JUDY WOODRUFF: Good evening. I'm Judy Woodruff.
On the "NewsHour" tonight: breaking barriers.
Senator Kamala Harris is set to formally accept
her party's vice presidential nomination at
the Democrats' virtual national convention.
Then: the Biden plan. We examine the Democratic
presidential nominee's proposal for getting
the U.S. out of the recession that was brought
on by COVID-19.
And power play. Detentions resume in Belarus,
as President Lukashenko struggles to maintain
control following an election widely seen
as fraudulent.
OLGA KOVALKOVA, Representative for Sviatlana
Tsikhanouskaya (through translator): It's
clear that the acting president, Alexander
Lukashenko, does not have the trust and support
of society. And the people who are coming
out into the streets, they are ready to fight
for their voices.
JUDY WOODRUFF: All that and more on tonight's
"PBS NewsHour."
(BREAK)
JUDY WOODRUFF: The Democratic National Convention
hears tonight from two figures critically
important to Joe Biden, the party's newly
minted presidential nominee. One chose Biden
to be his vice president. The other is now
Biden's choice for that job.
Amna Nawaz has a look at that, starting with
a peek at last night's highlight.
AMNA NAWAZ: After officially being nominated
for president by the Democratic Party last
night, Joe Biden briefly addressed the virtual
convention...
JOSEPH BIDEN (D), Presidential Candidate:
From the bottom of my heart, thank you all.
It means the world to me and my family. And
I will see you on Thursday.
Kamala.
AMNA NAWAZ: But, tonight, the spotlight will
shift to his running mate, California Senator
Kamala Harris. She will officially accept
her party's vice presidential nomination,
the first woman of color to do so.
And she will be joined by a slate of other
barrier-breaking women, former presidential
candidate Elizabeth Warren, the first female
senator from Massachusetts, House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to serve in
that role, and former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, who in 2016 became the first female
presidential nominee by a major political
party.
The keynote will come from Vice President
Biden's old boss, former President Barack
Obama. Obama's remarks follow two previous
presidents who spoke last night, Jimmy Carter
and Bill Clinton, who hailed Biden's leadership
and slammed President Trump's handling of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
BILL CLINTON, Former President of the United
States: At a time like this, the Oval Office
should be a command center. Instead, it's
a storm center.
AMNA NAWAZ: Former Secretary of State Colin
Powell continued a trend of prominent Republicans
bucking their own party and backing Biden
as a steady hand in foreign policy.
COLIN POWELL, Former U.S. Secretary of State:
Our country needs a commander in chief who
takes care of our troops, in the same way
he would his own family. For Joe Biden, that
doesn't need teaching.
AMNA NAWAZ: Earlier today, I spoke with Congressman
Jim Clyburn, the number three Democrat in
the House. He weighed in on the party's messaging
strategy.
REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): He had the sensitivity,
the compassion, the faith-based approach to
life that this country needs to get to the
next level, and so I felt real good last night.
AMNA NAWAZ: But among the parade of high-powered
speakers, it was everyday Americans who stole
the show. The reimagined roll call took viewers
on a virtual tour across 57 states and territories,
hearing from Democratic delegates far and
wide.
WOMAN: No matter where we came from, immigrants
belong in our country's long fight for justice.
MAN: We believe that we owe it to the next
generation to protect the natural and cultural
resources that are their inheritance.
WOMAN: I'm putting on my mask, and we are
going to every corner in North Carolina to
help organize.
MAN: I trust him to fight for us.
AMNA NAWAZ: And Biden's nominating speech
came from Jacquelyn Asbie, an elevator operator
whose brief encounter with Biden in New York
City back in January led to some viral moments.
JACQUELYN ASBIE, Elevator Operator: In the
short time I spent with Joe Biden, I could
tell he really saw me, that he actually cared,
that my life meant something to him. And I
knew, even when he went into his important
meeting, he'd take my story in there with
him.
AMNA NAWAZ: To close the night, Jill Biden
spoke with compassion and heart about building
a family with Joe Biden after the death of
his first wife and daughter.
JILL BIDEN, Wife of Joe Biden: How do you
make a broken family whole? The same way you
make a nation whole, with love and understanding
and with small acts of kindness, with bravery,
with unwavering faith.
AMNA NAWAZ: This morning, she laid out what's
at stake in this election, amid bipartisan
concerns the Trump administration is attempting
to hamstring the U.S. Postal Service and vote-by-mail
efforts. She spoke on NBC.
JILL BIDEN: I think that all Americans really
take their right to vote as sacred, and I
think we have to do everything possible to
ensure that every American has the right to
vote, whether it's by mail or in person.
AMNA NAWAZ: Her concerns were echoed by her
husband later in the day at a virtual fund-raiser,
saying -- quote -- "They're going to do everything
to steal this election. You saw it with what
they're doing with the post office."
Tonight, Democrats return to the virtual stage
for their penultimate convention night, under
the theme of a more perfect union.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Amna Nawaz.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And we turn now to our Lisa
Desjardins, who is covering all this from
Wilmington, Delaware.
Of course, it's Joe Biden's hometown.
So, Lisa, tonight, we are going to hear from
Kamala Harris, but, as we have just heard
from Amna, the party's also going to be looking
to make some policy points. Tell us a little
bit about that. We know they're going to be
speaking about women. Share more.
LISA DESJARDINS: That's right.
Judy, tonight, the theme is called "A More
Perfect Union," but, really, what Democrats
are doing is, they're talking about issues
in which they believe there is a clear and
very sharp divide between Biden and President
Trump.
