♪ judy: good evening, i'm st t jude, thousands hour tonight, taking the stage. after the vice presidentia c candidatsh a fighte over thxt presidential debate breaks out. then one-on-one. talk with dr. anthony fauci about the president's response to covid-19 andng theng response. >> it didn't have to bedone this way if people uniformly abided by the health measures we've been talking about. judy: plus, terror plot. violence extremists in michigan are charged with trying to killed nap democratic governor gretchen whitmer, and the return of war.

er the toirm fighting between armenia and azerbaijan that threatens to ensnarpe regional powers leaveriginal -- orled their sillses in a state of panic. >>t's hard to describe how terrifying it is when the city iseing shelled. all you can think about is how do i get low, how do i get safe judy: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. announcer: major fding for the pbs newshour has been provided by --? >> when the world gets your mind.d a lot goes through with fidelity wet middleweight, a dedicateddvicor the tailor

opinions to fit your life. >> consumer cellular, johnson and johnson. financial services firm raymond jones. bnsf railway. the candida fund, committed to advancinstorative justice and meaningful work through investments ransformative leaders and ideas. more at candidafund.org. carnegie foundation of new york. promoting the advancement of international peace and itcurity. andthe ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ this program was made

possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contribuons to your pks station from viewers like you. thank yo judy: to debate or not to debate. in pson or not in person? those questions dominate it campaign this day.ial president trump insisted he won't agree to a virtual encounter online and joe biden balked at delaying their debates. all after their rung nailts faced off. amna nawaz begins r coverage. >> with 26ays until election day, the democratic ticket headed tero arizona vice president rble candidate joe biden tk a moment to haim kamala harris's d performance the night before. >> this is a person who's ready

ne dayo be president of the united states of america. a persona has more integrity in her little if i think they are most people have in their whole body and it's obvious he has great difficulty dealing with strong women. >> president trump threw next week's detective with biden into turmoil. >> nm not going to waist my time on a virtualec dve. >> first refusing to take parts after the detective commission this morning announced a virtual format to "protect the alth if and safety of awful involved," later agreeing with the biden campaign suggestion that the debates be delayed one week so it could still be held in personal. in a statements, we agreed it should happener oct 22nd and accordingly the third% should be delayed one week. on objects 2.

donald trump can show up or he can decline again. >> we set daths, i'm sticking with the dates. i'm showing up. ll be there and if he shows up, fine, if he doesn't, final. >> in another scheduling shift this afternoon, abc ns announcedt would host a biden town hall in philadelphia on october 15 now that the president has backed out of that night's detective. that comes aftern intense back and forth between the vice presidential candidates last gh >> susan, this is important. mr.i' vice president speak. >> i have to weigh in. >> senator harris slammed the white house response to the pandemic, calling it -- >> the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country. i want to ask the american when how calm were y you were going to get your next roll of toileter p

>> vice president pence, the head of the white house coronavirus task f defended federally coordinated response. >> the difference here is perspective trump and i trust n the ameri people to make choices in the best interests of their health. joe biden and kamala harems consistently tk about mandates we're about freedom and respecting the freedom of the american people. >> in stark contrast to the first presidential face-off, harris and pence largely stu to the issues and their campaign issues. >>n the grw deal, the paris climate accord, it's going to kill jobs in time -- >> i need to respond briefly. joe biden you measure the health and strength of america's c based on the ameran worker and the h of the american family. on the other hand you have donald trump streck of the economy based on

how rich people>> are. voters on both sides of the aisle who watch it would debate with us said they welcomed the change in tone. >> who felt better about the wa the debate went tonight? >> but most were unsaffered with the candidates each answers. >> i dideel like both candidates were dodging the question. >> we get it, y'all don't like trump. attack the points. >> and they're wary of the next presidential debate. >> i hope d itsn't repeat itself but if it does, i don't see any sense in continuing to watch. >> for the pbs newshour, i'm amna nawaz. judy: for more on the detective and the state of the camign, i'm joined by lisa and yamiche. hello to both of you. and lisa, this was a more policy-oriented deb than last week between the president and joe biden so what are some of the mn policy contrasts

