AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

On the "News Hour" tonight: KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate: When the middle class is strong, America is strong.

GEOFF BENNETT: Kamala Harris outlines her economic plan, including child tax credits, housing incentives, and a ban on price gouging on groceries.

AMNA NAWAZ: Negotiators for a Gaza cease-fire deal make significant progress, but sticking points remain.

GEOFF BENNETT: And amid a horrific civil war in Sudan, that country's vice president defends his unwillingness to participate in U.S.-led peace talks.

(BREAK) GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "News Hour."

It was her first major policy speech since becoming the Democratic presidential candidate last month.

AMNA NAWAZ: This afternoon, Vice President Kamala Harris laid out her vision for combating one of the biggest issues for voters in this year's election and one that has dogged the Biden/Harris administration, rising prices.

Today, Vice President Harris on the trail in North Carolina as her campaign unveils its economic agenda.

KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate: Costs are still too high.

And on a deeper level, for too many people, no matter how much they work, it feels so hard to just be able to get ahead.

AMNA NAWAZ: The focus, they say, lowering costs for everyday Americans.

New data this week shows inflation cooling year over year, but a recent swing state voter survey shows, on economic issues... DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: They say it's the most important subject.

AMNA NAWAZ: ... Harris' Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, still has an edge; 48 percent of respondents said they trust Trump more to get inflation and the cost of living under control compared to 42 percent for Harris.

Trump's lead is, however, shrinking compared to how he fared against President Biden on the same issue.

Meanwhile, at a Trump campaign event in New Jersey last night... DONALD TRUMP: We wouldn't have inflation.

We wouldn't have had the Israeli attack.

AMNA NAWAZ: ... the former president veered off script once again from planned remarks on combating antisemitism to a controversial comment about Republican megadonor Miriam Adelson.

In 2018, Trump awarded Adelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Last night, he claimed that award was -- quote -- "better" than the highest decoration for members of the U.S. military.

DONALD TRUMP: It's actually much better because everyone gets the congressional Medal of Honor.

That's soldiers.

They're either in very bad shape because they have been hit so many times by bullets or they're dead.

AMNA NAWAZ: A progressive veterans political action committee, VoteVets, that's endorsed Harris called Trump's remarks insulting, saying -- quote -- "Donald Trump doesn't respect veterans and their sacrifice."

But Trump's running mate, Ohio senator and military veteran J.D.

Vance, defended Trump at the Milwaukee Police Association today.

SEN. J.D.

VANCE (R-OH), Vice Presidential Candidate: This is a guy who loves our veterans and who honors our veterans.

I don't think him complimenting and saying a nice word about a person who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom is in any way denigrating those who received military honors.

AMNA NAWAZ: It was Vance's second stop in Wisconsin this month after being named Trump's running mate at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July.

The Democratic National Convention will begin next week in neighboring Illinois, where Harris is expected to roll out additional detailed policy proposals.

For more on the specifics of Harris' economic policy proposals, I'm joined by Jeanna Smialek, economics reporter for The New York Times.

Jeanna, thanks for being with us.

JEANNA SMIALEK, The New York Times: Thanks for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, let's start with the Harris campaign's plan to address what they call price gouging here and what they blame in part for higher grocery prices.

The Harris campaign says that she would implement the first ever federal ban on corporate price gouging and will work with the FTC and Congress to do so.

So, Jeanna, what exactly are they proposing that they would do on this front?

And knowing what you do about why grocery prices are where they are, could this approach actually work to bring those prices down?

JEANNA SMIALEK: So what exactly is kind of the key question here?

And the answer is, we don't know yet.

We do not know exactly what this policy would look like.

And I think the devil is really in the details.

We do not know how they go about preventing price gouging or even how they're defining price gouging at this point.

What we do know is that profits went up quite a lot in the grocery sector during the sort of aftermath of the 2020 pandemic.

So, in 2021, we saw profit shoot up at grocery stores and they stayed up for a while.

That was pretty consistent with what we saw across the economy.

We really saw a lot of companies raking in a lot more profits because they were charging more.

As costs had started to shoot up, they were charging more to try and cover those costs and they actually even charged a bit more than was just necessary to cover costs during that period.

And so there are a lot of people out there, a lot of economists, particularly on the progressive side of the aisle, who have been saying things like this was an example of price gouging.

This was an example of what happens when you have an imperfectly competitive marketplace and really saying that we need to see some sort of response from the government on this.

And that is what we're potentially seeing here.

