:00:00. > :00:00.A bit of a breeze, some showers in Scotland. The most buzz are fine,
:00:00. > :00:00.crisp, sunny day. Thursday and Friday more cloud and staying the
:00:00. > :00:10.chilly side. This is a special edition
:00:11. > :00:12.of BBC World News America. Reporting from Charlotte,
:00:13. > :00:14.North Carolina I'm Katty Kay. Iraqi forces enter Mosul
:00:15. > :00:16.and meet fierce resistance Our correspondent is with them
:00:17. > :00:30.as they reach the city limits. The ground is treacherous. It is
:00:31. > :00:34.laced with IEDs and it illustrates how hard and difficult this final
:00:35. > :00:39.stage of the battle will be. This is just day one inside Mosul.
:00:40. > :00:42.Only one week to go before America votes in one of the most
:00:43. > :00:44.extraordinary elections in its history - and states
:00:45. > :00:46.like North Carolina are getting a lot of attention.
:00:47. > :00:49.It may be hard to believe but elections used to be
:00:50. > :00:53.At one bakery they are dusting off an old recipe
:00:54. > :01:04.Welcome to our viewers on Public Television in America,
:01:05. > :01:10.Two years after being driven out by so called Islamic State the first
:01:11. > :01:12.Iraqi forces have re-entered Mosul and tonight are within
:01:13. > :01:17.The assault, now in its third week, involves hundreds of troops
:01:18. > :01:21.in heavily-armoured vehicles and there are concerns for the more
:01:22. > :01:25.than a million civilians thought to be trapped inside Mosul.
:01:26. > :01:29.Our correspondent Ian Pannell and cameraman Darren Conway
:01:30. > :01:33.are the first Western broadcast team to enter the city.
:01:34. > :01:45.Slowly and relentlessly, the territory of the so-called caliphate
:01:46. > :01:49.is being taken back. It is almost 2.5 years since the militants swept
:01:50. > :01:56.across these planes with ease. Today, it is the turn of Iraqi
:01:57. > :02:00.special forces. The troops have advanced close to the city of Mosul.
:02:01. > :02:06.We have heard a whistling sound overhead. It is sniper fire or
:02:07. > :02:11.gunfire coming in from Islamic State. The troops have just come
:02:12. > :02:19.down. They are trying to respond and stop the shooting coming in.
:02:20. > :02:32.Few expected they would advance this far, this fast, but the closer they
:02:33. > :02:37.get to Mosul, the resistance grows. We are now just literally a few
:02:38. > :02:40.hundred meters from the outskirts of Mosul with counterterrorism forces.
:02:41. > :02:47.They have come up against resistant and over the last few days we are
:02:48. > :02:50.constantly hearing the sounds of rounds coming in, rocket propelled
:02:51. > :02:54.grenades as well as automatic weapons fire. They are targeting a
:02:55. > :03:00.number of buildings where they think Islamic State is based. When it is
:03:01. > :03:04.safe they will move on to Mosul itself. There are thought to be a
:03:05. > :03:08.million people trapped between the warring parties, with nothing but a
:03:09. > :03:13.white flag for defence. Many fear and mass civilian exodus may lie
:03:14. > :03:18.ahead. This is the moment the troops entered the outskirts of Mosul. It
:03:19. > :03:25.is hard to exaggerate how dangerous this was. Islamic State fighters on
:03:26. > :03:28.the skyline barely seem to care that the troops are advancing. But that
:03:29. > :03:37.does not mean they are not prepared to defend the city or fight to the
:03:38. > :03:44.death. The counterterrorism forces have been moving through Mosul to
:03:45. > :03:47.the outskirts for the last few hours and the most incredibly stiff
:03:48. > :03:52.resistance. We have seen a number Isis fighters moving around,
:03:53. > :04:06.carrying rocket propelled grenades. There have been incoming attacks.
:04:07. > :04:12.And a lot of gunfire. The ground is treacherous. It is laced with IEDs
:04:13. > :04:16.and it illustrates how hard and difficult the final stage of the
:04:17. > :04:21.battle will be. This is just day one inside Mosul. This is the road the
:04:22. > :04:27.troops must now take. It leads to the centre of the city. A dark and
:04:28. > :04:39.dangerous route into the heart of the caliphate of Islamic State.
:04:40. > :04:42.They are making advances, but it is clearly going to be tough.
:04:43. > :04:45.It's almost impossible to talk to people trapped inside Mosul -
:04:46. > :04:47.with Islamic State militants banning satellite dishes and mobile phones.
