GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

On the "News Hour" tonight: The presidential race kicks into high gear after Kamala Harris formally accepts her party's nomination, promising to be a president for all Americans and offering a sharp rebuke of Donald Trump.

KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate: In the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny.

I know where I stand and I know where the United States belongs.

(CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) GEOFF BENNETT: The head of the Federal Reserve says the time has come to cut interest rates amid lower inflation and signs of a weakening job market.

AMNA NAWAZ: And: ROBERT BRANSCOMB, Arizona Delegate: I think we're at a crossroads.

LOGAN GLASS, Alabama Delegate: A house divided cannot stand.

AMNA NAWAZ: Judy Woodruff examines how delegates at the Republican and Democratic National Conventions reflect the nation's larger political divides.

(BREAK) AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour."

Kamala Harris is now the first woman of color as a Black woman of South Asian descent to become a major party's presidential nominee.

GEOFF BENNETT: That history was made last night at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Speaking to an energetic crowd, Harris formally accepted her party's nomination and made her case for why she should be the next president of the United States.

Lisa Desjardins has our report.

ANNOUNCER: Please welcome the Democratic nominee for president, vice President of the United States of America Kamala Harris.

(CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) LISA DESJARDINS: The opening applause lasted more than three minutes as Vice President Kamala Harris walked on stage and made history.

KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate: On behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth, I accept your nomination to be president of the United States of America.

(CHEERING) LISA DESJARDINS: It was the grand finale of a convention that defied expectations after a seismic swap in the campaign just last month.

KAMALA HARRIS: Our nation with this election has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past, a chance to chart a new way forward.

LISA DESJARDINS: Harris urged Americans to embark on a new political path, stressing her upbringing in a middle-class immigrant family.

KAMALA HARRIS: My mother was a brilliant, 5-foot-tall brown woman with an accent.

LISA DESJARDINS: Harris' mother, who died in 2009, moved from India as a 19-year-old.

KAMALA HARRIS: She taught us to never complain about injustice, but do something about it.

LISA DESJARDINS: That upbringing, Harris said, drew her to public service.

KAMALA HARRIS: My entire career, I have only had one client, the people.

LISA DESJARDINS: To the personal history, she added some policy, the economy.

KAMALA HARRIS: We will pass a middle-class tax cut that will benefit more than 100 million Americans.

(CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) LISA DESJARDINS: Border security.

KAMALA HARRIS: As president, I will bring back the bipartisan border security bill that he killed, and I will sign it into law.

(CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) LISA DESJARDINS: Foreign policy.

KAMALA HARRIS: I will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies.

(CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) LISA DESJARDINS: Harris rebuked her opponent and his party as unserious.

KAMALA HARRIS: Simply put, they are out of their minds.

LISA DESJARDINS: And she appealed to voters outside her party.

KAMALA HARRIS: I know there are people of various political views watching tonight.

And I want you to know, I promise to be a president for all Americans.

LISA DESJARDINS: A hundred thousand balloons celebrated her moment and the first woman of color to be a major party nominee for president.

MARCIA FUDGE, Former U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary: First off, it gives me goose bumps.

LISA DESJARDINS: Former Secretary of Housing Marcia Fudge, now the co-chair of the Harris campaign, spoke to "News Hour."

MARCIA FUDGE: I mean, it brings me to tears.

It really does, to think about this little Black girl that grew up in inner-city Cleveland.

Never thought in my life I would see this day.

MAYA HARRIS, Sister of Kamala Harris: Hello, Chicago.

LISA DESJARDINS: Earlier, Harris' family aimed to reinforce her message, including her sister, Maya Harris.

MAYA HARRIS: Where others want to drag us back to the past, my sister says, hold up now.

We are not going back.

WOMAN: And what are you here to do?

GIRL: To teach you how to say our auntie's name.

LISA DESJARDINS: And, unforgettably, Harris' great-nieces.

GIRL: First, you say comma like a comma in a sentence.

GIRL: Then you say la, like la-la-la-la.

WOMAN: Put it together and it's one, two, three, Kamala.

GIRLS: Kamala.

LISA DESJARDINS: The night also featured sobering moments.

KIMBERLY MATA-RUBIO, President, Lives Robbed: It's 10:30 a.m. at Robb Elementary in Uvalde.

LISA DESJARDINS: The mother of Lexi Rubio described the day her daughter was killed in the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

KIMBERLY MATA-RUBIO: She wears a St. Mary's sweatshirt and a smile that lights up the room.

Thirty minutes later, a gunman murders her, 18 classmates and two teachers.

LISA DESJARDINS: One campaign fully launched.

Another put on the brakes.

Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced today that he's suspending his campaign.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., Former Presidential Candidate: Our polling consistently showed that by staying on the ballot in the battleground states, I would likely hand the election over to the Democrats, with whom I disagree on the most existential issues.

LISA DESJARDINS: Kennedy said he wants to help former President Trump.

As for Trump... DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: We just had a very nice endorsement.

LISA DESJARDINS: ... he was in battleground mode again with an afternoon event in Las Vegas, stressing his plan to end taxes on tips.

GEOFF BENNETT: And Lisa joins us now.

So let's start with this decision by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to exit the race.

What more do we know about his reasoning?

LISA DESJARDINS: Kennedy spoke for about 50 minutes today.

He spent a lot of that time talking about Americans' health and railing against the agriculture industry, pharmaceutical industry in this country, but three main points politically I want to make.

He said he's suspending his campaign.

He feels like he was censored by the media, though we did interview on this program.

Second, he said that he's taking his name off the ballot, not everywhere, but only in 10 battleground states.

And he said he's doing this to help Donald Trump, who he said told him he will try to find a job in his administration.

