mark: welcome to "live from paris," world news analysis from france 24. a new project is launched to reconstruc ukraine after the war. meanwhile, on the ground, ukraine's forces progressing on two fronts. u.k. has a third prime minister in the last year. he leans on his political friends.

pennsylvania could prove influential on abortion rights, guns, the economy, all analyzed here "live from paris or come -- from paris." ukraine's troops continue to push back against russian invasion forces on two runs. ukraine is taking back more ground from russians in the south. this is occupied by russian forces who have begun transporting civilians out of the city. ukraine says ukrainian people are being asked out to be used

by russians as a human shield. ukraine has a policy of not firing on its own cities. kyiv and the united nations do not recognize pressure's annexation of -- russia's annexation of four regions of the country. >> pressure's accusation that ukraine was preparing a dirty bomb against its own civilians to blame moscow has already been dismissed as all spy western -- as false by western countries. >> the latest disinformation campaign. i will say it again -- this is a lie. ukraine is a dedicated and responsible member of a treaty on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons. we gave up nuclear weapons in 1994 and do not plan to acquire any. >> in recent weeks, ukrainian

forces have gained the upper hand, winning back large areas of russia's occupation, but much of the country remains at least partly under russian control. on tuesday, five people were injured in the city when a car bomb exploded. there has been no confirmation from ukrainian authorities that it's forces were responsible. ukrainian troops are expected to launch a counteroffensive to retake kherson, a southern city that has been under russian control since the start of the invasion -- russia has begun to evacuate citizens. those moving south to crimea told of constant showing in crimea -- constant shelling. >> we sleep only two hours a night.

>> it is all good. >> russia says it plans to evacuate a few thousand to 60,000 civilians -- evacuate 50,000 to 60,000 civilians over the coming week. mark: especial summit in berlin is pledging up to $500 billion to rebuild ukraine after the war which began when russia invaded on february 24. chancellor olaf scholz -- german chancellor olaf scholz called it a generational challenge that must begin now. the world bank estimates the reconstruction of ukraine at present will cost $350 billion, rising to something like $500

billion depending on russia's next moves and how destructive it turns out to be. olaf scholz said ukraine could count on the support of the international community for decades to come. >> the german president taking cover in an air raid shelter northwest of kyiv. a real insight he said is the conditions ukrainian people are living under every day. in berlin, the german chancellor underline the immense building process that lies ahead. >> the recovery and reconstruction will indeed be a challenge for generations, one that will work fire the combined strength of the entire international community -- require the combined strength of the entire international community. >> the recovery has been likened to the marshall plan with -- and

america-let initiative to reconstruct europe after world war ii. attending the conference virtually, the ukrainian president urged local leaders to cover the country's $38 billion pocket hole. >> a scale of destruction is staggering. the world bank puts the cost of the damage at 350 billion euros. this is for sure more than one country or one union can provide alone. we need all hands on deck. announced last week the eu plans to contribute to ukraine. they have the international community will vouch for the rest. the international monetary and -- fund will need around $3 million a month next year to

cover construction costs, which could rise if russian attacks intensify. mark: what is your reaction to this call for cash to rebuild ukraine? >> i'm now sitting in my home with no electricity because the power is off in my building, and that became a regular event because of the damage to the energy structure. you have to be aware to what extent this will impact all of us right now. reconstruction and recovery is needed, and it is needed right now, not after peace is restored. when winter comes, if we do not

have heat in our home, we are in trouble. mark: what is happening his energy is being weaponized, something russia has been doing for weeks. >> indeed. they have been doing that. they have damaged up to 40% of energy infrastructure in ukraine. what it led to is those power shortages. we do have temporary blackouts where interventional -- individual residential buildings have been switched off to do repairs. that became a regular thing for all of us. they do it with the goal to scare us into negotiations, but their actions are very opposite. mark: you mentioned the attempt

to scare people, to terrorize people. moscow has used the word dirty bomb, it's accusation that ukraine was developing a dirty bomb, which nato completely swept aside as russian propaganda to try to decide what they might do next -- to try to justify what they might do next. is this something you would consider uncooked in's agenda -- on putin's agenda in the coming months? >> we knew that some sort of reaction from putin is a possibility. i'm happy that the whole world realizes it is putin trying to put blame us, but of course, we understand this is a real threat, and of course, all recovery efforts should start

