captioniponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for sunday, october 25: ake candidates continue to their cases, as election day nears and early voters come out in rord numbers. vid-19 cases continue to climb. and, the lone star state of texas,n our series, "roads to election 2020." next, on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachheim iii. the anderson family fund. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family.a barbpe zuckerberg. foundation. and norma klorfine charles rosenblum. , try to live in the mome

to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most ofda mutual of america financial group, retirement services and investmes. >> for 25 years, csumer cellular has been offering no-ctract wireless plans, designed to help people do mt e of whaey like. our u.s.-based customer service team can help find a plan that to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv. additional support has been provided by: and by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from vie ryou.ke thank you. sreenivasan: good evening and thanks for joining us. the countdown to the final day of voting in the 2020 election is now at nine days, and while the candidates focus on battleground states, a resurgence ocoronavirus cases anhospitalizations is growg. the white house annoced last

night that marc short, chief of staff for vice president mike pence, has tested positiveor covid-19 and is quarantining. rtd, there are multiple re that a pence campaign adviser and at least three other staffers have also tested positive recently. despite his close contact, the vice president will stay on the campaign trail. both the vice president and his virus today and pence is the scheduled to be at a north carolina rally tonight.it on cnn today, house chief of staff mark meadows defended the vice president's campaign travel, and said the covid-19 pandemic may never be corolled. >> we're not going to control the pandemic, we are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigations. >>hy aren't we going to get control of the pandemic? >> because it is a contaous virus, just like the flu. ♪ ♪ >> sreenivasan: out on the campaign trail today, president trump headed to nehampshire, and then maine. former vice president joe biden attended church this morning, but had no in-person events planned. democratic vice presidential

candidate kamala harris made multiple campaign stops in michigan today. >> the yays are... >> sreenivasan: in washington d.c., ere the sena ended a filibuster and moved toward a confirmation vote on the nomination ojudge amy coney barrett to the supreme court, democrats raised concerns about the possibility vice president hance will attend the vote is expected tomorrow. senate minority leader chuck schumer ged democrats to limit their time on the floor after what he said were reports of republican staff, including members of a senator's staff and the vice president's staff,po testintive for covid-19. >> the vice president, health and safety of theirap colleagues andol employees it sets a terrible, terrible exple.ne

>> sreenivasanconfirmed cases of covid-19 continued at near-daily record levels yesterday, and more patients are being hospitalized. johns hopkins university reported 83,718 new cas, just below the record high number officials in six s- alaska, ohio, oklahoma, colorado, new mexico and illinois-- said they had new record high reports of coronavirus cases yesterday.th and in ano sign that the virus is resurging, the number of covid-19 patients hospitalized is also rising. according to the covid tracking project, 41,882 people were in hospitals in the u.s. yesterday, a number that has been increasing steadily over the pa month but is still belo the record numbers in april and july that ached almost 60,000 per day. around the world, there are now more than 42 million coronavirus infections, and more than 1.1 million people have died since the covid-19 pandemibega >> sreenivasan: fo news,

and to see our full "roads to www.pbs.org/newshoies, visit >> senivasan: yesterday, new york state opened up early voting f the first time in a presidential election. across new york city, lines snaked around pollines for blocks, and people waited hours in some locations. bo the city's main sportin arenas-- madison square garden in manhattan and the barclaysyn center in broo have become makeshift polling centers. it's a move that was spurred in part by the athletes themselves. pbs newshour weekend's christopher booker has more. >> reporter: under normal circumstances, in late october, rclays center in brooklyn, new york would most likely be starting the n.b.a. season. as we all know, circumstances are not normal. but, at least for the next couple of days, the barclays center will be bringing people back inside.a not fome, but to cast their vote. >> this will be the largest public event that we've had here at barclayer since we shut down back in march. >> reporter: john abbamondi is

the c.e.o. of b.s.e.l, the company that manages the barclays center. >>tt just became very appar to us that there was a real need for the ty to open up more voting places, more early voting places. and we had this magnificent facility here, lots of sare footag as you could ll, very, very centrallyocated. >> reporter: this all comes in part after the summer saw organized and sustained calls for police rorm following the death of george floyd. abbandi says barclays approached the new york board of elections in june afotests erupted around the city. other stadiums across theco try became available after a delayed n.b.a. sea august,lready following the shooting of jacob blake. as part of the negotiations to return, the players union asked that franchise-owned and operated arenas beverted into voting facilities, whether for early voting and on election day. actually in june dtheere was protests outside of the facility. >> we welcomed the role that we played this summerhen people felt that this was place tome

