captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, hate turns to hror. john yang reports from pittsburgh where 11 people were targeted and murdered at asy gogue. and i am anchoring special coverage from florida-- a place sadly familiar with gun violence, home to the suspectedn pipe bomber a state still recovering from a devastating hurricane. plus, with just a week to go before the election r how all this weighs on the minds ofo rs and affects the issues that matter most. >> nawaz: and i'm amna nawaz in washington. with the day's other headlines and more on tonight's "pbs newshour."

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earlier, the maninccused of ki11 people had his first court appearance, amid an outpouring of grief and sympathy. john yang begins our coverage. >> reporter: today, the makeshift memorial outside the tree of life synagogue in pittsburgh grew larger. passersby placed flowers and paid their respects amid a still-heavy police presence. fundraising for survivd victims' families has brought in more than $600,000. saturday's massacre believed to be the deadliest attack on jews in american history. 46-year-old robert bowers is charged with killing 11 worshippers during sabbath prayer services. seated in a wheelchair, he made his first appearance in federal court in downtown pittsburgh today and was assigned a public defender. he is being held without bail. he faces 11 state counts of criminal homicide and a 29-count federal complaint, includings, hate crihich could bring the death penalty. in the wake of a week of threats

ted violence, some have po to president trump's rhetoric, which they say has invoked anti- semitic themes and emboldened white nationalists. even as white house press secretary sarah sandersd condemgotry today, the >> we all have a duty to confront antisemitism in all its forms anywhere it appears. reporter: the president blamed the media. he said, "there is great anger in our country caused in part by inaccurate, and even fraudulent, reporting of the news. the fake news media, the true enemy of the people, must stop the open and obvio hostility and report the news accurately and fairly." tomorrow, the president and first lady are to visit pittsburgh. among the dead: 97-year-old rose mallinger, who had survit.d the holoca brothers cecil and david rosenthal, both in their 50s, both with developmental disabilities, and father and grandfather melvin wax, who was

88. this morning, authorities took the cused shooter from allegheny general hospital, where he was treated for gunshot wounds. hospital president jefferey cohen lives across the street from the tree of life synagogue, where he is a member, was married and his childr bar and bat mitzvahed. >> as i went outside there was a police officer walking down the street and he was yelling at people to get in their houses-- there was an active shooter at tree of life-- i'm going "this is odd," and as i stood therehi ng i saw the first wave of police come in and they were huddled behind a brick pillar. they were charging around the and i'm going, "this is across from my house, this is surreal." >> reporter: he quicarned the shooter was being taken to his hospital. >> i talke that took care of him and the nurse's father is a rabbi. he came in because he was called

in. and he rolled up his sleeves and he took care of him liket nybody else tmes here. and we have a really simple mission here, certainly asong as i've been here, we're here to take care of sick people. >> repter: yesterday, cohen felt the need to meet the man who had brought violence to his doorstep. >> and he asked me who i was, i said "i'm dr. cohen, i'm the president of the hospital." and once again that ying-yang of thuniverse-- here's the gu that's getting off an ambulance and saying "all jews have to die" and his emergency room physician, his nurse, president of the hospital are all jews. how's that f irony? >> reporter: the bullets struck at the heart of the close-knit community in pittsburgh's squirrel hill neighborhood. >> it's like tearing cloth s that the threads no longer join one to the other.am >> reporter: gibson is senior rabbi at temple sinai, just blocks from tree of life.>> we are deeply embedded in

each other's lives. >> reporter: although more diverse today, squirrel hill still has the feel of the jewish enclave been for more than a century. it's a place where synagoguesdm are familiar lks, the grocery store posts the beginning of the weeklbbath and they tell time in hebrew. d y skrzycki, a polish catholic, has livehere 18 years. shand her husband, david shribman, thexecutive editor of the "pittsburgh post- gazette," raised two daughters here. one is a year away frodi tion as a rabbi. >> it would have been very hard for natalie and my olderpe daughter to esecause of their friends. a lot of their friends were jewish. we lived in washington a long o me and i don't think we, outside of one or ople, really knew very many jewish people. you become marinated here pretty fast. >> reporter: as authorities search for why this attack took place this particular weekend in this particular place, dr. cohen sees symptoms in the coarsening

of public discourse. >> we need to take control of the debate and the civility of the discourse where it's okay to disagree with people, but you don't have to take it to the point where you shut the other guy up. we have to listen more. >> sunday evening, the monthlyhe sal of the pittsburgh cello studio ensemble became an impromptu commemoration. ♪ ♪ a ♪ leaders nicole mye simon cummings played the melody, kol omdre, which traditionally begins services onippur, the jewish day of atonement. >> it's just so soulful and beautiful.at and we d whether or not we should have rehearsal tonight, the day after these events. we thought we didn't want to stop making music.

we wanted to play for them to show them that we were going to persevere. ♪ ♪ >> reporter:or cummings, born and raised in the area, it had a special meaning: among the dead was dr. jerry rabinowitz, his doctor since childhood. >> just trying to meditate and think about his life and the other ten lives and feel like music is a big part of our lives and it helps us recover and heal. >> reporter: feelingmathat so in this community are in search of tonight. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: what happened here, so many that we talked to say they, this neighborhood and thii are determined to come back strong. amna?

