wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. xfinity internet. made for streaming. ♪ geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the "news hour" tonight, this election eve, the presidential candidates and their running mates make their final push in the swing states that will determine who wins the white house. geoff: a new pbs news poll shows kamala harris ahead of donald trump nationally, but the path

to 270 electoral votes remains as tight as ever. we game out the candidates' potential paths to victory. amna: and, we examine how various legal challenges could potentially prolong or disrupt this presidential election. >> we have seen a lot of pre-election litigation. it is likely the most pre-election litigation we've ever seen before. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the news hour, including leonard and norma, and the judy and peter bloom kohler foundation. >> two retiring executives turn their focus to greyhounds,

giving these former race dogs a chance to win. a raymondjames advisor gets to know you and the way you give back. life well planned. >> as somebody coming out of college, it can be nerve-racking not knowing what to expect, whether you make friends, whether you will like your job whether you fit in. ,here i feel like it is so welcoming and inclusive place to work. you just feel like you are valued. >> the william and laura -- and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ amna: welcome to the "news hour" on this election eve. with only hours left for vice president kamala harris and former president donald trump to reach voters, the candidates are criss-crossing crucial swing states tonight that could decide the election. geoff: more than 80 million americans have already cast their ballots in this year's election. and tonight, there are new signs of momentum for vice president harris. but, neither side is taking anything for granted in the waning hours of this unprecedented election cycle. our coverage tonight begins with laura barron-lopez. laura: in a mad dash to the finish, vice president kamala harris and former president

donald trump rallying their supporters tonight to get out and vote. >> here's my only purpose and even being here today, get out and vote. you know that. >> are we ready to do this? we're ready to get out the vote? we're ready to win? laura: trying to convince any remaining undecided voters to come to their side. most national polls show the race in a dead heat, but there are some signs that voters may be opting for harris. the latest pbs news poll shows harris up four points against trump among likely voters nationally. it is the first time she has shown a lead greater than the margin of error. harris even appears to have a slight lead in decidedly red iowa. the final des moines register media poll shows harris ahead by three points among iowa voters. >> momentum is on our side.

momentum is on our side. can you feel it? we have momentum, right? >> they have an expression, i hate the expression but it is ours to lose. laura: both campaigns are engaging in an all-out battleground blitz today. former president trump fanning out across three states with two stops in pennsylvania, but vice president harris is holding every single one of her five final events in the keystone state. the biggest electoral college prize of the swing states. >> we need everyone in pennsylvania to vote because you are going to make the difference in the selection. -- in this election. you will. so, here's how i think about things. we are all here together because we love our country. and when you love something, you fight for it. laura: trump and vance were also out today in north carolina and wisconsin. >> i would like to begin by asking a very simple question.

are you better off now than you were four years ago? >> you don't have to agree with everything i say, every policy proposal we have. you don't have to agree with everything donald trump says, but what we know is when donald trump was president, you could afford to pay your bills. laura: it builds on a weekend of campaigning by both candidates at breakneck pace, including media appearances. vice president harris popped in for a lighthearted surprise on saturday night live. >> take my palm-ala. the american people want to stop the chaos and end the drama-la. laura: for equal airtime, nbc played a 90 second special message from trump during two major sporting events. a nascar race and sunday night football. at a sunday rally, while surrounded by bulletproof glass,

trump made menacing remarks towards the press. >> i have a piece of glass here. but, all we have really over here is the fake news, right? and to get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news. and i don't mind that so much. laura: trump's campaign tried to defend the remark, claiming the former, who regularly calls reporters the enemy of the people, was actually looking out for the press. despite running well behind harris with women voters, trump laughed when a supporter of his compared the vice president to a sex worker. >> she's a significant liar. when you live about something so simple, so -- she never worked there. i did a little bit. laura: this weekend, trump appeared to endorse a proposal

to remove fluoride from public water utilities, an idea floated by robert f. kennedy, jr. who frequently spreads public-health conspiracy theories. in the final stretch, trump has repeatedly said he would put kennedy in charge of health policy if he wins. >> we have a mess on our hands. we've got a bunch of cheaters that all they do is think about how they can cheat. laura: as trump lays the groundwork to call the election stolen with baseless claims of cheating, harris's warning voters that trump may prematurely claim victory election night. like he did in 2020. >> i would ask, in particular, people who have not yet voted to not fall for his tactic. laura: the former president wraps up tonight with a rally in grand rapids, michigan, the same city where he ended both his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. and harris will hold a star-studded event in the rocky balboa steps in philadelphia. amna: with more on candidates'

