There you are watching r. T. International this afternoon where its just gone for in moscow in america people are waking up to find their president ial election race stuck on a knife edge results are hanging in the balance in a few key states but that hasnt stopped joe biden claiming hes on course to win a slim lead in Electoral College votes or donald trump for that matter claiming that he has already won and is threatening legal action. Ok well to get more on this were joined in the studio. And also. Is here with us. Coming to us from new york so lets go there 1st and talk to kalib. Just talk through how the race is panning out so far whats the latest and what can we expect. Well as was widely anticipated it is the morning after the election here in the United States and we do not have a clear winner at this point a number of states have yet to declare a winner and its not clear who will be the president for the following 4 years now at this point in the Electoral College joe biden is ahead hes got 238 electoral votes donald trump only has 213 there are there are 87 electoral votes that are still up for determination the states of pennsylvania michigan georgia North Carolina wisconsin and the vadra are yet to be called and this point you know both candidates if you look at the electoral map have a pretty clear possible path to victory it could go either way votes are still being counted around the country now donald trump would need 57. 00 electoral votes to win joe biden being slightly ahead does not need as many votes as trump does in order to win but its still still unclear not not yet being determined where or mail in votes in a number of states that are being counted the country is very very much on edge there were clashes in the streets of washington d. C. In the early hours of the morning people were injured some people were taken to the hospital this took place near the white house where protesters had assembled there were Trump Supporters as well as opponents of u. S. President donald trump there were also some other interesting results around the country the state of mississippi voted to remove its confederate themed flag that was a pretty big upset in the state of mississippi their long standing state flag was overturned the state of oregon voted to become the 1st u. S. State to legalize the heroin and cocaine that was quite an upset in the state of oregon so some dramatic results taking place around the country. When it comes to the president ial race we dont know yet there are there are still a number of states that have to give results until those results come in and no clear winner can be declared certainly still anyones game is they say ok thanks ken it was arties kind of mock in new york last night somebody can say if he joins us in the studio im already were hearing that too close to we heard from biden we have been trumped by i think the bank in a way well yeah no neither is conceding both both promise you know the voodoo think that theyre theyre going to win this and this is perhaps the worst Case Scenario election to clues to cool that is being dragged out and people 1 are on the edge nerves of fraying theres an atmosphere of tension everywhere the huge protests all across the country hundreds of people now you know participating in fights have been taken to 4 people have been stabbed supporters stab just outside the white house. At the same time while everyone is waiting to patients is really is running out while everyone is waiting on the results we already have a hint of whats to come and that is both candidates are claiming that theyre winning. We believe were on track to witness a lot were going to wear this thank you thank you thank you. We were getting ready to win this election frankly we did win this. We will win this. We already. Needless to say the polls which had you know a dramatic advantage for biden they were again just as in 2016 they were they were wrong and the point here is that the worst Case Scenario that i talked about you know there were a few worst Case Scenarios this is one of them because nobody knows what will come next and the the United States is divided like never before you know if its an election thats too close to call if its an election that can be contested it will be contested and the point here is that while the ugly all the. Dirt it is all shipping out out of everybody the country is radicalized polarized both sides are incredibly polarized the violence were seeing right now you have 4 people stabbed just because they have the wrong the wrong hats on outside the white house and the point here is that we already have. The both sides will contest the election no matter who wins trample biden that they have avenues to be legally challenged now that its so close they will have the opportunity to challenge the result and it could drag out for weeks couldnt it you mention the stabbings that took place over the last few hours but of course the backdrop to all of this is plenty of demonstrations plenty of protests and violence that weve seen over the last few months were what exactly is this roots back to the black lives not the protests and were seeing black lives matter protests now. Being near the white house. Again fights between b. L. M. Protesters and trumps of borders all over the country america has never in living memory been as divided as it is now never people are absolutely polarized there is such a tiny minority i would say that is that is opening of center that is open to either one of the other that you know believes in. In the middle ground and compromise the others dont trump cannot stay in the white house for one side for the other side trump cannot leave the white house and we have a situation that warn you you could say you know the b. L. M. Movement and that is a feeling of injustice in america it can be about racism it could be about politics it could be about social injustice but there are reasons these said among all sides that you know what is happening is unfair and it will be it will be heightened it will be stoked by by this election which is too close to call there are so many rumors and speculation