>> when the american uprisings began, people started to scratch the surface, i suppose, people started to go, "well, we've got that here." >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided b >> when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. with fidelity wealth management, a dedicated advisor can tailor advice and recommendations to your life. that's fidelity wealth management. >> the william and flora hewlett fountion. for more than 50 years, vancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: day one of the confirmation hearings for judge amy coney barrett is in the bos, and the battle for this u.s. supreme court seat has been ined. president trump and republicans are pushing to put a conservative stamp on the high court for years to come. democrats are warning of what that could mean. john yang begins our coverage. >> the hearing to confirm judge amy barrett to the supreme court will now begin. >> yang: in an appropriately distanced senate hearing room, supreme court nominee amy coney barrett appeared before a divided senate judiciary committee and a divided nation. wearing a mask, barrett was backed by her husband and six of their seven children. in her first public remarks since being nominated, she told senators her judicial philosophy was inspired by her mentor: the late justice antonin scalia, for whom she was a clerk. >> it was the content of justice scalia's reasoning that shaped me. his judicial philosophy was straightforward: a judge must apply the law as written, not as the judge wishes it were. >> yang: she said making policy belongs to lawmakers, not judges. >> courts are not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life. the policy decisions and value judgments of government must be made by the political branches elected by and accountable to the people. the public should not expect courts to do so, and courts should not try. >> yang: but policy was what democrats focused on. they said her confirmation was being fast-tracked this election year so she would be on the bench for oral arguments november 10 in a case 20 republican-led states brought against the "affordable care act" or "a.c.a". >> the big, secretive influences behind this unseemly rush see this nominee as a judicial torpedo they are firing at the aca. >> yang: democrats spoke of constituents who they said would lose health insurance if the" a.c.a." was struck down in the middle of a pandemic. >> the consequences of judge barrett's confirmation would be devastating for millions of americans who would lose their healthcare during this pandemic. >> yang: some of barrett's republican defenders said her potential vote on the a.c.a. case suld not be pre-judged. >> you stand accused of intending to violate your oath before you even take it. further, our democratic colleagues want you to guarantee a result in a case as a quid pro quo for your confirmation, it's outrageous. >> yang: democrats renewed their objections to filling the vacancy so close to election day. >> there is no precedent in our nation's history for confirming a supreme court nominee this close to a presidential election in which a majority of states are already voting. >> yang: speaking from her office, committee member and vice presidential nominee kamala harris said lawmakers should instead be aiding financially strapped americans. >> senate republicans have made it crystal clear that rushing a supreme court nomination is more important than helping and supporting the amecan people who are suffering from a deadly pandemic and a devastating economic crisis. >> yang: republicans said they were simply fulfilling their constitutional duty. >> the senate is today exercising its duty to move forward with processing this nomination like the vast majority of senates in the past have done every time this has happened. >> yang: barrett describes herself as a faithful catholic, and in her 2017 confirmation for the appeals court, some democrats raised her faith in the context of abortion rights. today, it was only republicans who ought it up. >> when you tell somebody that they're too catholic to be on the bench, when you tell somebody they're going to be a catholic judge, not an american judge, that's bigotry. the pattern and practice of bigotry from members of this committee must stop. >> it's really quite simple what your opponents are doing: they are attacking you, as a mom and a woman of faith, because they cannot attack your qualifications. >> yang: today's first of a scheduled four days of hearings lacked the usual charged atmosphere of a high-stakes supreme court nomination. because of covid-19. the only spectators allowed were a small number of journalists and staff. some senators appeared remotely. but outside the hart senate office building, barrett supporters gathered, while a block away, on the steps of the supreme court building supporters and opponents faced off. committee chair lindsey graham predicted that when all was said and done, the outcome would not be surprising. >> this is probably not about persuading each other unless something really dramatic happens, all republicans will vote yes and all democrats will vote no. >> yang: tomorrow, barrett is to begin two days of scheduled questioning. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. >> woodruff: and john, as well as our lisa dejsardins, join me now. >> woodruff: so, lisa, to you first, this is clearly not your usual supreme court hearing. we are in the middle of a poofg. -- pandemic. tell us how that affected what happened today? >> being in the room, it was surreal, judy. there were a fraction of the usual number of people in it. now, most people there wore masks. the capital physician had measured the distance between each piece of furniture, and that led to something john reported about: there was less charge in the air, more of a sense of control, i think it was. less of the usual tension, i think, because of this plotted out logistics. also of note was senator mike lee of utah was physically in the room at all 10 days after being diagnosed with the coronavirus. he says a physician has cleared him. but the question of masks overrides everything at the capitol. they asked lawmakers to wear masks when they interview us. and i want to play some tape when mark meadows was asked to do that? >> i'll tell you what. let me do this. let me pull this away. > yep, pull away. >> and then that way i can take this off to talk. i'm more than 10 feet away. well, i'm not going to talk through a mask. i'll glad to answer questions. >> there you e the tricky politics here. meadows cided not to speak rather than speak with a mask. >> woodruff: really interesting, lisa. and we saw in john's report, there were activists outside, supporters of judge barrett, and perhaps others. tell us about who was there. what were they saying? >> reporter: there were two different scenes, as you saw, on the steps of the supreme court, more intense and confrontational. where i was at the senate building, the crowd outside were supporters of amy coney barrett. let's look at some photos of them. these people were joyous. they were a lot of women, some said they were republicans. many were conservatives, all of them conservatives, and many of them moms. and they said they saw amy coney barrett as the kind of example they've hoped for, in fact, a reflection of themselves. i think in the way that when justice sotomayor took to the bench, a lot of hispanic people, and especially young girls, saw her as inspiring. these working moms see in amy coney barrett a woman of faith and a successful mom, someone that reflects them on the court in a way they haven't seen before. >> woodruff: and john, back to you. you did cite in your report how so many of the democrats referred to their concern about what judge barrett would do if she was on the court about upcoming court cases about the affordable care act. what is it in what she has said or writ then that written s them concern. >> reporter: after john roberts in 2012 interpreted the penalty in the individual mandate, that people have to buy insurance as a tax, she wrote then law school professor barrett wrote in a law school review, an essay, chief justice john roberts pushed the affordable care act beyond its plausible meaning to stay the statute. in other words, he had a goal in mind and found a reason to do it. that is exactly what the opt sit of texturalists say you should do whn you interpret laws. and the argument that will be presented to the law on november 10th is a particularly texturalist's argument. they said it doesn't matter what congress said it intended to do when they took away that tax -- well, actually, they set the tax at zero. they say the mandate remains because the word "shall" remains in the law, and that is forcing americans, they say, to enter into a commercial contract to buy health insurance, and they say that is unconstitutional. >> woodruff: we are certainly going to hear a lot more about that tomorrow. john yang, lisa desjardins, thank you both. >> woodruff: and we hope you will >> woodruff: please join us tomorrow morning for the second day of live coverage of these hearings in the confirmation of judge amy barrett to the u.s. supreme court. that's starting at 9:00 a.m. eastern, 7:00 central on pbs, eastern, 8:00 central on pbs, and online at our website, on youtube and our other social platforms. >> woodruff: the 2020 presidential campaign headed to key battleground states today. but as yamiche alcindor reports, the candidates kept an eye on the confirmation hearing in washington. >> alcindor: for former vice president joe biden, the supreme court stakes are clear... >> it's about finally getting his wish to wipe out the affordable health care act. because their nominee said in the past the law should be struck down. >> alcindor: for vice president pence, barrett's nomination and confirmation hearing are about standing up for religious liberty. some democrats have raised questions about whether barrett, a devout catholic, can separate her faith from her judicial rulings. >> to live, to work, to worship according to the dictates of our faith and conscience lives in the constitution of the united states of america. >> alcindor: both biden and pence spent the afternoon in ohio, where early voting started last week. four years ago, president trump won the state by about eight points. but recent polls shobiden and trump in a statistical tie. since the pandemic began, the state has lost aut 40,000 manufacturing jobs. campaigning with auto workers in a socially distant drive-in rally, biden touted his experience leading the 2008 economic recovery, a recovery he says president trump" squandered." >> we're in a manufacturing recession because of donald trump even before the covid virus hit. >> alcindor: meanwhile, president trump touted the stock market and job numbers. he also attacked his opponent on twitter, writing: "sleepy joe wants to quadruple your taxes. depression!!" over the weekend, president trump returned to public events. he held an official white house event on the south lawn that felt morlike a campaign rally. on saturday, hundreds packed the lawn wearing red hats and with little social distancing. the president, who is still recovering from covid-19, spe from the balcony about "law and order." in a letter, white house doctor sean conley said president trump is "no longer considered a transmission risk to others." today, the president officially returns to the campaign trail for a rally in florida, just one week after leaving the hospital. kicking off the final three week sprint to election day. for e pbs newshour, i'm yamiche alcindor. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, in-person, early voting kicked off in georgia, after a federal judge rejected a switch to hd-marked paper ballots, as requested by election security groups. activists had cited counting problems wh new, touch-screen voting machines. but there were long lines in atlanta and elsewhere after systems used to check in voters stopped working. the same problem happened in the state's june primary. meanwhile, in minnesota, a federal judge upheld an agreement to count absentee ballots received up to seven days after election day. covid-19 is forcing more countries to take drastic new steps. in england, lockdown rules announced today could involve re-closing pubs and bars in certain areas. british prime minister boris johnson outlined a tiered system to replace piecemeal restrictions. >> this local approach has inevitably produced different sets of rules in different parts of the country that are now complex to understand and to enforce. we will now simplify and standardize our local rules by introducing a three tiered system of local coded alert levels in england at medium, high and very high. >> woodruff: elsewhere, officials in france have put nine cities, including paris, under maximum alert, due to outbreaks. and, all nine million people in the chinese city of qingdao will be tested in the next five days, after a spate of cases at a hospital. back in this country, remnants of hurricane "delta" blew out to sea today after soaking the mid- atlantic. the storm made landfall in louisiana on friday night, and killed at least two people. it caused widespread flooding and power outages that left thousands of people still in the dark today. facebook now says itill ban any content that denies or distorts the holocaust. users will be redirected to credible information about the killing of six million jews by the nazis. a company official says the move follows a year of consultation with outside experts on anti-semitic stereotypes. two americans have won the nobel prize in economics for improving auction theory, which has led to better allocation of scarce resources. paul milgrom and robert wilson, both of stanford university, are credited with inventing formats to use to sell such things as old broadcast frequencies for new, 5g networks. >> and the question is, how do we get that stuff out of its old use and reorganize to put it into new uses? those are really complicated transactions. and they were beyond the reach of traditional economic models. so we created new models to make that work. >> woodruff: milgrom's and wilson's work also underlies sales of online advertising and auctions of pollution credits in some countries. on wall street today, tech stocks again led the market higher. the dow jones industrial average gained 250 points to close at 28,837. the nasdaq rose 296 points, 2.5%, and, the s&p 500 added 57. the los angeles lakers are atop the professional basketball world again, for the 17th time. they beat the miami heat last night, in a finals played in the league's sequestered bubble at walt disney world in florida. and, baseball has lost another one of its greats. joe morgan died sunday, of a nerve condition. he played second base for cincinnati's "big red machine" that won two world series in the 1970's. he was also a 10-time all-star, and had a long career as a broadcaster. joe morgan was 77 years old. still to come on the newshour: indigenous peoples worldwide show their support for the black lives matter movement. former trump campaign aide rick gates discusses his former boss's turbulent presidency. how one competitive congressional race in texas could be a sign of things to come. and much more. >> woodruff: while protests in the u.s. over police killings of black people have led to a reckoning over racism here, indigenous peoples overseas have used this spotlight to show solidarity and highlight similar issues in their own countries. and a cultural warning to some of those indigenous communities: in this report we discuss, and show, people who have lost their lives. here's amna nawaz. >> nawaz: it was the moment that sparked a movement... ....shining a light, worldwide, on the treatment of native and indigenous peoples, who, like black americans, are disproportionately jailed and killed by police. in canada, black lives matter marches filled the streets in the months after george floyd's death. an outpouring of pent-up frustration by canadians of color, born, in part, of a fraught and fractured history between law enforcement and indigenous populations. >> get back in the car!! >> nawaz: in june, the violent arrest of native chief allan adam, pulled over for an expired license plate, shocked the country. and between april and june, canadian police shot and killed six indigenous people, including a woman killed during a" wellness check." the public pressure has forced a response from federal authorities. for the first time, in june, the head of the royal canadian mounted police commissioner brenda lucki released a statement acknowledging systemic racism on the force, reversing earlier denials. and prime minister justin trudeau promised broad reforms. >> systemic racism is an issue right across the