Are trying to cast ballots that others are trying to vote twice but theres no history of that happening just to be clear entrust no voting weve been doing a very very long time and United States. Voter fraud is extremely rare in the United States the rules for mail and voting depend on where you live in the u. S. This year 9 states and washington d. C. Sent ballots to voters automatically this is what the president has railed against. In more than 30 states voters could apply for a ballot to send in by mail in these 5 states in order to vote by mail if you have to give a reason why you couldnt vote in person and the pandemic alone was not reason enough. Mail and voting can be complicated for anyone doing it for the 1st time some forget to sign the ballot others dont seal it exactly right this year around 30 states have allowed voters to curate their ballots they contacted voters letting them know there was a mistake and allow them to correct it as america gets more and more used to mail and this process becomes something thats more widespread and people know about we want to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to safely vote even in the context of the damage and while theres been controversy surrounding mail and voting this year election expert david becker has an important reminder i think american elections were remarkably well given some of the challenges there is any time a 150000000 americans do something at the same time there are going to be errors theyre going to be problems that doesnt mean their system problems. With election day over all thats left is for officials to make sure all those mail in ballots count. Certainly a challenge in his extraordinary times were back now with Richard Walker and phil i you richard ill turn to you because weve been talking about the challenge of the situation you know having this major election amid a pandemic but there hasnt always been the Silver Lining that has emerged an incredible turnout among u. S. Voters what does that say about the you know the state of democracy and the hope in the process among among american citizens. What we know about the time there is that there was a very high tide as weve said a 100000000 also people voted already before election day which is definitely quite striking and yeah i mean cause you can see that as a sign of encouragement or you could maybe flip it around and see it the other way. That it is a sign of exactly this polarization that we are seeing us seeing intense motivations on both sides 2. Sides of the country that. Are really motivated by the desire to stop the other. So i know we dont want to necessarily sit here and talking about doom and gloom. Which weve been kind of doing is watching the worlds oldest democracy you know go through what could turn into a crisis but yeah i think high turnout is not necessarily something. Is entirely 100 percent encouraging i wonder if you share that view fellow and then also to throw in the polarization that richard has also highlighted tell us a little bit about you know this is a long term trend in the United States it has been exacerbated in the past 4 years but what would a win by either candidate do to that trend you think of the you. Are we simply on this road for the future can anyone bring the country together well let me start 1st with the turnout question because the prevailing wisdom in Political Science is usually than the u. S. Trying out spells good news for democrats you know the more for the Democratic Party the more turnout you have the better the party does but we have seen in other countries you know that populist president s on or part populist leaders on the right also get good news from high turnout sometimes and this might be something were seeing in the us that might change the way we think about. What happens when we have high turnout there in terms of the polarization i mean i yes it has been going on for a while but i have not experiences like this before you know i have im a College Professor in a Small College in los angeles and i would say kind of the uniformity with which students feel aggrieved by you by the current state of american politics the way that this president s rhetoric has you know digital voices on you know extremist segments of society that we wouldnt think having a platform you know a white supremacist has really you know it has mobilized students in a way that they really feel discriminated and aggrieved at the same time we have then you know not far away. We have you know voters that have felt left behind by globalisation voters but you know that really also share this kind of paranoia around white grievance mobilized evangelical christians that have mobilized around the president really really also fuel a kind of new identity politics that they feel like theyre losing a certain kind of status or position of power i think they started to feel that also in the 8 years before President Trump selection and theres such a divide between you know urban rural divide in california where i live in l. A. You hardly encounter an opposite opinion and this is deeply concerning to me and in terms of fixing it i mean i think if we go down the course of. You know what has what weve had the last 4 years