this is bbc news. more than 70 million and counting. early voting is all the rage across the united states. with six days still to go until election day, americans are making their voices heard. in new york, that means getting to the polling station before sunrise, as i learned first—hand. voters are eager to have their say, for very different reasons. what has motivated you to be out so early? to get trump out of office. what has motivated you to be out so early? to get trump out of officeli voted early? to get trump out of office.” voted straight down the line a man named trump. i voted straight down the line a man named trump. also in the programme... france announces a new nationwide lockdown starting friday, for at least the whole of november. plus, does the contents of yourfridge say anything about your politics? we'll find out.

hello, i'm laura trevelyan in washington, christian fraser is in london. with just six days left to get out the vote, the presidential campaigns are moving into top gear. tonight, both sides are in arizona, where eleven electoral college votes are at stake. president trump is out defending the state he won in 2016, asjoe biden‘s running mate kamala harris is on the stump trying to flip it. the latest arizona polling has a two point race, effectively a dead heat. so far, so normal. but what's unusual this year, is the number of people who've not just made their mind up, but have actually cast their vote. just over 75 million people have voted, either by mail or in person. and to put that into context, that is more than half of the total number who voted in 2016.

president trump and his wife melania voted early. and joe biden voted this afternoon. and then, there's me. i went to brooklyn to cast my vote, on a cold and drizzly new york morning. the line in brooklyn for early voting goes around the block and beyond. new york is hardly a battle ground state. joe biden is counting on winning here. but new yorkers are turning out to have their say. it's seven in the morning, cold, dark and look at all this enthusiasm for democracy. it's my first time voting inaus democracy. it's my first time voting in a us presidential election as an american citizen and i'm so excited to be online here with my fellow americans. is it important to you to vote in this election particularly? it's important to vote in every election but yes, this one in particular i thought was very important. when i felt like to mark her if she was at stake. i feel like there's been a level of chaos that i haven't really seen before in government. and if you like i'd like

to at least get back to i feel like isa to at least get back to i feel like is a normal presidency. what has motivated you to be out to early? to get trump out of office. why? because he's a white supremacist. and he's doing so many bad things i don't even know where to start. good morning. despite the long lines, voting itself was very straightforward. and having done my civic duty, it was hot time to head over to staten island to stop the only borough in new york city to vote for donald trump in 2016. turned out there was brisk and support for the president is still strong. i don't like what's happening in my country so i voted straight down the line a man named trump. what are you hoping for is an outcome? donald trump to win. and move forward. with the economy, jobs. get rid of all the racism just be cohesive. many new yorkers have waited on line for hours during

early voting. and critics say the board of elections just wasn't prepared. in charge the top official denies. we had folks showing up on saturday morning when the polls opened at 10am. at six o'clock in the morning. lines were already forming. four hours ahead of time. so that means that this is important people, they are willing to put the time into it, and that they're going to make their voices heard. in new york city and across america despite the pandemic, millions are voting in what could be a record turnout for a presidential election. it's that solemn moment when the people give their verdict on their leaders. lara, you've been trained the british way as to be pencil and across. what is that like for voting the first time as an american citizen? it was pretty complicated actually. i said citizen? it was pretty complicated actually. isaid it citizen? it was pretty complicated actually. i said it was straightforward, i was kind of fibbing. what you have to do is, you

have to shade this tiny little oval. which is next to your candidate. by the way, president trump was on the ballot in three different places in new york in the presidential section which was super confusing for the no wonder they have problems here in america. so i have to shave with a pencil this little diner over. my eyesight is so bad. did you remember to turn it over? there's more on the back. yeah, there is another 20 people in the down ballot races and bats. so no, i didn't remember. the poll worker remind you thank goodness for those volunteer poll workers. thanks. thanks. we can talk now to professor michael mcdonald from the university of florida. he runs a project which tracks voting across every state in the us. thanks so much for being with us. what do you read into this absolutely massive early voting? including an texas whether figures are off the chart, are they? yeah, almost 100% of the 2016 vote has

