CBS News' AMERICA DECIDES: 2020 Coverage Focuses on Critical Issues

CBS News continues to focus on critical issues in the run-up to the election by providing special coverage dedicated to voter integrity; the use of misinformation aimed at influencing the electorate; and listening to voters around the country. Combined with the CBS News Battleground Tracker, which will continue to offer the most extensive polling in the industry, CBS News' multiplatform, division-wide coverage will help reveal what Americans are thinking as Election Day approaches.

"America Decides: 2020" special coverage will draw upon the expertise and journalism from across the division, including the Election and Polling team; the Race and Culture Unit; and CBS News' team of political journalists. The coverage will span all broadcasts and platforms, including 60 MINUTES, CBS THIS MORNING, the CBS EVENING NEWS with NORAH O'DONNELL, CBS THIS MORNING: SATURDAY, CBS SUNDAY MORNING, FACE THE NATION, CBSN, CBSNews.com, CBS Newspath and the CBS Audio Network.

CBS News has established a voter integrity unit led by chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett to look at voting issues, including changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, an influx of mail-in voting and a potential delay in results. CBS News chief justice and homeland security correspondent Jeff Pegues will lead the coverage of misinformation and provide investigative and original reporting on the misinformation aimed at compromising democracy both by domestic actors and foreign interference. The Network will also have a wide range of reports listening to voters from battleground states and throughout the country. In addition to this original reporting, the CBS News Battleground Tracker will help explain what Americans are thinking and use state-of-the-art models to show how candidates stand in every state.

Read more below about the reporting from across CBS News:

"America Decides: Counting Your Vote" is a new weekly series by Garrett and the voter integrity team which will examine the voting process and look at how states are preparing for potential complications in November. Garrett will expand on his previous reports for CBS THIS MORNING and CBS EVENING NEWS about expected delays in vote counts due to an increase in mail-in voting. Garrett and his team have reported on voting - and doing it safely during a pandemic - since the launch of the new podcast "The Debrief with Major Garrett" in July. Garrett also dedicated an episode of his first podcast "The Takeout," to mail-in voting and spoke to secretaries of state from Washington, New Mexico, Michigan, Colorado and Iowa; he also spoke with the top federal official responsible for securing election infrastructure against cyberattacks.

"America Decides: Misinformation" is a new series by Pegues and the misinformation team. "America Decides: Misinformation" will delve into the use of misinformation to influence the election process. Pegues will draw from his research and reporting from his book Kompromat: How Russia Undermined American Democracy, to offer viewers clarity on the evolving misinformation campaigns aimed at hindering American institutions like elections.

"America Decides: Every State Has a Story" is a new weekly series that brings to life CBS News' robust polling with fresh analysis and on-the-ground interviews with voters from across the country. The series will also look at voting blocs and explore the issues they may care about. A team of CBS News correspondents, with insights and analysis from CBS News' elections and surveys director Anthony Salvanto, will report the series that will air on CBS THIS MORNING and the CBS EVENING NEWS with NORAH O'DONNELL. CBS News chief congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes kicked it off with two reports from Arizona that expanded on the latest CBS News Battleground Tracker poll on Joe Biden's lead in the state. CBS Newspath, CBS News' newsgathering organization providing news and information to 200+ affiliates nationwide and to broadcasters around the world, will also share the depth of the Network's reporting by offering stations original stories as part of the series.

"America Decides: States & Dates" is a new feature on CBSNews.com that provides the public with the information they need about voting in each state. Reported by the CBS News political unit, "America Decides: States & Dates" comprises useful information from how to register to voting absentee and in-person. Head to CBSNews.com/vote for more.

CBSN, CBS News' free 24/7 streaming service, continues its expansive political programming leading up to the 2020 election, including with the ongoing weekly series "America's Right to Vote," led by CBS News political reporter Caitlin Huey-Burns, which takes a comprehensive look at voting rights and access with a specific focus on battleground states. CBSN's politics show RED & BLUE (Monday-Thursday at 5:00 PM, ET and 9:00 PM, ET), anchored by Elaine Quijano, explores the major issues surrounding the election and the impact of the rapidly evolving news cycle each day, and will continue to feature insight from Anthony Salvanto on the latest polling numbers via the CBS News Battleground Tracker. In addition to the 10 dedicated CBSN Local streaming services in major markets across the country, CBSN's in-depth focus on local coverage includes the "Local Matters" series, which features reports from local journalists that deliver unique perspectives on the cultural, social and policy issues driving voter choice within each state. The CBSN Originals documentary series will also continue to explore key matters and topics driving impassioned debate, with recent deep dives into socialism, internet censorship, the modern feminist movement and more.

