Global News Podcast - Kamala Harris has enough support to become presidential candidate

Episode Date: July 23, 2024

The US vice-president's campaign has secured a record amount of donations. Also, China says Hamas, Fatah and a dozen other Palestinian factions have agreed to set up an interim administration for Gaza, and the first blind Barbie doll goes on sale.

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. 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 Thank you. Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts. You're listening to the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. We're recording this at 13 hours GMT on Tuesday the 23rd of July.

The US Vice President, Kamala Harris, has secured enough support to become the Democratic Party's presidential candidate. China says Hamas, Fatah and a dozen other Palestinian factions have agreed to set up an interim administration for Gaza. And a warning from Brazil to the controversial Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Also in the podcast, calls for Kenyan police to show more restraint after the deaths of dozens of protesters So the laws are not the problem

I think what is problematic is the culture of policing in a context where there is confrontation with the public And diverse dolls, the first blind Barbie goes on sale. The US Democratic Party meets in Chicago next month to formally choose its presidential candidate. But we already know it will be the current vice president, Kamala Harris. In the two days since Joe Biden quit the race, she has secured the backing from the majority of party delegates

to become the nominee, while her rivals have stepped aside. So what is the significance of this well of support? A question for our North America editor, Sarah Smith. It means that as soon as the party actually takes a vote, a roll call vote of all of those delegates, she will become the party's nominee. She isn't yet, just because they've pledged her support, but there are no other candidates in this race. Nobody has stood up to challenge her. And more than half of the delegates who will be going to the Chicago convention say they're going to vote for her. So that gives her the nomination. And curiously enough, actually, the Democratic Party probably aren't going to wait until they get to their convention in Chicago. They're going to do this

virtually very early in August. I mean, maybe even as early as the 1st of August. So in just a couple of weeks' time, she could very well be the nominee and get on with choosing who her vice presidential candidate will be. But yeah, it was pretty clear that although she had been saying very, very supportive things in public about Joe Biden, her campaign was pretty ready to go as soon as he said he was stepping aside. They swept in extremely efficiently. And she just started collecting the endorsements

of so many of the party's most senior leaders. Then all the Democratic governors came in behind her. Every single person who was thought maybe to have been somebody who could have challenged her for the nomination, who wanted to be the candidate themselves, they all came in and endorsed her. And it happened with such speed and such a flurry that she was absolutely unstoppable. And the donors opened their wallets at the same time as well.

People who had stopped giving money to Joe Biden because they were worried about him as the candidate were so relieved when he stood aside that she started collecting millions of dollars too. Our North America editor, Sarah Smith. Well, on Tuesday afternoon afternoon Kamala Harris will hold her first official campaign event in her own right in the swing state of Wisconsin. I heard more from our North America correspondent Nomia Iqbal. It's such an extraordinary whirlwind for her if you think about it. Just before the weekend she was preparing to potentially debate Donald Trump's vice president and then Sunday came that stunning news that Mr.

Biden was standing down. And the handoff from him to her lasted, I think, less than two days, because all the people that could have potentially taken on Ms. Harris for the nomination haven't. They've endorsed her. The Harris campaign has also said that its first 24-hour haul exceeded $100 million and that 62 percent donated for the first time. Also, they said 58,000 people signed up to volunteer for the campaign. And that gives you a real sense of how re-energized the base is. But she has to get out there now and do the hard work. She has to reshape the campaign. She has to choose her vice president. She has to get on the stage ultimately and show the country why she can beat Donald Trump. Joe Biden, of course, came from

Scranton, Pennsylvania. Will Kamala Harris, who hails from California, be able to win over voters in places like Wisconsin? And that is the key question, isn't it? Because Joe Biden's background really lent himself well to those Rust Belt states. Kamala Harris, if we're being honest here, has not had the highest approval rating, certainly in her time as vice president. She also launched her own presidential campaign back then for the Democratic Party,

and it didn't really go very far. She's from California. You know, there's a sense that can she connect to the voters that she needs, those key battleground states? And that's why I think her vice president pick will be incredibly important. There are already some names in the frame for that. A key name that you might have heard is the Pennsylvania governor, Josh Shapiro. He could be somebody that would help strengthen that ticket. But that will be the big question is if she has

what it takes. And that's why it will be really interesting to see today how she presents the campaign. Nomi Iqbal in Washington. Well, the president himself is returning to the White House after isolating for Covid at his holiday house in Rehoboth, Delaware. Our correspondent Ione Wells has been to the state to see if people there will now back Kamala Harris for president. You have here three generations, 70s, 50s. I'm 40s. Oh, 40s, sorry, that's your sister. And preteens. And we all pretty much feel the same way in terms of is Kamala Harris good in terms of being a woman, being younger, being more knowledgeable in certain areas, certainly than Trump, three generations all agree. I think that she really knows much more policy than she's been getting credit for

