JUDY WOODRUFF: Good evening.

I'm Judy Woodruff.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: COVID's toll.

The U.S. records its deadliest day since May, as officials struggle to manage social restrictions.

I talk to NBA commissioner Adam Silver about the practical realities of holding events during the pandemic.

Then: pandemic summer.

For young people, temporary coronavirus response jobs take the place of traditional summer jobs now in short supply.

SARA HELLER, University of Michigan: The money that these programs provide seems very likely to help fill a gap between need and income right now.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And it's Friday.

Mark Shields and David Brooks analyze the choice of Kamala Harris as Joe Biden's running mate and Congress' inertia on coronavirus relief.

All that and more on tonight's "PBS NewsHour."

(BREAK) JUDY WOODRUFF: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning that the U.S. coronavirus death toll could hit 200,000 by Labor Day, that as the U.S. has suffered its highest daily number of deaths since mid-May, more than 1,500.

Coast to coast, states are recording bleak firsts.

California became the first state to top 600,000 infections, while Georgia had its deadliest day on record.

We will hear how the pandemic is affecting summer jobs later in the program.

The U.S.

Postal Service has warned 46 states and the District of Columbia that some mail-in ballots may not be counted in time for November's presidential election.

That is according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.

This is especially a concern for states that allow voters to request ballots just days before the election.

A historic number of absentee ballots are expected to be cast during the pandemic, as the very time the Postal Service struggles with financial troubles and delays.

We will take a closer look at this situation later in the program.

Firefighters in Southern California faced an uphill battle today against three raging wildfires.

A statewide heat wave, bone-dry conditions and gusty winds made for a difficult task.

The largest fire has charred more than 18 square miles, and threatens more than 5,000 - - excuse me -- 5,400 homes.

It has little containment.

Residents described the scene as the flames spread.

RANDY MILLER, California: I thought, this is getting out of control.

All of a sudden, that little 10-foot section of smoke up there was wider and wider and wider.

Next thing, it was growing and growing.

The whole top was smoking.

And then the fire department started coming in, and all the sheriffs, et cetera, et cetera, telling me to get out.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The weekend's forecast for the area calls for triple-digit temperatures and extreme fire danger.

The death toll from a powerful windstorm that slammed the Midwest earlier this week has now risen to four people.

Millions of acres of crops were damaged and some 250,000 Iowans are still without electricity five days later.

Governor Kim Reynolds said that teams are working around the clock to restore power.

GOV.

KIM REYNOLDS (R-IA): What we need to do is, we need to get power to Iowans and to those that are affected.

They have tried to prioritize, but I want you to know that the team that's standing behind me, your local emergency manager, your mayor, everybody is working to make sure that we can get that done in a timely manner.

JUDY WOODRUFF: One hundred members of the Iowa National Guard arrived in Cedar Rapids today to help clear away debris from power lines.

A former FBI lawyer is expected to plead guilty to making a false statement as part of a federal probe into the origins of the bureau's Russia investigation.

A lawyer for Kevin Clinesmith said that he will admit he altered an e-mail from the CIA that was used to get court permission for a secret wiretap on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

President Trump weighed in this afternoon.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: What happened should never happen again.

So, he is pleading guilty, terrible thing, terrible thing.

The fact is, they spied on my campaign, and they got caught.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The charging document does not allege any criminal wrongdoing by anyone else and offers no evidence of a broader conspiracy to undermine President Trump's 2016 campaign.

In Belarus, tens of thousands marched through the capital of Minsk today, angered over a disputed election and the brutal police crackdown that followed.

Police have freed about 2,000 people arrested during this week's demonstrations.

But reports of widespread torture of those in custody are driving fresh outrage.

All this as the European Union is drafting a list of people in Belarus who could face sanctions for their role in the crisis.

Nick Schifrin has our story.

And a warning: Some of the images are graphic.

You may find them disturbing.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The scars of authoritarian rule are written on Vartan Grigoryan's back and in the stitches holding together his eye.

VARTAN GRIGORYAN, Minsk Resident (through translator): I was told to lie down, and so I did.

They started beating me.

I did not resist.

They took me to a police truck, and beat me there as well.

NICK SCHIFRIN: He was in a group of men released from a detention facility that included 19-year-old Alexander Vilks in the green jacket.

That's his mother.

He'd been held for two days without any communication.

And when he shows her the wounds inflicted inside?

She can't bear it.

ALEXANDER VILKS, Minsk Student (through translator): They treated us as if we were terrorists.

They beat us very badly, mostly hitting our legs, but also across the body.

HANNA LIUBAKOVA, Outriders: This was some darkest days in the history of modern Belarus.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Hanna Liubakova is a journalist for the independent site Outriders.

HANNA LIUBAKOVA: Whenever a person was transported from one place to another, that person was beaten.

There were 80 people that were held there for 24 hours, without food, without water, and, basically, they could not sleep.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Since Sunday, authorities have cracked down on massive protests that followed what they call an election stolen by Alexander Lukashenko, known as Europe's last dictator.

The demonstrations are the largest since independence 30 years ago.

