JUDY WOODRUFF: Good evening.

I'm Judy Woodruff.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: presenting the ticket.

Kamala Harris joins Joe Biden for the first time as his running mate -- what this historic moment means for the race for the White House.

Then: the QAnon campaign.

Conspiracy theorists score a big win, as a supporter of an ultra-far-right online movement wins a Republican primary in Georgia.

And desperate journey.

Migrants from around the world risk death crossing the jungle between Panama and Colombia, one of the most dangerous places on Earth.

JEAN DELICAT, Haitian Migrant (through translator): I would like to send a message to anyone who is thinking of doing this route.

It's very dangerous.

If I knew this, I wouldn't have done it.

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

(BREAK) JUDY WOODRUFF: Former Vice President Joe Biden and his newly chosen running mate, Senator Kamala Harris of California, made their campaign debut together this afternoon in Wilmington, Delaware.

They offered a unified vision for how they plan to defeat President Trump in November's election.

Lisa Desjardins begins our coverage.

LISA DESJARDINS: For the first time, the 2020 Democratic ticket appeared together, if on a socially distant stage.

One day after tweeting out that she was his V.P.

pick, former Vice President Joe Biden gave an in-person welcome to current California Senator Kamala Harris.

JOSEPH BIDEN (D), Presidential Candidate: Kamala, as you all know, is smart, she's tough, she's experienced, she's a proven fighter for the backbone of this country, the middle class, and for all those who are struggling to get into the middle class.

Kamala knows how to govern.

She knows how to make the hard calls.

She's ready to do this job on day one, and we're both ready to get to work rebuilding this nation.

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA): We don't have to accept the failed government of Donald Trump and Mike Pence.

In just 83 days, we have a chance to choose a better future for our country.

LISA DESJARDINS: The team appeared at a high school in Wilmington, with just a few dozen reporters in the crowd, no supporters to cheer or applaud, a somewhat surreal, pandemic version of what is usually a full-throated rally to show off a new vice presidential pick.

The Biden campaign hoped to show digital emotion, releasing video of the moment the presidential nominee offered the job to Harris.

JOSEPH BIDEN: First of all, is the answer is yes?

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS: The answer is absolutely yes, Joe.

(LAUGHTER) LISA DESJARDINS: Harris' candidacy is a moment of many firsts.

She's the first black woman and first Asian American vice presidential nominee on a major party ticket.

For supporters in her native Oakland California, like business owner Mika McCannts, Harris' identity is an important symbol.

MIKA MCCANNTS, Oakland Business Owner: As an African-American, especially as an African-American woman, we're used to being a target.

It's not going to be anything new for Kamala.

I'm pretty confident that she can handle it.

LISA DESJARDINS: Supporters like resident John Davis say it's her experience that has best prepared Harris for the job.

JOHN DAVIS, Oakland Resident: I know Joe Biden mentioned, you know, he was going to pick a woman as his vice president.

But I think she's really the best candidate either way, not just because she's a woman.

LISA DESJARDINS: Scott Shafer of KQED covered Harris' time as district attorney and later as California attorney general.

SCOTT SHAFER, KQED: She was very slow to embrace legalizing marijuana in California, well behind a lot of other Democrats, including the governor.

She did not take a position on a statewide ballot measure that would have reduced some nonviolent drug offenses from felonies to misdemeanors.

She very vigorously pursued death penalty cases that had been overturned by the courts.

And so, while she has embraced things like getting rid of cash bail, there are a lot of things that give criminal justice reform advocates concern.

NARRATOR: Kamala Harris ran for president by rushing to the radical left.

LISA DESJARDINS: President Trump's campaign team quickly released a video claiming Harris was too far left.

And, on Twitter, Mr. Trump said Harris did not pose a threat to his reelection, saying she "started strong in the Democratic primaries and finished weak, fleeing the race with almost zero support."

But, last night, the president's number two had friendlier words for his Democratic contender.

MIKE PENCE, Vice President of the United States: California Senator Kamala Harris will be the Democrat candidate for vice president.

(BOOING) MAN: Four more years!

Four more years!

Four more years!

MIKE PENCE: So, let me take this opportunity to welcome her to the race.

LISA DESJARDINS: On Instagram, another welcome, from Sarah Palin, the first Republican woman on a presidential ticket.

She wrote to the new V.P.

Nominee that the experience will be "the most amazing view in your life," along with some counsel, writing: "Don't get muzzled and have fun."

Some advice on day one for the Biden-Harris team.

Like American voters, they face an intense 83 days until the election.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Lisa Desjardins.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And Lisa joins me now, along with the "NewsHour"'s Daniel Bush, who's been on the ground in Wilmington today reporting on the Biden-Harris event.

So, Dan, to you first.

You did get this up-close look at what is going on there.

Did you get a sense of what this -- what these two are going to be like as they try to appeal to American voters as a team?

DANIEL BUSH: Well, Judy, this was their kickoff, their first opportunity to appear on stage together.

They did seem comfortable.

But, of course, the signs of COVID where everywhere, COVID-19.

They both wore masks.

They kept their distance.

Harris delivered all the traditional notes of a running mate, talking about her backstory, praising Biden and, of course, going after President Trump.

It's going to be interesting to see how the campaign proceeds from here.

The campaign right now is being tight-lipped about how it is that they are going to use Kamala Harris in the days ahead.

We know that, right now, they just left for a fund-raiser at a hotel nearby, a virtual fund-raiser.

Now, Harris is a dynamic public speaker.

She did struggle a bit at times in her campaign last year.

