The road well traveled, visiting states he won four years ago. President trump returned to michigan, one of several battleground states he needs to win. He framed the election as a balance between what he would do for the economy and how his opponent would manage the pandemic. Its a choice between a trump boom or a biden lockdown. But youre already locked down. Biden is trying to flip states President Trump took in the last election. He headed to georgia, which hasnt been won by a democrat since 1992. He addressed the divisions in the country, with a question for americans as the heart of this nation turned to stone . I dont think so. I refuse to believe it. I know this country. I know our people. And i know we can unite and heal this nation. More than 67 million americans have already cast their ballots. Thats almost half the total number of votes counted four years ago. Aggregated polls from real clear politics suggest biden leads nationwide by more than seven percentage points. For some perspective, we turn to a journalist, our nhk bureau chief kono kenji. As we just saw, trump and biden are spending time in battleground states. How do you feel about the races in those states . In battleground states, its quite tight. You might see bidens lead in the National Poll and say hey, hes winning but hes not. His lead in battleground states is narrowing down to about four points. And when we talk to a prominent analyst who said that we should assume that there are sort of socalled shy Trump Supporters out there, even though its not proven statistically, but practically, they are out there, and that we should add one to two points to trumps rating. That means bidens lead would fall within the range of within the margin of error. So the race is quite close. Closer than people think. Hmm. Hillary clinton was ahead in the polls heading into the election four years ago, and we remember what happened then. She lost. How do you think biden and his team feel about their lead . They are concerned. They are concerned that they may repeat the same mistake again. They are really kind of traumatized what happened four years ago. But this time around, there are positive factors right there. Like biden is more popular than hillary clinton, and bidens favorabilities is higher than clintons and also trumps. And biden is more getting a lot of support from the black community, which is a core constituent of the democratic party. But they were not strong supporters of clinton four years ago. In addition, biden received more support from white women and seniors, after the majority of them supported trump four years ago. So these are good indications for bidens, but the Biden Campaign is still very cautious against complacency. Youve covered many president ial elections. How would you compare the strategies of the two campaigns . Well, i think its easy. President trump just keeps doing what hes been doing, like holding huge rallies, which is his favorite. Probably two or three times a day, because he believes that he can show hes strong enough, you know, not to worry about covid, and he can show that he can energize his base. And also the rallies are probably cost effective, because according to some reports, his campaign is running out of money. But the rallies will be covered by national and local news. So its almost like free airtime, right . On the other hand, biden is probably keep doing what hes doing so far. Hes what they called a drivein rallies, right . And then he can show that he is really serious about the threat of covid, and he cares about people. Instead of holding rallies that they can pour a lot of money into expensive air time, tv ads, because they have huge cash on hand. So thats a different story. Stark differences there. So what can we expect to see in the final week . Final week, you know, traditionally, the Republican Party is good at mobilizing voters at the end of the campaign. This is really happening now. In some of the Battle Ground states, you see increasing number of republican voter renl administratio registration, and that scares the democrats. So the democrats have expanded knocking on door operations, which they havent done for a while because of covid19 pandemic. But we only have one week before the election, and you see it was told in the news there are long lines, already boarding polls and people are already participating. So with time running out and less undecided voters, i guess the traditional grand operation would hold the key if the final days. Theyre in the last stretch of campaigning. Thank you very much for your insights, kenji. Thanks for having me. Of course, well have the latest from the campaign trail and beyond. Now, in other news out of the u. S. , authorities in philadelphia are struggling to quell a new round of protests. People are lashing out at the killing of another black man by police. Demonstrators took to the streets of the city to protest the shooting into the early hours of tuesday. Police cars and dumpsters were set on fire as officers ruggled to contain the crowds. Police sai 30 officers were injured, and more than 90 people were arrested. Several stores were looted. The man identified by officials as Walter Wallace was killed on monday afternoon in west philadelphia. Police officers had responded