Today. Mutual of america financial grp, Retirement Services and investments. Additional support has been provided by er consellular. And by and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation fundedy the american people. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Sreenivasan good evening, and thank you for joining us. President trump held his first inperson event since returning the white house from Walter Reed National military medical center, even though its unclear if he is still contagious with he revealed his fisitive test less than nine days ago. The president spoke toit a crowd of i guests from a white house balcony overlooking the south lawn. Ell, im feeling great. I dont know about you. Hows everybody doing . cheers and applause sreenivasan much of the speech addressed campaignis es, and it featured multiple attacks on his democratic opponent, former Vice President joe biden. But, white house spokesperson judd deere told reporters the speech was an ofcial event and the campaign was not involved. This is the singlt important election in the history of our country. Get out and vote. And i love you. Thank you. Thank you. Sreenivasan in a pretaped inwrview that aired on fox s last night, the president said he was medicationfree as of the previous eight hours. He said he was retestebufor covid19claimed he did not know the results. I have been retested, and i havent even found out numbers or anything yet, b ive been retested and i know im at, either the bottom of the scale, or f sreenivasan in his speech today, the president did not mention his covid test results. His doctor has not answertied s since last monday, and no one has released information on whethe president last tested negative for the virus. Mr. Trump has already announced he will travel to florida onmo ay for a campaign rally. On his way to a Campaign Event in pennsylvania late ts afternoon, Vice President biden said he tested negative for the coronavirus today. Before i came out again tay to go somewhere, i had another test this morning, and im clear. I think its important t president makes sure of two things. One, that he is clear. He is not a spreader, like his like dr. Fauci said, the super spreader event he had for the Supreme Court announcement. And secondly, think its important that he make it clear to all the people that they should be socially dised. They c be on the lawn, thats fine. But in fact, they should be socially distanced and wearing masks. Made landfall in lsiana lastlta night, starting as a categor w2 storm, andkening as it made its way north. Delta struck just a few miles away from e area ravaged by hurricane laura six weeks ago, bringing heavy winds and rain lake charles. Ydamaged city of as the storm moved inland today, much of louisiana remained under flood warnings, and hundreds of thousands e without power. Delta is the tenth named storm to hit t continental u. S. , breaking a record. Sreenivasan for more on thee storm and thrdsetting Hurricane Season, i spoke with merfteorologist jen no with the Weather Channel, who joined us from atlanta. Jen, first, how bad was the storm that just landed . Hurricane deltaas a strong category two, and first of all, we saw it sort of menacing the gulf coa a cat3. R hurricane. Winds 120 miles per hour. And the problem was, it was ilding up water at that time, least eightfoot surge. We saw at those numbers can never be verified until days or even weeks after the storm makes landfall. Measured at 100 miles per hour. We saw that at texas point. We saw 96 mileperhour nds in lake charles, which is still reeling from hurricane laura so this was a tough hit for the state of louisiana. Sreenivasan and when those storm surges hit i mean, there are so mantiny little communities that are along the water. Its incalculable, the damage that the storm surge does, versus the actual wind and rain. The storm surge has so much power. Just think about the force of water. Just think about trying to walk when yre at the beach and you you wa in the water coming up to the edge and it moves you, right . I mean, at level of force is there. But think about it up to six feet, seven fe, even up to 11 ft we know is possible with this. So thats really the big concert is those commus right there by the water that were prone to storm surge to begin with. They were going to get anywheref from eight to t of storm surge into their homes. Sreenivasan whatsn ppening to the gulf coast this Hurricane Season . What a Hurricane Season we have had. Ten landfalls of tropiorms and hurricanes. Thats a new record, that beats a record back in 1916. But weve had four alone just on e e coast of louisiana. And you look at end this season so many have hit the gu g coast. And s back to just the pattern that weve been stuck in. Big ridge of High Pressure over the lantic nosing in, and just a little bit of a weakness that has allowed these storms to comn into the gulthen move up and hit the gulf coast. Sreenivasan and whenoes is end . I mean, we see we see tropical storms forming out in the ocean, and usually, wre like, well, ats going to just go ahead and die out. But this year, not so much. This is a year like no othera already at our 25th named storms. Weve had 26 storms. Weve about more than doubled what you would see in a typical season, and we still he a month and a half left to go in Hurricane Season. At this poinin the season, you typically look closer to home, the gulf of mexico, the western cabbean, right off the southeastern coast, for where storms will form. But i think anything goes this year. We still h right now active out in the Main Development region of the atlantic, and we just have to v stilant, i think well to the end of hricane season, which is november the 30th, buto probably even. Sreenivasan a lot of these go over warm waterrgy when they what does Climate Change have to do when it comes twarming the temperatures like the areas in the