i dont see much hope for that being fixed there is certainly a sense of intrenchments and we just have to remind our viewers it is of course not just the president ial election it is not just the presidency which is at stake in this election voters are also voting in the keenly anticipated races for Arizonas Senate senate seat for example democratic candidate mark kelly looks poised to beat incumbent senator Martha Nick Sally Fox news is calling the seat for kelly but the Republican Campaign is not admitting defeat saying that all of the votes must be counted 1st. Also the democrats also flipping a senate seat in colorado we have John Hickenlooper easily defeating republican incumbent cory gardner but there was bad news for them in alabama where republican Tommy Tuberville is projected to defeat doug jones of alabama the results mean that the democrats look on likely to take control of the senate. Now in the race for the house the democrats also failed to make substantial gains but the left wing democratic representative alexander of cost you of course ted was reelected from new york as were the other 3 like minded congresswoman who are known as quote the squad for challenging washingtons status quo. And as for the u. S. President ial election of course it remains too close to call with a vote counting continuing in key states that will decide who wins the white house so far neither President Donald Trump nor his democratic challenger joe biden have clinched the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the southwestern state of arizona is the latest battleground state that has just been called it is 11 votes going to joe biden making it the only state to have flipped to the party to the Democratic Party since the 2016 election youre just seeing those results loading in there joe biden 51 percent of the vote donald trump 46 percent of the vote with 80 percent of the votes counted the votes are still however being counted in the decisive midwestern states including michigan with its 16 electoral votes with which trump won last time and as we see those results loading there we can see that joe biden 46 percent of the votes donald trump 52 percent of the vote and that is with 78 percent of the vote counted in wisconsin another one of the states which is very much up for grabs here and so crucial to this election. Wisconsin is still up for grabs as we have heard but we can see overall joe biden with 238 electoral votes donald trump with 213 lets go here now to brussels because its been a difficult year for Transatlantic Relations a difficult 4 years for Transatlantic Relations we know the world is watching this election lets bring in Brussels Bureau chief alexander phenomenon shes standing by and did a parliamentary studios here in berlin is Thomas Sparrow alexandra what do you make of of what we have seen so far transpiring in the United States you are a former u. S. Correspondent now you have the view from brussels how is brussels looking at this election. Well slowly slowly we are getting 1st statements and reactions to what is happening in the United States from e. U. Officials but also from the members of the European Parliament you top diplomat of burrill said on to twitter to the American People have spoken and while we are waiting for their votes to be counted the European Union remains ready to continue building a strong transatlantic relation ship based on the shared values and history so a very diplomatic statement with no direct reference to President Trump claim that he won the election but still pointing to the fact that we dont have results yet more outspoken about whats happening in the us are the members of some members of the European Parliament. Would you call for for example a member of the german greens said that the war trump said today is an unprecedented assault on the american democracy that the word has not seen since the foundation of the United States and munfordville president of you were pm Peoples Party in the European Parliament also said that he very concerned about whats going on and that its a wake up call for the European Union to get less dependent on the United States thomas whats the view there from berlin i mean is a change of administration or for you more years of donald trump really going to make a difference when it comes to actual policy. For now i think this concern that something that weve clearly seen from the 1st reaction that have been coming out of Germany Defense minister could come combo for example talking of a quote explosive situation that could lead to a constitutional crisis on the other side of the political spectrum the left for example calling trumps latest remarks a renewed attack on the democratic system and i just think everyone here in germany and left center right are simply waiting to see what exactly will happen general view here in germanys on the one hand they want clarity and on the other hand they hope that these elections will be pacific time a stereo in berlin alexander phenomenon joining us from brussels thank you so much to both of you. Youre watching t. V. News live from berlin this is our special election coverage of the u. S. President ial election 2020 we will be back again at the top of the