Some of these issues, immigration, as Amna
mentioned, also gun safety, gun violence,
and, one more, climate. Those are very big
issues. Biden has extensive plans on several
of the issues, including a $2 trillion climate
plan. And they want to point out that contrast.
We will hear from speakers about all of those
issues.
But, as you said, it's also a night for women
in leadership. Hillary Clinton will be giving
her speech. Hillary Clinton, of course, who
lost by narrow margins in several states in
2016 to Donald Trump, is going to say to voters,
don't make this a coulda, shoulda election,
trying to implore them to make sure and vote.
Then, also, we will hear from House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi, the woman who has achieved the
highest ranks in the history of a U.S. government.
We also expect her to talk about President
Trump and talk about her personal experience
with him, as well as contrasting her style
and his.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Lisa, we know the main
event tonight is the acceptance speech by
Senator Kamala Harris, making some history.
Tell us, what does the campaign hope she accomplishes
tonight? What do we know about what her message
is going to be?
LISA DESJARDINS: You know, I spoke just a
short time ago and have been e-mailing with
Harris campaign officials and staff. And here's
what they tell me.
They say they want -- Kamala Harris would
like for people to see themselves in her speech
tonight. She wants to tell her story. And
she also wants to lay out a vision of a nation
where everyone is equal, that they have equal
opportunity and equal protection under law.
As a former prosecutor, expect those kinds
of themes of law and justice to come up, of
course. And, of course, she's going to contrast
her running mate, Joe Biden, with Donald Trump.
I think it's interesting to see what this
hall looks like. We got, finally, some videos
and photos of inside this exclusive hall that
just a few dozen reporters will be inside
for. And they have tried to make it look like
a convention site.
We see those signs for each state. But they
will not have the delegates there, the signs,
the candidate, but no delegates.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, Lisa, yes, it is a facsimile,
I guess you could say, of a big convention
hall.
LISA DESJARDINS: Yes.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Lisa, we're hearing about some
intraparty friction inside -- among Democrats
this year, particularly about the amount of
time being given to progressives speaking,
the time they're given for speaking slots.
What do we know about that?
LISA DESJARDINS: Well, I have had a few sources
reach out to me about this over the last few
days.
There, in particular, is frustration that
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez just had one minute
of -- one-and-a-half minutes, basically, of
speaking time. That was part of her nominating
-- that was the nominating speech, the seconding
speech for Bernie Sanders.
And it's not just about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
as a progressive leader and young member of
this party, though those things are part of
it. I also had one source reach out to me
about the fact she's a freshman Democrat in
Congress. The reason that the Democrats control
the House, of course, is because they had
so many new members; 67 members of the House
are freshmen Democrat. And yet only two of
them so far will be speaking tonight.
What does the Biden campaign say about this?
They say: We believe we are showing the most
inclusive and broad coalition ever at a convention.
And I will say, Judy, this friction is of
a lower level than we have seen in the past.
This is not circa 2016 Clinton vs. Sanders.
It's frustration, perhaps, more than friction.
One other note. There's issues for Republicans
as well. Today another Republican came out
in favor of Joe Biden. That is former Pennsylvania
Congressman Charlie Dent.
I spoke with someone familiar with his thinking.
Why did Dent come public now? He says because
-- or I'm told it's because President Trump
has endorsed candidates that he sees as too
far right, those espousing especially the
QAnon philosophy.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Oh, that's interesting. It
almost seems to be there's a Republican a
day coming out for Joe Biden.
Finally, Lisa, we have been watching you in
that empty parking lot. I guess you said last
night it's beginning to take some shape. Tell
us what you see behind you. What's going on?
LISA DESJARDINS: Still a little bit lonely,
but there's hope for the future in this parking
lot.
We have seen the movie screen go up. We do
expect the drive-in theater of sorts tomorrow
night.
But I will tell you, Judy, security has changed
significantly. Now there are double perimeters
around all of this area. And I spent some
of my time today look -- traveling around
the perimeter. I will say, there's no signs
of protest at all at this point. But there
is a much more secure facility now. It's much
more difficult to get in and out.
But there aren't many people who are doing
that. So, you have to be credentialed now,
which was different than a couple of days
ago.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And we will see if that continues
through tomorrow with the acceptance speech.
LISA DESJARDINS: Yes.
JUDY WOODRUFF: All right, Lisa Desjardins,
we will be checking in with you a lot tonight.
Thank you.
LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.
JUDY WOODRUFF: If Joe Biden wins on November
3, it would be far easier for him to get his
legislative agenda passed if his party controls
both chambers of Congress. At the moment,
Democrats are favored to keep the House, but
taking over the Senate is another matter.
Democrats need to pick up three more seats,
while holding on to the ones they currently
have, if Biden wins, and four if President
Trump is reelected.
The Democrat who's seen as most vulnerable
of all the senators up for reelection is Doug
Jones of Alabama. And he joins us now from
Birmingham.
Senator, it's good to see you. Thank you for
talking with us.
You must be getting tired of that description,
the most endangered Democrat up for reelection?
SEN. DOUG JONES (D-AL): You know, Judy, I
have heard it for three years now. I heard
it when I was running in 2017. So it just
kind of rolls off.
We have been running hard, and we feel very
good about where we are. I will let -- I have
told folks all along, I will let pundits say
what they want to all the way up to the point
that I give my victory speech on November
the 3rd.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, there's a lot to ask
you about your race, but one thing I do want
to specifically ask you about is the African-American
vote.
It was one of the critical elements to your
winning that special election against Roy
Moore in 2017. African-Americans make up,
what, about more than a quarter of the population
in the state of Alabama. But that's harder
to duplicate in a general election, when you
have got a much bigger turnout, is it not?
