August 18, 2020 - PBS NewsHour full episode

Former Vice President Joe Biden will receive the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination Tuesday night. The traditional delegate roll call vote, reimagined for this unprecedented virtual affair, will involve a blend of live and pre-recorded components. Speakers like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former President Bill Clinton will emphasize a “Leadership Matters” theme. Amna Nawaz reports.

On Night 2 of the Democratic National Convention, delegates will officially nominate former Vice President Joe Biden as their 2020 presidential candidate. Meanwhile, new developments in the ongoing saga over the U.S. Postal Service, with the postmaster general delaying some policy moves and President Trump saying he wants to add funding. Judy Woodruff talks to Lisa Desjardins and Yamiche Alcindor.

The Senate Intelligence Committee has released the fifth and final report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. It concludes that the 2016 Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia posed a grave national counterintelligence threat but offers no determination on whether the campaign deliberately worked with Russia to sway the election. Nick Schifrin joins Stephanie Sy to discuss.

Miles Taylor served as chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security during the Trump administration. He made headlines Monday when he became the highest-ranking former administration official to break with the president and throw his support behind Joe Biden. Taylor joins Judy Woodruff to discuss his concerns about President Trump’s character and why he chose this moment to share them.

In our news wrap Tuesday, soldiers in Mali have detained the president and prime minister in an apparent coup attempt. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has faced growing unrest over a long-running Islamist insurgency. In the capital of Bamako, armed men directed traffic as protesters cheered. Also, in the U.S., Dr. Anthony Fauci is urging schools to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach to reopening.

A special international tribunal has found a Hezbollah agent guilty of assassinating former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in a deadly blast 15 years ago. Although the decision doesn’t implicate Hezbollah explicitly, it comes at a tense moment for the U.S.-designated terror group, on whom political and financial pressure is growing. Special correspondent Jane Ferguson reports from Beirut.

Tuesday marks a full century since the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which says that the right to vote “should not be denied or abridged” on the basis of sex. We look back to the path to that milestone, and Judy Woodruff talks to longtime activist and scholar Gloria Steinem about what challenges remain.

More than 35 million Americans voted in Democratic presidential primaries this year. But when it comes to officially nominating former Vice President Joe Biden at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night, nearly 4,000 delegates have the responsibility. This year, the delegates will be mostly watching from home. Here is what some of them had to say about their role and virtual attendance.

Julian Castro of Texas was the youngest member of former President Barack Obama’s Cabinet, in which he served as secretary of housing and urban development. Castro also ran for the Democratic presidential nomination earlier this year. He joins Judy Woodruff to discuss why he believes Biden can “bring this country together” after President Trump’s “shameful” handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Al Franken was a U.S. senator from Minnesota -- a state that is a flashpoint for the nation’s current movement for racial justice. Franken’s departure from public office also came during a period of major U.S. social change, the MeToo movement. Now host of his own podcast, Franken joins Judy Woodruff to discuss President Trump’s handling of the pandemic and why Joe Biden would be a better leader.