obert: tonight a special report inside the final days of this campaign. >> if i d sound like a washington pl decision it's because i'm not a politeian. >> need a president that's going to bring us together, not pull us apart. robert: the future of america on the line, as record numbers vote early and outbreaks spike in key states.ha >>s his closing argument? that people are too focused on covid. he's jealous of covid's media coverage robert: democrats hope far revival of the obama clition d push into the south and seat belt but it could all come down to pennsylvania.

>> what is trump giving you? >> i think he's moreor america than anyonenk can thi of right now. robert: next. >> this is "washingt week with." --in this is "washon week." >> when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. with fidelity management, an advisor can tailor advice to your life. that's fidelity management. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to help people connect. our u.s.-based customer serce team can help find a plan that fits you. >> babel,ffering a language program that using dialogue to teach a new language. babel is available in th app

store. >> boeing. additional funding is provided by -- the estate of arnold adams ancoo and pricia yuen through the yuen foundation. the corporation for publi broadcasting. and contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again from washington, moderator robert costa. robert: good evening to a special hour-long edition washington-week kicking off the final weekend of a campaign that's left this nation tense ed and div in our first half-hour we'll discuss the latest on the fight for the white house and in our second half-hour, which will be carried by many pbs station, w oll take youn a journey across pennsylvania. but first, we beginith three trusted reporters who have been friends of this programro

hout the campaign. kristen welker, white house correspondent for nbc news and co-anchor of "weekend today," sh also served, as you know, as the steady and sharp moderator of that final presidential debate. e yamicindor, white house correspondent for pbs newshour and today we learned winner of the national association of black journalistward for journalist of the year. congratulations.and dan balz, c correspondent for "the washington post." so glad to have you all here on this important fvedayng. let's begin with a quick listen to the closing arguments on theh pandemic was killedearly 230,00 americans ands case numbers spike here is what they're saying. >> if you vote for biden, its me no kids in school. no graduations. no wdings. no television. no cas. >> i'm not going to shut down

the economy. i'm not going to shut down the country. but i am going to shut down the virus. >> covidovid, covid. by the way, on november 4 you won't hear about it anymore. >> dr. fauci called last week for a mask mandate. this isn't a political statement. it's patriotic duty, for god's sake. robert: kristen, when you're talkesg to your sou at the whe house, do they believe the president's argument on the pandemic i breaking through or are swing voters, women in the suburbs, not convinced? kristen: bob, thanks for having me an thanks for tha introduction. i think there's some trepidation about president trump trying to turn the page on the covid crisis even among some of his closest advisors and allies. yes they acknowledge that theyi want to try to project confidence, but they don't want him to appear out of step with the reality on the ground.

what are we seeing as we head into the final four t days ofhis race? cases of covid spiking in key battnd states and all across the country, frankly. they want himessage to be clear. they want it to be targeted. they want him to focus more on the economy we got a strong report on g.d.p. growth earlier this week an they want him to stay focused on that he spent a lot of time on the campaign trail in key battleground states taking aim at some of his polical rivals. not staying focused on what they hink continues to be his point which is the economy. i was out talking to voters and those who support him continue to go back too to -- back to that argument. they say look, we think ultimately he's beit's the -- he's the best person for our l botte, for our business. that's why his advisors want him to stay on message. robert: yamiche, you spent aot ofime in florida talking to

voters. what have you learned?mi e: if you're a supporter of president trump and you get on brd with the idea that the coronavirus ha too much attention and is occupying too much space in the media landscaperic get on board with the idea that if you get the coronavirus, it's not that bad, won't kill you you get on board with the idea that it's flu.hat like the that the coronavirus is spiking l acr the country. 47 states. today we passed nine million cases overall in the united states. so if you're a trump supporter, you're looking at those numbers an saying, those numbers are bad. president those numbs will still be bad. what iear from supporters of joe biden is they feel as though the president'sage is ka louse. they think it's ridiculous for the president to be walking around talking about he got the coronavirus and he's ok, because he had access to some of the best medical care. supporters a real nervousness that when they look at the po