final sprint to election day, let's bring in laura barron-lopez who has been covering the harris campaign. geoff: and lisa desjardins who has been reporting on former president donald trump. it is great to see you both. laura, what has been the final message from vice president kamala harris? have you noticed a shift? laura: we have. in the final month, harris was being much more explicit when she was talking about donald trump and what she thinks as a threat of democracy, calling him unstable. looking for unchecked power. she was repeatedly quoting former trump officials, like his longest-serving chief of staff john kelly, as well as the former chief -- joint chiefs of staff. and their words as they described him as fascist and dangerous. but in her closing remarks, starting this weekend, harris has not been naming donald trump specifically. she's been trying to create more of this unity message, and that is a notable shift. i asked her campaign chair about

that today and she said she wants to end with optimism, this theme of unifying the country. that she will be the next generation. amna: what about the trump campaign's final messages? any big shifts? lisa: donald trump has many messages most often, but one that they like is this idea that harris broke it, trump will fix it. that does a couple things when you talk to senior campaign advisors. they say it tries to tag harris to the biden administration, but it leaves a much more vague opening so that any remorse, any grievance that voters have, they will blame on her, whatever it is that is broken. it helped with his brand which is a get it done kind of businessman. they like that message. she broke it, we will fix it. something else they are doing in ads is focusing on the economy and immigration. as laura has reported in some specific markets and online especially, anti-transgender rights commercials. talking to campaign advisors about what's going on with that, they say they are trying to make up ground that they lost with

suburban women over abortion and trying to see if that helps. not clear if it will but that is part of their final strategy. they feel like they gained ground earlier this fall. they think the vice presidential debate may have been a turning point for them. they also like to point out that harris has not had a traditional news conference. overall right now, they are trying to portray harris as someone not ready to be president. geoff: laura, how has the harris campaign been spending these final days? what are your sources telling you? laura: the harris campaign is feeling pretty good about the election right now at this point. they point to their expansive ground game, specifically in the final weekend, they had volunteers knocking on hundreds of thousands of doors across the battleground states. in total, campaign officials said the campaign knocked on 16 million doors across the battlegrounds. the bottom line is the campaign and democrats are relying big on turnout amongst women and hoping that they will be getting a bigger margin of those disenchanted

republicans than joe biden got in 2020. those people who voted for nikki haley in the primary, the liz cheney type of republicans. when i asked the campaign chair today about those remaining undecided fence sitters, she said the campaign is still consistently seeing them in the final two weeks breaking for harris. she has in the past specifically noted the madison square garden rally and trump rhetoric. amna: how is former president trump looking at this moment? it is striking to see that harris thinks she has the momentum and he is saying it is ours to lose. what is this moment looking like to them? lisa: an interesting communication strategy. they've gone dark essentially with the press. i haven't had a press call in the way the harris campaign has. one of them said if you are spinning, you are not winning. but they were giving me numbers like we have with the harris campaign. they are not giving numbers on how many door knocks. part of that is because their get out the vote strategy has been unorthodox. they changed the playbook.

it was a roll of the dice. they've been trying to go for low propensity voters but also trump volunteers. some of them are people who have never canvassed before. it is a question whether those folks will get out the vote or not. any doors they have knocked on, we don't know because they are relying on a myriad of independent groups to get out there on the abortion issue, americans for progress. many different groups doing this. one thing they like right now, the republicans, is the early vote turnout. they like that rural counties have turned out, as we reported. they think that will be a boost for them. they admit they don't know, are those new voters or are they voters who would have, anyway? they feel some momentum in the early vote going their way. any source that i trust is one i admit is close. they see many paths for trump winning but they also admit they don't know. amna: lisa and laura on the campaign views before the last day of voting. good to see you both.

thank you. ♪ stephanie: i'm stephanie sy with newshour west. here are the latest headlines. in eastern spain, heavy rain battered barcelona. the extreme storm comes just days after catastrophic floods pummeled the valencia region down the coast, killing more than 200 people. the search for bodies continues there as frustration builds over the government's response. itv europe editor james mates has this report. james: deep under a shopping center in the suburbs of valencia, the water is as deep as ever. this car parked still barely accessible to rescue workers. in some places, a mere canoe is good enough. it is in places like these that they fear many more victims are still to be found. being caught in your car when the floods hit was often fatal.

finally now, but much too late, the full resources of the spanish state are being deployed in the city. the anger here is it took five days for the army and its heavy equipment to be on their streets in these numbers. 7800 are now working here. what a difference it might have made to valencia if they had seen them the morning after the floods. instead, they are not just desperate. they're angry, too. anger they took out on their king and queen yesterday afternoon, spattering them with mud that flooded their homes. we have to give them hope, the king said late last night. give them hope and guaranteed to them that the state in all his power is present. almost unbelievably, it is still raining on spain's mediterranean coast. barcelona airport partially evacuated today. roads nearby turning into minor rivers, though nothing like as dangerous as the wall of water that hit valencia.

