captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, the convention continues-- the first lady and the secretary of state headline the r.n.c. toas the party paints a dire picture of a potential biden presidency. then, outrage-- protesters clash with law enforcement amid justice in wiscons oregon. and, tiktok pushes back. after a threatened ban, the social media giant sues the u.s. government. the company's head ority tells us the app is not a tional security threat. >> we're not a platform to go to for political commentary. d if any commentary on t platform that is protected by law, within e regions that we

serve, stay within our guidelines. they won't be modeted out. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: business has been , and our their financial wellbeing. that mission gives us purpose, and a way forward. today, and always. >> the women's suffrage centennial commission. honoring 100 years of the 19th amendment, landmarks will d light up in purple and g august 26, for the "forward into light" campaign. learn more at womensvote100.org

>> you can do the things you like to do with a wignless plan de for you. with talk, text and data. consumer cellular. learn more at consumercellular.t >> the john s. and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possibley the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the republican national convention rolls into night two, with first melania trump topping the list of speakers.

that flows an opening night assault on president trump's democratic opponent. once again, am nawaz begins our coverage. >> nawaz: no public appearancesi after a number of appearances last night, as republicans kicked off their national convention with a virtual affair. supporters of presidump made their pitch for his re- election in a series of pre- taped speeches. >> trump is the bodyguard of western civilization. >> nawaz: and pre-produced segments. while he wasn't on stage, president trump was front and center.er hosting a cotion with six former hostages, freed under his administration. >> i was helin turkey for two >> nawaz: and chatting with essential workers, on the frontlines of the pandemic. >> these are my friehese are the incredible people that helped us so much with the covid.

>> nawaz: while the program featured a parade of praise for mr. trump's response to covid 19, there was no mention of the more than 178,000 americans who have died so far. and though organizers pledged an optimistic ening, many speakers spoke in ominous tones, painting an apocalyptic portrait of american life under a joe biden presidency. >> joe biden and the radical left are also now coming for our freedom of speech and want to bully us into submission. country and everything that we they want to steal your liberty, your freedom, they wan control what you see a think, and believe, so that they can control how you live! >> nawaz: is tradition, the program featured more personal testimonials, like this from congressman jim jordan of ohio... >> what i also appreciate about the president is something mostr

ans never get to see: how much he truly cares about >> nawaz: andrew pollack, whose daughter, meadow, was killed in the 2018 parkland school shooting... >> i got to see who lly is. he's a good man and a great listener. and he cuts through the b.s. >> nawaz: and former n.f.l. running back herschel walker, who defended mr. trump as his long-te friend... >> growing up in the deep south, i have seen racism up close. i know what it is. and it isn't donald trump. >> nawaz: a carefully curated slate of diverse speakers madedi ct appeals to voters of color, underrepresented in republican ranks. >> we are not the stereotypical conservative. >> nawaz: ...some directly attacking democrats... >> democrats still assume that w black peopl vote for them, no matter how much they let us down and take us for granted. want black people ve thedoes not mental plantation they've had us in for decades. >> nawaz: the evs end, featuring two party leaders from

south carolina, brought with it a softer tone. former u.n. ambassador nikki haley invoked her indian heritage, citing her success as eviden of american opportunity.ri >> a is not a racist country. this is personal for me. my father wore a turban. myother wore a sari. i was a brown girl in a black and white world. >> nawaz: senator tim scott drew o his grandfather's story tell another of america's racial progress t >> he suffer indignity of beinforced out of school as third grader to pick cotton, and never learneto read or write. our family went fr cotton to congress in one lifetime. and that's why i believe the next american century can be better than the last. >> nawaz: tonight's program, under the theme"land of opportunity," will feature more

republican officials, everyday testimonials, and more from president trump himself, who will be watching first lady melania trump deliver her remarks from the white house rose garden tonight. for the pbs newshour, i'm amna nawaz. >> woodruff: and now to share their reporting, i joined by our white house correspondent yamiche alcindor and foreign affairs correspondent nick schifrin hello to both ofe,ou. so, yami know you have been talking to the campaign today. how do they feel they werab to get their message across or not last night? >> well, trump campaign officials as well as republican officials tell me they are veryt pleased wie way the rothenberg and gonzaler.new mex. there were a number of claims. the first is from president trump himself, we had the unprecedented first speech at the r.n.c., about an hour. this chins virus go away ande