>> incredible resolve in that community, john. but tell me about the victims of this attack. when will we expect funerals to begin for them? >> the funerals will start tomorrow. jewish law generally forbids autoautopsiys and encourages burial within 24 hours, but authorities went to the families and asked permission to perform autopsies, presumably to help ie the ption, and all the families agreed. >> you mentioned the prosecution, john. what else do we know, if anything, about the shooter? >> not much. h he is a guy who apparently did not leave much of a footprint. reporters have been talkingto neighbors, described him as isolated, socially awkward. they saye lived alone. told some of them he was a truck drrier. what foos he did leave appear to be these virulent anti-semitic comments, most left on a web site called gab. gab is a site critics say is the

haven, the last refuge for extremists who have been kicked off other social media platforms like twitter and facebook for violating their norms. gab s released a statement condemning the attack, saying they are working with law enforcement authorities, investigating this. ey also say, we have be smeared by the mainstream media for defending free expression and indivual liberty for all people. >> yang:, there fors at the -- john yang at the site of the horrific synagogue shooting in pennsylvania. thank you, john. >> nawaz: in the day's other news, federal prosecutors asked a judge to deny bail for the man who allegedly sent package bombs to top democrats and critics of president trump. cesar sayoc appeared in federal court in miami and, another package addressed

to cnn showed up in atlanta. the f.b.i .said it was "similar in appearance" to the others. the pentagon announced it is sending 5,200 active-duty troops to the mexican border this week. that comes as some 4,000 central american migrants are pushg northward through mexico-- a movement that trump called an "invasion" today. the head of the u.s. northern command said soldiers will backs up cusnd border agents. >> we know border security isti al security and the u.s. military will advance c.b.p.'s capability to harden the border. the department of defense is already and will continue to ovide support to c.b.p. to secure the border. nawaz: federal police i mexico today blocked a new group of several hundred migrants, trying to enter the country om guatemala. in indonesia an airliner crashed into the java sea, off jakarta, today, killing all 1eople on board. the lion air boeing 737 plane went down 13 minutes aft

taking off from jakarta on a domestic flight. rescue workers pulled human remains and wrkage from the water through the evening. indonesia's president joko widodo asked geving families to be patient. >> ( translated ): i feel deep anxiety for all the families of the victims, but we hope tt the families of the victims will be calm while they wait for the e arch and rescue teams who are working hard at ene. we are making the best efforts to find the victims. >> nawaz: indonesiannes were banned from flying to europe and the u.s. for years because of their poor safe record. the u.s. lifted its ban in 2016h aneuropean union ban ended this past june. e u.s. navy says it will continue patrolling the disputed south china sea-- deliite a near-con with a chinese warship. last month, a chinese destroyer came within 45 yards of the u.s. navy destroyer "decatur" near gaven reef forcing it to veer off. the u.s. does not recognize china's claims in the area.

the chief of naval operations said today that "freedom of navigation" operations will go on. the people of brazil begans coming to grday with a stunning political shift. far-right politician jair bolsonaro won sunday's presidential run-off, in latin coerica's largest nation. foreign affairs espondent nick schifrin has our report. >> reporter: late into the night,air bolsonaro's supporters celebrated what theye called a start-- and the end of a ruling party they label a failure. >> they are big liars and criminals hiding behind their rehearsed speeches. bolsonaro is much more original, says things that many people dot want to hear, but i believe that he is honest and that he wants improvents for the country.3- >> reporter: 6year-old bolsonaro is a longtime lawmaker, former army captain, and proud populist who reflects widespread anger: brazil is in its worst everre cession. former president luiz inacio lula da silva is in prison, his successor was impeached, and the current presidens accused of corruption.

