captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: president trump and joe biden make their pitames to voters the pandemic and a supreme court fight. then, the longest war. the lead u.s. envoy for the peace process in afghanistan discusses the ongoing violence and negotiations. >> of course, a ceaswould be the most desirable outcome, and as soon as possie, but i think without a political agreement, a comprehensive, permanent ceasefire is unlikely. >> woodruff: and, it's friday. mark shields and david brooks consider the fight to replace justice ruth bader ginsburg, and the battle for the white house.

all that and me, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the enginehat connects us. >> fidelity wealth management. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to

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>> woodruff: the newshour has confirmed tonight thsident trump will nominate federal appeals judge amy coney barrett to thenited states supreme court. the announcement is set for barrett joined theircuit court of appeals in chicago in 2017. her conservative religious views dominated her confirmation fight. before that,he had clerked for the late justice antonin scalia and she had taught at university of notre dame law school. the deatof justice ruth bader ginsburg one week ago tonight created the supreme court vacancy. today, she was paid final honors before the bruising fight begins over filling her seat-- anday with just 40to go in the presidential campaign. john yang has our report. >> yang: justice ruth bader ginsburg broke two final and the first jewish american to

lie in state in the u.s.capitol. ♪ ♪ rabbi lauren holtzblatt, the wife of a former ginsburg clerk, eulogized her. >> she changed the course of american law.he and even wheviews did not prevail, she still fought. justice ginsburg's diss were not cries of defeat. they were blueprints for the future. >> yang: house speaker nan pelosi had arranged the honor. wimocratic presidential nominee joe biden and hi jill attended, as did running mate senator kamala harris. lawmakers, some accompanied by their families, paid theirts respwearing masks and appropriately distanced. bryant johnson, her long-time personalrainer, gave a personal tribute of his own.

as official washington mourned ginsburg, the presidential campai forged ahead. president trump, who paid tribute to ginsburg yesterday, courted black voters in atlanta, raising concerns about mail-in ballots. >> democrats are playing games, you see that? did you see they found ballo in a waste-paper basket? they found ballots dumped in a stream. >> yang: addressing the n.a.a.c.p.'s virtual national convention, harris raised concerns about ver suppression. >> why is that so many powerful people are trying to make us confused about how we can vote, where we can vote? if we can vote? >> yang: in washington, the week of public memorials for ginsburg, who will be buried in a private remony nex at arlington national cemetery. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang.

>> woodruff: in the day's other news, breonna taylor's family demanded that officials release grand jury transcripts in her the panel opted this weekucky. not to charge y police officers with fatally shooting taylor in her apartment. thdstate attorney general s they acted in self-defense, after taylor's boyfriend fired first. today, an nt read a statement by taylor's mother, declaring she has no faith in the authorities. >> "the stem as a whole has faileder. you didn't just rob me and my family, you robbed the world of a queen. i hope you never have to know the pain of knowing your child is in need of help and you're not able to give it." il woodruff: there were new protests in loui last night. activists vowed today to

continue demonstrating until officers are charged with taylor's killing. meanwhile, the father of jacob blake joined taylor's family today. his son is paralyzed after being shot by police in kenosha, wisconsin last month. >> you don't understand. when it's your child, you can't fathom the emotions you go through every night. you hear them talking to you... they're not there. you hear them talking to you. i knew this family nded some ergy, and i said, i'm coming. >> woodruff: in a related development, an illi teenager accused of killing two protestersnosha will fight rtradition to wisconsin. attorneys for kytenhouse filed notice at a hearing today. the fedel government has executed a black inmate for the fit time in nearly 20 year a texas man was put to death by lethal injection last night for killing an iowa couple in 1999.m

blace up 13% of the u.s. population, but nearly half the inmates on federal death row. viconfirmed u.s. cases of 19 hit seven million today. it came amid a new sur midwestern and western states. but in florida, governor ron desantis lifted all restrictions on businesses today. he said the costs and benefits must be balanced. >> the more businesses that can succeed, the more opportunities for parents to send their kids to school-- i think a lot of those other things become easier to deal with. but let's not make any mistake about it: focusing on only one pathogen without all these other things is not an effective public hea wh strategy. druff: elsewhere, two former officials at a veterans me in massachusetts were charged with criminal neglect. veterans at the home have died of covid usnce march. analian report says i

