captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, despite a biden lead of 14,000 votes, georgia calls for a hand recount as the president-elect pushes ahead with a transition plan. then, one on one-- we discuss the role of the democratic party's liberal wing in the incoming biden administratn with senator bernie sanders. plus, america divided-- political schisms remain in the wake of the bitterly contested election. and, essential work-- how the pandemic is hitting hard in a part of california the country depends on for food.

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public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: this has been a day for honoring america's military veterans, of peace and war, amid the political war over the presidential race. president trump still shows no sign of conceding to president- elect biden, or to clearing the way for a change of government. lisa desjardins begins our coverage tonight. >> desjardins: rain fell at a veterans day ceremony at arlington national cemetery, where president trump made his first public appearance since the associated press called his re-election defeat over the weekend. he attended a wreath-laying and saluted at the tomb of the unknown soldier, but did not speak. (♪ "taps" playing ) in philadelphia, president-elect

joe biden made his own veterans day stop, he and the future first lady, jill biden, laid a wreath at a korean war memorial. but he, too, had no public comment. the day's solemn ceremonies unfolded against the backdrop of mr. trump's refusal to recognize the election results or commence the transition. on twitter, the president continued to make unsupported claims of voter fraud in states he lost or is trailing. one of those states is georgia, where the secretary of state today announced a hand recount of all ballots in the presidential race. >> there will be plenty of oversight. we want to make sure both parties have opportunities to observe this because we know the stakes are high. >> desjardins: mr. biden leads in georgia by about 14,000 votes. the recount comes after the georgia republican party and the state's entire republican congressional delegation sent a letter to the secretary of state, alleging fraud, without evidence. they asked him to investigate

"serious allegations of voting irregularities" in both the presidential and two u.s. senate races. the two senate races are headed for runoffs in january. the trump campaign also continues to file legal challenges to the presidential vote count. today it sued michigan to block the state from certifying joe biden's win, which it is scheduled to do on november 23rd. he leads there by more than 140,000 votes. president trump did score one victory today. the associated press formally called alaska, for him, increasing his electoral vote count to 217. >> woodruff: lisa joins us from wilmington, delaware, and yamiche alcindor is at the white house. hello to both of you. lisa, to you first, and this is the first day, i guess, joe biden has not made public remarks since he was declared the president-elect, but we know the transition planning continues. tell us where that stands. >> not a day off for the biden

transition, judy, that's for sure. they have more than 4,000 positions, about that many, to appoint in government, and they're on their way going through that list. judy, it's interesting, i talked to an advisor yesterday who told me that the way they're going about that is to look at the policy, try and find the people who will best enact policies joe biden wants from healthcare and supporting the affordable care act to climate change, to a range of other things including thincludingthe minimum-wage. on that front, i can also report that we do think that they will start announcing some potential top staff starting at the top with the chie chief of staff, af that announcement for the wte house chief of staff under president biden when he takes over could come as early as this week. at the u.s. senate, a lot of swirl around several senators, a lot around elizabeth warren, bernie sanders, about whether they would take positions in this administration. speak to have the senate, i talked to the republican senate office, allies of president trump, who tell me one

reason they're not speaking out publicly about whether the president should accept the result is they think they can do more behind the scenes. this office tells me there conservative senators spoke to president trump on the phone and told them, of course, from their point, continue whatever questions you have to raise, but ultimately the senates asked the president to do what's right when the time comes. >> woodruff: and we will be talking with senator sanders in just a few moments. yamiche, to you now, we know the president has also not spoken publicly. we've seen the tweets, we've seen him just now, but we know that his team is still very much trying to win some battles in the court, challenging the results, where does all that stand? >> well, president trump's refusal and the trump campaign's refusal to acknowledge that joe biden is the president-elect and to continue to file lawsuit after lawsuit comes down to two big things, politics and money. on the money side, they are raising boatloads of money, thousands of dollars every day

by sending out next messages and e-mails, messaging that they need to keep up the fight, but they want to have money for an election defense fund. when you look at the money being raised, it tells a story. 60% of that money goes to save america pac, a political action committee. aft that if someone donates thousands of dollars more, that money goes to the trump recount account. this is important the political action committee faces restrictions on how money is spent. unlike candidate campaign accounts, the money raised can be spent on personal expenses. 40% goes to the republican national committee. this money can go to benefit potentially other republican candidates. critics say this is a slush fund that can go to funding president trump's lavish lifestyle. the margins are on president trump's side. allies of the president told me that today. we want to look at the popular vote margins in the state

