captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: a growing lead. joe biden pulls ahead in pennsylvania and slightly ahead in georgia, giving the president an ever-shrinking path to re-election. thehen,alsehoods fly. disinformation abounds in the wake of t president and his followers espousing baseless claims of fraud and elecheft. plus, it's friday. mark shields and drooks give their take on a tumulwhous week an to expect next. all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major fding for the pbs wshour has been provided by:

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>> the john s. and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. with the ongoing suppor of these instutions: and friends ofhe newshour. s. and individu >> this program was made possible by the corporation fo public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. near in the presidential race tonight, with democrat joe biden on the verge of winning. he is now ahead in pennsylvania, nevada, and narrowly in georgia, three of the remaining five states still not called by the

a.p., as counting continues. white use correspondent yamiche alcindor reports. >> alcindor: just six more electol college votes. that's what joe biden needed to he took the lead in georgia andn pennsylvania, according to the ased press count. that put the former vice president even closer to the ultimate prize, the white house. president trump lost h narrow lead in battleground pennsylvania as elections officials processed historic amounts of mail-in votes, and there's more hiory happening. enator kamala harris is en closer to becoming the first woman and the first black and asian american to become vice president. the vote count continued throughout the day, with both campaigns waiting out. this, after president trump took to the white house press room last night to make a slew of false claims. he outright rejected the integrity of the election. >> if you count the legal votes, i easily win. if you count the illegal votes, they can tryo steal the

election from us. >> alcindor: there is no evidence of widespread the president's attacks on the democratic process continued. >> they're finding ballots all of a sudden. its amazing how these mail-in ballots are so one-sided. they refuse to require signatures, identities, or to make sure they are eligible or ineligible to vote. >> alcindor: there is also no evidence of that happening. the trump campaign is also alleging misconduct and pursuing gilawsuits in ge nevada, pennsylvania, and michigan. judges quickly tossed out cases in miigan, pennsylvania, and georgia. and, the president has made he wants the election decided in the courts. in a statement today, the campaign said, "this is about the integrity of our entire election process. we will pursue this process ntrough every aspect of the law to guara that the acamepeople have confidence in our government."

but again today, state and local americans that votes are being counted fairly, from georgia... >> in georgia, thd process is ll remain open and transparent to monitors. we are committed to doing everything and everything to maintaining trust in our elections process regardless of partisan preference. thank you very much. >> alc ...to nevada. >> we're not interested in moving as fast as we can. we want we be accurate. e confident that the work is being done accurately, and that's what our main goal is. >> alcindor: meanwhile, the president is getting backup from his allies on capitol hill. among them, south carolina senator lindsey graham. president's unfounded claims, while also calling for proof. >> i think you're gointo see, in the next 48 hours, real evidence of systematic voting irregularities. it is incumbent upon the trump administration to make specific cases of voter irregularity. they're loing through the ter files now.

did people vote that were not legal residents of pennsylvania? people vote who were dea those type of things i think are in the offering, but it has to >> alcindor: some republicans arthe pushing back on e white inuse and president trump and calling for faithe process. republican senator pat toomey of pennsylvania reiterad that the president's rhetoric is wrong. >> i saw the president's speech last nighty and it was vrd to watch. the president's allegations of large-scale fraud and theft of the election are substantiated. i'm not aware of any significant wrongdoing here. >> alcindor: but for democrats, the results are clear. this morning, house speaker nancy pelosi said biden's wi was "imminent," and she called biden the "president-elect," without waiting for the election to be called in his favor. >> preside-elect joe biden. it's a happy day for our country because joe biden is a unifier,

because he ibdeterminedo ring people together, because he respects all points of view. and this has been a life-or- death fight for the fate oour democracy, as he says, "the soul of our country." ( protesters ) >> alcindor: in the 2020 election, some partisan lines softened, but many seem cemented. >> woodruff: and yamiche joins us from outside the white house, and john yang is in gton, delaware. so, yamiche to you first. what exactly are the president's legal arguments now and wott are his tial paths now that joe biden has drawn ahead in several more states. >> reporter: well the president spent much of today angrily watching tv, watching his path to re-election getrr er and narrower and that has made the president pick up his misiormation campaign and push campaign people around him to come up with legal strategies to try true wrestle this back. campaign owe fucials tell me the this is if he tries to get win