Now, you will get economists on the other side saying that this was an economy that basically worked the way you would expect.

We had shortages for things.

We had shortages for eggs.

We had shortages for a lot of grain-type things during this period.

And as a result, companies were charging more because things were in short supply and they could charge more.

And that resulted in more production and then prices came down.

And so some economists are saying, this is econ 101.

This is how things work.

If you put some sort of price mechanism or in some way stop the economy working from working the way that it just would on its own, you might not have that supply come online.

And at the same time, progressive economists are really celebrating this.

So you have got a very, very contentious debate without a lot of detail.

AMNA NAWAZ: And the devil, as you say, is in those details.

So let's move on to housing then, we know is another big piece of this policy proposal.

And on addressing the housing shortage and affordability problem in America, this is what the Harris campaign says they will do.

They say that a potential President Harris would call for the construction of three million new housing units over the next four years, also that the government would provide first-time homebuyers with up to $25,000 in down payment assistance.

Jeanna, from the experts you talked to who have looked at these plans, how viable our plans like this for that kind of level of building and what's their potential impact?

JEANNA SMIALEK: Yes, so I think there are two big questions here.

One is political viability and the second is economic viability.

So when it comes to the political viability side, this stuff would have to pass Congress.

In order to get those three million new homes built, you would really have to have a lot of -- the way the Harris campaign is proposing to do it is through a lot of incentives for homebuilders and for local housing authorities to really sort of encourage home building.

And that money needs to come from Congress.

So I think there's a real question, could you get it through?

What does Congress look like?

Is this going to be possible?

Then, on the back side of that, you have got to say, would it work and would it work in the time frame that the Harris campaign is talking about?

Because it's a pretty ambitious, pretty accelerated time frame they're laying out here.

She's saying those three million units will go up within the four years that she's -- the first four years that she's in office.

And so I think that those are those are some big questions.

And then flip side here is, if you're not building enough supply and you're giving employer -- or you're giving first-time homebuyers $25,000 as a credit, is there a risk that just all goes to prices?

Is there a risk that home sellers can just charge more these, because now homebuyers can afford to pay more?

And so I think this is a big, knotty set of questions that will really depend on sort of the political and practical realities at the moment.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, another set of proposals that would also have to go through Congress has to do with the child tax credit.

On that, the Harris campaign says that she would propose not only restoring the child tax credit that was first introduced during the pandemic of $3,000 per child under the age of 18, up to $3,600 per child under the age of 6, but expanding the provision to $6,000 per child under the age of one for middle- and low-income families.

So what's the viability for a plan like that and what kind of a difference could that make?

JEANNA SMIALEK: Yes, so this is a fascinating one because there really is a lot of bipartisan support for the child tax credit, in fact.

You actually saw J.D.

Vance over the weekend talking about how he'd love to see a bigger child tax credit.

And so I think that there is some possibility that Republicans would reach across the aisle on this one, that you could get something through Congress on the child tax credit.

I think the huge question, though, is, how do you pay for it?

It obviously is expensive to do these things.

The Harris campaign hasn't laid out in detail how they're planning on paying for these kinds of policies.

They do mention in their campaign briefings things like making corporations and wealthy Americans pay their fair share.

But, at this point, we don't have any sort of detailed explanation of how these policies would be offset in the budget.

And so I think that's the big question here going forward.

AMNA NAWAZ: Jeanna, briefly, if you can, when you look big picture at these policy proposals, how do they compare to some of the proposals and the policies we have seen from the Biden administration?

Is this the Harris campaign going in a new and different direction or more of the same?

JEANNA SMIALEK: Yes, so I think a lot of this actually really builds on sort of the Biden agenda, but then takes it just a step further and makes it a little bit more dramatic, maybe a little bit more populist in some cases, like the price gouging proposal, and certainly tries to really tackle a lot of kitchen table issues surrounding costs and price increases that have really just bedeviled the Biden/Harris White House.

These have been real issues that they have struggled to sort of connect with voters on, and it seems like she's tackling them pretty head on here.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is Jeanna Smialek, economics reporter for The New York Times.

Jeanna, thank you so much.

Good to speak with you.

JEANNA SMIALEK: Thanks for having me.

GEOFF BENNETT: Turning our focus now to the Middle East, where mediators working toward a Gaza cease-fire wrapped up a second day of talks and, by some indications, ended on a hopeful note.

Nick Schifrin joins us with more.

Nick, it's good to see you.

So where do these talks stand right now?