that chiexpanding its widely-condemned detention h centers, holdidreds of thousands of muslim uighurs. the australian strategic policy institute says that it found more than 380 suspected sites in xinjiang province,sing satellite images and construction documents. beijing called the report "disinformation." back in this cntry, a federal judge in california has extended the end date for the 2020 census by one month. last night's ruling says that the once-a-decade head count will continue through ocber. thjudge found that the original deadline would leave minority communities undercounted. the trump administration is expected to appeal. in economic news, the u.s. conference of mayors urged congress and the trump administration to agree on a new pandemic relief package. the group said that cities are facing severe revenue losses. and on wall street, tech stocksu

ed higher again, helping the broader market. the dow jones industrial average gained 358 points to close near 27,174. the nasdaq rose 241 points, and the s&p 500 added 51. still to come on the newshour: w into tds. how the trump administration is opening up the nation's largest forest to logging. talkg peace. ae lead u.s. envoy seekin end to america's longest war in afghantan. what aunclear election night result could mean for the future of the u.s. and, much more. >> woodruff: since he was

elected, president trump has rolled back or weakened more than 100 environmental regulations. today, he added yet another: his administration moved to open up the nation's largest national forest for development. amna nawaz has the latest. >> nawaz: judy, the tongass national forest in alaska has been called "america'amazon." it's one of the world's largest temperate rain forests, absorbing carbon dioxide emitted by the u.s., which is why th plan to roll back protections is worrying environmentalists and imate scientists. following this story for the "new york times," and she joins me now. coral, wel"nme back to the shour". let's just start with what exactly it is that the trump administration is proposing change. what would the rollbacks entail? en so the trump administration proposed -- has orking on this role change for a couple of years. in the next 30 days it'ing to become final. what they're doing is lifting a

clinton era protection called the road list rule, it was a national law that band logging and road construction in most of the nation's forests. the trump administration is lifting the road list rule in 7 million acres of the 16 million-acre tongass national forest, so that is a huge amoun of prech pristine wilderness including aout 16000 acres of virgin old growth forest that would now be open to logging, construction, road development. >> nawaz: and the trump administration, we should point out, is not alone in pushing for this. officials on the ground in alaska including senator lisa b murkowski han pushing for this for years. what is the argument they makeha for ese es? >> so the big argument that alaskan officials including theo rnor and state-level officials say is this part of

alaska's economic development. they argue that lifting the rul would nt lead to the entire pristine forest being devastated but that it would allow the alaskan timber industry to kind of carefully tailor the logng that it would do, the road construction that it would do in that area. but esssaentially they'reing they need it for their state economy. >> nawaz: so what about the the environmentalists, the client scientists, why is it they are opposed to this rollback now for a range of issues? >> the tongass is a specialpl e. it's not surprising environmentalists propose lift protections on this wild pristine wilderness, it's an area rich in bioitdiversy, it has a lot of species, it hass, salmon, rivhese are the kinds of things environmentalists say you don't

want to harm tht biodiversity, but the thing that is so special about the tongass is that ioprovides a service t the rest. it is one of the world's largest carbon sinks. all theld growth forest, the 400, 500-year-old trees have been absorbing carbon dioxidefr the atmosphere for hundreds of years. environmentalis say the impact of cutting down tho pseticular trees could release the equivalent of stting a many as 10 million new cars on the road, the co2 pollution equivalent soft that is smething that has an impact on the planet far r beyond taches just of this one forest in alaska. >> nawaz: coral, as we've seen with previous proposed rollbacks on the environmental protection from this administration, they have been met quickly by do we expect thi happen here? where does this move fit for the

broader agenda frothe administration. >> sure.th comes as one of early over 100 rollbacks or moves to weaken existing environmental protections that we have seen from the trump administration. thisis really something that will absolutely stand, inmany ways, as president trump's legacy. he met the promise to lit a lot of these environmental protections and open up so muchl publnd to development. but, as you mentioned, nearly all of these moves are being met with litigation, fully expect environmental groups and prupably state grand probably alaska native groups as well are expected to stew this move. as with so many of these other rollbacks, you know, ultimately ey'll slog through the karsts. also a lot of these could be undone pretty quickly if joe biden were to become president. this ia move that will become