country, in all our institutions, including in all our police forces. that's whasystemic racism is. >> nawaz: those systemic problems in indigenous and first nations communities, says author waubgeshig rice, go far beyond policing. >> the black lives matter movement has really catalyzed a lot of that understanding and put the spotlight on systemic racism in all realms and all sectors here in canada. there are poverty issues in first nations. many have unclean drinking water. there are ongoing issues of addictions and poverty as a result of being displaced and colonized. >> nawaz: meanwhile across t globe in new zealand, activist kassie hartendorp, part of the country's native maori community, wrestles with the same issues. >> we have rich histories and traditions of what it means to be maori or indigenous here. and we've really had to fight to take those back because hand-in- hand with colonization means that maori are left off in a worse situation so in terms of health statistics, in terms of violence, our incarceration numbers are all obscenely high and so it affects us at every single level. >> nawaz: after george floyd's death, hartendorp helped to organize this black lives matter march in june, in the capital city of wellington. the turnout shocked her. >> it was the biggest march in a decade and i've been to a few so i know what they can look like. >> nawaz: you've been organizing and participating in these marches for years and years. what was that like for you to be there in that moment and feel that something might be different this time? >> it was really inspiring, it was really inspiring. half the crowd got down on one knee and the rest stood and did a very stauch haka, a war chant in solidarity with everyone facing racism. big things are possible. that's what this moment tells me. >> nawaz: in neighboring australia, george floyd's death reignited calls for police accountability. paul silva helped lead sydney's largest march... >> we need to get out there on the streets and keep this momentum happening you know to push for the justice for aboriginal deaths in custody. >> nawaz: silva's uncle, an aboriginal man named david dungay junior, was 26 when he died in jail in 2015. his final words, now hauntingly familiar: i can't breathe. >> i can't breathe! i can't breathe! >> repeatedly we see these sorts of cases, but it's like there's a blind spot in the australian broader public and they do not take it in. >> nawaz: jack latimore, an aboriginal journalist, traces the roots of australia's racism back to british colonizers, who, upon arrival, claimed the continent as "terra nulli" or empty land. white landowners later forced aboriginals and pacific islanders to work plantations and cattle stations for little or no pay >> there's no doubt-- it's in european documented history that there was slavery in australia. >> nawaz: but that history has been denied by some, including australia's own prime minister, scott morrison. >> while slave ships continued to travel around the world, when australia was established, it was a pretty brutal place, but there was no slavery in australia. >> nawaz: after public backlash, morrison apologized for his comments, and walked them back. but those denials, latimore says, have kept the country from confronting its history of forced labor and the legacy of colonialism. >> when the american uprisings began, people started to scratch the surface, i suppose, people started to go, "well, we've got that here." >> nawaz: and the problem has long been documented. a government report in 1991 found aboriginal people were" grossly overrepresented" in police custody. since then, aboriginal incarceration rates have doubled. today, even though indigenous australians make up roughly 3% of australia's total population, they comprise more than 25% of the prison population. aboriginal people are also ten times more likely to die in police custody than other australians. people like tanya day from the town of echuca, who died in jail in 2017. her daughter apryl watson: >> we know as aboriginal people that mum wouldn't have been arrested and placed in that cell if she was a whi woman. >> nawaz: day was arrested for public drunkenness after falling asleep on a train, and died in police custody. an autopsy found she suffered catastrophic injuries after repeatedly falling and hitting her head in her jail cell. a state investigation found the train employee who first called police was "influenced by" the fact that day was aboriginal," though the officers safely drove home another drunk non- indigenous woman that day, they chose to arrest and jail day, and once day was in custody, officers failed to check on her every 30 minutes, as required. the report described day's death as "clearly preventable." >> she should have been in a hospital or at the doctors. if it was her health that they were concerned about a police cell is not a safe space. >> nawaz: what is that like for you today, these few years later, to think back all those seemingly sort of innocuous steps along the way that any one of them could have saved your mom? >> it's really hard because we have to live with it every day. not just us, but our community, our kids. and i feel like they don't they don't have to live that same pain. they don't have to live that same knowing that their mom suffered in a terrible, horrible way because she did and you can see that in the footage. >> nawaz: and in late august, another blow for the family. authorities announced they would not press charges against the officers involved in day's death. among those marching for change, it's yet another example of