NICK SCHIFRIN: As you said, Geoff, U.S. officials are hopeful, even optimistic.

A senior administration official who briefed reporters this afternoon used phrases like this -- quote - - "This process is now in the endgame, a deal that is ready to be closed.

The package is basically there."

But, crucially, there is still no Israeli and Hamas agreement to new language that U.S., Qatari and Egyptian mediators today called a bridging proposal.

Now, recall that there is an overall agreement on the framework of the first phase of this deal, six-week cease-fire, the release of more than 30 hostages from Hamas and 700 Palestinian detainees released by Israel, and a humanitarian aid surge alongside a phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

But there are disagreements and the new language is designed to bridge these disputes.

So, number one, the senior officials said, on Israel's insistence to control the Philadelphi Corridor between Gaza and Egypt -- quote -- "That issue is moving the right way."

Number two, on checkpoints inside Gaza that Israel insists on, the official said the agreement aimed to block Gazans who might move from the south to the north with weapons.

And, number three, in the coming days, working groups will examine which Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners will be released and in what sequence.

The U.S., Egypt and Qatar said today that they will aim to -- quote -- "conclude the deal next week in Cairo when they reconvene."

President Biden said, "We're closer than we have ever been."

But, again, there's no confirmation from Israel or Hamas, the two sides fighting this war, that they will agree to language that the U.S. hopes not only pauses the war, but also blocks an Iranian attack on Israel.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, what do officials say about the possibility of such an attack?

NICK SCHIFRIN: They are still very worried about that because they have seen Iran make preparations for that attack.

President Biden explicitly said tonight no one in the region, i.e., Iran, should launch an attack that could derail the negotiations.

So if holding out hope for a Gaza cease-fire, if you will, is the kind of carrot to Iran, the administration also delivered a stick, a explicit warning to Iran.

The senior administration official said of Iran's warning that it might strike Israel, he said -- quote -- "We would also encourage the Iranians, and I know many are, not to move down that road because the consequences could be quite cataclysmic, particularly for Iran."

That is not language that this administration often uses.

Tomorrow night, Secretary of State Tony Blinken, you see him there on a previous trip to Israel, will travel to Israel again to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a visit designed to underscore that U.S. message on Iran, but also, crucially, Geoff, try to make sure the Netanyahu agrees to the cease-fire language that is coming out today.

Because, again, that other administration official warned Israel today -- quote -- "If you continue to negotiate for months and months and try and get the perfect deal, you risk having no hostages left to save."

GEOFF BENNETT: All right, Nick Schifrin, thanks, as always.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: Appreciate it.

We start the day's other news with the war in Ukraine.

After a week of headlines about Ukraine's incursion into Russia, now it's Russia which is looking to score a major military victory.

Authorities in the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk have urged residents there to evacuate as troops draw near.

The city is one of Ukraine's main defensive strongholds and a key logistics hub in the Donetsk region.

Meantime, Ukraine's army chief told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy via video call today that his forces are advancing a little over a mile into Russian territory.

Ukraine says it now controls more than 440 square miles of Russia's Kursk region.

Thousands of people protested in cities across India today amid growing national anger after a trainee doctor was raped and killed at a government hospital last week.

PROTESTERS: We want justice!

We want justice!

We want justice!

GEOFF BENNETT: At one rally in New Delhi, medical workers in their white coats joined protesters to call for accountability.

The protests started a week ago when police found the bloodied body of the 31-year-old at a medical college in Kolkata.

An autopsy later confirmed that she had been sexually assaulted.

DR. HANSIKA ANURAGI, Protester (through translator): Women of this country are being wronged daily.

Whether you are a rich or a poor woman, educated or uneducated woman, everyone's fate is the same.

Predators can do anything they want to women in this country.

There is no justice.

There is no action.

GEOFF BENNETT: The Indian Medical Association has called for a 24-hour withdrawal of services in protest starting Saturday, though they say essential services will still be provided.

Final hurricane preparations are under way in Bermuda as Ernesto churns closer to its coastlines.

The Category 2 storm is strengthening as it moves up the Atlantic, packing maximum sustained winds of 100 miles per hour.

Ernesto could drop a foot of rain on the British territory starting Saturday morning.

Meantime, in Puerto Rico, power has yet to be restored to some 250,000 people nearly three days after the storm made landfall there.

Another 170,000 are without water.

The outages in Puerto Rico have prompted health and safety concerns for the island, where more than 40 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.

A jury in Florida has convicted a white woman in the fatal shooting of a Black neighbor over a dispute related to children playing near her home.