some of the streets outside barcelona were also awash. in valencia, the search has moved downstream, not so much for survivors, as for bodies in vehicles swept miles away by the water. nighttime infrared picture shows the moment a dog alerted its handlers to the presence of a possible victim along the river bend. these searches could be going on for many days yet. longer still though will be the anger at both the lack of warning and lack of help. james mates, itv news. stephanie: in the middle east, israel says it has terminated a decades-old agreement that officially recognizes unrwa, the u.n. agency providing aid and services to the gaza strip. the termination is immediate, and comes a week after israel's legislature passed two laws that would sever ties with the agency, and stop its operations there. israel says the organization has been infiltrated by hamas

terrorists. unrwa says it's purged any suspected hamas from its ranks. meantime, health officials in gaza said today said there are no emergency crews left in the north, where israel has waged a renewed offensive for nearly a month. >> there are no longer any ambulances in the northern gaza strip governorate to carry out the duty of transporting the injured. a large number of injured people are bleeding on the roads and in the places of various targets, and there are no civil defense or first aid crews to perform humanitarian duties and transport, and provide the necessary medical assistance to them. stephanie: separately, health officials in lebanon say that more than 3,000 people have been killed during the last 13 months of fighting between israel and hezbollah. the conflict began the day after the october 7th hamas attacks on israel. north korea launched multiple short-range ballistic missiles today, as it continues its

weapons demonstrations before the u.s. presidential election. the missiles landed in the sea off japan, according to the japanese defense ministry. the launch came days after north korea tested an icbm designed to reach the u.s. mainland. turning to india, authorities say at least 36 people were killed when an overcrowded bus plunged into a gorge earlier today. the accident happened in the remote almora district in the mountainous north of the country. onlookers at the base of the 200-foot ravine watched as emergency crews pulled bodies from the wreckage and attended to the survivors. at least 20 people were injured. western leaders have welcomed the re-election of moldova's pro-european president. maia sandu defeated a russia-friendly opponent in a race that was marred by claims of russian interference and voter fraud. in a statement, president joe biden congratulated sandu on her historic reelection, saying, "russia sought to undermine moldova's democratic

institutions and election processes, but failed." sandu campaigned on a promise to push forward moldova's candidacy for european union membership. the country appplied to join the e.u. shortly after russia's invasion of ukraine in 2022. the u.s. supreme court will take up a long-running dispute over redistricting in louisiana involving two mostly black districts. the decision marks at least the third me the justices will step into the battle over voting lines in the state. a lower court had invalidated the most-recent map, saying it relies too heavily on race. but the justices allowed it to be used in this election cycle after civil rights groups appealed. the supreme court will hear arguments early next year with a decision expected by summer of 2025. in ohio, a white former police officer has been convicted of murder in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man. a jury delivered the verdict to adam coy in a columbus courtroom

today. coy had testifed that he thought 47-year-old andre hill was holding a silver revolver when he shot him four times in a garage nearly four years ago. the object turned out to be keys. coy faces at least 15 years in prison. his sentencing is set for later this month. still to come on the "newshour," election security experts warn about misinformation and militant groups trying to sow chaos. tamara keith and amy walter break down the last political news on this election eve. and we remember the towering legacy of the late music producer quincy jones ♪ >> this is the pbs news hour from the david m. rubenstein studio at weta in washington, and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪ geoff: both candidates are using the final hours of campaigning

to make their message clear in key battlegrounds, which we'll be keeping a close eye on tomorrow. amna: our lisa desjardins is at the pbs news super screen for a look at the various paths to victory for both candidates. good to see you. let's talk about pennsylvania. we've heard about pennsylvania, pennsylvania. pennsylvania. why is it so critical for both candidates on their path to 270? lisa: the keystone state living up to its name. let's look at how the cook political report rates these races. as you know, seven key swing states. if you look at what both campaigns see as a potential likelihood in the way states are leaning right now, they have north carolina, georgia going for trump. arizona going for trump. let's say even nevada which is right now about even, going for trump. in this situation, if kamala is able to win wisconsin and michigan, her only way of getting to the presidency is through pennsylvania. even if she was able to win here

in nevada, if she loses pennsylvania, trump still wins. same thing, even arizona. if she's able to win there, she still needs to win in pennsylvania. for the democrats, the keystone state is absolutely critical. geoff: if pennsylvania is a must win for harris, what are the must-wins for trump? lisa: let's say that trump is able to win an arizona and in nevada. here we go. let's see if pennsylvania is off the board for second and leave it blank. if he cannot win in north carolina and georgia, his path gets much more difficult. i will show you what i mean. 16 points here in north carolina, let us say it goes to kamala harris. that puts her at 267, three points away from winning. in other words, if trump wants to win, he has to win in pennsylvania and georgia. that is a strange combination. if he's able to do well enough in pennsylvania and still lose north carolina, that is a scenario republicans don't really see happening.