SEN. DOUG JONES: It is harder to duplicate.
I think, historically, you know, the African-American
turnout has been about what our registered
voter percentage is. We were able to do better
in our 2017 race. It was higher in Barack
Obama's race, though. And I think we have
got the energy and enthusiasm this year that
it's going to be significant.
Even though there are concerns about the pandemic
and the health care crisis, I feel something
out there. I see something in talking to people.
Folks are very energized. And, quite frankly,
the addition of Kamala Harris on the ticket,
I think, is boosting that significantly.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, I want to -- well, let
me ask you about that.
What is the reaction you're hearing from folks
in Alabama to her choice?
SEN. DOUG JONES: One, people are very excited.
I mean, from Mobile, Alabama, in the south,
to Huntsville, Alabama, in the north and east
and west, people are very excited about Kamala
being on this ticket. They were excited when
my old friend Joe Biden announced that he
was going to pick a woman. That was number
one. That was -- that got the excitement starting
to build.
But Kamala -- out of all the great potential
candidates that Joe had to choose from, Kamala
always seemed to be at the top of the list.
She's been in Alabama a lot. She's been down
here with the late John Lewis and me walking
across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. She came
in here in March for me and did an event with
my wife at one of our great historically black
colleges and universities, Miles College.
So, there -- she's known her. I mean, you
have heard Jim Clyburn talk about Joe Biden,
saying, Joe Biden - we know Joe Biden, and
Joe knows us.
Well, that's the way Kamala is in Alabama.
People know her. She knows the folks here
in Alabama. There is a tremendous amount of
excitement here.
JUDY WOODRUFF: I want to ask you about the
convention.
You -- Southern Democrats have often stayed
away from national Democratic Party conventions.
But you were front and center at this convention
Monday night. Why is that?
SEN. DOUG JONES: Well, I think Democrats have
stayed away. And I think that's been a big
mistake over the last 20 or 30 years. Democrats
haven't participated.
And so they haven't had as much a voice in
either the convention or in national policies.
We have changed that. You have got Joe Manchin
in West Virginia. You have got others. We
have got two great governors in Kentucky and
Louisiana.
And so I think the demographics of the South
are changing. New -- a new generation of citizens
and engagement in the South is changing the
way we look at things and people are looking
at our kitchen table issues.
And so the only way to make those changes
fulfilled is to get engage and to stay engaged,
because there's nothing to be ashamed about.
We have a great party. You look -- think about
this convention of the various voices across
America, the diversity of voices. That's Alabama.
That's Georgia. That's Mississippi. It's Tennessee.
We have just got to have the voices standing
up, speaking out, and making sure that the
people in our respective states understand
who we are, where we come from, and that we
have got their backs.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And do we hear Republicans
going after progressives in the party, calling
it the socialist convention and so forth.
But I want to ask you about...
(LAUGHTER)
JUDY WOODRUFF: You have known Joe Biden.
I think you said -- I saw you met him in 1978,
when he came to speak at law school that you
were a student at back then. Is the Joe Biden
you know coming across in this convention
and in this campaign? Because it's such an
unusual campaign.
SEN. DOUG JONES: Yes. No, I think it is.
But let me say this. Joe Biden is no socialist,
OK? Kamala Harris is no socialist. And Doug
Jones is no socialist. You can try to pin
labels. And that's what gives us an advantage.
You're not going to be able to pin those labels
and have them stick.
Judy, I won an award from the U.S. Chamber
of Commerce this year. That is no socialist
organization. So, what you're seeing in this
convention is a reflection, I think, of Joe,
who he is, what he is, his record over the
last 40 years or more, I guess, now, an amazing
public servant, someone who listens to people.
And that's what I stress most. Joe doesn't
just talk to people and have conversations.
He listens to people. He's empathetic with
them, and he can translate that into policies
that lift all boats in America for everyone,
no matter where you are, no matter which zip
code that you live in, no matter what your
walk of life is.
And that's, I think, coming across loud and
clear in this convention, despite the fact
that it's all virtual. It's, to some extent,
playing to the advantage, I think, of Joe
Biden, because we're seeing all 50 states
and we're seeing such a diversity of America.
And that's our strength right now.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, some of the voices folks
are hearing are people like Bernie Sanders,
who is a Democratic socialist, Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez.
There's conversation about the fact she only
had a minute or so to speak nominating Senator
Sanders. But there is a diversity. And is
the left of the party an issue and a problem
for candidates like you?
SEN. DOUG JONES: Oh, well, look, the left
of the party is always an issue. They try
to make it an issue.
The fact of the matter is, people just push
that aside. Look, we have got voices on the
left. But, you know, look what happened in
Georgia just recently -- I think it was Georgia
-- where a QAnon conspiracy theorist won the
Republican nomination to go to Congress, and
President Trump tweeted out that she's one
of the rising stars.
So, I don't think people should be criticizing
the voices on the left of the Democratic Party,
voices who need to be heard, voices that are
important out there for all of us going forward,
if they're not going to criticize the racist
comments from folks like the lady who won
the primary in Georgia the other day and this
QAnon conspiracy theorist that President Trump
tweeted out is a rising star.
So, we are going to have those voices on both
sides in both parties. But I think the fact
that the diversity of the Democratic Party
is so reflective of America, it's more reflective
of Alabama than people understand and can
appreciate, that's why the strength of this
party and the strength of this ticket, I think,
is going to carry us forward to victory in
November.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Senator Doug Jones of Alabama,
up for reelection this November.
Thank you so much, Senator.