When one protest of 10,000 reached a government building today, soldiers laid down their shields.

Belarus' top security official apologized to beaten protesters.

And, today, the protests expanded to workers at state-owned factories, the backbone of the Belarusian economy.

They organized a general strike.

These workers were asked to raise their hand if they voted for Lukashenko, or for opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

HANNA LIUBAKOVA: Those who were not interested in politics have suddenly understood the nature of this government, of this president.

Those who were not against Lukashenko are now taking another side because of this police brutality, of this police violence.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Today, Tsikhanouskaya offered a way forward.

SVIATLANA TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian Opposition Leader (through translator): I call on the authorities to end this and enter a dialogue.

I ask the mayors of all cities to organize peaceful mass rallies.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But this is still Lukashenko's regime.

MARISA DURHAM, Graduate Student: So, they put me on the ground.

They put a sheet over my head, so I really couldn't see what was happening.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Marisa Durham is an American master's student, whose boyfriend, Stas Gorelik, is Belarusian who has been studying in the States.

They weren't protesting, but police forcibly entered their apartment two days ago and took him away.

MARISA DURHAM: Stas always did everything in his -- everything to always make sure that I was safe, no matter what.

And he always took care of me.

And he always knew.

And the most that I want to do right now try to protect him and help him.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Late tonight, her fear was eased.

After our interview, Stas was released.

And 26 years later, a president's grip on power is getting weaker.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Nick Schifrin.

JUDY WOODRUFF: In Afghanistan, the government released the first wave of its final 400 Taliban prisoners today.

It was a key demand for peace negotiations with the militant group, in a bid to end more than 18 years of war.

Officials registered the prisoners' information as they processed their release.

Taliban officials said the government released 86 prisoners today.

There was no immediate word when the rest will be freed.

A congressional watchdog group said today that the top two officials at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security were appointed to their posts without legal authority.

It found the appointments of DHS acting Secretary Chad Wolf and his acting deputy, Ken Cuccinelli, violated succession rules at federal agencies, since the last Senate-confirmed DHS secretary resigned in 2019.

The watchdog has now referred the issue to the agency's inspector general.

In economic news, retail spending returned to pre-pandemic levels in July.

But sales weren't quite as strong as analysts had hoped.

And trading was light on Wall Street today.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 34 points to close at 27931.

The Nasdaq fell 23 points, and the S&P 500 shed half-a-point.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": the Trump administration intensifies efforts to undermine mail-in voting and the Postal Service; NBA commissioner Adam Silver details how the league is able to play games during the pandemic; temporary coronavirus response jobs take the place of traditional summer jobs for young people; and much more.

New warnings from the U.S.

Postal Service are coming to light today, suggesting that it will not be able to deliver all mail-in ballots in time to be counted for the election.

Because of the pandemic, mail-in voting is expected to surge this fall.

That message came in letters sent to state officials around the country.

And it raised the prospect of even bigger problems for November.

William Brangham has the details.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Judy, those letters were sent to 46 states and to the District of Columbia, according to The Washington Post.

The Postal Service told states, including battleground such as Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, that the timelines for sending, receiving and counting ballots wouldn't necessarily line up with what the Postal Service could actually deliver.

There are already delays in mail delivery today.

And this all comes as President Trump said yesterday that he was opposed to bailing out the Postal Service to help it handle this expected surge of mail-in ballots.

Today, though, he said he might be open to a deal.

Erin Cox is covering all this for The Washington Post.

And she joins me now.

Erin, this letter was sent out earlier this summer to the states, warning them, basically, that potentially millions of voters could be disenfranchised because of delays in delivering their ballots.

Could you tell us a little bit more about what this letter said?

ERIN COX, The Washington Post: So, this letter went to states where roughly 160 million American voters live.

The states warned -- states were warned by the Postal Service that, under their reading of election laws, there was not enough time between some of the deadlines to request a ballot and return a ballot for the Postal Service to guarantee that those ballots could be counted in time.

And under that -- under that scenario, ballots that were asked for on time, filled out on time, put in the mail on time, would ultimately be disenfranchised, would be -- not be able to be counted, and those voters would be disenfranchised.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So, voters could follow all of the rules and still have their vote not counted.

I mean, obviously, this puts the states in a position.

I know Pennsylvania and some of them have looked at trying to change those deadlines to accommodate this delay, either making -- sort of opening up the deadlines for when you could ask for or cast a ballot, or maybe delay when you have to finally deliver final election results.

Can all the states potentially affected change their rules in time?

ERIN COX: No.

Many of the states can't, and some of the states that we spoke to said that they don't intend to, and they have been dealing with some version of this problem with mail-in ballots for years.

The problem is heightened dramatically, though, when you have states with as much as 10 times as many mail-in ballots as they usually have.

What election officials have been saying that they are going to do in those states is an aggressive voter education campaign, telling voters, mail in your ballot early.

We know that the deadline is coming, but get it in a week before the deadline.

If you know that you are decided, send it in.

