now on bbc news, bbc newsbeat goes on a road trip to meet young americans and hear how they think their politically divided country can be unified. let us be the nation that we know we can be, a nation united, a nation strengthened, a nation healed! this is america by childish gambino plays. the nightjoe biden won the us presidential election — but right now, the country is looking torn in ways we have never seen before. if violence happens, like, it happens, but we're not going to start it. i'm daniel rosney, a reporter on newsbeat, which goes out on radio 1, 1xtra and the asian network. covering the american election was like nothing i had ever seen before. bbc news? well, you should go back to the uk over there. just looking at the price tags

of the guns, they're not cheap. there's one behind you there for $4,500. 0h, we've got one for $30,000. but for many here in america, there was a much higher cost involved. we are only fighting for fresh air and fresh water. basic needs. and it was all in the middle of a global pandemic that saw record numbers turn out to vote. but not all are willing to accept the result. i think america went from the most respected nation in the world to the most worst one, a laughing stock, is what i think. as we arrive in louisiana to cover this presidential election, it's striking how much more interest there is in the white house, and america in general, since barack 0bama left office in 2017. in the past 12 months alone,

the death of george floyd sparked a global resurgence in the black lives matter movement. but right now, of course, it's coronavirus that's had a huge impact on all of our lives, including on voters here. what has covid done for the economy, for musicians, in new orleans? oh, i mean, it's devastated a lot of our ability to make any kind of income, so... i mean, a lot of us... i mean, that's like 100% of some people's income, that's just cash from gigs. we're finding out what americans want from their president, and it is a snapshot, but we'll be based in new orleans during the election run—up, where i've heard legendary stories of parties that go on till the early morning. but that's different now.

i haven't walked down the street in a few days, so... i mean, physically it's the same, but you see all of these closed doors, you don't hear a lot of musicjust blaring out of the windows anymore. like, walking down the street now, thinking about it, i'm a little overwhelmed. it's kind of ghostly. this is... this is not fun to look at, at all. um, but... i really don't even know what to say, man. it's tough to see it like this. it's really done a number, man, it's really been damaging. and we're so far away from having any idea when things will return to normal at all. i used to play at the snug harbour with ellis marsalis, like, every friday, for a long time. ellis passed this year because of covid. ellis was already, you know, of an age. there's a lot of memories here, snug. i mean, i spent a good portion my time here.

this is where i kind of discovered that i wanted to be a musician. there's many people just being left out to dry and it's absolutely a shame. when i was going to vote early, there were families who were talking about the aid that they need, and why they're voting and why they're so adamant about voting early, you know? it's because, in new orleans in particular, it's kind of a poor city. there's a lot of poor folks, a lot of poor african—american folks. so which way you go? of course i'm voting biden, of course. because joe biden is... he's like a beacon of light in terms ofjust being sensible. you know, being understanding, having some empathy, having some humanity. the way that money and government interplay, that's really what's screwing new orleans over, that's what's been screwing new 0rlea ns over forever. just money and politics, you know, interfering with our priorities,

as a state and as a nation. it's quite a big day today because this is the stadium of the saints, the new orleans saints. it's the first day since the pandemic started that they've allowed fans into the stadium to watch a game. ifjazz isn't your thing, then american football might be. and around here there's only one team that matters — the new 0rlea ns saints. also, don't @ me, it wasn't until looking back that i realised my mask was on upside down. sorry. bbc, baby! we wide open in new orleans, all the time! the saints keep new orleans going, let me tell you! tell me about the game. what happened ? it was amazing! it was great to finally be - in the stands to see our saints play, we know that we made a difference in that - place, for sure. and how are you feeling about the election? hey, the election is coming up, i it's important that everybody casts ia vote, please, everybody go out| and make a vote for who you think is going to be the best person

to represent our country- at this time. who do you think the best person is? nope! no comment! no comment. why no comment? because i want... ijust want to keep iti to myself, you know? i want it to be everybody's - individual decision versus somebody else saying who they're voting for. hey, two things to say — who dat and trump 2020! how are you feeling about next week's election? hoo! no response there, captain. i feel... scared, scared. why do you feel scared? well... laughter you know, i can't really be too crazy about either candidate, to be quite honest with you, you know? but hey, i'm ready and open to change, if there's... but, you know. chanting: who dat! who dat say dey gonna beat dem saints? who dat, who dat! where we are on the louisiana coast is right in the middle of the american deep south. as a city, new orleans traditionally votes for the democrats. that'sjoe biden�*s party this time around.