because of the way voter groups overlap. in other words, some of these early states in the night, north carolina and georgia, the southern wall, republicans really want that to come in for them. if trump cannot win in both of these states, he might have a problem the rest of the night. amna: thing away from the battlegrounds for a second because iowa and new hampshire are back in the headlines. surprising polling over the weekend. what happens if those states are in play? lisa: two different sets of expectations and effects from these states. let's talk first, iowa, let's start with is -- a base scenario where harris is able to win the blue wall and that second district in nebraska. trump wins these other states in the sunbelt. let's say harris can switch iowa. that gets her up to 276, but it really does not change the map for her. she can still win here, lose here. it really does not affect her win or loss ability, as much as it would give her more points on the board. new hampshire is a different situation because this is the situation republicans fear.

harris running the blue wall through these three states, getting 270 electoral votes, they need another path. this is why you saw jd vance go to new hampshire, try to pick up these four electoral votes which gets them to 272. they just want another potential pathway to the presidency. is this likely? both parties say maybe not but republicans think they have a real chance in new hampshire where they don't have early voting and voting will be starting tomorrow. geoff: let's shift our focus back to the battlegrounds. how are things shaping up for the campaigns? lisa: where are these battlegrounds? folks, it is unbelievably close. let's take a look at these races. arizona, trump +2. georgia, +1. michigan, harris +1. even in north carolina and pennsylvania, wisconsin, +1. i don't know if i've ever seen a group of seven battleground states this close.

horse -- of course this is not a statement of the exact state of the race, but it tells you it is close. it is a virtual tie. all of these races within the margin of error, most certainly as we look at it now. amna: some new polling from pbs news as well. what stands out to you? lisa: look at this here. national likely voters. trump down by four points over harris. that is harris outside the margin of error. that is a trend the democrats would like to see. something else democrats like to see, the gender gap, in terms of men has certainly changed since october. look at this. it was a 16 point gap harris had with men. now look at that, just four points. that is an incredible 12 point difference, but i will also say trump and vance have made a -- made up ground with women. geoff: thank you as always. lisa: you're welcome. ♪

amna: today, federal officials responsible for securing the election and u.s. critical infrastructure said that while they were tracking small-scale disruptions to tomorrow's vote, they saw no evidence of activity that could affect the outcome. geoff: the threats to influence and interfere with the vote include disinformation, hacking, and even attempts to foment violence by both domestic and foreign actors. let's start with nick schifrin, who is reporting on this year's foreign threats. let's start there. what is the biggest concern about foreign interference? nick: the intelligence community believes russia favors former president trump. that iran favors vice president harris. and china is focused on down ballot races, but all are united in wanting to sow chaos in the u.s. one of the main concerns is actually after election day. if, for example, former president trump were to declare victory, his campaign declares widespread fraud after the election or allegations of any

type of fraud after the election, russia, iran would then amplify any of those claims of fraud and even try to foment violence. one of the main messages from officials tonight who want to secure the vote is listen to state and local authorities, not any candidate, not any campaign. and election night results are unofficial. geoff: let's talk more about russia. what is the specific concern? nick: officials say russian actors are the most sophisticated, even knowing which swing states to target and they've generated the most viral content. the fbi called out a new video this weekend, you can see it there, that makes false allegations about early voting. the intelligence community has not identified this video as russian created, but multiple researchers told me it was likely by the russian group doppelganger. overall the intelligence community says russian actors have released a firehose of disinformation including videos like this one about haitian voters that undermine americans faith in the election results. officials say many videos like this one, false claims about

ballots in pennsylvania are designed to help trump and amplify his claims of fraud and athe same time denigrate vice president harris. there is another one with a false claim about harris and rare rhinos. russia's attempts are largely through proxy with ties to russian intelligence, with an attempt to launder the russian origin using pr companies, even unwitting americans influencers. , geoff: what about iran? nick: the department of justice indicted three islamic revolutionary officials for hacking the trump campaign, stealing emails and documents, and trying to leak those to the media or even the harris campaign. intelligence officials and election researchers also say iran has used fake news articles, even offering people money to go to pro-palestinian protests. but, those efforts largely have not been considered effective. a former senior military official told me that cyber command inside the military is