CBS News political correspondent Ed O'Keefe and CBS News correspondent Nikole Killion will continue their coverage of the Biden-Harris campaign while White House correspondents Paula Reid, Ben Tracy and Weijia Jiang report from the White House and on the Trump-Pence re-election campaign. CBS News chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford and CBS News chief congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes will continue their coverage of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death and how the vacancy shapes the remaining weeks before the election. The CBS News political unit and its campaign reporters will continue to report on key battleground states and produce daily original reporting, as well as the daily CBS News Trail Markers newsletter and COVID Chronicles series on CBSNews.com.

60 MINUTES will offer its unique brand of election-centric reporting, including Bill Whitaker's report from Sunday's season premiere, which examined the high-stakes battle playing out behind the scenes, in court and in the state legislature, over the rules for mail-in balloting in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania. Lesley Stahl will look at the controversy surrounding a Florida state amendment that gave voting rights to 1.4 million people with prior felony convictions - the single largest addition to the country's voting rolls in half a century. Donald Trump took the state of Ohio's 18 electoral votes in his presidential victory in 2016. Scott Pelley previously reported on that and now returns to the Buckeye State four years later to see if any minds have changed in the traditional presidential bellwether.

CBS THIS MORNING with co-hosts Gayle King, Anthony Mason and Tony Dokoupil will focus on the key voting blocs and the issues that matter to them that will decide this election, as well as the challenges of voting during a pandemic, and what to expect after Election Day. Tony Dokoupil will take to the road and broadcast live from key battleground states as part of a new series, "At America's Crossroads." Dokoupil's original reports will try to understand and explain what is dividing the country so deeply.

The CBS EVENING NEWS WITH NORAH O'DONNELL, the only network evening news broadcast based in Washington, D.C., will continue to offer authoritative coverage of the 2020 presidential election. Norah O'Donnell sat down exclusively with Vice President Mike Pence for an interview yesterday on the current Supreme Court vacancy and more. O'Donnell also broadcasted the CBS EVENING NEWS live from outside the Supreme Court as the nation mourned the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.  

FACE THE NATION adapts its signature focus groups for the COVID-19 era with moderator Margaret Brennan's virtual interviews with voters across the country. Focus groups will go deeper on issues that matter to voters, including how the pandemic and proposed approaches to recovery are informing their vote in November.

CBS SUNDAY MORNING, America's #1 Sunday morning news program, will go behind the headlines and put a face on the key issues facing the country as Election Day nears. The broadcast will focus on the historic parallels between the upcoming election and the campaigns of the past, including Chip Reid's report on the concept of "The October Surprise" and Mo Rocca's story about the similarities between today and the infamous election of 1876. Additionally, contributor Nicholas Thompson looks at conspiracy theories; Erin Moriarty reports on the critical role women could play in the election; and Ted Koppel explores what's at stake in this election for President Trump's supporters. And on the weekend before the election, CBS SUNDAY MORNING will turn to CBS News correspondents around the world, including Debora Patta in Africa, Elizabeth Palmer in London, Seth Doane in Italy and Ramy Inocencio in the Far East, for a group of reports called "The Whole World Is Watching." That same weekend, Major Garrett offers up a look at election nights of the past. Every CBS SUNDAY MORNING between now and the election will feature John Dickerson from 60 MINUTES offering reports on issues cropping up in this presidential campaign perhaps like none other.

CBS News Radio will feature in-depth election coverage from a team of correspondents led by Steven Portnoy at the White House and Allison Keyes and Steve Dorsey in Washington, D.C. Each week, the CBS NEWS WEEKEND ROUNDUP, anchored by Keyes, will recap the top stories from the campaign trail and preview what's next in the race.

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