recounted every stingal state. he would have trun the available judy for him to now be re-elected. he has to wineorgia, nevada, hennsylvania and arizona to do this. as by the 18th count 214 electoral college votes. there are two schools of thought in the white house right now. there are people whwant to fight that's jared cush nurse the -- cur new hampshire and the chief of staff. they look to look to hher to oversee the legal strategies. he's a conservative who is heading up the citizen's united and worked on the president's 2016 campaign but there's also people who feel deplated that feel this is a white house that's already winding down. i talked to smith who is the american.anking african today is his last day. he said he was planning to leave people looking at that andre are saying people are already deciding, white how the aides already seeing the future that

is winding down and coming to the end.n who is gg to break the news to president trump because he's not anywhere near wanting t talk about losing at this moment. >> woodruff: so john, over to you. i vice president bidand the people around him, how are they responding to all this? >> reporte: judy y see nothing, no lawsuits, no recounts, nothing that would change the fact, they say is the fact that once all the votes are counted, joe biden will be the president-elect. when you ask senior biden advisors about the raiser thin margzo that -- rathin margin they're seeing in some states they say a win is a win.ju they say it't a matter of time. as a matter of fact they are even making plans for the former nation from here at the chasee center in the wilmington, delaware, perhaps as soon ast. toni

still last time i checked in, they were still debating whether to do it tonight. you know, at this site since ection, before the e before the final day of voting, they would dearly love to used them as soon aspoible. >> woodruff: interesting. and so yamiche, back to y. what about this disinformation that you laid out in your report a minute agoat. xactly are they saying and how are they backing it up? reporter: well as joe celebrating possibly winning this election, president trump is leaning in opeople to kick up the misinformation campaign. we saw ti president dr what is his most dishonest species yet. i say that subjey ctcause everything he said votes are whit ling away, d votes imagine ling disappearing, coming back to fid voteand that's why he was losing his led

in crical states. we see the president what he did after the access hollywood tape in 201ki6. he's names and wanting republicans to come out and support him especially his family is also saying people need to go to war. those are the words used by donald trump trump, jr. the npresident's this is a lot of misinformation, a lot of things that are simply not true but people are hoping the republican get behind, lindsey graham and senator ted cruz start t talk abo thing that looked mysterious. but as we noted every sile election in every state the president is trying to say something happened and that ghs not ri they are saying the votes are being counted fairly that nothing is happening that is seemingly part of a trod or part -- fraud or part of a campaign against the president. the presidenis continuing t not only say thing that are wrong but requiring other democrats -- i'm sorry, other republicans to come and back him in this misinformation. >> woodruff: well it's fascinating to hear and such a m faing story. we thank both of you.

yamiche alcindor at the white house, john yang joining us from wilmington, delaware. thank you both. now we want to turn to the critical state of pennsylvania. our danielle bush is still in philadelphia where the vote counting is taking place. so dan, tell us where things stand right now with the count and also with theawsuit. >> reporter: well judy right now spence is looking at counting roughly 100,000 or so ballots to go. 6.7 millionave alread been cast. we do know a majority of ballots that are still being cnted are here in philadelphia as well in legheny county which includes pits burke. those are twovoreas tha in large numbers for joe biden. we also do know of these outstanding ballots the majority of them are mail-in ballots and ose have been breaking heavily for joe biden as well. he has a lead riot now of roughly 14 or 15,000 votes. that margin is expected to grow

d. these final votes are coun officials here are being very careful about when they think this counting might conclude. they said earlier in the week it could be as early as tonight or even friday. now they are cautioning it could take a little bit more time. you're right about the lawsuits. there have been many here in pennsylvania in the weeks and days after the election. as well, there's beena lot of legal interest here with republicans looki at provisional ballots in court and whether some of those could be challenged. looking at these votes that kim in after election, cuse me, before election day up until 8:00 p.m. but are now being process because under the law they can be counted if ty are received by that point. so there's a lot of going on here, judy. but again, owe firms are urging -- owe firms are urging patience here cause it will take some time. >> woodruff: ghifn it's still unresolved what are you hearing how the two sides plan to move

forward in pennsylvania. >> reporter: well judy, this state is sod divind if you just look at the map right now,r therthese blue islands both in pennsylvania and across many states joe biden has done very well in cities and suburbs. donald trump has done very very well in rural parts of the state well as some suburbs and i'ere's just a very big divide, judy. been in both of those parts of the state and conservative vorsprogressive voters, just they see very different reagities. they dee on the pandemic, they disagree on president trump's first term, how he's handled the onomy. th disagree on race and e licing and we're seeing that divide conti play out even after election day as the vote counyng concludes. ou can see behind me there's a lot of activity. this is sort of the center action for philadelphia here. just on opposite sides of the street, there are trump supporters and biden supporters dueling rallies, dualing protests every somethinga day.