because she has really allowed him to take the lead in a lot of the policy decisions. I think she attracts more women and people who might have been feeling a bit alienated. And I think that she's going to electrify and energize the voting basis. You have a sign here. Let's see. It says, thank you for being a good president and some love hearts there. Yeah, we made them yesterday after we'd heard that he was not going to seek the election. And what do you think of Kamala Harris? I think that she is definitely going to be a good leader. And I also think that she's

probably going to be very good against Trump. Dear President Biden, as we write this note, we know... Some here even wrote President Biden letters that they hope to deliver to his home. What do you think of Kamala Harris? I think that she has been actively engaged in all aspects of the administration for the last three and a half years. So I don't think there's anyone who could be better qualified. She has met with world leaders. She has been out front on key issues. For some voters here, this decision feels very personal. They might still need convincing about her. It's big for some of us. It's not just a presidential

election. It's how's the next four years of your life going to be like? My partner and I were a gay couple and we've only had employment rights for what, a little over 10 years? You know, getting protected from losing our job for who we are, who we had no choice in being. We can get married, but a lot of those things can disappear just with the swipe of a pen. And it's a lot of these things that people take for granted. Kamala, I want to hear more from her. I want to hear what she has to say. She's been out there and doing her stuff and everything, but I just haven't heard it enough.

Some critics of the party feel it's too late, and the chaos of the last few weeks has already shown too much disunity. For me, I'm not a fan. I think when you look at her history, you saw how she incriminated a lot of people back in the day. You know, when they go back to Trump being racist and Trump this and Trump that, but she also incriminated a lot of African-Americans. What I don't like on their party right now is that they're inconsistent. They're 100 days out from an election.

I think they knew that Biden shouldn't have reran, but they try to force it. And now here we are, you're 100 days out. Now we got in some inconsistency and they got to scramble. Whereas you look at the Republican Party right now, they're kind of ready to roll. Honestly, I'm a Republican, but I would like to see fresh blood on both sides. These are just a handful of voters here in Delaware. Kamala Harris's main test is now if she can win over the whole country against a candidate, Donald Trump, whose supporters have been energised by the democratic fallout these last few weeks. Ione Wells in Delaware. There was a time when Brazil's president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, got on well with his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro. An avowed socialist, the Venezuelan was an ideological soulmate. When he was accused of

acting like a dictator, Lula was there to defend him. But it seems President Maduro may now have gone too far. He has said that were he to lose the upcoming presidential election, there could be a civil war in Venezuela, resulting in a, quote, bloodbath. In response, President Lula told him, when you lose, you go home. His words are just one sign of how much is at stake in this election, as our Latin America correspondent Will Grant told Paul Moss. There is a good chance that the ruling party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, could lose and could lose by such a significant margin that it would be very

difficult and complicated to claim victory. And that element of doubt of what would happen if they lost by a significant margin means that obviously there's real tension in Caracas about how things will unfold in the immediate hours after the vote, the days after, the different actors involved from the opposition through to the military, Mr Maduro himself, all of these factors are sort of up in the air. But yes, the unity candidate of Edmundo Gonzalez, he really is showing a strong lead in the polls. And so that is why this particular time, it's so important and so vital. Now, Brazil's President Lula da Silva has always been a supporter of President Maduro. Why is he now apparently giving a warning to President Maduro for his comments about there

being a bloodbath? Well, I think it is partly off the back of the comments themselves, the specific language involved. Mr Maduro said, if you don't want Venezuela to fall into a bloodbath, into a fratricidal civil war because of the fascists, let's ensure the greatest success. The very invoking of the image of civil war in Venezuela, a country which has always had difficulties with political violence, that is such a violent nation, and has had so many issues of polarity and polarisation in its political process. He's seen that as what he called frightening. And I think that reaction by Mr. Lula da Silva is important because he is, as you've pointed out, a longstanding ally first of the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, but also of Mr Maduro himself. So to suggest that Mr Maduro

needs to respect the democratic process, to understand properly that if you win, you remain in power, and if you lose, then you must step aside, as Lula put it, is important and shows that even allies in the region, like President Lula, are very, very concerned about the language and the potential for violence in this race. Our Latin America correspondent Will Grant. The South Korean technology giant Kakao is caught up in a huge scandal after its founder was arrested on allegations of manipulating stock prices relating to its takeover of the k-pop agency sm entertainment last year kim boom su

denies the allegations with more on the firm and its troubles here's nick marsh it actually did really well during the pandemic like a lot of tech firms and they were left with a massive pile of cash. So they tried to take over SM Entertainment, which is one of the really big K-pop labels. The problem was that there was also a rival bidder, a company called HYBE. So what Kim Bum-soo, the chairman of Kakao, is accused of having done is artificially increasing the share price of SM Entertainment through manipulation and therefore make it unaffordable for Hybe to try and buy.