hour im sorry kelly and berlin from all of us here on the team thank you so much for watching. The from. 6 of the title fight for the heavyweight championship. The challenger rising star with a huge ego. The reigning champ. The stamp most successful and confident. Tesla vs german Car Manufacturers to show them the future of mobility. Germany. Next on d w. Y subscribe to d. W. Books you meet your favorite writer sometimes the story calls me. Because of this one you know the books. Oh for petes the session for spectacular pictures. Its their passion for nature. Its their complete devotion that makes them the best Wildlife Photographers in the world. This amazing. And traumatic. Confrontational. And stirring. Of 5 adventures. One girl. In the preservation of our planet. Is not just an issue of hard trees and saving the planet is a. Sauce thats dangerous surat. Played such starts november 6th on g. W. Its been said that vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others and a great deal of progress is indeed driven by visionaries people like the lawn musk who dream of colonizing another planet or zipping around in shoes like the jetsons but his dreams are paying off musk is a very successful businessman one of the worlds richest people hes also the c. E. O. And product architect of tesla known for its sleek electric cars but are those cutting edge cars everything thats said to be tesla whats behind the hype thats our topic today on mate although he didnt stop the company the name most closely associated with tesla is of course it all must himself invested millions in his business is before becoming its c. E. O. And although tesla has experienced its share of ups and downs over the years best is love him despite his success and numerous ventures apparently its not money that interests mr musk he wants to save the world. A rocket to mars traveling through a tube mind reading who could be behind these projects. Musk entrepreneur billionaire inventor. Also i think what sets him apart is his willingness to take risks and that he uses his own money. Because experience as a serial entrepreneur gives an easy access to Venture Capital in the u. S. Thats obviously a huge advantage and that combination makes him dangerous to establish players like say the german auto industry. Started tesla without any industry experience at 1st it met with derision as almost everything went wrong but eventually it evolved into a very serious rival to prestigious german carmakers. When theres something he cant do or something thats not working like in his car Manufacturing Processes he hires people or teams to fix it. Before he acquires companies and integrates them into teslas Manufacturing Processes. And now they no longer have as many problems as they had in 2015 the leader of a. Mosque is celebrated as a visionary nowadays and is emblazoned on many a t. Shirt his fans seem to think their idol can solve the worlds problems. Musk has even said to have inspired movie heroes he even featured albeit briefly in a film. Some of this is definitely down to his personality extrovert always forging ahead maybe even managers and i dont know. He also. To indulge his own myth. When he visited germany there was a lot of showmanship. He cultivates the myth and self i think for their. Own master was born in Pretoria South Africa in 1971 the son of a model and an engineer he devoured books at an early age was fascinated by technology and even as a child was already interested in rockets. He says he used to be bullied at school. He and his brother set up a company as teenagers and even made money with it. Must studied physics and economics in canada. Then he moved to the usa and got rich one of the start ups he was involved with was the forerunner of the Payment Service pay pal. He started a ph d. At stanford but soon dropped out. Of. Mind reading is one of his dreams and so he started by having chips inserted into pigs brains but is mind reading a good idea. How do People Living near his factories feel. And how does tesla treat its workers just as real and thats a difficult issue because these serial entrepreneurs like say steve jobs arent always the nicest people. Theyre usually quite a mix theyre often fascinating but they also put people under pressure and expect a lot from them. Who are lost. With hard work and probably a lot of pressure some of masks. Seemingly crazy ideas have become Successful Companies space x. For example may not be taking tourists to mars yet but it is working with nasa. Innovation and learning fast go together hes adopted the principle of fail fast learn fast from american startup culture. When you see how big his companies have become it looks like thats something hes passed on to his employees. The question is what idea will do one must come up with next to change the world. In the meantime the prolific innovator is busy getting a huge manufacturing plant built close to berlin that will produce batteries and power trains for use in tesla vehicles some of which will also be sampled their construction started even before final planning permission was granted the politicians are excited about all the new jobs being created especially in a part of germany that structurally weak not everyones rolling out the red carpet however many locals have serious concerns about the impact the production side will have on the environment. Haida is a Small Community just outside burlington with less than 9000. 