already been cast in texas in this election. that's just staggering. already been cast in texas in this election. that'sjust staggering. we are seeing that across the country. large numbers of people voting over 75 million. it's indicative of two things. i think, 75 million. it's indicative of two things. ithink, people 75 million. it's indicative of two things. i think, people are really excited to vote and they are determined to vote. and we are going to have a high turnout election. the other part of it is people want to make sure they vote will be counted. they've heard a lot about potential problems with voting and you just mentioned a long lines. people want to make sure that their vote is going to be counted so they are showing up earlier. they are returning those mail ballots sooner. both of these things are really great news stories. it means aftermarket for c is functioning amidsta aftermarket for c is functioning amidst a pandemic and election officials have their workload spread over more days. that's helping them manage the election better. however, there have been and we can look at a graphic, more than 300 legal challenges to the way the voting is

being conducted in this election. across a0 for different states. could all these legal challenges affect whether those mail in ballots are actually counted ? affect whether those mail in ballots are actually counted? if they arrive after november three? yes, some of these lawsuits could affect the counting of the ballots undoubtably. we had a system of voting that really wasn't up for the pandemic. particularly with mail ballots. some states had had very few male barrett fully met ballots in their antiquated laws. they couldn't fix them before the pandemic. instead what has happened is there's been a lot of litigation around these antiquated laws that were not designed to manage this huge level of mail ballots. it is possible that because of the way in which these laws work that maybe some ballots are being

returned after or later or not to get back to election offices on time. they not be counted. 0ther things going on too. unfortunately, there are going to probably be some votes that will not be counted. michael, both candid outs are in arizona today was that which is tight. normally arizona is in the red column. also at georgia, north carolina, there are three southern states that suddenly our super competitive. i wonder as a political scientist whether you look at election night in a slightly different way. whether you will be looking at it in terms of the longer—term trend for american politics. absolutely. there has been a shift and demographic shifts in some of the states. they have been trending towards the democrats in recent elections. and this may be the moment where a state like arizona, which was actually pretty quote delete not close in 2016 may finally be a state that the democrats are winning. there have been some big trends, yes absolutely. they can be very significant. just quickly without a mind. this is not an election that a republican could run against the way that donald trump is running? you keep thinking that. you keep thinking that especially with texas.

texasis thinking that especially with texas. texas is the big state. it's been trending towards democrats. if the democrats are able to win taxes and that means that they pretty much got a lock on the electoral college. it makes it impossible for the republicans to win a national office. all eyes are in texas. it's really close. the polling shows a very close election and lots of people are voting in texas. michael, good to get your thoughts. thanks for joining forjoining us. europe is now deep into a second spike of the coronavirus, and reluctantly leaders across the continent are imposing new nationwide restrictions. germany, poland, russia, switzerland and romania among those reporting record numbers of infections or deaths today. a short time ago president emmanuel macron announced a new national lockdown that looks very similar to what was in place earlier this year. restaurants and bars will close, social gatherings banned, and people will work from home where possible. though schools and factories will remain open.

translation: if we don't apply a brutal break on the contamination today our hospitals will quickly be saturated without having the possibility to transfer numerous patients from one region to another because the virus is everywhere. if today we do not put a brake on the contamination brutally, doctors will have to choose between a patient suffering from covid with a person who is a victim of a traffic accident. and anything that threatens our values, threatens what france's is unacceptable. meanwhile, germany has agreed to put in place a partial lockdown nationwide it will begin on monday lasting for four weeks. schools and shops will stay open but bars, restaurants and leisure facilities must close. the situation in germany has become so bad that an estimated 75% of infections are now not traceable. here's the chancellor, angela merkel. translation: today has been

a difficult day for us to make these political decisions. i want to stress that because we know what we are asking of the public. but we have to find a way to make sure we avoid a national health emergency. whilst also ensuring that economic life continues as much as possible. none too surprisingly the financial markets are on the slide. wall street ended sharply lower earlier, with the dow giving back more than 900 points. germany's dax slumped by a.1% to its lowest point since may. the dax has now shrunk by 12% in just over a fortnight. france's cac a0 index lost 3% ahead of president macron‘s speaking to the nation. and in london, the ftse 100 hit a six month low as fear grow in the uk that further lockdown measures are on their way. 0ur correspondentjenny hill joins us from berlin. 0bviously, here in the uk trying to resist a nationwide lockdown. i know

