent today? reporter: this is happening behind closed doors. we do know that volcker met the

former u.s. special envoy to ukraine. he was mentioned specifically in this whistleblower complaint and it is complained that one day after the phone call between president trump and the ukrainian president, card volcker alongside the u.s. ambassador to the eu met with resident zelensky in which it was believed that they gave him advice on how to navigate trump's request. what is interesting is that crippled were also handed over documents before his appearance and also looted in that art text messages that he had with rudy giuliani. giuliani is the president's private attorney. as i said, the testimony is taking place behind closed doors and while all this was taking place today, we had some rather extraordinary comments coming from president donald trump. brent: the scandal appears to be

multiplying. trump now says that both ukraine and china should investigate joe biden and his son. let's listen to what he said today. >> they should investigate the bidens because how does a company that is newly formed and all these companies by the way likewise china should start an investigation into the vikings. what happened in china is just about as bad as what happened with ukraine's. brent: he says what happened to china is as bad as what happened to ukraine. what's he talking about? >> china refers back to joe biden in 2013 when he took his son and daughter on a trip and his son met with a banker who would become his business associate. the republican senator chuck

grassley questioned hunter biden's actions in which he said that biden had a history of investing in and collaborating with chinese companies including at least one posing significant national security concerns. president trump has been mentioning this time and time again but of course, let's not forget that he has asked a foreign country, a country which the united states doesn't have an especially good relationship with and let's not forget that in just a few days time, there will be some pretty important trade negotiations take place between china and the u.s. and also once again, he reiterated this belief that ukraine should investigate joe biden and his son. it left a lot of people in the united states rather shocked and perplexed particularly many democrats. brent: where is all of this headed? reporter: it is a pretty

difficult thing to answer. at the moment, it is gathering a lot of pace. let's not forget we have the first witness mentioned earlier, card volcker in this impeachment inquiry speaking today. we're going to see more and more of that. until we gather more information, it is hard to tell it what direction this is going to go. it must be noted that there are some republicans who have been openly supporting president trump. a significant number have not said anything at all. that has many analysts questioning why exactly. perhaps they want to see how the inquiry pans out. it appears president trump has a lot of support from republicans. democrats more and more are saying this impeachment inquiry needs to continue. brent: it is time to read the republicans silence that's for sure.

thank you for joining us. now to iraq where the government is struggling to contain violent protests in several cities. over 30 people have been killed and hundreds more injured after demonstrations erupted on tuesday. authorities have imposed curfews. protesters are angry about unemployment, corruption, and a lack of a sick necessities. reporter: since protests started on tuesday and to spread across the scene of burning barricacad, dozens o of fatalitieses, and countltless wounded. the country is descending into chaos. police have been using tear gas, water cannon, and live ammunition in an attempt to suppress the demonstrations which is only ignited further anger protesters.

the government in baghdad appears unable to regain control. a curfew has had no effect. furious protesters are out in force everywhere from the capital to the cities. >> we are here despite the curfew. we are fighting for our rights. we want a different country. we are being treated worse than members of islamic state. what have we done? we are just standing up for our rights. it >> people feel like they have been route -- round. only protests, they shoot at us. many of the security forces are irani and you can get when they speak. >> the people are rising up and they will stop until the government steps down. we have been patient with the leadership of it has not come up with the goods. >> the protests are triggered by widespread frustration especially among the younger generation about corruption,

poor infrastructure, and high unemployment. many are concerned about what they see as shiite iran's growing influence. demonstrators want a new government and in restructuring of the state and a reduction in the mutual suspicion among shiites, sunnis and kurds. they say this is the only path to a brighter future in a rock. brent: this is morning its own. a member of the police force armed with a knife killed four of his colleagues. it happened at police headquarters in paris. three of the victims we understand our police officers. the other an administrative assistant. the assailant attacked an officer and continued his rampage in other parts of the building before being fatally shot by another police officer. emmanuel macron, the prime

minister and the interior minister visited the scene of the attack later in the day. let's go to paris. our correspondent is on the story. what more do we know about the suspect? do we know why he did this? reporter: there is still speculation about what could have motivated this horrible act of violence that took place here aroundnd lunchtime in the ililding. we don't know and there is some information about the man who did it. he was a 45-year-old employee, a model employee as the interior minister had said earlier. was unremarkable, who nobody gave any grounds for concern. there is speculation that it

could have been a problem with his superior or a problem among people at his workplace but also, the french press has the information that has not been officially confirmed that the man had gone over to islam. that he had changed his creed a year and a half ago. so there is some speculation that there might be a background that police have said so far that they couldn't find any ties to islamic terrorism. they have searched his apartment, his wife has been taken in for questioning but so far, we are in the dark. brent: maybe there is the possibility that radicalization played a role. how are authorities treating this attack? reporter: they are treating this as a criminal act so far.

this is a murder inquiry and the anti-terror investigators have not been called in. they are not on this case. the police is extremely careful to cut off any wild speculation that dark forces might be at work. of course, paris has form in that. people have been extremely alarmed here during this act at lunchtime. people were fleeing the scene is screaming and nobody understood what was happening. there is always the suspicion that something else could be behind it but so far, that has not been confirmed. the last attacks against policeman here took place in 2016 and 2017. brent: that's just around the corner from notre dame. paris having a tough year this year. thank you.

