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and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. announcer: and now, "bbc world news". ♪ >> hello. welcome to berlin as germany prepares to go to the polls to decide who will be there next leader. saying goodbye to angela merkel as sir political career approach it -- as her political career approaches its end. the leaders of all seven parties are making their final pitch to vote. we will be looking at whi issues voters care the most about. in 2017, it was immigration.

climate change is center stage. >> what other country would we ask to step in, instead? >> we willear from representatives of the three biggest parties in germany. the u.s. special envoy to haiti has quit. ♪ >> welcome to this breezy rooftop garden in berlin. we are here to consider a german election campaign that is important -- every election in germany is important for the world. it is one of the most powerful countries. not only are we looking forward to a new government and to a new

departure of one of the main players on the global political stage. angela merkel's time as leader of germany is coming to an end. we will hear from people from all three of the top parties in the polls at the mom let's begin with a report from earlier on the key information you might need to follow this election. let's start with the main players. first, the man angela merkel wod like to be her replacement. he is already leader of angela merkel's christian democratic union. it is right of center. he had been the favorite. it is not going to plan. his polling was already wobbling when this happened. as germany's as president addressed devastating floods, he was seen laughing. as leader of one of the worst hit regions, it made the

incident worst. ere is more to his problems than just that. in this profile, throughout his campaign, he has come across as vague. what does the cdate really stand for, some wondered? in the latest tv debate, he try to address that. >> the cohesion of europe in these difficult times, climate neutral industry and strong economy, and a clear course for national security. >> his challenge is some voters chose the cdu because they liked angela merkel, her pragmatic centrist approach. she attracted people who might not normally vote right of center. now he has to do the same thing but he is struggling. because of that, he has been getting help from angela merkel herself. >> i ask you to do everything

you can to safeguard germany's prosperity in the coming years, to ensure germany's safety. the person who can do this, who is campaigning to do this and is ready to fight passionately is him. >> that is the pitch. but the polls are offering li comfort. look at what is happened. this is the result of the 2017 election. the cdu, csu reached 35%. its worst result in 75 years, but it was still top. this is polling from july of this year. 29%. look at the latest polling. the cdu has been on the slide. having been third in july, the social democrats now find themselves in the lead.

the leader is this man. he is current finance minister because germany's government at the moment is a grand coalition between the two main parties. one german political scientists said of him he is rational, stable, almost boring. this makes them similar to angela merkel. both candidates in their own ways want voters to see them as bringing more than what angela merkel offered. mr. schultz seems happy to encourage this comparison. in this photo, he deployed angela merkel's trademark diamond hand position. he is centerleft, angela merkel is center-right, they are different politicians from different parties. >> i will immediately bring in a minimum wage of 12 euros, ensure stable pensions and in the first year of government we will have the structure in place to bring

good jobs that are climate neutral. >> they are most likely to replace angela merkel, but there is one other candidate who has a chance. she is leader of the green party and this is her message. >> i stand for a new start that will no longer do climate protection hfway. policies that bring children and families to the center, and human rights led foreign policy. >> her leadership, time magazine has subscribed how she has bridged divides between the party's long feuding wings, overseeing green as a pro-business, centrist party. after briefly leading in the polls, the greens are now back in third. let me show you some pictures

from a tv debate happening in berlin. the debate has been billed as e final round. it does not feature just those three leaders, it features all the leaders from the principal parties. there have been three debates on tv, but they just featured the leaders of the so-called big three. the cdu, sbd and the gres. the cdu is the sister party of angela merkel's csu party. seven leaders in total. a lot to listen to. the last chance, perhaps, for these leaders to land a punch on each other. the editor of berlin pulse that researches.

and the chief correspondent of politico based here in berlin. here is matthew on the two candidates likely to succeed angela merkel. >> they are both running on angela merkel's record. schultz has been running with angela merkel's famous hand gesture. there is a sense that in order to win, you need to copy angela merkel, which means you will stand for stability, you will try to convince thelectorate they do not need to worry about anything, all will be ok. germany can continue on as this large switzerland in the world, as it has. it seems to be working out for schultz. you can see the dramatic rise he has had in the polls over the last eight weeks. it is extraordinary by any standards. it is less about the party and more about him. >> when i covered the last election, immigration is the latest centrist issue.

