captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: race to the finish. president trump and joe biden make their pitches to voters amid 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 ceasefire would be the most desirable outcome, and as soon as possible, but i think without a political agreement, a comprehenve, 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 more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for 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 provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no-contract plans, and our u.s.-based customer service team can help find one that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> johnson & johnson. >> the john s. and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you.

thank you. >> woodruff: the newshour has confirmed tonight that president trump will nominate federal appeals judge amy coney barrett to the united states supreme court. the announcement is set for tomorrow afternoon. barrett joined the 7th circuit court of appeals in chicago in 2017. her conservative religious views dominated her confirmation fight. before that, she had clerked for the late justice antonin scalia and she had taught at the university of notre dame law school. the death of justice rh 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-- and with just 40 days to go in the presidential campaign. john yang has our report. >> yang: justice ruth bader

ginsburg broke two final barriers today-- the fst woman 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. and even when her views did not prevail, she still fought. justice ginsburg's dissents were not cries of defeat. they were blueprints for the future. >> yang: house speaker nancy pelosi had arranged the honor. democratic presidential nominee joe biden and his wife jill attended, as did running mate senator kamala harris. lawmakers, some accompanied by their families, paid their respects, wearing masks d appropriately distanced. bryant johnson, her long-time personal trainer, gave a personal tribute of his own.

as official washington mourned ginsburg, the presential campaign 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 ballots 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 voter suppression. >> why is it that so many powerful people are trying to ke us confused about how we can vote, where we can vote? if we can vote? >> yang: in washington, the capitol hill ceremony capped a week of public memorials for ginsburg, who will be buried in a private ceremony next week at arlington national cemetery. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang.

>> woodruff: in the day's other ne, breonna taylor's family demanded that officials release grand jury transcripts in her killing in louisville, kentucky. the panel opted this week not to charge any police officers with fatally shooting taylor in her apartment. the state attorney general said they acted in self-defense, after taylor's boyfriend fired first. today, an aunt read a statement by taylor's mother, declaring she has no faith in the authorities. >> "the system as a whole has failed her. 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."

>> woodruff: there were new protests in louisville 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 needed some energy, and i said, i'm coming. >> woodruff: in a related development, an illinois teenager accused of killing two protesters in kenosha will fight extradition to wisconsin. attorneys for kyle rittenhouse filed notice at a hearing today. the federal government has executed a black inmate for the first time in nearly 20 years. a texas man was put to death by lethal injection last night for

killing an iowa couple in 1999. blacks make up 13% of the u.s. population, but nearly half of the inmates on federal death row. confirmed u.s. cases of covid-19 hit seven million today. it came amid a new surge in 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 health strategy. >> woodruff: elsewhere, two former officials at a veterans home in massachusetts were charged with criminal neglect. 76 veterans at the home have

died of covid since march. an australian report says that china is expanding its widely-condemned detention centers, holding hundreds of thousands of muslim uighurs. the australian strategic policy institute says that it found more than 380 suspected sites in xinjiang province, using satellite images and construction documents. beijing called the report "disinformation." back in this country, 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 october. the judge 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 stocks turned 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: into the woods. how the trump administration is opening up the nation's largest forest to logging. talking peace. the lead u.s. envoy seeking a end to america's longest war i afghanisn. what an unclear 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's amazon." it's one of the world's largest temperate rain forests, absorbing carbon dioxidemitted by the u.s., which is why the plan to roll back protections is worrying environmentalists and climate scientists. coral davenport has been following this story for the "new york times," and she joins me now. coral, welcome back to the "newshou. let's just start with what exactly it is that the trump administration is proposing change. what would the rollbacks entail? >> so the trump administration proposed -- has been working on this role change for a couple of years. in the next 30 days, it's going to become final.

