Global News Podcast - Harris vs Trump: Who won the debate?

Episode Date: September 12, 2024

Both Harris and Trump claim victory in Tuesday’s presidential election debate. Also: Ukraine pressures US and UK over long-range missiles, and should you be allowed to eat in bed?

Hello, this is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service, with reports and analysis from across the world. The latest news seven days a week. BBC World Service podcasts are supported by advertising. Life and death were two very realistic co-existing possibilities in my life. I didn't even think I'd make it to like my 16th birthday, to be honest. I grew up being scared of who I was. Any one of us at any time can be affected by mental health and addictions. Just taking that first step makes a big difference.

It's the hardest step. But CAMH was there from the beginning. Everyone deserves better mental health care. To hear more stories of recovery, visit camh.ca. If you're hearing this, you're probably already listening to BBC's award-winning news podcasts. But did you know that you can listen to them without ads? Get current affairs podcasts like Global News, AmeriCast and The Global Story, plus other great BBC podcasts from history to comedy to true crime, all ad-free.

Simply subscribe to BBC Podcast Premium on Apple Podcasts or listen to Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts. This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Nigel Adderley, and in the early hours of Thursday the 12th of September, these are our main stories. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris meet again after both claim victory in yesterday's presidential debate. Ukraine's President Zelensky calls for big decisions, as the US and UK ponder permission to use their long-range missiles.

Protesters take to the streets in Mexico after Congress approves the election of all judges. Also in this podcast... I'm allowed to, but my boyfriend isn't. When I do it, it's charming. When he does it, it's absolutely feral. Should you be allowed to eat in bed? We dish up a range of opinions. Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump shook hands again on Wednesday, following their combative televised debate the night before. But this doesn't mean the entity is going away. They met again at one of America's most solemn occasions,

in New York at the Ground Zero site, where the people killed on September 11, 23 years ago, were remembered. For millions of Americans, there has been good news today. Another drop in core inflation, which is hoped will encourage a cut in interest rates. The economy was a big issue in the debate and will be all the way up to polling day on November the 5th. But initial polls suggest Ms Harris did better than Mr Trump. Our Washington correspondent Ione Wells gave me her assessment. Well I think any debate like this is of course important. It's a chance for the candidates to really land some of their core messages with voters.

Now, we still need to wait a couple of days, really, until we get further updates on the national picture, the state sort of picture of polls and how they've shifted over the last couple of days. But there were some snap polls that took place just after the debate itself. There was a YouGov survey of more than 2,000 voters, which suggested that 54% thought that Kamala Harris won, only 31% thought Trump did. In a CNN one, similarly, that suggested that the voters polled thought that Harris was the better performer in the debate. But of course, these are only kind of snapshots really of that immediate reaction after the debate. And of course, that should be coupled with the context that only sort of 4% suggested that the debate actually changed their minds. And one thing we know is that the core group that both

candidates really need to appeal to at the moment is undecided voters, those who aren't sort of passionately supporters of one party or the other. So I think there is still quite a long way to go for both candidates to really sort of convince some of those undecided voters why they should vote for them. But I think one thing that will certainly have sort of shifted the dial about this debate is some of the key soundbites that came out of it, whether it was Kamala Harris's message on abortion and the need to protect reproductive rights, or whether it was Donald Trump repeating a debunked claim that Haitian migrants eating people's pets in Ohio.