00 residents. City dwellers come here on the weekend to stroll. This is a Water Conservation area and home to over 100 birds arrive chase. And it seemed to be home to europes biggest factory full electric cars work on the new test of plant is on the way although regional forest she said not yet granted final Funding Commission stephan show and his colleagues are dead set against the factory and say approval should not be granted they say the forests and freshwater ecosystem are at risk section 8 a of the federal emission protection act allowed tesla to make an early start. Theyre just hoping nothing gets in their way with the huge and nobody knows what the impact below the surface will be its environmental russian roulette. That. These opponents of the factory often meet here in the woods a couple of kilometers from the construction site they say the location is entirely unsuited to this kind of development. As of the freshwater ecosystem here is complex and so far its been protected from industrial development. We now suddenly mr musk wants to build here and only here. This was presumably the only site that appealed to him and the powers that be are doing everything in their power to oblige him. So the fear is that the enormous new plant will use so much ground water that the lakes and streams will just dry up and that more trees will be cut down to make way for further facilities test and wants to set up an Industrial Park around its plant. Tesla aims to start producing cars here what he calls a gigafactory by summer 2021500000 a year further details are in short supply we asked for an interview with a Company Representative but never got an answer tesla project manager alexander did testify before the Brandenburg State Parliament offering a reg limps into the companys plans. Were going to have cutting edge casting systems an extremely efficient body shop and the next generation paying shop and a 1000000000. 00 term depth and complexity never seen before in volume production cars its just the beginning. Thats its not that im fine many objections have been raised the water issue is one of the most important. According to official filings tesla says that to build 500000 cars itll need 1400000 cubic metres of Drinking Water thats about as much as the town of sirte he 1000 uses in a year. Volkswagen by contrast says weve built 250000 cars a Cheese Factory in sicko in 2018 and used 300000. Cubic meters of water less than whole office much per com than tesla. But there are also people including hyder who have big founds of tesla well the company is tight lipped about whats going on at the site these fans have taken to documenting every little development. Today they want to find out what a q. R. Code spotted on a wall is all about and its nothing special a checklist of course this is all rather nerdy. For them monitoring the site has become a hobby they come here every day and post videos on you tube they find it all very fascinating and are evidently not so troubled by the objections. Because this. Is a company that for years has been promoting a radical shift in the energy industry. By its felling 300. 00 acres of woods is by comparison a minor issue. So wouldnt disneyland would have been cleared anyway. Just consider what the factory is going to make because cars that dont emit any c o 2. Could i find the ecological argument about the tree as hypocritical because of course at a local level its a pity to see woodland disappear but it really is the lesser of 2 evils this is the crime of the. Hour placed could is optimistic that other problems likely to emerge for example Traffic Congestion around quite high and can be solved by technical only just tickled means according to official paperwork tesler expects a maximum of 1002 157. 00 trucks to roll up every day and 6300. 00 of its workers to come by com infrastructure will need to be upgraded to cope with that all takes time. Local people will likely be facing traffic jams and. Worsening pollution. Tesla basilan musk is something of a star in germany. Tesla says it will employ 12000. 00 people at this gigafactory labor unions generally welcome job creation and musk may be a visionary but in the United States tesla is known to play hardball when it comes to workers rights. You know this is a very top down company so what do you i must want you know im i think usually gets and hes been very clear that he does not want does not want a union. Like here in america my hope is that the laws in germany are better or stronger and will out for a better relationship between unions and cashflow to keep cattle and check to make sure that theyre following safety protocols and theyre not cheating workers out of wages and Stephen Smith tells me that as his factory in Fremont California tested pays workers on the Assembly Line between 15. 00 and 25. 