it's happening." this is false. the united states is leang in coronavirus cases, we have about 2 million cases. in the last week we've seen 42,000 cases per week. so the coronavirus is not at aln away. it is sometimes decreasing but not going away. house minority whip steve scalise says, "joe biden has embraced the left's insane mission to defund the police. "this is the second ranking g.o.p. official in the house. that is n lse. joe biid repeatedly he does not believe in abolishing or defding the police. he does say he wants to see systemic change in law enforcement and hav world and a country where african-americans are not more likely to be kled by the police, which is the case now. lastly, i want to turn to patricia mcculty, one-half of the couple who pointed guns at "black lives matter" protesters. she said democrats want to

abolish the suburbs by addingng family homing. she is referring to a housing regulation focused on fihtin discrimination and focused on combating desegregation in america, and it was focused on the idea that you don't want to have people locked out of the suburb, but there is no sort of regulation that says single family zoning will en that's just some of the statements we expect to hear >> woodruff: and you said 42,000 new cases of coronavirus a day. yamiche, looking at tonight, what should we expect? >> tonight, we should expect president trump to really be king the case both with white house officials and close familh member he should be reelected. so we're going to see a number of people whoseast name is trump. first lady melania trump will be coming to the rose garden tohe deliver key note, eric trump, larry kudlow, making the

case that president trump can devastating economic impacts to have the coronavirus. and we'll also hear from secretary of state me pompeo, an unusual move in the last 75 years, we'vnot seen a sitting secretarsecretary of state deli address atepublican convention or a major party convention, so there are ethical ncerns there, but these are just some of the people we be hearing from tonight making the case for president trump. >> woodruff: let me ask you, nick, about that, there is controversy aroundecretary pompeo's address. how is this a break from tradition? i >> yeah, judy spoke with a half dozen historians, polical sigscientists and point out that while there were multipleec cabinet taries that spoke at obama convention, a handful of cabinet secretaries who spoke at previous republican cvption, secretary of state has spoken at any convention since at least world war ii and for most liely many years before that and the reason are u.s. traditions.

politics are supposed to stop at the water's edge. foreign policy policy and rtisan politics aren't supposed to mix. and while our leaders are conducting diplomacy abroad, the idea is they represent the .nited states and not a par i talked to one political scientist, he uh called all of that old fashioned and he pointed out the secretary of state is on the frnt line of trying to advance the president's interests even during an eleion year, but traditions are not just cuesic, they're actually enshrined in state department comets released by houocrats. take a look. december 2019 legal advisory memo states senate-confirmed presidential apph ntees, of whmpeo is one, may not even attend the political party event.edon or cvlin a cable on july 24 signed by mike pompeo lid president appointees may not engage in political campaign, political grp, even on personal time. >> woodruff: so given that,

nick, what is pompeo's defense of what he's doing? >> well, despite the language from the cable just read, the state department spokespeoplwa say pompeo on personal time jerusalem.ped this address from a spokesman says "secretary pompeo will address the convention in his personal capacity. no state deptment resources ll be used. staff are not involved in preparing the remarks or arrangements for secretary pompey o's appearance. the state department will not bear any cost in conjunction with his appearance ." but pompeo is on oficial taxpayer funded trip and that means he will be seen with the extraordinary backdrohe old city of jerusalem, thanks to state department resources. now, why gorms? president trump said it himself just last week that he movedthe u.s. embassy to jerusalem in order to appeal toevangelical voters. and, judy, tonight while king

castrohair of house of foreign affairs and overnightla subcommitteenched an investigation in pompey o's appearance tonight. >> woodruff: a backdrop like no other, tht's for your. nick schifrin, yamiche alcindorh k you both. >> woodruff: as we reported f earlier, tst night of the hipublican convention featur speeches from tw profile scott and former gr nikkir tim haley. i'm joined now by another palmetto state republican, former congressman trey gowdy. his new book, "doesn't hurt to p ask: using ter of questions to communicate, connect, and pursuade," is on bookshelves now. and he joins ufrom greenville, south carolina. trey gowdy, thank you so much for being here. so i'm assuming you are watching

what did you make f it and do you think this approach of painting democrats as socialists anas people who are crime cobblers is going to be a smart one for the republicans? >> well, judy, first of all, thank you for having me on. y can keep a secret, i only watched two speeches last night and i'll let you take a guess which two they were. nick nikki and timea. id articles about some of the other speeches, i didn't watch it, what strategy would work, i have been pretty car. i think republicans, particularly the president, needs to let other people out the his successes i mean, politics is about contrast, contrast can be fair,h but it sti to be contrast. let other people do that. the tone struck by nikki and tim last night is exactly the one i thinrepublicans need if they're going to be persuasive and successful in november. >> woodruff: do you think