justice denied. over three decades, more than 400 indigenous people have died in police custody. but no officer has ever been convicted. and so, today, the march continues. for the pbs newshour, i'm amna nawaz. >> woodruff: there have been a numb a tell all books about what it is like to be in president trump's orbit. the latest comes from a top official on the 2016 campaign about his experience with the candidate and how he sees mr. trump as president. he spoke with william brangham. >> brangham: republican consultant rick gates spent a career in politics, but few outside the beltway knew of him before he joined the trump campaign. after pleading guilty to two federal charges, gates became a key witness for special counsel robert mueller's investigation into russian election interference. he's out with a new book: "wicked game- an insider's story on how trump won, mueller failed, and america lost." among the book's revelations: donald trump wanted his daughter ivanka, to be his running mate. but gates' main argument is that he was a pawn used to get to his former boss, paul manafort, and ultimately president trump, and that this probe contributed to the poisoning of our politics. rick gates joins me now. thank you very much for being here. before we turn to your book specifically, i'd love to talk a little bit about this current election and there are a lot of people, republicans and democrats, who listen to what the president is saying about the election, the way he's casting doubt on the voting process, the way he's alleging widespread fraud, wire fraud does not exist, where he's talking about not respecting the outcome of the election. from your knowledge of the president in your time with him, do you think that the president understands that many people see that kind of language as dangerous and deeply undemocratic? >> i don't think at all that he is looking at it from the perspective of rhetoric that's hurting americans. he wants a free and fair election proce. and along the way, as he's learned from 2016, there are instances where that was not fair. and so i think he wants to make sure that the american people know that this process needs to be free and fair and he's going to do that as strongly as he can. >> brangham: i guess jockeying by the d.n.c. between hillary clinton and bernie sanders is markedly different from what the president is talking about, where he's alleging that everyone who is voting by mail is basically wide open for fraud, and that if he doesn't if he's not declared the winner on electionight, that that is de facto evidence of a rigged process. that seems a very different type of allegation that he's making. let's move on. you write that the president initially wanted his daughter, ivanka, to be his running mate as vice president. so much so that the campaign actually polled this issue a couple of times. what was the president's >> it's what he believes in and started out with-- his rationale. it's family. it's trust and it's loyalty. and it's really that simple. and it was not a very extended proces i don't think he wasery serious about it. >> brangham: everyone, of course, is watching political polls right now, and there are some polls that are showing that the president is behind vice president joe biden, including in some major swing states. but you point out that, back in 2016, you guys became aware that the polls didn't really reflect that there were a number of republican voters who wouldn't say to a pollster that they supported then-candidate donald trump, but that they really did. do you think that that could be happening in current polls today? >> absolutely. and if i could share witthe american public one thing, i think that right now the polls are wrong. to 2016, donald trump is actually in a better place in several key states, including wisconsin, pennsylvania and florida specifically, than he was in 2016. and to answer your question, absolutely. i think that number that i've mentioned in my book about what we call the trump factor, maybe even higher this election. >> brangham: let's turn to the mueller investigation, as i mentioned, you were a cooperating witness with the mueller probe. you are very critical of the mueller investigation more broadly. can you give us a sense what is your principal criticism there? >> sure, absolutely. you know, one of the foundational parts of the book that i go into is having gone through parts of the jtice system and seeing it from the inside-- how broken it is. you know, a lot of it was based on the idea that a predetermined conclusion, before they ever had any facts or evidence. >> brangham: just to remind you, again, an enormous number of members of the trump campaign had meetings or contacts with russian officials, lied about those events, covered them up, solicited and was eager to receive dirt from the russians. i mean, even if you, as the campaign officials-- maybe were not conspiring directly with the russians, it certainly seemed like the russians were trying to use you and that that was something that the f.b.i. had to investigate. >> it is no secret that russia, china and north korea, iran have been interfering in u.s. elections for decades. so it just blew my mind that we're now focusing just on one election. we're not going back and looking at the whole history of how any adversary has been interfering in our elections. >> many of the members of the trump campaign, people who were indicted and convicted, have received pardons from president trump. have you spoken with president trump or his administration about a possible pardon for yourself? >> no, i have not. i have not spoken