captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc i'm judy woodruff.evening. on the newshour tonight: the oncomingtorm. hurricane delta hits the gulf coast with high winds that could turn debris from pvious storms into dangerous projectiles. then, feeding those in need. the united nations' world food program is awarded the nobel peace prize for its workdu ring the pandemic. we talk with today's winner. >> this is what's reallyi think, the great news that we've gotten this award so we couldll really have a o action. the bad news is the fact that we should be given this awardhe because of allunger around the world. >> woodruff: and, it's friday. mark shields and david brooksdo brea the president's handling of his coronavirus diagnosis, the vice presidential

debate, and the approachg election. all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 year bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> fidelity wealth management.

>> consumer cellular. >> financial services firm raymond james. j nson & johnson. >> the john s. and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support hese institutions: and friendof 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: hurricane delta is lashing the gulf coast tonight. the category 2 storm icted

to make landfall in southwest louisiana this evening. outer bands have been hitting throughout the afternoon, dumping rain in towns and cities including galvesn in southeast texas and pounding lake charles in louisiana with strong winds. this is the second hurrica to hit the region in just six weeks. it is also the fifth hurricane and tenth named storm to make landfall in the u.s. this season, makinghis one of the most active hurricane seasons in a century. ken graham is the director of the national hurricane center.e he joinsom miami. ken graham, thank you for joining us again. give us the very latest on where hurricane delta is. still 105-mile an hour winds, so still a significantly strong hurricane here, and we are right now getting part of the eye wall moving oshore in southwest louisiana, close to where we had llrricane w laura also make

. ille hurricane force winds w move through louisiana, so many will feel the tropical storm int additi the hurricane force winds. >> woodruff: tell me what people should be cost concerned about here, the water, the winds oroth? it really is both. it's a large storm. larger storms produce more storm surge. the tropical storm force winds exte about 160 miles from theer cend the onshore flow is causing the water to rise. in some locations wready have six-foot rises with the storm surge andeth not even high tide. the storm surge is thing cause of fatalities in theseic tr systems and in some areas along the louisiana coasty vermillion could get 7 to 11'storm surge, that's water above land that's normalldry. woodruff: what about the

speed at which this hurricane is moving. what does that tell you? >> it's been a fast-moving storm for most of its life cycle and, so you will see hurricane forcey winds further innerland because of that speed but, as a result when it moves that fast, you won't get as much rain. so youill get big rainfall totals, some aras get 6 to 10 inches. but because it's moving fast, you will see tropal storm force winds impacting louisiana, getting up to northernwinds mississippi. >> woodruff: one ofhe most active hurricane seasons in history. how are all of you at the hurricane nter dealing with this? how do you see this? >> it has been busy. you think about breaking ther recordom 1916, with ten landfalls in the u.s.nd it's all on deck. we're getting it done, just everything we can do to keep everybody safe from these hurricanes. >> woodruff: and there are always storms coming behind this

one. >> exactly. we still have a ways to go in this hurricane season.t it end end of november, so we've got to keep our plans inac and watch the tropics. >> woodruff: ken graham at the national hurricane center. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: in the other news, president trump is restarting his campaign, justte over a week falling ill with covid-19. aides say he will address a crowd tomorrow from a white house balcony. and, he will hold rally in on monday. today, he spent two hours on the "rush limbaugh" radio sh, and pushed for distribution of an experimentalnti-body drug that he was given. >> people are going to getdi imely better, like i did. i mean, i feel better now than i

did two weeks ago. it's crazy. and i recovered immediately, almost immediately. i might not have recovered at all from covid. >> woodruff: tonight, mr. trump has his first tv interince being diagnosed. "fox news" says that he will also have a medical evaluation on the air. meanwhile, in las vegas toda democratic nominee joe biden urged latino voters to go to the polls. >> you can detmi the outcome not just for president, but for senate, for the congress.he that'siggest mark, the single most consequential thing anyone can do, is vote. >> woodruff: the former vice president will campaign tomorrow in pennsylvania. the white house has upped its offer on a new round of economic relief. that comes after president trump urged negotiators to "go big." he had called off talks earlier this week. today, treasury secretary steven

mnuchin proposed $1.8 trillion. democrats' most recent offer was $2.2 trillion. house speaker nancy pelosi unveiled plans today for evaluating the president's fitness for fice. the bill would create a commission authorized under the 25th amendment to the constitution, allowing for removal of a president. pelosi argued that it is about more than president trump. >> he will face the judgment of but he shows the nr us to create a process for future presidents. it isn't about any of us making a decision as to whether the 25th amendment should be invoked. that totally not the point. >> woodruff: the white house and senate republican leaders dismissed the proposal. o w details emerged today in the alleged plotdnap michigan's democratic governor gretchen whitmer. the state attorney general said