with support to our military. another big thing we keep aski from our european friends, that's the tanks. we still have not received those, and that puts the lives of our soldiers at risk every single day. >> i think most people are hearing in your voice and what you're saying reinforcing what president zelenskyy has been saying for weeks, that ukraine needs reinforcement. can i put this to you as a final question? from your perspective, i know there is only one outcome of this conflict that you will accept and stand up for. what kind of ukraine would you like to see rebuilt with this cash that the eu is trying to

raise? >> that is actually a great question. it puts r minds on the future. i believe we can build a better ukraine. it is not just about rebuilding what we have before, it is about building a better country. i do belve that we can do this. for europe, we can actually be an equal partner, and i wa to seekraine fre in the market economy where everyone is included, where everyone's dignity is respected.

mark: stay safe. thank you for joining us. you are on the phone because of a power cut in your building, one of any happening because of the targeting of civilian infrastructure back russian forces as part of the ongoing conflict in ukraine. joining us to talk about the developments in the german capital earlier, raising money to help to rebuild, to update, and create ukraine future after the conflict, thank you very much indeed. we will have more on that aspect of the story and everything else as it develops. next, rishi sunak became the u.k.'s third prime minister of the year. king charles iii asked him to form a government, as is the procedure. earlier, the king had received

liz truss. sunak makes history as the first prime minister of color. he's aged 42 and becomes the youngest prime minister for over 200 years. he inherits an economic quagmire . his party trailing by 30 points in the opinion polls. sunak set about naming a new cabinet. jeremy hunt named last week under liz truss, remains chancellor of the exchequer. sunak, like liz truss, chosen by the conservative party, not by the u.k. electorate, and calls grow in the u.k. for general election. >> in his first speech as prime minister, rishi sunak tried to

reassure the u.k. that he will bring stability. after months of political and economic turmoil. >> i will place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government's agenda. this will mean difficult decisions to come. >> these decisions will be announced on october 31, like jeremy hunt who has been kept in his position. sunak officially became prime minister after meeting king charles iii buckingm palace. he inherits a dire economy and a party at its lowest level of popularity in a generation. the last prime minister, liz truss, became the u.k.'s shortest serving leader ever after just 45 days in office. she was worst to resign after her budget sent the markets in frenzy. the sterling plunged.

sunak said he has been chosen as a new tory leader in part to fix these mistakes. >> i want to pay tribute to my predecessor, liz truss. she was not wrong to want to improve growth in this country, but some mistakes were made. >> despite this, liz truss defended her legacy of trying to push through tax cuts in her farewell speech. >> we need to take advantage of our brexit freedoms to do things differently. it means lower taxes so people can keep more of the money that they earn. >> sunak is expected to form his new cabinet by wednesday. mark: rishi sunak's office saying that he spoke with bull autumn reeser zelenskyy -- with volodymyr zelenskyy to underscore u.k.'s support. next, some of the hot button

topics just two weeks before u.s. midterm elections. currently, democrats hold the house of representatives and republicans hold the senate. early voting has already begun. there is a very important debate taking place this evening, and you would expect, our correspondent is across the story as ever. you are in pennsylvania, the venue of this special debate this evening. tell us more. >> all eyes will be on this debate in pennsylvania between democratic nominee john fetterman and replican nominee, dr. mehmet oz. the reason why this is such a big deal is because pennsylvania is seen by many on both sides of the isle as the crucial race of the crucial races. everyone believes that whoever wins that senate seat will have

a big shot at controlling the senate. democrats, of course, want to flip that seat that was held by a republican, and republicans are fighting to close that gap because the democratic candidate had been leading throughout the summer, but that lead is dwindling down within the margin of error now, so this debate is seen as very important. especially important not just because of some of those issues that you mentioned which will be hotly debated, but also, the spotlight is going to be on john fetterman and if he is fit for office. he had a stroke back in the spring, and there are questions about his health, his general health, and if he would be able to be a senator if he were to win. one of the details from this debate that we know now is that he will have close captioning. that means he will have

real-time transcription of the questions from the moderators as well as the answers of his opponent because he has still some trouble understanding spoken speech, even though his doctors say that there's absolutely no cognitive issue with him, so that will be something to really pay attention to, especially here in pennsylvania because something of a mistake by john fetterman in this debate could still flip things with two weeks to go before those november 8 midterms, given how close the race is between the democrats in the republican in that state. mark: that is a real human story behind the politics, isn't it? tell us what shape the parties are in right now. >> theomentum has been swinging sort of back into the favor of the republicans. six months ago, everyone was

