>> go vote, guys. >> reporter: to clinch the state, the president may need to win back support from voters like dave santorelli who's not sure he'll vote for donald trump again. >> i don't like how he is on social media. everyone against him, he has to bloost them. i don't think that's a proper way of going about things. >> reporter: in florida, the president's signature style is kogs him support. >> sad to see how divided we've become. he didn't unify the nation. he should have come on early and said we have to wear facemasks. that's the only thing we have right now to help us. >> reporter: joe biden has a 20-point edge but less than hillary clinton received in 2016. a group calling itself cubans with biden is honking horns, too, trying to make gains in miami's cuban-american communities where support for democrats can be a hard sell. at coco cut's barbershop, me explained. >> all my family going to vote

for trump. maybe he's -- maybe he makes some mistakes, nobody's perfect, but to me, he's depend defending our freergesd our rights. we need to be free. we don't want communists here we are americans. >> reporter: 2017's hurricane maria, which heavily damaged puerto rico may also impact florida's vote, tens of thousands of displaced puerto ricans resettled here and were met by volunteers. >> they arrive here and they have become active part of our communities. >> reporter: for people gathering to commemorate the third anniversary of the emphasis was on voting. >> we need to come out and vote. this election is one of the most important for the people for the hispanic people, for the north o minority people. >> reporter: still it's the economy that looms large. florida answer employment rate quadrupled over the past year. >> i'm a furloughed person lining so many others in central

florida. we are all concerned on whether the jobs will return. >> reporter: approximately 20 million visit oors have been prevented from coming since the pandemic gran. it has tired some of its workers to stump for biden. >> vote for joe biden. >> she says she makes 200 calls a day and does not know when or if the job she had at the cashier at the airport will come back. >> i'm very much dedicated to myself and to bring other people with me. that's why i'm calling every day. >> reporter: it's worth noting the economy is still showing up as a win for president trump here in florida with 44% of respondents saying he would help their family's financial situation as opposed to 34% who give the nod to joe biden. >> manuel bojorquez reporting. unless the deadline is extended, the u.s. census will wrap up at

the end of the months. operations were delayed for six months due to covid 19. workers are counting people who don't have a fixed address in campgrounds, rv marks orks motels and food kitchens. 60,000 locations in total. hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid is at stake, along with seats in congress. montana is just one of the states requesting an extension to keep counting. major garrett reports. >> big sky. it's the state's name and a way of living. to be in smont to by hold sweeping vistas and seemingly endless horizons. montana has one member of congress for its 147,000 square miles. believes they have enough population for a second house seat. first its has to private through a successful census of its

roughly one million or so. >> brie layer open. >> on radio -- >> be counted. >>. >> reporter: at libraries and on bulletin boards, the message is as constant as the prairie wind. be counted. that is more challenging than it sounds. take simple delivery by mafl of a census form. >> oftentimes they don't have traditional mailing addresses, so we have about a quarter of the state that has been not getting the information. >> reporter: mike is the lieutenant governor. >> montana gets about two billion a year from the federal government based on the census. when we do not count a montanan who should be counted, that equals about $20,000 over the ten-year period of the census. >> reporter: most of montana is rural. most residents receive their mail at a post office box. the census bureau only sends forms to addresses.

census forms go undelivered. amid the pandemic millions of americans have filled out the census on line. montana has a problem with that, too. only 59% of rural montanans have broadband internet. >> whenoff system for the first time where we're asking people to go on the computer and self-report angled don't have the fwloilt do that, you have to make adjustments very quickly. that's why we've engaged libraries throughout the state where they do have connect yiflt. >> reporter: she said it proved to be a bigger challenge. >> probably longer to get into the internet than to fill it out. >> reporter: the state outfitted its 119 libraries with high speed sbernts, a real bleak for o this 88-year-old. >> i don't use a computer at all that much and it's easier to have somebody else help me. >> click the mail. >> reporter: in fallon county

where responses are below 30%, library stacy moore is a be count volunteer and she's got her work cut out for her. >> if you click on top there. yep. >> she was the census mentsor. >> should ha yeah, that's half the fun of a new house.

seeing what people left behind in the attic. well, saving on homeowners insurance with geico's help was pretty fun too. ahhhh, it's a tiny dancer. they left a ton of stuff up here. welp, enjoy your house. nope. no thank you. geico could help you save on homeowners and renters insurance.

autumn has begun. that means it's harvest time in much of the nation.

