JUDY WOODRUFF: Good evening.
I'm Judy Woodruff.
On the "NewsHour" tonight: Hate turns to horror.
John Yang reports from Pittsburgh, where 11 people were targeted and murdered at a synagogue.
And I am anchoring special coverage from Florida, a place sadly familiar with gun violence,
home to the suspected pipe bomber and a state still recovering from a devastating hurricane.
Plus: With just a week to go before the election, we hear how all this weighs on the minds of
voters and affects the issues that matter most.
AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz in Washington with the day's other headlines and more on
tonight's "PBS NewsHour."
(BREAK)
AMNA NAWAZ: The shock of Saturday's massacre at a Pittsburgh synagogue is still sinking
in tonight.
Earlier, the man accused of killing 11 people had his first court appearance, amid an outpouring
of grief and sympathy.
John Yang begins our coverage.
JOHN YANG: Today, the makeshift memorial outside the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh grew
larger.
Passersby placed flowers and paid their respects amid a still-heavy police presence.
Fund-raising for survivors and victims' families has brought in more than $600,000.
Saturday's massacre is believed to be the deadliest attack on Jews in American history;
46-year-old Robert Bowers is charged with killing 11 worshipers during Sabbath prayer
services.
Seated in a wheelchair, he made his first appearance in federal court in downtown Pittsburgh
today and was assigned a public defender.
He is being held without bail.
He faces 11 state counts of criminal homicide and a 29-count federal complaint, including
hate crimes, which could bring the death penalty.
In the wake of a week of threats and violence, some have pointed to President Trump's rhetoric,
which they say has invoked anti-Semitic themes and emboldened white nationalists.
Even as White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders condemned bigotry today:
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, White House Press Secretary: We all have a duty to confront
anti-Semitism in all its forms and everywhere and anywhere it appears.
JOHN YANG: The president blamed the media.
He said: "There is great anger in our country caused in part by inaccurate, and even fraudulent,
reporting of the news.
The fake news media, the true enemy of the people, must stop the open and obvious hostility
and report the news accurately and fairly."
Tomorrow, the president and the first lady are to visit Pittsburgh as funerals for the
victims are to begin.
Among the dead, 97-year-old Rose Malinger, who had survived the Holocaust, brothers Cecil
and David Rosenthal, both in their 50s, both with developmental disabilities, and father
and grandfather Melvin Wax, who was 88.
This morning, authorities took the accused shooter from Allegheny General Hospital, where
he was treated for gunshot wounds.
Hospital president Jeffrey Cohen lives across the street from the Tree of Life Synagogue,
where he is a member, was married and his children bar and bat mitzvahed.
JEFFREY COHEN, President, Allegheny General Hospital: And as I went outside, there was
a police officer walking down the street, and he was yelling at people to get in their
houses, there was an active shooter at Tree of Life.
I'm going, this is odd.
And as I stood there watching, I saw the first wave of police come in, and they were huddled
behind a brick pillar.
And I'm going, this is across from my house.
This is surreal.
JOHN YANG: He quickly learned the shooter was being taken to his hospital.
JEFFREY COHEN: I talked to one of the nurses that took care of him.
And the nurse's father is a rabbi.
He came in because he was called in.
And he rolled up his sleeves and he took care of him like anybody else that comes here.
And we have a really simple mission here, certainly as long as I have been here.
We're here to take care of sick people.
JOHN YANG: Yesterday, Cohen felt the need to meet the man who had brought violence to
his doorstep.
JEFFREY COHEN: And he asked me who I was.
I said: "I'm Dr. Cohen.
I'm the president of the hospital."
And once again, that yin-yang of the universe, here's the guy that's getting off an ambulance
and saying all Jews have to die, and his emergency room physician, his nurse, president of the
hospital are all Jews.
How's that for irony?
JOHN YANG: The bullets struck at the heart of the close-knit community in Pittsburgh's
Squirrel Hill neighborhood.
RABBI JAMES GIBSON, Temple Sinai: It's like tearing cloth so that the threads no longer
join one to the other.
JOHN YANG: James Gibson is senior rabbi at Temple Sinai, just blocks from Tree of Life.
RABBI JAMES GIBSON: We are deeply embedded in each other's lives.
JOHN YANG: Although more diverse today, Squirrel Hill still has the feel of the Jewish enclave
it has been for more than a century.
It's a place where synagogues are familiar landmarks, the grocery store posts the beginning
of the weekly Sabbath, and they tell time in Hebrew.
Cindy Skrzycki, a Polish Catholic, has lived here 18 years.
She and her husband, David Shribman, the executive editor of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, raised
two daughters here.
One is a year away from ordination as a rabbi.
CINDY SKRZYCKI, Pittsburgh: It would have been very hard for Natalie (ph) and my older
daughter to escape, because their friends -- a lot of their friends were Jewish.
We lived in Washington a long time.
And I don't think we, outside of one or two people, really knew very many Jewish people.
You become marinated here pretty fast.
JOHN YANG: As authorities search for why this attack took place this particular weekend
at this particular place, Dr. Cohen sees symptoms in the coarsening of public discourse.
JEFFREY COHEN: We need to take control of the debate and the civility of the discourse,
where it's OK to disagree with people, but you don't have to take it to the point where
you shut the other guy up.
We have to listen more.
JOHN YANG: Since, Saturday there have been memorials here and around the world.
Sunday evening, the monthly rehearsal of the Pittsburgh Cello Studio Ensemble became an
impromptu commemoration.
Leaders Nicole Myers and Simon Cummings played the melody "Kol Nidre," which traditionally
begins services on Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement.
