Began, people started to scratch the surface, i suppose, people started to go, well, weve got that here. Woodruff all that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. With fidelity wealth management, a dedicated advisor can tail advice and recommendations to your life. Thats fidelity wealth management. The william and flora hewlett foundation. For more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. At www. Hewle. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff day one of the confirmation hearings for judge Amy Coney Barrett is in the books, and the battle for this u. S. Supreme court seat has been joined. President trump and republicans are pushing to put a conservative stamp on the high court for years to come. Democrats are warning of what that could mean. John yang begins our coverage. The hearing to confirm judge amy barrett to the Supreme Court will now begin. Yang in an appropriately distanced Senate Hearing room, Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett appeared before a divided Senate Judiciary committee and a divided nation. Wearing a mask, barrett was backed by her husband and six of their seven children. In her first public rerks since being nominated, she told senators her judicial philosophy was inspired by her mentor the late justice antonin scalia, for whom she was a clerk. It was the content of Justice Scalias reasoning that shaped me. His judicial philosophy was straightforward a judge must apply the law as written, not as the judge wishes it were. Yang she said making policy belongs to lawmakers, not judges. Courts are not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life. The policy decisions and value judgments of government must be made by the political branches elected by and accountable to the people. The public should not expect courts to do so, and courts should not try. Yang but policy was what democrats focused on. They said her confirmation was being fasttracked this Election Year so she would be on the bench for oral arguments november 10 in a case 20 republicanled states brought against the Affordable Care act or a. C. A. The big, secretive influences behind this unseemly rush see this nominee as a judicial torpedo they are firing the aca. Yang democrats spoke of constituents who they said would Lose Health Insurance if the a. C. A. Was struck down in the middle of a pandemic. The consequences of judge barretts confirmation would be devastating for millions of americans who would lose their healthcare during this pandemic. Yang some of barretts republican defenders said her potential vote on the a. C. A. Case should not be prejudged. You stand accused of intending to violate your oath before you even take it. Further, our democratic colleagues want you to guarantee a result in a case as a quid pro quo for your confirmation, its outrageous. Yang democrats renewed their objections to filling the vacancy so close to election day. There is no precedent in our nations history for confirming a Supreme Court nominee this close to a president ial election in which a majority of states are already voting. Yang speaking from her office, Committee Member and Vice President ial nominee Kamala Harris said lawmakers should instead be aiding financially strapped americans. Senate republicans have made it Crystal Clear that rushing a Supreme Court nomination is more important than helping and supporting the American People who are suffering from a deadly pandemic and a devastating economic crisis. Yang republicans said they were simply fulfilling their constitutional duty. The senate is today exercising its duty to move forward with processing this nomination like the vast majority of senates in the past have done every time this has happened. Yang barrett describes herself as a faithful catholic, and in her 2017 confirmation for the appeals court, some democrats raised her faith in the context of abortion rights. Today, it was only republicans who brought it up. When you tell somebody that theyre too catholic to be on the bench, when you tell somebody theyre going to be a catholic judge, not an american judge, thats bigoy. The pattern and practice of bigotry from members of this committee must stop. Its really quite simple what your opponents are doing they are attacking you, as a mom and a woman of faith, because they cannot attack your qualifications. Yang todays first of a scheduled four days of hearings lacked the usual charged atmosphere of a highstakes Supreme Court nomination. Because of covid19. The only spectators allowed were a small number of journalists and staff. Some senators appeared remotely. But outside the Hart Senate Office building, barrett supporters gathered, while a block away, on the steps of the Supreme Court building supporters and opponents faced off. Committee chair Lindsey Graham predicted that when all was said and done, the outcome would not be surprising. This is probably not about persuading each other unless something really dramatic happens, all republicans will vote yes and all democrats will vote no. Yang tomorrow, barrett is to begin two days of scheduled questioning. For the pbs newshour, im john yang. Woodruff and john, as well as our lisa dejsardins, join me now. Woodruff so, lisa, to you first, this is clearly not your usual Supreme Court hearing. We are in the middle of a