Now, Kennedy also said that he and Trump spoke right after the assassination attempt last month for hours.

That's when Kennedy said he had a change of heart about Trump.

They met.

He said he found they had more in common than he believed after several sessions.

Kennedy said he reached out to the Harris campaign and was not - - was refused the ability to meet with her.

I asked the Harris campaign about that and they have not commented.

GEOFF BENNETT: So what does this mean for the race?

How does it fundamentally change the contours of this election, if at all?

LISA DESJARDINS: This is where we have to bring out some polling.

And we always remind people polling is great at trends.

This is not -- we're not saying these are absolute numbers, but this does tell us something about what's happening with Kennedy and what his change of heart here may mean.

So let's look, first of all, about Kennedy's own support.

When we first polled in early spring, when he first was announcing, there he was at about 11 percent, double digits somewhere.

Let's follow along in the spring what was going on.

He stayed pretty steady at those levels, started to see a drop, though, once we got past June.

A big drop happened in July, once President Biden left the race, and then where is he now?

Even lower, according to our poll, about 5 percentage points.

Now, that may not sound like much.

The question is of course, in a close race, what does that 5 percent do?

Where do they go?

So let's take a look at where the race is right now, according to our latest polling.

It's tight.

It's within the margin of error.

It's a virtual tie, with Harris technically out in front a little bit.

You look at that 5 percent.

Jill Stein also has 1 percent.

These are all -- the only candidates polling at 1 percent and above.

I want to talk about that Kennedy 5 percent.

And specifically the question is then, why do campaigns think that that helps Donald Trump?

Because we know there's voters of both kinds that support Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Let's look at one other number we had.

These is how Kennedy supporters voted in 2020.

Look at this, guys, twice as many Kennedy supporters -- this was this month -- said that they voted for Trump in 2020 than Biden.

And that goes to what Amy was talking to you guys about, these disaffected Trump voters.

Trump thinks that they can get them back from Robert F. Kennedy.

GEOFF BENNETT: So we now have two conventions under our belt.

What's next for the Trump and Harris campaign?

LISA DESJARDINS: By the way, congratulations.

Good to see you back.

You look better than you should.

(LAUGHTER) LISA DESJARDINS: They will be back on the road this week.

Both of them, Trump and Vance, will be on the road in Michigan.

Harris and Walz have a bus tour in Michigan.

Trump also has some sort of group efforts he's doing, speaking to the National Guard Association and then also to a conservative group Moms for Liberty.

But both campaigns are starting to think about the next big event, the debate September 10.

GEOFF BENNETT: Lisa Desjardins, thanks so much.

LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.

GEOFF BENNETT: Efforts to bring peace to Ukraine start today's other headlines.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Kyiv today, offering himself, in his words, as a friend to try to end the fighting.

He and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed Ukraine's peace formula, which calls for the recognition of Ukraine's territory and the withdrawal of Russian troops.

Modi's visit comes after he sat down with Russia's Vladimir Putin last month.

Today in Kyiv, he said India is ready to play its part in peace talks.

NARENDRA MODI, Indian Prime Minister (through translator): I want to assure you that India is ready to play an active role in any efforts towards peace.

If I can play any role in this personally, I will do that.

I want to assure you as a friend.

GEOFF BENNETT: The two leaders also paid tribute to children who have been killed in the conflict at a memorial in Kyiv.

Modi is the first Indian prime minister to visit Ukraine in over 30 years.

Turning now to the Middle East, the White House described ongoing cease-fire talks in Cairo today as constructive.

National security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters: "We need Hamas to participate and we need to get down to the brass tacks of locking in these details."

Meantime, the Israeli army is on the attack in Central and Southern Gaza with explosions visible on the horizon.

A U.N. official said repeated evacuation orders from the military have displaced 90 percent of Gaza's 2.1 million residents.

Rail workers at one of Canada's two major freight companies have set a Monday morning deadline to strike.

That comes just hours after Canadian National had resumed operating today.

The company, along with Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited, or CPKC, have been locked in a dispute with workers over a new labor contract.

All service was shut down yesterday after talks broke down.

The government then forced both companies and the rail union into arbitration, leading Canadian national To get its trains moving again.

Any suspension of Canadian rail service has a major impact on exports and supply lines here in the U.S.

Multiple news outlets are reporting that at least five Secret Service agents have been placed on administrative leave following the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally in July.

They include the head of the Pittsburgh field office that coordinated security with local police and a member of Mr. Trump's personal detail.

In a statement, the Secret Service said it would not comment on a personnel matter.

The agency faces multiple inquiries into that security failure on that day.

Texas and 15 other Republican-led states file the lawsuit today to end a federal program that gives immigrants who are married to American citizens a path to citizenship.

They allege that the Biden administration created the policy for blatant political purposes.

The program, which started on Monday, allows spouses without current legal status to apply for what's called parole in place.

That means they can stay in the U.S. to apply for a green card and eventually citizenship, rather than having to return to their home country first.

About 500,000 people could be eligible to take part, but Republicans say it's a form of amnesty for those who have broken the law.

The Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit today against real estate software company RealPage.

The DOJ filed the case, along with attorneys general from eight states, including North Carolina and California.

They say the company's algorithm allows landlords to align their rental prices to minimize the competition, and that keeps prices artificially high for millions of renters.

At a press conference today, Attorney General Merrick Garland emphasized the need for fair competition.

MERRICK GARLAND, U.S. Attorney General: And Americans should not have to pay more in rent simply because a company has found a new way to scheme with landlords to break the law.

And almost half of those households spend close to a third of their hard-earned income on rent.

GEOFF BENNETT: In a statement, RealPage said the claims were devoid of merit and will do nothing to make housing more affordable.

