mark strassmann, cbs news, atlanta. >> brennan: mark strassmann, thank you. >> the race is also closenearby north carolina, which has gone to republicans the last two elections. former vice president biden is currently up two points there, with 48% support. president trump is at 46%. just how much of a factor is that supreme court battle becoming? cbs news elections and surveys director anthony salvanto is in west chester county, new york, with more on this findings. what have you find? >> reporter: voters tell us they feel like it has raised the stakes, which was already a high-stakes election. let me show you this: a majority of voters in both these states feel like it has made the election even more important, especially democrats feeling that way, but now both parties tell us that they are motivated to vote. very high levels there. that's critical in an election that will probably all come down to turnout. but, let me remind everybody: don't forget about the economy. it still outranks the court in many other issues in both of these states. coronavirus also really important. and th

cbs's mark strassmann is in atlanta. >> reporter: make georgia vote trump again. that's the president's strug until a state rely bligh republican no more this trump stump focused on black voters. >> it begins with joe biden's retirement from public life. what have you got lose? >> nothing he says. >> zrems never ever done anything for us adds a black people. >> reporter: some republican strategists admit to win an election night the president needs georgia to wear a maga hat. not this student. >> biden appears to be make some efforts to unite people. >> reporter: georgia is a toss up. president trump just one point haeftd. the big issues in a state with an call even split with voters of both parties, covid, the supreme court, and a summer of unrest. >> we're not democrats burning down decision. >>. >> reporter: the late john lewis thundered about the importance of voting. turnout is critical for joe biden. >> jeend kamala uniquely understand -- >> reporter: in this atlanta neighborhood the motivation to get out to vote may be more about president trump. >> i have

cbs's mark strassmann is in atlanta. >> reporter: make georgia vote trump again.hat's the president's struggle in a state reliably republican no more. this trump stump on friday pitched black voters. >> racial justice begins with joe biden's retirement from public life. what the hell do you have to lose? >> reporter: nothing, steven tucker says. >> democrats have never, ever done anything for us as a black people. >> reporter: some republican strategists admit to win on election night the president needs georgia to wear a maga hat. not this georgia tech student. >> biden at least appears to be making some effort to unite people. >> reporter: according to our cbs news battleground tracker, georgia is a tossup. president trump just one point ahead. the big issues in a state with a roughly even split among voters in both parties: covid, the covid economy, the supreme court and a summer of unrest. >> we're not democrats that are burning down cities. >> reporter: for decades here, the late john lewis thundered about the importance of voting. turnout is critical for joe

>> dickerson: mark strassmann, thank you.he total number of covid-19 cases worldwide stands at 26.9 million. and the world health organization now says it does not expect there to be widespread vaccinations until the middle of 2021. cbs news' ee elizabeth palmer reports from london. >> reporter: at the moment, about 300,000 new cases of covid are being confirmed every day in this world transformed by masks, social distancing, and, of course, some protests. [yelling] >> human rights matter! >> reporter: in australia, several hundred young, mostly male protestors, tasselled with police over the local lockdown and curfew, but the government didn't budge. >> it is not safe, it is not smart, it is not lawful. in fact, it is absolutely selfish. >> reporter: melbourne was hit by a second wave of covid and will remain in lockdown until the end of the month. after a busy vacation season, parts of europe, too, are facing a second wave, with schools back in session and universities about to follow. but fewer people are dying. and the me

cbs news national correspondent mark strassmann is in atlanta. >> can you believe after six months, margaret, we're sitting here together? >> keep your distance, it's the new american way. >> howdy, folks! >> reporter: and the texas state fair. weiry, despite months of rosy reassurances. >> president trump: one day, like a miracle, it will disappear. >> reporter: but in america's covid chronicle, family stories are not going away. you can track covid's impact on the presidential race. take florida and texas, big players on the electoral map that mr. trump won in 2016, run by republican governors and now former cov, ing bed wite virus. according to our battleground tracker, so is president trump. >> the number of active cases of covid in the state o texas has been cut to more than half since july. >> reporter: just like former vice president' vice president biden's lead. during the same timeframe in texas, president trump's lead grew from one point to two. as goes the virus, it seems, so goes the race. early voters have started heading to the polls or have already voted by mail. in all, seven