effective before the end of this war, but if there was someo in the white houho thought that was not a good idea, the rule could be put right back in place. >> nawaz: a very important environmental story tracked byve coral ort of the "new york times" joining us tonight. thank you so much for your time. >> thank you. >> woodruff: and this story is part of "covering climate now," ngglobal journalism collaboration stening coverage of the climate story. >> woodruff: now to the attempts to end the u.s.' longest war: the afghan government and the taliban are in the early stages of negotiations that are the most significant attempt yet to find peace. nick schifrin speaks to the u.s. official who's leading the effort. >> schifrin: judy, as the government and taliban have

negotiated in doha, the violence between them in afghanistan is getting worse. in just the last few days, government forces killed dozensb of tal militants in the east, while the taliban killed dozens of police officers in the south. and last weekend, afghan forces conducted air strikes in a province in the north that is partially taliban-controlled, killing taliban militants, but vialso causing reports of an deaths. it was seven months ago that special envoy for afghan reconciliation zalmay khalilzad signed an agreement with the taliban. after a bit of a delay, that led to the negotiations in doha ttoday, designed to end as violence. and ambassador khalilzad joins me now. it's good to hthe you back on "newshour". you've said that you expect violence in afghanistan to decrease, but just to be clear, the february 29th agreement that you signed was not commitment the taliban to stop attacking the afghan t.overnm so what leverage do you really have to reduce the violence?to >> comparehe first six months of last year to this year, despite a recent increase

in violence, the number ofca alties both military and civilians are down this year. so, yes, te violence is high at this pnt. both sides need to bring down the level of violence, and we'r, commithen i return to work with both sides, to get an agreement on reuction of violence. >> reporter: the afghan government sayere's too much violence, you and the u.s. violence.says there's too much the taliban have indicated they will not accept some kind of cease fire in doha until both sides decide the future to have the government wich, of course, so howustainable is the peace continues? the violen >> i think you're right, the taliban will not accept a cease ente comprehensive and perm until there's a political a settleme that's not unprecedented in similar conflicts elsewhere.

i think they can do a reduction of violence, they said they will consider it, depending on what the propos is. the government is supportive of it, o. discuss ago road map, a framework agreement that would leave some of the longer-term issues of what the afghan government looks like to the future. does that require the afghan government to step aside in the installation of an interim government? well, there are various options that they have in front of them, butt is for the afghans to agree to a political road map. the fact that they are sitting across the table from each other is unprecedented, that afghan warring paies have sat together. when the soviets wthdrew, before the withdrawal, there waa han meetings, it was an agreement pakistan and the afghan government signed with the guarantors, and ever since

then the warring afghan parties have not sating to. this is an extraordinary development in con temp air afghan his rry. orter: are you under pressure from the white house or anyone in the state department to anngrounce specific pros before the election? we would like thto end as soon as psible. is is the expectation of the afghan people. we have not set any artificial deadline for when these negocations have to sued. we are not directly iolved in the negotiations. it's afghan-afghan. they did not want a forner to be in the room.a facilitator to be >> reporter: returning to human rights, in doha the taliban refused to accept shia islam as the religion even if that's enshrined in the afghan constitution. >> they have said on personal matters the rights of minoritiee

will bpected and there will be no discrimination against others. but that's still an unresolved issue interms of an exact formulation and an agreement we, obiously, support an agreement that respects the they belong to oneect orether another, whether they're men or women. >> reporter: al quaida, one of the conditions of the february n reement, the taliban have not publicly brokewith al quaida. what does that tell you about how the taliban is a part of the ent. >> we hold them to that agreement, and what we do is contingent in terms ti red of forces on what they do. of delivering on the commitment

