captioning sponsored by newshour productions,lc >> woodruff: goodvening. i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight, one day more-- the candidates deliver their closing messages to voters in critical states on the final day of the campaign. then, a troubling resurgence: covid cases contue to rise across the u.s., threatening the capacity of hospital intensive care units. and calling the race-- we havee an insok at how the winners are declared by the associated press once the votes are cast. >> we have called the winner of every presidency without fear or vor or partisanship or any opinion of any person in our organiza'vtion. called it on the facts and math. year after year after year.

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>> woodruff: the last minutes are ticking away in th presidential campaign. nearly 100 million americans have alreadyoted-- more than two-thirds of all the votes cast in 2016.a today offerest chance to gin up tomorrow's turnout. white house correspondent yamiche alcindor reports. >> reporter: the campaign's fil day, and both candidat rushing to rally supporter each in his own way. president trump mounted a blitz, helped deliver hiur states that presidency in 2016: wisconsin, michigan, pennsyania and north carolina. >> remember what i said four years ago, i said: i am uryo voice and we will make america great again. >> reporter: former vice president jobiden focused his attention first on ohio. power to change the countrhe inour hands. >> reporter: but today, pennsylvania is the one key stattthat got the m

attention. >> we're going to be covering a lot of ground today, joe is going, jill's going to be here, do's going to be here. >> reporter: biden's running mate, senator kamala harris, rallied redents in luzerne county. it was an effort to flip bk an area that last cycle helped hand the state to president trump. >> i think you all know and that's why we' all here, we keep coming back, because we care about p.a. and p.a. is going to determine the outcome of this election. >> reporter: the president also visited the county for a rally. he repeated claims the nation would soon be rounding the corner on the pandemic. >> you know, we've done such a great job with this thing, europe they're spiking. we will quickly eradicate the viruand wipe out the china plague once and for all. >> reporter: in fact, the covid crisis appears to be getting more dire as infections surge past nine million. the top u.s. infectious disease expert, dr. anthony fauci told" the washington post" over theat weekend he nation "could not possibly be positioned more poorly" as we head into the winter. e white house fired back in a

post,"ent to "the accusing dr. fauci of "playing ntlitics." last night, in ff an enthusiastic crowd in opalocka, florida, the president suggested dr. fauci may soon be fired. >> don't tell anybod let me wait 'til little bit after the election. i appreciate the ad.vi >> reporter: todaybiden hammered the president's ndemic response at his own rally in beaver county, pennsylvania. >> he refuses to do the worirk o get this under contl. he refuses to do the work to get our schools, and our small businesses the resources they need to stay openfi. fiters, teachers, copa ole lot of hard working folks. >> reporter: vice president mike pence-- also in pennsylvania-- warned biden's policies would be a drag on the economy. biden wants to shut down the economy, right when e getting back up on oureet as a country. >> reporter: while the battle on the trail draws to a close, another fight over countinis brewing, with pennsylvania also

in the middle of it. the state's winner may not be decided by tuesday night. in fact, some counties will not even begin counting ballots until the next day. last night in north carolina, president trump criticized tha delay, even though no ste has ever reported complete, final results on election day. >> i think it's terrible when we can't know the results of an ection the night of an election in a modern-d age of computers.e >> reporter:id he was already gearing up for a legal challenge. >> we're going to go in the night of-- as soon as that election is over, we're going in with our lawyers. >> reporter: today, biden tried to assure people that their votes would be counted.'t >> i dare how much trump p ies, there's nothing he's going to do to sople of this nation from voting. folks, hhasn't figured it t, presidents don't determine who gets to vote. voters determine who is goinbego he president. >> reporter: tensions on the ground are also building as the race wraps up. the f.b.i. is investigating an incident in texas last week where a convoy of trump

supporters in vehicles swarmed a biden campaign bus on the hway. n to cancele campa some events. president trump lateeeted," these patriots did nothing wrong." but business owners and officials thughout the country are bracing for the possibility of post-election violence, u boardiwindows and erecting fences, even at the white house. >> woodruf also today: a federal judge in texas refused to toss out nearly 127,000 baots cast at drive-through polling centers in houston. republican activists argued the practice was l.ille the judge ruled they had no legal standing to sue. we turn now to yamiche and lisar dens. yamiche, to you first. we just heard some of what the president is saying on the trail. what is the thrust, the main thrust of his closing argument? >> on this day before election day, the president focused on making a closing messages that