contested by the trump administration and the trump campaign. in michigan in 2016 president trump won by 10,000 votes, joe biden is leading by more than 146,000. in pennsylvania he won by 44,000. in 2016, 50,000 is what biden is leading by. in wisconsin 22,000 is what trump won by. he's leading, president-elect joe biden, by 20,000. those tell stories and older establishment republicans tell me the numbers are not going to work out for the president while younger republicans are continuing to workday and night to try too find more voters to get people to overturn the margins. but it's a really, really uphill battle. >> woodruff:ia niche, we know, with regard -- georgia is going have a hand recount. what do weknow about president trump's involvement in that? >> president trump is continuing to pressure republicans all over the country, including in georgia, to really publicly challenge the integrity of the election. now the georgia republican georgia secretary of state was out a few minutes ago saying

that the white house has not contacted him directly to pressure him the do any sort of recount, but the trump campaign sees that recount as a huge win, they want to see that the president might be able to wrestlet it back but as you noted joe biden is winning by 14,000 votes, it will be tough. >> woodruff: finally, quickly to you, lisa, the fact there will be a narrower margin for democrats in thousands waiting to see what will happen in the senate till january, what does that mean for biden planning? >> judy, quickly, the senate -- new senate convenience january 3. the georgia election is january 5. that will make it tricky to organize the senate and we will have to watch it closely. >> woodruff: and we thank both of you. both of you standing in the rain. lisa desjardins, in wilmington, yamiche alcindor at the white house, we appreciate it.

>> woodruff: joe biden has won the presidency by securing more than 270 electoral votes, and leading the popular vote by a five million vote margin. but democrats won't have a majority in the u.s. senate, and lost seats in the house. losses that exposed ideological differences between the progressive and moderate wings of the party on issues from health care to policing. senator bernie sanders of vermont joins me now. senator sanders, thank you so much for being here. it is clearly a win for the democrats in the white house. joe biden is the president-elect, but disappointment in the results in the senate and the house. what went wrong? >> well, i wish i knew di de fientively, but i think -- diff idefinitely, but i think dt

candidates focused on defeating a pathological liar and that's enormously important, but i don't think we did quite a good as job as we should have. in speaking to working families who, today, are probably in worse economic shape than anytime since the great depression, and we did not make the case that we're prepared to take on powerful special interests, we're prepared to raise that minimum wage to at least 15 bucks an hour, provide equal pay for equal work, make it easier for workers to join unions, create millions of good-paying jobs, rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, making public colleges and universities tuition-free, expanding healthcare to all people, so i think we probably were not as strong as we should have been in explaining what a progressive economic agenda would mean to working families throughout the country.

>> woodruff: but now that democrats are going to have fewer seats in the house, now that you may have 50 seats in the senate, but you may end up with 48, are you going to be able to do the kinds of things you just listed, senator sanders? you're going to have great opposition from republicans and not even support from all democrats. >> well, look, i think all of the ideas that i have talked to you about, judy, and many more, are popular ideas. i mean, the truth is that the american people understand that our current healthcare system is dysfunctional and cruel and wasteful. they understand that $7.25 an hour minimum-wage is a starvation wage. it's insane that our infrastructure is falling. that we are not addressing the existential threat of climate change. that is what the american people understand and want to see us address, and our job is to

explain to the american people where the opposition is and put pressure on republicans, especially those coming up for election in two years, that they have got to do what the american people want. >> woodruff: and at the same time, we know president trump, as you purchased, received 71 million-plus votes. so republicans are going to point to that, and oppose, we assume, much to have the democratic agenda -- much of the democratic agenda. so my question is are you going to have to have scaled-back expectations for what president biden is able to accomplish? >> look, i think we start off with the agenda that want speaks to the american people. what i want all over this country is that ordinary americans, including those who voted for donald trump -- you know what? they can't afford healthcare, they can't afford to send their kids to college, they don't want veterans sleeping on the street, they don't want to destroy their

car by going over some pothole, they want action to improve the lives of working families, so does everybody else in america. so i think the very first thing you do is make the case, here are the problems, here are the solutions, then you can sit down with republicans and see where we go. now my hope is that in early january, democrats will pick up two more seats in the georgia runoffs, and that will make our life a lot easier. >> woodruff: one thing about the election, senator, i'm sure you've heard the complaints, the comments from democrats, moderate democrats who say all the talk about at the funding the police, using the rm allowing republicans to repeatedly accuse democrats of being socialists, hurt democrats, and they are saying the idea that you're going to move to a green new deal, that you're going to move to some form of dramatic form of police reform, that that will only hurt democrats going forward.