the chancellor over their head had a concern that the regional response has been a bit patties. yes, angela merkel has been openly very worried about the situation here for some weeks. angela merkel doesn't have the power to impose any kind of restrictions in this arena. and that lies in the hand of germany's 16 state prime minister. that's why she had to hold those emergency talks with them this afternoon. she urge them to adopt a much, much more dramatic set of measures than we've seen dramatic set of measures than we've seen put into place in recent weeks. in fact, angela merkel sat down with them just two weeks ago. they couldn't really agree with what they wa nt to couldn't really agree with what they want to do many wanted out much more lighter approach to what was happening. she said to them, if we go ahead as you want to go ahead, into we start will be back at sitting here discussing what we're going to do next with the rising infections and she was completely right. i think should be very pleased that she's got them to agree toa pleased that she's got them to agree to a national set of measures. because we have seen a to a national set of measures. because we have seen a real patchwork approach to the problem. i

think for angela merkel it's big delete not come much later than she would've liked. jenny, how are germans taking the prospect of these harsh new lockdown restrictions? it's hard to generalise on this, of course. surveys suggest that a majority wanted stricter restrictions, thought they were necessary and were anticipating them. individually and for business it's extremely hard. today in berlin there was quite a large demonstration, people from the arts sector, people who run events companies, hospitality industry all really concerned. many of them haven't been able to work properly since all of this began. germany's been quite generous in terms of throwing money at the problem. the people demonstrating today said that's not enough. we need some security. angela merkel sympathetic to that view of course looked up she says germany will again give them financial support. there is talk

that businesses who employ less than 50 people will be given 75% of the turnover that they brought in in november of last year, for example. by november of last year, for example. by way of compensation. but it is a very difficult time. angela merkel herself saying this has been a very ha rd herself saying this has been a very hard day. jenny thanks so much for being with us. we were talking earlier about some really interesting figures coming out of tennessee. in the context of the mask mandate thatjoe biden would like to bring in. yes, these figures come from the very prestigious vanderbilt university and tennessee. if we take a look at them. it hospitals where fewer than 2596 them. it hospitals where fewer than 25% of patients are subject to a local mask mandate, hospitalizations are 200% higher than theirjuly one levels. but in it hospitals were 75% of patients are subject to wear a mask, covid hospitalizations are at

the same level now as they were july the same level now as they were july the 1st. so you canjust the same level now as they were july the 1st. so you can just see that wearing a mask makes a big difference. you get lower infection rates. just like they are. 25% of patients wear mass, so hospitalizations are 200% higher. yeah. there is some evidence that joe biden will point to no doubt. indeed so if he is elected. stay with us on bbc news, still to come, capitol hill clashes with silicon valley as lawmakers look at the issue of who is responsible for what's posted on the likes of google, facebook and twitter. the bbc has established that four people who drowned while trying to cross the channel in a dinghy from france yesterday were kurdish iranian, and members of the same family. 0ur europe correspondent nick beake has this report from dunkirk. just 15 months old.

baby artin was the youngest of those who drowned in the english channel. a family friend took this photo last weeker before a family friend took this photo last week before the final fatal journey. artin's body has not been found. when you look at that photo now what goes through your mind? very sad but maybe i cannot show my feel, i love him but inside i cry. artin is seen here on the left. being held by his father who also drowned yesterday, along side his mother, his nine—year—old sister anita, and six—year—old brother armin. the family were living in this bleak migrant camp in northern france after travelling from western iran. they paid a lot of money. i don't how much. 0ur they paid a lot of money. i don't how much. our family

they paid a lot of money. i don't how much. 0urfamily here is desperate. my father, motherand sisters are crying their eyes out. these have clearly had a big impact on the community that's built up here. people living in such desperate conditions. the question is, will they now be put off from attempting the perilous journey to the united kingdom? and so they battle the onset of winter. and the invisible threat of covid. for many it's already been an exhausting journey. but they are determined to ta ke journey. but they are determined to take the final step to britain. no matter how dangerous that may be. social media giants were back on capitol hill today, with republican senators spoiling for a fight. the bosses of google, facebook and twitter were there to talk about a law that protects internet companies from