calling joe biden a socialist and his party moving in socialism is a good idea. >> i don't think calling president truma racist or misogynist or joe biden a socialist, that's not calculated to persuade, that is calculatedt to ratif base. ryat's how ou get a 50/50 intractable cou so i don't like it when either side uses those terms. >> reporter: your book "it about using the power ofall questions. book, you have a quote fromhe nikki haley on the back coer, u said to persuade others you need to listen and pabe pred. how does president trump fit into that measurement, do you , ink? >> well, you kndy, i mean, one of the reasons i love politics, i mean, i love the courtroom, there's very little persuasion that goes on in politics now. it is ratification and validation oft what people

already believe that you hope you can appeal to the largest group and that's how you get a 50/50 country. contrast that to a courtroom where you have 12 peoplawho have not up their minds and you have to convince all 12 byg the hest evidencery burden. i uld have written a book on politics, but i wanted to write a ok not for politicians but for everydaamericans who want to be heard at the workplace, the dinner table, talking to spouses or friends, ultimately i hope it perk lates up an changes our political landscape. but there's very ittl persuasion that goes on in politics nowadays. >> woodruff: some reay interesting commentary in your book. i know you were not directly addressing politics, bu, of course, the overlay is over your career. you do talk about giving ordinary people the confidence, the tools to make their case, but you also make it clear that u didn't find politics ultimately rewarding. you said, and i'm quointing, wifor the sake of winning,

not a great long-term strategy. you haveve core principles. were you trying to say that you had to leave congress yourself in order to find your own core principles? >> well, i mean, i left congress for a lot of reasons. numb one, i didn't e it and i wasn't good at it. i was critical in the book of the republican prty. in 2010, we took the house, then said we needed the senate, then we sthd we neewhite house, and sooner or later you may get what you ask fo, and republicans got what they asked for. they had everything. and i was underwhreme with what we did with the housethe senate and the white house whi h led believe that we don't have the core orthodoxy that you need to govern. and i'm not saying the other side does either. i was a republican, andin i was lofor a road map, you know, to be a responsible steward of all gears ofrn gont. so -- i better leave it there.

>> woodruff: i was just exploring what you said about your own principles, but i do want to ask you about the other thing, and that is you're a former prosecu r. you becameown as someone in congress who focused on political corruption, you conducted the ebenghazirings, you were very critical at times, of course, of the obama administration. today president trump, five of his assnnociates, michael fl paul manafort, steve bnon, cohen, have all been indictedon with fes under president trump, had to resign over ethical transgressions. las the swmp you railed against when you were in washington, has it gotten evenswampier since president trump was elected? >> well, i don't kthw. i don't us term "swamp" a lot. sry to judge people a individuals. you know, i was not a fan of steve ban anon's andll you have to do is read my deposition to know that.

the president has not been well served by whoever did the vetting. manafort, financial issues, should not have been the campainager. so whoever does the vetting, including for the attorne neral, the initial attorney general, that's not a pick i think the president should have made. i like jeff sessions personally, i don't think he was the best pick for a.mg. so whoever does the vetting for the president i think has let him down in som.instances, yes >> woodruff: and i want to ask you about what we're looking at tonight, the secretary of state mike pompeoo is in jerusalem, official tip, in israel on official business, yet, he's speaking at the republican convention. the house of representatives saying we're going to investigate this. does this look like something to you that should be investigated? >> i have to confess i've kno mike for ten years, he's a friend, i probably lack the objective and la of bias tha would be necessary. i did listen to your previous segment and it left wondering any attorney general had

spoken because i do gethe argument that our foreign policy is bigitger than pols but so is our jus stitem. i would be curious at what other cabit-level offials have spoken at previous conventionsch it doesn't make a ton of sense s gle out the secretary of state. i like mike, i'm biased towards him and uh would have a hard time being objective until i knew more facts. >> woodruff: former reprentative trey gowdy of south carolina, thank you very much, we appreciate it. >> yes, ma'am, thank you. >> woodruff: when president nominated by the republican party yesterday, just 336 idelegates were in the ro north carolina. most of th2500 people who hoped to be there were watching from home. but they're no lesexcited about the g.o.p. ticket. newshour caught up with a few of

