>> this is "bbc world news america." >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, er foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs, and purepoint financial. >> how do we shape o tomorrow? it starts with a vision. ur see its ideal form in mind, and then we begin to chisel. we strip away evstything that ands in the way to reveal new possibilities. at purepoint financial, we have designed our modern approach to banking around you --

your plans, your goals, your dreams. your tomorrow is now. purepoint financial. and now, "bbc world news." ewjini: this is "bbc world america." reporting from washington, i'm rajini vaidyanathan. zimbabwe's new president calls for unity after a contentious election. his opponents say the election resultfr idulent and illegitimate, leading to questions about the country's future. mixedom messages fr the white house on russian meddling. ois it a threa hoax? depends on who you ask. and the latest on the wild loweather around tbe.

welcome to our viewers on public television in america and arnd the globe. in zimbabwe, president-elect emmerson mnangagwa has called on all citizens to come together after his narrow victory, but opposition leader nelson chamisa says he won't accept what he calls the fake results of the general election. mr. chamisa says he can prove the electoral process was rigged and accuses the ruling zanu-pf party of organizing a coup against the people's will. our africa editor fergal keane sent us this report from the capital, harare. fergal: open for business, the newly reelected president's orderwoeoplepolice back t. this a day after the army pushed them home. who really runs this country, and what kind of zimbabwe is it becoming? questions on the morning after

victory. e there in the early hours of the morning when the result was finally declared after days of waing. >> emmerson mnangagwa of zanu-pf party is thefore duly declared elected president of zimbabwe on the third of august, 2018. al: there you have it, a quarter to 1:00 in the morning, cheers from supportersws of that emmerson mnangagwa becomes president of the zimbabwe after this highly contested, volatile election. the slenderest of majorities, amid claims of rigging, butor enough fhese party loyalists. this is a story of parallel politics. elsewhere in the city there was terror. soldiers beat civilians in several opposition strongholds. this man told us how they attacked around 50 people at the bar. e were just beaten, and

don't know why," he says.ou "i lost consess. they beat men and women with rifle butts anwhips." he showed us the bruises on his dy. as these reports were emerging, a public relations disaster for the government. riot police arrived at a hotel where journalists have gatthred to hear e opposition leader. they were pushed out. "isn't this a democracy?" i ask. no luck there. a th government minister arrived. at first there were angryge exchanwith mdc supporters. and now -- [indiscernible] arguing with a membe the opposition. trying to get control of the situation. why did you come here?

>> i am sayi no! fergal: and so the opposition leader was able to appear, partly thanks to a minister's intervention. significantly, he called on his own supporters to savow violence. mr. chamisa: we are a democratic organization. we do not believe in violence. we do not believe in use of weaponof war.fe al: within the hour, the president himself decided to speak. no triumphalism, but an appeal to his defeated opponent.a: pres. mnangao nelson chamisa, i would like to say, you have a crucial role to playz babwe's present and its future, and its unfolding future. fergal: i watched the press conference with his foreign minister, a key mnangagwa ally. who is really in charge of the country, the president or the securityeople? >> i can only answer it because

i kn very clearly that it is mnangagwa who is in charge. fergal: tonight zimbabwe must hope for a more tolerant politics. it is by no means guaranteed. fergal keane, bbc news, harare. rajini: republican senator jeff flake chairs the africatt subcom and was in zimbabwe as an election observer. he joined me on the line from botswana a short while ago. senator flake, you were an observer for the elections. do you believe they were free and fair? sen. flake: zanu-pf had advantages that incumbent governments have when it comes to elections. the use of state media, patronage. a bit of an unlevel playing field going in. but on election day, the tabulation and the voting and

all that seemed to be on the up and up, and i think that the results are checked, that will probably bear out. rajini: senator, the opposition is saying that these elections were fraudulent and illegitimate. ugn. flake: well, i believe they are following throwith a challenge to that, which they usould. i am jglad they have agreed to do that through legal, established channels. rajini: you met both of the candides. what would your message be to them now? sen. flake: same as two days ago, to be able to aonept the elecesults. winners be gracious, losers accept defeat and live to fight another day. that is how our system is. if there are legitimate complaints, to follow through legal channels.i ould say that the zimbabwe