They are putting out extra drop boxes, and they're trying to figure out work-arounds, so that they can still mail people ballots, and also make sure that they don't have to fully rely on the Postal Service's delayed system to get them back in time.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: You also reported that, simultaneous to all of this, the Postal Service is decommissioning hundreds of these enormous mail sorting machines, that people have seen videos of these machines that can sort and count ballots at lightning speed -- or mail at lightning speed.

Why is that happening at the same time?

ERIN COX: So, the rationale for decommissioning those, according to the Postal Service, is that the Postal Service gets a lot more packages and boxes than flat mail, like letters and ballots, and so they need the floor space to be able to accommodate those packages, and it is inefficient to have these enormous machines that are expensive and difficult to maintain taking up space that they really need to move other packages.

On the other hand, rank-and-file postal workers fundamentally disagree with that assessment of the system, and they filed a formal grievance.

These machines represent 10 percent of the Postal Service's capacity.

They can count 23 million pieces of mail in a single day.

And taking all of those offline, a lot of the postal -- rank-and-file postal worker say can sharply diminished the Postal Service's ability to quickly process mail and things like ballots.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I mean, with those machines going offline, the delays that we know instituted in part by the new postmaster general, we know the president has been possibly threatening to not sign any COVID relief deal that would have money to help the post office accommodate this, coupled with what we have been hearing from the president, all of these falsehoods he has been making about mail-in voting, you put all of those things together.

And I sort of hate the cliche, but it feels like this is a perfect storm that is brewing for this election.

ERIN COX: There is certainly potential for that.

And it is now -- one of the big takeaways from the letters from the Postal Service is that they are putting the onus on voters and election officials to make sure that their votes get counted.

And the Postal Service, in issuing this warning, part of the motivation, as I understand it, is to warn people about this perfect storm that is gathering, and to put people on notice early, so that people can take appropriate action to avoid having tens of thousands or millions of ballots end up go uncounted.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So, briefly, if there are voters out there who are hearing all of this, worried about this, what can they do?

Where do they go to find out how to get their ballot in their house, sent back and get it counted in time?

ERIN COX: So, this is a national issue, but elections always have been, and for the foreseeable future always will be run on a very, very local level with local volunteers and local election officials.

And those folks have a lot of detailed information about your town, your city, your area, how to vote, how to make sure your vote gets counted, how to request a ballot, different ways you can do that.

They are all working very, very hard to try to overcome these kind of perfect storm issues.

And so, if you are concerned about getting your vote to count, get your ballot early, talk to your local election officials, and figure out a plan.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Erin Cox of The Washington Post, thank you very, very much.

ERIN COX: Of course.

Have a great night.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Nearly 10 months after the NBA season started, the professional basketball league is set for its playoffs games next week.

But it is unlike any other season.

Teams, along with their staff, are playing in the so-called bubble in Orlando, Florida, where they are required to stay put.

Family and some close friends can visit during the playoffs.

The league is also publicly supporting Black Lives Matter by printing it on the court itself, and players are wearing messages on their jerseys.

Adam Silver is the commissioner of the league, and he joins me now to talk about all of this from the bubble in Orlando.

Adam Silver, welcome to the "NewsHour."

You are now into the season, having resumed.

You have been saying that it is going better than expected.

Tell us why you think that is.

And tell us what you think the risks are that are still ahead.

ADAM SILVER, NBA Commissioner: Absolutely.

And one correction.

I was down in Orlando, and am now back in New York, and will be heading back again next week.

So, I am not currently living in the so-called bubble.

But in terms of what we are trying to accomplish down there, it -- we have -- I refer to it more as a campus actually than a bubble, because people do go in and out, other than the players and the coaches and the primary workers down there, the essential people to making it operate.

And it requires stringent protocols in terms of mask wearing, physical distancing, and daily testing.

Of course, they are not always wearing masks.

There is that exception, when the players are actually on the floor and participating in the games.

But that is an exception, because, of course, that is the most dangerous time in terms of the virus, when they are sharing common air on the floor.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So, it sounds like people are generally abiding by the rules.

What do you see as the risks that are out there?

ADAM SILVER: Well, the risks, I look at it on a relative basis.

Certainly, we knew, from the time we shut down our season in mid-March until when we started up again in early July in Orlando, several dozens of our players became infected with the virus, probably no different than other members of the public, particularly young people who were out and about.

And so, relative to the lives they were living, we know this is much safer.

In fact, we have had zero positive cases since we started.

But we recognize there is always risk.

As I said, it is not a sealed bubble.

People are coming in and out.

Not everyone, frankly, is tested who is coming in and out.

There are people who are Disney workers, many of whom are tested.

Some aren't.

But, of course, we then maintain very strict protocols with them in terms of distancing.

But it is possible that someone could get infected while they are down there.

We are very mindful of that.

And I think there is a recognition that, with this virus, we are all facing risks now... JUDY WOODRUFF: Right.

ADAM SILVER: ... and that we are trying, like many industries, to strike the appropriate balance between getting the economy running again and taking care of our workers.

And this is the balance that we have found.

JUDY WOODRUFF: How do you think this different environment, Adam Silver, is affecting the game and affecting the players?