These kind of soundbites that came across in the debate are things that are already being massively shared on social media and I think will certainly be things that voters around the US see in the coming days. And Donald Trump at times did appear to be on the back foot during the debate last night. Is there any sign from his team what they'll be doing next? Well, Kamala Harris has certainly said that she's up for round two

for a second debate. That's something his team haven't committed to. Some have read that as a suggestion that perhaps he didn't feel it went as well as it could have done for him. I think certainly in terms of his sort of campaign plans, as I mentioned there, I think he's going to be planning to really kind of double down on some of the key messages he tried to land in that debate, whether it's things like the economy or immigration. I think he sees those as some of his strengths when it comes to sort of key talking points, but also continuing to campaign in some of those key battleground states, which are going to be really where this election is won or lost. And one of the key battleground states that Oney Wells

was talking about is Michigan. Our correspondent John Sudworth has been finding out how voters there viewed the debate. On the streets of Saginaw County, the canvassers are battling for every vote, sometimes quite literally. That's a joke! OK, well, so this is the guy that, you know, I ran into earlier, so... Vote for Trump! Harris is a joke!

She's a clown! Underneath the new paint, this is still Rust Belt country. Once solid Democrat, Donald Trump snatched a narrow victory here in 2016 with Michigan's closed-down car plants, the backdrop to his message of American decline. I don't say her because she has no policy. There are still car workers here. And at this union-organised event...

What are you doing? ..there was no doubting the allegiance... ..of the United Arab Workers' Association. ..as they rooted for Kamala Harris. The true measure of the leader... But in these uncertain times, dig a bit deeper and the political tensions are easy to find. There's a lot less people here than they were expecting.

One of the organisers has told me that his father and his uncles, all of them lifelong union men, have all gone over to Trump. And he's not sure about his son. In a deeply divided state, it's the undecided voters who will call the outcome of this election. So what did they make of the debate? I do like what she's talking about in particular, about women's rights, I'm real big on that, and also most of all the economy.

Enough to vote for her? Probably. I grew up for her? Probably. I grew up here my whole life. I've been here when we had factory plants in every corner of our major roads. That's all gone. I'm going to vote for Trump. Debates are fleeting. It is economic sentiments that sway voters.

This company polishes giant trucks, the lifeblood of America's economy. Trump has this message of a broken America. Does that resonate with you? Yeah, I think America is kind of broken right now. I think everyone's just fighting just to keep their head above the water. It's here, in the hard, grimy work that Democrats used to count on, you get a sense of the changes that make this election so close. John Sudworth.

With the presidential debate over and a vice-presidential debate still to come, we're collaborating with our colleagues at BBC AmeriCast to bring you a special edition ahead of the poll. If you have any questions you want answered by our team in the US, then please send them in. You can email or send a voice note to globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk or tweet us at globalnewspod. To Ukraine. There was a reminder in Kiev on Wednesday that diplomacy in the midst of a war can be interrupted. That siren sounded as the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, his UK counterpart David Lammy

and President Vladimir Zelensky were meeting to discuss further Western support for Ukraine. Ukraine's new foreign minister, Andriy Sibahai, outlined what was said. The main topic of our discussion was the strengthening of the defence capabilities of our countries, F-16 fighter planes, artillery, shells, everything that works for our victory. Mr Blinken announced $700 million in new funding, and he also said the message to Moscow was clear. The bottom line is this. We want Ukraine to win, and we're fully committed to keep marshalling the support that it needs for its brave defenders and citizens to do just that. Now, support for Ukraine will endure because it doesn't depend on any one country,

any one party, any one election. Here today, the United States, the United Kingdom are united in support of Ukraine and its success. Also at the news conference was our diplomatic correspondent James Landale. What's fascinating is you have to read between the lines. When you ask Mr Lamy about these long-range missiles and whether or not the UK and the US are going to give permission for Ukraine to use these missiles to strike deeper into Russian territory, Mr Lamy tends to sort of try and brush the question away by saying he's not going to help Mr Putin

by talking about tactical operational decisions in public. But then he makes an argument for change. He makes the argument that now that it is proven that Russia is getting access to Iranian missiles, he says that's changed the debate. That means that, you know, Ukraine has to think about how it's going to defend itself. And that gets you into a different space. We say, well, maybe Ukraine does need greater capability. When you listen carefully to Mr. Blinken, he said, look, we're thinking about these things. He's going to give advice to the president.