them bore the convention started. >> my name's jim worthinon. i'm from upper mayfield, pennsylvania.p i'm a trlegate >> my name is christine ung cothrum. i'm from the grand canyon state of arizona >> i'm charles helg. >> my name is cameron cabot. >> my name is richard k. jones.i a republican. i'm probably not your typical republican. i have my own group called people for trump. i work side by side with thet g.o.p., keep my independence. >> i'm a member of the north caroli g.o.p. central committee and i've done making phone calls, helping candidates. >> i think that that's one thing so many people out there is heor didn't need to get involved, bu he did. a result, so many of us have realize othe need withselves to do the same. a >> i'm doiot of things on

a get out the votevorogram, to gers registered and also vote by mail. >> when the opportunity came upt toy name in the ring as an at large national delegate to send donald j. trump as the jumped.ntial candidate, i >> i was chosen, i assume,m because very outspoken individual and i'm a very large supporter for the president. >> i was also a degate in 2016 at the natnal convention in cleveland. i joke sometimes, i've been to one grateful dead concert of my life. i wasn't it wasn't a deadhead. i wanted to go one time for the experience.t. glad i did wouldn't go again. >> it's a great time forfe llowship among the delegates and in all the state people.or so i was lookird to the network opportunities and a chance to meet people around the country, you know, that are board with team trump. i really was excited about that. >> i've never been to anv tion. i've seen them on television, so i'm going to miss out on that

experience. d t with the pandemic, we choice. never lived through one of these before. so this will all be different. >> so the thing that i'm most looking forward to is, is getting this president reelected. you know, we at this point have to replace, i woulsay, electability with electricity. >> i'll be hosting a potentially state pennsylvania in my field house a watch party to watch the president give his speech. >> we're meeting our congressmen and having a dinner and kind of a little party and things, and i'm excited about that. nt>> you can say what you about president trump and his tweets, but it's fun to hear the man talk in person in the room have fired up that we've had great speakers, you know, live that would have gotten very fired up. i think he'll do a good job even in the virtual setting.

>> woodruff: representative tom emmer chairs the national republican congressional committee and he's responsible for the g.o.p's efforts to win back control of the house this november. and he joins us now from minneapolis. congressman emmer, thank you so so tell us, what u think? what did your constituents think of last nig's opening night at the convention? >> i thought it was impressive. you know, after st week, judy, where the democrats came out and literally embraced bernie sanders' radical left-wing socialist agenda, and the showed their unhinged hatred for this president, i think what republicans did last night at the first night of the convention is show everything that's good about america, and i'm looking forward to more ofas that the convention continues tonight. >> woodruff: i think joe biden would dispute he embraced anything like socialism but

that's a cosation for another time. let me ask you about your job as chair of the n.r.c.c. you have e very responsible position of trying to get as many repsublicans as sible elected to congress. two respected amists of t "cook political report" and inside elections are sayingt that the democrats are not only in a position old on to their play jort but maybe to win larger. >> i would disagree. i think we have thmost dierse slate of candidates in the history of the replican party running for the u.s. house of representatives this year. they have the message, and they're going to have the resources that are necessary. if you look at the iasp elections, i think people like karl rove would tell you one of the reasons the house flipped in 2004 was because to have the momentum republicans picked up with their special electio victories. we are now six and 0 in special

elections this cycle. we have 43 democrats sitting in seats better positioned for republicans and only need 17 to. take the mor >> woodruff: you forecastings republicans will take back the majority? >> absolutely. i think donald trump will get reelected. donald trump has a ood night, we're going to have a great night. >> woodruff: let me ask you about something the republican congressional commitissued, you made statements about democratic congressman max rose of new york state as little max. this is someone who served in afghanistan, led an army platoon, wounded in combat,ve a bronze star, is that an appropriate label for him?, >> anxioushat the national republican congressional committee does is we're, like, the d.c.c. in the house. our job is to ompare and contrast these candidas. made it clear these democrats ran in the fall of 2018 as moderates and they've come to washington, d.c. and been just

they're not going to have to run on that record. i tell you, you said that joe biden hasn't embraced bernie sanders' socialist agenda, but these folks have been voting for incredible tax increases, amnesty and socialist proposals like the green new deal and medicare for all. th is why republicans are going to win a majority in the house in 70 days.: >> woodrue biden has not embraced those things, neither the green new deal nor medicare r all. quickly, though, congressman emmer, let me ask you about the number ofepublicans running for congress this year whoed endohe q anon series. marjorie green in georgia said nancy pelosi committed treason, should be executed, said holocaust survivor george soros collaborated with theaz. is she a candidate that the n.r.c.c. isg?upport