SEN. DOUG JONES: Thank you, Judy. It's great
to be with you.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Donald Trump won the White
House in 2016 by taking several key swing
states that former President Barack Obama
won in 2008 and again in 2012, among them,
Michigan, Ohio and Florida.
And each of these states is expected to be
a political battleground in this presidential
race.
Three Democratic members of Congress are here
with us now to tell us what the landscape
looks like for the Biden/Harris ticket.
They are Representatives Debbie Dingell of
Michigan, Tim Ryan of Ohio, and Val Demings
of Florida.
And we thank you, each one of you, so much
for joining us. It's really good to see you.
Congresswoman Dingell, I'm going to start
with you.
You were called Debbie downer back in 2016,
because you were one of the few members of
Congress, I think one of the few people, period,
who were raising alarm bells and who were
saying, wait, Donald Trump could win my state
of Michigan. And he did by 10,000 votes.
Could -- how do you contrast where Joe Biden
is today with where Hillary Clinton was in
2016 in Michigan?
REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): So, now Rashida
Tlaib says I'm not to call myself Debbie downer
anymore. It's Debbie the realist.
And the fact of the matter is, Michigan is
still a competitive state. I think Joe Biden
is much better positioned than Hillary was
four years ago, because he is listening to
working men and women. But we have to make
sure that our votes turn out.
I think that there are a third of the voters
that voted for Donald Trump that are going
to vote for him again. The voters that voted
for Hillary are going to vote for Joe Biden,
and we have got a group in between who are
not happy about how COVID has been handled,
but they have got a lot of questions.
I'm watching Trump signs come out. I feel
better probably than I did four years ago,
when I kept saying to people, I'm worried.
But every second is going to matter between
now and Election Day, with nothing taken for
granted.
JUDY WOODRUFF: You feel better, probably.
I caught the probably.
Congressman Tim Ryan, you represent Akron,
Youngstown, the Mahoning Valley. It went Democratic
last time, but the entire state of Ohio did
not. It went for Donald Trump by 450,000 votes.
What are the prospects for this November?
REP. TIM RYAN (D-OH): Well, it's trending
in the right direction.
I feel like the scenarios that we were dealing
with in '16 aren't here. People now know Donald
Trump. It wasn't just a flashy campaign that
he ran. Now he's got a history, the COVID-19
situation, which everybody knows about here,
and many Ohioans, like many Michigans, have
a family down in Florida.
And we saw how Trump -- the Trump style of
leading through the COVID-19 affected so many
Ohioans that now live in Florida. So, families
here are affected. Trump lost 4,000 jobs at
a local General Motors plant. We couldn't
even get his attention. The head of the union
sent two letters to him. He never responded.
I tried to contact him, Sherrod Brown, others.
Didn't lift a finger. And then, when we lost
all 4,000 jobs, he blamed the head of the
union.
And then, just today, Judy, he came out saying
the American people should boycott Goodyear,
which is 3,000 jobs, world headquarters in
Akron. The president of the United States,
in the middle of a recession and a pandemic,
is telling the American people to boycott
Goodyear. It's insane.
So, all of this is adding up to trending to
Biden. He's been up in the last two or three
polls, and I think that's going to continue.
We have got a lot of work on the ground. They're
Zooming or however we're doing this, but I
think Joe Biden is going to win Ohio, no doubt.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Representative Val Demings,
what about Florida? I mean, Hillary Clinton
was counting on Florida the last time, but
she missed by about, what, 2 percentage points,
113,000 votes.
What does it look like for Joe Biden this
time?
REP. VAL DEMINGS (D-FL): It's great to be
with you. It's great to see my colleagues.
When I think about Michigan, Ohio and Florida,
I mean, we could decide the election right
here.
Look, we were extremely disappointed in 2016.
We know just about every poll had Hillary
Clinton up. But we know the result (AUDIO
GAP) like 1 percentage point.
But we're prepared this year. We're working
hard. We have more -- the Florida Democratic
Party has more workers on the ground than
ever before, about twice the number that we
had in 2016. We know that Vice President Biden
is up by five or six points.
But we're not taking anything for granted.
We know that polls are a snapshot in time.
And so we are working hard, like he's five
or six points behind.
I really do believe that Florida is in play.
All of the momentum right now is certainly
with this ticket, Vice President Biden and
Senator Harris. But, as I said, we are taking
nothing for granted until the last votes are
counted.
JUDY WOODRUFF: I heard each one of you say,
we're taking nothing for granted. There must
be -- there's a theme here.
Congresswoman Dingell, one of the centerpieces
of the Trump presidency has been the China
bashing, the tough posture on trade, on trade
agreements. How is all that playing right
now in Michigan?
REP. DEBBIE DINGELL: Well, you know, I think
it's complicated.
First of all, I do think that we have legitimate
issues with China, but it's very difficult.
The president -- trade was the big issue.
Let's be blunt. In 2016, I think President
Trump won Michigan based on trade.
But I don't believe that a lot of people in
Michigan think that he has actually delivered
on trade. We did improve NAFTA, but only because
of what Democrats did, and there are still
a number of problems with it. People don't
trust China. They see their jobs being shipped
overseas.
I think one thing COVID has done is, people
suddenly understand supply chains and what
we're talking about when we say our jobs have
been shipped overseas. When you look at our
dependency for PPE equipment and on medicine
from China, people are very concerned.
And, quite frankly, the president was not
clear at all on China on either of those two
subjects. So, a lot of distrust about China
among union voters, working men and women,
and not any kind of clear policy on behalf
of the president about what he really does
stand for on any given day, any given hour.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Congressman Ryan, staying with
the economy, we know this is one of the few
issues right now where the president is actually
doing better than Joe Biden.