but within the region, new orleans is — well, it's a bit of an anomaly. a few other parishes in the state are likely to vote democratic, but the majority, especially the more rural areas, away from the big cities, tend to vote republican, donald trump's party. so after a couple of days in new orleans not listening to jazz music, it's time for us to pack our bags and head out of town. daniel sings along t0 toxic by britney spears other bangers are available. we're off to kentwood, famous for being the hometown of a huge pop star. thankfully, for me, that's britney and not post malone. kentwood is your classic rural american town. it's fairly spread out, there's no high street like you'd get back in the uk. to be honest, there's not that much here. population 2,500.

and today, not a huge number of people out and about, but those that are, well, they pretty much agree with each other. donald trump's kicking ass. what made him convince you to vote for him? he don't need nothing from nobody, he stands for himself and what he believes. and is that you? yeah, i'm behind him. i hope he gets it again. donald trump, when he talks, when he's our president, he's for us. he's for our country. our country comes first. and that's what makes us mad, because when they talk about the other countries, get us first. this is supposed to be the land of the free, show us it's the land of the free. he might say little clown words on tv to make us laugh, but that's just a show. his actions are showing more than his words. i like my country. it is notjust the black, it's black and white. we... it's here. and we've been forgotten by it.

why do you think you've been forgotten? we have a lot of foreigners here. americans, we speak in our own english. . everywhere we walking, - listening to mexicans and chinese and arabians and all of that other kind of languages - we don't understand. american is american, like, we talking american. - we couldn't come all this way and not pop into the main local attraction, the historic and cultural museum. it's mostly about britney. that's miss fay. she set this thing up and knew britney growing up. what is kentwood like? it's the type of town where pretty well everybody knows everybody, and we love on each other, we pray for each other, and as a rule, we're proud of each other. does her family still live in kentwood? oh yeah, her mom, i saw her the other day. i mean, we're still friends. i keep telling lynne,

you've got to get britney back in here and let me make some pictures of her in this museum. what's your favourite part of the museum? it's just a fun adventure, the whole thing, to know that you knew this young child as she grew, and got into to being a beautiful young woman, and a star, you know, andjust, um... ..has had her ups and downs in life, just like the rest of us. she grew up in a goldfish bowl and that's kind of hard to do sometimes, you know. no shame, i could have spent the whole day talking to miss fay about b—sides and album tracks, but after a mandatory photo for the instagram grid, i remembered why i was there. do you think trump will win again? i hope so. i think he's been good for the nation. i know a lot of people say, well, he's a little rough and tumble, but that doesn't bother me. he gets things done, and i'm hoping he will win. i'm going to vote for him, anyway.

kentwood might be your typical american small town, especially for this part of the states, but where we're going next is the opposite. about an hour and a half drive south is stjames parish, where shamara lives. herfamily home is right at the centre of an area, and it's nicknamed cancer alley. i remember passing by these plants growing up, and the smell, i would know exactly when to hold my breath and how long i would have to hold my breath, until we got past the smell. it was normal. fifth district is a mostly black, poor community, whereas other districts are more mixed, they may be more caucasian and european, but this one is, like, 80—90% black here. and that's where the plants are. all around here there are roughly 150 chemical plants, stretching for miles along the mississippi river. there is data from the united states environmental protection agency that shows living in this part of louisiana puts you at the highest cancer risk of anywhere

else in the country. i want our elected officials to come out here, come take a walk out here, come and see, come put a human face on this fight that we're battling. i need you to see the people, i need you to meet the people, i need you to come talk. come around and come see that we're people and that we are only fighting for fresh air and fresh water. the basic needs. that's just basic needs. it is going to create jobs in this part of the state, and there is an unemployment issue in louisiana. the majority of the people that work there don't live here. they come and then they go. we may have it the worst because we're next door, but the whole state is still affected by this. so unless you're doing this and you're driving to florida every day, you're still affected by it. the big thing right now for locals is trying to block construction of any more chemical plants. one is due to be built on this land,

but the residents have been given permission to hold a vigil to remember those in the community who have died. the company say that the government report on increased cancer rates in this area is based on faulty science, which resulted, they say, in a dramatically inflated risk factor. these chemical plants in the fifth district have to be destroyed, because they're hurting us, they're giving us cancer, we are sick and we are dying. singing everybody here knows someone who has died from cancer. sharon has been to more than 30 funerals in the past five years. now, with the election days away, she's got one clear message for both presidential candidates. i want them to save our lives. i want them to stop saying yes to industry, to all industry that can harm people. that can harm our lives. if they can help us with that, they've got my vote. # oh when the saints!