now, it is climate change. people need to decide what they think about radical polics. >> from a public perspective, in my look at the survey results, asking the public about different opinion, we see migration is the most important topic. we do not have data from this year, climate change comes next. these are the biggest issues. migration has not been covered a lot. it was not in the focus of the past administration. >> we will hear now from candidates from the three parties currently ading in the polls. all three are some of the youngest candidates across the spectrum. here is a candidate for angela merkel's party. she is standing in the north of germany. >> i am very happy to live in

germany because i think our government has done a great job. we have come through the pandemic very well. the cdu has proven more than once that i can handle crises. we have a strong economy. we have many challenges. to become climate neutral, we will face them and keep our prosperity. we will keep our economy and get there with everybody in the society and not just certain groups. i am campaigning as hard as i can because i want to become a member of parliament. i am not giving up that will reach the 30% again. i don't really know why that happened. many people are thinking who to choose from the parties, especially as angela merkel is not running for chancellor again. we will keep on fighting. there is a trenin germany that

helps us to become the strongest party in germany again. >> she is 25 years old, and many germans, climate change is an absolutely key issue for her, but not all german see the cdu as the party with the best solutions. >> it is true that there has not been enough done for the climate crisis, but not from any party or any region in germany. we need to be more ambitious. we need to think about how to become climate neutral in germany and the whole world. there are different paths climate neutrality. the green party wants to prohibit things like driving fast. our way to get the climate neutrality is using the economy. the social economy, a concept we are using in germany.

we mostly count on our economy to get the market in the right direction. renewable energy is much cheaper than fossil energy. for example, coal, a more expensive the nuclear energy. >> that is one perspective from angela merkel's center-right party. let's hear from the social democrats. >> i think people really like that we went steady, we did not change our course to having one strategy for the whole campaign and we stick to it. especially having covid-19, the people really want to have somebody who knows how to handle crisis.

olaf scholz is projecting got the people. >> what will you do to protect german people? some say your plans are too expensive and will damage the german economy. >> if like the cdu, we were to talk about cutting taxes and promising people earning a lot of money, to cut their income taxes, that would cost a lot of money. we are going the other way around. the middle class and everyone with a lower income, you are to protect them, and keep their taxes steady. we want to charge the ones with higher income with more taxes. that is the only difference. for the workers. i think the most important thing that we promised to have the minimum wage, we would raise it

up to 12 euro an hour. there would be pay raises for around 10 million people in germany. >> can i ask you a more personal question? i know your parents moved from south korea many years ago. what is your view of the experience of immigrants in germany? has it changed since the last election? >> it certainly s changed. there are a lot more people being aware ofhat it means -- it is a club will thing. a lot of people want to have their own voice, to get their own voice, even in politics. there are a lot of migrants who are running for office right now. it is getting more diverse. hopefully, i really hope that

will be the case. that society will be represented in the german parliament. >> that is the view of one candidate from the spd, the social democrats. next, let's hear from a green party candidate here in the state of brandenburg, which contains berlin. these are her hopes. >> we need to implement climate protection government in the first few days after sunday. that includes, at first, immense expansion of renewable capacities. it also includes or whole economy must be transformed toward a carbon neutral economy. that is only possible with a massive amount of renewable energies. to produce green hydrogen, which

we need for the industry. >> to put that into context for people watchin the cdu said it would finish coal by 2038. angela merkel's party argues germany cannot do this on its own. if it makes the changes you suggest but the rest of the european union and the rest of the world does not move, germany would be at a disadvantage. what do you say to that? >> both the cdu and the spd so yocannot leave coal at 2030. >> whatever germany does needs to be done collectively, germany should not do it on its own. >> germany is not doing on its on. we have a clear agenda. we are the only party that says so. >> this message from the green party is not resonating with all

ters with a focus on climate change. a climate activist does not support any of the main political parties and the approaches they are pushing in this election. she told me y. >> what we are fighting for is for the government to stick to the 1.5 promise they gave in paris. none of the parties has a plan that would be sufficient to reach that. it would be completely pointless to support any of them, except we are asking all of them to live up to what they said they would be doing. the paris agreement has been signed by countries across the globe. the question is now, does everyone with the job? if germany is not sticking to what we have pledged to do, what other country would we ask to stepien instead? >> i am on a -- what other country would we asked to step

