EVERYONE TO HAVE A SEAT AT DEMOCRACY’S TABLE. ♪ SOLEDAD: I’M SOLEDAD O’BRIEN. WELCOME TO "MATTER OF FACT." WE’RE NOW JUST DAYS AWAY FROM THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS. TIGHTLY CONTESTED SENATE RACES ARE PLAYING OUT IN SEVERAL STATES, INCLUDING GEORGIA, ARIZONA, PENNSYLVANIA, AND WISCONSIN. SURVEYS OF REGISTERED VOTERS SHOW ISSUES LIKE THE ECONOMY, ABORTION, AND CRIME WILL DETERMINE THE CHOICES THEY MAKE AT THE POLLS. AFTER THE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, OUR CORRESPONDENT JESSICA GOMEZ EMBARKED ON A ROAD TRIP, TRAVELING ALONG I-70, FROM COLORADO TO MISSOURI, TALKING TO PEOPLE ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN AMERICAN. LAST WEEK, SHE PICKED UP WHERE SHE LEFT OFF AND TALKED TO VOTERS IN ILLINOIS AND OHIO. NOW, IN THE FINAL LEG OF THE JOURNEY, SHE IS MAKING STOPS IN WEST VIRGINIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AND MARYLAND, ONCE AGAIN ASKING VOTERS WHAT MATTERS MOST TO THEM. ♪ JESSICA: IN THE BATTLEGROUND STATE OF OHIO -- HALEY: THE STUDENT VOTE IS GOING TO REALLY IMPACT THE OUTCOME OF THIS ELECTION. JESSICA: A STOP AT THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY TO HEAR WHAT’S ON THE MINDS OF YOUNG VOTERS, LIKE MIRIAM OUEIS. SHE’S WORRIED ABOUT HER STUDENT LOAN DEBT. MIRIAM: BEING IN SO MUCH DEBT JUST TO GET TO THE PLACE THAT I WANT TO BE IS A BIG ISSUE FOR ME. EDWARD: IT’S INTERESTING TO THINK THAT WAY. JESSICA: FOR EDWARD BOZIK, IT’S THE ECONOMY. EDWARD: PEOPLE CAN’T EVEN GO TO THE GROCERY STORE AND AFFORD THINGS TO LIVE OFF, YOU KNOW, FOR A WEEK. JESSICA: AND HAYLEY GRIGGS, FROM A FAMILY OF FOUR GIRLS. HAYLEY: DEFINITELY ABORTION, JUST HAVING THREE SISTERS, THINKING ABOUT THEM NOT BEING ABLE TO HAVE A RIGHT TO CHOOSE WHAT DO WITH THEIR OWN BODIES. JESSICA: BACK ON THE ROAD, I -70 TAKING US EAST, INTO WEST VIRGINIA. SUSAN: WE CAN DO BETTER. WE HAVE TO DO BETTER. JESSICA: THE CITY OF WHEELING, BUILT ON COAL AND STEEL, BUT MOST OF THAT HAS NOW GONE AWAY. LYNN: DO YOU NEED ANYTHING? JESSICA: IT’S WHERE WE MEET LYNN KETTLER. CATHOLIC CHARITIES SERVING UP BREAKFAST TO THOSE IN NEED. LYNN: THE NEED WAS SO MUCH GREATER THAN SERVING THE FOOD. THEY NEEDED A PRESENCE OUT HERE ON THE STREET, THAT COULD LOVE THEM UNCONDITIONALLY. JESSICA: LYNN AND HER COUSIN SUSAN BROSSMAN STARTED A NON-PROFIT CALLED STREET MOMS, BRINGING SUPPLIES AND SUPPORT TO THE HOMELESS. >> MOSTLY MENTAL ILLNESS, DRUG ADDICTION. >> IT’S REALLY BAD, WE ARE ALMOST OVERWHELMED. JESSICA: WITH THE HOMELESS CAMPS GROWING, THE STREET MOMS SAY, SOME SERVICES THAT DISAPPEARED DURING THE PANDEMIC NEVER CAME BACK. LYNN: THE OPIOD CRISIS, WHERE IS THE MONEY GOING? WE ARE NOT SEEING IT TRICKLE DOWN TO THIS LITTLE TOWN WHERE IT IS NEEDED. HOUSING! TRYING TO GET HOUSING FOR THESE FOLKS IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE. LYNN: SO PEOPLE NEED TO LOOK FOR CANDIDATES THAT ARE WILLING TO DELVE INTO THESE DIFFICULT TOPICS AND MAKE AMERICA A PLACE WHERE EVERYBODY CAN LIVE COMFORTABLY. JESSICA: FROM WEST VIRGINIA TO PENNSYLVANIA -- JAMES: WHEN PEOPLE GET FREE MONEY, YOU DON’T HAVE A WORKING FORCE. JESSICA: IN BEDFORD, OWNER OF THIS THIRD-GENERATION FAMILY TRUCKING COMPANY, JAMES WAKEMAN, HE HAS TWO TRUCKS WITHOUT DRIVERS. JAMES: I HAVE TROUBLE FINDING WORKERS, PERIOD. WHETHER THEY ARE GOOD OR BAD. I JUST CAN’T SEE HOW IMPORTANT PEOPLE CAN FIGHT OVER STUFF THAT DON’T MATTER, TO WHERE THINGS THAT MATTER, THEY JUST CAN’T GET TOGETHER. BRITTANY: I THINK CRIME, ESPECIALLY VIOLENT CRIME, IS A SYMPTOM OF RESIDUAL LOSS. JESSICA: THE END OF THE ROAD, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND. HERE, WE CATCH UP WITH BRITTANY YOUNG AND HER GROUP OF DIRT BIKE RIDERS. BRITTANY: OUR PROGRAM, HOW WE’RE MAKING IT SAFER IS LITERALLY MAKING SURE KIDS PICK UP A BIKE AND NOT A GUN. >> I LIKE THAT. JESSICA: THE CHEMICAL ENGINEER TURNED TECH TEACHER CREATED THE NON-PROFIT B-360 A FEW YEARS BACK, AS POLICE STARTED CRACKING DOWN ON DIRT BIKE RIDERS. BRITTANY: RIGHT AND SO YOU RIDE A TWO-STROKE, WHY? >> BECAUSE OF THE POWER. JESSICA: THE YOUNG RIDERS NOT ONLY LEARN HOW TO OPERATE AND FIX THE BIKES BUT IN THE COLDER MONTHS TAKE S.T.E.M. CLASSES. BRITTANY: THE SKILLS THAT WE’RE LOOKING AT GROWING COULD BE ANYTHING FROM MANUFACTURING TO ELECTRICIANS TO MECHANICS TO FUTURE TEACHERS TO CHEMICAL ENGINEERS. JESSICA: BUT REVVING THE ENGINES OF CHANGE HERE, BRITTANY SAYS, NEEDS SUPPORT. BRITTANY: SO I WANT TO SEE CANDIDATES THAT ARE THINKING ABOUT POLICIES, NOT SHORT TERM BUT LONG TERM, SO GENERATIONS NOW AND GENERATIONS LATER AND HOW TO AFFECT IT. PERRY: WE LOOK AT THE FLAG FROM DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS, BUT WE ARE ALL LOOKING AT THE SAME FLAG. JESSICA: OUR FINAL STOP, FORT MCHENRY, WHERE THE WAR OF 1812 AGAINST THE BRITISH INSPIRED THE NATIONAL ANTHEM. PERRY: SO THERE’D BE 20 MEN THAT WOULD SLEEP IN THIS ROOM. JESSICA: IT’S WHERE WE MEET VOLUNTEER AND HISTORY BUFF PERRY BERMAN. PERRY: THIS TIME 200 YEARS AGO, CONGRESS WAS DOING THE SAME THING THAT WE SEE TODAY, NO DIFFERENT. JESSICA: PERRY, WHO WANTS TO LEAVE A BETTER ENVIRONMENT FOR THE NEXT GENERATION, SAYS WE CAN LEARN FROM OUR HISTORY. PERRY: THE PEOPLE BACK IN 1812 HAD NO IDEA THAT THEY WERE GONNA SURVIVE. THEY WERE JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHETHER AMERICA WAS GONNA BE ON ITS OWN TWO FEET. ♪ THE MESSAGE IS, WE DID IT! WE WILL DO IT AGAIN! WE’RE AMERICANS. WE ARE THE HOME OF THE FREE AND THE BRAVE. JESSICA: IN BALTIMORE, FOR "MATTER OF FACT," I AM JESSICA GOMEZ. SOLEDAD: YOU CAN WATCH ALL THREE PARTS OF JESSICA’S TRIP ACROS