Our business reporter, Nick Marsh. Still to come on the Global News podcast, the scandal surrounding a Japanese health supplement which may have led to dozens of deaths. 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. Efforts to resolve the ongoing conflict in Gaza are complicated by bitter divisions between the two main Palestinian factions, which have bubbled away ever since Hamas forced Fatah out of the territory in 2007. Now China says that it has brokered a deal to get the two to work together after the fighting between Israel and Hamas is over. At the same time, Beijing is also hosting the Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, as part of China's efforts to present itself as a mediator in Ukraine's war with Russia.

Our correspondent in Beijing is Stephen McDonnell. He told me first about the Palestinian agreement. Fourteen Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Fatah, have come to Beijing. They've had discussions over four days and at the end have come up with this agreement that's being known as the Beijing Declaration, very ground-sounding, which apparently is designed to guarantee unity, to make way for a sort of government of reconciliation to run Gaza after the war there. Now, according to China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, the crucial part of this deal is that everybody agrees that the Palestinian Liberation Organization,

the PLO, is the sole legitimate representative of all Palestinian people. And I guess that they would be the ones administering Gaza. What's not clear in this agreement, presuming it does hold together, and that's by no means certain, what role does Hamas play then? They've been running Gaza right up until the war that broke out following their attack on Israel last October. So are they to have a role? Or what role might

that be? Well, none of that's clear. But I should remind people that there have been many such attempts to bring these Palestinian factions together. They've all come to nothing, including one broken by Egypt in 2017. So it could be that this one falls apart as well. However, at the moment, according to the Chinese government, and according to these representatives of the factions, they're saying they've come up with this agreement so they can come together in terms of deciding who will govern Gaza after the war. And why is China getting involved in a question like that?

It's interesting because, you know, for many years, China's catch cry, if you like, is that people shouldn't be getting involved in others' internal affairs. And they've especially done this because they don't like other countries criticising China over human rights and the like. And so it's been a bit standoffish when it comes to this type of thing. But according to Wang Yi, China's foreign minister,

he's saying, well, look, at a certain time, he's saying, look, this is up to the Palestinians, how they sort this out. We're just providing a platform for it. We're not telling them how to do it. We're just saying that you can meet here and we'll sort of organise the meetings to allow it to happen. But broadly speaking, Beijing does seem to be attempting to show that it's a peacemaker on the world stage and a sort of representative of the broader global south if i could put it that way and the biggest coup on this front was when it was able to get saudi arabia and iran to restore diplomatic relations so these two you know enemies at log heads for a

long time thanks to china re-established diplomatic, and now it's trying the same thing on with the Palestinian factions and presenting itself, it would seem, as somebody who could do this in Ukraine, although that's a tougher proposition for it, given that really it clearly, the Chinese government clearly is a supporter of Russia in that conflict. Our Beijing correspondent, Stephen McDonnell. The two top bosses at a Japanese drugmaker have resigned after the firm said it was investigating

dozens of deaths that could be linked to its products. The pills in question contain red yeast rice, a type of mould meant to lower cholesterol. I heard more from our Tokyo correspondent, Shaima Khalil. This is the latest development in a big pharmaceutical scandal that involves a household name in Japan's pharmaceutical companies, but also involves the top two names now that are hailing from the founding family. That's Kusumasu Kobayashi, the chairman, and Akihiro Kobayashi, the president. Both stepped down today, and this resignation comes after the company released

an independent report that has been done by a team of external lawyers. And it came out regarding the health hazards and the deaths that you mentioned involving the red yeast rice dietary supplements for cholesterol. And essentially, this report has said that the company failed to act with sufficient urgency and to, A, alert the consumers about the health and the risk, the health hazards and the risks of using the products. But also they were late in recalling their Benikoji or the fermented rice supplement products. They released them only in March. And the report said that they should have released it much earlier. Are these popular products in Japan, fermented rice? Well, Kobayashi is a household name. And these particular products are popular among those who

are trying to get a handle on their cholesterol issues or blood pressure issues. And what we learned, and the background to this is what happened earlier in March, where there were reports to the company by customers about kidney problems that were linked to those who use the products. What was found after that is that the company was actually aware of the problems by doctors in mid-January and early February. And so the damning report now says, which holds the two executives, the top executives responsible, is that the company did not act fast enough and with enough urgency to help consumers and to warn consumers. We're talking about dozens and dozens of illnesses that are linked to kidney diseases, but also more than 100 deaths that are currently being investigated.

