October 19, 2020 - PBS NewsHour full episode

While the presidential candidates make their pitches to voters across the country, lawmakers in Washington, D.C., are continuing negotiations over another coronavirus relief package. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said their differences on a bill are narrowing -- but meanwhile, time is running short. Lisa Desjardins and Yamiche Alcindor join Amna Nawaz to discuss.

In our news wrap Monday, the Justice Department has charged six Russians with hacking everything from the 2017 French elections to the 2018 Winter Olympics to U.S. hospitals. The indictment says all six were, or still are, officers in Russian military intelligence, known as the GRU. Also, there is new unrest in Belarus, with thousands protesting what they allege was a rigged election.

COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations are soaring in areas that have previously been relatively unaffected -- including rural, less populated states in the West and Midwest. Dr. Bridget Brennan, chief medical officer of Benefis Health System in Great Falls, Montana, and Renae Welhouse, a nurse practitioner at Sanford Medical Center in Bismarck, North Dakota, share what they are seeing.

As the coronavirus surges across much of the United States, infection rates are particularly high in some less-populated Western and Midwestern states, including Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. Amna Nawaz talks to Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota about the crisis -- and how to address it.

There are more than 50 million caregivers in the United States, from in-home providers to family volunteers. For these essential workers, the pandemic has represented a crisis on a different scale. We hear some of their stories about what the past few months have been like, and Dr. Jennifer Olsen, executive director of The Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving, joins Judy Woodruff to discuss.

This year’s election is raising anxiety levels across the country. Why are so many Americans feeling stressed and fearful as the presidential campaigns enter their final sprint? We hear from some of them, and Lisa Desjardins reports on the conscious political strategy of scaring voters into a particular point of view.

In a year when racism has been front and center in Americans’ minds, how can we break out of our own orbits to understand the life experiences of other people -- especially those of other races? Author and journalist Christine Pride shares her humble opinion on why it’s important to seek out friends of different races.

NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report join Amna Nawaz to discuss the latest political news, including campaign messages from President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden in the presidential race’s final weeks and what early voting patterns suggest about when we might have election results.