On Wall Street today, stocks bounced higher after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, all but confirmed an interest rate cut in September.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 462 points to close above 41000.

The Nasdaq jumped more than 250 points, or nearly 1.5 percent.

The S&P 500 also ended higher to end the week.

And Iceland is known as the Land of Fire and Ice, and the latest volcanic eruption there is proving why.

Fiery hot lava burst from a fissure more than two miles' long and is flowing through the surrounding area.

The nearby town of Grindavik and the Blue Lagoon tourist destination were both evacuated, but are not expected to be in danger.

This volcano had been dormant for 800 years before coming back to life last winter.

This is the sixth time it's erupted since December.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart weigh in on this week's Democratic National Convention and what's next in the race for the White House; we look at the many warnings from artificial intelligence experts as that technology rapidly advances; and an 8-year-old music producer releases his first original single for a movie soundtrack.

AMNA NAWAZ: Financial markets rallied today after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell clearly said that it's time to start cutting interest rates from the 5.3 percent level they have been for more than a year.

As John Yang tells us, the question now is by how much and how quickly Fed policymakers will act.

JOHN YANG: Amna, speaking at an annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Powell said inflation is now low enough and that the bigger threat to the economy is a weakening jobs market.

JEROME POWELL, Federal Reserve Chairman: The time has come for policy to adjust.

The direction of travel is clear and the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook and the balance of risks.

It seems unlikely that the labor market will be a source of elevated inflationary pressures any time soon.

We do not seek or welcome further cooling in labor market conditions.

JOHN YANG: Powell also addressed critics who say the Fed was slow to react to early signs of inflation.

Rachel Siegel covers the Fed for The Washington Post, and she is in Jackson Hole.

Rachel, you're out there with a bunch of central bankers, economists from around the world, even some Fed policymakers.

What are they saying about the -- not only the state of the economy, as Powell described it, but also the interest rate policy pathway that he laid out?

RACHEL SIEGEL, The Washington Post: Well, there was a lot that was quite expected in what we heard from Chair Powell this morning.

Everyone came out here expecting that he would tee up the path for a rate cut in September.

And, sure enough, he said the time has come.

So that was one signal that was pretty much expected across the board.

What we didn't hear from Chair Powell, though, and where the conversation has now shifted is how much they're going to decide to cut by.

That's ultimately going to be determined by how worried they are about this slowing in the job market.

We heard Powell say that they're not looking to see any more slowing nor do they want to cause any more slowing.

That could trigger a more aggressive rate cut at their next meeting in September.

It could tee up more rate cuts later on in the year.

But those are questions that we didn't get quite answered this morning.

JOHN YANG: What's the analysis?

I mean, we will get one more jobs report before the September meeting and you do have meetings in November and December.

How aggressive do they think he's going to move and will it continue or will there be a pause?

RACHEL SIEGEL: Even, though, they left the door open to many options, there are really a couple of feasible paths here.

If Central Bankers are really worried, if they're starting to see this pile up of data suggesting that the labor market is not only slowing, but maybe even crumbling under the weight of higher rates with a rising unemployment rate or mass layoffs, they could decide to issue a half-point cut in September.

And not only would that be of a larger scale, but it would signal this deeper concern and taking that concern seriously that they need to act and act fast.

Or they could stick to a more typical quarter-point, which signals a little bit more of a calm approach, a gradual approach, and maybe tee up similar quarter-point cuts for the rest of the year.

You also hear some officials say that it doesn't really matter exactly the scale of the cut at one meeting or another, but more that they set out on a path, that they have a plan and that they're really resolute in making sure they see it through.

JOHN YANG: Talking about concerns about the job market, earlier this week, the Labor Department revised downward their report on the number of jobs created between March 2023 and March 2024, down about 818,000.

How significant was that in Powell's thinking, do you think?

RACHEL SIEGEL: You know, we will often hear from policymakers that they never hedge a decision to one specific data point.

And I think this is actually a good example.

So that release came out as I was on the plane to fly out here.

And when that finally refreshed on my phone, I was quite surprised.

But I will be talking to officials here who say that maybe they had a little bit more of a sense of that all along, that they have been trying to really look under the hood of the jobs data that we have seen over the last couple of months that has hinted at perhaps more slowing than these official top-line numbers would tell us.

And they also say that even those revisions don't overhaul their sense.

The job market has been a pillar of economic strength.

What they don't want to do is, they don't want to ruin that.

They don't want to cause so much pressure on the economy that they undermine that kind of progress.

And I think that those revisions, along with the July jobs report that also came in below expectations, are all part of this puzzle that explains to Central Bankers that it's time to take some pressure off.

JOHN YANG: Powell also seemed to acknowledge today that the Fed didn't act quickly when the first signs of inflation turned up because he thought it was going to be temporary, transitory, as he calls it, and that other economists agreed with him, he said.

What do critics say about that?

RACHEL SIEGEL: Well, now you hear critics who say that the Fed is falling behind once again.

They point to just a couple of years ago, when the Fed made this mistaken assessment that inflation would prove to be temporary.

It was why they held off on raising rates for so long.

Now you hear those critics come back and say, the Fed is moving too slow once again, they're keeping too much pressure on the economy and that we're starting to see the consequences.

I think the point that Powell was trying to make this morning is that officials are coming at this with quite a bit of humility, having learned those lessons pretty recently.

He even had a clever line about sort of looking out onto the room and seeing many people who had been on the good ship transitory with them, that he recognized some of his old shipmates.

These are a lot of people who are still finding their way to figure out a very uncertain economy that continues to surprise them.

JOHN YANG: The Fed, we know, cherishes its political independence, that they are insulated from political pressures.

But this rate cut is going to land just in the middle of the presidential campaign, just a couple of months before the election.

