captioning sponsored by newshour productions, c >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. onhe newshour tonight: the fires burn on. 10% oregon's population is under evaction orders amid a rising death toll in the region, as officials look to better weather for hope. then, vote 2020. esident trump holds a rally wi thousands of mostly mask-less supporters, as th candidates mark this september 11th. plus, 19 years later. children born on september 11, 2001 are now eligible to vot in a country and world forever shaped by the events of that day. and, it's friday.

mark shields and david brooks consider congress' struggle to pass coronavir relief, as wellde as the pre's acknowledging he misled the public on the severity of covid-19. all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. f >> major fundingor the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.

>> fidelity wealth management. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to tovide wireless service t helps people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no-contract plans,nd our u.s.-based customer service tea can help finone that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> johnson & johnson.nd >> the john s.ames l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing ipport of thetitutions: and friends of t newshour. possible by the corpation for public broadcasting.

and by contributions to yo pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: fire crews in the >> woodruff: fire crews in the west are finally getting help this evening from falling winds and rising humidity. but a wave of wildfires has already claimed up to 24 lives across oregon, washington and northern california. in oregon alone, half a million people have had to flee, and dozens are missing. special correspondent cat wise reports from salem, oregon. >> reporter: early this morning, a team of firefightersd for a moment of silence in remembrance of 9/11... and then began discussing their plan of attack on the beachie creek fire, which has burned more than 180,000 acres and destroyed a number of small towns. these firefighters, commanders, and support staff are one of the many "incident management teams" that assemble during wildfire season to ttle blazes throughout the west.

late monday night, as winds picked up across the region, a fire broke out arounintheir dent command post in the small town of gates, oregon. as the fire quickly spread, the many of whom were staying in, tents and campers outside the post, began a battle toave their own building. >> as i walked out of the incident command post, behind we building, the huge field that was behind completely engulfed in flames. >> reporter: randall rishe is the public infmation officer for the team. >> embers were flying everywhere. trees were coming down, heectrified wires all over place. roads were impassable. and firefightersaving to take chainsaws and buck those logs to get them out of the way so we could pass through. and everybody was able to work through that, in a very dynamic, difficult situation, without any recorded injuries. it's quite amazing. >> reporter: rishe and many

others lost personal belongings. same clothes they had on monday night. more significantly, the am lost critical gear and equipment. >> inside the incident command post, we have i.t. equipment, communication equipment, printers to make huge maps so we can have morning briefings. we have audio-vial equipment e public information staff. all of the informationis associated with an incident are kept on thumb drives, hard drives, all of which were lost. >> reporter: despite all those sses, the team managed t reassemble by the next evening at this new command post in salem. john spencer is one of the group's leaders. this is his 36 year fighting fires. >> the resources are thin. so, to get out on the line and have enough coverage, we don't. and so we are doing setting our priorities and meeting the fire where it forces our hand at certain communities and trying life and property.rotect having your command center

burned to the ground and having to evacuate that area under a very stressful situation was very-- for many of us, never has never happened before. and so, then the fire activity that we saw and how it's expanded to such a large sca in-- over the whole state of oregon, and the northwest, kind of shocking to all of us that have been around a while. >> reporter: across oregon,ll about a miion acres have been set ablaze, and about half a million people have been ordered to evacuate-- roughly one in ten residents.rt the city oland has declared a state of emergency as fires bore down onrb surrounding su crews around the state have been navigating exceedingly difficult conditions. unpredictable weather patterns change fire lines by the minute. state officials estimate they heed twice as many firefighters on the ground ashave now. at the same time, there are fears some residents are not eding evacuation orders, p spurred t by conspiracy

theories and misinformation circulating online. local had to quash rumors that fires were caused by arsonists on bond the far-leftar-right. meanwhile, in california, the north complex fi-- which exploded in size earlier this week-- has become the state's deadliest of the year. the fire has wreaked havoc in small towns across butte county, which was also the site of california's deadliest fire ever, the 2018 camp fire, which claimed 85 lives. >> there's a lot of folks up here that went through the cp fire, and other fires, that lost their place or had to be evacuated for a month. they're really traumatized from this fire. >> repter: in berry creek, a town of about 500, fires left little behind but rubble and twisted metal. and authorities fear the devastation in places like this means the death toll will only go up.

