captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good even'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, the final week-- the candidates make their last pitches to voters in crucial swing states as electi day draws ever closer. then, a surge in early voting. the pandemic and other election concerns prompt a historic influx of ballots cast before november third. plus, outrage-- yet another police killing of a black man prompts widespread protests and renewed calls form. >> like so many philadelphians, it was hard to wake s morning after seeing so many graphic images of what took place >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

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>> the jn s. and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was madele possy the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: this has been a long day on the campaign trail, with rally after rally for presidentrump, former vice president biden and their running mates. they are now in an all-out drive

to the finish line next tuesday. white house correspondent yamiche alcindor begins r coverage. >> alcindor: one week to go. r and in the-up to election night, both candidates are criss crossing the swing states. today, democratic candidate former vice president joe biden campaigned in georgia. b it's to flip a state which hasn't voted blue in a presidential race since 1992. >> we will act on e first day my presidency to get covid under control, we will act passo an ec plan that will finally reward work not wealthy, in this co we will act to pass my healthcare plan provide affordable accessible healthcare. >> alcindor: while his running mate, senator kamala harris visited nevada. and, former president barack obama campaigned for his former p. in critical florida. >> his chief of staff on a news program says we're not goil to conte pandemic.

he just said this. yes,e did. and yes we noticed, you're not going to control tne pademic. listen, winter is coming. they're waving the white flag of surrender. >> reporte meanwhile, president trump made a sweep around >> alcindor: meanwhile, president trump made a swear nd the midwest, hitting michigan, wisconsin, and nebraska. he won all of them in 16, but is struggling to repeat that in 2020, according to polls. he accused the media of focusing too much on the virus. >> covid, we have a spike in cases. they don't use the word death, they use the word "case" >> reporter: vice president mike pence continued to campaign throughout norint >> ar: vice president mike pence continued to campaign throughout north and south carolina. that comes despite the recent covid outbre among at least ve of his aides. >> we're going to make this state and nation stronger than re, north carolina and america more prosperous than ever before.

we're going to make north carolina and america more united thanver before. >> reporter: democrats on capitol hill are fuming over last nig confirmation of justice amy coney barrett to the supreme court. >> in contradiction to its stated principles, this republican majority confirmed a lifetime appointment on the eve of an election. e justice who will alter the lives and the freedoms of the american peoe while they stood in line to vote. >> reporter: b republicans celebrated their conservative nominee's confirmation. they dismissed democratic outrage as unfair. >> if a national crisis -- it's a >> it's a national crisis en a republican president makes a nominee for the supreme court. catastrophe looms, around the corner, thcountry will be fundamentally changed forever. er alcindor: the high court is also at the cent of another election-related dispute. last nht justices ruled 5 to 3 that wisconsin may not accept ballots that arrive after polls

close on election day. that's a rection of an appeal by the democratic party. it came as president trump continued his attacks on he tweeted a false claim, saying, "big problems and discrepancs with mail in llots all over the usa. must he final total on november 3rd." twitter put a warning label on the tweet for misinformation. in fact, official results have never been completely counted and certied by election night. and, changes to voting rules amid the pandemic mean results may take longer to calculate.in exas, where voters are already lining up at polling locations at record numbers, v someers feel early, in- person voting is safest. >> i certainly feel better doing it in person. the mail in ballot, i've heard stories natijually, and so i felt better doing it in person. >> alcindor: democratic congresswoman syia garcia of texas ys that sense of insecurity about the vote is not just from the pandemic.bl but also froican-led lawsuits in her state and other states like wisconsin, to limit

the vote. >> there's been an incredible b amount of effong put this election cycle to put fear in. people's min it just seems like they are doing more and more to create obstacs, to create barriers, to intimidate voters from voting. >> alcindor: seven days until election day, with an electorate getting a historic jump start, but, a little jumpy about how it will all turn out.e fopbs newshour, i'm yamiche alcindor. >> woodruff: the countrys seeing record turnout in earlyvo ng, and also some late legal challenges to when, and if, allo thoss get counted. willm brangham has more on what this means come election night and beyond. >> brangham: almost 70 million people have already heir ballots in this year's presidential election.iv the maturnout includes a

combination of mail in ballots and long lines of people going to vote in-person. with election day just a week numbers say about what these electorate. for more on this i'm joined by michael mcdonald, heofs a professoolitical science at the university of florida and runs the united states election project, which has been tracking the vote so far. professor mcdonald, great to ve you on the "newshour" so you have been tracking this really unprecedented turnout of early voting. what can you tell us about what the trends are showing?e' >> well, seen more people vote in this election than any prior election that we've had it the history e country, so we're at record pace. i some states, we're pushing near 100% of the turnout thated occun the 2016 election in its entirety, not just its ear vote. >> reporter: so that's a combination of all people who have voted have now bee surpassed by the people who voted early. >> yes, we're getting very close to those numbers in s states like texas and hawaii and others are following right onheir