what they're doing is lifting a clinton era protection called the road list rule, it was a national law that banned 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 amount of pretty much priste wilderness including about 160,000 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 murkowski have been pushing for this for years. what is the argument they make for these changes? >> so the big argument that alaskan officials including the governor and state-level

officis say is this part of alaska's economic development. they argue that lifting the rule would not lead to the entire pristine forest being devastated but that it would allow the alaskan timber industry to kind of carefully tailor the logging that it would do, the road construction that it would do in that area. but essentially they're saying 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 special place. it's not surprising environmentalists propose lift protections on this wild pristine wilderness, it's an area rich in biodiversity, it has a lot of species, it has

salmon, rivers, these are the kinds of things environmentalists say you don't want to harm that biodiversity, but the thing that is also special about the tongass is that it provides a service to the rest. it is one of the world's largest carbon sinks. all the old growth forest, the 400, 500-year-old trees have been absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for hundreds of years. environmentalists say the impact of cutting down those particular trees could release the equivalent of putting as many as 10 million new cars on the road, the co2 pollution equivalent soft that is something that has an impact on the planet far beyond the reaches 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

litigation. do we exct this to happen here? where does this move fit for the broader agenda from the administration. >> sure. this comes as one of early over 100 rollbacks or moves to weaken existing environmental protections that we have seen from the trump administration. this is really something that will absolutely stand, in many ways, as president trump's legacy. he met the promise to lift a lot of these environmental protections and open up so much public land to development. but, as you mentioned, nearly all of these moves are being met with litigation, fully expect environmental groups and probably state groups and probably alaska native groups as well are expected to stew this move. as with so many of these other rollbacks, you know, ultimately they'll slog through the karsts. also a lot of these could be undone pretty quickly if joe biden were to become president.

this is a move that will become effective before the end of this year, but if there was someone in the white house who thought that was not a good idea, the rule could be put right back in place. >> nawaz: a very important environmental story tracked by coral davenport of the "new york times" joining us tonight. thank u so much for your time. >> thank you. >> woodruff: and this story is part of "covering climate now," a global journalism collaboration strengthening 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 dozens of taliban militants in the east, while the taliban killed dozens of police officers in the south. and last weekend, afghan forces conducted r strikes in a province in the north that is partially taliban-controlled, killing taliban militants, but al causing reports of civilian deaths. it was seven months ago that speciaenvoy for afghan reconciliation zalmay khalilzad signed an agreement with the taliban. after a bit of a delay, that led to the negotiations in doha today, designed to end all this violence. and ambassador khalilzad joins me now. it's good to have you back on the "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 government. so what leverage do you really have to reduce the violence? >> compared the first six months of last year to this

year, despite a recent increase in violence, the number of casualties both military and civilians are down this year. so, yes, the vionce is high at this point. both sides need to bring down the level of violence, and we're committed, when i return to work with both sides, to get an agreement on reduction of violence. >> reporter: the afghan government says there's too much violence, you and the u.s. military says there's too much violence. the taliban have indicated they will not accept some kind of cease fire in doha until both sides decide the future to have e government which, of course, will take a long time. so how sustainable is the peace process as the violence continues? >> i think you're right, the taliban will not accept a cease fire comprehensive and permanent until there's a political

settlement and 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 proposal is. the government is supportive of it, too. >> reporter: you have been 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, but it 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 afgh warring parties have sat together. when the soviets withdrew, before the withdrawal, there was no afghan 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 history. >> reporter: are you under pressure from the white house or anyone in the state department to announce specific progress before the election? >> no, i'm not. we would like the war to end as soon as possible. this is the expectation of the afghan people. we have not set any artificial deadline for when these negotiations have to succeed. we are not directly involved in the negotiations. it's afghan-afghan. they did not want a forner to be a mediator, a facilitator to be in the room. >> reporter: returning to human rights, in doha the taliban refused to accept shia islam as the reigion even if that's enshrined in the afghan

constitution. >> they have said on personal matters the rights of minorities will be respected and there will be no discrimination against others. but that's still an unresolved issue in terms of an exact formulation and an agreement. we, obviously, support an agreement that respects the right of all afghans, whether they belong to one sect or another, whether they're men or women. >> reporter: al quaida, one of the conditions of the february agreement, the taliban have not publicly broken with al quaida. what does that tell you about how the taliban is a part of the agreement. >> we hold them to that agreement, and what we do is contingent in terms of reduction of forces on what they do.