NICOLE MYERS, Pittsburgh Cello Studio Ensemble: It's just so soulful and beautiful.
And we debated whether or not we should have a rehearsal tonight, the day after these events.
And we thought we didn't want to stop making music.
We wanted to play for them to show them that we were going to persevere.
JOHN YANG: For Cummings, born and raised in the area, it had a special meaning: Among
the dead was Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz, his doctor since childhood.
SIMON CUMMINGS, Pittsburgh Cello Studio Ensemble: Just trying to meditate and think about his
life and the other 10 lives, and I feel like music is a big part of our lives and it helps
us recover and heal.
JOHN YANG: Feelings that so many in this community are in search of tonight.
What happened here has deeply affected people throughout not just this neighborhood, but
across Pittsburgh.
So many people we talked to this weekend say they don't know yet what recovery is going
to look like, but they promise they will bounce back -- Amna.
AMNA NAWAZ: Incredible resolve in that community there, John.
But tell me about the victims of this attack.
When do we expect funerals to begin for them?
JOHN YANG: Amna, the funerals are going to start tomorrow.
Jewish law generally forbids autopsies and generally encourages burial as quickly as
possible, usually within about 24 hours.
But authorities went to the families and asked for permission to perform autopsies, presumably
to help in the prosecution.
And all the families agreed.
AMNA NAWAZ: You mentioned the prosecution there, John.
What else do we know, if anything, about the shooter?
JOHN YANG: Not much.
He is a guy who apparently didn't leave much of a footprint.
Reporters have been talking to neighbors.
They described him as isolated, socially awkward.
They say he lived alone, told some of them he was a truck driver.
What footprints he did leave appear to be these virulent anti-Semitic comments, most
of them left on a Web site called Gab.
Gab is a site that critics say is the haven, the last refuge for extremist who've been
kicked off other social media platforms, like Twitter and Facebook, for violating their
norms.
Gab has released a statement condemning the attack, saying they're working with law enforcement
authorities investigating this.
They also say: "We have been smeared by the mainstream media for defending free expression
and individual liberty for all people."
AMNA NAWAZ: John Yang there for us at the site of the horrific synagogue shooting in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Thank you, John.
In the day's other news: Federal prosecutors asked a judge to deny bail for the man who
allegedly sent package bombs to top Democrats and critics of President Trump.
Cesar Sayoc appeared in federal court in Miami.
And another package addressed to CNN showed up in Atlanta.
The FBI said it was -- quote -- "similar in appearance" to the others.
The Pentagon announced today it is sending 5,200 active-duty troops to the Mexican border
this week.
That comes as some 4,000 Central American migrants are pushing northward through Mexico,
a movement that President Trump called an invasion today.
The head of the U.S. Northern Command said the soldiers will back up Customs and Border
agents.
GEN.
TERRENCE O'SHAUGHNESSY, NORAD Commander: We know border security is national security.
And the U.S. military will advance CBP's capability to harden the border.
The Department of Defense is already and will continue to provide support to CBP to secure
the border.
AMNA NAWAZ: Federal police in Mexico today blocked a new group of several hundred migrants
trying to enter the country from Guatemala.
In Indonesia, an airliner crashed into the Java Sea, off Jakarta, today, killing all
189 people on board.
The Lion Air Boeing 737 plane went down 13 minutes after taking off from Jakarta on a
domestic flight.
Rescue workers pulled human remains and wreckage from the water through the evening.
Indonesia's president, Joko Widodo, asked grieving families to be patient.
JOKO WIDODO, Indonesian President (through translator): I feel deep anxiety for all the
families of the victims, but we hope that the families of the victims will be calm while
they wait for the search-and-rescue teams, who are working hard at the scene.
We are making the best efforts to find the victims.
AMNA NAWAZ: Indonesian airlines were banned from flying to Europe and the U.S. for years
because of their poor safety record.
The U.S. lifted its ban in 2016, and the European Union ban ended this past June.
The U.S. Navy says it will continue patrolling the disputed South China Sea, despite a near-collision
with a Chinese warship.
Last month, a Chinese destroyer came within 45 yards of the U.S. Navy destroyer Decatur
near Gaven Reef, forcing it to veer off.
The U.S. doesn't recognize China's claims in the area.
The chief of naval operations said today that freedom of navigation operations will go on.
The people of Brazil began coming to grips today with a stunning political shift.
Far-right politician Jair Bolsonaro won Sunday's presidential runoff in Latin America's largest
nation.
Foreign affairs correspondent Nick Schifrin has our report.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Jair Bolsonaro's supporters celebrated into the wee hours, hailing what
they called a fresh start and the end of a ruling party they label a failure.
GABRIELA FERREIRA, Brazil (through translator): They are big liars and criminals hiding behind
their rehearsed speeches.
Bolsonaro is much more original, says things that many people don't want to hear, but I
believe that he is honest and that he wants improvements for the country.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Sixty-year-old Bolsonaro is a longtime lawmaker, former army captain,
and proud populist who reflects widespread anger.
Brazil is in its worst ever recession.
Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is in prison, his successor was impeached,
and the current president's accused of corruption.
And violence has increased so much, the military secures Rio's massive slums.
Voters blamed the government.
RENATO, Brazil (through translator): Corruption, robbery, politics in the trash, that's why
I want change.
I prefer to risk something new.
NICK SCHIFRIN: What they're risking is a candidate critics call an extremist.
In 2014, he argued with a lawmaker, and after pushing her, yelled, "I wouldn't rape you
because you are not worthy of it."
In a 2011 interview with "Playboy," he said he would -- quote -- rather his son "die in
a car accident, than be gay."
