- 1 year ago
Election Day has arrived. Polls are open across the United States, the culmination of a divisive and gruelling presidential campaign. All eyes are on the seven swing states likely to decide whether Donald Trump or Kamala Harris wins the presidency. We bring you a special edition of The Debate from Washington.
Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati, Annarosa Zampaglione, Ilayda Habip.
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Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati, Annarosa Zampaglione, Ilayda Habip.
Visit our website:
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NewsTranscript
00:00The midway point of an election day that's set to possibly break records and make history
00:24for certain.
00:26Break records because there is a record amount of early voting plus in-person voting expected.
00:34Early voting, 84 million people.
00:36Hello everyone, I'm François Piccard reporting from the U.S. Capitol on this special edition
00:43of the France 24 debate.
00:46Making history, whoever the next president of the United States is, whether Donald Trump
00:51returns to power or Kamala Harris becomes the first woman ever elected to the job, we'll
01:01know.
01:02We don't know when we'll know, but certainly France 24's coverage will be throughout.
01:07It's been an arduous, vitriolic, tense campaign.
01:12We saw tension in the streets of Washington, D.C. and we had radically different messages
01:20at the last campaign rallies on Monday night.
01:24Radically different messages and in both instances, one aim, to get out the vote.
01:30My last rally, can you believe that the rallies, these big beautiful rallies, there's never
01:38been anything like it and there never will be anything like it and it just happened.
01:44It caught on.
01:45Our campaign has tapped into the ambitions and the aspirations and the dreams of the
01:53American people.
01:55We are optimistic and we are excited about what we can do together and we know it is
02:04time for a new generation of leadership in America.
02:10The U.S. Vice President speaking in the city of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, which will
02:16be key to her victory hopes.
02:18Let's go to Pennsylvania and France 24's Jessica LeMessurier, who was at that rally, Jessica.
02:26I was one of the 30,000 or so people at that rally and really there was an atmosphere of
02:33optimism, of joy, of hope, particularly amongst the young black women who I spoke to there.
02:40They are hoping that the United States is going to get its first female black president.
02:47Now Harris has an awful lot of support in cities like Philadelphia, where she has less
02:53support in Pennsylvania is in rural areas.
02:57They tend to vote Republican and one of her concerns in this election is that in some
03:03of these suburban areas she may have lost some pockets of support.
03:08I'm in a suburb of Philadelphia right now, Bucks County, which in the past two elections
03:13went to the Democrats, but in this particular area, Levittown, where I am, there are pockets
03:20of strong Republican support.
03:23If you drive around the streets here, you see an awful lot of Trump signs and if those
03:27signs translate into people going to the poll and voting for Trump, then it's possible
03:33that we could see support for him going up in suburban areas of cities.
03:39That said, it's very hard to tell and it's neck and neck still for both candidates in
03:43Pennsylvania.
03:44Now, I've been talking to voters here and almost all of them at these two polling stations
03:50that I'm next to have told me that they are voting for Donald Trump.
03:54Some have been expressing their opinions very loudly.
03:57They're concerned about the economy.
03:59They say they're hardworking people and they believe that it's only Donald Trump who can
04:04save America.
04:05They think that America is going in the wrong direction.
04:07There was one man who drove up in a bright green sports car with a rap song blaring out
04:13of the car, which had expletives that I can't repeat, but also had the phrase Trump 2024
04:23and he was adamant that Trump is going to win Pennsylvania and that he has a lot more
04:27support here in part because a lot of Republicans, he said, went to cast mail-in ballots more
04:35so, he said, than last time and certainly the queues have not been that long here for
04:39in-person voting and Trump supporters explained to me that this is because many people went
04:44and did those mail-in ballots ahead of time.
04:51Jessica LeMessurier reporting live there from Bucks County, Pennsylvania and they'll
04:57be, of course, allowed to stay online if they're inside a polling station when those polls
05:03close.
05:04We're now in the company of a first-time voter, first-time citizen, freshman in college at
05:11the University of Maryland, Peter Andrews.
05:13Thanks for being with us.
05:14Thank you very much.
05:15I'm glad to be here.
05:16You voted already?
05:17Yeah, I voted mail-in ballot.
05:18It was, I'd say, a stressful process.
05:21I wanted to make sure I did everything correctly and I was very excited when I got the text
05:24today saying they had received my ballot and I was very happy to see that.
05:29So you got a confirmation?
05:30I got a confirmation that they had received the ballot and I'm glad everything went well.
05:34I made sure to go over it, review it multiple times to make sure I did everything correctly.
05:39All right.
05:40So, yeah, there's been, one of the concerns has been whether early voting is safe.
05:45There's been all kinds of questions on all sides, poll watchers under a lot of pressure.
05:49Peter, you're from a demographic which traditionally doesn't vote as much as the rest of the population.
05:57How about this time?
05:58How does it feel on your campus?
05:59I feel like this election has really proved how important the young vote is, especially
06:04in the swing states where I believe that many of the undecided voters are young voters because
06:10they are coming into politics, their opinions are new and being forged here.
06:16And I think this is, all of the young voters I have talked to are deeply opinionated.
