November 4, 2020 - PBS NewsHour full episode

Several U.S. states were still counting ballots Wednesday, and some of them will decide the outcome of the presidential race. We get updates from Daniel Bush in Pennsylvania, William Brangham in Michigan, Zac Schultz of PBS Wisconsin, Miles O’Brien in Georgia and John Ralston of the Nevada Independent about the election status in those five states.

What shifts in the electoral map drove results in the 2020 presidential and congressional races? Amna Nawaz and Lisa Desjardins review the data behind outcomes for President Trump, former Vice President Joe Biden and party control of the House and Senate.

Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report and host of the podcast “Politics with Amy Walter” has been analyzing the results of Tuesday’s election. She joins Judy Woodruff to provide insights and help us understand why voters made the decisions they did.

In our news wrap Wednesday, COVID-19 continues its march across the U.S., with 92,000 new cases reported in the last 24 hours. The United Kingdom is bracing for the start of a new lockdown, while Europe’s worst hot spot, Belgium, reported slowing hospitalizations for the first time in a month. Also, Central America has spent a long day in the grips of Tropical Storm Eta.

President Trump has made it clear he is willing to challenge the results of state vote counts that have not yet been completed. What legal recourse do candidates have in this situation? Amna Nawaz talks to Tammy Patrick, an expert on election administration with the Democracy Fund and a former Arizona election official, and Stanford Law School’s Nate Persily of the Healthy Elections Project.

Former Vice President Joe Biden was declared the winner of Michigan’s electoral votes Wednesday evening by the Associated Press. Although some votes are still being counted, Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s secretary of state, said she has been impressed by the efficiency of election workers in delivering accurate results. Benson joins Judy Woodruff to discuss Michigan’s process and progress.