AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

On the "News Hour" tonight: Here at the Democratic National Convention leading Democrats make the case for a Kamala Harris presidency, while the candidate herself takes her message to voters in the swing state of Wisconsin.

AMNA NAWAZ: A rare look from on the ground in Sudan, where a brutal civil war has stolen people's food and livelihoods.

FADOL HASSAN, Farmer (through translator): Yes, people are talking.

They even tell me not to plant, asking: "Why are you planting?

The RSF will take all the crops.

They won't leave anything, and people will starve and die."

GEOFF BENNETT: And a summer surge of COVID cases highlights the difficulty in keeping up with the ever-changing virus, with updated vaccines expected this fall.

(BREAK) GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "News Hour."

Former President Barack Obama is set to headline the second night of the Democratic National Convention here in his political hometown of Chicago.

Mr. Obama will speak in support of Kamala Harris, the party's newly minted standard-bearer, delivering what a campaign official says will be a forceful affirmation that Harris is the right leader for the moment.

AMNA NAWAZ: The former president's appearance comes one night after the sitting president, Joe Biden, delivered a fiery speech in defense of his decision to step aside and in support of Harris.

Laura Barron-Lopez has been watching it all closely, and she's on the convention floor now -- Laura.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Geoff and Amna, the first night of the DNC began to tell the story of Kamala Harris.

But it was also a moment for the party to mark those who came before her and created this pathway for her to ultimately rise and to chart a new pathway for Democrats.

ASHLEY BIDEN, Daughter of President Joe Biden: I would like to introduce my father, your 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden.

(CHEERING) LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: President Biden took the stage with an embrace from his daughter, Ashley, wiping a tear from his eye as delegates and attendees did the same.

JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: Thank you, thank you, thank you.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Greeted by a sea of signs that read, "We heart Joe" and chants of his name.

The crowd gave him a standing ovation that lasted nearly five minutes.

It was a scene that could have been his own party nomination on the final night of the convention.

But this was more of a goodbye.

JOE BIDEN: Let me know in my heart what my days are through.

America, America, I gave my best to you.

(CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) JOE BIDEN: I made a lot of mistakes in my career.

But I gave my best to you.

For 50 years, like many of you, I have given my heart and soul to our nation.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: And a passing of the torch to Kamala Harris.

JOE BIDEN: I promise I will be the best volunteer Harris and Walz have never seen.

(CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Biden made no secret of the pressure he faced to bow out one month ago, saying he harbors no hard feelings.

JOE BIDEN: From all this talk about how I'm angry at all those people who said I should step down, that's not true.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: He focused on his accomplishments, together with Vice President Harris.

JOE BIDEN: We have had one of those extraordinary four years of progress ever, period.

(CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) JOE BIDEN: When I say we, I mean Kamala and me.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Earlier, Harris praised the man she hopes to replace.

KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate: Joe, thank you for your historic leadership, for your lifetime of service to our nation, and for all you will continue to do.

We are forever grateful to you.

(CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: And the night ended with the two hugging on stage.

Vice President Harris could be seen saying: "I love you so much."

ANNOUNCER: Hillary Clinton.

(CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The program also acknowledged those who made Harris' moment possible, including the last woman nominated by the party, Hillary Clinton.

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, Former U.S. Secretary of State: Together, we put a lot of cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Most of her speech focused on the weight of the moment and the fight ahead.

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: I wish my mother and Kamala's mother could see us.

They would say, keep going.

Women fighting for reproductive health care are saying, keep going.

Families buildings better lives, parents stretching to afford childcare, young people struggling to pay their rent, they're all asking us to keep going.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: In one of the night's more emotional moments, the personal stories from women impacted by abortion restrictions, a mobilizing force for Democrats, stories like Kaitlyn Joshua of Louisiana.

KAITLYN JOSHUA, Louisiana Resident: Because of Louisiana's abortion ban, no one would confirm that I was miscarrying.

I was in pain, bleeding so much, my husband feared for my life.

No woman should experience what I endured, but too many have.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: But outside the Convention Center, scenes of potential dissent that could still hinder Democrats as dozens protesting the war in Gaza broke past a security barricade.

Multiple people were arrested, and protesters vowed more demonstrations this week.

SEN. J.D.

VANCE (R-OH), Vice Presidential Candidate: We have got to have commonsense public safety.

And if we don't have public safety, we don't have anything.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The Republican ticket also plans counterprogramming around the convention.

Today, at two events in Midwest battleground states, former President Trump and running mate J.D.

Vance bashed Biden and Harris on crime, despite violent crime being down across the country.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: You can't walk across the street to get a loaf of bread.

You get shot.

You get mugged.

You get raped.

You get whatever it may be.

And you have seen it and I have seen it.

And it's time for a change.

We have to bring back our cities.

We have these cities that are great cities, where people are afraid to live in them now.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Back in Chicago.

It's the Obamas that take center stage tonight.

But neither Harris nor vice presidential nominee Tim Walz will be at the convention themselves, instead campaigning in the swing state of Wisconsin, less than 100 miles away.

In fact, Amna and Geoff, Harris and Walz are at the same venue in Milwaukee tonight where Donald Trump was named the Republican presidential nominee for the third time.

And night two here in Chicago, the theme here is going to be setting up a contrast between a Harris presidency, what that will look like, as -- and what a second Trump term would look like, with the Democrats focusing heavily on Project 2025.

AMNA NAWAZ: Laura, take us back to that speech by President Biden you mentioned at the top of your report there.

You were on the convention floor there among all the delegates.

What was the reaction as he was addressing the crowd?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Well, it really was a thunderous reaction, Amna here on the floor.