that authorities moved whitmerfa and hely several times, for their safety, during the investigation. in all, 13 men face state or federal charges. at least seven are affiliated with a far-right paramilitary group. the u.n. world food program has won this year's nobel peace prize for its work combating hunger. the nobel committee said today that recognizing the agency's work symbolizes the need for unity amid the global pandem. we will hear from the w.f.p.'s stop official after the n summary. russia called ste foreign mis of armenia and bid to halt nearlyeeks of., in a fighti the flare-up over the disputed nagorno-karabakh region is the worst in 25 years. t, armenia's prime minister said today, his country wants peace. committed to a peacefulre settlement of the karabakh conflict, and are ready to p resume the peacess, in accordance with the recent

statements from the europeancu ty group. >> woodruff: azerbaijan's president said that a settlement is possible, on principles offered by the u.s., russia, ann . back in this country, twitter will bar candidates from rdeclaring victory beforee is called, and tighten rules against spreading misinfmation and inciting violence. the company also said todayth it will make it harder to retweet misleading posts. twitter already banned political advertisg. federal judge in florida refused today to extend the state's voter registration deadline. computer crash on monday potentially blocked thousands of people from signing up. and in ohio, elections officials announced that nearly 50,000 voters around columbus received flawed absentee ballots. they promised to mail out new ones. on wall street, stocks finished out friday with another rally. the dow jones industrial average

gained 161 points to close near 28,587. the nasdaq rose almost 159 pointsand the s&p 500 added 30. overall, the dow had its best week since august. the s&p and the nasdaq had the best week since july. and, new york yankees pitching great and hall of famer whitey ford has die he had alzheimer's disease. ford was a key to the ees dominance in the 1950s and '60s, and he was a six-time world seri champion. he had the best winning r percentage of any pitche the 20th century. whitey ford was 91 years old. still to come on the newshour: the united nations world food program is awarded the nobel peace prize for its rk during the pandemic. a former speechwriter for john mccain discusses his new book, and why he supports biden for president. two years after his murder, a ssw film examines the life and

legacy of saudi ent jamal khashoggi. plus, much more. >> woodruff: as we reported, the nobel peace prize was awarded today to the u.n.'s world food program for its work combating e global hungeecially during the pandemic. amna nawaz spoke early this morning with the w.f.p.'s leader, who was in niger, as o paa mission. >> nawaz: david beasley, welcome to you, and congratulations. >> you know, it'absolutelyel? unbelievable. i'm here in niger, which is probably the most appropriate

place to be as we've received this award, because i want the world to understand that people are struggli all over the world. and so i was in a meeting, as we were talking about issues in niger-- starvation because of climate extremes as well arowar conflictextremist groups. and so somebody walked in the meeting and said, well, a nobel peace prize.ke i', yeah, wow. who got it? who got it? and they said, we did. the worlfood program. and i was like, oh, my gosh. wow. i mean, the first time i-- i think my life, i was speechless. ( applause ) >> nawaz: anyone who knows you knows that it is very rare for david beasley to be speechless. but let me ask you, because the headf your agency was able t intensify the work that you're doing to meet this dramatic rise in global hunger around the world during the pandemic. they said you mewith impressive ability. but tell us, what has that rise

been like? how much worse has global hunger gotten, and how have you been able to meet that need? >> well, this is what's really, i think, the great news that we've gotten this award, so weco d really have a call to action. the bad news is the fact that we should be given this awardhe because of allunger around the world. and quite frankly, it's most of us men-made-driven. and if you compound that with climate extremes, when you look at the fact of just in the last three years, the number people on the brink of starvation had risen-- beforeovid, 80 million, to 135 million. and now with covid, the number of people-- and i'm not taing about people "going to bed hungry"-- on the brink of starvation now to 270 million people. and quite frankly, with the billionaires making hundreds of billions of dollars off ofvi we're facing the worst humanitarian crises since world war ii.ey eed to step up. we need an extra $5 billion to save millions of lives aroundd. the wo this is a call to action.