that they have made on terrorism, but that's unfinished business, and we will see in a couple of months when we reached a number between 4,000 to 5,000 in terms of our troops, we will assess where they are, and we are very much committed to preventing afghanistan from being a platform to threaten us and we will take measures necessary to protech the -- protect the united states from potential terrorist threats in afghanistan or froam hanistan. >> reporter: finally, ambassador, in the time i have left, to get to this dayth afghan government not only had to release taliban prisoners who attacked afghans b also who killed u.s. soldiers. what should americans think about that? >> what's hapnopening the taliban and thene gover sitting across the table to negotiate a political stlement is important and that'what was

needed t get to here. so, yes, difficult decision. not happy that happened, but it was requir a to get to hopeful place, which is where we are right now. >> reporter: ambassador zalmay khalilzad, thank you very much. >> thank you. it's good to be wih you. >> woodruff: this election year is unlike any in modern history, and the challenges are many. part of it is voting during a pandemic. part of it involves the president's statements and actions-- sowing dous about voting by mail and the integrity of the process, or potentially oen challenging the resul the election. our system has weathered cha in the past. how well-positioned is it now? william brangham begins there.

>> brangham: we are 39 days from november 3, and a growing chorus of analysts, historians and helitical elections officials are warning thatountry is headed for a confused, prolonged, and potentially dangerous election and aftermath.ve the of "the atlantic" magazine, with nothing but a red warning ght, says it's "the t electit could break america." that cover story was written by pulitzer prize-winning reporter barton gellman, and he joins me now. barton gellman, very good to have you on the "newshour". you write that, worst case scenario is thaten prestrump, on election night, just rejects the outcome to have the elction. he's already repeatedly said that anything other than his victory on eleion night isce evidhat the democrats are trying to steal the electionle s say he does say that. how do that play out? >>lilection night is ttle early for the scene to play out. it's likely he will declare

victory on election night especially if he's ahead in the early vote because it's expected, based on the best modeling that wei've got, s imperfect, it's expected that hw will be ahen only the in-person votes are calculated tabulated because hhas persuaded a lot of republicans that maiel-in votes unsafe and that many more democrats are vote big mail and that as the days go by after the election and the count completes, then joe biden will pull ahead. that's the forecast as we have it now. no one knows that for sure. but if that's the case, he's going to try to stop the countn on electght. he's going to say that the mail d many as he's already sai times, are fraudulent, are part of an effort to steal or rig the ection, and that the count must be halted. he's also going to be in court in multiple staartend the country saying the same thi r various things, depending on

state law and federal law in the jurisdiction. if an ordinary candidate would at some point say, all right, well thete went against me, something that donald trump is not going to do. it's a premise of my article in the atlantic that there is no hcircumstancender whicwill make that concession, and that's a problem for our system becau i concessithe way we end elections. we end elections by having the loser concede and confer imicitly the authority of that concessi on the winner. >> you write in your piece that republican election officials have already been doing dry runs about getting into the election count process and trying to intervene in that, and we do know, has beeneported by mail ballots have been getting rejected a considerable number usually by voter err bo you sort of point out this becomes a ripe target for interrupting

that election ballot count. >> in the general election in november the trump campaign intends to havtballo watchers at every county commission, at every polling, eve election cablation center, and examining we object to this one, theaying postmark is unclear, we object to this one, the signature doesn't match, and so on. the more th can delete mail-inhe ballots,ewer democratic votes. >> reporter: we've also seen two recent cases whereocal department of justice officials have stepped forward and announced or revealed information about fairly early or some would argue relatively minor ses of ballot fraud. do you worry that the.o.j. seems to be as some critics have pointed out turned into a political operation for the president leading up to this election? >> it is higy unusual for

d.o.j. to do what it did in this case. it is lingly unusual to announce an ongoing investigation when it's just begun. it's unusual top imly with sort of rhetorical flourishes that something very dangerous is going on he, whewe don know yet whether it was simplan error. it's extremely unusual that they announced esat the vothey found that had been mislaid were the votes for trump. they are feeding conspiracy theories about mocratic effort to steal the election when they don't havey evidence for that. it's not the way a normal prosecutor would behave even under justice department guidelines. >> reporter: in your piece you also spend a good deal of times describing what happens decembes to assemble their eleors.