And there were a lot of signs that said: "Thank you, Joe."

"We love you, Joe."

A source close to the presidents that was here in the arena said that they were, frankly, stunned by the reception that President Biden received last night.

And President Biden really wanted to make clear that he is in this fight, that he doesn't really harbor any bad feelings about what happened in the last month that led to him dropping out of the race and that he wants to be on the trail for Harris.

And some of the sources close to Biden believe that he could be most effective in districts where he is popular in swing states and where he can help her make that argument to voters that might still be undecided.

GEOFF BENNETT: All right, Laura, let's shift our focus to tonight.

What's on the agenda?

Walk us through it.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So it's another night of high-profile guests, Geoff.

Senator Bernie Sanders, as well as Senator Tammy Duckworth, are expected to speak tonight.

We're also going to hear from second gentleman Doug Emhoff, and then some of the big headliners tonight.

Michelle Obama, the former first lady, as well as former President Barack Obama, is going to be the keynote.

And there will be a ceremonial roll call, because, as our viewers know, Kamala Harris is -- was -- already clinched the nomination.

But the ceremonial roll call is going to start with Delaware as a tribute to President Biden.

And then it will end on California and Minnesota in a signal that they are sending Harris and Walz off onto the campaign trail with their full support.

Another notable thing tonight, Geoff, is that we are going to hear from some Republicans, including Stephanie Grisham, former press spokesperson in the Trump administration, as well as a Republican mayor from Arizona, who has endorsed Harris.

AMNA NAWAZ: Laura, as you know, as anyone watching our coverage last night knows, the program did run very long.

It ended up pushing Mr. Biden's speech out of prime time.

How is the convention addressing that?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Well, the convention spokesperson said that they ultimately blamed the fact that there was so much applause.

They said that was why -- for all of their speakers, that was why they were delayed.

They ultimately ended up having to cut parts of their program, including a 10-minute video that was supposed to play before President Biden's speech about his legacy and his time in office.

And they said they're going to try to make real-time adjustments to the convention and make sure that they are on schedule tonight, as well as for the rest of the night.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, the arena is filling up behind you, Laura.

Give us a sense of the mood as you have been talking to delegates there on the floor.

How are folks feeling?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Well, as you know, Harris and Walz are going to be in Wisconsin, their third visit there.

So they won't be here tonight, but everyone still expects the energy and the enthusiasm to be palpable here.

And I spoke to Congressman Dan Kildee, a congressman from Michigan, a swing state, and he said that it really feels like 2008 to him and that he hasn't felt this kind of energy since then.

He said that he ultimately thinks that the fact that there is only some 77 days between now and November, that that could actually help Harris' campaign, because he thinks that it'll make it easier to maintain this energy and this enthusiasm.

He also, though, said that he does hope that Harris really differentiates herself from President Biden on one specific issue, and that's the issue of Israel and Gaza.

And he said that it could be as simple as Harris endorsing more conditions on aid to Israel, that he thinks that that's something that she needs to do to speak to voters in his state.

And he also thinks that it's really important for her to continue the economic message, especially around housing.

GEOFF BENNETT: Laura Barron-Lopez, a ton of great reporting there.

Laura, thanks, as always.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: And for more on the evening's events, we are joined here in Chicago by Illinois Senior Senator Dick Durbin.

Welcome back to the "News Hour."

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D-IL): It's good to be here.

GEOFF BENNETT: I want to start with what we heard from President Biden last night.

You have known Joe Biden for decades.

He is capping a half-century now of public service.

And what we heard last night, he defended his record.

He also made an impassioned case for Kamala Harris.

How do you think the campaign will use him on the campaign trail moving forward?

And how does Vice President Harris navigate this new moment where she has to define herself without necessarily breaking away too far from the Biden presidency?

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN: Joe Biden's been my friend for 30 years-plus.

I have had a chance to talk to him privately in the last few days.

And I can tell you there was an important statement in his speech last night.

He said: "I love this job, but I love my country even more."

I think those few words really defined his situation.

He realizes he'd love to continue as president, but that isn't going to happen because of his age.

I think he's going to be a very valuable asset for all Democratic candidates.

I'd welcome Joe Biden to any corner of Illinois, and I mean it, the most conservative Republican area.

Guarantee you he can reach the crowd in that area too.

And he can do the same thing for Kamala Harris.

GEOFF BENNETT: In your view, is a Harris/Walz ticket better positioned to win the White House than a Biden/Harris ticket would have been?

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN: I'm not sure.

I think Joe could have won it in a very close race.

But what's happened in the several weeks since Kamala Harris has been our nominee is an amazing display of energy and spirit.

You can feel it in this hall.

You know, the majority coalition that we think we have on the Democratic side is dedicated to making sure that she wins.

And you saw last night, you can criticize this for going wrong.

I will bet you half of that time was applause, spontaneous applause, that couldn't be stopped.

It's an indication of the spirit of this convention.

GEOFF BENNETT: You spoke at the DNC last night, and you focused your remarks fairly heavily on the economy.

And you talked about Donald Trump.

You called him a bad boss.

Polls show that the vast majority of Americans still give him high marks on his handling of the economy.

How do you account for that disconnect, as Democrats see it?

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN: It depends on which indicator you look to.

He's one of two presidents in the history of the United States to have fewer Americans working when he ends his term in office than he did in the beginning, only two.

And you look at that and say, well, how could you have a successful economy when you have got six million more people unemployed?

And that's a fact.

There are some serious challenges on the economic front.

We understand that on the Democratic side.

But the notion that Donald Trump, with his skyrocketing tax cuts for the wealthiest people, the highest deficit in four years of any president, I mean, those are realities on the economic side as well.