and violence has increased so much, the military secures rio's massive slums. voters blamed the government. >> ( translated ): corruption, robbery, politics in the trash: that's why i want change. i prefer to risk something new. >> reporter: what they're risking is a cdidate critics call an extremist. in 2014, he argued with a lawmaker, and, after pushing her, yelled, "i would not rape you because you ar of it."thy in a 2011 in"prview with yboy," he said he would "rather his son die in a car accident, than be gay." and ten days ago, wh calling in to a rally, bolsonaro promised the rule of law would be become rule by law unleashed on his political opponents. >> ( translated ): thesel ed outcasts w banished from our homeland. it will be a cleansing never seen in brazilian history. you will see proud armed forces, a civilian and a military police with legal backing to enforce the law against them. >> the rhetoric that served him well to win the presidency will

not serve him to govern. >> reporter: paulo sotero directs the wilson center's brazil institute.ls he says aro is part of a populist wave that includes president trump, and that he will have to reign in the rhetoric.a >> he will havngress that he will, i think, very rapidly, realize that he will have to negotiate certain things, tone down some of the rhetoric. >> reporter: last night, bolsonaro did just that and read from a script. >> ( translated ): i will be an advocate for defending the nstitution, of democracy, of freedom. >> reporter: but a candidate who mimicked guns with his fingers, and whose supporters held dolls ofnoliticians wearing priso uniforms, has a base with high expectations. and it remains a question whether a whether a man who campaigned in vicious poetry, can govern in reasonable prose. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. nawaz: meanwhile, in germany: chancellor angela merkel announced she will step down as ader of her conservative

party. she also confirmed she will not run again, when her 4th term asr chancellor e in 2021. her statement in berlin came iter the ruling coalition suffered new lossea key state election on sunday >> ( translated ): with this decision i am trying to make a contbution which enables the german government to finally concentrate its efforts on good governancesomething people demand and rightly so. this step is alsbased on the ear intention of the german government to evaluate its work. >> nawaz: merkel has beence chor since 2005, but she's faced heavy criticism for admitting large numbs of asylum seekers in 2015. that decision helped fuel the rise of a far-right party. back in this country, former president jimmy carterled to georgia's republican candidate fogovernor to step wn from his post as secretary of state. brian kemp oversees state elections in that role, and he's facing allegations of voter suppression. in a letter to kemp, mr. carter said stepping aside would foster

voter confidence. on wall street stocks started with a rally, then swooned amid talk of new tariffs on china. the dow jones industrial average lost 245 points to close below 24,443. it had been down more than 560 points earlier. the nasdaq fell 117 points and the s&p 500 slipped 17. and it's time for another party in boston after the red sox wonh world series last night, for the fourth time in 15 years. boston beat the dodgers in los angeles 5-to-1, to take the series in five games. nee city will honor the winners with a parade on way. we turnow to our special "newshour" coverage from florida and to judy woodruff. >> woouff: thanks amna the swing state of florida is yet again provg to be a battleground in this year's midterm elections. from a contentious re for governor to a neck and neck senate contest, key races and

down the ballot could decide control of congress and be an indicator for the political direction of the country. of begin our special coverage with a look at somhose important campaigns. >> higher taxes for you. benefits for him. i don't think so.>> e can do good by rowing together y'all. (applause) >> woodruff: the florida governor's race pits a self- styled "conservative warrior" against a progressive. tallahassee mayor anew gillum is vying to be the state's first democratic governor since 1992, and its first-ever black chief executive. he is also a fierce critic of president trump. >> your next governor ron desantis! >> woodruff:y contrast, former republican congressman ron desantis has fully embraced the president, who won florida by am razor-thgin in 2016. >> i appreciate your support mra president, butreciate more

the leadership you are showing for our great country. >> woodruff: the contest has been rife with allegations of racism. just after winning the republican nomination, desantis said this about gillum: >> the lasthing we need to do is monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialt agenda. >> woodruff: racist robo-calls by an out-of-state whigr supremacisp also targeted gillum. desantis denounced the calls, but when i caught up with gillnd at a weeally at a tampa community center, he said desantis had stoked racial tensions. >> i think certainly he used racial stereotypes in his campaigning all to make look out of touch. so different than everybody else. i think he solely underestimates the voters by going so hard after superficial differences when what voters want to hear about is what we're going to do. >> woodruff: meanwhile, gillum is facing a corruption probe into unreported gifts from lobbyists-- including a trip to

costa rica and tickets to the broadway show "hamilton." >> i don't take free trips from anybody.il >> woodruff:m has denied the charges, but subpoenaed text messages suggest he knowinglyw accepted the sckets from an f.b.i. agent posing as a real estasa developer. is calls it another example of "local corruption."he >> andrew isne who lied to g e people of florida on sunday night about acceptgift from an undercover f.b.i. agent. 's the one who lied. >> woodruff: the governorship is up for grabs because republican incumbent rick scott is term- limited. he is moving on to challenge three-term democratic u.s. senator bill nelson for his seat. >> he was there when his party was in power and he's absolutely done nothing. >> woodruff: the two have sparred on immigration, gun violence-- especially after the parkland, florida school shooting, and health care. polls indicate a majority of

