captioning sponsored by wnet for saturday, octoer 10:edition president trump holds his first large public event since his coronavirus diagnosis. and, our "roads to election 2020" series takes us to the state of maine. next, on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. the anderson family fund. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. barbara hope zuckerberg. the leonard and norma klorfine foundation. charles rosenblum. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we acan help you mthe most ofmorrow

today. mutual of america financial grp, retirement services and investments. additional support has been provided by:er consellular. and by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation fundedy the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> sreenivasan: good evening, and thank you for joining us. president trump held his first in-person event since returning the white house from walter reed national military medical center, even though it's unclear if he is still contagious with he revealed his fisitive test less than nine days ago. ♪ ♪ the president spoke toit a crowd of i guests from a white house balcony overlooking the sout>>h lawn. ell, i'm feeling great. i don't know about you. how's everybody doing? ( cheers and applause )

sreenivasan: much of the speech addressed campaignis es, and it featured multiple attacks on his democratic opponent, former vice president joe biden. but, white house spokesperson judd deere told reporters the speech was an ofcial event and the campaign was not involved. >> this is the singlt important election in the history of our country. get out and vote. and i love you. thank you. thank you. >> sreenivasan: in a pre-taped inwrview that aired on fox s last night, the president said he was "medication-free" as of the previous eight hours. he said he was re-testebufor covid-19claimed he did not know the results. >> i have been retested, and i haven't even found out numbers or anything yet, b i've been retested and i know i'm at, either the bottom of the scale, or f >> sreenivasan: in his speech today, the president did not mention his covid- test results. his doctor has not answertied s since last monday, and no one has released information on whethe president last tested negative for the virus. mr. trump has already announced

he will travel to florida onmo ay for a campaign rally. on his way to a campaign event in pennsylvania late ts afternoon, vice president biden said he tested negative for the coronavirus today. >> before i came out again tay to go somewhere, i had another test this morning, and i'm clear. i think it's important t president makes sure of two things. one, that he is clear. he is not a spreader, like his-- like dr. fauci said, the super- spreader event he had for the supreme court announcement. and secondly, think it's important that he make it clear to all the people that they should be socially dised. they c be on the lawn, that's fine. but in fact, they should be socially distanced and wearing masks. made landfall in lsiana lastlta night, starting as a categor w2 storm, andkening as it made its way north. delta struck just a few miles away from e area ravaged by hurricane laura six weeks ago, bringing heavy winds and rain

lake charles.y-damaged city of as the storm moved inland today, much of louisiana remained under flood warnings, and hundreds of thousands e without power. delta is the tenth named storm to hit t continental u.s., breaking a record. >> sreenivasan: for more on thee storm and thrd-setting hurricane season, i spoke with merfteorologist jen no with the weather channel, who joined us from atlanta. jen, first, how bad was the storm that just landed? >> hurricane deltaas a strong category two, and first of all, we saw it sort of menacing the gulf coa a cat-3.r hurricane. winds 120 miles per hour. and the problem was, it was ilding up water at that time, least eight-foot surge.we saw at those numbers can never be verified until days or even weeks after the storm makes landfall. measured at 100 miles per hour. we saw that at texas point. we saw 96 mile-per-hour nds in lake charles, which is still reeling from hurricane laura so this was a tough hit for the

state of louisiana. >> sreenivasan: and when those storm surges hit-- i mean, there are so mantiny little communities that are along the water. it's incalculable, the damage that the storm surge does, versus the actual wind and rain. >> the storm surge has so much power. just think about the force of water. just think about trying to walk when y're at the beach and you-- you wa in the water coming up to the edge and it moves you, right? i mean, at level of force is there. but think about it-- up to six feet, seven fe, even up to 11 ft we know is possible with this. so that's really the big concert is those commus right there by the water that were prone to storm surge to begin with. they were going to get anywheref from eight to t of storm surge into their homes. >> sreenivasan: what'sn ppening to the gulf coast this hurricane season? >> what a hurricane season we have had. ten landfalls of tropiorms and hurricanes. that's a new record, that beats a record back in 1916. but we've had four alone just on e e coast of louisiana.