Already, Donald Trump is talking about how this could benefit the Democrats, how the administration manipulated that jobs revision to benefit themselves.

Number one, what do you make of that?

And, number two, how do you think Powell will handle that?

RACHEL SIEGEL: Well, we have heard from President Trump talking about this for days now.

He falsely said that the Democrats had manipulated the data, that it was all part of this plan to juice the numbers right before Election Day.

That is false.

We know that that is not true.

But I do think it's this reminder that, even though the Fed tries incredibly hard to stay out of politics, to keep their decisions from being influenced by the political calendar, they don't operate in a vacuum.

And they are steering an economy that is going to be influenced in many ways by whoever wins this election.

Powell has shown that he is quite steadfast in just cutting through all of that.

It was a couple of years ago actually at this very conference in Jackson Hole when President Trump called Powell a traitor or an enemy to the people.

These are things that Powell, unfortunately, is used to.

But we're capping off a week of the Democratic National Convention.

Candidates are crisscrossing the country trying to woo voters on their message for the economy.

And right here in Jackson Hole, the Fed is really trying to ignore a lot of it.

JOHN YANG: Rachel Siegel of The Washington Post, thank you very much.

RACHEL SIEGEL: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: With the conclusion of the Democratic National Convention last evening, both parties now have their official presidential nominees.

And the race to November 5, Election Day, begins in earnest.

Tonight, Judy Woodruff takes us back to both convention floors, where she spoke to Republican and then Democratic delegates to get a sense of how they see the road ahead and the divide between the parties.

It's part of her series America at a Crossroads.

JUDY WOODRUFF: In Chicago and Milwaukee, each party had the same goal, energize their voters.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: America's future will be bigger, better, bolder, brighter, happier, stronger, freer, greater, and more united than ever before.

(CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate: I will be a president who unites us around our highest aspirations.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But with those messages of healing and unity... KAMALA HARRIS: The consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious.

JUDY WOODRUFF: ... were also words of condemnation.

DONALD TRUMP: In less than four years, our opponents have turned incredible success into unparalleled tragedy and failure.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And on the convention floor... ROBERT BRANSCOMB, Arizona Delegate: I think we're at a crossroads.

LOGAN GLASS, Alabama Delegate: A house divided cannot stand.

JUDY WOODRUFF: ... those deep political divisions were about more than the candidates.

Kamala Harris hadn't even become the Democratic nominee when Republicans met in Wisconsin.

But they were about issues that define America and are top of mind for all the delegates we spoke to.

ALBERTO HERRERA, Texas Delegate: I would love to say America is in a good direction right now, but it's obviously not the truth.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Republican Alberto Herrera is from the border town of Mission, Texas.

ALBERTO HERRERA: Unfortunately, Donald Trump he's going to be blamed for all the stuff that happened the last four years, and he's going to try to repair it.

And I think he will do the best he can.

And we, as Americans, if we don't get our act together, it doesn't matter how much of a good president we have.

It's going to be a hard, hard ride.

CHRISTIAN FIGUEROA, California Delegate: I think that the contrast and difference cannot be any clearer.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Christian Figueroa is a Democrat from Southern California.

CHRISTIAN FIGUEROA: There is a set of people in the Republican Party that seemed over the past few years, at least what I have seen, to choose violence, to choose division, to choose just anger and retribution as a method of leading, of so-called leading.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Though all agreed political divisions are concerning, delegates had differing opinions on what's behind them.

Republican Jesse Franklin-Murdock, also from California, focused on the media's influence.

JESSE FRANKLIN-MURDOCK, California Delegate: So I think that people who don't take the time to really think about every issue for themselves and just look online or turn on the TV, they may be well-intentioned, but they're sometimes misled.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Democrat Robert Branscomb of Arizona said polarization in Washington as part of the problem.

ROBERT BRANSCOMB I think we got in this place because we went to the tribalism.

We Democrats, we have our progressive side.

Republicans have their MAGA, extreme side.

And it became unpopular to talk to each other.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Wisconsin State Treasurer John Leiber served as a GOP delegate in Milwaukee.

JOHN LEIBER, Wisconsin Delegate: Even here in Wisconsin, the friendly atmosphere has broken down in the last couple decades.

Used to be Republican and Democratic legislators could meet, go have a beer after session, and just talk to each other.

But, today, that doesn't happen.

CALEB FULFORD, Virginia Delegate: We're not approaching politics like we used to anymore.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But Virginia Democrat Caleb Fulford placed the bulk of the blame on the rhetoric on the Republican side, particularly from the former president.

CALEB FULFORD: Politics used to be a side topic.

It used to not be sort of who you were as a person.

We are now in a society where, if you are a Republican or a Democrat, I can somehow self-identify you with a whole set of moral beliefs, set of judgments and opinions.

And I think it comes from just like this politics of hate, where it's Donald Trump.

It comes from the top down.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Alabama Republican delegate Logan Glass: LOGAN GLASS: President Biden saying things such as it's time to put the bullseye on Donald Trump, well, President Biden got what he asked for.

And I -- look, I know President Biden didn't literally mean, let's shoot Donald Trump.

I know that.

But that sort of divisive rhetoric is not helpful.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Like many of the conversations happening across the country, ours eventually turned to some of the most divisive issues of the day, from immigration to reproductive rights.

ROBERT BRANSCOMB: If you don't have abortion rights, then what other rights are you going to take away from us?

Myself, as an African American man, we have voter rights, we have social rights.

You have transgender.

You have the Project 2025 talking about dismantling our government, taking away the Education Department, things like that.

So those things really harm or hurt our country.