what do you say to your democratic colleagues about that? >> first of all, i'm not aware -- maybe i'm wrong on this, but i don't know there are any democratic candidates that talked about defunding the police. do we want police reform so that innocent african-americans are not shot and killed? of course, we do. so do the vast majority of the american pple. in terms of some of the arguments against us, the problem is they're just not true. to the best of my knowledge, 100 congressional candidates ran on medicare for all. do you know how many lost? zero. i think one candidate who ran on a green new deal lost. the reason for that is these proposals are popular proposals. so the idea of blaming our ideas on their defeat, i'm not sure that that's true. i think the converse may be true. got a lot of people out there

listening to some democrats and saying, what do you stand for? are you going to represent us when we are hurting so much? do you have the guts to take on powerful special interests? are you going to raise that minimum-wage? are you going to fight for healthcare for all? i don't want to go bankrupt because i can't afford to pay my medical bill. what are you going to do about it? how are you going to make sure my kid can afford to go to college. i want to turn the argument around and say to my more society of democratic friends is maybe the working class of the country did not perceive that you are prepared to stand up and fight for them. >> woodruff: two other quick questions, senator, one is there's talk of your being interested in being labor secretary in the biden administration. are you interested in doing that? >> let me just say this, judy, the working class of this country is in a lot of pain right now -- unemployment very, very high, wages are low,

workers can't form union, people are not getting the pensions they're entitled to. so i'm going to do whatever i can whether in the senate or whatever in fighting for the rights of working families. if i am asked to become a member of the biden administration and if i'm given a portfolio that can make a difference to the working families of this country, would i accept it? yes, i would. >> woodruff: and do you have a favorite for treasury secretary? >> well, i think there are a number of good candidates out there but i think elizabeth warren has a track record of standing up to vair powerful wall street interests. i think she knows the interests backwards and forwards and she would be a very powerful secretary in the treasury. >> woodruff: even giving up a seat in the senate? >> well, i think -- well, going into all of the details, i think there are ways to protect that seat. >> woodruff: we will leave it

there. senator bernie sanders of vermont, we thank you. >> thank you very much. >> woodruff: the deep divisions in this country can also be found this week within the republican party. a majority of elected g.o.p. officials are standing with the president's false claims about election fraud. a number remain silent, but here is a sampling of some of that support. >> 72 million americans instinctively know something's not right here. and if you just look at the state of pennsylvania, where the unequal treatment of the voters in that state, some counties allow voters to cure their ballots. some didn't. some counties allow pre- canvassing of ballots. some didn't. some counties along with satellite voting offices. some counties didn't. and you can imagine which counties allowed those things to happen. what are the democrats trying to hide?

>> right now, you've got half this country that has doubts about the veracity of this election. and that's why the process that exists in the law. there's a long process in the law that exists after the election, before the results are certified. that process has to be allowed to move forward. otherwise, we're going to have a result here that half the country will harbor significant doubts about. and that's bad for the country. that's whyoth sides should be welcoming, having this process be open, transparent, and according to the rights afforded to both candidates by the law. >> woodruff: on the other side of the divide, more an thirty former republican lawmakers are calling his allegations of voter fraud "unacceptable." formerissouri congressman tom coleman is one of them and he joins me now. tom colen, thank you so much for talking with us. the president says fraud has been committed and the american people deserve to know what happened, and he's pursuing multiple lawsuits. he's within his rights to do that, isn't he? >> yes, he is.

you have a close call in some of these states, and this is a very close election in some states. gradually joe biden has extended his lead in most of the questionable states that are still out. but, yes, the candidate has a right to do that within certain limitations. the problem is the president has filed seven lawsuits that i personally know of and all of them have been tossed by the courts. they are absolutely baseless and without foundation. >> woodruff: so when you hear, as we've just a few moments ago heard congressman jim jordan of ohio talking about things that he says went wrong or should be looked into in pennsylvania, he said some counties allow voters to cure their ballots, some didn't. some counties allow pre-canvassing of ballots, some didn't. i mean, are those the kinds of things that would call an election result into question? >> no, certainly not. all the states have been polled