is focused on emotion more than policy he'smakeing the case people should be more worried and scared of the "black lives matter" for racial justice and police brutality than for the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more americans and infected more than 1.93 million. he's said in state after stae te weunding the corner, but cases are spiking around the country. the president says this is the way forwd and he knows better an the infectious disease expes including dr. fauci. they sayhey're confident they will win in critical states that the preside won in 201 and surprised the political atmosphere in washington. the present is also making the case that if we don't know who is elected president by midnight tomorrow night that the election somehow is rigged. that, of course, is not true. there's no evidence that there's

fy sort of votud. in fact, in seral elections, we have not known who is the desident at night including in 2016, in 2000, 1976 and even >> woodruff: and lsa, joe biden, what is his closing messages and what do we know about the game plan here at the end? >> you know, vice pre adent biden hainteresting closing messages today as he's still campaigning as we speak. one thing he said ending his speech earlier today is i will be the most pro union president. white working class voterso democrats believe they lost in 2016, bmiarn st across pennsylvania, and the biden campaign feels good about this id. they think they have many more paths to getting or270 ele voters and the white house than does president trump. thehey feel tarly vote count seems to favor democrats if you look at registered voters submitting ballots and states

announcing the numbersy say they're ahead in wisconsin, in michigan, by amounts that me at president trump would have to win with 60% or mo to tar rithe states. all signs of confidence by the biden campaign. they also are saying something abt those ideas of fart that yamiche was talking about. the biden campaign says election fear is in and of itself suppression and people need to be aware it may be perception, not reality. they want themepeople to vote. there's no way president trump winner by midnight on electionf night. >> woodruff: two different stories coming out here. yamiche, you have been following this president throughout his time. tomorrow, last day of voting, what are you watching for? >> i'm watching for the same thing the trump campaign is. they're brace r physical and legal confrontations. on the physical front the president as we noted in our

tape hed story that president is egging on in some ways his supporters who he physically intimidating pro-biden there are people on the campaign that says the president is oy to doat. they're defending the president saying these a people brnot king the law, it's okay to ive up and walk up to your vehicle, intimidate them with your vehicle. so we need to watch the sphais space for that. automatic donations going till mid december. he wants to have ney in the bank for a prolonged legal fight. the r.n.c. put aside $20 million to fight legal btles they think will happen soon after election. to have several lawsuits already filed tomorrow, so the president is already saying that in states like pennsylvania and others, north carolina possibly, that he's already getting his lawyers ady to file somethig as early as tomorrow. >> woodruff: we know both campaigns are gearin if

necessary for legal fights. finally, lisa, you are very closely watching senate and house races. what are yospecifically looking out for tomorrow night? use, letly, for the talk about that. right now, speaking of democrats androomsandrooms -- replicans, e is talking about a likely path republicans have to take back there's more of a question how many gains dvmtion can make. let's look at the sete chamber. many people know 53 republicans independents.ats and judy,, i think the situation we hav a dozen, perhaps, senate races on the floor. we may find out who superintendent before we find out who contrs the senate. >> woodruff: yamiche alcindor, lisa desjardins, you both will be busy tomorrow as we all are. thank you both. >> that's right. >> woodruff: you're heang out pennsylvania, it could be the keystone to any path to victory in this presidential election. on the gund in philadelph

tonight is our own daniel bush. hello, daniel bush. you have been watching the state of pennsylvania following all the goings on in both campaigns. tot come?tant is philalphia to is judy, philadelphia absolutely critical. the state will be inee votes in philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs. the biden campaign knows that they need to do well here both with black voters, with suburban ters. that's why we've seethe campaign spending precious time down the stretch here. yestday, today, kamala harris will be speaking just a little while hinow. d me the trump campaign is devote ago lot of time to this state. >>oodruff: we know, dan, so much focus in recent days, weeks, even, on thein votg process in pennsylvania and how they count ballots, what they're doing with the early voting. you have been talking to county officials about that. what anre they telg you? as they canbe. they're as ready

they have a plan in place. i was inside one elections building today, they're absentee ballots. mail-in and they can't start counting them till 7:00 a.m. tomorrow. that will be a long process. thbiden campaign observe a call today said they don't expect to have a clear picture of thei results n pennsylvania until 1:30 a.m. so it will be a long night. one other thing, that election obviously was in york county, republican stronghold, judy, and voter is real.or silent there are a lot of voters i spoke with who said they'rnot showing up in the polls, they're very excited to vote for president trum so a lot of thusiasm there for the president. >> woodruff: certainly a place we will be watching so closely tomorrow night and dan that's daniel busin philadelphia, thank you so much.

