the heart of europe you are connected to the whole world. experience outstanding shopping and dining offers and try our services. be our guest at frankfurt airport city managed by for a bought. this is news and these are our top stories prime minister benjamin netanyahu is claiming a huge victory in israel's 4th election in 2 years polls suggest he'll win most seats but fail fall short of a majority his right wing likud party would need to form a coalition a fast coronavirus vaccine rollout has boosted netanyahu standing even though he's on trial for corruption. u.s. secretary of state anthony blinken has pledged to rebuild and revitalize nato he

says the transatlantic alliance is facing threats from all around the world lincoln has also warned berlin that a controversial gas pipeline project goes against europe's interests germany's building the nordstrom to link with russia. germany's leaders have thrashed out a series of measures aimed at stemming a 3rd wave of coronavirus chancellor angela merkel and regional state leaders talked into the early hours of tuesday morning a national lockdown will be extended until april 18th district 5 day shutdown will apply over easter. this is the news from berlin you can follow us on twitter and instagram at d w news or visit d.w. dot com. america's top diplomat is in europe and ole miss. to rebuild the alliances former

president trump pushed to the brink yesterday we saw western powers target china with sanctions and now nato is focusing on the threat from vladimir putin's russia but is everyone on the same page tonight germany and the u.s. on a collision course over russian natural gas berlin says this is about good business washington says this is a bell poor judgment i bring gulf in berlin this is the day. the main reason i'm i'm here and the president by asked as us to be here this week is to reaffirm strongly united states commitment to nato to this alliance which has been the cornerstone of peace prosperity stability for the ancillary community for more than 70 years the united states wants to rebuild our partnerships 1st and

foremost with our nato allies. also coming up to the german chancellor says that her country is now in the grips of a new pandemic what is it new germany's seemingly never ending lockdown and a vaccination rollout that looks more like a crawl well. yes we basically have a new pandemic the mutation from great britain has taken over which means we have a new virus. that in humans that again and it's clearly more lethal more contagious and contagious for longer. i've come here to express the united states steadfast commitment to that alliance which has been the cornerstone of peace prosperity stability for the ancillary community for more than 70 years. the u.s. secretary of state comes to europe and there are bridges that he wants to repair to

our viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and to all of you around the world welcome we begin the day with the transatlantic ties that bind more or less u.s. secretary of state anthony blinken is meeting with his nato counterparts this week he brought his tool belt with him because he plans on doing a lot of repairing and rebuilding u.s. president biden has promised to make good on the past 4 years in which trump's america 1st policies left u.s. allies feeling as if relations were going from bad to worse america's new top diplomat wants relations between washington and they'd have members to be closer than ever before and to be more unified than they have ever been. is lincoln's wish list more like wishful thinking as pulling our correspondent terry scholz terry has covered nato for years the been the flow of the transatlantic tide give me to you terry's of how would you describe u.s.

nato relations tonight are we talking about a high tide or is it more like a low tide. well definitely a rising tide brant but there really wasn't anywhere to go but up after the 4 years of president trump as you mentioned very difficult years for nato in which trump criticize the alliance criticized allies by name germany in particular you know people told me constantly that they felt like they had to be watching twitter to find out what the u.s. policies would be and that was was really nerve wracking for an alliance that needs to show a united front to deter all enemies i was actually joking with secretary general stolzenberg today that it sounded like secretary blinken had stolen some of his lines and he left in a way that you could tell he's very relieved to have this kind of narrative coming out of the biggest ally yeah that's definitely a relief for him what is nato hoping to see from this new president and his new administration. well i think they're already seeing it and you picked up on this

word repair this is a word that secretary blinken is using a lot and they know exactly what that means to allies he says we're going to revitalize the alliance starting with nato and you know brant it's not only secretary blinken he's the 1st to come here in person but defense secretary lloyd austin's 1st foreign phone call was to secretary general stoltenberg that also was designed to send a clear message and we've just learned tonight brant that a president biden will be joining a summit of european union leaders of virtually on thursday so it's clearly a hole of administration approach to to really revitalize these trans-atlantic ties those are the positive signs there is a possible fault line though in the alliance and it's called the nord stream to natural gas pipeline linking russia to germany take a listen to how the u.s. secretary of state describes that deal president biden has been very clear in saying that he believes the pipeline is

