- coming up. happy halloween. - this halloween i'm gonna be dressed up as ♪ alexander hamilton - i'm bailey and i'm tinker bell. - [lester] halloween may look a little different this year. that's not stopping us from having some fun. get your costumes ready. kate the chemist will join us with a halloween experiment you won't wanna miss. (kate screams) we'll take you to a field of jack-o-lanterns. - i'm here at the great jack o'lantern blaze. - [lester] and dr. john will be here to answer your questions. - can i still eat my candy that i get from trick or treating? - [lester] also ahead, the election is days away. we'll explain how we elect the president of the united states.

plus, this 11 year old is spreading hope through her love of art. - i want to inspire other kids to make a difference in the world. - [lester] and puppy love. more puppies are wagging their tails in homes across the country. we'll tell you why. - [child] this is nbc nightly news: kids edition. - welcome to nightly news: kids edition. i'm lester holt, and it's really nice to have you join me from my new york city apartment where, like many of you and your family members, i'm doing my best to stay safe. for those of you who may not know me, my day job is usually spent behind the anchor desk at nbc news every weeknight bringing the news from around the world to our viewers. and back in the spring when the pandemic first hit, we thought, "well, what if we put together a new show just for kids to help you guys kind of understand what's going on in the world and figure things out, because we know sometimes the news can be scary and really hard to digest. and so here we are, and we've got some really cool stuff to tell you about.

it's halloween, so that means we couldn't do a show without jack-o-lanterns, right? plus, we're gonna hold our own virtual halloween costume parade. i may get into the act. and we've got some really adorable puppies joining us a bit later on. we also can't wait for you to meet this inspiring 11-year-old girl who is doing something truly remarkable to help other kids. but first, let's begin with the presidential election. it's just a few days away, and americans 18 and older have already started voting for who they want the next president to be. but voting in an election is a little bit different than say voting for your favorite food or favorite game. so just what happens when you vote? you may not see it for real until you're 18, but our kristen dahlgren is taking you behind the scenes to see just what goes in to all those votes. - [kristen] you could say there's a lot on the line in this presidential election. as in this kind of line. early voting has started in many places,

and casting your vote often begins with waiting your turn. identities are verified to make sure you're supposed to be voting. once you get the okay, head behind the curtain, or at least into a private space. nobody has to know how you vote. did you know in the very first elections held in this country voting was done by voice? no secrets there. later paper ballots were used. today, some people use a touch screen to vote electronically while others may fill in a card that's usually then scanned by a computer. this year the big thing on the ballot is the presidential race. president donald trump, a republican, is running for reelection against former vice president joe biden, a democrat. other candidates may also appear on the ballot depending on where you live. but nobody outside of the major parties has ever won a presidential election. did you know the person with the most votes doesn't automatically win? there's something called the electoral college.

- each state is assigned a number of we call them electoral votes, but think of it as points. so for instance, the district of columbia gets three points. the biggest state is california, it's worth 55 points. - [kristen] a candidate must win enough states to get at least 270 points. you can follow along on election night, maybe plan a party, or make a chart of who's winning. usually, we find out very late that night who the next president will be. but this year there could be a delay if it's close, since many people are voting by mail. if you think about it, it's not long before you'll be voting. - if you're in fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh grade, literally that's one, one and a half, two presidents away. by the time that term is over, it's you. - [kristen] even before then you can get involved. - make sure your grandparents, your mom, your dad, and your aunties go vote. so we can have someone to protect us. - voting is important because our voices need to be heard.

- [kristen] these third graders from washington dc have been sending postcards encouraging people to vote. - any kid can make a difference. if you have a really good idea and you wanna change something, then you really need to speak up for it. - [kristen] you may not be voting yet, but what happens next week affects your future, too. - kristen, thanks. we turn now to another story that's been in the news a lot and that of course is the coronavirus. we know it's halloween, and probably some of your plans had to change because of the virus. in recent weeks, unfortunately, we've been seeing cases rise in dozens of states and hospitals have been very busy. with winter coming and all of us likely spending more and more time indoors, health officials continue to stress the importance of wearing a mask, when you're around other people, keeping that social distance and washing your hands. we know you guys have a lot of questions. so let's get straight to them. joining us now is our pal, dr. john torres. dr. john, our first question is from a third grade class.

