Transcripts For KQED BBC World News America 20160623

Island with warm, sunny days, cooling tradewinds, and the crystal blue caribbean sea. Nonstop flights are available from most major airports. More information for your vacation planning is available at aruba. Com. And now, bbc world news america. Katty this is a special edition of bbc world news america. Reporting from london, im katty kay. Brits have voted. Polls have closed in the National Referendum on whether to stay in the European Union. The outcome is being watched around the world, with an impact that could reach far beyond britains shores. And donald trump visits one of his scottish golf courses. Its a pretty safe bet he will be mixing business with politics. Katty welcome, to our viewers on Public Television and america, and also around the globe. Polls have closed in britain. Millions have cast their votes in under enormously important referendum on whether or not the kingdom will remain part of the European Union. The ballots will be counted over the next several hours, with a result expected by dawn here in london. We start our coverage on the final hours of this historic day. Reporter queuing to cast their vote in what could be the most divisive referendum in british history. Whether by the practicalities of geography, or the legacy of history, the u. K. Has always seemed simultaneously inside and outside of europe. David cameron and Jeremy Corbyn want to stay in the eu, but some in the government, including former mayor of london boris cited with the leader of the u. K. Party promoting eu departure. He believes the European Union has run its course, that it is time for the u. K. To step outside. Saynst him are those who leaving the eu could be a folly that would cost them and their children dear. In poland, a giant eu flag was hung on the side of the museum of culture in warsaw, another two at this Austrian Museum sameenna, projecting the message as this a flag draped over the statue of michelangelos david, pleading please dont go. The world has had its say, too. President obama of the United States, russias president putin, the president of the European Commission all have spoken, but it is hard to judge how the views of foreign leaders will play with the stubborn and independentlyminded british. I think it will be a disaster for this country to go out of. Europe is part of our life. We have meps, but i dont get to see what they actually do. I am not quite sure. I dont think David Cameron has given a Strong Enough argument for why we should stay in, but its concern about what the impact would be in the short term that is making me towards staystate in vote vote. Reporter this has left opinion in the u. K. Split apparently right down the middle. The campaigns have attempted to polarize opinions, leaving each side more entrenched and frightened of losing. Whichever way the result goes, this referendum seems likely to cause crack that could take years to heal. [bagpipes] reporter they may never heal if scotland is clearly at odds with the rest. Nicholas sturgeon the first minister, make all for another referendum on scottish independence. Under believe that the remain on the markets, sterling has risen under the belief that the remain vote has carried the day. Voting is too close to call, and torrential rain could mean the famous british weather could play a part. For some, just getting to the polling station was a test of endurance. Katty ah, the british weather. Tonight we will hear from both sides of what has become a very heated debate. With u is conservative member of the british parliament, john redwood. Britain has been a part of some form of the European Union since 1973. Why get out now . To be i want my country an independent country, just as canada and the United States of america are independent. I hope today will be our independence day. Toy of us are fed up approve our taxing and public spending with other countries. We need to take back control. Katty are you concerned by the fact that five former secretarygenerals of nato who have said that britain will be less safe if it leaves the eu . Host we have many general guest we have many generals who have said the opposite. We will still be a very important partner in nato. In terms of our influence around the world. We also hope to be influential out of the eu, because we will get back our votes and our seats at International Tables and conferences. Katty what about the conference the comments president obama has made . Guest he is wrong. His country became independent from Great Britain in the 18th century. Bringing language about democracy independent government is what we had and stupidly gave away. Now i am pleased there are millions of british people who share my enthusiasm to be independent. Katty what do you make of the fact that has, in the last few days, opinion polls seem to have shifted towards written remained in in the european britain remaining in the European Union . We saw a 2 spike in sterling. Does that mean Financial Markets will be happier if britain remained in that you . Guest there are banks and hedge funds trying to make money out of the situation. I dont blame them for that. At the same time, we were told Interest Rates would go up if we dared to leave. Of course, Interest Rates came down at the same time they came down globally. I can assure you, the pound will go up and down, but not necessarily in that order, if we stay or leave. Katty you think the economy will be stronger if you leave . Guest certainly. There will