captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judyheoodruff. on tewshour tonight: mailing it in. the u.s. pter general faces congressional scrutiny over postal delivery in a critical election and the president's remarks about mail-ing. then, the convention concludes. joe biden formally accepts the democratic nomination for president kes his pitch to american voters. plus, hunger in lebanon. a major food shortage grips a couny already mired in the dual crises of covid-1and a tanking economy. >> repter: the challenges here in beirut are about a lot more than simply feeding people i the midst of this latest crisis. there is a major food security emergency here in lebanon as a

result of the economy collapsing. >> woodruff: and, it's friday. mark shields and david brooks assess an unprecedented democratic convention and what to expect from the republicans next week. all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> the women's suffrage rintennial commission. ho 100 years of the 19th amendmendmarks will light up in purple and gold on 26, for the "forward in light" campaign.t learn moremensvote100.org >> fidelity wealth management. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular has been offering no-contract wireless plans, designed to help people do more of what they like.

team can help findn thatservice fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular >> financial services firm raymond james. >> johon & johnson. >> the john s. and james l. knight foundation. fosting informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. station from viewers like you.bs thank you. >> woodruff: the postmaster

general of the united states today testified before the senateng the first public scrutiny of his recent moves at the post office,hich reportedly have caused widespread delays in mail de. democrats have accused louisjo of sabotage, saying that he is trying to limit voting by ma, wh this fall because of the pandemic. william brangham has a report o. today's hear >> thank you, chairmanon, for calling this hearing. >> brangham: from the start of today's virtual hearing before nate homeland security governmental affairs committee, the newly-appointed postmaster general addressed a central question-- would the expected surge of mail-in ballots be delivered on time? >> i want to assure this committee and the american public that the postalce is fully capable and committed to delivering te nation's election mail securely and on time. this sacred duty is my numbe one priority between now and election day. >> did you discuss those changes

or their potential impact on the november election with the president, or anyone at the white house? >> brangham: postmaster dejoy, who was appointed by the postal service's board of governors, dos in his prior life a major r and fundraiser for president trump. and today, he pushed back on the idea that the reforms he's instituting are being done to help the president's re-election. president trump has repeatedly, and incorrectly, said voting by il is rampant with frd and demanded it be stopped. senator gary peters, democrat of wisconsin, pressed this line of questioning. >> you will give us your word onday, under oath, that you have not taken any achatsoever in your capacity as postmaster general for any political reason or at the suggestion of any, any administration officials? >> sir, i wifi tell you, my election mail meeting, i instructed the organization, the whole team around us and out in the field, whatever efforts we we are very committhem.

board's committed, the postal workers' committed, the unionmm leadership's ted to having a successful election, and the insinuation is, quitfrankly, outrageous. >> brangham:he changes dejoy has implemented-- which today he said he would suspend until after the election-- included reducing overtime hours for mail-delivery pele, and decommissioning hundreds of large high-capacity mail-sorting machines. senator maggie hassan, democrat of new hampshire, described how one sorting machine in the city of manchester had been sold, and the remaining one oke. >> when we have only one machine that can do a certain kind of sorting in our largest distribution center in the state of nehaw mpshire, and it breaks, and everything has to stop until it gets fixed again, that's not you're really sabotaging the postal service's ability to sort mail efficiently, and you're undermining postal workers' commitotmenhat everyday delivery. so will you commit to having >> first, senator, i don't agree with t premise, but i will

>> brangham: dejoyd that the machines was normapost office ocedure in response to the cline in envelope-sized mail, and to make space for the increase in package-sized mail. ret senators from both parties, includinblican rob portman of ohio, said these mail delaysp had real-worldcations beyond the election. >> we have a number of ceterans who'ontacted us and said they weren't able to get their medications. one is a 70-year-old, served in vietnam, has c.o.p.d., has trouble breathing. the inhaler refi was mailed through the postal service. due to delays, he ran out of it while waiting for it to arrive. >> brangham: importantly for november, dejoy promhat almost all election mail would be treated like first-clas mail, which would inse quicker delivery. there had been reports the pt office was considering a slower category for ballots. dejoy sought to assure the public that, despite what they've heard, the postal service had more than enough capacity to handle this volume

of ballots in the fall. >> we deliver 433 million piecef ail a day, so 150 or 160 million ballots over a week is a very small amount. >> brangham: despite these assurances, many of dejoy's critics aren't satisfied. as the hearing began today, six stat the district of columbia, led by pennsylvania, filed suit against the postal service and postmaster dejoy, saying these changave made it harder for states "to conduct free and fair elections." in the end, postmaster dejoy defended his reformss much- needed fiscal discipline for the post offe. he and others have noted that the service lost $9 billion last year. he argued that in the age of feandeu.p.s., the post office needs to change in order to compete. >> i believe there is an opportunity for the postal service to better serve the american public a also to operate in a financially

