captioning made possible by johnson & johnson, committed to improving health for everyone, everywhere. ♪ [trumpet] >> pauley: good morning. i'm jane pauley. and this is "sunday morning." wildfires and hurricanes this season have once again put the issue of climate change front and center in the presidential campaign and the national conversation. and with the year we've been having, the experts are saying it is time to

get worried, really worried. david pogue will report our cover story. >> reporter: in case there was any doubt, 2020 has offered some pretty good evidence that the climate is changing. >> we always put climate change on the back burner, thinking we can do it later. but we're out of time for that. >> reporter: but 2020 has also offered some tiny signs of hope. >> in one generation we've taken the planet from basic stability to the brink of catastrophe. but it means we are the authors of our faith. >> reporter: climate change, an update, coming up on "sunday morning." >> pauley: christopher cross is a singer-songwriter with some of music's most memorable hits to his credit. but for him, this year has been anything but smooth sailing. ♪ not far down >> reporter: christopher cross sa five-time grammy

award-winner. this year he is also something else. what were some of the things you were saying to yourself in those darkest moments? >> i can tell you that i had a few conversations with whoever he or she is, and just saying, if you could just get me out of here, i will be a better person. >> reporter: christopher cross' long recovery from covid, later on "sunday morning". >> pauley: we're in conversation this morning with elliott gould, the actor who has always done things his own way, as our ben mankiewicz discovers. >> what do you have against terry? >> there are character actors and then will are characters. elliott gould happens to be both. where are you from? >> i'm from brooklyn, new york. >> reporter: where were you conceived? elliott gould on big parts and big breakups.

what ended the marriage with barbra? >> because she became more important than us. >> reporter: ahead on "sunday morning." >> pauley: mark whitaker talks to alicia garza, who coined the cry black lives matter. and tracy smith talks with david lee roth about his latest calling. and erin moriarty listens to some of the women who may decide america's election. plus stories from faith salie and steve hartman, along with jim gaffigan, and john dickerson on politics. it is "sunday morning," the 18th of october 2020. and we'll be back. ♪ oscar the grouch here to tell you, yeah, you,

to wear a mask out in public around other people. sure it'll keep you healthy. but more importantly, i won't have to see your happy smiling face. ugh. and if you don't want to wear a mask, i've just got one thing to tell you. scram, go away. ugh. caring for each other because we are all in this together.

so wear a mask and have a rotten day, will ya? ugh. >> pauley: one wildfire after another, and a hurricane season for the record books. cause for concern says our david pogue, who reports our cover story. >> authorities believe the virus originated here at the wuhan seafood and animal market. >> experts worry it could become a pandemic. >> reporter: 2020 has been a year of non-stop crises. >> the coronavirus has infected wall street. some wore masks as

protection, while demanding an end to another pandemic. >> reporter: for a while, it was almost impossible to forget an ongoing crisis that used to have our attention: climate change. >> parts of newport beach are flooded tonight. >> reporter: but nature found a way to remind us. in the midwest, punishing 100 mile-an-hour winds. in the southwest, a brutal succession of floods and doubts. on the coast... >> delta is bearing down on the louisiana gulf coast. >> reporter: a...a frea freakish number of things. historic mega fires that sent a plume of ash and smoke all the way to the east coast. more than four million acres have burned in california alone. >> that is larger than the state of connecticut. and these fires are still burning. >> reporter: chief danberry is an assistant deputy director for cal

fire, the california department of foresttry. >> this year's fire seasons are on average 75 days longer than they were in the '70s. >> reporter: where are we in the fire season? >> this year's fire season will likely roll into 2021. >> reporter: so this ain't over yet? >> no end in sight. >> reporter: have experienced twice the number of weather disasters than in the previous 20years. the cost so far? about $3 trillion. yes, climate change is back in the headlines. >> we always put climate change on the back burner, thinking we can do it later, but we're out of time for that. there is no later. we need to deal with it now. >> reporter: ayana elizabeth johnson is auth of a book oauthor of a book. >> all of the greenhouse

gases, it's carbon dioxide and methane, and they create this layer of gasses like a blanket on top of the planet. >> reporter: that blanket captures heat from the sun. >> most people don't spend a lot of time heading out in greenhouses. >> i think it should be called the dog in the car in summer effect. >> ooh, totally. >> reporter: the sun comes into the car and it doesn't fully bounce out so the car gets really hot inside. >> that's a bet analogy. >> it's like we've landed on a new planet with a new set of climate change conditions, and we've got to figure out what of the civilization can survive. >> reporter: david wallace-wells is the author "the uninhabitable earth," a book that explores what will happen if we don't cut our carbon emissions. >> rainstorms are going to be more intense, and the

oceans are heating up, which means hurricanes are going to become mor more intense. there will be extreme droughts, as well as extreme rainfalls. it is a scrambling. >> reporter: and it is not just unstable weather. it is unstable us. >> agricultural yields could fall by half or more over the course of the century if we don't change course. it affects respiratory illnesses, cancer, cognitive development of children. >> reporter: if you've been paying attention, none of this is news. what is new is that public opinion about the climate crisis is finally changing. >> when you see these headlines, 70% of americans are now at least mildly curious, and that's not something to brag about. it seems low to me. >> to me, 70% or 75% of the country expressing concern about an issue seems really high. we live in an incredibly polarized world, where if you can nudge it past 50%,