The all-white jury found 60-year-old Susan Lorincz guilty of manslaughter after two-and-a-half-hours of deliberation.

Lorincz had claimed self-defense when she fired a single shot through her front door in June of last year, killing 35-year-old Ajike "A.J."

Owens.

She faces up to 30 years in prison.

President Biden designated the site of an infamous 1908 race riot in Illinois as a national monument today.

Mr. Biden was joined by lawmakers and civil rights leaders in the Oval Office as he signed a proclamation making the site federal land.

The monument covers more than 1.5 acres and serves as a reminder of the two-day riot by white mobs that resulted in the deaths of several Black residents and destroyed dozens of homes and businesses.

At the White House today, President Biden said it is important to remember such history and that it doesn't fade away.

JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: People wanting to erase history, to literally erase history.

We're allowing history to be written, so our children, our grandchildren, everybody understands what happened and what could still happen.

GEOFF BENNETT: One notable fallout from the 1908 Springfield riots is that the tragedy helped lead to the creation of the NAACP.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy picked his former chief of staff today to replace Senator Bob Menendez, who plans to resign later this month following his federal bribery conviction.

At a press conference in Newark today, Governor Murphy said George Helmy will serve in the Senate until shortly after the November election.

Once a winner is certified, Murphy will appoint that person to fill the role until the new Senate is sworn in early next year.

Democratic Congressman Andy Kim is running against Republican real estate developer Curtis Bashaw to fill the seat left by Menendez.

On Wall Street today, stocks closed out their best week of the year with some modest gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average added nearly 100 points, as recent economic data calmed investors' nerves.

The Nasdaq tacked on 37 points to close out the week.

The S&P 500 extended its winning streak to a seventh straight session.

And we at "PBS News Hour" are saddened to report that former NPR chief executive John Lansing has died just months after leaving the job.

In his four-and-a-half years at the helm, Lansing saw NPR through the COVID pandemic, staff layoffs, and a financial crisis that he himself described as existential.

Before that, Lansing enjoyed a long career in broadcasting and cable television.

John Lansing was 67 years old.

Still to come on the "News Hour": how the city hosting next week's Democratic National Convention has been handling a migrant surge; David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart break down the week's news; and former U.S.

Ambassador John Sullivan discusses his new book about what led up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Chicago, the city hosting the Democratic National Convention next week, has been at the center of the national conversation U.S. immigration policy.

Laura Barron-Lopez is there and has this report.

REV.

KENNETH PHELPS, Pastor, Concord Missionary Baptist Church: All of us, to be human is to face adversity in our lives.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Concord Missionary Baptist Church on Chicago's South Side has transformed in the last two years.

REV.

KENNETH PHELPS: Give God's praise.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The historically Black church now offers live translation during its services to accommodate a growing number of Spanish-speaking congregants who fled their homes for the United States.

Kenneth Phelps is the church's pastor.

REV.

KENNETH PHELPS: They're here.

They're hungry and they're hurting and they're in our community.

And from a Christian standpoint, we have always welcomed the visitors and strangers.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: People like Belixis Lugo, who are strangers no more.

She now lives in a studio apartment with her two daughters after spending six months in a city-run shelter when they arrived from Venezuela.

BELIXIS LUGO, Migrant (through translator): It's good to feel that you have peace.

And Pastor Phelps has helped me a lot with that.

Any problem that we have or anything we need, he always tells us to let him know and that he will take care of us.

I feel at home.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: But the integration of these new members has not been easy.

REV.

KENNETH PHELPS: Many of the community weren't welcoming.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Phelps says community outrage erupted early last year when the city opened a shelter for migrants at a defunct elementary school around the corner from the church.

The community had been told that it would be a job training center.

REV.

KENNETH PHELPS: We were told that the city didn't have resources to do that.

And then, somehow, seriously, magically, you find moneys to open up a shelter.

It just didn't set right with the community.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Over the last two years, Chicago has spent nearly half-a-billion dollars on 18 migrants.

It's one of several Democratic-led cities targeted by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has bused more than 100,000 migrants in a politically motivated move to shift the nation's attention to immigration.

GOV.

GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): I took the border to them and those buses will continue to roll until we finally secure our border.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: At its peak in January, Chicago housed 15,000 migrants.

Today, the number is roughly 5,000, a drop that has coincided with a massive decline in the number of people apprehended crossing the southern border, due in part to a Biden administration action currently blocking asylum seekers.

