Transcripts For KQED BBC World News America 20240712

The freeman foundation. By judy and Peter Blum Kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs. And by contributions to this pbs station from viewer you. Thank you. [music] this is bbc world news america. Joe biden brings the Democratic National convention to an end with promise to bring america back into the light if he wins the race f the white house. We take a look back at this wes convention. The u. S. Postmaster general tells the Senate Committee that ballots in novembers president ial election will be delivered sec tely and one. A series of massive wildfires in northern and Central California force thousands from their homes as emergency offictols struggle keep the blazes under control. [music] for all of you watching on pbs andhe around globe, welcome to bbc world news. Joe biden gave the bgest spee of his political career last night, defining this election as a battle between the lightsnd darkn as he accepted the democratic partys nomination to challen donald trump. Democrats are rejoicing after his smooth performance clearly illustrated the differences on the ballot and reinvigorated his campaign. Heresca our north ame editor. Oh say can you see reporter the democrats have managed t make covid convention work, helped by a roster of big nes. The chicks singhe national anthem. But more particularly, by the small names, ordinary americans with stories to tell. Last night, it was braden, a k with a stutter. It was really amazi to see that someone like me would be president. Reporter a conditio that joe biden overcome as a child but has never turned his back on. I thinkhe day i saw joe the clearest reporter the other thing is to show that the party is unitehi joe biden. These are the people who lost out to him, gathering to say, th maybe slightly strained smiles, what a great guy he is. And all of us, whether youre progressives,oderates or conservatives, have got to come together to defeat this president. Nreporter and thats b driving force of democratic strategists at this convex, presenting joe biden as empathetic, decent and yes, a counterpoint to donald tmp. If you entrust me with the presidency, i will draw on the best of us, not the worst. Ill be an ally of the light, not the darkness. Its time for us, for we the people, to come together. And make no mistake. United we can and willvercome this season of darkness in america. Reporter this wasnt a policyheavy sech but clear differences on the environment, the economy, immigration and how to deal with the covid outbreak werepp aent. And 3 years 32 years after his first tilt at becoming a president ial candidate, joe biden could finally say these words. It was with great honor andhu lity, i accept this nomination for president of the United States of america. reportis is the nearest thing to audience reaction theres been all week. A popupve dn cinema in wilmington with joe biden topping the bill. The fireworks stch fromere to the republican conventxtn eek. There will be no effort to rebrand donald tmp but there will be a concerted one to try to redefine joe biden. The empathetic man will be depicted as weak, a prisoner of e left, merely senile. It wont be pretty. Well, joining me now for more on the conventions is the bbcs its clear that democrats are united from this virtual biden made a powerful enough pitch to those still undecided or even curious abouthether they should vote in this election . I think it was a welldelivered speech. Left out there, but the democrats, the entire week, were trying to motivate their base. What you saw with joe biden in his speech last night were the two cs. Character, contrasting his character with Donald Trumps. He came right out and said, character is o the ballot. And of course, covid. The one area where joe biden went into details in his speech was in his critiquing of donaldl trumps hg of the pandemic and outlined the steps he would take immediately to address what he sees as those wknesses. So i think going forward, were going to see the the democrats take those two issues and o runn them above all else. Well, were early i the campaign. We have debates coming up. We saw a lot of dembrrats thing a sigh of relief that joe biden really nailed this speech. But is there concerns going forward, if he can keep up the momentum . That definitely is a concern. I dont think democrats are going to be able to rest easily until joe biden is sworn in, in january. They were burned inhi016. I dont there is any chance of them being overconfident over the next couple of months. Obviously the debates are the nog thing looming on the horizon that joe biden and the democrats got through this convention, that he delivered a smooth speech. I think they definitely feel but there is going to be a lot of pressure on his performance, the debates in september and october. And i think getting out onhe campaign trail, which he hasnt done a whole lot of recently, he going to have to get out there, be more in front to have public. When that happens, theres always a risk that he could make a mistake. One of his gaffes could come in and could disrupt the flowthf election in an adverse sort of wayor the democrats. Lets look ahead to the Republican Convention next week. What do you think their main messages are going to be, and how a they going to attack joe biden . Well, theyre going to present their own string of americans who say they have been positively affected by Donald Trumps proams as well as who arfearful of what would happen if a democrat like joe biden would take over. One of the main attacks has been from republicans was to paint joe biden a senile, having lost a step. I think thats going to be more difficult now after theh spe heave last night. For one thing, joe biden didnt talk a lot about policy details. I think what the republicans will try to do is fill inps the here and say, joe biden wasnt talking about the details of policy because its the lef wing, people like bernie sanders, progressives who have these bigovernment programs. Theyre the things that are going to be enacted if joe biden becomes president. Anthony, im curious how much u think President Trump is going to struggle this time around, because cpared to the last election, he can no longer be the kind of outder, trying to shake things up. That is going to be a very real challenge for him. Four years ago, it washe first time hed ever run for public office. He can make promises, assertions without having a record behind him where people could pick it apart and say, well, you said this, you didnt do this. Why werent you doing this before . Now he has three and a half years. So if he says things like he wants to tackle runaway Violent Crime in american cities, they can look back to four years ago to hiscceptance speech where he said that was going to end right then. You h had three andf years. We looked at your record. What is going to be different it is a different sort of thing for a politician for the first time running for offic again after having this record in front of him. All right. Anthony, always great to get your take. Thanks so much. Now, the russian opposition activist, Alexsei Navalny, who is in a poison with suspectedin pois is to be flown to berlin for treatment. Russian doctors had earlier said he was too ill to be moved but have now changed. Heir min his supporters say he was intentionally poisoned and theyve accused the kreml of trying to cover it up. From moscowow. Reporter she spent all day battling for her husband, convinced Alexsei Navalny has been poisoned, julia wants him moved abroad. Away from a siberianpi htal thats bristling with plain clothed security. The situation is outrageous. Its clear they are hiding something. We demand that the hospital release aleei navalny to us immediately so we can take him to doctors we trust. Report Alexsei Navalny collapsed on a flight toca mosc, rried off in a coma, after an ergency landing. Crooks and thieves, i whate calls those in power here. Mr. Nalvan is russias loudest voice ofpposition and his forensic anticorruption byestigations are hated those they target. Today his rsian doctor suggested there could be an innocent explanation. Not poiso but low blood sugar perhaps. Hisre familyt chancing it. And an ambulance was floa flownn board judged h stable tocs on leave, so the russian teams have done a uturn, earning themselves a round of relief applause. Alexsei navalny remains critically ill tonight, still unconscious, but his family hope a foreign clinic can givhem clearer answers. Bbc news, moscow. Turning back to the United States now, because the u. S. Post master general has told a sena committee that ballots in novembers president ial election will be delivered securely and on time, amid concerns that recent policy changes were made to help reelect President Trump, dejoy denied that he hadt spoken t president about Service Operations and said he himself would be voting by ml. Six states have sued the u. S. Postal service saying their ability to conduct free and Fair Elections has been harmed. Heres more. Heporter news landed in center of a perfect storm when he became post master ge general two months ago, or did he creat . Thats what this hearing is about. He mails have delayed and theres concern they will also delay mailin ballots. And theres suspicion that this is deliberate because President Trump is againstd expan mailin ballots. He said its going to lead to widespread fraud, and hes opposed extra funding to the Postal Service because of that. P tht master said he was a businessman who had been brought fix the Postal Service, to whip it into shape, because it was billions into debt. He said the changes m hee so far did not reduce the capacity to deal with aot of mailin ballots but because of the concern expressed, he would put them o hold until after the election and make sure that things went as smoothly as possible with the mailin ballots. Hes going to be appearing in front of another congressional hearing on monday and hes being sued by d. C. And sixtates. That shows you how much concern there is among democrats about this issue of Voter Suppression in this election year. Now, s people have died in wildfires that areweing across california. The fires likely sparked by lightning, more than doubled int size todayo become some of the largest in thes sta history. 175,000 people have been forced flee. Their homes and the covid pandemic is only complicating matters further. Most of the fires are in the San Francisco bay area but satellite images show smoke blanketing nearly all of california as well as most of nevada and southern idaho. Reporter vast infers blaze throughout northern california. Claiming at least five lives, destroying hundreds of buildings, in an area bigge than los angeles. Satellite images show t smoke cloaking most of california, creating the worst air quality on the planet at a time when people are fighting a respiratory pandemic. And yet this isal polit the massive fires again in california. Maybe were just going to have to mak them pay for it, because us. Dont listen to we say you gotta get rid of the leaves, the debris, the fallen trees. Reporter but most of the blazes are sparked by whats being called af trifecta fire conditions, a freak summer lightning storm, the most intense for more than a decad collided with a heat wave, recording record temperatures. And the resulting flames fanned by hinh. If you are in denial a cut climatnge, come to california. 11,000 dry lightning strikes. We h over 72hour period leading to this unprecedented chalernge. Repocalifornia is no stronger tow scenes like this to scenes like this, but thero ty of these fires so early in the season has many on the front line. Temperatures are expected to ease, but there fires now generating so much heat, they are creating their own winds, pushing them in multiple, unpredictable directions, threatening tens of thousands of homes. Bbc news, los angeles. That damage always so striking to see. Now, in other news, libyas rival authorities have declared an immediate ceasefire, the internationally recognized government ordered its forces to seize a hostilitiesnd said elections shou h bed. The eastern based parliament issued a statement saying their forces would also stop fighting. The United Nations welcomed the move. Announced that t will noave longer allow fans to wear native american head dresses, fac paint or other costumet future games. The nfl team said it made the decision after consulting native kansas city area. Ies in the the team says its also exploring the creation of a formalized Education Program about indigenous issues. Ie joe dea angelo, the deangelo, the man known asgo the en state killer, has been sentenced to life in prison. His sentencing marks the end ofe a c investigation that began in the 1970s andwo attracted dwide attacks. Deangelo was a California Police officer ding h 12year spree of brutal crimes in the 70s and 80s. He was arrested in 2018 after policenracked him d by using a genealogy website to match his d. N. A. To that recovered from sevenel crime sce and the United Nations mission in mali says its humanights team has visited the former president and others detained by the leaders of this weeks coup. It said they are still bei held at a military camp outside the capital but gav no further details. The military says two detainees have been b released that 17 others are still being held. Youre watching bbc world news america. Still to come, the race for a coronavirus vaccine. We te aook at the role somers volunt are playing in the mecal trials. Thousands of britisholiday makers are racing to get home before new coronavirus quarantine restrictions are enforced. People coming from countries like croatia. Heres our correspondent. Reporter more than any other countr in europe, croatia relies on touri. One euro in every six is from the industry. That means actually when you ink about it not just the u. K. , but its been germany, austria, italy, slovenia, putting quarantine rules in place, hitting the industry hard. The fact is not just the u. K. But germany and france are quoting the fact that tourists returning from the dalmatian coast, the tourists there are stting to be the cluster of cases returning to other countries. People were talking about those of italy, austria skiing, and then came back to their respective countries. They were blamed. In that similar sense, people have been blamed for coming back and spreading the vus. [music] turning now to the situation in belarus, where Opposition Leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has spoken out for the first ti since fleeinghe country. She has called on her supporters to step up theirtrikes at factories across the country to try to forcere newdential elections. Now, belarus is facing its biggest political crisis since the breakup of the soviet union with tens of thousands of saying veteran leader Alexander Lukashenko reelection on the 9th of august was rigge Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has been speaking exclusively to our correspondent in lithuania. Reporter the wom manyhi ts should have been crowned as president ,f belarus woman who never even wanted to be a politician, breaking cover for the First Time Since being forced into exile. She now leads the opposition from afar. When we sit down with her, that reluctant sense of duty still shows. I just cant stay away now, because i became like a symbol of freedom. I understand that t im not leader. Im more frightened than anybody else among them. Im frightened i will not be able to do enough. I dot know. Just its your responsibility. Reporter this was the moment shepe disaped, the day after the election, when longtime president lukashenko declared himself the victor. When she emerg i lithuania she hinted at a terrible choice shed have toake toeep her children safe. Can you tell me anything about what happened in those election offices and what choice you were given . Im sorry but i cant. Not now. Reporter enlarusians have t to the streets like never before to show they voted for for change. Ya and tyre ready enough is enough, was her message r the regime today. Enough lying, intimidation and violence. The past weeks have seen protests detained a badly beaten. How do you feel when you see the reports of violence that have come out of the country in the last week . You know, i was really shocked. But i couldnt find a place. I just was crying. I