And 10 days ago, when calling into a rally, Bolsonaro promised the rule of law would be
become rule by law unleashed on his political opponents.
JAIR BOLSONARO, Brazil President-Elect (through translator): These red outcasts will be banished
from our homeland.
It will be a cleansing never seen in Brazilian history.
You will see proud armed forces, a civilian and a military police with legal backing to
enforce the law against them.
PAULO SOTERO, Wilson Center: The rhetoric that served him well to win the presidency
will not serve him to govern.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Paulo Sotero directs the Wilson Center's Brazil Institute.
He says Bolsonaro is part of a populist wave that includes President Trump, and that he
will have to rein in the rhetoric.
PAULO SOTERO: He will, I think, very rapidly realize that he will have to negotiate certain
things, to tone down some of the rhetoric.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Last night, Bolsonaro did just that and read from a script.
JAIR BOLSONARO (through translator): I will be an advocate for defending the constitution,
of democracy, of freedom.
NICK SCHIFRIN: But a candidate who mimicked guns with his fingers, and whose supporters
showed up in military fatigues or with dolls of politicians wearing prison uniforms has
a base with high expectations.
And it remains a question whether a man who campaigned in vicious poetry can govern in
reasonable prose.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Nick Schifrin.
AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, in Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced she will step down
as leader of her conservative party.
She also confirmed she will not run again when her fourth term as chancellor expires
in 2021.
Her statement in Berlin came after the ruling coalition suffered new losses in a key state
election on Sunday.
ANGELA MERKEL, German Chancellor (through translator): With this decision, I am trying
to make a contribution which enables the German government to finally concentrate its efforts
on good governance, something people demand, and rightly so.
This step is also based on the clear intention of the German government to evaluate its work.
AMNA NAWAZ: Merkel has been chancellor since 2005, but she's faced heavy criticism for
admitting large numbers of asylum seekers in 2015.
That decision helped fuel the rise of a far-right party.
Back in this country, former President Jimmy Carter appealed to Georgia's Republican candidate
for governor to step down from his post as secretary of state.
Brian Kemp oversees state elections in that role, and he's facing allegations of voter
suppression.
In a letter to Kemp, Mr. Carter said stepping aside would foster voter confidence.
On Wall Street, stocks started with a rally, then swooned amid talk of new tariffs on China.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 245 points to close below 24443.
It had been down more than 560 points earlier.
The Nasdaq fell 117 points and the S&P 500 slipped 17.
And it's time for another party in Boston, after the Red Sox won the World Series last
night for the fourth time in 15 years.
Boston beat the Dodgers in Los Angeles 5-1 to take the series in five games.
The city will honor the winners with a parade on Wednesday.
We turn now to our special "NewsHour" coverage from Florida, and to Judy Woodruff.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Thanks, Amna.
The state of Florida is proving yet again to be a battleground in this year's midterm
elections.
From a contentious race for governor, to a neck-and-neck Senate contest, key races up
and down the ballot could decide control of Congress and be an indicator for political
contests to come.
We begin our special coverage with a look at some of those important campaigns.
REP.
RON DESANTIS (R-FL), Gubernatorial Candidate: Higher taxes for you and more benefits for
him.
I don't think so.
ANDREW GILLUM (D), Florida Gubernatorial Candidate: We can do good by rowing together, you all.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The Florida governor's race pits a self-styled conservative warrior against
a progressive.
Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum is vying to be the state's first Democratic governor since
1992, and its first ever black chief executive.
He is also a fierce critic of President Trump.
DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: He's going to your next governor, Ron DeSantis.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
JUDY WOODRUFF: By contrast, former Republican Congressman Ron DeSantis has fully embraced
the president...
REP.
RON DESANTIS: Make America great again.
JUDY WOODRUFF: ... who won Florida by a razor-thin margin in 2016.
REP.
RON DESANTIS: I appreciate your support Mr. President, but I appreciate more the leadership
you are showing for our great country.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The contest has been rife with allegations of racism.
Just after winning the Republican nomination, DeSantis said this about Gillum:
REP.
RON DESANTIS: The last thing we need to do is monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist
agenda.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Racist robo-calls also targeted Gillum.
DeSantis denounced the calls.
But when I caught up with Gillum at a weekend rally at a Tampa community center, he said
DeSantis had stoked racial tensions.
ANDREW GILLUM: I think certainly he used racial stereotypes in his campaigning all to make
me look out of touch, so different than everybody else.
I think he sorely underestimates the voters by going so hard after superficial differences,
when what voters want to hear about is what we're going to do.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Meanwhile, Gillum is facing a corruption probe into unreported gifts from
lobbyists, including a trip to Costa Rica and tickets to the Broadway show "Hamilton."
ANDREW GILLUM: I don't take free trips from anybody.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Gillum has denied the charges, but subpoenaed text messages suggest he knowingly
accepted the show tickets from an FBI agent posing as a real estate developer.
DeSantis calls it another example of local corruption.
REP.
RON DESANTIS: Andrew is the one who lied to the people of Florida on Sunday night about
accepting a gift from an undercover FBI agent.
He's the one who lied.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
JUDY WOODRUFF: The governorship is up for grabs because Republican incumbent Rick Scott
is term-limited.
He is moving on to challenge three-term Democratic U.S. Senator Bill Nelson for his seat.
GOV.
RICK SCOTT (R), Florida: He has been there when his party controlled both parties in
the White House, and they did nothing.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The two have sparred on immigration, gun violence especially after the Parkland
Florida school shooting, and health care.
Polls indicate a majority of Floridians favor Medicaid expansion, and that they're more
likely to vote for a candidate who will maintain the Affordable Care Act's protections for
people with preexisting conditions.