It will be interesting to see, Judy, how it is that she campaigns in this new virtual -- virtual reality that we are in.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Lisa, from watching this up close, are you getting any sense of how they're going to try to -- what is their message?

How are they going to try to appeal to voters?

LISA DESJARDINS: Yes, I have covered both of these people in the U.S. Senate, Biden and Harris.

And I think what we saw tonight, Judy, was a one-two punch.

Biden was the one who was giving out a bigger message.

That was of identity.

He went straight to President Trump and charged that Trump is distorting the American identity as one that is about even prejudice.

He talked about Charlottesville.

Today is the third anniversary of what happened in Charlottesville.

Biden said that was inspiration for him.

He said their campaign is about all ideologies and creating an American identity that is full of possibilities and diversity.

Now, Harris followed that up with her own personal story, as Dan said.

And that is one of diversity.

It's compelling.

She also did her job and talked about why she thinks her boss is the best man for it.

One other note, Judy, though, these are two people who are not scared to show emotion.

We saw that today.

And they are both expressing what they see as the urgency of this election.

They want their voters to be highly motivated.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So, Dan, we know, coming up to this choice, there was a lot of speculation about whether the pick that Vice President Biden made would excite the Democratic base.

And you have had a chance today to talk to some voters who physically showed up around the high school there in Wilmington.

And you talked to some of them.

What are they saying?

DANIEL BUSH: Well, Judy, I should note, this is, of course, home turf, home territory for Biden.

We are not very far away from his home, where he has been spending most of his time during the pandemic, so a lot of Democrats.

I spoke to several people who were excited about his pick of Harris, noting the historic nature of it.

One woman said that the moment that she got the text message that the campaign put out to supporters with the choice, she went online, downloaded an image of the Biden logo, an image of Harris' name, put them together, and she was with her homemade sign today.

So, a lot of support and enthusiasm on the Democratic side.

There were, however, Judy, some protesters here, in particular, who oppose Joe Biden's view on abortion, as well as some Trump supporters who were walking around just a minute ago behind me waving Trump signs.

So, already, we're seeing sort of the divides that are going to play out from here through Election Day.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Yes, certainly making their message heard.

Lisa, back to you.

You have been watching Kamala Harris.

You watched her campaign when she was running herself.

What did you learn, what did we learn, do you think, during that time about the voters she appeals to that may tell us something about the kind of appeal she's going to have right now?

LISA DESJARDINS: I love looking at these kinds of numbers and see what they tell us.

And when you look at Kamala Harris as a candidate for president, last summer, when she was at her peak, her appeal, Judy, was mostly broad.

Her largest group that she was appealing to in July, when she was at her peak, were people who said they were paying close attention to the campaign.

One reason for that might be that she had that viral moment with Vice President Biden, when she went after him on stage.

She saw her biggest bounce from that debate performance.

That is something the Biden campaign may like in the matchup against Vice President Pence.

But, Judy, overall, her appeal was broad.

And that is one reason she might not have advanced farther.

She didn't have any niche of core voters that was really to push her ahead.

That is also something maybe the Biden campaign likes in a vice presidential candidate.

She appeals to many different kinds of people.

One other note, Judy, a little bit off-topic, but I looked into the high school that this appearance was at today, Alexis Dupont High School in Wilmington or Greenville, Delaware.

And it's fascinating, Judy.

This is a high school that was part of a school district in the 1970s which sued to try and keep some aggregation going, as the court saw it.

This is a high school she likely could not have attended, but yet, today, this is where Kamala Harris became the first black woman to be a vice presidential nominee or any nominee on a presidential ticket for a major party.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So interesting, that part of history, which, of course, came up in the debates, and it's going to continue, I'm sure, to come up.

Well, it certainly was a rollout like no other we have seen, a nominee bringing his running mate, and you didn't see the hands raised together or anything like what we have seen.

But that's the world we live in.

Daniel Bush there in Wilmington, Lisa Desjardins here, thank you.

LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.

JUDY WOODRUFF: With less than three months until Election Day, much of the attention has been on the presidential race.

But Amna Nawaz looks at how a conspiracy theory could make its way into the halls of Congress after the election.

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R), Georgia Congressional Candidate: America's the greatest country in the world.

AMNA NAWAZ: On Tuesday, Marjorie Taylor Greene won the Republican run-off in Georgia's 14th Congressional District.

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE: I'm a conservative Republican.

AMNA NAWAZ: It's an overwhelmingly GOP district, so she is favored to win in November.

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE: We have an Islamic invasion into our government offices.

AMNA NAWAZ: But after Politico uncovered Greene's previous Islamophobic, anti-Semitic and racist remarks about black people, GOP leaders distanced themselves, condemning her words as appalling, disgusting and bigoted.

But Republican leaders remained largely silent about Greene's support for a far-right conspiracy theory known as QAnon, support she professed in a 2017 video she deleted before her campaign launch.

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE: Q is a patriot.

He is someone that very much loves his country, and he is on the same page as us, and he is very pro-Trump.

OK?

AMNA NAWAZ: QAnon first emerged in the months after President Trump took office, starting on fringe Internet message boards, before spreading to social media.

Adherents allege, among other things, that the president is the target of so-called deep state actors, high-ranking officials plotting against him.

The conspiracy quickly took off, and the president's supporters latched on to the mysterious Q.

Signs and T-shirts appeared at Trump's campaign rallies.

Last year, the FBI labeled the movement a potential domestic terror threat.

JO RAE PERKINS (R), Oregon Senatorial Candidate: I stand with President Trump.

I stand with Q and the team.

Thank you, Anons, and thank you, patriots.