GEOFF BENNETT: I want to shift our focus a bit and talk about the future of the Supreme Court, because that's a resonant issue for lots of Democrats.

President Biden has said that the next president will likely have the chance to fill two vacancies on the Supreme Court.

And right now, there is this groundswell of calls for increased checks and balances as it relates to the Supreme Court's code of ethics, such that it exists.

Why haven't you sought to subpoena Justices Roberts, Thomas, or Alito to come testify at a hearing focused on judicial ethics?

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN: The Senate Judiciary Committee has rules that are different than the House.

And one of those rules says, unless you have a bipartisan request for a subpoena, you have to be prepared to defend it against a filibuster.

We don't have 60 votes if the Republicans won't join us in this effort, and they refuse to.

Imagine, we have one Supreme Court justice who has received, we believe, up to $4 million in undisclosed gifts, didn't report them to anybody.

And now he's refusing to be held accountable for it by the court, nine people in our entire federal government who believe that they're above the law.

That has got to change.

The court's strength is its integrity and its honesty, and it's been attacked by at least one member of the court and should be the subject of ethics reform on a bipartisan basis.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, how do you view your role as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the authority that you have to hold the court accountable, such that you can do that?

Because there are Democrats who have criticized the committee for not doing more.

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN: Well, I can tell you this.

If you can count -- and that's the first job as whip of the Senate -- you know that we don't have 60 votes for ethics reform.

I think that's a fertile field to work on.

I have yet to hear a Republican senator successfully defend Clarence Thomas or even Alito's flags.

They don't even try anymore.

They just -- as long as they can get decisions from the court that are sympathetic to their political point of view, they won't even touch ethics.

The American people on a bipartisan basis completely disagree with that position.

GEOFF BENNETT: Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced impeachment articles against Justices Alito and Thomas.

Is that something you support?

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN: I don't see any point in doing that, to be honest with you.

I know she's expressing frustration with the court.

I share the frustration, but let's do things that are meaningful and possible.

GEOFF BENNETT: What about the set of proposals that President Biden introduced, a range of things, term limits for justices, a binding code of ethics, a constitutional amendment overturning the court's decision allowing sitting presidents to violate criminal law?

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN: Focus on ethics.

The other two require a 60-vote majority, as well as constitutional provision, some people believe.

But when it comes to ethics, we can do that by statute.

We should do it on a bipartisan basis.

There is no excuse, no explanation and no defense for what Clarence Thomas has been receiving, generous gifts from billionaires, some of whom appear before the court, and he refuses to recuse himself from the cases.

It's a clear case, I think, on a bipartisan basis, where ethics is required.

GEOFF BENNETT: You say Democrats don't have the 60 votes.

We spoke with Senator Gary Peters on this program last night.

He chairs the Senate campaign arm, and he says that he thinks Democrats, even with this tough Senate map, can get to 50, potentially 51 Democrats in this next election.

Are you that optimistic?

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN: Listen, Gary is our quarterback when it comes to electing and retaining a Democratic majority in the Senate.

So I stand by his analysis.

He's got much better information than I have.

But the spirit of this convention, this Chicago convention, I think, is going to help a lot of challengers, as well as those incumbents who are running for reelection.

GEOFF BENNETT: Lastly, what do you expect to hear from former President Barack Obama tonight?

You were instrumental in his decision to run back in 2008.

He probably couldn't have done it without you.

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN: It's great to have him back home again.

And he and I speak from time to time.

His take on some of these issues is unique, as is Michelle's take.

I think, between the two of them, it'll be a fascinating evening.

GEOFF BENNETT: Senator Dick Durbin, it's great to see you.

Thanks so much for your time.

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN: Good to be with you.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, among the crucial battleground states this election is Michigan, part of the Democrats' so-called blue wall.

The stakes are even higher this cycle because of a highly competitive and a closely watched Senate race in the state.

Representative Elissa Slotkin is the Democratic Party's Senate nominee.

And I spoke with her moments ago.

Congresswoman, welcome back to the "News Hour."

Thanks for being here.

REP. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI), SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: Thanks for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, you're running for an open Senate seat against Republican former Congressman Mike Rogers.

How has your race shifted or changed since the top of the Democratic ticket changed?

What have you seen?

REP. ELISSA SLOTKIN: Yes, I mean, I think it's hard to overstate the amount of energy that has been generated by the change.

And even I didn't totally anticipate it.

I think, whether it's in our cities, our suburbs or even our rural conservative areas, people are walking into offices, Democratic offices, saying like, hey, I never come to one of these things, but how do I volunteer?

We have seen the number of people signing up to volunteer just go through the roof.

And I just think people feel really positive.

They want a generational shift.

And President Biden did an incredibly patriotic thing, but you can feel that desire to kind of move on and -- from him, but also from Trump.

I mean, I think people want to feel good again.

And that is something that the top-of-the-ticket change has really helped with.

AMNA NAWAZ: I mean, something about winning very tight races.

You have done it before.

Your race currently is rated toss-up by Cook Political Reports.

So, you feel like your chances improved because the ticket changed?

REP. ELISSA SLOTKIN: Yes, I think voter turnout among Democrats will be very high.

I think we're seeing really big enthusiasm, particularly young people and people who said straight up they weren't going to vote before the change.

So we definitely see that change.

But, in Michigan, you need good voter turnout from one party and then you need to win the independents.

And that 20 percent of our voters that are independent swing voters, that's who really decides,ultimately, elections.

And so the race isn't over by any means.

I tell people, like, don't get so high that you can't actually do the work to win this election.

And it's far from over in August.

AMNA NAWAZ: So how do you get to those independents?