:04:48. > :04:50.But some are managing to communicate with the outside world.
:04:51. > :04:52.Orla Guerin reports from Northern Iraq.
:04:53. > :04:56.A snapshot of Mosul, silent, besieged, braced for the assault.
:04:57. > :05:01.See how IS have hidden an anti-aircraft gun under a bridge.
:05:02. > :05:03.A resistance group, called the Mosul Brigades, secretly
:05:04. > :05:13.Others are resisting by daring to speak.
:05:14. > :05:17.The airwaves of Alghad radio station, meaning tomorrow, are open
:05:18. > :05:25.We can't say where it's located or identify the staff,
:05:26. > :05:30.they've received death threats from the jihadis.
:05:31. > :05:32.We join the presenter in studio as listeners phone
:05:33. > :06:12.Callers say they are in danger not just from IS, but also from air
:06:13. > :06:30.Off-air, another caller told us that many in the city were waiting
:06:31. > :06:33.for a chance to take revenge on the jihadis.
:06:34. > :06:36.He said life was unbearable and he had to speak out,
:06:37. > :06:42.And, God forbid, if they discovered you making this call,
:06:43. > :06:57.The station says these days it's getting more calls from Mosul,
:06:58. > :07:13.a sign that the captive city is recovering its voice.
:07:14. > :07:16.Well, a week from today American's will pour into polling stations
:07:17. > :07:18.to cast their ballots in the US presidential election.
:07:19. > :07:21.Where we are here in North Carolina could be critical -
:07:22. > :07:23.no Republican since Eisenhower has won the White House
:07:24. > :07:28.Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will both be here this week.
:07:29. > :07:31.Polls show the race tightening across America - which means
:07:32. > :07:37.Our North America Editor Jon Sopel has the latest
:07:38. > :07:52.All our Presidents... Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton both launched
:07:53. > :07:59.their campaigns in June, June 2015 that is, and they have been going at
:08:00. > :08:02.it nonstop ever since. Today, Donald Trump was in Pennsylvania. Hillary
:08:03. > :08:08.Clinton is now on her way to Florida for a busy day's campaigning. And
:08:09. > :08:11.now there is just one week to go. This is where the marathon turns
:08:12. > :08:15.into a sprint as the candidates hurtle round the key swing states
:08:16. > :08:20.which will determine this election. So what are the key swing states?
:08:21. > :08:25.They are Florida and North Carolina in the south, and Ohio and
:08:26. > :08:33.Pennsylvania in the industrial north. For Donald Trump to have a
:08:34. > :08:37.path to victory he needs to win all four. But successive polls suggest
:08:38. > :08:40.houri Clinton has comfortable leads in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
:08:41. > :08:45.And that is why in the battle to get the keys to this place, the FBI
:08:46. > :08:49.intervention may have given Donald Trump momentum but has not
:08:50. > :08:55.decisively shifted the race. Hillary Clinton is still winning where she
:08:56. > :09:01.needs to. I was calling to see if we have support for Hillary Clinton?
:09:02. > :09:04.You also need a ground game. Here too in conventional terms, Hillary
:09:05. > :09:08.Clinton is better placed. This is her team working in another swing
:09:09. > :09:13.state, Nevada. She has far more staff, more offices and more money.
:09:14. > :09:17.Though Donald Trump may not have the infrastructure, that did not matter
:09:18. > :09:22.in the race to become the Republican nominee when he saw off all his
:09:23. > :09:27.opponents. It is worth underlining in many states that early voting has
:09:28. > :09:32.already started, either via postal ballots or polling stations open in
:09:33. > :09:36.early. It is estimated that around 24 million Americans have already
:09:37. > :09:42.voted. On a nationwide average that is around 20% of the likely turn out
:09:43. > :09:48.in this election. That number is far higher in early voting states, many
:09:49. > :09:51.of them key battle grounds. And the figures of registered Republicans
:09:52. > :09:56.and registered Democrats going to vote shows a slight edge for Hillary
:09:57. > :10:00.Clinton. In trying to explain this race, American political pundits
:10:01. > :10:05.have started using the phrase of a British Prime Minister in the 1960s.