06:26And I think the reason that there's a stereotype around young voters not being, being apathetic
06:34about politics and just not caring is that for a long time we felt that there is just
06:43no, no ability to get our opinions out there.
06:46No way to-
06:47But this time people are energized.
06:48Why?
06:49I think it was the change from Biden to Kamala that really energized the Democratic young,
06:56the young Democratic voters, because we were, I know after that, after the debate between
07:03Biden and Trump, I was annoyed.
07:06I was angry because it was just, it was horrible.
07:10And I thought, we're just going to lose this thing.
07:13And they're not good.
07:14And we knew, we all thought that, but no one was listening to us.
07:17We felt no one was listening to us.
07:18But then Kamala, Biden stepped down and Kamala stepped up.
07:23And I think that change really lit a fire under Democratic, young Democratic voters
07:30to get them out there.
07:31And just briefly, are you noticing a difference between how young men and young women vote?
07:36Are there more young men voting for Donald Trump among the people you know?
07:41I'd say definitely more young men.
07:42Yeah.
07:43I know a few young men who, I don't know any young women who are voting personally.
07:49I have seen young women who are voting for Trump and young men.
07:54The main argument for them is always the economy.
07:56They never really address any of his other points.
08:00But with Kamala, I feel like I have, I've seen an even amount.
08:05I guess I've seen more vote for Trump, but I, it's not, there's no gender gap in who
08:10I know voting for Kamala.
08:11All right.
08:12I suspect you'll be with your friends watching those returns.
08:16Peter Andrews, thank you so much for being with us.
08:18Thank you very much.
08:19So there you have it, Peter Andrews there talking about that, that gender divide, differences
08:25in attitude.
08:26Peter explaining to us that he sent his ballot in by mail.
08:31One man who's voting on the day is the former U.S. president, Donald Trump.
08:35He did so in Florida, where we can go to Ketavan Gorjastani, Ketavan, what's the latest
08:41where you are?
08:42Well, as you said, Donald Trump has now voted near his resort of Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach.
08:52We're actually standing in front of the Palm Beach County Convention Center.
08:57That's behind me, that building where the Republican Watch Party is going to take place
09:03and where Donald Trump is expected to arrive late in the evening.
09:08Of course, probably depending on where we are in terms of results.
09:13But other than voting for Donald Trump, today was spent mostly at Mar-a-Lago.
09:18We're told from people inside of his campaign that that's where he's going to be most of
09:22the day, and he'll only come to the convention center later on.
09:27The person in the campaign that our team spoke to earlier today seemed very confident in
09:34the results and very confident that Donald Trump was going to win.
09:38And that's something that we heard from Donald Trump himself after he cast his ballot.
09:42He was speaking to reporters and he said, we've basically had a much better campaign
09:48than both in 2016 and 2020.
09:50This is the best campaign we've had in the three campaigns.
09:54He said that he was very happy with the latest results, with the turnout.
10:00So it's a very confident Donald Trump and very confident Trump campaign that is getting
10:05ready to watch those results come in, just the way we do.
10:12Ketavan Ghorjasthani reporting from West Palm Beach in Florida.
10:15And Ketavan, who's also been to Georgia, which is another one of those swing states we talked
10:19about Pennsylvania earlier.
10:21It's a pleasure and an honor to welcome another man who's running for office.
10:25You're running for re-election, Congressman Glenn Ivey of Maryland.
10:28Thank you for being with us.
10:29Thanks for having me.
10:30You are a Democrat, a member of the House Judiciary, the House Ethics Committee.
10:36What's this election about?
10:37Well, I mean, in some ways it's going to determine the fate of the nation, the direction of the
10:43nation and the direction of the world.
10:44I think if Donald Trump wins, it's a very dramatic difference from a victory by Kamala
10:49Harris.
10:51And is it about what?
10:52Because we've heard people, even the young people, telling us, you know, young people
10:56saying we don't care too much about these rule of law issues and all that.
11:00We're more interested in the economy and we think Trump's better.
11:02Yeah, I think we have to, you know, walk and chew gum at the same time and make sure we're
11:07taking care of both of those things.
11:08The economy certainly is critical.
11:10And I think, frankly, the United States is doing pretty well on the economy.
11:15I know it hasn't gotten to everybody.
11:17And so there's concerns for people who are still struggling on the piggy bank issues.
11:21But overall, you know, inflation is coming down.
11:25Unemployment's at historic lows.
11:27You've been adding thousands of new jobs every month for about 50 months now.
11:31Things do seem to be going in the right direction.
11:34And the Fed cutting interest rates again, I think is going to be a big step in the right
11:37direction.
11:38With respect to the democracy and rule of law issues, I think those are things you can
11:42underestimate until you lose them.
11:44And we want to make sure that that doesn't happen, because we can see what happens with
11:48other countries when they lose the democracy and rule of law guidance that's been the hallmark
11:53of the United States for so many years now.
11:56They regret them when they lose them.
11:58Are people kind of sleepwalking into something?
12:00You were not yet a congressman on January the 6th, 2021, but you have long experience
12:06on Capitol Hill.
12:08When you walk around this city today, is it almost forgotten about?
12:12Because seen from across the Atlantic, we're wondering why this isn't more of an issue.