And I ask that in the context of knowing, on this stage tonight, we're going to be hearing from a lot of Republican voices.

REP. ELISSA SLOTKIN: Mm-hmm.

AMNA NAWAZ: This is something that the Harris/Walz ticket wants to work in as sort of creating a permission structure to show people... REP. ELISSA SLOTKIN: Yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: ... you don't have to be a Democrat to support us right now.

How do you reach independents in the state of Michigan?

What's the lesson?

REP. ELISSA SLOTKIN: Yes, I mean, I wouldn't be here without them, right,and moderate Republican women who have voted in Michigan with Democrats for the last six years.

I think you have to do a couple of things.

Number one, you have to go to places that Democrats don't usually show up, right?

You got to go to conservative small towns.

You got to go to red parts of the state of Michigan, where maybe they haven't seen a Democrat show up in 40 years.

Show them you don't have horns and a tail.

Show them that you're a reasonable, practical person, in my case, a national security person, CIA officer by training.

And then you got to talk about issues that affect people's pocketbooks and their kids, right?

You can have all the highfalutin concepts in a policy paper that you want.

In Michigan, if you're not talking about people's pocketbooks and their kids, you're just not really talking to everybody.

So, to me, that's a big lesson that Democrats should be using across the Midwest.

And we're really excited that finally the Midwest is getting its recognition.

We have a Midwesterner on the -- in V.P.

Walz, or potential V.P.

Walz, and we have a potential V.P.

J.D.

Vance.

And... AMNA NAWAZ: Do you think Walz helps you as well?

REP. ELISSA SLOTKIN: I think, in Michigan, and in the Midwest in general, we all know people like Tim Walz and we all know people like J.D.

Vance.

We know the coach, the teacher that you love, the guy who's going to teach you how to drive and make you keep jumper cables in your car.

And we all know people like J.D.

Vance, who are all about splitting people apart, dividing people, angry, that angry guy at the town meeting.

So I think the vision that most of us want is a positive vision of Midwest values.

And I think Tim Walz does a great job of embodying that.

AMNA NAWAZ: There is a challenge we have seen here in the room, among the protesters outside the convention for this ticket.

You have navigated really well walking a very difficult line back home in Michigan.

And that is among the more progressive and younger voters, the more than 100,000 people who voted uncommitted in Michigan's primary protesting the Biden administration's policy in the Middle East war.

REP. ELISSA SLOTKIN: Yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: They want to see a different policy, not just a different message.

REP. ELISSA SLOTKIN: Yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: Do you think this ticket should articulate a different policy to help win those voters back?

REP. ELISSA SLOTKIN: Well, I think they should be transparent about their policy, right?

I mean, no one's ever going to agree with their elected officials 100 percent of the time.

Trust me, as an elected official, it's not possible.

But what they do need to do is show transparency.

What are you going to do?

How is it the same?

How is it different?

And then how do you engage with people?

The thing that I thought was very impressive was we had this big rally.

Vice President Harris flew in and Tim Walz flew into Detroit, right?

And she took the time behind stage before the cameras were on, before she was on stage to talk with a bunch of leaders from the uncommitted movement.

Not everyone chooses to do that.

Certainly, on the - - the Trump campaign is not looking to do that.

So I think it's also about listening and about hearing people and letting them into the conversation.

And that is something that I think this campaign is trying to do differently.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, as you mentioned, you're running for an open Senate seat, but we know it's a tough electoral map on the Senate side for Democrats this fall.

What's your predictions?

Are Democrats going to keep the majority?

REP. ELISSA SLOTKIN: Yes, I think they are.

It's going to be a slim majority, right?

But I think they're going to - - we're going to keep the majority.

And I think it's because people just want, like, team normal.

They just want practical, reasonable people who are willing to work across the aisle and have that push and pull, as good Americans do, right?

That two-party system has worked for us for a long time, but it's out of whack right now.

And so I think people look around and they say, look, I just want the most normal thing I can get.

And I think that that's V.P.

Harris and Tim Walz.

AMNA NAWAZ: Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin from Michigan, running for the Senate seat there, thank you so much for joining us.

REP. ELISSA SLOTKIN: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: Good to see you.

GEOFF BENNETT: Meantime, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been stressing the urgency of getting a Gaza cease-fire deal -- quote -- "over the finish line."

AMNA NAWAZ: For that and all the other day's headlines, we turn now to William Brangham in our Washington studio -- William.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Thanks, Amna and Geoff.

Secretary Blinken is on his ninth trip to the region since fighting began, and he says the U.S. will do everything possible to get Hamas on board with the current cease-fire proposals.

Today, he met with negotiators in Egypt and Qatar a day after announcing that Israel had accepted a proposal that would bridge gaps in negotiations.

But many challenges remain.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his military wants lasting control over two strategic corridors inside Gaza, which is a nonstarter for Hamas.

In Doha today, Blinken said that condition is not included in the so-called bridging proposal that Netanyahu agreed to.

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. Secretary of State: That plan, among other things, as I said, includes a very clear schedule and locations for withdrawals.

It's so clearly in the interest of all concern, starting with Israel, to bring this to a close.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Meantime, Iran says it could be a long time before it retaliates against Israel over the killing in Tehran last month of a Hamas leader.

Iran blames Israel for that killing.

Israel's military says it recovered the dead bodies of six hostages during an overnight raid in Gaza.

A group representing hostages' families say the men were kidnapped alive during the October 7 attack.

The army did not say when or how they were killed.

Separately, Gaza health authorities say at least 10 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school that was sheltering some 700 people.

Israel says the strike targeted Hamas militants who had set up a command center inside.