ADAM SILVER: It is actually a great question.

One of the things that has surprised us is that the level of play, considering the four-month hiatus, is better than we thought it would be.

And part of the reason, we suspect, is because, in fact, the players aren't traveling.

I mean, often in an NBA schedule, they play roughly three-and-a-half games a week.

They're traveling back and forth across the country.

And, just like anybody else, that, of course, has an effect on them, particularly fatigue, crossing time zones, lack of sleep, et cetera.

Living inside this campus, they are all a short distance from the arena.

They are able to get a good night's sleep.

They're able to get proper recovery after games.

And so, frankly, the games have been in many ways of a higher caliber.

They have been higher-scoring.

They have been very energetic.

And so I think we have been all really pleased with the results.

And, as you said, the playoffs begin on Monday.

JUDY WOODRUFF: You have said it's -- you made it clear the players are getting tested frequently.

You are getting quick-turnaround results.

That is not something that ordinary Americans are able to do.

Does that raise a fairness question?

ADAM SILVER: It does.

I would say, for us, we are using a private lab down in Orlando.

In addition, we have brought additional testing to the market.

We wanted to make sure our presence was additive.

So, we brought thousands of new tests down to the market.

We have created a mobile trailer testing center for citizens down in Orlando.

Disney has added additional testing for both their employees and people in the community.

But I would ultimately say, to me, we are modeling what it means to do more testing, not less testing.

I think that we are also participating in studies when we are down there on rapid, quick-turnaround tests, new kind of saliva tests, where you can get a quick determination, something closer to an inexpensive pregnancy test.

So, I recognize it's an issue, but, again, I think, by modeling it out correctly, we are demonstrating that industries can operate with more testing.

But it will -- I think, to get other sports leagues up and running and to get more industries up and running, what this country needs is a lot more testing.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Several other questions I want to ask you, one about Black Lives Matter.

As I am sure you know, President Trump has been -- he has become a harsh critic of the NBA.

He says he is not watching the games.

He says he is offended that most of the players are not kneeling during the national anthem.

He is calling the players nasty and even very dumb.

He claims the public is turned off and that people are not watching on TV.

ADAM SILVER: So far, in the games leading up to the playoffs, roughly 55 million Americans have watched our games.

We have largely led the night in 18-to-49-year-old men, our core demographics, every night we have been on so far.

So, the public has been responding to our games.

And in terms of Black Lives Matter, we support it as a national movement.

Depending on estimates, roughly 25 million Americans have protested for social justice in the country -- in this country.

And in terms of kneeling for the anthem, the league, I recognize it's extraordinary times.

The players have -- are participating in a peaceful protest.

And we have supported that.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And I want to ask you something about what the NBA has done overseas in China.

You have had an extensive and controversial set of business relationships in China that was worth something like billions of dollars.

There was a player development camp, where you had young athletes who were reportedly hit and abused.

The NBA, you pulled out of this a year ago.

But the scholar John Pomfret has written that the NBA -- and I am quoting -- "was party to a massive human rights violation."

Are you now rethinking your entire plan with regard to China?

ADAM SILVER: Let me put it in context.

Our relationship in China began over 40 years ago, actually, in 1979, when the Washington Bullets first played in China.

It has grown considerably over the years, to the point now where we have hundreds of millions of basketball fans in China.

There was an incident, as you may recall, last fall where an NBA general manager tweeted something in support of Hong Kong.

As a result, we were taken off the air, Chinese Central Television, for the first time in 30 years.

And our games are still not back on the air, as a result of our supporting that general manager and supporting, frankly, American values, the values of free speech.

That particular incident that you referenced, we have also been involved in youth basketball for decades in China.

There is a particular academy in Xinjiang province where we supplied three coaches.

We didn't open the academy.

We had nothing to do with the operation of the academy.

We supplied those three coaches.

We heard that there were irregularities in - - at that academy.

Some of the things that have appeared in articles are not things that we were aware of.

We're continuing to do an investigation.

But we did know that the way the players were being treated there was nothing that the NBA - - was inconsistent with the NBA's values, anything we had ever done in China.

And we pulled those three coaches out.

So that's our response.

I -- in terms of rethinking our strategy in China, I recognize that even now, both -- frankly, both sides of the aisle, there seems to be a rethinking of what the United States' relationship with -- should be with China.

And so we are listening closely.

I continue to believe that sports in particular can be a force for change, and that these cultural exchanges are critically important.

And so, of course, if we decide not to trade with China, and that becomes something that our government is no longer favoring, we will stop as well.

But, at least for now, we think continuing to be an exporter of American culture, demonstrating to the Chinese who can still see our games through some streaming services what we are about, what the expression is that comes with the NBA, we think is positive.

But we are always examining what works best for, not just the NBA, but for our country.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, we are going to leave it there.

Adam Silver, the commissioner of the NBA, on the Friday before the playoffs begin, we thank you very much for talking with us.

ADAM SILVER: Thank you.

And, by the way, thank you for staying on the air throughout the pandemic.

I am sure it hasn't been easy.

JUDY WOODRUFF: It is a rite of passage for many.

