at church in his home town. he is now preparing a transition team to decide key policies and priorities ahead of his inauguration injanuary. he's set to inform the un that america wants to rejoin global efforts against climate change. mr biden says a new strategy to fight the virus is his top priority. the number of confirmed coronavirus cases gci’oss the world passes 50 million, with over 100,000 new cases a day in the united states alone. the former american president, george w bush, has congratulated joe biden on winning the white house, calling the election "fundamentally fair". but donald trump is still refusing to concede. on twitter, he continues to assert that the election has been "stolen" without supplying evidence. now on bbc news, global questions.

hello, welcome to this addition of global questions coming to you from the bbc‘s headquarters in london. it's been messy. the us presidential election has not only exposed polarizations in society, it has also raised questions about the country's political system. many believe that american democracy is being tested and that the country's reputation has taken a battering. we ask what next for america? well, i'm nowjoined by my audience members who come from all over the world can't and as

usual, theyjoin us via video link. let me tell you who's in the hot seat this week given the hot seat this week given the answers. laura schwartz is an american writer and a television commentator. she worked for the clinton administration for eight years, eventually becoming the white house director of events and special adviser to the chief of staff. she was the youngest presidential appointee in history. greg swinson works in finance and he a spokesperson for republicans overseas uk. he's a regular commentator on television. welcome to both my audience members in a solitary round of applause from me. let us round of applause from me. let us go to our first question now, and it's from cheyenne. cheyenne, your question. why can't the presidential candidate with the most votes nationwide... is it not time to abolish the electoral college?

straight down to it. ok, laura. cheyenne, lovely to meet you andi cheyenne, lovely to meet you and i think that's a wonderful opening question during an election year. the electoral couege election year. the electoral college was established by the constitution and it would take an amendment to change it. right now, instead of a popular vote for president, it's based on the mathematical challenge of the electoral college. many people believe is outdated because honestly, there many times that the electoral couege times that the electoral college goes for one candidate and the popular vote to another. something the forefathers had a not —— had in mind, but it also is on the can get involved into not only explore but talk to your elected officials on how you can bea elected officials on how you can be a part of change. greg, this time around, it seems that joe biden has got more of the popular vote and obviously, the electoral college going his way. so, it's not so much of an issue in this election, but we saw it in the 2016 election, hillary clinton had 3 million

more 01’ hillary clinton had 3 million more or less hillary clinton had 3 million more 01’ less more votes hillary clinton had 3 million more or less more votes than donald trump, yet he won the election then. is it trying to abolish the electoral college therefore? i don't think so, and it also happened in 2000 when al gore had more popular votes. as laura points out, it's been a tradition but also a tradition for the sake of tradition. it was done by the founding fathers who wrote the constitution. to protect minorities, to protect minorities, to protect minorities in different pockets. beware of the tyranny of the majority. there is a risk that if the majority was leading without regard to minorities, whether that's ethnic minorities orjust minorities based on geography or types of business they're m, or types of business they're in, there is the urban majority versus the rural minorities, for example. so, that was important to protect minorities. so, you don't think it should be abolished? we had

somebody on social media say how hard would it be to dump the electoral college. in a word, very hard? constitutional amendments are almost impossible to get through. you have to have approval from state legislation, i don't think they would get that. laura? none of this point, i think you have to deal with it and make it work. cheyenne, what do you think was going ——? i don't agree. i've spoken to lots of my friends and a lot of us lots of my friends and a lot of us would like to abolish the electoral college. you never know what's going to happen in the future. we have a question 110w the future. we have a question now on social media from ernest robinson in hamburg, germany. how do americans future generations solve the issues of hate and restore a democracy with that was once the envy of the world? is the political system broken? i don't think

