captioning sponsored by cnewshour productions, ll >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: virtual convention. democrats launch a froated attack on the president as they prare to officially name joe biden as the party's presidenti nominee. then, the russia file. the senate intellince committee says the 2016 campaign chairman's ties to russian intelligence and kremlin aies posed a "grave counterintelligence threat." plus, rmoil in lebanon. the militant group hezbollah after the beirut blast and an international murder trial. and, 100 years later. we examine the state of women's power in politics with gloria suffrage movement won the right

to vote. >> we have a long way to go. but history is repeating itself, in the sense that black women are the single most important and influential group in the democratic party, just as women of color were more influential g ting the vote. >> woodruff: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. pr major funding for the pbs newshour has beeided by: ♪ ♪ >> since our beginning, our business has been people, and their financial wellbeing. that mission gives us purpose, and a way forward. today, and always.

>> for 25 years, consumer no-contract wireless plans, designed to help people do more of what they like. our u.s.-based customer service team can help find a plan that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv. >> johnson & johnson. >> fidelity wealth management. >> the john s. and james l. knight foundation. fostering inform and engaged communities. more at kf.org.nd >>ith the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible bthe corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewe like you.

thank you. >> woodruff: it is night two of the democoatic national ention, and a night of ultimate triumph for joe biden. after wa just hours away from formally claiming the party's presidential nomination. amna nawaz begins our coverage. >> nawaztonight, former vice president joe ben will go from presumptive to offial democratic presidential nominee. but the traditional roll-call vote to nominate him, going state by state to announce delegate counts, will instead be re-imagined for this now all-virtual affair. tonight's convention theme is" leadership matters," and will former secretary of state john kerry, also the party's 2004

nominee; progressive democratic congresswoman alexandria ocasi cortez of new york; former second lady jill biden; and two former presidents: bill clinton, and jimmy carter, who at 95 will at a nominating convention ine eight years. democrats already began making a case for leade thip change whir first-ever virtualic ♪ ♪entiond off yesterday. the opening night was aou jam-packed two of slk, highly-produced segments, with a miof pre-recorded and live remarks emceed by actress eva longor. the first night's theme was "we the people," highlighting the joe biden's coalitvice president that included some life-long republicans making the case against their pay's incumbent, president trump. the program also paid tribute tc victims ofl injustice and police brutality, like george

floy.. >> it's up to us to carry on the fight for justice. our actions will be their legacies. >> nawaz: ...as well as the more than 170,000 americans who've lost their lives to the coronavirus. in one of the most poignant moments of the nightkristin urquiza spoke about losing her dad to the virus in june, after the president's assurances the pandemic was under control. 65-year-old.s a healthy his only preexisting condition was trusting donald trump. and for that, he paid with his life. >> nawaz: the night's keynote speakers included former biden sanders, who urged his supporters to turn out for thet. democratic tic >> our movement continues and is getting stronger every day. let us be clear, if donald trump es re-elected, all the pro we have made will be in jeopardy. at its most basic, this electiop

is aboserving our democracy. >> nawaz: ...and it was former first lady michelle obama who cappedff the night with a passionate plea to the american people. >> donald trumis the wrong president for our country. he has had more thannough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head he cannot meet this moment. he simy cannot be who we need him to be for us. it is what it is. >> nawaz: today, at a white house event celebrating womes rights, president trump responded to mrs. obama. >> she was over her head, and frankly, she should have made the speech live. she gets these fawning reviews. if you gave a real review, it wouldn't be so fawning. i thought it was a very divisive speech, extremely divisive. >> nawaz: democrats wi continue to make their case against the president, and for ticket, direct to the american urople tonight. for the pbs newsi'm amna nawaz.

>> woodruff: and we turn now to our lisa desjardins and yamiche cindor. hello to both of you. so, lisa, last night, the unprecedented virtual convention. they made history, and now we know somethi about how many people were watching. >> that's right, judy. the nielsen televisioratings came out, about 18.7 million americans outched t their traditional broadcast method, their tv set. that isignificantly lesthan this night in 2016. however, judy, i just got offth the phone he biden campaign and they told me they have the numbers in from digital streaming. 10 million people watched through democratic streaming platforms, and that doesn't include things like thebs "newshour" streaming site which many people watch on. if you add the numbers, 28.9 million people at least who watched last night ad that is slightly more than 2016. >> woodruff: lisa, tell us abtonight. what is known at this point

about what we're going to see? >> well, as amna indicated, tonight we have party business. we're getti down to the bids of selecting the nominee, voting in the nominee. i think it's going to bebe fascinatinuse, judy, you will hav57 delegations, that's all of the states d territories and democrats abroad, that will bring in their votes in this short amount of time in the convention. so it will be fascinating to se how much material tese delegations can get out about their state in a few seconds. the keynote speaker, 17 key note speakers, how are they doing it? if ththe miracle of video. ending with staceys of one video georgia. >> woodruff: lisa, what about the other marquee speakers tonight? >> there are w lot toatch. several of the party elders.