>> so we put out our list of targeted races 18 months ago.5 there areargeted races that we're looking at. the top 30 donald trump w in 2016, the top 13 he won by sixpo ts or more and several by double digits, those are the races that we need to take back the majority, and i would saytai unde that people would like to say that this my grandfather's joe biden, but when barack ama says himself that essentially joe biden and bernie sanders are the samwhe, h he just did within the last week, i would beg to disagree with you and i think the american public is going to know the choice is very clear in novemberit's between freedom and socialism and this is why the republicans are going to win back the house. >> woodruff: and what about marjorie taylor green? >> we don't support any hate-driven conspiracy these are no matter what the organizatn is. the candidates we're focused on

are in the 55 targeted districts at actually will swing the house to republicans in 70 days. >> woodruff: congressman t appreciate it.k you very much. >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: and now toha ste sy with the day's headlines. >> sy: thanks, judy. some hopefulews tonight on the pandemic. johns hopkins university reports new infections havslowed to 43,000 a day, nationwide. that's down more than 20since early august. meanwhile, food and drug administration commissioner stephen hahn apologized today for overstating the benefits of using plasma laced with antibodies to treat new patients. texas and louisiana ordered more than half a million people today tovacuate the gulf coast, it could come ashore laten. tomorrow night, with sustainedwi

s of 115 miles an hour and up to 13 feet of ocean storm surge. the storm alreadkilled at least two dozen people in the dominican republic and haiti. in california, an influx of more firefighters helped in the battle with huge fires ringing better conditions also aided in extend containment lines aroundm parts of thror fire groups.fi the s have killed seven peop, burned more than 1,200 square miles and destroyed well over a thousand buildings.o >>e past couple of days we've seen a significant progress in our fire fight on this incident the weather is really cooperating. the incident at the top in the north zone is looking really od. the fire basexally where it ts, its creeping down toward our control lines we've established or are in the process of establishing. we have no major fire front. >> sy: crews are battling some 625 blazes in californpr. thident of the u.n.

security council today rejectede u.s. demands tore all sanctions on iran. he said 13 of the 15 council member nations opposed the move. the move drew a sharreaction from the u.s. ambassador who accused councilmembers of supporting "terrorists." jerry falwell junior confirmed today he has resigned as president of liberty university, after a night of conflicting statements. it followed reports that he and his wife had a sexual relationship with a younger business partner. falwell was already on indenite leave of absence fr the evangelical school for posting a racy photo of himself with another woman. on wall street today, mixed different directions.ocks in the dow jones industrial averago 60 points to close at 28,248. but, the nasdaq rose 86 points, and the s&p 500 added 12.ur and, author/list gail sheehy has died in southampton, new york of complications from pneumonia.

her 17 books included the 1976 best-seller "passages," which with mid-life issuritalers cope problems and the like. she also wrote numerous psychological profiles of public figures. ga sheehy was 83 years old still to come on the newshour: protesters clash wh law enforcement amid demonstrations for racial justice in wisconn and oregon we discuss the trump administration's accusations about tik tok with the social media company's head of security. and the rise of "cancel culture" causes concern across the political spectrum. >> sy: now, the latest on ho two cities are struggling with the role of law enforcement, use

of force, and public outrage. first, to kenosha, wisconsin, violence over the policeew shooting of a ack man, jacob blake, who is now said to be paralyzed from the waist down. here's john yang. >> yang: stephanie, overnight, protesters burned buildings and battled police and wisconsin national guard troops, whose esence in kenosha is being doubled. gina barton is an investigative >> if jacob knew what was going on inside there, the violence d the destruction, he would be ry unpleased. so i really asking an encouraging -- and encouraging everyone in wisconsin and abroad

to take a moment and examine your hearts. >> yang: gina barton is an investigative reporter covering criminal justice issues for the "milwaukee journal sentinel." gina, thanks for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> reporter: gina, there's a winew video out s a different angle and a little bit before what the previous video showed us. ases it add any information to what happened? >> that new video does add som context. it shows jacob blake struggling with the two policofficers, and then he gets up and starts walking toward his car, and that's wh fe the nowamous video that we've seen picks up. so it does showt thathere was a struggle before the shooting, it also shows that there werl seveildren in the area. >> reporter: but, of course, it still doesn't show us what happened even before that strugg began beside the car. >> we still don't know whatth