SEN.
BILL NELSON (D), Florida: Florida has more on the ACA than anybody else, almost two million
people that now have health care that never had health care before.
And for the seven years of the law, my opponent has wanted to kill it, to repeal it.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Nelson has blasted Scott for opposing Medicaid expansion and Obamacare.
The state is also suing to overturn federal protections for those with preexisting conditions.
Scott says he didn't have anything to do with the suit.
GOV.
RICK SCOTT: I support forcing insurance companies to cover preexisting conditions.
JUDY WOODRUFF: In a new ad, he said he now favors coverage of preexisting conditions.
And DeSantis has recently pledged to do the same.
The Florida ballot also features close races in at least five congressional districts held
by Republicans and for the Republican-controlled state Senate.
Also driving voters to the polls, a state constitutional amendment to restore voting
rights to 1.5 million former felons.
I sat down this weekend with five voters in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area.
And a note to viewers: We met before the magnitude of the terrible shootings in Pittsburgh was
clear.
We gathered at a popular meeting place called the Oxford Exchange.
The voters ranged in age from 27 to 75.
Jake Hoffman is a Republican who owns a digital media company.
Trevor Mallory is a Democrat who works investing in affordable housing.
Sandy Rief is a registered Republican, but has been voting Democratic lately.
He's a tax attorney.
Liz Gutierrez is a Democrat who runs a nonprofit.
And Cherie Denham is a Republican who's employed by a law firm.
CHERIE DENHAM, Florida: This election cycle is just as important or more important than
2016.
You know, someone is calling this Trump's reelection.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Trevor, what about you?
How important do you think it is?
TREVOR MALLORY, Florida: It's like Cherie touched on.
This is being called the Trump reelection.
And for those really don't want to hear that, now is the time to get up and make a difference.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Let's talk about what is on your mind.
What is it that is driving your vote this time?
CHERIE DENHAM: There are a lot of issues.
There are a lot of things at stake.
We have two taxes on our ballot in Hillsborough County.
If those pass, we will be the highest-taxed county in Florida, and so that's very important
to me.
With the unfortunate event in Parkland, the Second Amendment has become a huge issue here
in Florida.
And I don't believe that we need more gun control rights.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Why not?
CHERIE DENHAM: We need to help people who have mental health issues.
That is the area that really needs to be addressed.
It's not gun control.
We need to re-shift the focus to helping people that need help.
JUDY WOODRUFF: What is it that is driving you to make sure to vote that makes you believe
these elections matter?
LIZ GUTIERREZ, Florida: So, for me, I'm one of those silly people that believe in peace
and justice for all, not just for some.
While it is important to keep our taxes, for example, in check, it is also very important
to invest in the society and in our community.
So if we don't educate our young children, if we don't create the best schools that we
can, if folks don't have economic opportunity, then we're all in trouble.
JUDY WOODRUFF: What about you, Trevor?
What matters to you?
TREVOR MALLORY: Number one is education.
In Pinellas County, we're at a rate of where the percentage is overwhelming on how many
of our students can't read.
And that needs to be changed.
And I think it has to do with not the quality of teachers, but just the pay of the teachers.
And, number two are the gun laws.
We just have to change them.
And I really commend those young kids at Stoneman Douglas, where they actually stepped up after
the incident that happened there.
And I believe they really are a key part of the excitement about this midterm election.
And number three is the restoration, the restoring of rights.
I just think people need to get more educated on who's allowed to get their rights back,
number one, and how long should it take, and who shouldn't get their rights.
JUDY WOODRUFF: For a felon.
TREVOR MALLORY: For felons.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Jake, what about you?
What's driving you, especially in the Senate and the governor's races?
JAKE HOFFMAN, Florida: There really is a lot.
So, for me, personally, when I see something about the environment on there, I'm excited
about candidates that are going to talk about that.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Sandy, what about you?
You take an interest in politics.
What matters most to you?
SANDY RIEF, Florida: Right now, health care does.
I'm on Medicare.
And, you know, we don't have a good health care system in this country.
Obamacare was excellent, and it's been beaten down.
Other issues that I think are important, the environment, sea level rise, climate change.
That's important.
People have got to realize that if we don't do something like that, you know, the state
of Florida will be underwater.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Liz, let me back to you.
What are you thinking right now, when you think about the governor's race between Congressman
DeSantis and the mayor of Tallahassee, Andrew Gillum?
LIZ GUTIERREZ: The term, the word that comes to me is fear.
It's really a hostile environment, where folks even -- regular people don't feel comfortable
talking to each other because they're afraid of the differences in opinion might lead to
something else.
CHERIE DENHAM: I kind of agree with what she said.
People are afraid of one or the other.
They are afraid -- everybody's afraid of losing their rights, whether it's rights for guns
or their right to like a safe community.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Trevor, how do you see the governor's race right now?
TREVOR MALLORY: Well, I have to say, during the primaries, I did support Mayor Andrew
Gillum, and I have been actually still working to help support him.
But once he won the nomination and then DeSantis came out with his comment about monkeying
it up, I just think that line didn't have to be crossed, when you're talking about racism.
It was racially pushed, but it just didn't need to happen.
JAKE HOFFMAN: You know, to the monkeying around comment, I -- personally, when I heard that,
I didn't take that as a racial issue.
There are a lot of other things that I hear that I can say, wow, that was meant -- that's
egregious, that is something that I think is racially charged.
We just had robo-calls that were put out around the state that made local and state news.
And they're clearly very racist.
If you go and listen to them or read the transcripts, then that's something that you can see is
racially charged.