Russia and Ukraine are both making military gains in two different geographical areas of their ongoing conflict.

Russian forces are advancing on the eastern Ukrainian city Pokrovsk, while Ukraine pushes deeper into Russia's Kursk region.

Ukraine's military chief said that his troops now control nearly 500 square miles of the territory.

And Russian sources say Ukraine has destroyed or damaged all three bridges over the Seym River in Western Russia.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited a hospital today that cares for military personnel.

In a recorded message, he warned of the dangers facing the strategically important city of Pokrovsk.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President (through translator): Army Chief Syrskyi reported to me regarding the situation at the front.

The defense efforts in the Pokrovsk and Toretsk sections, it's a difficult situation, but the guys are doing everything to destroy the occupier.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Elsewhere, an oil depot in Russia's southwestern Rostov, region has been burning for three days now after it was hit by Ukrainian drones.

More than 500 firefighters are reportedly working to contain the fire.

Back here in the U.S., in the state of Maine, an independent commission found that the Army Reserves and local police missed several opportunities that could have prevented a mass shooting in Lewiston last fall.

Army Reservist Robert Card killed 18 people and himself in the deadliest shooting in that state's history.

In its final report, the commission found that the local sheriff's office could have taken Card into custody earlier under the state's yellow flag law and that the Army Reserves did not provide Card proper mental health care or address his possession of multiple weapons.

Commission Chair Daniel Wathen described a series of missed opportunities.

DANIEL WATHEN, Commission Chair: Had members of Card's Army Reserve unit presented a full and complete accounting of the facts, the sheriff's office might have acted more assertively in September.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: After that shooting, the Army conducted its own investigation and disciplined three leaders for dereliction of duty.

Maine's legislature also passed new gun laws, including a three-day waiting period for purchasing a gun.

On Wall Street today, stocks snapped a recent winning streak, though, the losses were limited.

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped around 60 points.

The Nasdaq also lost around 60 after eight consecutive winning sessions.

The S&P 500 also ended the day a bit lower.

And we have a unique passing of note.

The woman who was believed to be the world's oldest person has died.

Maria Branyas was born in San Francisco in 1907.

That's a decade before the United States entered World War I.

Her family moved to Spain when she was young, and she died there at a nursing home in the Catalan town of Olot.

Her social media account called her -- quote -- "Super Catalan Grandma" with a bio that read: "I am old, very old, but not an idiot."

She was 117 years old.

According to the Gerontology Research Group, her passing leaves Tomiko Itooka of Japan as the new oldest living person.

She is 116.

Still to come on the "News Hour": the desperate shortage of food and medical care in war-torn Sudan; and what you need to know about the latest COVID surge.

GEOFF BENNETT: In the month that Vice President Harris has led the Democratic ticket, she has seen a surge in support with Latino voters up from where President Biden had been polling.

AMNA NAWAZ: But Harris and the Democratic Party still have work to do to motivate these voters who are critical to a winning coalition.

To discuss that work, we are joined by Maria Teresa Kumar, CEO of Voto Latino.

Welcome back to the "News Hour."

Thanks for being here.

MARIA TERESA KUMAR, Founder and Executive Director, Voto Latino: Thanks for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: So there's been a little bit of a reset with Latino voters in just the last month.

And your own polling from Voto Latino shows that Kamala Harris has 60 percent support in polls.

That's up from Biden's 47 percent in April.

There's another Equis poll that shows that Harris is up 19 points in battleground states, when Biden led by just five.

What are you attributing that shift to?

MARIA TERESA KUMAR: One is, is that she has been cultivating a lot of young Latinos since her president -- she ascended into her vice presidency.

So people are very familiar with who she is.

The biggest challenge, though, is that they like her, but they want to get to know her better.

But the poll -- what was really fascinating to us, the poll was with GQR.

It was 2,000 Latino voters in key battleground states.

And the biggest takeaway was not only was Kamala leading among the Democrats, but she was taking away roughly 17 points away from Kennedy.

And believe it or not, she was also taking away from Trump.

He is now -- so if you -- a head-to-head today, Trump right now is at 29 percent versus, with Biden, he was at 38 percent.

GEOFF BENNETT: And it's the younger voters, the younger Latino voters that account for that?

MARIA TERESA KUMAR: Disproportionally, yes, and Latino women.

GEOFF BENNETT: Wow.

MARIA TERESA KUMAR: So, to give you an idea, since he was -- since there was a changing of the guard, at Voto Latino, we had registered 36,000 individual voters.

As of today, we have registered over 100,000.

We're -- 65 percent of them are under the age of 25.

I have been doing this, Amna, for 20 -- Amna and Geoff, for 25 -- 20 years.

I have never seen anything like it.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, she -- we should also note, she's at 60 percent in your latest poll, right?

But Biden in the last election was at 65 percent.

So she's still polling behind where he was.

Where is the gap?

Why are Dems having trouble shoring that up?

MARIA TERESA KUMAR: Because we haven't had the convention.

I will tell you... AMNA NAWAZ: This is going to be the difference maker?

MARIA TERESA KUMAR: Because, in August of 2020, Biden was at 50.

So we don't see the surge of enthusiasm until post-convention, after Labor Day, when all of a sudden Americans are going back to school, going really back to work, paying attention.

And for whatever reason, she has captured our imagination.

There is an opportunity for the Democrats to cement states, even like Arizona, where Biden went by 10,000 registered voters.

Kamala Harris has the opportunity to capture the 163,000 Latino youth that have turned 18 since Biden was elected.

GEOFF BENNETT: There was a pretty significant ad buy we saw from the Harris campaign a couple of weeks ago that was focused on Latino voters.