this could be another moment where the process goes awry, some say.u can explain. >> viewers would be forgiven for not knowing theris any important deadline in december or january because, in most presidenal elections, they're purely formalities. they're milestones. they're the actual mechanisms by we we choose a president by the constitution but they're pro forma cse, by then, the vote count has been settled and for.now who the country voted but december 8th is the date by which states havto choose ththe -- the electors, the peope who will cast their state's electoral ballots and if they don't choose by december 8, congress will have to who if anyone gets to cast the ballots from that state. d there are people in the trump campaign and people among his allies in state governments

who are talking about the possibility that the state legislature could appoint electors wh are going to vote for trump, whether or not the popular vote in that state is for trump. >> reporter: for people who ght read something like wthis and heat you're saying and be genuinely worried about what happens in ou democratic process, are there things people can do? is the p any wayple can try to address this ahead of time? >> there is, and smarter people an me will think of more. i think it's important to be forewarned. i think there's more than one thing to worry about. i think the first thing to do is a change of mindset. we should not expect this to be a normal election or proceed as elections usually proceed. we should expect highly unusual and potentially extra constitution el vents and y be re react because if we are not thinking about it in advance,then our reflexes will be dulled. but things as simple as if

you're a vot, think about voting in person on election day if you can manage the risk to your health and if yocan wear p.p.e. and keep your socialse distance beche worst case for chaos iif trump gets all his votes from the in-person votes and biden votes don't come in till much later, that is recipe for enhanced conflict. eryone has to think about what role do i play in this coming presidential election and how can i plan ahead for unusual events. >> reporter: barton gellman, the piece in "the atlantic" magazine is called the elec that could break america. thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. >> woodruff: it feels like a world away since we last heard the analysis of shields and

brooks. a lot has ppened. that's syndicated columnist mark shields and "new york times" columnist david brooks. hello to both of you on this nofriday night. much to ask you about, mark. but why don't we start with not only ruth marcus who planned t to -- amy coney barrett to be the next nominee to the court. i guess i'm asking you to wrap it together. early reaction toarrett but also final thoughts about justice ginsburg who we've seen nored this week. >> honored and a wonderful sen sendoff. i was amazed abhow many she touched women n country. a knew h sh was a folk hero and rock star but the really emotiog

that her pas generated. in a marvelous way, she probably meant more as a litigator than she did as ajurist. not to offend anybody, but she was the person who pleaded those cases and won them before the supreme court, especially expanding the 1 which was written after the civil war, to extend not simply against racial discrimination but gender discrimination, and she changed america in thes e ocess, and she gave us marvelous exam how to reach across partisan divide. her fridship with justice antonin scalia should be an example for all of us in washington. did come to the court with a legacy, already. >> yeah. it's amazing to me, first, that shshe's the first woman to lien

state. that is mind boggling in 2020t that this is the first time that has happened. judges, hen they go before their confirmation hearings, hethey all say tir personal feelings won't affect how they judge. i think that's never true. it wasn't true with ruth marcus. she comes from a neghborhood and culture of flatbush in brooklyn, a jewish immigrant culture, and when you grow up there you have a strong respect for the underdog, a revsperentil t for law, and i think she carried those values not being unfaithfulo the judicial system but carried those values and i think sheed's adm because of the values. amy coney barrett also has values. she's a conserve. she is well regarded. when she was supreme court clerk to antonin scalia, all parties admired her. w when s on the notre dame

law faculty, all of the faculty members admired her. personally, she seems ereputed to be a wonderful person, but she has a coertive record. she was a lou prior a long time some of which were controversial hearings were brught up.tion i think it will be hard to mount controversial attacks but there will be some conservative attacks. >> woodruff: she comes with a record, as david said, it's a nservative record. >> she does, judy. if you're a conservative, she'sb pr not going to be john roberts. she is a true blue and committed conservative. but i would point out, as david laid out sort of the political land minus for democrats, she has admirable personal seven, two adopted children.