electoral commission has committed to release the results in a granular fashion down to the polling place.th they need to d in order to instill confidence in the vote. i believe if they do, there wild be confidence,f there are problems, those ought to be pursued. rajini: are there any concerns from your end about what could happen going forward? it has been a volatile political situation in zimbabwe the last few years. sen. flake: sure, it was not encouraging to see the use of the milita responding to a political protest. that was definitely not a good sign, and it kind of echoed problems they have had from the past. in a similaranner, the use of a police force to attempt at least initially to break up the press conference that was happening, that is not the dawning of a new era, and i hope the current government decides to proceed differently.

rajini: senator flake, great to have your first-hand insight into the election. thanks so much for joining us. and just a brief time ago i spoke with someone who grew up in zimbabwe and has written extensively on the country's politics. good thave you with us. firstly, the president-elect says he willnite the country, but it is a hugely divided zimbabwe. how much of a challenge is it going to be? >> it is a huge challenge. i have never seen the country more divided. the opposition are convinced that this election was stolen from them by a whole sriw of irregues that started well before the election even happened, with irregularities in the electoral roll itself. they think there was ballot box stuffing. we will see, as senator flake

said, in the next few days and weeks whether that is borne out or not. rajini: we heard from president-elect mnanutgwa reachingo mr. chamisa. is there likely to be any ground they can come together on? peter: well, they are all zimbabwean. there is some common ground. here is what is likely to happen. opposition m can make it very, very difficult for president mnangagwa and zanu-pto have nvnctions removed or even approach foreigntors to bring money into zimbabwe. if the opposition cos to say what they're doing and protest in this way, it will be ddifficult for mnangagwa that. i suspect what may well happen btimately is that he will have very little choi to reach out to the oosition and to perhaps bring in to some kind of government of national unity if they really want tprevent a

-- present a united front to the rlto get the investment that zimbabwe so desperately needs as virtually a failed state. rajini: you mentioned the international community. how can zimbabwe return to the internatiol fold after decades of robert mugabe's rule? peter: the metrics have been made fairly clear. there is a sanctions lt at the moment with individuals including president mnangagwa, cited for various law and order lapses, lapses in terms of huma rights issues,rms of corruption. the first big metric for the -- the first big box for the incoming president to check our is that elections e free and fair. the scenes we saw in harare yesterday with the army firing with automat weapons into crowds that presented no threat

was about as bad a start as you could possibly hope for. that was an absolutely terrible -- the optics were appalling and is the last thing in the world that zanu-pf wanted. it was a terrible beginning. they start with a disadvantage on that front and they will have the clawback from there. rajini: very briefly, during the election he promised economic reforms for zimbabweans. how dire is the economic situation, and how can he turn elat around? peter: it is absol appalling. zimbabwe by some accounts is the imfastest contracting peac economy in the world. -- in the history of the world. it is an absolute basket case at the moment. soaring unemployment. it is a terrible environment at the moment. you have had a lot of appropriation of land and things that made foreign investors nervous. they have to row back from that. i think the most ef to do that is to present a united front by folding the

opposition into some kind of government of national unity. rajini: thank you very much for your insights. yesterday president trump's national security team left little doubt that russiaad interfered in the u.s. elections and was continuing to do so.t then last night their boss came out swinging against the investigation looking into the c verge. nire is what he had to say at a rally in pennsyl pres. trump: now, we are being hindered by the russian hoax.a it'ax, ok? i willell you what, russia is very unhappy that trump won, that i can tell you. rajini: for more on these conflicting messages coming out of the white house, i spoke a while ago with the forme director for russia on the national security council under president obama. great to have you with us.an somixed messages coming