s, they're worried that joe needed in key battleground t states like florida, wisconsin, pennsylvania, to take sures election goes his way. when you talk to supporters of the president,ne thing i'm really struck by is the way you do this election is really life or death a the way you view the coronavirus, it goes hand in hand with the way you view who you're voting and supporting in this election. stakes. dan, those are high you study polls as closely as anyone. is the biden campaign nervous that the pandemic may not be the driver in terms o vote energy that they hoped in terms of getting swing voters and independent voters to listen closely to the vice president? dan: first, let me saytu congtions to kristen and yamiche, those are both wonderful things they've done and i congratulate them. back to the polls. i think the biden campaign feels

as though they're in a good place ent given what ha in 2016 there has to be nervousness. if you talk to people arod the biden campaign, they express coheidence. but are many democrats who are nervous. i talked to a republican strategist today and he said, in many ways, if you look at the lling you coulding that are this campaign is in pretty good hands for biden to win it. yet, he said, because of what are unwilling to do that. ple there's still a path for the president to win this. so there's nervousness all around. but in the key states at this point, the biden campaign feels as though they go into election day andar with the voting in a pretty decent position. 's robert: let into the idea of turnout on the democratic side and energy. one of the momentshis week that really mattered in myok noteas when president obama returned to the campaign trail in orlando, florida, asat

demo tried to revive the obama coalition. >> we've got to turn out like never before, orlando.we ave to leave no doubt.e we can't complacent. folks got a little lazy.time. forecasts took things for granted. and look what happened. ,robert: kristhat does presidentbama's re-entry onto the scene mean for democrat -places like philadelphia, your home city, and in places like georgia in the deep south? crip well, there's no one who energize democrats and frankly the coalition that president president obama into office like mr. obama. he is the person who the delic base, brings together some independents, thole suburban women that are going to be so critical that this election is ultimately going to turn on. d don't forget, he is the best character witness for joe biden. so he is there taking aim at

president trump in ways we have not seen,rankly, until he has hit the trail in recent days and really sving to underscore biden's key point, which is thak he t he's going to be better at fighting covid-19. this is going to be critical, particularly as we are seeing rates of early voting we did not see in 216. democrats outpacing republicans. that is what you would expect. the question is going to be, can republicans match that turnout and beat ile onion day? democrats are feeling confidence, though, about these early numbers. it's worth noting that by election day, bob, we're pecting 2/3's of the expected electorate to have already voted. that is significant. the question is, where are those votes going? undoubtedly former president energizing that coalition of voting to the polls. robert: what about bernie

nders? you've covered sanders for years, i noticed harris has been campaigning with him. will the sanders voters going to come out? yamiche: based on my reporting, sands voters seeid as someone they can support unlike hillary clinton there were people that never got on board with hillary clintovepble i'm not seeing that same feeling when i talk tofo er sanders supporters. i was in miami talking to a young black man. he said, i'm voting for joe biden, he's not my first pick, i'msi not enttic, i was hoping sanders would go in there, i hepped the democratic party would go more the a.o.c. wing. the voters see president trump as an exiss ten rble threat, they see him as a thrt to democracy and to their daily

lives when you think about not only their live bus also police killings and criminal us justice in this country my feeling is progressives are more energized. the question is can joe biden run up the numbers enough so t coalition he builds which will likely beha differentn the coalition of hillary clinton ano barama, can heuild a coalition that outpaces the trump campaign? the trump campaign feels good about tir number -florida, they feel like they can run up white, noncollege ecated americans, suburban women they feel good about. can they turn out the trump coalition that came out in 2016 again? thhe big question. robert: dan, you have written a column this week abo wisconsin, michigan and the midwest. what is the outlook there? we see a blizzard of polling. what is your veteran perspective on what's going on in the midwest? dan: bob, those are the three

keys to thi election. there are many states in play. there's a lot of competition in lot of places. but i think most people believe that this race is likelyo come down to those three states. if the presidents able to hold everything in the south that he won before, wins again in ohioow and both of which are competitive but which he won pretty easily last time, then those three state he is mentioned arthe keys to the outcome. throughout the fall, vice president biden has held a lead. lead of four point, five points. you look at different polls in different places, but he's held a fairly steady lead. it is in the necessarily insurmountable lead because we don't know what the competition of the electorate i going to be like. we'v all been poring over t vote numbers, trying to get clues and read signs and