00 an hour whereas other comic has pay 3 times as much whether the fans include high i dont know about that or not theyre certainly impressed by the speed with which the new factory is taking shape. Just 3 months ago the site looks like this. Tester is pressing ahead in the hope the state will eventually give the final green light its that paragraph 8 day that lets you get a head start and obtain provisional approval bit by bit if in the end the state says no tesla will have to knock it all down again and complete the site. Those who oppose the development would be pleased if that was to happen. They say there are 2 big loses in the process the environment alongside democratic procedures and accountability. Back into the factory is going up and the politicians are all cheering it on the greens the social democrats and the christian democrats. The Planning Authority is under immense pressure and facts are being created on the ground so theres no way that mission will not be granted for a project of the scale its absolutely unacceptable starting construction on smaller slices of the. Under paragraph 8 a is making a mockery of our democratic rights in. Food they say they dont understand how a company that wants to save the world from Carbon Emissions can be prepared to cause serious damage to the environment. So the project is highly controversial in fact the whole topic of emo billet he divides opinion here in germany to some is on musk is a crusader a hero challenging german combat actress to trade in their Combustion Engines for batteries to others hes a false prophet brazenly leading the mobility sector down a dead end. Tesla is the dumbest form of the mobility you could imagine. Because a megalomaniac. Jam packed a tesla on the image of the mobility has been detrimental if not disastrous. Whats wrong with the cars the of 0 exhaust are good for the climate surely there are a good thing. About making cars with huge ranges except that those cars are carrying batteries which are almost one turn in weight 900 kilo batteries and batteries have a very dark side. The production of those batteries involves a lot of electricity generated from coal. Production requires so much c o 2 that youd need to drive a car for years before it starts to become a net c o 2 save or. If one really needs the mobility and Battery Powered cars you 1st have to check that those batteries are small and light and the cars are too you cant model them on combustion cars. But do german manufacturers fare better with theory cars. Ive talked to a lot of money to german car makers. And its actually depressing to know how for years. It is theyve looked at tesla as the standard to follow. Uses his bicycle as often as he can he wants to see more small vehicles like this one but many drivers arent convinced people often want big cars and status symbols how can we stop that habit. But in something that has to end there are sound options out there that are modern and now enjoy widespread acceptance like car sharing. The former greenpeace activist even says certain gasoline powered cars could be an option like this he had converted to consumption 30 years ago. Taken this development a step further and smaller and lighter cars with state of the art Combustion Engine technology. We can now have small but city cars. Will likely needing just one and a half liters of fuel per 100 kilometers. That would have helped to minimize the problem and that option is still there. But even a leader and a half is too much if were serious about ending our dependence on fossil fuels and while one of the big selling points for ecards is that they help reduce harmful Greenhouse Gas emissions is still a serious hitch or to making the batteries to Power Electric vehicles still involves some not so environmentally friendly processes so how green cars really ecards use Raw Materials mined in south america the democratic republic of congo and china. These include lithium cobalt and where earths needed in their batteries. Admittedly extracting in transporting these materials is an environmental nightmare often carried out under inhumane conditions but their reserves are abundant studies show that worldwide deposits of these materials can meet demand for years to come. One good thing ecards dont emit Greenhouse Gases although manufacturing them certainly does. All their parts still have to be produced but the power train only has 200. 00 parts as opposed to a Combustion Engines 1200. 00. Whether electricity comes from is another huge issue renewable sources or fossil fuels the good news is that the share of green energy is growing which definitely plays in their favor. Until now its been easy to overlook the problems with electric vehicles because theyre still in the market last year chery wide cost sales was just 2. 6 percent but look at it this way that market share bolded tripled between 20112018 china is the Largest Global market accounting for 1202900 followed by the us germany takes place at just over 100000 followed by norway and the u. K. The german comic is a late comer as to ability now theyre trying to catch up with tesla but will they succeed my colleague. Paid a visit to the Worlds Largest combative factory to see how theyre coping. Its a fine day for a drive in the countryside i can get this fully electric v. W. Id 3 to 100 kilometers an hour inside 8 seconds but im not doing this just for fun i want to know whether folks wagons cars can hold their own against tesla sedans. Teslas model 3 tops the global sales charts this commercial goes so far as to suggest that germans have jack out about their own industries ability to produce competitive models that big party that big. For this. Is that really the case. Lets make a little comparison. Test those model 3 is more of a family car and the companys least expensive model though not yet available in europe it costs the equivalent of 43000 euros and has a range of 415 kilometers. This id 3 compact ive borrowed from folks wagon costs around 7000. 