hammering these iranian groups online to try to stymie their operations. another point, iran's efforts, russia's efforts are not new, but what is new, the speed at which the intelligence community has been able to call out some of these fake disinformation and some of these fake accounts. that said, it is not clear social media companies have all complied with some of these findings, especially x which is run by elon musk who has endorsed donald trump. geoff: how is china trying to influence the election? nick: much more focused on down ballot races rather than the presidential race. intelligence officials say china's disinformation has frankly largely been ineffective. a sign that china does not understand the american electorate or american voting patterns as much as russia. that does not mean they are not trying. geoff: nick schifrin, thank to you as always. nick: thank you. amna: as we have been

discussing, the threat of political violence still hangs over the country, nearly four years after a violent mob stormed the u.s. capitol and tried to overturn the will of the voters. with just one day left of voting, what lessons have we learned and how does the threat compare to last cycle? joining us now is mary mccord, she's a former acting assistant attorney general for national security and now teaches at georgetown law school. good to see you. law enforcement we know is on alert for election day. we have seen election offices and other locations ramping up security. how worried are you about violence on election day or the days to follow? mary: i am more worried about the days to follow. many things have come into play to protect voters and election workers on election day. first of all, unlike four years ago, we have seen this movie before. right? so election officials at the local level, at the state level, law enforcement, across parties, community organizations, mayors have all worked together over these four years to make sure that they can provide a safe

voting venue not only for the voters, but also for the poll workers. if that means more security, they have it. if it means different facets of law enforcement presence, again carefully so it does not intimidate voters because law enforcement in voting sometimes itself can be intimidation, but they've worked individually community by community to create plans that will work. i alsohink that the effect of over 1500 prosecutions coming out of the january 6 attack has been a real deterrent for those who would otherwise maybe think about engaging in armed and unarmed forms of voter intimidation. there has been tons and tons of public education and statements and people in positions of authority talk about voter intimidation. doj has been forward leaning. a lot of these people, i think they see others who have gotten in trouble. that was not voter intimidation, that was a violent attack, but still, they know things can cross a line. i am more worried about after the election.

amna: let me ask you about the scenario nick reported on. it is likely we may not have a result on the night. if former president trump comes out and declares victory, elon musk, his supporter, amplifies that on x. does that change or alter the potential for violence? mary: this is exactly what i think, why i am more worried about the postelection period, particularly during the time of uncertainty because as you said and as we saw in 2020, donald trump will come out and say he won in a landslide, the voting should stop, and that votes counted after are fraudulent. he will attack absentee voting, mail-in voting, drop boxes, election workers, etc. he will be aided because we know from nick's reporting and from the intelligence community's warnings that russia and iran and china all have an interest in seeding additional false information that we as americans

do a great job of spreading. those false narratives are what become the justification for people to engage in political violence. that is what we saw in 2020. that is what led to january 6. and that might be individual acts, it might be physical, it might be threats of intimidation, harassment. it might be pressuring election officials not to certify, governors not to certify, state legislatures to somehow take their own action and send their own slate of electors. all of those are things that could happen if this false narrative spreads and people either believe it or pretend to believe it. amna: there has been reporting and tracking of online chatter, particularly in the kinds of social media platforms that are lightly moderated, where a lot of far-right an extremist groups gather. and share information, like telegram. there was one nonprofit that said in october that election denialism increased by 317%

on telegram, 105% on gab. how likely is that online chatter to fuel real-world violence? mary: what we are not seeing -- i should say we. i get all my information through researchers. i'm a lawyer, former prosecutor and former national security official, but i talk with researchers regularly. what we are not seeing is actual mobilization, logistics planning. some of that could be because there's more operational security now than there was back in 2020. they are more careful about not speaking on public forums and chat rooms about those plans. still, if it was big enough and massive enough, these kind of things would start to leak out. i do think there's probably planning going on in the hyper local level and there will be some disruptions tomorrow and disruptions going forward, but something massive like a january 6, we are not seeing that kind of mobilization. amna: briefly before we let you go, people want to know that they can vote safely and they are worried about what's ahead.