BEATRIZ PONCE DE LEON, Chicago Deputy Mayor for Immigrant, Migrant and Refugee Rights: So there are no people to put on buses to Chicago in mass numbers that we're aware of.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Beatriz Ponce de Leon, Chicago's deputy mayor for immigrant, migrant and refugee rights, says the city is looking for more action from Washington.

BEATRIZ PONCE DE LEON: This is a federal responsibility.

What we have done here is build a asylum seeker resettlement program.

It has been tense at times, but we have managed to do it without taking away from any programs or any other communities.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Like his 2020 and 2016 campaigns, Trump has increasingly demonized migrants.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: They're poisoning the blood of our country.

That's what they have done.

They have poisoned.

Mental institutions and prisons all over the world.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Earlier this week repeating his 2020 message that migrants were destroying American suburbs, Trump's campaign posted a meme on social media saying: "Import the Third World, become the Third World."

But he's also using the influx of migrants in blue cities over the last two years to win over some Black voters at the margins.

DONALD TRUMP: I will tell you that coming -- coming from the border are millions and millions of people that happen to be taking Black jobs.

JAIME DOMINGUEZ, Northwestern University: Again, perception is reality when it comes to politics.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Jaime Dominguez is a professor at Northwestern University.

He says the large numbers of migrants sent to Chicago and other cities ignited a broader discussion among Democrats.

JAIME DOMINGUEZ: It did at least force the Democratic Party to begin to have a conversation, right, about, going forward, what kind of platform they were going to put forward when it came to immigration.

NARRATOR: As a border state prosecutor, she took on drug cartels.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: In recent weeks, the Harris campaign began running ads in Arizona and Nevada that lean into her background as attorney general of California and includes a pledge to hire thousands more Border Patrol agents.

In rallies, Vice President Kamala Harris has attacked Republicans for killing a border security bill, one of the most conservative to be considered by Congress in decades.

KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate: Earlier this year, we had a chance to pass the toughest bipartisan border security bill in decades.

But Donald Trump tanked the deal.

KAMALA HARRIS: Despite polls showing Harris ahead or gaining momentum in nearly all battleground states, a recent PBS News/NPR/Marist poll found registered voters favor Trump on handling immigration, 53 percent compared to 47 percent for Harris.

The former president has made the deportation of undocumented immigrants a central tenet of his campaign's immigration proposals.

DONALD TRUMP: We are going to start the largest mass deportation in the history of our country because we have no choice.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: That worries 24-year-old Estefania Riera, who arrived in Chicago four months ago with her partner and her two children.

ESTEFANIA RIERA, Migrant (through translator): We feel very hurt.

We understand the damage they will do to us.

There may be some people who come to do harm, but we are not all the same.

In Venezuela, my 13-year-old brother was killed, so I fled to the United States.

We just want to work, to look for a better life here for our children and for ourselves.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Riera is a client at Onward House on the city's northwest side, a nonprofit supporting asylum seekers in Chicago.

Despite fewer people arriving in recent months, caseworker Jonny Barrera says the organization is still scrambling to provide services.

JONNY BARRERA, Onward Neighborhood House: We actually have more than 1,000 on the waiting list, so it's a very high need.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Barrera says many clients here are aware that their ability to make a life in the U.S. may be upended if former President Trump wins in November.

JONNY BARRERA: They're very well informed on what's going on, and so having to come into this country during the elections and now having to run the risk of being deported, the clients are very afraid.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Here in Chicago, the promised influx of migrants from Texas to coincide with the Democratic National Convention hasn't materialized, and, today, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that encounters were down 32 percent from June to July, the lowest monthly total since September of 2020.

And that's the first full month of data since President Biden signed an executive action restricting asylum seekers -- Geoff.

GEOFF BENNETT: Laura Barron-Lopez, thank you.

Just days before she formally accepts her party's nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Vice President Kamala Harris is unveiling key policy proposals.

For that and more, we turn to the analysis tonight of Brooks and Capehart.

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

It's great to see you both.

So, Jonathan, Kamala Harris, as we mentioned, she's hoping to sharpen her economic message with a focus on cutting costs.

Your paper, The Washington Post, referred to it as an aggressively populist economic agenda.

She's talking about eliminating medical debt for millions of Americans, a cap on prescription drug costs, a $25,000 subsidy for first-time homebuyers.

Give us some of your top takeaways from the speech and her policy rollout.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Well, clearly, as we know from the polls, that the economy is either issue number one, two, or three for the American people.