But you can't pull racism from one comment like that.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Trevor, is it possible that there's been an overreaction from the people
supporting Andrew Gillum?
TREVOR MALLORY: I don't I think there's an overreaction.
I just think we took it, we commented on it, and we dealt with it, and now we're moving
on.
It actually ignited us in the African-American community, because I want to touch on what
you said.
You said you don't think it's a racist comment, but, at the same time, the robo-call was in
effect to monkeying it up, because there was monkeys in the background.
And if you're going to deem that racial, then I think that comment or slip of the tongue,
however you want to label it, that also has to be deemed as a racial comment.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Let me come to you, Sandy, on some of this.
Governor's race, what do you see unfolding here?
SANDY RIEF: It's the entire political spectrum.
Everybody's telling lies.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Everybody?
Both political parties?
SANDY RIEF: Everybody is telling lies.
It starts at the top, with the president of the United States, and it goes all the way
down.
Every one of the commercials that you see is a lie, because they're trying to make their
opponent look bad.
We're not talking about the issues, the things that are important to the citizens of Florida
and the citizens of our country.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The governor's race, Gillum, who are you for and why?
LIZ GUTIERREZ: Of course I have to support Andrew Gillum.
I am not the problem in our society.
As a Latina woman, I am part of the -- I am a part of the solution.
I'm a contributor.
I'm a taxpayer.
I'm a voter.
I have everything to give.
And if we don't have a society that values my contributions as equal as it values that
of anyone else, what kind of society do we have?
JUDY WOODRUFF: Cherie, what about you?
Governor's race, Gillum, DeSantis?
CHERIE DENHAM: I am a Christian, a conservative and a Republican.
So I vote my values.
My number one value is pro-life, so I vote from a pro-life viewpoint always.
And so, obviously, I'm going to go for DeSantis.
I also voted for President Trump.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Jake, as involved with the Young Republicans, you are supporting Republicans.
Why Ron DeSantis in this governor's race?
JAKE HOFFMAN: Because the alternative is very scary to me as far as an economic climate
goes.
Higher taxes all around is something that worries me.
It really does worry me.
JUDY WOODRUFF: I want to turn to President Trump.
How much does he -- what he says, what he's done, how much is that a factor in your -- the
people you plan to vote for?
TREVOR MALLORY: What we're seeing and what we're hearing from him is just not the typical
role model I would want for my kids to look at.
So, when he comes down to support these candidates and have these rallies, it just stays negative.
JAKE HOFFMAN: DeSantis was asked about whether or not Trump is a role model.
The answer is no.
Right?
That's not something that we should hesitate to say.
Again, as a Republican, I take a lot of flak for certain things that I say, whether it
comes from a moderate, reasonable position.
But it's easy to see that the things that he says that are not OK.
They're -- it is OK to say that.
And we can do that at the same time as agreeing with some of the policies that he has.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Do you think he's an asset for Republicans this year?
JAKE HOFFMAN: For -- yes.
Yes, absolutely.
He is going to do a great job at helping turn out the vote for Republicans, yes.
CHERIE DENHAM: I believe he is a force for positive.
I don't think we needed just a nice, normal politician.
I think our country was in such a state that we needed a wrecking ball to go into Washington
and wreck it.
JUDY WOODRUFF: How much does it -- how much do you feel the country is divided right now?
What do you think about that, Jake?
And does it matter?
JAKE HOFFMAN: Yes, absolutely.
The country is definitely divided.
You see that at rallies.
You see that at protests and counterprotests.
We have got parties that are sitting on very far sides of the political spectrum.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, the president is blaming a lot of this, Cherie, on the news media,
saying that the news media is contributing to the division.
How do you see that?
CHERIE DENHAM: There's a lot of things that we agree on.
I think we just have different roads and different avenues to get to these solutions.
And I think the -- I agree that the media does -- it kind of leans toward more liberal.
They have a very loud voice.
You know, a lot of my friends get put in Facebook jail or shadow-banned on Twitter because they
tweet out a lot of conservative things, and this is something that's really happening.
So -- but honestly, at our core, I think we are more united than we are divided.
SANDY RIEF: I think we are very divided, and the president is trying to keep us further
apart.
You know, he refuses to take a position on -- he hasn't commented negatively and said
what happened with the bombs that have been sent out.
You know, he's not condemned that, like he should have.
His ambivalence towards Saudi Arabia with Khashoggi, that was something that should
have been condemned right out.
Those are the types of things.
And he goes to the rallies, and none of that is what's designed to bring us together.
You know, you can document lie after lie after lie that he tells when he's out there speaking.
JUDY WOODRUFF: As your candidate, your man goes to Washington, what would you like to
see him give a little on in order to reach some sort of resolution?
LIZ GUTIERREZ: So, I'm going to go in the opposite direction and say to you that the
thing that I have been disappointed about is I think that, as Democrats, we haven't
been as strong.
I think Republicans have been very clear about their messaging.
I don't know that we, as Democrats, have that clear a sense of what the values are.
And we have very strong values that I think are beneficial to everyone, but I don't know
that we speak of them very clearly in a way that everyone understands.
JAKE HOFFMAN: As far as Republicans go, again, I think we -- we're going to need to pivot
more on the environment, because that is something that used to be a bipartisan issue, and education.
So, we used to be able to agree that, let's make -- if you walk outside, let's be able
to take our kid to school and let's be able to breathe the air and go to the beach.
You know, we just don't need to fight on some of these things.
JUDY WOODRUFF: If that's what Republicans have to do, Democrats have their work cut
out for them, too.