>> woodruff: in the day's other news, covid- dths topped 1.2-million worldwide, includin, more than 0 in the u.s. in europhee,talian government announced it's closing shopping malls on weekends, and limiti people's movements. germany began a four-week partial shutdown. >> ( translated ): all thingsid coed, we had a relatively relaxed summer where people could make use of a lot of leisure activities.e but now tumn has crashed in on us. difficult and that is somes resistance, but it isn't a political thing that we creat. >> woodruff: british prime minister boris johnson has imposed new lockdown effective thursday. he faces criticism that shou have acted much earlier in vienna, th say multiple gunmen opened in

six sites in the city center. two people killed, one attacker and 15 injured, near a jeish synagogue which was closed at the time. in afghanistan, islamic state attackers stormed kabul university today, touching off a gun battle that killed at least 22 people. security officials said three gunmen struck during a book fair, and all were killed, after thhours-long fight. families of students waited anxiously for word of their fates. >> ( translated ): at least i want to know if he died. i just want to know something about him. police and the security forces don't allow us to go into the campus, i searched all the hospitals and still i have no news. >> woodruff: iran's ambassador to afghanistan was supposed to bfae at the boo. knew that.ear if the attackers thousands of muslims demonstrated in indonesia today over cartoons in france that mocked the prophet muhammad.

crowds massed in jakarta, muslim-majority country.arges they condemned french presidentt macron's refusban the cartoons. there have been similar protestt acro muslim world. energency workers in turkey have rescued two chilhree days after an earthquake that killed 94 people. applause broke out today as crews in izmir carried a three- year-old girl wrapped a foil blanket to an ambulance. efforts to find other su continued. a potentially catastrophic hurricane is bearing down on central america night. eta is already a category three uld get even stronger. it is on track to strike nicaragua early tuesday with winds of at least 120 miles an hour and up to three feet of rain across the region. and, on wall street, stocks rallied from last week's losses after reports on cororate profits and manufacturing came in better than expected. the dow jones industrial average

the nasdaq rose 46 points, and the s&p 500 added 40. still to come on the "newshour," rising covid cases thrten the capacity of hospital intensive election night as mpaignct on inside look at how the winners of the races will be announced, plus much mo. >> woodruff: several public heal leaders warned this weekend that covid's spread is owing throughout the coury and likely to get significantly worse after e election. whoever wins the presidential

election faces a daunting path ahead. states reportemore than 80,000 new cases in the u.s. yesterday, and more than 445 deaths. william brangham looks at t urgency of the situation with dr. ashish jha, the dean of the brown university school of public health. >> reporter: dr. jha, great to have you back on the newshour again. gottlieb said recely thatr scott thanksgiving at the end of this month could be an inflectn point for this incredible surge that we are seeing across the country. he also said the december might be the toughest month yet. does that sound right to you? >> yeah. so, uninrtunately, i dr. gottlieb is rit about this. we are in a very difficult situation already. and here we are, the beginning of november, we are identifying about 100,000 infected people a day across the nation, as opposed to the spring and summer were located in specifichich regions, right now every part of number of cases.eeing increasing

49 states actually are seeing increasing number of cas we're probably missing 70%, 80% of all the cases out there. so the reanumber of infections is substantially greater. and we're not doing the things to slow th down. and so, by the end of this month, i expect things to start looking much worse unless we act now so we can avoid a horrible december.go but we'vto make some changes right now. >> reporter: and we are on the enormous national election, one foat's really been sort of transformed and ed by this virus. every aspect of our society has and yet, the president on the campaign trail recently has been saying that we're rounding the corner. he also suggted at a rally recently that he might consider firing dr. anthony fauci. help us put this into perspective. do you think-- is this just bluster the president sometimes is known hoto do? ord we take this more seriously? >> so, first of all, i think it's worth noting that dr. fauci

s been and continues to be the most important voice fofir ting this pandemic. the president can certainly choose to gerid of dr. fauci from his coronavirus task force. that is his decision. he can choose t to listen to the most eert voices in the countr it's not clear that he could fire him from his n.i.h. role. but either way, it so undermines the national confidence in scientific expertise for the president to even suggest that he would fire someone like dr. fauci. i obviously hope that he doesn't carry throouh with it. it leave the american people much worse off. >> reporter: all right, dr. ashish jha, brown unersity's school of public health. thanks as always. >> thank you. >> woodruff: as president trump and former vice president joe biden make their final pitch to voters in the closing hours