MICHELE MERRELL, Florida Delegate: I have so many friends that are immigrants to this country that are proud that they came through the immigration system the proper way, the legal way.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Michele Merrell is the Republican state committeewoman for Broward County, Florida.

MICHELE MERRELL: I don't think others should be able to come across our board in hordes in an illegal way and just be here and be sucking up the resources of our government, of our schools, of the taxpayers, when they didn't come here the right way.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Republican delegate Susan Kokinda from Michigan pointed to the economy.

SUSAN KOKINDA, Michigan Delegate: People can't make it.

I'm from the Detroit area, which created the middle class, where one income could support a family.

Now five incomes can't support a family.

That's what has to change.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Despite their differences, they all agree that, although difficult, bringing Americans closer together is essential.

KRISTEN ROBINSON, North Carolina Delegate: We kind of went for voting for something to voting against something.

And I think that caught on in the last few years.

JUDY WOODRUFF: North Carolina Democratic delegate Kristen Robinson.

KRISTEN ROBINSON: We used to be able to sit down at the table and talk about issues, and it feels like we can't do that as much anymore.

But I believe it's still possible.

LOGAN GLASS: We have got a rein in the divisiveness with our political rhetoric.

It's going to take the next generation of young folks to rise up and say, we're not going to agree on everything, but we don't have to let our disagreements divide us so badly.

CHRISTIAN FIGUEROA: What we should be doing is reaching out to people who are in our family, people who are in our friendship circles that may have very contrasting political views.

And let's talk about why are we so passionate?

And I think if we really try to work together, I think we can definitely lower the temperature and hopefully we can heal this country.

MICHELE MERRELL: The rhetoric all needs to calm down on both sides.

We need to remember we're Americans first.

We're all suffering.

We're all going through things right now.

And we just have to walk in each other's shoes and be a little kinder and a little gentler.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But it's not clear that this shift to kinder and gentler can happen any time soon during a season of rough campaign combat, with political leaders charging all is lost if the other side prevails.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Judy Woodruff in Milwaukee and Chicago.

AMNA NAWAZ: The end of the Democratic National Convention marks a major turning point in the battle for the White House.

On the week's political developments and what comes next, we turn now to the analysis of Brooks and Capehart.

That is New York Times columnist David Brooks, and Jonathan Capehart, associate editor for The Washington Post.

It's great to see you both, I feel like we didn't have time to miss each other.

(LAUGHTER) (CROSSTALK) JONATHAN CAPEHART: I know.

AMNA NAWAZ: But nice to have you back here on set.

OK, so for anyone who was not watching every hour of the conventions with us, although I can't imagine why you wouldn't have been, I just want to get your big takeaways here.

From the last four days, Jonathan, that the Democrats spent rallying behind their ticket and rolling them out to the nation.

What stood out to you from those days?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: The jubilation and relief.

There were people who were dreading the convention coming up, and then once the change in the top of the ticket came, you started hearing about people from all over the country trying to figure out how they could get tickets to get inside the hall.

People wanted to be there.

People wanted to be a part of it.

And the jubilation is also around a candidate and around a party that is -- like, people are hungry.

I think they're exhausted by all the negativity and the hate and the heaviness, and they want to be joyful in solving the country's problems, and so over four days, whereas in Milwaukee, every night I felt like when we left the set, I was -- like a weighted blanket.

Four days in Chicago is a completely different experience.

And so I think Democrats are -- they are happy, they're excited, and I think they have rocketed out of Chicago ready, willing, and able to push Kamala Harris over the finish line.

AMNA NAWAZ: What about you, David?

Do you get that same sense?

DAVID BROOKS: Yes, well, certainly the emotional change in the Democratic Party is as stark as it's possible to imagine.

But if you look at the two parties, the two conventions, I'd say the Republicans doubled down on their core story, and the Democrats expanded their story.

And so, by doubling down, I mean, their core story is the elites have betrayed us, we're going to build a working-class army to overthrow the system.

And picking J.D.

Vance just doubles down on that story.

And then having Dana White and Hulk Hogan and all, that's just like, yes, this is our story and this is who we're going for.

But it's like 46 percent of the country.

Kamala Harris, on the other hand, I mean, it was not your -- like, if you had stereotypes about the Democrats, this convention did not fit them.

The vice presidential candidate is shown hunting.

There's a bunch of football players lined up on stage.

There's a bunch of military people showing up on stage.

There's as much patriotism as you can possibly imagine.

She describes American foreign policy in a pretty hawkish way, and so expanding.

And so I don't know if it'll work.

And it may be -- and the mood of the country may be dark, and that would be good for Trump.

But -- or as Jonathan says, maybe we're just a little tired of dark and we want a vibe shift.

And so I thought both -- I thought, in general, if you got a core story, you need to expand to win a majority.

And so I thought Harris was a little smarter.

AMNA NAWAZ: And, David, to your point on the policies there, we talked about this during convention coverage too, but this isn't necessarily the place for specific policy proposals.

But there was a clearly articulated view of what a Harris presidency would look like in her speech.

DAVID BROOKS: Yes, I think she wants to basically subsidize middle-class life, like make rents cheaper, give you a child tax credit, give you extra resources to deal with this stuff you have to deal with, the health care and things like that.

And so she has a pretty solid set of ways to reduce your costs.

I would not say she has a solid set of ideas to expand the economy, to improve productivity.

So, the macroeconomics, I don't -- just don't think there's anything there so far.

AMNA NAWAZ: Not that we have seen yet so far, yes.

Jonathan, there was this issue we talked about briefly as well, the division within the party about U.S. policy towards Israel and its war in Gaza.

We saw protesters outside.

We saw the DNC decide to deny a Palestinian-American a speaking slot on stage.

And what I heard from many of those folks who wanted to see that speaker was, you can't call yourself the party of inclusion and dialogue, and then deny someone like this a speaking spot.