to a call about a man with a weapon. Officers ordered him to drop it several more times. Unfortunately did not and the officersdischarged their weapons striking the male. Police said one of the officers put wallace in a Police Vehicle and drove him to a hospital where he was later pronoupro pronounced dead. That will do it for us in new york. Now to our studio in tokyo. Thank you very much, catheri catherine. Here in asia, india and the u. S. Ha signed a pact to boost military cooperation in an apparent bid to contain chinas growing maritime activities. The agreement was signed on tuesday at a meeting of Foreign Affairs and defense chiefs in the indian capital of new delhi. It was the third time the u. S. And india have held the two plus two talks. The pact enables the u. S. To provide india with sensitive data, such as images taken by military satellites. They have agreed to allow their militaries to provide fuel and food and use each others bases. During our meetings, we reaffirmed the United States commitment to a comphensive and forward looking Defense Partnership with india, and discuss oppounities expand our Regional Security cooperation, militarytomilitary interactions, and defense trade relationship. Earlier this month, the u. S. And india held a Foreign Ministers meeting with japan and australia in tokyo. The foreign nations reaffirmed they will unite in realizing a free and open indopacific. Based on the rule of law. In the latest meeting the u. S. And indian countries welcomed a joint Maritime Exercise by the foreign nations that will be held next month in waters near india. A hong kong newspaper says four pro democracy activists have been turned away from the u. S. Consulate after trying to seek asylum. The South China Morning Post said it happened tuesday afternoon. Officials declined to comment on the matter. Hours earlier, police said they arrested three former members of a group that allegedly called for hong kongs independence, violating the National Security law. Local media say one of the suspects was detained near the consulate on Tuesday Morning after trying to seek asylum himself. Several prominent members of the Pro Democracy Movement have fled hong kong in recent months. They fear arrests under chinas new security law. Earlier this month, one student protestor was granted Refugee Status in germany. In august, chinese authorities detained 12 others who were allegedly traveling illegally by vote to try wan. As the coronavirus spreads rapidly in russia, serge lavrov is selfisolating after coming into contact with a person who tested positive. The virus spread faster in september than in the spring. Moscow is the epicenter of the outbreak. A representative of the theater said on tuesday that 124 performers and staff had tested positive. The speaker of the lower house of parlient reported to president vladamir putin on monday that 91 members of the chamber had been infected that. Is 20 of the seats. According to Johns Hopkins university in the u. S. , there have been more than 43. 8 million cases worldwide, and 1. 16 Million People have died. Lets check out the World Weather with our meteorologist tsietsi monare. So the typhoon that swept through the philippines is now wreaking havoc in other parts of southeast asia. How serious is it . Yeah, quite serious. The numbers are quite staggering in terms of the damage, the billions of dollars that its causing along vietnam, much of southeast asia. It is quite staggering there. We saw a very small island getting over 107 millimeters of rainfall in a period of 24 hours. Weve seen the storm moving very close towards vietnam. You can tell by wednesday morning it will basically touchdown in towards the coast of vietnam, where they have seen lots of storms by this time already. In october alone, there has been about six storms and brought some Copious Amounts of rainfall. This is going to continue, as well with this typhoon moving towards the central part into da nang. That region has seen damages in crops, homes flattened and hundreds of thousands of homes inundated or destroyed by floods and cattle have been lost in the region. 760,000 or so. So that is causing quite a lot. This is one of the strongest typhoons weve seen in 20 years. And if i zoom out just to show you the rest of asia, there is already another one developing, and this could become a typhoon by wednesday evening, possibly thursday and towards the weekend. It will be approaching much of vietnam again as we start off into november. So things are dire along the west pacific. In the north, beijing around 19 degrees. Seoul at 17 and calm weather for tokyo and a maximum of about 20. And then crossing over towards central america, around the yucatan peninsula, landfall of hurricane zeta. Its downgraded, but as it moves into the gulf of mexico, youll see it will get into open waters again. As it moves into the northnortheast direction, it will pick up momentum and strengthen into becoming another hurricane and that will bring severe conditions along the coast of the United States. Otherwise, just expect clear and dry weather and cold weather to dominate denver, oklahoma, and also sunny skies towards los angeles. Thats all your weather. Take care. And thats nhk newsline for this hour. Im Yamamoto Miki in tokyo. Please