and you look at end this season-- so many have hit the gu g coast. and s back to just the pattern that we've been stuck in. big ridge of high pressure over the lantic nosing in, and just a little bit of a weakness that has allowed these storms to comn into the gulthen move up and hit the gulf coast. >> sreenivasan: and whenoes is end? i mean, we see-- we see tropical storms forming out in the ocean, and usually, wre like, "well, at's going to just go ahead and die out." but this year, not so much. >> this is a year like no othera already at our 25th named storms. we've had 26 storms. we've about more than doubled what you would see in a typical season, and we still he a month and a half left to go in hurricane season. at this poinin the season, you typically look closer to home, the gulf of mexico, the western cabbean, right off the southeastern coast, for where storms will form. but i think anything goes this year. we still h right now active out in the main development region of the atlantic, and we just have to v stilant, i think well to the end of hricane season, which is november the 30th, buto probably even . >> sreenivasan: a lot of these go over warm waterrgy when they

what does climate change have to do when it comes twarming the temperatures like the areas in the gulf coast to make these storms even worse? >> the hurcanes that have affected the u.s. have gone throug meaning that they have gained more than 35-mile-per-hour wind speeds in 24 hours. and that happens when they're on and over really warm sea surface tempes. and when you have year after year of record warm temperatures both over land and over the water, that's going to build uep these deayers of warm water and allow for more rapid intensification to happen. so, whether we see more hurricanes or less, what's possible, most likely, is that o the strongs will get even stronger and we'll have more of >> sreenivasan: jeagno from the weather channel joining us from atlanta. thanks so much. last night, a federal judge blocked texas governor greg abbott's order to limit theer nuf drop-off locations for mail-in ballots in the state. earlier this mon, abbott issued a proclamation that would

allow only one ballot drop-off location per county. e judge wrote that the move would limit voters by "creating voter confusion," and dismissed the governor's claim that the measure would reduce fraud. texas has strict limitations for mail-in voting, only allowing voters who are either 65 and older, sick, disabled, oor will be away from their home county during the voting period to apply for mail-in ballots. in another ruling on ballot drop boxes, a federal judge in campaign lawsuit seeking to ban the boxes in that state today. the judge said the campaign did not meet the burden of proof that the drop-f boxes would create ballot fraud. toross the u.s., new cases of covid-19 continuise. according to the "new york times," cases are nearing record highs in the upper midwest and rocky mountain states. th"times" database shows an average of 47,759 cases per day

st week, a 12% increase in cases from two weeks ago, but still well below the peak average rate of more than 66,000 per day in late july. as of this morning, the "times" reports that since the new corovirus reached the u.s. last winter, it has infected nearly 7.7 million people in the united states, and killed at least 213,500. deaths are now averaging around 700 per day this month, below reco levels, but far more than were reported in early july. globally, there are now more than 36 million confirmed covid-19 ces, and more than one million people have died, according to johnsopkins univrsity. in iran day, residents of tehran were ordered taso wear face when they are in public spaces, both indoors and outdoors. iran has the highest rate of infectns and deaths from covid-19 in the middle east. this week, the country dd a record 2ths. in russia, temporary hospitals built to treat coronavirus

patients reopened in moscow yesterday, after a record number of new infection russia recorded more than 12,000 new cases, the highest daily increase since the start of thee pamic. after nearly two weeks of intense fighting for control of the hnic-aenian enclave of nagorno-karabakh, the former soviet republics of rbaijan and armenia agreed to a limited the conflict has caimed the lives of hundreds of soldiers and dozens of civilians. special correspondent simon ostrovsky is in the rebel region and brings us an update. he's bn reporting with support from the pulitzer center. >> reporter: the foreign minists of armenia and azerbaijan met in scow overnight to hammer out a ceasefire, which came into effect earlier today at noon. up until the noon deadline, hostilities contind. you could hear sirens here in oushi, and in the capital the self-declared nagorno- karabakh republic, stepanakert.