you're doing incredibly well. >> reporter: what took us so long to become alarmed? >> almost no one now can look at their tv screens and think climate change isn't real. >> reporter: the federal government has done virtually nothing about climate change in the past few years, but in many ways, the states have launched away. the governors of 25 states and 700 universities have committed to cutting their emissions, mostly in line with the paris agreement, the 2016 international commitment. about a house major corporations have pledged to cut their emissions to paris agreement levels, too. why would corporations go green? because of public pressure, investor pressure, and employee pressure. technology has been marching on, too. for example, these babies. direct air capture machines. huge fans that extract

carbon dioxide back out of the air. from there, the plan is to store it underground, turn it into fuels or building materials, or even sell it to carbonated drink companies. >> they can take carbon out of the atmosphere at a cost of $100 a ton. that is much more expensive than it would cost to not put carbon up there in the first place. >> reporter: 11 of these plants are already operating at pilot projects. >> you don't want to use these to solve the hole problem because it would mean barnicleing the whole planet. >> reporter: whatever steps we take, we'll have to take them soon. extreme weather hits hardest in low-income areas and communities of color. >> people in low-lying areas, and people near waterfronts, but also people who don't have the resources to leave. everyone in hurricane

katrina who was trying to get out of new orleans couldn't. a lot of people didn't have cars. it is often a privilege to get to leave before a storm. >> reporter: all over the world, we're building some of the most expensive public works projects in human history. defenses against rising sea levels and flooding from intense rain. and3in new york -- >> new york is so valuable, that we're going to have to protect it. there are a variety of plans already in place, but there are also much more ambitious plans that haven't yet gotten green lit to enclose the e entire area in a sea wall. >> reporter: more countries are doing something about the climate crisis, even china, and last year the price of clean renewable energy fell below the price of burning coal. on the other hand, we're getting started far too late. i asked david wallace-wells if the latest developments give him any hope. >> if you're hoping to preserve the planet of our grandparents, there is no

reason for hope. if you are hoping to help the planet as of today, there is no hope there, either. but a lot of the action has taken place, and a lot of the political moment that we're seeing. >> reporter: scientists like ayana elizabeth johnson are more skeptical. >> i don't really think of myself as an optimist, but as a real list. so much of this change is already baked in. things are really dire, but i'm also not giving up. honestly, who are we to give up? we have to try. when considering another treatment, ask about xeljanz... a pill for adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis when methotrexate has not helped enough. xeljanz can help relieve joint pain and swelling, stiffness, and helps stop further joint damage, even without methotrexate. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections.

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>> pauley: a rock star from the recent past has moved on to a much less raucous solo act, and our tracy smith has been watching him at work. ♪ >> reporter: in the quiet of a late summer night, the artist is at work. this is sumi-e, the art of japanese ink painting, equal parts beauty and discipline. you're a night owl. you usually paint and draw at night? >> yes. nighttime, there is no magic to that. it is simple: lack of visual stimulation. >> reporter: he makes indicate pen and brush images, all of them done freehand, in ink made from

a centuries-old formula. you may not be familiar with this technique, but there is a good chance you have already met the artist in another life. ♪ >> reporter: for rock music fans, david lee roth needs know introduction. as the original lead singer of the hall of fame super group van halen, he was diamond dave on stage, a human cyclone of crazy energy. but the heart of the band was co-founder eddie van halen. ♪ >> reporter: who died of cancer earlier this month at age 65, and who was arguably one of the greatest guitarists whoever lived. ♪ >> reporter: david lee roth performed with van halen for the last time in 2015, and shortly after eddie's death posted this tweet: "what a long, great trip it has been."

these days at home in california during the pandemic, roth's artistry is a bit more nuanced, but it didn't come easy. in fact, he spent two years in tokyo trying to master this technique. >> i spent the first six months painting bamboo because it was in spring/summer. and i said, when are we going to paint something else? and he looked out the window and said when the weather changes. and he wasn't kidding. >> reporter: this is fascinating that you took two years of your life and went to tokyo to study japanese painting and drawing. >> you have a look that is a bit that's unusual. >> reporter: that's unusual. >> unexpected. okay? unexpected. is it unexpected good or unexpected eccentric to you? i'm curious? >> reporter: i think a little bit of both.

it takes remarkable patience and discipline that most people, let alone a rock star, who could be doing a lot of other things, would take the time to do. >> if you were a rock star and you had the money to do -- let's just add that -- to do whatever it is, and beyond i've always wanted a giant boat, if you can get past that, what would you use your rock stardom for? >> reporter: i don't know. >> i've always used my celebrity as a passport for travel, and let's go get into it. >> reporter: and here is something else he got into: in 2004, rock became a certified e.m.t., emergency medical technician, in new york city. he was 48 years old, but he says answering life and death emergency calls in the bronx was the thing in life that made him feel, well, like a rock star. >> i wasn't someone until i put on that 511 uniform and went on my first calls. i'm not going to kid you.