so. system broken? i don't think so. the country always goes through these little rough patches. it happened over history, obviously the most difficult rough patch was the civil war. i don't think those levels —— civil war. i don't think those levels — — we civil war. i don't think those levels —— we are at those levels —— we are at those levels by any means. it is not unusual for democracies to go through some struggles. what's important is the institutions put in place protect people and those are timeless and, in a sense. how the leaders of the country address those issues is difficult. it might not be something that government can control, and might be something that's more cultural. i would just encourage diversity of thought and try to avoid group thinking. that seems to be a great way to avoid these issues. laura, what's your response to that question about what future generations can do to address the issues of hate? well, i think there's a couple of directions i can be taken. i think it really involves healing. to be honest, i think

it takes a group think of communities coming together, whether those are cultural pockets or geographic profits 01’ pockets or geographic profits or demographic pockets, to really talk about how they feel their community can heal. in some communities, there needs to be more programming that targets whether the education 01’ targets whether the education or health care orjob security. in other communities, there are other programmes that need to be implemented. now, some of those can be government led. 0thers those can be government led. others can be led by a community where it's notjust that the government leaves off, but where they can do it better. i think a collaborative approach is what will eliminate the hate that exists in our communities today. the question also asks, is the us political system broken? you can answer that in myriad ways. what would you say to that, greg?|j that in myriad ways. what would you say to that, greg? i think at times like this, we realise the system is not broken. you can have real diversity and

thought, and right now it's very polarised. i don't necessarily think that's healthy to be polarised, but it was interesting is the system still works. the institutions still works. the institutions still work. sometimes, they need to be fixed and most things can be addressed, but the real infrastructure of the political system is designed to withstand some of these kinds of political stress. laura, do you think the political system is broken in the united states and that is taking a real battering and hammering as we've seen in the past few days? i think it takes a battering, but it keeps coming back. it's solid and it's strong. we are searching to form a more perfect union, just as our founders road, and we need to be reminded each and every day. especially when you look at an election and going back to cheyenne with the electoral college, i think it's very important that no matter who is elected president, they don't see it as a mandate, especially when that popular vote is different than the

electoral vote. they need to serve all americans. all right, let's go to lawrence in detroit, michigan. lawrence, what do you to ask? 0k, thank you. regardless of my skin colour, neither candidate has spoken to white privilege, a matter that surfaced during the killing of george floyd but was not spoken about by either candidate. can american democracy respond to all its citizens or does it just serve the few? laura? well, it's definitely been an issue throughout our history and this year heighten with george floyd and the killing of breonna taylor, jacob blake, alan cole, u nfortu nately taylor, jacob blake, alan cole, unfortunately the list continues to grow. joe biden did address white privilege to which he said yes, he's been subjected to white privilege.

he's been able to do things that others of colour have not, and we need to change that. , harris, his running mate, also talked about the difference between white justice and black justice —— kamala harris. i believe it's not only being discussed around our country but the world and i have seen both biden and kamala harris address this on tape. bob woodward, the author, spoke to president trump about this and the tape was released and he said, "both of us are from white privilege, don't you feel that you have benefited from white privilege through your life?" to which president trump accused woodward of drinking the kool—aid. we seen one side really get into it and i think it needs to be explored further. greg, one side getting into it, suggestion that donald trump and may be other republicans haven't? yet, and the president has a habit of

demonstrating a lack of messaging skills to say the least it's an understatement. i think we have to keep a few things in mind. laura brought up things in mind. laura brought upa good things in mind. laura brought up a good point. let's have these conversations comfortably. i think one of the challenges to put the movement over the challenges to put the movement overthe summer is challenges to put the movement over the summer is there was a real aversion on the right and the politically conservative about addressing or speaking about addressing or speaking about these issues because there were so much risk that you could lose yourjob, lose your position. that kind of censorship is really difficult. i think we just have to be careful about groupthink, especially at the universities where conservatives don't feel comfortable about speaking at universities, orthey'rejust not allowed to. i think white privilege and the difficulties of racial minorities that we're