- [class] hi lester holt. hi dr. john. - how do masks stop the spread of coronavirus? - [class] bye! - yeah, that's a good question. how do masks stop the spread of coronavirus, dr. john? - and lester, i love these questions, because they really get to the heart of the matter. and it turns out that every time we breathe, we talk, we sing, we shout, respiratory droplets come out of our mouth or our nose. and those respiratory droplets can have coronavirus in them, and they can travel a certain distance. they can stay in the air for a bit of time. so the important part is to make sure that doesn't happen. that's where masks come in handy. and whether you get a mask that you made yourself at home or somebody made for you, you get the kind of masks that we use in the hospital or even a mask you buy online, the important part is to realize these masks have holes that are big enough for you to breathe but small enough to those respiratory droplets not all of them get through. and the ones that get through, they don't travel nearly as far. let me give you a little bit of an example here. now, some people call it the candle challenge. but i'm gonna use this to show you what happens.

i can blow this flame out very easily. this is something only adults should do, but i can blow it out easily, watch. but if i put the mask on and try to blow it out with a mask on, well, it just simply doesn't happen no matter how hard i blow. and that shows you that, again, i can breathe through the mask, but those droplets can't get through and that can protect us from the coronavirus. - that's a great demonstration. but again, kids, don't try that at home without some supervision. our next question is from idaho. - hi everyone. this is mary reporting from idaho. i've been doing a lot of hand-washing during the pandemic. winter is coming and my hands get very sore and chapped during our cold, dry winters. how do i keep my hands moisturized, but also keep them clean after i wash my hands or apply hand sanitizer? thank you. bye. - mary, great question. i like the way you and your friends are all dressed up there.

dr. john, that's a really good question. it's starting to get kind of dry out there. - and i totally get where mary's coming from, because working in the hospital we wash our hands all the time, which means they tend to get chapped from time to time. so there's a few lessons we've learned. number one, washing your hands or sanitizing them is very important many, many times during the day to protect you from germs, including coronavirus. but if you use hand sanitizer, realize that some of these have moisturizers inside them, so they could help a little bit. but if you use soap and water, your hands could dry out. even with sanitizers, they could dry out. so the important thing to use lotions or moisturizers or cream. so every time you wash your hands, every time you sanitize your hands, once you wipe them off and dried them out, go and get some type of cream or moisturizer. put it over your hands like i'm doing here. and that way it traps in the moisture and your hands won't chap as much. but again, the important part is to make sure you wash your hands many times during the day for 20 seconds, or use that hand sanitizer to protect you and your family from coronavirus. - excellent. and our last question is from isaac in new york. - dr. john, can i still eat my candy

that i get from trick or treating? - isaac, good question and great costume. dr. john... whoa! (lester laughs) dr. john just flew in. - it's great talking to another fellow pilot about especially things like candy because i have a trick or treat, a sweet tooth as well. i love candy. but the important thing to remember is you wanna make sure that you're trick or treating safely, if you do do that. and that means one-way trick or treating. so they should have in individual packages on their driveway or their yard. on the outside of the bag you might wanna wipe that down but inside make sure it's individually packaged candies that you can take out and you can go and eat. but the one that you wanna make sure is your parents look at all the candy beforehand to make sure it's safe. and of course, don't eat too much of the candy. and when you're done, especially that night, don't forget to brush your teeth. but otherwise, happy flying. - all right, maverick. thanks very much. or dr. john, thanks so much. speaking of halloween, we know this year may look a little different,

but there's still a lot of fun to be had. our pal jackson daly joins us now with one bright idea some families are really enjoying. - hi, mr. holt. yes, this halloween might look a little different but i assure you there are many fun things to do, like drive-thru haunted houses and virtual costume parties. in my local town they're doing many fun things and i got a chance to check one of those out. take a look. (playful music) - [rob] this is our graveyard, it's pretty cool. - the fog is amazing. i'm here at the great jack o'lantern blaze. and it's fun, exciting and spooky. i got a chance to walk around. (bats squeaking) - this is a display of more than 7,000 hand-carved jack-o-lanterns lit up throughout the incredible landscape of this historic site. we do jack-o-lanterns that all combined create a huge display. so we have life-sized dinosaurs. we have things that are inspired by icons

out here on long island, such as a replica of the montauk lighthouse. so we get our inspiration from the location and also, of course, classic halloween's cool halloween stuff. like we have a giant spiderweb. we've got really cool witches. a lot of cool stuff that you'll see. (witch cackles) so here is the headless horseman crossing. (dissonant music) this is the road that he goes down. let's listen for a little bit. you can hear him. (horseman laughs) - so where do you get 7,000 jack-o-lanterns from? - well, you have to create them, you have to carve them, which we do. all the pumpkins here come from a farm on long island called rock camp farm. - so who carves 7,000 pumpkins? - [rob] so it's about a team of about a dozen people that do all of the carvings, believe it or not. (playful music) - ooh, spooky green lights! and obviously because of covid, i'm assuming you guys have made some changes. what are some big differences that there have been? - so we've significantly reduced our capacity.