For others, it's a financial necessity, and especially right now, as the job market remains tough for many workers.

Because of the pandemic, traditional jobs for younger adults and teens, like camp counselors, lifeguards and waiters, are hard to come by.

But, as John Yang reports, some local governments are providing young people other options.

JOHN YANG: In this summer of the pandemic, a new breed of summer jobs, like working at this drive-through COVID-19 testing site in the parking garage of a Montgomery County, Maryland, community center in suburban Washington, D.C.. Eighteen-year-old Shaun Fayson is on summer break from college.

SHAUN FAYSON, College Student: Right now, I'm doing traffic control and just running samples back and forth.

Yesterday, I was doing intake, so helping people with their registration and things like that.

JOHN YANG: Is this what you expected to be doing this summer?

SHAUN FAYSON: Not at all.

JOHN YANG: They are part of COVID Corps, a summer jobs program created by the county to support its pandemic response.

About 100 people, ages 16 to 23, are paid $14 an hour, the county's minimum wage, to do things like distribute food to vulnerable families, disinfect county pools, put up signs to raise awareness about COVID-19, and, like at this testing site, help track the virus itself.

MARC ELRICH, Montgomery County, Maryland, Executive: In a way, it's a civics-building exercise.

JOHN YANG: Marc Elrich is Montgomery County's top elected official.

MARC ELRICH: I think that's good for them.

They can kind of see up close what people do.

They get to see up close what people are going through.

JOHN YANG: For many teenagers, government-run summer jobs programs are especially important this year, as traditional summer jobs have dried up.

In July, the teen unemployment rate was 19 percent, nearly twice the overall rate, and up from 13 percent last year.

Seventeen-year-old Mekdie Wilson usually spends her summers as a counselor at county day camps, but they were canceled this year.

MEKDIE WILSON, COVID Corps Member: I'm extremely lucky, because I know I have some friends that are struggling to find jobs due to corona.

JOHN YANG: For years, city-run summer jobs programs in places like Boston, New York and Chicago have employed tens of thousands of young people from low-income families.

University of Michigan economist Sara Heller: SARA HELLER, University of Michigan: On average, in the past, kids have been earning between $700 and $800 more than they would have otherwise.

And in families that are living in neighborhoods where median income is about $35,000, that's a lot of money.

JOHN YANG: That's even more important this summer, as many parents have lost jobs or taken pay cuts because of the pandemic.

SARA HELLER: And so the money that these programs provide seems very likely to help fill a gap between need and income right now.

JOHN YANG: Studies have also found that city-run jobs programs have unexpected longer-term benefits.

SARA HELLER: Two to seven years after the program, it's not improving future employment outcomes.

What it is doing is generating big reductions in violence and criminal justice involvement.

JOHN YANG: The pandemic led some cities to cancel this year's programs because of safety concerns.

In Chicago, officials were determined to find a way for its summer jobs program for teens and young adults, called One Summer Chicago, to continue.

Chicago Department of Family and Social services Commissioner Lisa Morrison Butler.

LISA MORRISON BUTLER, Commissioner, Chicago Department of Family and Social Services: There was never a moment where we considered not going forward with One Summer.

There were also moments, however, where we were really scared about what that meant, because it was so difficult to figure out how we would reimagine it in the time that we thought we had.

JOHN YANG: How did you reimagine it?

LISA MORRISON BUTLER: Well, we took it all virtual.

WOMAN: Do you have the app in front of you?

JOHN YANG: For example, multiple times a week, these participants attend a computer coding class via Zoom.

They're paid to learn, but they also developing an app to coordinate laundry pickup and delivery for people who were trying to stay isolated.

For 23-year-old G'Linda Hawkins, it was a lifeline.

G'LINDA HAWKINS, One Summer Chicago Employee: The first class that we went, we dived straight in.

I'm like, oh, this is kind of interesting.

And I was willing to learn more about it.

And, yes, I loved it.

I love it.

JOHN YANG: Before, Hawkins was unemployed, not because her job went away, but because she had to quit to take care of her 2-year-old son, Terrell (ph) Jr., when his day care closed because of the pandemic.

G'LINDA HAWKINS: It is just amazing actually being able to work at home and still be able to teach him and just watch him just expand and just grow.

JOHN YANG: While her coding class was temporary, Hawkins hopes the skills she's learning and the connections she's making will help her find a permanent job.

and working on the app makes her feel like she was making a difference.

G'LINDA HAWKINS: I always wanted to come up with a solution to help my community and help the world, make the world a little bit more better.

JOHN YANG: In Maryland, Shaun Fayson has that same satisfaction.

SHAUN FAYSON: I'm benefiting from being able to say that I am helping keep our community safe and secure, you know, giving back in whatever way I can.

JOHN YANG: A sense of purpose in the midst of a most challenging summer.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm John Yang in Silver Spring, Maryland.

JUDY WOODRUFF: It has now been two weeks since the federal government's previous COVID relief package expired, and the sides appear no closer to a deal.

That has led to the end of $600 in weekly federal unemployment benefits, and millions of renters could be in danger of eviction after a moratorium expired.