sustainable fashion. our ability to fulfill that mandate in the coming years is at a fundamental risk. changes must be made to ensure our sustainability for the years and decades ahead. >> brangham: postmaster dejoy will testify before a house committee early next week. today, the post office' board ofovernors announced that they are establishing a bipartisan election mail committee, this would be to help a lot of these states who are going to see a surge in voting by mail, help them work out their programs. that same board of governors offered its full support for post master dejoy. >> woodruff: yoioned a lot of criticism of the post master. today to alie these critics' concerns? is. >> reporter: it's not ly clear, judy. i think that the big concern is that -- and in fact citofed by severa the senators during the hearing today -- is that the president himself keepsng

politicihe posting service with everything that he says, all of his accusations -- lse accusations -- about vote big mainil fraught with fraud. everything dejoy does is seen through that lens. even though dejoy contradicted the president and said voting is and reliable, question de joy said he would be votingt hat way this election, there's still so much suspicion because of what the president is saying. >> woodruff: the president ramped up his conspiratorial talk today about the post office. he suggested today that what democrats might have in mind is creating so much chaos that, after the election, they could sneak in nanosi, the speaker of the house, to be the presiden >> yeah, he keeps saying this, and there's really no truth to rit. i mean, e's the theory undergirding what the president is saying, that mail-in ting which he alleges is going to cause all this chaos, so let's delay this election. the president has no authority to delay the election, that's

congress' job, andcoress, 100% of congressmon and senators have said we're not delaying the election. but the president is sort of alleging that, according to the law, which is true, that if on january 20th, when the president and vice president's term expires and a victor has not been declared, the number three, that's the ouse majority leader, would become the president. but, as i'vsa, there is no evidence whatsoever this election is going to get ved one iota, and, so, this is a bit of a moot point, but he keeps using, because i think, in part, he thinks nancy pelosi is a scare tactic for rters. >> woodruff: william brangham, thank you. >> reporter: you're welcome, judy >> woodruff: "light versus darkness." that is how joe biden framed the decision that voters will have

to make this fl, during his very first speech as the democratic party's nominee for president. meanwhile, president trump and eee republicans are ready for their turn, next amna nawaz has our coverage. >> nawaz: for joe biden, these words had been kicades in the g. >> it is with great honor and humility that i accept this nomination for president of the united states of america. >> nawaz: the 2020 democratic presidential nominee made his appeal to americans in stark terms. the current president has cloaked america in darkness for much too long. too much anger. too much fear. here and now, i giveou my word-- if you entrust me with the presidency, i raw on the best of us, notllhe worst. i e an ally of the light, not of the darkness. president trump's pandemic respon.

>> we lead the world in confirmed cases. we lead the world on deaths. our y is in tatters, and after all this time, the, i. >> nawaz: and he cited the president's own word after the 2017 neo-nazi march in charlottesvie, virginia, as the moment he knew he had to run. >> remember the violent clash remember what the president said? he said, there were "very fine ople on both sides." at the time, i said we were in a battle for the soul of this and we are. >> nawaz: that sober warning on the d.n.c.'s final night echoer simintiments earlier in the week. former presidential nominee hillary clinton... >> for four years, people have told m dangerous he was!" how >> nawaz: ...former first lady michelle obama... >> donald trump is the wrong president for our country. >> nawaz: ...and former president barack obama, all

stressing the high stakes of this election. >> do not let em take away your power. do not let them take away your democracy. >> nawaz: over the wistory was made. most notablyy senator kamala arris, the first woman of color ever nominated to a major party ticket... >> let's fight with conviion. let's fight with hope. let's fight with confince in ourselves, and a commitment to each other. to the america we know is possible. >> nawaz: ...and the first entirely virtual roll call vote, giving viewers a tour and, in some cases, a taste, across 57 states and territories. >> mr. joseph r. biden! >> nawaz: a diverse slate of every day americans were heard from every night, like kristin urquiza, whose father died of covid-19...'s >> my father only pre-existing condition was trusting donald

trump. >> nawaz: ...gurnee green, whose small business is struggling emmid-pa... >> i'm alone. >> nawaz: ...and 13-year-old brden harrington, who credited biden with helping him control his stutter. >> without joe biden, i wouldn't be talking to you today. >> nawaz: issues like immigration and climate change tooerk centtage, but on gun violence, gabby giffords >> we can let the ng continue, or we can act. we c protect our families, o future. we can vote. >> nawaz: among the many making the case for biden over four nights, his primary rivals, banding together in party unity. >> you can think of this like "survivor," when everyone got voted ofthe island. >> nawaz: republicans, bucking their own party to now back biden. >> joe biden will be a president we.ill all be proud to salu >> nawaz: and his family, beginning with his wife, dr. jill biden, on surviving devastating loss... >> if we entrust this nation to joe, he will do for yoily

