JUDY WOODRUFF: On the "NewsHour" tonight:
mailing it in. The U.S. postmaster general
faces congressional scrutiny over postal delivery
in a critical election and the president's
remarks about mail-in voting.
Then: The convention concludes. Joe Biden
formally accepts the Democratic nomination
for president and makes his pitch to American
voters.
Plus: hunger in Lebanon. Regular citizens
work to counteract a major food shortage that
grips a country already mired in the dual
crises of COVID-19 and a tanking economy.
JANE FERGUSON: The challenges here in Beirut
are about a lot more than simply feeding people
in the midst of this latest crisis. There
is a major food security emergency here in
Lebanon as a result of the economy collapsing.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And it's Friday. Mark Shields
and David Brooks assess an unprecedented Democratic
Convention and what to expect from the Republicans
next week.
All that and more on tonight's "PBS NewsHour."
(BREAK)
JUDY WOODRUFF: The postmaster general of the
United States today testified before the Senate,
facing the first public scrutiny of his recent
moves at the Postal Service, which reportedly
have caused widespread delays in mail delivery.
Democrats have accused Louis DeJoy of sabotage,
saying that he is trying to limit voting by
mail, which is expected to surge this fall
because of the pandemic.
William Brangham has a report on today's hearing.
LOUIS DEJOY, U.S. Postmaster General: Thank
you, Chairman Johnson, for calling this hearing.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: From the start of today's
virtual hearing before the Senate Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs Committee,
the newly appointed postmaster general addressed
a central question: Would the expected surge
of mail-in ballots be delivered on time?
LOUIS DEJOY: I want to assure this committee
and the American public that the Postal Service
is fully capable and committed to delivering
the nation's election mail securely and on
time. This sacred duty is my number one priority
between now and Election Day.
SEN. GARY PETERS (D-MI): Did you discuss those
changes or their potential impact on the November
election with the president or anyone at the
White House?
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Postmaster DeJoy, who was
appointed by the Postal Service's Board of
Governors, was in his prior life a major donor
and fund-raiser for President Trump.
And, today, he pushed back on the idea that
the reforms he's instituting are being done
to help the president's reelection. President
Trump has repeatedly, and incorrectly, said
voting by mail is rampant with fraud and demanded
it be stopped.
Senator Gary Peters, Democrat of Wisconsin,
pressed this line of questioning.
SEN. GARY PETERS: You will give us your word
today, under oath, that you have not taken
any action whatsoever in your capacity as
postmaster general for any political reason
or at the suggestion of any -- any administration
official?
LOUIS DEJOY: Sir, I will tell you, my first
election mail meeting, I instructed the organization,
the whole team around us and out in the field,
whatever efforts we will have, double them.
We are very committed, the board is committed,
the postal workers is committed, the union
leadership is committed to having a successful
election. And the insinuation is, quite frankly,
outrageous.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The changes DeJoy has implemented,
which today he said he would suspend until
after the election, included reducing overtime
hours for mail delivery people and decommissioning
hundreds of large high-capacity mail sorting
machines.
Senator Maggie Hassan, Democrat of New Hampshire,
described how one sorting machine in the city
of Manchester had been sold, and the remaining
one broke.
SEN. MAGGIE HASSAN (D-NH): When we have only
one machine that can do a certain kind of
sorting in our largest distribution center
in the state of New Hampshire, and it breaks,
and everything has to stop until it gets fixed
again, you're really sabotaging the Postal
Service's ability to sort mail efficiently,
and you're undermining postal workers' commitment
to that everyday delivery.
So, will you commit to having your team look
into this??
LOUIS DEJOY: First, Senator, I don't agree
with the premise, but I will comply with your
request.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: DeJoy said the removal of
some of these machines was normal post office
procedure in response to the decline in envelope-sized
mail and to make space for the increase in
package-sized mail.
But senators from both parties, including
Republican Rob Portman of Ohio, said these
mail delays had real-world implications beyond
the election.
SEN. ROB PORTMAN (R-OH): We have a number
of veterans who've contacted us and said they
weren't able to get their medications.
One is a 70-year-old, served in Vietnam, has
COPD, has trouble breathing. The inhaler refill
was mailed through the Postal Service. Due
to delays, he ran out of it while waiting
for it to arrive.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Importantly for November,
DeJoy promised that almost all election mail
would be treated like first-class mail, which
would insure quicker delivery.
There had been reports the post office was
considering a slower category for ballots.
DeJoy sought to assure the public that, despite
what they have heard, the Postal Service had
more than enough capacity to handle this volume
of ballots in the fall.
LOUIS DEJOY: We deliver 433 million pieces
of mail a day, so 150 million ballots, 160
million ballots over the course of a week
is a very, very small amount.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Despite these assurances,
many of DeJoy's critics aren't satisfied.
As the hearing began today, six states and
the District of Columbia, led by Pennsylvania,
filed suit against the Postal Service and
Postmaster DeJoy, saying these changes have
made it harder for states to -- quote -- "conduct
free and fair elections."
In the end, Postmaster DeJoy defended his
reforms as much-needed fiscal discipline for
the post office. He and others have noted
that the service lost $9 billion last year.
He argued that, in the age of FedEx and UPS,
the post office needs to change in order to
compete.
LOUIS DEJOY: I believe there is an opportunity
for the Postal Service to better serve the
American public and also to operate in a financially
sustainable fashion.
Our ability to fulfill that mandate in the
coming years is at fundamental risk. Changes
must be made to ensure our sustainability
for the years and decades ahead.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Postmaster DeJoy will testify
before a House committee early next week.
And, today, the post office's Board of Governors
announced that they are establishing a bipartisan
election mail committee. This would be to
help a lot of these states who are going to
see a surge in voting by mail, help them work
out their programs.