floridians favor medicaid expansion, and that they're more dalikely to vote for a can who will maintain the affordable care act's protections for people with pre-exis conditions. m >> florida he on the a.c.a. than anybody else. almo two million people who now have healthcare that never had healthcare before. and for the seven years of the law, my opponent has wanted to kill it, to repeal it. >> woodruff: nelson has blasted scott for opposing medicaid expansion and "obamacare." the state is also suovg to turn federal protections for those with pre-existing conditions. ott says he didn't have ciything to do with the suit. >> i support forng insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions. >> woodruff: but in a new ad, he said he now favors coverage of e-existing conditions. and desant has recently pledged to do the same. the florida ballot also feates

close races in at least five congressional districts held by republicans, and for the republican-conolled state senate. driving voters to the polls, a state constitutional amendment to restore voting rightso 1.5-million former felons. i sat down this weekend with five voters in the tampa/saint petersburg area. and a note to viewers, we met before the magnitude of the terrible murders in pittsburgh was clea we gathered at a popular meeting place, the oxford exchange. the ters ranged in age from to 75. jake hoffman is a republican who owns a digital media company.s o works investing in affordable housing. sandy rief is a registered republican, but has been voting democratic lately. he's a tax attorney. liz gutierrez is a democrat who runs a non-profit. d and cherham is a

republican who's employed by a law firm. >> this e2016 election cycle is just as important or morean impothan 2016. you know, someone is calling this trump's reelection. >> woodruff: trevor, what about you? how important do you think it is? >> it's like cherie touched on, this has been called the trump reelection, and for those who don't want to hear that, now is the time to get up and mae a difference. >> woodruff: let's talk about what is on your mind. what is it that is driving your vote this time? >> there are a lot of issues. there are a lot of things at stake. we have two taxes on our ballot in hillsboro county. if those pass, we will be the highest taxed county in florida, so that's very important to me. with the unfortunate event in parkla, the second amendment has become a huge issue here in florida and i don't believe we need more gun control rightuf >> woo why not? e need help for people with

mental health it's not gun control. we need to reshift the focus, helping people that need help. >> woodruff: what is it that is drioving you t make sure to vote that makes you believe these elections matter? >> for me, i'm one of those silly people who belve in peace and justice for all, not just for sme. while it is important to keep our taxes, for example, int check, i also very important to invest in the society and ino ouunity. so if we don't educate our young children, if we don't create the best schools that we can, if folks don't have economic opportunity, then we're all in trouble. >> woodruff: what about you, trevor? what matters to you? >> number one is education. inn pilas county, the rate is overwhelming on how many students can't read anat needs to be changed. i think it has to do with th

pay to have the teachers. humber two are the gun laws. we just have tonge them, and i really commend those young kids at stonemon douglas where a thtually stepped up after he incident there and i believe they really arekey part of this excitement about this midterm election. number three is the restoration, the restoring of rights, notst eople need to get more educated on who should get their rights back and who should and shouldn't get theights back. >> woodruff: for felons. for fonel what's driving you in the governor's races? >> there is a lot. when i see something about the environment on there, i'm excited about candidates that will talk about that. >> woodruff: sandy, you takeer an it in politics. what matters most to you? >> right now, healthcare does. i'm medicare, you know, and we

don't have a good healthcare system in this country. obamacare was excellent, and it's been beaten down.he issues that i think are important, the environment.a vel rise. climate change. that's important. people vto realize that if we don't do something like that, you know, the sta of flori will be underwater. >> woodruff: liz, what are you thinking when you're thinking about the goernor's raceng between ssman desantis and the mayor of tallahassee, andrew gilluhe >>erm that comes to me is fear. it's really a hostile environment where folks -- people don't feel comfortable talking to eaccother beause they're afraid of the differences in opinion mightso lead tmething else. >> i kind of agree with what she said. people are afraid of one or the other. everybody's afraid of losing their rights, whether it's

rights for guns or their rights to a safe community. >> woodruff:revor, how do you see the governor's race right now? >> well, i have to say, during the primaries, i did support mayor andrew gillum, and i have been actually still working tohe support him. but once he won the nomination and thenesantis came out with this comment about monkeying it up, i just thinkn that line dit have to be crossed when you're talking about raism. it was racially pushed, but it just didn't neeto happen. >> to the monkeying aroundna comment, pery, when i heard that, i didn't take that asl racia issue. a lot of other things i hear i can say, wow, that's egregious, that is something i think is racially charged. we just hado calls put out around the state that made local and ate news and ty're