12:18Well, I think it depends on which sector of the country you're talking to or talking about.
12:23I'm African-American.
12:24When I was a young man, the country was still segregated.
12:27I know what it's like to not be able to vote.
12:29I know what it's like to be unable to go to certain schools and certain stores and the
12:33like.
12:34And, you know, those of us who are old enough to remember the world before Roe v. Wade,
12:40and it's sad to see that again, women in a generation who've lost the rights that their
12:44grandparents and mothers had.
12:47It's easy for us to move in the wrong direction if we're not careful.
12:50We see a growing gender divide over this issue of reproductive rights.
12:53What happens to the women's movement if Donald Trump is elected?
12:57Well, it's hard to say, but I think it strengthens it in some ways, certainly in the states where
13:02those rights have been taken away already.
13:05And it could get worse.
13:06There are certainly states who are looking to take away abortion rights, even in cases
13:10of rape and incest, and I'm sure there's going to be a national effort by the Republicans
13:14to make that a nationwide ban.
13:16So it's going to be a big fight.
13:19I think even if Harris wins, there's going to be a push by the Republicans to do that.
13:24Having the White House in Democratic hands, I think, makes it easier for us to fend that
13:27off and restore the rights of women's right to choose.
13:32Glenn Ivey, you're an attorney, a former attorney general for the state of Maryland.
13:38Donald Trump in the last few days, would you characterize his remarks as veiled threats
13:44against, say, the former Congresswoman Liz Cheney, the press, or are they actual threats?
13:50Should they be prosecuted?
13:51Well, I mean, I think, you know, he's been making threats like that for years now, unfortunately.
13:56Are they veiled?
13:58I think they're pretty straightforward.
14:01Legally, you have to have the ability to carry it out immediately.
14:04So it's not going to be a criminal prosecution.
14:07But he still has three of those left that are over his head.
14:10So it's not like he'll be out of the clear.
14:12But I think the bigger point, though, is that if he gets control of the government, the
14:17Army and Department of Justice, he can misuse them.
14:20In fact, in the last administration that he had, the only thing that kept that from really
14:24getting out of control were members of the Cabinet, Secretary of Defense refusing to
14:29seize ballots or have the military use to suppress peaceful nonviolent demonstrations.
14:37So making sure that that doesn't happen or that he doesn't weaponize prosecutors to go
14:41after his enemies that he's put a list out about, that's the stuff that we have to worry
14:45about.
14:46How strong are institutions?
14:48Is there a plan if he's elected?
14:50Yeah, there's a fight that'll have to happen.
14:53But I think we've seen that, you know, he pushed it to the brink when he was in office
14:57in 2017 and through 2021.
15:01We don't want to see that again.
15:02We want to make sure that we just keep him out of office, defeat him here at the ballot
15:06box, and we don't have to worry about this, those issues.
15:09We can begin to repair the rule of law and democracy here in the United States.
15:14Congressman Ivey, you mentioned all those court cases that are still pending.
15:18If Kamala Harris is the winner, should she pardon the former president?
15:23I don't think so, no.
15:25And she could only pardon the federal cases.
15:27So there are two state cases that are moving forward.
15:30And I don't think the governors in those states should pardon him either.
15:32He should be held accountable for what he's done.
15:35That's happened in a couple of cases already with respect to the civil liability for sexual
15:39assault and the corporate fraud that his company committed.
15:43And I think he will be held accountable in the remaining four criminal cases.
15:47Just to be clear, does that mean he should go to jail?
15:50I think so.
15:51I mean, you know, he's talked about two tiers of justice.
15:54The tier that he's on, he's complaining about being overly prosecuted.
15:58If he'd committed all of these things as a regular person, not only would he not be allowed
16:03to run for office, he'd have trouble getting a job.
16:06So I don't think being in the White House and being the president of the United States,
16:12he shouldn't be eligible for that.
16:14The acts that he's committed already should disqualify him from holding the presidency.
16:19But your U.S. judiciary system is slow.
16:22You know, he gets due process, he gets the rule of law rights that he complains about
16:27not having.
16:28He still gets them anyway.
16:29But I think he'll still be held accountable, ultimately.
16:32Ultimately.
16:33What are your constituents telling you?
16:36What is highest on their minds?
16:39There's a lot.
16:40Certainly they want to have Kamala Harris in the White House.
16:42Certainly they want to have better opportunities with respect to the economy, grocery and gas
16:48prices.
16:49They want to continue to see them come down.
16:50Unemployment and jobs, I think they want to see more of those.
16:53And I think they want to see things happen that allow them to live, you know, take care
16:58of rent and mortgage, have their kids have opportunities to thrive, go to get education
17:03and get good jobs.
17:04The stuff that we've always wanted, but we've been having to fight about lately.
17:08I asked about January the 6th earlier, because January the 6th, 2021, it was the moment where
17:15both houses of Congress meet to certify the election, normally a formality.
17:20The U.S. vice president refused to sway and Donald Trump had to exit the White House.
17:30It'll be the new Congress that will certify the election this time.
17:36What will happen if Republicans are in control for that certification process?
