america's heading to the polls in fiercely contested midterm elections to the being billed as a referendum on the trumpet ministration. ultimatums unacceptable spain and russia. the u.s. demands to join when you'd sanctions on iran.

paramedics use hundreds of ambulances to paralyze the streets of paris for a second day in protest against emanuel reforms as a shock poll shows right wing leader marine le pen has overtaken the french president for the first time as of next year parliamentary elections. joining us this evening this is r.t. . the us is heading to the polls on tuesday in critical midterm elections these are the latest pictures we have from polling stations in the. country divided over the trump of ministration and the democrats desperate to wrest back control of congress from the republicans campaigning has been. in

fairness. you cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for. the. left wing and that's what the democrats are. two words i'm going to define the night of the two thousand and fifteen election one which kavanagh and the other is caravan supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh brett kavanaugh which is that or placing a hat on brett kavanaugh caravan invasion or about the caribbean care of. this series of suspicious packages sent across the country mail by mail bombs fire alarm here will keep you posted on. the.

midterms in the united states are held every four years hoff way through the presidential to this year americans have a lot to choose four hundred thirty five members of the house of representatives thirty five seats in the senate and thirty six states governess this time around it's all about well money is not even on the ballot caleb maupin reports. usually the midterm elections in the united states are about as exciting as watching the

grass grow low public interest and low voter turnout and the ads have a very amateurish quality to them. of the agenda a vague and. then mr trump said you're right. that part. so why is the biennial snooze fest suddenly turned into a political extravaganza well it's apparently about one man i'm not on the ticket but i am on the ticket because this is also a referendum about me so let's go over what's at stake. the big one is impeachment if the pollsters are to be believed the democrats could regain control of the u.s. house of representatives with a majority they could then gain the ability to bring formal charges against the president impeachment has been on the minds of some democrats that he is

impeachable the democrats want to retake control of the house so they could move to impeach the president telling me it impeachment you think trump should be impeached i would vote yes you would have to take a vote i would vote. now the democrats could get the ball rolling with the u.s. house but whether or not they'd be successful is a different story let's remember no president in all of us history has ever been removed through the impeachment process richard nixon came close but he actually resigned before the senate could put him on trial but impeachment fears aside a blue wave could put the brakes on the presidency. so trumps policies that's what's really at stake here if the democrats regain control of the house they could block and delay the donald's plans he can kiss that big beautiful power. wall goodbye plus if the house goes democrat but the

senate remains republican we're going to have some good old fashioned washington gridlock two words for you government shutdown. in the case of a democratic surge we can expect an onslaught of investigations into the trumpet ministration with the house majority the democrats could subpoena witnesses and get their hands on key documents this means that all things from business transactions to furniture purchases and sexual assault allegations all of that could come under scrutiny so we are going to have oversight committee hearings on their presence use of the cell phone the democrats take over the house then he's going to be subpoenaed and investigated to want to seek the truth now results are hard to predict but one pattern from the post twenty sixteen world seems to be playing out pretty well at the polls americans get to choose between chaos and more chaos cable mup and r t washington d.c. . some u.s.

officials have been raising the alarm of a possible foreign interference in the midterms the top of ministration has accused china russia and iran of meddling in the vote takes a closer look at the allegations i want to make sure everyone's been warned i'm going to switch off the maddening madness. it just won't turn off there's no way to turn this off even the ideas of madness and if it wasn't for the for the twenty three vote journalists would have missed out on some big breaking news breaking news tonight what appears to be the first identified case of russian election interference in the twenty midterms quote the russian intelligence agency targeted senator claire mccaskill as she began her twenty thousand reelection campaign in harness plenty of air time would have to be filled with. other top stories russia is added again interfering in the two

thousand and ten midterm elections been control of congress and stakes do we know what they are doing what is russia's goal you can just create a whole new army try to sell any kind of may have more disk or if they can just openly and publicly shames these election tallies and spread false information here in the us if it wasn't for the meddling madness comedians would have had to work on finding inspiration do you think the russians will meddle in the two thousand and eight elections as offer was made and we've accepted. their russian so they were all messed up inside one b. . if it wasn't for the meddling madness politicians wouldn't have had the chance to prove they got the guts to stand up to like this senator from missouri who is reelection attempts apparently made her a target for russian scheming. i will not be intimidated i said it before and i