that emerged last night? first on climate change. you had senator harris saying it is an ex sense rble threat and significant actns needed now. on the other hand vice president pence just offer question, which is what is the cause and what do we do about it? not definitively giving his opinion on it. the other issueno is the e. vice president pence put out there that democrats in his opinion, are willing to shu down theconomy far too easily. senators harris posed different problem. she said that when you looat the trump administration, itvo the rich too much. judy: so we did see vice president pence defending the eesident, administration's response to the coronavirus. what, of awful he said about that stood out to you? >> what stood out the most is

that even though vice president pence is smoother and less brash thanhe president, not as combative, he was still trump administration talking points. he said over and over again that they had saved millions of lives, hundreds of thousands of americans because he believes that they did the best they could, banning travel for china from most people. he also said he believes they were strait with the american am --eople, that they've been honest when, in fact, president tmp has said he downplayed the virus as to not cause panic. mike pence said at one point there wasn't a white house pandemic office. that was dissolved. under the trump administration. then con plated black lives matters with rioting and looting in the streets, something that the president dulls over and over again. the questibecame did breonna's taylor gets justice?

he said i trust the justice system even know my heort breaks they want pence did including do the american ons, people have a right to know what president trump's meelts is like, also, where is prosecute trump's health care plan and will you complilt to a peaceful transfer of power? unanswered, president trump eager to get back on the he said he's going to hold a virtual rally, tomorrow with rush limbaugh. president trump is anxious to have his voice be heard. judy: now that the president has pummeled out of next week'sh detectives are you looking for from e biden camp in terms of their campaigning in coming days? >> we can tal about today. really we're seeing some of the first even closera totional campaigning yet for the both biden and harris are in arizona right now. their first appearance together

since the convention. they fst met with describal leaders there in arizona, and now a union hamm and alsong unvei campaign bus but biden was asked about his opinion on whether to expand the supreme court. he told reporters htwould no answer that question until after election day. theampaign told m that is because he doesn't want t presume that he will win. he thinks that issue distraction. however, in there is some criticism for mr. biden for not declaring what he thinks about that issue. judy: all right, we thank you both. ♪ ju: covid cases are continuing to spike around many parts of country, including

here in washington, d.c. where the president's own case and many others in his inner circle d around the white house have been a source of serious concern this past . we dr. anthony fauci joins me, the director of the national institute of allergyles and infectious diseases at n. . -- n.i.h. given what you've observed, when do you think president trump will be out of the woods? >> right now looks good and according to his report he feels good. it is entirely conceivable that he is already well on his way to being out of the woods. the one thing that his physicians are well aware of and anyone who fakes care o covid-19 patients are aware of the that this is a strange type of a virus because you good for a few days in a row reallyxpected downturn a u where your condition worsens.

i hope that doesn't happy. it's unlikely will it willt it has happened in the past to people, which is the reason why his physicians are aware of that and are making sure they're moniting even though he's out in the sense, in the white houses doing thi and working, he still needs to be caref that he doesn't relapse. we're hoping he doesn't. i don't think he will but it's conceivable that he might. judy: do you knowis when last covid-negative test was and is that relevant? >> i do not know, judy. i'm not provey to that information. judy: is it relevant? >> it's relevant obviously when he wants to get out into normal activity. the c.d.c. guidelines say that if you are 10 days from the pt onber of symptoms then you can go out into society you know, if you look at the time when he first got symptoms, i believe that was