mark strassmann reports. >> reporter: outside pacific northwest fire zone, it is the double whammy.vacuees fleeing flames escape one evolving crisis only to drop into another. the on-going covid threat.als, t masks, get screened first. but people wonder who here has the virus. >> our goal is to get everybody housed into non congregate shelters, meaning hotels. >> reporter: every day wildfires burn more areas into a page from fiction. covid compounds the fight to hold off the flames, and fires compound the fight to hold off the virus. >> i feel it a little in my throat now, even with my mask. it is the worst. >> reporter: firefighters on frontlines spread out even more. homeowners become hold-outs. research shows air pollution generated by wildfires may make the virus especially deadly. most of covid american shows improving two-week trends. cases down by about 20%. note worth because of the wildfires. in california and oregon, positivity rates have been improving. but another warning this week: expect our covid crisis to continue, even deep into next year. >> we need to hunker down

we get more now from cbs' mark strassmann. >> reporter: carmen lindsey teared up within 10 minutes of talking about it. it frustrates you to feel dependent on others? >> to have to ask for help. >> reporter: and what have you had to ask for help with?" >> my bills, sometimes a meal. >> reporter: in mid-march, the event planner was laid off by a metro atlanta senior center. she got her $1,200 federal stimulus check and applied for unemployment benefits, a first in 50 years of working. but the 69-year-old has yet to receive another nickel. >> my son has been paying my car insurance. he can't afford to do that. >> reporter: why is this emotional for you? >> i would just like to be able to pay my own bills. >> reporter: 1.6 million californians can relate. they have unresolved claims in a system so behind, it had to stop taking new applications for two weeks. and roughly 11 million americans have yet to receive any unemployment benefits. clerical issues, like a typo in a name, are a major problem. lindsey reached out to the atlanta legal aid society for help. >> and so i'm going to keep f

mark strassmann is outside the cdc in atlanta for us. mark, good morning.hat more do we know about this letter? >> well, good morning, tony. for starters, that letter came out august 27th. that's the same day that president trump gave his acceptance speech at the republican national convention. a speech in which he teased that a vaccine could come out by the end of the year. the worry here is that this plan may have more to do with politics than with science. now that said, many health experts agree that having a distribution plan in place is essential, even as the vaccine needs more work. >> whether we end up with a vaccine sooner or later, we need those plans. we need those logistics in place. >> reporter: dr. jesse goodman is the former chief scientist at the fda. he oversaw several vaccine approval and distribution efforts. goodman is concerned the new letter from the cdc did not come sooner. >> safety, effectiveness, quality, good logistics and distribution system, safety monitoring system, and we don't screw up the trust safe and effective vaccine can

our mark strassmann looks at the split between investors and still hard-hit workers. >> it's ridiculous that we have to stand in line like this. >> reporter: covid america has forced the jobless to redefine success. forget the dream job. find a paycheck. >> i had the dream job, and because of covid, i lost it. >> reporter: eric belt runs a -- lots of 26-year-olds believe they are. but he worked as a brewer. beltran was furloughed in mid-march, laid off in late may. his unemployment benefits abruptly stopped. he's gone four weeks without one nickel in income. >> at this point, it is just trying to find a safe job. >> a paycheck? >> yes. >> reporter: how stressful is it? >> i don't get that interview. i don't get the job. i don't get unemployment. it weighs on me more and more. >> reporter: since mid-march in covid america, more than 59 million people have filed unemployment claims. in that same time, the new york stock exchange has grown more than 41%, driven largely by tech stocks. >> it's created big winners and big losers. >> reporter: mark zandi credits record low interest rates for

mark strassmann is in jonesboro, georgia, outside the jail where walker is now being held.e question -- he was a passenger in the car. why is he in jail now? >> reporter: well, it's a good question, gayle. it's not exactly clear. he is in jail, this jail behind me, the clayton county jail. he was arrested after sheriff's deputies beat him up. walker's lawyer says the arrest itself was unconstitutional. walker's family is in shock. >> get [ bleep ] -- no! >> reporter: that's the voice of roderick walker's girlfriend, juanita davis, as she watched congratulate county sheriff's deputies -- clayton sheriff's deputies pin him to the ground. >> he can't breathe! >> reporter: the video shows one deputy punching walker in the face several times. that deputy is heard saying walker bit his hand. walker's attorney says his client denies he bit anyone. >> i honestly didn't think he would make it through. the beating was brutal. >> reporter: davis said she and walker were returning home after returning a rental car friday when the car they were in was pulled over for an alleged broken t