this is "nightline." >> tonight, the seismic shift in a new swing state in the south. >> we won georgia in 2020. >> with georgia's presidential vote under audit. the runoffs that could change the future of the senate. >> gone are the days where young people are sitting on the sidelines. we want to be in the game. plus with a vaccine on the way -- >> the cavalry is coming. >> we're with the virus hunters on the front lines. >> this is absolutely insane. >> looking for clues and cures. and brown girl magic. for these girls, a veep they can recognize. >> i see a vice president that looks like me. struggling to clean tough messes with wipes? try mr. clean magic eraser sheets.

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senate. here's "nightline's" ashan singh. >> sup, y'all? we're going to get started real quick. appreciate y'all coming out. >> reporter: it's been just days since the presidential election was called for vice president joe biden and senator kamala harris. julius thomas and his fellow young atlanta leaders are already strategizing. >> i kind of charged you all with outreach to the hood. >> coming off the presidential election, moving into a runoff, are you guys tired? >> may be a little sleep deprived but we're hitting the ground running again. the excitement in the air of being a part of this. especially as a young person. it's absolutely undefeating. we know this is something we cannot sit out on. gone are the days where young people are sitting on the sidelines. we want to be in the game. >> reporter: that game is perhaps the most consequential election of their lifetimes. welcome to the peach state, home to 11 million residents. it's the cradle of the american civil rights movement. today the future of american

politics hangs in the state's balance once again. for decades, georgia was reliably red. but this election, things officially burned purple with president-elect joe biden poised to win the state. the first democratic candidate since '92. not to mention two senate seats, once solidly republican, are now headed for a runoff. >> the conventional wisdom that used to apply in georgia is thrown out the window. the idea that democrats can't win in this state, now that is a powerful powerful thing that i think will have a serious effect on the election. >> reporter: republican incumbents david purdue and kelly leffler both failed to secure a majority of the votes for re-election. >> we have been through a battle, but we are not done yet. >> reporter: forcing a rematch with democratic contenders rafael wardak and john osoff. >> retirement is coming for senator purdue. >> reporter: putting the republicans' hold on the senate in peril. >> if republicans win one or

both of these seats, then they will have control of the senate. if republicans control the senate, joe biden's going to have a huge challenge in getting his agenda enacted. >> reporter: all this as the trump administration challenges the results of the presidential election. georgia counties ordered to begin a hand-count audit of all ballots tomorrow morning. the dual races sending voters back to the polls in january. republicans have deployed big names like senator marco rubio to help. >> this is literally, you know, the showdown of all showdowns in terms of politics and where it leads. >> we don't have many general election runoffs. indeed we've had only eight of them in the past. and a democrat has never won one of these. >> reporter: but democrats believe in their odds. fighting back hard. >> they know what's at sake stake and they know what we're capable of. we won georgia in 2020 and we'll again in 2021. >> reporter: a gubernatorial candidate in 2018, stacey abrams

used her platform to fund fair fight, focused on fighting voter suppression and promoting free and fair elections around georgia and the country. her group helped registernew vo. with the help of other black women they mobilized people of color to vote. >> as a black man, i want to do my best to support black women and stand with them and continue to move this state forward. >> reporter: since turning 18, julius has never missed a vote. we first met the 24-year-old a week before the election where he was working to get young people to the polls. now he's at it again. >> it's hard enough to get people to the polls for a presidential election. how are you going to convince them to do it twice in a three-month span? >> similar strategies, but on steroids and red bull. we're going to amplify it like we never amplified it before. georgia is really in a great position to really be an amazing example of how this country's evolving. >> reporter: georgia's political landscape is shifting as the population diversifies with an

influx of asians and latinos, largely concentrated in urban areas, atlanta and its suburbs accounted for half the state's vote. >> that's a huge concentration of people who live in what are now largely blue counties. you get enough votes in atlanta and you get those votes counted, democrats can win elections in georgia. >> reporter: and while communities of color generally lean blue, to many like first-generation latino-american carlos alfredo torres fletcher, who goes by "cat," it's trump's way or the highway. >> what compelled you to start getting involved in politics? >> it happens with the magic touch of mr. trump. when donald trump launches his book "the art of the deal." that was the first book that i read cover to cover. everybody wanted to be like donald trump. >> reporter: but cat's no anomaly. in georgia the split between candidates amongst latino men was almost even. he managed a republican

congressional campaign, and his candidate lost by 60 points. but cat, like trump, won't concede. >> i refuse to accept any of the elections. the election was not fair. >> what will it take for you to accept the results of this presidential election? >> i don't want to discuss on that matter, because now it's a legal thing. >> reporter: georgia's republican secretary of state has repeatedly said there's no evidence of fraud or election tampering. but cat remains defiant. growing up in venezuela and mexico, memories of live under socialism and political corruption have made him skeptical of free and fair elections. >> for me this is a day job. beautiful things of the united states of america is to keep the elections honest. if you don't keep the election honest, and if you don't have a fair election system, okay, we're done.