17:41I think certification will still happen, provided that we win the majority of the states that
17:46we need to get the 270 plus votes in the electoral college.
17:50You're still going to have Trump and others complaining that the election was stolen.
17:54But at some point, I think we have to, again, hold them accountable and make sure they follow
17:58the rule of law and basic democracy.
18:01You know, if you lose, you vacate office and permit the peaceful transfer of power.
18:06In this sense, it's a peaceful continuation of power with the Democratic Party from Biden
18:11to Harris.
18:12One final question for you.
18:13What are the team leads who should be reading?
18:15What should we be looking for throughout this day?
18:17What are you looking at?
18:18Well, I mean, in some ways, I'm not in a battleground state.
18:22Maryland is deeply blue.
18:24And you know, clearly Harris is going to win there.
18:26But some of the states that are going to be in play, Pennsylvania is a big one.
18:29But there are others that have gotten interesting very recently, like Iowa.
18:36If Harris wins those states, you know, this could be a blowout.
18:39So we'll see.
18:40Do you think that's really possible?
18:41We'll see.
18:42You know, it's up to the voters to decide.
18:45It feels like a toss up to me.
18:46But when I saw that poll that had her up in Iowa, that was astonishing to me.
18:51So we'll see.
18:52Glenn, I have you.
18:53Many thanks for being with us.
18:54Thanks for having me.
18:55All right.
18:56Appreciate it.
18:57Appreciate it.
18:58The election has been something of a, the election has been sometimes fraught in a lot
19:06of places.
19:07We've talked about battleground states, about Pennsylvania, about Georgia.
19:11There's also the case of Arizona, where we can cross now to France 24's Waseem Kornay.
19:21Waseem, tell us where you are.
19:24Oh, we're going to cross over to Waseem in a little bit.
19:28Let's cross to Lila Jacinto.
19:30Lila, you're in another battleground state, Michigan.
19:34Anywhere.
19:35Must be in Michigan, Francois.
19:40And I'm in the Motor City, where I am right now, is a vote counting center, the Huntington
19:46Place.
19:47This was actually, this center was in the media spotlight in the last election in 2020,
19:52when Stop the Steal, Stop the Count protesters descended here.
19:58And but this time, everything's different.
20:00It is, security has been tightened, because the lessons of the 2020 election have been
20:06learned.
20:07And I was earlier at a polling station, Francois, you'll be happy to know this, because this
20:11is the Motor City, Detroit, the automobile industry.
20:15This is also the home of Motown.
20:18And the polling stations were playing Motown music.
20:21So there's a good spirit here.
20:26A good spirit.
20:27You've been out and about, Lila, and Michigan is one of those states where every vote is
20:31going to count.
20:33It's also home to a large, as you were saying, home to factory workers, but also to a large
20:41Palestinian American and an Arab American community.
20:45How are they going to swing?
20:48Well, this is a very interesting thing to watch.
20:54You know, I was in Dearborn.
20:56This is called the Arab American capital.
20:59And so there are a lot of people of Palestinian origin, of Lebanese origin, as well.
21:05In fact, their senator, Rashida Tlaib, is of Palestinian origin, and she's running for
21:10re-election in Congress right now, not Senate.
21:15And what Arab American voters, this is an interesting one to watch, is that they are
21:21a democratic stronghold.
21:23You know, they've always voted democratic.
21:25But this time, a lot of Arab American voters have told me that they really want to punish
21:31Kamala Harris in the polls for the Biden administration's policies on Israel's war in Gaza and Lebanon.
21:38Now, just to give you a sense of the numbers, in 2020, Hillary Clinton lost Michigan by
21:4410,000 votes.
21:46So every vote is important in this battleground state of Michigan.
21:51And earlier this year, there was an uncommitted movement, mostly of Arab American voters,
21:58who voted uncommitted in the primaries in order to give a message to the Democratic
22:03Party that they really would like, one, a ceasefire, and tying Israeli military aid
22:10to Israel with a ceasefire.
22:13And that, it was called the uncommitted movement.
22:15And they set out to get 10,000 votes in the primary, 10,000 being the amount of votes
22:21Michigan was lost in 2016.
22:26And they got 100,000 votes.
22:29So the Arab American votes could very well sway this critical state here.
22:36And there'll be a lot of suspense at that polling, counting center, where you are, Lila
22:41Jacinto reporting live from Detroit, Michigan.
22:45We're in the company now of John Conway, and I want to thank you for joining us.
22:52You are, have been a Republican in your DNA, and yet you've this time been campaigning
22:59for Kamala Harris, Michigan, one of those places you went to.
23:03First off, let's begin with Michigan.
23:05What was it like when you went?
23:06Yeah, we took our Republican Voters Against Trump campaign on the road.
23:10We went through Pennsylvania and Michigan, and we wanted to let the communities in Michigan
23:14know that there are Republican voters, not only in the state of Michigan, but across
23:18the country, who will be supporting Kamala Harris this November, because they understand
23:22that Donald Trump is categorically unfit to be in office, and they don't love everything
23:25about Kamala Harris.
23:26They don't agree 100% with what Kamala Harris stands for, but they understand that Donald
23:30Trump is somebody who tried to overthrow our democracy on January 6th.