shbrought a down syndrome pregnancy to birth, a child, is raising it, and was endorsed by not only the conservative members of the law faculty at notre dame but all the liberals as well. i think it's a potential lnd mine for both sides to the degree that abortion becomes the centerpiece issue, it's going to be a problem for respublic amongst suburban women. to agree that it becomes an issutsand the democo on the offensive against amy coney barrett, then joe biden's hopes of reaching out across the blue-collar white voters who flirted with trump in the past, maybformer democrats becomes a problem. and i think if, in fact, there's y sort of a mean personal attack mounted against her, it will only hurt the democrats. so i think it's very, very

delicate politically on both sides. >> woodruff: let's talk about that and the process, david. we look breack, th never been, in an election year, someone nominated to th supreme court in 230 years of the republic this close to an election. the closest we could find was 1892, it was four months before the election. we're now within weeks, even days, by the time there woulde vote. what does that say about where we are, republicans and look forward to in the next several weeks? >> well, in a platonic ideal world, a president should be able to nominate justices till inauguration day. you're o ecteda four-year term. so i think trump is ride, should be able to nominate somebody.is the proble merrick garland. standard and shred it so quickly shows a complete sign of

opportunism, that we're not a nation of laws and precedents, that we' a ruthless power grab, so in this case i think as far as the process, i think it favors the democrats. i think it would not favor the democrats if they go after barrette personally or her faith. she's a member ofhe christian community, and some people said it's a cult. i have been reading their magazine and i don't find anything creepy about it at al. but i think it will be advantage for the democrat. i don't think tissue will be abortion as it normally is. i think it will bear healt democrats are smart enough not healthcare is a real issue.say people are concerned about pamacare and this could the balance so amacare comes under threat and that's a very strong argument democrats can issues at the top of the agenda.

>> woodruff: mark, it does look like democrats are focusing on healthcare. how does that shift what's going on? just, if you would, address the spd of this. >> well, healthcare, judy, workers rights, immigrant rights, you kw, i think theyumer have to expand it, no question about it, and it's legitimate. i mean, the affordablcare act ces extinction in the supreme court on the tenth of november. there were 20 million people added under affordable care act who got health insurance duringa ck obama's last six years in office while it wasf in efect. during donald trump's time in ce, 2.8 million america have lost their health insurance, and that number will be increased dramatically with ese repeal of the affordable care act which ith it, and all the empty promises that republicans have made about at healcare . i would simply point out that

since richard nixon in 1969, there has never been a republican healthcare plan offered by any president orny congress. oehner, the speaker of the house,ea in 25 yrs i have not seen a republican healthcare plan. i've worked on healthcare andve there has been one. that is the reality and it has to be essential to the debate. so i think -- and democrats would do well on that issue. what we saw today was that a by a margin of 3 to 2, close to 60% believe tha the decision of naming a supreme court justice to replace justice ginsburg owing to be done by the next president, the one elected in november. so i think the dmocrats have that on their side. the only thing worse than a

liar, said tennessee williams, is a liar that's a hypocrite. that's exactly where lindsey graham, chairman of th senate judiciarcommittee and too many of his colleagues stand tonight. >> woodruff: david, i do want to ask you botabout what president trump has been saying, raising questions about t legitimacy othe results if he's not the winner, casting doubt about mail-in ballots virtually every day, talking about that. and you just heard the interview that. >william brangham did withbart . should amecans be worried as we're a little more than five weeks from this election day? >> i was in a conference call with scholars and political observers yesterday and said hoc ed are you 1-5? we were 4.5, some 9 and 10.

i'm never been e pessimistic about where this country is in my whole life. we've had a bad few yearsf social frame, we've had a president ripping us apart from the type. the supreme court fight maximizes the sense the other side is illegitimate and notg playy the rules and. i think the two moments i'm most afraid abouts election night when it looks like trump is ahead d what tht psychology does to the country, then the crucial distinction that hes maich it's not that trump will lose and refuse to go, it'e thults could be genuinely unclear and we start monk i didn't think with the eelectrics. and especially in states like arizona and florida where you have a replican governor and a republican state legislature, a lot of keyal states, there' sorts of me hem, and one of the system depends onood will is our

of the players involved and if that good will isn't there, then the spiral of accusations and animosity d enmity, i don't think we'll see physical violence but we'll s level of psychological violence we haven't seen since 1865. woodruff: less than a minute. words of reassurance for the american peoe or not, mark? >> reassuran, judy, i mean, let's just hope that the example of al gore in 2000 who won the popular vow and said this is a time when partisanship must yield to patriotism. donald trump, this is not a new he lost by over 2 millionot to hillary clinton in 2016, and what was his explation? 3 million to 5 million illegal undocumented immigrants voted, that's n e only reae didn't win the popular vote. so he appointed a commission to