Mr. Lamy will give advice to the prime minister. They're meeting on Friday. This is going to be discussed further, we think, at the UN General Assembly, when Mr. Zelensky will meet Mr. Biden face to face. So I don't think any decision is imminent on this. But clearly, they think that it's moving in a direction. Mr. Blinken, for example, you know, was quite dismissive of the argument that critics make, which, you know, particularly within the US system, who say you can't authorise these kind of deep, long range fires, as they're known, because there's a real risk of escalation. Well, Mr. Blinken said, well, yeah, you know, escalation is a factor we have to consider, but it's certainly not the only factor. So at the

moment, what we're seeing is an evolving discussion and argument, not a final decision. And how crucial are the talks coming up between President Biden and President Zelensky? Oh, I think they're absolutely crucial, because that, I think, is where ultimately this decision is going to be made. Mr Biden so far, President Biden has been reluctant to go down this line. He's listened to one of his advisers, a guy called Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor, who'd been very cautious throughout this whole war about going hard on new weapons and risking a further escalatory attack from the Russians. But actually what's happening now is that Mr. Blinken, Mr. Lammy and others say, well, actually that escalation is happening anyway. It is the Russians that are suddenly going to start

starting to use Iranian missiles. It is the Russians who are stepping up their attacks in the east of Ukraine. It is the Russians who are sending these incredibly powerful, dangerous glide bombs. So that's the argument they're making, and it's an evolving argument. James Landale. Next, a disturbing story in Malaysia, where police say they've rescued hundreds of children from care homes run by an Islamic charity. It's claimed that youngsters were subjected to physical and sexual abuse. Religious teachers and carers have been arrested. I heard more from our Asia

Pacific editor Celia Hatton. The authorities say that they'd actually been receiving reports and complaints about these homes, the charity that oversees these homes, which are located in two Malaysian provinces, dating back to 2011. But police say that many of the complaints were withdrawn after those who had involved, who'd actually filed the complaints, received threats. And so it wasn't until earlier this month when new reports were filed against what was taking place inside these homes that police carried out six earlier arrests very quietly and then started to plan the big early morning raid that we saw today. So what happened on this raid and those arrested, what have they been accused of? Well, around a thousand police, social workers and health workers were involved in the raids today on these 20 charity homes. They rescued more than 400 children. They then went on to arrest 66 men and 105 women.

Those people arrested, they say, were carers and religious teachers. They've been accused of physical and sexual abuse, abuse on the children, but also inciting the children to abuse one another. They say that sometimes some of the children were found with burns from hot spoons on their body. They say that many of the children were in ill health. They weren't allowed to seek medical treatment until they were in critical condition. And alarmingly, the authorities say that they can't rule out the possibility that there were some deaths under the watch of this charity syndicate. Well, the conditions for the children sound horrific. Do we know anything more about them? Well, we know that there were equal numbers of girls and boys rescued from these homes, ranging in age from 1 to 17. Now, remarkably, many of these children are not orphans. So these were not orphanages.

Instead, many of these children were sent to live in these homes by their parents, who believed that they were going to be receiving religious education. It's also said that many of the children came from poor backgrounds. So I think that these families believed that they didn't have much of a choice. That was probably the best place for their children to grow up. The authorities say there's simply so many children that it's going to take them two weeks. They've been sent to go and live in a police training centre. It's going to take around two weeks for the authorities to process all the children and to assess their current state of health and their current mental health. Celia Hatton, one of the most high-profile murders during the conflict in Northern Ireland is to be the subject of a public inquiry ordered by the UK

government. Pat Finucane, a human rights lawyer, was killed by pro-British loyalist paramilitaries at his home in Belfast in 1989. Mr Finucane's family welcomed the announcement, saying that after 35 years of cover-ups, it was now time for the truth. Here's our Ireland correspondent, Chris Page. Previous investigations have already found evidence that members of the security forces colluded in the murder of Pat Finucane. Now a public inquiry is set to examine the extent of their involvement. The Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn told Parliament that the decision would follow through on guarantees from the past