poofg. Pandemic. Tell us how that affected what happened today . Being in the room, it was surreal, judy. There were a fraction of the usual number of people in it. Now, most people there wore masks. The capital physician had measured the distance between each piece of furniture, and that led to something john rported about there was less charge in the air, more of a sense of control, i think it was. Less of the usual tension, i think, because of this plotted out logistics. Also of note was senator mike lee of utah was physically in the room at all 10 days after being diagnosed with the coronavirus. He says a physician has cleared him. But the question of masks overrides everything at the capitol. They asked lawmakers to wear masks when they interview us. And i want to play some tape when mark meadows was asked to do that . Ill tell you what. Let me do this. Let me pull this away. Yep, pull away. And then that way i can take this off to talk. Im more than 10 feet away. Well, im not going to talk through a mask. Ill glad to answer questions. There you seehe trky politics here. Meadows decided not to spearather than speak with a mask. Woodruff really interesting, lisa. And we saw in johns report, there were activists outside, supporters of judge barrett, and perhaps others. Tell us about who was there. What were they saying . Reporter there were two different scenes, as you saw, on the steps of the Supreme Court, more intense and confrontational. Where i was at the senate building, the crowd outside were supporters of Amy Coney Barrett. Lets look at some photos of them. These people were joyous. They were a lot of women, some said they were republicans. Many were conservatives, all of them conservatives, and many of them moms. And they said they saw Amy Coney Barrett as the kind of example theyve hoped for, in fact, a reflection of themselves. I think in the way that when Justice Sotomayor took to the bench, a lot of hispanic people, and especially young girls, saw her as inspiring. These working moms see in Amy Coney Barrett a woman of faith and a successful mom, someone that reflects them on the court in a way they havent seen before. Woodruff and john, back to you. You did cite in your report how so many of the democrats referred to their concern about what judge barrett would do if she was on the court about Upcoming Court cases about the Affordable Care act. What is it in what she has said or writ then that written s them concern. Reporter after john roberts in 2012 interpreted the penalty in the individual mandate, that people have to buy insurance as a tax, she wrote then Law School Professor barrett wrote in a law school review, an essay, chief Justice John Roberts pushed the Affordable Care act beyond its plausible meaning to stay the statute. In other words, he had a goal in mind and found a reason to do it. That is exactly what the opt sit of texturalists say you should do when you interpret laws. And the argument that will be presented to the law on november 10th is a particularly texturalists argument. They said it doesnt matter what Congress Said it intended to do when they took away that tax well, actually, they set the tax at zero. They say the mandate remains because the word shall remains in the law, and that is forcing americans, they say, to enter into a commercial contract to buy health insurance, and they say that is unconstitutional. Woodruff we are certainly going to hear a lot more about that tomorrow. John yang, lisa desjardins, thank you both. Woodruff and we hope you will woodruff please join us tomorrow morning for the second day of live coverage of these hearings in the confirmation of judge amy barrett to the u. S. Supreme court. Thats starting at 9 00 a. M. Eastern, 7 00 central on pbs, eastern, 8 00 central on pbs, and online at our website, on youtube and our other social platforms. Woodruff the 2020 president ial campaign headed to key battleground states today. But as Yamiche Alcindor reports, the candidates kept an eye on the confirmation hearing in washington. Alcindor for former Vice President joe biden, the supreme urt stakes are clear. Its about finally getting his wish to wipe out the Affordable Health care act. Because their nominee said in the past the law should be struck down. Alcindor for Vice President pence, barretts nomination and confirmation hearing are about standing up for religious liberty. Some democrats have raised questions about whether barrett, a devout catholic, can separate her faith from her judicial rulings. To live, to work, to worship according to the dictates of our faith and conscience lives in the constitution of the United States of america. Alcindor both biden and pence spent the afternoon in ohio, where early voting started last week. Four years ago, President Trump won the state by about eight points. But recent polls show biden and trump in a statistical tie. Since the pandemic began, the state has lost about 40,000 manufacturing jobs. Campaigning with auto workers in a socially distant drivein rally, biden touted his experience leading the 2008 economic recovery, a recovery he says President Trump squandered. Were in a manufacturing recession because of donald trump even before the covid virus hit. Alcindor meanwhile, President Trump touted the stock market and job numbers. He also attacked his opponent on twitter, writing