back in salem, the team here planned to take advantage of ach ge in weather today to finally make some progress on containing theeachie creek fire. they have six more days beforewe their tw shift is over. then they'll be off for just two days, and then back on the fire lines. forecasters say they are hoping for cooler air and moisture over thcoming days, which wod really help firefighters. judy? >> woodruff: so,te cat us a little more about the concern about fire cruise. right now, the worry about resources and people power. >> reporter: yes, that's right, judy. randall reesh whom you saw in the piece told us today they're really trying to provide a lot of support to the firefighters on the lines and the tea mbers who went through this difficult firefighting expense we highlighted in our story. but many of the team members have family and friends who are acuated currently and it's eske a toll on them as they fight the fi covid is a big concern these

days, and it is comple caught all these firefighting efforts. normally at a fire camp like this, u would have large teams working together in one room. at this command post, tey hav broken the teams up into smaller rooms to try to prevent the spread ocovid 19. but everyone is just trying to do the best they can during this really difficult time. >> woodrf: and as f things weren't difficult enough, cat, you mentioned in your rep authorities are trying to stop the spread of rumors about the what are people telling you about that? >> woodruff: over the last couple of days, we've talked t several dozen people and some people told us they believe thaa the fire been set by politically motivated people. one gentleman thed mere's just no way all these fires could have been set by natural causes. but what's really ioortant note is, over the last couple of days, national and local authorities have co strongly and said there is no basis for ae claims andre trying to get the word out people should trust only local

officials, state officials for information about these fires. >> woodruff: well, tinbe dewith that, as we said, on top of everything else makes it so much more complicated. cat wise reporting for us from oregon. thank you, cat. >> reporter: thank you, judy. >> woodruff: this early fire season is historic and devastating in its scope and toll. as cat reported earlier, fires have merged and are moving closer to the portland suburbs. portland itself, at this moment, has the worst air quality of any city in the world. the state's governor, kate brown, joins me from portland tonight. governor brown, ank you so much for joining us. to people who have never enced fires like this, give us a sense of what your state is dealing with. >> well, this has certainlyrfeen the pet fire storm. we have unpcented wind conditions combined with 30-year drought on the landscape, and, so, we have seen devastating wildfires throughout the state.

we've had 40,000 oregonians that have needed to evacuate, 500,000 under some leel of evacuation, and our firefighters are doing the best they can, but their primary focus right now is to s save live that's where focused. that's where our time and energy is focused. >> woodruff: right now, we understand there are a number of people missing. >> yes. as i sd, you know, our focus right now is on saving lives. these fires will need to be investigated over the next days and weeks. we are still, obviously, focused on evacuating people out of the most serious of circumstances, most of the fires arees. avntained. wenever seen anything like >> woodruff: it's just oregon. unimaginable to so many of us.

governor, our reporter cat wise was telling us that the state needs twice as many refighters on the ground as you have now. are you going to be able to get that much more support? where is it going to come from? that's a great question. we are very fortunate that we have 375 national guardsmen and women who have been pretrained to fight fire. those units will be deployingw today, tomord sunday. we are going to be training, thanks to the help o our federal delegation, senator merkley and senato widen, an guardsmen and -women. we are hoping for active duty military trainttalions from the department of justice trained itin firefi and hoping other states will be able to provide additional naonal

ard resources. but as you know, this is a challenge facing the entire west coast, and our firefighters are spread very, very thin. we're working lard to get them more peoplwer and additional resources as quickly as possible. >> woodruff: that's why i was asking if you think you will bee able teverything that you need. governor, there ares, as our reporter cat wise was telling us, as well these rums or conspiracy theories going around about the cause of the fes leading some people not to heed evacuation orders. homuch of a problem is that? what's going on? >> as the law enforcementi community has and reiterated in social media posts, these rmors are absolutely false. we need folkto stay off the 911 lines, if they are concerned about these rumors, and we neeid folkn oregon to be alert and paying attention to their local

county emergency management web site about what appropriate actions they can take. all these fires will beve igated. i am confident that our law enforcement community combined f with assistanom our department of forestry and our natial guard resources tha you will see thorough investigations of the auses of these fires. but as i said, these are historic and unprecedented. given where we are on the west coast, we are likely to see more of them with the impacts of climate change happening here in the pacificthwest. >> woodruff: and, governor, we see that the protests that have been ooing in the city where you are in portland for months now are contiing even through this state of emergency that'sen eclared. how much of a concern is that? >> it's certainly a concern. ve worked with our community partners, our business community ftd eelected leadership to cra