tensions are high here. >>oodruff: we can certaiy hear them not too hard from where you are. da gbush standing hund in philadelphia. thank you, dan. now, in one ofmohe surprising turns, joe biden is georgia, albeit narrowly and that is where we find our miles o'brien. so miles, this is the state that we know is most narrow ofll the margins out there. tell us what you know of e latest on the count, how that's and what's happening with the military ballots and other ballots outstanding. >> reporter: judy, i'm in queneq county in all of georgia it's very blue an 18 point margin for joe biden here. behind me,hey still have lot of work to do. take a look. we're going to pan to my right

in that corner over there, workers are going through ballots that either need to be cured, meaning there's a problem with the signature. there are military ballots to be counted, overseas military ballots. and there are provisional ballots which also require them to do some research. the ballots ma wke theiray behind me. in some cases, they have to actually copy them over because someone might have voted in the prwrong inct and they have to ballot. their home pre vicinity all -- precinct ballots. that's 800 cured blots, about a thousand provisionals. now earlier in the day, they finished thup r absentee ballot work, their mail-in ballot work. they sent in abou bt 7,000lots and that changed the numbers significantly here in georgiawa it about 1500 point marn, 1500 person margin for joe biden at about 3:00 p.m. today. after quenef turned in that

traunch of ballots there's a 22 point between the two we're talking about nearly five million ballots can case so that's 08% between the two of them. th's as razor as it gets. that's why people here in georgia are not making any statfients about anrm confirmation of who won for quite some time. might get me numbers out of here tonight or even into to morning, but the counties have until november 13 to certify. and then the state has until november 20th. in between that time, they will run an audit on all of the anllots to see if they hav accurate count. ced it's of course all but a ainty that after the 20th, there will be a recount here in georgia. this is the slimmest of all margins in the nation right no and it's till very dynamic, judy. >> woodruff: no question bit. we've sbeen listening toe

officials about how long it will take and then thelecount. ight miles o'brien in thank you, miles. now there are two unresolved contests out west. our stephanie sy is in phoenix ar walk us through what we know abouona and nevada. so stephanie, know the ap did call a couple days ago, arizona for joe biden. but the votes are still being counted. so what's the latest. >> yes, they are still beg downed. here in incorporator county they are counting right -- in maricopa county they are counting right behind me. joe biden had an edge since election night. but the trump pporters gathered behind me, arizona is still very much in play. now here is where the count stands. earlier today, there were some 200,000 ballots statewide that had yet to be counted. 115,000 of them are in maricopa

county. in general, this county has been mixed. but right now, biden is ahead it maricopa cand we expect to get a count from here in about two hours. the remang ballots in arizona are in other counties in arizona and they are more conservative. obvisly they're taking advantage of the fact i'm going live but i'll try to continue. i want to move -- can you helpt me o i can just finish this report, please. thank you. >> do you want me to put on a mask or no. >> reporter: no, you're good. in nevada judy there's a simir situation. biden has less than a 2% lead in nevada. and that's only aut 20,000 votes. so focus in nevada is on clark county. saat includes las egas and its rounding areas. as of this morning in nevada, judy, there are 6000 outstanding mail-in ballots in clark county. that's o of 100,000 ballots

state-wide. and we do expect to get an update from em in about an hour. the other thing about nevada, judy, that's different than arizona is by their state law, any ballots post marke by election day request still b edceived by can still be rece they received 260 votes today so not only are they still counting in nevada but they still are receiving ballots. >> woodruff: just quickly stephanie, we sstee prors very close. you've also been talking to voters. can you sum up what you're hearing. >> well, yeah. i mean oneidoman he's mad as hell and she's mad at the media. she's even mad at fox news which also called arizona for b oidn election night. they feel like they are not being heard h. what yr the most consistently is anecdotes about voting discrepancies that

