i come from a different situation, concerning the cdu, from a west german cdu, a different tradition. own profile and my own way of dealing with issues, even if i share many views with angela merkel. this makes me a different person, a different politician and not simply a replica of angela merkel. one area where akk certainly isn't a mini—merkel is the extent to which she throws herself into germany's annual carnival celebrations. whole swathes of the country take to the streets in fancy dress and annegret takes on the character of gretel, a grumpy cleaner. this year she made a carnivaljoke about tra nsgender toilets, for which she faced a barrage of criticism. if the cdu party wants to attract younger and more metropolitan voters, is akk striking the wrong tone when it comes to social issues like gay marriage, transgender rights and abortion? translation: the situation in the cdu is such that when it comes to these situations we have a broad spectrum of opinions, ranging from the very conservative to very liberal positions. within the cdu we have had these discussions and the decisi

>> what has happened of the past five to 10 years, merkel has moved the cdu, the right party that hasended to be conservative. she has moved it left on social issues, and that alienated the far right voters and created an opening for the afd, the alternative for germany, a populist hard right party in the mold of the national front in france. what she is doing is trying to bring them back to the right and get those voters who defected. jason: how is she fitting into the leadership role? merkel is in the role, but no one knows whether she will make it to the end of her leadership term. >> the betting is she probably will, but she could be bounced tomorrow. there is no real way of knowing. she is going to be out by 2021, she has pledged to leave. she will not run again. that puts akk in the pole position to become the next chancellor because the cdu is likely to prevail in the elections, and she is already elbowed her way to the lineup. carol: carmaking is central to the economic strength, and that is troubling given the end of the combustion engine and the general decline in car owners

that puts akk in the pole position to become the next chancellor because the cdu is likely to prevailn the elections, and she is already elbowed her way to the lineup. central toaking is the economic strength, and that is troubling given the end of the combustion engine and the general decline in car ownership. andmw is preparing for electric future. >> bmw is undergoing changes like other carmakers. the biggest generational shift for carmakers. plan, we could replace the combustion engine at the heart of the car industry with battery electric vehicles. in bmw's case, they have no less than four engine plants around the world, one in china, one of the u.k., one in germany. what happened with its workers during this transition seems unclear. many of them will shift to new positions, and the shift will occur gradually. electric cars have not quite taken off in terms of people buying them. the way this will play out is unclear. in terms of this shift, the engine being replaced with the electric engine is what is driving carmaking strategies now. jason: take us inside bmw now as thispany,

what has happened over the past five years is angela merkel has moved the cdu.is the right party. it is center-right but it tends to be conservative. especiallyed in left on social issues. that has alienated the farthest right voters and it has created this opening for the alternative for germany, which is a populist hard right party in the mold of the national front in france. what aka is doing is bring the cdc back to the right to recapture voters that defected. jason: how is she getting into the leadership role so far? merkel still in the job though no one knows whether she will make it to the prescribed end of her leadership term. the betting is she probably will but she could also be bounced tomorrow. there is no way of knowing. in any event, she is going to be out by 2021. she pledged she is going to leave -- she is not going to run against the that puts akaka -- a kk in the position of becoming the next chancellor because the cdu is likely to prevail in elections and she has already elbowed her way to the front of the lineup. carol: carmaking is essential

known almost universally as akk, she's the new head of the cdu party in germany — and could become then. translation: wien the eu have negotiated in way for a very long time stop the fact that we are so close to a no deal situation is down to the domestic situation in the uk. isn't it full hardy than to stay on the tough redlines in negotiation, such as the backstop of the guarantee to keep the irish border open. wouldn't it be more sensible to say yes, 0k, we will put an end date on the backstop. so far in the future that we doubt we will ever get to it. i have heard internally that germany may have been open to that germany may have been open to that idea but there was pushback from other member states, particularly ireland. translation: it was clear from the start that all eu countries wanted to work together, particularly listening to the point of view of ireland and the irish government. try and avoid no deal. if the uk came to us now and said let's spend five days negotiating non—stop on how to avoid a backstop, i can't imagine anyone in europe saying no. donald tusk is proposing

known almost universally as akk, she's the new head of the cdu party in germany — and could become the. translation: we the eu negotiated in afair translation: we the eu negotiated in a fair way. is it fair to stay on these lines, like keeping the irish backs up, would it be more fair to say ok, we will put an end date, we'll put it so finely future that we'll put it so finely future that we will not get that? i've heard that germany may have been open to that germany may have been open to that idea but there was a pushback from other member states, including ireland. translation: it was clear from the start that all eu countries wanted to work together, particularly listening to the point of view ireland and the irish government. to try to avoid a no deal. but if the uk now came to us and said spent five days negotiating nonstop on how to avoid the backs up, ican't nonstop on how to avoid the backs up, i can't imagine anyone in europe say no. if there are newer to take proposals for the border, i don't think anyone in the eu would say we don't want to talk about it. do you think it is

the party is currently polling second in germany behind the cdu and csu.oining us this morning. what do you think about the wave of populism that we have seen over the past years? how strong is it now and how do you expect it to affect european elections? there is a risk population is increasing. on the other hand, it hasn't grown as much as many feared. one or two years ago. obviously because populists were deliver on brexit as expected and delivered a big mess. anna: what would success look like for the green party on this basis? if that is the big picture, what are you expecting to achieve? neil: from my perspective -- sven: from my perspective, in europe, those parties are winning which are saying yes to europe but let's reform europe. parties,eeing some stronger liberal parties and stronger green party's. the two parties agree that europe needs to be changed to be convincing again. for us, this means massive investment into climate change, tackling technology, and this is what we stand for. a green new deal, massively coordinated european investment i