examine all those there were examples. they came up with nothing. this is a total fraud and we'll find out what this man is made of. is there a scintilla of patriotism in his soul? will he abide by the judgment ai john mccai so gallantly in 2008 and saying, i called senator obama who was opponent and is now my president. i stand with david. i mean, i'm concerned, deeply, and i juste an aroused country and citizenry will not tolerate that kind of behavior, as well aes rpublicans. i'm looking -- i hoping they're not an invertebrate, that there is a beat of a soul left in th party of abraham lincoln. >> woodruff: time for reflection for all of us and as much as transparency as posible in covering this election. mark shields, david brooks, we

thank you. >> woodruff: we mark more than 200,000 american lives lost, and six mont of the newshour honoring the victims of covid-19 every friday evening. tonight, we honor fi more. here are their stories. howard croft had no lerance for injustice. raised by his grandparents in harrisburg, pennsylvania, howard learned early on to fight for working people. he spent decades fighting for social justice and advocating for voting rights and d.c. statehood. his wife described howard as "entirely fierce," but said he let his gentle side show for her and the rest of their family. howard was 78.an maria de la torre was ann iconr san jose neighborhood, her friends said.

for dozensmilies, she cared for their children as a nanny and cleaned their homes. the mexican native loved hosting huge parties and bringing people and cultures togethe she was known for her phenomenal cooking. ana waalso a fighter. e survived lymphoma in 2012.ve her beson d granddaughter were by her side when she passed at the age of 65. growing up in ford city, pennsylvania, tithy russell enjoyed reading so much that his mom would have to ask the librarian to send him home for dinner. he went on to become an admired scholar, headmaster of christial sc and most recently, a minister in memphis, tennessee. a friend said that tim was a courageous pastor, who loved fiercely. he enjoyed traveling the world with his wife. tim was 62 years old.

47-year-old raven voice was a born caregiver. raised in tulsa, oklahoma as a member of creek nation, raven's daughter said her mom was always taking care of others. she tutored and mentored native american students, and worked for 14 years as a nurse for the elderly. above all else, her family said, she was dedicated to her mother, children and grandchildren. ray "doc" dougherty would sit on the front porch of the house he lived in for 49 years in philadelphia, and smile or chat with anyone who walked by. a leer carrier for the u.s. postal service for almost four decades, d was beloved by the community he served. doc's wife of 50 years said her wau.s. army veteran husbana simple man, whose greatest joys were her, their three children doc was 70 years oen.

i want to thank all the family members who shared these storieo ght. our hearts go out to you and to everyone who's lost a led one in this pandemic. and finally tonight, as we approach and finally tonight, as we approach the election, there's a refrain ofow divided the country is, culturally and politically. and some of the starkest differences are between urban and rural areas. now, a singer-songwriter from western kentucky is hoping her music can help us find some common ground. jeffrey brown reports, as partic of our "am creators" series, and our ongoing arts and culture series, "canvas." ♪ oh, sharecropper daughter she sings the blues of ♪ a coal miner's son wn >> bs.g. goodman debut solo album draws from her experience growing up as a

farmer's daughter in western kentucky, in hickman, a town of 3,000 peoplsion the missi river. ♪ s said that i know what you're thinking ♪ when you hear the way i talk when you hear the way rotalk ♪ >>: her songs are often a poignant critique both of how outsiders view rural cmunities and of the social, political and economic sysms that have shaped the liv of her family and neighbors. ♪ and her brother's back at home tending to her daddy's land ♪ he's farming for the businessman ♪ who takes the profit from his hand ♪ >> brown: i take it very seriously to represent my home and the people there in a respectful manner. oftentimes i feel like people who write about the south want to just keep pushing stereotypes. that does nothing, really, to capture the true essence of the uth. >> brown: that focus on