So it makes sense that she would use her first policy speech to focus on not just economics, and just a piece of economics, because she did say at the top of her remarks that there are a bunch of other things that she's going to roll out later, but she wanted to focus on this very narrow issue, which are issues that the American people say is top of mind for them, cost of living, and everything that relates to that, whether it's drug prices or rents or grocery prices.

And so whether she will be able to fulfill a lot of these promises, that remains to be seen.

A lot of it also has to do with the makeup of the next Congress.

But the thing that is top of mind for me is that not only is she using prices and consumer prices and what the American voters are thinking of, where the economy hits them hardest in the pocketbook.

This comes after The Financial Times/University of Michigan Ross School of Business put out a poll, I think it was on Saturday or Sunday, just over the weekend, that showed that the vice president is one point higher, 42 percent to 41 percent for Donald Trump, in terms of how the people surveyed who they trust to guide the economy.

And that's no matter who they wanted to vote for.

And so the momentum that we have seen the vice president have at her back since taking over the top of the ticket is now -- she's got the momentum at her back when it comes to policy issues and on the economy in particular.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, David, on this matter of economic policy, the vice president is also proposing the first ever ban on price gouging for groceries.

This is something I know you took particular issue with.

It polls well with swing voters, but economists say the underlying reasons why prices are higher, it's a more complicated argument.

DAVID BROOKS: Yes, I mean, she has some good policies in this package.

I think the child tax credit is a good thing.

She wants to deregulate housing, so we can get more homes.

But the price gouging is just - - well, Catherine Rampell, The Washington Post columnist and a "News Hour" contributor, said it's impossible to exaggerate how bad this policy is.

And I agree with that.

And Catherine had a good line that if your opponent is calling you a communist, maybe don't lead with price controls.

And so price controls just create shortages.

They create black markets.

We have seen it happen in Venezuela.

We have seen it happen in the Soviet Union.

Price controls just don't work.

What's worse about that, first, it's trying to address a problem that does not exist.

Price -- grocery prices, inflation has been less than 1 percent for the past year.

It's over.

We had a surge, but it's over.

The problem does not exist.

But the real core problem is it expresses a level of economic illiteracy which is kind of surprising in a responsible Democratic candidate.

The idea behind greedflation is that we had all these years of low inflation under Obama and under Bushes.

And I guess people weren't greedy then.

And then Biden gets in, and suddenly, magically, they all get greedy and start price gouging.

And they do it at Kroger's, Harris Teeter, at H-E-B.

Suddenly, there's this mass of price gouging.

And she thinks she can prosecute it.

That's not why inflation surged.

Inflation surged because we had a pandemic which screwed up supply chains and productivity.

Then the Biden administration overstimulated the economy, too many dollars chasing too few goods.

Obama administration official Larry Summers and Jason Furman said at the time, this is going to cause inflation.

Lo and behold, it did.

The Fed has to clamp down on growth, raising everybody's interest payments.

That's what caused inflation.

That's solid, basic economics.

Her greedflation plan is somewhere off -- outside of normal economics.

GEOFF BENNETT: What about that, Jonathan, that the Harris policy, parts of it at least, speak to an economic illiteracy?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Well, I mean, I'd take issue with the use of the word illiteracy.

But we will just have to agree to disagree on our word choices, David.

But Catherine Rampell raises a very good point.

And her column, I found to be rather persuasive.

And so now it's incumbent upon the vice president and her team to flesh this out a little bit -- a little bit more.

But if we're going to talk about economic illiteracy, can we talk about Donald Trump in his proposal that he talked about at his press conference, I believe it was last night, talking about a tariff on all imports?

And we don't talk enough about what that tariff on all imports would mean to the American consumer.

And that would mean higher prices.

But the former president doesn't talk about that.

So I think whether you're talking about the vice president's plan on price gouging and whether she'd be able to get that done, or we talk about the former president's plan for tariffs on all imports, let's have this robust conversation, which I think we will have, because the vice president still has to flesh out other pieces of her economic agenda.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, let's keep our focus on Donald Trump for a moment, because he is facing backlash over his comments about veterans.

Here's what he said at an event at his Bedminster estate over the weekend.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: I watched Sheldon sitting so proud in the White House when we gave Miriam the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

That's the highest award you can get as a civilian.

It's the equivalent of the congressional Medal of Honor, but civilian version.

It's actually much better because everyone gets the Congressional Medal of Honor.

That's soldiers.

They're either in very bad shape because they have been hit so many times by bullets or they're dead.