what would youay to folks out there? as we head into the last day of voting? mary: i do not think voters should be concerned about going to the polls tomorrow. even armed groups who have agitated online, a lot of it is all talk. we see very little uptick in those who actually want to show up. again, they are worried about prosecution. i think this election will be safe for voters. i think it will be secure in terms of the results and we have to take a breath and wait for those results. amna: good advice. mary mccord, always good to see you. thank yo ♪ geoff: the tight race for the white house is fueling a wave of election litigation by both democrats and republicans as they spar over the ground rules for early voting, mail-in ballots, and voter eligibility. for a closer look at that and what's to come, we're joined by

election law expert david becker. he is the executive director and founder of the nonpartisan center for election innovation and research. thank you for being with us. david: thanks for having me. geoff: more than 80 million americans have already voted. key swing states like north carolina, pennsylvania, michigan and nevada, experiencing a high volume of mail in an absentee voting. have you spotted any disruptions, irregularities, any problems that can lead to the legitimate questions about the integrity of the vote or the vote count? david: it is remarkable. we have seen about 80 million ballots cast already. states like north carolina and georgia, over 4 million ballots cast. that is likely around 75% of the total turnout already voting. we have seen hardly any problems at all. certainly nothing that would involve voter safety or any kind of conflicts at the polling places. we are not hearing many stories about lines. most of the stories about lines occurred on the last day of

that always happens. that is just reflecting enthusiasm. people waited until the last minute a little bit which is always understandable. it is remarkable how smoothly voting has gone, how few problems there has been. that is particularly so while we are dealing with things like our foreign adversaries spreading disinformation, and highly divisive environment we are currently in. it is really remarkable. it is a testament to our election officials. geoff: i want to ask you about that in a bit, but first, both parties are preparing massive legal operations to file and respond to litigation on and after election day. 2024, according to one estimate, is the most litigated election ever. what are you tracking? david: i think we have seen a lot of pre-election litigation. it is very likely the most pre-election litigation we've ever seen before. we should put this in context. in 2020, there was a lot of pre-election litigation that was trying to clarify rules,

particularly changes and adaptations that were made due to covid. the republicans won about 85% of those cases pre-election. in the 2024 election, we are seeing some cases like that, seeking to clarify rules but we are seeing republicans push last-minute changes a lot more and we are seeing them lose. we are seeing things like cases raised about the voter list which they've known about for days, weeks, months, that they could've brought any point. we see challenges about male -- mail-in voting laws that have been around in some cases for decades in states like nevada. then, we are seeing challenges to even military and overseas voting procedures that have been around in some cases for as long as 40 years. so, those kinds of cases have been dismissed by courts, even by judges appointed by former president trump himself, and will be moving on to the postelection period. we will have to wait and see what happens. in a really close election, there is legitimate litigation that could be brought. think of florida 2000. when it is that close, hundreds

of votes. but when we see an election that is decided by margins like we saw in 2020, it is very unlikely any postelection litigation will succeed. that is largely because the candidate who is behind will still have to bring evidence that they can somehow make up the margin. once you get over a few hundred votes, it is almost impossible to do that. geoff: does the number of cases floated by the gop and republican affiliated entities, does that suggest anything about the number of legitimate concerns connected to the vote? david: i think what's been surprising is it has not reflected legitimate concerns. it seems to be -- we have the normal kind of litigation that seeks to clarify rules that need clarifying but there's a lot of litigation that seeks to challenge rules that were never going to be successfully challenged. they were never going to win a lot of those cases. you have to wonder if what we will see after the election is that the losing candidate might bring up some of the same dismissed claims to try to

suggest the election was stolen. that would be very dangerous if that happens. there are a lot of sincere supporters of the losing candidate that can be incited to anger or even violence. we remember that to some degree from 2020. geoff: returning to the issue of foreign interference. has the effort by u.s. intelligence agencies to expose russian disinformation, has that been effective in disrupting them and diminishing the impact? david: i think our adversaries are highly motivated. they see a big reward in potentially disrupting our elections. they are not just attacking actual election infrastructure. we are way too decentralized. we have paper ballots, we have a lot of checks and balances in place so that no foreign adversary or domestic actor could change or alter the votes in an election. we should say for everyone in the united states, don't trust social media, don't trust videos, don't trust claims about election fraud or something they are seeing on the web. trust your local and state

election officials. go to those sites, find out with -- what is really going on. don't rely upon social media and internet right now. there is a lot of disinformation. geoff: good advice. david becker with the nonpartisan center for election innovation and research. thank you for being with us. david: thanks. ♪ amna: for more on the tight race for the white house, i'm joined by our politics monday team. that's amy walter of "the cook political report with amy walter," and tamara keith of npr. it is great to see you both. it is finally here. >> my favorite eve of all the eves. amna: i want to ask you about the new pbs news poll. you saw as reported earlier, harris with her first national lead outside the margin of error, a four point lead among likely voters.