will say to get on pretty good and it blew me to go bob as someone who is no longer bothered by putin now that he's out of the game or is he what happened to the republican party central organizing principle was the fight against communism and now they're closing up to the former head of the k.g.b. if it wasn't for the meddling not the election wouldn't have hit america for an extra few hundred million dollars see what are you talking about who cares if the folks busy with the meddling probe said none of it really affected the actual results we can. prove were affected with the tallies directly. anyway sure we could. go through that dairy someone point and people say. that slap around the face of america was almost

as bad as nine eleven we have been attacked by a foreign power and have done nothing i mean it would be like after nine eleven george w. bush said well we will rebuild new york from the pentagon but we're not going to worry about it well at a certain point that's what this is turning into if we're going to talk about the real meddling issues this year the real trouble is totally off your radar regrettably we've found that china has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming twenty eight. election against my administration what the russians are doing in comparison to what china is doing across this country although you do know words and proof or not the same thing come on we haven't even heard exactly what the chinese meddling masters have been up to but that didn't stop some republicans from doubling down on their china bashing campaign right to study history and the story

a long time ago systematically went to the free trade system really. just for your information mr hawley's running for the same senate seat as someone i've already told you about. what was it won't be intimidated by that thug. so if you still don't get it the twenty terms is actually just a rush versus china showdown and the meddling madness league season. spain has joined russia in condemning the u.s. demands that countries follow its when you sanctions on iran speaking at a joint news conference in madrid moscow's foreign minister sergey lavrov said u.s. actions on tehran quote absolutely legitimate and disappointing that washington's ultimatums except to the spanish counterpart echoed those concerns.

there actually i agree with minister lavrov in his rejection of any kind of approach that sounds like an ultimatum including from the u.s. the e.u. and spain in particular have been very critical of the usa as you knew lateral decision to denounce the nuclear agreement with iran which affects us burghley from the point of view of both the economy and security and the european union insisted on doing everything possible to keep this agreement alive for the sake of our companies so that they could continue working investing and trading with iran the information that we have is that iran is complying with its commitments in this agreement and the u.s. does not have any arguments or reasons to reject it. meanwhile france germany and the u.k. have issued a joint statement defying trumps threats thing european companies doing business with the islamic republic they say they'll work to maintain and develop financial channels with iran and moscow insists that tehran has been in full compliance with

the terms of the nuclear deal. donald trump described the new restrictions as the strongest american sanctions ever they affect more than seven hundred individuals they also aggressively target the financial energy and shipping sectors america and around appear at an impasse over the sanctions. regime as a choice it can either do agree turn from its course of action to normal country work and see its economy crumble was a lot of all. the u.s. is not a reliable negotiate or. president is around willing to talk to the. iran has rejected a bill on joining the un convention against terror financing with to around the legislative spokesperson calling the proposal flawed the bill would have seen around join the u.n. convention that deals with money laundering and sponsorship of terror countries

lawmakers argued that the treaty would restrict tehran's ability to support quote resistance groups like lebanese based as a law. meanwhile thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of iran's capital to protest against the sanctions this was on sunday they burned american and israeli flags and chanted death to the united states and around so far remains defiant putting on a show of force over the last two days including major address. have been deployed across several areas in the north of the country. t.v. and radio commentator steve malzberg told auntie's boom bust program it was clear from the start the u.s. wanted to impose sanctions. many of these sanctions were already in effect until barack obama cut them off the pres of the united states signing on to that iranian nuclear deal cut off these sanctions stop the sanctions as part of the deal and

donald trump ran on a platform of getting out of the deal he did get out of the deal so this was just a bound to happen now the united states doesn't care that the rest of the world is still signed on to that nuclear agreement and is against these sanctions what about the company that ensures the cargo that goes from iran to the country i mean they also do business with the united states and the united states will accuse them or could very well of secondary sanctions violations here of all put secondary sanctions on them for violating the sanctions and these countries that do business with iran all do business with the u.s. and they're just not going to risk it right we're talking protests in paris after the break.