gulf coast to make these storms even worse . The hurcanes that have affected the u. S. Have gone throug meaning that they have gained more than 35mileperhour wind speeds in 24 hours. And that happens when theyre on and over really warm sea surface tempes. And when you have year after year of record warm temperatures both over land and over the water, thats going to build uep these deayers of warm water and allow for more rapid intensification to happen. So, whether we see more hurricanes or less, whats possible, most likely, is that o the strongs will get Even Stronger and well have more of sreenivasan jeagno from the Weather Channel joining us from atlanta. Thanks so much. Last night, a federal judge blocked Texas Governor greg abbotts order to limit theer nuf dropoff locations for mailin ballots in the state. Earlier this mon, abbott issued a proclamation that would allow only one ballot dropoff location per county. E judge wrote that the move would limit voters by creating voter confusion, and dismissed the governors claim that the measure would reduce fraud. Texas has strict limitations for mailin voting, only allowing voters who are either 65 and older, sick, disabled, oor will be away from their home county during the Voting Period to apply for mailin ballots. In another ruling on ballot drop boxes, a federal judge in campaign lawsuit seeking to ban the boxes in that state today. The judge said the campaign did not meet the burden of proof that the dropf boxes would create ballot fraud. Toross the u. S. , new cases of covid19 continuise. According to the new york times, cases are nearing record highs in the upper midwest and Rocky Mountain states. Thtimes database shows an average of 47,759 cases per day st week, a 12 increase in cases from two weeks ago, but still well below the peak average rate of more than 66,000 per day in late july. As of this morning, the times reports that since the new corovirus reached the u. S. Last winter, it has infected nearly 7. 7 Million People in the united states, and killed at least 213,500. Deaths are now averaging around 700 per day this month, below reco levels, but far more than were reported in early july. Globally, there are now more than 36 million confirmed covid19 ces, and more than one Million People have died, according to johnsopkins univrsity. In iran day, residents of tehran were ordered taso wear face when they are in public spaces, both indoors and outdoors. Iran has the highest rate of infectns and deaths from covid19 in the middle east. This week, the country dd a record 2ths. In russia, temporary hospitals built to treat coronavirus patients reopened in moscow yesterday, after a Record Number of new infection russia recorded more than 12,000 new cases, the highest daily increase since the start of thee pamic. After nearly two weeks of intense fighting for control of the hnicaenian enclave of nagornokarabakh, the former soviet republics of rbaijan and armenia agreed to a limited the conflict has caimed the lives of hundreds of soldiers and dozens of civilians. Special correspondent Simon Ostrovsky is in the rebel region and brings us an update. Hes bn reporting with support from the pulitzer center. Reporter the foreign minists of armenia and azerbaijan met in scow overnight to hammer out a ceasefire, which came into effect earlier today at noon. Up until the noon deadline, hostilities contind. You could hear sirens here in oushi, and in the capital the selfdeclared Nagorno Karabakh republic, stepanakert. That ceasefire hasholding. Like however, along the front line, where we dont have access, the defense ministries of both countries claim fighting nentinues. Vertheless, the ceasefire is a respite for those in urban areas. Weve seen ordinary residents come back out into the streets after spending over week ins. Bomb shelt just yesterday, this church in shus was struck twice by a rocket or by shelling, and wer told tur or five people were injured here. Was injured seriously. St, im holding in my hands eaeces this building par eally. Ed we spolier to the deacon of this church. Were you here yesterday when this happened . Yes, i was here. And i camehe first. G there was lyinthe journalist. By my car, i i went to hospital in stepanakert. Reporter how many people were injured here . Maybe four or five. Reporter injured yes. It is a miracle that no one was killed in this place. Te rep the two ministers of the two warring nations agreedo have a ceasefire for humanitarian purposes, in order for them to be able to collect their dead and some of their wounded from the battlefield. This is not a peace deal, and the ceasefire was agreed to last for just several days. S hostilitcod resume at any point. Sreenivasan north Korean Leader kim jongun presented what appeared to be new interconnental Ballistic Missiles at a military parade celebrating the 75th anniversary of the countrys rulingar. The north Korean Leader warned s te television that his country will fully mobilize defensive measure. L as a he did not name any countries as targets. Analysts say the new missile, shn on an 11axle transporter vehicle, is bigger than any seen before in north korea, and could be one of the wods lae,est roadmobiquidfuele missiles, if it becomes operational. President trump last met with kim jongun in june 2019 athe Demilitarized Zone between north and south korea. Envoys for the two countries have met since then, but there have not been any new denuclearization talks between President Trump and kim jongun. Sreenivasan for more national and international news, visit www. Pbs. Org newshour. Sreenivasan negotiations over funding for a new stimulus package seem to have stalled again today. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the administrations 1. 