john kerry, we would expt he hit the national security theme tonight. two of the democratic living presidents, jirkt and bill a note that bill clinton is not without controversy in this party. ny women's groups and others believe that he mishandled monica lewinsky, he was not appropriate in how he dealt wit that and acted, some people don't want to see him on this stage, but when you talk to officials involved, they say he is a former president, he will be speaking tonight. and, of course, jill biden, the wife of former vice president biden, probably his closest advisor, she will be speaking from a high school in delaware where she taught in the past. on other quick thing, this parking lot behind me is go bg a drive-in on thursday, i was able to lerern. so till be a human element to this convention in wilmington. people can drive up. they will be able to watch the vice president's thursday night

speech right here, sbe some kind of event at least for this lonely parking lot. >> woodruff: some kind of big reen like the old drive-in movie theater. yamiche, let's turn to the controversy we have been watching this week and that is the president's continued criticism to have the postal service. today the postal service announcing some changes. what do we know about that? >> what we know is that the postmaster general, louis dejoy, he's an ally of the president and donor to president trump, he is now backtracking and says he is going be postponing some of the changes he was planning to do middle east, some of the changes include cutting overtime hours, removing mail sorting machines as well as removing public collection boxes. this comes as at least 20 democratic attorney genels were preparing to file a federal lawsuit against the postal service for some of the chaalng. this comesas the postmaster general is supposed to be coming before congress to answer pointed questions on the

policy changes. we already know public collection boxes have been moved in several states including pensylvania, ohio, battleground states as the president chris crosses the country, talking and joe biden. and this comes as the president ys he does not wnt to see a mass mail-in votings. critics saa lot of the changes were made to slow down mail-tr voting tto benefit the president. but the president is saying he now wants to give the restorces the ptal service they need including, sounds like, billions of dollars. democrats are requesting at least $25 billion for the postal service. they say tht's what people need and that's wh they have been told the postal service needs. the president, though, says he hewants to work with m but isn't quite sure what the actual number will turn i i. so we'll watch this space. it's questionable what'swh happening an damage has already been done. those are big questions we hav

to keep watching. >> woodruff: a lot of questions. watch this space. sounds like there may be a he part f view on the administration, but we will see. yamichec indor, lisa desjardins, thank you both. we'll be talking to you throughout the night. >> woodruff: now, we turn to the last election, and methods used to influence the outcome then. the fifth d final report on russian interference in the 2016 ection was released this morning by the republican-led senate intelligence committee. for more, here's stephanie sy. >> sy: judy, the bipartisan report concluded that the trump 2016 campaign chairman posed a grave counter-intelligence threat to the united states. erhowever, the committee o no conclusion about whether the campaign deliberately colluded with russia to sway the election's outcome.

with me now to dig into this 1,000-page finale is our foreign affairs correspondent, nick schifrin. nick, does this report go further than the mueller report in im flicatingormer trump campaign officials to russian intelligence? >> the report calls itself the most comprehensive description of what russia did in 2016.a itid rork robert mueller had a discussion but said it couldn't corroborate anything about compromising material on president trump. it criticizes the f.b.i. for initial actions, and also in this partisan climate, stephanie, what's significant, more than 900 pages of this report are bipartisan. >> reporter: a three-year investigation. a substantial focus on this report on paul manafort, the trump campaign chairman, in the initial beginning of the trump campaign. he is currently serving a fede hl sentence atome on

federal fraud charges that stem from the mueller report. but what does this report tell us that's new? >> it calls manafort the most direct tie between senr trump campaign officials and russian intelligence officials and highlights his work with constantine klemnic, a russian have played a park in the 2016 hacking. ma secretly shared information with klenik. after the election, manafort worked to undermine erred evidence that ruianterfered including the claim we still hear today that ukraine, not russia, interfered in 2016 and the report even raises the potential connecti russia's hacking and leaking, but thede il there is redacted. the committee's bipartisan conclusi, manort's high-level access and willingness to share information with individuals closely affiliated with the russian