out of the white house and the president on whether or not russia interfered with the election. overall, how damaginadis this to thnistration's ability to deal with the issue? >> it speaks to the divide tt exists between where the president's mind is and the large bureaucratic body in dc that has never had any doubt out russian interference i think it is damaging so far as we are not presenting a unified front. the president and the people that work for him don't look unified, and that sends a horrible signal to our partners and allies. rajini: what signal does that send to moscow? jeffrey: moscow in a certain sense is very pleased with tr division in stitutions. that is one of the overarching goals, to undermine western institutions. i've seen accounts were they think they had won too big at helsinki, in the sense that there were other thiey wanted to get done and the backlash to the press conference is so big that they may not be able to do that. but they are pretty pleased with how they are looking right now. rajini: and with the midterms, concerns about interference in

at. what c the administration do to contain that? jeffrey: we saw this in europe and the ddling in european elections, one of the biggest things you can do is make people aware. we have infrastructure things to do. we need to watch voting ballots and computer systems. but really educating the public and communicating the message that not everything u see on twitter ork faceb what have you is really the truth or is ant in a genuine way, and people should be very skeptical about stories when stories break. you need to flesh them out and do digging and not jlieve everything you hear. rajini: what are the biggest onlefrom 2016? jerey: that is one of them we should have been much more open about what the danger was. we didn't quite understand -- it was a pretty new thing for us. we didn't quite understand what we were facing. we were very much concerned that too much action or being too public about this would be seena

in somas helping the clinton campaign and violating the trust of the electoral process that we have. but i think we could have been more forward-leagang with that and communicated to russia more that there are going to be significant consequences if you do this andake that very public. rajini: great to have yo jeffrey: thanks for having me. rajini:s let'ok at the day's other news. opat least 29 pele have been killed in a suicide attack on a shia mosque in eastern afghanistan. dozens were injured. several attackers wearing women's burqas blew themselves up inside the mosque assh local muslims gathered for friday prayers. is not yet clear who carried out the attack. zombie boy has died at the age of 32. his bodyho was found at hi in canada. reports suggest he may have taken his own life. appeared in one of lady gaga' s videos in 2011.

the singer paid tribute to him, describing his death as beyond bbvastated. you are watchingworld news america." still to come on tonight's program for the nuclear bunker made out of buses. we get a tour of a very unusual compound in canada. the u.s. naval base at guantánamo bay in cuba is one of the most controversial military installations in the world. ba's communist government wants the detention center closed. we were given tiny access to a town.oring here's the report. reporter: welcome to the most .revily guarded town in cuba it is located ly beside the u.s. naval base at guantanamo bay, and visiting is an easy. we were among a group of reign journalists granted rare access to the town where security is so tight that even local residents

find getting in and out difficul in its heyday, it was popular with marines on leave, and scores of townspeople worked on the naval base. after the cuban revolution took power, relations soured. reamericans to keep on any cubans working at guantanamo bay, but the last ones retired in 2012. today's young peopleeem at ease, but local fishermen know not to stray too far. leases the naval base under an agreement from 1903 for just $4000 year. fidel castro never cashed the checks, and local party officials really resent their unwanted amerin neighbors. i don't think we should enter into negotiations over its return. one negotiates over something a lot to you, but thi belongs to us and by rights they should give it back.

it is not theirs, it is ours. reporter: despite president obama promising to che detention center at guantánamo, around 40 detainees ath still held anotorious prison. the trump administration plans to keep it open for now, and no enpreshas ever sanctioned the idea of returning to base to cuba. will grant, bbc news. rajini: it su the height of er, and this weekend, parts of europe could see record-breaking temperatures, with portugal and spain feeling some of the worst impact. in india, it is heavy flooding that is proving deadly. morehan 500 people have been killed and there's still a month of the monsoon season left. several camps have been set up for people who have lost their homes. water is making a

dramatic new picture in many corners of india. rice fields now sprawling makes. schools submerged. communities cut off. coping with the annual monsoon floods is a way of life here. this year it is the threat to life that is causing such alarm. at this relief center, the strain of flight after flood is taking its toll on this mother two. >> this happens to us every year. i'm so tired of it. was crying outy because the water was neck-high and no o u came to resc reporter: as we ventured to more remote parts, it feels like -- [indiscernible] butf then, signsfe, and we meet those who refuse to abandon