which ministers gave but didn't act on. Plain fact is that two decades on, the commitment made by the government, first in the agreement with the Irish government and then to this House to establish an inquiry into the death of Mr Finucane remains unfulfilled. It is for this exceptional reason that I have decided to establish an independent

inquiry. Mr Finucane was a high-profile defence lawyer during the conflict known as the Troubles. He was shot 14 times in front of his family at his home. The gunmen were from the loyalist group, the Ulster Defence Association. Two paramilitaries involved in the murder were working as informers for the police and the army. Mr Finucane's son John is an MP for Sinn Féin. He rejected claims by some unionists that his father's case was being given preferential treatment. First of all, the state targeted and set in place,

set in motion events that meant my father was murdered in front of all of us as we had our dinner. The term collusion was dismissed and we have had to fight tooth and nail every step of the way. Pat Finucane's family have taken legal proceedings over a number of years to try to get the government to call a public inquiry. He was one of more than three and a half thousand people who were killed in Northern Ireland from the late 1960s until the late 1990s. The question of how the deaths should be investigated remains one of the most complex and contentious issues in this part of the UK. The Irish Prime Minister, the Taoiseach Simon Harris, welcomed the announcement of the inquiry, saying it was a vindication of a long campaign.

Chris Page. Still to come... I was not a Taylor Swift fan, it was just a question of time, and she'll probably pay a price for it in the marketplace. After Taylor Swift publicly backed Kamala Harris, we ask what role celebrity endorsements have in U.S. elections. Life and death were two very realistic coexisting possibilities in my life. I didn't even think I'd make it to like my 16th birthday, to be honest.

I grew up being scared of who I was. Any one of us at any time can be affected by mental health and addictions. Just taking that first step makes a big difference. It's the hardest step. But CAMH was there from the beginning. Everyone deserves better mental health care. To hear more stories of recovery, visit camh.ca. BBC podcasts from history to comedy to true crime, all ad-free. Simply subscribe to BBC Podcast Premium on Apple Podcasts or listen to Amazon Music with a Prime membership.

Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts. In Gaza, six members of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees have reportedly been killed by Israeli strikes on a school housing displaced families. UNRWA said it was the single deadliest attack on its workers since the war began. Will Leonardo reports. Israel's latest attack on a UN school in Gaza came in broad daylight, sowing panic among the thousands of Palestinians taking shelter there. Videos in the aftermath show a now depressingly familiar scene, rescuers searching through the rubble, survivors being rushed into ambulances.

Locals said many women and children were among the casualties. UNRWA said this was the fifth time the school in the Nasserat camp had been struck by Israel, which said it was targeting Hamas. UNRWA has lost more than 200 workers in Gaza since the war began last October. It repeated its calls for an immediate ceasefire. Will Leonardo. Mexico has become the first country to allow voters to elect judges at all levels. The reforms have sparked mass protests, including in Mexico City, where protesters stormed Congress, forcing politicians to move into another building. The outgoing president, Andres Manuel López Obrador, pushed hard for the reform and criticized

the current judicial system for serving the interests of the political and economic elite. He hailed the approval. I think that we will move forward in Mexico and set an example for the world because the judiciary, as has been more than demonstrated, does not administer justice. But critics like these demonstrators in the capital say the measures will threaten judicial independence and undermine the system of checks and balances. Because it goes against the counterweight and the impartiality of the judge,

the judge has no democratic role at all. And that is what the legislators are for. They are supposed to be our representatives. They have turned a deaf ear to our requests. The judge must be impartial and his loyalty must be to the constitution. The popular election does not guarantee that there will be no corruption, and it does guarantee that they will not have well-prepared judges. Right now, there are judges who are well-prepared,