That same Board of Governors offered today
its full support for Postmaster DeJoy -- Judy.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, William, you mentioned
a lot of the criticism of the postmaster.
Is it thought that he did enough today to
allay these critics' concerns?
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: It's not totally clear,
Judy.
I think that the big concern is, is that -- and
this was cited by several of the senators
during the hearing today -- is that the president
himself keeps politicizing the Postal Service
with everything that he says, all of his accusations,
false accusations, about voting by mail being
full of fraud.
So, everything that DeJoy does is seen through
that lens. So, even though DeJoy today contradicted
the president and said voting by mail is safe
and reliable -- DeJoy said that he would be
voting that way this election -- there's still
just so much suspicion because of what the
president keeps saying.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And, in that connection, William,
as you know, the president ramped up some
of this talk, this conspiratorial talk, today
about the post office.
He suggested today that what Democrats might
have in mind is creating so much chaos that,
after the election, they could sneak in Nancy
Pelosi, the speaker of the House, to be the
next president.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Yes, he keeps saying this,
and there's really no truth to it.
I mean, here's the theory undergirding what
the president is saying, that mail-in voting,
which he alleges is going to cause all this
chaos, so let's delay the election.
Now, the president has no authority to delay
the election. That's Congress' job. And Congress
-- 100 percent of congressmen and senators
who have been asked about this have said,
we're not delaying the election.
But the president is sort of alleging that,
according to the law, which is true, that
if, on January 20 at noon, when the president
and vice presidents term expires, and a victor
has not been declared, the number three -- that's
the House majority leader -- would become
the president.
But, as I have said, there is no evidence
whatsoever this election is going to get moved
one iota. And so this is a bit of a moot point,
but he keeps using, I think partly because
he thinks Nancy Pelosi is, I guess, a scare
tactic for his supporters.
JUDY WOODRUFF: William Brangham following
these hearings and this issue.
Thank you, William.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: You're welcome, Judy.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Light vs. darkness -- that
is how Joe Biden framed the decision that
voters will have to make this fall during
his very first speech as the Democratic Party's
nominee for president.
Meanwhile, President Trump and the Republicans
ready for their turn next week.
Amna Nawaz has our coverage.
JOSEPH BIDEN (D), Presidential Candidate:
Good evening.
AMNA NAWAZ: For Joe Biden, these words had
been decades in the making.
JOSEPH BIDEN: So, it is with great honor and
humility I accept this nomination for president
of the United States of America.
AMNA NAWAZ: The 2020 Democratic presidential
nominee made his appeal to Americans in stark
terms.
JOSEPH BIDEN: ÆMD+ITØÆMD-ITØThe current
president has cloaked America in darkness
for much too long. Too much anger. Too much
fear. Too much division.
Here and now, I give you my word, if you entrust
me with the presidency, I will draw on the
best of us, not the worst. I will be an ally
of the light, not the darkness.
AMNA NAWAZ: Biden lambasted President Trump's
pandemic response.
JOSEPH BIDEN: We lead the world in confirmed
cases. We lead the world in deaths. Our economy
is in tatters, and, after all this time, the
president still does not have a plan. Well,
I do.
AMNA NAWAZ: And he cited the president's own
words after the 2017 neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville,
Virginia, as the moment he knew he had to
run.
JOSEPH BIDEN: And remember what the president
said when asked. He said they were -- quote
-- "very fine people on both sides."
At the time, I said we're in the battle for
the soul of this nation, and we are.
AMNA NAWAZ: That sober warning on the DNC's
final night echoed similar sentiments earlier
in the week.
Former presidential nominee Hillary Clinton:
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, Former U.S. Secretary
of State: For four years, people have told
me: I didn't realize how dangerous he was.
AMNA NAWAZ: Former first lady Michelle Obama:
MICHELLE OBAMA, Former First Lady: Donald
Trump is the wrong president for our country.
AMNA NAWAZ: And former President Barack Obama,
all stressing the high stakes of this election.
BARACK OBAMA, Former President of the United
States: Do not let them take away your power.
Do not let them take away your democracy.
AMNA NAWAZ: Over the week, history was made,
most notably by Senator Kamala Harris, the
first woman of color ever nominated to a major-party
ticket.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), Vice Presidential
Candidate: Let's fight with conviction. Let's
fight with hope. Let's fight with confidence
in ourselves and a commitment to each other,
to the America we know is possible.
AMNA NAWAZ: And the first entirely virtual
roll call vote, giving viewers a tour and,
in some cases, a taste, across 57 states and
territories.
MAN: Our friend Joe Biden.
AMNA NAWAZ: A diverse slate of everyday Americans
were heard from every night, like Kristin
Urquiza, whose father died of COVID-19.
KRISTIN URQUIZA, Daughter of Coronavirus Victim:
His only preexisting condition was trusting
Donald Trump.
AMNA NAWAZ: Gurnee Green, whose small business
is struggling mid-pandemic.
GURNEE GREEN, Business Owner: I'm alone.
AMNA NAWAZ: And 13-year-old Brayden Harrington,
who credited Biden with helping him control
his stutter.
BRAYDEN HARRINGTON, 13 Years Old: And without
Joe Biden, I wouldn't be talking to you today.
AMNA NAWAZ: Issues like immigration and climate
change took center stage, but, on gun violence,
Gabby Giffords radiated resilience.
FMR. REP. GABRIELLE GIFFORDS (D-AZ): We can
let the shooting continue, or we can act.
AMNA NAWAZ: Among the many making the case
for Biden over four nights, his primary rivals,
banding together in party unity.
SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): You can think of
this sort of like "Survivor" on the out interviews
of all the people that got voted off the island.
(LAUGHTER)
AMNA NAWAZ: Republicans bucking their own
party to now back Biden.