AMNA NAWAZ: But now QAnon has firmly taken root on the 2020 campaign trail.

LAUREN BOEBERT (R), Colorado Congressional Candidate: Honestly, everything I have heard of Q, I hope that -- I hope that this is real.

AMNA NAWAZ: Some congressional candidates, like Lauren Boebert in Colorado, promoted the conspiracy theory to friendly media outlets, before later calling QAnon fake news.

According to Media Matters, a left-leaning watchdog group, 20 candidates, all Republicans, except one independent, with varying levels of support for QAnon conspiracies, have advanced to November's general election.

And now Marjorie Taylor Greene's name will be on the ballot as well.

To look more closely at the rise and spread of the QAnon conspiracy on the campaign trail, I'm joined by Travis View, co-host of the "QAnon Anonymous: podcast.

Travis, welcome to the "NewsHour."

You have been following the QAnon conspiracy theory and its followers for a very long time.

Let's start with the basics, though, for those who haven't been.

Just explain to us, where and how did the QAnon conspiracy begin?

TRAVIS VIEW, Co-Host, "QAnon Anonymous": The QAnon conspiracy theory originated on 4chan in October of 2017, though it has its origin in Pizzagate.

The basic premise is that a group of high-level military intelligence officials close to President Trump, QAnon followers believe, are sending out secret coded messages on these image boards about this great grand battle of good vs. evil, in which Trump and what they call the Q Team are working to destroy a global cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles, which the QAnon community believes is controlling everything.

And that includes politician, entertainment and the media.

AMNA NAWAZ: And what is the endgame?

If you are someone who believes in this conspiracy theory, what do you believe will happen as a result of all this?

TRAVIS VIEW: The QAnon community is awaiting two big events.

One of them is called the Storm.

And this is supposed to be a great mass arrest event, in which over 100,000 people from the highest levels of power and entertainment are arrested and face a great day of reckoning.

The other event that they are waiting for is called the Great Awakening.

And this is basically an event in which everyone realizes that QAnon was right the whole time, and that would allow us to enter into a great, brand-new utopian age.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, Travis, what you just laid out seems so obviously irrational that a lot of reasonable people might just dismiss it.

And yet it has picked up real speed in recent years, right?

It was reported just recently that Facebook found thousands of groups and pages with millions of followers and members supporting QAnon.

So, what has helped to fuel this idea so well?

TRAVIS VIEW: You know, it is a really appealing story, if you happen to feel really disenfranchised and you want to believe that the world is about to change in a really important, revolutionary way.

And it is also appealing because it allows the QAnon followers to believe that they can take part in this great, grand revolutionary change.

They think that they are basically conducting an information war, so that by going on social media and posting QAnon memes, and then spreading these QAnon conspiracy theories, they can help usher in this great awakening.

And so it sounds ludicrous, and it is.

But the story really has a lot of appeal to people who might otherwise feel like they have no voice in the political system.

AMNA NAWAZ: Travis, the fact that President Trump has been retweeting some of these conspiracy theories, that congressional candidates are now saying that they support these ideas, and are then winning, likely ending up in Congress, what does all of that say to you about the potency of this particular conspiracy theory?

TRAVIS VIEW: Well, there is some historical precedent for a conspiratorial movement gaining a significant share of power in Congress.

All the way back in 1833, there was a party called the Anti-Masonic Party, which was dedicated to the proposition that Freemasons were controlling the world.

And they gained 10 percent of the House of Representatives.

There has always been an undercurrent of conspiracy thinking and paranoia in American politics.

And, occasionally, it can rise up and actually get some actual significant political power.

So, this is just something we are seeing again.

AMNA NAWAZ: You mentioned the Pizzagate conspiracy theory back in 2016.

We should mention that has not really gone away.

It tamped down a little bit, but it has resurfaced again recently.

What happens with the QAnon conspiracy theory?

Do you see a point at which this goes away?

TRAVIS VIEW: No, absolutely not.

You know, this is something that has started very small a couple of years ago.

And it has only accelerated and gained in popularity and gained in speed.

So, if you go by the trajectory, I mean, this is something that will almost certainly be with us for at least a generation, and probably longer.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is Travis View, co-host of the "QAnon Anonymous" podcast.

Thanks so much, Travis.

TRAVIS VIEW: Thank you for having me.

JUDY WOODRUFF: As schools are preparing for the start of another year, many districts say they are not ready to bring students back into the buildings because of the spread of COVID in their communities.

But President Trump is dialing up the pressure on them to do so.

He tried to make the case for that again today at the White House.

Kellyanne Conway is counselor to President Trump.

And she joins us now.

Kellyanne Conway, welcome back to the "NewsHour."

As we were saying, the president is trying to get the schools to open up physically.

But this comes at the very same time we are learning that 90 percent -- that there has been a 90 percent increase in the number of children diagnosed or -- with this infection, something like 100,000 children diagnosed at the end of July.

Now we have the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Association of Children's Hospitals saying, please hold off on in-person schools.

How does that square with what the president is saying?

KELLYANNE CONWAY, Counselor to President Trump: Judy, our message today in our discussion with parents, teachers, scientists and doctors and students themselves was very clear.

Let's reopen safely.

The word safely is critically important here, because, as you point out, roughly 50 percent or so of the nation's students are not returning to a physical structure on day one of the regular school year this fall.

So, what does that mean?

It means that those that are -- still have low infection rates, knowing that children are still at relatively low risk from contracting, that 99.95 percent of the COVID fatalities are adults, and, of course, the average age is 78.

But, having said that, people are very concerned.