nd express their point of view and advocate for social so that's a cause that we support as well. place that had beceatural that a community gathering spot to seek change would now be a placele where peould come to exercise their vote, as well. >> reporter: executive direcorr of the newboard of elections michael ryan stresses while barclays is thest early voting location in brooklyn, it's just one of 88 in new york. >> four years ago, we had about 125,000 absentee ballot applications. this year, we have already over a million and the deadline hasn't yet passe >> reporter: he says new york expects to see larger than average voter turnout, andven with the space like barclays, voters should be prepared for a wait.ly with eoting in new york city starting yesterday, on a weekend, voters may have hada exme for the hours long line outside of barcla, mirroring similar enes that have played out in early voting lines across the country. and while it's unknown when there will be lines at barclays

again to watch the team in action, its seems the arena and its function has changed do you think if the players had not been as active as they had been, that this woulbe happening? >> you know, the fact that they spoke up the way they did is really, really helpful, because it allows us to link armin common cause. i think you have to give a lot of credit to o players. you know, they're very socially active. communities and they've used their platform and their voice to try to seek change.>> 'm on the fence when it comes to my age group feeling compelled or feeling like they're important this election. young african-american female, we don't feel like we have voices. don't have to vote.y well, i and that's not true. no vote counts too.

>> sreenivasan: as part of our ongoing series, "roads to election 2020," we take a look at the lone star state of texase where there are heating up. there's been unprecedented casting their ball of last thursday, according to the texas i recently spoke wblic media partner kera reporter bret jaspers, who joined.s from dallas is texas actually close right now? >> well, if you're a poll person, the latest poll is enre in thedential race. we've also had a lot of early voting, the early votes that have come in already early and mail votes are 70% of the total turnout from016. >> sreenivasan: do we know who these folks are that have come out? >> people who were or had voted in democratic primaries more heavily turned out in the first few days of early voting. but then people voted in republican primaries hupe caught

although there's quite a bit of new registered voterlike 1.8 million newly registered voters this time.an >> sreenivlet's look further down the ballot. prnator cornyn's seat is up. there's lots of entatives obviously are up again. >> right. tor cornyn, who's been i the senate for 18 years, is a publican incumbent. his ponent is democrat m.j. hegar. she's raising a lot of money in the last couple of months in terms of the output that they're spending. it's relatively neck and neck, and she's really giving him a run for his money. the analysts some say that cornyn his race, they think, will kind of track a couple of points, difference maybe from the presidential race, b it'll track pretty closely to it. >> sreenivasan: what about on the state legislature level? >> that is actually the biggest political story in texas this year, is the race for the state house for control of the state house. so back in 2018 democrats gained 12 seats. now in order to re-take the state house they need to win another nine seats and retain

all the ones that they have. so the democrats get back control of that chamber in the next round of redistricting they'll actuly have some influence or some ability to block the gerrymandering of the republicans, which w so influential in 2010. >> sreenivasan: you know, theof past coupleeks it's been kind of a bizarre scenario of stories about how people in otexas are actually going vote. if they wanted to put a ballot in, whe would they go? it was kind of back and forth. overturned each otother where do things stand today? >> most of the lawsuits seemedo have conclhere was a chalnge to the extended early voting period that was lost. so the republican party in the state wanted to push back against governor abbott's extension of early voting. th lost that lawsuit. but other lawsuits republicans or have won. for example, governor abbott

restricted the number oflaces that a voter can drop off a ballot. he restricted that to just one place for the entire county,or example, harris county, which has millions of people.at where houston is. and so that county is restricted to just one drop-off box. whether or not tt's going to be enough to kind of dampen people's spirits of voting is i talked to a womaier this week in fort worth, which is in north texas, who said, you kno i'm going to get a couple of bottles of water and i'm going to bring some crackers and somen chips and i'm to sitou know go step by step until i actually get to my to the polling statiodo t care how long it takes me. i'm going to get there early on saturday. so people are thinng about their plan to vote. >> sreenivasan: well, it's good. what's driving most of the voters right now? it t pandemic, the economics consequences? what's on top of mind?he >>andemic is-- has been quite important here. we did have an earlier time in the very, very beginning but

then in june, there was a spike that people were really alarmed by. i would also say health care is a big issue here. texas has thlargest unine red rate in untry. the people who run the state haveecided not to expand medicaid under the affordable care act. and that's an issue that comes up constantly. should we expandedicaid? and i think those two issues together are motivating people quite a bit. >> sreenivasan: all righ bret jaspers, k.e.r.a. thanks so much. >> thank you. sreenivasanearlier this month, a texas regulatory board protections for l.q. andnation disabled persons seeking social work services. governor greg abbott, the tes state board of social work thexaminers changed part or code of conduct in a unanimous vote. the code prohibited so workers from turning away clients on the basis of osability, gender identit sexual orientation. critics are urging lawmakers to reverse the decision. newsho weekend's ivette feliciano spoke with ricardo