heels. so what this means in one part is that we're looking at a very high tur noection, perhaps 150 million people or so will vote, and that could be the highest turnout that we'll see in a modern election since908. so truly remarkable numbers in terms of the people votg. >> reporter: and certainly a democracy in generst for our are you able to discern what this huge turnout means for either party?do we know who's ay turning out? >> yeah, there's some good evidence to say that, by and large, it's democrats that are going early, and that's actually very similar towhat we've seen in prior elections as well, usually more democrats vote eay, but the way in which they do it is different. in prior elections, democrats have voted predominantly in person early, and that's how they pile up their early voting numbers. this time we're seeing democrats are voting by mail early.

as they've hollowed out alle th person early voters, we're seeing republicans doing quite ll in in person early voting in some states. overall, it's heavily democratic in the early vote and that's s what we'n in prior elections as well. election day tends to be very for the whole election to get through, you have to get the election day vote which will offset that early vote to some degree, and how much it does, that will tell us who will win the election. >> reporter: and do those democratic-leaning early voters, also, are they using voting by mail as well? we've certainly seen a lot of controversy around voting by is it largely democrats using around?chnology this time yes, absolutely. usually it's republicans who vote by mail in most states. i'm not talking about the all

mail ballots. we're talking about states where there's multiple methods of voting and where you have that republicans use mail ballots more frequently than democrats. thislection is tosy turvy. we're seeing democrats vote by mail instead of peon and republicans voting in person instead of voting by mail. we hadver 80 million mail ballot requests that were going to be honorede by elction officials and we knew the party registration of those voters tended to break heavily toward the mocrats. we knew the democrats were going to have lots of mail ballots. what we haven't quite e sected is not only have democrats been voting mail h ballots agher levels, they're also returning those ballots at a higher ratane republicans. that's another surprise we're seeing in this election. usually, it's ropublicans wh are returning those mail ballots at a higher rate than demn'rats. now i really tell everything that's going on here, but it could be very well that some republicans have gotldten eet and even though they

nequested a mail ballot, they're planning to vote person, maybe in person early or in person on e.ection day >> reporter: on the question of counting the mail-in ballots, the supreme court has come down with two rules with regard to pennsylvania and wisconsin about when late arriving mail-in ballots can be coued, with those rulings and others that are pending, what is your sense of what that means for electio day and when we might know who's won this election? well, it's important to understand that election officials never countll the ballots on electionight. there's always some ballots that need to be checked over after the election, and there's a certification period that takes place in the weeks after the election. >> reporter: and that's tota normal. >> that's completely normal. but in this election, we've got all these maanil ballotsd it could be that those ballots would be coming back to election offices and overwhelming them if they camback rig at the very end. but people have voted earlier, th a's good newd some states, the states are actually

preparing foes ballots for teunting. there are some slike wisconsin and pennsylvania and michiganhere the election officials are restrained in how they can count those ballots, so we know those states it will take them long tore count the ball'rs simply because th not le to start the preparatory work yet. but in other states wehould get very fast results, like in florida, we should get those # 9% of those ballots counted on election night and we should have a good idea who won florida. but in some other states it may take a nger while for election officials to count all the ballots. >> reporr: and sort of recalibrates all our expectations about when we know final resul. professor michael mcdonald of the university of florida, thank you so much for being here. >> good to be with you. >> woodruff: in the day's other

news, amy coney barrett was formally sworn in as the newest member of the s. supreme court. chief justice johnoberts administered the oath in private, a day after barrett's senate confirmation. her first votes could involve disputes over absentee ballot rules in pennsylvania and north carolina. more state and local governments took actions today to corral covid-19 infections, now averaging more than 70,000 new cases daily, nationwide. the governor of illinois bannedo dining in chicago. and, newark, new jersey imposed new restrictions on non- essential businesses. firefighters in southern california are making scantss progo far against wind- blown wildfires that have forced thousands of people from tir homes. close to subdivisiong thesly