what he did for ours: bring us together and make us whole. >> nawaz: and ending with his own ildren: daughter ashley, son hunter, and words fromis la son, beau. the d.n.c. ended last night with a fireworks show, but today, a f signre fireworks ahead. at an event outside washingto d.c., h president trump beg rebuttal to biden's argument. >> where joe biden sees american dar i see american greatness. >> nawaz: next wnk's republican ional convention will include party business in charlotte, and otndr events in washington a at fort mchenry in baltimore. confirmed speakers include president trump, first lady melania trump, and vice president pence, as well as senior party figuresformer u.n. ambassador nikki haley, senators joni ernst and tim scott, house minleader kevin mccarthy, and south dakota governor kristi noem.

republicans are expected to formally re-nominate president trump on monday, andh ake their pi the american people in the days to follow. for the pbs newshour, i'm amna nawaz >> woodruff: in the day's other news, the pandemic's official death toll in the u.s. reached 175,000, as new data underscored that it may be much higher. the centers for diase control and prevention said that nationwide, there werep to 215,000 more deaths than usual, through july. the associated press reported that half of the victims were pe olo thplague of wildfires across california has now claimed six lives and forced evacuation orders for more than 100,000 people. three clusters of fires burned again day in northern and central california, threatening

thousands of homes. firefighters pleaded with people to get out of harm's way. >ve> we do he evacuations in place, and they're in place for a very good reason-- not only for the public safd the safety of our first responders, b, ut with then people do stay behind and do try to take matt with trying to suppress fires, it creates a bigger issue for our first responders. >> woodruff: oneire has burned within a mile of the university of california-santa cruz. some 12,000 firefighrs are battling the fires. the u.s. gulf coast could be facing two big storms next week. tropical storm laura formed in the eastern caribbean today, and ormay reach a and the gulf as a hurricane next week. another system off honduras is tracking toward texas and louisiana, and may also become a hurricane. in iraq today, protests boiled over in the south, in the rst violence since october. demonstrators in basra battled

police and bned parliament offices. they demanded the governor resign, after two activists were gunned down in the past week. doctors in russia agreed today navalny be taken to germany for treatment, after he fell into a coma. supporters say that he was poisoned. omsk said they found no poison. theyfured at first to let him be flown to berlin, but later relented. st ( translated ): after multiple reqby the relatives to allow the transportation of the patient, erstand that nevertheles there is a certain risk, but the relatives are ready to take those risks. o have taken a decision that we do nose transferring the patient to another clinic. >> woodruff: navalny's supporte say the doctors stalled until the poison could no longer be traced. back in this country, california's golden state

killer, joseph de'angelo, was sentenced today to life in prison wthout parole. the former police officer admitted to 26 murrs and rapes in the 1970s and '80s in a deal to avoid the death pelty. he is now 74, and was in a wheelchair for today's hearing in sacramento. he said he was "truly sorry" for everyone hhurt. de'angelo was finally caught in 2018, with the help of d.n.a. actress lori loughlin was sentenced today to two months in federal prison, in a college admissions bribery sndal. her husband, fashion designer mossimo giannulli, got five months. they pled guilty to paying $500,000 in bribes to get their two daughters into the university osouthern california. and, wall street ended the week on a high note. the dow jones industrial average gained 190 points to close at the nasdaq rose 46 points, and the p 500 added 11. still to come on the newshour:

lebanon struggles with a food shortage, amid covid-19 and a collapsing economy. weue answer yourions about voting by mail in the upcoming election a mark shiel david brooks democratic conventedented plus, muchore. >> woodruff: it has been nearly three weeks since the devastating explosion at beirut's port tore through the city. in a country already suffering food scarcity amid economic collapse, the explosion turned a dire situation into crisis. from beirut, special correspondent jane ferguson reports. >> reporter: first came the initial shock of brut's massive explosion, ripping through the city, destroying

homes and taking lives. now comes the next challenge: averting a dangerous food shortage, despite virtually no help from the nation's leaders. >> ( translated ): as the government, all the state, is not taking care of its own people, people in lebanon have alwayake care of themselves. al>> reporter: kouzawack is an expert in feeding people. for more than 15 years, he's been running souk el tayeb, anha organization tt sponsors farmers' marntts and restau providing much- needed exposure to local, suainable, growers. his restaurant in beirut is now just one of a number of places feeding the neighborhood. >> if the job nee to be done, we are doing it ourselves, and this is what we are doing in a mostordinary way. and if we the people can do such aul wondeob, we the people should govern this country. >> reporter: the challenges here in beirut are about a lot more than simply feeding ople in the midst of this latest crisis. there is a major fd security emergency here in lebanon as a