00 euros less than its us rival. Charging its empty battery with enough power to drive 100 kilometers takes just 10 minutes longer than charging the tesla. But theres a difference. The id 3 cant quite cover the same distances teslas model 3 though again its a lot cheaper. So how is v. W. Preparing to take on the competition. Its speak out plant in eastern germany has been converted to 100 percent electric car production. It manufactures the i b 3 and latest. The id 4 its a Global Market offensive. Through and we have to produce 1350. 00 vehicles and in the future we want to make 1580. 00 cars per day that is then 300000. 00 electric cars per year it could soon overtake teslas entire output but isnt v. W. A bit slow off the mark on the immobility front. Side of it in terms of development the timing was just right for us. Now well be able to produce vehicles in large volume. I remember something similar being said about s. U. V. S people asking v. W. Are you a little late but then as now we were spot on with the timing the technology was ready so we could move on to mass production. Of sport in northern germany is the headquarters of the worlds biggest automaker. I have an appointment with the head of marketing and sales. This id for is aimed at the fast growing s. U. V. Segment. The i. D. 3 was developed for the lower priced compact market and as a more affordable rival to test this popular model 3. But will focus wagon have the courage to switch from a classic Combustion Engine car maker to an all electric future. Produces only economy models we want to make 300000. 00 cars here per year and were already moving forward on the next factory and then well also. A collector cars including ninetys which will give us some breathing space and in china there will be even more production factories will soon be popping up all over the place. In her eyes conventionally powered cars will gradually become models the german auto giant aims to be c o 2 neutral by 2050 for decades the car maker has been putting standardized jaceys in its conventional vehicles sharing those construction designs between different groups brands has been a key factor in v. T. Abuse rise to the top spot but the concept also work with cars is a platform this platform was developed with a cars in mind too so we can offer customers affordable immobility options its 100 percent volkswagen but of course skoda say out an audi will use it too and there will also be a premium platform so it will be pretty nicely covered. Toward the end of my adventure with the 3 im passed by a classic v. W. Bug once the best selling car of all time. Now the car maker hopes that the cars will help them stay in front of the competition. Itll be interesting to see how things develop and of course for tesla once they get that gigafactory off running. Thanks for joining us for another episode of made up see the next time. And you hear me now yes yes we can hear you and how last years german chancellor will bring you an angle a man called as youve never heard her before you surprise yourself with what is possible who is miracle really what a new star and what all somebody who talks to people who follows her along the way admirers and critics alike and how is the worlds most powerful woman shaping her legacy joining us from ackles last up. One continent. 700000000 people. All with their own personal stories. We explore every day life for. What europeans fear and what they hope for. Some good stuff on the world. On g. W. It. Can be. Oh climate change. The transfer system in the series comes from. The sun what endears today how further futurists. Can see the dot com cafferty make a city the melting guests click sponsor. Being born theres. Your along the can prove it since you want to look for no school. You want to be useful but on aloud to. When youre sick the doctors know when you fall in love they wont make you dont have children for fear theyll be invisible to. You assure. You have noticed. When youve gone theres no proof of the ever exist. In every 10 minutes. 10000000 people in the world mistakes they have no nationality im told made up of all the answer is that everyone has the right. Everyone has the right to say i roam. This is deja vu news apply for lane too close to call in the us but the sitting president claims victory anyway we were getting ready to win this election frankly we didnt win this election crap to be pretty sure andro where you are the hard work of talent voters really already know virtual average voters character every ballots counted. Joe biden offering words of encouragement to supporters while President Trump claims voter fraud the election now comes down