3.5% margin of error. but you have been in the battleground states. you were in arizona, wisconsin, nevada. that is where the races are won or lost. are you seeing any shift that tells you which way this race is going? >> i have spoken to a lot of people that believe it is really close. i don't know that -- when you are out there in the states, it is like you are looking at the toenail of an elephant but you don't know whether it is a rock or an elephant. what i will say is i was covering harris and going to some of her events. the enthusiasm is quite intense among her supporters who are showing up at these events. 10,000, 12,000 people showing up. one thing that really stood out to me was we were in wisconsin. she did a rally in a town called little shoot which is a population of 12000 and a county that went for trump. there was a lot of enthusiasm in that gymnasium. driving up, there were a bunch of trump supporters outside, but then you get closer and you see this long line of people who didn't get into the event

because it was oversold. inside, there was a lot of enthusiasm. that is part of their effort to lose by less in areas, rural areas. now, is that part of a big trend? oh, gosh, she lost my lesson all -- by less in all these counties and that is how she won. i don't know. amna: amy? amy: it still feels like to me it is coming down to pennsylvania like we did last time. once again, it is a combination of, for both candidates, losing by a little bit less in certain areas, winning by a little bit more. there will be some swing counties that may tell us the story early on in the night, especially in the northeastern part of the state. those places around scranton, in northampton county, bucks county, that can give us a sense of who's doing a little bit better, a little bit worse than the numbers were in 2020.

amna: i have to ask you about iowa. this poll. she's a renowned pollster, ann selzer, highly respected. the poll shows harris leading trump in a state that he won easily twice. what does that say to you about iowa or others? amy: it is not just that she's well renowned, she's also well renowned for being what looks like an outlier. in 2020 and 2016, she was showing in iowa basically the opposite of what a lot of people thought was going to happen. not just in iowa, but nationally, she was right. i think that is why she gets more weight than any other poll. part of the challenge we have with iowa, we don't have a lot of other pieces of data. what we do have our competitive house races therthat are showing harris doing a little bit better than how biden did in those competitive districts. so, there is a sense that in those places where democrats are

competing, harris is also doing a little bit better there. those areas where harris is doing a little bit better, they are in more urban areas, like around des moines or college towns like iowa city. the other thing that is really interesting is this has driven the lead for harris in this poll by independent women, older women. you know where else we have seen swings to harris in states that are not very polled very often? kansas, nebraska. plains states which have an overwhelmingly white population. older women will have a bigger part, will play a bigger part because of the demography of that state. and also places where abortion has played a big role. the kansas initiative in 2022. in iowa, there's a six week ban that is very unpopular. a poll came out in september that showed 70% of women in iowa disapprove of that six week ban.

amna: tam, i know you reported on this. we know abortion is on the ballot in 10 different states including arizona and nevada. how much of an issue will it be tomorrow? tamara: i don't see how it can't be a big issue. it is a defining issue in this race. it is a defining issue in the way harris has campaigned. it also defined trump's campaign and his effort. when he the other day set i will protect women whether they like it or not, he was talking about his policy on abortion and other issues. he continues to try to figure out a place to be on this issue, which is challenging ground. republicans won. trump got the supreme court he wanted. republicans got this issue where they wanted it. now, it is a challenge for them because a lot of voters, especially women, are upset. amna: are you good with that, amy? amy: i think that is part of it. fundamentally, what this race is

really about, especially for the undecided voters right now, but for a lot of voters all along is the sense of who is the bigger risk? if you don't like either candidate, which candidate is going to be less risky, and what does it mean to have control and choice? some of it is about abortion. some of it, too, is about the kind of country they want to live in. so, it will cut different ways. the other thing that is really hard in polling the issue of abortion is a does not necessarily show up as abortion. this is why you hear harris talking about it as control, freedom. that this is less about the issue of abortion and more about this idea that when i talk about individual voter -- when i talk about control or freedom, i mean this. for many voters, it means reproductive control. amna: you have been covering this race. it has been largely stuck at 50-50 for many months.

lisa reported earlier on those key battlegrounds in particular where we have not seen a lot of movement. one or two points one direction or the other, within the margin of error. as you are watching tomorrow, as we get a sense of where things go, what are you going to be tracking? what are you looking at most closely? tamara: i will say that our poll shows trump at 47% which is where he was in 2020. it is where he was in 2016. for all of the things that this country and this campaign has been through, for him to be in exactly the same place is quite remarkable. whether he lands there, i don't know. but, that is one thing i am definitely watching. and, i will be watching north carolina and georgia because their returns are likely to come in earlier than some of the other states. i will be watching to see how that goes. if trump wins those states, then all eyes go to the blue wall. if he doesn't, then this is a

different race. if he doesn't, there is a path but it is not an easy path. amy: there are also congressional races in those places that can give us a clue maybe to how the presidential race is going, especially of the house races get called earlier. also, it can tip the hand of where house control is going. it is unlikely we will know until long after wednesday because so many of the competitive house races are on the west coast in states like california that do take a longer time to count their ballots. there are competitive house races in some of these battlegrounds, michigan, pennsylvania, that will also give us early on in the night at least a sense, if the races is breaking one way or the other, which way it is going. amna: even though i don't know if either of you will answer, do you care to make a prediction of what we will see tomorrow? tamara: absolutely, no.