here are some e of the other stories that are making headlines around the world. rescue teams in the south korean port city are try to locate for people feared buried under a landslide after a a typhoon. at least six people are none to have died and others are missing after ththe storm hit southern parts of the country onn wewednesday night. the firsrst arab to visit the international space station has returned to earth after eight days in space. he landed in kazakhstan in a capsule. also on board were an american and a russian. they spent six months in the space station. there is just under one month to go until britain's scheduled parmar -- departure from the eu that boris johnson's latest exit plan is getting a reception from brussels. today, eu council donatist said

he is unconvinced by boris johnson's proposal. johnson has defended his proposal in front of a very skeptical british parliament today. >> this government objective has always been to leave with a deal. these constructive and reasonable puzzles show us -- show our seriousness of purpose. they wouldn't deliver everything we would have wished. they do revisit a compromise. to remain a prisoner of existing positions is to become a cause of deadlock rather than breakthrough. we make a genuine attempt to bridge the chasm, to reconcile the apparently irreconcilable and to go the extra mile as time runs short get a >> irreconcilable may be the operative word there. i am joined by my guest to talkk

ababout this. it is a never-ending story. we have the latest proposal from boris johnson and it appears that the eu is not goingg to tae the babait. whwhat happens t then? repoporter: i think the problbls this.. in ordrder to get his own partyn the side and the dememocraticc unionist party for northern ireland, h he has clearly move towa what t they want which is much more of a hard order or clososer to aa hard bororder ino northern ireland that is gngng awayay from what thehe eu wants. while he may be gainingng likelihood of getting majority in parliament, he is losising votes on the other side from the 27 eu member states. >> this is the opposite of what theresa may did area she got a

deal with the eu that she couldn''t sesell to her own paparliament.. reporterer: thahat's it and so e are locked between t these two extremes. they are notot that extreme. everybody seems to think that there should be a doable deal in the middle ground. ththe trouble is that i won and you have the conservative already profoundly s split and n the e other side the labor party is split. atat its heart is thisis. ththe entire b brexit process of britain leaving the eu is fundamentally not c compatible wiwith the irishsh peace procesd having no border in ireland. that is where it all seems to be breaking down. brent: do you feel the politicians in the u.k. and the eu, are they being honest about this? this may simply be an impossible

situation. reporter: i think it is. i think i it is far more complicateted than anyone e was prepared to admit on the brakes aside at the b beginning. i think that it is very difficult given the fractured natuture of f british politics o come up with a solution. i think there is dishonesty on both sides. what is happening is, boriris johnson is starting to try to play the blame game of saying it's all going to be e the fault of the eu and a useless british parliament but i haven't been able to deliver a deal you me now and we will crash out. brent: as always, we appreciate your insights. germany is celebrating reunification day today. the face of her lynn that has changed dramatically in the three decades since the wall fell. one institution has survived much unchanged.

it's dancing legs are still intact. reporter: couples have danced through berlin's history under this roof and sling night is just as popular now as it was a hundred years ago. >> berlin might have lost some of its charm but you can we discover it right here. >> glitter might be dripping off of walls that we have been coming here for 10 years now. it is a berlin tradition. >> we are one big family. over the years you get to know each other. everyone comes here and we love it. reporter: ziggy has been coming here regularly for 60 years. he lives in the west have of the city and the club is in the east. he continued coming despite border controls. it >> we had to cross the

border, you got a pass and you had to be back at midnight. rererter: today, the dance club also boasts a restaurant and is popular with locals and tourists alike. this author researched the history of it for years and interviewed many eyewitnesses who danced here when berlin was divided into east and west. >> today, you can't even imagine that they built a l lock for middle -- walter the middle of the city. this is a placed where east and west met up. dancing and alcohol brings people together. reporter: and her book, she tells the story. ♪ in 1913, the house was open. to entertain berliners from all

walks of life. it survived two world wars and the division of germany and hardly changed. the neighborhood surrounding the club has changed. it today, it is an expensive residential and shopping area. back then, ordinary people lived here. >> it used to be a normal street with small shops, houses built in different times. recently, thanks of changed a lot and quickly. now, a lot of the yuppies have moved here. there are a lot of art galleries. luckily, eight locations like this still fits in nicely. reporter: it never fell victim to trends. even after the wall fell in 1989, visitors from east and west continued to dance together. in january, things may change. a new owner plans to renovate. ziggy things will continue as

usual afterwards. >> we just want to stay here and keep dancing to swing music like we used to. like an grandma's time. reporter: it takes visitors back in time to a bygone berlin. the still unites people here as it always has area. ♪ brent: after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. what do ukraine and china suddenly have in common? you will have to ask the u.s. presidenent to find ouout.

rampant corruption. the test is a defining the curfew that. other arab states will need a citizens not to travel to back down for the time being by. rain even though it's citizens to get out now. thank you very much for being with us. france is tonight reeling from another deadly attack full people killed in the heart of the frenchch capital. a man said about his colleagues at the police headquarters he was shot dead by a police officer he was reported to have been a forty five year old who worked at the site near the famous notre dame cathedral. paris police spokesperson said the attackers motives still unclear please she member said interpersonal