before election day, let's check with both campaigns. - she up, erin perrine- the communications director for the president's re-elndtion campaignhe has been on the trail with him for days. she joins us now from grand rapids, michigan. erin perrine, thank you very much. for joining us. know this is auphill challenge for the presidt. one of the challenges he faces ise's losty, counccording to the polls, among suburban women and among senior citizens. how do you make up for that? >> well, at this point, polls are pretty useless and we're looking at voter data modeling, the data infraructure that we have built in conjunction with the republican national committee, that's realne been the ctone of our ground game. ty point, we are looking at voter turnout, propensity and balls left to be st. when we look at that in the keyn

battlegrd state, the president is on his way to victory. when wisconsin started early voting, the 12.5% on the voter modeling with democrat lead.e wet that to about 5.5%, modeling on a democratic lead there. on election day 2016, they had a 9.5% lead and with the votes left to be cast our contacts, our phe calls and our door knox, we're seeing our modeling says we'll win wisconsin by 100,000 votes. >> woodruff: let me ask you about another state the president won i2016, arizona. a few days ago, the head of the committee told reporters who were asking about the senate race in that state and why martha mcsally is behind, the republican, he aid, "the president is losing arizona and we think tt he and martha mcsally are tied together," in other words, acknowledging the president is dragging down senator mcsally. how do you explain this?

>> polls don't meamplet it's abouballots cast and what's still out there. democratic voting lead and our model shows 100,000 votes win for president trump. what we see is our ground game, our advantage, the door knox, the phone caass and a oots army for president trump is what's going to help put us over the top. we have the county cay and the messages, now it's about getting voters out. >> woodruf excuse me i want to quote ben ginsburg,re long-timblican activist lawyer involved in republican campaigns going back in m seasons. he said in a column over the weekend, my party is yidest itself on the altar of trump. republican elected officials, party leaders and voters must recognize how haful this is to the party's long-term prospects. he devoted his life to theic repu party. >> i devoted my life to the republican party. i'm a proud woman for trump,

proud to be part of the army of the president and the work thids prt has done. he has changed the republican party in a way no modern litical candidate ever did. you are see record breaking numbers in terms of black turnout for trump, a republican in rms of latino turnout for the president changed the republican party for the better. i'm sorry oers feel left behind by a president who made us a bilr and better party than ever before. >> woodruff: the president is suggesting on the stump that unless the results of the election are known declared tuesday nighthey may no legitimate. does he know a number onof elechave not been called until succeeding days. in 2000, it took 37 days for the election to be clear. how aware he of history with regard to elections? >> i would point to the history of 2016 of president trump's

first election when he won in the ewee hours of the following morning, who he got tke the acceptance speech as becoming the next president of the united ocates. what dats want to do is sow chaos into the election anca ed it a red mirage and smoke screen democrats are already try to sow disinformation into the results of the election, to tellan the amereople they cannot believe what they will see with their own eyes. we know the dathe we knowre the voters are, we will get them out. it's democrats who are trying to not accees the electionults that will come tomorrow when president trump wins again. >> woodruff: we're going to ave it there, erin perrine, who is communications director for the trump campaign, thank ouyou. >> thank. >> woodruff: and for the biden campgn's perspective, we are joed now by symone sanders, one of former vice president's senior advisors. symone sanders, thank you very much for being with us again. i don't know if you were able to hear that t e trump campaign saying they are very confident despite the polls that their voters are there. they are doing what they call

voter data modeling, looking at voter turnout propensity, and they feel ve good about it.>> ell, news to me. look, there is, in fact, a path, judy, but i will note that our campai manager and our election and legal expert bob wer did ariefinin this very room today where they talked about our pathnd noted how much ground president trump and his campaign would nd tof make up in fact they are to now, again, there is still aon path. not to say we do not havthis in the bag. that is why today vice president biden, senator harris, doug emhoff are barnstorng because we're fighting for every vote. >> woodruff: pennsylvania, is that a state joe iden has to

have in order to win this election? >> well, judy, like atst the e. we believe we are very competitive. i know the polls say in a number of places across the country are up very far, and i am here to tell voters and fol watching at home that this race is a lot tighter than the pundits may make it seem. i'm no longer a pundit, judy, o i can taut it. but we believe we have put together a very good campaign operation anwe are meeting the voters where they are, and that we have hitur early vote goals and we are looking forward to seeing those returns come in tomorrow, judy, because we think we will win because we have done the woork. >>uff: symone sanders, i hear even democrats saying they are concerned when they look at president trump's valve itinerary, he's hitting five, six states a day on many days. schedule.he's not going to as my places, not having as many oallies. they worry he'st showing as much energy as president trump. what do you say to those who