people come through with times tickets. they come through at a specific time. everybody has to wear a mask, like i'm wearing, like you're wearing. we ask people to maintain social distance. but the great thing about this experience is that it's entirely outdoors. so here we've got a working carousel all made out of jack-o-lanterns. - [jackson] and that firetruck is amazing. - so i love this display here, which is a doomsday clock. and you can see the pumpkin inside going back and forth. - [both] and the statue of liberty. - a lot of people like to take their selfies sort of standing like the torcher. - mr. holt, that was really fun. and i'm sure many organizations are doing something like that near you. well, have a happy halloween and stay safe. back to you, mr. holt. - all right, jackson daly, thanks so much. and we're gonna have a lot more on halloween coming up a bit later in our show. so be sure to stick around. you're in for a real treat. let's switch gears and turn to our inspiring kids series where we shine a spotlight on kids

who are going above and beyond. today we wanna introduce you to a sixth grader who is sharing her passion for art with kids in need. chelsea phaire has a passion for the arts. - i want to inspire other kids to make a difference in the world and do whatever they can to help each other. (gentle music) - [lester] the 11 year old is certainly making a difference. in her spare time at home, chelsea has been busy putting together art kits filled with everything from crayons to paper to glue, and donating these kits to kids in homeless shelters and foster care homes. - well, we just need a world of our own to escape to, which art is the pathway to that very world. it has such a great healing power. there's no limit when it comes to art. the only limit is your imagination and how far it can stretch. - [celebrants] art is health! (celebrants cheer) - [lester] the mission started on her 10th birthday

last summer when she asked friends and family to donate art supplies instead of gifts. before the virus outbreak, chelsea delivered kits in-person to shelters and even got some other students to join in. - it's like i'm painting. i have a paint person i'm painting love all over, love and peace all over my hand and just slapping it on the face of the earth. - [mom] making kits to go. - [lester] today, the donations to her organization, chelsea's charity, keep pouring in. - my goal is to reach every state and hopefully get to the 10,000 point mark before the year's over. - [lester] chelsea plans to hold a virtual packing party in december with the girl scouts and others around the country to achieve this goal. - it's gonna be fun. we're gonna have music and it's gonna be our first real fundraiser. - [lester] did you ever imagine that this would be as successful as it has turned out to be? - we never realized it would get this big and help so many people.

this is just a dream come true. - [lester] painting a picture for her peers of a brighter future. - despite our young age, we can make a difference no matter how old or how young we are. everyone has the flame in their heart and in their soul to make a difference in the world. - all right, chelsea. well, you keep up the great work. time now for our pop quiz. we figured we'd have a little fun and put you to the test. remember we were just talking about the presidential election? president donald trump is running for reelection against former vice president joe biden. under the us constitution, how many terms can someone be elected to serve as president? is it, a, as many as they want, b, two or, c, six? the answer after the break. plus, puppies are getting lots of love these days. we'll explain why. and then calling all of our kid go switches. stay with us for our own halloween costume parade.

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it's rising. the pain is coming.

welcome back to nightly news: kids edition. let's get the answer now to our pop quiz. how many terms can someone be elected to serve as president of the united states? the answer is b. under the 22nd amendment of the constitution, a person can only be elected to two terms for a total of eight years. well, if you're like me, you love spending time with your pet. when i play with my dog lucy, she always puts a smile on my face. and since the spring, more and more families are adding a new member to their home. here is our friend, kevin tibbles.

- [kevin] there's a lot of puppy love going around these days, pandemic puppy love, as kids across the country have been adopting new playmates these last several months to help them ride out 2020. that's what seven-year-old cameron did in seattle. - [mom] nola, come. - [kevin] his family adopted a keeshond they've named nola and boy, do they get along! - just how fuzzy they are and how cuddly, and how it takes your mind kind of off the pandemic. so you're not really focusing on it. it keeps you busy. - [kevin] half a country away in illinois, five-year-old brady and his family have welcomed home an adorable pup named bishop. he's a husky mix and he's been cheering everyone up for weeks. - hi, i'm sarah from paws chicago. and joining me here is zared. - and it's also in illinois where the organization called paws chicago (dog barks) helps so many homeless pets find new homes and families.

in fact, since the pandemic arrived, it's been busier than ever. are you noticing at paws that more and more people because of the pandemic are looking to adopt pets? - absolutely, it has been overwhelming and just so incredible. the community has really stepped up to help us continue to save homeless pets. they help us cope during stressful times, such as this. - [lester] putting smiles on a lot of faces. - [child] yes, this is willie wonka. - hi. - we decided to get a pandemic puppy, 'cause we never had a puppy before. and we thought this would just be a great time, 'cause we're usually so busy. - [lester] in california, brayden and his sister kennedy now share all their love with their puppy named willy wonka, an irish terrier with red hair just like them. - he's really fun to play with. and he just makes like the best snuggle times. and he always tries his best to be good.