stay safe and healthy, wherever you are. Welcome to newsline in depth. Nearly five months have passed since the death of george floyd at the hands of u. S. Police. Even amid the pandemic, there has been no let up in the calls for an end to racial or other forms of discrimination. At the u. S. Open tennis championships in september, osaka naomi wore facemasks representing victims of Racial Injustice. The protests have become a key issue in the upcoming president ial election. Today, we meet american activist, the cofound of black lives matter and one of time magazines 100 most influential people of 2020. We spoke with her in august about activism in the age of covid19. We see that people are having to rise up now in this unique moment despite the fact that were in a Global Pandemic thats what is alarming to so many people, even in the midst of a time where people are at home and should be safe and fine and taking care of their loved ones at home, its still the case that black people are being targeted and are being killed cause the color of our skin is seen as though its a weapon in this country. Do you think that covid19 exposed unequality and disparity that exists in society . I say this because the people of color are so disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Yes, sadly people of color are largely impacted by the covid19 pandemic. Even though black people are only 13 of the population, we are probably 20 , 25 of those being impacted and dying from covid19. So we see that low income communities, largely communities of color, who are the ones most vulnerable in the midst of this pandemic. Its in fact because, you know, theyre the ones who are the most essential workers in the society. Were the ones who are many times working at the Grocery Stores who are in the essential work eer jobs, so the risk is increased for these communities. The risk are increased for black and crown communities. Opal was born to nigerian parents who migrated to the u. S. She grew up among a very Diverse Community of immigrants, and gradually became involved as an advocate for human rights, migrant rights and racial justice. No justice, no peace the birth of black lives matter ridge nated in a high profile incident that took place in 2012. The Fatal Shooting of 17yearold trayvon martin. While the black teenager was unarmed, the shooter claimed he acted in selfdefense and was acquitted of muer. Blalivesmter. Rung led her to found bck otr wome creating a social media platform where people can discrimination. Lings about since then, shes been encouraging people to protest every case of discrimination, turning black lives matter into a powerful slogan. Black lives matter in terms of how you operate, you said were just a hash tag, so youre not an organization, perhaps youre a platform . So black lives matter is an organization, as well as a platform. We of course we were and are decentralized. So there are chapters across the country using the black lives matter umbrella. I see. So as long as you put on the hash tag, you can be part of that movement . The movement is larger than just black lives matter and the network, and even the chapter based organization. I was surprised that the big yellow letters, bold letters, you know, black lives matter in d. C. Or in new york. That did not come about as a result of your approaching them to do so. Yeah. Whats been so inspiring is that people around the country are taking initiative and have really adopted the black lives matter message and ethos and theyre doing what they want to do with black lives matter as a message. And so even seeing that black lives matter had been written on many states from washington, d. C. To new york, to l. A. , to different parts of the country, we see that. But people took initiative on their very own, feeling inspired by the movement, feeling very invigorated by the thousands and if not millions of people who have been in the streets. They were inspired by them and decided to make their own action. Last month, more protests erupted in the u. S. Following the decision not to charge any Police Officers for the beth of breonna taylor. She was shot dead in her apartment by police in a botched raid. She explains why this kind of incident continues to take place. We have seen these various ways in which low income people have been criminalized, so poverty is seen as a crime. Its made it very difficult for black communities, for communities of color around the color. So when we see these types of uprisings, its a result of that disenfranchisement, but also the fact that the police are patrolling these communities. The police are in there day in and day out, doing what we call a theory of broken windows policing, where theyre able to come into communities because of lowlevel kind of infraction, the lowlevel activities, and they come in with their force and that is why we see the types of brutality and killing that were seeing right now. You have spoken about defunding the police. And also investing in communities. Would you elaborate . Yes. So the call to defund the police is a pretty important one that emerged many years ago, but its beginning to make a lot more sense to people right now. The fact is that as were in the midst of this pandemic, we see that zdoctors and nurses barely