martinez, c.e.o. of equality texas, about what the change means for members of those communities.in >> you know, p, this is a very damning message that is folks with disabilities.riand t, as a marginalized community, i think we get this and this is a continued utdegradation of very pros, marginalized community that is really suffering at the moment. right. and to do this during a pandemic when people need access to mental health services and social workers i think it sends the wrong message, and it adds some additional barriers and challenges that we really don't needis time to get folks the medical care that they need. unanimously to remove thesed discrimination protections based on a recommendation by texas governor greg abbott. how does this decision fit into the larger picture of the figh for l.g.b.t.q. rights in texas?

>> many texans are not aware that l.g.b.t.q. people can legally be fired or refused housing or denied services simply because of who they a. here in texas. and that is unkind. that is unfair. that's really unacceptle. currently, texas is one of 27 states where there are no otections from disation based on sexual orientation and gender identity. anand the only way that we achieve the freedom that l.g.b.t.q. people need to live, to work, to earn a living, to raise a family and to contribute to our societyully, is to pass a comprehensive statewe nondiscrimination law that protects all people, including l.g.b.t.q. people. and that's going to be our top priority in the legislative session in 2021. >> reporter: and how does the fight for l.g.b.t.q. rhts in texas intersect with the specific concerns of queer and trans immigrants and people of >> you know, we arl going through covid. tid, you know, our community

lacks basic prots from discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodations and health care, and those are the cornerstones of stability, right? and many fol are struggling with that stability. this is not an eastime. many in our community have preexisting health conditions that have left their immune r placedompromised them in higher risk groups, right? so you add on top of that race,e class, gidentity, sexual orientation, religion and many other identity markers and it creates this multifaceted consequence for individuals init our comm we want to protect all of our members of the l.g.b.t.q. community. and i think, you know, some of us are predisposed or t risk because of some of those classifications i just discussed. >> reporter: lookinghead to the november elections, what is your team doing to organize l.g.b.t.q. voters? >> our mission, one of the core values and one of the core tactics that we focus on really is education, right? making sure that folksave the

information that they need toor make id decisions at the polls. so early voting, the importance of voting down ballot, how to repo issues with voting. if you're experiencing any. educating voters on who the prolific filers of anti- l.g.b.t.q. bills are is also incredibly important. right? people should knowho the folks are, who are incumbents that have not been doing their job to protect their constituents. >> reporter: ricardo martinez of equality texas, thank you so much for joining us. >> thankou. >> it is cvenient that i turned 18 for an election year. and so i cam me out wimom to vote today. it didn't take very long so i encourage everyone to get out and vote. >> sreenivasan: it's been six years since the death of 43-year-old eric garne died from being held in a chokehold after police confronted him for selli

loose cigarettes on the street in staten island, new york in july of 2014. since that incident,inal refrains of "i can't breathe" had beco synonymous with national and global demonstrations calling for police reforms. some change has come. many jurisdictions have changed rules involving the use of choke holds; still, as with eric garner's death and others, many cases with police-involved deaths rarely brinan ysdictment or go to trial. garner's family or them, justice was not served. but a film released this past spring, now showing on the cable channel reelz, chronicles the case that never was. newshour weekend's christopher booker has more. >> reporter: it's been six years since eric garner, gasped, "i can't breathe."ia words captured cell phone video. words the world has come to know. and words that prompteests across the country-- activists, atetes, and garner's wife, esaw snipes-garner, and his family, king that officer daniel pantaleo be held accountable in a court of law

for garner's death. but that never happened. a grand jury declined to indict the new york policofficer who used a chokehold on garner, the case seemingly ending before it even started. but if an indictment had come, just what would a trial lookke anhowould it proceed? >> when the non-indictment came through, it just hit me, like, i'm living in new york. everyone who would have happened, is probathin a if it 15-miles radius of me. and wouldn't it be interesting eto put a trial on film, edial that everybody thinks should have happnd won't happen? >> reporter: in his film, "american trial: t eric garner sty," filmmaker roee messinger attempts to answer these questions. the director recruited esaw snipes-garner to play herself in this unscripted film, as well as friends and witnesses who were there on the day of eric's garneath. the filmmaker also hired real lawyers to prosecute and defend the case, both sides calling