with all the wealth in the worlh today, no onld be dying from hunger. not a single person. >> nawaz: david, you've mentioned $5 billion in need just to keep people off the brink of starvation,ou reference those billionaires. there's more than 2,000 billionaires in the world.ad you'vethe point before. when you talk to them, do you think that they will step up in thisoment? what's been the response from the world's wethiest people? >> well, you know, the $5 billion that we're talking about is additional money,ecause we feed 100 million people. it literally is. the starvation rate is sping because of covid and economic deterioration. the billionaires have got to step in. we're just asking them to step in this one time to help humanity. the world needs them.wi and be very disappointed if they don't. but what is-- i mean, i know $5 billion is a lot of money, but for the billionaires that are king literally hundreds billions during covid, come on. come on. please be with us. in our hands. show the world you care. let's do it together, because no onshould go to bed hungry.

no one should starve to death today because of hunger, with the wealth we have today. >> nawaz: david, where are the hotspots? you and i have spoken before about yemen, where two-thirds oi the popu is food-insecure at the moment. where else is the greatest need right now? >> well, you know, economic deterioration is really causing a disruption for a lot of people's lives all over the world, but especially in places like yemen, sudan, south sudan, syria,ebanon, iraq. and where i am right now is in niger.an the sahel, where millions of people have been impacted because of climate extremes and compounded by extremist groups that are coming in exploiting the situation. and now covid on top of that, and literally about a dozen or two dozen places around the world that, we don't get the things are going to happen.ee one, you will have famine. i mean, literally of biblical oportions. number two, you're going to have destabilization. and number three, you're going to have mass migration. and we can solve all that.

we have a cure against starvation. it is called food.d anwe need money to get it to the people that need the help. if you don't, you're going to pay for it a thousand-fold morel with the ps that result from a lack of security, because when you have food insecurity, you have destabilization, war and conflict and migration. >> nawaz: david beasley, it is an incredible honor for a wonderful organization, led by you, the executive director of the world food program, today awarded thnobel peace prize. congratulations to you and your team. u for being with us. >> thank you so much. great to be with you. anthi hope to see you again better news, with more money. >> woodruff: it has ore >> woodruff: in early october,

2018, "washington post" coedmnist jamal khashoggi wa into the saudi consulate in istanbul in pursuit of documents for his impending marriage. he did not know he was the one being pursued. his brutal murder there became a global story. he was perhaps the most high- profile critic of his homeland's monarchy. now, a new film charts his life, his grisly death, his legacy, and where saudi arabia is right now. here's nick schifrin. >> schifrin: jamal khashoggi's murder snuffed out a critic of today's saudi government.la two yearr, his allies are trying to ensure his silenced voice can still be heard. a new film released iday shows a complex man who never completed his final act. lawrence wright is a writer, and the executive producer o "kingdom of silence." >> i see jamal's life in three acts, just like a-- you know, classical dra. >> schifrin: that first act was in afghanistan, covering the u.s.-backed mujahadeen fighting

the soviet union. he helped make the leading arab anti-russian fighter famous. m >> osama for the first time at the end of '87. of made my name inield oft kind journalism. >> schifrin: but after 9/11, khashoggi turned against bin laden's manipulated version of islam. khashoggi wrote this, as read by an actor: >> "weust ensure that our children can never be influenced by extremist ideas, like those 15 saudis who were misled into piloting them-- and all of us-- >> schifrin: khashoggi joined the saudi government and championed u.s.-saudi relations, including thwar in iraq. t then, his third act. the arab spring birthed his belief in freedom of speech ase y to regional reform. he started a news channel called al-arab, designed to give saudis access to uncensored

information. the new sai king salman, and his son, crown prince mohammad bin salman, or m.b.s., rejected al-arab and ee media as a threat. khashoggi had to flee saudi arab he watched as m.b.s. persecuted his critics and tolerated no dissent. saudi activist yahya assiri spoke at a recent project on middle east decracy event. >> if you go, for example, to challenge the regime, to will take you to prison. >> schifrin: khashoggi became an m.b.s. critic, in the pages ofth "washington post." >> "saudi arabia wasn't always this repressiv i have left my home, my family, and i am raising mice." >> schifrin: that cost him his life. he walked into the s consulate in istanbul, and was murdered by saudi agents close one even put on khashoggi's clothes and walked out of the consulate to try and deceive the