amy: no. i can't even predict we will know by the end of the night. amy: i can predict it will be earlier -- i will make a prediction that it will not be saturday by the time we know like it was last time. amna: we will take that. amy walter, tamara keith, great to see you both. thank you. and we hope you'll join us for live election night coverage tomorrow as the votes are counted. our live stream online begins at noon eastern, then special coverage right here on your pbs station starts at 7:00 p.m. ♪ geoff: a giant in the music and entertainment industry has died. quincy jones was revered as a record producer, songwriter, composer, arranger, and performer through his seven decades in the business. through his vast range of projects, from the producer of the best-selling album of all

time to composer of some of the most-recognized music in films, he racked up 80 grammy nominations and 28 grammy awards. senior arts correspondent jeffrey brown has this remembrance, part of our arts and culture series, "canvas." ♪ >> ♪ don't stop till you get enough ♪ jeffrey: from michael jackson's biggest hits to some of frank sinatra's most classic arrangements -- x ♪ fly me to the moon, let me play up there with those stars ♪ jeffrey few loomed larger in : american popular culture or had more success than quincy jones. >> love, laugh, live and give -- that's what it's all about. jeffrey: born on chicago's south side in 1933, jones began his life in music as a jazz trumpeter. he became fast friends with ray charles when both were in still in their teens. ♪ he soon began composing and arranging, including 1962's

classic "soul bossa nova," >> ♪ it's my party and i'll cry if i want to ♪ jeffrey: and lesley gore's hit "it's my party," which arrived a year later. across a career that spanned more than 70 years, he worked with seemingly everyone, including jazz legends like ella fitzgerald and duke ellington, and rappers such as dr. dre and snoop dogg. >> ♪ billie jean is not my lover ♪ jeffrey: his most impactful moment, a three-album run with michael jackson that included the best-selling record of all time, 1982's "thriller." along with "off the wall" and "bad." >> anyone who says they've figured out how to make records that sell more than 50 million records is lying and smoking kool-aid. doesn't work like that. you just find a group of songs that touch you and give you goosebumps. and that's why i go by my goosebumps. i don't need survey groups or anything like that, and let the

rest take care of itself. jeffrey: in 2010, jones was awarded the national medal of arts by former president obama. >> for his extraordinary contributions to american music as a musician, composer, and record producer and arranger. jeffrey: and he is one of just 27 members of the rarified egot club, winner of an emmy, grammy, an honorary oscar and tony. the oscar came in 1995. >> i did not engineer this journey. to tell you the truth, i don't think i could even see this far. jeffrey: he composed dozens of memorable soundtracks for film and television, including "the color purple," a film he also produced. another prominent role he played in popular culture. in 1985, in a role only someone of his stature could have filled, he organized the recording of the smash-hit single "we are the world." >> ♪ we are the world, we are the children ♪

jeffrey: a session that featured music's biggest stars and would become one of the best-selling songs ever. jones had seven children and married three times. one of his daughters, the actress rashida jones, directed a 2018 documentary on his extraordinary life. >> i have a feeling that god will prevail. and, the light will prevail. you have to think like that, because we've come a long way. got a long way to go. x ♪ i want to love you, pretty young thing ♪ jeffrey: in a statement, his family said he died peacefully sunday evening, surrounded by loved ones. quincy jones was 91. for the "pbs news hour," i'm jeffrey brown. >> ♪ the young thing, you need some loving and i will take you there ♪ geoff: and that's the "news hour" for tonight. don't forget to join us tomorrow evening for our live election

night coverage here on pbs starting at 7:00 p.m. eastern. with that, i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire "news hour" team, thank you for joining us and we hope to see you tomorrow. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- >> on an american cruise lines journey, travelers experience the maritime heritage and culture of the maine coast and new england islands. our fleet of small cruise ships explore american landscapes, seaside villages, and historic harbors, where you can experience local customs and cuisine. american cruise lines. proud sponsor of pbs news hour. ♪ >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to a more peaceful

, just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org. and with the ongoing support of these institutions. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ >> the final night of an extraordinary campaign. will voters send donald trump back to the white house? >> we stand on the verge of the four greatest years. >> or will kamala harris make history? >> are you ready to make your voices heard? >> a pbs news special, election 2024, tuesday, november 5 at 7:00 p.m. eastern. 6:00 central.

♪ >> this is pbs news hour west from the david m rubinstein studio at w eta in washington and our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪

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