Among other things, they are going to need a big turnout from two groups of voters here
in Florida who are increasingly important, Puerto Ricans and young people.
Yamiche Alcindor has been in South Florida taking a look at those key voting groups and
how the results might sway this election.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Turnout, turnout, turnout, that's the name of the game in Florida.
Up and down the state, candidates and canvassers are working to get out the vote.
That's because, in the last two governor's and presidential races, the winners in this
state have been determined by razor-thin margins.
And, as a result, Democrats are trying to turn out two important groups that they hope
will make the difference.
FERNAND AMANDI, Democratic Pollster: Florida is the classic referendum lynchpin state in
the country.
It's almost perfectly divided in terms of its registration between Republicans, Democrats
and independents,, which, in Florida, is a growing segment of the electorate.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Fernand Amandi is a Democratic pollster based in Miami.
FERNAND AMANDI: It's all about the base here.
So, the base matters.
And turnout is what drives the base, so if the base is not turning out, someone is going
to lose.
And that's why, in Florida, it's paramount.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: One key group, Puerto Rican voters, especially those newly arrived since
Hurricane Maria hit the island last September.
Frederick Velez is an organizer with Alianza.
The group has spent months sending out mailers and registering people to vote.
Now it's focused on making sure people show up.
FREDERICK VELEZ, Alianza for Progress: We have had over 26,000 conversations with people
who are either Puerto Rican or who are Latino.
And those conversations are based on and focused on why it's important to vote.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Forty-year-old Ivette Alsina understands the value of voting.
In June, the mother of three moved from Puerto Rico to this neighborhood outside Kissimmee
with her sons and grandson.
IVETTE ALSINA, Florida: I left my family, my house, my friends, my culture.
Everything stay there.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: And like many Puerto Ricans, she was very disappointed by the Trump administration's
response to Hurricane Maria last September.
IVETTE ALSINA: There wasn't a lot of help for us.
There are still people suffering over there.
There's people over there, the house that they don't have a roof.
And FEMA, they went there, but they didn't help a lot.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: The government of Puerto Rico says, as a result of the storm, nearly
3,000 people died.
President Trump has rejected that number.
He claims Democrats inflated the death toll.
Alsina was especially offended by this video of President Trump throwing paper towels to
hurricane survivors.
It was on her mind when she voted early last week for Democrats.
She hopes they will serve as a check on the president.
IVETTE ALSINA: That's why, yesterday, I went to vote, because I want my dignity and respect
back.
We don't need paper towels.
We need food.
We need help to build our houses again.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: No one really knows how many Puerto Ricans have moved to Florida since
Hurricane Maria.
Estimates range from a high of 300,000 down to 50,000, but pollster Fernand Amandi says
even tens of thousands could still prove pivotal.
FERNAND AMANDI: Twenty-five thousand votes could very well decide who wins Florida.
So it could very well be that these Puerto Rican voters, if 15,000 or 20,000 of them
enter the electorate and uniformly go from one side to the other, could be determinative.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Young people are another group to watch.
They typically don't vote in high numbers, especially during midterm elections.
This year, though, organizers are working hard to change that.
On Saturday, volunteers with NextGen canvassed in North Miami Beach.
The Democratic political action group is funded by billionaire hedge fund investor Tom Steyer.
It's been registering young people to vote across Florida, including at high schools
and colleges, in the wake of the school shooting in Parkland.
Meanwhile, at a get-out-the-vote event in Liberty City, Miami, young people gathered
to talk politics over food, football and music.
It was sponsored by Dream Defenders, a group started in 2012 after the killing of Trayvon
Martin.
Rodnika Cockroft, an organizer, said 2016 was a wakeup call for many.
RODNIKA COCKROFT, Dream Defenders: Our generation is starting to step into their power, because
we realize that those 70-, 75-year-old people who've been in power for 30 years are fixated
in the mentality that they have already, and it doesn't align with ours.
When they're gone, we're going to be stuck with the issues that they left us with.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Dream Defenders ran shuttles to the polls nearby.
Early voting began last week.
Along the way, organizers tried to explain Florida's 12 amendments on the ballot this
year.
MARCUS HORTON, Florida: I think the potential for young people to make a difference in the
midterm election is definitely there.
At the same time, I think that the Democratic candidates need to give young people something
to vote for.
Sometimes, people are receptive to what we have to say.
Sometimes, they're not.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Marcus Horton is a 28-year-old Navy vet who just graduated from Florida International
University.
Horton doesn't identify as a Republican or a Democrat, but often votes with Democrats.
He's supporting Democrat Andrew Gillum for governor.
The most important issues to him?
Restoring voting rights for felons, health insurance, which he doesn't have, and the
impact of student loans.
MARCUS HORTON: That means that when we graduate from college, we can't start businesses.
We have too much debt.
It means that we can't buy homes, and so we're kind of finding ourselves in this position
where we're limited in the choices that we can make.
That could be a very powerful platform position.
There's enough young people now to -- more young people than older people.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Still, Horton isn't sure that young people will make the difference
this year.
MARCUS HORTON: I do see a lot more people who are politically engaged and they seem
to care about this, but at the same time, you know you can walk somewhere and not hear
anything about it at all.
And so that's a little scary.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Despite the energy surrounding young and Puerto Rican voters, experts warn
not to forget about one other population.
Senior citizens are a reliable bloc that leans Republican.
We met one of them, Gary Sisler, at the East Ridge retirement community in South Miami.
He's an 84-year-old former Exxon employee who spent years living abroad before moving
to Miami.
Sisler thinks people who disagree aren't talking to each other enough.
GARY SISLER, Florida: In my case, I have two college-educated daughters.