result of the economy collapsing. long before the great blast, lebanon'omy was already in tatters, hamstrung by a series of chrly ineffective and corrupt governments, plus a bankinsystem that was revealed last year to be little more than a ponzi scheme. millions lost access to their savings, and the cost of food shot up, along with inflation, just as the pandemic hit. >> you've got a perfect storm. i mean, just when you think it couldn't getny worse, you have this explosion. so you've got economic deterioration, then u have covid on top of that, and covid is playing out as we speak, deteriorating the situation throughout lebanon. >> reporter: david beasley is the head of the u.n.'s world food program. lebanon imports more than three- quarters of all its food. in order to provide subsized ead for the people, the government was buying tons of wheat through the port that now lies in ruins.

iecious national grain reserves were destroytheir silos, leaving the country with only two cash to buy more.ittle people in lebanon comes through that port. atd so we've got to get th port operational. otherwise the costs will be skocketing. we've already diverted 17,500 metric tons of flour so that immediately people will have bread on the table for the entire country for 20 additional days. >> reporter: american celebrity chef jose anes and his team from his charity, world central kitchen, swung into action after the blast and flew to beirut. now, they're helping professional kitchens, like kamal's, produce some 10,000 meals a day to feed ue workers, hospital staff and patients, plus those made homeless by the explosion. >> shorter walls, longer tables. l of a sudden, yeah, it looks like fantasy, but it is real.

you can make it happen. or reporter: andres's nization has been feeding people in crisis all over the world, from puerto rico to haiti, and across e united statesnavirus hits hard. his prolific dedication to ciso media draws attention to places that need help. beyoden emergencies, what global shift in lom foods, is a security, making sure that people across the world can afford to eat. >> at the end, the solution is no'sabout food. bout having an economic system that works for the people. it's as simple as that. i'm not an economist. i leftchool when i was 14. but this i can tell you: "let's buy more food and let's give food for free? no, that's not a solution. let's make sure that we create systems whe people, even in emergencies like these, can, on their own, sustain themselves without going broke in the sile act of living. right no if we have poor, hungry people, it's because we

have people who go broke.us bewe are not helping them not go broke. if we are able to fix that, hunger and poverty, it's over forever. but we create stems that are the contrary. >> reporter: brandt stewart several years ago to open a charitable bakery, called mavia, serving up trendy sourdough and bagels, whilalso helping syrian refugees learn the skills they would need to start their own businesses. located close to the port where the explosion took place, his bakery was damaged in the blast, and, deeply discouraged, he almost closed up for good, until online donations began pouring in and he turned it into a soup kitchen. s like we all have survivor's guilt, you know? like, i'm not as injured as other peoplemy business isn't as injured as other peoples' businesses. i started to realize that we ha the space, you know, we have all this money coming in, people need food, you know, high rates of food insecurity in lebanon, so ye, we just kind

of-- it fell into place, you know? >> reporr: the women that work here know the struggle of buyg food all too well. dunia wadha comes from tripoli, lebanon's second-largey and one of its poorest. >> ( translated ): all the food is tripled in price-- meat, chicken, sugar, vegetables. they are all so expenve. >> reporter: even thice of flour has increased to beyond the reach of many. >> just wheat, for instance, that we buy,he local wheat-- it used to be 1250 lira per kilo, it's now 4,000 lira per kilo. peoples' salaries have dropped. it's just created a really >> reporter: fixing the situation will take years of onupinating the corr e waan rsteconomy. in the meantime, the people of this country will continue to try to survive through the warm hospitality and kindness they are known for. ferguson, in beiruanon.'m jane

>> woodruff: and now we turn to "ask us," where we put questions who can make sense of these tumultuous times. earlier, we repoed on the postmaster general's changes at the post office and doubts the white house has cast omail in voting. all this has troubled many viewers who are considering voting by mail. amna nawaz is back with more. >> nawaz: president ump's peated attacks on mail-in voting, along with reports about mailboxes being removed and sorting machines taken out of post offices, have all led to anxiety, fr and confusion. the postmaster general now says he's suspending any more changes until after the election. but many of you are worried about election security, how to vote safely during a pandemic, and how to make sure your vote counts.

