Entire. Government demonstrations prodemocracy protesters. Good to have you with us u. S. President donald trump and his democratic challenger joe biden have been answering questions from voters at separate televised events held at the same time on different channels the t. V. Town Hall Meetings as theyre known replaced the 2nd president ial debate which was cancelled after trump was diagnosed with 19 and then refused to conduct the debate online as book port there you 2 rival show they have very different approaches in both style and substance. Always confident at times defensive as the incumbent u. S. President donald trump now has a record to pick apart and he got a grilling starting out with the nations biggest crisis a coronavirus. I knew it was a big threat at the same time i dont want to panic this country i dont want to go out and say everybodys going to die everybodys got married already you dont have this lady but you can you know theres not going to get and more contentious exchanges as trump made exaggerated claims about voter fraud and deflect the criticism over his tax returns and his position on White Supremacy in the rush into it youve done this why is everybody seen like i do White Supremacy times against a White Supremacy. My position at the same time on a different channel a different tone thomas challenger joe biden offered a forceful rebuke of trumps Pandemic Response it was the president s responsibility to lead and he didnt do that he didnt talk about what needed to be done because he kept worrying in my view about the stock market we make up 4 percent of the worlds population we have 20 percent of the worlds deaths were in a situation where we have 210. 00 plus 1000 people dead and whats he doing nothing he still would not worry mask and so on because at times that bite and he entered but he did deliver clear punch lines on a number of issues including Foreign Policy if they will in a before the election are open weve been most effective as a world leader in my humble opinion not just by the exercise of our power most powerful nation in the world but the power of our example thats whats led the rest of the world to follow us calling for after trading blows remotely the 2 candidates will again face off at the final Election Debate next week about making america a washington correspondent for solve it head while i on each of benton joins us now all of it what stood out for you in these parallel the parents of. Well it was a lot more sophisticated terry than the 1st president ial debate and it seemed like this new format the town hall works better for joe biden so trump in turn he made a lot of false claims during this conversation. And the host there at the network that broadcast this town hall n. B. C. Challenge President Trump grilled him essentially over a variety of questions and topics and simply that he did not look good defending himself he did no good debating certain points he didnt want to remember or didnt know certain details so biden in turn had a rather solid appearance then come across a lot more president ial as someone who is really willing and able also to heal the nation that is very divided right now of course and he was able to deliver his points much better are that worked out during the 1st debate that ended in chaos now the original plan was for the 2 candidates to have another face to face debate how did things end this way. Well 1st of all as you remember President Trump tested positive on kovac 19 and then the Pres Commission on president ial debates thats usually in charge of organizing these debates then decided to hold a virtual debate so both candidates in different locations in order to avoid the risk or to reduce the risk of infection now President Trump backed out saying he was not willing to participate at a virtual debate then the debate was canceled and then the Biden Campaign moved forward scheduling this town hall event it was just one day earlier so on wednesday that President Trump and b. C. The network decided or announced they would hold a dual events just at the same time and of course both receiving lots of criticism for that move because again it left the voters here in limbo they had to decide if they either wanted to see President Trump or joe biden offer thanks very much the w. s all or some of it there in washington or smaller analysis was bring in tyson barker hes a fellow at the Truman National security project and is based here in berlin good to see tyson so this election is special in many ways but typically in that we have a large number of early voters and a small number of undecided voters given that can these public appearances or debates make much of a difference. I think we can definitely make a difference i mean what we have seen is a surgeon early voting caused primarily by the pandemic and the president s statements questioning the integrity of elections by mail so many people are going to the polls early to make sure that they can avoid those lines given the social distancing. Necessity but you know theyre boca voting as theyre going to take place that weekend and probably on that that tuesday so you know there are still people watching this is when people really tune in about 2 weeks out before the election so theres a whole swath of the voter poppy voting population that havent really been watching. And weve got one more debate it must be said coming up next week well one of the key moments from trumps appearance was his refusal to disavow the q. And a on Conspiracy Theory can you tell us a bit more about the. Well in well you basically said i dont know i dont know what it is i dont know what its about i heard its about pedophilia thats all i know so he basically tries to distance himself by pleading ignorance that is a tactic that he tried to use as well in 26 teams when he was indorsed by former ku klux klan grand was the day that Duke David Duke says that this is our guy. Although trump was on the record in the eightys having spoken about david duke basically denouncing him he said in the 2016 election i dont know who he is i dont know whats happening and Savannah Guthrie the moderator basically interrupted him and said in real time what we all thought which is you cant be serious you know what this organization is you know what theyre about. Biden continues to lead in the polls how is that affecting the Campaign Strategies both of the republicans and the democrats. You know. Its still a little worrisome for everybody because we dont know how many say hidden. Voters there are how many hidden biden voters there are what the role of voter turnout is going to play this election is taking place on the ground that neither candidate is really familiar with on the one hand you have a very energized electorate which usually means higher voter turnout but on the other hand theres this overlay of the pandemic so the polls especially the National Polls which dont really say much because this is an election that takes place in 50 states simultaneously 4 Electoral College votes for these points that they can win winner take all in each state. But it has been a pretty stable lead but at the same time some of these polls reflect the same kind of polling were seeing in 2016 so its still kind of an open race tyson tell you so much that was tyson barker from the Truman National security project thank you. Lets turn now to some of the other stories making headlines around the world today new zealands Prime Minister just into a down has hit the streets for the last day of campaigning ahead of parliamentary elections this weekend our downs labor party has a Comfortable Lead and polls are conservative opponent judith cauldrons was also campaigning saying. Her party is best placed to handle the post and economy. Us social media platform twitter says its investigating a global outage the company says it has no evidence of a Security Breach or a hack and is working to get the service up and running again. And Israels Parliament knesset has ratified the u. S. Brokered agreement establishing relations with united arab emirates. And now who said the deal moved israel closer to peace agreements with other countries in the middle east. Lawmakers supported the measure with 13 against. Europe is scrambling to bring a resurgence of the coronavirus under control as infections reach levels not seen since the beginning of the pandemic now some of that is due to more testing than back then but its clear the virus remains a serious threat even at the highest levels of european politics where it disrupted the 1st day the e. U. Leaders summit. We may never find out what prompted Angela Merkel to make this gesture when talking to french president in mind when michael masks make it impossible to eclipse but its not only the modest that are a reminder that theyre coronaviruses casting a shadow at this e. U. Leaders meeting in brussels you commission chief funder line left the talks early one of her staffers tested positive for covert 19 and final line shows to self isolate a separate caution so she was no longer present when the leaders discussed how to better coordinate their Pandemic Response to the question of how we can get out of this pandemic is of course on all of our own minds most of the time the health of a great many people hinges on this question it will determine how many must die in our Economic Future its an e. U. Leaders also talked about the props climate goals for now they fail to agree on a more ambitious Emission Reduction targets when it comes to post relations with the u. K. Your leaders speak with one voice for them its clear that the e. U. And the u. K. Must compromise we are determined to reach a 3rd of the through the u. K. We will do everything we can. But not any price the u. K. Says its disappointed with the outcome so once more your leaders concluded a summit day without getting much closer to a trade deal. Did. Somebody in brussels. So still no progress on briggs this late stage does anybody there think the deal can still be salvaged. Terry at least that is what both sides have been saying so far all eyes will be today on london because the deadline that Boris Johnson has set for a deal to be at least to be able to be seen on the horizon has passed at midnight and he has made very clear that if that deadline passes lund would be prepared to move on without a deal now yesterday a german chancellor Angela Merkel said there is light and there is a shadow what that exactly means from the european perspective michel been able to date to try to clarify it traveling to london meeting is kind of bought david frost the so the 2 chief negotiators will sit down in london today one thing is clear that us made clear yesterday that they are not the ones who want to walk away from negotiations europe is getting pounded by the coronavirus pandemic right now is anything substantial being done at e. U. Level georg to deal with it or is it really just every country for itself. Mark ill read you this part of the Council Conclusion where it says they want to continue over all coordination efforts and that is directed mainly at travel restrictions that is a from where the e. U. So far has been making some progress they have developed a map