I know they're both liberal.
We can't talk politics.
And I have overheard them say to my 10-year old grandson, don't discuss politics with
grand pop.
That hurts.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Among the issues he's concerned about?
Immigration.
GARY SISLER: I think that we are bring far too many unskilled people, uneducated people
that don't speak any English.
That creates a social obligation on our part.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: He's also worried about the federal debt.
GARY SISLER: Both sides seem to be scared to death to even discuss it.
I blame both sides equally.
Come on, get off your fanny.
This is an issue.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: In 2016, Sisler started a monthly political discussion group called
Jib Jab.
He introduced us to a few of his friends, all Republicans who strongly support President
Trump.
GENE PATTERSON, Florida: He has reached out to groups of people who were forgotten before.
This president has restored faith in a lot of those people.
FRAN PLUMMER, Florida: Immigration is a big problem right now.
This bothers me.
GARY SISLER: The Puerto Ricans, of course, they automatically can vote coming in.
I'm kind of bothered by that.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: What do you think of Democrats looking at young people and people of color
as the way to get this blue wave in Florida?
ROBERTA DICKINSON-PATTERSON, Florida: I don't like it.
To me, that's what's happening.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Three groups, retirees, young voters, and an influx of Puerto Ricans,
all could have a major impact on election night, just one week away -- Judy.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Yamiche Alcindor in Miami, thank you.
On the West Coast of Florida this week toxic algae have started to appear.
As Lisa Desjardins reports, it has again shed a spotlight on the importance of the environment
in these elections.
LISA DESJARDINS: Rob Merlino spends as much time as he can on the water here in Venice,
near Sarasota, on Florida's west coast.
A self-employed marketer, he likes to say the pier is his home office.
ROB MERLINO, Florida: Oh, I got something.
LISA DESJARDINS: In recent months, though, he was forced off the water.
His piece of paradise where he moves to enjoy life has been plagued by environmental problems.
He showed us the water today.
ROB MERLINO: This is not what it would look like normally.
It would be more of a bright green when it's churned up with the sand.
This is bad.
LISA DESJARDINS: And his pictures of it last year.
ROB MERLINO: See how turquoise it is?
LISA DESJARDINS: Yes.
ROB MERLINO: That's what it should look like.
LISA DESJARDINS: In Florida, a host of water problems are rising as election issues.
The toxic red tide algae spread from the Gulf Coast to Miami, burning beachgoers' eyes and
lungs and killing fish, dolphins, sea turtles and manatees by the dozen.
"PBS NewsHour" reported on this crisis earlier this fall.
In other areas of the state, Lake Okeechobee and on the Atlantic Coast, slimy, rancid blooms
of green blue algae spurred health warnings.
And, in South Florida, there are rising concerns about rising sea levels and climate change.
And this year, the environment has become a political force, especially in Florida's
U.S. Senate race.
The Republican candidate, Governor Rick Scott, saw his polling numbers go south as red tide
algae bloomed.
Scott's opponent says he cut budgets for the environmental programs and that, under his
administration, state workers were told not to use the term climate change.
This is why Scott lost libertarian and usually Republican voting Merlino, who can't believe
he's heading toward a vote for Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson.
ROB MERLINO: I know I'm not going to vote for Rick Scott.
Bill Nelson is woefully ineffective as a senator.
Rick Scott has been overtly harmful as a governor.
So I will choose woefully ineffective over overtly harmful every day.
MAN: We want to make sure that people know whatever goes in that drain is going to end
up in the Gulf.
LISA DESJARDINS: Issues that motivated families on Saturday morning labeling storm drains
to try and prevent chemical dumping, which feeds algae blooms and exacerbates red tide.
DEB TAMARGO, Florida: Water is probably the most important issue.
LISA DESJARDINS: Tampa real estate agent and lifelong resident Republican Deb Tamargo has
been built her life around the water and the outdoors.
She believes Rick Scott will help, pointing to his leadership during recent hurricanes,
saying he only cut environmental funding during lean years, and has increased it recently.
She believes voting a straight Republican ticket would mean more help from Washington
and the Trump administration at a pivotal time.
DEB TAMARGO: We have a rare opportunity to elect Ron DeSantis as our governor, Rick Scott
as our senator.
As long as Donald Trump is in the White House, this is a trifecta for the environment.
This is a win for the environment.
MAN: Clean water!
LISA DESJARDINS: Meantime, some Floridians are organizing and rallying in reaction to
the growing algae problems.
Democrat Nadine Mrowicki is part of a nonpartisan group, Hands Along the Water.
Do you think the environment could swing this election?
NADINE MROWICKI, Florida: Absolutely.
The people I have talked to in these -- all these groups that I'm with for clean water,
I'm talking to longtime Republicans, and they're voting Democrat because of water.
We're not going red or blue or purple or green.
We're going water.
LISA DESJARDINS: These roadside rallies got smaller after red tides subsided a few weeks
ago, but the winds off the Gulf Coast are shifting back, again pushing red tide waters
toward what usually are some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and potentially again
shifting the political tides in a major election year.
For the "PBS NewsHour," Lisa Desjardins in Venice, Florida.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And now for a special Florida edition of Politics Monday, I'm joined here
in Tampa by NPR White House correspondent Tamara Keith and Susan MacManus, who is a
longtime political analyst in this state.
It's great to have you both here with me.
TAMARA KEITH, National Public Radio: Great to be here.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Tam, so you have been looking at the national map in this election season.
But put Florida in context.
Why does this state matter so much?
TAMARA KEITH: I can tell you it does matter so much, because it's not just about 2018.
It's also about 2020.