23:34They understand that Donald Trump has become even more extreme since the last time he's
23:37been on the ballot, and they're going to reject him today, because they're going to put our
23:41country over our party.
23:42So even though they're Republicans, and even though they don't agree 100% with Kamala Harris,
23:46they're going to vote for her today regardless.
23:49The inflation that spiked post-pandemic has since subsided, but people we've been speaking
23:54to, saying, look, I'm getting battered, that's why I'm going to vote for Trump.
23:59And what did you say to people in places like Michigan and Pennsylvania when they gave you
24:03that answer?
24:04Yeah, we've been doing focus groups with swing voters all cycle, and one of the common refrains
24:09we hear from some voters who are interested in voting for Trump is exactly that.
24:12It's the economy and it's immigration.
24:14And ultimately, we've had some strong economic numbers come out, and especially during this
24:19recovery over the last year out of COVID, the United States has been one of the leaders
24:22in terms of global recovery, but voters still aren't feeling the effects of that.
24:26And ultimately, the pitch we're making to voters is that policy and the economic stability
24:33of the country right now, we can always work on that, right?
24:35We can always change direction.
24:36We can always continue to work for the betterment of the American people.
24:40But Donald Trump is somebody who doesn't care about the American people.
24:42He only cares about himself.
24:43He's on the campaign trail right now, talking about his own grievances, his own legal battles,
24:47his own feuds with his enemies.
24:49He's talking about his enemies list.
24:51Kamala Harris is fighting for the American people, and she has a plan in place in order
24:54to make our lives better.
24:55And Donald Trump only wants to make his life better, and that's why he's running for president
24:58this time.
24:59No matter what country you're in, politics are always a bit tribal.
25:03You're with, like, you support a sports team your whole life, you support a party, generally,
25:08your whole life.
25:09What was the moment where you, John Conway, thought, wait a minute, I have to cross the
25:15aisle here?
25:16What was the moment, the moment?
25:19I've always thought that Donald Trump was someone who does not represent the best of
25:22America or the best of the Republican Party.
25:24And I think when he launched his nomination in 2015, he did so by attacking immigrants
25:29and attacking people that were coming to the United States for a better life.
25:32And I think that the Republican Party that I cherish is the one of Ronald Reagan, where
25:36he said the United States is a shining city on a hill, and Donald Trump doesn't represent
25:40that vision of America.
25:41Donald Trump is somebody who fundamentally hates America.
25:43He says that we're garbage.
25:44He says that everything is turning against him and against this country.
25:49And I think, you know, the Republican Party that I believe in is one that stands for free
25:52markets, leadership, and supporting our democracy at home and abroad.
25:56And Donald Trump doesn't represent any of those values, and that's why I could never
25:59support him.
26:00You say you support free markets.
26:01How much of a minority view is that these days, when the most pressing issue for many
26:06on the international stage is a rivalry with China, which is accused of unfairly subsidizing
26:15its industry?
26:16Well, see, Donald Trump has fundamentally changed the Republican Party in this respect.
26:19He's talking about, you know, slapping 100, 200 percent tariffs on goods, not only from
26:23China but around the world.
26:25And what he doesn't understand is-
26:27And there's been a continuity.
26:28Joe Biden has not reversed Donald Trump's policies.
26:31Well, there's been some tariffs that the Biden administration has kept, especially
26:33strategic tariffs.
26:35But Donald Trump, what he's proposing is flat tariffs across the board.
26:39And I think that we can deal with the challenge of China while also promoting free trade around
26:43the world, because we know that our leaders are able to do that.
26:46We've done that in the past.
26:47And Donald Trump is somebody who doesn't fundamentally understand how to craft good policy in this
26:52regard.
26:53And that's why I think that Kamala Harris has a vision and a plan to make the United
26:57States better.
26:58That also includes trade across the globe without putting 200 percent tariffs on goods.
27:03These don't have to be mutually exclusive things.
27:05John Conway, four years ago, you know, each election cycle, we discover campaigning in
27:11a new form because of where the digital age goes so fast.
27:15And four years ago, the big social media groups pushed back against some of the disinformation
27:21that was spouted.
27:23That pushing back has now loosened, not only, not just at Twitter, which was bought by Elon
27:29Musk, who supports Trump.
27:31My question to you is, can they regulate themselves, these tech companies?
27:36Or is there going to be a need for the United States to review not only its politics, but
27:41the way it regulates, the way its information is disseminated?
27:47I think it's really important for all of America to once again restore our value of free speech.
27:54Can that be done without a government regulation?
27:56I think ultimately, the free market and self-regulation on these tech companies is what's best.
28:02I think whenever you start mixing the government with speech, we know from history that there's
28:06a very dangerous, slippery slope.
28:08And I think for the most part, these companies have standards that they need to be enforcing
28:13in terms of content moderation, but also-
28:15Self-enforcing.
28:16Self-enforcing.
28:17I think whenever we start mixing government authority with our free speech rights, that's
28:22a dangerous slope.
28:23I think we need to let the free market of ideas ultimately decide.
28:27That's how it's always been in this country.
28:28And I think it's been that way for very good reasons, because it promotes the best freedom
28:32for all Americans to speak their mind without any government interference.