we have seen progress in terms 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 from afghanistan. >> reporter: finally, ambassador, in the time i have left, to get to this day, the afghan govnment not only had to release taliban prisoners who tacked afghans but also who killed u.s. soldiers. what should americans think about that? >> what's happening now, the taliban and the government sitting across the table to

negotiate a political settlement is important and that's what was needed to get to here. so, yes, difficult decision. not happy that happened, but it was required to get to a hopeful place, which is where we are right now. >> reporter: ambassador zalmay khalilzad, thank you very much. >> thank you. it's good to be with 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 doubts about voting by mail and the integrity of the process, or potentially even challenging the results of the election. our system has weathered chaos in the past. how well-positioned is it no

william brangham begins there. >> brangham: we are 39 days from november 3, and a growing chorus of analysts, historians and political elections officials are warning that the country is headed for a confused, prolonged, and potentially dangerous election and aftermath. the cover of "the atlantic" magazine, with nothing but a red warning light, says it's "e election that 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 that president trump, on election night, just rejects the outcome to have the election. he's already repeatedly said that anything other than his victory on election night is evidence that the democrats are trying to steal the election. let's say he does say that. how does that play out? >> election night is a little 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 we've got, it's imperfect, it's expected that he will be ahead when only the in-person votes are calculated or tabulated because he has persuaded a lot of republicans that mail-in votes are 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 count on election night. he's going to say that the mail votes, as he's already said many times, are fraudulent, are part of an effort to steal or rig the election, and that the count must be halted. he's also going to be in court in multiple states around the

country saying the same thing for various things, depending on state law and federal law in the jurisdiction. if an ordinary candidate would at some point say, all right, well, the vote went against me, i concede defeat, that is something that donald trump is not going to do. it's a premise of my article in the atlantic that there is no circumstance under which he will make that concession, and that's a problem for our system because concession is the way we end elections. we end elections by having the loser concede and confer implicitly the authority of that concession 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, as has been reported by npr and others, that vote by mail ballots have been getting rejected a considerable number usually by voter error, but you

sort of point out this becomes a ripe target for interrupting at election ballot count. >> in the general election in november the trump campaign intends to have ballot watchers at every county commission, at every polling, every election cablation center,nd examining every mail-in ballot and saying we object to this one, the postmark is unclear, we object to this one, the signature doesn't match, and so on. the more they can delete mail-in ballots, the fewer democratic votes. >> reporter: we've also seen two recent cases where local department of justice officials have stepped forward and announced or revealed information about fairly early or some would arg relatively minor cases of ballot fraud. do you worry that the d.o.j. seems to be as some critics have pointed out turned into a polical operation for the

president leading up to this election? >> it is highly unusual for d.o.j. to do what it d in this case. it is lyingly unusual to announce an ongoing investigation when it's just begun. it's unusual to imply with sort of rhetorical flourishes that something very dangerous is going on here, when we don know yet whether it was simply an error. it's extremely unusual that they announced that the votes they found that had been mislaid were the votes for trump. they are feeding conspiracy theories about a democratic effort to steal the election when they don't have any 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 electors. this could be another moment where the process goes awry, some say. can you explain. >> viewers would be forgiven for not knowing there is any important deadline in december or january because, in most presidential 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 because, by then, the vote count has been settled and we know who the country voted for. but december 8th is the date by which states have to 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 resolve who if anyone gets to cast the ballots from that state. and 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 who are going to vote for trump, whether or not the popular vote in that state is for trump. >> reporter: for people who might read something like this and hear what you're saying and be genuinely worried about what happens in our democratic process, are there things people can do? is there any way people can try to address this ahead of time? >> there is, and smarter people than 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 vts and be ready to react because if we are not thinking about it in

advance, then our reflexes will be dulled. but things as simple asf you're voter, think about voting in person on election day if you can manage the risk to your health and if you can wear p.p.e. and keep your social distance because the worst case for chaos is if trump gets all his votes from the in-person votes and biden votes don't come in till much later, that is a recipe for enhanced conflict. everyone 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 isalled the election 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 happened. that's syndicated columnist mark shields and "new york times" columnist david brooks. hello to both of you on this friday night. not 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 to barrett but also final thoughts about justice ginsburg who we've seen honored this week. >> honored and a wonderful sen sendoff. i was amazed abhow many she touched women n country. i knew h she was a folk hero ana

rock star but the really emotion that her passing generated. in a marvelous wa, she probably meant more as a litigator than she did as a jurist. not to offend anybody, but she was the person who pleaded those cases and won them before the supreme court, especially expanding the 14th amendment, which was written after the civil war, to extend not simply against racial discrimination but gender discrimination, and she won five of the six cases. she changed america in the process, and she gave us a marvelous example of how to reach across partisan divide. her friendship with justic antonin scalia should be an example for all of us in washington. >> woodruff: and, david, she did come to the court with a legacy, already. >> yeah.