:10:06. > :10:10.Harold Wilson's commented that a week is a long time in politics. In
:10:11. > :10:12.this helter-skelter white knuckle ride, indeed it is, and who knows
:10:13. > :10:26.what will happen next? It feels like a long time too. We
:10:27. > :10:30.are in North Carolina. This is the front page of the Charlotte
:10:31. > :10:36.Observer. Everyone is here this week. Bill Clinton, Donald Trump,
:10:37. > :10:40.Barack Obama, all coming to this state. 15 electoral college votes
:10:41. > :10:46.makes it valuable and it is a swing state. It has voted Democrat,
:10:47. > :10:48.Republican, Democrat in the last three elections. What will it do
:10:49. > :10:49.this time? For more on the close race here
:10:50. > :10:52.in North Carolina I spoke a brief time ago with the Democratic Mayor
:10:53. > :10:55.of Charlotte, Jennifer Roberts and asked about the candidates'
:10:56. > :11:01.focus on her state. I tell you in North Carolina, we get
:11:02. > :11:06.up close and personal because we have had numerous visits from both
:11:07. > :11:11.presidential candidates, from the Vice President candidates and the
:11:12. > :11:15.First Lady. We are paying close attention. It looks like Hillary
:11:16. > :11:20.Clinton will win North Carolina but the Paul Farbrace close. It depends
:11:21. > :11:24.on a lot of things. It depends on turnout, what the weather is like an
:11:25. > :11:30.election day, whether people are deterred from the polls. But it
:11:31. > :11:33.looks like Hillary is ahead. It has gone Republican, Democrat,
:11:34. > :11:38.Republican, we do not know which way to go this time around, why does
:11:39. > :11:43.North Carolina swing so much? We have state with a lot of diversity
:11:44. > :11:48.and that includes rural and urban counties. If you look at our city
:11:49. > :11:52.centres they are largely Democratic, like Charlotte, and they have
:11:53. > :11:58.Democratic mayors. If you look at rural areas where people are more
:11:59. > :12:03.self-reliant and they don't need government resources so much and
:12:04. > :12:07.they tend to be more Republican. Our registration numbers if you look at
:12:08. > :12:13.the whole state are almost 50-50. So a lot does depend on turnout. What
:12:14. > :12:18.motivates voters depends on what the top issues are at the time and how
:12:19. > :12:23.people feel in their pocket books. Let's talk about Charlotte, your
:12:24. > :12:28.city. Let's look at the view behind you, it is booming, there is a lot
:12:29. > :12:32.of construction going on. But back in September when a black man was
:12:33. > :12:38.shot by a police officer here, the city exploded in race riots. What
:12:39. > :12:42.did that say about race relations in your community? I think Charlotte is
:12:43. > :12:47.a microcosm of the discussion in the country as a whole about equality.
:12:48. > :12:57.We know we have a history of not being equal. Women got the vote
:12:58. > :12:59.later, African-Americans got the vote later, that have been laws
:13:00. > :13:02.restricting African-Americans' access to things in our past and
:13:03. > :13:04.this is still a part of who we are. We in Charlotte are working hard to
:13:05. > :13:09.eliminate that gap and to bring opportunity to every corner of our
:13:10. > :13:13.city, including minorities and women, small businesses, large
:13:14. > :13:18.businesses. We are working hard to do that but we know it is an aspect
:13:19. > :13:21.of our city. That was the mayor Jennifer but speaking earlier.
:13:22. > :13:26.Now we've heard a lot about division in this election but probably too
:13:27. > :13:28.little about what will bring the country together to tackle
:13:29. > :13:33.I've gone to meet one local pastor here who is trying to change that
:13:34. > :13:35.by welcoming all races and all political parties
:13:36. > :13:43.For those of us who have been Christians for a long time, here is
:13:44. > :13:49.a question. Why does Jesus save us? This man is a former NFL player who
:13:50. > :13:54.gave up football for faith. He opened the transformation church in
:13:55. > :14:02.2010 on Super Bowl Sunday. When you are preaching you tell your
:14:03. > :14:11.congregation you are not voting? It makes people mad. We have idolised
:14:12. > :14:15.politics. In the 1980s there was a phenomenal job of shaping
:14:16. > :14:19.republicanism as following Jesus. He knows the trials of being black in
:14:20. > :14:24.North Carolina. Two years ago he was pulled over by police with his son
:14:25. > :14:28.in the car. A policeman got behind us, pulled on his high beams for
:14:29. > :14:33.over a mile and then pulled us over and asked what are you doing here?