And we wanted to make sure that we amplified and acknowledged those concerns and came up with eight different things the president is announcing tonight that we think will help schools to safely reopen.

Among other things, the president is reminding that, through the CARES Act, we have allocated $13 billion in resources to help these schools safely reopen.

Some may want to invest in thermometer checks.

Some may want to do testing.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And... KELLYANNE CONWAY: Others may want a contingency plan for older educators who feel that they are at higher risk.

(CROSSTALK) JUDY WOODRUFF: And that... KELLYANNE CONWAY: Yes.

JUDY WOODRUFF: If I could just step in -- I understand you are giving specific recommendations.

That may work for some districts where the prevalence is very low.

But you do have rising cases.

More than half the states right now are seeing a resurgence of COVID.

The district -- school district in Georgia that just this past week opened up early, one district, 900 students and staff are now quarantined because of what they have done.

So, there are caution flags all around.

KELLYANNE CONWAY: Yes.

And I'm raising them, actually, in this interview and in the discussion we had today, because that is indubitably true that some people are very concerned.

That's why we're not -- I'm not saying open the schools now.

I'm saying open them safely.

And each district will have to decide what that means.

But this is a good time to prepare for that, Judy.

In other words, there are protocols in place, the social distancing, the mask wearing, the hygiene, making sure that young children understand what we have all learned as adults now, and how critically important that is, also recommending no cafeteria eating, perhaps eating at your desk, limiting indoor activities, like assemblies, for example.

And I have heard doctors, I have heard epidemiologists and doctors recommend, the more you can do outside than inside for any of us, let alone including these students, the better.

So, each school will need to make those decisions.

I would point out the Kaiser Family Foundation health tracker survey revealed just in the last two weeks that 67 percent of parents say they are worried about their children falling behind socially and 65 falling behind academically.

And in that same survey, 51 percent of the parents said they are worried about themselves not being able to earn enough money if the kids aren't back in school.

So, we are not saying do it today, tomorrow or next week.

We're saying, let's do it safely, and let's not lock down kids indefinitely.

Judy, I have never met a parent... JUDY WOODRUFF: We should also say, if I could just... KELLYANNE CONWAY: Please.

JUDY WOODRUFF: If I could just step in, there was another survey done by the Schar School/Ipsos/The Washington Post showing that more than 80 percent of parents said that they think school should be at least partially online.

Only 16 percent are favoring fully in-person education.

So... KELLYANNE CONWAY: And you are seeing many district have this hybrid or starting virtual, with a promise to reassess, say, in October, November, and, in some cases, longer.

We also heard stories today from folks who are already back in school.

Lubbock, Texas, and some other places, they came to say, we are already back in school.

We also heard from a mother and father who have a Down syndrome, a special needs child in Columbia, South Carolina.

They feel like this is the worst possible outcome for that child, because he requires so many of his services inside, in other words, with those specialists.

So, that shows you there is no-one-size-fits-all mandate.

And we, as a federal government, don't want to do that.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But the other... KELLYANNE CONWAY: We do want to remind the states, though, Judy, that the $13 billion that is available, roughly 4 percent of that has even been tapped into.

So, folks out there in the states, you have resources ready for you to help you to plan to reopen those schools, when you feel it is best to do so.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But I think our question is that, at a time when we are getting new information about children at risk, and even about how children can be strong spreaders of COVID, that this is a very -- it's a very mixed message that the American people are getting from the White House about this.

But, Kellyanne Conway, let me ask you just quickly about the big news on the Democratic presidential ticket.

Joe Biden has introduced his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris.

The president's first reaction in his comments to -- at the White House yesterday were to call her nasty and horrible.

He has called other women politicians, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, nasty.

Is this the tone that is going to mainly come from the president toward her and toward this ticket?

KELLYANNE CONWAY: Well, I have said, Judy, that I think we can take a moment, pause and say, good for history.

We have a young and fragile democracy.

And for a woman of color to be on a major-party ticket is something we should all celebrate.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But that is not what the president said.

(CROSSTALK) KELLYANNE CONWAY: Well, I'm standing in front of the White House saying it to you.

And then I think we can also quickly say that even those who pretend they are forward-looking would bring us backyard, your tax cuts gone, trade deals gone, energy dominance, that we're the net exporters of natural gas and oil, that would be gone.

Kamala Harris and Joe Biden are for abortion in the ninth month.

That is the most extreme position you can have.

And the list goes on and on.

Is she for defunding the police?

Because she made joyful noises about it when Los Angeles did that recently.

She said she was the top cop, and -- but she was also soft on crime.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, Joe Biden is not for defunding the police.

KELLYANNE CONWAY: Well, Joe Biden really should make clear -- well, the ticket will be the ticket.

And here is the issue I see.

I think it is their policy positions.

I think Medicare for - - government-run health care and talking about Green New Deals, which will cost trillions of dollars, and ban air travel and cows and gas, I mean, this is outside of the mainstream of the America.

(CROSSTALK) JUDY WOODRUFF: Yes, there are a lot there are a lot of policy positions that you are throwing out there.

And, as you know, Joe Biden is not for Medicare for all.

And neither is Senator Harris.

But I want to ask you about something else that the president -- he tweeted this morning about suburban housewives wanting safety, and threatening that Cory Booker, who happens to be the only African American senator, male senator, today would invade their neighborhood with low-income housing.

I am just curious, why would the president mention Senator Booker on this -- just right after Joe Biden chooses a black woman, a woman of Asian descent, to be his running mate?

I mean, people are saying this is a racial dog whistle.

(CROSSTALK) KELLYANNE CONWAY: No, that is not fair.