to anybody inside the administration about any sort of pardon at this time. >> and you haven't spoken with any close allies of the president about such a pardon? >> no, i have not. >> >> brangham: all right, rick gates, the book is called "wicked game." thank you very much for being here. >> thanks so much. >> woodruff: with election day just over three weeks out, it is not just the presidency at stake. polls continue to show the senate map tilting in democrats favor. and as republicans continue to struggle in the suburbs, democrats are trying to expand the battlefield. changing demographics in traditionally red districts are part of the story. southwest of houston, the diverse county of fort bend is tuing what has long been a republican stronghold, the state's 22nd congrsional district, into a battleground. andrew schneider of houston public media takes a look. >> reporter: fort bend county makes up the lion's share of texas's 22nd congressional district. since 2009, it's been represented by pete olson, who regularly won by double-digit landslides, that is, until 2018, when he eked out a five-pot win over this man. sri preston kulkarni is a 14- year veteran of the foreign service. he's once again the democratic nominee. but this time, he's running for an open seat-- pete olson is retiring. and most analysts rate texas' 22nd as a toss-up. >> so, we are campaigning in 27 different languages, trying to run the most inclusive campaign ever in texas history. >> reporter: kulkarni was born in 1978, two years after the last time democrats carried texas in a presidential election. the prime issues of his campaign are fighting the pandemic and protecting health care. but he also focuses on the need to help small businesses and reopen schools safely, issues that could help him appeal to independents and dissatisfied republicans. >> we have problems with our economy. one in six small businesses here have failed this year alone. we have problems with education. our families are concerned tt their children aren't going to get a oper education this year if we dot do something about the coronavirus. >> reporter: we repeatedly sought an interview with kulkarni's republican opnent, fort bend county sheriff troy nehls, but received no response. but we spoke with one of nehls' supporters, small business owner ramana reddy. a native of hyderabad, india, reddy is also planning to vote for president trump. >> the democratic party, what i felt and i still strongly feel about it is, they want to appease the minorities rather than create jobs and help the minorities to go up the ladder. >> reporter: most demographers believe it's only a matter of decades before most of texas looks like fort bend. the question is how long before the state's politics follow. if and when the state does turn blue, it's likely to be because of places like fort bend county. for the pbs newshour, i'm andrew schneider in sugar land, texas. >> woodruff: we turn to our politics monday duo. that's amy walter of the "cook political report" and host of public radio's "politics with amy walter," and tamara keith of npr. she also co-hosts the "npr politics podcast." >> woodruff: hello to both of you. a lot to talk about. let's start, tam, with the president. he has been saying he is free of covid, and late this afternoon his physician put out a statement saying there are tests that they've doe that indicates -- he says that th president is no longer shedding the virus. so we'll take that at the word of the physician. but, meantime, the president is already out on the campaign trail, in florida today, pennsylvania, iowa, north carolina this week. a lot going on. what does his schedule say to us? >> his schedule says he is making up for lost time. and what his campaign has said, you can expect him to add more and more and more events, doing multiple events in single days as the election gets closer. president trump, it is as if he spent 10 or 11 days off the tria the trail, and had coronavirus and was in the hospital, and he feels better and he is going back, and the campaign is running things exactly the way they did before. these rallies, the one that is happening in florida, no socially distanced, many people not wearing masks. president trump, as he boarded air force 1wasn't wearing a mask. in a relatively new campaign ad they have out now, they are saying that president trump has recovered from coronavirus, and america can, too. that is the message they are delivering. and, you know, it is not clear that that is the message that america wants to hear, that everything is okay and back to normal and get together and don't socially distance, but that is the message they're delivering. >> woodruff: amy, what about these rallies? president loved them in 2016, and he loves them this year. how much are they helping him? >> judy, i don't know. the person he is running against at the moment is dr. fauci. who came out and said, i don't think these rallies are a good idea. even if this isn't as much out the president's sickness as other people in the audience who aren't masked, are close together. they could be getting sick. and we've seen a spike in cases all over the country, as we know. so as the president moves along doing these rallies, he is putting people at risk. dr. fauci is much bettered trusted on the issue of covid than the president. as tam said, this is his comfort zone. he loves to be out in his -- with his folks, the people who like him, who are cheering for him. but that's not his problem right now. the reason he is trailing in the polls isn't because his base isn't behind him. he is losing right now because