their homes. >> what will i do if i leave this place? i haveel my house, my here. somewhere else, i have nothing. i stay here because i want to protect my house at all that i have. reporter: they try to f ing as many oe animals inside as possible, along with the scooters. but e floor is completely caked with thick mud where the water came rushing in. bedroom,ok inside the you will see they try to do stack up as much of the furniture as possible, but really they are fighting an extremely difficult battle. this is why. we are told the river normally is half a kilometer away from here. today the water is rushing all the way towards us and we are completely surrounded, leaving the owner totally isolated. some of india's biggest cities have also b inundated. this, mumbai.

and here, hospital deluged. pats.mong theie theyndian authoties deny have neglected their people, and even criticized these protesters. they are sickly miscreants -- simply miscreants, and we were able to disperse them. no relief cap is without relief. reporter: many scientists save climate change will bring more flooding from increasingly destctive storms, and it is some of the world's poorest and most vulneraple pat the greatest risk. bbc news, northeast india. rajini: our thoughts go out to those people. fromcs whether to polithe world might seem like it is inia bit ofray, but most of us are not preparing for the absolute worst.

that is unless you are a man who has taken more than 40 buses to 10,000-square-foot nuclear followership an -- nuclear fallout shelter in canada. we went to take a look. f >> i thought years, this is it. i thought it cannot get any worse than this. but they do. we put the first four buses in in 1980.th initiallshelter was built for 1000 people. s the governmendard at that time was 10 square feet per person.

then they have the standards so now it is 500. ok, i will just lead you through. this is the key corner of any shelte stops the radiation. it comes down the hallway and onto that wall. radiation won't turn corners. this is for pele coming in the side, but they dropped them here so they don't take them on. weeave a guard over the arms here. decontamination dub decontamination table, decontamination shower. this room is for 96 kids. they sleep in here 48 at a time on two shifts. will serve mostly people in the local community. e don't think people have the opportunity to cy great distance to get here. there's a question whether people in the local communityll ven join me. i don't know.

rather than seeing these catastrophes that are going to happen as beinthe end of the world, we see it as the beginning of a new age. humanity is going to hopefully after that event establish so there will be world peace, and humanity will grow forwardntrom this poi it is just at the bottom edge right now. rajini: i have to say, i'm left watching that if that wasn't strange enough for you, we have one mo story from boise, idaho, that has been keeping us busy on twitter. have been watching a suburban neighborhood invaded by goats.ne th was broken by someone who tweeted about the goats and and whose posts attracted 81,000 likes and 30,000 retweets. the goats are devouring lawns and shrubs

the party was brought to an end when the owner of the escaped animals were identified and called to come g them. on that note, we will find --nd e the show. i'm rajini vai anathan. thanks for watching. >> with the bbc news app, our vertical videos are designed ton work arod your lifestyle, so you can swipe your way through the newsf the day and stay up-to-date with the latest headlines yowncan trust. doload now from selected app stores.un >>ng of this presentation is made possible byn the freeundation, kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs, and purepoint financial. >> how do we shape our tomorrow? it starts with a vision.de we see its form in our mind, and then we begin to chisel. we strip away everything that stands in th way to reveal new possibilities. at purepoint financial, we have

designed our modern approach to banking around you -- your plans, your goals, your dreams. your tomorrow is now. purepoint financial. >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.

captioning sponsored by newshour productios, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonigh a divided zimbabwe. president emmerson mnangagwa declares victory as the opposition challenges the results of the highly-contestedn electi then, hundreds of immigrant families remain separated after crossing the bder-- the latest in efforts to reunite children with their pares. it's friday-- david brooks and ezra klein are here to analyzes. the week's newus plexploring lives of today's eighth graders-- a new movie by comedian bo burnham digs into the awkward and onlinee bsessed teenperience. >> attention is kind of currency nowadays.