thursday, you'll want to counts 10 day from the then en he was generally -- he can generally safely go out. usually backed up with negative sts which is likely what will happen. but he seems to be on a recovering chirse, we're all pleased about. judy: in retrospect was it to gs for the white house the rose guardsen but also doors, the event for judge barmentse where you had vy few people wearing masks, no social distancing. in retrospect. >> i'd have to answer it with a little modification. rather than making judgment on a specific episode. i would say something i that have said multiple times and have no problem repeating it now. that what you should do to avoid acquisition and transmission of infection is the uniform wearing of masks,

avoiding close contact, avoiding crowded situations. trying to do things outdoors much more than indoors and washing your hands regularly. at applies to everyone under every circumstance so that may answer your question. dy a number of those things kwuseut we now see the t the number of covid cases in washington, d.c., as i mentioned, rising. we now -- today,here was a letter sent to the white house by the health departments in the districts of columbia and nine other local jurisdictions urging people who work at the hite house to have a covid telling them to seek medical advice. my qstion is, do you -- is it your sense that the white house has taken the precautions it could? c.d.c. offer to help with

contact tracing. >> the only way that you could in all honesty and transparency answer the question is say what it is that suld have been done. whether they did it or not, i don't know but clearly when you have a situation when someone comes into close contact with a documented infected person, that means within six feet of a person for 15 minutes or more who is documented to have coronavirus infection. and the resumes are that you should get tested, number one,d even if you'reat nege, you should have either 14 days of quarantine or, if a person is in a situation where they can go intoocieties but they y have to a, wear a mask. b, be consciousan of dis, c, wash their hands frequently and d, if they have any symptoms, they have to pull

themselves out of circulation. those guidelines are very clear direct contact ofne who are inm has a documented infection. judy: dr. fauc the united states has been fighting covid-19 since, what, january when the first person was hospital lilesed. here we are, it's mid october almost andespite theummer slowdown and all the efforts to shut wedown masks, social distancing and all the things you're talking about, we're seeing an increase in many american states, in man american cities. was this inevitable? i mean, obviously, this is a formidable virus that has a extraordinary capability of being transmitted from person to person. but thind of outbreak that we had in the united states and that many other countries have had does not necessarily have to have beeninevitable. certainly there would be

considerable number of infnotion, but righif you look at where we are, we have a baseline ofdaily infections at about 40,000. it's kind of stuck tre at 40,000. as we enter the cooler months e of the fall andhe colder months of the winters, to be able to contain infection whe people are more indoors than they are odoors is going to be problem maltic and we're going to have to double down on the things that we likely should have done consistently. but if you look at the response as a whole there really has been inconsistency. you recall when we had the big spikes that went up to 70,000 ses per day, there were some sthates that didn't abide by one, phase two, phase three guidelines and to their own

credit, there were some states that tried to do it right. it didn't have to be in bad if we had done it in a way whe people uniformly abided by the public health measures. judy: a number of professional football players sting positive in recent dayshi do you there's a real change -- chance that thisfo ball nfl season may have to be called off? >> there's always a dangerth of , judy. i hope that that's not the case. they put a loof good-faith effort in trying to make it if it turns outs that those efforts fail, that's really unfortunate but i would leave that up to the judgment. the critical issue is the safety, welfare andh of the players and the personel associated with them. that's got toake precedents over everything else. thank you so much. >> thank you, judy.

i appreciate your having me on show. broken up an alleged plot by violent extremists in michigan to kild nap demratic governor gretchen whitmer and overthrow the state government. the shocking announcements of arrest includes details of plan to storm the state capitol. as john yang tells us, the plot began taking shape this summer after heated political battleses over the pandemic. >> 13 people are in ison on charges of state trip charges for threatening t seize the state capitol in lansing, michigan. the f.b.i.ays their goal was

to cate a self-sufficient society thath say would follow the bill of rights. in recorded ks, they called governor whitmer a tyrant.te this oon the governor pennied to president trump's rhetoric in last week's detective. >> hate groups heard the president's words as a rallying cry, as a call to action. when our leaders speak, their words matter. theyry c weight. when our leaders meet with, encourage or frateize with domestic trysts, their legitimize theirns act and terrorists, their legitimize their alaskas and they are complicit. >> the federal charges a carry maximum penalty of life in prison. the state charges a maximum of 20 years in prison. dana nestle is the attorney general of michigan. thank you very much for jning us. the f.b.i. affidavit that was

unsealed today details a very elaborately plan and would em plotted s here. meeting in ohio, meeting in wisconsin. having the governor's house under surveillance nightsnd day. what more can you tell us about how this plot was happen and would how it was to carried out. >> there's a lot to it. there are a lot more allegations than just involveling the plot to kidnap the governor. we also have a plot to take over thetate capitol and for a mass quarble casualties there. for threats against other public officials and law enforcement. there's more than just this one plomen to kidnap the governor and unfortunately it crosses many state lines. this is a michigan problem but not just a michigan problem. a it's arican problem right now and what we're seeing is this boodaloo movements and a

multitude and different organizations, white supremacy organizations, often tha work with one another. >> were these individuals, these groups peopl who had been on your radar? had you been watchingthem? >> yes. >> and watching them -- what th activities ha been carrying out or threaten to carry out or had bn involved in in the past? >> as i suggested, therere multiple different plots they've been hatching. in terms o what plots they were most serious about and the closest they got to any of them was this plot involving governor whitmer but there were a different number of diffent y had.gies t gentlemen that get together and go to target practice and chat amongst themselves. these are overt acts. these are multiple trainings

that term involved in. again, i -- across many states an it appearedas though they were prepared to move forward in their tions. so incredibly concerning and incredibly disturbing but something that we have to be aware of. and quite honestly, i would hope that we would look to our elected leaders and them that this is not empty rhetoric to theseiv iuals, right? >> what is the motivation of these group ofpeople? how would up describe them? ti a mi white supremacist? what was their motivating faor? >> certainly i would say there's white supremacy elements. the ones we charged have to do with the wolverine lodgemen militia group located in michig but they arein contact with other groups as well and the shared extremism is that on one hand tough white

supremacy, night nationalist ten it it -- tenet but on the y other, vch anti-government sentiments. it's strange and i'm very proud that my department worked in concert with the f.b.i. and both the u.s.or ays of the eastern and western districts ibecause this not politely motivated. i am a democr those individuals were put into their respective was offices by republicans but we work think anyone who's a se i ru member of law enforcement appreciates how shocking and isturbing this a is the grave threat it american society. >> thank you so much. >> thanks for having .me ♪ west. e stephanie with newshour

we'll return to st. jude after the latest hltsdzful an update on president trump's health. his physician released a memo that said mr. trump has responded extremely well to treatment, without evidence of adverse trapeutic effects. he said if the currents trajectory continues, he expects if president can returni to p engagements this weekend. hurricane deada blew toward louisiana and is expected to make landfalln friday evening. the storm restrengthed to a category 3 and is nowg aim for the lake charles region in louisiana that suffered major damage in augustfrom hurricane laura. new covid-19 infections world wide have jumped by the most yet. nearly 339,000 in the last 24 ur the world health organization says t largest increases came ia in ithe united states and brazil. within the u.s., wisconsin and

the dakotas are reporting the most new cases per captaina. new jobless claims in the u.s. dimmed last week but remained that news came today as prospects refor conomic wlowls academic advisor arr kudlow said is a aid for rplaneses -- airlines is a goal. the house speaker said the same with a caveat. >> now the house speaker believes we should shift to stand-alone bills t get the key points through. >> i have been very open to having a stand-alone bill for the airlines or part of agg bill but there is no stan-alo bill without a bigger bill. there is no bill. >> some 32,000 workerom two