they hear repeated througthe news outlets that they consume here. a lot of voters here feel likthe do not trust the voting process. the votes here in arizona a in other states. when i push them on whethreer if biden o win the presidency they would accept that result, a lot of people here feel that this is not a legitimate process. >> woodruff: disturbing,he disturbing t that. something that if he's declared the winner, something he's going to he to deal with. stephanie sy reporting from phk oenix. thu, stephanie. unlike other elections, this week has bn marked by a blood of disinformation much of it coming from the president and his allies. william brangham tries to separate facts from false hoods and he joins us now. so william, i know you are back from michigan but i want to ask youatbout appears to be a blood of allegations the president and the people around him are making, charging

conspiracy theories. walk us through exactly what they are saying and then what the facts a>>re. hat's true, judy. i did hear a lot of these allegations and conspiracies when i was in michigan this week. i want to talk specifically about the thing the president had said. given he's the psint. he said on election night he was allegedly the winner of the election but that somehow suspicious votes were added to the vnde count ahat stole the election from him. >> if you count the votes thatca in late, we're looking at them very strongly. a lot of votes came in we're way up in michigan. and wisconsin we did likewise, fantastically well. and that got whittled down. in over casethey got whittled down. >> reporter: for the record michigan and wisconsin joe biden won those both states. but this issue somehow these

late votes came in. there's no truth to thaat whever. all mail-in ballots had to be post marked by november 3rd orer they not counted. also just this general idea that the president is making these are somehow late ves. remember, with mail-in ballots the vast majority of those were votes that were cast well before anyone stood in line on election date. this idea that they're late is not true. they were cast days and wk before election day. it's because of state legislature setting the rules as to when those ballots could be processed that we're seei delays. i mean the republican governor of texas gesreg abbott liko brag they were able to count all 11 million of those votes on election might but that's because their state legislature allowed that. so the presiden has also pointed out too that these mail-in ballots are suspiciously mostly towards democrats.ean hain many people point out that's becauspent months demonizing them and scaring his

voters away om using them. >> woodruff: william we hearid the prt allege the public opinion polls which we know many of them were quite wrong this time again but they are part of a concy against him. >> as everybody now recognizes media polling was election terference in the truest sense of that word. byrf poul special interests. these eally phony follows, fake polls were to keep our voters at home, create the illusion of momentum for mr. biden and diminish republicans' ability to raise funds. they were what's called suppression calls. >> reporter: this is another allegation the president's been making. there's no basis for thitss whver and hills allies have been re-- his allies have been repeating it all week long. yes judy these polls were long and that's gog to cause a reckoning with the polling

industry. but the idea that somehow all the polling organizations, the media organizations including fox news, all the privatend polling firms ll the universities that do polling somehow re conspiring to make the polls all seem that biden was ahead in order t trump supporters. again, there is no evidence of that whatsoever. >> woodruff: finally william, what we've seen this weeis the social media, not this week but throughout the election as we've gotten closer to it, they've been trying very hard to they say tok blocything that is demon structy not true. how successful have they ben. >> reporter: it's true they are trying to do it. it's not clear how fective this has been. twitter is putting flags or markings on any tweets they think iins mislead if you look at the president's tweets over the last few days they are pock marked with these plagues. facebook tried to put the brakes

on some of this misinformation as well. they stamped out a page known as stop the steal facebook page but by the time they stopped it already hundreds of thousands ov people had beiting it. the reality of this is very difficult stuff to stamp out. there's so many sites in the internet, there are so many and these untruths have also been echoed by very powerful voicl. you've goding gop senators and congrs must not, the president's own family, fox news have been doing this and of course the p hresidemself. i mean the real fear i have heard echoed over and over again is, is the significance slice of the populationhinks this election was stolen illegally, how do they respond to that. would we see threats of violence, would we see actual violence? i mean that's anrm eous concern. it's worth noting that over the government has spent ans. inordinate amount of money and time and manpower trying to

stamp out foreign misinformation from infecting our elections process when in fact we now see thera domestic threat here all along. >> woodruff: so much flying around as you say really important to try to separate william brangham, thank you.. we to n next na nawaz and lisa desjardins for a closer look at the map and some the most important data points we have been watching. to you amna. >> thanks, judy. we want to try to bring togethee everything yoeen hearing from those reporters into the field to one place so you can easily see it. look at the latest eectoral count you'll see vice president but two ketates you seerump. nevada, georgia, north carolina and pennsytalvania. let' a closer look at pennsylvania first, lisa. 20 electoral votes there up for grabs. we heard dan bush reporter