She gets it, and she's a healthy, beautiful woman.

It's like... (CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) DONALD TRUMP: And they're rated equal.

GEOFF BENNETT: What should we make of these comments from last night?

DAVID BROOKS: You know, when I covered the McCain campaign, he had a whole group of Medal of Honor winners.

And they were not bullet-ridden.

They were great guys.

I loved -- I was in awe to be around those guys.

People who win the Medal of Honor, they have done something really awesome and something amazing.

And -- but throughout his career, Donald Trump has had trouble with military valor.

He attacked McCain on it.

He's attacked the people who were in the cemeteries in France.

He's attacked them here because that's what real manhood looks like.

And it bugs him.

And so this is just a piece of that emotional weakness in Donald Trump's care.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, Jonathan, there are Republicans who've pointed out that, at a time when you have the Republican campaign targeting Walz's military record, this gives the Harris campaign fodder for a counterattack now aimed at Donald Trump.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Absolutely.

I mean, what did Mrs. Adelson do that was in service to something other than herself?

I mean, the people who get these medals, particularly the members of the military who the former president disparaged, gave something.

Either they gave their lives or they gave their limbs or they gave their mental health.

They gave a lot for this -- in service of this country.

It is -- like, these are the biggest patriots there are.

And I agree with David.

This is -- I wouldn't say he's got some little defect.

I think the president -- I think Donald Trump is broken.

He is broken when it comes to anything related to, I don't know, human feelings, something where someone does something for someone other than themselves.

And I don't know.

Well, it's too late for him to fix it.

But it's not too late for the American people to ensure that he's never put in a position to give another Presidential medal of Freedom again.

GEOFF BENNETT: And again, from a political standpoint, is there a risk that voters grow tired of what is now a very familiar act?

I raise the question because Megyn Kelly, the former FOX personality who now has a podcast, I think, still influential in conservative circles, said that Trump's rambling, that's the word that she used, rambling is boring.

And she says it's probably age-related.

DAVID BROOKS: Yes, I wonder about that.

I mean, Trump has been saying stupid stuff for a long time.

And, frankly, for all of Kamala Harris' rise, which is real - - like, it's been fantastic the rise she's had from her perspective -- but Trump is still doing better than he was then in 2020 or 2016.

So he's still a very viable candidate.

And all the stupid comments, which now run into the zillions, don't seem to have hurt him because people basically think he gets them.

And you can tell a lot of lies, but if people think they get you and they recognize the story you tell about America, they will support you nonetheless.

So, he may be getting old.

I certainly -- watching the rallies, I think he's less funny than he was.

Certainly, just as an entertainer, he's less of an entertainer.

So I think Megyn Kelly is definitely onto something, but so far I don't see big political deficits for him on that front.

GEOFF BENNETT: Jonathan, what about that?

Because earlier you mentioned Kamala Harris' momentum.

Does the energy and enthusiasm on the Democratic side, does it mask the fact that this is still a competitive race?

I think The Cook Political Report has her up by less than one point right now heading into the convention.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Right.

Yes, I mean, this race has always been statistically tied.

But you can't deny that you would rather be the Democratic ticket right now with momentum and enthusiasm at your side and pushing you into your convention and hopefully pushing you out of your convention, even if you're statistically tied.

But Donald Trump, this is probably the one and only time I will agree with Megyn Kelly.

His shtick, it is not funny.

It is boring.

It's tiresome.

And even if there are people who support the former president, even those who are in the periphery which are - - those of the folks he's got to worry about, those Republicans or those folks who might think that, you know what, I don't know if I want to vote for this guy again.

I don't know if I want to go through another four years of vengeance and name-calling and tearing this country down.

I have watched just about every rally and speech and press conference he's done since the change at the top of the Democratic ticket.

And it's like watching an old cover band just play the same old, what they view as their hits over and over again.

At a certain point, Donald Trump is going to have to give not just his supporters, his die-hard followers something.

He's going to give -- he's got to give other people a reason to vote for him.

And so far, maybe I'm biased, but I don't see it.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, next week, it'll be Democrats' turn to cheerlead their presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, and her new running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

What will you be watching for, Jonathan?

What do you want to hear?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Well, I - - well, a few things.

One, I will be watching to see how the Democratic Party treats President Biden on his big night on Monday.

The other thing I will be looking for is whether the protests related to Gaza, whether they make their way inside the hall and if they make their way inside the hall, how big they will be, how disruptive they will be and what the reaction will be.