And she really leaned into her personal story, talking about the fact that she is the daughter of immigrants and really trying to make inroads with that community based on her identity and personal story.

How resonant is that?

MARIA TERESA KUMAR: When Biden -- joined the Biden campaign last time, she gave him a 15-point lift just on that story alone.

And because she was the mother -- she was the daughter of an immigrant single mother, it's really resonates.

What they're going to ask her next, though, is, what are you going to do differently than Biden did for us?

The biggest challenge Biden has had with the Latino community is communicating how he has changed their everyday.

They were skeptical.

With her on top of the ticket now, they're very open to what is the possibility for an extended - - possibility with an extended four-year term.

AMNA NAWAZ: There has been this sort of long-term trend, though, weakening of enthusiasm among Latino voters, who we should underscore here are not a monolith, right?

MARIA TERESA KUMAR: Right.

AMNA NAWAZ: Yes.

But there has been really since Obama a weakening presidential election by election.

What do you attribute that to?

And what do you want to see from Harris and Walz that could possibly reverse that trend?

MARIA TERESA KUMAR: So what we have found is that the way Latinos vote isn't that they're trending to the Republicans, is that they're not enthusiastic necessarily, so they stay home.

So what they want to be able to demonstrate is that not only is there a vision for the present, but also for the future.

The more that the Harris, the Harris/Walz campaign can talk about economy, small business, that she, yes, is for small business capitalism, because there's so many young Latinos and Latinos in general that are entrepreneurs, that will penetrate in action, sound, letter, because the Republicans have been trying to pick people off and say, well, the Democrats are anti-business.

She says, no, I'm small business capitalist.

That will all of a sudden open up a whole different conversation.

GEOFF BENNETT: We should say the convention has gaveled into session, and we should apologize for talking through the national anthem, but this timing is sort of out of our control.

The Harris/Walz campaign has said that they see multiple paths to election through the blue wall, but also through the Sun Belt states, Arizona, Nevada in large part because of the large number of Latino voters.

Are there other states where -- other states that might now be in play because of a similar population?

MARIA TERESA KUMAR: I would say that there is an opportunity even in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, but perhaps not for the top of the ticket, but in growing the electoral base.

You have the potential Senate pickup in a place like Texas because of the volume of young people that are anxious now to jump in the game, but there has to be a real strategic investment there.

AMNA NAWAZ: There is, of course, the key issue of immigration that we know is really resonant, particularly with some majority Latino populations in border communities, where we saw many of them actually go for Trump in the last election.

How should this ticket message on this issue that has bedeviled the Biden/Harris administration?

MARIA TERESA KUMAR: Well, I think we saw it when the vice president went down to Central America and convinced business to go to the root of the problem and start creating investments.

The more that she couches what is happening at the border as a Western Hemispheric issue and that we need more people involved, not just government, but our Canadian friends, our Mexican friends, our Colombian friends, for example, and great business, then we could have a conversation with the American people of, how do you actually talk about the undocumented people that have been here for 20, 30 years?

What the president did in June, where he provided and granted authority to stay for spouses of undocumented immigrants goes a long way.

That was roughly two million family households that were impacted.

There is now a narrative of, we have to fix the border, we have to be tough on it, but we do have pathways to safeguard the folks that are already here.

AMNA NAWAZ: Maria Teresa Kumar... GEOFF BENNETT: Maria Teresa Kumar... (LAUGHTER) AMNA NAWAZ: ... we would love to both thank you.

(LAUGHTER) MARIA TERESA KUMAR: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: Always good to see you here.

Thanks for being here.

GEOFF BENNETT: Appreciate it.

MARIA TERESA KUMAR: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: We're going to have much more special live coverage of the convention right here in Chicago throughout this evening, but, first, we're going to go back to William in Washington.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Thanks, Amna.

For nearly a year-and-a-half, Sudan's army has been locked in a brutal civil war with a militia known as the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF.

That fighting has devastated the country and triggered the world's largest displacement of people.

The U.N. is now warning of famine in some areas.

Sudan is also one of the most difficult places for journalists to enter, but the "News Hour" secured rare access to report what's happening there on the ground.

That work is supported by the Pulitzer Center.

In her second in a series of reports, special correspondent Leila Molana-Allen traveled to cities on the front lines in Central and Southeastern Sudan, where she met the people caught in the middle of this violence.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Ravaged.

After a year-and-a-half of war, this is what remains of the Sudanese capital Khartoum's residential suburbs, once home to millions.

The bullet-battered streets tell a story of hand-to-hand combat, craters from missiles fired at close range ripping through walls and rooftops every few yards, a century-old mosque scarred by hails of gunfire, the areas largest bank incinerated.

lifesaving hospitals gutted.

So the RSF were using this as a base?

MAN: Yes, as a base.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Right.

MAN: When the army, the staff, liberate this place, so the militia bomb it and destroy it.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: After months of fighting, the Sudanese army has managed to recapture this area.

But danger isn't far, just across the Nile in Khartoum city, the Rapid Support Forces continue to shell, shoot and raid.

Not a single street is unscathed by the violence.

The ache of loss echoes through the eerie silence here.

Blocked off from the main cemetery by the constantly moving front lines, civilians have been burying their family members killed in the fighting here in a makeshift cemetery in the grounds of an old football field where kids used to play.

A few former residents wander, shell-shocked, through once familiar alleyways, but one family never left.

Maryam Adam is 75.

As the RSF swept through town last spring, their neighbors fled in terror.

But when militiamen came to their door, the Adams refused to leave.

MARYAM ADAM, Omdurman Resident (through translator): We have seen everything that happened here.

We saw the lights of weapons shoot across the sky, we heard all the sounds, and we're still here.