that ceasefire hasholding.like however, along the front line, where we don't have access, the defense ministries of both countries claim fighting nentinues. vertheless, the ceasefire is a respite for those in urban areas. we've seen ordinary residents come back out into the streets after spending over week ins. bomb shelt just yesterday, this church in shus was struck twice by a rocket or by shelling, and we'r told tur or five people were injured here. was injured seriously.st, i'm holding in my hands eaeces this building par eally.ed we spolier to the deacon of this church. were you here yesterday when this happened? >> yes, i was here. and i camehe first.g there was lyinthe journalist. by my car, i-- i went to

hospital in stepanakert. >> reporter: how many people were injured here? >> maybe four or five. >> reporter: injured >> yes. it is a miracle that no one was killed in this place.te >> rep the two ministers of the two warring nations agreedo have a ceasefire for humanitarian purposes, in order for them to be able to collect their dead and some of their wounded from the battlefield. this is not a peace deal, and the ceasefire was agreed to last for just several days.s hostilitcod resume at any point. >> sreenivasan: north korean leader kim jong-un presented what appeared to be new interconnental ballistic missiles at a military parade celebrating the 75th anniversary of the country's rulingar. the north korean leader warned s te television that his country will "fully mobilize" defensive measure.l as a

he did not name any countries as targets. analysts say the new missile, shn on an 11-axle transporter vehicle, is bigger than any seen before in north korea, and could be one of the wod's lae,est road-mobiquid-fuele missiles, if it becomes operational. president trump last met with kim jong-un in june 2019 athe demilitarized zone between north and south korea. envoys for the two countries have met since then, but there have not been any new denuclearization talks between president trump and kim jong-un. >> sreenivasan: for more national and international news, visit www.pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: negotiations over funding for a new stimulus package seem to have stalled again today. house speaker nancy pelosi called the administration's $1.8 trillion offer "insunt," in part over what democrats say is inadequate funding for state d local govements.

in our continuing series, "roads to election 2020," we take you to the state of maine, whereal businesses that typically rely on a summer filled with tourists have been shutteringof since the starhe pandemic. for some, survival has come dowt ir ability to pay the rent. but with no agreement in sight on a new relief package, the future remains bleak for many more. newshour weekend's christopher booker has our story. >> reporter: october is a funny siness in maine. warm days and cold nights; new england's northern tip offers a confusing waltzth betweeseasonal past and what's to come. but this october is particularly difficult to read. after a summer nearly cancelled by the pandemic, the fall is offering portland a few extra ances at economic recovery. but winter is coming, and the brief resumption of business made possible by warmer ather, and outdoor space, is in its final days. >> well, if we continue to get weather like this, we'll be in pretty good shape. but it's portland, and we know that that won't cont.ue for too lo ganization that works toprofit

support and promote 400 local independent and small businesses. >> we surveyed members during the height of what would normally be the busy season, and about a third of them said they were considering permanently closing. r orter: considering closing because this past summer was not really summer at all. normally, the summer season helps rry businesses through the slower winter months, but july and august brought only a fraction of the normal traff to portland's downtown businesses, ansales were down substantially. initially, the cares act-- the $2.2 trillion stimulus package paed in march-- allowed businesses to use a percentage of bailoutunds to pay their rent. but, scott says, only 11% of the businesses she works with were able to receive support for their rent. >> and now, that help has dried up. there doesn't seem to be a new program that will be arriving anytime soon.ev ything from restaurants to real estate have been really suffering. ey've seen a decline in >> reporter: this t forced%.