a bad idea. bad for bad for europe bad for the united states ultimately it's in contradiction to the use on energy security goals it has the potential to undermine the interests of ukraine poland a number of other close partners or allies and terry the u.s. president and democrats and republicans in congress they are all the same page here do nato members do these share washington's concern that germany's energy deal with russia is a band deal for european security. well remember brant there are 30 members of nato and so there's a really wide divergence of views but clearly there are some that very definitely share the u.s. view the baltic states poland and they've been complaining about north stream too for years let's listen to what our brussels bureau chief alexander of a nominee got out of secretary general stolzenberg when she asked that question

this afternoon the reality is that. since that was based on consensus and lines have not made a decision on north stream. we are focused on how we can increase the visit diversification of supplies and on the deceased has shifted to security of and the supply but we don't have any position on north seeing to. yet as he mentioned they don't take any position because they need to all agree on one stance and that's not going to happen when it comes to nordstrom 2 it's also just not the kind of thing nato would really make a statement about the foreign ministers of nato members are meeting this week to prepare for this summit of nato members and leaders president biden he knows everyone at the table including you also and it's just don't beg so do a comparison force here between stoltenberg and donald trump versus stoughton bag and judged by the dynamics be the differences. well brant stoltenberg was actually

known as the trump whisperer and people were very relieved that he somehow managed to keep a lid on president trump most of the time and when he would go to washington they would you know get along is as well as could be expected and stolzenberg is is pretty implacable but you could certainly see immediately when when joe biden was elected. and put out photos of him having having met biden at the munich security conference they were smiling they were sitting next to each other it was clear that they he is relieved to have somebody who is not afraid to say that they are a huge supporter of the alliance so it's a much easier job for a young stolzenberg heading into the future now it's good to hear that the stress factors at least a little less than it used to be our correspondent gary schultz the leads tonight from brussels terry as always thank you.

for germany is set to begin its 6th month and a nationwide coronavirus lockdown and it will be the most restrictive since the pandemic began after discussion into the early hours of the morning chancellor angela merkel along with regional leaders agreed that the lockdown must be longer and definitely not longer fatigue levels are high and it did not help soothe anyone's nerves with the chancellor said that germany is now in a new. germany is once again gearing up for another months of lockdown only weeks after a tentative loosening of breast reductions a year interdependent make the opposition says the government's handling of the crisis has been chaotic and this latest action is no help and minute people are just as exhausted from the measures as they are from the pandemic the response has been too late too slow too hesitant and the losing of restrictions at the beginning of the month was not rolled out it was the right protection in place one if you want to lick mature it's feared that public acceptance as regards to measures which

india and are for people's own protection will further decrease and people will lose trust in the government's professionalism and ability to act. on that state premiers involved in the talks said the decisions are justified by germany's exponential growth in infections some happen to figures in our state where once again significantly higher yesterday an incidence rate of over 80 that's why we unfortunately need more new measures to try and curb the 3rd wave in the hope of creating new prospects for the future enough i don't buy it and because of crime and the prospect of another months of restrictions drew a mixed response on the streets of belin. in principle i think it's good of course it has serious consequences for students businesses and the hospital it industry but obviously the how to draw a tough line in order to contain the pandemic. we've got to get. it had a go it's

a total catastrophe it's incomprehensible we have to live with the disease completely it's completely right otherwise we'll never get a handle on it. the whole circus the back and forth and merican always proclaiming she's invented a new word for something it true really annoys me and often thrown out i didn't know where can a vaccination center and see how the place looks and how people are affected there should definitely be a longer lockdown. a year into the pandemic pragmatism seems to be giving way in some cases to resignation and skepticism are listening to story out of washington d.c. epidemiologists and health economists joins me now good to see you again i'd like 1st to start by listening to how the german chancellor described the pandemic in germany last night take a listen in that interview was that's the view fundamentally we face a new virus of the same kind but with very different characteristics more deadly

more infectious and infectious for longer. and this means that we have to deal with elements that we didn't know about a christmas. via. the chance or cause there's a new pandemic now the situation we all agree is serious but new pandemic isn't that term is it bordering on scaremongering i mean is that what we need to be saying to the public right now. i don't think it's scaremongering i think it's a reality that the old old 1.0 most common strain has basically almost disappeared it's almost entirely gone from the u.k. and disappearing quickly from mainland europe but now the 117th u.k. variant is dominating as well as many other variants and it has very different property is about what he 60 percent faster transmission is about 60 percent