8 trillion offer insunt, in part over what democrats say is inadequate funding for state d local govements. In our continuing series, roads to election 2020, we take you to the state of maine, whereal businesses that typically rely on a summer filled with tourists have been shutteringof since the starhe pandemic. For some, survival has come dowt ir ability to pay the rent. But with no agreement in sight on a new relief package, the future remains bleak for many more. Newshour weekends Christopher Booker has our story. Reporter october is a funny siness in maine. Warm days and cold nights; new englands northern tip offers a confusing waltzth betweeseasonal past and whats to come. But this october is particularly difficult to read. After a summer nearly cancelled by the pandemic, the fall is offering portland a few extra ances at economic recovery. But winter is coming, and the brief resumption of business made possible by warmer ather, and outdoor space, is in its final days. Well, if we continue to get weather like this, well be in pretty good shape. But its portland, and we know that that wont cont. Ue for too lo ganization that works toprofit support and promote 400 local independent and small businesses. We surveyed members during the height of what would normally be the busy season, and about a third of them said they were considering permanently closing. R orter considering closing because this past summer was not really summer at all. Normally, the Summer Season helps rry businesses through the slower winter months, but july and august brought only a fraction of the normal traff to portlands downtown businesses, ansales were down substantially. Initially, the cares act the 2. 2 trillion stimulus package paed in march allowed businesses to use a percentage of bailoutunds to pay their rent. But, scott says, only 11 of the businesses she works with were able to receive support for their rent. And now, that help has dried up. There doesnt seem to be a new program that will be arriving anytime soon. Ev ything from restaurants to real estate have been really suffering. Eyve seen a decline in reporter this t forced . Damian sansonneti and his wife ilma lopez to close their restaurant, piccolo. D when portlstaurants were allowed to open up for dinein customers, sansonetti and loz owed 20,000 in back rent,cu aclated during the shutdown, a time when piccolo had not been their landlord wasilling to negotiate their rate Going Forward. Unfortunately, due to covidnd and the ic, a 20seat intimate restaurant with the needed necessities of what you have to do cant survive. So we unrtunately had to close permanently that restaurant. Reporter but sansonneti d his wife are in a somewhat enviable position. They have another restaurant, chaval. Opened three years ago, in large part due to the success of piccolo, chavals winter outlook is a bit better. Sansonneti andis wife own the blding. Its definitely been an advantage for us. But at the same time, its also, we need to make moey to pay the mortgage, because, you know, our house and everything elsis tied to reporter this business. The business. Ep ter like nearly every other restaurant in the country, chaval was forced to pivot to takeout, and since july, limited outdoor dining. You think youre doing compared to a year ago . Were pbably doing 50 to 60 less of our business than we were, compared to a year ago. Reporte but not every business in portland has been able to pivot, and with the the coming winter looks even, more ominous. The State Theatre in Downtown Portland hosted its how on march 11 at the time, general managerho lauren wayneht the shutdown would only be temporary. And i just tried to reassuret peopt this wasnt a longterm thing, because at that time, we had no idea. And then, you know, two weeks after that, it was different again. And so we met again, and the closure was longer. By that point, we had to lay off most of our if not all of our parttime staff, and our seasonal staffand that was that was really hard. Reporter how many people . That was about 170 people. And some of these people have been with us sorry. Since we reopened in 2010. So it was reallyifficult, and still very difficult. Reporter i can imagine. S and then yll had your permanent staff . We still had our ten full me staff members, which as great. And, you know, without, think, the p. P. P. Loan, that would have different. But its just not enough. And so i had to lay off 40 f my fulltime staff in july, starting in august. And we are all nla on reduced es and reduced hours whats remaining of us. Es reporter te the staggering losses, like chaval, the State Theatre is in an enviable pition the Parent Company owns the building. Theatre opening its doors again under normal circumstances until a year from now, while their smaller venue just down the block,ort city music hall, is closed for good. This is an absolutely dire situation. Op we have noin opening this year. I mean, what busin gs can surviverating zero revenue for over a year . I dont know any business or e dust that can. So if we do not me kind of targeted federal legislation tos ndustry in particular, it will be massive closures across the whole country. And in portland, maine, in particular, thats going to hurt really b. Businesses arent the only ones who are worrying about what comes next. I was in municipal government, i was on the school board during the great recession, and we would gladly go back to that, frankly. Reporter ustin costa has been a portland city councilman for six years. The uncertainty is sgreat,steep, that all you can try to do is spread t pain as equitably as possible. Reporter at the end of september, the city announced it was eliminating 65 positions, mainly in parks and recreation. We know that ultimately, for st businesses, this is about cash flow, and the city is only the smallest player in that. What we really need is continuing support from the federal government. Thats thenly thing thats really going to make a dent in the issues that most businessest are facing row. Reporter because its not ke theres m