November 5, 2020 - PBS NewsHour full episode

What’s happening on the ground in the critical states where ballots are still being counted -- and how many votes remain to be totaled? Judy Woodruff gets updates from Daniel Bush in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, William Brangham in Detroit, Michigan, and Miles O’Brien in Atlanta, Georgia.

Although uncertainty over the presidential race’s outcome is the dominant political story, there are still important congressional contests to settle, as well. Amna Nawaz and Lisa Desjardins provide an update on electoral votes, key Senate races in Georgia and North Carolina and the shifting balance of power in the House of Representatives.

President Trump and his allies continue to attack the integrity of the vote-counting process. They have taken multiple complaints to court across several of the battleground states that have yet to be called. Some lawsuits seek process changes, while others aim to invalidate specific votes. Election law expert Rick Hasen of the University of California, Irvine joins Jeffrey Brown to discuss.

While the U.S. is focused on the pending outcome of the presidential election, the pandemic is not on hold. The country has now crossed another unwelcome threshold: more than 100,000 new coronavirus cases recorded in a single day. Sixteen states have reached high for hospitalizations related to COVID-19. Dr. Carlos del Rio of Emory University School of Medicine joins Judy Woodruff to discuss.

In our news wrap Thursday, the Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate near zero, as was expected. Jerome Powell, chair of the Fed, spoke after a two-day policy meeting about the “extraordinarily uncertain” economic outlook. Also, the remains of Hurricane Eta dumped rain across Central America for a third day, hitting Honduras especially hard. The storm’s death toll rose to 19.

Ballots are still being counted in the battleground state of Arizona, although the Associated Press called the state for Joe Biden on Wednesday. Officials are set to release more vote totals later Thursday evening. Arizona’s top election official, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, joins Judy Woodruff to discuss processes and progress, the presence of election observers and the threat of litigation.