True, responsible, and it has to be fair. Then a little soulsearching about our Carbon Footprint. First, imagine a president ial contest too close to call on Election Night with intrigue and mistrust. What can we take from the bushgore election . When you have a close election, it will be a can be stolen. How can we make sure every vote will be counted . Soledad i am soledad obrien. Welcome to matter of fact. 10 days until election day and anyones guess what will happen at the polls on november 3 and it could take a while to declare a winner especially because of the number of mailin ballots that need to be counted before the vote can be certified. The country has waited for results before. 20 years ago, results of the president ial election want hold 436 days. George bush the republican candidate and out gore, the democratic candidate, or locked enough legal ballot over the count in florida. Eventually a Supreme Court decision made george bush the winter by 537 votes. The documentary film, 537 votes chronicles the events that led up to the chaotic recount. [video clip] all of a sudden are problems that it is too close to call. The rules are changing minute by minute. You had dimpled chads and hanging chaz. Al gore won the state of florida. But miami made short at least 10,000 ballots never saw the light of day. The election was lost in many places. But it was stolen in miami. Soledad the films director, billy corbin, joins us from miami. So nice to have you. Lets take a step back. What can we take from the bushgore election, Election Night and all that followed that is applicable today in 2020 . Billy the 2000 president ial election and florida recount was the loss of innocence. Those of us who are alive for it began to distrust many of our institutions, be at the media, the electoral college, the United StatesSupreme Court. I think that rift or that fault line that broke really in south florida in 2000, set a tone for partisan politics in this century. And i think it cracked wider and deeper over the last 20 years, and really defines where we are now. Soledad we know that bushgore was decided by 537 votes, hence the title. After supper recounts. What was your conclusion at the end of completing this documentary . Billy the lessons are elections matter. Your vote matters. You need to vote. Not only in president ial elections but in down ballot ray says. Because a lot of these local officials have a very influential part. Elections are run by counties. Not by the country. By counties. And they are certified and counted by the state. And eventually they might wind up in the u. S. Supreme court. Soledad i think two things are very misunderstood. Number one, how much the local situation really impacts a national race. And i think your movie really highlights that. And then, number two, i think people think elections just happen, right . And they dont think about the funding and the money and the infrastructure that has to go in to actually making elections happen safely and securely and consistently. Billy i think that we have to remember that all politics is local and these people have a lot of of power and control, and they have a lot of influence locally and that ultimately when you have a close election, it can be stolen. And then that that that brings that much more influence and power to these people who can pick up the phone and call, you know, county mayors and even canvasing Board Members who are responsible for counting these votes. Soledad your documentary makes the case that the Elian Gonzalez case really about whether or not to return little Elian Gonzalez, who is five years old after he was found alone on the raft. Actually was central to what thatactually was central to what happened in the election. And im curious if you think theres something thats that is the Elian Gonzalez event in 2020. Billy i dont think there is a direct of the event of elian correlation demagogery and the i do not think there is a direct correlation of the event of Elian Gonzalez to 2020. But i think the demagogery and the redbaiting that took place on the socialist issue. Now. I mean, the the falsely labeling your opponents communists or or socialists. Soledad and now were seeing the president of the United States employ the very same disingenuous tactic. What you recommend . Billy you have to vote. Soledad the film is now on hbo and hbo max, watch 537 votes. Coming up the country has a series of unapologetic attack ads shrewdly produced by a group shrewdly produced by a group of , conservative strategists. Whats behind this bold move . And later a look at the plan for vaccinating the nation against covid19. Who will be the first and last in line to get the shot . There she is [baby crying] mama from the first loving Touch Everything that touches your baby should be this comforting thats why pampers, the 1 pediatrician recommended brand, helps to keep your babys skin dry and healthy. So every touch is as comforting as the first. Pampers. The 1 pediatrician recommended brand. I cantwhat . Ve it. That our new house is haunted by casper the friendly ghost . Hey jill hey kurt movies . Ill get snacks no, i cant believe how easy it was to save hundreds of dollars on our Car Insurance with geico. I got snacks ohhh, i got popcorn, i got caramel corn, i got kettle corn. Am i chewing too loud . Believe it geico could save you fifteen percent or more on Car Insurance. In december