earlier razorhins margin. 98% of the expected vote insofar and less than 1 percentage point believe separates them at this moment. lisa if there's a clue about where this is going, where is it. >> america woke up this morning and saw joe biden had overcome president trump here and one reason why it's philadelphia where dan bush is, he said they are counting moreallots. the other place is over near you, pittsburgh, allegheny county, 36,000 ballots left. just in the last hour or so they indicated that could take them another dan ilegheny county. but where did this come from, how did joe biden make up the gap. let's look up at er it e county. ght there on lake erie. that's where jden is lagging by statewide person. this is wher president trump won. this is right working class and this is where joe biden won over because of hisva pennsa roots and his message to white working class. >> reporter: let's look at

another state. georgia. miles o'brien reporting earlier. lisa if vicpresident biden now has a narrow lead the first democrat to carry the state since 1992. >> reporter: if you look at a peof georgia, you can see what's hng there and what's happening in pennsylvania. we want to talk specifically about what put been vice president bidenover the top in this state as well. again incredibly margin00 votes right now a squeaker in georgia. we don't know wheree' end. but right around athens, i want to bring ulapton county. it is so small you almost really can't see it. it's right in here. clayton county, there it is. that's the third smallest county in the state of georgia but it puts joe biden over the top with that percentage. this is where congressman john lewis represented. it is a majority black county and that percentage and the black turnout in that countlpy put vice president biden over the top. >> reporter: those senate

races which we know the sete balance of power is still very much in question. if we take a look where that isstands right now,, what does that show us that's coming up in just a mepent. >>ter: going into the fourth quarter on this. yes, the balance power in the senate still tied but we wants to talk about the houseta. we'ring about the democrats having unexpected losses in the house. i want to break down a uple incumbents to who license be coming back. why they have lost. this is the northeast corner of iowa, actually the republican has won. she's a tv anchr over abby the second youngest woman ever elected to congress. she generally votes moderate but she was tied and being a radical, part of radical democrats tagged with this also she didn't support pice enough because she supported police reform. they will thght be returning. looking at in a. we're talking about miami-dade

county. he had a big advantage. he was the meyer of miami-dade. but we see thi msargin, this is about the turnout of hispanic votes and what republicans the backlash against the idea think it's a socialist direction. lolet'ok at one more that is spending. this is utah the democrat right now out maced by borrow yes owens a former nfl player. democrats within to 17 to 18 to run the hse but they will be wn by less than they have now. >> reporter: maybe a coup dozen races to call. >> reporter: yes. the margin for t new york's going to take a lang time to come in but democra tts hey'll be close on their >> reporter: no one does it better than lisa desjardins. >>eporter: thank you.

>> woodruff: in the day's other news, the u.s. economy clawed back more jobs lost to the pandemic. the labor department reported employers added a net of 638,000 new positions in october. the unemployment rate fell a full percentage point,9%. the numbers raised new questions about a possible economic slutipackage. but, republican and democratic leaders had sharply differt takes. >> i think it reinforces the argument that i've been making in the last few months, that something smaller, rather than throwing another $3 trillion at this issue, is more appropriate. >> it doesn't appeal to me at ecause they still have n agreed to crush the virus. if you don't crushhe virus, we're still going to have to be dealing with the consequences of e virus. >> woodruf overall, the u.s. economy has recovered roughly half of the 22 milli jobs lost when the pandemic hit last spring. the wave of new covid-19 infections in the united states

is still building. more than 120,000 cases were reported in the last 24 hours-- another record-- and pushing the national total past 9.6 million, with more than 235,000 deaths. meanwhile, in europe, a partial lockdown took effect today in four regions across italy. remnants of hurricane eta moved across the caribbean today, after ravaging centralca. parts of guatemala were etunderwater from three fef rain. officials reported that a landslide may have killed more than 100 people in one town. eta could regain tropical storm status as it heads toward cuba and southern florida. in austria, the government closed two mosques that were visited by the gunman who killed n,ur people in vienna on monday. he, in tas killed by police. authorities allege that th mosques acted as a breeding ground for a dangerous ideology,