COLIN POWELL, Former U.S. Secretary of State:
Joe Biden will be a president we will all
be proud to salute.
AMNA NAWAZ: And his family, beginning with
his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, on surviving devastating
loss.
JILL BIDEN, Wife of Joe Biden: If we entrust
this nation to Joe, he will do for your family
what he did for ours: Bring us together and
make us whole.
AMNA NAWAZ: And ending with his own children,
daughter Ashley, son Hunter, and words from
his late son, Beau.
The DNC ended last night with a fireworks
show, but, today, a sign of more fireworks
ahead. At an event outside Washington, D.C.,
President Trump began his rebuttal to Biden's
argument.
DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States:
Where Joe Biden sees American darkness, I
see American greatness.
AMNA NAWAZ: Next week's Republican National
Convention will include party business in
Charlotte and other events in Washington,
D.C., and Fort McHenry in Baltimore.
Confirmed speakers include President Trump,
first lady Melania Trump, and Vice President
Pence, as well as senior party figures, like
former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Senators
Joni Ernst and Tim Scott, House Minority Leader
Kevin McCarthy, and South Dakota Governor
Kristi Noem.
Republicans are expected to formally renominate
President Trump on Monday, and make their
pitch to the American people in the days to
follow.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Amna Nawaz.
JUDY WOODRUFF: In the day's other news: The
pandemic's official death toll in the U.S.
reached 175,000, as new data underscored that
it may be much higher.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
said that, nationwide, there were up to 215,000
more deaths than usual through July. The Associated
Press reported that half of the victims were
people of color.
The plague of wildfires across California
has now claimed six lives and forced evacuation
orders for more than 100,000 people. Three
clusters of fires burned again today in Northern
and Central California, threatening thousands
of homes.
Firefighters pleaded with people to get out
of harm's way.
MARK BRUNTON, Cal Fire Chief: We do have the
evacuations in place, and they're in place
for a very good reason, not only for the public
safety and the safety of our first responders.
But, with that, when people do stay behind
and do try to take matters into their own
hands with trying to suppress fires, it creates
a bigger issue for our first responders.
JUDY WOODRUFF: One fire has burned within
a mile of the University of California-Santa
Cruz. Some 12,000 firefighters are battling
the fires.
The U.S. Gulf Coast could be facing two big
storms next week. Tropical Storm Laura formed
in the Eastern Caribbean today, and may reach
Florida and the Gulf as a hurricane next week.
Another system off Honduras is tracking toward
Texas and Louisiana, and may also become a
hurricane.
In Iraq today, protests boiled over in the
south, in the worst violence since October.
Demonstrators in Basra battled police and
burned Parliament offices. They demanded the
governor resign, after two activists were
gunned down in the past week.
Doctors in Russia have agreed to let dissident
leader Alexei Navalny be taken to Germany
for treatment, after he fell into a coma.
Supporters say that he was poisoned. Doctors
in the Siberian city of Omsk say they found
no poison. They refused at first to let him
be flown to Berlin, but later relented.
DR. ANATOLY KALINICHENKO, Omsk Emergency Hospital
(through translator): After multiple requests
by the relatives to allow the transportation
of the patient, we understand that, nevertheless,
there is a certain risk, but the relatives
are ready to take those risks.
We have taken a decision that we do not oppose
transferring the patient to another clinic.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Navalny's supporters say that
the doctors stalled until the poison could
no longer be traced.
Back in this country, California's Golden
State Killer, Joseph DeAngelo, was sentenced
today to life in prison without parole. The
former police officer admitted to 26 murders
and rapes in the 1970s and '80s in a deal
to avoid the death penalty. He is now 74,
and was in a wheelchair for today's hearing
in Sacramento. He said he was -- quote -- "truly
sorry" for everyone he hurt.
DeAngelo was finally caught in 2018, with
the help of DNA.
Actress Lori Loughlin was sentenced today
to two months in federal prison in a college
admissions scandal. Her husband, fashion designer
Mossimo Giannulli, got five months. They pled
guilty to paying $500,000 in bribes to get
their two daughters into the University of
Southern California.
And Wall Street ended the week on a high note.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 190
points to close at 27930. The Nasdaq rose
46 points, and the S&P 500 added 11.
Still to come on the "NewsHour": Lebanon struggles
with a food shortage amid COVID-19 and a collapsing
economy; we answer your questions about voting
by mail in the upcoming election; Mark Shields
and David Brooks consider an unprecedented
Democratic Convention; plus, much more.
It has been nearly three weeks since the devastating
explosion at Beirut's port tore through the
city.
In a country already suffering food scarcity
and economic collapse, now the challenge is
to prevent crisis.
From Beirut, special correspondent Jane Ferguson
reports.
JANE FERGUSON: First came the initial shock
of Beirut's massive explosion, ripping through
the city, destroying homes and taking lives.
Now comes the next challenge: averting a dangerous
food shortage, despite virtually no help from
the nation's leaders.
KAMAL MOUZAWAK, Founder, Souk el Tayeb: As
the government or the state is not really
taking care of its own people, people in Lebanon
had always to take care of themselves.
JANE FERGUSON: Kamal Mouzawak is an expert
in feeding people. For more than 15 years,
he's been running Souk el Tayeb, an organization
that sponsors farmers markets and restaurants,
providing much-needed exposure to local sustainable
growers.
His restaurant in Beirut is now just one of
a number of places feeding the neighborhood.
KAMAL MOUZAWAK: If the job needs to be done,
we have to do it ourselves, and this is what
we are doing in a most extraordinary way.
And if we, the people, can do such a wonderful
job, we, the people, should govern this country.