clearly racist. if you listen to them or see the transcripts, you can see that's racially charged. but you can't pull racism rom one comment like that. >> woodruff: trevor, is it possible that there's been an erreaction from the people supporting andrew gillum? >> i don't i think it an overreaction. we took it, commented on it, dealt with it and now we're moving on. it actually ignited us in the africaamerican community because i want to touch on what you said. you said you don't think it' racist comment, but, at the same time, the robo call was in effect toin monkit up because there was monkeys in the background, and if you're going to deem thatacial, then i think that comment or slip of the tongue, however you want to label it, that also has to be deemed as a racial comment. >> woodruff: let me come to you, sandy, on some of thi governor's race, what do you see unfolding here? >> it's the entire political spectrum. everybody's telling lies. >> woodruff: everybody?

both political parties? >> everybody is telling lies. it stas at the top, the president of the united states, and it goes all the wayn. dow every one of the commercials that you see is a lie becau they're trying to make their opponent look bad. we're not talking about the issues. the things that are important to the citizens of ida and the citizens of our country. >> woodruff: the governor's race, gillum, who are you for and why? >> of course, i have to support andrewllum. i am not the problem in our societ aas latina woman. i am part of the solution. i'm ut contr. i'm a taxpayer. i'm a voter. i have everything to give, and if we don't have a society that values my contribution as equal as it values that of anyone else, what kind of society do have? >> woodruff: cherie, what about you? governor's racie,llum, desantis? >> i am a christain, ans

vative and a republican, so i vote my values. my number one value is pro-life, so i vote from a pro-life viewpoint always. so, obviously, i'm going to go for desantis. i also voted fr president trump. >> woodruff: jake, as involved with the young repub, you are supporting republicans. why ron desantis in this governor's race? t because the alternative is very sca me as far as an economic climate goes. hiring taxes all around worries me. >> woodruff: i want to turn to president trump. how much does what he says, what he's done, how much is that a factor in-- youhe people you plan to vote for? >> what we're seeing and hearing ical him is just not the typ role model i would want for my kids to look at. h so, wh comes down to

support these candidates and have these rallies, it jus stays negative. >> desantis was asked about whether orot trump is arole model. the answer is no. .hat's not something we should hesitate to say again, as a republican, i take a lot of flack for certain thingsa that i whether it comes from a moderate, reasonable position, but it's easy to see that the things that he says okay.re not it is okay to say that. and we can do that at the same time as agreeing with some of the policies that he has. >> do you think he's an asset for republicans this year? >> yes. yeah, absolutely. he is going to do a great job at helping turnrut the vote fo republicans, yeah. >> i believe he is a force for positive. i don't think we needed just a nice, normal politician. i think our coury was in such a state that we needed a wrecking ball to go into washington and wreck it. >> woodruff: how much do you feel the country is dit vided riw? what do you think about that,

jake? and does it matter? >> absolutely. the country is definity divided. you see that at rallies and d counterprotest we have parties that are sitting on very far sides of the political spectrum. >> woodruff: well,he president is blaming a lot of this, sherry, on the news media, saying the news immediatey is contributing to the division. >> there are a lot of things that we agree on. we need different roads and avenues to get tohese solutions. i agree the media leans toward more liberal. they have a very loud voice. you know, a lot of my friends get put in facebook jail or shadow ban bned on twittcause they tweet out a lot of conservative things, and this is something that's really but, honestly, at our core, i think we are more united than vided. >> i think we are very divided and the president is trying to keep us further apart. you know, he ref tustake a

position on -- he haspent dommented negatively and sai what happened with the bombs that have been sent out. you know, he's not codemned that like he should have. his ambivalence towards saudi arabia with khashoggi, that was something that should have beenm cod right out. those are the types of things. and he goes to the rallies, and none of that is what's designed to bring us together. you know, you can document lie after lie after lie that he tells when he's out there speaking. >> woodruff: as your candidate, your man goes to washington, what would you like to see him give a little on in order to reach sor soof resolution? >> well, i'm going to go in the opposi you that the thing that i have been disappointed about is, as democrats, we haven't been as strong. i think republicans have been very clear about their