The president says, he says: I have produced
the best economy in the world in history,
until the pandemic hit. And he says he's the
one who's going to bring it back.
REP. TIM RYAN: Well, even before the pandemic,
Judy, Ohio job numbers were as bad as they
were in 2009.
As I said, we lost that General Motors factory,
a lot of the supply chain around it in the
auto industry in the northern part of the
state. So we had some issues even before COVID
hit.
And, look, this is not about -- like Val said,
like, this is a snapshot in time. A lot of
people in Ohio want to know where we're going.
And I will just say, if you want to talk about
being tough on China, I was in Congress when
Vice President Biden and President Obama put
tariffs on steel tubing that was getting dumped
into our country. And that led to a billion-dollar
investment in a steel mill in Youngstown and
Girard, Ohio, a billion dollars, put about
1,500 union construction trade people to work
for about a year-and-a-half, two years, and
created hundreds of jobs.
So, Joe Biden knows how to be tough on China.
But that's half the story, because the way
Trump did it destroyed our farmers in Ohio.
Most of them are getting crushed right now.
And then you go to the Build Back Better plan,
where Joe Biden is throwing jet fuel on all
these economic fires that are burning around
electric vehicles, for example, batteries,
charging stations, the new economy, where
these union workers or people who work hard,
play by the rules, but just want to make a
good wage, Joe Biden is going to make sure
they get cut in on the deal.
But you have got to have a strategy to outcompete
China, not just the bluster and the B.S. that
Donald Trump gives. You have got to be tough,
be firm, be smart like they were. But then
you better have a plan to win the future.
And they do. And Joe Biden and Kamala Harris
do.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Congresswoman Demings, let
me ask you about Kamala Harris, Senator Harris.
You were very clearly on the short list, among
those people Vice President Biden was looking
at to be his vice presidential running mate.
Was that generally a good experience or disappointing?
REP. VAL DEMINGS: Well, Judy, let me say this.
For someone who grew up in the South, the
daughter of a maid and a janitor, to be considered,
to be on that short list for such a critical
position during such a critical time was an
honor.
Joe Biden was very blessed to have what I
believe was a group of amazing women. And
he selected Senator Harris. We're excited
about that, I think the experience that she
brings to the job.
I can't wait to hear her tonight begin the
process of prosecuting the case against this
president of the United States. I cannot wait
to hear her start talking about her own experiences,
and also helping every American see themselves
in her own experiences, and really displaying
that the Democratic Party is that big tent,
where every man, woman, boy and girl, regardless
of the color of their skin, how much money
they have in the bank, or where they live,
has an opportunity to succeed.
So, we're excited for Senator Harris. We're
excited about this ticket, and we just want
to get it done.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, Congresswoman Dingell,
what else does this Democratic Convention
need to convey in the next two nights?
What else do they need to say in these crucial
moments, where they have the attention of
a lot of people, to help this ticket?
REP. DEBBIE DINGELL: You know, I think this
has been an incredible convention. I didn't
know what I really thought.
But I think that Michelle Obama gave one of
the -- the best speech that I'd ever heard
and really put out the case about why this
election matters.
And I have known Jill Biden since we were
both young wives, and one of the first working
spouses. And she told America who she was
last night.
We have heard from Americans across the country.
Now, these next two nights, the two candidates
are going to lay out their vision. What are
the issues that they're going to fight for?
And I think all of us, as Democrats, have
got to find a way that we're going to connect
intergenerationally, because we have got wisdom
and youth. We have got caring about a lot
of issues. And we have got to learn about
how we can bring different perspectives to
solving these problems, and how we're going
to support this team and bring America together
to soothe our heart and soul, and put us working
together again, which we have not done for
four years.
We have been divided by fear and hatred. And
they're going to show us how they're going
to pull us together.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Congressman Ryan, very quickly,
looking back to the primaries, when you were
running for president yourself, you said pretty
tough things about Joe Biden.
And we went back and looked. You said at one
point you think he's declining. "I don't think
he has the energy. There's a lack of clarity.
We need someone to take Donald Trump down
who can articulate a very clear vision."
You did say, "I love the guy," but you were
pretty tough on him. What do you think now?
REP. TIM RYAN: Well, I think his campaign,
like most campaigns, and obviously better
than my campaign, he started off slow. But
I think he picked up a lot of momentum, and
then he peaked at the exact right same time.
So, Debbie Dingell was just talking about
wisdom. I think that's Joe Biden. I mean,
yes, maybe he started a little slow, but he
came on strong.
And I think, quite frankly, this campaign
has gotten stronger every single day. And
I think Donald Trump is starting to feel the
brunt of that, as the poll numbers start to
shift.
So, yes, he started out slow. I think he would
probably admit that, but now he's running
a great campaign. He's got a great team. And
he's providing the stability and the healing
that this country needs. He is the exact person
to meet this moment for our country.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Congresswoman Demings,
in just one sentence, for all the time we
have left, what else does this convention
need to say, need to do?
REP. VAL DEMINGS: Michelle Obama gave us a
call to action.
And I want every voter who cares about the
future of this country to think about her
words. If you don't think it can get worse,
believe me, it can. We need to elect Joe Biden.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Congresswoman Val Demings,
Congressman Tim Ryan, and, Congresswoman Debbie
Dingell, so good to see each one of you. Thank
you so much.
REP. TIM RYAN: Thanks.
REP. VAL DEMINGS: Thank you.
JUDY WOODRUFF: With tens of millions of Americans
reeling financially from the coronavirus pandemic,
the future of the U.S. economy is on the minds,
of course, of many.
Both President Trump and the Democratic nominee,
Joe Biden, are trying to convince voters they're
the best choice to revive the country in the
near future and for the long haul.