what politicians do something to. put themselves on the line to get accepted or rejected. so when you want to be president and she. wanted. to go right to be for us it's like the four three in the morning can't be good. i'm interested always in the waters in the. city.

welcome back paris paramedics are blocking the city's ring road another key ring for a second day with so-called snow protest sirens blazing these parts cross roads reportedly causing hundreds of kilometers of traffic jams in demonstrations over changes in conditions that paramedics i will put them out of work. sure.

well these protests are just the latest trends in recent weeks as right wing politics lead to marine le pen has overtaken emmanuel micron for the first time in the polls ahead of e.u. parliamentary elections next year don't call it takes a closer look. france has broken out into protest as of late on november fifth five hundred paramedics as well as two thousand supporters took to the streets to protest a government reform that would end state funding towards medical transportation and on the same day macron found himself trying to diffuse growing about the rising taxes on fuel prices in france already angry citizens are prepared to block roads on nov seventeenth in response to this with authorities preparing for the worst and recently there were even several severe building collapses in a poor neighborhood of mar say with leftist politician john saying that it was due

to an indifference to poverty in france and the latest polls are actually seriously reflecting this says for the first time ever marine le pen and her euro skeptic party are polling at twenty one percent that's higher than macron and his party's nineteen percent and amidst all this macron is beginning to promise things on an e.u. scale for example a new european army separate from nato and dependency on the united states we can't protect europeans without a real european army faced with a russia run up buddhas that's shown itself capable of being a friends i want to press the security belt against russia which is a country i respect which is its. european we need a europe that can defend itself alone moreover without depending only on the united states in a way that exhibits greater sovereignty so as macron continues to focus on issues like a european wide army and these problems internally in france become larger issues

for him it just starts to seem more and more like he'd rather become president of the european union then continue as president of france. the mayor of london says that it could take a generation to tackle what's being called an epidemic a violent crime in the capital shortly after making that statement so the car expressed his condolences on monday's death of a teenage boy reportedly the fifth person to be murdered in the capital in just the last six days it would be the one hundred nineteen violent death in london this year alone. crime knife crime knife crime epidemic average of three killings a week londoners don't feel safe to quell public concerns about the rate of violent crime london's metropolitan police have deployed five hundred extra officers on street patrols one senior police officer has said that children as young as nine and ten are now carrying knives then compare the situation to the wild west with

attacks taking place in broad daylight in front of passes by c.c.t.v. cameras but the reasons behind the surgeon violent crime are now the subject of fierce national debate police federation's blame cuts to police funding there are around twenty thousand fewer police officers now than there were eight years ago while the rate of violent crime has shot up the home office's own leaked documents suggest that there is a link between cuts to police budgets and serious violent crime london's mayor says that it's a deadly combination of fewer officers than any time since two thousand and three at a time when the population is going up it's more and more difficult and yet a government minister has denied the link between cuts and crime pointing to other factors instead like social media about police numbers does it isn't supported by

the evidence or previous spikes in serious violent crime is changing the gangs or using social media to communicate they're using mobile communications in ways that ten years ago even five years ago simply was not possible back in twenty fifteen an award winning senior police officer warned to reason may who was home secretary at the time that cutting funds for the police would risk national security we run the risk risk of. and ultimately risking national security so up until now the government's managed to deny that slashing police budgets would put public safety at risk but as the death toll mounts and public concern increases arguing that there's no link between budget cuts and violent crime it's going to be more difficult i've absolutely no

idea why a who was home secretary for most of the last eight years before she became prime minister i have no idea at all why she didn't listen to the warnings the governments to do and there's a link between the rising crime the levels of violent crime on our streets and the number of police officers for the very simple reason that they know that if there is a link established they will be held responsible they are responsible the whole thing is a total shambles and it will take at least ten years if not longer to sort it back out if we started tomorrow and they've given no indication of starting tomorrow. so to germany now where the secretary general of angela merkel c.d.u. party has reportedly stepped down as she prepares to run for the party leadership replacing the outgoing merkel but the jury's still out as to who will win the race there are other major contenders for the post as peter oliver reports. this is