i knew i was in for the humbling experience a life boy rock star thinks, what, this is an easy gig. >> reporter: but you wanted do do it any way? >> you bet. >> reporter: and he learned it helps to have a little humor. >> that is the only life preserve ver who thinks they're going to die. nobody calls 911 to wish you a happy hanukkah. >> reporter: these days, it seems his time as a paramedic is behind him. but rock is still very much a performer. ♪ she's the one >> reporter: before covid, he was touring as a successful solo act. but now he says he is going to take it a little slower. you're going to pace it out? >> i'm on my, what, 45th year? it's great to see me, but not every year, like family. >> reporter: and for now, there is only his

solihissolitary art. >> who has the most impact on history, government or the historian? >> reporter: he who tells the story, right? >> hello. that's yiddish for yo. >> reporter: is your visual art story-telling? >> my visual art is complaining, it's graphic therapy. i say through my graphic art everything that a lot of folks say to the tv set when you didn't think anybody is actually listening (laughing). so roll up those sleeves. and help heal your skin from within with dupixent. dupixent is the first treatment of its kind that continuously treats moderate-to-severe eczema,

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it's a bit more challenging. we are letting the data guide us to the best solution. it's inspiring to try to solve a problem that no one else has solved. that's super exciting. >> pauley: black lives matter, those words describe a movement. and behind them, a woman. contributor mark whitaker introduces us to alicia garza. [yelling] >> reporter: this summer the black lives matter mvement took center stage, from global protests to protests in washington, d.c., to murals adorning neighborhoods throughout the country. and last month the movement's founders, patrisse cullors and alicia garza, found themselves on the cover of tim"time magazine." >> my hope in helping to

put this forward wasn't to start a movement. >> reporter: alicia garza coined the phrase black lives matter. >> my hope was to actually change people's minds, to change the way we see ourselves so we can stand in a stronger footing. to be able to change the things we don't like that are happening around us. >> reporter: we met the oakland-based activists at marcus books to discuss garza's soon to be released book. >> i wanted to make sure we were in a place that really represents the legacy and the enduring traditions of black organizing and black resistance. >> reporter: the purpose of power is garza's only story of black organizing and black resistance. while many might remember first hearing the phrase black lives matter during the 2014 protests in ferguson, missouri, the movement actually began a year earlier. >> we, the jury, find george zimmerman not

guilty. >> reporter: the day george zimmerman was found not guilty of murdering 17-year-old trayvon martin in georgia. was that a phrase? was that just something that came pouring out? >> let me just say i'm not a big twitter user. so when i first used the words black lives matter was on facebook. >> reporter: patrisse cullors, a los angeles-based activist, was twitter savvy, added a hashtag. >> i thought it was a pound sign. she broke down what hashtags are to me, and that's how black lives matter was born. >> reporter: and now called the hashtag heard around the world, black lives matter is a worldwide phenomenon. [yelling] >> reporter: garza traces her own path of act isvism tactivism to her mother n an active suburb of san francisco. where she says being an outsider gave her a unique

van tage point. >> i grew up with the ethos, you always fight for the underdog. black folks have always been working hard to get ahead, but this country wasn't working for black people and didn't plan to. >> reporter: and she credits mtv news -- >> we're finally dismantling the arrest system of apartheid. >> this was a time when there was a big debate happening nationally about the epidemic of teen pregnancy, and there was a big fight over whether or not young people should have the tools that they needed to make decisions as they were making choices about whether or not to do something. >> that was your first big cause as an activist? >> i was 12 years old. >> reporter: she recounts a formative moment at age 17, a run-in with a police officer who found her smoking marijuana with a friend and let her off with only a warning. >> i was a kid who was

doing things that kids do. and i was given a shot. but most black kids who were my age at that time are not given a shot. guaranteed, if i had been a 17-year-old black girl in west oakland caught with the same amount of marijuana, i would have spent not just the night, but i would have had a criminal record. >> reporter: the take-away from this encounter resonates with garza today. >> i think the moral of that story is this: we have a criminal system that is intent on treating some people differently than others. it is actually baked into the arc che architecture of that system. and this movement is phyteinisfighting to dismantle a system that was designed to criminalize black people and oppressed people. >> reporter: when you use the word "dismantle," i think some people are confused about what that means. does it mean dismantling a

certain kind of policing in certain communities? >> i didn't talk about dismantling police. i talked about dismantling systems. when we talk about dismantling systems that are harmful to our communities, it means taking them apart and stopping our usage of them. we can't just dismantling without building something in its place. i think what is important for all of us to engage is a re-imagining of what it looks like to have dignified communities, where we are not patrolling communities with guns and tanks. >> reporter: alicia garza is now focusing her efforts beyond black lives matter, founding groups aimed at empowering women and building black political power. and so what do you tell people when, as i'm sure they do on a daily basis, white folks say what can we do to help? what do you tell them? >> i say, you can join a movement. being in solidarity with black lives matter, being a part of this larger movement for change in

this country and around the world can't be about charity. i don't want to fight next to anybody who is, like, i'm doing this because you people need this. >> reporter: for those who think black lives matter is merely a social media movement, alicia garza offers this. >> i believe the story of movements is not about how many people follow you on social media. it is about how many people will step forward. you can have a million followers on twitter and not get one person to step forward and take action. >> reporter: so as a leader or a founder of one of the most famous social media movements of the modern era telling us that social media isn't everything? >> i can tell you as the founder of the black lives matter global network, which is now considered to be the largest protest movement in history, that hashashtags do not start movements; people do.