>> well, first, i would say, judy, that what the president is doing iirresponsible, it is dangerous, he i holding superspreadervents, deadly events. as we know this virus is very real. the president chief among them should know, he had covid 19, a positive result, and every time he gathers his supporters together at these packed rallies where there's no social distancing and very little mask wearing, he sen dangering folks not jubst at the rallut people in the surrounding city and surrounding areas. what vice president biden and our campaign is doing is campaigning safely. we are reaching voters. i'm just very excited about the workt that our campaign has done. over the course of this weekend, folks were phone banking, texting and our principals were out physically campaigning. we have held in-person andv virtualts and i think the voters are resonating with what we are doing. look, i know that t president

would like folks to believe that just because he touchesdown in a city and holds a rally with a couple hundred folks, that is know, super strategy, and i amu here to say, judy, that, again, coronavirus is still very reata. is the thing folks are dealing with all across this countr and we are confident in our strategy. i remember not a couple of weeks maybe yonts moago when folks suggested we should "get out of the basement," strategy has worked, judy. we are talking directly tohe american people and we ok forward to continuing to do that through tomorrow. >> woodruff: we know athat some of president trumps 's rallousands are showing up in terms of numbers, and that's why i ask you that question. symone sanders. >> any way you cut it, judy, it's not safe. symone sanders with the joe biden campaign, thank you very much. >> thank you.

>> woodruf conces about election security, voter intimidation, foreign interference and the ability of election oicials across the country to secure the vote have been a major focus of the 2020 eleion. our correspondents william brangham and nick schifrin have been following these issues closely and join me now. both of you. william, to you first, what are election officials mainly to?orried about you talked >> there is certainly the concern about cyber intrusion, somehow getting in, penetrating the election's infrastructure bo whichple cast their votes tomorrow or the votes get counted. so far we'en really minimal instances of that. there's this other qution of in-person threats to vote vote. ma yamichtouched in her piece earlier about these very aggressive eents that happened over the week weekend. the trump campaign has beenng

recruihat they call the trump army, volunteers who are being dep deputized to go to the polls tomorrow to watch out for what they think are irregularities. the question is how much training do these people have, do they know what the rules are? how much of this edcould ble into voter intimidation? and there are very specific rules and lagaws ast that, and you can really get into a lot of trouble if yohassle vote when they're trying to cast their vote. it's worth noting there haven't been many of esthese instan person. that's good news. the d.o.j. saithey're sending poll monitoring groups to 18 fferent states to look for this. for the most part, ifhere are problems, there are hotlines for voters to ctact authorities and for the most part it is state and local police who respond to those kinds of >> wuff: so important to be watching. this nick, you have been talkino

he military, meanwhile. what are officials saying to you about the election? >> reporter: as william just said, the primary responsibecily for ion security will fall on local police, and the military at the highest lels are trying to not get involvedt in the election. they're trying to avoid the present federalizing the national guard or invoking the insuection act which wou allow active duty troops to conduct law enforcemeties in the country in the case of post-election olence. defense officials argue there are ample law enforcement officis across the country to deal with violence but also the naonal guard who can be caed up by governors and we are seeing governors already call up the national grd. are gointo see guardsmen in polling stations where there's a shortage of polling workers. they will bile in cn clothes, they will be unarmed. we are also seeing guardsmen helping with cyber security in a handful of states and also seehe tuard having a regional respoe unit in case there is

violce after thelection. that would be conducted again by the governors and not federal authorities. but in washington, d.c., the national guard is controlled by the ntagon, by the president, and there's a lot of concern n since this image ine. that is a d.c. national guard helicopter hovering over the d.c. national guard tells me today that they have no intention of dointhis again, and that they are not on any special standby for the election. >> woodruff: certainly feels like a higher level of security than anything we've seen before on election day. nic separately befoall that, you have been talking to the intelligence community which is watching out for reign interference. what are you hearing? what's the latest on that? >> yeah, ewe got a tour from the department of homeland security cyber security division just a few days ago trying to emphasize that this is the largest effo to secure a u.s. election in u.s. history. the intelligence community is c

mocerned about russia but also iran sprein disinformation, false claims that votes have been altered or the di de facement of a web site to spread a fal result. they're also concerned about cyber attacks designed to temporarily disable voter computers and coerned about infrastructure attacks after the election especially if the election is clos but the intelligenccommunity emphasizes there is no attack that they blieve could alter the vote nationally and a defense official tonight trying to instill that confidence as well saying "there is no evidence a foreig adversary has gained access to infrastructure, and given the size, complexity anand diversity of america's system, no one has the ability to change the outcome," trying to ensure confidence before election day. >> woodruff: that is a relief, to this point william, domestically, a lot of