:14:34. > :14:38.Now, I am a grown man with growing children. You don't ask a grown man
:14:39. > :14:43.what he is doing. I am an American citizen who paid taxes for your free
:14:44. > :14:48.way on which you are driving. You do not ask me what I am doing. I am
:14:49. > :14:57.driving home after preaching the gospel but we fit a particular
:14:58. > :15:01.profile. I have to look at my 13-year-old son and say put your
:15:02. > :15:05.hands on the back of the drive of side seat, looking in the eyes and
:15:06. > :15:15.say yes sir, no sir. I did not respond with what was in my heart, I
:15:16. > :15:19.responded to make sure we got home. Derwin opened his church to get
:15:20. > :15:24.races together. That makes it different here. A lot of people in
:15:25. > :15:29.the south are supporting Donald Trump? That is the great thing about
:15:30. > :15:33.the United States of America. We are free to vote on our conscience. For
:15:34. > :15:37.those in the congregation who wary Trump shirt I give them a high five
:15:38. > :15:43.and I love them because what brings us together is more than what
:15:44. > :15:50.divides us. His office is a tribute to his two passions, God and
:15:51. > :15:56.football. No pastor's office is complete without a football! North
:15:57. > :16:01.Carolina is changing fast with newcomers shaken up traditional
:16:02. > :16:05.racial lines. It makes a beautiful mixture but it requires humility
:16:06. > :16:10.which requires love and requires standing in the shoes of another.
:16:11. > :16:11.You're watching BBC World News America.
:16:12. > :16:13.Still to come on tonight's programme:
:16:14. > :16:15.It's not just the US watching the presidential election closely.
:16:16. > :16:26.We go to Japan where all eyes are on the potential impact there.
:16:27. > :16:28.Italy's most powerful earthquake since 1980 has left
:16:29. > :16:36.More than 4,000 of them have been moved to hotels, and ten
:16:37. > :16:47.The anxious journey back to what they had left behind. Every so
:16:48. > :16:54.often, they have to stop for someone to clear the road. Eventually, they
:16:55. > :17:01.find what they are looking for. Italian farmers reunited with the
:17:02. > :17:07.livestock that is their livelihood. Angelo has his herd back, but not
:17:08. > :17:12.his home. I moved the herd here a week ago. There were cheap there.
:17:13. > :17:18.They can go up there, behind that hill. They can go over there. The
:17:19. > :17:24.area is enormous, so it saddens me to sell up. But there is nobody left
:17:25. > :17:27.here, so I have no choice. Italy's most powerful earthquake since 1980
:17:28. > :17:34.has left more than 15,000 people homeless. Local sports halls have
:17:35. > :17:39.been turned into temporary shelters. Officials estimate it will cost
:17:40. > :17:46.around $9 billion to rebuild the wrecked towns and villages. The
:17:47. > :17:54.damage includes the medieval basilica of Saint Benedict which
:17:55. > :17:59.stood for more than 600 years. It is our culture and our story, our
:18:00. > :18:05.roots. Seeing the basilica collapse was truly bad, like ending a story.
:18:06. > :18:09.The sun may continue to shine in this mountainous region, but winter
:18:10. > :18:13.is coming and they will need more than tents. Shipping containers will
:18:14. > :18:18.be brought in before Christmas with temporary wooden homes available by
:18:19. > :18:22.spring. Longer-term challenges are protecting these towns and villages
:18:23. > :18:32.which have proved so vulnerable to enormous devastation.
:18:33. > :18:35.America's elections get so much attention because they have a big
:18:36. > :18:38.In Japan they are watching closely to see what it will mean
:18:39. > :18:44.for the security alliance between the two countries.
:18:45. > :18:47.Since World War 2 the US has based tens of thousands of troops in Japan
:18:48. > :18:54.and it's protected under the US nuclear umbrella.
:18:55. > :18:59.The BBC's Rupert Wingfield Hayes reports.
:19:00. > :19:10.F-15 fighter jets roar above a Japanese island. This has been an
:19:11. > :19:21.America's and thinkable aircraft carrier in Asia. I am now standing
:19:22. > :19:27.on the south-west coast of Okinawa and behind me is the East China Sea.
:19:28. > :19:34.If you take the drone art, that off to the west there is the giant
:19:35. > :19:39.academia airbase, the largest US air forces in the in the western
:19:40. > :19:45.Pacific. If we turn the drone to the north, over on top of the hill there
:19:46. > :19:50.is a Marine Corps base. The US presence here on Okinawa is
:19:51. > :19:56.enormous, and as Donald Trump likes to remind us, it is also extremely
:19:57. > :20:01.expensive. There are nearly 50,000 US personnel based in Japan, and
:20:02. > :20:06.another 25,000 Japanese working on these US bases. In the first
:20:07. > :20:11.presidential debate, Mr Trump said they should be paying us, because we
:20:12. > :20:21.are providing tremendous service and we're losing a fortune. That true?