liability for the content posted to their platforms. tech giants' they may be but it is rather gratifying to see they suffer the same tech problems as the rest of us, as was the case for mark zuckerberg. we are unable to make contact with mr mark zuckerberg. we were told by facebook staff that he is alone and attempting to connect with this hearing. zoom uses everywhere salute you mr zuckerberg. isn't that all our experience? we all feel the pain of zoom, don't we? we all feel the pain of zoom, don't we? so are these big tech companies, publishers or not? the law says they cant be sued, as a newspapers or broadcasters could be sued, for the content they carry, which critics say amounts to "sweeping immunity". although

republican lawmakers seemed more concerned at what they are not carrying, some of the presidents tweets, or this months new york post story on hunter biden that twitter and facebook removed. democrats thanked them for the steps they have made to combat fake news and misinformation. mr dorsey, who the hell elected you and put you in charge of what the media are allowed to report and what the american people are allowed to hear? and why do you persist in behaving as a democratic super pack silencing views to the contrary of your political beliefs? and i do want to thank the witnesses here for appearing but also for the work that they are doing to try to encourage voting. and to put out the correct information when the president and others are under minding vote by mail. something we are doing in every state in the country right now. nina jankowicz is from the wilson center, she is the author of how to lose

the information war. shejoins us now she joins us now from arlington, virginia. thanks for being with us. did today's hearing do anything at all to address all of the disinformation about voting that is out there right now on social media? frankly, i think there is hearing like a lot of the other tech hearings we've had in the past here on capitol hill didn't really amount to any new information for voters. was just a partisan to any new information for voters. wasjust a partisan part to any new information for voters. was just a partisan part of the ticking show, essentially. we've seen ticking show, essentially. we've seen the senators in particularjust wa nt to seen the senators in particularjust want to score points that can get reduced to a clip on twitter, facebook are tick—tock. it's pretty ironic that these things are being shared on social media. that's what they're trying to get, those sort of heads. and it really in terms of the policy response, nothing was advanced. which i think was expected given that we are six days out from an extremely consequential and devoting here in the united states.

whoever wins, is regulation coming down the road for big tech? so they ta ke down the road for big tech? so they take responsibility for what they actually publish. yes, i think where we are going to see some regulation coming down the road. it depends on what kind who wins will have a big impact on the regulation that we see. we've seen both candidates call for either of the removal or reform of section 230. this law that allows the tech companies limited liability for the things that their users post. but a lot of civil society organisations, human rights organisations, human rights organisations and free speech advocates say that adjustments to section 230 actually might quash speech and not protected the way that we like here in the united states without them i get the tech companies more licence to remove even more content. rather than in equitable enforcement of their terms of service. given the year-long

investigation that came down last week from congress on the outside influence that google has. whether they are can look past the regulation, look at the outside influence these tech companies have and maybe go down the road of breaking them up. that is an entirely different discussion. i think there has been a lot of talk about antitrust with regards to big tech here in the united states. that's going to be something that we see the federal trade commission looking at. but there are still a lot of questions about the platforms content moderation policies that have not yet been answered. you mentioned the hunter biden, new york post story and the boards at the talk of the segment. that is one think. we've heard the conservators on the committee talking about allegedly conservative bias of the platforms even though we know academic studies show actually the opposite. what i would prefer before we ta ke opposite. what i would prefer before we take any plastics taps about breaking these companies up or abolishing long—standing laws that

protect freedom of speech is looking at oversight and transparency. right now we have to take the platforms out there word. we have to rely on outside journalists or researchers for understanding of these platforms. it will be great if you are in the united states we had a third—party expert board that was in ensuring we had oversight and transparency much like you have in the uk like 0fqual. we are out of time but thank you very much for that. now, for something lighter. what does your fridge say about you? quite a lot apparently. and notjust what you eat and drink. the humble fridge can give an insight into your political persuasion. the new york times asked a representative sample of us residents who they're planning to vote for and whether they'd open their fridge and take a photo of the contents. readers were then invited to guess which way someone might be voting. so, are ourfood habits a complete giveaway? we will have one go each laura, see if you can guess which way this person votes.