and radicalized the shooter. >> ( translated ): all of this is not an attack on religion, but a fight against extremism. it is not an attack against the members of a particular faith, but it is a common fight against e abuse of religion for radicalism. >> woodruff: meanwhile, police in germany raided the homes and businesses of four men linked to the vienna attacker. and, back in this country, wall street paused after a big run-up this week. the dow jones industrial average lost 66 points to close at 28,323. the nasdaq fell four points, and the nasindaq rose four , and the s&p 500 slipe point. but for the week, the dow and the s&p rose abo g 7%. the nasdned 9%. still to come on the newshour: mark shields and david brooks tilook back at an election in the balance. we remember some of the many remarkab lives lost to

covid-19. plus, first-ti voters describe their hopes for the country's future. >> woodruff: and now to the analysis of shields and brooks. that is syndicated columnist mark shields, and "new york times" columnist david brooks. so, hello to both of you. we don't have a result yet, but the votes are being counted like we know the results in a lot of states. we're waiting. vid, what do you make of what we know so far? >> if erer tas a campaign that was going to be a blowout, i thought that was it. i though had an unpopular president the people were rdy oto get rif. i expected a large margin and i

was wrong. it's a 2.8 percentage margin nationally. what we've learned is we are an eveaty divided nn, two groups of people in over lapping universes. for a time it seemand people in both camps thought people in my team could crush the other people's team and our team gets to rule. we have to face the reality that's just never going to happen. the other side is never going to go away and we've got toind a way to live with each other. to me that's the biggest tak we awre we are right now. >> woodruff: mark,ity provided con-- divided country >> divided country, judy but if you look at it in an historical perspective, in the lasto centuryy three presidential challenges nominees havdee ated an elected president seeking re-election. it's a pretty impressive group when you think about it the it was franklin roosevelt, it was ronald reagan nd it was bill clinton, all of whom were at

least two term presidents. i think history would say successful presidents. so joe biden joins a pretty awesome group of people.l he wen up in my judgment with a 52 put 47 popular vote percentage decisively andci vely the electoral college. david's right, it was close. we are divided. whpr sured me as much as anything was the loyalty and the enthusiasm of donald trump's constituency. they turned out in surprisingly impressive numbers and donald trump, if he got over his hissy fits and sort of silly actions since his election he could take credit are for the republicans picking up hse seats in 2020 and retaining the mority in the senate with the exception ou n collins, every other republican senate candidate who won, won with donald trump.

susan collins had a 17 point split in aine. that was the only ticket splitting state inhe country. >> woodruff: david you've had a chance to look inside some of these numbers, why voters voted, who voted how and why people voted the way they did. even as we're waitinfg or the final numbers, what does that tell you about the country, about who we are? >> well, i mean the surprise is where the gains, the republicans made among latino andrican americans. donald trump had a higher share of the non-white votes than any republic in 60 years. that was a surprise to me. he doubled his supports among the lgbtq community. a lot of people are voting by different narratives. this is a certain anywhere tough he's a racist and he's just of course racism there's a lot of trnah of thaative but a lot of people had different narrati wves. soshould be humble about generalizing across groups of people especially people we've

never met. so i think that. the second thing is that the republican party really i party of people without college degrees much so than ever before. we saw from moderate to college educated suburb nights to the republican party. the rpublican party if theye going to feel about about this election they can see the potential of the future party as a multiracial party if they can win support amongacial lines among those without college degrees. should focus all attentionhey on what can we do with people wiout college degrees oall groups. >> woodruff: what about that mark. as you look at how people voted, which way they went, what do you see. >> picking up on what david said you can't make generalizations about people you do know, david. the point is that david toued

male vote.the white blue collar one out of three voters in the country. this was the backbone of the democratic coation that elected franklin roosevelt and harry truman and jack ken it was the message of the entire new deal, fair deal and new frontier that government had are onsibility, it guaranteed jobs, it was a nation of serelf ance and independence completely especially in the face of the great depression. but the important thing to remember is that 346 firefighters who walked into the hell on september 11th to save strangers that never met and gave their lives in so doing, were white nn-college males for the most part. those who volunteer to defend our country, joining the marine corps and ard forces and fight

and day, it's their families. overwhelmingly white not white college-educated males. the democrat problem is one ofde attis much as a platform. the mocrats once a hot in beer party came a savigono party. i reado think this is a problem for democrats and they have to approach with some humility this very important constituency which donald trump beat them almost two to one and beat joe biden who i mean is really probably thepe onification of what the new deal was in t perms ofsonal style, personal values and personality. so it was the, bein beating an e