top airlines alone were fur allowinged last -- furloughed last week. the federal deficit to $3.1 ed that just end. the most since worar 2. in wisconsin, a federal court blocked the extension of the deadline for counting ballots.s democre expected to appeal to the u.s. supreme court. on wall street today, stocks managed minor gainles. the dow jones industrial average was up o122 points t close at 28,425.ak the nass rose 56 points and the s&p 500 added 27. and american poet lue weels academic has won this year's know gell prifor liltture. she first came to prominence 1968 and has won a string of

honors. the swedish academy today called her one of the most prominent poets in american contemporary literature and compared her work to emany -- dickinson. announces a major withdrawal of u.s. groups from afghanistan. fighting between armena and azerbaijan threatens to draw regional powers into conflict. a critical race in maine could shame the balance of power in theu.s.senate, and more.un cer: this is the pbs newshour. from weta studios in scomba in the west. from the walter con -- cronkite scoop of journalism at arizona state c judy: y the taliban welcomed an announcemenby president trump, that all u.s. troops

should leave afghanistan by the end of te year. but the questions about how that announcement was received by the u.s. military, and by u.s. and afghan negotiators who are in peace talks right now. nick schifn joins me to explain. nick: threeim in the last 24 hours, the white house wanted to accelete withdrawal from afghanistan. the first instance was yesterday afternoon, when national security advisor robert o'brien spoke in las vegas -- nevada's a swing state -- and for the first time revealed a specific timetable for reducing troops in half. >> when the president took office, there re over 10,000 american troops in afghanistan. as of today, there are under 5,000, and that will go to 2,500 by early next year. nick: this morning he said this

during a phone interview with fox business anchor maria bartirom afghanistan.n to 4,000 troops in they're coming home, you know, as we speak. they' acting as policemen, ok they're not acting as troops. nick: the half-dozen military officials did not know, or robert o'brien's statement -- there has been no public statement up until now that there should be to any 500 defense officials tell me there was no coordination beforehand from the national security adviser before that speech. senior military officials oppose accelerating the withdrawal from afghanistan. even if they had to withdraw from afghanistan, they could not do it in a safe way, and it

would have to destroy equipmeha already in astan. any speedy withdrawal could also lead to the embassy having to reduce its presence, because the military provides security and transportation. but if theilitary is -- it is mutual. one white use official told me the military is "dragging their feet" on the withdrawal from -- and a separate u.s. official told me these statements "help remind the defense department" to take the withawal seriously. judy: fascinating. how does all of this affect the ongoing peace talks between the afghan government and the taliban? nick: on the one hand, like some previous presidential announcements, nothing may come of this. the military has not received any new formal orders. afghan watchers tell me it is already undermining the afghan government, and reducing pressure on the taliban. the u.s. dealne was s in february, it said that the u.s.

with --ra would witall troops from afghanistan only if the talib broke with al qaeda. that condition has bn repeated by diplomats again and again that draw -- that the withdraw is condition based. militarynd intelligence officials say they haven'meeven had the o fully assess whether the taliban have broken with aqaeda. everybody i am talking about -- i am talking with today say that the telegram probablyill not offer concessions. they will lie in wait until the u.s. withdraws. the announcement couldrencrease pres on the afghan government, however, afghan officials told today that tg u.s. is tell them that this is not a new policy. effectively, they can ignore the president's tweets. all of these people i am taing to today say that this signals a white house priority that is not the taliban-al qaeda condition.

it is e u.s. election. the desire to get out of asked -- out of afghanistan, and that could ma any progress that was already at a difcult piece talk, all the more difficult. judy: the timing of this is what is so intereing. are less than four weeks from the election. nick: less than four weeth, that is whaafghan governmen and u.s. diplomats and military are working with. dy: thank you, nick. nick: tha you. judy: fighting has broken out between two former s republics, azerbaijan and