I have not -- I have not discussed that tweet or that issue at all with the president.

But I would gently correct that Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina is an African American male senator currently serving in the United States.

Cory Booker is not the only one.

And Senator Scott, of course, has a wonderful bill.

JUDY WOODRUFF: I meant to say the only African American Democratic senator.

KELLYANNE CONWAY: OK. Having said that, I believe everybody wants public safety.

And I would look at the Gallup poll from last week, Judy, that says 86 percent of Americans say that they want the same or more police presence in their communities.

That included 83 percent of Hispanic Americans and 81 percent of African Americans.

So, this defunding the police or what we see in our great cities across this country, where people are just going out every single night and destroying property, it really belies the memory of those for whom the peaceful protesters actually began.

This is not peaceful protesting.

This is vandalism and violence.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, let me -- and let me just finally bring this back to the central message that we just heard a few minutes ago from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

I mean, she said today, the president failed to take this virus seriously from the start and said that -- in other words, holding this president responsible, and that is what this campaign is going to be about, what -- the fact that the United States is doing so much worse than most of the rest of the world, when -- and the fact that the number of cases in this country far higher than the proportion of the U.S. population to the rest of the world.

KELLYANNE CONWAY: Well, Judy, here is what I would say to Kamala Harris and Joe Biden.

If they have got a better way to tackle this pandemic, what are they waiting for?

Where have they been for five months?

We have been here every day.

I sit in the Coronavirus Task Force meetings right behind Drs.

Birx and Fauci.

That is my regular seat.

I have been here Saturdays and Sundays.

The president and vice president work around the clock.

And we are trying to get this right for the American people.

This president has signed trillions of dollars in relief.

Taking that bold step to ban travel from certain areas that were highly infected early saved additional lives.

Everybody who needed a ventilator got a ventilator.

We are developing vaccines and therapeutics at a record pace.

NIH Director Francis Collins, a doctor who has been there for decades, he said he has never seen something come together so quickly and so well.

And we are working very hard to do that.

We also have dealt with our G7 leaders, because it's a global pandemic, that we have surged supplies, PPE.

We have -- cleaning the nursing homes through the National Guard.

I mean, it goes on and on.

Meanwhile, Congress wasn't even here.

Joe Biden has been in Wilmington.

I told the president, you should go visit Wilmington.

We want to see what all the fuss is.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, I would just say Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer said that the White House -- they have met with Secretary -- with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin today, who said the White House was not budging on its position, whereas they have given a trillion from the $3 trillion that they presented.

So... KELLYANNE CONWAY: Secretary Mnuchin told me just a half-an-hour ago in Oval Office that that was inaccurate, what Nancy Pelosi -- what Speaker Pelosi had tweeted out.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And we want to get that straight.

KELLYANNE CONWAY: But, look, we want to get to the negotiation -- we want to get to the negotiation table.

Judy, it's the Democrats who walked away, compelling the president to take executive action on protecting you from evictions, not having you pay your student loan debt, giving you more unemployment benefit through that payroll tax suspension.

And we're trying to do that, because, in the absence of congressional action and leadership, the president has no choice.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, we are... KELLYANNE CONWAY: We want to get back to the table and get the funding for the schools, get the funding for small businesses, and workers, who need that relief.

But the president also today, in his press briefing, he reviewed some of the great economic data that is happening, more jobs created in the last three months than -- than I think in a very long time.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, we're watching... KELLYANNE CONWAY: And we're coming out of this recovery.

But we would love for -- we would love for Kamala Harris and Joe Biden to help the country now.

Are they waiting until November 4 to announce a big plan?

Let's help the country now, if they have got some great idea cooking in Wilmington.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, we're going to -- we're going to see a debate, an active debate, between now and November 3.

Kellyanne Conway, thank you very much.

KELLYANNE CONWAY: Thank you, Judy.

JUDY WOODRUFF: In the day's other news: COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. top 165,000 tonight, as states weigh how to handle the upcoming school year.

In New Jersey, an early hot spot in the pandemic, Governor Phil Murphy cleared the way today for in-person classes.

He signed an executive order allowing public and private schools from kindergarten to college to reopen, if they observe safety measures.

GOV.

PHIL MURPHY (D-NJ): We have held ongoing discussions with the leaders throughout our higher education system.

And we believe they are ready for this step.

Come the beginning of the school year in September, plans are in place to ensure the safety of all students and staff.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The U.S. budget deficit has hit a record of more than $2.8 trillion 10 months into the fiscal year.

The Treasury Department said that's largely due to federal stimulus aid to help keep the economy afloat during the pandemic.

It predicts that, by fiscal year-end, the 2020 deficit will more than double any on record.

Meanwhile, numbers out of Britain today reveal a pandemic-induced recession that is worsening.

Government statistics show its economy shrunk by a fifth in the second quarter.

That's the worst contraction in 65 years of record-keeping.

Economists fear the U.K.'s downturn may be the deepest among the world's seven leading industrial economies.

To Scotland, where at least three people died and six others were hospitalized today after a passenger train derailed.

It happened about 100 miles northeast of Edinburgh, where severe storms triggered flash floods overnight.

Thick smoke billowed over the hilly field this morning.

Emergency crews struggled to access the site to rescue passengers from overturned train cars.

In Belarus, some 6,000 people have been detained, after the third straight night of clashes between protesters and police.

Demonstrators insist the reelection of President Alexander Lukashenko is illegitimate.

Last night, police assaulted journalists and made widespread arrests.

Today, Lukashenko called the protesters criminals.

ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO, President of Belarus (through translator): The core of these so-called protesters are people with a criminal past and those who are currently unemployed.

Those who don't have a job walk in the streets and avenues.

That's why I'm kindly urging everyone who is unemployed to get a job.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Today, in Minsk, nearly 200 women marched against police brutality, and urged authorities to release those who were detained.

Violent tribal clashes in Sudan have killed at least 25 people and wounded nearly 90 more.

The fighting began Sunday in Port Sudan in the Red Sea province.

Authorities deployed troops and imposed curfews.

Tensions between the Beni Amer tribe and the Nuba tribe date back to 2019, and stem from disputes over water and other resources.

Back in this country, an FBI investigation is under way after an Air Force helicopter was shot at from the ground as it flew over Virginia.

The incident happened Monday during a routine training mission from Joint Base Andrews near Washington.

It was forced to land at Manassas Regional Airport in Virginia.

One crew member was hit in the hand and later released from the hospital.

Stocks soared on Wall Street today, led by a rebound in the technology sector.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 290 points to close at 27977.

The Nasdaq rose 229 points, and the S&P 500 added 46.

Ford Motor is recalling more than half-a-million of its mid-size SUVs due to brake issues.

The recall covers Ford Edge models from 2015 to 2018 and Lincoln MKX vehicles from 2016 to 2018.

The automaker reported some front brake hoses can rupture and leak brake fluid, which could increase stopping distances.

And billionaire media mogul Sumner Redstone has died.

From his family's drive-in movie chain, he built an empire that included CBS, Viacom, and Paramount Pictures, and helped to shape the modern-day entertainment industry.

But his final years were marked by corporate battles and legal disputes with former girlfriends.

Sumner Redstone was 97 years old.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": young people face the realities of COVID, as they account for a rising number of new infections; plus, migrants from around the world risk death crossing the dangerous jungle between Panama and Colombia.

Young people make up a large portion of the new COVID-19 cases that are being seen across the U.S.

In some states, like Arizona and Florida, people under 45 account for more than half of all cases.

As Stephanie Sy reports, doctors are warning that young people need to take more precautions, not only to keep from spreading the virus to older Americans, but for their own sakes as well.

STEPHANIE SY: When Florida eased its lockdown and allowed restaurants and bars to reopen, 22-year-old Nikki Cortland was excited about the possibility of going out.

She'd followed stay-at-home orders for more than two months.

NIKKI CORTLAND, Florida: The officials were coming on TV, the governor, and stating that things were reopening and they were putting all of these safety measures into action.

GOV.

RON DESANTIS (R-FL): I mean, if people go enjoy, have a drink, it's fine.

NIKKI CORTLAND: So, I began thinking, OK, you know, I just graduated college.

I miss my friends.

Why not have one weekend in Orlando?

STEPHANIE SY: Armed with hand sanitizer and masks, Cortland and her friends went to dinner and then a bar.

NIKKI CORTLAND: It was pretty crowded, I would say.

You definitely did not socially distance.

STEPHANIE SY: A few days later, Cortland got a fever.

She tested positive for COVID-19.

So did 30 other people she knew who went to the same bar.

NIKKI CORTLAND: I'm just trying to stay really calm ,but it's really hard.

STEPHANIE SY: Cortland's case was relatively mild, but she said it was still a horrible experience.

NIKKI CORTLAND: I will never forget sitting there and watching the clock go from 3:00 a.m., 4:00 a.m., 5:00 a.m., 6:00 a.m., and not being able to get a deep breath, and being alone.

STEPHANIE SY: Cortland has been using her YouTube channel to warn others that COVID-19 should not be taken lightly.

NIKKI CORTLAND: I just want them to understand that it can happen to you.

STEPHANIE SY: Many aren't getting the message.

Several states have closed bars again, but young people are still going out.

A survey from the Democracy Fund and UCLA found that, during the first week of August, nearly half of Gen Z-ers and more than 40 percent of millennials socialized with people without maintaining social distancing.

That's compared to 14 percent of baby boomers.

And while, statistically speaking, the younger you are, the less likely you are to be hospitalized for COVID, so many young adults are catching the virus that there are now more people age 18 to 49 who have been hospitalized than people age 50 to 64.

DR. PRATIK DOSHI, Memorial Hermann Hospital: A lot of young people are getting sick.

STEPHANIE SY: Dr. Pratik Doshi works at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston.

DR. PRATIK DOSHI: I have seen multiple 20s, lots of 40s and 50s that are out there right now that are getting sick.

And they are ending up in the ICU and not doing well.

STEPHANIE SY: Doshi says people can't assume they're low risk just because they are young.

DR. PRATIK DOSHI: There is a big difference between chronological age and physiological age.

There's lots of 30-year-olds who are inactive, obese, that physiologically may be more like a 60-year-old.

STEPHANIE SY: As a whole, there is evidence that millennials aren't as healthy as past generations.

A Blue Cross/Blue Shield Association survey found last year that people born between 1981 and 1996 are more likely than Gen X to have health conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, all risk factors for COVID-19.

But even young healthy people have gotten severe and even deadly cases of COVID.

Yvette Paz is a 30-year-old single mom, Army veteran and hard-core workout buff who lives in Los Angeles.

She didn't think much of it when she woke up one day in March with a searing headache and body aches.

YVETTE PAZ, Coronavirus Survivor: I noticed a burning sensation in my eyes and a heaviness in my body, a very, very sore feeling, almost like I had a really, really big workout.

STEPHANIE SY: The symptoms got worse.

She tested positive for COVID and was hospitalized that same day.

She chronicled her experience on social media.