cctv cameras. >> this kind of grotesque barbarism, the theater that they hat on for the whole world, ng some guy trot out his clothes, it was just too much. >> schifrin: sarah leah whitson is a human rights advocate, and was a longtime friend of tashoggi. >>hank you for joining me in >> schifrin: last week, she relaunched an organization that dashoggi created. >> dawocracy for the arab world now. >> the only solution that will bring lasting peace and s stability,ecurity, prosperity, but alsoignity to the people of the region was democracy and human rights. >> schifrin: initially, m.b.s. was considered a reformer. on a 2018 u.s. tour, he met silicon valley executives, the u.n. secretary general, and president trump. >> we've become very good frnds. >> schifrin: for the trump administrationm.b.s. has helped lead an anti-iran alliance and bought american weapons... ( explosions ) ...including for the saudi- backed war in yemen that hasho killed tens ofands ofvi cilians. back home, m.b.s. has ushered in

dramatic reforms, trying to curb the conservative clergy'power and allowing women to attend movies and sporting events. >> jamal believed that m.b.s. the one he was take. >> dawn was calling out governments. >> we want to focus very specificallyn the one in which the american people, the american citizenry are enabling and promote ago dictatorship and tyranny in the middle east. >> the saudi government said it punished khashoggi's murderers but shiewrgts officials say the man who likely ordered the murder walked free. >> i hoped there would be some kind of accountability, but the's not. at the governmental level, there's just not. >> while judicial justice evadep

us, nbs hasaid a huge price and, in the court of public opinion, he has been found guilty. >> last moh, a group saudis first opposition party.ntry's the group hopes to institute democracy as a forof government in the kingdom. that's not expected soon. >> people are beginning to wonder, do we really need these inople? i think at that saudi arabia's going to face a terrible crisis, and iwould have done better if jamal had m been here to help show te way. >> schifrin: khashoggi didn't live to see that final act, but e s death helped guarantee that the conversationarted in life, will continue. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick hifrin.

>> woodruff: it has been me than two years since the death of arizona senator john mccain. but, the legacy and influence of the former republican presidential nominee is being felt during this election year. his widow cindy recentlydo ed joe biden for president, and she made an appearance with him on the camp week.ail earlier this mark salter was a longtime aide and confidant of senator mccain, and he examines his life in a new book, "the luckiest man," which comes out on tuesday. d he joins us now. mark salter, welcome back to the "newshour". i don't saythis about many stories about politicians, but this is a beautiful book. i dare anybody to read it without tearing up. you were not only his long-time aid, you wrote for him. but you were also his close friend, and i notice at the ver beginning to have the book, you said john mccain -- beginning of the book, yoau sid john mccain felt called by history. what did you mean?>> ell, you know, i titled "the

luckiest man"ook because that's how he viewed himself and he pbably survived multiple brushes with death and what he would call the flaws of his own nature, his temp, impetuousness, his rebelliousness. he used to say fifth from the bottom of my class at the navel academy and the republican nominee for president, unbelievable, and he got topa icipate in history in great events and helped influence the course of history and his country's success mattered greatly to him he always told the story of his father who was an admiral, four-star admirable but was a young officer in world war ii a submarine commander and when the japanese bombed pear pearl harba black sedan pulled up in front of their house ands collected h dad and he doesn't remember

seeing his father again till the end of the war. he felt that box van was histd y d come to collect his father and he deeply wanted that for hill and i think he managed to do it. >> woodruff: ny wonderful stories mere. you talk about the small gap between the private john mccain psd the public john mccain. his character juut throughout this book. you talk about, as yosaid, the impatience, generosity, restlessness, how he barely ever lost hope. you said what mattered to him is you acted honorably in service of something more importantly th yourself and you treated people fairly. it was pretty straightfs ward. >> he man who lived by a code he learned from his father and his grandfather a from his family were in the military and every generation as far back as the revolution. he got it from the hoor codes at the episcopal boarding school

where he went to high school and the navel academy, even thgh heas very rebellious in both those places, he never vioted the honor code he lived by and i think the central premise of th code is you redeem yourself from your flaws and failings through courage and self-sacrifice and service to otherand he did that at great cost over and over again. >> woodruff: and you write, we remember john mccain fis fight for campaign finance reform, for immigration reform, certainly for his advocacy of a strong defense, for s choice of sarah palin as his wrunning man he was the republican nominee for president in 2008. but was the summer of 2018, mark salter, after he had beesen diagwith terminal brain cancer when he insisted on coming back to washington for that senate vot on the reblican effort to repealac obe, the a.c.a., and he was determined to be there.