And what happens next? Presumably there could be compensation claims. Well, exactly. The investigation continues. The number of deaths that are being investigated with the link to those products continues. But as you say, there may be compensations involved. We also understand that the senior executive director, Satoshi Yamane, is now taking over as president. And this is the first time a person outside the company's founding family will serve in this post. And of course, this whole scandal harms the image of this household name greatly as well as more details come out about the scandal. Shai Mount Haleo in Tokyo. At least four police officers are to face prosecution over the fatal shooting of protesters in Kenya.

More than 50 people have been killed, dozens abducted and hundreds more arrested in just over a month of demonstrations there. And as the BBC's Anne Sawyer reports, the use of excessive force by the security agencies is fuelling demands for change. This is not a war zone. It's Kenyan police doing crowd control. Some of the sounds of explosions are from Tiaga's canisters. But they've also used rubber bullets and live ammunition to quell protests. Thousands of mostly young, unarmed protesters have been on the streets almost every Tuesday and Thursday for weeks now.

At first, they wanted the government to drop proposed tax hikes. It did. But the protests continued. They now want the president and his government to resign. And in its place, they demand for a reformed administration free of corruption. In these confrontations with police, dozens have been killed. 29-year-old Rex Masai was the first victim.

We met his mother at the city mortuary a day after Rex was shot and killed by police. He was respectful. When people are fighting for their rights, why use live bullets? If he had been armed, we would understand that perhaps he was on the wrong. But he was only walking with his friends. A video showing a man in civilian clothes chasing a crowd and firing a gun at them was published on social media. It is said to be the moment Rex was killed.

His friend Ian Juguna was with him. It was shocking. His blood was all over my hands. When we got close to a hospital, the officer tear gassed us, yet we were carrying our dying friend. What message would you like to give to government? Stop using force. Listen to the youth. You are not listening to us. We are tired. If you have dreadlocks, you are treated like a criminal. So do you think Rex was profiled because of his locks?

Yes. Actually, he was accused of stealing a phone. So they shot him. Because of what? Dreadlocks. Whilst we were outside the mortuary, there was a disturbing discovery. The bullet that caused Rex to bleed to his death had been confirmed to be lodged in his thigh by the doctor who pronounced him dead. All of a sudden, they are claiming it's not there. How come? A commissioner of the body mandated with investigating claims against the police was not surprised by this development.

John Waiganjo said the police oversight authority had also run into challenges trying to obtain evidence. When we are investigating, say, a serious injury or death, we need to know where the guns are from. We need the arms movement register. We need to know which members were in a particular platoon. I asked the acting Inspector General of Police for an interview to respond to these allegations. He instructed the agency's spokesperson to provide the answers about a week ago. But despite sending specific questions to the office and multiple reminders since then, no answers have been provided. Amnesty Kenya's Executive Director, Irungu Horton, says the culture of impunity is deeply entrenched within Kenya's police service.

I mean, the first person to fall in the protest was Rex Masai, a young man, according by all accounts, a non-violent person, not somebody who has any criminal records. And he was shot, essentially unarmed. It is not justified to use live fire or even rubber bullets on people who are unarmed and essentially not confronting the police violently. So the laws are not the problem. I think what is problematic is the culture of policing in a context where there is confrontation with the public.

What the excessive force has done is fuel more anger and unrest. The protesters are unrelenting. They want change. They demand for justice for their fallen compatriots and want impunity to end. They won't kill us all, they say. Anne Soy, reporting from Nairobi. More than six decades after Barbie first hit the shelves, the toy maker Mattel is breaking new ground, launching the first blind version.

It already makes other diverse dolls, as David Lewis explains. The newly released blind Barbie carries a red and white cane with a marshmallow tip. She sports dark glasses too. Under shades, her eyes look slightly up and out to reflect some blind people's gaze. Her clothing will be made from textured and vibrant fabrics, different to touch. Even the packaging's updated. Barbie will be spelt out in braille on the box. Work went into making this latest iteration authentic but keeping the toy tasteful. Mattel partnered with blind charities in the US and Britain

to design the new doll. Broadcaster and disability activist Lucy Edwards is a blind Barbie ambassador. She told the BBC why the new figurine was important to her. I always say, like, I lost my eyesight but I didn't lose my vision and when I conjure up different pictures in my mind I think that's why it's so important that when you know Blind Barbie had like her consultancy kind of call when we're all developing her clothes like it was so important to have that like rah-rah skirt that was just so

textured and it's kind of like my dress today actually. Yeah it's really great. The new model is the latest of Mattel's Barbie Fashionistas range. Products include dolls with 35 skin tones, 97 hairstyles and nine body types. Blind Barbie follows Deaf Barbie, a version in a wheelchair and a toy with a prosthetic limb. Last year the first ever Barbie with Down Syndrome was launched and was well received. David Lewis. And that is all from us for now, but the Global News Podcast will be back very soon. This edition was mixed by Nicky Brough and produced by Oliver Burlough. Our editors, Karen Martin, I'm Oliver Conway. Until next time, goodbye. 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.