and fake news about fraud and machinations and you know Voter Suppression that all it will take what it will take is just a tiny spark and we have seen america preparing the only way it can really for any eventuality and that is with more police more training more tear gas more troops on the streets ready for another huge you know huge fire to erupt as we saw with the b. L. M. Protests. We want the law to be used in a proper manner so well be going to the u. S. Supreme court we want all voting just. We dont want them to find any ballots at 4 oclock in the morning and them to the list of. The president s statement trying to shut down counting of julie cost ballots was outrageous unprecedented and incorrect a naked effort to take away democratic rights never before has a president s will to strip americans of their voice it will not happen counting will continue until every duty cost vote is counted. Look both sides. Arguing about the fine print about the technicalities trump now insisting the vote counting be be stopped in certain locations biden saying that that what trump is asking for is unconstitutional illegal completely illegal and you know something that trump would do and this is an indication of what is the cup. Well ive just to tell you some of the images being we have been seeing over the last few months a lot of anger black lives matter processing looting except for and i well that isnt the only issue thats being faced the debate in the United States is seeing people come out in the streets either though its absolutely everything. Its about the social aspects of social revolution the United States is changing very quickly we can see this in the Election Results and how people are voting for whom and where various upsets you know unpredictable like florida nobody saw hispanics voting for trump from being dubbed a racist for how many years nobody nobody saw that coming and you had troubles up among black voters among hispanic voters among. Cuban voters hes down with one. White voters white men i mean the the United States is changing very quickly and peoples values are changing very quickly some of them are changing too fast for other americans and you know in a in a situation where theres this much change some people want to stick stick with tradition stick with the tried and tested old other people want something new you know changing demographics there is a division among americans divide in america themselves like there hasnt been as i said in living memory and this is why were seeing people being stabbed outside the white house because you know patients patients patients patients is got everybody wants to be the winner everybody wants their way to be the way that america goes forward obviously that cant happen and by by the vote by the vote we see that the country is divided right down the middle right down the middle and that spells you know disaster potentially in the future as dawn are called a colleague reports division and calles. It was all high hopes and big promises back in 2016 when donald trump took his place in the white house the nation was already divided by race gender class you name it and the country needed a hero now its time for america to get behind a division have to get together. Republicans and democrats and independents across this nation i say it is time for us to come together as one United People turned out trump never came to be that knight in shining armor. For. 20 twentieths president ial election seasons looks more like an all out war on the streets more than anything mishandling of the Pandemic Response and the economic crisis but most significant was the brutal killing of george floyd that sparked outrage across the nation and even calls to defund the police altogether. And instead of trying to unite people americas dividing lines became part of both parties political strategies on the one hand biden and the democrats sold themselves as allies of the socalled peaceful protests wets lets be honest were not so peaceful probably. Peacefully protest. Not a bad way to dip your toes into the more radical left and black voter pools but on the other hand. F. Trump who decided to play the tough guy calling anti racism protesters vandals and anarchists trump sent federal troops to put down uprisings in cities a move that won support from a number of Police Unions and people who didnt want to see their white picket fence neighborhoods ruined now the law and order doctrine also embolden some of trumps more radical supporters so that seeing armed right wing militias and anti for freely Walking Around the streets of American Cities became a new reality and one of both candidates done to fix all this point the finger is what it is is the raese whats going on and he doesnt want to see a lone order because he cant because you lose his radical live supporters proud of my boys stand back and stand by but ill tell you what ill tell you what somebody has got to do something about anti fair and the left because this is not a right as we move them is it is a direct this is a. Guy this is the radical left would you she wasnt raised on both sides of the political spectrum weve got armed groups white nationalists proud boys right wing militias and the whole bunch so what exactly will happen when the election is over well everyone just sit down and decide to accept the results. Well it doesnt like it does it because they need to buy in the trunk looks like theyre going to concede defeat at this stage no nerves and it looks like this one will will be drawn hours and full of surprises ok thanks. Against if we can get plenty of reaction now from around europe because plenty of is being said there and we can go to our correspondents peter oliver hes in berlin hes in london and charlotte dubinsky is in paris and they all join me on the big screen to my right good afternoon to you all pay to lets start with you 1st in berlin whats been the e. U. Reaction so far. Well weve heard from a few senior figures within the e. U. Most notably the Prime Minister of slovenia of all places. Has said that hes already called it basically for donald trump and mike pence. His