foothills of the santa ana mountains today. governor gavin newsom said condions were unprecedented. >> this time is typical, the diablo andanta ana winds tend to present themselves, but we've diseen some really extraornary wind events in the last 48 hours. those of you down in orange county know well the extraordinary gusts you're experiencing, and just the ongoing winds, but 88 mileper hour was recorded. >> wdruff: the utility company southern california edon says its equipment may have sparked f one of tes. new orleans is now under a hurricane warning, awaiting the storm dubbedeta. it blew across mexico's yucatan peninsula last night, d lost some of its punch. there were no reports of major damage. forecasts call for the storm to strengthen again and possibly make landfall tomorrow night, along the louisiana and

mississippi coasts. the city of philadelphia is on edge tonight, after police shot and killed a black monday, sparking protests. officers say they opened firewh walter wallace refused to put down a knife and moved t towam. his family says the 27-year-old had mental health problems. t we'll retuthis, right erter the news summary. in pakistan, a pl bomb blast tore through an islamic seminary in peshawar t killing eight people and wodingearly 140. in the aftermath, ambulances rushed to get survivors out. other students waited outside, and someaid they get no protection. attending the class.e were our teacher was giving us a lecture. then suddenly a big blastook place. i have this complaint with the government that we don't haveit any proper secarrangements here. every morning, we have to guard here at the gate forur own security. >> woodruff: there was immediatm

no cf responsibility, but the pakistani taliban condemned the attack. back in this country, a federal judge today denied president trump's plea to be removed as the defendt in a defamation case. the suit wasrought by columnist e. jean carroll, after mr. trump denied allegations he raped her in the 1990's. the judge rejected the claim that as a federal employee, the president is not subject to such legal actions. and, on wall street, stocks mostly sagged again on worries about covid-19.th dow jones industrial average lost 222 points to close at63 27 the nasdaq rose 72 points. s but, the 500 slipped 10. t still to come newshour: yt another police killing of a black man prompts widespread protests and rreewed calls for rm. examine president trump

health ce plan with the white house domestic policy adviser. the mayor of chicago discusses how the city is handling the alarming rise in covid cases. plus, much more. >> woodruff: the fatal shooting of a black man by police in philadelphia monday afternoon triggered large protests overnight. as john yang reports, it is the latest police killing in this country in recent months to provoke strong public outrage.io >> yang:lent protests broke out overnight in philadelphia, with more than 30 officers injured, more than a dozen people arrested, cars set aflame and stores looted.

philadelphia city councilman isaiah thomas.e >> l many philadelphians, it was hard to wake up this morning after seeing so many graphic images of what took place in our city last night. we see tse incidents, we recognize our city has a lot of >> yang: the sparkkilling monday of a 27-year-old black man named walter wallace junior, captured on video. >> back up now! >> yang: just before 4:00 p.m., two officers respoed to a report of a man with a knife in a predominantly black neighborhood in west philadelphia. as wallace approached the officers, ey opened fire. >> oh ( bleep ), oh my god! >> yang: he was rushed to pe presbyterian medical center, where he died. philadelphia police sergeant eric gripp described what

happened. >> after a short time, theueale contto follow after the officers while brandishing the weapon. officers ordered him to drop it several more times. unfortunately, did not. the offirs discharged your weapon several times, striking the male. >> yang: wallace's father said his son suffered from mental health issues and was on medication. and questions swirled about why officers hadn't used a taser toh subd, and why they fired so many rounds.th e officers were wearing body cameras. their names haven't been disclosed, but they've been in a statement, phphiaty. police commissioner danielle outlaw said: "i recognize that the video of the incident raises residents have my assurance that those estions will be fullyd addres the investigation." this afternoon, a lawyer for wallace's family spoke tort res. >> that was an unjustified shooting. i think you saw it as well. we all saw it. an unjustified shooting. we have a person who has mental health issues.

we're going to vet those out as the process continues t we have officers who i think are not properly trained to deal with those mental health issue >> shut it dow >> yang: the video of wallace's shooting led to protests that turned violent late last night, areas already hit hard after the death of george floyd earlier this year. for the pbs wshour, i'm john yang in washington. >> woodruff: with a week to go before the election, covid cases arrising and economic stimulus talks in washington appear to have stalled. let's bring in brooke rollins. she is the acting director of ice white house domestic p council and she joins us now. welcome to the "newshour", brooke rollins. so we know that the president wants a covid relief package.