it's amazing to me, first, that shs's the first woman to lie in state. that is mind boggling in 2020t that this is the first time that has happened. judges, when they go before their confirmation hearings, they all say their 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 neighborhood 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 reverential respect for law, and i think she carried those values not being unfaithful to the judicial system but carried those values and i think she's admired 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. when she was 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 conservative record. she was a lou prior a long time and wrote a lot of articles, some of which were controversial and in the 2017 confirmation hearings were brought up. 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 conservative record. >> she does, judy. if you're a conservative, she's probably 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 credentials, the mother of

seven, two adopted children. she brought 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 land mine for both sides to the degree that abortion becomes the centerpiece issue, it's going to be a problem for republicans amongst suburban women. to agree that it becomes an issue and the democrats go 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, maybe former democrats becomes a problem. and i think if, in fact, there's any 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 back, there's never been, in an election year, someone nominated to the supreme court in 0 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 would be a vote. what does that say about where we are, republicans and democrats, and what we should 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 elected to a four-year term. so i think trump is ride, should be able to nomate somebody. the problem is merrick garland. for republicans to set a

standard and shred it souickly shows a complete sign of opportunism, that we're not a nation of laws and precedents, that we're a ruthless power grab, so in this case i think it's an error. as far as e process, i think it favors the democrats. i think it would not favothe decrats if they go after barrette personally or her faith. she's a member of the 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 all. 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 be healthcare. democrats are smart enough not to go after her faith and to say healthcare is a real issue. people are concerned about obamacare and this could tip the balance so obamacare comes under threat and that's a very strong argument democrats can

make and puts o of the best 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 speed of this. >> well, healthcare, judy, workers rights, immigrant rights, women's rights, consumer rights, you know, i think they have to expand it, no question about it, and it's legitimate. i mean, the affordable care act faces extinction in the supreme court on the tenth of november. there were 20 million people added under affordable care act who got health insurance during barack obama's last six years in office while it was in effect. during donald trump's time in office, 2.8 million americans have lost their health insurance, and that number will be increased dramatically with the repeal of the affordable care act which goes with it, and all the empty promises that

republicans have made about a healthcare act. i would simply point out that since richard nixon in 1969, there has never been a republican healthcare plan offered by any president or any congress. john boehner, the speaker of the house, in 25 years i have not seen a republican healthcare plan. i've worked on healthcare and there has never beenne. 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 "the washington post" abc poll by a margin of 3 to 2, close to 60% believe that 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 democrats 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 the senate judiciary committee and too many of his colleagues stand tonight. >> woodruff: david, i do want to ask you both about what president trump has been saying, raising questions about the legitimacy of the results if he's not the winner, casting doubt about mail-in ballots virtually every day, talking abouthat. and youust heard the interview that. >william brangham did withbart . should americans 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 how scared are you 1-5?

we were 4.5, some 9 and 10. i've never been more pessimistic about where this country is in my whole life. we've had a bad few years of 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 not playing by the rules and. i think the two moments i'm most afraid about is election night when it looks like trump is ahead and what that psychology does to the country, then the crucial distinction that he makes which it's not that tru will lose and ruse to go, it's the results 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 republican governor and a republican state legislature, a lot of key states, there's all

sorts of me hem, and one of the things that we've learned is our system depends on the good will 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 see a level of psychological violence we haven't seen since 1865. >> woodruff: less than a minute. words of reassurance for the american people or not, mark? >> reassurance, 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 song for him. he lost by over 2 million votes to hillary clinton in 2016, and what was his explanation? 3 million to 5 million illegal undocumented immigrants voted, that's the only reason ehe

didn't win the popular vote. so he appointed a commission to examine all those. there were no 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 as john mccain did so gallantly in 2008 and saying, i called senator obama who was my opponent and is now my president. that's the example. i stand with david. i mean, i'm concerned, deeply, and i just hope an aroused country and citizenry will not tolerate that kind of behavior, as well as republicans. i'm looking -- i hoping they're not an invertebrate, that there is a beat of a soul left in the party of abraham lincoln. >> woodruff: time for reflection for all of us and as much as transparency as possible