t pert witnesses throughoue trial. the only actor in the film was the gentleman who portrayedni officer pantaleo, who was never charged in connection with garnha's death. soinstructions did you give to the participants in the film as a director? what were you telling the participants to do? e so basically, i said to yourselves. you know, i had a conversation with esaw when we, when, you know, before she went on the stand and she asked, what do you want me to do? how do you wanme to act? and i said, don't act. just, just be you. >> i wou have loved to have done it in real life, like, you know, an actual trial.so i was geared up for it. but it was hard. it was hard. i was so angry knowing that it was fake to you guys, but it's real to me. >> reporter: so real, that snipes-garner says she found herself having difficult keepg her cool as the pantaleo

defense team cross examid her. >> he came home every night so i didn need to go to bay street to visit him. i was ready to jump off, i mean she literally ca to me after everything was over and we went to the back and she was like, you know, this was fake right? i real apologize because the anger that boiled up in me, ito really wanumoff that stand in front of her and punch her in her face. >> reporter: while this has beve personal and emotional time for snipes-rner; messinger, who is from israel,y initiaproached eric garner's death as a manslaughter case that wouloslead to the ution of officer pantaleo. >> and i was convinced and i couldn't imagine another possibility. there's a video of him choking another man. and the fact that i'm aned this foreigner is because i think that this is really one of those examples of things that happen in the united stes that just don't happen in other countries, or at least not inhe same kind of frequency. >> reporter: compared to much of the developed world, messinger is right.

more people are killed by the police in the u.s. than in any other wealthy nation. and this past spring, just as the film was being released, came the deaths of breonna taylor and george floyd, offering tragic support for messinger's argument. what do you think this film offers to the current conversation, particularly thinking just this past summer we saw a very similar nt with george floyd. >> right, so i tmink that's the ion dollar question, right? in every important juncture of the film, people always tell me, oh, what a timely film. because there had just been another black man who was killed by the police a week ago, two weeks ago or that same month. because it's really all just about one thing and that's jt systemic racism, right? there was no trial in the eric garner case. and that's what the film is abt. how is it possible that this trial you're seeing in front of you is fake? and the reason is because it was a black man who was killed by a

white police officer. >> i spoke with breonna taylor's mom. ane you know, i, you know, nted to know what should she expect? and i told her, just don't give up, you know? and just keep fighting. >> reporter: and snipes-garner floyd'ske with geor brother. >> i just told him, you kn, that i feel his pain. i felt his pain for six years. i can't imagine what a person would be thinking them last few minutes ofheir life, knowing that the breath is being drained from their b hies. but, thamattered. and the world is showing him that he mattered. >> reporter: since the death of eric garner, officer pantaleo was fired from h job. the state of new york also passed a law banning police chokeholds. but for all these measures and the continuing discussion surrounding garner's death, snipes feels there's something missing. it's now bn six years since eric's death.

what do you think people don't understand about what it mea >> they don't understand that he was a father, he was a husband, he was a grandfather, he was a son, an uncle, a cousin. he was a pillar of the community. he was somebody that helped people that were less fortunate. so what, he sold a loose cigarette. it's not a death se. the biggest thing is the coronavirus, just making sure we get good handle on the pandemic thas going on. another thing, of course, is thl sonjustice happening right now, black lives matter is a big move am that not only i pushing but everybody around me is pushing, you know what i mean.so just making sure that pe that look like me are represented and treated as

fairly as possible. ra sreenivasan: newshour will have complete co of the senate vote on the confirmation hearing of judge amy coney barrett to the u.s. supreme court, and all of the electionat news as cand head into the final week of campaigning across the country. that's all for this edition of pbs newshour weetend. for the news updates, visit www.pbs.org/newshour. i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for wating. stay healthy, and have a good night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> 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. g. barbara hope zuckerb the leonard and norma klorfine foundation.

arles rosenblum. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in fronof us. at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group, retirement services and investments. additional support has been provided by: consumer cellular. and by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. you're watching pbs.

te, but just what is it?

the word comes from the latin word for this, a fasces.id th? well, you can break one stick easily, but when you bundle them together, they become very stron and, when a dictator convinces an entire nationhe to march togin lockstep, they feel strong, too, and, in fascism, an ax symbolizes 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 fascism in 20th-century europe. [ suspenseful music plays ]. [ flames crackling ] i -[speakingndistinctly] -[chanting] sieg heil! si heil!he -[sieg heil! sieil!ly] ♪ch [ ting ] ♪ [ cheering ] ♪