luke burbank got one final taste of summer at a watermlon field in oregon. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: even during a pandemic, there's nothing quite like a big juicy slice of watermelon ♪ ♪ it's watermelon weather >> reporter: and if you want some of the sweetest watermelon in america, you'd do well to head to what might seem like an unlikely play hervegs r mirvegs ston. >> it's a slice of americana. >> i see what you did there, slice. >> it's very subtle. >> they've been growing watermelons here since 1942. >> my grandfather started growing watermelons i think more to keep his energetic kids busy. i think it was a three acre field. >> reporter: turns out that field in eastern oregon, of all place, was an ideal spot for growing watermelons. >> we typically have very warm

days but our nights are much cooler and it increases the carbohydrate production in the plant. carbohydrate equate to sugars and the sugars equate to a sweeter watermelon. >> reporter: wow. bellinger wasn't sure there would be a market due to covid but boy, was he wrong. >> it's been incredible. watermelons are considered to be a happy fruit. it's good times. it's picnics. it's kids enjoying their back northward. ♪ people need a reason to feel good. it's the summer equivalent of a comfort food, really. >> comfort for anna dickman and her daughter or more accurately, a group of wedding guests in utah. >> they said you better send watermelon to us. >> this is crossing state lines because that's like -- >> that's how good it is. if you come to oregon, you have to bring us watermelon. >> you have that lovely quality. >> ken, a food his attorney at

the university of the pitching in california has got the art to selecting a watermelon down pat. >> i always see people tapping watermelons but i don't know what -- i do it myself but i don't know what i'm listening for. >> it has a dull thud. it means the cells have collapsed. >> what's the sound i'm look fore? >> almost sounds like a drums. >> water mel owens, which paerp in the bible and king tut's tomb, come from africa. >> not for the dplaifr but the water. >> this was sorts of harnessing the grounds water and having nature put it into a convenient ball shape for you? >> that's exactly it. >> once we started eating watermelons, the focus shifted to taste and color, says albala. >> it was bread consciously to be sweeter and more red. the original watermelons are white or yellowish and they

started cultivating this in ancient roman times. you see pictures of watermelons with bright paint. >> watermelonsrought to america from spain as well as from slave shifs from africa. during their time here in the u.s. they've changed more. most watermelons are seedless with harder, rounder rinds, which are much easier to transport. in japan, they've even taken it a step further, using molds to grow square and heart shaped watermelon. can i try a sample here of -- meanwhile back in her misston, my mouth was watering for out of the field. social distancing. this knife is terrifying but safe. oh, my gosh. cheers. >> so good. >> that good?

>> i would agree this is greenville but can i hother sec hundred p ercent --

the smithsonian institution in washington has reopened several of its museums that have been closed for six months due to covid-19. one of them is the national museum of often american histories and culture. chip reid paid a corpus christi to check on changes designed to keep visitors safe. >> reporter: where crowds used to gather outside the african-american american museum of culture, staff members are preparing for a new reality. spencer crew says 40s first couple of weeks there will be just 250 tickets issued each day compared to over 4,000 before the pandemic. video exhibits and touchscreens will be turned offer and the lobby is equipped with plexiglas and hand sanitizer. >> drying to make sure the

public is save but also our staff is safe. >> you have sense source keeping track of the number of people coming through. >> we can see how many people are in each space. as it gets crowded we might direct people other parts of the museum. >> after months of nationwide protests he says these exhibits offer timely message. >> we've always looked at social justice. i think as people come to visit us, they will see that visit. they will understand how people have really worked very hard to try to make a difference in the world and hopefully it will inspire them to also try to make a difference in the world as well. >> reporter: the museum hack collecting signs and artifacts from other protests, gathering stories from people marching in the streets and from those impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, which has seen blacks

hospital iesds at nearly five times the rate of whites. >> one of the things we're trying to do is to capture awful of this is impacting individuals in our society. as a consequence, we've created a space where you can talk about how covid affected your life and what kinds of things you might be doing to try to have it lessen that impact. >> reporter: would bit fair to say that in some ways, this museum is need now more than ever? >> we want to make sure we tell the unvarnished truth, we often say. there are up sides. we wan ourur visitors to see boh things. they understand that there will be challenges but there are ways of confronting those challenges and finding a better path to follow in the future. >> chip reid reporting. if you want to o visit the museum, plan ahead and get tickets online. there's already a long waiting list. and that's the overnight news for this wednesday. check back later for "cbs this morning" and follow us on

all the time at cbsnews.com. reporting from the nation's capital, i'm catherine herridge. it's wednesday, september 23rd, 2020. this is the "cbs morning news." supreme court showdown. the gop is charging ahead to support president trump's nomination. the latest blow to the democrats. emergency landing. air force two is forced to land shortly after takeoff. the midair mishap as they tried to head back to washington, d.c expected to do this week that could push a covid vaccine could push a covid vaccine further back. captioning funded by cbs good morning. good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green. we're going to begin this morning with latest setback for