by the "new york times," and it's in this morning's paper, and none of the elected officials that are in charge of the elections found any fraud, any irregularities other than the normal one when you hav 150 million people voting. so this is all something ginned up by the president to create more chaos on his way out the door. and we've had four years of chaos, the public didn't like it, and they voted him out of office. it's hard for him to take. this is just a little tantrum by the president, but, at the same time, judy, he is putting our national security interests in very big limbo here because we don't know what's going on in the pentagon and we don't know what's going on in other agencies where biden people have not been able to go in and start making their transition. >> woodruff: what is your worry, i mean what do you fear could happen if this drags on? >> well, in the first place, he's trying to undermine the

legitimacy of the outcome, just like he tried to undermine barack obama for not being, allegedly, born in the united states. the birther issue is what got donald trump on the political map and he's trying to do to joe biden what he tried to do to barack obama. it didn't work then and it's not going to work now. but if enough people in the country lose faith in our democracy and our ability to choose our elected officials through a fair and free election, we're in a heap of trouble, and that's what i think this could end up being. >> woodruff: but as someone who served in the congress, you were a republican when you served in the congress for 16 years. what do you make of the fact that the vast majority of elected republicans right now in the congress are backing the president up and saying we need to go through with this, the president's in the right? >> i guess one word would be disappointment, extreme

disappointment. unfortunately, i think we've seen for ur years the inability of congress to be an independent branch of government. all the republicans who are in the majority, at least in the senate, have tied themselves to this president. i don't know what it would take, because we have a pandemic of 250,000 americans have died through it, it's rising and spiking as we speak, and what has the president been doing? playing golf and making counterfeit charges about the election. this is the reason he's being voted out of office. it's unreal people will stand with him this long. we had a great election, we had a turnout of record proportions and, for that, the public deserves to know that their votes counted, and all this business about jim jordan stirring the pot in pennsylvania, the people in pennsylvania don't see this, and there are republicans and democrats all over this country, this is something that they have

manufactured to try to destroy, i guess, joe biden's administration before it takes office, and it's wrong. >> woodruff: but you not only have, you know, members of congress, you have the leader of the senate majority in mitch mcconnell saying that the president needs to be allowed to pursue this. >> well, and i did -- said that, too. i think you have to look at mitch mcconnell's words very closely. he hasn't really stood tall during the trump administration, but he did not say, and i don'te didn't throw his entire lot into what the president is doing. so let him file more lawsuits and see what happens. but again, politics over country. he knows there are two open senate seats in the state of georgia which would mean the majority of other the republicansen or the democrats taking control of the body in january, so he is not going to

alienate the trump base. this is about the trump base, getting them riled up so that, at least in georgia, they will want to go out and serve the president as he isleaving. >> woodruff: former missouri republican congressman tom coleman, thank you very much for talking the us. >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, republicans won a 50th seat in the u.s. senate. the associated press declared dan sullivan the winner in his re-election bid in alaska. senate control now hinges on january run-offs for two seats in georgia. the a.p. also projects that democrats will control the house of representatives, but with a smaller majority. republicans could gain a dozen seats. facebook now says its ban on political ads will likely last

another month. it originally covered only the week after the election. the ban is meant to limit misinformation about the presidential results, and about those senate run-offs in georgia. covid-19 infections acss the u.s. hit more records today. the nation recorded nearly 140,000 new cases in the last 24 hours, with nearly 62,000 people hospitalized with the virus. in response, more states announced curbs, including new york and indiana, where governor eric holcomb said hospital workers need help. >> they are exhausted and overwhelmed and need us all to do what wean on the outside that will slow the number of patients that need hospitalizations and their treatment inside. >> woodruff: deaths are also rising, with more than 1,400

reported on tuesday. tropical storm "eta" headed today toward a second strike at florida, this time, north of tampa bay. it briefly regained hurricane strength before weakening again. high winds and heavy rain struck the coast all day as the storm moved closer. conditions forced a major bridge and the tampa international airport to close. in hong kong, pro-democracy lawmakers have announced they're resigning, in a sweeping act of protest. the 15 legislators acted after four of their colleagues were dismissed from the city assembly. their ouster is part of mainland china's efforts to curb dissent in the semi-autonomous territory. we'll hear more on this, later in the program. pope francis is pledging again to eradicate sexual abuse by roman catholic clergy. his renewed promise today followed an investigation of ex- cardinal theodore mccarrick.