messaging. i don't know that we asve democrats hat clear a sense of what the values are and weave very rong values that i think are bl nefic everyone, but i don't know that arly ink of them very cle a way that everyone understands. >> as far as republins go, again, we're going to need to pivot more on the environment because that used to be a bipartisan issue, and education. we used to be able to agree - th if you walk outside, be able to take our kid to schl and breathe the air and go to the beach. you know, we just don't need to fight open some of these things. >> if that's what republicans have to do, democrats have their work cut out for them, too. democrats have their work cut out for them, too. r things, they are going to need a big turnout from two groups of voters who are increasingly important here in florida-- puerto ricans and young people.mi e alcindor has been in south florida taking a look at those key voting groups and how

they might sway the results. >> reporter: turnout, turnout, hernout. that's the name ofame in florida. up and down the state, candidates and canvassers are working to get out the vote. >> reporter: that's because in the last two governors' and presidential races, the winners in this state have been determined by razor-thin margins. and a result, democrats are trying to turn out two important groups that they hope will make the difference. >> florida is the classic referendum, lynchp state in the country. it's almost perfectly divided in terms of its registratn between republicans, democrats and independents, which in florida is a growing segment of the electorate. a reporter: fernand amandi democratic pollster based in miami. >> it's all about the base here. so, the base matters and turnout is what drives the base, so ifse the s not turning out, someone is going to lose and that's why in florida, it's paramount. >> reporter: one key group: puerto rican voters, especially those who have arrived sincerr ane maria struck last september.

frederick velez is an organizer with alianza. the group has spent months sendg out mailers and registering people to vote. now, it's focused on making sure people show up. >> we've had over 26,000on conversawith people who are either puerto rican or who are latino. and those conversations are based on, focused on why it's important vote. >> reporter: 47-ar-old ivette alsina understands the value of voting. in june, the mother of threeo moved from pueco to this neighborhood outside kissimmee with her sons and grandson. >> i left my family, my house, my friends, my culture. everything stay there. >> reporter: and, like many puerto ricans, she was very disappointed by the trump administration's response to hurricane maria last september.a >> there was not of help for us. there are still people suffering over there this people over there. the house-- they don't have a roof. and fema. they went there, but they didn't

help out a lot. >> reporter: the government ofo puerto rys as a result of the storm, nearly 3,000 people died. president trump has rejected that number. hehelaims democrats inflated death toll. alsina was especially offended by this video of president trump throwing paper towels tohu icane survivors. it was on her mind when she voted early last week-- for democrats. she hopes they'll serve as a check on the president. we>> that's why yesterday to vote. because i want my dignity and respect back. we don't need paper towels. we need food. we nd help to build our hous again. >> reporter: no one really knows how many puerto ricans have rida since hurricane maria. estimates range from a high of 300,000 down to 50,000, but pollster fernand amandi says even tens of thousands could still prove pivotal. >> 25,000 votes could very well decide who wins florida. so it could very well be that

these puerto rican voters have 15 or 20,000 of them enter the electorate and uniformlyo from one side to the other could be determinative. >> reporter: young people are another group to watch. they usually don't vote in high numbers, especially during midterms. this year, organizers are working hard to change that. on saturday, volunteers with nextgen america canvassed in north miami beac the democratic political action group is funded byillionaire hedge fund investor tom steyer. it's been registering young people to vote across orida, including at high schools and colleges in the wake of the school shooting in parkland. voanwhile, at a get-out-th event in liberty city, miami, young people gathered to talk politics over food, football and music. it was sponsored by dream defenders, a group startedn 2012 after the killing of trayvon martin. udnika cockroft, an organizer, said 2016 was a wacall for many. >> our generation is starting to step into their power because we

realize that those 70, 75-year- old people who've been in power for 30 years are fixated in the mentality that they have already and it doesn't align with ours. we're going to be stuck when they're gone we're going to be stuck with the issues that they left us with. >> reporter: dream defenders ran shuttles to the lls nearby. early voting began last week.e along thy, organizers tried to explain florida's 12 amendments on the ballot this year. >> i think the potential for young people to make a dfference in the midterm election is definitely there. at the same time, think that nee democratic candidates ed to give young people something to vote for. >> reporter: marcus horton is a 28-year-old navy vet who just graduated from florida international university. horton does not identify as a republican or a democrat, but often votes with democrats. he's supportindemocrat andrew gillum for governor. the most important issues to him: restoring voting rights for felonshealth insurance-- which

he doesn't have-- and the impact of student loans. >> it means that when we we can't from colleg start businesses. we have too much debt. it means we can't buy homes, and so wre kind of finding ourselves in this position where we're limited in the choices that we can make. that could be a very powerful platform position. there's enough young people now to-- more young people than older people. >> reporter: still, horton isn't sure that young thople will make difference this year. >> i do see a lot more people who e politically engaged an they seem to care about this, but at the same time you know you can wa somewhere and not hear anything about it at all. and so that's a lile scary. >> reporter: despite the energy surrounding puerun rican and yovoters, experts warn not to forget about one other population. senior citizens e a reliable block that leans republican. we met one of them, gary sisler, at the east ridge retirement community in south miami.