sleepy joe wants to quadruple your taxes. Depression over the weekend, President Trump returned to publ events. He held an official white house event on the south lawn that felt more like a campaign rally. On saturday, hundreds packed the lawn wearing red hats and with little social distancing. The president , who is still recovering from covid19, spoke from the balcony about law and order. In a letter, white house doctor sean conley said President Trump is no longer considered a transmission risk to others. Today, the president officially returns to the campaign trail for a rally in florida, just one week after leaving the hospital. Kicking off the final three week sprint to election day. For the pbs newshour, im Yamiche Alcindor. Woodruff in the days other news, inperson, early voting kicked off in georgia, after a federal judge rejected a switch to handmarked paper ballots, as requested by Election Security groups. Activists had cited unting problems with new, touchscreen voting machines. But there were long lines in atlanta and elsewhere after systems used to check in voters stopped working. The same problem happened in the states ne primary. Meanwhile, in minnesota, a federal judge upheld an agreement to count absentee ballots received up to seven days after election day. Covid19 is forcing more countries to take drastic new steps. In england, lockdown rules announced today could involve reclosing pubs and bars in certain areas. British Prime MinisterBoris Johnson outlined a tiered system to replace piecemeal restrictions. This local approach has inevitably produced different sets of rules in different parts of the country that are now complex to understand and to enforce. We will now simplify and standardize our local rules by introducing a three tiered system of local coded alert levels in england at medium, high and very high. Woodruff elsewhere, officials in france have put nine cities, including paris, under maximum alert, due to outbreaks. And, all nine million peoplen the chinese city of qingdao will be tested in the next five days, after a spate of cases at a hospital. Back in this country, remnants of hurricane delta blew out to sea today after soaking the mid atlantic. The storm made landfall in louisiana on friday night, and killed at least two people. It caused widespread flooding and Power Outages that left thousands of people still in the dark today. Facebook now says it will ban any content that denies or distorts the holocaust. Users will be redirected to credible information about the killing of six million jews by the nazis. A Company Official says the move follows a year of consultation with outside experts on antisemitic stereotypes. Two americans have won the nobel prize in economics for improving auction theory, which has led to better allocation of scarce resources. Paul milgrom and robert wilson, both of stanford university, are credited with inventing formats to use to sell such things as old broadcast frequencies for new, 5g networks. And the question is, how do we get that stuff out of its old use and reorganize to put it into new uses . Those are really complicated transactions. And they were beyond the reach of traditional economic models. So we created new models to make that work. Woodruff milgroms and wilsons work also underlies sales of Online Advertising and auctions of pollution credits in some countries. On wall street today, tech stocks again led the market higher. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 250 points to close at 28,837. The nasdaq rose 296 points, 2. 5 , and, the s p 500 added 57. The Los Angeles Lakers are atop the professional basketball world again, for the 17th time. They beat the miami heat last night, in a finals played in the leagues sequestered bubble at Walt Disney World in florida. And, baseball has lost another one of its greats. Joe morgan died sunday, of a nerve condition. He played second base for cincinnatis big red machine that won two world series in the 1970s. He was also a 10time allstar, and had a long career as a broadcaster. Joe morgan was 77 years old. Still to come on the newshour Indigenous Peoples worldwide show their support for the black lives Matter Movement. Former Trump Campaign aide rick gates discusses his former bosss turbulent presidency. How one competitive congressional race in texas could be a sign of things to come. And much more. Woodruff while protests in the u. S. Over Police Killings of black people have led to a reckoning over racism here, Indigenous Peoples overseas have used this spotlight to show solidarity and highlight similar issues in their own countries. And a cultural warning to some of those indigenous communities in this report we discuss, and show, people who have lost their lives. Heres amna nawaz. Nawaz it was the moment that sparked a movement. Shining a light, worldwide, on the treatment of native and Indigenous Peoples, who, like black americans, are disproportionately jailed and killed by police. In canada, black lives matter marches filled the streets in the months after George Floyds death. An outpouring of pentup frustration by canadians of color, born, in part, of a fraught and fractured history between Law Enforcement and indigenous populations. Get back in the car nawaz in june, the Violent Arrest of native chief allan adam, pulled over for a