bill es i've he -- elitest ivy leaguer. s anything about a monolithic constituencyst proved by the results in florida.f: >> woodri want to turn you david to the president's reaction so far to the results of the lashing out, ts accusati fraud and the rest of it. how much does all that matter. i mean does the delay in knowing the result, how much will that matter in the end? >> i thoughthe president in his press kfntio conference las, awful, rrific if we weren't used to it. also wan, he wasn't fighting, he was constructing rationalization for a man who can't admihe can lose at anything. i've been hear beetn heed therea lot going around on the internet as if the democrat had this

elaborate vote rigging thing like they lose the senate. it doesn't pass even surface plausibility. but what has heartenly so far the system seems to be hding better than many people feared. a lot of republicans are happyee torump go and ushering statements or just non-statements and not getting on this train. and ste legislators in places likeennsylvania said we're not getting involved in this and what you would get is competing slate of scholars but that would require complicity of a lot of so far they don'tt to getes. involved. so i think the system is doing way better than we could have >> woodruff: you do have lindsey graham out there echoing what the president's saying. >> for sure there areome. and fox has decided, the all important fox news seems to be divided. but so far we have not seen that much in the streets and so far this is much caer than many

predicted. >> woodruff: mark, what is your particular on theresident and how he is reacting so far? and what it says. >> he's younger and more optimistic. g have to say i haven't found that many ood germans among the republican who are resisting the -- judy, the president before the largest audience in the history o kf humand according to him took an oath to solemnly me seven protect an defend the constitution of the united states. i just wish he wou reflect on that for 30 seconds. what he is doin is underminding confiden in a trust in each other, in our country, in o fe. i have been incredibly impressed by the quality of the secretaries of state who haveome on. women, repns and democrats who have explained what they're

doing, have done it in a intelligent way.nformed and i've been impressed by the seriousness of purpose the people have taken and counting. but iti'm w for the republicans. i'm waiting for rob portman of ohio who everybody says is such a good guy. i'm waiting fo him tand up and say no, mr. president, this is wrg. we hear from the usual suspects, lindsey graham makes tonto look like an independent spirit when it comes to president trump. >> woodruff: and david, here at the end, ie ean youot worried about the fact, i mean we don't know how longakt's going to there may be a call tonight for all we know but tat is taking days. do you have concern tha that leaves a task over this somehow.

>> for sure there is a number of citizens if joe biden wins that st's an illegitimate president. i opeful we're having a different sort on polarization. donald trump is a cultral figure. he's not a policy person, it was always my tribe e good your tr evil. so we've had that kind of polarization. i'm hopeful if donald trump is off the scene at least tre won't be a guy at the top waging a holy war against another identity group every singleay i'm sticking with it, no matter at mark says. >> woodrufl right. we're going to let you do that david brooks. we're all going to wait and see what hapns. david brooks and mark shields, thank you. >> woodruff: although much of the country's focus is on

this week's election, tonight, as every friday, we honor the individuals who have fallen victim to the coronavirus that continues its grip oour communitie shorty ortiz scored his first hit song at 19, skyrocketingo the top of the tejano music scene in austin. after decades of touri with his band, "shorty and the corvettes," he started a new mariachi corbetas.ndson: the ♪ ♪ offstage, the 78-year-old worked tirelessly to help others. the korean and vietnam war veteran hosted music festivals to boost other artists, and at e time he passed, was planning to open a sober living home. 85-year-old wi was always in touch with his hner child. his son sawas an active, fun father and grandfather with a high-wattage smile.

willia, m, known as billowed in his father's footsteps, graduating from villanova to later work as a civil engineer throughout the east coast. he also served in the marines 1950s and '60s.s reserve in the bill eventually found his home in historic preservation, where he combined his expertise in structures and materials with his love for art. teaching came naturally to choua yang, her daughter said. a hmong refugee from laos, choua saw a need in her minnesota neighborhood for a school that celebrated her family's identity, history and culture, so she opened her own, bedrock of the hmong community just outside minneapolis. wa humble, the 53-year-old raised five children and 14 grandchildren.

hex osceola, jr, of the paclan of the seminole tribe of florida, was a tribal councier for 26 years. max led by his belief in the importance of education to better his community. during his tenure, he helped broker the tribe's purchase of the restaurant, hotel and casino chain, hard rock international. described by his family as an eloquent public speake a loving husband, and a supportive father, max was 70 years old tanasia alamo's smiles were soothing and her hugs were therapeutic, her mom said.rn nd raised in staten island, tanasia was independent and comforting. her family said she taught them patience. tanasia loved to sing, crochet scarves and blankets, and, most of all, she loved watching professional wrestling. as always, we wantthankrs old.