JANE FERGUSON: The challenges here in Beirut
are about a lot more than simply feeding people
in the midst of this latest crisis. There
is a major food security emergency here in
Lebanon as a result of the economy collapsing.
Long before the great blast, Lebanon's economy
was already in tatters, hamstrung by a series
of chronically ineffective and corrupt governments,
plus a banking system that was revealed last
year to be little than a Ponzi scheme.
Millions lost access to their savings, and
the cost of food shot up, along with inflation,
just as the pandemic hit.
DAVID BEASLEY, Executive Director, World Food
Program: You had a perfect storm. I mean,
just when you think it couldn't get any worse,
you have this explosion.
So, you had economic deterioration. Then you
have COVID on top of that. And COVID is playing
out as we speak, deteriorating the situation
throughout Lebanon, and then the explosion.
JANE FERGUSON: David Beasley is the head of
the U.N.'s World Food Program. Lebanon imports
more than three-quarters of all its food.
In order to provide subsidized bread for the
people, the government was buying tons of
wheat through the port that now lies in ruins.
Precious national grain reserves were destroyed
in their silos, leaving the country with only
two weeks' supply and little cash to buy more.
DAVID BEASLEY: Eighty-five percent of all
the grains for the people in Lebanon comes
through that port. And so we have got to get
that port operational.
Otherwise, the costs will be skyrocketing.
In fact, we have already diverted 17,500 metric
tons of flour so that immediately people will
have bread on the table for the entire country
for 20 additional days.
JANE FERGUSON: American celebrity Jose Andres
and his team from his charity World Central
Kitchen swung into action after the blast
and flew to Beirut.
Now they're helping professional kitchens,
like Kamal's, produce some 10,000 meals a
day to feed rescue workers, hospital staff
and patients, plus those made homeless by
the explosion.
JOSE ANDRES, Founder, World Central Kitchen:
Shorter walls, longer tables. All of a sudden,
yes, it looks like fantasy, but it is real.
You can make it happen.
JANE FERGUSON: Andres' organization has been
feeding people in crisis all over the world,
from Puerto Rico to Haiti and across the United
States as coronavirus hits hard.
JOSE ANDRES: This is really a good bite.
JANE FERGUSON: His prolific dedication to
social media draws attention to places that
need help.
Beyond sudden emergencies, what is really
needed, he says, is a global shift in long-term
food security, making sure that people across
the world can afford to eat.
JOSE ANDRES: At the end, the solution is not
about food. It's about having an economic
system that works for the people. It's as
simple as that.
I'm not an economist. I left the school when
I was 14. But this, I can tell you. Let's
buy more food and let's give food for free?
No, that's not a solution. Let's make sure
that we create systems where people, even
in emergencies like these, can, on their own,
sustain themselves, without going broke, in
the simple act of living.
Right now, if there's poor or hungry people,
it's because we have people that go broke,
because we are not helping them not go broke.
If we are able to fix that, hunger and poverty,
it's over forever. But we create systems that
are the contrary.
JANE FERGUSON: Brant Stewart moved here from
Las Vegas several years and opened a charitable
bakery called Mavia, serving up trendy sourdough
and bagels, while also helping Syrian refugees
learn the skills they would need to start
their own businesses.
Located close to the port where the explosion
took place, his bakery was damaged in the
blast, and, deeply discouraged, he almost
closed up for good, until online donations
started pouring in, and he turned it into
a soup kitchen.
BRANT STEWART, Owner, Mavia Bakery: We all
have survivor's guilt, you know? Like, I'm
not as injured as other people. My business
isn't as injured as other peoples' businesses.
I started to realize, though, we have the
space. We have all this money coming in. We
need -- people need food, you know, high rates
of food insecurity in Lebanon. So, yes, we
just kind of -- it fell into place.
JANE FERGUSON: The women that work here know
the struggle of buying food all too well.
Dunia Wadha comes from Tripoli, Lebanon's
second largest city and one of its poorest.
DUNIA WADHA, Baker (through translator): All
the food has tripled in price, meat, chicken,
sugar, vegetables. They are all so expensive.
JANE FERGUSON: Even the price of flour has
increased to beyond the reach of many.
BRANT STEWART: Just wheat, for instance, that
we buy, the local wheat, it used to be 1250
lira per kilo. It's now 4,000 lira per kilo.
So prices have skyrocketed. People's salaries
have dropped. It's just -- it's created a
really unbearable situation for most people,
I think.
JANE FERGUSON: Fixing the situation will take
years of work, eliminating the corruption
and waste that ruined Lebanon's economy.
In the meantime, the people of this country
will continue to try to survive through the
warm hospitality and kindness they are known
for.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jane Ferguson
in Beirut, Lebanon.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And now we turn to Ask Us,
where we put questions from viewers like you
to experts who can make sense of these tumultuous
times.
Earlier, we reported on the postmaster general's
changes at the post office and doubts the
White House has cast on mail in voting.
All this has troubled many viewers who are
considering voting by mail.
Amna Nawaz is back with more.
AMNA NAWAZ: President Trump's repeated attacks
on mail-in voting, along with reports about
mailboxes being removed and sorting machines
taken out of post offices, have all led to
anxiety, fear and confusion.
The postmaster general now says he's suspending
any more changes until after the election.
But many of you are worried about election
security, how to vote safely during a pandemic,
and how to make sure your vote counts.
To answer your questions, I'm joined by David
Becker. He's the founder and executive director
of the Center for Election Innovation and
Research.
David Becker, welcome to the "NewsHour." And
thanks for being here.
Let's get right to these questions.
The very first one comes from Judy Shapiro
in New York. And this is her question: "How
can I check what voting options I have, other
than going to the polls?"
David, what do you say to Judy?