damian sansonneti and his wife ilma lopez to close their restaurant, piccolo.d when portlstaurants were allowed to open up for dine-in customers, sansonetti and loz owed $20,000 in back rent,cu aclated during the shutdown, a time when piccolo had not been their landlord wasilling to negotiate their rate going forward. >> unfortunately, due to covidnd and the ic, a 20-seat intimate restaurant with the needed necessities of what you have to do can't survive. so we unrtunately had to close permanently that restaurant. >> reporter: but sansonneti d his wife are in a somewhat enviable position. they have another restaurant, chaval. opened three years ago, in large part due to the success of piccolo, chaval's winter outlook is a bit better. sansonneti andis wife own the blding. >> it's definitely been an advantage for us. but at the same time, it's also, we need to make moey to pay the mortgage, because, you know, our house and everything elsis

tied to-- >> reporter: this business. >> --the business.ep >>ter: like nearly every other restaurant in the country, chaval was forced to pivot to takeout, and since july, limited outdoor dining. you think you're doing compared to a year ago? >> we're pbably doing 50% to 60% less of our business than we were, compared to a year ago. >> reporte but not every business in portland has been able to pivot, and with the the coming winter looks even, more ominous. the state theatre in downtown portland hosted its how on march 11 at the time, general managerho lauren wayneht the shutdown would only be temporary. >> and i just tried to reassuret peopt this wasn't a long-term thing, because at that time, we had no idea. and then, you know, two weeks after that, it was different again. and so we met again, and the closure was longer. by that point, we had to lay off most of our-- if not all of our part-time staff, and our seasonal staffand that was-- that was really hard. >> reporter: how many people?

>> that was about 170 people. and some of these people have been with us-- sorry. --since we reopened in 2010. so it was reallyifficult, and still very difficult. >> reporter: i can imagine. s and then yll had your permanent staff? >> we still had our ten full- me staff members, which as great. and, you know, without, think, the p.p.p. loan, that would have different. but it's just not enough. and so i had to lay off 40%f my full-time staff in july, starting in august. and we are all nla on reduced es and reduced hours-- what's remaining of us.es >> reporter:te the staggering losses, like chaval, the state theatre is in an enviable pition-- the parent company owns the building. theatre opening its doors again under normal circumstances until a year from now, while their smaller venue just down the

block,ort city music hall, is closed for good. >> this is an absolutely dire situation.op we have noin opening this year. i mean, what busin gs can surviverating zero revenue for over a year? i don't know any business or e dust that can. so if we do not me kind of targeted federal legislation tos ndustry in particular, it will be massive closures across the whole country. and in portland, maine, in particular, that's going to hurt really b. businesses aren't the only ones who are worrying about what comes next. >> i was in municipal government, i was on the school board during the great recession, and we would gladly go back to that, frankly. >> reporter:ustin costa has been a portland city councilman for six years. the uncertainty is sgreat,steep, that all you can try to do is spread t pain as equitably as possible. >> reporter: at the end of september, the city announced it was eliminating 65 positions, mainly in parks and recreation. >> we know that ultimately, for st businesses, this is about cash flow, and the city is only

the smallest player in that. what we really need is continuing support from the federal government. that's thenly thing that's really going to make a dent in the issues that most businessest are facing row. >> reporter: because it's not ke there's money available at the state. >> right, yeah, the-- the state coffers are also straid, for many of the same reasons.th >> reporter: s where does this leave portland? >> it's like a false reality right now, right? you see people wting and drinking beer and you're like, oh, you're back to normal. this is not normal. and it's not going to normal for quite some time. so i think portland is going to see it in the next few m'sonths. oing to be pretty bad. >> the frustrating thing for me is that, it's a choice, right? it is a choice that politicians are making, to not create new and in doing so, they are allowing local businesses to fa. and if we don't get new policies from the federal government in particular, pretty quickly, then we're going to see scores of local businesses closing inla po and across the country.

