Transcripts For BBCNEWS Global Questions 20200718

The veteran American Civil Rights leader and long serving congressman, john lewis, has died at the age of 80. Eu leaders struggle to reach an agreement on a 750 billion euro economic recovery package to repair the damage done by the coronavirus pandemic. Now on bbc news, audiences from around the world question their leaders on global issues. Hello, and welcome to london for this edition of global questions, with me, zeinab badawi. Has coronavirus become a political crisis for President Trump, dealing a major blow to his chances of re election in november . His handling of the pandemic has drawn criticisms, even derision. And covid 19 has also laid bare inequalities in american society. Thats global questions Coronavirus Crisis focus on america. Well, im now inside bbcs headquarters here in central london, and as always, to bring you this edition of global questions, our questioners and also our two panellists join us via video link. Dont forget that you too can join the conversation its bbcglobalquestions. But let me tell you who is in the hot seat this week giving the answers. Matthew mackowiak has worked with several senior republicans, and is a supporter of donald trump. He is chairperson of the Travis County Republican Party in texas, and is also a political consultant and president of the potomac strategy group, based in washington. Matthew hosts a regular podcast, mack on politics. And democrat moe vela is the first hispanic american to serve as a Senior Adviser in the white house during the clinton and obama administrations, including for the then Vice President , joe biden, who of course is the democrat running against donald trump in novembers president ial election. Moe is now president of the vela group, a Consulting Firm based in washington. So, welcome to my two panellists and to our audience, who join us from all over the world. To you, wherever you are watching, a solitary clap from me. So, lets get down to business, our first question is from david evans from here in the uk, from bristol in england. David, fire away. My question is, how much was donald trump relying on the United States Strong Economy in order to validate his re election as president . Right, 0k. Moe, you kick off. First of all, david, thanks for the question. Second of all, lets start with one minor correction. Our economy is anything but strong, its an absolute shambles, its disastrous right now. If i was donald trump, i couldnt rely on the economy at all. We have the highest unemployment in decades, we are in a recession, the worst one since the great depression. And there is a direct correlation between our incredibly horrific economy and President Trumps ineptitude in the Coronavirus Response. So, he cant rely on the economy, and i said this on fox business two mornings ago, ill say it again here on bbc global questions, if the president wants to rely on the economy when it is good, hes also going to get credit when it is disastrous. You cant have it both ways, david. So, if i was him, id be staying far away from this economy, as he cant run on it. It is absolutely in a ditch. Well, matthew, defend your position. Well, theres no question that the coronavirus and the resulting economic shutdown have very badly harmed the economy, particularly in the march through may timeframe. But, moe, i have good news for you the economy is bouncing back very quickly. Weve seen record breaking private sector hiring last month, retail Sales Numbers were the highest weve ever seen, we may see gdp growth at 15 or 20 in the third quarter. We are at, i think, around 11 national unemployment, thats very different from where we were in february, but we are bouncing back very quickly. So, yes, trump was planning on running on the Strong Economy in january and february. I think the opportunity that exists for him in september, october, then november when the election occurs, is to make the argument that we are coming back, and that he is the best person to rebuild the american economy. If you look at what former Vice President biden has promised, hes promised significant tax increases, including on the middle class. Hes promised a shutdown of the oil and gas industry in the United States, which would have profound economic consequences for states like ohio, pennsylvania and texas and others. So, i think trump is actually on pretty steady ground if he can turn this into a contrast race, a choice for election between him and biden as it relates to the economy. But look, coronavirus and the economy, all these issues are connected, and voters are going to have to come to their own conclusions in the fall once we kind of get closer to the election. Lets just see what david from bristol makes of that. David, briefly. Well, i certainly think its true donald trump cant hold the economy at the moment. But as matt said, i think that maybe he will use this as an opportunity in order to show himself to be the best man for the job and use, whether or not its deserved, his prowess at having got the economy to where it is, and say that he is going to bring the economy back up again. All right, thank you. Well, lets go to the United