A shell hit the house, shattering the glass and walls.

That was the first shell that hit our home, injuring me here and here.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Maryam's brother was killed, but, miraculously, the rest of the family survived.

For a year, they lived on almost nothing, sheltering in their stone house as the bombs rained down.

MARYAM ADAM (through translator): When the area was under the control of the RSF, they cut off the water and electricity.

Last fall, we had to drink rainwater because there was no other water.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Schools have been shut since the war.

All 5-year-old Abak wants is to see her friends and teachers.

She doesn't know who's still alive.

ABAK ADAM, 5 Years Old (through translator): I love studying.

They were teaching me the letter A for apple, B for boy and C for chicken.

I have friends at school, but the teacher left, and the kindergarten closed its doors.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: As we embrace, their emaciated bodies tell how these proud elders gave everything they had to the younger family members.

There's more food and water here now, but nothing is guaranteed.

MARYAM ADAM (through translator): This has not exhausted me.

I am happy because I am still standing.

I am a fighter.

We hope to God that Sudan returns to how it was.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Just a few streets away, battles rage on.

The emergency room is rammed with panicked, injured families.

The Ibrahims' home was just hit by an RSF shell.

AL KHEIR IBRAHIM, Omdurman Resident (through translator): We went to the mosque, and on our way back, shells started falling on us like rain on the streets, and on the houses, and we were running everywhere.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: All Kheir's brother Tijani believes nothing is being done to protect civilians in this war.

TIJANI IBRAHIM, Omdurman Resident (through translator): Children, women, and the elderly unarmed.

They have nothing to do with the SAF or RSF, nothing to do with politics.

Every home has become a grave.

Why?

Why all this?

For democracy?

Overseas, they announce democracy and human rights.

They speak beautifully, while acting despicably.

And here we are in Sudan dying by the weapons they provide while they say no more war.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Even here, they're not safe.

The hospital has been hit five times already in as many months.

Targeting hospitals in a conflict is a war crime.

All of Omdurman's hospitals have been hit multiple times by shelling and small-arms fire throughout the course of the war.

Most of them aren't functioning anymore.

Here at Al Nao Hospital, the only surgical hospital still working, each time there's a strike, they patch up the damage and carry on.

Four days after the "News Hour" left, Al Nao also was hit again.

Omdurman's largest private hospital already lies in ruins.

The Al Buluk children's hospital has only just managed to reopen after being shelled last month.

Here, overstretched doctors work to save young lives under the constant threat of attack.

DR. MUSADDAL, Sudan: I don't -- I can't even find words to describe this.

Hospitals are some -- are places where people to come to find sanctuary.

I myself have been a victim of a stray bullet two months ago while I was working.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Dr. Musaddal (ph) specializes in infant malnutrition, a brutal side effect of the war, which is devastating Sudan's children.

Mugahed is just 10 months old.

He has acute malnutrition.

DR. MUSADDAL: We get a lot of new admissions, a lot of cases under the age of 5, under the age of 6 months.

Some cases come in from RSF-controlled areas, which come in very bad shape, severe -- cases of severe, severe malnutrition.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Mugahed's little body can't cope.

His lungs are failing.

He weighs just half what he should at this age.

DR. MUSADDAL: It's heartbreaking.

Really, it's heartbreaking.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: The hospital sees more than 100 cases like this each month.

Families like Mugahed's are trapped behind fluid front lines, with little access to food and water.

Undernourished mothers can't produce the breast milk their babies need.

Risking the journey to get them here is the only chance to save them.

But they don't always make it.

Nine-month-old Ukrain, named for another bitter war of survival, has had so little nutrition in her early life that her organs are failing.

ZAKYA ABDELRAHMAN, Displaced (through translator): We fled here.

Most of us walked on foot.

It was very tough.

Some people couldn't walk, and others couldn't find food.

We left everything behind, even my children's birth certificates.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Zakya's husband was killed in an attack.

If Ukrain survives, Zakya must she must now raise her and her three other children alone, with no home and no breadwinner.

The level of need across the country is staggering.

With little government or international aid, Sudanese communities are rallying to provide.

Each evening, these displaced women in Omdurman gather to bake sorghum bread, much cheaper than wheat.

The next morning, eager lines down the block to collect rations of bread, lentils, rice and broad beans, all paid for by donations from locals and Sudan's diaspora.

This will be the only meal many of these families eat today.

If nothing is done, by fall, millions of people will be starving to death.

Qadarif's rolling green hills and idyllic pastoral scenes belie the growing threat.

This region is Sudan's bread basket.

But the RSF has already captured the neighboring agricultural states.

Home to Sudan's largest grain reserve stockpiling thousands of tons of food, Qadarif's farmers are terrified that they're next.

FADOL HASSAN, Farmer (through translator): Yes, people are talking.

They even tell me not to plant, asking: "Why are you planting?

The RSF will take all the crops.

They won't leave anything, and people will starve and die."

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: RSF forces are closing in on Qadarif in a pincer movement.

An RSF victory here would be nothing short of catastrophic for the country's dwindling food supply.

As hundreds of thousands of the elderly, the injured, the desperate mothers and their weary children search in vain for a safe place to wait out this war and enough food to survive it, international leaders meet this week promising to find solutions.

Few here believe that help is coming.

For the PBS "News Hour," I'm Leila Molana-Allen in Qadarif, Sudan.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: As summer winds down, much of the U.S. is experiencing another COVID surge.

It's the biggest wave we have seen in at least two years, and hundreds of people are still being killed every single week by this virus.

According to the CDC's analysis of hospitalizations, 25 states in the U.S. have or likely have rising numbers of COVID infections.