have any equipment or the tools they need to be safe in the hospitals. But when you see people protesting and you see the police as they come to monitor and stop protests, you see that they have military grade Police Weaponry and military grade gear. Buets that are overbloated. Se the fact that you can see one sector of society be so woefully underfunded and one sector of society that is so or one career that is so well funded, tells you something. Underinvestment and underdevelopment can be seen in terms of health, education, nutrition, whatever you name it. We would love to see those resources reallocated towards the other sectors of our society that could really use the resources. If somebody is having an issue maybe with their mental health, we would want a social worker there. If somebody is homeless, they need support getting back on their feet instead of being interacted with police. So what were saying is we need to have different types of solutions for issues that require intervention and require somebody to engage on issues of safety for our communities. Thats what were calling for. We want investment in safety that looks more respectful, you know, of us. Police reform is another key issue in the upcoming election. We asked her how she sees the future of the blm movement in the u. S. Where the divisions in society have become wider over the past four years. Because of the current polarization that exists in the United States, a group of people can start to feel rather insecure with the recent developments. Yeah, there is a great deal ofpolarization, but i think the important things to remember here is that there are people who have been taught a lie their entire lives. Essentially what were trying to do with black lives matter as a movement, and i think people who have taken it upon themselves, if its around the statues or other kinds of activities that theyre engaged with and other kinds of forms of advocacy, i think what theyre trying to call for is a reimagination of what is going on and what the solutions are to the problems that we have seen in our society. What can hold the United States together amidst this kind of polarization . I dont know about the, you know, quote unquote unifying the country. I think people can coexist without being exactly on the same page. I think that ultimately its about respect. Its about dignity. And i believe that that can happen, whether or not people have the exact same beliefs. And i think ultimately thats what weve been arguing for and advocating for. We want Mutual Respect in this country, and respect isnt, you know, killing people or having people locked up or discriminating in the workplace. Respect is completely different. It is looking at somebody and treating them as if you were the one in their shoes. Right, yes, yes. Thats what respectful diversity should really mean. Exactly. You know, we have a very diverse society. So part of what we need in our community is to embrace it. To see the strength in our diversity. Thats what i see. I see there are a lot of assets when you celebrate the diversity of your community. We dont need a monolithic society, we dont have a monolithic society, and thats type. How will the movement evolve in the days and years to come . I believe that people are going to continue to engage in different cultural strategies. So i think were going to see a lot more tv shows, a lot more designers who are embracing black art and black contributions and celebrating them and well see more changes with policy. You have said that theres much to be hoped for about, and you speak with a lovely spi lly. What has kept you going . Im very hopeful. Ill be quite honest, seeing, one, many more people in the streets have given me a lot of hope. I dont feel like i have to do this work with only a small group of people any more. I see that we have a large team or selfteams around the country and around the globe now. So that gives me a lot of hope. And the other thing that gives me a lot of hope are when my friends send me these cute videos of their children who are saying black lives matter in their little voices. Black lives matter. Black lives matter. These are my friends who are white, who are sending me these videos of their white children who are getting to understand the value of their black young friends at such a young age. And theyre celebrating and learning that standing up for somebodys rights is something that is should be normalized. Everyday people should be engaged in this. As she says, putting an end to Racial Injustice is not about society being monolithic. Fundamentally, it is about diversity, having respect for human rights and dignity. We saw even small children local scale. R voices on a very a time when divisions have become so pronounced, it is very much worth keeping an eye out for grassroots movements. Thats it for todays newsline in depth. Than it is probably the numberone reason that i am spending here, and have we turned that around. 1 president host President Trump focuses on the economy with a week to go until the election as joe biden or to sizes trumps record on the coronavirus. Joe biden criticizes trumps record on the coronavirus. Hello. Im in london. You are watching al jazeera in london
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