he sent treasury secretary mnuchin to negotiate, then at the beginni october the president said, no, the talks and said, no, they're back on with certain conditions, ten we've heard from the senate majority leademitch mcconnell that there shouldn't be any agreement until after the election. so is this still ariority for the president? >> well, i think there's no doubt -- judy, thank you for having me, by the way -- i think there's no doubt. i'm not sure there's anyone in america who wants a deal -- stimulus package deal more than president trump. he has been hyperfocused on trying make sure that americanse have what theyd to get through this pandemic. what i will say, also -- and,u ow, you're right, it's kind of gone back and forth -- back to the table and back to the table, and i think we've come up a few times and i'm not sure that the house has been willing, that speaker pelosi has been willing to be as flexible and as willing to negotiate as

we hae, but once the election is passed, i think all the parties will come back to the table and i really sincebely eve we will have a deal that will benefit americans, all americans but especially thoset who neede most. >> woodruff: we've also heard there has been resistance. majority leader mcconnell said there's resistance from a number of republican senatiss. my questio why hasn't the president used his clout, his leverage with republicans senators to get them to agree to something? >> well, i think his focus has been on what is the best deal nfor the american people,i think he has said publicly -- i'm not saying anything to get out in front --f hihat the idea of sending hundreds of billions of dolla to bail out states and cities that have been poorly run just isn't fair to the americanxpayer, and, so, i think that the republicans in the senate -- not to put words inheir mouth -- but i think that's a big part of the concern is how big the number is. there's 300 billion left unspent from the last deal, so how cano we together and ensure that

this really is the best deal for the american people? >> woodruff: i'm asking because, as you know, the need is great in many of these cities. i'm also asking because i'm about to interview, after i speak with yu, the mayor of chicago, lori lightfoot. >> sur >> woodruff: they are in terrible economic straits, and a number of other ndties ar the country in both red states and blue states. the question is why hasn't there been more of a push from the white house? >> well, i think there has been a significant push. i think maybe we have a different definition of what a push could look like, but we have tried and tred and tried. and keep in mind the democrats have not been willing to move one inch on the number. t we think that saying th haven't tried hard enough is not necessarily fair, but i think we will continue to foveorward. i think mayors in this country like mayor lightfoot and others coming to the table and letting us know what is important will

certainly be part of that conversation. but i think, too, we have to realize what's best for the e erican people. and talk about ople in distress, the people hurt most by this lon kdd this perveg are those in our most disdressed and forgotten communities and we have to continue to build not only with the stmulus relief talks and package but continue to build the infrastructure for the economy to continue to build itself back up for the jobs to be there. >> woodruff: excuse me. let me also ask you abo the healthcare plan. >> sure. >> woodruff: the president has been saying since he was eleectd thatill present a healthcare plan to the american people. we're almost four yearlater. there still isn't one. >> judy, that's actually not true. hed out his great american healthcare plan on september 24th in charlotte, north carolina. it is on the white house web site. it talks and walks through lower costs, better care, more choice for all americans and how he will do that, expanding health savings accounts,

lemedicine -- >> woodruff: but it hasn't been presented to the congress in the form of a forma oposal. >> well, what his plan is what he's presenting to the americand people, he's to move things through the congress, of course with the stalemate it hasn't been possible, but also in the last three and a half years he's been able to do much through executive order whether price transparency and affordable healthcare plans. price premiums have come down 35% der this president anin some parts to have the country almost 50%. have expanded choice to 22 plans under meicaid, 80% choice. it's much better than wh was handed to us three and a half years ago. we will continue to build on that with all americans but especially those with pre-existing conditions which the president has beenui uncal about. >> woodruff: well, and that's an issue of great distagreem because republicans have not been united on preserving pre-existing conditions and right now the supreme court may

be on the verge of knocking out obamacare altogether, leaving without coverage, and myicans question is where's the safety net, what's going to proct those americans if that happens? >> well, thank you for brin up obamacare, i would love to talk about that. first of all, the exaltatio of obamacare just doesn't make any sense. so this idea thathaffordable care act that obamacare is providing everyone is pre-existing conditions the most amazing care, just isn't true. so i will say this, affordable care act is uph ate u.s. supreme court next week for argument. the decision will come down probably middle of next year. in the meantime, the president has already improved the affordable care act, obamacare, the exchanges, premiums are down 8% after having done up 35% under prident obama, an there's a lot more choice. so we'll continue to improve what the system currently is. if it is rightly struck down which the president has been --