signals, but it's difficult because we don't know what's left among the people who haven't voted and how they're gog to break. we assume the election day vote will be much more heavily in favor of trump. we know earlyin v has been much more in favor of biden. but in those three states,hese could be cse or biden might have a lead that is sustainableh and get through. the other thing to know about likely to have full results on the night of the election. they have a lot ofse unped mail ballots that will take hours and perhapsays before they're fully counted. robert: to be clear you're talking about pennsylvania, sconsin, and michiga dan: correct, yes, those three states. none of them can begin to process -- michig on monday and the other two on tuesday. so itwill be a slo process. everybody needs to be patient. robert: let's tout that point. the courts, they are the cloud over all of this.

jouge amy coney barrett this week became justice brett as the senate confirmed here on a 52-48 vote, democrats remain outraged about the process but majority leade mitchcconnell has been taking a victory lap. justice barrett hasn't yet participated i but that could change in the coming weeks amid court chalcenges refer by dan on vote counts. kristen, when youook at the court challenges on the horizon, what's the preparation going in both parties? kristen: oh, boy, a lot o preparation, for sure. and of course qstions toju ice amy coney barrett, would she recuse herself,he's declined to answer that question. that alone could energize voters to come out and perhaps the president's supporters to turn out. but we do know that both campaigns already have a robust effort in these critical states. they are ready if and when there

are legal challenges to meete thegal challenges and again they are underscoring to voters that the key here is patience. i have to tell you, i spent time in florida this week as well, in tampa, and that p is at of a critical swing district. i spoke with electionfficials there and what's significant about florida of course is that they are alrdy counting those early votes. so they say it is likely we will know the results of florida, if not on election night, soon thereafter. that is a big, big prize with its 29 electoral votes. but in thoserithercal states, that's where the action is going to be. both sides say r they'redy for it. robert: yamiche, i spoke to yim cliburn, house majority whip this week, and he expressed concern about vetter suppression in his sta of south carolina. jamie harrisonrying to topple incumbent lindseyraham, a longtime republican senator. you track voter suppression

across the country a wh activists saying about what they're detecting on the ground? yamiche: there's a lot of nervousness ability voter suppression, especially looking at states like south carolina, georgia. republican legislature whi h course are many and plentiful in this country, that they will somehow find a way to have legislation as well as backing of voter supprsion efforts. they're very worried that there are polling stations that are going to be close. they're worried about long they'll face four hours, six hour lines. republicans have be the party that historically has had the most voter suppression in terms of allegations. we remember the north carolina judge saying in tha state repuicans targeted black voters with surgical precision to try to suppress their votes. so i think there's lot of nervousness among democrats.

that's why you've heard joe biden say, as well as michelle obama, as well asam barack vote early, make a plan. because democrats underd thight be up against voter suppression efforts. they want an electorate that understands they nt to s a blowout. any sort of close election makes people very, very nervous. hat makes people feel like both campaigns have amassed numbers of lawyers to get ready for this r.n.c telling me just tonight they have $20 million set ade already for legal battles ahead. what you see is bothns campa being very, very nervous. the democratic side in particular being very nervous about voter suppression.: robe dan, when we wake up wednesday morning, we may all stay up all night, but what's your expectation for the house and senate? does the house remain

democratic? senate remain republican? htere are several tigaces. dan: i think everybody believes that the democratsill continue to hold the house and might in fact add to their jerrett in the house. in the senate, republicans are quite nervous about their t abilit hold on to their majority. there are several races that they have pretty much given up on. colorado bng one. arizona being another. in maine, senator collins in real trouble. we know in iowa, senator johnierness is in real trouble. -- senator jonierness is in real trouble. there are -- senator joni ernst is in trouble. i think 34ru7bs are fearful the majority they have will disappear on eleion nightut it's not a given. robert: kristen, it appears thei presiden running his own