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>> pauley: the baseball season is entering its final innings, but steve hartman has found a promising rookie, who's career has barely begun. >> a couple of weeks ago, brian and his son, carter, went to a batting cage in montgomery, alabama, when a random stranger threw one to the heart. >> there was this bucket of balls with a note. >> reporter: the note read: i hope someone can use some of these baseball. i used them for my son for

hundreds of rounds. he says his family is now grown and gone, but what he wouldn't give to throw a couple of buckets to them. brian and his wife, stormy, read that note with tears in their eyes. >> it felt like a moment for us. >> it still does. >> it does. we need to soak in more of our kids and time with our kids. >> just the message the author intended. >> i was hoping it would inspire some people. >> reporter: randy long used to love coaching and watching his kids, so much so when he came across that old bucket of balls in his garage, he couldn't bring himself to just throw away the memories. he said he needed closure. it was like a good-bye, wasn't it? >> yeah, i think it was a sign-off-type of thing. that chapter is gone. let's see what else is coming on. >> reporter: but unbeknownst to randy, his baseball days were headed into extra innings.

just recently, he met up with the robinsons, and learned about a void in carter's life. the boy lost both his grandfathers at a very young age. they never saw him play. >> we would love for you to please come watch >> reporter: randy said he would definitely be at the next game and then asked carter for a little catch. >> you see the smile on my face, carter? this is bringing back memory. >> reporter: it seems iowa isn't the only state with a field of dreams. >> it's what i've always wanted for him. >> i'm sure lot of people across the country now are realizing that is not just a bucket of balls anymore. >> reporter: no. it's a fountain of youth and a binding force for generations.

>> pauley: we're in conversation this morning with oscar-nominated actor elliott gould. her is talking with our man in hollywood, ben mankiewicz. >> reporter: for elliott gould, all the world is a stage, even when that stagstage sa backyard patio in los angeles. >> to be or not to be,

that is the question. whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows. >> reporter: he is not playing hamlet. he decided at age 82, it was time to memorize it. >> you people ought to be arrested. ♪ is. >> look, we all go way back, and i owe you from the thing with the guy -- >> reporter: he has never been the typical hollywood star, not now and not in 1970, when time "time magazine" put him on its cover. >> donald sutherland, one of my best partners, a great actor, said to me, "what good does it do to know everything when you don't understand anything?" >> he is not going to be walking out of there. i'm sorry. >> reporter: i'm pretty sure gould understands pacting, from "the long good-bye," to "friends," his characters have been

unconventional and distinctive. >> ladies and gentlemen, elliott gould! >> reporter: six times he played himself hosting "saturday night live", for a russian hom return home north. >> i was born in brooklyn new york, and it was conceived in rockaway. >> reporter: his birth certificate reads elliott gouldstein. his mother changed his name without telling him. >> my mother would say to me, i'm your severest critic. all you have to do is please me. and i thought, that is not very fair, as i got to know myself. what you're saying is i can't please myself until you're pleased. >> reporter: at eight or nine, his parents enrolled their shy kid in a song and dance school. and he was good. and he learned the lead in

a broadway musical "i can get it wholesale." and that's when he met another brooklynite, a 19-year-old barbra streisand. how did you get her to go out with you? >> after her last audition, they say thank you. and she was flummoxed being right there and not knowing what was going to happen next. and she announced her phone number, and said would somebody call me. and i remembered her number and i called her. and then we got married and had a son and had a great life. >> reporter: you got married. i didn't know that. it's not in my notes. they were an "it" couple. >> laughing and kidding, just like that, and then there will be a knock on the door. you see? >> reporter: she became a superstar while he had back-to-back breakout films. first he earned an oscar nomination in "bob and

carol and ted and alice." with robert culp, dyan canon and natalie wood. >> natalie wood, she is so missed. yes, but a man can't really savor his martini without an olive. >> reporter: and then in "mash." >> it doesn't quite make it. >> reporter: the fame came at a cost: gould and streisand, who had a son, jason, in 1966, stayed together for eight years until they divorced in 1971. what ended the marriage with barbra? >> well, barbra asked me at one point -- she said, why did we grow apart? and my question would be, how could we have grown

apart? and the answer for that is we didn't grow together. and the reason for that is because she became more important than us. and then i also said to her, we did great. we made it very fast, and nobody has what we have. there is you and me and our kid. >> he owes you money? >> yeah, $50,000. >> 50 grand? >> 50 grand. >> reporter: after the divorce, gould collaborated twice more with altman. >> wait a second, lady, i've got a big decision to make here. >> reporter: and as an addicted gambler in "california split," and that one hit close to home. you used to gamble a lot? >> i'm o obsessive compulsive, and my family had no money, and i'm second-generation american, and so i would sort of gamble. and, like, you know a lot of people have that.