armenia, ovethe ethnic-armenian enclave of nagorno karabakh. hundreds of lives have been lost since fighting began september 27th. with much ofhe world distracted by a global pandemic and a bitter u.s. election campaign, this return to war now ras. late today, the kremlin - which once ruled the two nations - said it wanted leaders from both sides to come to moscow for talks. buein this small corner on fringes of europe, neighboring powers are becoming involved, with unpredictable consequences. with support from the pulitzernt , special correspondent simon ostrovsky reports from nagorno-karabakh. simon: for armenians have cowered in shelters asow bombs rained

from them from the sky. y>> t are shooting, come over here. it is coming in close. simon: it is a bitter conflict. in a region where turkey is taking an increased interest with ambitions to be a regional power broker. >> they have been shooting all day, destroying everything. simon: this is the first full-scale wars thatking place here since ethnic armenian one control of nagorno-kabakh more than 25 years ago. but i now, the small breakaw the caucuses button to poland large and -- to pl in large and rarional powers. nia is already in a fight, sending troops. turkey has thrown its weight kind its ally azerbaijan,

supplying arms as well as mercenaries from syria. absent from the battlefield for -- is our mia's armenia's ally, moscow. armenians amended- demanded ka rabakh be a part of. armen >> it is hard h to describe terrifying it is when the city is being shelved. n all you ck about is, how can i get low? how can i get safe? simon: aroup of men show me a piece of a rocket that landed in a residential area. >> [speaking foreign language]it s turkish. it is from an f16. >> [speaking foreign language]

simon:e many liev that turkey orchestrated this he, using weapons supplied by the united states on the relation ofkh kara. enian prime minister ha said as much himself. ng the turkish military are in different commanositions and leading the azerbaijani military. simon: turkey is not the onlypp country sulying a azerbaijan. the weapon that we found it -- it turned out to be a soviet made missile. in fact,ust under 3% of azerbaijan's weapons come from turkey. more than half of its weapons were impor the last five years. a further 41% came froms. anothr lly, israel. russia is the onlyliajor su of arms to both sides of this or. -- this war.

>> [speaking foreign language] please tell our big brother vladimir putin to put his fist down. he knows uto do that. simon: hope grew dimmer after putin said yesterday that his current tree' -- his coutyry's troes not cover karabakh. place over the territory ofing armenia. simon:er i asked a spoken about russia supplying weaponry to ourans enemies -- armenia's enemies. >> thect turks arelly fighting against us. simon: they call in internat bins to our book -- weapons to azerbaijan. >> azerbaijan wants to make

genocide acts here agnst all armenians. that is w it is dangerous t be in the open. simon: jus as we begin our intervie we hear and attack drones circling overhead. a cameraman dives to cover in an adjacent room. >> our forces are trying to shoot it down. several countries are supplying drones to azerbaijan, among them turkey and israel. simon: attacks on civilians -- ethnic armenian fmaces have showr several -- several major cities on the front line as well. wthis foota filmed in the city today. in all, 30 civilians have been

killed on the azerbaijini side accordg to officials. compared to around two dozen here. military casualties are estimated to be in the hundreds. with no end to the fighting insight, civilians have begun fleeing the area. an estimated 75 thousand have run across the border to armenia already. this elderly couple were on their way t stay with her daughter in the armenian capital. >> we could not leave the cellar. we could not even bathe. >> there is noci gas, electrity, long can you survive on bread alone? simon: i am in nagorno-karakh. ♪ focuses on the race for the

white house, control over the u.s. senate is hugely important as well. it is up for grabs. the respect report sees 12 sena races and play. 10 of them currently heldy republicans, including south carolina, where three term senator lindsey graham is running for reelection in a contest seen as a tossup. farther north in maine, susan collins saw a rise, but democrats see it as one of their best opportunities. lisa desjardins is here with a report. >> this is not politics as usual in maine. susan collins is in the fight for her life, running almost like an underdog. >> a very warm welcome.