greater risk cost of the nation and death and it is. just for a longer period of time an initial initial virus so it has many many different programs but the one property that is still the same is the back seat so there are many things m e is are so much different and what used to work for containing the whole virus any more for this one and that's why it's appropriate to use new pet is it safe to say though that if the vaccination rollout here in europe and in germany if it had been earlier and more efficient we would have more people vaccinated there would be fewer bodies fewer hosts for the vaccine to mutate in. yes you were host for the virus mutated yes and if if the rollout in continental europe was as fast as it was here in israel u.s. u.k. i think it would be much your case and i think the risk of another huge surge is

much lower but the truth is right now there is a potential risk for another search and the risk is happening and just look at brazil brazil has a new variant now variant is much more transmissible and it hasn't completely swamped and taken and collapsed there of pure system we do not want that and we need to get ahead of it so and that's what new zealand got hennepin it and took the long road to seeing if we get ahead of it now we can actually enjoy the spoils of the delayed gratification yeah i mean the vaccination rollout has been sluggish here in europe partly because astra zeneca has not delivered the doses the amounts that it promised but also because the public is hesitant about getting this shot from astra zeneca today there are new concerns about this vaccine coming from the united states tell me what are these new concerns well it's not

a real concern it was just actions and in their press release reported an older 79 percent as you can see whenever we knew or data it was showing 69 to 74 percent africa see now though that's still good but i don't know why it needed to be. presented and used to hide that number. obviously the full data will be disclosed to the f.d.a. but the fact that you were putting their numbers a little bit in their press release and when everybody knew they were new and data is a little concerning but at the end of the it doesn't change the reality that this is going after betty being very generous when i hear of a pharmaceutical you know trying to fudge the numbers and what they want need to take a vaccine a shot in the arm that it's alarming because the trust factor is basically at 0. so i would say yes that's alarming at the end date there is an ultimate arbiter the

ultimate arbiter is the independent f.d.a. the f.d.a. will how all it will not be a press release based news it will be all the data it will see who are all the data it will investigate interrogates and she's going to come around every single number and so he can't get away with the we're just trying to make a good p.r. show and news hits but at the end of the day it's the f.d.a. don't be sorry you know this and that's why we should still trust this next i want to show you something that was posted on twitter today by the turkish sociologist and rider zen to fish now she writes this fuming i supported a us trial of astra zeneca so it could undo the unnecessary damage to vaccine confidence from their botched initial roll well yesterday i was cautious because again press release no data it turns out astra zeneca is botching this rollout.

all right obviously very frustrated person there i mean this is a p.r. disaster for astra zeneca what does it mean the in terms of ending the pandemic. well i think it is a p.r. disaster again in the end we know that the back scene is efficacious from the previous trials and with the new trials hopefully when it's reviewed by the it will be efficacious but i think the presidency i agree it's going to create more has been and slower uptake of this vaccine for sure there is other proxying it's not the only vaccine in the world although i know it's consequence of europe other than pfizer it is mostly the only vaccine available many places but this is why we need to get the other ones approved novak's johnson and johnson all these other vaccines approved so that the presidency issue will not be an issue long term because to get

to the top of this more contagious the 117 we need to get to 8590 percent of people vaccinated and that is something we have to really take leadership to get to that number you'll be asking well we have you hear about what's going on in the united states and about 25 percent of the population has had at least the 1st shot are you beginning to see in the population the impact of this growing number of people who have been vaccinated. you know i think we have a lot of people who are partially vaccinated and you know i think has gotten way ahead of his 100000000. a shot in $100.00 days promise he hit that $58.00 so u.s. death mean ahead of the curve and i'm hopeful but at the same time view when something is also growing in the u.s. it's it's already surpassed 50 percent across the country estimated and with that