>> reporter: did you lose a lot of money? >> i can't say i made a lot of money. >> reporter: nobody makes a lot of money. and fittingly, it was in las vegas where gould met the king. >> we went back stage, and i met elvis. and elvis and i were in the same room, and elvis was carrying a gold, guilded .45 in this belt. and he said, hey, man, you're crazy. i said, i ain't crazy, elvis, i'm scared just like you. and then he said to me, why did you and barbra split? you're two of my favorite people. and i said, shut up, elvis. >> reporter: shut up, elvis? >> shut up, elvis. gouggrouch max was home, bid

ridden. >> the lightbulb blew, and i took my shoes off, got on his bed, put the new one in, and groucho gave me the greatest review i'll ever get. which was, that is the best acting i've ever seen you do. >> reporter: lightbulb or not, gould has staying power. he keeps acting, keeps thinking, and finding peace in the present. >> to be in the moment, and this is everything -- >> reporter: and you're in the moment? >> i am in the moment, yeah. legendary are you ready are you ready better make way 'cause i'm coming through are you ready are you ready better make way 'cause i'm coming through are you ready are...♪

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woman 2: you can stay healthy and fill it out from the safety of home. surfer: or you can fill it out anywhere. man 1: it's easy to mail it back. you don't even need a stamp. man 2: or you can use an official drop box.

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welp, enjoy your house. nope. no thank you. geico could help you save on homeowners and renters insurance. >> pauley: women marched in the streets of washington and other cities yesterday. proof our erin moriarty, explains, that it would be wrong to assume women are of one mind in this campaign. >> reporter: is it fair to say that in 2020 it is really not an issue of red and blue anymore. it comes down to pink? >> women voters have been driving the election outcomes for the better part of the last 30 years. >> i'm kate, and i am a mom of two. >> reporter: kate

spittlemeister, erc erika rowland, patsy crawford -- >> i love family and friends. >> i've been married for 19 years. >> reporter: atifa robinson. >> i'm a community advocate. >> reporter: they are members of what may be one of the most crucial voting blocks this year: suburban women in battleground states. >> the most important issue to me is obamacare. that's been a life-line for us. >> what's in stake for this election is racial equity, health equity, and social and economical equity. >> i believe under the trump administration is going to be the best future for our children, for our families. >> women have always been very committed to voting, at least since 1980, they've been outvoting men. but i think this level is that our vote is

fundamental to the future i think is new and different. >> reporter: this woman runs "all together," and says woman on both ends of the the political spectrum are unusually energized this year. a trend that has been building since 1980, when ronald reagan won the presidency. >> what do we want? [yelling] >> these are left-leaning, feminist women who were entering the workforce, and you saw huge numbers of women on the conservative end of the scale also come out. >> reporter: a generation later, it was white women who tipped the scales and helped put president trump in office. >> president trump: somebody said "suburban women," how is trump doing? you remember last time they said women don't like trump. and i said, i think they do. i think they do. [cheering] >> reporter: patsy crawford and erika

rowlands live in wood county, ohio, and both voted for barack obama, but in 2016, they swung right for then candidate trump, just like their county itself. >> i realized that god and country is the most important thing about my kids' future. >> i believe he has been the most pro-life president yet. >> reporter: at the same time, a lot of other women, like kate spittlemeister, living in suburban, wisconsin, couldn't bring themselves to vote for either major candidate. >> a lot of us, myself included, thought there is no way trump is going to win, so we voted third party. >> and those votes in the battleground states in michigan and wisconsin, where the election was very tight, where the president won by 11,000 or 12,000 votes, the votes of those women had a huge impact on the election.

>> reporter: suburban women in states like ohio and wisconsin could again prove pivotal in this election, especially white women without college degrees. so neither president trump, nor former vice president joe biden, are taking them for granted. >> if donald trump has his way, i would no longer have health insurance coverage. >> reporter: both compaigns have launched an all-out assault of political advertising. >> joe biden will tear our country down. >> reporter: erika franklin heads the media at wesleyan university. >> trump has been focused on crime and public safety. >> you have reached 9-1-1, i'm sorry there is no one here to answer your emergency call. >> whereas biden has been heavily focused on core issues of health care and covid response. >> i feel like my grandmother didn't matter. >> reporter: but in

today's suburbs, one political message may not fit all. does a campaign take a risk by reducing them to simple descriptions like soccer mom, security mom, suburb masuburban mothers? >> i think any time you try to take any demographic and fit them in a neat little box, there is a capacity for backlash. >> reporter: trump was criticized for tweets referring to suburban housewives of america, and an ad produced by a pro-trump group seemed to be designed to stoke fear. but kate spittlemeister, who lives in kenosha, the site of violent protests this summer, sees the unrest in a different light. >> in our neighborhood, there were armed people, just regular citizens, and those armed citizens stood at the entrances to our

sub-divisions, and that was way more terrifying to me than what was happening, you know, downtown. >> reporter: atifa robinson also lives in a kenosha suburb. >> those ads encouraged people to create a divide between our communities. and what i've learned, if we sit down and talk about the situation, what we have is a common ground, which is we do want to see change. >> the fact is american suburbs are now extraordinarily diverse. 30% of women, people of color, live in the american suburbs. >> reporter: both karen watkins and patsy crawford, living in ohio suburbs, came to the u.s. as children. patsy, a brazilian immigrant, supports the president's wall. >> i'm all about doing it the right way. we had to follow the laws and go through the naturalization process. >> reporter: but karen, who's mom is japanese,