be more jobs, more incomes in the united kingdom, with a nine points and with a 9 boost to our gdp. We have german industry saying, for goodness sake, dont put up barriers in the way of trade. All this ridiculous scaremongering by the British Treasury and the imf was a disgrace. Been economic reports it in different positions on that. It has become a very heated debate in the last few weeks. If britain votes to remain, will you accept the result of the referendum . Host i guest i am my colleagues will accept the verdicts of the british people. We are being told in return by the remain side that we have a special arrangement and we will not have to do political union, that turkey will not be joining the European Union, or that we will veto it, that we will not have to increase our contributions. There have been all sorts of promises made that we are very skeptical about, and it will be our job to hope it feeds the fire if the british people have decided to remain for a bit. Redwood, thanks for coming. And representing the view that britain should stay in the European Union, i spoke a short time ago with bbc World Affairs analyst william cowan, in washington. , you were one of 13 National Security advisers, both democrats and republicans signed an open letter saying that britain should not leave the European Union. Why . Guest because we have a special relationship with Great Britain. Great britain plays a major role in the eu as far as articulating and supporting the issues that are important to the United States, certainly from a Security Point of view, from articulating the need to continue sanctions against russia, and other types of activities which bear upon europes security as well as the United States. We believe those who signed that are notar letter wanting to impose those views upon the british, but indicating widely believed that being in the eu is very important to stability. There is great uncertainty in many parts of the world. Having an exit from the eu would only contribute to more uncertainty. And in a time where there is so much turbulence in the world, i and others have felt that it was important to maintain the existing structure. Katty but realistically, britain will still have a special relationship with the United States, and will still be an important ally. Wont it carry on being the first port of call for officials in the white house . Guest i think it will. There is no doubt that the United States relationship with Great Britain will remain the same, but there will be uncertainties introduced within the eu itself. There will be the issue of contagion. If the brits leave, then there will be a referendum called for by the french, by the italians, by the netherlands, so you have the risk of spreading this issue of remaining a union or not. I think it has greater implications, not only with just Great Britain and the eu, but i think it has an impact on the eu itself. It may be that the europeans decide that the notion of an eventually federal union is not something they want to pursue, they find the benefits of having a bloc as such, both for trade purposes and immigration purposes, no longer is valid, but i think, given the turbulence in the world, that is a very risky thing to do at this point, and my guess is that the stay will slightly prevail. I think the market is speaking more than either i or others in the field of analysis of world events. Katty i have been struck by the degree to which american officials have weighed in on this debate. What specifically is it do you think about leaving the European Union that would make britain less safe, speaking as a former defense secretary . Guest im not saying britain would be less safe. I think our overall security environment will be less safe, because i think it starts to pull the string of the eu itself, starts to undo the eu. I think the eu is very important for maintaining a stability, certainly that we did not see during the 20th century, the first part of it. What we want to continue to see is greater integration, not less. Disintegration is not something i think will bode well for the overall security interests of the eu or the United States. I think this plays into the hands of those who want to divide europe, to go back to where it was in the past, with more animosity, more grievances being expressed than unity. I think it is an overall security picture that i am concerned about, as opposed to the u. S. British relationship. Thats not going to change. Katty former defense secretary billhanks very much, cohen, thanks very much for joining me. What we are hearing from inside the various camps suggests there is possibly an era way to remain. If you look at what is happened to the pound, sterling, its relationship to the dollar, it is at its highest, and the stock it are good is doing just the stock market is doing rather well. One of the polling companies shows the remain cap ahead. One has to be incredibly cautious. Singlehas come to the vote yet. Until they are out, i am cautious. Katty have you been surprised by the tone of this referendum debate . Guest put it this way. I think there are some people, not necessarily others in that camp, who perhaps naively hoped that this was an opportunity to step back and have an amazing uplifting amazing, uplifting, countrywide debate on the direction the u. K. Should be going. Has happenedwhat at all. Amongseen as a squabble westminster politicians. If you are in the United States its a very inside the beltway kind of thing. We will have a lot of