intelligence service represented a grave counterintelligence threat. >> reporter: the taeport s, nick, the help that the trump campaign was receiving either wittingly or unwittingly, from the russiansdo >> there areens of calls detailed by the report between roger stone and donald trump that the committee believewere about wikileaks right aski aks was receiving hackedaterial from russian intellrtence. the reays that, at the campaign's direction, stone r ied to discokileaks actions ahead of time. hee campaign then created ssaging aroundeaks, inencouraged further hacking, downplayed or denied wikileaks material wes hacked by russians and "was indifferent" to whether it and wikileaks were furthering a russian election intference effort. at the end of the report, committee democts concluded that the trump campaign cooperated with russia and if nafort, this is what they write, thi is what collusion

looks like but the committee found neither trump for his campaign colluded with russia. >> reporter: finally, nick, the president log emphasized procedures and whether they were appropriate by the f.b.i. when they initially started to investigate russian activity in the leap to the 2016 election. does this report address tha >> the report criticizes the f.b.i. quite extensively especially for relyinga dollsier that containedci sls reports about trump and steal anvd say gae the dossier credibility. the committee accuse f.b.i. surveillance for briefing president-elect about it before taking necessary steps tote evalassumptions about steele's credibility. the republican conclusion about that, americans should be deebly tr about f.b.i. tactics. at the end of this report, thes democrite that this should be a an alarm bell for the natil

and the alarmis really deja vu. the intelligence community says today tht kremlin-linked actors are boosting president trump and russia is denigrating vice president. >> reporter: a very relevant report. our foreign affairs thank you.ent nick schifrin, thank you. >> woodruff: last night's democratic convention featured republicans who will vote for joe biden in the election, including john kasich, the former governo16of ohio and epublican presidential candidate. some republican groups arein further, supporting a democratic candidate in ways never seen before. our john yang has the story. >> yang: with slick ads, viral tweets and op-ed columns, new conservative groups are

organizing to support an unlikely candidate-- former rosario marin was u.s. treasurer in theeorge w. bush ministration. now, she's a member of the group "43 alumni for biden." she says backing a democrat over was difficult.blican president >> prior to him, i had been to five republican conventions as a delegate. i've been a spokesperson to five republican presidential candidates. but i couldn't do it for him. and i certainly couldn't do it w. to then go that other step, to go out and vote for a democrat? it is painful. >> yang: another group, the lincoln project, is known for its ads targeting president trump. >> trump is not well. >> yang: political consultant

reed galens a co-founder. >> when we put out the "trump is not well" advertisement, about his shuffle down the ramp west point, it clearly pierced his bubble of unreality that he continually lives in. and i think that's been our greatest contribution, is pushing him back on his heels, keeping him back on his heels. >> yang: on twitter, president trump called them a group of "republicans in name only," "who failed badly 12 years ago, then again eight years ago, and then got badly beaten by me, a political first-timer, four years ago." >> they chose trump. >> yan but galen says the group's goals are wider than just getting under the president's skin. >> learn their names. >> yang: they are al chrtlenging senators who sup mr. trump. >> these folks have violated their oaths. they have abdicated their responsibilities, as an article one body in the united states senate. anthey have really forsake any conservative values to support donald trump. >> yang: the group plans to

organize in the battleground states of wisconsin, michigan, ohio, arizona, north carolin and florida. >> i'm tired of being embarrassed. h>> i have been riddled w guilt. >> i am ashamed to this day of voting for him. >> yang: another group, republican voters against trump, is also targeting battleground states, collecting testimonials frd g.o.p. voters disenchan with the president. conservati activist sarah longwell is one of the co- founders. >> people reallyon't like political ads. but what they're reallfinding persuasive are actually real stories. i have been conducting focus groups for the last three years tath what i would call rel trump voters. those people now are very-- very clearly have seen that donald trump is not fit for the moment, that he is not the right person to steward the country through compounding crises-- a health isis, an economic crisis, a racial crisis. >> yang: but will these republican-led efforts actually win biden any tes? republican pollster john mchenry is skeptical.

t >> we've already seen a those folks who would have been inclined to go away from republicans, go away from this president, have already done so. so i don't know that there's a lot to work with there for them. >> yang: mchenry also points to mr. trump's strong approval rating among republican voters, hovering around 90%, even during the pandemic. the president says there's mores ensm for him than there was in 2016. >> i think we're doing very well in the polls.d think you have a silent majority the likes of which this country has never seen before. this is a very important election. we've done a great job. trump groups say ttice anti- nominee presents a unique opportunity. >>ne of the most common responses i get in the focus 16oups to "why did you vote for donald trump in is, people say, "i didn't vote for donald trump. i voted against hillary clinton." and so it's hard to overstate how much of a difference it makes, having joe biden as the nominee as opposed to hillary clinton.