tweet was followed up with one from the chief spokesperson of the e. U. Commission who said that the democratic process was still on the way in that there was still chances things could change but weve also heard from month verba whos one of the most senior m. E. P. Ease in the European Parliament saying that we should look here in europe towards the United States and if we dont sort out our problems in the e. U. We could end up as divided as america while. The e. U. High representative for Foreign Affairs has been keeping it as diplomatic as you would expect from the e. U. Top diplomat saying that whoever is in charge of the United States following this elections there the e. U. Will continue to do business with them thats been pretty much the message as well from here in germany from one of the countrys main tabloid newspapers good look mr president whoever it is on the front page of the build saying that this was the most important vote in the world right now that was going on what weve heard from senior figures though here in berlin from Angela Merkels come. But it is that whoever is in charge of the United States following this election the problems that. Are in existence between berlijn and washington they arent going to go anywhere. With. The German Government and Defense Ministry as they have to deal with any reality on the ground in the us regardless of who gets to appoint the administrations point about the new German Defense spending you know its true to the relations with lash out of malls have been brought our basic democratic time is different but im Pretty Simple and the demands are just as detailed as im not a party. Well prior to the Trump Presidency germany had been one of the United States closest allies politically economically and strategically some of those issues have been spawned in a new way on trumpet with berlin in washington it polar opposites when it comes to nato spending trump isnt the 1st president to tell germany that it needs to contribute more but hes the 1st one to do it so publicly and so often when it comes to north stream 2 a pipeline bringing gas from russia directly into germany that german Industry Needs in order to fire the economy well trungpa said sinews did everything it can to try and shut that down including putting in place sanctions against german entities involved in it something that would have been on thinkable in the past then as the relationship between donald trump and chancellor Angela Merkel is clearly well its clear they dont get on but this isnt the 1st senior politician angle or merkel how to deal with in a similar vein to donald trump got to remember she spent years having to deal with Silvio Berlusconi when he was Prime Minister of italy it is a different matter though when it comes to the president of the United States and their relationship well its pretty clear to say that there isnt any particular closeness certainly not the likes of the relationship that angle america had with barack obama. Prior to him a lot of senior figures in germany in berlin in the political sphere. Would really rather a byte and presidency not because the problems would go away but because while donald trump has demonstrated time and time again hes willing to air the dirty laundry in public that perhaps would be done behind closed doors under a by presidency ok thanks that was arties peter over there in berlin so lets head now to london. The u. K. Has this special relationship is it keeps a with the United States what it said given that the election is hanging in the balance in the United States. Well of course as you mentioned there that socalled special relationship between the former imperial power the u. K. And the. Sun if you will the United States and thats the term that was quoted by Winston Churchill many years ago and it has survived. In the relationship perhaps the closest period in modern history was the relationship between tony blair and george bush but in recent years perhaps some strains creeping in on the donald trump youve seen differences on things like at the 5 g. System here in the u. K. With trump pressuring the u. K. To lessen or completely kick out chinese influence in the 5 g. System differences with regards to the iran deal and perhaps all of those reasons why the foreign secretary dominic robb was somewhat circumspect saying that its not really important who the president is because he believes that special relationship will overcome any ups and downs and theyre all are in the mood to want him stories slightly different controls of the opportunities and the relationship but come what may im very confident that the bedrock by economic ties our Security Cooperation and shared values will mean that the friendship the strength of economic ties cultural ties the shared interests im very confident that the relationship will go from strength to strength now of course all of these dont exist in a vacuum the United Kingdom itself is really hurtling towards a no deal breaker the krona virus pandemic has meant the talks were hard enough as it is and those talks not really going well between the u. K. And the e. U. And so the u. K. Were banking on a trade deal between the u. K. And the usa but weve seen previous democratic president barack obama saying that the u. S. Is priorities would be a trade deal with a big block like the e. U. The u. K. Would be to the back of the line it remains to be seen whether biden would take a similar stance to that of. His democratic colleague but then on the other hand you have donald trump saying that he does want to strike a trade deal with the United Kingdom but at what cost there are many here in the u. K. That fear that any trade deal would mean essentially the asset stripping of the United Kingdom and selling off public assets and utilities like the National Health service the n. H. S. So many people here watching those Election Results very closely to see what it means for the future of the United Kingdom. So lets finally go to paris then charlotte been. Hearing pretty much diplomatic responses so far with the election hanging in the balance is that the story too in france. Yes