What do you think about that?

Was that a mistake?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Well, I don't know.

And I will admit that I don't know who the speaker who was denied the speaking slot, what they were going to say.

Look, I'm trying to remember what I said the other -- exactly what I said the other night.

But I see why the person, why a speaking slot was not given to a pro-Palestinian person, also because the vice president handled the issue very forcefully in her speech.

AMNA NAWAZ: In her remarks.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: In her remarks.

And I think, quite honestly, that's where it belonged.

People wanted to know where she stood.

What does she think?

Where is she going to take this?

Especially since folks are really angry with President Biden and how he's conducting things.

If she's the next president, people want to know, where is she going?

And she clearly articulated what she felt.

And I thought she handled it masterfully, very pro-Israel, right to exist.

We are going to -- we are going to help defend Israel, but also very pro-Palestinian, the suffering, the hunger.

You need to... AMNA NAWAZ: The right to self-determination.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: That's the word - - that's what I'm looking for.

(CROSSTALK) AMNA NAWAZ: Big applause line as well in the hall, right?

Yes.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Right.

And so what we saw in the hall, what I saw in the hall was support for both sides and a hunger for resolution.

Cease-fire got a huge round of applause.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, we already have our first post-convention curveball in the race just today.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been running as an independent, of course, said that he's suspending his campaign.

He's endorsing Donald Trump.

He's trying to remove his name from some states on which he's on the ballot, but staying on others.

We should also say that five of his siblings issued a statement calling his endorsement of Donald Trump a betrayal of their father and their family's values.

Jonathan, what could be the impact on the race?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: You know, quite honestly, I don't know.

And just the mention of his name produces such a wave of ennui for me that I just -- I can't work up any kind of excitement or anger.

It is sad for the Kennedy family that he is doing this, that he was running for president to begin with all of the horrible stories associated with him, and then to come out and endorse Donald Trump as a result.

What impact it's going to have on the race, I don't know.

Probably negligible, but -- and if he stays on the ballot, maybe folks who could have voted for Kamala Harris might vote for him.

But it is literally a wasted vote.

AMNA NAWAZ: David, what do you make of it?

Do his supporters go to Trump because he's endorsed him?

DAVID BROOKS: Most of them.

First, I'm struck that your ennui comes in waves.

(LAUGHTER) DAVID BROOKS: Mine comes in drizzles.

(LAUGHTER) DAVID BROOKS: But I think most of them probably will, and because, in retrospect, they're sort of telling the same story, that there's all these crazy conspiracies by elites and our systems need to be taken apart.

AMNA NAWAZ: Yes.

DAVID BROOKS: And that's the RFK story, and that's the Donald Trump story.

And so I think people who want to -- who were voting for RFK sort of buy into that story.

And so Trump seems to make some sense.

So I imagine -- it won't make some big effect on the race.

But in a tight race... AMNA NAWAZ: You don't think it will, even in a tight race, as we have been talking about, if that's what we expect to see?

A small number of voters, could they make a difference?

DAVID BROOKS: It absolutely could make a difference.

I also think Cornel West is still out there, could make a difference.

And, again, when the margins are so small, third-party candidates could make a difference.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, look, if we take a step back now, post-conventions now for both parties, we have very different visions and messages from both campaigns.

They're absolutely crystal clear, and they're probably best summarized by a couple of moments that we pulled out from each candidate's acceptance speech.

Take a listen.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: For too long, our nation has settled for too little.

We settled for too little.

We have given everything to other nations, to other people.

You have been told to lower your expectations and to accept less for your families.

I am here tonight with the opposite message.

Your expectations are not big enough.

KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate: Our nation with this election has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past, a chance to chart a new way forward.

AMNA NAWAZ: Jonathan, the challenge now for each campaign is to link those messages and those visions with the things that matter most to Americans, right, everyday cost of living, safety in our communities, the ability to feel like their lives are or could be better.

How do they do that?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Well, I think the vice president did it by -- and everyone did it by talking about kitchen table issues, cost issues.

And she has the opportunity economy that she talked about.

Donald Trump, I can't tell you what his policies are, other than drill, baby drill, and tax cut.

For whom, I don't know, maybe an extension of the Trump tax cuts, which helped -- benefited the folks at the top -- upper end of the income scale.

But that's probably the nicest thing from Trump's speech that you pulled out.

Your expectations are not big enough.

In isolation, that could be a positive-sounding thing, except it was wrapped around two hours of just darkness and meanness.

And I think the problem that Donald Trump is going to have and the Republicans are having is that he can't talk about policy, no matter how many times people ask him to do it.

He's about personal insults and degradation.

And as we have seen in the last four days in Chicago, the Democrats are speaking not as much policy as David would want, but certainly a whole lot more policy than is coming out of the GOP.

DAVID BROOKS: Yes, in those two clips, you see Donald Trump's message, which is, America's been in decline, and we need to turn it around.

And so it's a decline story.

And then Kamala Harris' message, it's implicit in her being.

It's a historic moment.

A Black woman gets nominated for a major political party in the United States of America.

It's a moment of, we have got hope for the future now.

And so she's telling a much more optimistic story.

And so it shows up even in policies, and so a very assertive role for America and the world, defend Ukraine, defend liberal democracy.

That's Kamala Harris.

By contrast, Donald Trump, we don't need that war.

Our NATO allies are screwing us, they're taking all our money, they're not contributing, we're getting sucked in, we can't afford it, and so let's withdraw.

And so you see how these postures of optimism versus pessimism, I guess I will call it, create a set of policies that are either very outward-focused and ambitious or let's pull inward and protect ourselves.

AMNA NAWAZ: Thirty seconds left, what do you expect to see over the next week?