DAVID BECKER, Founder, Center for Election
Innovation and Research: So, of course, there
are a variety of different rules all around
the country. We're actually not holding one
election in November. We're holding about
10,000 little elections all over the country.
And that can be really challenging.
The best place to go is your county or local
election Web site. Find out what your county
election Web site is. That will have almost
all the information. If you want one national
Web site that you can start at, you can go
to CanIVote.org, which is run by the National
Association of Secretaries of State.
And that'll redirect you to your state election
Web site.
AMNA NAWAZ: So, all those options are online.
People can go check them out, because, of
course, all the dates are different as well.
Let's go to our next question as well. This
was submitted on video. Let's take a listen
now to a question from Jeremy Lopez.
JEREMY LOPEZ, Texas: Hi, my name is Jeremy
Lopez. And I am from Austin, Texas.
And my question is, how will the physical
count of the mail-in ballots be handled and
checked?
AMNA NAWAZ: David, we are anticipating an
influx of those mail-in ballots. So, what
do you say? What do we know about how those
are going to be counted?
DAVID BECKER: Well, perhaps as many as 50
percent of all ballots will be mail ballots
this year. The highest we have ever had before
was in 2016, where almost 25 percent of mail
ballots came in by -- came in by mail, rather.
And how that's handled is, those get returned
to the election office. Often, many, if not
most of them are returned in person by the
voters, often in drop boxes or election offices,
or sometimes even in the polling places themselves.
So you don't need to rely upon the mail for
that.
And once they get there, according to state
law, they can begin processing them at various
times. Some states allow processing those
ballots early, before Election Day. In other
states, like Michigan and Pennsylvania, for
instance, require that that not be started
until Election Day itself, election morning.
But what happens is, election officials, multiple
election officials, review those ballots,
to make sure they're properly cast. They will
look at the personal information on the envelope
to make sure it matches the voter's file,
and they will match the signature on file
to the voter's file to see if it matches,
make sure that they're properly cast by the
right voter.
And once they're sure of that, they will then
remove the ballot from the envelope and place
it into a scanner to be counted. Depending
on how many of those ballots are and how early
a state can start counting them will depend
on how soon we know what the results are from
those mail ballots.
AMNA NAWAZ: David, the next question now comes
from Carol Woosley. She lives in Kenosha,
Wisconsin.
And this is her question. She asks: "If you
apply for an absentee ballot, but it doesn't
arrive before the election, do you lose your
right to vote, or can you still go to the
polls?"
There's a lot of confusion over this, David.
So how exactly does it work?
DAVID BECKER: Every single voter has the right
to go to the polls and vote in person, every
single registered voter, even if they have
requested a mail ballot or if they're in a
state where they get automatically sent a
mail ballot. There's nine states that will
be doing that this fall.
So, if you have asked for a mail ballot or
were expecting a mail ballot, or even if you
have received it and change your mind, and
would like to vote in person, you can still
go vote in person.
Now, depending upon the rules of the state,
you might have to cast a provisional ballot.
That's to make sure that someone doesn't return
their mail ballot as well. There are checks
and balances in place in every single state
to make sure that, even if someone received
a mail ballot and then they vote in person,
that they only can vote once.
But it's really important. If you have requested
a mail ballot and it's getting close to Election
Day, perhaps even as much as a week before
Election Day, I think that is a good time
to go to plan B and look for other options,
particularly early in-person voting options
at that point, to make sure you can cast your
ballot and it'll be counted.
AMNA NAWAZ: Important to know, though every
single eligible voter can go to the polls.
Finally, here's one more question from Ithaca,
New York. This one's from Saundra Goodman.
And she asks: "How can American voters be
assured that we can trust the Postal Service
to securely handle our ballots?"
David, this goes to the heart of the issue
for so many Americans, trust in the election
process. What do you say to Saundra?
DAVID BECKER: So, the Postal Service has been
doing this for about 200 years, since before
the Civil War, and they have been doing it
well. And we have trusted it throughout our
history.
Of course, the recent news has shaken that
trust. We're wondering why the Postal Service
is sending letters to states and telling them
that they might not be able to process the
ballots.
Here's what voters can do. Voters, if they
want to vote by mail, if they think that's
the right way for them to vote, then they
should request a ballot as early as possible,
so that that ballot can be delivered them
as soon as possible.
But then, if they're not 100 percent sure
that there's enough time or they have doubts
about the mail returning their voted ballot,
there are lots of options to return that ballot
in person.
So, for instance, in every state, if you have
requested a mail ballot, you can return that
ballot in advance of Election Day to an election
office. Many states have secure drop boxes
located around the counties and states where
those ballots can be dropped.
And that's a wonderful way to make sure that
the ballot gets directly to election offices.
AMNA NAWAZ: Bottom line, do your research,
have a plan. Such important information.
David Becker from the Center for Election
Innovation and Research, thanks so much for
being with us.
DAVID BECKER: Thank you, Amna.
AMNA NAWAZ: And thanks to all of you for your
questions.
You can always send us more any time via "NewsHour"'s
Twitter, Facebook or Instagram accounts, or
on our Web site. That's PBS.org/NewsHour.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The
Democrats spent this week making their case
for a Joe Biden presidency. Next week, it's
the Republicans' turn to argue for four more
years for President Trump.
But, tonight, it's the analysis of Shields
and Brooks. That is syndicated columnist Mark
Shields and New York Times columnist David
Brooks.
It is so good to see both of you. We have
seen you -- you have seen us too much for
the last four nights, but we're so glad to
have you back.
David, the Biden campaign is putting out positive
vibes tonight. They're saying: We think we
did really well. We raised $70 million over
four days. A lot of people were watching.
How do you think they did? What stays with
you?
DAVID BROOKS: What is that Beach Boys song,
"Good Vibrations?"