States, where its all happening. Andreas in seattle, whats your question to our two panellists . To what extent do you believe that the pandemic has been overly politicised, and who or what do you believe is to blame . Matt . Andreas, thats a great question. Unfortunately, yes, i do think that there are aspects of the coronavirus story that have been overly politicised. If you look at the criticism thats been directed at President Trump and at some of the red states that have reopened, like georgia, florida, texas, arizona, you contrast that with california and new york, which have been very bad as well, and you dont see those democratic states getting the same level of criticism. I think there is blame to go around on all sides. I wish the administration had been quicker in february and early march to respond to what we saw was coming. But i also think that, at the end of the day, the Coronavirus Response was only going to be effective with the voluntary participation of the public. So, in mid to late march, when they started the 15 days to slow the spread, which i think they extended to 30 days, the only reason that was successful was because 90 of the people took the voluntary steps of staying at home and Wearing Masks and socially distancing. So, it would have been hard to convince 90 of the public to do that in february when the coronavirus really wasnt affecting people directly. So it is a regret, i think, that the country hasnt pulled together in a unified way. We are five months from the election, its a very political time, so i think its difficult to do that. But youre seeing political aspects over the issue of whether you should wear a mask or not, which is ridiculous. Everyone who cannot maintain social distance should wear a mask to protect themselves and others. So, yeah, theres politics in all of this right now, its a little bit regrettable, but we are four months now from the most important election in a long time. So, its inevitable, is it, moe . 0h, heavens no. Listen, this is something i can speak personally about. There are very few people in the United States that can say, i have sat twice on the white house continuity of government and Emergency Preparedness working group. I have had the privilege of serving my country, as you mentioned, twice in the white house, and both times, i sat on the continuity of government working group. So i know first hand, with tremendous confidence and in depth knowledge, how this president has failed our nation in his lack of attention and responsiveness, preparation, planning and prevention of this virus. I sat in there many years of my life, and we planned for these types of pandemics, we planned for terrorist attacks, and he dismantled that office. While he golfed in february and held campaign rallies, he could have been preventing and mitigating the spread of the virus. I actually admire matt for telling the truth on the masks. So, to the question of politicising this, the president is the number one leader in politicising this entire coronavirus. In what way . Because he refused to wear a mask for four months, and made it a political issue. Matt acknowledged that, and i appreciate that. The entire experience has been a politicisation by donald trump of this virus. He didnt want it to happen, he didnt want to deal with it he likes to pretend it doesnt exist. That is, in itself, political. People are dying in record numbers and we are the most infected country in the world. In the world andreas, comment on what you have heard our two panellists say. I understand both viewpoints, definitely, but i do believe that during crises like this, there is this kind of rally around the flag effect, where your look to your leaders and you look to those in charge for guidance. When you have those people, like President Trump and Vice President pence, not Wearing Masks, encouraging rallies, it doesnt inspire confidence. All right, thanks very much indeed. Lets now go to india to our next question. What do you want to ask our two panellists . So, what reforms can be observed in reducing tensions and taking proper actions for the betterment of society in the us . A manifesto question there, moe. Perhaps just give us some highlights of the kind of reforms that you think might reduce some of the tensions. We have heard a lot about inequality and that kind of thing. Ive never seen it like this, and ive never seen the division so severe and so profound. You know, one of the main reasons i supportjoe biden, other than that hes my friend and my former boss, and i believe in him and i love him, is because we need to unify in the United States right now, and we need a unifying leader. To andreas point a minute ago, we dont get that confidence from the current leadership. They are peddling in division, they peddle in negativity, and frankly, they peddle in hatred and racism. So, the only way that we are actually going to address these divides, this civil unrest, is to have a unifying leader that can actually find Common Ground among all of us. Even if you dont vote for somebody, you can still actually learn to respect somebody. Itsjust going back to the American Values of kindness, respect, empathy, compassion