>> i'm going to vote for joe biden because whateverit may disagreehim in his policies, i know he knows government. he has been there a long time. henows how to govern. he knows what he can do and what he cannot do. >> yang: and you still consider yourself a republican. >> yes, a true republican, a true republican. >> yang: for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. >> woodruff: miles taylor served as the chief of staff at the partment of homeland security during the trump administration. he made headlines yesterday whei he became thest ranking former trump administration official to break with thed president row his support behind joe biden

and miles taylor joins us now. thank you very much for talng to us. so you were with the trump administration for two years at the homeland security department. you've worked only for republicans before that. why come out now? >> well, judy, first and foremost, thank you for having me ts evening. i really appreciate it. i would say this is the most important thing about timing we are in the election of our lifetimes,nd i know we say that every cycle, but that's really what this there's real no good time to come out and criticize the president. in fact, for m b i haen accused of this being for fame and for money. look, in trump's washington, this is going to be ba for my pocket book, personal life and career. ght now, what i think is incumbent on all of us, especially republicans, is that we put country over party. now, if i had come out and talked about donald trump a year ago when i left the ioministration, he's a master of distra he would have buried it within a day and it wouldn't have t ttervoters.

but right now, american voters reviewg the president's resume. they are in the process of deciding whether he should be rehired into the office in which he sits. so i think there's no mre important time for me or other ex-trump officials to come outta and actuallk about what tex persons was inside the administration and what kind of man sits behind the resolutev desk in thel office. >> well, you're not only criticizing him. you are saying that th country is less secure becausehe's the s esident. thatstbout the worst thing someone could say about a president, because they take an oath to protect, preserve and defend the constitution. w wh it -- what is it about what he has done that you've seen that makes you ve the country is less secure with him as president?el >> judy, i don't take the allegation lightly, and it's not something tht i level very easily agasiinst a pnt of the united states. in fact, during the trump campaign, i actually helped out

informally with trump's national secuty team. my hope was that, in th unlikely event that he won, we would at least have a responsible foreign defense policy for thdis country, i think all of us who went in from general kelly to general the list, we all wanted him to succeed. what we found day in and day out is when it came to critical national security issues, the president dn't have the instinct to make the right decisions. not only that, he didn't have b the focus able to do what he needed to do. >> woodruff:ou've also specifically accused the ylor, oft, miles t deliberately wanting to separate children from families at the border, of talking aut sharpening the spikes on the border wall so that they'd cut human flesh. are you absolutely certain that the presidenwas personally calling for these things? >> judy, i'll say this, i was there when the presidt persally called for tse

things, whether it was incidents in the oval office or on the phone. in fact, ian vividly tell you an example of when i was flying with him on air force one and i was in his cabin and he said how hot can we make the paint on the wall? i was confused about the question at first, frankly, i k didnow what it meant, how do you make paint hot. what he meant was can we make it as black as possible, as the sun cooks it, anyone who thinks to touch it would burn their hands. on more than onec ocasion, how sharp the spikes corks not necessarily how tall. the president was clear verbally, he wanted somne physically maimed if they wanted you can believe in borderbe security, eve in border security, but we need one welcoming and consistent with america's open arms towards wemigrants. buon't do that by trying to create sharparrier ball reds on the south border that

cut people's arms off who are fleeing violence and persecion. but that's what thn wants to do and i think it speaks about his character. chapter and verse and wrote an opinion piece in "the washington post" yesterday. shut off congropsionalemand to apprriated funds to a foreign ally who angered him. can you spl that out? bit more about this from me,ttle judy, in the coming weeks, but i say, and some of these countries won't surprise you, we've got allies south of the border who on multiple occasionh somethinpresident saw early in the morning when the president woke up and watched the news -- he would ring up the secretary or see us in a meeting saying no more money for these people, not recognizing some of that money actually helps stop drugs, terrorists, child rapists from getting into thuntry and escaping justice. a lot of the aid isn't spuferus

it's for law enforcement and humanitarian priorities. >> woodruff: you id others will be speaking out. will they bet at a higher level than yvel? will thebe cabinet level? >> i really hope, so judy. i'm talking to foks now and n ll say there are people inside this administratd people who have departed this administration who agree with me . this poi i mope they'll see in the leadup to the election thartt it's imt to get out there. i think there are folks ready to do that andpe they'll join the team. at the end of the day, this about the countrld trump, it's it's about the america we want to live in. it's about an america tat's not g.o.p. or liberal values, it's about an america that goes back to o founding principles. the president couldn't even name those foundings principght now if you asked him. we have to move beyond and in e post-trump era, we're going

to restore the party, but, moren impoy, we'll restore the country and it will take people banding together and moving on and i think joe biden has the character to to that. even if i disagree with him on key policy isues, i think h has the character to bring the country back together. taanmyf uff: last question. pureanblic post-trump republican party. so i'm going to be doing everything i can aftethis president loses reelection to party, rebuild th platform,he expand the tent and show we're for empowering americans and a more inclusive society and a very strong america going intois century. >> woodruff: miles taylor, formerly with the department of homeland security. we thank you very much. >> judy, thank you for having me. >> woodruff: more th