Yes, they have earned them. They had a convention
that vastly exceeded expectations, certainly
my expectations. They had a candidate who
delivered an address with a fierce urgency
that you can't fake, actually.
And they had Barack Obama, Michelle Obama.
They had a series of remarkable performances
that I think, for the first time in this campaign,
not only generated opposition to Donald Trump,
but generated some general and genuine enthusiasm
for Joe Biden.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Mark, what do you -- what's
your takeaway?
MARK SHIELDS: I couldn't disagree more.
No, Judy, it was a...
(LAUGHTER)
MARK SHIELDS: It was a very, very positive
convention, make no mistake about it.
Barack Obama being the big surprise. After
four years of Democrats waiting for him, his
being circumspect and restrained, he arrived
with a full-throated indictment of Donald
Trump, and Donald Trump's failure to lead,
and Donald Trump's failure to protect the
country in its great crisis, and basically
made the case that Donald Trump did not devote
the time, energy, effort, and probably did
not have the capacity to be president.
But I think -- and I agree with David about
Joe Biden. It was -- in many respects, it
was a great advantage to have the remote convention,
because Joe's tendency often is to win everybody
in the room, and which he tries to do and
does when he's speaking.
But, here, he had 24 minutes. It was -- he
stayed within himself. He made the case, I
thought, compellingly.
But, more than anything else about the convention,
to me, I was reminded of the words of the
poet Maya Angelou, who said, people will forget
what you did, people will forget what you
said, but people will not forget how you made
them feel.
And the vignettes about Joe Biden from Greg
Weaver of Amtrak, who suffered a heart attack,
a conductor. Joe Biden knew his children,
his grandchildren. Joe Biden, as vice president,
reached out and contacted him in a barbershop
in New York City to be sure how he was doing,
that Joe Biden, the way he treated the elevator
operator at The New York Times.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Right.
MARK SHIELDS: He didn't get the endorsement
of The New York Times. He got her endorsement.
She nominated him and said that there's more
than room in his heart for himself. There's
room for me and so many others.
And, finally, as you commented, Brayden Harrington,
the 13-year-old, brave, courageous young man
from New Hampshire, who revealed that Joe
Biden had told him: We're in the same club,
we're stutterers, and helped him and gave
him the courage.
And I think that came through probably more
strongly than anything else, and I think to
Joe Biden's advantage.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, David Brooks, did they
do what they needed to do? And did they miss
the mark on anything?
DAVID BROOKS: Yes, they did three-quarters
of what they needed to do.
What's impressive about the Biden campaign
is that they had a theory about two years
ago, and they have stuck with the theory.
The theory is that the country is exhausted
and wants a uniter. And they ignore Twitter.
They ignored a lot of the left-right thing.
They just pursued that theory.
What they did not do is go to the heart of
this electorate, which is working-class voters
in the Upper Midwest. It's sort of mind-boggling
to me. In 2016, Hillary Clinton made a colossal
error by ignoring those voters in Wisconsin,
Pennsylvania, and Michigan and such places.
And if the Democrats lose those states again,
the indictment -- and a correct indictment
-- will be that they made the exact same mistake
in 2020 as they made in 2016.
And I think it's just because they don't have
the vocabulary or the cultural knowledge to
know how to talk to those voters. I just think
there are not enough people in the Democratic
Party who emerge from those communities and
know what concerns them and know how to talk
to them.
And it could just be an inherent error and
shortage in the party.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Mark, do you agree? They failed
to reach these voters in the heartland, many
of them white working-class voters?
MARK SHIELDS: Well, I think Joe Biden has
an enormous advantage over Hillary Clinton
in that respect, just in his natural rapport
and his record in dealing with working people
and working issues.
But the Democrats have to be wary of becoming
a party that -- where people shower before
work, instead of after work, who don't work
by the hour, who don't pack a lunch. And I
think that remains a problem.
But Donald Trump's doing everything he can,
as he did with Goodyear, in trying to boycott
Goodyear tires in Akron, Ohio, and a great
American company, to lose -- to win back for
Joe Biden and the Democrats this group.
I thought the biggest mistake of the night,
Judy, of the entire four week -- week was
your coming to us when John Legend and Common
were singing...
(LAUGHTER)
MARK SHIELDS: ... and asking us...
(LAUGHTER)
MARK SHIELDS: I mean, I have heard nothing
but unmitigated criticism of what the hell
we were saying, when people wanted to hear
them.
And what was David -- what was David Brooks'
bestselling album, they wanted to know.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, we have heard some of
that as well. And we apologize to anybody
who thought we made bad decisions. But we
try our best to get it right.
MARK SHIELDS: OK.
JUDY WOODRUFF: But, David, OK, now it's the
Republicans' turn. It's President Trump's
turn.
What does he need to do next week?
DAVID BROOKS: Well, first, scare people.
(LAUGHTER)
DAVID BROOKS: Show that this is a country
in disorder, crime is rising, violence in
Portland.
Talk about China, which the Democrats did
not do enough. Talk about the threat and say,
hey, I might not be as nice as Joe Biden,
but you need me.
And I think that's the key thing. And the
second way Trump will say you need me is,
they didn't talk about their policies at their
convention. But what they really stand for
is the Green New Deal and opening the border
and all that.
I expect the Republican Convention, weirdly,
to be weirdly more policy-oriented.
The final odd thing about the Republican Convention
this year, which is unprecedented in my lifetime,
in all our lifetimes, is that the 2012 nominee
would be not welcome there. Mitt Romney would
be not welcome there. John McCain, if he were
alive, would be not welcome there. George
W. Bush, the last Republican president, would
be not welcome there. George H.W. Bush, the
previous Republican president, would be not
welcome there.