it found that mccarrick's misconduct went ignored for decades. the pope read a statement at the vatican. >> ( translated ): yesterday the report about the painful case of ex-cardinal theodore mccarrick was published. i renew my closeness to the ctims of every abuse and the commitment of the church to uproot this evil. >> woodruff: francis also spoke in praise of pope john paul ii today. the vatican investigation concluded that john paul knew of mccarrick's misdeeds, and made him archbishop of washington anyway. and, back in this country, wall street worried about new coronavirus restrictions on businesses, and that held back the broader market. the dow jones industrial average lost 23 points to close at 29,397. but the nasdaq rose 232 points, with tech stocks rebounding, and, the s&p 500 added 27.

still to come on the newshour: covid-19 continues to take a devastating toll on essential farm workers. the chinese government jettisons the remaining pro-democracy legislators from hong kong. and a young mississippi guitarist keeps the tradition of the blues alive. >> woodruff: as the nation grapples with the latest surge in covid-19 cases, some workers are trying to cope with illness and economic hardship, even while fearing deportation. stephanie sy visited the coachella valley in california, where workers deemed "essential" by t federal government are suffering in the shadows, and finding support in a patchwork

of grassroots community organizations. >> sy: nine-year old rosita and her friend bounce on a trampoline, while her mother, marisela, looks on--weighed down by worries. >> i am sick with thyroid cancer. >> sy: marisela, who preferred we not use her last name, has continued to work in the fields, even through the pandemic. >> ( translated ): i'm afraid because it's different in the fields. i'm afraid of being infected or that someone in my family will become infected and i've told my doctor that stress might be affecting me as well. >> sy: not far away, sonia baturroni, a diabetic without access to health insurance, is being squeezed financially. >> ( translated ): without work and food, we have to feed ourselves. the rent keeps coming, the bills keep coming. so my concern is how am i going to do it? >> sy: both of these women are

single mothers who, because of their immigration status, are ineligible for the covid relief checks that have helped millions of americans get by. the coachella valley may be best known for its music festival, tennis tournament, and luxury resorts. but the eastern part of the valley is a separate world. almost 50% of resints live below the poverty line. and winds here blow toxic dust from the decaying salton sea, california's largest lake. >> we have a large group of people that are living in conditns that you don't see in other parts of the country, mobile homes that are old, that are falling apart. >> sy: at a community event offering free flu vaccines we met conrado barzaga, c.e.o. of the desert healthcare district and foundation, which oversees healthcare services in the region. >> if you get caught with covid- 19, the closest hospital is probably one hour away for most people here. >> sy: covid has taken its toll on the low-wage workers, many

who work in the area's vast date farms and make up the backbone of the valley's $600 million agricultural economy. across the country, coronavirus has infected more than 125,000 farmworkers, people who literally keep the country fed. farmwoers endure tough times even in good times. but during the pandemic they were deemed essential and kept working, even while lacking the safety net they'd need if they got sick. farmworker marisol cisneros and her children got covid over the summer. >> ( translated ): you feel frustrated because you have to go to work because we live day to day. and if you get sick or your kids get sick, you have no choice but to go to work. >> sy: after she tested positive, she did stop going to work, but now can barely make ends meet. half of the farmworkeracross

the u.s. are undocumented. >> they don't have social security numbers. and it's impossible for them to get any of the benefits that one would expect while they live in the united states. >> sy: as essential workers. >> as essential workers who cannot eat. >> sy: the food supply depends on these workers. >> you got it. >> sy: rosa lucas, a nurse practitioner, has been working in the community for over 30 years, and says covid has presented unprecedented challenges. >> when you're picking in the field, you can be sort of apart. but then it's lunchtime and i they're all they all go in each they go at the same time and all of there they sit on a bench that's under a shade on a truck. and they're all there together with their masks off, eating and coughing and drinking. they go home and they get other people sick. >> sy: the fear of being deported says the county supervisor manuel perez, himself a son of former farmworkers, creates a dire situaon.

>> they're fearful of even being tested. and if they do get tested, they're very reluctant to let them know to let them contact trace or know who they've been around, you know, for the last few days. so that's a very real issue. >> sy: since an earlier spike in cases, perez says they've ramped up education and outreach, and have distributed funds to a patchwork of non-profit groups such as lift to rise, an organization that provides rental assistance to people like sonia batturoni. >> ( translated ): thank god there have been many organizations that have helped us financially. >> there's definitely a sense of kind of desperation. >> sy: lift to rise's deputy director araceli palafox has seen the lines for help swell in recent weeks. >> you he families coming with their children. and you can you can kind of sense from the children kind of the same traumatic experience that that perhaps the parents or the head of households are going

through. >> sy: marisela and her daughter have depended on community organizations during covid. on this day, they received a package of household essentials from luz gallegos of todec legal center. since mid-september, gallegos has gone door to door, dropping off deliveries to faworkers in need, many of whom have tested positive for covid-19. but lift to rise's palafox worries that things like food aid and housing support are only temporary fixes. >> i think we always say internally that this work is like triaging oxygen. this is rental assistance. it's a one time 3,500. we know that we need permanent solution. so folks stay permanently housed. >> sy: this is a band-aid. >> yes. >> these are the types of measures and policies that we need to advance if we really, truly care about essential workers, in this case farm workers.