Today, the president said he wanted to make sure most Americans would get a new round of stimulus checks, if he could reach a deal with Democrats.

But Democrats say the president isn't budging on his demands.

This battle comes as millions of Americans find themselves with few job prospects and unemployed for the long haul.

We followed up with viewers we spoke to at the start of the pandemic.

AUSTIN MCMULLEN, North Carolina: My name is Austin McMullen.

I'm currently living in Raleigh, North Carolina, and attending North Carolina State University.

We, the ones that are impacted, are hurting bad.

I have got, like, a couple months left until I am just screwed.

Yes, $600 to you might seem like chump change.

But for people whose rents depend on this and are not receiving any income at all, that's home.

That is not being kicked out.

That's not living under a bridge.

That is not being evicted, and then having that on your record for every single place that you apply to after this, and then having to live with the fact that you may not be able to get that apartment that you want for God knows how long.

JASON KREJEWSKI, Colorado: In April, professionally, for myself, I have been dealing a long-term furlough.

Personally, my wife and I welcomed our first son, our healthy boy.

It's been a mixed -- a mixed bag.

On the positive side, it's really nice to be able to spend a whole lot of time with him.

So, it's been really great to be able to bond with him over the last few months like that.

But the other side of that is, we do constantly wonder, how are we going to provide for him?

What does this look like in the future?

And there's just no clear answer on any of that right now.

But it's disappointing to hear the conversation from leaders in Washington specifically to give the argument that this is a disincentive for people to work.

I would love to go back to work, even if that meant me getting less money than I am receiving on unemployment.

I would go back in a heartbeat just to have stability, to know what my future is going to be.

SUNYATTA AMEN, Washington, D.C.: My name is Sunyatta Amen, and I am the TEO of Calabash Tea & Tonic in Washington, D.C. Our staffing has been very challenging.

I'm accustomed to a staff of 25 or so.

And now we're down to a staff of three to four people.

And it's -- that is incredibly different.

We have seen a 400 percent increase in our sales online, and it is sustainable.

The question comes in on what happens to your customer base when they are laid off or furloughed, or not as employed, or their disposable income shrinks.

And so we are relying on the fact that they stay employed.

JENNIFER WHITE, Nevada: I stopped working in mid-March, and -- because of the pandemic, obviously.

And, in that time, I had to borrow money from my parents.

It was really, really stressful.

I chose to forgo my apartment.

I will be putting my things into storage.

And I will be packing up my rabbits and like a year's worth of clothes, and driving down to Florida to live with my mother.

So, I cannot wait to see my mom.

But I'm 43 years old, and I had to make the choice of not signing my lease and moving in with my mother to make sure that I don't end up filing for bankruptcy when this is over.

What kind of situation is that?

JUDY WOODRUFF: So hard to hear those stories.

But, with that, we turn to the analysis of Shields and Brooks.

That's syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks.

And I want to ask both of you about what we are hearing from folks like the ones we just heard from, Mark.

But I do want to ask you first about Joe Biden picking Kamala Harris as his running mate.

Mark, what is your take?

MARK SHIELDS: Well, Judy, you know, the successful model in American politics historically, whether it is Ronald Reagan, two terms, Bill Clinton, two terms, both leaving 60 percent approval, or, obviously, Franklin Roosevelt, has been sort of an irrepressible, contagious optimism.

And Donald Trump has been the exception to that.

Donald Trump has portrayed a world in which we are surrounded by those who are not in our interests, our allies that we can't trust, refugees who want to subvert our nation, or even enemies within.

And I just thought what came through in Kamala Harris and her appearance with Joe Biden was sort of a return to optimism.

I know it is inappropriate to say it, but she has an absolutely million-dollar smile.

And smiles have been missing from American politics.

And I really think it was welcome to an awful lot of people.

JUDY WOODRUFF: We will let you say that, Mark.

David, what do you take away?

DAVID BROOKS: I am showing my 5-cent smile right here.

(LAUGHTER) DAVID BROOKS: I thought it was a triumph.

The first 48 hours of any vice presidential pick are really important.

Are people -- are the -- is the party fired up?

Or is there some sort of scandal?

Is the press going into some sort of frenzy?

And you would have to say, Democrats are very fired up.

They have already raised 50 extra million dollars in this window.

And Republicans are really finding nothing to really attack at.

And so they are struggling to find a way to criticize Kamala Harris.

I also thought, you know, a bit of a return to professionalism.

The way they handled the search left all of the people who did not get picked enhanced.

And so they leaked nice things about Tammy Duckworth.

Susan Rice feels more enhanced by this.

And so that is a -- that is just a professional and generous way to do this.

And then they have controlled, which was -- for many, including me, was the concern of Kamala Harris, which was her own campaign for president was very poorly managed and run.

And so what does that say about her management skills?

And that would be a legitimate concern.

And so the Biden team, according to my newspaper's reporting, has said, you know, we are going to have one team.

There is not going to be a Harris and a Biden team.

We're going to have one team.

And the Biden team is going to control the team.