these are values that have been nonexistent by donald trump in three and a half years. Its been the other extreme. So, in my opinion, the reforms we need will be in the form of a new leader that unifies our nation. Your response, matt . Yeah, look, the challenge is our country is divided. While i understand the democrats want to blame trump for that, and he certainly deserves some blame for that, the country is divided. It is politically divided, right . Trump won with 46 of the National Vote because of the electoral college, and his poll ratings have been very split. Right . Hes been in basically the low to mid 40s throughout the first three and a half years. And so my hope is, no matter who wins the election in november, the country will unify behind for the next four years. Its hard to see that, the democrats are so against trump, even when he is for things they were once in favour of, like border security, like getting tough on china, like rebuilding our manufacturing and bringing it back home, like even isolationist positions on foreign policy. Those are all things democrats were once for that they now criticise him for. Look, hes been a divisive figure, i wont deny that. I would argue a good part of that is because hes been attacked more directly and more relentlessly than any president in american history. Again, does he have some blame for that . 100 , he does. I wish he were a more unifying figure. But look, his agenda is not one thats going to get 60 or 70 support from the country. He has things he promised hes gotten a lot of them done, he wants to keep going in that direction, and that is going to lead to some division. I do think that the coronavirus and the racialjustice protests that we have seen over the last few months gave us an opportunity to have more Greater National unity than we have had, and i think thats something that we should all regret. Thanks very much. Lets go to sanjana, who is in india. Thank you, zeinab. My question is, do you feel americas Healthcare System needs some improvements, following this current pandemic . If yes, what kind of improvements . Right, matthew, health care. I mean this has been a big hot political potato, hasnt it, for donald trump, because he is trying to roll back the healthcare reforms that president obama brought in. So, whats your take on this . One of the problems with obamacare is that it was passed on a party line vote. Because of that, the republicans were never politically invested in it, they were invested in fighting it. When you do something as big as obamacare, one sixth of the economy, the first major healthcare reform in 50 or 75 years, it needs to be bipartisan. Ultimately, Obamas Administration decided they couldnt get what they wanted if the they made it bipartisan, so they chose to go a partisan route. So look, coronavirus has risked healthcare for a number of people, there are a good number of people who have lost healthcare because they lost theirjobs. Thats a problem. Healthcare is connected to employment, and that does mean that sometimes people are trapped. But to me, it is less about Health Insurance and more about healthcare. Just because you have Health Insurance doesnt necessarily mean you can get care. We do want as many people covered as possible, but from a republican viewpoint, we want competition and choice thats how you get innovation and bring the price down. Moe . Let me just remind matt of something that his candidate is trying to do. Talk about healthcare reform in the United States. His candidate, the president of the United States, is trying to roll back healthcare in the middle of a pandemic. Just think about that for 30 seconds. That will tell you exactly who donald trump is, and it will tell you exactly how republicans feel about healthca re in the United States. It is absolutely despicable, so start there. Number two, to answer the question, we absolutely need healthcare reforms in the United States our Healthcare System is broken. Anybody who would deny that is living in some imaginary universe. The problem is and we should share this objective, im happy to hear that matt actually agrees with democrats on this everyone should have healthcare coverage and insurance. Obamacare brought millions of people who were otherwise uninsured, brought them into coverage that is a phenomenal start, but it is not the end. The goal has to be that everybody, regardless of their socioeconomic status, regardless of the colour of their skin, regardless of their zip code, needs to have access to quality, equal healthcare in the United States of america. How we get there we need to come together and figure that out. We have got to have reforms, period. Again, i will end by simply saying. I will tell you this, trying to get rid of obamacare in the middle of a pandemic is so low, even for Donald Trumps standards, is so inhumane, that i cant even. My Blood Pressure just went up just talking about it. Matt, can you reduce his Blood Pressure . No i dont know, it sounds like he needs some medication perhaps. No, my friend ijust need to get rid of donald trump and the presidency, thats all. The legal challenge to obamacare predates coronavirus. It is a question of