we are concerned that it will grow much faster than our uptake of vaccine will help and slow down so i think there might still be a surge in it may all be a probably a smaller one than we had before you know it is definitely a race against the virus and against the clock eric feingold and joining us tonight from washington d.c. because always we appreciate your time and your insights thank you. for fast rising numbers of latin american migrants among the many unaccompanied children are trying to enter the united states through mexico and that's despite the by the administration's warnings not to make the journey many of the migrants have been making their way on foot north to the border with the u.s. trying to avoid the mexican national guard the flow of migrants is testing joe biden's promise to end former president donald trump's hard line immigration

policies here. in the morning i'm joined by our washington correspondent carolina she is covering this story force and she's been to the us mexico border reporting carolyn it's good to see you how big is the surge in migrants heading for the border tonight. data from the u.s. customs and border protection shows that there has been indeed a 28 per cent increase in immigrants arrested on the southern border including unaccompanied minors but it is important to stress that this is not a search that can be attributed exclusively to the by an administration and to his politics and the current increase in people being arrested on the border as it says in a predictable pattern of seasonal changes in undocumented immigration the warmer it gets the more people dare to make that dangerous journey to north america and it

has always been like that also under the terms of ministration but now many of the immigrants have also heard that president biden spoke about having and planning to have a more humane immigration policy and that has of course also motivated them as well to make this journey let me show you what i mean we went to the south and border and we reported from both sides that means also from the mexican side and there we visited a shelter and that is fully packed of immigrants seeking asylum in the united states let's take a look. pester abraham barberry lives in the united states but tries regularly to his church on the mexican side he's an unconventional priest he migrated to houston over 3 decades ago with his mother. after a difficult past and a direct scene he started a new life and became a baptist minister he's now one of the few people on the mexican side in math a model. as many immigrants as possible in his church it's here on the mexican side

where people arrive from a long and a very dangerous journey they're waiting to apply for political asylum in the united states many of them don't know how long they're going to wait to. the euro. currently there are 74. immigrants from central america mexico and cuba sheltered here many of them are also from chiapas a region in mexico known for drug trafficking and or a criminal activity against indigenous people is very high. and tip is nice it's not safe and she had us not for my kids this is why we're asking for political asylum because we know that kids are safer there southernmost within months but that soon with. my goal is to arrive in the u.s. and be granted political asylum to have freedom and peace for me and my kids and i

trust the president biden is going to help us. in this by you know that presser abraham's mission is to help something he has been doing for years with his unconventional wrapper church by attempting to attract young people from the area to his congregation but some weeks ago he notice he has to do something to help the immigrants on the streets of my thumb or us. we noticed there were so many people they didn't know where to go. we're going to help them when people ask me if i think they're going to make it over to the u.s. or tell them the truth. i don't think so if you want to. know. however having a skate from repression in cuba or live threats by the drug mafia in and do it as they are convinced anything else is better so they wait and keep hoping. it was a story there we heard one migrant say that she hopes president bush will help the

plight of latin american migrants and let them into the united states i mean we can understand that she wants that to be true is it going to be true. it's difficult to say president biden promised during his campaign that he will have a more humane immigration policy and he stopped indeed the construction of the border wall he stopped the muslim travel ban he decided that the people who have already applied 2 years ago of for asylum in the united states that they are allowed to enter the united states instead of waiting in mexico but all these changes were done by executive orders changing the whole system of immigration policies meaning meaning of making it easier for this people to apply for asylum granting a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants in the states and so on this all would mean. entering and passing that immigration bill and that is a difficult point because it's not clear if the senate would pass that. well

a very democratic so to say the gratian bill the migrants who are coming from central america they have to traverse the entire links of mexico to get to the border with the united states is there a sense in the u.s. that mexico is doing all that it can to stem the tide of monger. a few weeks ago the leader of the republican party in the house of representatives mr mccarthy he paid a visit to the southern border with 10 more congressmen from his party and he talked about a crisis created by presidential policies of the current administration so it's pretty clear that this whole immigration issue is being used in a political way they're trying to make a thread out of it a threat to national security in their words and this is something that could be out of a playbook of donald trump they are creating fear and it reminds me actually of the

situation in germany with angle americal when 2015 the nationalists they also tried to create a fear out of the immigration situation in the country. and they're a little so sure that we will see what happens correlated to more on the story boards in washington tonight carolyn as always thank you. well the day is almost done but the conversation continues online you'll find us on twitter either at the news or you can follow me at brant gulch t.v. and remember whatever happens between now and then tomorrow is another day we'll see you then everybody.

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