promptedt struggle. we have heard from jacob blake's lawyer that a taser ses but i certainly didn't see it on that video. we stillcan't see any weapons in his hands and still are no closer to understanding why theo ce shot him in the back the way they did. >> reporter: let's talk about what happened last night. as i understand it, the protest began peacefully ansd then ea qulaitd with broken windows, buildings set on firome. our understanding, what happened? >> usually, what happens in these protests that we've had in wisconsin and elsewhere go once the su down a different group kind of takes the lead in what going on. so when you have peaceful protests, kids, families during the day, then at night you getit the littleore angry and violent protesters. last night ikenha, there were several businesses burned, protestors were throwing crackers at police who were countering with smoke grenades, flash bangs.

even if youpir state l management, people were breaking windows in the capitol building. so our whole staav ising some trouble right now. >> reporter: tell us, gina, about the way the state laws are about this investigation.'v heard it will be taken over by the wisconsin department of justice, but who makes the final call about whether to bring charges? >> this was really interesting because there were another police shooting in kenosha in 2004 that led to this law that we have that requires outside investigation of fatal police shootings. now, this shooting was not fatal. jacob blake is paralyzed, but he is still alive. so in those cases, it's optional for the police agency to ask for an outse investigation. they've asked the department of justice to investigate.nt the departf justice then gives its findings to the district attorney in the countyi where thident occurred, and that's who gets to decide whether charges will be filed.

>> reporter: gina barton of the miwaukee journal sentinel. thank you very >> yang: in portland, oregon, blake's shooting has added fuel to nightly protests that began nearly three months agin response to the killing of george floyd. nathan levinson is a reporter for oregon public broadcasting. jonathan, thanks for being with us the dynamic in milwaukee, howt the protests began peaceful, b then as the night goes on, there are these clashes and vandalism you have been on the streets for these last three months in portland. help us understand the dynamic there. >> yeave there was times the past 90 days, now, where we've seen a similar dynamic where earlier in the day, early evening, there are speeches and 's a little me tame crowd, and then later in the evening it gets a little more

confrontational. i don't know if it different group that shows up to join in the tay. ink there is an intention blind some of these groups.ra they want tothe police out. they want to highlight the violence of policing. and, so, they will do things like throw water bottles or eggs or balloons full of paint. certainly annoying, and the police respond with bull rushes and batons and impacted with tear gas, jusreally violent. sorry isorry? >> reporter: i'm sorry. finish your thought. actually, i'll pick it up there, jonathan. given this has been going on three months now, does it seem to you that the city leaders, the mayor, ted weler, who spoke to one of your colleagues, has any sense of how to get this under control, how to balance

protecting first amendment rights of peacel protests and preventing the violence and ndalism and destruction? >> it certainly doesn't seem like it. early on, the city council and the mayor pulled somebody from the police bureaan renvested in the community, and that didn't work. sie then, we havaen't see lot from political leaders. it's been sort of on the policeo every nigh again, manage these crowds. if you talk to the police they say, look, there's only so much we can do. at some point neepolicy leaders to step in and lead through policy and they're not doing that. >> reporter: you know, there was an argument when the federal agents came in that if they left the governor said that, the state attorney general said that. they did pull back, things calmed down for a little while, but now things have picked up again. how do you explain that? >> i don't know if anyone ever

bought into that rrative except for the mayor and the governor and them. the protests have been going on for more like 30, 40 days wh the federal law enforcement showed up, and as soon as they left, the protesters just returned to their focus to locwl forcement where it had been from the beginning. i don't think there's any expectation that from most people that suddenly the protests would just peter out. >> reporter: jonathan levinson from oregon public broadcasting, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> sy: yesterday the social media giant ktok sued the u.s. government for threatening to ban the company om the u.s. the trump administration's targeting of tiktok is part of a larger effort to confront what the u.s. calls the threats posed by chinese technology. nick schifrin interviews tiktok's chief security officer,

and explains how we got here. >>chifrin: when president trump acknowledged he would ban tiktok... >> we are lookinat tiktok, we may be banning tiktok. we may be doing some othergs thinthere are a couple of options. >> schifrin: comedian sarah cooper mocked him, and got millions of views. we'll see what happens. >> schifrin: that satire is one the real reasons the trump administration is threatening to ban tiktok. the company alleges in its lawsuit. it accuses president trump of depriving tiktok due pd cess, using his authority, in an executive order that banned all transactions with tiktok. and music, to gain 100 million american users. the u.s. government says behind all the fun and games, tiktok's can censor speech gany bytedance