a statement of oregon leaders to com come to an end. ae needs continuing to have nversations with folks in the tackle the underlying racism issues that are really the underlying cause of the situation, and we arecontinug to take action. the legislature has passed six bills in the last two monols, addressinge accountability accountability, and i am working to recraft, re-envision ho we train law enforcement in this new type of public safety that will ensure that all of our counity members feel safe. >> so, in a sentence, howa confiden you that there will be an end to these prosts

in coming days? >> well, judy, that's a really challenging question. dr. king said it best -- riots are thlanguage of the unheard. so we know thasetherotests are caused by folks who have beperiencing systemic racism in this state and n country for decades, for centuries, and it will take time, frankly, to eradicate the racism i our criminal justice system, in our law enforcement system, in our healthcare system, in ourducational system. violence does nothiting. nswers nothing, it solves nothing. tbut i do thihat it is a distraction from the criticall t important wot we need to do to tackle the systemic racism in our institutions, culturesan

state. >> woodruff: governor kateon brown of orealing with a lot right now, to put it mildly, with regard to the fires and, of course, with the ongoing unrest governor, thank you very much. >> thank you so much. be safe. >> woodruff: and you. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, the nation marked 19 yrs acnce the september 11th a that killed nearly 3,000 people. ceremonies unfolded against the backdrop of thpresidential campaign. both president trump and democrat joe biden visited shanksville, pennsylvania. biden also appeared in new york. news summary.details, after the bahrain today became the

fourth arab country to agree tot normalize tiesisrael. president trump announced the development just weeks after the united arab emirates took the same step. in israel, prime minister benjamin netanyahu went on national tv. >> ( translated ): citizens of israel, this is a new era of peace. we have invested in peace for many years and now peace will invest in us, wiar lead to very investments in the israeli economy, and that is very impordrnt. >> wf: a senior palestinian official condemned bahrain's decisi, calling it, "another stab in the back." fire teams in beirut, lebanon have put out a huge fi that broke out thursday at the city's port. white smoke simmered over the ay, just a month after a disastrous explosion that killed 190 people and injured thsands. no one was hurt in the fire. the cause remains unknown. in greece, migrants protested

today after fires gutted a camp that was housing 12,000 people on the island of lesbos. thousands demanded they be allowed to leave the area, but greek officials refused. instead, they sent tents and supplies f a new camp, and a european commission official promised help. >> ( translated ): we e dealing with the immediate needs which concern accommodation, those who were lefoute that shelter have what they need. at the same time, in cooperatioh overnment and authorities, we are planning for the future-- a new camp that will function th new standards and better facilities. >> woodruff: greek officials say that the fires were deliberately set by some of the migrants. the united states closed in on 193 deaths from covid 19 today. florida moved to ease restrictions with bars reopening monday at 50% capacity. last night, the and, last night, the national

football league seasonicked off in kansas city, with a mpmited audience of 17,000 fans. the super bowl cn chiefs beat the houston texans. prosecutors in minneapolis urged a judge today to try four former police officers together for t death of george floyd. they spoke at a hearing where defense attorneys argued for separate trials. the defense also askedo move the trials elsewhere-- somethinf thyd's family opposes. >> the only goal they have in t tryichange venues is to get as many jurors as possible who do not look like george floyd. they do not want jurors who looe li you. no, they dnot. >> woodruff: dozens of people surrounded the courthouse, protesting flo's death. he died last may when one of the officers pinned him by the neck. relatives and victims of the las vegas shooting in 2017 are closer to a sweeping settlement

with mgm resorts international. newly filed court documents filed thursday s0 more than 4,latives and victims could receive $800 million in payouts. wmgm resorts owns the hotre the gunman opened fire, killing 58 pple and injuring more th 850. a federal peals court today barred felons florida from voting until they y any outstanding fines and legal fees. the order was a victory for th republican governor and legislature. it cld also affect the presidential race in a state known for razor-thin voting margins. and wall street finished the week on a mixed note the dow jones industrial average gained 131 points to finish at 27,665. the nasdaq fell 66 points, and the s&p 500 added one point. still to come on the newshour: the race for the white house continues, as the president and joe biden sharpen their

critiques. children born on 9-11 e now eligible to vote, in a world forever shaped by the events of that day. mark shields and david brooks examine congress' struggle to pass coronavirus relief. plus, much more. >> woodruff: the presidential race struck a somber note today, as both candidates marked the 19th annivptsary of the ber 11th attacks. president ump and former vice president joe biden visited the same pennsylvania memorial, though they did not cross paths. white house correspondent yamiche alcindor begins our coverage. ( bell ringing )sh