>> woodruff: struck don -- if it is struck down, if the president has rightly called r it being moved off and something better be put in its place, judy, there is $1.8 trillion ten years to subsidize to do the insurance exchanges, et cetera. that $1.8 trillion under this president will be redeployed to the millions of ame who are on the affordable care act, but nevertheless millions of americans, and that ney will go directly to them rather than to the special interests, to the insurance companies that have caed the prices to go so far up. >> woodruff: brooke rollins acting director the white house domestic policy council, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodrf: the latest covid-19 outbreak has hit some parts of

but it has also returned to places like chicago, which had already suffered an earlier round of the virus. lori lightfoot is the city's mayor, where infections are again rising and shetly reinstated some restrictions on certain businesses and social therings. welcome back to the "newshour". mayor lightfoot, we heard governor pritzker, the governor of illinois, say yesterday thats a coviorm is coming. what does the situation look like right now in cgohi >> well, it is of grave concern. we're seeing the rate of new cases really escalate in the same way that we saw them back in the spring. we are seeing a slight uptick in hospitalizations, not i.c.u. beds, yet, thankfully, but we're very concerned. we announced some steps and measures last week to step back some of e measures that we had put in place and slightlyin opup our economy, but we're very concerned about the second surge.

> >> woodruff: and governor pritzker saying he will impose restrictions again starting friday on indoor dining. what other restrictions are you looking at cming? >> well, there are a number of restrictions and we're very concerned about them. our restaurant industry, our if thevernor's order goesaces, into effect, it's really effectively shuttingwn a significant portion of our economy at a time when those same businesses are really hanging on by a thread. so we're going to continue our engagement of the governor andm, his tut if it's not looking good and we can't convince him other metrics should apply, then the shutdown, unfortunately, will take efct starting friday by state order. >> woodruff: so sounds like you think it's the wrongdo decision this. >> well, i think that we've got to look at what our metrics are. no question we're seeing an

uptick in cases, we're also seeing percent positivity go up, but hosonpitalizaare not at the breaking point like we feareddack in the spring, a i think that's an important metric that needs to have me really significant rate. and, also, we've got to be very impose these new restrictions. the truth is that where we're seeing the greatest challenges is in people's homes, in social settings that are not public. that's harder to regulate, to be sure, but that's at least in chicago where we're seeing the challenges. two-thirds of the people that are sting positive and are talking to our case investigators are telling us that they got it from somebody that thneey and that they got it in a home or other social setting that's not in public. we're taking additional steps to really address those

the cases increase. so i'm not sure that we're reaching the right people with the restrictions that are going to be imposed by the state, and that's my cern. >> woodruff: it was just in the last few days that you announced what a1.2 billion shortfall in the chicago city budget, you calledor increases in property taxes, cutting the number of city workers.c just how mof a financial strain, crisis are you facing? >> it's significant. we have an $800 millionin shortfal our 2020 budget, where we would have been on track to beat our budgeted expectations, and 100% of that 2020 shortfall is covid-late. we have a $1.2 billion budget deficit for next year, 2021, and 65% of that shortfall is covid

related. that's why it's so distressing that the federal governm failed to recognize not just the cagoht of a city like chi but cities and towns all over the country -- red, blue, purple, independent, democrat, republican -- this is a virusat oesn't respect political boundaries or geodagraphic boes, and we need a bipartisan solution for this bipartisan problem. so we're going to keep pushing every lever tat we can think of, but for now, we're noton getting addi help from the federal government, so our pandemic budget, which is wha we're talking about it as, really relusies upo in chicago making a tougrd choices that are going to be necessary mandated to do by law.as we are >> woodruff: a little bit earlier, i spoke with the head of the whiteouse domesti policy council, brooke rollins is her name, acting director, and she said -- because i was long to reach an agreement.o

she said the president is pushing as pardon as ehean -- as hard as he can, and she said, you know, we want you, mayor lightfoot, and others to be at the taicialtion but she -- at the table, but she also said we have to recognize what's the best for the american people, people in ddstressed forgotten communities. what does that say to you?t' >> to me, thjust a bunch of rhetoric. srom the very beginning of thi pandemic, myself and other mayors have reached out to the esident, to the vice president, we've asked them repeatedly to make sure th mayors of bipartisan group and geographically diverse group of mars had a role to play in the could hear it fro so that they grassroots level. they've ignored us atveturn and frankly turned their i.g.a. function into aolicized bunch of hacks that attack democratic mayors. they started attacking with

muriel bowser, then me and jnny dirken and keisha bottoms. it's a total missed opportunity and we have knom a very long time that we are going to have to fight tis fiht without meaningf support from the white house and the executive branch, but it's a real shame, and,nfortunately, i think lives have been lost becauseov not only the misnagement from the white house but the absolute unwillingness to fully engage and make sure that they'reg listen local leaders so that we can forge solutions thai save people'ses, that educate them and keep them safe >> woodru: well, we are going to have to leave it there, mayor lori lightfoot. we wish you all the best with what you're dealing witu h. thank ry much. >> thank you, judy. appreciate you.