absolutely president maclin has been incredibly tight lipped on twitter in regards to this election but we did have one slip from the minister of the economy hes treated in the last few hours that what ever happens in the United States europe must strengthen politically and economically in the face of not just the United States but also china so a sense that regardless of the outcome of the election over the other side of the atlantic france in europe will be more to their own tune i want to talk about the relationships though that have been playing out over the last few years of course when president michael was elected here back in 2017 trump was already in office in the u. S. He invited trump to come and spend basti day here in france and it did seem as if the chew genuinely got sold with each other in fact many people suggesting there was a bit of a bromance between trump and in those 1st few months but that quickly soured and they have been big problems in the relations over the last few years well go through some of those now lets start off with the Paris Climate AccordPresident Trump said he was going to leave that Paris Climate Accord which might present might. I was very unhappy about there was also the Iranian Nuclear deal which again President Trump said he was going to leave now present macron was trying desperately to keep that Iranian Nuclear cooled alive in fact during the g. 7 summit last year in 29 when france was the host nation he surprised everyone at the summit by flying in the arabian foreign minister hoping perhaps that hed be able to get the 2 sides behind the table death rash the problems that didnt happen and it didnt seem that trump was particularly happy about that move by michael theres also been the trade wars between the countries this is over the digital tax the gaffa tax a tax on companies such as Amazon Google and facebook the u. S. Has hit products in europe including french products such as wine and cheese with these massive taxes now europe is looking at retaliatory taxes for that but it is holding on holding on until theres a result of this election to see who they might be dealing with in regards to that so lots of issues on the table between trump and france and these are issues that are not likely to be resolved trump is the winner of this election we can expect that there will be a bumpy ride over the next is dont forget also going to head to head over nato with trump saying that america has been the shouldering the large part of the burden with nato present macro not the biggest fan describing it as being brain dead but the reality is that has pushed him to want to this policy of perhaps creating an e. U. Army and talking about the sovereignty of europe getting europe to Work Together now if boyden is the winner of this election perhaps doesnt change too much over some of the issues but biden has been clear that he would take the u. S. Back into the Paris Climate Accord the suggestion that he might go back to the negotiating table over the Iranian Nuclear deal and as i said the e. U. Is holding off on those retailers. Tariffs because they think if its applied in presidency they might be able to open those negotiations and smooth over the issues but lets be clear if biden is the winner he is going to have a lot to deal with on his own plate domestically and that means that the e. U. May have to wait and it also might come 2nd fiddle to the issues the u. S. Faces over the next few years with china so regardless of whether this is a trump or a pardon when of course administrating here in france will work with that new administration in the u. S. But it doesnt seem like its going to be easy sailing. Certainly not ok thanks Charlotte Charlotte devinsky there in paris also our thanks to peter all over in berlin and very london thank you. Ok lets get some reaction now from china we can talk to when hes a deputy in university in china over a grateful few to come on waving to us this afternoon we were hearing there from our correspondents in europe the general message look it doesnt matter to us whos in charge really in the United States we just got plenty to talk about and hope to resolve issues is it that simple in china would they really prefer anybody apart from donald trump. So so actually in china. A lot of interaction or and a lot of social leaders they like or they like mr biden and the media like a music item but orderly people they like mr chung so its a very diverse city but in general oh this is a very. The most interesting American Election like a wonderful movie floor of a job so at present its a very difficult to know whether biden was elected or. Reelected but one things in chinese view is very certain the u. S. Is increasingly divided and disease a pretty cool struggle we are not and so easy so you dont see any real change in relationship day between china and the us of biden when he. So so actually are. As i said before when i. Receive the interview wrong you are whether biden is elected or because the trumpet is a newly elected i think of the tension between china and us we are not change the us regard china as a competent or and suppress china thrice so which is the consensus on burgers parties to china has psychologically prepared visions so what china can do now is to try its best not to make them in the here between the 2 countries words so not to let a new cold war happen so ask for the us china can ban it china is willing to cooperate to be so us in the future and also china is not afraid to crack down on it china and china main task nowadays is to do our own thing well. Ill just keep on this point because obviously the personalities between trump and biden a very very different trump of course a lot of anger going on twitter and saying things particularly the chinese take you know i think that biden could perhaps be more diplomatic and china could work with him better. But i think what china needs to do now is to focus on china dogmatically compete with the u. S. Is not a go of the chinas development a strat each so as you know that today the u. S. Is in the election and fighting each other internally like a c. Code