tojoined by david becker. he's the founder and executive director of e center for election innovation and research. david becker, welcome to the newshour. and thanks for being here. let's get right to these questions. the very first one comes from judy shapiro in new york. and this is her question. "how can i check what voting intions i have other than to the polls?" david, what do you say to judy? >> so, of course, there are a variety of different rules all we're actually not holding one election in november-- we're holding about 10,000 lite elections all over the country. and that can be really challenging. the best place to go is your county or cal election find out what your county election website is. that will have almost all the information. if you want one national website that you can start at, you can un, rh whissecretaries of statd that'll redirect you to your state election people can go check them out

dates are different as well. let's go to our next question as well. th w let's take a listmiubaso.myed li >> no a hi, my name is jeremy lopez and i am from austin, texas. my question is, how will the physical count of the mail-in ballots be handled and checked? >> nawd david, we are anticipating an influx of those mail-in ballots. so what you say? what do we know about how those are going to be coerted? >> well,ps as many as 50% of all blots this year. the highest we've ever had before was in 2016, where almost 25% mail ballots came in by came in by mail, rather. and how that's handled is, those get returned to the election office. often, many, if not most of them are returnperson by the voters, often in drop boxes or election offices, or somimes even in the poplaces themselves. so you don't need to rely upon the mail for that. once they get there, according to state law, they can megin processing them at various some states allow processing

those ballots early, before election day. in other states, like michigan and pennsylvania, for instance, require that that not be started until election day itself, elti morning. but what happens is election officials, multiple election officials review those ballots, to make sure they're properly cast. they'll look at the personal information on the envelope to make sure it matches the voter's file, and they'll match the signature on file to the voters file to see if it matches, make sure that they're properly cast by the right voter. and once they're sure of that, from the envelope and place it into a scanner to be counted. nding on how many of tho ballots are in-house, how early a state can start counting them will depenon how soonow what the results are from those mail ballots. >> nawazdavid, the next estion now comes from carol woosley. she lives in kenosha, wisconsin. and this is her queson-- she asks, "if you apply for an absentee ballot, but i bdoesn't arriore the election, do you lose your right to vote or can you still go to the polls?" veere's a lot of confusion this, david. so how exactly does it work?

>> every single voter has the right to go to the polls and vote in person. every single registered voter, even if they've requested a mail ball or if they're in a stat where they get automatically sent a mail ballot. there's ni states that will be doing that this fall. so if you have asked for a mail ballot or were expecting a mail ballot, or even if you've received it and change your mind, you'd like to vote in person, you can still go vote in person. now, depending upon the rules of the state, you might have to cast a provisional ballot. that's to make sure that someone doesn't return their mail ballot as well. there are checks and balances in poce in every single state make sure that even if someone received a mail ballot and then they vote in person, that they only can vote once. if you'vested a mailrtant-- ballot and it's getting close to election day, perhaps even as as a week before election day, i think that is a good time orto go to plan b and look other options, particularly early in-person voting options at that point, to maca sure you ca your ballot and it'll

be counted. >> nawaz: important to know, though-- every seligible voter can go to the polls. canally, here's one more question from itnew york. this one's from saundra goodman. and she asks, "how can american voters be assured that we can trust the postal service t securely handle our ballots?" david, this goes to the heart of the issue for so many americans, trust in the election s. what do you say to sandra? >> so, the postal service has been doing this for about 200 years, since before the civil war, and they've been doing it well and we've trusted of course, the recent news has shaken that trust. we're wondering why the postal service is sending letters to states and telling them that they might not be able to process the ballots. here's what voters can do. voters, if they want to vote by mail or if they think that's the right way for them to vote, then they should request the ballot as early as possible, so that ballot can be delivered them as soon as possible. but then, if they're not 100% sure that there's enough timor they have doubts about the mail returning their voted ballot, there are lots of options to

return that ballot in person. so, for in, in every state, if you've requesd a mail ballot, you can return that ballot in advance electio dato an election office. many states have secure dropxe located around the counties and states where those ballots can be dropped. awand that's a wonderful y to make sure that the ballot gets lrectly to election offices. >> nawaz: botte-- do your research, have a plan. such important information. david becker from the center for election innovation and research. thanks so much for being with us. >> thank you. >> nawaz: and thanks to all of you for your questions. you can always send us more any time via newshour's twitter, facebook or instagram accounts, or on our website, that's www.s.org/newshour. >> woodruff: the democra spent this week making their case for a joe biden presidency. next week, it's the republicans'

turn to gue for four more years for president trump. but tonight, it's the analysis of shields and brooks. that is syndicated columnist rk shields, and "new york times" columnist david brooks. it is so good to see both of you. we've seen you -- you've seen us too much for the lat four nights, but we're so glad to have you bada. d, the biden campaign is putting out positive vibes tonight. er y're saying we think we did ar days, al how dining they did? >> what is that beach boys song, "good vibrations," they eard them. they exceeded expectations. they had a candidate who delivered an address wi a fierce urgency that you can't fake, acd ally, they had barack obama, michelle obama, they had a series of remarkable performances that, i think for the first time in this campaign, not only generated opposition to donald trump butt geneed some

general enthusiasm for joe biden. >>oodruff: mark, what'your takeaway? >> iouldn't disagree more. no. (laughter) judy, it was a very, very positive convention, make no mistake about it, barack obama being the big surprise, after four years of democrats waiting for him, his beinspg circt and restrained, he arrived with ll-throwed indictment of donald trump, and donald trump's failure to lead anld do trump's failure to protect the andntry in its great crisis basically made the case that donald trump did not devote the time, energy, effort and probably did not have the capacity to be presidentut. think and agree with david about joe biden. it was, in many respects, a great advantage to have the remote convention because joe's everybody in the room, which he tries to do and does when he's

eaking, but here he had 24 minutes. he stayed within himself, made the case, i thought, compellingly. but more than anything else about thnvention to me, as reminded of the words of th poet, maya angelou, who said people will forget what you did said, but people will not forget how you made them feel. and the ve vignettes about joe biden, the conductor who suffered a athearck, joe biden knew his children, grandchildren. joe biden, as vice president, a barbershop in new york city to be sure how he was doing, thathe joe biden, way he treated the elevator operator at ths, "new york tihe didn't get e nominated him and said that there's more than room in his

heart for himself, there's room for me and so many others. a finall you commented, braden harrington, the 13-year-old, brave, courageous young revealed that joe biden ta we're in the same clubwe're stutterers, and helped him and gave him the courage. so i think that came throu probably more strongly than anything else, and i think to joe biden advantage. >> woodruff: so, davi david bro, did th what they needed to do and did they miss the mark on anything? >> yeah, they did three-quarters of what they needed to what's impressivabout the biden campaign is they theory tk with the theory. the theory is the country is exhausted and wants a uniter. they ignored a lot of twitter and the left-right thing puand sued that theory. what they did not do is go to ice heart of the electorate is working class voters in the upper midwest. it's sort of minboggling to

me. in 2016, hillary clinton made a colossal areas by ignoring voartsz in wisconsin, michigan and places and if the democrs lose those states again an indictment will be they made the exact same mistake in 2020 as in 2016, and i think it's eybecause on't have the vocabulary k and culturwledge to know how to talk to those voters. i think there are not enough people in the democratic party who emerged from those communities and know what concerns them and how to talk to them. it could be an inherent error and shortage in the party. >> woodruff: mark, do you agree they failed to reach the voters in the heartland, many of th white working class voters? >> well, i think joe biden has an enoradvantage over hillary clinton in that respect just at his naturalapport and his record in dealing with working people, working issues. pehodohon't don'ot pack awary of

lunch, and i think sat remain a problem, but donald trump's doing everything he can, he did with good year, trying to boycott goodyr tires in akron, ohio, a great american company you know, to win back for joe biden and the dem biggest mistaf the night, judyof the entire four weeks, week wacos your ng to us when john legend and common were singing and asking us. i've heard nothing ut unmitigated criticism of what the hell we were saying whente people wto hear them. and what was david brooks' best-selling album, they wanted to know.'v >> woodruff: heard some of that as well and we apologize to anybody who thought we made bad decisions, but we try our best to get it right.

but david, okay,e republicans' turn. it's president trump's turn. what does he need to do next week? >> well, fir, scare people, show that this is a country in disorder, crime is risin violence in portland. talk about china which is democrats didot doenough, talk about threat and say, hey, i might not be as nice as joe biden, but you need me, and i think that's the key thing. the second way trump will y you need me is they didn't talk about their policies at their convtion, but what they really stand for is e green new deal and opening the bordeand al that. i expect the republican convention to irdly more policy oriented. the final thing about e republican convention which is unprecedented in my lifetime and all our lifetimes is that the 2012 nominee woulbe not welcome there, mitt romney, john mccain would not welcome there, george w. bush, the last preslcent, would no be e

there. george h.w. bush would not be welcome there. this is a party that's ultimately transformed and the previous nominees would notbe welcomed at the party as it currently is. >> woodruff: mark as you look ahead to what the repu ticans nedo next week, what are you thinking? >> i think it's fair to say, dy, not only would th not be welcome but none of the four would want to be thereta convention which also speaks republican party. change in i think they've got a tough uphill fight. i mean, donald trump has spent 44 years concentrating on his base, and, judy, this is going to be a different lekdz from 2016 -- election from 2016s 46%, regardl how acutely its distributedlectorall it's not going to be enough to win the white house back, and he's got ti o expand, ann't know where he goes to expand. own side.es is drill down on and i really feel anybody has