>> woodruff: theremere more running for congress than ever before, shattering even the recordin 2018. this time, it's driven in part by record numbers of republican women on the ballot. lisa desjardins has our report on what the g.o.p. has done andt why still need to do to close the gender gap in the house. >> desjains: this could be the face of change in the republican party. >> let's bump some elbows, how y'all doing today? >> desjardins: nancy mace is running to be the rst south carolina woman ever in congress, and part of what some ho is a gender shift for republicans. both parties have gender gaps. in the house of representatives, 88 democrats, or 38%, are women. but it is a chasm for house republicans, with just 13 women,

a tiny 7% of their ranks right now. >> thank you! i appreciate it! >> desjardins: enter mace and new class of candidates. she's a single mom who represents the low country nea charlestonn the state house early in life as the first woman to graduate from south the citadel.t'itary institution >>not just democratic women that are breaking barriers or breaking glass ceilings. >> desjardins: a recor94 republican women are on the ballot for the house of representatives this year, nearly double the number two years ago.e then a w new, democratic women entered the house. and got >> on 2018, it sounds like it was kind of a call to action. >> i really do believe it was. we lost some amazing incumbent wol,n and my colleagues, we you know, really did look and say, whacan we do differently going forward?

republican congres susan brooks, who will retire this year, headed up the recruitment ofe.emale candidates this cy a frequent concern she hears-- is congress worth ece effort? >>se they very much all across the board want to make a difference. d th't want to waste their time. they want to know that what they're going to be doing is real, making a difference. >> desjardins: this during renewed attention on and excitement for conservative women. >> welcome judge. >> desjardins: with the nomination of amy coney barrett to the supreme court. >> this hearing to me is an opportunity to not punch through a glass ceiling, but a reinforced concrete barrier around conservative women. you're going to shter that barrier. >> desjardins: but that energy hasn't translated to more ses in congress-- party leaders like senate majority lead mcconnell have been asked... >> why do you think the gender gap is wider now than it has been previousl >> well it's an interesting question and something'm notwi

happ and i hope we can improve in the coming weeks and years. >> desjardins: brooks also says she's unsure but points to >> i do know historically the women candidates have harder time fundraising. and so we haven't had the ability to break through our primaries. >> desjardins: there'siplso a leaderap. house republicans have just one woman in leadership-- wyoming congresswoman licheney, and just two are the highest ranking on their committees. minority leader kevin hy said gender shouldn't be a factor for cheney or anyone in politics. >> she's not defined by being in my conference because she's a woman, she's defined by being in my conference because she got elected an she's the best person r the job. >> desjardins: that creates a tricky situation for republican women. julie conway created and runs view pac, a group focused on electing more g.o.p. wom. >> historically, republican women have had a bit of a

challenge because gender politics, identity politics on the republican side wasn't really taken too seriously. it was always the concept that the best candidate will emerge from a primary and that person will be our candidate in the general. and unfortunately, the a level playing field in terms of electing republican women and republican men. >> desjardins: even in thisup record grof candidates, you can see that. of the 94 republican women running this year, 11 are inow congre and just 14 others are seen as having a chance to win. reat includes mace, in a high- dollar race withman touted an environmrecord who has for the coast. she's blunt about the system overall. do you thinkhat politics is ill a boys club? >> oh, absolutely, 100%.ja >> dins: and she sees the ballot as one piece of the puzzle. >> being in elected office is not enough. we he to have our voices heard. >> desjains: for republican

women, a push to be heard, and to be a larger force at the table in washington.for the pbsa desjardins. >> woodruff: despite small in the pandemic, one thing has become clear, the world's ereliance onrsonal protective equipment or p.p.e. as special correspondent patrick much needed gear masks tohis goggles comes from china and the untry where therus originated now produces much of what is needed to fightt of. >> reporter: it may only be staffed with a small number ofo ers, but this p.p.e.