This is a party that's utterly transformed,
and the previous nominees will just be not
welcome at the party as it currently exists.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Mark, as you look ahead to
what the Republicans need to do next week,
what are you thinking?
MARK SHIELDS: I think it's fair to say, Judy,
not only would they not be welcome, but not
one of the four would want to be there at
that convention, which also speaks volumes
about the change in the Republican Party.
I think that they have got a tough, uphill
fight. I mean, Donald Trump has spent 40 -- four
years concentrating on his base. And, Judy,
this is going to be a different election from
2016.
Forty-six percent, regardless of how acutely
it's distributed electorally, is not going
to be enough to win the White House back.
And he's got to expand. And I don't know where
he goes to expand. All he does is drill down
on his own side.
And I really feel, if anybody has any extra
empathy, they ought to extend some to the
people who are trying to put together this
Republican Convention, because I think his
whims are changing it from hour to hour, and
the direction it's going to take, and the
message it's going to deliver.
And I just -- I really think it's an uphill
-- it's an uphill struggle from here, politically,
to make a theme, to develop a theme.
What are you going to run, on sleepy Joe,
after Joe Biden just ran -- gave a 24-minute
speech that was the equal of any given?
FOX News, before the convention, asked, do
you think Joe Biden has the mental acuity
to be president, in a poll, and 47 percent
said yes, and 39 percent no. They also made
the mistake of asking it about Donald Trump,
and 51 percent said, no, they didn't think
he had the mental acuity.
So, there's two themes that have kind of gone
by the board, sleepy and mental acuity.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, one of the things the
president has been talking about -- and we
heard about it earlier in the program and
just now from viewers, David -- is what's
going on with the Postal Service.
The postmaster general went before the Congress,
a bunch of senators today, got grilled over
that. He assured them that everything's going
to be fine. But a lot of Democrats are saying,
this is something they need to -- we need
to watch.
How serious an issue is this? How much do
you think it's going to play a role in this
election?
DAVID BROOKS: Well, Donald Trump's comments
are a serious issue, because they will serve
to proactively delegitimize the election if
it comes out in the way his followers don't
like.
And so they will have an excuse. And they
will say, see, Donald Trump said this all
along. It was those mail-in ballots, a system
that we know is honest.
As for what's actually happening in the post
office, I think much -- vastly too much is
being made out of this. The Postal Service
is a service in financial trouble. The amount
of mail is down sharply. The nature of the
mail has shifted from letters to packages.
So, shifting over from some of the sorting
machines for letters to other things, and
making room for packages processing machinery
seems to be just the normal thing you do.
There's no evidence that I have seen that
any of this is done with bad motives, other
than try to save the Postal Service.
We get 160 million voters maybe or so, probably
less. The Postal Service delivers 430 (sic)
pieces of mail every day. There should be
some expectation, as there has been all these
centuries, that they can do this job and that
they're going to do this job.
And if we -- it's worth watching. But, so
far, I don't see any evidence that the Postal
Service has become some sort of corrupt and
untrustworthy institution.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Mark Shields, only about 30
seconds on the Postal Service.
MARK SHIELDS: I don't think -- Judy, I don't
think that anybody is suggesting the Postal
Service is.
We're talking about the leadership. And the
old line, you don't talk to the monkey, when
you can talk to the monkey grinder -- Donald
Trump has made quite clear what his intentions
are. He does not want millions of Americans
voting by mail in the middle of a pandemic,
in which the United States has paid a greater
price in personal lives and suffering than
any industrialized nation and many non-industrialized
nations in the world.
And this is obviously a priority of his that
far exceeds the pandemic itself. He keeps
talking about it, and says on the record that,
if people vote by mail, the Republicans -- if
everybody votes by mail, the Republicans will
never win another election.
I think we need all the light, all the sunshine,
all the antiseptic and dyspeptic we can keep
on this story. And I look forward to the hearings
on Monday.
JUDY WOODRUFF: We will keep covering it.
And we thank you both after really an extraordinary
week.
David Brooks, Mark Shields, thank you.
We want to take another moment now to honor
a group of individuals who lost their lives
to the coronavirus.
Here are their stories.
Robert Shackelford dreamed of serving in the
Army, but colorblindness forced him to find
a different way to serve his country. So,
for nearly 30 years, he taught high school
American history in Sarasota, Florida. Robert
was also a longtime football coach. A fellow
coach described him as a detailed and dedicated
leader.
Despite a busy schedule, the 61-year-old always
made time for family. He loved mailing cards
to his daughter and grandson, and regularly
visited his brother Steven, who has disabilities.
Osanette Hernandez was a curious child and
passionate about learning, her father said.
Just 22 years old, she had dreamed of becoming
a nurse. A shy, but gifted performer, she
sang in her church choir and played clarinet
in the high school marching band in San Antonio,
Texas.
Osanette was a devoted daughter, and started
a business with her mom selling homemade cakes
and cookies. She kept baking after her mother
passed away last year to support her father
and siblings.
Forty-eight-year-old John Eric Swing was passionate
about supporting the Asian-American community.
He led efforts in Los Angeles to help residents
and businesses through the pandemic. Co-workers
said the former Marine Corps Reservist radiated
positive energy. A foodie and an outdoorsman,
his wife said he was happiest on the beach
and when spending time with her and their
six children.
Su Thao was a hero for the Hmong people. After
escaping communist Laos, he kept returning
to rescue family members, and worked with
the CIA on covert operations in the country.
When he moved to Iowa in the 1970s, he worked
to bring more refugees to the U.S.
Eventually, he settled in Fresno, California,
where he directed documentaries, translated
popular films into Hmong and even hosted a
radio show. A father to nine, Su was 72 years
old.