often nice when a spectator acted fast pull at the next see do you party convention december i will not run for the chair of the party secondly this fourth time is the last one for me i will not run for a chance and i join the twenty twenty one election the queen is dead long live well that's the thing we don't exactly know who is going to step in to angle or merkel shoes as the sun begins to set on her career and front line politics her coalition has taken a pounding in popularity polls of late and those campaigning to try and be the next leader of the christian democratic union a just sling for position so let's have a look at who the front runners are. for the c.d.u. is the start it's not about which single person is shining within the city and the party as a whole has to shine. on a cramp. abbreviated to just a k.k.k. is the current general secretary of the christian democratic union party and

frequently talked about as angela merkel's chosen one a default catholic she is culturally conservative opposed to gay marriage and to abortion however when it comes to migration she's on side with angela merkel's policy saying that they are in step with her religious beliefs she's also on side with angela merkel's policies internationally skeptical when it comes to russia but very keen on e.u. cooperation same old same old big problem a.k.k. could be though the people got sick of the same old same old and that's the very reason that i'm glad merkel's job is up for grabs. spahn is a completely different story however the thirty eight year old health minister seems to hate everything mrs merkel stands for her migration policy is the white elephant in the room according to mr spann he opposes limited dual citizenship for young foreigners criticized attempts to loosen laws on advertising abortions and

called for banning the book or in public he is liked by the right wing conservative element in the party to an extent his homosexuality and marriage to his long term partner last year thought to count against him with traditionalists though when it comes to international affairs he's seen as more nationalistic and some even speculate he's the one most likely to get on with u.s. president donald trump do you think that. you did this club intend to keep. making up the triumvirate of front runners is a blast from the cd you passed frederick metz was part of a group opposed to anglo-american becoming leader back in two thousand and two they viewed the twenty first century's iron chancellor as just helmut kohl's girl from the east merkel defeated him and then ousted him from party leadership cd you need progressive political discussion and in my opinion this means the c.d.u. needs to get things straight about its image fiscally conservative he once famously

wanted to digest germany's labrinth fine tax laws so they would fit on a big popular with traditionalists when it comes to international matters he's very much in favor of e.u. ever expanding union and after the greece debt debacle that's not so hot with the old guard when it comes to germany's place on the international stage it's very clear. trends atlanticist since i became a cosmopolitan germany. and the european. enlightenment whose most important political allies of the democracy is. with whoever gets the job being set up is the logical successor to one glimmer as chancellor how do those candidates fare but we have two competing models here one of them is represented by two alpha males who are clearly quite conservative compared to merkel they're ambitious their power

hungry up against me is in some ways another merkel like figure who will continue with her line will be a hard sell though who wins will have less to do with which side of the political spectrum the candidate comes from and more to do with her personality and drive to fill the position the papers here are suggesting that could be as many as twelve hats in the ring for the top job at the c.d.u. however the smart money is going on the eventual leader of the party be one of those three front runners we just talked about the cd you will elect their new leader at their party conference at the beginning of the september and whoever gets that job well they're going to be charged with leading german politics into the post merkel era peter all of r.t. belin. and your watching off international thanks for joining us this evening updates for you in half an hour. when lawmakers manufacture consent to construct

a public wealth. when the ruling classes protect themselves. with the crime of clearing your own lives only the one person. drinking or middle of the room sick moves. to. relieve the. child's seemed wrong. but all roles just don't hold. any world yet to shape out these days become active. and engaged equals betrayal. when so many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground.

this is neo mercantilist. all countries competing with all countries no more globalization no more central bank domination no more on national monetary fund world bank united nations colluding in back rooms and davros to continue to corrupt the global economy. what is described in the west as a russian invasion of crimea is a fact the presence of russian soldiers in crimea can you clarify that. according to quote but the most of the most. as long ago is eighteen zero for sevastopol the naval base became the main military port of the russian empire on the black sea.