and preparation makes you more committed to the people than election. The plan means thousands of state and federal judges will be fired, including the entire Supreme Court, and replaced in two elections. Why are these measures so controversial? That's a question I pose to our correspondent in Mexico City, Will Grant. All 7,000 judges and magistrates in Mexico will be directly elected. That alone is enough to infuriate not just, obviously, the Supreme Court itself, but actually many of the employees of the justice system, law students, opponents more broadly to Andres Manuel López Obrador, people who feel that the whole operation is an effort

to strengthen power into the hands of his governing party, Morena, a sort of final parting shot from Mr López Obrador before he stands down next month. In the short term, what impact would this have on the judicial system in Mexico? I think short term, it's going to make things a bit difficult, quite honestly, in the sense that many of those who turned out and you heard the protesters there will have been made up of striking workers from the Supreme Court, from the justice system more broadly. And if they want to, they can really bring things to a halt

if they deepen and strengthen and widen their strikes, as they're threatening to. They don't see this as necessarily ending with the president's rubber stamp once the bill reaches his desk. They think this has still got a way to go, although they do know that legally, as it were, there's not much more they can do at this stage, leaving protests pretty much their only tool at this point. And briefly, Will, does the president consider this to be his legacy in many ways?

I think so. He's talked about how corrupt and infiltrated by organized crime he believes the justice system in Mexico to be. He's believed for a long time that it's in need of complete root and branch reform. He's often said that this is the way that he thinks it can be more democratic, not less democratic, by actual, a popular vote, choosing all of those judges. And he will be extremely pleased to have got this through before he leaves office. Will Grant in Mexico City. Are your efforts to get a good night's sleep disrupted by someone else snoring?

Or are you the culprit? Well, help may be at hand. A new study suggests that an epilepsy drug, Salthiam, could reduce it and also the more serious symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea. At the moment, CPAP devices applying continuous positive airway pressure

or oral appliances are typically used. Lindsay Browning is a sleep expert with a doctorate in insomnia. The major treatment for snoring sleep apnea is, like you said, the physical opening and continuous airway pressure to help people breathe by either keeping the airway open by a mandibular device that sort of makes the lower jaw go forward so that you keep the airway pressure to help people breathe by either keeping the airway open by a mandibular device that sort of makes the lower jaw go forward so that you keep the airway open or with the continuous pressure of air throughout the night to keep that airway open. And of course, sleep apnea is hugely important. It has such devastating effects because if it's untreated, then people's sleep is fragmented. They're continually waking up throughout the night. They have daytime fatigue.

They might fall asleep at the wheel. They're so tired, as well as the impact it has on their greater health, like their risk of heart attacks, high blood pressure, weight gain, that kind of thing. This trial was on a small group of people and it was a very preliminary thing. So we can't draw huge plans for a healthcare from it, but it is really exciting that there might be a drug treatment available that is going to help with sleep apnea. Because the trouble with CPAP machines is that some people really don't get on with them. Either they don't fit properly, though they come from the middle of the night, or people just find them so uncomfortable that they just don't want to sleep with them. So if for those

people who can't use CPAP machines, there are other alternatives available. And if this drug, which is already used for epilepsy in children, if this drug might be one of several options, going forward, more clinical trials to see about the side effects, see if it really is as effective as this preliminary study suggests, that would be really exciting to help treat more people with C-Papnea. Lindsay Browning. Well, if snoring isn't causing arguments in the bedroom, how about the age-old debate about whether you can eat in bed? The UK food writer Nigella Lawson, author of How to Be a Domestic Goddess, revealed to the Times newspaper that's one of her favourite spots for a meal. I am very pro eating in bed. I will eat absolutely anything in bed, except something that needs a knife and

fork. It has to be either fingers or a spoon. Those words were voiced up by a producer and not Nigella. So are you into eating under the sheets or does it fill you with horror? William Sitwell is a restaurant critic for the Daily Telegraph but first Hannah Betts, a feature writer and columnist based here in the UK. I'm with the domestic goddess. I think people who talk at breakfast are the real animals, but breakfast in bed is fine. Although there is a caveat. I do have one rule. I'm allowed to, but my boyfriend isn't. I am a delicate, napkinned, Julia Flight type creature eating off a tray with my newspaper. But he is a clumsy, heterosexual male who leaves a permanent trail of detritus, a bit like the pig pen character in Snoopy.