This week, our chief economics correspondent,
Paul Solman, takes a look at the economic
agenda of Joe Biden.
It's part of our regular series Making Sense.
JOSEPH BIDEN (D), Presidential Candidate:
Here we are now, with an economy in crisis,
but with an incredible opportunity, not just
to build back to where we were before, but
better, stronger.
PAUL SOLMAN: At stump speeches, and more recently
via Zoom, Vice President Joe Biden makes the
case for why he's the person to lead the economy
out of the COVID crisis, which has nearly
30 million Americans receiving unemployment
insurance.
Biden's plan? First, says Jared Bernstein:
JARED BERNSTEIN, Former Chief Economist to
Vice President Joe Biden: What he would do
is very much the opposite of what you have
seen the current president, President Trump,
do. He would listen to the physicians.
PAUL SOLMAN: Tests, masks, tracers. But Bernstein
isn't a doctor. He was the chief economist
for Vice President Biden and now advises the
campaign.
Economic step one, says Bernstein: immediate
relief.
JARED BERNSTEIN: People need relief in terms
of unemployment insurance coverage, in terms
of state and local fiscal relief, nutritional
support, support for renters.
PAUL SOLMAN: So, Biden says, among other things,
he'd extend unemployment insurance, consider
another round of stimulus checks, and initiate
paid sick leave for all workers who get COVID
or have to care for sick family members.
That's right away. And after that?
JARED BERNSTEIN: One thing that Vice President
Biden has been crystal clear about is that
simply getting back to where we were sets
the bar way too low.
PAUL SOLMAN: Which is why the campaign calls
its plan Build Back Better, focusing on manufacturing,
climate and infrastructure, racial equity,
and support for child care and adult caregivers.
JARED BERNSTEIN: When Vice President Biden
says building back better, he means building
an economy that is far more resilient to the
kinds of shocks that come fast and furiously
in today's global economy.
We can't have an unemployment insurance system
that we have to reinvent every time we hit
a recession. We can't have a health care system
that is totally dependent on your connection
to work, because what if 30 million people
lose their jobs in a pandemic, right? We can't
have an environment that is continually degraded.
PAUL SOLMAN: So, Biden has a slate of policies.
JARED BERNSTEIN: There's 45 of them, at last
count, from clean energy, to infrastructure,
to manufacturing, to the caring agenda. That's
what they're all geared towards.
PAUL SOLMAN: You may be relieved to hear we
won't enumerate all 45, but highlights include
a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035,
creating millions of new green jobs, $775
billion for caregiving, including universal
pre-K to 3- and 4-year-olds, expanding access
to $100 billion in low-interest loans to communities
of color, and a $700 billion buy-American
campaign, $400 billion on goods and services
made in the U.S., and $300 billion on R&D
into new technologies.
As to buying American, President Trump said:
DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States:
He plagiarized from me, but he can never pull
it off. He likes plagiarizing. It's a plan
that is very radical left, but he said the
right things because he's copying what I have
done.
JARED BERNSTEIN: The idea Biden copying Trump
makes zero sense, because Trump never gets
anything done, and Biden is all about implementation
and execution.
PAUL SOLMAN: But what about paying for all
this spending? Taxes, right? Or, as President
Trump put it, the Biden plan won't happen:
DONALD TRUMP: Because he's raising taxes way
too much. He's raising everybody's taxes.
PAUL SOLMAN: So, Biden would increase the
top income tax rate to 39.6 percent, for example.
Yes, he's taxing people. He's going to be
taxing me.
(LAUGHTER)
JARED BERNSTEIN: Nothing personal, but I suspect,
if we have a $400,000 cutoff, which we do,
you will be OK.
PAUL SOLMAN: If I were to make, I don't know,
$410,000, then I'm suddenly going to be taxed
at a higher rate on the whole amount?
JARED BERNSTEIN: No. No, no, no, no, no. These
are marginal tax rates. So you would be taxed
on that $10,000 that's above $400,000. So
anything below $400,000 is left alone.
PAUL SOLMAN: The Biden tax plan also includes
capital gains on income of more than $1 million
taxed at 39.6 percent, the corporate tax rate
raised to 28 percent.
One nonpartisan group predicts the plan would
raise some $3.5 trillion over 10 years -- critics
say his policies will cost a lot more -- mainly
by increasing taxes for the top 1 percent
to pay for Biden's spending.
JARED BERNSTEIN: To pay for it by tapping
some of the excesses in our ages in our age
of inequality.
PAUL SOLMAN: I have been knocking around for
a long time, the week before the conventions
happen, interviewing people like you -- in
fact, you in the past -- and those promises,
I have heard every four years going back into
the '80s. And so few of them actually get
implemented.
What makes you think that this time is different?
JARED BERNSTEIN: Biden uses his skills to
get things done, to execute them, and to explain
to people how he's doing it or, if he's being
blocked, who's blocking him.
So, to me, it's the difference between reality
TV and reality.
PAUL SOLMAN: For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Paul
Solman.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Now let's turn to Stephanie
Sy from our "NewsHour West" bureau, who has
today's headlines and the rest of today's
news -- Stephanie.
STEPHANIE SY: Thank you, Judy.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 infections
in the United States has now topped 5.5 million,
with more than 172,000 deaths. In Florida
today, the number of dead passed 10,000. It
came as the state's largest teachers union
asked a state judge to stop schools from reopening
this Friday.
Wildfires raged across California today, forcing
a statewide emergency and leaving thousands
of people under evacuation orders. Fires in
the San Francisco Bay Area and Napa County's
Wine Country exploded overnight, leaving giant
plumes of smoke hanging over the hills by
morning.