>> alcindor: iksville, pennsylvania today, bells tolled for all 40 passengers and crew who died on flight 93. ( bell ringing ) on 9/11, those on the flight wrestled back control of the plane from hijackers targeting the u.s. capitol. instead, it crashed in a rural pennsylvania field, killing everyone aboard. president trump spoke aa memorial built on the crash site. he talked directly to the family members of those kled. >> today every heartbeat in america is wedded to yours. your pain and anguish is the shared grief of our whole nation. >> aindor: later, former vice president joe biden also paid his respects at the flight 93 memorial. he laid a wreath and met with family members of those who died. the democratic presidential new york city.his day in he attended the ceremony at groundero of the world trade center. there, he stopped to talk with a woman who lost her son in the attacks. he spoke about the pain of sing his own son, beau, cancer.

>> it never goes away. >> alcindor: vice president pence was also at the ground zero remembrance. both men wore masks and spoke briefly, acknowledging each other with an elbow bump. at the commemoration, pence and his wife karen read bible passages. >> though i walk through the valley of e shadow of death, i will fear no evil, for thou art with me. >> alcindor: the vice presidential nominee for the democrats, senator kamala harris, spoke in vginia at the fairfax county public safety headquarters. her message was to first responders. >> some of the heroes from that day 19 years ago are still here scoerving thiunity, and i thank you on behalf of all of us for the consisncy of your dedication to your country. >> alcindor: today's solemn tone came after a raucous night for the prident in freeland, michigan, where he held a rally. thousands of trump supporters

packed together in an airport hangar. there was little social distancing, and few asks. it came two days after audio conversations with the esident, tied to a book release by journalist bob woodward, revealed presidentkn trum about the severity of the pandemic early on, but he sought to play it down.ne for the pbhour, i'm yamiche alcindor. >> woodruff: and for more on all this daniel bush, who joins us today from shanksville, pennsylvania. hi, dan. so, as we heard both president trump and former vice president biden were there today. what else can you tell us about what they had to say? >> well, judy, president trump delivered remarks that were on script, he did not stray fromhi message, praising the heroism of the people who died here at this site. joe biden did not deliver official remarks. he did visit t memorial, and then, with his wife jill biden, visit add local firehouse.

the most interesting thing here to note, judy, is this visit by both these candidates, the backdrop is the election. we saw two differt approaches to being out in public during the pandemic. president trump and his people did not wear masks. joe biden and his wife and people he was meeting with did. joe ben told donors yesterday he plans to abide by state restrictions and thawhat we saw here today. >> woodruff: separately, you have been in pennsylvania now for several days reporting on'r how thpreparing for this election and, in particular, looking at how they're going ton be votin some disputes that have come up. te us aboutthat. >> that's right, judy. top of mind as in other states is election security,how to get enough poll worrs, there's a shortage there, many have told me hw to secure safe polling sites, but the main issue is a set of laws that dictate how people actually vote in november. there's a lawsuifiled against

the state by trump administration to ban the drop boxes in november. these are boxes pennsylvania us in the primary to allow voters drop in mailip ballots in person, to avoid long lines and reduce public alth risks. the trump campaign is saying the drop boxes are illegal, not technically polling places and can lead to voter tampering and fraud. but on the ground, county officials tell me something different. several republicans said, no, the dre boxes arcure. one told me in the primaries they're under 24 hour camera surveillance. sheriff'sheriff's deputies, onee herself man them, and are not concerned about voter fraud and that's a playing out now. >> woodruff: several republicans told you. >> that's right, several republicans toll they do not have concerns around voter fraud but challenges around how to vote safely as well as what is

going to happen on election night. several officials from both trties told me that unless they have more timo count the votes, and if there is an unexpected inrease or influx in mail-in ballots, they will not t be able to cou votes on election night. so important to undt.score that po they are saying they can expect to have to count some of these votes for days to come after november 3. >> woodruff: daniel bush, so intesting and we'll follow this closely between now andhe dan, thank you so >> thank you. >> woodruff: some 13,000 babies were born in the u.s, on september 01. today, those babies turn 19 years old, and this fall, for the first time in their lives, they will be able to cast a vote in a presidential election.