families members for sharing these stories. we know imt makes so uch difference as we tell the stiers of your loved -- stories of your ved ones. our hearts go out to you and all those who lost loved ones ithn pandemic. >> woodrnd finally tonight, a short conversation with two first-time voters. biden, the other, presidentt trump. they are inspiring. amna? >> nawaz: thanksjudy. in the run-up to the election, there were record numbers of young peop registering and making plans to vote. an estimated ten million young people voted. so, what was that experience like for first-time voters? and how do young people see tee current dever counting the votes when america is so divided politically? i've got two first-time voters to help me explore all of these issues. malick mercier is a college student attending ithaca college

and currently living in brooklyn. and rebecca mckinney is a high school seor from northern virginia. she's a podcaster for her school's newspaper and a member of her school's debate team. malick, i wanto start with you. you guys voted in the middle of ndemic, at a time when there's a lot of doubt being sowed about the election process, and yet you still chose to participate. why? >> this election, specifically, was clearly so consequential after especially watching what happened with the coronavirus pandemic. over 200,000 americans dead. it's really sad, and i think th when we-- i think our generation is really good about thinking about human life and thinking about what w at means and portant that is. and so, for me, it was reallyst aking sure that i chose a leader that i really believed could handle thee hings that weing through as a nation. >> nawaz: rebecca, what about you? why was it imporpant for you to icipate in this process? t i think it was really special for me to vote f first time in this election since it's the 100th anniversary of women getting the right to vote, which

was just so like monumental for me. and i got a little sticker that had a little women's suffrage sticker on it that sais a first-time voter, and it-- and that for the first time i got to vote, on this anniversary, was so huge for me. rebecca were not alone. we should mention there was record young american turnout. in several key ground 18 to 29 states. does that surprise you, that that many more young people o turn? >> it's not just that young election, but young people were organizing, young people were working. whether it's with march on, they were doing walk the vote different rallies to help, just watching all of that, our generation is more than voting, and that's really awesome. t >> nawaz: k all the time about how divided we are politically as a country. do you see that among your do you have friends who you

>> i mean i've had personal experience with one of my closest friends who is mpletely on the other side of the aisle of me, but we have these really informed anll inent conversations, which are awesome, and we learn from each other. we learn the other side. and that's reallimportant to r friendship. but we also know that it doesn't affect and it doesn't hurt our friendship at al but i've had other previous friendships that we're no longer friends anymore, where it's been the complete opposite. >> nawaz: if y for the next president of the united states, what would that be? yorebecca, let's start wit >> dear mr. president, try to make this country better than when youtepped into office. i think that right now we're really divided, and this next four years is going to determine how the future of our country is going to go, and i jt hope that you'll be able to work with the other side and that we're ter. to make our country b >> to the president i would say, i need you to really think about how your polies impact people in their every-day lives. i would also say to know that young people have more access to and we are using that. ever had,

we're aware of what's going on. and we want to work with you we want to make the world a better place. so please, please help us do ckat. >> nawaz: maercier and rebecca mckinney, two first-time voters joining us tonight. thank you so much to you both. >> woodruff: and thank you all. our ongoing election coverage continues online, where you can find live maps and tools to better undstand each candidate's possible path to victory. that's on our website,www.pbs.o. and, stay with us here on pbs. robert costa is preparing for a special eltion edition of ashington week," which airs later tonight. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. have a great weekend. as we all wait. stay saf

thank you, and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. with fidelity weth management, a dedicated advisor can tailor advice and recommendations to your life. that's fidelity wealth management. >> consumer cellular. >> johnson & johnson. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> bnsf railway. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better wod. at www.hewlett.org. >> supporting social entrreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions

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♪ hello, everyone, welcome to "amanpour & co." here is what's coming up. for the first time in history, america provides a living lesson in democracy to the whole world. rerd turnout, counting every ballot, and all pointing to a very divided nation. we get perspective from both sides of the aisle withhe former governor of new jersey, former louisiana senator mary landrieu. plus the whole world is glued to the count to a i get the global pul from lione barber, former editor of "the financial times." >> we're protesting that we just want to live. >> after af long season reckoning, what's outlook for racial justice? our michel martin speaks to