he has never expanded his base to include people that didn't vote for him the last time around. and what we have seen in some recent polls out this week, and over te weekend, is that where the president really has fallen behind are for people who voted third-party last time. so they didn't vote for hillary, but they didn't vote for donald trump either, and voters who didn't show up at all in 2016. those two groups of voters are goingo joe biden right now. >> woodruff: and yet, tam, the trump campaign sure must see this, and yet they persist with this base strategy. >> that's the case. they are absolutely doing the base strategy as they have all along. this is how president trump feels like he won last time, so he is running the same play. he is using the same playbook. and in a call with reporters today, the campaign officials were going back over the numbers from 2016, and trying to convince reporters that the president trailing in the polls is going to win anyway, and everyone will look really dumb when he does. one tiny detail of hu they're playing to the base, the trump campaign is saying although they're doing some local ads, most of their ads are national. i was talking to someone from adalitics -- and he said since september, about 40% of their ads are on fox news. you're not going to find new voters on fox news. those people voted for the president last time. >> woodruff: fascinating. let's talk quickly about senate races. amy, we are seeing action activi in some states where we didn't think there was going to be as competitive a senate race, especially in south carolina. what is going on? >> you know, judy, republican incumbents right now are in trouble for two reasons. one, the president. and, two, cash. they don't have a lot of it. the president's numbers -- and this is the problem for these republicans -- the president's numbers aren't as bad for him, but he is dragging candidates down with him, down ballot, in all kinds of places. it is not just blue states or urban counties. it is in rule rural and small town and red states and counties. as you pointed out, judy, we are seeing states that are pretty dark red, like south carolina, montana, alaska, kansas -- those states are all in play, and democrats are also benefiting, as i said, from money advantage. their donors are fired up. small donors are writing checks, and a record-setting amount by jamie harrison -- he raised almost $60 million in one quarter. never seen anything like it. i don't know that you can spend $60 million in south carolina in three weeks. i'm sure he'll be happy to try. >> woodruff: i guess we'll find out some happy tv and radio stations, whoever gets that money. but, tam, fill this out a little more for us. this has to have republicans concerned. >> absolutely. this is not the kind of scenario that they are looking for or hoping for. and just to give you a sense -- and i don't know if this is a trend or a single data point that won't turn into a trend -- but you had north carolina senator thom tillis essentially making the case you need a republican senate to counterbalance a biden presidency. that is not a case that you make if you think you're in a good spot. >> woodruff: i don't thk so. i don't think so. that's a new one on the trail. but maybe we'll hear more in the coming weeks. tamara keith and amy walter, we thank you both. >> you're welcome. >> woodruff: with the lakers' championship victory last night, lebron james has moved into a league all his own. and he's not done yet, just a few months shy of his 36th birthday. amna nawaz is back with a look at his career on and off the court. >> nawaz: judy, after leading the los angeles lakers to the title last night, lebron james did something no other n.b.a. great has done. he's now won four nba titles with three different franchises: miami, cleveland, and now l.a., and he did it in his 17th year in the league, averaging nearly 30 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists a game. more now on lebron's impact both on and off the court, from a former teammate and a hall of famer himself, ray allen. >> ray allen, welcome back to the "news hour." thanks for being with us. you are, in many ways, uniquely positioned to settle a long-standing debate. when it comes to who is the greatest of all times, lebron james or mike jordan, you played against jordan and lebron. after the series, is it over? can you settle the debate for us? >> i truly don't believe it is a debate. i always say, if you understand sports, it is hard to really understand, from generation to generation, how those players would stack up. the rules certainly have changed over the years. so now you look at a league that is more conducive to scoring points. when m.j. played, it was a lot more physical. me growing up, m.j. greatly influenced me. and having played against both of them, they certainly both gave me bits. >> one of the big differences that people point to between jordan and lebron is how they conducted themselves. jordan really stuck to support. he said, i don't see myself as an activist. i see myself as a basketball player. lebron couldn't be more different. do you believe that is because of the times that they've changed? >> i believe that everybody has a voit to spea --voice to speak out. everybody has a voice, but they should speak out. they have the ability to speak against something that they don't necessarily agree with. and as athletes, we have such a platform, and it is one thing to say, hey, i wear these tennis shoes, you should try them out, or, hey, drink this drink, but that has been the cornerstone ideology of who athletes have