campaign. he was there in arizona with senatorrocsally, heht her on stage for what seemsed like a minute, the she got off the stage. she had a moment at a debate a few weeks ago where she wasn't clear when she was asked about whether she's proud to standre withdent trump. katherine: absolutely. and all those senators who are in toughre spots being pressed on what they think about president tru's handling of the covid crisis. so that has created some real tensions. and i think that moment that you referenced underscores what we are seeing in these key races. here the presidenter had on stage, barely a ringing ntendorsement from presi trump for her, she was just there for a minute as you say. so it just speaks to how precarious some of these seats actually are. you talk about georgia and that perdue, for example.soff and that's one of the races that

undoubtedly is going to drive turnout. that's one of the reasons that you saw biden campaigning theret earlies week. not just because he believes he potentially could pull off a win in reliably red georgia but also because he wants to drive up the turnout for those critical senate races in that state. 's robert: l d a lightning round. we're on the eve of the election, at least "washington what will you be watching on n. election night? f yamiche: tst thing i want to say is i'm so excited to be on this panel, especially with you and krist, i will be watching all of you covering these races, i feel like a of such grace an smartness. with i'll be watching this because i feel like it's a race about how ,ople are feeli about the empathy that people are feeling, because this is a re that life and death. when i was talking to voters, it's not about policies or

differences, it's whether people feel like the person they're supporting wilp them survive and thre. that's different than past lebses. gll be watchow people emotionally react to all of this that's going on ande how peo tell people about how they voted and how they made theiron deci based on their hearts and minds rather than on policies. robert: kristen, you'll be part of nbc's coverage on election night. what will you be watching? kristen:, bob, i return the compliment to yamiche an all of you. for all your coverage. i'm going to be catching -- watching t see what the lato turnout will be. there's been the closing days on driving up the latino vote. just saw vice president biden announce that if he's elected he'll form a fasktors -- force on day one to try to reunite the children, some 500

children separated from their parents, under president trump's policy. it's a policyhat was reversed but they're still separated. the latinl vote wil so critical in a number of states, particularly the sun belt, florida, arizona. that could make a big difference in terms of who winds up pulling out a win in tse critical states. robert: dt balz, wha will you be watching? dan: in addition to watching the main battlegrounds like everody on this panel tonight an everybody around the country i'll be watching texas. texas is a fascinating story this year. we don't know how it's going to come out. i think at thipoint you have to say president trump would still with the favorite butee there's an apaysing amount of early voting in that state.xa passed nine million early votes yesterday. continuing to add to it. they have already h more people vote early than who voted inf all o -- all of the 2016

election. y major only a couple of exceptions has already sur prassed its 2016 the tall vot and the ones that haven't will be there certainly within a day or two or thre so what is going on in texas is the transformation owe're seeing across other places in the sunbelt. there's demographic change. there's economic growth. there's influx of new people. there's th changing suburban vote that we're seeing in other places around the cntry that's also affectingexas. is has turned a state that donald trump won by nine points four yearsgo and other republicans have won by double digits for many, manyrs ynow being a competitive state. if you talk to people on boths si have done today, they each believe that they could win. robert: what i'll be watching as a reporter is what president trump says. does he declare victory or not?

as many states still wait for the count of their vote. how does he handle this crossroads forim politically, personally. someone who cares so much about his brand. somethg to watch o election night at a critical moment for democracy. we have to leave it there for now. many thanks to our reporters, kr welker, yamiche alcindor, and dan walz. after a quick break, we ctinue our special tonight on many pbs stations and go deep into theba leground of pennsylvania. i'mst robert a, see you soon. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and acicracy. visit .org] >> corpote funding for "washington week" is provided by

-- >> when the wld gets compcated, a lot goes through your mind. an a can tailor alth managements recommendations to your life. that's management. >> babbel. consumer cellur. boeing.al additi funding is provided by the estate of arnold adams and coo and patricia yuen through the yuen foundation, committed to bridging cultural difference -our communities. the corporation for public oadcasting. and contrutions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

robert: inside, battle ground pennsylvania. with the voters who could decide it all. will president trump stun the political world once again, or will vice president biden win the state and the white house? the pandemic, of course is a key issue. >> it was political for our ro president the very beginning. robert: but so are debates on rights and race. >> he's been one of the most pre lifedents of our generation. >> i would like police officers removed from philadelphi schools. >> and the economy, it hovers over everything. >> my company has lost literally dozens of jobs to the chinese. >> the working man is getting nothing. robert: coming up on "washington week" special report.