all right, i see a lot of fizzy drinks. and i know that president trump supporters don't like taxes on fizzy drinks. i'm gonna guess it's a trump fridge. trump fridge? correct. yay. all right christian, the pressure is on. now look at the next fridge. is this next fridge a trump fridge. is this next fridge a trump fridge or a biden fridge? looks a bit more how they got some orange juice i'm good over biden. yes. 0h, oh my gosh look at this. mahlon come that's got to be liberals. that's got to a biden fridge. biden, yeah. maybe there is something in this. 0h no it's a trump fridge. lots of eggs. 0k, are we out of time? we are out of time. well i think that proves it all. the only thing i

spotted in that is they put peanut butter in the fridge in america which we don't do here in the uk. i think that's an american thing. hello there. it looks likely that we are going to close out the month of october as we began with a lot of heavy rain and strong gale force gusts and wind, maybe severe scales for the second half of the weekend. yes, unsettled. in part it's hurricane zeta this fall. ——fault this hurricane sitting in the gulf of mexico at the moment. with that east it's going to inject a lot of energy into the upper atmosphere. that impacts the jet stream. a powerful, strong moving jet at the moment. which is responsible for pushing these low pressures over to the uk. we got one low clearing away, another arrives on thursday and then we've got yet more at low pressures into the weekend. a spell of wet weather to come for thursday. the heaviest of the rain for time or cost north wales. northwest england northwest england, southwest weather warnings enforced here.

we could see gale force gusts of winds as well quite widely a0 miles an hour maybe stronger on the exposed coast. slightly drier and brighter across central and southern england and wales into the afternoon. and a little milder as well. we may see temperatures peaking at 60 degrees 61 f. now that rain will continue to push its way steadily north and east. it will be replaced by some heavier rain pushing into west wales by the end of the day. we still keep plenty of isobars on the charts. you can see that what or whether pushing into the west. but friday will be a slightly quieter day. better dryer, sunnier weather condition for scotland and northern ireland. wet weather into wales in southwest england a little more cloud here buddy milder theme. with that self when driving in some warmer air. 18 degrees not out of the question by friday afternoon. here is that spell of stormy weather. the first depot moves into the start of the weekend

for them you can see spiralling around that load like a dartboard plenty of isobars strong to gail force westerly wind quite widely on exposed coast was up yet again, the spell of heavy rain for a time. the rainfall totals over the next few days which may lead to localised flooding. highs 0f 11 to 17 degrees saturday into sunday almost a repeat performance was up here comes that next low moving through quite a pace. pushing up into the far northwest. the heaviest of the rain always the further west you go. that's where the strongest winds likely to be. we could see severe gales for a time into the far northwest on sunday. again a southerly wind it should be a little bit milder than it has been in recent days with a high of 11 to 16 degrees. move out of sunday, it does look likely that that rain will continue to sweep its way steadily south and east. we could start the new working week with the rain easing away. from the southeast corner any spell of sunny, sunshine and showers.

that's the story on monday however, further ahead we have to look back to the jet stream. we've got this fast—moving powerful jet at the moment. when we are on the north side of the debt that drives a low pressure across us. the jet buckles, it will start to weaken off and that could allow an area of high pressure to develop down into the southwest. that may well allow the weather story to quieten down. and we all get to breathe for a little while. a little more in the way of dry weather is expected as we progress through that first week of november. it does look as though particular on sunday we see those rain and gales. they were slowly start to ease, drying up, some sunshine, a bit chilly by night.

tonight at ten... relatives of a kurdish family from iran who drowned in the english channel speak of their shock and despair. the bodies of rasoul and shiva, and their children anita and armin were recovered yesterday, their baby artin, has yet to be found. the family were at a camp in dunkirk while waiting to cross — people there knew them and are grieving. i'm very sad, but maybe i cannot show my feelings. i love him, inside i'm crying. it's very sad. with a big increase in numbers trying to cross the channel, we'll be looking at the factors that drive people to expose themselves and their families to such danger. also tonight: a tough message from a sombre president macron — france is to go