And there are -- there's this very competitive governor's race that matters a lot to President
Trump, because who the governor of Florida is in 2020 will matter for that election.
Of course, there's also this very competitive Senate race and a number of competitive House
races as well, because Florida is this battleground.
JUDY WOODRUFF: It's a battleground, Susan MacManus.
And, as you know from watching elections here, it's a state where elections are close.
Tell us about that.
SUSAN MACMANUS, Florida Political Analyst: The last four big elections, two governor's
races and two presidential, the margin of victory has just been 1 percent.
There's no other state that is that competitive.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And you were telling me this morning the changing demographics, the makeup
of the voting electorate here is what's making the outcome here uncertain.
SUSAN MACMANUS: Definitely.
So many people still think of Florida as a retiree-only state.
But the real, real news this election cycle is the rise of the younger electorate.
Fully 52 percent of our current registered voters are from the three youngest generations.
That would be Generation X, the millennials, and Generation Z.
They're not particularly interested in registering with either party.
There are a lot of them registering as no party affiliation.
And they are just up for grabs.
They're very energized by someone who can talk to them about their issues and communicate
and inspire.
I like to say they're looking for new faces in high places.
And they're kind of a wild card.
If they show up, one candidate is going to win, if they don't, the other.
That's how much clout they have this election cycle.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And much more diverse than the older generation here.
SUSAN MACMANUS: The older generations are largely white.
The younger generation is largely minority.
In fact, the youngest generation is a majority non-white.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Tamara, President Trump is a factor in this election, no doubt about
it.
He's coming here.
But you and I were just talking about the really divided messages they're sending.
TAMARA KEITH: Right.
So, President Trump has two more rallies here between now and Election Day.
He has one in Fort Myers and one in Pensacola.
The congressional districts he's going to are not in play.
These are solid red Republican districts, where he is going to go hold a typical Trump
rally that is designed to fire up the base, where he talks about the caravan, and he talks
about how terrible Democrats are.
Then you have the Trump campaign announcing today -- releasing this ad that it's going
to run.
President Trump isn't in the ad at all.
And the ad is really aimed at these suburban white women, who have become a central focus
of the midterms, and soft focus.
And there's -- there's a woman with her family.
And President Trump is simply not present in those ads.
Meanwhile, at his rallies, he's saying, I'm on the ballot.
Even if I'm not on the ballot, I'm on the ballot.
Vote for me.
JUDY WOODRUFF: We heard the voters that I interviewed, Susan, earlier saying that the
president is -- people have strong feelings about him one way or another.
How much of a factor do you think he is?
SUSAN MACMANUS: He's in practically every ad, maybe not that one.
But everyone knows that this is sort of a referendum on the president.
It's hardened Republican support for him, some who were wavering.
And it's certainly hardened Democratic opposition to him.
He is clearly a big factor.
And his favorability is a little bit higher in this state than in some other places.
So, surely, his last-minute appearances are designed to turn out the base, but particularly
in Fort Myers, because that's an area where the environmental issues have been so bad,
that some of the Republicans voted for his opponent in a -- in the primary.
So he's got to pull those people back on board.
JUDY WOODRUFF: As we get closer to Election Day, of course, so much of the news, so much
of our attention is focused on the terrible events of the last several days, Tam, the
horrible shooting at the synagogue in Pittsburgh, before that, the pipe bomb.
There was a shooting at a grocery store in Kentucky against two black Americans.
As you talk to voters in the state and the candidates, how much of that division is showing
up?
TAMARA KEITH: The division is absolutely there.
Voters -- basically, Democrats think that there is something wrong with Republicans,
and Republicans think that there is something wrong with Democrats.
It is not just about policy anymore.
It's very personal in the way that our politics have -- have gone.
Usually, after an election, you move on.
2016 isn't over yet.
Those fights are still being fought.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Susan, again, you and I were having a conversation about how, for
all the criticism of President Trump, the reaction even to these terrible crimes, hate
crimes, is divided here.
SUSAN MACMANUS: It is very divided.
And I think what I'm hearing from a lot of people I have spoken to is a sadness, sadness
about the direction the country is in.
And it's worrisome.
And it is true that each side sees the other is more vitriolic than their own.
But everyone, I think, is just grasping for some kind of reality and some kind of civility
in politics.
What we're watching here is, is this turn of events, this heavily violent way we're
going, going to keep some voters from voting at all?
We don't know that.
Or will it energize?
But I think, overall, I just hear the word, I'm really sad about America's direction.
TAMARA KEITH: One thing that I'm going to be looking for in the next few days is, how
does this affect the president's approval rating?
The president's approval rating is often very much tied to midterm outcomes.
His approval had been ticking up.
But in the past, after events like Charlottesville last year, his approval took a real hit.
And it's not clear whether his response to these events, where he has he has -- he has
said that anti-Semitism is wrong and needs to be condemned, then at the same time going
to a rally and saying Hillary Clinton's name in a way, and the crowd starts chanting "Lock
her up," is -- is he going to be rewarded or punished by voters for that?
SUSAN MACMANUS: And even today, we have had a shooting into a Republican headquarters
over in Volusia County.
It just doesn't stop.
It's so troubling to Americans.
JUDY WOODRUFF: It's certainly cast a shadow as we get close to this Election Day.
Tamara Keith, Susan MacManus, thank you both so much.
SUSAN MACMANUS: Thank you.
TAMARA KEITH: You're welcome.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And that's the "NewsHour" for tonight.
From Tampa, I'm Judy Woodruff.
Join us online and again tomorrow night.
For all of us at the "PBS NewsHour," thank you, and we'll see you soon.
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