amna naw has more on the litical views of voters born on one of america's darkest days. >> nawaz: judy, those young americans' lives have been shaped by wars, school shootings, and now, a deadly global pandemic. interviewed several of them for his piece in "politico" magazine, called "the children of 9/11 are about to vote." he's also the authorf the "new york times" bestseller, "the only plane in the sky: an oral history of 9/11." garrett, welcome back to the gnars. always good the talk to you. it is remarkable to read in your latest piece thtse young ad have only ever known a nation at chloe said, every single daymen since i was born, we haven't been in a time where wee at thing to read.s a rem what did these young americans tell you about how they view america'wars after 9/11? >> part of wt is so fascinating, amna, is that, for

them, it's just been background noise. as you said, they have never known a day of peace in their lives, and, so, they ha very little understanding of the wars inraq and afghanistan, why we're there, and really have arned very little abohe warsn school. >> reporter: another thing that strucme was, for so many people before them, 9/11, the y they were born, was the big moment, a defining moment. of course it wasn't that way for them. when yousk them about those big moments, though, many cited a shooting of somd.e kin one of them, aidan, said to you, in the back of my mind i wou sit in class and be, all rig, going t escape?ppens, how am i what am i going to do? am i going to hide? am i going to jump out a windowr this isom aidan. i know so many young americans feel this wayit's become normalized. is that sentiment true for most of e

>> almost exclusively. every single person i talked to, for many of this generation, the first national news they really remember is the malls kerr at the sandy hook elementary school, and they were high school students alongside the students of marjor stone high school in parkld when there was a mass shooting there and for a lot of them this is a backdrop to their daily experiences, police officers in schools, active shooter drills, this is something they think about many days at school now which is sort of unfathomable to us who grew up in previous generation also. >> woodruff: as you mentioned, they are abo to vote and in this background there's global pandemic. justice protests unfolding. what did they tell you about hoh they're viewinevents and this election? >> well, one of the things that really struck me- again, th is a generation born on 9/11, grew up in warexperienced mass

shootings, graduating high school and starting college now amid this pandemic and nationwide protests. in many ways, th would hav every reason to have given up believing in government and their country and, in fact, i actually saw just the opposite, which is there waema rarkable amount of hope and optimism about them that their generation will be able to change america for the better as they come int politics. lgbtq rights, that this is is something they have grown up with, widy accepted among their peers. remember, you know, for many of them, gay marriage en legal for more than half of their lives in many states, and, so, this is something that is sort of background noise, againn very positive way socially for them. reporter: one of those quotes that stuck out to me that speaks to that was from a young

woman. you asked about the chaos and turmoil. she mentioned the previous generation, millennials are more ary, came to adulthood in the recession and lived through 9/11 and said they were saying it can only get better from here. >> that was my favorite quote in the entire piece because it was the most surprising, the idea that thewould look ahead and see the millennials as thecy cal, weary tired ones and that their generation they see as having nothing but hope and optimism about the future. i was expecting a much morde essing portrait of their view of america.or >> rr: i have to ask you about a quote that struck me i because their birthday today, also a day of national mourning. one quote from laken whoaid, you know, she was listening to radio stories about ds who ve lost their parents on 9/11

and realized that's whfien irst realized i was born on the worst day which is just a heartbreaking thing to read. when you talk to them, though, garrett, briefly, howo the view this day? it.again, very little memory of yow, this is something that, for many of them,heir parents, talking about their birthday is the only real memory they have. lakin, a remarkable example, her name, she says her mother taught her, means a newly created gift from god and she was named that because she was worn on 9/11 with the sense of this was a moment of hope amid so much nationalra tgedy. >> reporter: it was very nice to see those messages of hope. we thshould say happy by to all of them from us. riank you to them for sharing those sto and, garrett graff, thank you to you for bringing their stories to us. always a pleasure to talk to you. >> thank you so much for having

me. >> woodruff: and now it's timepo for thtical analysis of shields and brooks. that is syndicated columnist mark shields, and "new york times" columnist david brooks. hello to both of you o friday night and so good to have just heard the conversation amna had with garrett graff telling us this younger generation turning 19 today have an optimistic view of the future. isn't that something uplifting for al of us to hr. but, mark, back to reality right this pandemic es on a weough have millions of americansed unemplcongress again this week did not come to an agreement on relief -- economic relief -- to those affected by the pandemic.