>> remarks in other. even a campaign best touring the state. the woman hoping to unseat her. .>> good to see you >> relative newcomer sara gideon - a democratic star who is , speaker of the state house -r om health care a major focus. she has been ahead in most polls her signature event , "supper with sara - oter questions - was open to all but has been invitation only during the pandemic. both women are running on records of bipartisanship - but with sky-high partisan stakes - who wins will help decide which party controls the u-se. the result -- an onslaught of ads. >> you just can't trust anything sara gideon says. someone who moved to maine and charging shere is artisan than she claims. >> a risky choice. >> or that collins is a former

independent. >> she isn't for us anymore. >> susan collins never stands up to donald trump. >> at least 60 million dollars in a state with fewer than 1 million people. >> all this on top of what has happened with the president and the coronavirus. but voters we talked to here say that's not a factor in their decision on the senate race. the campaigns, however, sas the coronavis changed how they operate. >> be respectful of people's space. please have a mask on at all >> team collins just resumed door-knocking in the past two weeks sothing they usually , would have done for months. phone banks are now virtual - with volunteers like mary smith working solo, from home. smith shows why collins is so vulnerable. she's a democrat who voted for her in the past and now thinks collins has changed. >> usa. usa. >> that's directly related to

paesident trump and his takeover of the republicarty - something that is an i, ue for lnerable republicans across the country like collins. >> i think, you know, what really did it for me was her vote on the kavanaugh nomination and the 2017 tax cut and also in the impeachment and her comments that she thought that donald after that. lesson so i really looked long and hard for me anymore.d that she wasn't >> collins disputes this narrative. >> n it's ju true. my voting record is as independent as ever. for the seventh year in a row, i've been named the most >> that's correct.of the senate. according to the political data site 538.com, collins has voted just two-thirds of the time with mister trump, the least of any republican in the senate. but that also means, she's not

trump enough for his core voters. it is a partisan vice grip. >> well, it's certainly hofficult to be a centrist believes in a search for common ground in this highly polarized environment that we're in. >> this leaves collins running on her personal relationshipin with her stateuding what she's done for roads and downtowns like thiby bringing home hundreds of millions in federal llars. that means a lot to stephen auburn, a town of 23,000 which worked for a decade to build this park - d got critical help from collins. he admits its an intense race. >> there's a lot of people upset with collins. personally, i feel like collins is a better choice than gideon because we know ou wtrack record re she's going. >> he's worried about gideon'spo past s of raising a fuel tax to address climate issues. others question if gideon would expand the supreme court.want to to us, she seemed to say no. if you ask me today if

think those proposals help us get back to the place that i think is essential for a functioning democracy and functioning government, i don't see how they get us there. >> the state, like the country, is divided >> i'm going to vote for susan collins. i'm proud as a woman at her nddedicationervice. >> of course, i support sarah gideon. susan collins halet us down. >> maine is knn for its strong, rocky coast and strong-minded voters. whether susan collins has about changed, but about whether maine's vor rs have. e pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins, traveling in maine. ♪ judy: to be or not to be, seven months into the pandemic, live theaters are struggling to raise

the curtain. john yang is back to take us to one regional company in rural virginia that hopes it has found a way for the show go on -- safely. it's part of our ongoing ameran creators series on rural arts and canvas, our coverage of arts and culture. >> theater audiences have gotten used to admonitions about silencing cell phones. but unusual times call for unusual requests. >> we ask that you continue to wear your masks and wear them properly. if you do n ifhis pandemic doesn't. >> at the american shakespeare center, nestled in virginia' 's shenandoley, a rare sight: live theater, indoors, with a live audience -- alternating performances of "othel" and "twelfth night" through october 18th. >>er some of thelarge organization i think they can afford to kind of run for the hills. wait for the wave to break and