thinks the country should be more welcoming. >> i believe that anybody who wants to come here, you know, should have the same opportunities. they spend the money in our economy and they contribute to society and our country. >> reporter: are there any undecided voters? >> not many. lots and lots of pollsters have said the numbers of undecided are very, very minimal. >> reporter: and with only 16 days until the election, most voters are so entrenched that no ad, news event, or even scandal is likely to change their minds. >> donald trump said, prior to being elected, that he could shoot someone on fifth avenue and people would still vote for him. is there anything that the president could do that would make you change the vote before this election? >> that would do it. >> reporter: that would do it? >> strong leadership, what

america needs. >> reporter: still, in the end, if the election is tight, an ad that doesn't win new hearts may still be successful if it in flames hearts already won. >> turnout is everything. and it is especially everything in those all-important battleground states, where it does often come down to just a few thousand votes. when was the last time your property tax bill went down?

what? never. are you kidding me? for years, the residential burden has gone up. while the corporate burden has gone down. prop 15 reverses that. it closes corporate loopholes and invests in schools, small business, and firefighters. and when the big corporations pay more, your tax bill goes down. that's right. a savings of a hundred twenty-one dollars a year for the average home. give homeowners a break. vote yes on 15.

>> pauley: a recent historical finding is rocking jim gaffigan's world. >> did you hear about the vikings? no, the real vikings. the vikings' vikings. >> yeah. apparently the vikings were not blonde. yeah, there was some sweeping gene study that discovered that those conquerors of europe in the eighth through the

11th century were not blonde scand naives scandinavia. they were brown or black-haired guys. so vikings didn't have blonde hair, who cares? well, i do. because, as you can see, i'm the guy with blonde hair. well, i'm the guy with thinning blonde hair. my point is: being a blonde guy is not that cool or associated with much positivity. and i'm not just talking about the whole world war ii propaganda stuff. even as a child, whenever there was a bad guy in a movie, he always had blonde hair. >> what a menace, a walking beast. >> even in "planet of the apes," there was a blonde ape. and it wasn't just my childhood. the lanasters were evil, horrible people that had blonde hair.

in the television show "true blood," a show about vampires, the most evil vampire had blonde hair. that makes sense. now, i'm not saying the real vikings were angels. maybe they were house slytheran or kobra kai, but they seemed to possess a certain nobelity. the vikings had the most awe, inspiring funerals, and now we know they didn't have blonde hair. i'm just a weirdo. a majority of adults who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. here's your a1c. oh! my a1c is under 7! (announcer) and you may lose weight.

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♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪ you may pay as little as $25 for a 1-month or 3-month prescription. ask your health care provider today about once-weekly ozempic®. ♪ ♪ it is night, and my body sleeps ♪ ♪ on the run, no time to sleep ♪ >> pauley: thanks to hit songs like that one, christopher cross has been riding high for years until this year, when covid-19 brought him l3w. he describes his ordeal to our serena altschul.

♪ ♪ it's not far down in paradise ♪ ♪ at least it's not for m me ♪ >> reporter: christopher cross has performed his number one hit "sailing" thousands of times before. ♪ >> reporter: but never like this. ♪ believe in me >> reporter: it's his first session back in a recording studio since the 69-year-old was stricken with the coronavirus that nearly killed him. >> there was some, you know, come to jesus moments, where i was looking for any help i could get, you know, to get out of this thing because i wasn't sure. ♪ sailing >> reporter: unsure and starting over, much of cross' life now is new. it wasn't supposed to be this way.

♪ it is the night, my bodies weak ♪ >> reporter: 2020 marks the 40th anniversary of his self-titled debut album. it was a blockbuster, earning cross five grammy awards. ♪ sailing >> reporter: including best new artist. for a while, he was a king of easy listening, with songs like "never be the same again." ♪ now, i'll never be the same again ♪ >> reporter: "think of laura." ♪ think of laura, but laugh, don't cry ♪ >> reporter: and the oscar-winning theme to the mr. arthur. ♪ when you get caught between the moon and new york city ♪ >> reporter: cross was set to launch a national tour this year, but 2020 had other plans. where were you when you

think you were exposed? >> it was early march that i went to mexico city for a concert. and to be frank, you know, nobody knew about masks or anything like that. no one wore masks on the plane. no one was doing that. we weren't made aware that it was a problem. >> reporter: cross and his girlfriend, joy, tested positive for covid-19. >> we both got very sick with covid. we were sick for about three weeks. the thing i remember is incredible malaise. you couldn't lift your head. >> reporter: they both quarantined, and joy improved. cross thought he was getting better, too, and in april felt good enough to go shopping. >> i went to the market, and when i got home, my legs just gave out. that was it. i couldn't walk at all. >> reporter: he was diagnosed with guillan-barrend, in syndrome, and his doctor believes it

was caused by covid. >> boom, i'm paralyzed. i'm in the hospital, but i can't turn over. i can barely did anything. my hands were also paralytic, and that was hard because i play the guitar. >> reporter: paralyzed in the intensive care unit, cross didn't know if he would live or die. >> i was in the hospital about 10 days. it was the worst 10days of my life. i couldn't walk, could barely move. and so it was certainly the darkest of times for me, you know. it was touch and go and tough. >> reporter: what were some of the things you were saying to yourself in those kind of darkest moments. >> i can tell you i had a few conversations, you know, when i was in there, with whoever he or she is, and just saying, if you could just get me out of here, i will be a better person, you know? you know, that sort of thing. it's very, very hard. i mean, you're just looking for any sign of life, you know, in that

darkness. so whatever i did, it worked. i got out of there. here i am. >> reporter: and here he is. outside austin, texas. while the paralysis was temporary, the effects still linger. cross, who was in a wheelchair, considers himself a long-haul covid survivor. he now uses a cane. >> yeah, my walking is affected. my speech, at times, can be affected. memory is a big deal, too. just neurologically i'm kind of a little foggy. now, i'm on a nerve-pain medication, which also can cause some of the fogginess, but until i can get off of it at some point, i won't really know how clear i will be. but most people heal about 90% to 100% over about a year, that's what my prognosis is. >> reporter: that's the prognosis, that you will heal, and you're on a trajectory towards healing?

>> well, that's my hope, yeah. ♪ the dream and the winds can carry me and soon i will be free ♪ >> reporter: part of that healing is playing the music, something unthinkable only a few months ago. ♪ fantasy, it gets the best of my when i'm sailing ♪ >> it's not like i'm that big of a celebrity, but it is important for people to know you can get this disease. i felt it was my obligation that i wanted to share with people, look, this is a big deal. you've got to wear your mask, you've got to take care of each other, because this could happen to you. >> reporter: cross can't wait to tour again. and what a moment it will be. ♪ sailing takes me away >> reporter: what will that feel like for you when you head back out on stage for the first time? ♪ the winds that carry,

and soon i will be free ♪ >> i don't know whether i'll walk out with my cane and i'll sit down on a stool, but i've got to tell you -- and it's hard to keep it together here -- you know, my fans -- i know them, and they love me. i really feel in my heart, at least, that the fans are going to be with me. ♪ i worked for 47 years. donald trump, he's talking about messing with my social security?

them guys think it's monopoly money? no. it's our money, we worked for it. you don't get to play with my financials. you don't get to play with my security for my family. joe biden looks out for the little guy. he understands what seniors are going through. i think he's gonna keep social security safe. we need to get biden in there to protect it. i'm joe biden, and i approve this message.

>> pauley: er lear, we talkeearlier, wetalked about thl role women play in this year's election. now faith salie tells us an entire century after women's sufferage became the law of the land, three of the movement's founding mothers have been finally put on a pedestal. >> at a time when many statues are coming down,

some lofty women are going up and breaking the bronze ceiling. >> three, two, one! [cheering] [applause] >> reporter: a monument to sufferage pioneers, sojourner truth, susan b. anthony, and cadd caddy was unveiled. hillary clinton helped commemorate the event, which marked the 100th anniversary of women winning the right to vote. although it is important to note it would take many more decades for black women's sufferage to truly be protected by law. >> a tremendous weight has been lifted. >> reporter: artist meredith bergmann spent three years bringing her creation to life. >> why is it important to choose these particular pioneers? >> these are the pioneers that history has elevated.

they were the most accomplished. they were the loudest. but there are many, many others. >> reporter: and there are many other cities putting women on pedestal pedestals. cambridge massachusetts is considering these. last year richmond, virginia, honored suffrages. and now a statue of ruth bader ginsburg is planned in her birthplace, brooklyn, new york. >> but putting statues of real women in central park hasn't exactly been a walk in the park. >> how can you have statues of men everywhere, and the only statues of women are mother goose, alice in wonderland. >> reporter: a few years back, we spoke with coline jenkins, who happens to be

elizabeth stanton's great, great granddaughter. >> they said, no, there will be no new statues in central park. we persisted. >> reporter: the city finally gave permission for anthony and stanton to stand among famous men, like shakespeare and fit fits fz greene halleck. her original designed featured just stanton and anthony, along with a scroll naming many women of color. but when the city rejected the scroll, only anthony and stanton were left standing. and this design was met with backlash from gloria steinem, among others, not only for its lack of diversity, but because of anthony and stanton's expressions of arrest

ideas. >> susan b. anthony said she would rather cut off her black arm than give the black man to vote over a women. do i look up to susan b. anthony, who was defending part of what i believed in, that all women should have the right to vote? what do i do with this? >> salamishah tillet is a professor of african-american studies at rutgers university. do you think there should be monuments of stanton and anthony? >> it would be sexist not to include their voices and experiences, but it would be racist not to understand the women who were fighting alongside of them, like sojourner truth. >> it is sojourner truth, a woman who escaped slavery, who now has a seat at the monument's table. >> some historians have said that the addition of truth is still problematic

because this depiction doesn't accurately represent the suffrage movement. >> to have them in this kind of interracial harmony, it is kind of harmful, to have a sanitized, white-washed version of the women's movement doesn't serve any of us who call ourselves feminists in 2020. >> reporter: her mouth is open. what is she saying? >> i leave it up to you. >> reporter: controversy notwithstanding, bergmann says the statue is an artistic representation. >> they represent different kinds of activist. sojourner truth, who is famous for speaking, is speaking. stanton, who wrote wonderful speeches and books, is about to write. and susan b. anthony is showing them papers and pamphlets that she has brought from all of her activism. >> reporter: the fight for rights and representation continues to unfold.