why? >> well, i think because the way he dealt with any adversity was to keep juhest plowingad. he had called me before he had been dig knowed to tlk about how -- diagnosed to talk about how the leadership was writing this alternative or what they were proposing as an alternative to the affordable care act and doing it, w weren't going by regular order, which means we were going to with a republican alternative that had no buy-in from the democrats andouldn't keep their promise to replace obamacare with something as good or bette so he'd already had that on his mind. but none of us anticipated the diagnosis he got. that stunned all of us.d when he cale to tell me what the diagnosis was, he sort of glossed overt he said, 'm going to fly back to washington. the doctors tell me i can't but i'm going to. >> woodruff: and he was going against his good friends in the republican partcty,

mcconnell, lindsey graham. >> they called him the maverick and thought he seed to enjoy sometimes disappoting his fellow republicans. he didn't enjoy it. it wasn't anything he took pride or pleasure in. he felt the burden.he said i don't want toalway be the dog in the manger, but h knew -- he received a bad diagnosis, but he would access to the best medical ca attainable. many other people in situation wouldn't. he didn't want to be a part of a process that was a political gesture more than anything else, really, not a policy gesture, it was a polalit gesture that would deny others adquate medical care and not offer anything in replace. so it was a difficucision but not one i think he second guessed himself on. >> woodruff: we said, his

we do, cidy, has beeendorsed and been very public in her support for joe biden. what did senator mccain think of donald trump? >> well, he didn't care for him, i think that was clear. he dn't vote for hi last time say what he would do in thent election, that's not fair to him, he's not here to tl us, but i don't think donald trump is someone who improves on longer acquaintance. i imagine he didn't support him last timed wouldn't this time. he thought he was somethingf a clown, and he didn't -- you know, for a guy -- going back to what i consider the central tenet of his code that you acty bravd sacrifice for others, donald trump's the antithesis of that. 's also, through inptitude, through ignonce, you know, doing great damage to alliances that john mccain spent a great deal of time tending to and

valuing and helping to thrive. that would op him. and he's also -- trump'saf nity for dictators, like kim jong un and vladimir putin and erdogan and others bothered him greatly. in fact, the harshest statement i heard him make about my president was the statement heft madeer the helsinki summit after trump said he took the word of vladimir putin over the assessment of erica's own intelligence services. >> woodruff: well, the book is definitely one to remember. it's th "the luckiest man," the life with john mccain. mark salter, thank you for joining us.ve >> you'r kind to say so, judy, and thank you for having me on. thank you veryuch. >> woodruff: as the president h

looks hlight his own recovery from coronavirus, casen are once aurging in several states, just weeks that includes the ground of wisconsin, where president ictrump is trailing former president joe biden by five perctage points, according t the latest polls. our yamiche alcindor looks at how the virus is impacting the race there >> alcindor: oshkosh, wisconsins ne of the country's fastest growing coronavirus hotspots. in recent weeks, cases have surged here and across wisconsin, a state that also happens to be key to president trump's reelection.ta >> our hos are becoming overwhelmed. >> alcindor: doug gieryn is the winnebago county hlth director. he hoped the president's own experience with the virus would cause people to take it more but, he says, it didn't. >> don't be afraid of it. you're going to beat it. >> for him to have a posite test was a great opportunity to really express to the public how serious this disease can be for

some individuals. and unfortunately, it's been minimized and-- and we're stil on the same path that we were >> alcindor: in 2016, president trump flipped wisconsin red by fewer than 23,000 votes, thanks partly to his sweep of this northeast section of the state, known as the fox river valley.it become one of wisconsin's most politically-divideds, regind that was even before the coronavirus pandemic. >> my vote was never shifted in any way. >> alcindor: republican nate gustafson suppt'ts the presidhandling of the virus. >> well, hello, oshkosh. >> alcindor: he was excited to see the president in person at an august rally in oshkosh. ee county was already in so-called "red zone," with a high level of cases, according to the white house coron.irus task for >> trump taking the actions that he did when he did were so crucial at the time. >> alcindor: both a sibling and aunt of his have contracted t virus, but they've gotten better. the economic toll of the vus