facing in the us is something we need to talk about, but we need to talk about it and allow different opinions and views to be shared in those forms. lawrence, you are a retired professor yourself. what you wa nt to professor yourself. what you want to say to greg? there's been so much deficit developed amongst the african—american community as a result of white privilege. it's going to be difficult to overcome this, and there's got to be a real significant strategy to do that, andl significant strategy to do that, and i don't see how it can happen to change a fundamental institution in america like that. do you want to comment on anything you heard laura say? i think she made good points, but still, there's still so much to be done on this issue. quickly on that laura, comment was blue i agree. i think this could be the good start of the conversation. it needs to

whether it is in the white house or your house, it's very important, not just this house or your house, it's very important, notjust this year 01’ important, notjust this year or always —— but always. important, notjust this year or always -- but always. joe biden said he would work as ha rd biden said he would work as hard for those who didn't vote for him as those who did vote for him as those who did vote for him, because he has said the presidency itself is not a partisan institution, it demands a duty of care from all americans. so, let's see what happens on that. let's go to torah happens on that. let's go to tora h watts happens on that. let's go to torah watts from cambridge, england, uk. hi there. despite the you pandemic and the protests, exit polls show the economy was the most important issue for voters. can joe economy was the most important issue for voters. canjoe biden set up and deliver on this issue? greg, that's one thing that was interesting that we saw, there is polls saying that well over a third of voters actually said the economy was the most important issue affecting their vote. two

intends that it was racial inequality and donald trump had a fairly strong suit on the economy. “— a fairly strong suit on the economy. —— two in ten. canjoe biden step up to the plate?” think he can. i'm more concerned with the rest of the party, as they have moved more to the progressive liberal side. that's the challenge, is making sure that president biden is able to stick to traditional economic values that he's always been onside with. in his 47 years in public service. and i think he can. i would be more worried about if vice president harris or the secretary elizabeth warren then i would about presidentjoe biden. i think he understands that the best uplift for all groups, including minorities, especially minorities, is a thriving economy. i don't think tax cuts are a good idea when

you're coming out of the pandemic and trying to recover, soi pandemic and trying to recover, so i think that's misguided. but with the republican senate still in place, i don't think there's as much as a risk of economic destruction coming out of the pandemic. laura, of course you worked in the clinton white house, and it was president clinton who famously said that quote which is so often used but i'm going to use it again. if the economy, stupid. it is. it's interesting, and greg knows this better than anybody, but analytics even said the biden administration would favour the stock market over the trump administration recently. i think people looked at the economy and different ways this time around. they see what's been happening with the economy because of the response by the trump administration to the global pandemic. i have to say it, early on in the campaign when donald trump painted joe biden as somebody that wanted to shut down the economy again,

it took the biden campaign a while to figure out how to respond to that. in the closing weeks of the campaign, asked, especially the closing week, i really believe the pandemic and the economy were very connected and people are realising they've got to get the pandemic under control. so that the economy can start coming back sta bly economy can start coming back stably and consistently. all right, tomorrow, what do think? i think it's really interesting that even after four years of trump's presidency and the global pandemic, clearly the economy is so important to americans. i think it's really important that hopefully biden can important that hopefully biden ca n refle ct important that hopefully biden can reflect on that and really ta ke can reflect on that and really take things forward. all right, let's now go to lego ‘s, nigeria. goodness, what do you

wa nt to nigeria. goodness, what do you want to ask? how far has the presidential election damaged its reputation as a world leading democracy.” its reputation as a world leading democracy. i think one of the first things biden in administration must do is named their secretary of state. and that secretary of state needs to go on not an apology tour, but a listening tour around the world to be very blunt about priorities and how countries can again work together. i think with the biden administration, there will be more of a collaboration with nato, and they want to get back to work on the paris climate accords. all individual ideas

they cannot go alone. i think that will be very important as well as every other programme. we are talking about the department of the treasury and commerce and health services need to have more of a global role in their speciality. i think that would go a long way to healing. but goodness's question was, with the selection and everything that's going around, the name calling and so on and so forth, has in some cases delegitimize the united states in the eyes of the world. i don't believe that the world. i don't believe that the united states has been reduced and standing through a very active political campaign. if anything, it's shown how american democracy works. and i believe they need to pivot immediately out of the campaign season and really get down to work and include countries around the world. and take that high road once again. greg? you

have these difficult elections that get the and in some ways, it demonstrates the riposte political nature of america —— the robust. i've spent a lot of time in africa and the response i get there is that they love it, they love to see the robust political activity in the united states. as we all know, every president, every transition of power, every four oreight transition of power, every four or eight years has been perfectly executed for 275 years and i think it's a testament to the political system. so, ithink testament to the political system. so, i think aggressive campaigning and arguing and discussing issues, that's part ofa discussing issues, that's part of a robust political system andl of a robust political system and i think it's really helpful. you don't think that america's reputation as a world leading democracy has been dented in any way? i don't think so. not with the election. people have their views obviously on president

trump and he's an acquired taste for many globally. you'll notice the polls in europe, that doesn't mean the election has affected our standing in the world and i think, as i said, if anything, the world and i think, as i said, ifanything, the the world and i think, as i said, if anything, the fact that we've had these robust elections and robots debates —— robust debates is a good thing. thanks very much, greg and laura. let me ask our questioners about goodness's question. put your thumbs up if you think the united states's reputation as a world's leading democracy has taken a bit of a battering in this presidential election. 0h battering in this presidential election. oh my. getting two thumbs, an overwhelming majority on our audience questioners there. who think the united states has really

suffered reputational damage in the selection. there you go. let's go now to our final question, and it's from ruth watson in michigan in the united states. ruth, your question. i'm 16 and my question. i'm 16 and my question is how can the youth of america make sure that our voices are being heard concerns are being addressed, even though all of our representatives are much older than us in both the presidential candidates are well into their 70s? ruth, you may not be old enough to vote, but you certainly are old enough to get involved. i think a great way of making sure that those seven—year—old votes know what they need to do to address your issues —— seven—year—old votes. it is to get involved because you're never too young to volunteer. you are never too young to state your mind, whether that be pulling people together in conversation or reaching out in your state legislature and in the federal level of the house of congress.

and the senate and the white house. your voice deserves to be heard and i believe that's the way for that older generation to understand the generation to understand the generation which will be one of the biggest generations ever as far as the population. you know, i'd love to see you get involved, ruth. the more younger voices involved, ruth. the more younger voices we involved, ruth. the more younger voices we have, the more we can listen and the more those voices can be the loudest ones in the room. you've got two a septuagenarian ‘s. joe biden turned 78, donald trump is 74. shouldn't we be seeing younger faces is 74. shouldn't we be seeing youngerfaces coming is 74. shouldn't we be seeing younger faces coming through? do you think there should be an age on who can run for president? i don't think we need an age. i would just like to see more people get involved. there are some really young stars over in the senate, but they aren't all in capitol hill or in washington, dc. the votes rising up to the state

legislatures and the executive branch is in the states i think can really make positive change, i really get noticed and runfor change, i really get noticed and run for national office. that's something i'd like to see more young people get involved in, and it's difficult when you go through a really ha rd when you go through a really hard election, sometimes you think is that all work at? who wa nts think is that all work at? who wants that job? we think is that all work at? who wants thatjob? we need people to ta ke wants thatjob? we need people to take it on and we need folks like you, ruth, to dojust that. we need to have a torch that. we need to have a torch that can pass to a new generation. how would you answer, ruth, greg? is a great question. i always wonder how we end up with two candidates whose ages combined are over 150. i don't think you will see that again in your future. you're seeing a generational change. i love history, and the great candidates, especially for candidates, —— democrats we re for candidates, —— democrats were in their40s. for candidates, —— democrats were in their 40s. if the republicans can find someone

with the youth, the good book, the charm, the oratory skills of barack 0bama but with more conservative views. it coming and you will see it in the next election for sure, or at least the next ten years. so, hang in there, don't embrace the 1960s philosophy, don't trust anyone over 30. philosophy, don't trust anyone over30. ithink philosophy, don't trust anyone over 30. i think you'll see another generation and again to the history, the greatest generation was the world war ii generation. the president for 40 years were world war ii veterans or at the very least, world war ii leaders. that kind of change in the 90s when the first baby boomer was elected, bill clinton. for the next 20 years, you had baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1962, and the last one was 0bama. it sort of we nt the last one was 0bama. it sort of went backwards in a way. my view is the perfect candidate in their40s,

view is the perfect candidate in their 40s, maybe next year or next cycle. that's all our questions and i just want to ask you both, what are your ta keaways ask you both, what are your takeaways from this presidential election. give us something greg. i think the syste m something greg. i think the system is rough and sometimes, it gets unpleasant, but it works. and laura, what's your ta ke works. and laura, what's your take away message from all this? i think all these questions today really taught me it really reinforced the fa ct me it really reinforced the fact that we all live on the beautiful backdrop of a globally interdependent world where one country —— what one country does effects another country, whether it's a representation of what they're doing and how they're doing it. 0r it's a policy that affects all of the world to better themselves together and come closer together instead of farther apart. your panel today shows us that folks are interested , shows us that folks are interested, that we're able to collaborate and move forward. thank you very much indeed. we will leave it there. that's all

from this additional global questions. what next from america? well, i hope in all the fallout we brought you some white wider perspectives. thank you very much indeed for my two —— two my two panelists. and of course, to you wherever you are watching. if you want to be pa rt watching. if you want to be part of our programme, you can e—mail us on global questions. until the next time, from me and the rest of the global questions team, goodbye. hello there. southerly winds will bring us a mild start to the week but they are also bringing

extensive cloud, damp weather, and we have seen mist and fog patches. murky conditions for a time. the satellite picture shows the area of cloud responsible for the drizzle with fog lurking underneath. low pressure to the south—west and a more substantial area of cloud that'll be coming in towards the middle part of the week. we will see rain over the next few days. for the early risers, it'll probably be a damp start for the east coast of scotland, some eastern areas of england, with mist and fog patches dotted around across scotland, england and wales. murky conditions. then we will start to see further bits and pieces of rain working into northern ireland and wales and south—west england. that rain is tied into this area of low pressure which will be pushing north—eastwards as we go through the course of monday. a cloudy start to the day on monday, pretty murky across scotland, much of england and wales, with bursts of rain for northern ireland, wales, western areas of england. through the day this rain will push north and eastwards.

it'll gradually brighten up across western areas. 0therwise, scotland and most of england's day pretty cloudy. despite that it'll be mild. temperatures reaching a high of 16 degrees celsius in the south—east of england. through tuesday, the low pressure still on the charts, and we've still got a lot of cloud in the forecast, still with bursts of rain pushing north and eastwards. low pressure on tuesday will weaken significantly. that means the cloud will break up and we will see brighter weather pushing in from the west slowly. a chance of seeing some sunshine, and it is still mild, average temperature for this time of year, 15 degrees in london, still four above normal. tuesday, a more substantial area of rain will move in from the atlantic. —— wednesday. this will be accompanied by strengthening winds. heavy rain for northern ireland, heavy rain also developing through the day for west scotland, southern wales, and the malls of south—west england. a squally band of rain.

—— and the moors of southwest england. notice it is dry for much of the day over eastern areas of england, it'll probably have brighter spells as well. this band of squally rain will push eastwards as we go through wednesday.

this is bbc news — i'm lewis vaughan jones with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. joe biden is pressing on with preparations for his time in office. he's expected to announce members of a coronavirus task force on monday. i pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide, but unify, who doesn't see red states and blue states, only sees the united states. president trump plays golf again, on twitter he continues to claim the election has been "stolen". joe biden has encountered every british prime minister for the last 40 years. he's previously described the current one a clone of donald trump, a comparison boris johnson is keen