he's an 84-year-old former exxon employee who spent years living i.road before moving to mi sisler thinks people who disagree aren't talking to eacht r enough. >> in my case, i have two college educated daughters. i know they're both liberal. we can't talk politics and i've overheard them say to ten- year old grandson "don't discuss politics with grand pop." that hurts. >> reporter: among the issues that he's concerned about? immigration. >> i think that we are bringing far too many unskilled people uneducated people that don't speak any english. that creates a social obligation on our par >> reporter: he's also worried about the federal debt. cu both sides seem to be scared to death to even d it. .i blame both sides equal come on, get off your fanny. thiss an issue. >> reporter: in 2016, sisler started a monthly political discussion group called "jib jab." w he introduced us to a fe his

friends-- all republicans who strongly support president trump. >> hhas reached out to group of people who were forgotten before. >> immigration is a big problem right now. this bothers me-- not just the >> the puerto ricans of course ey automatically can vot coming in. i'm kind of botheredat. >> reporter: what do you think of democrats looking at young people and people of ctoor as the waet this blue wave in florida? >> i don't like it. to me that's what's happening. >> reporter: three groups... retirees, young voters, and an influx of puerto ricans... all could have a major impact on election night, one week away. judy? >> woodruff: yamiche alcindor in miami for us, thank you. on the west coast of florida this week toxic algae have poarted to appear again. as lisa desjardin s, it has again shed a spotlight on the enviroent as a political issue.

rob spent much time as he can on thef each isouth florida's coast. he likes to say the pier is his home office. in recent month he was forced off the water, this piece of paradise where he moved to enjoy life has been plagued by environmental problems. he showed the wat today. >> this is not what it would look like normally. it would be more of right green when it's churned up with the sand. this is bad. >> and his pictures of it last year. inl forida, a host of water problems are rising as eltion issues. the toxic res tide algae spread from the gulf coast toheim, burning beachgoers eyes and lungs and killing fish, dolphins, sea turtles and manatees by the dozen. "pbs newshour" reported on this rrisis earlier this fall. in othereas of the state,

lake okeechobee and on the atlantic coast simy rcid blooms of green blue algae spurrehealth warnings, and south florida there are rising concerns and rising sea levels and climate change and this year the environment has become a political force, especially in florida's u.s. senate race. the republican candidate governor rick scott saw hisrs polling numbe go south as redl tideae blooms. scott's opponent sas he cut budgets for the programs and workers were told not to use the term "climate change." this is why scott lost libertarian and replican voter who can't believe he's heading for bill nelson. >> i won't vote for rick scott. he has been overtly harmful. i will choose ineffective over

harmful every day. need to make sure what goes in the drain doesn't go in the gulf. >> they were labeling storm drains to prevent chemical duling which exacerbates red tide. >> weather is probably the most important issue >> tampa real estate agents and lifelong real estate agent deb has belten buier life around the water and outdoors and believes rick scott will help. saying he only cut environmental funding during lean years andc increased it rtly. she believes voting a straight republican ticket would mean mo help from washington and the trump administration at a pivotal time. >> we have a rare opportuni to elect ron desantis as ou governor, rick scott as our senator, as long as trump is in the white house, this isa try faketa for the environment, this is a win for the environment.

>> clean waer! >> reporter: meantime, some floridians are organizing andre rallying iction to the growing ago jiem pro this is part of a group called hands on the water. thing do you think the environmental vowps r groups uld swing the elections? >> yes, i'm talking to lon republicans and they're voting democrat because of water. we're not going red or bluor >>rple or green, we're going water. eporter: these rallies got smaller after red tide subside a few weeks ago but the winds off the gulf of mexico arefting back, again pushing red tide waters toward usually are some of the most beautiful beaches in the wod and, potentially, again, shifting the political tides in a major election year. for the "pbiss newshour," desjardins, in venice, florida. >> woodruff: now