So when I do it, it's charming. When he does it, it's absolutely feral. It's a beautiful vision. It's me sitting up, surrounded by cushions and a lapel and negligee and a turban receiving gentlemen callers during my levee. Picture of elegance. You should never eat in bed. You should never drink in bed. It's slovenly. It's lazy. It's the root of all evil. It causes obesity because you're not moving unless you're absolutely bedridden. And I think all meals should really be taken at the table, although I do allow sofa telly suppers. William Sitwell and Hannah Betts. Let's end this podcast by returning to the US presidential election. After last night's debate, the pop star Taylor Swift announced she is backing Kamala Harris. A picture of her holding

a cat was captioned with her endorsement signed childless cat lady, a mocking reference to the criticism of women who aren't mothers by Donald Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance. Mr. Trump called into Fox News to share his thoughts. I was not a Taylor Swift fan. It was just a question of time. She's a very liberal person. She seems to always endorse a Democrat, and she'll probably pay a price for it in the marketplace. But celebrity endorsements are nothing new in U.S. elections. As our North America correspondent, Neda Taufik, explains. Politicians have long coveted celebrity star

power as they bid for the White House. Everyone is voting for Jack. Frank Sinatra did it his way, turning his song High Hopes into the anthem for John F. Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign. JFK believed he was indebted to the singer. Then a decade later, Sinatra endorsed the actor-turned-presidential candidate Republican Ronald Reagan, who also came out victorious. One academic study suggests that Oprah Winfrey had a significant effect on the 2008 Democratic primary. I came out in the cold today to tell you why I believe that choice needs to be Barack Obama. Her support for the young senator at the time over Hillary Clinton helped him become the Democratic candidate.

The study said her endorsement resulted in more than a million votes for him. But there were two caveats. Oprah had unparalleled popularity and it wasn't a general election where voters are more concerned about policy. This time, Donald Trump has won the backing of some celebrities, including the former wrestler Hulk Hogan. I said let Trump-a-mania run wild, brother. Let Trump-a-mania rule again. But now attention is increasingly focused on social media. Elon Musk uses his ex or Twitter platform to amplify Donald Trump and his concerns.

Last month, the artist Charli XCX posted that Kamala was brat, a pop culture compliment. You're just like that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and like it's brat, you're brat, that's brat. That inspired a whole trend of millions of memes and videos that energized her campaign. Taylor Swift's post has been liked more than 8 million times so far, and she has 283 million followers. In a tight race where swing states are decided by the narrowest of margins, even a slight uptick in voter engagement and registration could make a difference. And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News Podcast later. If you want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on X at Global News Pod. This edition was mixed by Jack Wilfan

and the producer was Ella Bicknell. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Nigel Adderley. Until next time, goodbye. Life and death were two very realistic coexisting possibilities in my life. I didn't even think I'd make it to like my 16th birthday, to be honest. I grew up being scared of who I was. Any one of us at any time can be affected by mental health and addictions. Just taking that first step makes a big difference. It's the hardest step.

But CAMH was there from the beginning. Just taking that first step makes a big difference. It's the hardest step. But CAMH was there from the beginning. Everyone deserves better mental health care. To hear more stories of recovery, visit CAMH.ca. If you're hearing this, you're probably already listening to BBC's award-winning news podcasts. But did you know that you can listen to them without ads? Get current affairs podcasts like Global News, AmeriCast and The Global Story,

plus other great BBC podcasts from history to comedy to true crime, all ad-free. Simply subscribe to BBC Podcast Premium on Apple Podcasts or listen to Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts.