♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this prestation of this program is provided by... woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. george: actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. it's exciting to be pa of a team driving the technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo.

narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. announcer: and now, "bbc world news". laura: i am in, pennsylvania, the birthplace of joe biden for the special edition of bbc world news america. we are going to bring you the latest on the midterm races in this battleground state. control of the u.s. senate could come down to how pennsylvania votes. people a thinking about inflation, abortion rights, and

the future of democracy. from one election to another. in brazil, a stunning political comeback, beating the incumbent in the presidential election. and as ukraine counteroffensive continues, russian forces step up their attacks on ukrainian power plants. we have a special report from the frontline. reporter: desolation. this is what months of warfare does. laura: welcome to world news america on pbs and around the globe. we are in scranton, pennsylvania, the birthplace of president joe biden. it is one week until the u.s. midterms and biden and his

democratic party are hoping to hold onto the narrow majority. control of the u.s. senate could come down to what happens here in pennsylvania. later in the week, trump will campaign here for presidents -- for candidates he has endorsed. the last three american presidents are descending upon the state to make their case to voters. i asked people about issues on the top of their mind. ♪ >> ♪ i was born in a small town and live in a small town ♪ ♪ laura: scranton, pennsylvania. the geography of this area reflects the political division. there is one week until the midterm elections and pennsylvia is once again a pivotal state. democrats and republicans are chasing the swing vote. >> people are like, i have to go

get another job to make more money. laura: they head chef at scranton's alehouse says his staff is struggling with high prices. he is one of the few voters in this area that does not always support the same party. he voted for trump in 2016 and biden in 2020. now he is on the fence. >> i do not know where the future of ameca is. you are either extremely hard on one side or extremely hard on the other and i feel like there is not much middle ground. laura: james is busy in that kitchen. it is the final of the world series. cost of living is on his mind. >> i do not know many people who can't afford to pay five dollars

per gallon of gas to go to work and make seven dollars an hour. it is crazy. laura: which way are you leaning? >> it's tough. laura: college football is a saturday afternoon ritual in scranton. supporters of the falcons are out in force. pennsylvania, abortion rights are a contentious issue in the midterms. democrats claim republican candidates want to restrict or outlaw abortion in the state. >> i am very concerned about women's rights, health, and opportunity to choose. laura: wt would you like to see happen in the state? >> i would like to see the right to have the choice. laura: robin is a local republican party official. her message to women concerned about abortion rights is that

they will not disappear in pennsylvania if the state goes red. >> it will not be completely illegal in any state. i do not think they can go that far. i would say to relax on that issue. laura: this is joe biden's childhood home. he is appealing to the blue-collar voters who left democrats to vote for trump. if he wants a second term as president, even here, he faces headwinds. at the football game, scnton's most famous son is bng blamed for the high gas and grocery prices. >> he forgot about us. he's just worried about ukraine. >> can't afford a lot of bills. have to back on hobbies. >> can't afford rent or day-to-day bills because of

inflation around the world. it's crazy. and it's tough. ♪ laura: scranton's president awaits the voters diverted and once again -- the voterserdict and once again, pennsylvania is a battleground state. joining me now for more on the races in pennsylvania is the political director for the pennsylvania democratic party. welcome to the program. >> thank you so much. welcome to the electric city. laura: president biden and president obama are crisscrossing the state. biden is not welcome in all parts of the country because of his low approval ratings. what do you hope ian obama will do when they come here -- what do you hope that obama will do

when they come here? >> pennsylvania is the keystone state and we are that keystone to help keep democracy alive. we hope that they will both energize voters and make people realize this is a really important election and there is so much on the line. laura: democrats say the future of democracy is on the line. many are running for statewide office on the republican side. scranton voters are concerned about high gas prices and groceries. are you worried that this election is a referendum to some degree on president biden's term? >> he has reallbeen putting in the work to make sure that he helps people across america. it is not unknown to us. we feel it ourselves. it is a sign of inflation but instead of talking about inflation and how it is biden's fault, people need to realize it

is corporate greed. inflation is not only happening in the u.s. i have many friends who live overseas. you can see the results caused by russia and the ukraine war has led to the inflation worldwide. laura: but when people are only making minimum wage in pennsylvania, $7.25, they really feel it when gas prices go up and the president gets blamed. >> one of the reasons our minimum wages so low is the republican party. democrats have been on and off the floor, fighting to raise minimum wage, which should be at least $50. a lot of our repubcan counterparts, the same ones who are fighting, want to keep it what it is now. laura: the republican candidate

for governor has a very staunch position. are you finding it leads to more young women registering to vote? >> absolutely. someone bng told they do not have the proper authority over their own body is a big concern for a lot of women here in pennsylvania. he is an extremist. he wants to imprison any woman who has an abortion and charge them for murder. laura: doug mastroianni, he was outside the capitol on january 6 and is the republican candidate for governor. do you feel the atmosphere here is fraught in the run up? trump maintains that he won the state and presidency. >> he has even stated that women who go to another state will be

tried in the commonwealth of pennsylvania. on the political atmosphere here in pennsylvania, it is a large rallying point. we want people to know that he is very extreme on the abortion issue. voting democrat is the only way to protect a woman's right to choose in this state. doug mass triano would not only storms the capital, he helped plan it, along with my current congressman. laura: i know doug mastroianni says he was just at a rally. it shows you that it is a hotly contested election here in pennsylvania. i you so much for joining us. russia has launched more missile attacks across ukraine. steve says power plants have been hit an 80% of people in the

capital kyiv -- -- kyiv says power plants have been hit and 80% of people in the capital have had to leave. we want to warn you, the following story contains distressing details. reporter: for ukrainians, this is a fight for national survival . the hardest test any nation can face. it upends every life. it has ended the lives of thousands. this is an area under heavy shelling. at the moment, the center of the artillery zone in donbass. more than 70,000 people used to live here. almost all of them have left. when i was last here in the summer, there was shelling but

there were buses rning on a few shops open. now, look at it. desolation. this i what months of attritional warfare does to a town. the war hospit is a short ride from the blood of the frontline. the invasion, the casualties, the terrible cost of president putin's attempt to subdue a people he says are the same as russians, all of this has sharpened ukrainians sense of nation. this soldier had a lucky escape from a snir, the bullet in his hand. this is going to hurt, the doctor warrants.

the pain so far has deepened the ukrainian will to fight but in wars, resilience has limits. sustaining it needs victories, not just sacrifice. at the deadliest times, the medics work for two days straight with almost no rest. >> terrible. to see the pain on the soldiers. to see a kind of traumas they get in this war. the most terrible thing is to see the suffering of our country. this is the most terrible. here i see how our boys fight, the wods they receive ruin their lives. it depresses me more than anything else. reporter: just behind the frontline, this is a ukrainian artillery unit's daily routine. first, reloading the missile

launcher, a 50-year-old soviet killing machine. ukraine's -- has slowed down generations of armies. mobile warfare will be easier when it freezes over. the russians saw them coming. memories of peace are receding, pushed away by the debilitating routines of war. >> i was woken up at 4:20 a.m. february 4. since then, i am fighting. i do not feel this offensive is somehow special. it is the same as in the beginning. everyone is scared but we overcome our fear and go fight.

more shelling. nothing dramatic we escaped. an old lady helped us. we escaped. reporter: at the other end of the frontline, a long day's drive southwest through donbass is another district that includes a village recaptured by ukraine after days of hard fighting in seember. we went there because resident said the russians had terrorized them in six months of occupation and because of what happened when a soldier came to this house july 13 at night. he dropped this bullet during the next six hours with these women. now her daughter is in a safe place, but that night, a 75-year-old great-grandmother was alone until she says the man

forced his way in and raped her. >> when i open the door, he immediately punched me in the face, broke my nose and knocked out my teeth. i was covered with blood. he started beating me in the chest with his rifle. he was hitting my body and my head. i did not understand what i had done wrong. he pulled my hair and threw me on the sofa and began to strangle me, so much that i could not swallow water for two weeks. then he began to undress me. and after, he raped me. he cut my stomach. until now, i have scars on my stomach. the deep ones have not healed. putin and the russians will never be forgiven until the end of the world for what they did to the ukrainians. there will bno forgiveness. reporter: as the seasons change,

the war is at a critical point. ukrainians need a victory this wint. russia cannot afford another defeat. that is a formula for a battle that shapes the course of the war. laura: let's turn next to brazil. dasilva has won the presidential election by a 2% margin. a stunning comeback. he could not run previously because he was in jail for taking bribes. sunday night he beat the far right incumbent. let's get the latest from sophia bautista in são paulo. is the former being slow to concede he lost? >> he has not done so law -- he has not done so yet. the whole country is waiting for