whether the programme is constitutional or not. Two things. If it were struck down, there would be a period of time, it would not be immediate and people would Lose Health Care insurance immediately. It would not be immediate and people wouldnt Lose Health Care insurance immediately. What is the Republican Partys proposal . We havent seen anything from your party, not one proposal to replace obamacare. There are several bills out there that i would be happy to send you. There are not several. Now, come on. My point is, again because obamacare was done with one party, there is only one party invested in it. If it was struck and there was a phase out period, i think it would force both parties together and do something on a bipartisan basis. I think that would be much better for the country. Lets have another question now. From the United States. Considering that International Student education represent a large and lucrative industry in the us, what do you make of current immigration policy for International Students, and what reforms should be brought in and why . Thank you. Lets go to you, moe, on International Students, but perhaps you could also tap into the wider immigration debate . Let me answer the specific answer first. I think the president s complete 100 reversal on his absolutely racist policy of trying to get rid of International Students speaks for itself. Doesnt that just tell you everything . It was absolutely despicable, again. Divisive, again. Hateful, again. Racist, again. We see the same playbook from the trump camp and the republicans over and over again. Thats just not america. So, to everyone on this wonderful programme from all the parts of the world we are so sorry that this is happening to us right now. Its embarrassing, frankly. We apologise to the rest of the world, you used to respect us. I know that for years everyone thought we were the leaders, we arent any more, and its embarrassing and sad, but we will be again. Second, on immigration, in general. Heres the deal either we are going to be a compassionate nation, an inclusive nation. Even George W Bush had it right, my fellow texan, when he said that compassionate conservatism included a pathway to citizenship for daca students, for undocumented immigrants. That George W Bush republican era is unfortunately not the trump republican thats the old republican that i could respect and admire and actually work with. Before i come to you, matt, the u turn referred to by moe there on International Students was donald trump saying that since courses were going to be online, International Students in the us had to leave the country and do the courses in their own countries, and then he has backtracked on that. Matt . I could do without the condescension from my co panellist here. I agree on the reversal, im glad they did reverse it. It makes no sense to kick out International Students who are participating in classes and coursework online, that makes no sense. I think more broadly, the Trump Administration trying to move away from a family based immigration system to a merit based or skills based system. That is what the uk, canada, australia has i dont think anybody would call those countries racist. Maybe moe would, he likes to use the word racist a lot. Only when its true, matt. The goal is to bring immigrants in who have the skills that our economy needs when we need them. If its nurses, for a period of time we bring nurses in. If its agricultural workers, we will bring them in. But your candidate was trying to get rid of them, matt. To the questioner, about International Students, the value to International Students coming in, from a United States perspective, every student that comes in, that one spot can go to one person or to another. So when they come in, we want them to stay here. So, hib visa reform and expansion i think would make a lot of sense. You have good Economic Data that shows that if those people come in here and go to an elite university and they study and they stay here, they create jobs, they are innovators, they are employers and thats a very good thing for the economy. But the challenge is if they come in and get their education and then they go back to india, china, or whatever it is, we have obviously taken that spot away and thats going back to help another country. You want to be thoughtful about what that International Student programme looks like, what it means for the economy, and what it means for our education system. Let me finish with this final question from social media. Again we had a lot of people talking about the Economic Situation in the us, one person says it could actually lead to the us becoming a failed state. But a failed state. This is one question, let me put it but this is one question, let me put it to you. But this is one question, let me put it to you. Because of the covid crisis, america is in danger of losing its superpower position in the future what do you make of that . I think that is highly unlikely. I do think we are entering into a two great power era, with the us and china. I think we are at risk of being overtaken by china, certainly economically and militarily, if we do not take that on, from a