>> sreenivasan: for the political state of play in maine, i spo mistler, chief political correspondent for maine public radio. >> well, right now, president trump is in big trouble in maine. testatewide, joe biden is to 12 point lead here, according to the latest polls. but maine is also very unique, in the sense that it dides its electoral votes. it's one of just two states that doeshat. and in the second congressional district-- we haveust two here-- president trump is actually running neck-and-neck with joe biden, and that rultco d be a big deal going forward if there happens to be a college.se racin t electoral i mean, four years ago, president trump campaigned here a half dozen times, and was able to win that second congressional district, which has one

electoral vote, which would have figured pretty promintly if there was a close race that time. and it wasn't. he didn't need it then. t he might need it this year. >> sreenivasan: and how have the campaigns dedicated their resources in mine? >> well, it's interesting. joe biden, he's really just begun to have a ground game here. statewide state director until this summer. he didn't campaign it all here, or even send surrogates the primary that we had back in march. president trump, on the other hand, has sent his family members here. various surrogates from his nempaign, they've been here. he came here in to tour a swab factory in rural maine. and, you know, i'm not sure if he'll make it back here this time because of the coronavirus infection that he had-- he might have other priorities in bigger states with more electoral votes. but, it was on the-- he was on e map, or he was on the radar, potentially to come here, we t

wenking he would, up until that, his diagnosis. >> sreenivasan: so the trump campaign, ateast in the amount of resrces that it's devoted, still thinks that it's a winnable state and tre still-- it's not a write-off for them, or a foregone conclusion. what are the issues that are driving people right now? what are the things that they're most conceed about? >> well, i think it's pretty reflective of what you see in other parts of the country. i mean, coronavirus is a huge issue, even though the state ofs done a pretty good job of, you know, holdinits infection rates. weyou know, we've done qui well here. our governor has managed to strike a balance bet allowing some economic activity and also keeping down caseloads and the deatte. so, but that is still top of mind, people are very worried the economy is always an issue, but of course, the coronavirus and the economy are prettyuch nked at this point. and so, you know, those are the two big issues. health care is a big issue. that's-- that's certainly an issue that democrats are running on here. and-- and, you know, those are

the-- those are th- those are the main ones at the moment. >> sreenivasan: on electio night, or the, possibly the days fter the election, what should we be on the lookout for wn it comes to numbers from maine or election-related, voting-related issues from maine? >> well, a couple things. if there is a close race in the second congressional district, at race will be decided ranked choice voting. which means thatwe may not know the winner of that particular district for some time. it could take a week. because what happens is, you know, if nobody-- neither candidate obtains an outright majority, it goes a ranked-choice runoff, and that requires state officials basicallgoing to every single town in the state-- and we have over 400 of them-- and coecting paper ballots, an then bringing them back to our state capital and then runningth tabulation. but that takes time. athen,,at-- on election night, who won that second congressional district. if the polls are right, we'll probably know who won statewide, especially if joe biden can hold

>> sreenivasan: all right. steve mistler, thanks so much. >> thank you. >> sreenivasan: that's all for this edition of pbs newshour wefoekend. the latest news updates, visit www.pbs.org/newshour. i'm hari sreenivasan. than for watching. stay healthy, and have a good nit. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbnewshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii.an thrson family fund. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. barbara hope zuckerberg.

the leonard and norma klorfine foundation. charlerosenblum. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we belie taking care of tomorro can help youake the most of today. mutual of america financial group, retirement services and investments. >> 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 pls, and our u.s.-based customer service team can help find one that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv. ee additional support has provided by: stnd by the corporation for public broadg, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs statikn from viewers le y

te but just what is it?

the word comes from the latin word f this, a fasces. the idea? well, you can break one stick easily, b but when ydle them together, they become ry stron and, when a dictator convinces an entire nati to march together in lockstep, they feel strong, too, and, in fascism, an ax symboles that it's unity with discipline; brutal, if necessary. i'm rick steves and, in this special programve we'll learn from the hard lessons of fascismy in 20th-centrope. thanks for joining us.su enseful music plays ] [ flames crackling ] -[speaking indistinctly]ti -[chng] sieg heil! sieg heil! sieg heil! sieg heil! ♪ [ chanting ] ♪ [ cheering ] ♪