concern about violence, voter intimidation, in connection witv ything else we have been talking about, what is your sense of tt right now? >> reporter: that's right, judy, there is a concern and militia or patriot groups and what they might do, whether they hear the president's call to watch the polls andhether they show up. i mea, certainly after this plot against the michin governor gretchen whitmyer, there have been increased tensions izto orgions like that. there was a report yesterday about a militia ogroup gon stopping people who were trying to drop off their ballots at a mail-in dropbox d question them, they were wearing weapons. at is cle voter intimidation, is illegal and police were notified. what's important to stress is we shouldn't let's late cases be exaggerated in anyaway. as we've talked about, tens of millnsf americans have cast their ballots. t lot of people had to wait in

long lines and tis a problem, but it is important to note that we shouldn't be lettinfear keep people fro the ballots because these instances, so far, at least, have been quite require. >> woodruff: right. so important, of course, that report on this but tt we remind people that by and large in a vast majority of cases, it is safe to go cast your ballot. william brangham, nick schifrin, thank you both. >> woodruff: the pandemic and potential record turnout are making for an election like never before. but what happens after the votes are casawt? amna has more on how and when winners from each race will be called. >> reporter: welcome to this ecial election report. >> reporter: on electiolin day, viewer you tune in for the answer to one key question: who won?

this election there's some uncertainty about when we'll have those results >> it's really sort of math and analysis. that's the way i think of it. it really is two plus two equals four. >> reporter: sally buzbee is the executive editor for the associated press. the a.p. has been counting the vote for almost two centuries. >> nowthe associated press, we can report, has officially declaredhe >> reporter:ewshour has relied on the a.p. count since the program began in 1975. t today mon 1,500 news beganizations do the same. >> we've actuall doing this since 1848, when we used literally the pony express, literally, you know, telegraph lines to gather the vote from for eastern newspapers.reported i mean, that's one of the first things the a.p. did. long way since then, but at the a.p.-- which is covering the count and lling winners for about 7,000 races this year-- the fundamentals haven't changed. >> we treat every single one of these race calls with the same level of standard. what we do is that we have for

each state a race caller who has done a lot of research, who has done a lot of studying, who understands our analytical modelsan analyst based in washington who is helping them we have two decisikta, and then editors who sign off on essentlly every jor call. so, it is, you know, it involves halot of people. >> reporter:s different this year? tens of millions of people have trend set in motion decades ago. back in 1972, lybout 5% of americans voted rly. by 2016, roughly 40% voted before election day. this year, some estimate that number could reach 60%, meaning more americans voting before election day than on it.ho and when those votes are counted depends on which state you're in.lu and the sheer could slow systems down, leading to later calls. >> the weirdness of american politics is that many states actually count the in-person on

the day voting first. and th's what they relea first. and then they go back and they count the early voting. >> reporter: wisconsin and pennsylvaniar example, don't begin counting any ballots until election day. michigan begincounting the day before election day. florida and arizona both begints counting balwo to three weeks before election day. and some states, like ohio a minnesota, accept ballots after election day as long as they're stmarked by november 3. it'seen true in elections st that res are called right after polls are closed, and some take many more hours or even days to call.ec do you ethat to be the same this year, or do you expect more races to take longer to call? sp a very good question. i mean, generallking, i would say that the trend is going to be exactly like in the past, okay? the single biggest indicator is if a race is close, it is going to almost always take longer to call if a race is not close at all.

we're not going to call any winner until we are sure that there is no path for the trailing candidate to cah up. , if you've got a lot of uncounted early vote that could in fact impact, you mit hold off on a race call until that early vote is counted and released. >> reporter: the changes in how americans are voting mean some changes to what you'll hear on election night. as votes are counted, the newshour will report how much of the expected vote is in. that's an estimate based on historical, registration, and early voting data. and even that number will change, as more of the vote is count and instead of exit polls, which were limited to in-person interviews as voters left the polls, we'll report information from votecast, a survey of about 140,000 people leading up to election day, that includes in-person, early, and maiin ters. >> barack obama may be on the brink of becoming the first black president of the united

states. >> reporter: historically, the hallmark of election night has been calling the big race, and even thoh there have been years that hasn't happened on the ght-- >> earlier in the evening, florida was declaredor al gore and then they changed their h,minds. and,y goodness, mercy. >> reporter: in 2000, 2004and 2016-- th woodruff: donald trump is the next president ounited states. >> reporter: it's still unclear how long it willinake to determe the 2020 presidential winner. how close the racely depends on in 2004, the winner was not known until the next day. wasn't known until december.r and even in 2016, we called at like 2:30 in the morning on avdnesday, right. so, some peoplegone to bed. my parents had gone to bed, for example. but if it isyou know, if it is a race where one person is very far ahead, then it is more likely that it will be called on election night or shortly after

midnight. >> the democrats are trying to rig this election. >> reporter: and despite president trump and others sowing doubt in the elections, procuzbee says a.p.'s record speaks for itself. >> we have called the winner of every presidency without fear or far or partisanship or any opinion of any person in our organization. we've called it on the facts and math year after year after year. we have our race callers on this is not a magic show. this is betting based on facts and math and state law. what's happening.porting >> reporter: work done with caution, precision, and mrtost impontly, reflecting the will of american voters. for the s newshour, i'm amna nawaz. >> woodruff: both presidential candidates agree this is the most important election in dern history. but in most recent elections,

about four in ten eligible voters stayed home. tens of millions are poisedo we talked to a few of the people who are not voting about their decision. >> my name is clifford genece and i'm from brooklyn, new york, currently reding in denver, colorado. >> hi, i'm ellie pana. i am a greek american dual citizen, born and raised in america, but living in greece now. >> my name is rodger wei >> my name is maryam alaniz. >> i'm not voting in this election. >> i would have never thought that i would not be votg or would even consider not voting. i never, like, i've always like, it's my civic duty or it's my desire, like, i want to do it. >> this year is the first year where i just don't feel like i don't, i don't feel represented or heard. >> i'm not voting because no one has earned it. no one has earned my vote. i feel is going to actually that represent methen why should i vote? >> i don't feel like anyone is doing anything that's really

going to create change andind of bring us back to a place where we're not having thesel continnsions and issues that we've been having for, for, for, for centuries >> if there was a candidate that spoke to my concerns, sopoke my interests, shared my politics, and maybe i would consider voting. >> because i am overseas and i waited too late in the game for an absentee ballot then it's like, okay, should i get on a plane, fly to new york for a couple days, cast my ballot, then come back? ucd because neither candidate inspires me that i'm like, i'll just sit this one out. >> if we live in the land of the free, the home of the brave and we have freedom to choose, then gi me that freedom, give m the choice instead of just giving me these two steaming piles of waste on which decide from. >> this past year there it's been a really, reallyile year. a lot of countries are facing political crises. and really it's a lot of young people like myself who are

really, really dissatisfied and are realizing that, like, voting is not the only way to make our voices heard. if we want to actually organize ourselves, like, we, we shouldn't cede electoralism as our only option. we should be empowered to go to >> i understand thre is power and there is a necessity in voting, but if it, if i know that voting has no impact on what i want for change, then it's a, it isn't, it isn't an altruistic act. it's just,t's just doing it again just to do it. >> i think not voting and not participating sends more of a message to leaders that we're not happy.e wet happy with what's going on. >> woodruff: and with that, amni nawaz has oul politics monday analysis on this election day eve. >> nawaz: thank you, judy. they are amy walter of "the cook political report" and host of public radio's "polits with

amy walter." and tamara keith of npr. she also co-hosts the "npr politics podcast." welcome back to you both, and od to see you. amy, you've just heard there from those nonvoters, people who are sharing the reasons they're choosingisot to vote thear. seems like this surge in early voting we're seeing indicates fere will er of those people this year, but when it groups to track, groups that enuld be critical for either vice president bor president trp, who are you keep an eye on? >> you know, we have been talking a lot in this most recent time about the suburbs, right, ever since trump's win in 2016, ethere's n tremendous movement among suburban voters who are traditionally republican into the democratic camp. we saw that in 2018, and we're seeing continuing deterioration and aroundicans in suburbs all across the country, texas being a prime example of this. how som also looking a of the voters that were

traditionally in titrump's con, older voters, men, especially white men and vite noncolleers, voters who have a lower level of dueducatin and are white, all of those voters at least in the pollingil up unow, we've seen some deterioration for the president, can he get those voters back. so those are the kinds of folks i'm going to be paying a whole lot of tattentioo and, as we know, amna, each of these groups look different states.rent some states have a higher percentage of voters that are ite, some states you're going to have a much more robust population that is n-white, so voters of color playing a bigger role. > reporter: so, tam, what about some ose groups amy just mentioned? you have been out with president trump recently, he continues to hold big rallies in key states, what is his messages to some of the groups in this final stretch? is there a coherent messages?