35 million americans voted in democratic presidentialpr aries this year. but, when it comes to officially nominating joe bidene democratic convention tonight, it's up to the nearly 4,000 delegates. li everyone else, they'll watching from home. here is what some of them had to say in the run-up to tonight's roll call. >> thiis victor shi, i'm from buffalo grove, illinois. this is my first demratic convention for vice president joe biden. >> i'm angela, i'm from sa lake city, utah, and i am a bernie sanders delegate. >> cesar alvarez. >> prince winbush iii. >> my name is rebeh whilden. i am from charlotte, north atcarolina, and i am a del for joe biden. i've been involved in the political spacreally since i was a child. one of my earliest memories was asheville, north carolina-- in which is where i grew up-- and one of the volunteers there literally was like, well, do you want to help?

and they put on spice girls, at the time, that was like, my jam. and then from there, that just kind of capulted. >> when it became time for them to ask for people to run for state delegate, which is a part of the nomination process, i decided to throw my hat in the ring.ny i didn't seedy who looked like me, who was young, from my area, running, so i decided i would be the pson to do it. >> usually, when you become a delegate, here in illinois and around the country, the process is really cousing. so, you have to go through collecting petition signatures first and then being slated on the ballot.ic and then you bly have to campaign for two to thremonths afterwards. i got elected as theest biden delegate here in illinois. when i first started campaignin and first startting involved as a delegate for joe biden, my primary focus was really just to represent youngsi people and americans. >> i find the democratic party kind of espouses those values that i hold dear, that i feel represent our couny best. and so, that's kind of why i've been involved, especially this year. i really believe in joe bide and i really wanted to do atever i could. so i've been a supporter from day one. >> donald trump makes it very

easy, i think, even in a red, red state like utah, to campaign for the party, because i think we truly represent the values of the people. with joe biden, i struggled still a little bit, but i also look awho is currently occupying the white house, and it's very frightening. >> if this is only four years in, imagine where we'll be in eight. i think that joe biden alone has a great message, but it is only amplified by how bad the republicans and donald trump have been these past four years. >> the one thing that i think i'm going to miss being at convention in person is the energy you feel in theum, when you have people you admire on the stage delivering their message and providing that hope. feeling that energy i think is really special. you know, you have that chance to really get to see a experience other people's life and what brought t wheressions you're at in that same venue. so i thi that's something that might get a little lost. but i think there are creativeth ways thaparty is working on incorporating those stories. >> the atmosphere in the room,

being around thousands of other legates who are just as excited as you are about this process, about electing a democratn november, that is what i'm definitely going to miss out on. i was a bernie sanders delegate in 2016.ft i hat convention ready to elect hillary clinton. >> i just remember, like, once nse red, white and blue ba dropped from the ceili, like, after hillary spoke, it was just such a celebratory and, like, uniting moment for democrats to come together. i was really excit to kind of be a part of that once i got elected, but obviously with covid-19, now, the docratic party convention is going to look quite different. all the delegates have already cast their ballotsthrough like, an electronic vong system, so that part of the process is done. >> i definitely plan to watcat home and maybe have a handful of little cousins of mine, family members, maybe some close friends, to try to keep it small, of course, but definitely want to have something with me to watch it and watch it all unfold and to be part of that. >> i will be going to downtown houston to celebrate the occasion with the harris county

democratic party. we'll be having, renting a drive-through theater, and we're going to watch it there. >> my husband is also a legate, so we'll probably hook our computers up to the tv, so t have a big screen. i'm really excitkind of get to stay at home and honestly just be in sweatpants and notal have to gedressed up. >> woodruff: stay with us. stephanie sy from our newshour wesbureau will be back in a moment with today's headlines and the rest of today's news. >> sy: in the day's naher news, thon's leading infectious disease expert is urging s oools to avoid-size-fits-all approach to reopening. dr. anthony fauci said the hardest-hit communities should start with remote learning, but most others should get kids into clsrooms. he ske during a virtual conference. >> you've got to realize there's