YVETTE PAZ: My doctor just left.

He just notified me that I guess my white blood cells have been dropping really fast since yesterday, which is a little concerning.

STEPHANIE SY: One night, she says, she feared for her life.

YVETTE PAZ: I'm in the hospital bed.

I feel like my lungs now are totally immobile.

I'm trying to breathe.

I'm frantically pushing this button to get the nurse.

STEPHANIE SY: She eventually caught her breath and was released from the hospital after a total of five days.

Three months on, she's feeling much better, but still has lingering side effects.

YVETTE PAZ: I do get winded a lot easier than before.

STEPHANIE SY: That's common among COVID patients, and doctors say they are still learning how COVID-19 can cause long-term lung damage.

DR. ANKIT BHARAT, Northwestern Medicine: We think that some of these patients may behave like a group of patients with lung fibrosis, pulmonary fibrosis or interstitial lung disease.

STEPHANIE SY: Last month, Dr. Ankit Bharat performed a double lung transplant on 28-year-old Mayra Ramirez after she was hospitalized with COVID-19.

DR. ANKIT BHARAT: In these patients, we see a lot of bleeding into the lung, but also formation of blood clots.

And they start to form a lot of scar tissue.

There are a lot of cavities that form inside the lungs.

STEPHANIE SY: Ramirez has an autoimmune condition that might have made her more susceptible to the virus.

She has since begun her recovery.

MAYRA RAMIREZ, Received Double Lung Transplant: With the help of my family and support from the community and from my medical team, slowly, but surely, things have gotten a lot better.

STEPHANIE SY: New research shows COVID can cause lung damage even in asymptomatic patients.

Then there's the mental health toll.

In the U.K., psychiatrists have recommended screening COVID-19 patients for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Yvette Paz knows firsthand how traumatizing COVID-19 can be.

YVETTE PAZ: Mentally, it's horrible.

I mean, I was having dreams where I died in the hospital.

STEPHANIE SY: Her experience brought back the PTSD she had from her time in the military.

And, in recent weeks, she's developed agoraphobia, a fear of going outside.

YVETTE PAZ: I went out to a store one day, and I was in line, and I freaked out.

And I noticed that this was happening more and more.

So there's only certain places that I can go to where I feel safe.

STEPHANIE SY: For Paz, the worst part of COVID-19 is the uncertainty, the uncertainty about whether it's damaged her lungs for good, and about whether she could get the disease again.

Doctors say, over the last few months, they have learned how to better treat the virus, but there's still a lot they don't know.

DR. PRATIK DOSHI: We don't know what's going to be -- whether you're going to get really sick or not.

All we know is, it's possible.

That's the challenge.

This is a brand-new virus.

This has never affected the human race before.

STEPHANIE SY: And it's why, experts say, all humans, even young ones, should stay on guard.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Stephanie Sy.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Life around the globe for refugees and migrants fleeing war, persecution, climate change and economic misfortune routinely find themselves in great peril along migrant trails.

Perhaps the most perilous path anywhere, through the Darien Gap, a wild, lawless stretch that straddles Colombia and Panama.

Last fall, before the pandemic, and with the support of the Pulitzer Center, correspondent Nadja Drost and videographer Bruno Federico put themselves at great risk to bring us stories of people risking everything to make their ways north toward the U.S. And a warning: The images and accounts in this report may disturb some viewers.

NADJA DROST: Where South America meets Central America lies one of the world's wildest jungles.

It's roadless, lawless, and almost entirely uninhabited, its name, the Darien Gap.

Underneath the soaring jungle canopy, migrants from around the world risk death crossing the jungle, in a desperate bid to reach the U.S. and Canada.

They have no map, and no instructions on how to make it through one of the world's most dangerous migration routes.

JEAN DELICAT, Haitian Migrant (through translator): I would like to send a message to anyone who is thinking of doing this route.

It's very dangerous.

If I knew this, I wouldn't have done it.

NADJA DROST: Many migrants spend a week or even two on this trail before they reach a village and safety.

But these journeys started long before.

Migrants from Asia, the Middle East and Africa flew into Ecuador or Brazil, where visa requirements are somewhat lax.

Haitians also use this route as a springboard north.

But to get from Colombia to Panama, they have to cross the Darien Gap by foot.

It's the only missing 66-mile break in the Pan-American Highway from the tip of Argentina up to Alaska.

Migrants go first to the end of the road in Colombia, the port town of Necocli, to head west along the Caribbean.

The passenger manifest was global.

Most had little idea of what lay ahead.

They dock in Capurgana, a tourist town, now a trailhead for migrants headed into the Darien.

We set out to join up with the migrant trail, and reached a makeshift camp where smugglers wait for migrants.

At dusk, a group of Cameroonians and Pakistanis arrived.

They were exhausted, and relieved to find the last spot on the trail where they can get hot food.

Morning broke with torrential rain.

The Darien is one of the wettest places on the planet.

The environment could hardly be more different from the high mountains of Pakistan this group of friends call home.

NIHAL AHMAD, Pakistani Migrant (through translator): The Taliban targeted our family from time to time.

That is why I had to leave my country.

NADJA DROST: We packed our food for five days, and, with guides we hired, followed the migrants as they set out on a daylong ascent of a mountain ahead.

The steep and slippery terrain was tough for everyone, but nearly impossible with an injury.

This woman, from Cameroon, could barely put weight on her knee.

Exhaustion took over.

WOMAN: The pain is too much.

The pain is more than me.

NADJA DROST: Up the mountain, the smuggler the Cameroonians and Pakistanis hired demanded payment.