agreeing with the fact that republicans work going to flip the whole congress, not just the house but also the senate, and then there was the decision by the supreme court that overturned roe v. wade, which guaranteed abortion in the united states, and that swung the pendulum a little bit toward democrats, and it looked like the situation was not that bad. they still looked like they might lose the house, but the senate seemed to be very much in play, and over the last few weeks, months or so, you have seen the numbers of the republicans sort of swing back closer to democrats, and that's because of the economy, inflation, rising gas prices. a lot of american voters, includingemocrats, to the economy as the major priority, the most important issue when it comes to deciding who to vote for, and that is something that

is not in favor of the ruling party, not in favor of democrats right now, and that's why you see democrats try to maneuver her way around the economy and try to focus on the issues they believe still help them, maybe not win these midterms, but at least two sort of limit the losses. i'm thinking of course about the issue of abortion. they are trying to get back to that motivation that they saw right after the supreme court decision to try to tap into that, to motivate their base and also maybe motivate some of those indepeents in the suburbs who could swing either way who on the economy could go toward republicans but other issues could go toward democrats. things are extremely tight, especially for the control of the senate. mark will and keeping an eye on

developments for us from washington -- mark: keeping an eye on developments for us from washington, thank you. next, there have been reports of teargas use on demonstrators in khartoum this tuesday against the background of resistance, calling for the restoration of the democratic system. in all, 180 protesters have killed. >> when you're on, the sudanese people continue to protest. over the last year, pro-democracy activists have been risking their lives. on sunday, a protester was killed by a bullet from sudanese security forces. >> we don't want political compromise and we don't want a political solution.

we are not here to discuss the coup. we want to overthrow it. >> on october 25, 2021, he agreed to share power with leaders. since then, 118 people have been killed in protests with over 1000 detained. at the same time, the country is experiencing an unprecedented and economic social crisis. the price of food has risen by 137% in just one year with more than one in three people suffering from food crisis. >> the sudanese people are starving. they cannot accept any of this. everyone will demonstrate. >> one year after the military coup, sudan is still mired in uncertainty. elections have been promised for

2023, but many do not believe they will take place. mark: we are watching the situation in sudan for you. time for truth or fake. there's video online claiming to show french soldiers arming terrorists in mali. >> mali recently accused france of delivering weapons to militants during the united nations security council on october 19. while france denied the claims as defamatory, not long after the accusations, many pro-russian accounts have been sharing this post right here. this post with over 13,000 views, together with this video that would be proof that france supports terrorism in mali,

claiming that french soldiers are arming terrorists. video goes along with the post where we see french soldiers. we can see them transporting these weapons as well, and if we fast forward a bit, we can see this man in a turban with this soldier handing him a yellow package with weapons in it. according to readers who alerted the france 24 observers team, the video has also been circulating widely in what subgroups in mali, so the video claiming that france supports terrorism. mark: the question is -- is that

message the truth? what does this video really show us? >> to find the origin of this video, we use visual clues to find where it came from. the most obvious one was this one with the ap logo on the video right here. to find the context in which these images were shot, we searched the associated press archives where we found this video entitled long road to resettlement. a report on the disarmament of militant groups in mali, organized by the french and malian army. you can find the same report on the ap youtube channel from april 22, 20 21, where they do specify this video was from july

or, 2015, with a long caption that reads, the soldiers are looking for weapons and catch the group off guard as they rest under a tree, so this was a disarmament military operation. we found this original video that is the same one that goes with the false claims on twitter in the video that was strategically cut. in this program here, specifically where french soldiers are counting the inventor but you can see this video does not in any way show fren soldiers ming jadists in mali. on the contrary, they show a patrol to confiscate these weapons from militants in the area.

a video from july 2015 and not from right now, a very common narrative, so a video out of context from 2015 aims to spread misinformation that the french army is arming jihadists in the country. mark: thank you very much indeed. stay with us. more to come here "live from paris." >> they oerved. they contact us. they report. they are the voice of the voiceless. reacheof the wld.far-flung the observers -- a netrk of 5000 committed citizens working with france 24. let's -- footage and testimonials checked by our journalists and broadcast weekly on "the observers."

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10/25/22 10/25/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york this is democracy now! >> the democrats -- election after election, today should have lines lighted prevails today. they don't know how to talk to blue-collar workers. amy: with the midterm election to ask away, we speak with former green presidential candidate ralph nader.