# go marching in! with neither donald trump nor joe biden addressing sharon's concerns head on, she and the other residents here feel like they have no clear candidate to vote for. when it comes to talk about the oil industry in this election campaign, both sides have been focused on jobs. to the oil industry, i'd stop giving federal subsidies. i will not sacrifice tens of millions ofjobs... obviously for sharon and shamara, pollution is the thing that concerns them most. but in the new orleans suburb ofjean lafitte, climate change is the biggest issue. captain shaw has agreed to show us how this area of the coastline has been affected. i think climate change is definitely having an effect. it's a fact that hurricanes are getting bigger, it's a fact that they're getting stronger, and it's a fact that there are, you know, more of them. right now, this island you see right

here would have been out in the channel right there maybe five years ago. so that's 15 feet? oh yeah, easy. 15 years ago, there was a massive hurricane called katrina that devastated new orleans and the surrounding areas. katrina was very scary. nobody knew what to do. everybody was just kind of taken aback, and i don't know, man. it's kind of one of those things you don't really talk about a whole lot. nearly 2,000 people died and a million had to relocate. but there's a new one, zita, and she's on her way. it's expected to hit new orleans within a few hours. you know, pre—katrina, a hurricane like this, yeah, they would warn you, tell you it's coming, but it would've been, "oh, hurricane party." you know? but since katrina's happened, people tend to be a little bit more on edge. with hurricane zita closing in and the weather looking pretty bleak, i'm very much in the mood to head back to land.

what's happened ? after that short delay, we're back on land and we're off to meet 18—year—old emerson. so these houses, they're built up on stilts because when the waters rise, it floods, and you can get up to, like, six feet of water. these photos are from hurricane ike, which hit a few years back. this is my grandma's house — you can see the people standing in the water. emerson is still deciding who to vote for. if one of the candidates would directly address climate change and the coastal erosion and land loss happening in louisiana, that would definitely

persuade my vote for them. hurricane zita hit full swing later in the day. she was wet, she was windy and she left some parts of louisiana without power for days. oh, yeah, that's, like, proper american news crews and everything. and then we rock up... laughs it's polling day and we're in baton rouge reporting for newsbeat. important question here, daniel. why should people here in the uk care who becomes president? well, ben, it's a short answer. you become arguably the most powerful person on the planet so the decisions that the president makes here can have global consequences. in the evening, we went back to new orleans to watch the results show at a covid—safe outdoor watch party. i've had that coffee. it's tastier than you billed it to be. but it is now 11:06pm.

and it was time to work through the night, as results started to come in from across america. people in america have been voting... a few hours later, i was back on air with the country in a sort of strange results limbo. let's go straight to our politics editor, daniel rosney, who's live in louisiana for us. it's too early to call who's won this election. for both candidates, it's looking tight. then we heard from president trump. in the last half hour, donald trump has said he has won, a claim which is not true because votes are still being counted. at this point, joe biden was slightly ahead, but either candidate could still have won, as a lot votes were still to be counted. but donald trump, without any evidence, started talking a lot about what he claimed was election fraud. this is a majorfraud on our nation. we want the law to be used in a proper manner. so we'll be going to the us supreme court. we want all voting to stop. it was four days until we

found out who'd won. at cbs news, and we are coming on the air with breaking news at this hour. cbs news projects thatjoe biden has been elected the 46th president of the united states. and emotions ran high. we've won with the most votes ever cast on a presidential ticket in the history of the nation! cheering and applause 7a million! the problem forjoe biden, though — the second—most votes ever cast were also in this election, and it was for donald trump. across many states, there were parties in the street asjoe biden supporters celebrated his victory. but there were also plenty of protests. chanting: where's our votes? where's our votes? we were on the move the day the result was announced. we're in texas! and it's fair to say that not everybody here agrees with the outcome.

it sucks, that's how i feel. why do you feel so passionate? i think america went from the most respected nation in the world to the most worst one, a laughing stock, that's what i think. you don't always get what you want, but everybody put in a vote. hopefully, if some cheating or some under—the—table stuff was done, i hope that comes out. i hope the truth comes out, for sure, if he really won the election. i didn't vote for him. did you vote for donald trump? yes. what was it about trump that got your vote? i really appreciate everything he did for our economy over the last four years. donald trump has tweeted to say that he has won. do you agree with him? thank you so much, thank you. the next morning and trump supporters had set up rallies across the us, including here in houston. come on, people, let's go! we're going with our trump family to support our president.

trying to get our president back, that's what i'm trying to do. so you don't accept that joe biden is the president? no. why not? i don't like what he's planning to do with the world, with the united states, and just by what the media says about him. why would you want somebody like that running our country? we didn't make a lot of friends. fake news! what kind of news you are? bbc news. bbc news? well, you should go back! you should go back. to the uk over there! indistinct shouting i'm proud of our history and where we've come from. and why don't you accept that joe biden is the president—elect, then? because, it's total... ..fraud. i mean, there's so many votes that haven't been counted yet.