how mu does this matter, who is responsible? >> i think it obviously does matter a lot to the people, judy. you kno it's a very unnerving andb arrassing national statistic. the united states alone has the highest percentage ofhildren living in poverty. that has been the case. children, you may have noticed, don't buy tickets to fundraising dinners, they don't have soft ney, and they don't have much clout politically, and they are the victims and they're atng but silent victims but they're powerless victims, tndhey counted upon washington and those in the state capitols and city halls to represent their needs and to nd to their problems. and i quite honestly thi it's a reflection badly on both -- on the congress itself. politically, i think the

ultimate responsibility, invariably as always, will be with the white house, and that's the president and the republicans. but i think, quite frankly, that there's enough rest of this and restlessness in the raess of both parnot doing anything, that there's still an ouside chance something could be done before the 30th of september. >> woodruff: by the ess, you're saying. david, what about this question -- sorry, didn't mean to interrupt. you said by the congress. but, david, whatbout this question of who is more responsible? the democrats acted months ago, the republicans waited, they're now pointing fingers at each other. >> ihought they took turns. i think on a larger issue the republicans have is wrong. they're treating this as aal noircumstance where they're trying to save money and be fiscally responsible and report a lot of the other package hasn't been spent yet.

at least 63 million americans are in trouble and hunger in the country. thtime to spend money out the door to provide a cushion under people in places and in ciumstances they can't control. so i give the intellectual fault to tropical storm and the political fault to the democrats from the beginning, they have played this more politically, compromised less, tried tget the issue more than solve the problem. even in the final days, the republicans prliosed something $500 billion in the senate, the democrats passed somethingab fot 3 trillion in the house. if i were a democrat, i would say, hey, people are stafferring. they will only give us 500 billion, we'll tt, pass it to conference and try to get it up. but 500 billion is a lot and will help some people. i think they should have taken the money because americans are suffering, and they took theea issue inof at least a piece of the lution. >> woodruff: mark, for the ordinary person, its just hard

to understand why, when the need , is so greere's no action. >> no, i agree. but i just want to correct the record. with all the respect an affection i have for david, he's absolutely wrong on this. the democrats' initi legislation which they did pass -- republicans passed nothing -- was then. $3 trill then when the stalemate hit, democrats said drop it from 3o 2. what did the republicans do? their initial offer had been $1 trillion. halfway? try to meet them they cut it in half down to $630 billion. i mean, so j wast -- it was counterfeit, and the reality is they cannot talk about the national debt. the national debhas increased 40% since donald trump took teeth of office, and the best economy in the history of the country, according to donald trump. the national debt, the nional

deficit has been met only three times in the past 51 years. all three times with a democratic president bill clinton. , i mean, let's not let the republicans talk about deficits d debts whet comes to tax cuts, they're off the boards and books. off the >> woodruff: dav a lot of the republicans didn't want to do anything. they thought they'd spent $3 trillion and that was enough. when they came up, they were at that point where they were at $1 trillion of additiona spending, i thought democrats should have seized on that moment, and i think, in the first round -- this was months ago -- the democrats could have come dow and really -- maybe worked out something. but in the second round then, after that round fell apart, therooms were, like, okay, we'r, done heand what they proposed was proonorma. he teff sits, this is not a moment to think abo utficits.

when you pass 100% of debt to g.d.w, you're dancinh historically dangerous territory. that's a problem for another day. >> yep. it's not the problem for today. >> woodruff: it's such a u issue, and i do want to turn, mark, to the story that we have been discussing for the lasfew days and that is thbloc blockbur book by bob woodward, "rage" is the title, newlations about president trump ab, about what he knew about e pandemic and what he said publicly. what's your main takeaway fro this? >> my main takeaway, judy, is this is noa moviwe've seen before. whenever an unflattering or really an attack book comes out about a president or white house, immediately the srces are dismissed as firedffers, as people who weren't that close had a grudge of some sort.t, wh the source on this is the

president himself, o tape, on the record, and, you know, all coink of was that night in august when we all sat together and stene to kristen aziker -- kizek, excuse me -- the young woman m roarizona who's father, age 65, had died from covid 19 because, as s put it, he believed the president, he returned to his normal activities, a very social animal. he loved people.oo he went out,k the chances, contracted covid 19 and died alone five days on a ventilator, all by himself. as she pointed out, his only pre-existing condition was believing donald trump. that was his only pre-existi condition. and we live in two americas, tht one herr died in and the one donald trump lives in. this to me is beyond scking. this is new territory for any