>> covid's not killing these people, and they're not even, catching covt in some way, shape or form with the economy taking a hit, that is impacting them. obviously, we see the spike here in this area in where we are now, even with our current governors mask mandate. >> alcdor: in wisconsin, about 150,000 people have gotten coronavirus and more than 1,400 have died from it.al experts say wearing facial coverings help stop the spread of the virus. t, while nearly three-quarters of wisconsin voters support requiring masks in public, the precaution has become deeply political.nt >> if you o wear a mask because you feel comfortable and it's going to help you, and you feel that it is going to prevent spread-- wear it. but when you start demanding and enforcing and telling people that you have to do something in a certain way, that it's goinge toeffective. >> i've had friends who've had masks torn off their facr:. >> alcineenah resident anne winters is a cancer survivor. she is immune-compromised, as is .her five-year-old son dr winters is a democrat voting for

former vice president joe biden. >> i'm more than disappointed in .how trump has handled th i don't expect any politician to be pfect, but i do expect th to actually care about us as citizens. and i expect them to set a good example for us as citizens. i don't understandow anyone can look at him and think thatle cruelty and caness with the american public is a great man. >> he's 74 years old, and he got over it. >> alcindor: but some republicans, like becky and jeff verbeke of nearby appleton, say president trump's own covid-19 diagnosis and quick return to the white house confirm their views of the virus. >> i believe it's being used as a tool to lock people up, to force people away, to make people-- >> to make people angry and make like the person whtake them feel wearing it is going to make them sick. if you don't have any issues. it's like having the flu. you might be down for a few days. if you- if your immune system's down, you might be down for a week, but you're going to

recover. t you're goibe okay. >> alcindor: but, scientists say president trump, who is 74 and overweight, is actually a gh risk for complications. and, according to c.d.c. estimates, covid-19 has killedmo people this year than the seasonal flu killed in the last five years combined. and it's had a disproportionate impactack people and people of color. t >> i don't thit the president has taken it serious as far as how to com in communities of color, because he likes to feed into the hands of the people he feel wilvote for him. >> alcindor: jeremy bradley's youngest son got covid-19 in august and recovered. but while at a protest against police brutality, bradley saiddo the president'playing of the virus shows that president trump doesn't understand his privilege.so >> he' of downplaying it, and feeding into the-- "it shouldn't be a problem. you guys can get over it, because i did." even though he has the best

doctors possible to combat it, where everybody else isn't able get that kind of medical assistance. >> alcindor: in 2016, sarah leet joined 150,0 other wisconsin voters in supporting a third- party candidate. this year, though, she's voting for biden, because of the president's response to theic pand >> i don't think that he still to this minute understands that this is a national crisis. his leadership, for betterr for worse, does have an impact. asthink to a point, i most almost evemed that i think that hearing it over and over from him subconsciously affected how i thought about it myself.ay i thought,, you kn, maybe it's not something that ie to worry about. >> alcindor: but in the last not knowing anyone with thefrom virus, to knowing five people who've tested positive. th o's just a small fractionf

the growing number of cases across wisconsin. for the pbs newshour, i'm yamiche alcindor >> woodruff: each week feels like a whirlwind of news-- it is hard to make sense of it all. must this evening the commission on presidential debates officially canceled next week's debate following esident trump ying he uld not participate in a virtual event. thankfully, we havthe analysis thankfully, we have the analysis of shields and brooks. that is syndicated columnist mark shields, and "new york times" columnist david brooks. he to to both of you. after another news-filled week, mark, you just listened to the report from wisnsin, yamiche's report. what is your sense of voters'ke n how the president has

handled coronavirus and how it's affecting their vote.t >> well, it's od, judy. this is an area where joe biden has a decisive margin over donald trump. one of the misleading impressions about wisconsin, why it is important, is tht every democrat since water mo mondalen 1984 has carried it up until hillary clinton. the margins were incredibly thin. trump carried it by eight-tenths of one percent in '16. it is the ultatimate eground state and as of this evening is not encouraging for the president. >> woodruff: david, what did you hear from the voters thallt you where the election might be headed? >> the power of polarization, in yamiche's report. threpublicans thought t

pandemic news not serious, the democrats thought it was serious. it's an objective, scientific medical thing, it's not a matteo inion, yet one's opinion about it apparently is shaped bt which you follow. i think and this is reflective of the shift in the polls the thst two weeks is noat covid is overelmingly the mination of the election it's made the campaign less ideological. we're used to campaigns with a soviets versus progressive philosophy.ab this issue isout getting rid of the pandemic. it's easier for some trump voters to support biden beuse they're just saying i need somebody who will fix this covid thing, and i think that's one of the reasons we're seeing some shiftsnd >> woodruff:what about that, mark? we've seen a remarkable respoe by the president. he went into the hospital a week ago today, he was out a fdays later.