And so she just can't take the whole California crew and implant them, some of them, yes, not all of them.

And so, all the way along, from how they managed the campaign, to how they rolled it out, I thought quite an impressive display.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So, we always like to ask early on, Mark, about pitfalls.

What -- I mean, what are the pitfalls ahead?

And what do you make of the Republican response so far, which, as David said, is kind of all over the map?

MARK SHIELDS: Well, that's right.

One prominent Republican, national Republican, said to me today, you can't have it both ways.

She's either the most liberal senator in all of Christendom, or she is a terrible opponent of Democratic liberals.

I mean, they have not settled on a line.

And, in fact, it is contradictory.

But I would say this, Judy.

The very liabilities that Kamala Harris had in the primary, that - - among liberal Democratic voters, that -- was a tough-on-crime district attorney and attorney general, if anything, become a plus in a general election, in making her, if not bulletproof, then at least a lot tougher to attack on soft on crime, for example, than the typical Republican approach to Democrats.

And, as far as the attacks on her, you know, Dame Margot Asquith of David Lloyd George, he could never see a belt without hitting below it.

And that really is President Trump.

I mean, he had every opportunity, appeals not to that which is highest or most noble or most elevated in any of us, but almost to that which is most base.

And he did it again questioning her -- raising questions about her citizenship and eligibility, horrible person, worst person in the Senate.

You know, I don't know.

I just think it -- I think it is a song that has been sung and maybe people are tired of hearing it.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, David, just quickly on that.

I mean, they -- the president himself called her right off -- right as soon as they heard who it was, he called her nasty and horrible.

Is that -- is that a line of attack that is likely to stick?

DAVID BROOKS: No.

She is tough.

And that is something that is to her benefit.

Most politicians I have interviewed are afraid of personal conflict.

They will attack somebody from across the room, but - - or across from on TV.

But room to room, face to face, right in person, they are loath to be critical, they are loath to have a conflict, because they want everybody to like them.

Kamala Harris is not like that.

Whether as prosecutor, as attorney general or a senator, she is very quick to call somebody out.

And that could be an advantage in a Biden administration, because one of the (AUDIO GAP) administration is, the president makes a decision, and then nobody -- everybody just ignores it.

There is nobody to enforce the decision the president made.

And if she can be a person who, like, keeps people in line, that would be a gift to the administration.

So, the flip side of Trump calling her nasty is that (AUDIO GAP) actually a true feature of her career, which is marked, which is that she has a certain toughness that is really rare in politics.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Maybe she will be the enforcer.

So, Mark, I want to go back to what we heard just before I introduced you and David.

And that is the ordinary Americans who are out there waiting for help.

Congress has gone home.

They haven't come to an agreement.

The Democrats say they have dropped their bid from three $3 trillion to $2 trillion, and the administration is saying, we are at $1 trillion.

Who should the American people hold responsible for this?

MARK SHIELDS: Well, I think they hold responsible the government.

David said last week, 60-40 Republican responsibility.

I won't argue with that.

I would say, the administration has not covered itself with glory.

But I think the Democrats, I would be holding hearings at this moment on just exactly what is happening.

The voices we heard, I mean, statistics don't bleed.

Statistics don't cry tears, but human beings do.

And anybody who could listen to those poignant portraits and self-statements just made on our show and not respond and say, oh, we can wait until September, or I have to get to the county fair, and campaign at the 4-H show or wherever else, or go to Nantucket, I think has to -- an awful lot to answer for.

JUDY WOODRUFF: David?

DAVID BROOKS: Yes, this is yet another down side of COVID, actually.

When you are only in Washington, or you are only in the media world, or in the political world, I should say, you -- life is abstract.

It is scoring political points.

It's how to win this game.

The advantage of campaigning at any level is that you are right face-to-face with human beings and it's not an abstraction anymore.

It is their lives and your lives together.

And so you see the vast gulf between Washington and the real lives of Americans.

And Washington isn't able to say, OK, we have these fights, but these people are really suffering, let's figure this out.

And they are lost in the political point-scoring.

And this is why people have such intense contempt for Washington.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, going back to politics, Mark, the story that we heard from William Brangham a few minutes about what is going on with the Postal Service, they are letting states know, most of the states know they are not going to -- they may not have ballots returned in time for them to be counted.

The president is continually, almost daily now denigrating mail-in voting, is opposed to funding so much of what the Postal Service says it needs.

What are we headed for this November?

MARK SHIELDS: Well, Judy, I am not one to often question former President Barack Obama's selection of words or his eloquence, which is demonstrated, but I think he was absolutely wrong when he said that they are trying to kneecap, Republicans are trying to kneecap.

I mean, it is a mafia term.

And it is very harsh.

I think what we are talking about here is nothing less than Bull Connor in the streets of Birmingham with dogs and fire hoses.

I mean, this is repression and suppression of Americans who want to vote.

It is nothing less.

That is what it is.

And let's call it for exactly what it is.

Donald Trump is afraid of losing.

So, most candidates, the voters pick the candidate.

Donald Trump, in this case, wants to pick the voters.