but it's not going to be enough until once again, we have comprehensive immigration reform. >> sy: for now, band-aids are all many immigrant essential workers can hope for. for the pbs newshour, i'm stephanie sy, in the coachella valley, california. >> woodruff: the number of coronavirus cases in india, appears for the moment to have peaked, with a decline in daily infections in recent weeks. however, india's economy, the world's fifth largest, has yet to recover from a steep decline, compounding the suffering of millions of its poorest citizens. special correspondent fred de sam lazaro has an update. >> reporter: it's a typical morning at delhi's main bus depot. thousands of migrant laborers returning from their rural homes, hoping to regain jobs they abruptly lost in march,

when india went into a total lockdown. 38-year-old netrapal yadav used to drive for a taxi company-work that helped support his wife, four children and elderly parents in their village about 150 miles away. >> ( translated ): when the lockdown happened, i went back but there's no work there. it's been very hard. i've had to take on nearly 35,000 rupees in debt so i came back to delhi. so now i'm going to see my old boss. >> reporter: worried about debts that total about 500 u.s. dollars, he decided to skip the rickshaw ride to his old workplace. the $3 fare is about what he used to earn in a full day. >> a lot of urban migrant workers were largely in the informal economy >> reporter: i reached delhi- based economist radhicka kapoor. >> they went back to the security of their villages where they were sure they wouldn't actually starve. essentially, there was a lot of rural distress even before covid-19 struck.

and now that has just got exacerbated. >> reporter: with the economy cratering, most recently at an annual rate of 24%, the government began easing its lockdown in may, despite falling far short of the goal of flattening the curve of covid infections. so laborers are back in the cities, anxiously they wait each day for work, but the cities are not back to normal, as yadav would soon find out when he arrived at his boss' place. >> ( translated ): i just have no work, right in front of you there used to be ten cars, now i have only two. i got rid of eight of them. >> ( translated ): tell me, how am i going to feed my children, where am i going to get bread for them? they go full days being hungry, it's for their sake that i came to you. >> reporter: the best that the boss harinder singh could provide was a cot in his open air taxi stand. >> ( translated ): people are using their own personal cars, no one is using taxis. >> reporter: they're also simply not going many places.

delhi's once-thriving middle class shopping centers sits nearly empty. >> its leading to a chicken and egg situation because businesses will invest only if there is demand. but at the same time, vast majorities don't have jobs. >> reporter: and that's unlikely to change soon, says prof. ramanan laxminarayan, who divides his time between india and princeton university. >> it's going to take probably years for the economy to climb back, because a lot of small businesses, medium enterprises all been wiped out. and it takes time for that whole cycle of borrowing money, setting up an enterprise and then being able to make things happen. >> reporter: small and medium enterprises employ more than 90% of india's urban workforce large number of them rural migrants. some critics place blame their abject suffering on the government's hasty, abrupt lockdown, busupporters say the country had to buy time to build

testing capacity, supplies of equipment and temporary isolation and care centers like this one in a delhi athletics complex. so far despite high numbers this facility has never hit its 500 bed capacity. dr. rajat jain, a volunteer physician here, has one troubling explanation. >> the stigma is definitely a very, very big challenge. there are a lot of people who are scared of getting themselves tested. and that's a pretty big challenge, because if they are not getting themselves tested and they are not aware, they are the one who are spreading the disease.. >> reporter: some scientists say the actual number of infections is possibly three to four times the official total of about eight point six million. the official death toll is 128,000. >> the disease is pretty much uncontrolled at this point in time, it's spreading from the urban areas which have better testing into rural areas, which really don't have health facilities to take care of patients. >> reporter: through all this,