28:36What's the biggest difference for you in the way the campaign's happened, unfolded, compared
28:41to four years ago?
28:42This is obviously an unprecedented campaign, with Kamala Harris being the nominee for only
28:45three months.
28:46She had to reintroduce herself to the American people, because there was a lot of voters
28:50across the country who weren't very familiar with who Kamala Harris was as her time as
28:53vice president.
28:54So I think she's running a really smart campaign with a positive vision.
28:58And Donald Trump is running a campaign not for the American people.
29:00This is a presidential campaign that exists in order for Donald Trump to go after his
29:05enemies and for him to benefit and for him to profit.
29:08And so I think America is a stark choice between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, and I think
29:12ultimately Kamala Harris is going to be successful today.
29:14All right.
29:15There's a prediction.
29:16John Conway, so many thanks for being with us.
29:17Thank you very much.
29:18All right.
29:19We've got John Conway there mentioning what he thinks is going to happen.
29:24Remember, we're going to have the polls closing later on during our special at 9 p.m. Washington
29:32time for most of the East Coast.
29:34That's when the focus will shift to where France 24's Wassim Korné happens to be.
29:40You're in Phoenix, Arizona.
29:41Tell us where you are, Wassim.
29:44Hey, good morning, François.
29:48Almost good afternoon from Phoenix, Arizona, from a polling station in northeastern Phoenix.
29:53Phoenix is the county seat of Maricopa County, which is the largest state in the state of
29:57– largest county, excuse me, in the state of Arizona, the most important state in terms
30:01of the swing states in the western United States with its 11 electoral votes.
30:06Right off the bat, let me tell you, there have been some efforts online to try to convince
30:10voters that there are issues at polling stations in Maricopa County, telling some people that
30:15voting stations are closed and that they are turning voters away.
30:19That is not true.
30:20So, we are here to say right off the bat that voters are able to go to any polling station
30:25across the county to vote and cast their ballot.
30:30We have heard, however, of some issues in Apache County, that is in northeastern Arizona,
30:35mostly covering the Navajo Nation, reports early this morning saying that several polling
30:40stations had voting machines that were not working.
30:44So, county officials there are asking voters to show up with their government ID and ask
30:49to cast a provisional ballot, and that will be counted later.
30:53But unfortunately, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but if we do see a very close
30:58race in some of those eastern states, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia,
31:03well, then we may be here for a while, because Arizona is notoriously slow when it comes
31:08to counting ballots.
31:09And also, it will be a very, very close race.
31:12Joe Biden won this state by less than 11,000 votes against Donald Trump four years ago.
31:19And polls do suggest that it will be another close one, although Donald Trump does seem
31:23to be having a slight edge when you average all of the polls.
31:26But voters across the state, in Maricopa County in particular, are asked to cast their ballot
31:33in a number of races, from the presidency, of course, to a key Senate race, Ruben Gallego
31:39on the Democratic side, Kerry Lake on the Republican side, but also small local races,
31:43like the mayor of Phoenix, like the next supervisors on the school district board, the board members
31:51of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District, and also statewide, 13 propositions.
31:58Those are citizen-driven ballot initiatives that are on the ballot on a range of issues.
32:03The two main ones this election day, Proposition 314 on immigration, which among many other
32:10things would make it a state crime to cross into Arizona outside of those official ports
32:16of entry and would allow state and local police to arrest anyone found guilty of doing that.
32:21And Proposition 139, that is abortion.
32:24That would enshrine abortion as a constitutional right in the state of Arizona.
32:27Abortion, of course, present on the ballot in Arizona and nine other states across the
32:32country.
32:33Democrats progress as to hoping to galvanize supporters of abortion to show up at polling
32:38stations across the country, vote to enshrine abortion rights in the Constitution, and of
32:43course to vote as well for Kamala Harris.
32:47Yeah, that's going to be one of the telling issues.
32:51Will it be those turning out for that anti-immigration initiative or those turning out for that reproductive
32:57rights initiatives who win the day?
33:00Joacim Kornay, many thanks for that live update from Phoenix, Arizona.
33:06It's a pleasure to see her in the flesh.
33:08Christine Mrazina from the Atlantic Council.
33:09How are you?
33:10Excellent.
33:11How are you?
33:12All right.
33:13We've been harassing Christina a lot since February of 2022 when Vladimir Putin launched
33:18his all out invasion of Ukraine.
33:21When it comes to foreign policy, the whole world is, of course, watching, and in particular
33:28native Ukraine.
33:29Absolutely.
33:31So it is a really big issue in this election.
33:33How does the foreign policy question get resolved?
33:35In some ways, it's a question about what happens next in Ukraine.
33:38Is there going to be an acceleration towards a ceasefire or a peace negotiation?
33:44Or is there going to be more time for Ukraine to make progress on the battlefield?
33:47And is that going to be a question of months or are we looking at a question of years?
33:50That's a question probably between Trump and between Harris.
33:54Some are suggesting that even if Kamala Harris wins the election, Congress has in effect
33:59signed its last check for military aid to Ukraine.
34:02Is that your view?
34:03I think that's really hard to say.