strategic, diplomatic and economic standpoint. Economic slowdown is not unique to the us. I think we are bouncing back, moe and i disagree on that, maybe he hasnt seen the statistics in the last few weeks, they have been very, very strong. Does that mean everyone who has been economically harmed over the past few months has had their income repaired . No, the answer is no. It will take some time, several months, perhaps into next year. Into the middle of next year. I think this is where trump has an opportunity to draw that contrast on the economy, to make it clear that a low tax, predictable, low regulation environment a pro Energy Future this is how we will rebuild the american economy. Biden wants to do with more bigger government, higher taxes, more Central Planning thats his approach. Moe was trying to point out that the obama biden record was strong it was the weakest economic recovery in 100 years. Whenever you have an economic recession, you have explosive growth afterwards. Come on, matt. You just brought up Big Government . We have the highest deficit in the history of the United States of america under your candidate. Weve done on the economy. Just your last pay off there moe, do you think the us might be in danger of losing its superpower status . We already have, we absolutely already have. I do interviews all over the world, the minute the camera goes off, journalists and people say to me, what has happened to your nation . That is what i hear consistently. I agree with them what has happened to our nation . The old American Values of compassion, inclusion and empathy and leadership and integrity and decency that the one that and decency thats the one that i am shocked that matt, who sounds like a good guy, by the way, but how you can get on tv and defend a racist and a man who has been so deeply indecent. Moe, im sure that donald trump has said repeatedly that he is not a racist. Just putting that there. That is your perspective there. His actions speakjust as loud as his words. Moe vela, thank you very much, also your fellow panellists, matthew mackowiak, thank you both very much indeed. Also to my questioners who join us from all over the world. Thats all from this edition of global questions coronoavirus crisis focus on america. Brought you some of the heated debate from both sides of the argument. Remember, we are the programme that brings you the trend lines from the headlines. If you want to be part of the conversation, you can e mail us on globalquestions bbc. Co. Uk. Until the next time, from me, zeinab badawi, and the rest of the global questions team, goodbye. Hello. We have got some big contrasts in the weather across the uk right now. The warmest of the weather this evening will remain across the south east of the country. Temperatures will still hover around the mid 20s, but wales, the north of england, you can see overcast satellite image here and the radar superimposed and you can see the outbreaks of rain there moving through wales into parts of northern england, but also scotland and northern ireland, some sunshine here. Lets have a look at the picture, then, early evening when you might still be out and about. So we have got showers across scotland here, particularly around the north west highlands. Some decent weather for northern ireland, around 16 degrees at this stage and nice enough there in the north east of england, the lake district, lancashire, but wales, north midlands, Peak District into parts of yorkshire, still cloudy with outbreaks of rain, but in the south east we have got that fine, warm weather around 25 degrees at 6 or 7pm. This evening that weather front, and it is a weather front, will move southwards and it is going to turn wet in the south. So for the early hours of the morning, we are expecting some rain in places like cardiff, southampton, london, certainly norwich in for a bit of rain, mild here, 16 degrees. The north of the country overnight with the clear skies will turn fairly chilly, temperatures could be five, six, 7 degrees outside of town. Tomorrow, a very different day across wales and the north of england, look how sunny it is, clear skies, beautiful weather there for liverpool, for hull, for newcastle. The south of the country will be cooler and cloudier, probably some spits and spots of rain still affecting the extreme south east there. In scotland, we are expecting some showers on sunday. Beyond sunday, we are expecting the High Pressure to build off the atlantic, and that means that the weather will start to settle down, so that does mean its going to be a fine start to the week ahead, light winds, fair bit of sunshine and fair weather cloud building up, really pleasant day to come for the start of the week. Temperatures around 22 in london, a little bit fresher in the north around 17 celsius and the indications are that we will keep the fine weather. In fact, look at that, southampton, beautiful conditions through most of the week, but in the north west of the uk it could turn a little unsettled by the time get wednesday. Bye bye. This is bbc news. Im Maryam Moshiri with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. 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