polls show prime minister narendra modi remains widely popular. >> what was positive about the indian response was that there was never an attempt to sweep covid under the carpet and say, this is not serious, as we saw in many other countries like mexico, in brazil, and certainly in the united states as well, that did not happen in india. >> reporter: but the prospect of sustained stagnation in a once- fast-growing economy is a worry. half of india's population is below the age of 25. >> the risk of social upheaval has certainly gone up. >> reporter: meantime with netrapal yadav at the taxi stand... >> ( translated ): i went to three, four different taxi owners; didn't get any work. i might as well go back to the village. the boss is giving me 100 rupees to wash the cars, but i can probably make that at home. >> reporter: washing cars for a $1.50, surviving on ramen noodles, he decided his third night in this makeshift sleeping arrangement would be his last. he spent his next night on the

bus home. for the pbs newshour, with rakesh nagar in delhi, this is fred de sam lazaro in st. paul, minnesota. he's part of the undertold stories project at the university of st. thomas in minnesota. >> woodruff: today in hong kong, the government removed four pro- here's nick schifrin. >> schifrin: in the end, their final act of resistance, was solidarity. >> together we stand. together we stand. >> schifrin: today, the entire pro-democracy camp of legislators quit, and held a press conference alongside their ousted colleagues. >> there's no point to sit there like sitting ducks and be ousted one by one.

>> schifrin: one of the legislators who resigned today was 63-year-old claudia mo. we spoke to her later, by skype. >> today would mean the final nail in the coffin of hong kong's being hammered in. they're telling hong kong people, especially those in the political sector, that if we don't like you in any way politically, we can just chuck you out. >> schifrin: hong kong's legislative council has been the primary arena for pro-democracy politicians. they fight, often literally, laws they say erode the city's freedoms. today beijing changed the rules to allow the hong kong government to remove pro- democracy legislators, even though they were democratically elected. the hong kong government is led by the pro-beijing chief adminsitratior, carrie lam. >> ( translated ): every lawmaker who enters such an important legislature must shoulder their responsibility of

being loyal to the people's republic of china, so that we are able to have a political system dominated by patriots. >> schifrin: for beijing, patriotism in hong kong means subservience. this summer beijing passed a new national security law that allowed police to arrest protestors not only for what they did, but what they said. hong kong residents and visitors now face jail time if they ask for foreign assistance or call for hong kong independence. in august, police used the law to frogmarch pro-democracy media tycoon jimmy lai out of his own newsroom, and charge him with foreign collusion. >> hong kong used to be such a robust, international, cosmopolitan city. and now it's, it's become practically a police state. and the people would need to guard their words. and that's very orwellian. it's 1984. >> schifrin: back in 1997, the british handed over hong kong. and under a deal known as one

country two systems, communist china promised hong kong could keep its british-written laws and independent judiciary, but turn over its defense and foreign policy. it was supposed to last 50 years. >> free hong kong, free hong kong! >> schifrin: but not even half- way to that half-century mark, millions of hong kong residents said beijing was chipping away at freedoms that aren't available in mainland china. those peaceful protests, became violent. beijing cracked down further, leading to new national security law, and today's announcement. >> the authorities now are taking advantage of this coronavirus panic and you wouldn't see two million hong kong people are taking to the streets to protest. they hope obedience would become a second nature and that everyone will just be reined in. >> today i signed legislation and an executive order. >> schifrin: since the national

security law, the trump administration has punished beijing. on monday the ste department sanctioned four security officials who have helped impose the law. in august, the us sanctioned carrie lam, the police commissioner, and eight others. in sepmber, the u.s. issued a travel advisory warning of the risk of "arbitrary enforcement d last month, the u.s. and 38 other countries signed a joint statement at the united nations criticizing the national security law. >> it violates hong kong's high degree of autonomy and it directly threatens rights and freedoms. >> schifrin: but international judgement hasn't restrained beijing, or hong kong residents from leaving the city. last month, taiwanese protested to "save the 12"-- 12 hong kong residents caught and jailed for tryingo flee hong kong. theifamily members held a press conference, and were so scared of government retribution, they covered their faces.