Statewide, nearly two dozens major fires have
crews stretched to the limit as they try to
keep pace.
JONATHAN COX, Cal Fire Deputy Fire Chief:
We have no more to give on the front lines
from our facilities. Our local government
cooperators throughout California at the moment
are also at complete drawdown with their fire
resources as well.
So, it's really the full force of everyone
on deck trying to fight this fire.
STEPHANIE SY: The fires are burning in the
midst of a record heat wave that continued
today.
Ninety Democratic members of Congress called
today for the removal of Louis DeJoy as postmaster
general. They wrote to the Postal Service
governors, saying DeJoy's cost-cutting policies
have undermined mail delivery. The Trump appointee
announced yesterday he would delay those initiatives
until after the election, so as not to interfere
with an expected wave of mail-in voting.
Another U.S. congressman has been ousted in
a primary, the eighth this year. In Florida,
Republican Ross Spano lost Tuesday after being
accused of campaign finance violations. Meanwhile,
former Wyoming Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis
won the Republican nod for U.S. Senate. She's
heavily favored to succeed retiring Republican
Senator Mike Enzi.
And, in Alaska, Democrat Al Gross will face
incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan.
In Mali, soldiers who ousted the president
are promising timely elections. The coup in
the West African nation came amid crumbling
security in the face of an Islamist insurgency.
Troops fired into the air on Tuesday after
taking Ibrahim Boubacar Keita from his house.
The president was forced to resign, and the
mutineers said he had failed the country.
COLONEL MAJOR ISMAEL WAGUE, Spokesman for
Mutineers (through translator): Mali descends
into chaos day by day, anarchy and insecurity
because of the fault of the people in charge
of its destiny. Real democracy doesn't go
with complacency, nor weakness of the state
authority, which must guarantee freedom and
security of the people.
STEPHANIE SY: The U.N. Security Council today
condemned the coup and demanded that President
Keita be freed. Meanwhile, the U.S. military
said all American forces in Mali are safe.
Some 1,400 U.S. troops are stationed in the
region.
Back in this country, Wall Street had an off
day. The Dow Jones industrial average lost
85 points to close below 27693. The Nasdaq
fell 64 points, and the S&P 500 slipped nearly
15 points.
And Slade Gorton, a former Republican leader
in the U.S. Senate, died today in Seattle.
He was first elected to the Senate from Washington
state in 1980, but lost his reelection bid.
Later, he won two more terms. He also served
on the 9/11 Commission. Slade Gorton was 92
years old.
Riot police in Belarus dispersed protesters
today off the streets of the capital, Minsk,
in a show of force. But demonstrators weren't
met with the same violence that propelled
thousands into the streets last week after
the disputed presidential election.
With the support of the Pulitzer Center, special
correspondent Simon Ostrovsky reports.
MAN (through translator): Respected citizens,
you are violating the regulations on mass
assembly. Please cease your activities and
disperse.
MAN (through translator): What activities?
We're not allowed to stand up, or what?
SIMON OSTROVSKY: As partial shutdowns at several
large manufacturing plants across Belarus
continue, Alexander Lukashenko renewed his
crackdown on a protest movement that continues
to threaten his rule.
Disputes between workers and management across
the country continued to simmer in the aftermath
of the contested August 9 presidential poll.
Lukashenko claimed he won a less-than-credible
80 percent.
There's a tense standoff outside the main
state-owned national theater in Minsk, because
the culture minister recently fired the director
over his support for the protests. Standoffs
like this are taking place all across the
country in the last few days.
The culture minister wants to talk to the
actors about the theater's program for the
upcoming 100th Jubilee season. But the theater's
employees have something else on the agenda.
MAN (through translator): There has to be
order in cultural institutions.
MAN (through translator): We can't work in
a country where people are humiliated and
beaten.
SIMON OSTROVSKY: One by one, they lay their
resignation letters at the minister's feet.
MEN AND WOMEN (through translator): Go away!
Go away! Go away!
SIMON OSTROVSKY: It looks like the upcoming
season has been canceled.
Mikhail Zuy is one of the actors who resigned.
MIKHAIL ZUY, Actor (through translator): I
told the minister my kids were afraid of the
police and wanted to know if they'd be taken
away. My wife is too scared to fall asleep.
So, this is the only way we could stand up
for what we believe in.
SIMON OSTROVSKY: I asked the culture minister
if he supported the idea of holding a new
presidential election in Belarus.
MAN (through translator): Everything must
take place within the framework of the constitution
of the Belarus republic and only within the
legal parameters, because you are going to
bring chaos to the country. We're heading
in that direction by leaps and bounds.
SIMON OSTROVSKY: The situation at this massive
refrigerator factory in Minsk is an example
of why things aren't exactly straightforward
in Belarus right now. Protesters here are
calling on the thousands of workers who work
here to go on strike, but only a handful have
actually downed tools.
DANIIL SHTYKHNOV, Employee (through translator):
We can tell that people support us, and we
really want to support the people as well,
and join the resistance against our country's
regime, and stop feeding the riot police.
I was detained for two days myself. And I
just don't want people to be hurt like they
are being hurt in our country right now.
SIMON OSTROVSKY: Vika Balutenko is among the
majority of workers at this plant who have
decided to continue working through the crisis,
despite calls from protesters to help choke
the regime of tax revenue.
VIKA BALUTENKO, Employee (through translator):
This is my work time. We can't shut the factory
down. This would be a terrible blow to the
budget.
MAN (through translator): That's exactly what
we want to happen.