- [kevin] just remember, if you do get a puppy, it's your responsibility to take care of them all the time. because the more you love them, the more they'll love you. right, lester? - okay, kisses. (woman laughs) right, kevin. and believe it or not, that happens all the time and it makes me feel so good. we love our animals. kevin, thanks. for more now on how you can have a spooktacular halloween, we wanna bring in kate biberdorf, author of "kate the chemist: the big book of experiments". you got a really cool experiment just for halloween. and kids, don't try this version at home. kate, it's great to see you. happy halloween. you've got a much bigger pumpkin than the one i've got here. and you're gonna do something really cool. tell us about your experiment. - happy halloween! thank you so much for having me back. i'm so excited to show you two different things. so the first one is that you can just grab some cauldrons. and so if you're gonna be inside, you wanna try to make it a little bit spooky. grab some cauldrons.

i got mine at my local party store, then filled them with water. then what you wanna do is grab some dry ice, and then just add some dry ice here to give it that spooky, wonderful feel. and that's just a little bit of sublimation there for you. so you've got your dry ice, solid carbon dioxide going to gaseous carbon dioxide. but now for the pumpkin, which is absolutely my favorite part of this. what i'm gonna do is try to make it vomit, fingers crossed. the first thing i'm gonna do is add some hydrogen peroxide to my container in here. so i'm gonna use 35% peroxide here, because i like really big experiments. i'm in texas after all. then i'm going to add some dish soap. any dish soap will work here. you just want something with a lot of surfactant, 'cause it'll give us some bubbles. and then since we're making vomit, we gotta try to make it green, right? so some green food coloring. and then for the best part of the entire thing, we've got some potassium iodide. that's our catalyst. and i'm going to cap my pumpkin. so here we go, three, two, and one. let's see if we can get it to vomit. (kate screams) (lester laughs)

it's our vomiting pumpkin. so what we have is a chemical reaction here. our hydrogen peroxide decomposed, released oxygen gas, and that is amazing science for you. - oh, it's amazing science. and it's an awfully gross but in a really cool way, kate. now, that's an experiment that you have to have a little expertise. do you have one that's more kid-friendly. - [kate] i do, i do. so instead of using potassium iodide, you can use yeast. it's a little bit of a smaller reaction. it takes a longer time, but it still works. - all right, a vomiting pumpkin. that's a first here on nightly news: kids edition. kate, always great to see you. well, hope to have you back very soon. - thank you, you too. happy halloween. - finally, we know many of you may not be able to go door-to-door to trick or treat today. so sit back in the comfort of your own home and join us for our own virtual halloween costume parade with some other kids across the country. take a look. (playful music) - happy halloween!

- i'm austin, i'm a dragon. (austin roaring) - i'm j.t., i'm seven. i'm fairy girl, fairy girl! (upbeat music) - this halloween i want to be a police officer. - [boys] we are the blue rangers. - happy halloween. - and i am the ultimate first spinjitzu master. - i'm sonic the hedgehog. - [mom] tyler, who are you? - a tiger! - i'm honest abe for halloween, because he ended slavery. - we're social distancing cops. we're six feet apart for 2020. - i'm bailey and i'm tinker bell.

- my name is benjamin. i am a veterinarian. - my name's alexander. i am the sun and the moon. - my name's mitch and i'm a baseball player. go brewers! - i'm brandon and i'm cat boy. super cat jump! - happy halloween. (howls) - boo! - hi guys. my name is jerry morrison. but this halloween i'm gonna be dressed up as ♪ alexander hamilton ♪ i am not throwin' away my shot ♪ - great, great costumes, kids. i wanted to show mine off as well, but i was up in space, unfortunately. i'm sorry. i always wanted to be an astronaut when i was a kid. so that's what i am for halloween this year. that's gonna do it for us. we hope you learned something and had some fun. parents, if your child has a question, email a video to us at nightlynewskids@nbcuni.com. and just a programming note, you can catch a new episode of nightly news: kids edition

every thursday by going to our website nightlynews.com or our youtube channel. we hope to see you back here again soon. thanks so much for watching, everybody. please take care of yourself and each other. i am heading back to space. (lester laughs) (lively orchestral music)

good morning. it is saturday, october 31st. 7:00 on the dot. pretty dark outside. happy halloween as we take a live look outside in downtown san jose. this, by the way, is the last day of daylight saving time. our clocks go back one hour tonight. so it will be even darker earlier which i don't love but we do get an extra hour of sleep tonight which is fabulous for all of us. thanks for starting your saturday with us. i'm