He wants to limit who can vote.

And I just think that they are making an incredible mistake.

There are 22 million Americans every month who are kept out of poverty, kept out of poverty by a Social Security check.

There are 67 million Americans who live on them; 1,278,000 in Florida get a Social Security check.

You go into the United States mail, you start playing games there, then you are really -- talk about misery, and you want to talk outrage, and you want to talk about political unrest, I think it's -- I think he's -- the whirlwind is about to be set.

And -- but it is indefensible.

And I have had five Republicans, I think, up to now, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Tom Cole, Kevin McCarthy, and Roy Blunt, who have even said - - dissented publicly that this dismantlement of the post office is not -- unacceptable.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, just quickly, David, we have seen the president's attempts to talk down mail-in voting have worked.

We have a quick poll result to share.

In May, I think it was 50 percent of the American people said they believed that they would be comfortable mailing in their ballot.

That percentage is down to 43 percent, a big drop, especially among Republicans.

So, the president continues to talk it down and to say he doesn't want to fund the Postal Service because it would -- could mean universal voting.

DAVID BROOKS: Well, with the Trump administration, you never know if it is incompetence or malevolence.

In this case, the Postal Service is hemorrhaging money.

And it is doing so because the number of pieces of mail has gone down 33 percent in the last several years.

And so they -- it makes sense to sort of try to make the thing a viable operation.

Whether you want to cut some of these services right before a heavy election, where people are going to be mailing in ballots, strikes me as extremely foolish, but not necessarily malevolence.

I do think we are going to end up funding this thing.

Kevin McCarthy has said it is going to be funded.

I would say to people, send in your ballots early or deliver it straight to the authorities.

The problem is not going to get ballots to people.

It is going to be the crush of millions of ballots in the final days in November.

And so that's -- that could be a crisis, even without Donald Trump, just because of the unusual nature.

His tendency to talk down the voting and to delegitimize the system is its own shade of horror.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Shade of horror.

Well, we -- it is good advice to tell people to remember to vote under any circumstances, but especially this year.

And if you can vote early, you should vote early.

David Brooks, Mark Shields, we thank you.

Now we want to take another moment to honor a group of individuals who have lost their lives to the coronavirus.

Here are their stories.

When the pandemic hit New York, 75-year-old pharmacist Philip To (ph) refused to abandon the community he served, even though he was considered at risk for contracting the virus.

"This is the time they need me most," he said to his family.

Philip left Hong Kong for America in 1967, and soon met his wife of 48 years, Eileen (ph).

The couple raised a family in Staten Island.

Philip was a proud and devoted father and grandfather.

"He loved things that were beautiful," said his daughter Natalie (ph), pointing out his passion for poetry, art, and gardening.

Katherine Blood Hoffman never lost her sense of adventure, her friend Sherrill (ph) said.

At 100 years old, Katherine, or Kitty, was still planting pine trees and fishing with her son Norris.

Kitty was affiliated with Florida State University for 88 years, first as a student at the women's college, and later as a chemistry professor and active alumnus.

In the 1960s, she helped modernize the school by abolishing her own position, dean of women.

She would have turned 106 this month.

Floyd Bluntson was a no-nonsense, yet nurturing father to his six children, his daughter Latrina said, resourceful, reliable, and honest.

Floyd served in the Navy, before working as an engineer at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, where he was born and raised.

He retired in 2010, after 35 years on the job.

He loved to cook for his family and barbecue for the holidays.

Floyd was 66.

Cody Lyster's family said he had a huge heart, infectious laugh, and larger-than-life personality.

The 21-year-old college junior was studying criminal justice at Colorado Mesa University, inspired by his father's career in law enforcement.

Baseball was Cody's life from an early age, his mom Lea Ann said.

He umpired games and helped coach his little sister Sierra's softball team.

Cody and Sierra were best friends.

Throughout her life, Mary Nestor Radziszewski of West Haven, Connecticut, had several different careers.

All had one thing in common.

Mary served as a nurse, a teacher and then a realtor, selling homes to many of her former students.

"A name to know, a name to trust" was her slogan, and helping others came second nature.

Above all else, Mary treasured her family, her late husband, Walter, and her three children.

Mary was 83.

And thank you so much to the families who shared these wonderful stories with us.

As always, our hearts go out to all those who have lost loved ones in this pandemic.

Coming up this weekend, the Oscar edition of "Beyond the Canvas," profiling film professionals shaping the industry with breakthrough work, only on PBS.

Check your local listings.

And tonight, on the "PBS NewsHour" online: The 2020 conventions have been upended by the coronavirus, but the political divisions America faces are not new.

In the latest episode of our podcast "America, Interrupted," we look back 100 years ago to the 1920 election, and what lesson that time can offer us now.

Listen on our Web site.

That's PBS.org/NewsHour or wherever you get your podcasts.

And please join us all next week for our special coverage of the Democratic National Convention.

That is live on air and online from 8:00 to 11:00 Eastern.

The week after, it'll be the Republicans.

And that is the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm Judy Woodruff.

Have a good weekend.

Please stay safe.

Good night.