got to be flibility about where you are and how prepared you are to respond. to make a statement on one side vs. the other, taking the country as a whole, won't work. we're so heterogeneous when it comes to the level of infections. of notre dame suspended in-rsity person classes for the next two weeks in a bid to stop an outbreak. the university of north carolina made a similar decision on monday. soldiers in mali have detained the president and prime ministep in arent coup attempt. president ibrahim boubacar keit 20ok powere northwest african nation i, but he has faced growing unrest over long-running islamist insurgency. in the capital, bamako, armed meandirected traffic today, proteste cheered the soldiers. the u.s., u.n. and a bloc of african nations condemned the

coup. authorities in mauritius have arsted the captain of a japanese ship that spied more than 1,000 tons of oil off its coast. the ship struck a coral reef off the indian ocean island nation in late july before eaking in two. clean-up is still ongoing, amid fears of substantial damage to marine life. local activists say cove will take time. >> we expect that the cleanup will last for seveto eight more weeks, and then from there, there is going to be additional work to be done. but the work will be donin a more discreet way, because the oil spill itself is one thing, but the consequences of the oil spill will last for a long time. >> sy: the shipping company investigating why the tanker was should have been ten miles out. back in this country, california braced for more power outages as

a searing heat wave strained the utilities managed to avoid rolling blackouts on monday, as customers conserved on power. but today, temperatures shot toward triple-digits again in many parts of the state. c and, tt of electricity hit records for the second straight day. a federal judge in new york has blocked the trump administration from rolling back health carr protections ansgender people. under the obama-a affordable are act, a rule had banned sex discrimination on e basis of gender identity. well, those protections wereet to be reversed by a new trump administration rule as of today, but the judge interven citing a u.s. supreme court decision that already bars such discrimination in employment. d o wall street, a mixed trading day included a benchmark for the broader market. the dow jones industrial average

st 66 points to close at 27,778. the nasdaq rose 81 points, but the s&p 500 added seven points to close at a new record. it has now recovered all of its losses from the pandemic. still to come on the newshour: a verdict is rendered in the murder trial of lebanon's former of a cataclysmic explosi. and, gloria steinem discusses women's impact on americany, democr century after the suffrage movement's triumph. >> sy: two weeks after the giant explosion tore throu beirut, today, a verdict in a trial over another deadly blast,

15 years ago. a special international tribunal found a agent of hezbollah accused of assassinating the former lebese prime minister, rafic hariri. this at a tense time for the u.s.-designated terror group, as litical and financial pressure grows. special correspondent ja ferguson reports from beirut. >> reporter: the suici truck bomb that killed lebanon's rafiq hariri on valentine's day, 2005, was sent there by salim ayash, a member of lebanon's dominant political and military force, iran-backed armed group hezbollah. >> ( translated ): the trial chamber therefore finds salim jamil ayyash guilty as a co-perpetuator of count one. >> reporter: the other three accused were found not guilty.al were tried in absentia, with hezbollah's leadership refusing to hand over the men who haven't been seen publicly for years. cofta rah badredinne, was killed in syria four years ago, where he was

commanding hezbollah forces. the former prime minister's son, saad hariri, who also ldcently hehe office, was in court for the verdict.ds afterwhe spoke to th sacrifice today is hezbollah. it has become clear that the killers were from theis. they think that for this reason, they will nobe brought to justice and punished. i repeat-- we will not rest until they are punished." the court, however, said it couldn't connect the killer to hezbollah's leadership, ting evidence. just days before the verdict, hezbollah's leader, hassan nasrallah, dismissed the tribunal in a speech. saying, "we're not concerned with the special tribunal of lebanon's rulings. we cling to the innocence our brothers, should unjust verdicts be issued against them." the killing of rafic hariri, a sunni muslim leader who was close to the u.s. and gulf arab states, upended the delicate sectarian balance in lebanon among sunni, shia, christians, and druze.

hariri had been pushing for the syrian regime, then occupying the country, to stop interfering in lebanese politics, and for hezbollah and all other militias to be disarmed. hezbollah is a shia force formed and funded by iran. the u.s. has designated it a terrorist organization. the verdict doesn't directlyim icate hezbollah, but the court of public opinion in lebanon finds at implausible he group did not order the bombing. and the rults of the inquiry come at time when pressure on hezbollah is growing. the masse explosion that pped through beirut earlier this month, destroying a huge part of the city and killing some 200 people, led towidespree country's political elites, blamed for the mismanagement and decay that led to much explosive material being left idle. effigies of political leaders, including srallah, were hung from a central square in beiruin somelebanon has never seen before.