production plant in chongqing, southern china churns out half a million disposable masks every day. masks are by far the most sought-after type of p.p.e., and these commonly-see ones are number-one sellers. >> they're flat, the typical three-layesurgical masks, that will be the most popular one, this one. >> rorter: paul wang is c.e. and founder of lyncmed. it's a majorlobal distributor of medical gear, including p.p.e. d.c.-based peterson institute for international economics, even before the coronavirus pandemic began. china was the largest exporter of p.p.e., accounting for nearly half the world's supply of facns masks, gownd goggles. its share of the market's grown even larger since. wang says his company's sale volumes are 10 times higher than a year ago. and after a slight lull over summer, the virus subsided in ma places, orders are now coming back with ominous strength. >> beginning of september, we

already saw the early indicators of the second wave picking up, because now the weather is cooling down. >> reporter: at the height of china's battle with the coronavirus in marchmed, like many other overseas distributors of p.p.e., calledes back inventorom warehouses around the world. much of it was diverted to front d ners fighting the virus in hubei province, e virus epicenter: wuhan.an but domestic dfor p.p.e. has slowed steadily since march, as china's gotten it's outbreak. under cont lyncmed's shifted its focus bac towayers elsewhere, including the u.s., which, like many other countries, continues to grapple with shortages. a global backlash against china ov the covid-19 pandemic h led to accusations chinese authorities hid the severity of the outbreak so that it cotad get a head on stocking up s on the medicupplies it needed to respond to the crisis. and there are fears ina might

restrict the distribution of gear to countries that have criticizedts handling of the disease. joe mazur is an analyst at the intelligence group trivium china. >> but in reality, we haven't seen a lot of that. china has in general been pretty liberal about exporting its p.p.e. once its own domestic needs have been met. and i think that's for a couple of reasons. one is because the chinese blvernment sees the export of p.p.e. as a big relations coup, right?r: >> reporeports say exports of virus-related goods, including p.p.e., helped offset a drop in other products shipped to the u.s. as a result of tariffs imposed by the trump administratis . total expore down only slightly in the first eight months of the year, mpared to the last, according to official chinese data. healthcare officials say the shortage of p.p.e. in the u.s., by contrast, is likely to persist in the absence of a strategy to address the problem. >> it's as important as having a local fire station in your town or in your city.r: >> reporinglong dai is anpr

associate essor specializing in healthcare ecosystems at the john hopkins university carey school of business. he's been researching d e critical nr the u.s. to reshore p.p.e. production. >> just imagine you have a fire and you don't have a truck a few miles from you and you have to rely on a truck from a nearbyst e. you cannot deal with the fire. the fire trucks rive but your house has already burned down. >> reporter: both president donald trump and democratic nominee joe biden havech pioned bringing back production to the u.s. dai says it needs to be a long- term commitment. >> we need engineers, managers, quality controllers and technicians and workers. when we need them, we cannot just train them within a few weeks. it takes years to get the right people, to get the right machines. >> reporter: china was able to ramp up production when it needed because of a plan it previously laid out to be self sufficient in key industries by 2025.

state support saw nearly 70,000 companies register to either anufacture face masks this year.s but reposo suggest that may have led to quality control problems. alth officials in the u.s. and many other parts of the world equipment and substandard masks; shipments have been pulled. >> there's been a big in demand for this product. and china has thmeans to produce it. td so what that does is t attracts a lot of people looking to capitalize on that disparity. and unfortunatel some of them are bad actors who are producing sub-par kits. >> reporter: chinese rors have tightened quality control overedical supplies. but that hasn't stemmed the problem entirely. lyncmes made serious efforts to ensure the goods it distributes comply with health standards at home and abroad. it's had to brush aside some of the negative attention to chinese-ma goods. >> this is part of life. this is part of the politics. so people are finger pointing at each other for different reasons.

i just accept it. this is nature. i'm still, and my whole team feels very proud. of what we are doing, and we are saving lives. >> reporter: and as long as the pandemic continues, people across the world are likely to depend on china to supply the equipment needed to keep them safe. for the pbs newshour, i'm patrick fok in beijing. >> woodruff: we look at the pandemic and how the arts are trying to weather the economic storm. from january to june of this from january to june of this yearconsumer spending on the performing arts fell from almost $27 billion to just $817 million, for example

organization has launched a pilot program in the bkshires region of massachusetts to provide artists work, just like the u.s. did during the great iapression. spcorrespondent jared bowen of gbh boston reports as part of our american creators series, and ongoing arts and culture series, canvas. >> reporter: there's a stillness this land. where the rawness of the woods meets manicured beauty. except for a fountain, there is quiet. just theay novelist edith wharton wanted it. >> when a cold frost would kill her favorite trees, it was like losing a child. i mean, she was deeply, deeply and instinctively, i way, connected to nature. >> reporter: susan wissler is executive director of the mount- the home and gardens edith purchasing this property inter 1901. it's tucked into the rolling hills of the berkshires in western mawhachusetts and ton wrote some of her most celebrated works here including