>> he makes an explicit appeal to suburban women, for instance, and older voters. it's a le itvious and ham-handed and it's just like, hey, demographic group that i'm having trouble, with liste to me! but more broadly, in terms of what his pitch is, it boils down to he is still running as outsider even though he's president of the united states and he's saying that joe biden is an inder d an establishment figure and that that is the oice people need to make. the other thing he's running ons embodied in these big ralls weekend, the big, in-personr the gatherings where a lot of people aren't wearing masks and everyone is close together, and the president's messages is get out, live your lives, donrr't about the croes, it's just we're turning the corner, and he saying that joe biden's going to keep you locked up and cancel christmas. and that is the pitch that he's

making. the question that we've continued to hroughout this election season is, as the coronavirus case numbers rise, as spitalizations rise, as deaths rise, and there are new records atfor hospitalns and cases, is that messages that, hey, everythi is fine and it will all go away november 4, does that resonate wi people or are they living in fear of the coronavirus that would make that not resonate? >> tam, there's another thing i want to follow-up with you briefly on. ere's another part of the president's messages that there has to be some kind of result by the end of the night tomorrow. what do you make f that? >> you know, he has been layingu the work for this for months, right. he was trashing the whole bsea ofentee voting or vote by of basically the same thing and, guess what, his supporters so more trump voters are expected to vote on election day itself. it's a likely big gamble.

they're betting that their ground game is going to be ableo to turt voters and that they are just going to, you know, have this, as president trump called it, a great rewave that comes through on electio day. it's a weird messages to have from a campaign of someone who expects to win, to be arguingst that the is rigged, especially when you are the president of the united states. it's not a common thing for a president of thenited states to argue. >> reporter: as we've note have been a numberof races overe the years historically where we have not known thwinner on the night of election day, but, amy, that's been true overotheroo races,not just at the presidential level but also downballot races. when it comes to, those senate races in particul, what u e you keep n eye on? >> well, battle for control of the nate is the whole ball game when it domes to down ballot races, those i'm paying

hotention to, where that body goes because the is almost certain to stay in democratic hands. sd we know the of the states that close the earliest, those on the eascoast like north carolina, also happen to have really competitive sete race. north carolina senate race is between first term incumbent tol and democrat kyle cunning cunningham. tillis has been running slightly f nd cunningham for the entiretyhe campaign and it's also a state joe biden and donald trump are fighting hard to wve. so if we the results of early in the evening, in other words, if that senate race can be called, it could tell us something about controlof the senate. if democrats win there, that's a gog to be a pick upthat they are enough seats to flip control. if they lose that, if the republican holds on, it doesn't mean that control of the senate is known or that republic will keepit, but it is sure ao

betterrer signr them going into the rest of the evening. >> reporter: tam, in less than a minute, is there a particular thing you will watch for, state, group of voters? what are you tracking? >> so i'm looking at arizonand georgia and florida and north carolina, these states where we, in they, will get joe biden is doing well in those states or has won tethose s then the focus on the upper midwest and pennsylvania won't be that significant anymore because those states will show a real change in the tide. >> reporter: and we're going to be tracking all of those results as they come in. that is our "politics monday" team joining us tonight on this election eve. just a reminder to everyone out there, the "newshour" will not call any of those races until ey are fully callby the associated press. we will have those in special coverage tomorrow evening. thank you to you both, and judy

>> woodruff: that's right, we won't call them till the a.p. buzz and, please, an stay th us all tomorrow night for the specialer -- special live electiontrornlg of election 2020. >> this is the most important election of our lifetime. >> a test for democracy. the white house has really been transformed. >> at a time like this -- lot of enthusiasm. trusted voice. moment that's unlike any other. >> election 2020, a "pbs newshour" special tuesday november 3, beginning at 6:00, 5:00 central. >> woodruff: join us. we will all be here. and that's the "newshourfor tonight. i'm judy woodruff. foin us again here tomorrow as we have been i'm judy woodruff. join us on-line and again here tomorrow evenin saying our election coverage. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

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♪ hello, everyone. welcome to "amanpour & co." here's what's coming up. change the course of this ne country for tions to come. >>e are going to win four more years in the white house. emerge from this election?ll political scientist norm ornstein and heather cox richardson discuss this major stress test. then -- >> i think theres a real danger that if we don't have a kind of global sety net, some countries might en.rely collap >> humans have survived and succeeded because of cooperation unique to our species. but is this fraying? some graphic lessons from