34:05In some ways, we get into a different political moment after this election, after today.
34:09Then it comes back to a question of what is the American role?
34:11What are American values?
34:12I think it's not impossible for there actually to be more military aid between the middle
34:17of November and the end of the year.
34:18But so much depends on this election.
34:20So much depends upon the decisions that American people make today.
34:23When I travel around the country, when I talk to Iowan farmers or military service members
34:30or people working on the energy side of things in the Appalachians, a lot of European issues
34:36make sense.
34:37I don't think you can say that there is a red foreign policy or a blue foreign policy.
34:41And I think there's a lot of nuance in the American people.
34:43And so in some ways it's oversimplified in the Washington conversation.
34:48But I think whether you have a Trump or a Harris presidency is going to really also
34:52change what that dynamic is like on the ground.
34:55Is Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, ready for a return of Donald Trump to the
34:59White House?
35:00Should that be the case?
35:01I think so.
35:02I think that perhaps in 2016 there was a surprise with Trump coming into power.
35:06But we're not in 2016.
35:07So Zelensky has a plan.
35:11Because let's listen to what Donald Trump had to say on the campaign trail.
35:18Inflation wouldn't have happened.
35:20Russia-Ukraine wouldn't have happened.
35:23Israel wouldn't have happened.
35:26The October 7th Israel attack would have never happened.
35:28Those people would all be alive.
35:32So he'll sit both sides down on day one, says Donald Trump.
35:38So is Volodymyr Zelensky ready for that?
35:42It's going to affect me sitting down in conceding territory.
35:45Absolutely.
35:46Sorry.
35:47So there is a real chance that there could be, there needs to be a face-to-face conversation
35:53very soon.
35:54But this is not a surprise.
35:55This is something that Ukrainians and Europeans have been thinking about for the last few
35:58months.
35:59The fact that the reality as it is in the middle of November might be the military reality
36:03that is the reality that is dealt with around a negotiation table has been clear.
36:08The question is, what are the political options on the table?
36:10And that's why I think when you look at Zelensky's police plan, the question of NATO is so important
36:14there.
36:15Right?
36:16There's a military reality and there's a political menu.
36:19And everyone going into this election from the European side, from the Ukrainian side
36:23is aware of who they might have to deal with.
36:27And that's why the having an expansive lift and less than a high lift of what things that
36:33Ukrainians might want has been put out there.
36:36And the Ukrainians will have to advocate for themselves as much as possible.
36:40This Tuesday is election day in the United States.
36:42This Thursday, there's a European Council summit.
36:45And it's a tradition that every six months, there's a new country that's the rotating
36:49chair of the European Council.
36:52This time, it happens to be the most pro-Trump of the 27 members of the bloc, Hungary.
36:57It'll be taking place in Budapest.
37:01What are going to be the optics come Thursday if we're still in this position of indecision
37:08where we don't know who's winning?
37:09And Viktor Orban congratulates Donald Trump.
37:12Will that just be a bit of political theatre?
37:16I think we can expect there to be lots of warm words from Viktor Orban towards Trump,
37:20whether or not he is up or undecided or down.
37:24That is a relationship that has been steady throughout the past few years.
37:29And so that is an expectation.
37:30I think there's going to be a lot of caution from other European leaders if we don't know
37:33exactly who is up or who is down in the polls.
37:37But again, just because there's a rotating presidency and just because Orban has the
37:41floor, I think there's not much of a sense that he speaks on behalf of all of Europe.
37:45He is an individual on the European political scene, and I don't think there will be a misunderstanding
37:51on the American side should he say something that is not in line with what the other leaders
37:55say.
37:56And Christina, finally asking for a friend, France has right now kind of a hung parliament
38:02situation.
38:03We're probably going to have another snap election at some point soon.
38:07The national rally, which is also pro-Trump, the far-right party, is tipped to make yet
38:13more gains.
38:16Again, the result here, how much does that weigh on European politics?
38:22Europe is going to have to deal with a different United States after the next few months, whether
38:26that's a Trump United States or a Harris United States.
38:29It's hard to say.
38:30In either way, the responsibility for Europe to do more for its own security and defense
38:34and to show the fact that it is investing in developing its economy and its security
38:38and defense is going to be very important.
38:40It really doesn't matter whether that is Trump or that is Harris.
38:43The notion that the shifting of ambition on security has to happen to Europe no matter
38:50what, and whether that's rally or someone else on the French side, also doesn't necessarily
38:55matter.
38:56Someone is going to have to protect Europe.
38:58The Americans are there.
38:59The Americans are going to continue to be there in some form.
39:02The fact that there is ever more pressure for Europeans to do more, for France to do
39:05more, for itself, whoever is in charge, is going to exist.
39:09All right.
39:10Cristina Burzina, thank you so much for joining us.
39:11Thank you so much.
39:12Great to see you.
39:13The whole world is indeed watching Cristina Burzina of the Atlantic Council telling us
39:20as much.
39:21We're going to cross in a moment to William Galston, who will give us his views on all
39:30of this, longtime commentator.
39:33The situation in those swing states, it's a difficult one to find out what's going to
39:41happen.