hezbolh has grown in power and political influence in lebanon in recent years. for them, it's a self- preservation tactic. >> theottom-line rationale for hezbollah is to maintain what they call "the resistance priority." this is maintaining its armed wi, its weapons and so on, and independence to utilize that weaponry. >> reporter: nicholas blanford is a senior fellow at the atlantic council, and author of ' o books on hezbollah. he says the groupolitical power is based on having the right allies in lebanese politics. >> because it makes it easier to shg down any calls for talk about a national defense strategy in which perhaps hezbollah would be blended with the lebanese army, or it would become a security force along thl,southern border with isr but under state control.an these are athema with hezbollah. >> reporter: those allies helping hezbollah maintain power michele aoun.hristian president in the trump administration's latest attempts to check the t group's power, cutting if

from those allies has become a new tactic. thres to sanction hezbollah friendly politicians are growing louder. situation, becauseave muddle the several powerful politicians, non-ia, who are closely allied with hezbollah, who if sanctions were alied, would have to benefits of their alliance with hezbollah and on the other side their bank accounts. >> reporter: within its own shia muslim base, hezbollah still has strong support, but corrtion and an economic crisis have squeezed that loyalty. in the hezbollah stronghold of dahiye in southern beirut, people are careful to separate their support for the group's resistance against israel, from grumblings about corruption. support for hezbollah remains strong? >> in a defending way, and in protecting our freedom and our land from israel, yeah, of course. but in the political side, there is somethi that hezbollah got

wrong, by his allies, of crse first of all by his allies. they are very corrupt, you know. >> reporter: when popular protests broke out last year, they called for entrenched po-tical elites to step dow all of them, including hassan nasrallah.s even some ar traditional hezbollah support in the south of the country saw calls for change. onomy was collapsing after decades of corruption and .smanagement by politicia hezbollah too has had to cut back on its vast patronage support and services to itslo fighters and frs, causing some anger. but as tension grows in lebanon, sectarianism loyaltieso too sometimes, as people look to the only leaders they have for protection. >> ( translated ): sure, hezbollah has its people's support. the people wot abandon the resistance. we are with the resistance till death. even if we are dying of hunger, we are with the resistance tillt the reath. >> reporter: hezbollah continues to face militaryressure from

israel. both sides are trying to measure their retaliations against the danger of a devastating war. as pressure on hezbollah mounts on several fronts, both domestically and internationally, t possibility of another explosion-- of violence-- increases. for the pbs newshour, i'm jane ferguson in beirut, lebanon. >> sy: now back to judy in washington. >> woodruff: thank you, andy torks a full century since women won the right to vote, with the ratification of theme 19th ame. it actually didn't expressly grant the right to vote.h instead, the 1endment said that the right should "not be of sex.or abridged" on the basis h want to close tonight w convsation with gloria steinem that iecorded earlier today, and take a look at what was achieved then and in the decades since, as well as the strugglest

emain. the battle for the right to vote bedn many decades earlier, one of the driving moments came with the seneca falls convention for equal rights in new york state in 1848. roughly 300 women atnded. in the decades that followed, the suffragette movement gw. pioneers like elizabeth cady stanton, susan b. anthony, sojourner truth, and ida b. wells organized protests, marches and greater awareness that led to political action. the u.s. house of representatives finally approved it in may 1920, and the senate followed two weeks later. three-quarters of the states were needed to ratify, and so on august 18, 1920.ast to do but as hailed as the 19th amendment was, the suffragist movement often sidelined women c or, and many faced huge

obstacles for decades.ey while howed up at the polls, black, latina, asian and native american women all faced difficulties with voter suppression. the voting rights act of 1965 finally guaranteed loned protections. tosy, women's rights moveme have grown again, including a drive to ps the equal rights amendment, a campaign that first began in the 10s. president trump, who has been criticized for s own derogatory remarks about women in the past, marked centennial today. that included a posthumous pardon for susan b. anthony. she was fined $100 after voting illegally in 1872. today, i spoke with noted feminist activist and scholar gloria steinem. gloria steinem, thank you soch or joining us today. we're here to talk about the women's right to vote.