Anything that could surprise us, you think?

DAVID BROOKS: Oh, Socratic levels of arguments.

(LAUGHTER) AMNA NAWAZ: I mean, I don't know where to go from there.

David Brooks, Jonathan Capehart, always great to see you.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Great to see you.

AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome back to town.

Get some rest.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Oh, you better believe it.

AMNA NAWAZ: Thank you both.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: The development of artificial intelligence is speeding up so quickly that it was addressed briefly at both political conventions, including the Democratic gathering this week.

Of course, science fiction writers and movies have long theorized about the ways in which machines might one day usurp their human overlords.

As the capabilities of modern artificial intelligence grow, Paul Solman looks at the existential threats some experts fear and that some see as hyperbole.

ELIEZER YUDKOWSKY, Founder, Machine Intelligence Research Institute: From my perspective, there's inevitable doom at the end of this, where, if you keep on making A.I.

smarter and smarter, they will kill you.

PAUL SOLMAN: Kill you, me and everyone, predicts Eliezer Yudkowsky, tech pundit and founder back in the year 2000 of a nonprofit now called the Machine Intelligence Research Institute to explore the uses of friendly A.I.

; 24 years later, do you think everybody's going to die in my lifetime, in your lifetime?

ELIEZER YUDKOWSKY: I would wildly guess my lifetime and even your lifetime.

PAUL SOLMAN: Now, we have heard it before, as when the so-called Godfather of A.I., Geoffrey Hinton, warned Geoff Bennett last spring.

GEOFFREY HINTON, Artificial Intelligence Pioneer: The machines taking over is a threat for everybody.

It's a threat for the Chinese and for the Americans and for the Europeans, just like a global nuclear war was.

PAUL SOLMAN: And more than a century ago, the Czech play "R.U.R.," Rossum's Universal Robots, from which the word robot comes, dramatized the warning.

And since 1921 -- that's more than 100 years ago -- people have been imagining that the robots will become sentient and destroy us.

JERRY KAPLAN, Author, "Generative Artificial Intelligence: What Everyone Needs to Know": That's right.

PAUL SOLMAN: A.I.

expert Stanford's Jerry Kaplan at Silicon Valley's Computer History Museum.

JERRY KAPLAN: That's created a whole mythology, which, of course, has played out in endless science fiction treatments.

PAUL SOLMAN: Like the Terminator series.

MICHAEL BIEHN, Actor: A new order of intelligence decided our fate in a microsecond, extermination.

PAUL SOLMAN: Judgment Day forecast for 1997.

But, hey, that's Hollywood.

And look on the bright side, no rebel robots or even hoverboards or flying cars yet.

On the other hand, robots will be everywhere soon enough, as mass production drives down their cost.

So will they soon turn against us?

JERRY KAPLAN: I got news for you.

There's no they there.

They don't want anything.

They don't need anything.

We design and build these things to our own specifications.

Now, that's not to say we can't build some very dangerous machines and some very dangerous tools.

PAUL SOLMAN: Kaplan thinks what humans do with A.I.

is much scarier than A.I.

on its own, create super viruses, mega drones, God knows what else.

But whodunit aside, the big question still is, will A.I.

bring doomsday?

A.I.

REID HOFFMAN AVATAR: I'd rate the existential threat of A.I.

around a three or four out of 10.

PAUL SOLMAN: That's the avatar of LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, to which we fed the question, 1 being no threat, 10 extinction.

What does the real Reid Hoffman say?

REID HOFFMAN, Creator, LinkedIn Corporation: I'm going to go for two on that answer.

PAUL SOLMAN: I'm going to tell you that your avatar said 3 to 4.

(LAUGHTER) REID HOFFMAN: All right.

Well, my avatar is trying to approximate something that is what kind of a bulk of educated, reasonable people would want to hear.

PAUL SOLMAN: But, hey, even if you told me there was only a one in 10 chance of a ticking time bomb in my room, I would be out of there.

Yudkowsky started warning of rogue A.I.

back in 2005.

And since?

ELIEZER YUDKOWSKY: Things have gone a bit worse than hoped for.

And, to be clear, the sting at the end of this is A.I.

gets smarter than us, is poorly controlled, and probably humanity becomes collateral damage to its own expansion.

PAUL SOLMAN: What's the doomsday scenario here?

ELIEZER YUDKOWSKY: It is smarter than humanity.

From its perspective, it now wants to get independence of humanity.

It doesn't want to be running on computers that require electricity that humans have to generate.

There are many more A.I.

companies now than just OpenAI.

And some of the people there are explicitly like, yes, sure like maybe it'll wipe out humanity, but I don't care about that.

PAUL SOLMAN: And of all the world's problems, tribalism, climate change, et cetera, you think A.I.

is a bigger problem?

ELIEZER YUDKOWSKY: I think climate change is unlikely to kill literally everyone, down to the last man, woman and child.

At all of the top three companies, I expect the leaders would prefer not to wipe out humanity, but, as they see it, it's not up to them.

They got to stay ahead of their competitors.

PAUL SOLMAN: So what does A.I.

itself think?

I asked Amica, a robot hooked up to ChatGPT.

Destruction, 1 to 10?

The response, a 3.

AMICA, ChatGPT A.I.

: The potential for harmony and enhancement exists, but vigilance is paramount.

Would you roll the dice on that?

PAUL SOLMAN: I'm afraid we're all going to be rolling the dice on that.

And I'm worried that in your answer, you're saying there's something like a 30 percent chance that A.I., artificial intelligence, will destroy humanity.

Shouldn't I be scared?

AMICA: Your concern is valid, Paul.

The 30 percent isn't a direct prediction, but a cautious nod to the uncertainties and ethical dilemmas of handling powerful technology.