he's been saying he's immune. he's inviting hundreds of people to the white house tomorrow, been showing up in the oval office. is this helping him as he presents himself to the american people? >> we ll find out, dy. i just want to endorse what david -- the point david made, there is no ideology in putting out a fire. ere is no ideology in rescuing a child from a burning building. this is not a question of philosophical. this is americans are very price tag fact and i think that's their approach to coronavir right now, and i think that's why the president is playing very much on defense. as far as the president is concerned, i really think tha you can feel, in the air, there's a certain desnperation i his candidacy when you talk to republicans, and all i'm reminded of is 180, which is a two-to three-point race alfall

between ronald reagan and jimmy nt, and the incum one debate resolveit, and the doubts about reagan were resolved, and voters did what they wanted to do, which was to teinate president carter's time in the white house. i think the same sentiment is pervasive now that voters want to really terminate donalds trump'contract and get the united airlines over to 1600 pennsylvania before the 20t 20thf januar >> woodruff: david, what do you make of what we've seen from the president over the last week? air of desperation, as mark said? >> a bit of that. we've seen the warp speed version of donald tru's version of masculinity, which is a version of masculinity that never admits vulnerabity, at's always about conquest and competition, and doesn't show a shred of humility and that the been evidence in his covid

reaction. i point to 2008 when the lehman brothers fell in the beginnings of the financial crisis, all of a sudde electorate took a look at the possibility of waves of chaos and wand to know which candidate seemed more orderly and, for all my reverence for hn mccain and my friend markat salter that moment john mccain did not seem like the safest pair of nds, barack obama seemed like that, and i think now a lot of people are looking at trump's behavior and not seeing a safe pair of handsm anzing thing that's happened is biden's approval rating has gone up 10 percentage points during this campaign. usually your approval goes down because of the attack ads, win or lose, but den's is going up. >> woodruff: mark salter in mccain didn't handle a lot of what happened n 2008 very well. but, mar pick up on that. >> i will. i mean, let me disagree with

david. john mccain was t the the incumbent. john mccain was paying dealer for the sentence of george w. bush whoat that point, was looking at 12% of the american t peopnk the country was headed in the right directio and a job rating of 25%. when i say, 80, when you have an incumbent on the ballot the analogy of this. judy, i really think that the race has changed dramatically. joe biden, you're right, he's now above water in his favorable-unfavorable, is a tribute to him. he left the whit house as vice president with a 2-to-1 favorable rating but has been unfavorable since the race began. for the first time in recent polls he's above water, more positive than negative which i think has contributed to his campaign and when you're voting

for somebody you do have a moe favorable impression of them. >> woodruff: david, i don't want to put words in your mouth, but, as we said, the commission on presidential debates tonight announcing they are definitely not going to be having the second presidential debate thi coming week. is that likely to have any bearing on where this race is going? >> feel free to put in my mouth. they have to be better than the ones i puin my mouth. the first thing that strikes me is i've never seen losing candidate not want to have as many debates as possie. >> exactly. so for donald trump not wanting to debate is just crazy. the second thing is that not having it, i think, is the wise decision but we do you sees the number opportunities he has to turn this around. thirthirdly, the g democra intoa clear strategy which they implement especlly kamala harris which is we're not a crazy left-wing par we're the

obama party, you can be safe with us, and she iplemented that effectively. pence, i'm not sure the republicans have a consistentst tegy through the debate, so good or bad, there's no strategy or residu's leaving, it's randomness. not having thee debments where we are now which isiden. >> woodruff: what about the effect or lack thereof these debates on what's going on. >> i thi the debates this year are prably more important than ever given the health and age of the president and the age of joe biden and questions about his physheal fitness forjob. so i think there was probably more attention paid. i agree that donald trump giving up 70 million peoon national television in a debate to go for 3 million on fox news makes absolutely no sense.

i had a leading republican say to me today could somebody please teach these peat the white house arithmetic? if he's going tturn a race around, you speak to the largest audience you can and he made the choice not to. i thought kamala harris had a bad performance in the hearings with bret brett kavanaugh. i think she cameacross as too prosecutorial. that was shelved on the viceresidential debate. i thought she was the surrogate for joe biden. she made the case fbir joden, and she made the case against donald trump as well as anybody harks in my exhaerience --, in my experience. i thought her case on thewa coronaviru terrific and she brought in taxes in a way that left mike pence, who played defense, but you don't score on defense, judy. mike pence played perfectly timed defense but it ft him speechless. >> woodruff: so while we're