authticity is also reflected in the album's raw sound.>> y philosophy, when it comes to recording, is, you're truly capturing a moment in time. and we are raw and we are gritty. and i wanted to make sure thatwh people they heard my music, they heard us. ♪ ♪ this is the storefront of our station.cord shop, terrapin here it is in all its glory. >> brown: the 31-year-old goodman now lives an hour east of her hometown, in the small college town of murray, population9,000. we got a virtual tour, including the local music-scene mecca. >> when i was a fresn college, i'd made a c.d., and i dropped off my c.d. to the manager here, and i told him, just stick a c.d. in everybody's bag as they leave. >> brown: that was oneay of getting yourself heard, i guess. >> i do have a lot of d.i.y. roots.

so, that was my genius marketing plan at the time. >> brown: these days, she makes a living through music. and, she made a decision to stay in western kentucky, even when it hasn't been ey. she's gay, and politically liberal, in a county that is overwhelmingly conservative. >> there's multiple reasons why it would benefit me to move to a more urban area, more progressive area. but i feel like the only way for the south and rural areas to change and progress is for people to stay and live out those beliefs. >> brown: it's a sentiment heard in her album's title trame, "old eeling." ♪ oh, when i hear peoeye saying how ant a change ♪ and then the mome of them do ing strange ♪ they move where everybody feels the same ♪ about the southern state behind♪

>> brown: goodman says her southern rts make people more receptive to her views-- and her criticisms-- than they would be to an outsider's >> actl farmers daughters, they're a rare breed these days. you know, i sit down at a diner in the mdle of mississippi, probably fit right in, and people wouldn't immediely peg me as a progressive. ♪ i said no, we're not living in that old time feeling ♪ we're not living in it >> brown: ld time feeling," that's a phrase that i might expect as a sort of nostalgic feel-good, old time feeling. but you're writing"we're not living in that old time feeling." >> the south is a compx place. southern pride is a legacy issue. i'm definitely proud of where i'm from and the people who surround me. but at the same time, there's definitely some generational cycles that need to be broken, interrogated, and also not held

at such high regards. out in goodman's oy.ate playing a robert e. lee statue that stands in the city square outside the county courthouse has sparked protests, and counter-protests. >> many community members and myself find it offensive. and weeel like we could, you know, come to some sort of a compromise by at least hg it removed from sucblic place. ♪ even my enemies the ones who have loved me ♪ >> brown: bringing out an album is, of course, diffimid the pandemic. a tour to promote it had to be canceled. still, it's given goodman another ason to appreciate her home. >> for once, i got it righ living in a small town with >> brown: we now hlot of people wanting to leave the cities to come to a place like where you are. >> absolutely. houses are cheap here. come on down. >> brown: and if not in person, then visit through song. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown. ♪ it's a red bird morning

in aberdeen ♪ >> woodruff: beautiful voice. and we go from finding common ground, to staking dividing nes. please join us next tuesday night for special live coverage of the first presidential debate between donald trump and joe biden. >> taking the stage. it's time for those two candidatesyoo meat. >> ican't beat him in a debate you've got a big problem. >> who has what ies. e're in a bat fortunately the soul of the nation. >> how will the candidatesha le their first one on one? a "pbs newshour" vote 2020 electionpecial. thest presidential debate. stepped th at 9:00, 8:00 central on pbs. >> woodrufue join us tsday night for our live coverage. that's the "newshour" for

and that is the newsur for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. have a great weekend. thk you, please stay safe, and good night.aj >> mor funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. with fidelity wealth management, a dedicated advisor can tailor your life. recommendations to that's fidelity wealth management. >> consumer cellular. >> johnson & johnson. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> bnsf railway. foundation.iam and flora hewlett for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and theirti

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hello, everyone. welcome to "amanpour & co." here is what's coming up. >> breonna taylor!ta breonna or! a >>nger fills the streets. where is the justice after the law says officers who shot and otlled breonna taylor will be charged with her death? we discuss with former philadelphia police chief charles ramsey and patrisse cullors co-founder of black lives matter. this story is a cereal story of scandal and complacency, resistance frothe government, resistance from the law. >> a titan of journalism dies hi ans outstanding gacy with s friend renowned noveli robert harris. facebook is not de