any extra empathy, they out to extend some to the people who are trying to put together this republican convention because i think his whims are changing from hour to hour, and the direction it's going to take and the message it's going to liver, and, je, i really think it's an uphill struggle from here politically to make a what are you going to run on sleepy joe after joe biden just ran -- gave a 24-minute speech that was the equal f any given? fox news, before the convention the mental acuity to bebiden has president in the poll? and 47% said yes and 39% no. they also made the mistake of asking it about donald trump, and 51% said no, they didn't think he had the ntal acuity. so there are two themes that have gone by the board, sleepy and mental dracuity. >> wf: one of the things the president has been talking about we heard about it earlier in the program just now

and from viewers is what's ing on with the postal service. the postaster general went before kong, the senators, and got grilled over that and assured them everything is going to be fine but a lot of democrataying this is something we need to watch. how serious an issue is this, how muchnk you th it's going to play a role in this election? >> well, donald trump's comme es serious issue because they will serve to proactivgiely demize the election if it comes out in a way his foowers don't like, and they will say mail-in ballots that are on it. i think vastly too much is made out of this. the postal service is in trouble, the mail is down dramatically, so shifting from mail to make room for package

processing machinery seems to be the normal thing you do. no evidence that this is done e th bad motives other than try to save postal service. we get 160 million voters, or so, probablyess, the postal mail every day.s 430- pieces there is some expectation they can do this job and are g do thijob. it's worth watching, but so far i don't see any evidence that the postal service has become a terrupt and untrust coa institution. >> woodruff: mark shields, only 30 seconds on the service. >> i don't think anybody is suggest the postal service is. we're talking about the leadership. the old line you don't talk to the monkey grinder. can donald trump has made quite clear what his intentions are. he does not wat millions of americans voting by mail in the middle of a persian in which the united states has eapaid a grr

price in personal suffering than d y industrialid many nonindustrialized nations in the world and this obviously a priority of his that far exceeds the pandemic itself. he keeps talking about it and says on the record if people vote by mail, republicans and everybody, the republicans will never win another electionk i th need all the light, all the sunshine, all the antiseptic and dispeptic can keep on this story, and i look forward to the hearings on drmonday. >> wf: we will keep covering it, and we thank you both after a really extraordinary week. david brooks, mark shields, thank you. >> woodruff: now, we want to take another moment to ionor a group ividuals who lost their lives to the coronavirus. here are their stories. robert shackleford dreamed of

serving in the army, but colorblindness forced him to find a diffent way to serve his country. so, for nearly 30 years, he history in sarasota, florida. robert was also a longtime football coach. a fellow coach described him as a detailed and dedicated leader. despite a busy schedule, the 61- ye tar-old always madee for family. he loved mailing cards to his daughter and grandson, and regularly visited his brother, steven, who has disabilities. osanette hernandez was a curious child and passionate aut learning, her father said. just 22 years old, she had dreamed of becoming a nurse. a shy but giftederformer, she sang in her church choir high school marching band in san antonio, texas. osanette was a devoted daughter, and started a business with her mom sellinhomemade cakes and

cookies. she kept baking after her mother paway last year, to 48-year-old john eric swing wase passiobout supporting the asian american community. help residents and businesses through the pandemic.coworkers e corps reservist radi positive energy. a foodie and an outdoorsman, his wife said he was happiest on the beach, and when spending time with her and their six children. su thao was a hero for the hmong people. after escaping communist laos, he kept returning to rescue family members, and worked with the c.i.a. on covert operations in the country. when he moved to i the 1970s, he worked to bring more refugees to the u.s. eventually, he settled in esno, california, where directed documentaries,

translatedopular films into hmong and even hosted a radio show. a father to nine, su was 72 years old. sawarrelita redmond's suburban chicago home was never empty. for the last 15 ars, the mother of three ran her own daycare, where she cared for kids allours of the day, sometimes free of charge. sawarrelita, or nita, born in mississippi as the 21st child of 22, also took in foster childree wh in-between homes. she enjoyed playing cards on the weekends with friends, and was described by her daughter jasmine as uplifting, easy-going and loved. nita was 52.