as this monument shows up, part of the challenge and beauty of america is that we have so many stories to tell. >> millions of people are going to walk by this statue every year. >> reporter: what do you want this monument to say to them? >> oh, wow. i think i want the monument to say to them: get busy. t. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats differently. for psoriasis, 75% clearer skin is achievable, with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. for psoriatic arthritis, otezla is proven to reduce joint swelling, tenderness, and pain. and the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting.

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which is why it's good to know exactly how you'll get there. for more than 150 years, generations have trusted the strength and stability of pacific life to protect their tomorrows. because protecting those you care about with life insurance and retirement solutions is a winning game plan. ask a financial professional about pacific life. >> pauley: just 16 days until america decides, and we're being buried by a blizzard of polls. thoughts on that from john dickerson of 60 minutes. >> we're in the high season of political polls. it feels like we're pelted with a new one by the hour. public interest and al and a luming election day.

are the polls solid? can they be trusted. i've never been called. part sans bicker over interpreting the polls as if the election were on the line in that moment. maybe we should ignore them, we'll know soon enough. but we should not ignore the polls, if for no other reason than political polling encourages humility. that is useful in politics or any other public issue. in an age where everyone thinks they're so right about everything. over the whole stew of political polling looms the belief that the polls were wrong in the last election. this is a popular view; it is also the wrong view. in 2016, the average of national polls shows that hillary clinton was leading by around 3%. when the votes came in, she won the popular vote by a hair over 2%. very close. what was wrong was the way a lot of us thought about the polls and thought

about the forecasts being made about who might win the election. hillary clinton was given anywhere from a 70% to 99% chance of winning. many people, even some who follow elections for a living, decided to round that number up to 100%. the polls aren't to blame for that any more than the weather forecaster deserves the blame for your lack of an umbrella when a 30% chance of rain is predicted. in this way, the political class repeated a familiar mistake of leaning too hard on the numbers. in 1936, they overread a poll taken in literal digest, which showed alf landon beating roosevelt. they misunderstood who would be voting, a mistake some pollsters also made in the mid-western states in 2016. it is the reason pollsters

will be the first to warn about the uncertainty of polls. voter and pundits may need certainty from them, but that's on us. don't blame the polls for that. pursue the elusive. while also capturing the possibilities - even something like co2. over the last decade, chevron has spent over $1 billion on carbon capture projects. and is investing in start-up companies working to transform carbon into new forms of energy. ♪ but we can still help protect each other this flu season to transform carbon into new forms of energy. by getting vaccinated. if you're 65 or older, get the superior flu protection of

fluzone high-dose quadrivalent. it's the only 65+ flu vaccine with four times the standard dose. and it's free with medicare part b. fluzone high-dose quadrivalent isn't for people who've had a severe allergic reaction to any flu vaccine or vaccine component, including eggs or egg products. tell your health care professional if you've ever experienced severe muscle weakness after receiving a flu shot. people with weakened immune systems, including those receiving therapies that suppress the immune system, may experience lower immune responses. vaccination may not protect everyone. side effects include pain, redness, and/or swelling where you got the shot, muscle ache, headache, and general discomfort. other side effects may occur. if you're 65+, don't settle for a standard-dose flu shot. move up to superior flu protection. see your health care provider and ask for fluzone high-dose quadrivalent by name.

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and join us in celebrating all dogs on our second annual national make a dog's day. subaru. more than a car company. >> pauley: we leave you this sunday in an early snowfall at the san juan national forest near durango, colorado. captioning made possible by johnson & johnson, committed to improving health for everyone, everywhere.

captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pauley: i'm jane pauley. please join us when our trumpet sounds again next sunday. ♪ when you caught between the moon and new york city ♪ ♪ i ♪ ♪ if you get caught between the moon and new york city ♪ ♪ the

i'm voting 'yes' on prop 19. nineteen limits taxes on seniors. it limits property tax on people like me. nineteen limits taxes on wildfire victims. it says so right here. if 19 passes, seniors can move closer to family or medical care. i looked at moving but i can't afford the taxes. will you help california's most vulnerable? vote 'yes' on prop 19.

captioning sponsored by cbs >> brennan: i'm margaret brennan in washington and this week on "face the nation," the unprecedented challenges of 2020 are pplaying out on the campaign trail as the country faces yet another covid-19 crisis point. across the u.s., nearly 27 million people have already voted, despite the challenges of casting a ballot in a pandemic. in a bitterly divided country, it may be the only thing americans can agree on: the importance of voting in campaign 2020. with just 16 days left before election day, president trump hits rallies as usual, even in red-zone states with dangerously high number