president, and, yet, i will prekick that, in e next -- predict in the next poll, he will have the solid support of 41, 42, 43% ofhe people. >> woodruff: david, your main take and how much do you thi it will affect the public's view of the president? >> ascending levels of disgust. first, the hubris to think you could be the president, talk to bob woodward and not get hurt by it, donald trump walk into this. only bumbling around in february and march because you didn't know how serious t pandemic was, but the confirmation you did know and you still thoud ght you colk it down as if you can talk down a force of nature and wouldn't end up getting caught, so there's a level o cynicism that's been revealed,ore than just incompetence. finally and to me this is most revealing, i guess, is the idea that iyou had told the amican people the truth, they

would have panicked. it betrays a disregard and condescension toward the american people, which is totally ridiculous.so do think there's new stuff here as in the pie last week with jeffrey goldberg and what he said about the war debt, there's a continuing display of mischaracter, poor character, immoral character. we've seen it before but it seems to escalate from time to time. as for whether it will hue i guess i'm with mark. three months ago, joe biden had a 7.5% lead in the average of polls. a lot ppened in the last three months. joe biden has a 7.5d.% lea a lot of things to emphasize is a lot of voters have given up o politics, they're what we call low information voters. the emphasis is on low. they've written off politics, they're not paying attention, they'll prably never hear the bob woodward revelations, so we have a race blocked in stasis.

but the bad thing for donald trump is he only ha few weeks left and this is another week of crisis and scandal that heas not catching up. so you don't have too many weeks left and this is a weeks as far as his campaign isconcerned, was wasted. >> woodruff: quickly, finally, to each of you, joe biden's message, is it coming through? mark. >> judy, joe biden, i think, is ming through as a decen person. and that is for any candidate tell us why you want to be without mentioning yourosident properth once. i thin would be a good discipline for the biden campaign to go through. joe biden is always in the -- america is in the marked for one or two types, a compassionate conservative with a heart or a tough liberal. and i think joe biden can show more tougerhness. are no riots, there are no

burnings of buildings that abare acce, and joe biden's got to make that clear while he stands, as he has for his entire career, for justice racially and economical in the country. i mean, that's got to come across. woodruff: and david, just in a few seconds, the biden message. >> this is our week to disagree with mark. i th k he's beenpretty tough. this week he called trump despicle, you know, he hops on the weaknesses of the weak,er and he hammers them, and seniors citizens are backing biden and not trump in reversal of fouri years agpart because of covid and biden spent the week moth or less hitting him os issue. i think it's a pretty solid issue. >> woodruff: we're going to leavet it there. we thank you both. david brooks, mark shields, thank you. >> thank you, judy.

>> woodruff: as we remndber the thouof americans who lost their lives on this day 19 yrs ago, we also remember those who have passed away in the last 19eks and months from covi any friend who needed a home found one with ronda felder. in her two-bedroom san diego artment, ronda raised he two children, as well as at least eight neighbors and cousins without a place to live. >> i'm thankful for my children, the ones i gave birth to and the ones i didn't. >> woodruff: she believed there was always more to give, her daughter said, and even went back to school at age 50 to become a social worker. ronda was 60 years old. wawolodymyr "er" lysniak came to america after world war ii as a displaced person.ke

hoping t alive stories of his native ukraine, he founde" the "ne theater in new york as an actor, theatector, and set designer, he put on sountless plays. covered somber topics, like the ukrainian famine. othe were comedies. it was on stage that he met his wife, also an actrs. together they raised their two great loves, their daughters. walter was 92. jimmy sanchez was a natural salesman with a knack fo shion. following in his parents' footstep jimmy opened his own thrift store in san antonio. he was known for gifting clothes and toys from the store to families in need. witty, loud, and the life of the never a dull moment whene wass around. he loved the movies, traveling, and spending time with his four children. jimmy was 40 years old.