in instead? as we go through this edition, we will hear how a new generation is looking at their options of what they consider to be key issues. ♪ >> let's get the latest on the volcanic eruption in spain. lava is still pouring t. hundreds of homes have been destroyed. >> this is as close as anyone habeen allowed since the volcano started erupting on sunday. you really do get a sense of its power. it is an awesome site. these truly are nature's strongest forces at work. nobody can contain them, nobody can control them. that is absolutely red hot la spewing continuously into the

air and then flowing downhill. that is why it has been so destructive. that is a huge ash cloud pouring into the sky. we can show you what the volcanic dost is actually like. it is more like gravel in places, it is quite course, and there is a thick layer of it, smothering everything. ♪ >> we are live in berlin ahead of election day in germany. as germans choose a new government, a new leader, it is also the end of an era as angela merkel approaches the end of her time as chancellor of this country. as we move away from germany at

the moment to bring you some other stories. the u.s. special envoy to haiti has quit, protesting america's treatment of haitian migrants at the u.s.-mexican border. he said he would not be associated with the united states' inhumane decision to deport thousands of haitian refugees. as many as 13,000 migrants have been camped under a bridge along the river at the u.s.-meco border. there is not enough food or adequate sanitation. the u.s. started supporting t haitians back to haiti. many arrived to chaotic scenes at the airport at haiti's capital. over 1400 htians have been returned in total. the white house has responded to the resignation. this was the white house press secretary. >>here have been multiple

senior level policy discussions on haiti, all proposals, including those led by the special envoy, were considered in a rigorous process. there are disagreements third the president welcomes that. the secretary of state welcomes that. that is pt of having robust discussions about the bestath forward for difficult circumstances. he had ample opportunities to raise concerns about migration, he never did so. that was not his purview. his purview was being the special envoy on the ground. his views were put forward, they were valued, they were hurt, different cisions were made in some circumstance -- they were heard. >> with more on this,. >> a lot of the migrants are on the border, many of the people have been on the move for a long

time. this goes back to 2010, the devastating earthquake in haiti, hundreds of thousands of people were killed. 1.5 million people were on the move. they went to parts of south america. they are trying to find a life in america. he made the point in this letter that haiti is a country that is incredibly unstable. this is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. you have rising gang violence, the recent assassination of the president. there are no basic services and this is the environment that america, the u.s. administration is trying to send people back to that is what he is against. ♪ >> let's go bacto the german election. given the conditions, this is probably the point i should make a link between unpredictable

conditions and unpredictable politics. the polling has been all over the place. we saw the cdu at first, then drop to second. we saw the social democrats go from third to first. for some voters, angela merkel is the only leader they have known. no memory of life before she was chancellor, and they bring different priorities, with climate change at the heart of it. on all of this, i will plan this while i hope the weather calms down, here is a reporter. >> a fabulous, hip berlin cafe. we are talking about the generation divide. we know this is an aging society. as we come up to the elections, the accusation from younger peop is none of the politicians are aiming their campaigns at them.

this comes on the back of 16 years as angela merkel as chancellor. this should be a time for change. someone calling loudly for change is one of germany's most well-known social media influeers. thank you for joining me. >> it is nice to be here with you. >> just to talk about angela merkel quickly, a female chancellor, a lot of women are product that. is it been too long, 16 years? should change of come earlier? >> i think people will definitely miss her. she did a good job, but she was not somebody driving change in germany. that is something i definitely miss. i hope it will change with the next election. >> you have over 1 million followers. you are telling them to go out

and vote and asking what priorities they have. what are you hearing? >> a lot of them are worried because it does not seem like politicians really care about the young people, about their future when it comes to the climate crisis, digitalization, these are issues we are not well prepared for. >> your name in germany, not just as an influencer, you used to talk to your followers about makeup and fashion. that is quite the dramatic change. >> the older i got, the more i realized how important politics is. it is important to use my reach on social media to drive change forward. >> there will be full coverage of the last few days of the german election campaign and the day itself on sunday on bbc

news. there is a room over there, it is dry, i am going to head over to it. see you soon. [captioning performed by the national narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: finaial services firm, raymond james. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪ narrator: you're watching pbs. ♪ da-da-da-duh-da-da-da♪ ♪ da-da-da-da-da-da ♪♪

♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: pediatric surgeo volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial adsor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs.