For working this is all the better. To be speaking just for the next. Oh. The most important election of. Course its. Also coming up tonight brazil has a president elect who is openly homophobic now that wont play well on the soccer pitch in sao paolo a new Soccer League has kicked off with the message if youre gay you can play. Ok dismay that i went two years without playing soccer because i couldnt find the team then i found out they were gay teams i dont want to go back into the closet because of prejudice from straight members of a team. Or we begin the day on the eve of an election the likes of which modern america has never see tomorrow voters go to the polls in the two thousand and eighteen midterm elections now midterm elections tend to be the stepchild of those all important president ial elections but that tradition no along with many others in u. S. Politics has little or no relevance now that donald trump is president voters may be choosing a new Congress Tomorrow but trump has told them in no Uncertain Terms this election is all about him well that is why tuesdays poll is widely seen as a referendum on Donald Trumps administration and not everyone is happy with his America First widespread dissatisfaction beyond his base as fueled a surge in women and minority candidates running for office they could make history in congressional and in state gubernatorial elections. Or what is at stake for the rest of the world in the u. S. Midterm elections what should germany in europe be prepared to do if the balance of power in washington shifts d. W. News will tackle those and more questions tomorrow night we will be right here live with real time coverage as the Election Results come in take a look. The u. S. Midterm elections a battle for control of the u. S. Congress a referendum on the trump presidency. Will a blue wave of democrats shift the balance of power in whats at stake for europe and the more. Join me on Election Night for our special coverage of the u. S. Midterm elections here on the w. That is going to be tomorrow night starting right here just a little bit after midnight here Central European time will right now with the big table im joined by dr handy really he is head of the u. S. A Transatlantic Relations program at the German Council on Foreign Relations mr it is good to have you back on the show so were all having were on this side of that big pond looking at these elections i mean from where were sitting what do the what do the midterm elections mean and whats at stake for for the transatlantic world on this election eve its a question in how far the trump. Donald trumps policies of disruption and reshuffling and bilateralism are supported by this midterm elections most people in the u. S. Dont vote over Foreign Policy but its a question of whether he sees a challenge to his own policy style whether he finds it necessary to to focus on the kind of civil war that he that he restarts every day and you with all these like inflammatory rhetoric. All whether he sees an s s a t two to use outside conflicts to actually have his back free to operate and to to look strong but it is going to be. Mostly about america mostly about how the strongest democracy the leading democracy is actually surviving this crisis i want to pick up on that point right now tomorrow u. S. Voters will choose a new Congress Midterm elections are usually as we said all about those Political Races that have nothing to do with the u. S. President but this time trump is president and he has told the voters to consider every ballot decision a referendum on him theres more. The midterms are first and foremost about congress and they can make or break a president s agenda republican control of both the house of representatives and the senate has made trumps life relatively easy so far but if democrats flip one or even both houses the good times may be over the entire house all four hundred thirty five seats are up for election as they are every two years republicans currently hold two hundred thirty five to democrats one hundred ninety three seats thats a lot of distance to the two hundred eighteen majority mark but democrats hope that the slew of republicans leaving their seats this year along with enough anti trump fury among voters will deliver them to the house so all eyes are on the thirty or so toss ups races that polling data have is too close to call. On the senate side republicans rule with the slimmest of majorities fifty one of one hundred seats sounds like good news for democrats but only thirty five seats of those are up for election most twenty six are ones democrats and independents allied with them need to defend that makes victory harder polling data suggest maybe just six seats in all are toss ups as the Minority Party democrats have been limited in effectively resisting trying but what if they win in both the house and senate they could block his agenda and introduce their own they could investigate the myriad allegations of abuse and misconduct facing trump in the Senate Democrats could reject trump appointees up for important positions and they could impeach a long and fraught process that starts in the house and ends in the Senate Democrats have history on their side as the president s party usually suffers in the midterms whether that trend stays true wont be clear intil ballots are it. Democrats who have history on their side this time would a shift in the balance of power in washington would that be something positive for the transatlantic world. I think it would be because it would prove that american democracy is able to. Actually confront those those attacks that the president is now running and hes trying to undermine every institution hes trying to. Go around the norms that would