that points out in different colors in green red and orange where there are areas that are free for that are exempt from travel restrictions so you can travel from the green area to a green area or what happens if you are in a red area or that a Member States still need to clarify they also want to work on the mutual recognition of testing so there is some some progress happening here and all the eaters agree that they need progress on that front in order to stop the pandemic. Now infection rates in europe are surging the e. U. Commission president had to leave the summit early and go into quarantine are people there wondering out loud whether this Summit Holding the so many person was maybe a bad idea while the danish Prime Minister of the finnish Prime Minister they both came forward already at the beginning of the meeting and said look were a bit skeptical whether we always have to meet in person on the other hand a number of leaders have said look those personal meetings a really crucial they were the only way to move things really forward and i think theres another aspect to it and that is the aspect of confidentiality because in a Video Conference obviously theres a lot of people sitting in on those Video Conferences with the different leaders now yesterday when they talk breaks it off to the conclusions were already signed they took all the mobile phones all the tablets and moved them out of the room where they were eating so that the this could really be a confidential discussion and that of course you can only have one person. Thanks so much that was correspondent garrick masses at the e. U. Headquarters in brussels well the u. K. Is also trying to calm a large rise in cases london is the latest major city to face tougher measures with a raft of social distancing rules due to come into force at midnight today. Queen elizabeth us Public Engagement since march a red joint appearance between the british monarch and her grandson Prince William the duke of cambridge. The 2 are socially distanced but neither is wearing a face mask at this military Research Facility even though covert 19 is on the rise once again across the United Kingdom detectors. London is the latest british city to be told its about to face a local lockdown on saturday tougher restrictions will include a ban on more than one household meeting indoors. Type thing it will think its a wifes a toy its affecting business cas i think is kind of the right thing stipends the numbers are going up in all fairness to whats been out of this and actually shambles. Earlier this week in liverpool became the 1st english city to be put into the highest risk category. Pops and pas a closed and no one can meet outside their household. This pomp renaming itself in protest at the governments decision. Manchester another city in Northern England desperate not to be next it is wrong to play some of the poorest parts of england in a punishing lock down without proper support for the people and businesses affected all are older but in westminster ministers are defending their actions we make these decisions with a heavy heart with the soul of steering on nation through troubled waters things will get worse before they get better. Meanwhile schools in Northern Ireland are to close temporarily as well as pubs and restaurants nothing much to cheer about here. And here are a few other developments in the corona virus pandemic a new study has found that rim does appear a drug now widely used to treat cope at 19 does not lower the mortality rate of patients New Zealanders can now travel to australia without quarantining under a new one way travel bubble arrangement but for now anyone arriving in new zealand will still be required to quarantine israel meanwhile is relaxing a new lock down thats been in place for the past month take care and preschools will open again from sunday as will actual parks and beaches. The Global Rights GroupHuman Rights Watch says russian and syrian airstrikes on the rebel held city of live last year may continue may constitute crimes against humanity the group has released a report that looks into dozens of what it said were unlawful strikes on civilian targets over a period of 12 months says the strikes were deliberate meanwhile attacks in the region continue despite a cease fire. A classroom destroyed by an air raid numerous rockets struck the school in the south of provence luckily no children were killed in the attack bombings are an almost daily event in this region despite a ceasefire being in place. Lessons have resumed but attendance is low hot the. Few children have returned their parents are afraid they dont believe its safe to send their kids to school because of the attacks. Strikes on schools markets places of worship clinics go on for days or months and this year just like last year. This is the last rebel held region in syria during their offensive syrian and russian fighter jets are said to have targeted civilian facilities their goal is to demoralize the local population in order to make their advance easier according to Human Rights Watch the organization said it reached this conclusion after analyzing some 550. 00 Satellite Photos and videos and interviewing dozens of witnesses. And even the facts that we have gathered here clearly indicate that we are talking about war crimes and crimes against humanity. Human rights watch is now demanding those responsible to be held to account and says its time for the United Nations to step in. Shit watching the news still to come bollywood looks set to get back on its feet after being hobbled by the pandemic but for the tho