>> reporter: for biang liau, life in her home country shaped her political views. she emigrated from china in 1999. >> i was 45 years old. i did not speak english at all. but i want to come to united states for the freedom and democracy. >> reporter: the 66-year-old has been activating both chinese and other asian-americans around georgia to vote blue. >> why was it important for you to activate your community to get out to the polls this november? >> i lived in china. i know what is under dictator, the life. and what is discriminate each other. and the china, i don't have the right to vote. and here, i have the right to vote. and i have the power. that's the reason i want to stand up. >> reporter: every morning, biang logs into her phone to

send messages on wechat, a popular chinese texting app, where she looks for new voters to register, shares information supporting democratic candidates. >> we need to reach out to the new voter. >> reporter: spends hours phone banking. asian-americans make up 12% of gwinnett county where she lives. she says if they want politicians to care about their community, their voices need to be heard. >> you think it's going to be hard to get chinese-americans out for the vote, for the runoffs this january? >> we have to try. because we tried first time, we had -- we have more experience how to campaign. and i believe we will get chinese, you know, asian-americans come out to the vote. >> reporter: from now until january 5th, it's all eyes on georgia. and the whole country's watching. >> no rest. we cannot rest. because we say, this is the battle. this is the final battle.

we need fight, fight to the end. >> reporter: while some remain resistant, like cat -- >> my advice would be to repeat the general election immediately. >> reporter: others like julius say there's too much at stake to give up now. >> this is the most important presidential election of our lifetime. this is the most important runoff of our lifetime, of my lifetime. >> the essential nature of this election changes the future of our country, protects health care, protects access to jobs, and protects access to justice. >> reporter: one way or another, he's runoffs will be decided by a new georgia. divided, yet diverse. full of people just hoping to make the place they call home a little bit better. what's it like seeing the tide turn? >> it's amazing. to be georgia, of all these different demographics that are coming in, and now we have more people who are being represented on the ballot and who are taking place in shaping this state and shaping this country now. that's the georgia i want to be a part of.

that's the atlanta that i'm proud to live in. that's the country that i want our nation to continue to be. >> our thanks to ashen. up next, the virus hunters helping to track down and stop the next pandemic in its tracks. from iraq, i could still hear the booms. makes it hard to be a good mom. - [announcer] as america's veterans face challenges, dav is there. - [naomi] i'm naomi mathis, air force veteran. - [announcer] dav helps veterans get the benefits they've earned. - [naomi] thanks to dav, i was able to begin to heal. - [announcer] with the right support, more veterans can reach victories, great and small. - [naomi] my victory is being able to be here for my children. - [announcer] support more victories for veterans. go to dav.org. is often unseen. because the pain you're feeling could be a sign of irreversible joint damage. every day you live with pain, swelling, and stiffness...

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>> as covid-19 cases continue to rise, the scientific community hopes to head offutt outbreaks. tonight abc's james longman with a team of scientists and experts on an international mission where new viral strains can be identified and stopped.

sxwr as covid-19 cases surge across america, leaders are imploring people to help stop the spread. >> every single thing you do matters. >> i'm tired, you're tired, but we must remain vigilant. >> we know that masks work. >> reporter: dave shutdowns have got the nation on edge. the country's leading infectious disease expert dr. fauci bringing a glimpse of hope. >> help is really on the way. if you think of it metaphorically, the cavalry is coming here. vaccines are going to have a major positive impact. it's going to be january, february, march. more and more and more people are going to be able to be vaccinated. if we could just hang in there, do the public health measures that we're talking about, we're going to get this under control, i promise you. >> reporter: to curb an outbreak like this, scientists first have to learn how viruses like the coronavirus spread. so we set out to better understand how pandemics start and how they can be stopped.