Sawarrelita Redmond's suburban Chicago home
was never empty. For the last 15 years, the
mother of three ran her own day care, where
she cared for kids all hours of the day, sometimes
free of charge. Sawarrelita, or Nita, born
in Mississippi as the 21st child of 22, also
took in foster children who were in-between
homes.
She enjoyed playing cards on the weekends
with friends, and was described by her daughter
Jasmine as uplifting, easy-going and loved.
Nita was 52.
And our thanks to family members for sharing
the stories of all these individuals.
Our hearts go out to you and all those who've
lost loved ones in this pandemic.
Face coverings, they are now part of our lives
in ways that few could have imagined.
The Smithsonian National Museum of American
History has launched an effort to preserve
artifacts from the pandemic.
Jeffrey Brown takes the long view of masks
now and in the past. It's part of our ongoing
arts and culture series, Canvas.
JEFFREY BROWN: They're a means of protection,
a way to express yourself, or remember others,
something to debate and fight over.
WOMAN: Stay in your house.
MAN: You have a right to stay in our house.
WOMAN: You have a right to stay in our house.
MAN: You have every right.
JEFFREY BROWN: Masks, small coverings that
uncover much about the times and the people
living through them.
Medical historian Alexandra Lord:
ALEXANDRA LORD, Smithsonian National Museum
of American History: The masks give us an
insight into what it felt like to wear a mask,
to design a mask, to choose a mask.
And so that will give us a real insight into
how people felt during the pandemic.
JEFFREY BROWN: Medical mask history goes back
to those now well-known bird masks of the
1600s. Their beaks were filled with herbs
to cleanse what was thought to be contaminated
air, and help doctors endure the smell of
decay and death during bubonic plague.
The use of the medical mask as we know them
came much later.
ALEXANDRA LORD: So, they really come into
their own in the late 19th century, when you
have that advent and emergence of that idea
of germ theory. That takes a long time to
catch on. It's several decades before Americans
overwhelmingly embrace that idea.
JEFFREY BROWN: The first, and it turns out
last, mass wearing of masks by Americans,
until now, was in the so-called Spanish Flu
pandemic of 1918.
Dr. Jeremy Brown is author of "Influenza."
DR. JEREMY BROWN, Historian and Author: They
were extraordinarily important.
In fact, the doctors at the time realized
that masks were basically all that they had.
You should remember that antibiotics hadn't
been discovered, so there was no way to cure
the secondary lung infections. And there were
no antiviral medicines.
So the only thing that you could do was to
prevent the spread of the disease. And that
involved wearing masks. It was well understood
by then that masks are useful.
JEFFREY BROWN: Even so, the death toll was
extraordinary, some 50 million worldwide,
675,000 in the U.S. The pandemic lasted more
than two years, rolling out in three waves.
For the most part, historians say, Americans
accepted masks.
DR. JEREMY BROWN: Everybody was using masks.
There are many wonderful historic pictures
of a batter wearing a mask at a baseball game,
of people wearing masks in the street. People
getting on trams were wearing masks. Police
officers were lined up wearing masks.
ALEXANDRA LORD: One of my favorite images
is of a postman wearing a mask while he's
delivering the mail.
And what's interesting about that is, you
think that that's not someone who is necessarily
coming in direct contact with individuals.
He's just putting mail in a slot. But his
desire to protect himself is still very, very
strong, in case he does have an encounter
on the streets.
JEFFREY BROWN: But masks, then and now, also
became a battleground. Today, we see protests
and other acts of resistance...
WOMAN: This is insane. This is insane.
JEFFREY BROWN: And fights erupting.
WOMAN: That man harassed me for not wearing
a mask.
JEFFREY BROWN: Back then, "Three Shot in Struggle
With Mask Slacker," access to buildings and
services denied, arrests made.
It came to a head in San Francisco, where
a mask requirement was rescinded when things
improved, then restored by the mayor when
flu cases spiked again in a second wave. This
time, some residents balked and formed the
Anti-Mask League.
DR. JEREMY BROWN: The coalition of people
refusing to wear masks included businessmen
who thought that it would put people off coming
into their stores because they had this reminder
of disease on them.
It included what we would call today libertarians,
who felt that it was infringement of their
human rights. And there were also a few skeptical
physicians among them.
JEFFREY BROWN: And how much influence or impact
did they end up having?
DR. JEREMY BROWN: Well, they ended up having
a great influence.
In fact, they -- when the health board tried
to reestablish its ordinance wearing of masks,
it was overturned. There were demonstrators
who came out to the meetings. And that ordinance
to make masks once again mandatory in San
Francisco failed.
JEFFREY BROWN: A lot of that sounds very familiar
to what we're seeing today. Does it strike
you that way?
DR. JEREMY BROWN: It does.
And the more I look into not only the 1918
pandemic, but pandemics in general, the more
you see all kinds of reverberations that tell
us that what is happening in our society today
should probably have been very well-predicted.
JEFFREY BROWN: After 1918, though, the country
wanted to move on.
Not only cultural memory, but the masks themselves
were lost. This one, saved in a scrapbook,
is one of the few that survive.
Today, historians want to preserve and remember,
the improvised DIY masks, the messages of
our era, the fashion statements, all of it
and more, masks, hazmat suits, and other artifacts.
ALEXANDRA LORD: We don't know if, in the future,
people will want to forget about the pandemic
and to move on, or if people will put the
objects from the pandemic in a box in their
attic. We really don't know how people will
respond.
So, we want to make sure that we're talking
to people now, so that they understand the
importance of saving these objects for the
future.
JEFFREY BROWN: One day, that is, when this
is over, future generations may look back
to understand the meaning of a mask.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jeffrey Brown.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And that is the "NewsHour"
for tonight. I'm Judy Woodruff.
Have a great weekend. Thank you, please stay
safe, and we will see you soon.