As we hiked, young men carrying square backpacks filled with bricks of cocaine passed us.

We were told to expect their heavily armed security patrolling, so we put our camera away.

WOMAN: I will fall.

MAN: But she got courage.

NADJA DROST: After a steep descent, the group made it to this river.

They were almost out of food.

Smugglers won't venture any farther into Panama, where they could face over a decade in prison if they're caught.

This one, who didn't want his face shown, wished smugglers weren't prosecuted, so they could help migrants safely complete their journey.

MAN (through translator): I have had to see mothers who tell their children they can't go on to give themselves up to God.

For anyone who has a family or kids, that breaks your heart.

NADJA DROST: Another smuggler, who can't be identified, told us he came across this migrant, who had been injured and spent two weeks on this mountainside.

MAN (through translator): He was only crawling, crawling like a child.

It's common.

Most people who injure themselves die, because there's no help for them.

NADJA DROST: From here on, migrants are on their own.

The next morning, we came across George, a Cameroonian man.

Injured, he had been left behind by his group.

Then, forging ahead alone, he fell and dislocated his shoulder.

Our guides popped it back into place.

He was one of many Cameroonians on this trail who didn't want to be identified by name, fleeing a brutal conflict in his country.

GEORGE, Cameroonian Migrant (through translator): You know, when you are running for your safety, you don't care what is happening to you.

You don't care what's in front of you.

You just want to have a safe ground.

NADJA DROST: Just like his group of friends had, we him behind hobbling onwards.

The trail and riverbanks were littered with signs of desperation.

Before long, a large group of Haitians and Sri Lankans appeared.

Jean Delicat, a father of two: JEAN DELICAT (through translator): It's been six days that we're walking without stopping.

The children cry of hunger.

There's no food.

There's nothing.

NADJA DROST: There was nothing else for them to do but try to go ahead.

These Haitians had been living legally in Brazil or Chile.

Among them were six children and three pregnant women.

Dusk fell, and the Haitians made camp high above the river.

It was hard to find wood dry enough to make a fire and even harder to find food to cook.

The night's catch, a few fish.

Lying smugglers often tell migrants they're almost to their destination, which is why many, like Delicat, had already tossed their clothing and food.

JEAN DELICAT (through translator): The bread is finished right now.

I have brought nothing, nothing here, nothing.

NADJA DROST: Your Bible?

JEAN DELICAT (through translator): My Bible.

Yes, my Bible and my books.

NADJA DROST: Dawn broke after a night of heavy rain.

They have barely slept.

They are soaking wet and very hungry.

But, in fact, we are stuck here for now.

That's because, overnight, the rain made the river rise dramatically.

It was too high to cross.

The rivers often pull children from their parents' arms and sweep migrants to their death.

Marooned, with unwelcome time to think, worries took over the Haitians, like Rosi Bantour.

ROSI BANTOUR, Haitian Migrant (through translator): Sometimes, I think that, if I was not this poor, I wouldn't have got into this situation.

NADJA DROST: The river level dropped, and we finally set out again.

Later, we were joined by 15 Bangladeshi men with nothing but the clothes they were wearing.

They had been robbed four times on the trail of everything.

A man we are calling Saeed, because he is scared to be identified, explained: SAEED, Bangladeshi Migrant (through translator): A group of five to seven mafias came to us.

They pointed a gun towards us and took away our bags and everything.

They left nothing for us.

They even took away our food.

NADJA DROST: The river was dangerously high, and we cut the day short and set up camp.

The next morning, eight migrants from Haiti and Ghana who began the crossing with the Haitians, but fell behind, suddenly showed up.

Among them, a woman and her boyfriend from Haiti were robbed by bandits days earlier.

One grabbed the boyfriend's arm, threatening to cut it with a machete.

Charlie Pierre from Haiti helped tell us what happened.

CHARLIE PIERRE, Haitian Migrant (through translator): After, the thief said, "Go off, and leave the woman behind."

And so he's walking, but looking behind, and sees these guys lowering his wife's underwear.

NADJA DROST: One of the men assaulted her, penetrating her intimate parts with his fingers, looking for dollar bills they suspect migrants of hiding.

Later, we heard many stories of this and other abuse on the trail.

After another night of heavy rain, the river is very, very high, it's going to be risky to cross it, but we simply can not wait any longer, because we have run out of food.

Pierre found a pregnant Haitian woman he had been searching for, and we got on our way, trying to sidestep the river.

After eight days on the trail, Rosina Boateng's family from Ghana had run out of food.

ROSINA BOATENG, Ghanaian Migrant: When is it going to finish?

The hope -- I lost hope.

I really lost hope.

NADJA DROST: Stomachs were empty, legs were quivering.

Because the river was too high, we had to make a detour, winding up into the forest, and dimming all hopes of reaching a settlement in Panama by night.

The next day, minds were racing with one question: Will we make it out of here?

There were foreboding reminders of those who did not.

But these migrants joined the legions of survivors crossing the Darien Gap.

As the river opened up, a driver and his outboard canoe appeared.

We were on our way, finally, to a village.

This night, the group made its way out of the Darien Gap, but the rest of their journey is as opaque as the black waters ahead.

From the Darien Gap in Panama, reporting with Bruno Federico, I'm Nadja Drost for the "PBS NewsHour."

JUDY WOODRUFF: Just incredible reporting.

And, tomorrow, Nadja will report on the uneasy waiting game in Panama for the migrants who make it through the Darien Gap.

And that's the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm Judy Woodruff.

Join us online and again here tomorrow evening.

For all of us at the "PBS NewsHour," thank you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon.