mr biden's team is pressing on with preparations for his time in office. on monday he is expected to announce members of a coronavirus task force, led by scientists and public health officials. he is also preparing to return the us to the paris agreement on combating climate change. the former american president, george w bush, has congratulated joe biden — calling the election "fundamentally fair". but donald trump is still refusing to concede — he continues to assert that the election has been "stolen" without supplying evidence. queen elizabeth has led remembrance sunday commemorations — as people around the uk paid their respects to the fallen largely from home, because of coronavirus restrictions. at the cenotaph on whitehall in london — the queen was joined by other members of the royal family and political leaders.

now on bbc news, global questions. hello, i'm zeinab badawi. 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 two pannelists and my audience members who come from all over the world and as usual, theyjoin us via video link. let me tell you who's in the hot seat this week giving 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 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...

when in —— win? is it not time to abolish the electoral college? straight down to it. 0k, laura. cheyenne, lovely to meet you and i think that's a wonderful opening question during an election year. the electoral college was established by the constitution and it would take an amendment to that constitution 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 it's outdated because honestly, there many times that the electoral college goes for one candidate and the popular vote to another. something the forefathers 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 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 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 in different pockets. "beware of the tyranny of the majority". there is a risk that if the majority was whether that's ethnic minorities orjust minorities based on geography 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 in the system. 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, any appetite to dump it? none at this point, i think you have to deal with it and make it work. cheyenne, what do you think? i don't agree. i've spoken to 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 now on social media from ernest robinson in hamburg, germany. he says, "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?" greg swenson. i don't think so. the country always goes through these little rough patches. it's happened over history, obviously the most difficult rough patch was the civil war. i don't think we're 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, ina sense. how the leaders of the country address those issues is difficult. it might not be something that government can control, it 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. and, to be honest, i think it takes a group think of communities coming together, whether those are cultural pockets or geographic pockets 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 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. 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. and the question also asks, is the us political system broken? and you can answer that in myriad ways. what would you say to that, greg? yeah, i think at times like this, we realise that the system is not broken.

you can have real diversity of thought, and right now it's very polarised. i don't necessarily think that's healthy, to be polarised, but what's interesting is the system 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. ——times 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. and it's solid and it's strong. we are searching to form a more perfect union, just as our founders wrote, 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's 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 heightened with george floyd, the senseless killing of breonna taylor, jacob blake, alan cole, and unfortunately the list continues to grow.

joe biden did address white privilege at a town hall 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. kamala harris, his running mate, also talked about the difference between white justice and black justice. so 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. it's been talked about but we're 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? yeah, and the president

has a habit of demonstrating a lack of messaging skills to say the least. i'm sort of smiling while i say it but it's an understatement. i think we have to keep a few things in mind. laura brought up a good point. let's have these conversations, let's have them comfortably. i think one of the challenges to the movement over the summer is there was a real aversion on the right and the politically conservative about addressing or speaking about these issues because there were so much risk that you could lose yourjob, lose your position in university. 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 want to say to greg? there's been so much deficit developed amongst the african—american community as a result of white privilege. and it's going to be difficult to overcome that, and there's got to be a real significant strategy to do that, and i don't see how it can happen to change a fundamental institution in america like that. and do you want to comment on anything you heard laura say? laura i think made good points, but still, there's still so much to be done on this issue. quickly on that laura, fair comment? iagree. i think this could be the good start of the conversation. it needs to be had

in a comfortable position, whether it is in the white house or your house, it's very important, notjust this year but always. joe biden said he would work as hard for those who didn't 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 tara watts from cambridge, england, uk. tara, your question. hi there. despite the you pandemic and the protests over the summer, exit polls show the 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 in ten said it was racial inequality and donald trump had a fairly strong suit on the economy. so canjoe biden step up to the plate? i do think president biden 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 a president harris or the secretary elizabeth warren then i would about president joe 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, 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 that there's 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 — "it's the economy, stupid". it is. it's interesting, and some indeendent groups — and greg knows this better than anybody — but moody 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. and i have to say, 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. and in the closing weeks of the campaign, especially the closing week, joe biden said "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 stably and consistently. all right, tara, what do you 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 reflect on that and really take things forward. all right, let's now go to lagos, nigeria, to goodness.

goodness, what do you want to ask? how far has the presidential election damaged the us' reputation as a world—leading democracy? laura. i think one of the first things biden in administration must do is name 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 election and everything that's going around, the name—calling and so on and so forth, has in some cases delegitimise the united states in the eyes of the world. i don't believe that the united states has been reduced in 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.

all right. greg? you have these difficult elections that get contentious and in some ways, it demonstrates the robust political nature of america and i've spent a lot of time travelling, 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 or eight years has been perfectly executed for 275 years and i think it's a testament to the political system. so, i think aggressive campaigning and arguing and discussing issues, that's part of a robust political system and i think it's really helpful. and 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 he polls lower in europe than in the us but that doesn't mean the election has affected our standing in the world and i think, as i said, if anything, the fact that we've had these robust elections and 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‘ reputation as a world's leading democracy has taken a bit of a 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. —— suffered reputational damage in this election. there you go. let's go now to our final question, and it's from ruth in michigan in the united states. ruth, your 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 705? laura. well, ruth, you may not be old enough to vote, but you certainly are old enough to get involved. and i think a great way of making sure that those 70—year—old folks know what they need to do to address your issues and your concerns and your generation 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 the course of 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 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 we have, the more we can listen and the more those voices can be the loudest ones in the room. but you've got two a septuagenarians — joe biden turns 78 in november, donald trump is 7a. ruth asked shouldn't we be seeing younger faces coming through? i mean, do you think there should be an age cap on who can run for president? laura? 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 folks rising up

through the state legislatures and the executive branches of the the states themselves i think can really make positive change, 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 hard —fought election, sometimes you think is that all worth it? who wants that job? we need people to take it on and we need folks like you, ruth, to do just that. we need to have a torch that can pass to a new generation. all right. how would you answer, ruth, greg? ruth, it's 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 yourfuture. you're seeing a generational change. ruth, i love history, and if you look back at the great candidates, especially for democrats — they were in their 405.

i always argue if the republicans can find someone with the youth, the good book, the charm, the oratory skills of barack obama but with more conservative views, like i have, but it's 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 19605 philosophy — "don't tru5t anyone over 30" but i think you'll see another generation and again to the history, the greatest generation was the world war ii generation. and the presidents for 40 years were world war ii veterans — or at the very lea5t, world war ii—era leaders — and that kind of changed in the '905 when the first baby boomer wa5 elected, bill clinton. for the next 20 years, you had baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1962, and the last one was obama. and we saw it went backwards in a way. my view is the perfect candidate in their 405,

maybe next year or next cycle. that's all our questions, and i just want to ask you both — what are your takeaways from this presidential election? give us something, greg. then i'll come to you, laura. i think the system is rough and sometimes, it gets unpleasant, but it works. all right. and laura, what's your take away message from all this? i think all these questions today really taught me, it really reinforced the fact that we all live on the beautiful backdrop of a globally interdependent world where what one country does affects another country, whether it's the representation of what they're doing and how they're doing it, or 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, that we're able to collaborate and move forward. thank you very much indeed. we will leave it there.

that's all from this edition of global questions. what next from america? i hope that in this hotly contested american election and all of the fallout that we have brought you some wider perspectives on all of the coverage. thank you very much indeed for my two panellists. and to my wonderful questioners from all over the world. and of course, to you wherever you are watching. remember, we other programme that brings you the trend lines behind the headlines. 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 again. southerly winds will bring us a mild start of

the week but also extensive cloud, a bit of mist and fog and some damp weather to come over the next few days as well so over the next few days as well so for some of us, monday getting off to a start kind of like this and looking on the satellite, pressure to the south—west of the uk which will bring in some patchy rain over the next couple of days and then a more substantial area of cloud that will be bringing a zone of heavy rain towards the middle parts of the week with the winds really strengthening as well. monday, the winds are not particularly strong because we go through the day and a murky start for scotland england and wales with some mist and fog patches and bursts of rain will spread their way in from the west end with that will come from slightly brighter skies but for much of scotla nd brighter skies but for much of scotland and much of england, it will probably stay pretty cloudy, cloudy but mild, temperatures up to 16 degrees. the same area of low pressure still with us on tuesday but it continues to weaken so those best friend become less widespread and we should see some brighter weather as we head into the afternoon. still mild, high is up to 15 degrees.

welcome to bbc news, i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: joe biden presses 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, without evidence, that the election was "stolen". joe biden has met every british prime minister for the last 40 years. but questions are being asked about his future relationship with borisjohnson, a man he's previously described as a clone of donald trump.