of 2019, a group of wellknown republican strategists and Party Operatives wrote an opinion piece in the new york times. They announced the formation of the Lincoln Project, an effort to quote defeat President Trump and trumpism at the ballot box. And while they say they have big differences with the National Democratic party they seem t be working on the dems behalf this election season. This superpac is targeting swing state voters with antitrump ads, earning both hate and praise in the process. Here to talk about the Republican Party in the trump era, is fred wellman. A 22year veteran of the us army. He advises the Lincoln Project on veterans affairs. Fred, nice to have you and thank you for being with me. Lets talk about who makes up the Lincoln Project and what exactly the Lincoln Project is . Fred many folks know our founder and cofounders steve , schmidt regale and rick wilson and george conaway, of course, Jennifer Horn from new hampshire. We are essentially a group of former republicans and current republicans who have decided that to save the republic, we need to remove donald trump from office. And our mission is civil. We defeat trump and trump ism at the ballot box. [notes 24. 0s] soledad at times. Fred represents is the worst of us as a nation. He seeks out those who know the racist, who seeks out the xenophobia. He seeks out the anger. He parlays that into power. And it goes against our basic values of decency. And now wed like to see some bipartisan bipartisanship once again. You know, its just its just not the Republican Party we knew. And its not america. Soledad so . Fred there is no way to deny that. Our guys were not necessarily part of the movement that led to donald trump, he did not pop out of nowhere. Clearly the Republican Party has used these issues to power themselves to power and we recognize the things we did in the past didnt lead to these moments. Clearly there has been a reckoning. People change. I was a republican my whole life and donald trump came down that golden s later and i stopped. That is what we have made a Clear Mission to essentially revoke what we dead and go forward with a new direction. Revoke what we did and go forward with any direction. Soledad what is the end goal . Fred we have concentrated our efforts on trump and 11 states to flip those senate races so we can take over the senate as well. We are not trying to start a new party. We are not trying to save the Republican Party. Trump has had for years to sow this division and find allies and those allies are starting up like sprouting like weeds. I think were going to see years to come where trump ism as an entity and the authoritarian nature of that party will start will still have to be stomped so our mission would some way continue. Soledad in the last 10 days of the election, what is the focus . Fred it is simple. To convince 4 or 5 of Republican Voters who gave donald trump a chance in 2016 to forgo that. It does not take much for republicans to say, you know, this time im comfortable placing a d of an r on that ballot. Coming up we address the question you have been asking. Soledad howd we bring our backgrounds and experiences to stories we tell and remain fair in coverage of the days events . Hear firsthand accounts of three prominent journalists. Plus your Carbon Footprint looks like your sneakers. Soledad if the sneaker industry with the country, it will be the 17th largest leader each year. Got a taste for a deal . Want a hamburger, some fries, a drink, nuggets . Boom, rewarded with the wendys 4 for 4 perk on grubhub. doorbell chimes grubhub. upbeat music soledad every journalist faces the same challenge. How do we bring our backgrounds, viewpoints, and experiences to the stories that we tell . And at the same time, remain fair and our coverage of the days events. As part of the matter of fact listening to her we examine the issue of bias. Today we look at bias in the media, real or perceived. To discuss the issue, three prominent journalists, maria hinojosa, anchor and executive producer of black usa on National Public radio. Luis rios with the san Antonio Express news. And matteroffact correspondent joyce chan joie chen. Soledad please, you have a doing our job as a photojournalist and document terrien documentarian for 40 years. Talk to me about your team you send out into the field. Are they racially diverse . What conversations you have with them about their point of view as they are looking through their cameras . Luis one conversation we constantly have even though we have been doing it for years, is to look at the viewfinder or tell me what they are looking at. It is strictly interpretive, obviously. And very subjective. And what we do with still photography. Its incredibly powerful medium. The one thing i always preach, and and im old enough to preach now to them, ill tell them that it has to be truthful. It has to be responsible. And more importantly, it has to be fair. And in in the heat of the moment, in an editing and in shooting, you have to still remember that your job is still to capture that one photo that the two photos, the 10 photos. That encapsulate the message that was going to go through peoples minds the next day. Soledad maria, i want to talk to you for a minute about bias in journalists, because i felt often that as journalists of color, if you will there was a , sense that, well, youre going into the story and