ethan frome and the house of mirth. >> the's a scene in the house of mirth. lily bart is at a house party on the hudson. and the view that she describes out of her window when she wakes up is very much wharton's view from her bedroom window. >> there's so much space for thoughts with, with all this inspiration. >>reporter: today, it's wri and theater artist lia russell- self, who uses the pronoun they, who is gded by this space. it's also now their job-as part of a privatelyunded, national pilot program called artists at work. it was set up during the pandemic tgive six chosen artists employment in cultural institutions across thees berksh others include a choreographer workg with the dance festiva jacob's pillow, a filmmaker joining an independent movie theater and a visual artist teaming with the massachuset museum of contemporary art-all in rural western massachusetts. each artist has the freedoto develop any project they want for a six month residency. >> the artists are being paid to just make the beautiful work they make as artists that helps

usll make meaning of the world. and they're also paid to bring their thinking to social initiatives. >> reporter: rachel chanoff is director of the office, a for- profit new york and lond based performing arts and film production company that conceived the artists for hire pilot and pays each ofhe artists is paid a living wage and ovides them receives healthcare for at least six months while in the program. >> the reason we didn't want to make it a grant, we wanted toge make it a s so that they would, post-program, they would be eligible for unemployment.no >> reporter: c proudly acknowledges that paying artists who've found themselves jobless or struggling financduring the pandemic is entirely uniginal. it's roots are in the w.p.a., the works progress administration estab during the great depression. it employed thousands of artists teaching art classes, creating thter, painting murals and documenting the country thugh photography. it fueled the careers of figures like actor, wrer and director orson welles, painter jacob

lawrence and scutor louise nevelson. what did you recognize thatth worked durinw.p.a. and putting artists to work in this country? >> it was a timerehere artists ecognized as workers. artists are so often thought of as kind of the garnish on the plate anthe luxury item. when artists are unemployed, you have unemployed people who are on their way to becoming poor people. >> to have six months of salary, this is what you've got and if something happens to you, you can you can go see a doctor, which is not a luxury i've had for quite a while. >> reporter: in non-pandemic times, people flock to the berkshires in the summertime for world class concerts, art exhibitions and theater. it's a feast for those craving culture. but here, russell-self feelsmo at home because of the landscape and their project for the pilot program is twork with young people of color to explore and strengthen their ties to this land.

and they regularly walk edith wharton's onetime estate with groups like the rusty anvil, dich connects marginalize communies to nature. >> repter: ultimately, russell-self wants to make this a destination for other people of color who might not always feel welcome in predominantly white spaces like the mot. and the artist will write a collection of poetry inspired by the experience. >> i don't know how th independent artists are going to sustain and endure through this period. >> reporter: throughout the pandemic the mount has had to suspend programs that would platform.give artists a and that's the situation nationwide with countless artists among the unemployed and without a sense of when or if their jobs will return. >> i'm ud to working a few different gigs, few different projects to try and piece everything together. that's totally not possible now. >> reporter: which is why the pilot's organizers are hoping it can be replicated around t

country where rachel chanoff our economic recovery-if they're just given the means. >> we're hoping that this is, really changes the conversationn s the conversation about the impact and the, um utility of arts. it's that art impacts mentalu health and, ow, food systems, and economies. art is a part of our endeavor, as a, as a commonwealth. and, that's where the conversation needs to look. >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, i'm jared bowen in lenox, massachusetts. >> woodruff: and on the pbs newshour online, the latest episode of our podcast americain rrupted explores the history of voter suppression, what it looks like today andhe pandemic has made it worse. newshour slash podcasts orh wherever you get your podcasts.

and that's the newshour for tonight. i'judy woodruff. join us online and again hereve tomorrowng. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind.id withity wealth management, a dedicated advisor can tailor advice and recommendations to your life. that's fidelity wealth management. >> carnegie corporation of ew supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org.

>> and with the ongoing support of these institutis >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcastinby anontributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. entire point is to get past the headlin, to get past the name calling. >> we can go deeper into topics. everything isn't necessarily red or blue. >> we need to understand what's going on. we need to go behind and under the story. >> not just to find out what haened but why it matters. >> 2020 will be a political rollercoaster but yours can count on pbsbe to here every step of the way. captioning sponsored by

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. hell everybody. welcome to "amanpour & co." here's what's coming up. >> i nominated amy coney barrett the supreme court of the united states. tonight she will be confirmed by the senate. >> just one weekct before eion day and trump get his third conservave justice on to the supreme court. its first t tes could b decide the 2020 election. trevor pter joins me about using the law to defend voters' rights. we want to underscore that we're coming tohica peacefully. whether we get permits or not, we'recoming. >> arming parallels between this election season and 1968. the oscar nominated actor frank