his speech. the local newspaper says last night after the results came in, he refused to speak on the phone or meet any of his ministers and one of his aides that night said he had gone to sleep. recently we heard from his son who tweeted, thank you to everyone who gave him the biggest vote of his life. let's keep our heads up and not give up on our brazil. but the wording of the tweet is vague. laura: sophia, when i was in brazil a month ago covering the first round of the elections, there was a lot of anxiety about what would happen, the potential may be for political violence if there was no clear handover. what is the atmosphere like now that it seems clear that dasilva has one and foreign leaders are

calling to congratulate him? sophia: precisely. for a year, he has been casting doubt on the whole voting system. brazil votes electronically and he has been saying it is very easy to half the electronic machines and has been implying that the election might be rigged against him. this led to many people here thinking he might not accept defeat. a few people were concerned this could lead to violence in the streets and even insurrection. but we have not seen any of that . if anything, a lot of the people i've spoken to in the last few hours see his silence as defeats come as him admitting defeat. but we will have to wait and see. he is going to give a speech in the next few hours and everything will be more clear than. laura: that is sophia in são

paulo, thank you. in other news, a man suspected of attacking paul pelosi with a hammer has been charged with assault and attempt to kidnap. nancy pelosi says she and her family have been traumatized by the attack. the suspect faces arraignment tuesday. investigators and south korea are examining video to try to find out how 150 four people who were celebrang halloween were killed. they are wondering why police failed to disperse the crowds who gathered in narrow alleyways. and no hundred 40 people after a bridge collapsed in india. -- and 140 people died after a bridge collapsed in india. the bridge had just undergone

renovations. let's all go back to midterms in the united states. we are from -- we are in scranton, pennsylvania, the birthplace of president joe biden. let's talk with a republican strategist who was a former advisor for president george w. bush. welcome to scranton. we have president biden coming here to campaign this week with former president obama. former president trump will be here saturday. he still will not concede that he lost the state in 2020. why are the big shots coming here? >> because stakes could not be higher when looking at control of u.s. congress. you have a bitterly contested election where republicans think they just need one more seat. will it be a or federman as lieutenant governor and democrats are bringing in all of

the guns? i have spent a lot of time walking around scranton today. it is a bellwether of where a lot of pennsylvanians are looking and saying, who do we want to represent us, who do we trust to represent us in the u.s. senate? it is two hours away from new york, two hours away from pennsylvania. you will see all of the heavy hitters here. laura: trump was very influential in primary elections for the house and senate. >> from those i have talked to today, they say they do not want trump coming in here messing with the election. we want pennsylvanians to represent pennsylvanians and trump had his time but we do not want him coming in here. the flipside is interesting.

they want barack obama and president biden coming here. i thought that was interesting when i heard today from those i spoke to, they do not want trump comingere but they want the democrats. laura: could this be a classic election where americans vote for a democratic governor but then a republican senator? >> yes. those i spoke to today says dr. oz does not really live in pennsylvania, lives in new jersey, but they e really concerned about the health of john fetterman and they are thinking they are not sure. so i think there could be ticket splitting for the governor and senate race. laura: what will the result in pennsylvania mean for the potential future of president biden? >> for having gone to college in

pennsylvania, i think it is very interesting when you look at the suburbs of philadelphia, montgomery county, delaware county, where republicans never had a chance toloinokg ,at w thd saying, our republicans in play here? i think yes and i think it will have a remarkable impact on 2022 and 2024. laura: what is your prediction for republicans in the state? will they pick up house and senate? >> yes, both. i think republicans are doing very well here in pennsylvania and in the midwest. laura: thank you so much for being with us. let's leave you with these images from scranton, the historic city, flanked by mountains. this city might well decide the

fate of president biden's agenda, control of the u.s. senate. not for nothing is it called the keystone state. for the week, we will bring you special coverage of the u.s. midterm elections with the unique bbc global narrator: funding for th presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and per blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪

narrator: you're watching pbs.

judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, affirmative action. the supreme court hears arguments in two cases tt could stop colleges from considering race in admissions. then, political violence. prosecutors announce federal charges against the man who attacked house speaker nancy pelosi's husband, but the kind of lies and conspiracy theories that inspired the assault are still spreading online. and, a return to power. brazil's incumbent far right president is narrowly defeated by the country's former leftist leader. >> if he succeeds in bringing to government this kind of alliance from left to