>> woodruff: now, for a special florida edition of politics monday, here with me in tampa are tamara keith of npr and susan macmanus, a longtime political analyst in this state. great to have you here. tam, you have been looking at the national map in this election season. put florida in context. why does this state matter so mucht >> it does r so much because it's not just about 2018, it's also about 2020, and there are -- there is this very competitive goveor's race that matters a lot to president trump because who the governor of florida is in 2020ill matter for that election. of course, there's this very competive senate racand a number of competitive house races as well because florida is this battleground. >> woodrf: it's a battleground, susan macmanus, and as you know fr watching elections here, it's a state where elections are close. tell us about that. >> the last four big elections, two governor's races and two

presidential, the margin of victory is 1%. o er state is that competitive. >> woodruff: you were telling me this morning the canging demographics, the makeup of the voting electorate here is what's making the oucome here uncertain. >> definitely. so many people still think of florida as a retiree only state, but the real news iss the riof the younger electorate. 52% of our curre registered voters are from the three youngest generation -- generation x, thlee milials and generation z. isey are not particularly interested in rering with either party. a lot of them are registering ay no pa affiliation, and they are just up for grabs. they are very energize bid tosomewould be who can tal them about their issues and communicate and inspire. i like toar say thelooking for new faces in high places, and ey are kind of a wildcard. if they show up, one candidate, is going to wi they don't, the other. that's whowch clout they have th election cycle.

>> woodruff: and much more diverse than the older generations. >> the olderon generaare largely white, the younger is primarily nondr-white. >> wf: you and i were talking about the divided ssages they're sending. >> president trump has two more rallies between now and election day, one in fort myers and one in pensacola l.a. these are solid red republican districts ahere he is going to hold typical trump rally that is designed to fire up the base where he talks about tarhe cavan and he talks about how terrible democrats are. then you have the trump campaign announcing today, releasing ths ad it's going to run. president trump isn't in the ad at all, and the ad is really aimed at the suburban white women who have become a cencual of the mid transportation

and, you know, soft focus and there's a woman with her family, and president trump is simply not presents at that. in the rallies he sys i'm on the ballot, even if i'm not on the ball lat, i'm on the ball lat, vote for me. >> woodruff: we heard voters saying the president is -- people have strong feelings about him one way or the other usm. how much of a factor do you think he is. >> he's n practically every ad. everyone knows this is sort of a referendum on the president. it's hardened republican support for him. some who are wavering. it hardened democratic opposition, too. he is a big factor and his favorability is higher in this state than other places, so, surely, his hast-minutede appearances arigned to turn out the votes, but particularly in fort myers because thaant's ry where the environmental issues have been so bad that some of theepublicans voted for his opponent in the primary, so he's got to pull those people

back on board. >> woodruff: getting closer to election day, so much of the o news ar attention are focused on the terrible events of the last several dayms, ta, the horrible shooting in pittsburgh, a pipe bomb, shooting in a grocery store store against twock americans. as you talk to the voters and the candidates, how much of thai on is showing up? t division is absolutely there. voters -- basically, democrats think that there is something wronth republicans, and republicans think that there is something wrong with mocrats. is not just about policy anymore. it's very personal in the wa that our politics have gone. you know, usually, after an election, you move on. 2016 isn't over yet. those fights are sti being fought. >> woodruff: and, susan, again, you and i were hav a conversation about how for all the criticism ofum

president the reaction even to these terrible crimes, hate crimes is divided here. >> it was very divided. i think what i'm hearing froem a lot ofple i've spoken to is a sadness, a sadness about the direction the country is in and it's worrisome, ans true that each side sees the other as more vitriolic than their own, but everyone grasping for some kind of reality and some kind of civility and litics. what we'ring here is this -- what we're watching is this turn of events, this violent way we're going, kevoters from voting at all.th we don't knot, or will we energize. one thing i hear is we're sad about america's direction. >> one thin i'm looking for is how does this avblght the president's approval rating, which is often tied to midterm outcomes.

his approval rating has been ticking up but aftherarlotte's last year, his approval rating took a real hit. c it's near whether response to these events, he has said antisemitism is wrong and needs to be condemned, then at the same time going to a rally and saying hillary clinton's name in a which and the crowd stas chanting "lock her up," is he going to be rewarded or puished by voters for that? >> today we had a shooting into reblican headquarters in volusia county. >> it cast as shadow getting close to election day. thank you both so much. >> you're welcome. >> wdruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. from tampa, i'm judy woodruff. join us on-line and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

>> bnsf railway. >> consumer cellular. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. morenformation at macfound.o >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> this prram was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored b newshour productions, llc

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-♪ i think i'm home ♪ i think i'm home ♪ how nice to look at you again ♪ ♪ along the road ♪ alo road ♪ ♪ anytime you want me ♪ you can find me living right between your eyes, yeah ♪ ♪ oh, i think i'm home ♪ oh, i think i'm home ♪ -today on "cook's country," bridget and julia cook up a southern specialty -- tennessee pulled-turkey sandwiches... adam reviews pap towels... and bryan makes bridget a regional favorite, eastern north carolina fish stew. that's all here on "cook's country."