youre a latino or africanamerican and youre going to be biased. Where is the default was the white journalist did not have bias, that it was something the journalist of color had to overcome. Was it something you had to deal with . Maria oh, my god, soledad, its the bane of my existence. I write in the book, once i was you about this experience of being a budding journalist, the first latina employed at npr in the news division. My editor, a men from the midwest, said to me, oh, come on, mario, we all know about your agenda. And i was like, my agenda. What are you talking about . And he said, ok, we all know about your latino agenda. And i was horrified. And thankfully, so that, i was on my toes that moment. And i said, well, then that means that you have a white male agenda. And he said no, it is not the same thing. And i said no, it is the same thing. I do not have an agenda. You do not have an agenda. Youre going to approach a story and a community with an interest to report. Then i said you know i do have an agenda. I want people to feel something with my reporting. Soledad often in newsrooms our conversations about objective truth and im not sure one understands what objective truth is. How did you deal with that what does it mean to you . Joie young journalists are the ones who are sort of pushing this into the into the conversation. That theyre questioning this myth of objectivity. We should have confronted this a long time ago. What is fair . What is full . What is full disclosure . What is stenography journalism . Maybe we should be looking at that. You know, just just recorded what he said this and he said that and he said this and he said that. Is that journalism . No, thats just stenography. And that is the thing that i think we have to fight against. Think beyond recording a statement. Then all you are doing is perpetuating the propaganda of one viewpoint or another and that is not journalism. Soledad watch our special, the hard truth about bias includes guest like oscarwinner john ridley, comedian trey crowder, a former nba player, and journalists. Plus take a look at and experience work strangers meet to discuss confrontations that went viral. Ahead on matter of fact. Where is your place in line for covid19 vaccine . We will tell you who is likely to be first and who will have to wait. And, attention sneaker heads. Your kicks are causing a climate catastrophe. Soledad now to a weekly feature we like to call, we are paying attention even if you are too busy. Earlier, in october, the National Academy of medicine published its recommendation for the distribution of a covid19 vaccine. If and when we find a vaccine. The guidelines should help you see where you would be in the line. The mission by the u. S. Centers for Disease Control and prevention, the proposal outlines four phases for vaccination. Phase i would will give priority to Health Care Workers and Emergency Responders and people with Underlying Health conditions and older adults who are living in group settings. Phase two includes all the other adults over the age of 65. K12 teachers, school staff and childcare workers. Also in this group, essential workers in places work social distancing is difficult group , homes, prisons, meat packing plants. Phase three would include children, young adults under 30, and other critical workers. Phase four everyone else. One other note on preparedness, the u. S. Government is planning on stockpiling 400 million syringes by the end of december to insure the ability to give those shots. Next, our love affair with the sneaker. Soledad the average american by seven pairs of sneakers per year. How our comfort twos are putting stress Gillette Proglide and proglide gel. Five blades and a pivoting flexball designed to get virtually every hair on the first stroke, while washing away dirt and oil. So youre ready for the day with a clean shave and a clean face. Soledad finally, it is footwear that pretty much everyone has, the sneaker it has been almost 200 years since the athletic footwear was still made. In 1839, Charles Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber which helped create the foundation of what eventually was called sneaker. Since then we have seen practical pairs used for exercise and sports to pricey ones that even make appearances on the red carpet. But theres a downside to all of those sneakers. If the sneaker industry was a country, it would be the 17th largest polluter each year. M. I. T. Researchers found those ecosneaker brands usually made from recycled materials, they only reduce emissions by less than 10 . An out of the 2556 shes tested, only 89 are classified as ecofriendly. So, what can we do . The average american buys seven pairs of sneakers per year. Researchers say what you can do is by one less pair per year which can cut your Carbon Footprint by one third. Worth considering. Thats it for this edition of matteroffact. I am soledad obrien. Well see you next week. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] today on Asian Pacific america the fight to preserve japan town and the crucial bond measure addressing it. John owe sakki is here to talk about that and the Oakland Public Education Fund and oakland undivided and whats going on there. We wrap up with our favorite junior magician james the juggler. Hello, im robert handa. Your host for our show here on nbc bay area and cozitv this is Asian Pacific america