>> i do expect some sort of exodus from hong kong. i mean, you can't blame peop, especially young couples with young children, with toddlers. they need to think of their children's future. >> schifrin: and today, hong kong's future, looks like any other city in mainland china-- without the pro-democracy lawmakers, who once stood in the way. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: now to the blues-- a quintessentially american art form, one whose early masters have mostly passed away. the genre relies on each succeeding generation to renew and reinvigorate it. special correspondent tom casciato looks at one stand-out who showcases that gen z will not disappoint. the story is part of our "american creators" series, and ongoing arts and culture

coverage, canvas. >> reporter: in clarksdale mississippi, the spiritual home of the delta blues, covid-19 has done its best to hush the vibrant music scene. but on this autumn afternoon, at the delta blues museum, a local guitar hero has agreed to play a few tunes. >> ♪ before i'm old i was born at the ♪ turn of the century lucky to be born at all ♪ i grew up way down in mississippi ♪ when i heard robert johnson call >> reporter: with a command of s instrument and a firm grasp of tradition, christone" kingfish" ingram represents the next generation of great american blues guitarists. >> ♪ well i'm st trying to fly high and not to die ♪ before i'm old >> reporter: you might say he

grew up here in the museum, where he took guitar lessons and learned blues history. >> son house. >> reporter: he scrutinized the masters on youtube to learn their techniques. >> playing to different nes, like some of the old blues standards, and muddy waters, albert king, otis rush, son house, everybody. >> reporter: when you were a young kid, you were listening to the blues while a lot of other kids were listening to other more, more popular kinds of music. did people think you were peculiar? >> very peculiar. like, they thought it was strange as heck, man. they used to comup to me, man, they was like, "what you doing listening to that boring stuff, old stuff?" and i'd be like, "man, this is our history. i'm doing this for the culture. >> reporter: do you still know any of those people? and do they now understand what you were talking about? >> i doubt it! >> reporter: others have understood very well. ingram was heralded a prodigy as a teenager, showing skill and confidence at just 15, playing at the white house where the

delta blues museum received an arts and humanities award.. here he is at 17, burning up the frets like a seasoned pro. now just 21, he says he's grown as a player since then. around that time i was listening to a lot of eric johnson, and a lot of eric gales, and a lot of fast, like, blues, shreddy type of things. and i just felt everything that i played had to be like a thousand miles a minute. so yeah, these days i've-- i've incorporated more feel and more slowness in my solos. but i still you know try to, try to, try to get the youthfulness and attack and the speed of notes every night. >> reporter: for those who might wonder how such a youthful man can play the blues with such authority, there's this. >> i wasn't in a troubled childhood, but i did have my

share of troubles. you know, people in your school, you know, trying to pick at you because of your appearance and stuff like that. and not only that, you know going through things, you know there's no secret, you know, i saw my parents, they got a divorce, and me and my mom became homeless for a minute. and that's actually, when i started to-- i started to dig a little bit more deeper into the blues and guitar. all of that was just-- just a big, like, melting pot for my blues. i didn't have to deal with my woman leaving me until like later. >> reporter: ingram's 2019 debut release, "kingfish," garnered a grammy nomination, as well as five of th year's american blues awards, including album of the year. but he says none of that might have happened had not an older, legendary blues master stepped in to kickstart his recording career: buddy guy. >> we get this call: mr. guy wants to work with you, you now. he wants to produce an album on you, because i didn't have a record. >> reporter: were you completely blown away by that? >> most definitely. most definitely.

i didn't think it was going to happen at first, because uh, you know, at the time, the reason why we didn't do a record was because we just didn't have the funds. so he even put the funds up. >> reporter: an enduring relationship was born. >> sometimes i would rather hang around older people and soak up the wisdom from talking to them, than just hanging out with kids my own age or something like that. i'm digging you know, to look at the way that our ancestors paved the way for us to play, and we should, you know, we should take that, you know, and embrace it. >> reporter: early this year, kingfish got up onstage buddy guy's legends club in chicago. there, an audience video captured telling moment. the younger man had been taking a solo, when suddenly his guitar rig malfunctioned. the older one stepped in, passing kingfish his own guitar... ♪ ♪ ...or maybe that was a torch he was passing.

>> go ahead now. >> reporter: if so, it was to a musician who plans to keep the flame burning. for the pbs newshour, i'm tom casciato. >> woodruff: remember the name. king fish ingram. we'll be hearing about him for a long time. on the newshour online right now, novelist don delillo talks with chief arts correspondent jeffrey brown about his new novel, "the silence," and what happens when technology fails and screens go dark. find their conversation on our web site, pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

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hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & co." here's what's coming up. >> president trump is 100% within his right to look into allegations of irregularities and weigh his legal options. >> trump froze up obstacles to a transition. the biden camp keeps calm and carries on. perspective on democracy from former secretary of state madeleine albright who grew up under communism. then, why trump circle stands by his refusal to concede. the president's friend and ceo of "newsmax" chris ruddy joins me. plus -- >> my investment in joe biden had everything to do with the restoration of our