doesn't like, and steal users' data for the chinese government. as secretary of state mi pompeo recently told newsmax: >> this isn't as innocent as it appears.e this is inese communist party using data sets for security.of their own naonal gave bytedance a mtemberouse deadline to sell. and today microsoft, as well as oracle, are in talks to buy tiktok's u.s. operation, even as tiktok pursues its lsuit. before it was filed, i sat down with tiktok global chief security officer roland cloutier, who spent 15 years ase chierity officer for u.s. companies, and before that, a decade in the u.s. government. welcome to the newshour. the white house says that tiktok represents a threat to u.s. national security, foreign policy and the u.s. economy. does it? >> absolutely not, nick. we allow a community of users to express themselves, enjoy another, have it, and have families actually be together on

on a technology that is all about sharing, and all about sharing their their together. so we're not in any way a threat to national security. >> schifrin: the assistant attorney general for nationalri se, john demers, we had him on the show last month, and here's what he said. a >> thereot of data that is being collected on u.s. persons that we're conusrned about bewe have seen the chinese acquire either throuft or through attempted acquisitions, large quantities of sensitive personal d wa. >> schifrire does american's data who use tiktok go? >> unitestates is predominantly where it is housed of, and for high availability, and backup reasons, there's an operating platform in singapore. that's it. it doesn't go anywhere else. the chinese government hasn't asked for it. we wouldn't give it to them if they did. schifrin: there is a 20 law, the national intelligence law, that says any orgization or citizen shall support, assist and cooperate with state

intelligence work according to law. of course, there's no independent judiciary in china for bytedance, your parent company, to appeal to. doesn't that mean that you would have to share the data if chinese government asked for it? >> the chinese government wouldt haactuly ask the u.s. government for u.s. data. that's simply the way it works. and in fact, they would have to gohrough the u.s. departme of justice to get subpoenas and warrants to the f.b.i. to requested it from us before we could do that. and ultimately, i would have to grant access to that formation.so the answer is no. y couldn't simply ask for it, have meone go and take it. >> schifrin: tiktok whistleblowers have saidoy ems have taken down videos about topics that are sensitive to beijie 1989 tiananmen crackdown, as an example, or even criticism of politicair leaders or tamilies. does the company remove videos like?>>eecthat beijing doesn't

e are not the go to platform for a robust political debates at all. we deploy a combination of chnologies and people in region to protect the community from, from harmful misinformation, hate speech, ana ment. but we are not influenced by any foreign government, including the chinese government. >> schifrin: it doesn't sound like you are agreeing with the notion of my question, but itso oesn't sound like you're saying that that doesn't happen. so does there exist a means by which beijing can censor tiktok users if those tiktok users, even while dancing or singing, actually discuss topics that beijing doesn't like? >> absolutely not. there is absolely no connection or capability for any government, including china, to do that at all. and if any commentarhe platform that is protected byla within the regions that we serve, stay within our guidelines--meaning no noor disition, no hateful or

violent content, no explicit sexual content, no crimes against children, things of that nature. they won't be moderated out. >> schifrin: roland cloutier, the glal chief security officer for tiktok. thank you very much. >> tha you. >> sy: one of the key attack lines at last night's republicat national conn was on the supposed "intolerant climate" affecting freedom of speech in thcountry today. but the simmering debate about so-called "cancel culture" goes letter in "harper's" magazine that drew national attention lines are.blurry the battle jeffrey brown has our look, for our ongoing arts and culture series, "canvas."

>> reporter: it was one threem of opening night the republicnvention where speakers crying a so-called cancer culture othe left that targets any of the most progressive views. >>o you you want the cancel culture? do you think america is to blame? >> reporter: but in a strange twist in our strangeonolitical seas, opponents of the president, people who would disavoid anything heard last night, are having their own debate over speech. that heated up after recent publication of an open letter hn er's magazine, charging the demands for "ideological conformaty have led to an intolerant climate that has set in on all sides." writer thomas chatterton williams helped lead the effort and co-wrote the letter. > >> it's the climate that has been in the cultural ae media landscat myself and some rk the other original drafters of the document n a kind of sense, seriousness, and the

feeling that one has to be very careful about one, what one says or even thinks, because there is the risk of whipping up the kind of unforeseen storm of backlash >> brown: one reason the letter got so much attention: the star power of its 150 writers, artists, journalists and academic co-signers, including they see a rush-to-judgement atmosphere, unfolding mostly on the result," tite, "has been to steadily narrow the boundaries of what can be said without the threat of reprisal"a >> whaens is that somebody trips over a new norm that's not yet on the books that is identified and called out. and then it whips up a kind ofec cove response, usually on social media that burns like a raging fire very fast and quick and intensely. and that fire reaches the rson's employer. d what happens is that the fire is not satisfied until the person loses their job.