39:42Just a reminder, if you're joining us here on France 24, we're at the midway point of
39:48voting in the United States, as was said at the outset.
39:55We had the polls opening in Hawaii, and it'll be interesting to watch, of course, at the
40:01end whether or not we'll be waiting on results from Alaska and Hawaii to determine who the
40:06next president is.
40:07It's that close.
40:08Cristina, again, thank you so much for being with us.
40:10So we'll be talking in a moment with William Galston about these issues, William Galston,
40:18who is a longtime watcher on domestic and foreign policy, and also a member, a columnist
40:27for The Wall Street Journal.
40:30In fact, here he comes now.
40:33Watch the sunlight.
40:37Thanks for being with us here.
40:38Come on.
40:39Come this way.
40:40Come this way.
40:41How are we looking?
40:42Are we looking good?
40:43Okay.
40:44Point your shoulders at the camera.
40:45We're doing a little bit of television prepping here.
40:48First of all, what was your gut instinct when your alarm clock rang this morning, or did
40:54you not need one?
40:55Well, my gut instinct was that the past week has been a pretty good week for Kamala Harris
41:04and a pretty bad week for Donald Trump.
41:06So my gut instinct was that Harris was in a stronger position than she was a week ago.
41:12Whether that will be strong enough, I can't tell you.
41:15But gut instincts change throughout the day, I've noticed.
41:19Yeah.
41:20Mine hasn't changed today, but that's probably because I've just been looking at the same
41:23numbers I was looking at last night.
41:27What's going on with democracy in America?
41:30Well, I can describe it very simply.
41:34Through a period of historical evolution now that's gone on for a full generation, the
41:39United States is both closely divided and deeply divided.
41:45And it turns out that that is a very bad combination for trying to govern effectively in a system
41:51of checks and balances, not a parliamentary system where if you win, you win everything.
41:56What is that about?
41:57Is that just sheer luck that you have people on the divide, if you will, on both sides
42:03that are roughly even?
42:05Is it an institutional problem with this constitution that's sometimes difficult to explain, drawn
42:11up in the 18th century?
42:13What's it about?
42:14Well, in part, it's about deep cleavages on issues ranging from economics to culture that
42:24have developed and widened over the period of generation.
42:29It's also the case that both parties have gotten increasingly good at slicing and dicing
42:35the electorate.
42:36They call it micro-targeting?
42:38Exactly, to get as close to a majority as possible.
42:44And so the technology of politics has helped contribute to the narrowing of the gap between
42:50the two parties.
42:52But in part, it's because of our system that has divided the country into states whose
42:59total electoral votes are pretty evenly balanced.
43:03I can remember, in a close election that I remember, the first one that I remember
43:08of 1960, 35 states were swing states.
43:14Most of the country was within a very narrow margin.
43:16Now we have some states that are very Republican, some states that are very Democratic, and
43:22just a handful that are truly contested.
43:25And that's one of the things that's made the elections so close.
43:28And those political parties are changing.
43:30You mentioned the 1960s.
43:32It was a time when the Democratic Party had a stronghold in the South.
43:39And there was a sort of a generational change, perhaps even a change of more than a century,
43:46where the allegiances flipped a half century later.
43:52I ask, could allegiances flip again?
43:55Are we seeing some kind of redrawing of the political map, or did it already happen in
43:592016?
44:01It started to happen.
44:04It didn't start to happen in 2016.
44:07It was accelerated in 2016, but it hasn't stopped.
44:11And previously, you could talk about this in regional terms.
44:15Now you need to talk about it in class terms.
44:17Increasingly, highly educated people are gravitating towards the Democratic Party.
44:23People without college educations are heading quickly towards the Republican Party.
44:28And as we've learned from politics, not just in the United States, but all over the Democratic
44:32West, a college education comes with a particular set of outlooks, willingness to deal with
44:40diversity, willingness to deal with change, a preference for urban life.
44:47And increasingly, people without college educations are less comfortable with diversity, less
44:52comfortable with change, and less comfortable with urban life.
44:56You see an urban-rural split, you see an education split, and you see an occupational split.
45:02The United States is not distinctive in this respect.
45:05Not distinctive in this respect.
45:06One of the questions you asked, and it'll be my last one to you.
45:09You're wondering, Donald Trump, people thought, oh, he's finished after 2020.
45:14Now you're wondering, can he create a multi-ethnic working class party?
45:19This is the great question.
45:21Because the Republicans shifted from being a party of educated white people to a party
45:30of less educated white people.
45:33But white working class voters are not a majority in the country, and they keep on shrinking
45:37as a share of the population.
45:39What Donald Trump is trying to do is to create within the Republican Party a working class
45:45coalition across ethnic and racial lines.
45:49If he succeeds in doing that, and this election will be a test of that, though maybe not the
45:53last test, then he will have completely reconfigured American politics.
45:58And this will be the new axis of division for the next generation.
46:03And like you say, perhaps something that will influence as well the politics of Europe and
46:07beyond.
46:08William Galston, thank you so much.
46:09It's been my pleasure.
46:11And we're going to be, of course, continuing with our live coverage throughout the United
46:15States, live coverage on election night.
46:18Join us Wednesday for another special edition of the France 24 Debate from Washington.