didnt know when we saw the first pictures, i cant imagine the russian people can be so cruel. Reporter with protests and strikes nearly into their third week, alexander lukasheo shows no sig b ofking down. Are you worried that the movement could fail . No, im not worried, because believe in the russian people, the same way they believed in me. We have no right to step back now, because if not now, well be slaves. And our people understand this. And im sure we will stand till the end. Er repothat end, for her, is new elections. Ones that are free and fair. Only then, she tells us, will belarusiansnow who their president truly is. Bbcs. N now, scientists have repeatedly warned tha it could be many months before we know if any of the 30 or so coronavirus vaccines currently undergoing trials are effective. One way to sed up phecess would be if socalled challenge volunteers are given the vaccine and then deliberately infected with the coronavirus to s if theyre protected. Heres our medical editor with more on that. Reporter the longer we go without a vaccine, the longer people die unnecessarily. Reporter young, healthy and determined. Shawn is 22 and studying in oxford. He keeps fit by swimming. I volunteered to be infected with theav corus. Reporter shawn wants to take part in a socalled challenge trial where hed first receive a vaccine against covid19 and then be deliberately infectedav with corus to see if the vaccine protects him. My mother has a hereditary lung disorder and eve day we go without a vaccine is a day she faces a risk that she might so i want to do everything i can to help g that vaccine to her and everyone as quickly as possible. Er the only way well know if a Covid Vaccine works is if volunteers get exposed to the virus. But at the moment, thats being left entirel to chance. It could take months. Deliberately infecting volunteers could speed this up. One day sooner is a group campaigning for vaccine challenge trials. And it has the support of5 nobel Prize Winners and many leading scientists. Dominiqueilkinson is an expert. The thousands of lives that might be saved if we could get toci a v sooner, that theres an ethical imperative to investigate and condu challenge studies. Reporter a safe and effective vaccine against coronavirus is our society, the economy willes, return to normal. So anything that can speed up its delivery has to be worth considering. But what about the risks of theyre hard to calculate but for Healthy Volunteers in theire 20s, they probabl lower than the chances of dying from donating a kidney or having your appendix removed. Dr. Katrina pollack is not convinced, at least not yet. T shes runni trial o Imperial College londons coronavirus vaccine. Im not sure that its going to necessarily accelerate developments in a vaccine in the way that some people might hope. There are certainly significant, at this point, ethical and safety considerations for doing it. We need a lot more understanding of this disease before we start thinking about those kindsief st reporter if coronavirusch lengstudies do ever take place, volunteers would need to spend at least two weeks in arantine at a Clinical Research a unit. There plent like shawn who are rdy to sign up, hoping to play their part in the search for a vaccine. Bbc news. It really does make you think, how far would you go to contribute to society lik that . Well, now, before weo, beirut continues to reel from the explosion that wreaked havoc on the city just two weeks a. As people recover, some are finding solace in singing. [singing] michelle is one of lebanons most famou opera singers. He was set to perform in front of a packed crowd tonight but theater he was set to perform in. Despite all of that, in the great tradition of show business, michel has decided that the show must go on. Well, its been great having you with us. This is wld news america. Have areat weekend narrator funding for this presentation of this program is provided by. Language specialists teaching spanish, french and more. Raymonjames. The freeman foundation. By judy and Peter Blum Kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for am and by contributions to ts pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Girl we are the curious. Woman 1 wow man 1 the adventurous. Man 2 oh daniel tiger grrr woman 2 hose venturing out for the first time. All blast off [rocket expl ion] man 3 and those who have never lost our sense of wonder. Man 4 whoa man 5 are you seeing this . [quacking] vo we are the hungry. Cookie monster cookie man 6 the strong. Muhammad ali i must be the greatest vo the joyful. Bob ross a happy little cloud. Man 3 we believe there is always more we can uncover. Rl more we can explore. Woman 3 we believe. Man 6 . In the capacity for goodness. Vo and the potential for greatness. Man 7 the torch has been passed to a new generation of americans. Man 1 pbs. Man 3 pbs. Girl pbs. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc woodruff good evening. Im judy woodruf on the newshour tonight mailing it in. The u. S. Postmaster general faces coional scrutiny over postal delivery in a critic election and the president s remarks about mailin voting. Then, the convention concludes. Joe biden formally acceptscrhe deic nomination for president and makes his pitch to american voters. Peblus, hunger inon. A major food shortage grips a country already mired in the dual crises of covid19 and a tanking economy. Reporter the challenges here re beirut are about a lot