:20:22. > :20:24.This man is chairman of the Okinawa garrison forces labour union. Does
:20:25. > :20:31.he think his members are getting a free ride on the US taxpayer?
:20:32. > :20:36.TRANSLATION: Trump really has no clue. The Japanese government is
:20:37. > :20:41.paying to lease these areas. Japan also pays the salaries of all the
:20:42. > :20:48.Japanese working on US bases in Okinawa. It also pays to collect the
:20:49. > :20:53.city and water bills. Japan pays around 2 billion US dollars a year
:20:54. > :20:59.towards the cost of keeping American forces here. A lot of people here
:21:00. > :21:04.want that to stop. These protesters are blocking a truck from getting to
:21:05. > :21:10.a construction site for a new US base. They say the burden of hosting
:21:11. > :21:19.so many US troops here is just too high. So does that mean they support
:21:20. > :21:24.Donald Trump? TRANSLATION: Mr Trump makes lots of radical comments and
:21:25. > :21:29.even talks about removing all the US bases from Okinawa so I am a bit
:21:30. > :21:34.hopeful but at the same time I am worried he will bring trouble if he
:21:35. > :21:38.becomes the US president. TRANSLATION: I guess it is a good
:21:39. > :21:43.thing. But when you listen to what he says, I have a big question about
:21:44. > :21:48.him. I worry about human rights. I worry if he is going to make the
:21:49. > :21:52.right decision as a human being. These people may want the US to go,
:21:53. > :21:57.but that does not mean they want Donald Trump to be president. If
:21:58. > :22:01.Japan had a vote, it would go to Hillary Clinton.
:22:02. > :22:04.It's perhaps hard to imagine now but American presidential elections
:22:05. > :22:06.used to be festive occasions and here in North Carolina
:22:07. > :22:14.one bakery is working to revive that tradition
:22:15. > :22:18.Baking - and booze - used to go hand in hand
:22:19. > :22:27.Here's a look at how the tradition is being carried on today.
:22:28. > :22:36.An election cake is a colonial era cake. It is a celebratory cake which
:22:37. > :22:42.was once attached to voting places and polling places. In some of the
:22:43. > :22:48.original recipes we found, there would have been 30 courts of flour,
:22:49. > :22:52.so you can imagine this entire bowl filled with flour. That would have
:22:53. > :22:56.only been one of the components of this cake. Election cake was
:22:57. > :23:03.intended to feed a lot of people, the masses. This is our sourdough
:23:04. > :23:09.culture. You want to make sure it is very bubbly and active. Make sure
:23:10. > :23:15.you beat the butter very, very well. You want to add the eggs one at a
:23:16. > :23:19.time when you continue to beat the butter and sugar. We mix it at low
:23:20. > :23:26.speeds so it does not owe the mix the flour. We want to avoid getting
:23:27. > :23:30.a tough cake. This is the final step, carefully
:23:31. > :23:40.folding in the booze soaked fruit and sherry. It's now fight
:23:41. > :23:45.Christmas, doesn't it? The most important part of baking is to be
:23:46. > :23:50.present. You want to attend to every process. It is a cake which takes at
:23:51. > :23:55.least a day, sometimes two days to make, so you can give it the proper
:23:56. > :24:04.time it needs and you have a beautiful, beguiling cake. Hours is
:24:05. > :24:07.a female owned and led business. Since the cake was once baked by
:24:08. > :24:12.women who could not vote, we thought it was an interesting way to show
:24:13. > :24:16.how gender dynamics have shifted over time. The electoral process was
:24:17. > :24:20.something which was celebrated. There are a lot of bad feelings
:24:21. > :24:25.around this election, and I think we forget how lucky we are to live in a
:24:26. > :24:32.country where there are presumably peaceful elections. The great
:24:33. > :24:36.American take-off, that is what we need to make the election more fun.
:24:37. > :24:39.Well, that brings today's show to a close but you can find much
:24:40. > :24:44.more on all the days news at our website.
:24:45. > :24:49.The polls are still up in the air, too tight to say how the race will
:24:50. > :24:53.go. I am on Twitter. For all of us here in Charlotte,
:24:54. > :24:56.North Carolina thank you for watching World News America,
:24:57. > :25:01.and please tune in tomorrow.