political wounds that need healing inside the government, but far more worrying, damaging, and difficult will be all those allle who voted one way and the people who voted another. Half the country will be very disappointed. Katty you heard john redwood saying he would accept the will of the british people, but somebody is going to lose. This is a onceinalifetime vote. Its not like they can overturn it in four years time. It is done. Guest it is extraordinary. Obviously, if it is a vote to leave, it is earthshattering. It is seismic. Not just for britain, but for the European Union. The ramifications are enormous. For britain, what kind of britain would it be if it left the European Union . During the campaign, we did not hear much about that. It would totally remake the politics of the country. Even if it were to remain, which is less of a story, but still a massive headline, still historic, it would leave this issue of this sort of, i dont know, it will be at least four out of 10 votes who dont like modern britain, who are worried about immigration. Is something familiar to people in the United States, the idea of red states and blue states. It is not an exact comparison, but there is a significant chunk of the population that is angry about stuff. Katty and will have lost, whichever way it goes. Or won. Someone is going to lose. Thank you so much for coming in. Still to come, the Eu Referendum is coming to a close. In scotland, donald trump is in town, bringing president ial politics with him. Lawmakers in washington ended the 25 hours sit in at the u. S. House of surpriseatives in a mass action which went on through the night. They were demanding Congress Vote on gun control legislation that they wanted, which has been resisted by republicans. House be in order. Of the most is one romantic demonstrations in congress in modern history. The House Speaker stood little chance of getting order. It all started hours earlier by a man who stood aside Martin Luther king in americas civil rights battle, john lewis. We are calling on the leadership of the house to bring common sense gun control legislation to the house floor. Give us a vote let us vote we came here to do our job we came here to work you can help us win this battle, america. Reporter when the tv cameras were turned off in the republicancontrolled house, the iticians streaming attending the sit in it streamed the event live on social media. No bill, no break, the chant. They wanted republicans to hold votes on gun control and said they would not leave until it happened. Late into the night, as tv networks started to broadcast feeds from the phones of protesting politicians, the chaos continued. If they decide to do a sitin, it is an inappropriate use of time. They should be reprimanded for breaking the house rules. Reporter pillows, blankets, pizza, and doughnuts were all brought into the chamber as democrats settled in for the night. As extraordinary has the scenes have been, the question is, how effective will all of this be in ending and in arco this gorge of gun violence . To our lead story, the british referendum on whether to stay in the European Union or not. Old closed at the top of the hour. Polls closed at the top of the hour. One of the first locations to report is expected to be newcastle. We are there now. When do you think it will have results . Reporter it depends on who you speak to. Who are very optimistic are saying possibly within 45 minutes time. Others are caught in are cautiously optimistic and saying about midnight. The firstwants to be area in this historic referendum to declare a result. Be rivals. Ant to nearby neighbors and sandlin have always beat them in elections by declaring first. Those are the two main concerns. Within the last half hour or so, there has been frantic activity about how the ballot boxes were delivered into this hall in the city of newcastle. Write to the dozens of counting tables that you can see. It actually took about 129 ballot boxes, about 25 minutes of delivery, allocation, and counting for that to take place. That is impressive stuff. If they are on call to make a eclaration, they have to get all those papers counted and declared pretty soon. It all depends on whether or now the whether or not the turnout has been good. We are hearing the turnout has been extremely good, so that means there are more ballot papers to count, which could mean more fingers doing their hard work to get those papers sorted and through. We should be able to get a clearer idea in the next 25 or 30 minutes whether or not this will be a remain or leave result here in the city of newcastle. Katty thanks very much. Obviously, there is a lot of interest in brussels in tonights referendum. Our europe editor is there for us now. We are struck by the headlines in the french newspaper wanting britain to remain. How important is this for the eu . Reporter it is massively important. It is not being washed as closely tonight in brussels, but across the new. This is a referendum being held in britain, but whether the uks stays in or leaves the eu has massive implications. Berlin, if europe had a seat, they would be on the edge of it right now. I will tell you who else is watching, not just the leaders who worry about the future of the union, but many european citizens who looked at the u. K. Today with envy because they sympathize, they share a lot of the criticisms that were raised on the eu by the leave campaign in the u. K. They too would like to hold a referendum on eu membership. Their leaders know that and worry about that, and thats why recently we have heard the word reform and the eu being used together increasingly. Katty a lot of questions have been asked about what it would mean for britain if they had voted to leave the European Union. Do we know . Reporter there are, i mean, do we have all night . We do have all night, actually, to talk until the results come in, but i think you have other guests to talk to. It is impossible to gays in the crystal ball. This has been the essence of this referendum campaign, it is impossible to gaze in the crystal ball. This has been the essence of the referendum campaign. But we dont know what life will be like in the u. K. If it leaves the European Union. We dont know what the European Union will look like in 10, 15 years either. There is a lot of guesswork called in, but no concrete answers. In the end, people in the u. K. Will have to listen to both sides and make up their final analysis. Many grumblings, of course. It has been a very bad tempered and often dirty campaign at times. If the Eu Referendum were not enough, scotland is also hosting donald trump on friday. It is the First International trip he has taken since clinching the republican nomination for president. The focus is on reopening one of his luxury golf courses. Lana gordon is there for us. Reporter donald trump likes being the center of attention. His public outings are never locate. Even more so now that he is in the running to become the president of the United States. Mr. Trump you can watch it take off. Reporter he has garnered publicity and controversy during his many visits over the years. Great to be back in scotland again . Mr. Trump great to be back in scotland. Reporter his detour from the campaign trail is to focus on his business interests rather than his president ial ambitions, and the formal opening of his turnberry golf resort. There is no mistaking who is behind the lavish makeover. The Trump Organization says no expense has been spared. But mr. Trumps campaigning for the presidency could make it difficult, some say, to enjoy the golfing thats on offer. We have had a renewing of the golf course. The scenic beauty has become glorious again, so that is very much on the plus side. On the debit side, his political views make it very difficult for any organization to take an event to his course. Reporter the tycoons campaign has been uncompromising. Mr. Trump donald trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the United States. Sive r those devi divisive remarks called for half a Million People to petition for him to be barred from the u. K. But now he is coming back, and several scottish mosques have invited him to come visit. If donald trump knew what islam was really about, if he maybe interacted with them a bit more, he might realize that the comments he is making are very dangerous and divisive, and none of them are true at all. Reporter controversial as mr. Trump is, locals welcomed the money he has pumped into turnberry. There is not a single thing i have seen reported that donald trump has said during his bid for u. S. Leadership that i would agree with. Not a single one of his political views. But he has had a significant investment of hundreds of millions of pounds in this area, and that matters in terms of the local jobs that will bring, and the opportunities of people locally. Reporter mexican flags are already flying in protest in scotland ahead of the white house hopefuls visit. Demonstrators are expected here at turnberry too when donald trump arrives. Lana gordon, bbc news, turnberry. Katty mr. Trump making enemies, but also a few friends out there in scotland. He will be there for a few days. For our viewers on Public Television, that brings our special broadcast from london to a close. We will have updates on the u. K. Referendum on whether to leave the European Union or not. It is on our website. Im katty kay. World of us here at news america, thanks for watching. Make sense of International News at bbc. Com news. Funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, newmans own foundation, giving all profits from newmans own to charity and pursuing the common good, kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs, and aruba tourism authority. Planning a vacation escape that is relaxing, inviting, and exciting is a lot easier than you think. You can find it here, in aruba. Families, couples, and friends can all find their escape on the island with warm, sunny days, cooling tradewinds, and the crystalblue caribbean sea. Nonstop flights are available from most major airports. More information for your vacation planning is available at aruba. Com. Bbc world news was presented by kcet, los angeles. [singing] we wanna get to know ya, and all the things you do. Its time to shine a light on little ol you announcer this pbs kids spotlight, ms. O from odd squad. Ms. O is the agents fearless leader, the head honcho, the boss lady. Ms. O its a big deal. Shes responsible for making all the assignments at headquarters. [cheers] ms. O we did it but before she became the big chieferoni she was an agent herself. Boss in my office like, now and still helps out on a case from time to time. Ms. O hiyah agent olive nice work, ms. O. Ms. O is rarely seen without her signature juice box. But few people realize that her juice box is also a phone ms. O im on my juice box phone. Ms. O, odd squads commander in chief ms. O touche oscar she is one impressive lady. Ms. O thank you. And the focus of this pbs kids spotlight