tie him down hes been deviling the media hes demonizing the political opponent and we need to come back to a situation where the respect for the political opponent is the software of democracy and it doesnt look like this as of now but it needs the democrats to come back strong and to find a new narrative for their own view that the there are you have the predictions that if the democrats do take the hells not even the senate but if they take the house then immediately they are going to take steps to increase oversight of the president and the executive branch. Is that important in the eyes of europeans just to see that the american system of checks and balances is robust and does indeed work even if its been tested the way it has the past two years it will be a necessary part of that but this doesnt remove the polarization as we have right now if the democrats then choose to to use this have been up hours and to call on the president for every every missed misdeeds hes done. It will of course call for a very harsh reaction from trump and would he would the loyalty of the republicans so be very difficult the democrats couldnt bring over any any legislative project so everything will be blocked down but it will be a situation in which possibly the republicans will understand that this president and his style dont win them enough votes the next time so they might be in in the party of position that actually asked for more Common Ground and put a compromise german chancellor Angela Merkel she was the First Western leader to congratulate donald trump two years ago when he won. And two conditional lies congratulations she said congratulations dont forget the values that we share. He has never gotten over that it seems do you see him taking advantage of the uncertainty now here in germany because we know that merkel for all intents and purposes could be a lame duck chancellor do you see him taking advantage of that situation i think so yes because he is. Pushing forward a populist agenda people who act in his in his spirit or maybe hes acting in this period like steve benen theyre going out to to like do networking and build the media structures for the far right and for the for the populist parties in europe but we dont need america to have that problem and i think what we see now is the. Replacement of one leader by the next with a little bit of reshuffling and discussions in between but this is very very peaceful thats how a democracy should run when we see right now and so i dont think that actually this is this is a situation of of awful weakness and fragility that he can he can make use of well mr standby were going to move now from the domestic u. S. Politics who want to focus now on u. S. Foreign policy today the u. S. Reimposed what it is calling the toughest sanctions yet against iran and would follow is the Trump White House decision to abandon the Iran Nuclear Deal the white house says that the new sanctions are designed to curtail any ambitions that tehran may have regarding Nuclear Weapons iran today accused the u. S. Of being a bully saying that the sanctions target ordinary people well tonight the European Union is standing by its opposition to washingtons policy we have a look now at the economic sectors which will feel the impact first and most. Iranian markets like this are where economic reality rubs up against real lives the mere threat of sanctions has seen fit prices here double in just a year shuttered store fronts speak to the hardship. Im going to do is directed closer to home. Because these disasters are inflicted on the people by our government and the thousand tromps cant do anything to us. The effects are felt beyond the bazaar with irans oil and finance sector Major International companies are withdrawing from tehran at this advertising business they have had to sack several staff. Thats really heartbreaking its heartbreaking for the people that we talk to to say that im so sorry there is no business and therefore if theres no business i cannot if you will job theyve studied their excited about what they want to do in the future. Now hope is being taken away from them the man behind the sanctions u. S. President donald trump hopes they will maximize pressure on iran iran sanctions are very strong the strongest sanctions result ever of. Well see what happens with the run but theyre not doing very well i can tell you iran is not doing very well but iran shows little sign of bending a defiant president Hassan Rouhani pledge to ignore the sanctions. This is an economic war were standing up to the billing enemy yes that he said im hussein was in front of us today it is trump there is no death. And talking tough and testing their military hardware to. These drills designed to send a message here ran up the rhetoric in a bed to stop Economic Hardship from turning into an anti regime sentiment. Back here at the big table now with an ing reka he is head of the usa Transatlantic Relations program of the German Council of Foreign Relations with this slapping of new sanctions on iran the u. S. Really is now in a go it alone policy when it comes to iran and it leaves europe in a very difficult position doesnt it it does because europe has an interest to do this together with america we had the greatest success of pressure on iran when we did this together and now. In an irony iran has achieved one of its most supreme goals that is to divide the west and divide europe and america and now we have that we have to do. With russia and china to make this a think about that do you think especially the European Union do you think that they have tried to impress that upon the u. S. President that he is actually doing exactly what the regime in tehran wants him to do and that is to pull