>> brown: the "harper's" letter did not use the term "cancel culture", but many others do-- the idea that a given writer or other figure, ving committed a herceived transgression in work, is "cancelled," their views no longer acceptable, in some cases their livelihoods lost. williams cites colin kaepernick, the n.f. quarterback who kneeled during the national anthem, was blasted by president trump and others, and subsequently lost his job, as an exame of cancelling by the right. but he also cites the case of david shor, a data journalist who shared controvsial but peer-reviewed research on protests and their impact on elections, was then blasted on twitter, and fired from his job. another case: the resignation of the leadership of the poetry foundation after what thousands on twitt found a too-tepid response to the black lives matter protests.

examples, among others, he says, of demands for ideological conformity and cancelling on the left. do is carve out a space for free thought and free expression that resists both of these extremes. >> brown: but the "harper's" letter itself met with scathings and bitter res. many, including gabe schneider, a journalist with the web-base"" minn-post" and co-founder of the media collective "the objective," see something very different, and more positive, in the culte. >> and twitter has sort of opened up the floodgates to a variety of more voices. there is no publisher or e ctor saying y or can't say that publicly. and the way that it's uplifted is not by being in the opinion york times, but by other people saying, you know, i agree with this opinion, i'm going to uplift it. and so i think it's created aur cuwhere there's actually more speech, not less speech. brown: schneider helped organize and write a response to the "harper's" letter, criticizing its lack of

specifics and the powerful editorial positions of its signatories." the irony of theiece," it says, "is that nowhere do the signatories mention how marginalized voices have been silenced for generations in publishing. academia, and te content of the letter also does not deal wi problem of power: who has it and who does not." >> the letter fundamentally misunderstands that this has than it presents and not a problem in the way that it presents, right? 's not necessarily that cancel culture is a whole new thing. black, brown and trans voices have been left out of newsrooms and publishing and academia. they've been censored by their newsrooms. they've been told you can' cover this. >> i personally think cancel culture has been, for the most part, powerful media, members of the media, celebrities and academics being told by some of their prior fans and colleagues that they don't like them anymore.

>> brown: that goes to another criticism of the "harper's" letter, aimed at some of its signers, including harry potter auyor j.k. rowling, beloved millions, but also under fire for commentshe's made that were seen as anti-transgender. >> quite frankly, some of the signatories are bigoted, are bigots. and so it's very easy to see why, why folks would be angry. >> brown: i asked williams if he regretted including any of the signers. >> i have no regrets of anybody being on the list. i really don't think that anybody that signed our letter is a bigot. i think everyby is committed to liberal values. >> brown: in the meantime, donald trump, too, now regularly

rms are used in differen ways in different audiences to very different ends. for the "pbs newshour," i'm jeffrey brown. >> sy: that's all from here, judy. >> woodruff: and before we go, am nawaz is here with a preview of what we can expect tonight at the republican convention. >> nawaz: one of the speechesto ght already sparking controversy, that from secretary of state mike pompeobreaking with the long-standing precedent of the country's top diplomatt staying domestic politics. his pre-recorded remarks from w jerusalere he is on official business, will air tonight. also speaking tonight, senator rand paul of kentucky, making the libertarian se for president trump. and officials, current and former, from a must-win stat for the president. florida's former attorney general pam bondi, and current lt gov jeanette nunez. we'll also hear from three members of the trump family

tonight, son eric, a rare appearance from daughter tiffany, and the keynote address delivered from the white house rose garden, from first lady melania trump. those, and many more tonight on the 2nd night of the republican national convention. >> woodruff: and you can follow all of our special coverage of this wk's republican national convention online. you'll find news updatat and dies from our team covering the convention, and which begins online in just a moment. that's on our web site, pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for tonight. we'll be bacat 8:00 eastern with our special coverage of the republican national convention, including a panel of experts. we'll also be talking senator john barasso of wyoming and congressman doug col of georgia. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon.

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