And the spread is nationwide, in the West, the south, the Midwest, and the Northeast.

I recently spoke with Dr. Eric Topol.

He's the founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute.

And I asked him, what was behind this uptick?

DR. ERIC TOPOL, Scripps Research Translational Institute: Right, William.

Well, there's a significant rate of infections, perhaps around a million people infected, Americans, per day.

There are three factors that are contributing.

One is that there's a variant which is distinctly more challenging to our immune system.

And that's the so-called KP.3.1.1.

Second is that we have immunity waning, because, more than six months from a booster shot or an infection, we have a hard time to recognize and deal with the virus.

And third, of course, is that we have largely abandoned any mitigation measures.

So these three things together are causing the biggest summer wave of infections, not necessarily hospitalizations, than we have seen over the past couple years.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Well, on that point, apart from the concerns over long COVID, as you're saying, hospitalizations and deaths are the things that we really do worry about, what does the data indicate is going on in that regard?

DR. ERIC TOPOL: Fortunately, there hasn't been a big spike in hospitalizations or deaths.

So we do have that immunity that's been built over the last three to four years that's helping to prevent severe disease.

It's still occurring.

We're still having some increases in hospitalizations, but not nearly as high as we have seen when this level of infections were manifest.

But as you mentioned and you touched on, we're going to see more long COVID, unfortunately, because that can happen even after a mild infection.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So let's talk about protective measures.

Are we back to the point where people like yourself would be recommending masking in crowded places?

I mean, do you wear a mask if you go into a crowded place or travel on an airplane?

DR. ERIC TOPOL: Well, I sure would recommend that, yes, because we have a lot of circulating virus right now, and it's a challenging one.

And we're awaiting a new booster, but we're somewhat vulnerable more than we have been.

Using a high-quality mask like a KN95, N95 is really going to help reduce the likelihood of getting an infection, as you mentioned, William, particularly when you have got crowds, public transportation, places where you just don't know and there's a lot of people out there that could be carrying the virus.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And what about that issue about the booster?

Should people who are concerned get the current one?

Should they wait for the next one?

When will the next one be?

Will it be more targeted?

DR. ERIC TOPOL: Yes, it'll be more targeted.

It's directed towards a variant called KP.2, which is pretty darn close to what we're dealing with right now.

It's going to be available in the first week of September.

The problem is, here and now, we have still got a few weeks to go to get to that point.

And so, if you got the old booster, it'll provide some protection, but it's not nearly as well aligned with the new one.

So it would have been great if that new one had been ready much earlier when this wave got its roots many weeks ago, but we still have a few weeks to go.

And, certainly, for high-risk people, 65 and older, immunocompromised, it's going to be really important to get the new booster and possibly even a booster now if someone is anticipating a significant risk that they're being confronted with.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And I understand you think there's some promise with nasal vaccines.

What's happening on that front?

DR. ERIC TOPOL: The U.S. has invested, but not enough, in a couple of nasal vaccine programs.

But this is what we need, William, to get us out of the woods, because our biggest problem right now is we're not able, really, in any significant way, to stop the infection and the risk of long COVID and the small, but persistent risk of severe COVID hospitalizations and fatalities.

So we have got to double down, triple down on the nasal vaccines because there's been so much recent work to show that this is feasible.

It's just a matter of getting the clinical trials done and scaling up manufacturing.

But I'm quite confident that we will have a nasal vaccine.

We should have had it by now, in fact, even more than one.

But we're moving in slow-mo.

We're not putting in the resources like we did for the initial shots back in 2020.

So we got to take that more seriously.

This is our big vulnerability right now, is infections.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And is it your sense that the nasal vaccine in and of itself is more effective or simply because of ease of delivery more people would take it?

DR. ERIC TOPOL: Well, both.

I mean, taking a spray, even if it's every three or four months, that would be great.

Because it's basically creating this nasal mucosal immunity, it shouldn't be at all variant sensitive.

That is, as we keep seeing more virus evolution and tougher variants, the nasal spray should provide higher efficacy against infections.

So, for many reasons, the ease of use and the protection it will afford, this should be a very high priority, which it's not getting right now, unfortunately.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: As you have well seen, and given the number of infections we're seeing around the country, the urgency amongst the general public does not seem that strong.

It seems like people are treating this like a cold, the flu, kind of just this seasonal thing that's an irritant.

Do you think that that's progress that we are starting to see it as a nuisance, as opposed to something much more grave?

DR. ERIC TOPOL: Well, here's the problem is, for many people, it is like a cold.

It is -- it's in the same family of coronaviruses that cause common cold.

The problem is, it's a much tougher virus for some people.

And it's like a lottery, where it could then weeks later lead to long COVID.

And we're still seeing that even with the current virus in people who were previously very healthy.

So we can't predict who's going to have the serious sequela of a mild infection of COVID.

And that's really why we have to prevent infections.

And, of course, even though some people are not winding up in the hospital, they're getting pretty sick.

They're having to be out of work or missing out on the vacation or whatever.

We have really got to get our arms around this infection problem.

And we haven't done it yet.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Dr. Eric Topol, always great to speak with you.

Thank you so much.

DR. ERIC TOPOL: Thank you, William.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, let's head back to Amna and Geoff at the Democratic National Convention.

GEOFF BENNETT: William, thank you.

And, remember, there's a lot more online, including a look at why this year's convention is here in Chicago and not in a swing state.

That's on our Instagram page.

AMNA NAWAZ: And be sure to join us again here shortly for live coverage of tonight's convention lineup and an interview with Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi.

Our PBS News special begins at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

Thanks for spending part of your evening with us, and we will see you back here soon.