SIMON OSTROVSKY: The director of the factory,
Dmitry Sokolovsky, stands outside the plant
all day to oversee the arrival of workers
coming to their shifts.
DMITRY SOKOLOVSKY, Factory Director (through
translator): The factory is operating. I am
categorically against halting production.
If we don't produce goods now, then we won't
be able to continue operating in the winter.
My position is that enterprises should not
get involved in politics.
SIMON OSTROVSKY: It's a sentiment that Belarus'
opposition certainly doesn't share.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is in exile in Lithuania
and declared herself the winner of the presidential
election and addressed an emergency European
Union leadership meeting today.
SVIATLANA TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian Opposition
Leader: I call on you not to recognize these
fraudulent elections.
SIMON OSTROVSKY: The E.U. complied, saying
it would levy sanctions and made it clear
it didn't want foreign interference in Belarus.
That's a warning shot at Russia. Despite recent
tensions with Moscow, Lukashenko has discussed
military support with Vladimir Putin. And
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov picked up Lukashenko's
charge today against the uprising, that it's
the work of foreign powers.
SERGEI LAVROV, Russian Foreign Minister (through
translator): We are concerned with an attempt
to use internal difficulties which Belarus
is facing now in order to meddle in these
events in this process from outside.
SIMON OSTROVSKY: Tsikhanouskaya's representative
in Minsk, Olga Kovalkova, said she expects
the opposition candidate to return to the
country imminently to take over from Lukashenko
and organize new clean elections.
OLGA KOVALKOVA, Representative for Sviatlana
Tsikhanouskaya (through translator): It's
clear that the acting president, Alexander
Lukashenko, does not have the trust and support
of society. And the people who are coming
out into the streets are striking at manufacturers.
They are ready to fight for their voices.
ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO, President of Belarus
(through translator): We definitely consider
this as an attempt to seize power.
SIMON OSTROVSKY: But Lukashenko has not shown
signs of readiness for dialogue, instead lambasting
the opposition as coup plotters on state TV
and sending riot police back into the streets
of Minsk.
And, today, his spokesman announced Lukashenko
would be inaugurated again within two months.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Simon Ostrovsky
in Minsk.
STEPHANIE SY: The pressure on nurses and health
care professionals has been constant throughout
this pandemic.
In tonight's Brief But Spectacular, we hear
from Tara Rynders, creator of The Clinic,
an arts-based workshop designed to alleviate
stress and compassion fatigue that many providers
experience.
Rynders is a registered nurse in Colorado.
It's also part of our ongoing arts and culture
series, Canvas.
TARA RYNDERS, Creator, The Clinic: I'm a registered
nurse.
I was a patient for the first time during
this experience of having an ectopic pregnancy
that had burst. All these people came rushing
into my room and yelling, and it was very
chaotic.
But I remember my nurse, and she took my hand
and she whispered into my ear and she said,
"I'm here and you're going to be OK."
After that moment, I realized, this is important
work. So I began researching patient outcomes,
and realized that what's stopping our patients
from feeling seen and heard and cared for
every time is compassion fatigue and nursing
burnout.
And so I created a performance and workshop
series to raise awareness, but also give resources
and tools for resiliency.
The clinic is an art-based workshop series
in immersive theater performance. The intention
was to raise awareness around compassion fatigue
and nursing burnout. It brought people into
the hospital for a whole 'nother reason than
to see someone who's sick or to have a baby,
but to watch an actual performance take place
in the halls of a hospital.
You follow a woman throughout the hospital
as she eventually loses her husband. You also
watch the nurses as they share from their
perspective what they're going through. It's
like a behind-the-scenes of what nurses and
physicians go through every day.
In the workshop, we brought nurses in, and
we spent time with them doing the arts and
getting them into a different headspace. Currently,
what our performances are looking like are
called COVID stories. So, now I'm using artists
and nurses to come together and create this
conversation, so that the nurses who are inspired
now by -- after going through these workshops
are actually wanting to perform, actually
wanting to move and share their own personal
stories.
WOMAN: I remember when I met you. We admitted
you that day, a Friday, and, by Tuesday, you
were very sick.
I remember trying to advocate for you, and
I remember being very scared for myself and
my family as I may -- that I may have exposed.
TARA RYNDERS: We're supporting each other.
There's moments in the workshops when we would
come in and we would just -- we touch each
other, and put our hands on, which we can't
do that anymore.
But through Zoom and through other means,
we can see each other, support, be present
in each other's stories. A lot of times, nurses
have said to me, like, this is so helpful
to know that I'm not feeling this alone. When
I go home, I can't always explain how hard
it is, how tragic it is.
When our nurses are cared for, when they're
seen, when they're heard, they are operating
out of their strengths. They're operating
out of support. And only then will they be
able to give that same care and love and support
to our patients.
My name is Tara Rynders, and this is my Brief
But Spectacular take on caring for nurses,
so that they can care for us.
STEPHANIE SY: Those nurses sure deserve a
release valve.
You can find all of our Brief But Spectacular
segments online at PBS.org/NewsHour/Brief.
That's it from us here at "NewsHour West"
-- Judy, back to you.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Thank you, Stephanie.
And you're absolutely right. What a wonderful
performance that is.
And on the "NewsHour" online right now: The
ratification of the 19th Amendment marked
the moment when most American women gained
the right to vote. We have been asking today's
women voters what that right means to them
as the 2020 election nears.
That's on our Web site, PBS.org/NewsHour.
And that's the "NewsHour" for tonight.
But stay with us. We will be back right here
at 8:00 p.m. Eastern with our special live
coverage of the third night of the Democratic
National Convention.
I'm Judy Woodruff. Thanks for watching, and we will see you shortly.