they're all fake dead people, it'sjust... there's no evidence to support that. really? there is no evidence to support that. really? are you listening to cnn or something? no, we're from bbc news. oh, that's why. sure. 0h, they're from bbc. 0h, shock! they're lying. yeah, i got to go. protests like this were happening across the country for weeks, but it took untiljanuary 6th this year before things really boiled over. as america's elected leaders met to confirm joe biden�*s victory in the presidential election, donald trump was giving a speech. we're going to walk down to the capitol. cheering and applause what followed was a riot. shouting feeling like they had the backing of the outgoing president, the capitol building was stormed by trump supporters. five people died after being involved in the clashes. joe biden called on donald trump

to tell his supporters to stand down. i call on president trump to go on national television now, to fulfil his oath and defend the constitution, and demand an end to this siege. eventually that did happen, although he didn't condemn the violence. this was a fraudulent election but we can't play into the hands of these people. we have to have peace. so go home, we love you, you're very special. there are still plenty of questions to be answered about how protesters could so easily get into the building. donald trump was then banned from most social media platforms, but he did finally say he would accept the result. so as the donald trump presidency ends and thejoe biden one begins, i thought back to where our election journey started, in new orleans, with christian.

we can talk about revolution and all this type of stuff, but we're not in a place where we can talk about that stuff now. we have to get rid of the threat that's here right now. coronavirus, and in turn, trump, the trump administration. did it surprise you how many people voted for donald trump? not at all. donald trump makes people feel good about how they feel about the world. and you can't really, you can't really argue against that. there's no logical argument against making people feel good. so, like, i can't even really be mad at people... i can be mad, i am mad. but i understand, at least, why people support trump. because there are still people who have felt like they have been ignored. more than 70 million voted for donald trump. yeah, that's more people than voted for barack obama. that's what you gotta think about. we need to focus on opening people's worlds up, and their minds. even if we have to meet them where they are. do you thinkjoe biden can unite america?

i think america has to unite itself. i don't think there's any president who's the leader of the "winning team..." i mean, by nature of being elected president, there is a division forged, period. joe biden�*sjob now, as we say goodbye to the 45th president of the united states and his twitter account, is to appeal, as he said he will, to the 7a million who voted for donald trump. it's a country that is now so politically divided that its own troops are on the streets protecting citizens from people who also live there. donald trump might be leaving the white house, but it's clear it's not the end of trumpism. as well as climate change, racial inequality, the economy and coronavirus, joe biden will also have to tackle that. because trump supporters are loud, and they want to be heard.

hello there. still two severe flood warnings for the river dee and is more rain in the forecast for next week. the weekend is cold and it is no we are looking at. a fair bit of it this morning and more to come through this afternoon. it should tend to turn more showery, but you can see where it has fallen over the last few hours. scotland and into northern ireland, parts of wales, now beginning to push into the midlands and east anglia through the afternoon. elsewhere, we will see spells of sunshine but the cloud might lingerfor a while spells of sunshine but the cloud might linger for a while across south—east england and a cold day. through this evening, that area of rain, sleet and snow cleared away, and we will see showers pushing into

scotland, and this area of rain, sleet and snow pushing into wales and possibly the far south of northern ireland. a cold night with widespread frost and ice a risk again. perhaps as low as minus eight celsius at least across parts of scotland. we are very much in the cold air as we head into sunday. we have a system pushing into the south—west and as it bums into the cold air, it will bring snow in southern england, where we have not seen any snow this winter. initially across parts of wales and south—west england, but gradually starting to go eastwards. this is 10am on the south coast, probablyjust rain. inland, we will see a couple of centimetres in c max in places, maybe five or six on higher ground. snow likely for the south of northern ireland, showers for scotland and northern ireland. elsewhere, spells of sunshine and a

cold, frosty and icy start. further snow through sunday in a line from northern ireland into parts of wales, may be part of the midlands, but certainly sick route central southern england. a cold day, just two of three celsius. gradually that area of snowjust two of three celsius. gradually that area of snow just fizzles out as we head through sunday evening and we will see further snow showers arriving into parts of northern ireland and northern and western scotland. it sets us up for a cold day on monday. more sleet snow, showers, and that will bring changes as we head through next week. we start cold, with sunshine for many, but sleet and snow showers in places, and then rain starting to nudge into the far west as we head into tuesday. after that, intense sweater and milderfor most into tuesday. after that, intense sweater and milder for most others. —— it turns wetter and milder.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines: more than a thousand people have been arrested in russia as police crack down on protests by supporters of the jailed opposition leader alexei navalny. one of those detained is alexei navalny�*s wife, yulia, who was at a demonstration attended by thousands in moscow. senior doctors call for changes in the vaccine roll—out in the uk — they want the i2—week gap between the first and second dose of the pfizerjab to be halved. what we do need to be assured of is that people are properly protected, because if the level of protection with the second dose is compromised by a longer delay, that of course will impact on the doctors that i represent, because they are facing the virus

at close quarters as they look after patients.