>> woodruff: and our thanks to the families. onthe smithsonian na museum of american history has launched an effort to preserve artifacts from the pandemic. jeffrethy brown tae long view of past, part of our ongoing arts and culture series, "canvas." >> brown:hey're a means of tection. a way to express yourself, or remember others. something to debate and fight over. >> stay in your house! you have a right to stay in our house! >> brown: masks-- small coveringthat uncover much about the times, and the people living through them. medical historian alexdra lor >> the masks give us an insight into what it felt like to wear a ma design a mask, to choose a mask.ha and sowill give us a real insight into how people felt during the pandemic, and that is

something, as historians, we always struggle to understand. >> brown: medical mask history goes back to those now well- known "bird masks" of the 1600s. theibeaks were filled with herbs to cleanse what was thought to be contaminated air, and help doctors endure the smell of dec and death during bubonic plague. the use of the medical mask as we know them came ch later. >> so, they really come into their own in the late 19th century when you have that advent and emergence of that id of germ theory. at takes a long time to catch on. americans overwhelmingly t-braced that idea. >> brown: the fiand, it turns out, last-- mass wearing of masks by americans, until now, was in the -calledpa spanish flemic of 1918. dr. jeremy brown is the author of "influenza: the 100-year hunt to cure the 1918 spanish flu pandemic." >> they were extraordinarily impoant. in fact, the doctors at the time realized that masks were basically all that they had.be you should remthat antibiotics hadn't been discovered, so there w no way to cure the secondary lung

infections. and there were no antivir medicines, so the only thing that youould do was to prevent the spread of the disee. and that involved wearing masks. it was well understood by then that masks were useful, and was generally well accepted across the country. >> brown: even so, the death toll was extraordinary-- some 50 million worldwide; 675,000 in the u.s. the pandemic lasted more than two years, rolling out in three waves. p for the mot, historians say, americans accepted masks. >> everybody was using masks. therare many wonderful historic pictures of peopl wearing masks. of a batter, wearing a masat a baseball game. of people wearing masks in the stet. people getting on trams were wearing masks. police officers wereg ined up wearsks. >> one of my favorite images is of a postman wea mask while he's delivering the mail. and what's interesting about ythat i think that that's not someone who is necessarily coming in direct contact with individuals. ahe's just putting mail i slot. but his desire to protect

himself is still very, very strong, in case he does have an encounter on the streets. so, to me, that's one of t most representative and powerful images of 1918, 1919. now, also became aeground.and today, we see protests and other acts of resistance... >> this is insane. this iinsane! >> brown: ...and fights edupting. >> that man harae for not wearing a mask. in struggle with macker."ee shot access to buildings and services denied, arrests made. it came to a head in san francisco, where a mask requirement was rescindedhen things improved, then restored by the mayor when flu cases this time, some redents balked and formed the "anti-mask >> the coalition of people refusing to wear masks included businessmen who thought that it would put people off coming into their stores, because theyr ad this remin disease on them. it included what we would callns today libertar who felt maat it was an infringement of

their rights, of their rights to live their own, make eir own choices. and there are also a few skeptical physicians among them. >> brown: and how much influence did they end up having? >> well, they ended up having a great influence. in fact, they-- whenealth board tried to reestablish its ordinance of wearing masks, it was overturned. there were demonstrators who came out to the meetings and that ordinance to make masks once again mandatory in san francisco failed. >> brown: a lot of that sounds every familiar to what we seeing day. does it strike you that way? >> it does. into not only the 1918 pandemic, but pandemics in general, the more you see all kinds of reverberations that tethat what is happening in our society today shld probably have been very well predicted because it's a common reaction to pandemics. >> brown: ter 1918, though, the country wanted to move on. not only cultural memory, but the masks themselves were lost: this one, saved in a scrapbook, is one of the few that survive.,

to historians want to preserve, and remember the improvised, d.i.y. masks. the messages of our era. the fashion statements. all of it, and more-- masks, hazmat suits, and other artifacts. >> we don't know if, in the future, people will want to forget about the pandemic and to move on, or if people put the objects from the pandemic in a box in their attic. on really don't know how people would re so we want to make sure that we're talking to people now, so that they understand the importance of saving these objects for the future. >> brown: one y, when this is over, future generations may ok back, to understand the meaning of a mask. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffery brown. >> woodruff: at is the newshour f tonight. i'm judy woodruff. thank you, please afe,

and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:d >> when the wots complicated, a lot goes through your mind. with fidelity alth management, 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. >> women's suffrage centennial commission. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, vancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their pressing problems--t skollfoundation.org. >> and with thongoing support

of tnstitutions and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for publicroadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by c newshour productions, captioned by media access growgbh access.wgbh.org

the latest on breaking the impasse of the pitol hill for new round of federal economic relief. democrats and their national conventions republicans prepare for their t turn at banext week. it has been 100 years since women won the right vote. we dive into issues that face california's women at the ballot x and inelected office today. welcome to kqed newsroom. i am david clemens. so we plunge in the fire seasond with hunof fires burning more than 500,000 acres across northern and central california.