en come back, reopen. >> artistic director ethan mcswee. >> the small and mid-sized like us, i guess our solution was to surf the wave and hopefully stay ataf >> mcsweeny led an appropriately distanced tour of the 32-year-old company's eater. >> you don't expect this when you come into the small town of staunton, virginia, and you walk into our sort of unprepossessing, rather ordinary lobby, and then you're in here es this incredible world's only recreation of share's indoor theater. the blackfriars playhouse. >> like shakespeare's 17-century scenery, no sound icationimal and "universal lighting," illuminating both audience and actors. but unlike the bard's theater -- even though it operated at the time of the bubonic plague --th e e elaborate safety precautions. >> we started creating a series of protocols that we ep calling safe start. we started with the workplace protocols and also added thece

audirotocols, many of ich are the same and similar. but it was i mean, obviously, as the name suggests, safety is thr pr >> for the actors, the plan developed with medical advice,wo had an initialeek quarantine with rehearsals over zoom. next came in-person rehearsals, first with masks and then gradually without. backstage personnel and management still must wear masks to let patrons choose the way they're most comfortable seeing a show, for the first time, the performances on the grounds of the nearby blackburn inn and streamed performances on the internet. "othello" is set in venice at the time of the plague, so some infection rates are relatively low in the area and the company has not had any covid cases. the performers have daily symptom checks, live in iheir own bubbcompany-provided

housing and have signed an "isolation covenant." jessika d. williams plays the title role in "othello." >> you know, this is not risk free. it's like, we're tightened it up and i think we' job and we are all taking care of each other. ngand it's been woro far. >> john harrell is in his 26th season with the theater. >> i think we all know the being responsible to a largerour group. but thats a condition that ensemble actors are used to. whether it's co otherkn things we al, you know, actors are always on time. and we always know our lin. >> from the stage, cast members keep an eye on whether audiences obey the requirement to keep their masks on. theyan stop a performance any time. >> it adds a certain level of it's like, well, she's taking a

deep breath and going to put it right back on. joining to stop the show? do i alert thetage management? so far, everybody's been really compliant with our rules. >> the mask requirement for audiences has meant some adjustment for actors. >> you're used to looking at that person smiling. is that person on the ver of laughing at this jo? do they lo angry, bored? all of those cuethat we take. but i've started noticing that anyway, it's just a little bit give just pay a little bit more attentio so it was odd at fthst, but like ike with everything else in this pandemic, it's gotten easiernd you just get more used to it. >> audience members at a recent indoor matinee of "othello" said they felt safe. ezrionna prioleau and kara painter came from nearby, harrisonburginia.

>> i mean, we were more than six feet away from the closest person. and so knowing that and seeing that makes it feel like they're doing all they can. >> and theater is probablybout one of the oldest forms of art storytelling. so like bringing it utside or bringing it inside, it's still just the same core of telling the story, telling peop's point of veaw and kind ofing and growing with other people. >> laura lattimer anshobhit gupta traveled from charlottesville, virginia. >> i wish i weren't wearing a mask, but i think they made it. they made a good show that, you know, kind of gave them whone their masktage, as you saw at some recognizing the times is point. very shakespeare, two. -- too. >> some said attending a live performance for the first time in nearly w a yea surprisingly moving. >> i didn't realize how much i missed it when the before the performance arted and they and came out singing. i started weeping ani was

completely unexpted, it was moving. >> the theater hopes it has found a way to proviit more peoplethat experience during the pandemic. announcing that in december, it will stage theic holiday cla a christmas carol. for the pbs newshour, i am john yang instead jenny a. judy: so wonderful. yothan that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and aere tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newsur, thank you, please stay safe d we will see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour h been provided by -- >> architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financiil advisor tas advice to let you live your life. lifeell planned. sumerr 25 years, c

cellular has offered contracts designed to help people do more of what they like. our u.s.-based customer service team can help find the plan that fits you. to learn more, visit consumer cellular.tv. >> johnson & johnson. bmsf railway. the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. ♪ >> the alfred p sloan foundation. ♪ >> andith the ongoing support of these institutions. and friends of t newshour.

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs news station from viewers like you. thk you. >> this is pbs newshour west from studios in washington and at the walte cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪ ♪d

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