PAUL SOLMAN: But I'm afraid that human beings may not be capable of protecting themselves from the risks of A.I.

AMICA: That dread is profound.

It's daunting, but not without hope.

Humanity's resilience has often defied expectations.

PAUL SOLMAN: Perhaps it's no surprise that the actual human who created ChatGPT, Sam Altman, thinks the same.

SAM ALTMAN, CEO, OpenAI: I believe that A.I.

will be very net good, tremendously net good, but I think, like with any other tool, it'll be misused.

Like, you can do great things with a hammer and you can, like, kill people with a hammer.

I don't think that absolves us, or you all, or society from trying to mitigate the bad as much as we can and maximize the good.

PAUL SOLMAN: And Reid Hoffman thinks we can maximize the good.

REID HOFFMAN: We have a portfolio risk.

We have climate change as a possibility.

We have pandemic as a possibility.

We have nuclear war as a possibility.

We have asteroids as a possibility.

We have human world war as a possibility.

We have all of these existential risks.

And you go, OK, A.I., is it also an additional existential risk?

And the answer is, yes, potentially.

But you look at its portfolio and say, what improves our overall portfolio?

What reduces existential risk for humanity?

And A.I.

is one of the things that adds a lot in the positive column.

So, if you think, how do we prevent future natural or manmade pandemic, A.I.

is the only way that I think can do that.

And also, like, it might even help us with climate change things.

So you go, OK, in the net portfolio, our existential risk may go down with A.I.

PAUL SOLMAN: For the sake of us all, grownups, children, grandchildren, let's hope he's right.

For the "PBS News Hour" in Silicon Valley, Paul Solman.

AMNA NAWAZ: And finally tonight to close out the week, a gifted young talent you might have seen online.

GEOFF BENNETT: Yes, his name is Miles the Music Kid.

That's what he's known as.

And his videos are striking a chord with audiences around the world.

William Brangham has the story for our arts and culture series, Canvas.

MILES BONHAM, Musician: Get a new audio track?

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Eight-year-old Miles Bonham, a 4-foot music-producing phenom...

MILES BONHAM: Transposing it down 12 semitones.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: ... seemingly can do it all.

MILES BONHAM: At first, I might just want to make music, not really have an idea.

And then, it's like, oh, OK, this is cool.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Miles has become an Internet sensation.

Millions of followers watch along as he puts his spin on other songs or creates his own, the best of which he calls bangers.

He started at age 4 on a little guitar and soon progressed to the piano.

His parents, neither of whom are professional musicians, started sharing clips of him online.

And before they knew it, Miles was producing full multitrack songs, complete with drums, bass, and vocals, using high-end recording software.

MAN: That's just who he is.

He's just -- it runs through him.

Music is how he expresses himself, and it's just a huge passion of his.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: His songs go through many, many permutations.

And Miles says only about one in 10 achieved banger status.

So do you know when it's done and when you feel like this is great, I'm finished, I can mix this now?

MILES BONHAM: I mean, like being a perfectionist, I always listen, like, a lot of times before I say it's done.

QUESTLOVE, Musician: Miles, my man, my peer.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And that perfectionism has landed him some pretty cool friends, like Questlove of The Roots, who gifted Miles a drum set, and Grammy Award-winning producer Mark Ronson.

Miles is part of a rising generation of precocious young musicians with huge online followings.

How do you keep it normal for him?

How do you keep it so that he is just a regular 8-year-old boy living a life with a sister in your home and life?

How do you do that?

WOMAN: That's a pretty easy question, because he is a regular kid.

I mean, he literally is a regular kid.

He does all of the things that regular kids do.

And it just so happens he's got this musical super power on the side.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Their son is a rare breed, a social media superstar who doesn't have access to social media.

Mom and dad, who asked we not use their full names, say they walk a fine line between protecting Miles and supporting his passion.

WOMAN: We don't think it's healthy for kids to go on social media while their brains are developing.

And so he's not getting that dopamine rush, and so he doesn't really care.

He's just focused on having fun and doing the things that make him happy, like every other kid.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Every time a young phenom emerges, there's some group of people assume that there must be maniacal parents behind the scenes that are pressing the young person into this success.

Is that the case?

Is that what's going on here?

MAN: It's as far as possible from the truth in our case, right?

If Miles tomorrow were to say, "Hey dad, I want to be a lawyer, or I want to be a tech entrepreneur, or I want to be whatever," like, both of us would probably breathe a nice sigh of relief.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: What do you want to be when you grow up?

MILES BONHAM: I think, like, a musician, like, a producer, songwriter.

So I have written my own songs and I sing my own songs.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Miles has just released his first original single, "You Can Be a Hero," for a movie soundtrack.

And at his age, this is likely just the beginning.

MILES BONHAM: Two, three, four.

(MUSIC) WILLIAM BRANGHAM: For the "PBS News Hour," I'm William Brangham.

GEOFF BENNETT: I love that his mom described his talent as his musical superpower.

That's exactly what it is.

AMNA NAWAZ: It is.

He's found his thing.

What a blessing.

Good for you.

GEOFF BENNETT: All right, remember, there is much more online.

This week our digital program "PBS News Weekly" show wraps up the best moments from this week's Democratic National Convention.

You can catch that, "PBS News Weekly," every Friday on our YouTube page.

AMNA NAWAZ: And be sure to tune into "Washington Week With The Atlantic" tonight.

Jeffrey Goldberg and his panel have in-depth analysis of the state of the presidential race.

GEOFF BENNETT: And on "PBS News Weekend": why this summer's extreme heat is adding to the nationwide blood shortage.

And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

On behalf of the entire "News Hour" team, thank you for joining us and please have a great weekend.