August 20, 2024 - PBS News Hour full episode

The first night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention began to tell the story of Kamala Harris, but it was also a moment for the party to mark the people who paved the way for her rise as she charts a new path for Democrats. President Joe Biden delivered a fiery speech in defense of his decision to step aside, and in support of Harris. Laura Barrón-López reports.

As Democrats kick off the second night of their national convention in Chicago, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are campaigning at the same Milwaukee venue where Donald Trump was named the GOP presidential nominee last month. The DNC’s theme on Tuesday will contrast a Harris presidency with another Trump term, focusing on Project 2025. Laura Barrón-López joins Amna Nawaz and Geoff Bennett to discuss.

For more on the 2024 Democratic National Convention, the Harris-Walz ticket and efforts to implement ethics reforms for the U.S. Supreme Court, Geoff Bennett speaks with Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., on the convention floor in Chicago.

Michigan is among this election’s crucial battleground states, part of the Democrats’ so-called “blue wall” in the Midwest. The stakes are even higher this cycle with a highly competitive and closely watched Senate race in the state. Amna Nawaz speaks with Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., the party’s Senate nominee.

In the month that Vice President Kamala Harris has led the Democratic ticket, she has seen a surge in support among Latino voters, up from where President Joe Biden had been polling. But Harris and the Democratic Party still have work to do to motivate these voters who are critical to a winning coalition. Voto Latino CEO María Teresa Kumar joins Geoff Bennett to discuss that work.

In our news wrap Tuesday, Blinken met with negotiators in Egypt and Qatar as efforts continued to bridge a deal between Israel and Hamas, Israel’s military said it recovered the bodies of six hostages during a raid in Gaza, Russia and Ukraine each marked military gains in different areas, and an independent commission found authorities missed opportunities to prevent Maine’s 2023 mass shooting.

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. The conflict has devastated the country and triggered the world’s largest displacement of people. In a rare on-the-ground report, special correspondent Leila Molana-Allen traveled to cities on the front lines to meet the people caught in the middle of the violence.

As summer winds down, much of the U.S. is seeing the biggest COVID wave in at least two years, and hundreds of people are still being killed by the virus every week. According to a CDC analysis of hospitalizations, 25 states have or likely have rising numbers of COVID infections. William Brangham speaks with Dr. Eric Topol about what’s behind the uptick and how people can protect themselves.