linda gayle wilson made a friend of everyone. her son said she never met a stranger. a dedicated counselor, linda worked with first-time offenders and the formerly incarcerated. and that a little guidance could go a long way. linda enjoyed spending time with her huand. a lover of literature, she enjoyed reading the "peter o bbit" books to her ns, and later took up writing poetry c a hobby. she passed away orado springs at age 74. captain franklin williams arrivean hour early to every shift as a detroit firefighter, a position he held for more than 30 years. dedicated and talentedfrank excelled in evything he did, his daughters said. gifted tradesman, cook, and dancer. the former high school athletent

n to coach football with the police athletic league for 13 years. in his later years, when he wasn't on the golf course, the 58-year-old was with his wife, seven children and four grandchildren. >> woodruff: special correspondent jared bowens repo this artistic discovery that is now the subject of an exhibition. >> reporter: thepper reaches of the museum of fine arts rotunda is where the gods and goddesses live. they stand in radiant glory; wiey ride chariots, and they soar on featheres. they are white and idealized. but they are him.

>> the man in these drawings was clearly black, and i thought, "what's going on here? whis this man? has anyone figuredut who he is?" >> rorter: these murals and figures have hovered over the m.f.a. for rouly a century since they were conceived by painter john sinr sargent in 1916. but it's only now that there's atbeen a comprehensive loo thomas mckeller, the black model behind the murals. it's all thanks to an accintal discovery at the isabella stewart gardner museum by collection curator nathaniel silver. >> i opened the wrong cabinet, and happened to find this portfolio-- it was huge! and i had never seen these sargent drawings before. r orter: that find has led to boston's "apollo," an exhibition examining the relationship between sargent and mckeller, who was the painter's principle mor the m.f.a. murals, an artistic relationship lasting eight year >> it wasn't that just anyone could have helped sargent get to this point. it was thomas mckeller specifically.

that allowed sargent to unlock a creative potential that had notp beend before. >> reporter: sargent was a dolebrity painter, and tired of g the portraiture that was his bread and butter, when heed recehe m.f.a. commission. in these charcoal sketches thaul sargenmately gave to his friend and patron isabella stewart gardner, we find the artist drawing the fine contours and musculature of mckeller, a sometime contortionist-turned- stand-in for mythological gods. >> he was a veteran, a roxbury resident. heame from wilmington, nor carolina, in the 1890s, in the wake of devastating racial violence. >> reporter: there is little known about the extent of the relationship between the two men. but consider this sarg painting of mckeller. it's sargent's only major nude,p and was huminently in his studio, never intended for public view. >> sargent lavished attention in making this work. you can see it in the highlights on the shoulders, and on the chest here, this incredibltiny

little shadow just over the adam's apple, and another one just under theottom li this was not a painting that was dashed off in a w strokes. this was a painting that he spent an incredible amount of time, effortnd love in making. the drawings together.aw was all >> reporter: performance aist helga davis is a visiting curator who directed this short film in which the last of mckeller's direct descendants literally comes face to face with his legacy. t se sketches of my great uncle was really a means of >> reporter:do you see en you look up at those murals at the museum of fine arts? >> i see, you made apollo, you ma-- y made these things. and, here is the body that inspired it. >>tow could we possibly for

somebody who played so pivotal a role in the productionf that's a question that revolves around blind spots in the discipline of art history, and society in general. >> reporter: the gardner is confronting history here, calling out the erasure of a black man by a white artist a century ago, and what that looks like today, when there isy finareclamation. for the pbs newshour, i'm jared bowen, in boston, massachusetts.dr >> wf: so fascinating, thank you jared. and on the newshour online right now, to many fans, act chadwick boseman's death was a shock, and added to the grief that many are already feeling this year. we explore what he and his film roles meant, especially to young people. that is on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. have a great weekend. thank you all, please stay safe, and good night. >> major funding for the pbs

newshour has been provided by: >> when the world gets ugmplicated, a lot goes th your mind. with fidelity wealth management, a dedicated advisor can tailor advice and recommendations to your life. that's fidelity wealth management. >> consumer cellular >> johnson & johnson. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> bnsf raily. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 yrs, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org.h >> and we ongoing support of these institutions

and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for publ broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

hello, everyone. welcome to "amanpour & co." here's what's coming up. international law pecific, limid way. >> the uk tries to break its brexit deal. amid emergency talks with the eu, i spoke with jonathan powelm anark laler about boris johnson taking a page out of the trump playbook, disrupting alliances and the rule of law. > then -- ♪ china's superstar pianist tells us about achieving his life long

dream of playing bach's goldberg variations. plus --