>> this is it. we've just got to liberia. chris has made it through as well. >> reporter: i'm here in liberia in west africa with epidemiologist chris golden. liberia was ground zero for the ebola outbreak. and a place researchers are looking for the source of the next pandemic. if people are coming into contact with bats in this rain forest, they could be exposed to a new strain of ebola or another virus. >> the animals coming from this side -- >> reporter: moses is a ranger whose job it is to stop poachers. he and his team are our first line of defense. >> you're standing at this abandoned mine. you can only see maybe two or three meters in before it's entirely black. but in the kind of haze, you can see the kind of decrepit old bits of previous mining industry. and overwhelmingly, a squawk of all these bats.

[ bats chittering ] >> you can see them right here. >> hm, wow. so there's an entire colony in here. >> yeah. >> and people want these bats, right, chris? these are valuable? >> in many places these are a preferred food item, where people will pay almost a premium price. this would be a prime hunting ground. >> reporter: moses and his team find this trap which seems to suggest that humans have been inside. >> you have hunters who are staying in this cave night after night, being exposed to bat feces, bat urine, bat bites. there's actually horseshoe bats and a type of fruit bat. horseshoe bats are known to be related, potentially, to covid and also to ebola. >> oh, wow. >> oh my god. >> reporter: we go further and further back into the depths of

the cave, and moses looks down, and he actually sees a whole host of dead bats on the ground. >> it could be that these bats have died of some kind of virus. it really does feel like we're in a front line of something unknown. young bats should not be buying, basically. >> not like this. >> and i think obviously the issue is, if there's a poacher in here, there's a dead bat, there's blood or whatever, right? so that's a problem. >> yes, there's probably some sort of skis, exactly. bats were known to be the reservoir of ebola. it transferred to other types of animals and was then transmitted to humans. this is the exact way a new deadly virus could start. right now we're headed into the central market of monrovia. >> whatever the poachers kill in the forest they come here to

sell. >> we have to figure out where is the bush meat going and who are the people helping it along its way? because they are key figures in what might lead to the next deadly virus. >> reporter: we know the bush meat trade played a role in the ebola outbreak here. rangers like jimmy are frontline defenders in the battle to stop a new outbreak. >> there was a larger bush meat market before ebola. and so during ebola, it almost like ceased, all right? and then after the ebola, people started going back to the market. the only action is thorough awareness like we are doing now and law enforcement. >> this is one of the most hectic markets i think i've ever been to in my life.

it's incredible how much bush meat is here. i haven't seen anything like this. >> you haven't? there are more. before you would have seen the whole place like that. >> the case is people need to feed their families, there's a huge demand for it, and this is just one market. >> what worries me here is that this market clearly has enormous demand. that will then drive more and more people to go into the forest, increasing human/wildlife interaction. almost 75% of all emerging infectious diseases globally come from an animal reservoir and an animal host. when i think about this from a planetary health perspective, you really understand that all of this is connected. around the world, new outbreaks are happening more and more frequently. in places where humans and animals are coming into closer and closer contact.

at a certain point, nature is forced to react. and this could really be conceptualized as a series of dominos that are all falling down in a line. each domino represents a touch point of exposure to a new virus hiding in some corner of the earth. removing just one of those dominos could stop the next pandemic. >> our thanks to james. "virus hunters" is available right now on the national geographic and tv everywhere apps and on demand. up next, how it feels to imagine yourself as vice president. >> i see a vice president that looks like me. shh! i took mucinex dm for my phlegmy cough. what about rob's dry cough? works on that too, and lasts 12 hours. 12 hours?! who studies that long? mucinex dm relieves wet and dry coughs.

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♪ finally tonight, a chorus of voices sharing what our next vice president means to them. black poet leslie honore writing a poem about representation, inspired by vice president-elect kamala harris, and brought to

life by black and brown girl. >> brown girl brown girl what do you see? i see a vice president who looks like me. brown girl brown girl what do you do? i fought i hoped i spoke what was true. >> brown girl brown girl you feel? that hashtag #blackgirlmagic will help us all heal. brown girl brown girl what do you see? a world that sees my skin before it s humira patients,... ...this one's for you. you inspired us to make your humira experience even better... with humira citrate-free. it has the same effectiveness you know and trust, but we removed the citrate buffers, there's less liquid, and a thinner needle... with less pain immediately following injection. ask your doctor about humira citrate-free. and you can use your co-pay card to pay as little as $5 a month.

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