but i think many americans today take it for granted, because what, more than halfhe electorate today is women. but-- but the women who fought for that right to vote, it was a mighty struggle, wasn't it? >> yes, it was huge. and if it included people we don't hear about enough. i mean, it included black suffragists. and it included natirican suffragists. you know, i'm-- actually i'm ateful to the york times because they're doing a good series about previously excluded figures that i recommend. >> woodruff: does that in any way take away from the legacy? do y think of the 19th amendment and the fight for women's right to vote for suffra because of the ct th it didn't include all women? >> no, it did include all women, in fact. and now we're justearning the reporting of it. the historical reportingf it

has been a problem, for instance, befo-- a decade before seneca falls, there was o ention in new york that was half black and white women, and that should have been counted as the beginning, rather than seneca falls. so, you know, in a way, there are two things history in the past and they are not the same. >> woodruff: i know, many women i talked to today say, well, yes,t was great that women w the right to vote, but look at the struggles that continue over equal pay, over the right not to be harassed and abused in the >> yes, no, we-- we have thet. right to vote. we still don't fully have the right to our own bodies. we are still subject to bo t onvate a so it isn't-- it came aboutca

first e it is, in a way, an imitative right. it is a right that men have.we i thinave yet to understandhe rights that the female half of the human race need as females. >> woodruf and the ability to elect women to public office where they can make a difference. i mean, we celebrate the progress that's been me, but women are so far behind. whether you look at-- clearly, there've been advances. but whether you look at local state offices, the national level, women are not there. >> no. we have a long way to go. but history is repeating itsel in the sense that black women are the single most important and influentl group in the democratic party. just as women ofolor were more influential in getting the vote if you see what i mean. so we can learn to be a little

bit skeptical about the past from what we're seeing in the present. >> woodruff: i want to circle back to what you said, about women of color were included, even though most people don't realize that.ou how much--o ahead. >> it wasn't as if women of color were included. that ges white women the power to include, if you see what i mean. it's that they were always more active, perhaps with the parallel in front of ueen sex and race. but, they were always present. yet seneca falls, in which there was only one person or and it was a man, frederick douglass, is counted as the beginning of the movement,n yes earlier convention in new york, which was equally white and black men. >> woodruff: i want to ask aboue anaspect of all this, and that is, when you talk to

conservative-- women who are conservative politically, and they talk about the women's movement often as if it's something "other," as if what they believe leaves them out of the movement. for example, you mentioned reproductive rights-- many of them are anti-abortion. how do you think about that? how do you think about the tent r women? >> well, i think that we are guarding each other's rights. i mean, in guarding reproductive freedom or reproductive rights, i'm guarding my right to have an abortion and i'm guarding her right not to, and not to be pressured into one. and it's on that basis that we can come together and that wee often have cgether. , ce it's understood as guarding their right not en it's unifying. >> woodruff: right nowy, vote, the access t-- how--

how and whether votes are counted-- front and center, because president trump is has criticized mail and voting, he is attacking the postal service. what is at stake in all this >> democracy. i mean, he is not the president by the popular vote. he lost by three million votes. he knows that. he knows that if we actually vote, he's out. so he is now trying to eliminate or reduce our opportunity to vote. and that is unacceptable. we used to say, go to vote. now we say "fight to vote." >> woodruff: where do you see the women's movement going from here? >> well, that's a huge, huge question, but i hope we are going into a world without adjectives.i hope that-- you kn

sense, i thinke perhaps learning from the coronavirus that sees humans as humans.ro the virus does not see gender or race or class or nationality. and that is the direction we need to go in and perhaps out or edy is coming a changed consciousness. >> woodruff: so you have some optimism or some hopefulness right now? well, i try to be tic, but hope is a form of planning. so that should not be taken away from us. >> woodruff: going to member that, "hope is a form of-- a o foplanning." gloria steinem. thank you very much for talking with us. >> thank you.dr >> wf: and online, right after this program, you can join us for a special digital pre- show to kick off our convention coverage, starting at 7:00 p.m.

eastern with our own daniel bush. tch that on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour, or on our youtube channel. d that is the newshour for tonight. we will be back at 8:00 p.m. eastern with our special live coverage of the second night of the democratic national convention. please stay with us.ju i' woodruff. thanks for watching.l and wee you shortly. f >> major fundi the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through with fidelity wealagement, a dedicated advisor can tailor advice and recommendations to your life. that's fidelity wealth management. >> consumer cellular. >> johnson & johnson. >> financial services firm raymond james.

>> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of internation peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. >> thiprogram was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

♪ hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & co." here's what's coming up. it shod be a party that delivers a bounce. and amid covid, the first presidential nominating convention starts today online. i speak to the republican making the case for joe biden, the former governor of ohio, john kasich. then -- in 1953, the united states together with britain participated in a coupn iran. >> how did relations between iran and the usa become so toxi a thrilling docuntary, "coup 53" examines how thecia and mi6 overthrew iran's budding democracy. the filmmakers join me. and -- >> here we are a nation of 2,000