been to endorse products because you're great on the court. but in the same token, it goes hand-in-hand with anything that is civic-minded. where he came fromhe understands the underprivileged in society because as m.b.a. players, we visited inner city schools. we do programs for kids. kids come into the practice facility. there are so many different activities have you're next to people who are looking at you and respect you and they don't have nearly half of what you have. so you try to speak out for those who are less fortunate. and he continues to do that. i hope he only sets an example for young peoe to when they get in this position, they get civic-minded, regardls of how much money they make. >> you know what it feels like to win a title. you know what it looks like. and last night looked and felt a little different, right? this is a win in the middle of a pandemic, inside this her me hermetic hery sealed bubble. how do you think all of those things came together in that moment last night? >> you would know there was a pandemic if you had seen the events taking place outside the staple's center. they were out there cheering. i hope people are being safe. but in the same token, with everything that the people have gone through, for l.a. to be able to celebrate again, you just -- it is just something that people needed. and so my hat goes off to every team that participatednd was able to do it safely. it certainly was different watching the ceebration. but i'm sure in some pockets of the world, people, fans, your nation, they're celebrating and having a great time. it is a banner that you raise one more time for the l.a. lakers. >> that is ray allen, nba hall of famer. thank you so much for your time. >> thank you, amna. >> woodruff: and a new program from newshour productions continues tonight on pbs. on tell me more, kelly corrigan talks with late night host james corden about h life and those who inspire him. in this excerpt, corden recalls a key moment in his career when auditioning, he realized how his size limited his options. >> we all got our scripts, and it was two leads, two boys around our age. i just got four pages of a scene for a guy who like works at a newsstand and it was really a moment for me where i was like, oh, this is because of how i look. and it felt like people were going, oh no, we think you're good, but you're good for like, you'll play the guy who drops off a tv for hugh grant. you'll probably play a quite sort of bubbly judge. oh no, one's gonna just put up a seat for me this top table. i'm gonna have to muscle my way in somehow. >> woodruff: you can see the entire corden interview on "tell me more" with kelly corrigan, tonight on pbs at 9:00/8:00 central. tonight the universi of texas at austin is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its lyndon b. johnson school of public affairs. the school was founded in 1970 to prepare new leaders. president johnson is known for signing the historic civil rights act into law, as part of its celebratio the school has released excerpts from johnson's last public speech in 1972, which dealt with the need to end racial inequality. you'll first hear president johnson speaking, then all four former living presidents voicing parts of the speech. >> but we must not allow the visibility of a few to diminish the efforts to satisfy. what is our real responsibility to the still unseen millions who are faced th that basic problem of being black in a white society. >> so our objective must be to assure that all americans play by the same rules, and all the americans play against the same odds who among us will claim this is true today. i feel just the first work of any society with aspires to greatness. so let's get on with it. >>e know there is injustice. we kw there is intolerance. we know there is discrimination and hate and suspicion. and we know there is division among. but there is a larger truth. >> we have proved that great progress is possible. we know how much still remains to be done. >> and if our efforts continue, and if our will is strong and if our hearts are right, and the courage remains our constant campaign, and my fellow americans, i am confident. we shall overcome. >> woodruff: that event, 'the l.b.j. school's 50th anniversary forum: defining a new destiny,' will include interviews with special guests and streams live tonight from 8:00/7:00 central at lbj50.org. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us again here and online tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. eastern for our special live coverage of the barrett hearings. 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: >> the kendeda fund. committed to advancing restorative justice and meingful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendedafund.org. >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> this progm was made possible by the cooration for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org hello, eryone. welcome to "amanpour & co." here's what's coming up. >> the fact that you have somebody in the white house whose behavior, whose actions are again suspect even more so because of the medication, i do think that's a national security issue. >> at a time of escalating security risks,s there a real threat to america inside the white house? i speak with the former cia director john brennan. >> this cannot stand. we have to call it out for what it is. domestic terrorism. >> the plot against michigan by armed white supremacists. the state attorney general brin us the latest. and -- >> the duty of theol

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