in covering this election. ma shields, david brooks, we thank you. >> woodruff: we mark more than 200,000 american lives lost, and six months of the newshour honoring the victims of covid-19 every friday evening. tonight, we honor five more. here are their stories. howard croft had no tolerance 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. ana maria de la torre was an

icon in her san jose neighborhood, her friends said. for dozens of families, she cared for their children as a nanny and cleaned their homes. the mexican native loved hosting huge parties and bringing people and cultures together. she was known for her phenomenal cooking. ana was also a fighter. she survived lymphoma in 2012. her beloved son and granddaughter were by her side when she passed at the age of 65. growing up in ford city, pennsylvania, timothy 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 christian schools, 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 wa62 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 letter carrier for the u.s. postal service for almost four decades, doc was beloved by the community he served. doc's wife of 50 years said her u.s. army veteran husband was a simple man, whose greatest joys

were her, their three children and 13 grandchildren. doc was 70 years old. i want to thank all the family members who shared these stories tonight. our hearts go out to you and to everyone who's lost a loved one in this pandemic. and finally tonight, as we approach and finally tonight, as we approach the election, there's a refrain of how 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 part of our "american creators" series, and our ongoing arts and culture series, "canvas." ♪ oh, sharecropper daughter she sings the blues of ♪ a coal miner's son

>> brown: s.g. goodman's debut solo album draws from her experience growing up as a farmer's daughter in western kentucky, in hickman, a town of 3,000 people on the mississippi river. ♪ she said that i know what you're thinking ♪ when you hear the way i talk when you hear the way i talk ♪ >> brown: her songs are often a poignant critique both of how outsiders view rural communities and of the social, political and economic systems that have shaped the lives 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

south. >> brown: that focus on authenticity is also reflected in the album's raw sound. >> my 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 that people, when they heard my music, they heard us. ♪ ♪ this is the storefront of our local record shop, terrapin station. 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, population 19,000. we got a virtual tour, including the local music-scene mecca. >> when i was a freshman in 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 one way 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. an she made a decision to stay in western kentucky, even when it hasn't been easy. 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 thonly way for thsouth 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 track, "old time feeling." ♪ oh, when i hear people saying how they want a change ♪ and then the most of them do something strange ♪ they move where everybody feels the same

♪ about the southern state behind ♪ >> brown: goodman says her southern roots make people more receptive to her views-- and her criticisms-- than they would be to an outsider's. >> actual farmers daughters, they're a rare breed these days. you know, i sit down at a diner in the middle of mississippi, probably fit right in, and people wouldn't immediately peg me as a progressive. ♪ i said no, we're not living in that old time feeling ♪ we're not living in it >> brown: "old time feeling," that's a phrase that i might expect as a sort of nostalgic feel-good, old time feelg. but you're writing, "we're not living in that old time feeling." >> the south is a complex 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. >> brown: it's a debate playing out in goodman's own city. 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 we feel like we could, you know, come to some sort of compromise by at least having it removed from such a public place. ♪ even my enemies the ones who have loved me ♪ >> brown: bringing out an album is, of course, difficult amid the pandemic. a tour to promote it had to be canceled. still, it's given goodman another reason to appreciate her home. >> for once, i got it right, living in a small town with nature around me. >> brown: we now have a lot 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 lines. 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 candidates to meat. >> if you can't beat him in a debate you've got a big problem. >> who has what it takes. e're in a bat fortunately the soul of the nation. >> how will the candidates handle their first one on one? a "pbs newshour" vote 2020 election special. the first presidential debate. stepped 29th at 9:00, 8:00 central on pbs. >> woodruff: join us tuesday night for our live coverage.

that's the "newshour" for and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. have a great weekend. thank you, please stay safe, and good night. >> major 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 advice and recommendations to your life. that's fidelity wealth manageme. >> consumer cellular. >> johns & johnson. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> bnsf railway. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, 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. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public 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

tonight on kqed newsroom, the nation mourns the passing of u.s. supreme court ruth bader ginsburg. amid the eulogies, memorials and tributes, a bitter political fight is brewing to name her successor, just weeks before the presidential election. it's been more than a month since classes resumed for students throughout the state, we will check in to see how school districts are navigating ongoing challenges and uncertainties over reopening classrooms for in person learning. welcome to kqed newsroom i am luigi molly filling in for priya david clemens who is off this week. on wednesday, u.s. supreme court chief justice john roberts eulogize his longtime colleague