away from europe do you think theyve said hey dont fall into the trap i think they wanted to make make clear that this has been the diplomatic achievement of the European Union and you simply can can can run down the building that we have created its also stupid because it was the one structure that helped us to to have inspections in iran take a closer look so i think the the expectation in washington is that either. The. Government will falter and will will actually bow to the sanctions which is unlikely iranians and nationalistic they might hate their government but they hate external. Influence even more and secondly the idea that there will be a democratic up. A ballistic that im ready Democratic Change of power and this will not have happen either the opposition doesnt have strong leading figures there are so many thousands connected to the leading governing structures in iran that will take over power so that is the question now its more complex a bit because they have. An ailing sick Supreme Leader rouhani the president might might be a candidate for replacing him although hes been weakened of course he has been drinking it is wise to look stronger no but this will take a very long time longer than two years and longer than six years if you ask me so if there is any success or any any reason later on it will not be trump doing we know that europe and the European Union has said that it wants to help iran bypass these sanctions if at all possible or at least protect European Companies that are invested in iran doesnt have the means to do that and should that be its policy i think the first starting point of that is to keep iran in the agreement because this has been and. Not only that but it is a structure that helps us control iran now. We have to offer some sort of compensation for the sanctions the e. U. And germany and the european says we cannot force our companies to do business with iran and leave the business and america this is not possible we cannot force the banks to not of trade in dollars you know this is not possible so its about the small and Medium Size Companies that are doing business in iran and they they want to have ways to finance that and they want to have new banking Banking Systems to to get their payments or pay their bills and this is what were doing its a very very very moderate compensation that we can possibly offer i think more is coming from russia and and china where some companies are state companies some are more more independent but they they might have something to offer to iran that is not so much affected by the sanctions before when a time when i ask you about the sanctions we already know there are exemptions to these u. S. Say sions for example for turkey for india and for china they are still going to be able to buy iranian oil no problem so isnt that kind of taking the teeth out of these sanctions then is it trump pulling back from what he promised to do with the same you might have understood that they would have done this anyway so. At least for china and india i would assume that because they rely so heavily on. Oil imports and their partnership with iran is so deeply rooted and substantial billions of dollars they wouldnt simply drop that and so he might might have chosen a way to avoid kind of a. Well i mean do you see i mean as weve all you know weve also had reports like from the state department u. S. State department this evening saying that a lot of the agreements that were in the parts of the agreement to the Iran Nuclear Deal suddenly now are back on. We were just wondering reading the reports tonight is that proof that the Trump Administration is is is is feeling the pressure of reality there ryall politic in real political Foreign Policy is finally hitting it in the face i think why trump is doing that is because he wants to live up to his companion promises and he wants to look a tough guy and. You know its much more complicated to explain whether this works or not than simply states look what ive done to the iranians they are thugs and i and i hate them and this is what im doing im serious you know and i think this is enough for now and they might they might. Try to build up background channels to to get a feel whether the iranians are coming over the bridge or not which will not happen in my in my understanding so quickly. But i think you this is a. Blockade for a couple of years to come with sanctions working with iranians offering any weaker with the German Council on Foreign Relations mr reagans always repeat it you joining us here on today and sharing your insights thank you very much but we return to those midterm elections in the u. S. Now in the predictions that this will be the year of the women widespread dissatisfaction over the trunk presidency has fueled a surge in women and minority candidates running for Public Office across the u. S. Now in deeply conservative texas one woman is hoping to channel that discontent into an election victory and they seat in the house of representatives. Every weekend ana maria ramos campaigns door to door in dallas texas why because she wants to convince undecided voters to go to the polls her goal is to be elected to the texas house of representatives. Annamaria is female latina and a democrat not an easy combination in conservative texas. I had somebody who talked about slavery bravery was ok hard conversations to have the respect of the individual theyre giving their time you just say thank you well agree to disagree and then you move on. Ana marie is Campaign Headquarters is her own living room when trump was elected president she felt like she had to do something because his politics and image of women did not represent her as a person. I hope that is the woman when i get el