talking abut the election, there are these senate races, senate hanging in t balance, david. are there a couple of those races you're watching to tell what may happen? >> well, obviously, we're soft transfixed dr. sor sort of trany south carolina. and in north carolina, we had what seemed like a democratic pickup with now suddenly a tossup because of a sex scandal. and, so, overall, the sense from the repuican senators and the republican staff i talk to is there's a gigantic sne around th and they arstruggling to rise above donald trump and they're finding it harder than even in pastimes when they have to run with an unpopular candidate. but we do have these odd things happen like in northarolina. >>woodruff: and, mark, senate races you're watchin >> well, i mean, south carolina,

i agree. i mean, the hisl toriony that -- the remarkable, miraculous event, if, in fact, jamie harrison were to win and defeat lindsey graham, that means south carolina, fort sumpter where the civil war began one represented bywo african-american upsenators. north carolina, talk about a blown opportunity, and cal cunningham, veteran, family man, state snator, raised al this money running ahead, and, you know, ge etsposed for carrying on an illicit affair the middle of the campaign and, you know, is all of a sudden made a race. if the majority hangs in the balance of north carolina, his name will live in infy i democratic crcles. he had a significant lead over

tom tillis. but i think iowa is fascinating. i think maine ifascinating a well, and i think arizona has now put away for the democrats, it appears. >> woodruff: wel with thre and a ha weeks to go, we are going to leave it there, mark shields, david brooks, we thank you both. >> thank you. dr >> wf: again this week, we remember five extraordinary people who have lost their lives in this pandemic. up every day by 5:00 in the tmorning, don mckillop sp decades in the corporate world before retiring to pure his true passion: art. he moved to martha's vineyard and opened "dragonfly gallery."a many of his oitings were inspired by his love of sailing.

the father of two planned many summer vacations sailing up d down the northeastern coastline on his boat, called the "pendragon." when he and his wife retired to florida, the 75-year-old became an avid golfer, even hitting two hole-in-ones. those who knew 63-year-old wan key said her personality was like magic. she had a giggle and smile that would light up a room, said her sister. called "peppa" by all those who knew her, she was a nurse practitioner, serving her nashville community for 30 years. a beloved daughter, sister and favorite quote with her sons, "what we achieve inwardly will change outward reality." andrew mcbride ii was just 14 when he was left to raise hisin si in western georgia.

as an adult, he mentored young boys through basketball and boy scouts, determined to offer the guidance he lacked. he was stern, but endlessly loving and devoted to his commity, his son said. he organized for the lupus foundationa disease that killed his first wife. he served on the y.m.c.a. board and was an active member of his fraternity, alpha phi pha. at 67 years old, andrew pass exactly one month after his second wife, who also died of covid-19. 66-year-old beverly savala- weaver was resilient.da hehter said nothing could slow her down. known for being a take-charge nurse and a take-charge mom, beverly began her nursing care in the army, and continued in that field ithe dallas, texas area for nearly 50 years.

her husband of 25 years called her his "best friend." a dedicated mother and grandmher, beverly was the together. held her family robert mata spent 20 years as a uck driver before his life was turned upside down.r afffering a stroke in his 40s, the army veteran moved next door to his daughter in austin,a where he made a career out of the highlight of his day: walking his grandchildren to school. for the next 17 years, he made sure every kid got to elementary school safely as a cro family was everyth robert, his daughter said. the 67-year-old never missed his grandkids' basall games or cheerleading meets. and we want to thank family members who shared each one of those stories with us. u our hearts go out to d to all those who have lost loved ones in this pandemic. and before we go, a

ond before we go, a correc earlier this week, we promoted an online town meeting that our colleagues at studt reporting labs produced about younger voters. in it, we incorrectly stated that by 2024, generation z, those who are today 24 a under, will be, by themselves, the largest electoral group. to clarify, young voters, including both gen z and parts of the next-older cohort, the millennial generation, are going to be the largest eligible voter block.ro we regret the and that is the newshour for tonight. join us next week starting at 9:00 a.m. eastern on monday for special live coverage of the confirmation heay ngs of judge ney barrett for the supreme court. kem judy woodruff. have a great w. thank you, please stay safe, and good night. >> major funding for the pbs ednewshour has been providy:

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♪ me hello everyone and wel to amanpour. here is what is cing up >> i am not go to waste my time. >> no more presidential debates then? the white house covid outbreak iser w than first known. i asked veter washington correspondents whether things are spiraling out of control, authorsf the new book "profiling leadership and the republican party." >> i think that is the impornt thing out of all of this. the level of awareness. >> stella mccartney talks about her new covid manifesto. and then our michelle martin speaks to reverend rod