And then the vice president's speech -- I'm sorry, the vice presidential nominee's speech, and then the presidential nominee speech and what they say, how they say it and how they rock it or don't rock it out of Chicago.

GEOFF BENNETT: It is a little confusing when you have a vice president who's the presidential nominee and a vice presidential candidate all in the same party.

GEOFF BENNETT: What are you going to be watching for?

DAVID BROOKS: Yes, well, this is the first year where I have gone to two happy conventions in my life, because, usually, one party knows they're down.

But when the Republicans had theirs, they thought, we're winning.

And now the Democrats are in a fantastic mood.

I will be watching for the Biden speech, all the -- my big names, the Obamas.

But, mostly, I'm looking for whether the country is ready for an emotional change of tone, from anger and pessimism, which has been the tone of American politics, to something exuberant and joyful, which is what Kamala Harris has been offering.

GEOFF BENNETT: Yes.

Her approach and her use of the word joy and Tim Walz's approach too, why do you think that might be effective in this cycle?

DAVID BROOKS: Yes, I watched the Montana rally that Trump did this week, and she was out in Nevada.

And I just turned off the volume on YouTube and just looked at her face.

She was talking about prosecuting people, but she's exuberant.

She's just sending out waves of positive emotion.

And Trump, even when he's talking about how much people love him, he looks scowling and resentful and angry.

And we have been in a very pessimistic mode.

And maybe the country's still there.

That's still a possibility.

I was just out in the Rocky Mountain region.

I met a lot of people who are in a very pessimistic mood about this country.

But maybe there's been a shift toward a more -- a politics of joy, if you want to call it that.

GEOFF BENNETT: All right, David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart, we will see you both in Chicago.

DAVID BROOKS: Good to see you.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Thanks, Geoff.

GEOFF BENNETT: Visitors to a new art installation in the Caribbean will need to take masks and oxygen tanks.

Called A World Adrift, the underwater sculptural exhibition is the work of a British artist who wants to highlight the dangers of climate change for the West Indies.

Special correspondent Malcolm Brabant reports for our ongoing coverage of the intersection of art and climate change and our series Canvas.

MALCOLM BRABANT: In common with every artist, Jason deCaires Taylor's vision begins with a blank canvas, but his latest is more exotic than most, the shallows of the Caribbean.

JASON DECAIRES TAYLOR, Sculptor: For me, it's really important.

It's a way of telling stories about the sea.

It's about our relationship to nature and looking into this fascinating space where are different.

Refraction is different, textures, formations, evolution, even how you feel is completely different.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Taylor's cavernous studio in the county of Kent, southeast of London, is currently empty.

The sculptures and the message they convey are being installed on the seafloor.

What's left behind are his preparatory models.

JASON DECAIRES TAYLOR: This is trying to get an idea of what the larger pieces are going to look like once they're underwater.

So we tried to replicate the water, the surface texture, how light will penetrate through that, and how, again, the organic transformation will adhere to the figures and change how they look.

MALCOLM BRABANT: This is where you will be able to find the installation, nestling in the turquoise waters of Carriacou, one of three islands that comprise the small nation of Grenada, paradise in peril.

JASON DECAIRES TAYLOR: They're small boats.

They're made to look like they're fabricated in origami.

They're actually made in marine stainless steel.

And they encompass these local school children.

And they have sails which also sort of depict messages about climate change.

But overall, it's meant to show this fragile future that we're building for our young communities and how in peril they are.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Climate change is a constant theme of Taylor's work.

In sight of Britain's Parliament, these four horsemen of the apocalypse are speaking to power, sending a message to governments everywhere, reverse the pace of climate change and stop the water's rise.

Not far from Taylor's studio in Whitstable on the North Kent coast is the sculptor's expression of anger at pollution exacerbated by climate change.

This work, sitting on the shingle, is in solidarity with wild swimmers and fisherfolk whose livelihood is dependent on some of Britain's finest oyster beds.

Just like the Caribbean, wet old Britain is suffering from climate change in that it's raining even more than ever before.

And when it rains, Britain's antiquated sewage systems just can't cope.

And the water companies are pumping record levels of sewage into the rivers and the seas.

How can art affect climate change?

JASON DECAIRES TAYLOR: I'm not sure art can affect climate change, but it can certainly change our attitudes towards it.

And so with this particular installation, I'm really hoping that it will demonstrate how fragile some of these small Caribbean nation islands are and how at risk they are from hurricanes, rising sea levels, warming seas, which have a very detrimental effect to the coral reefs.

MALCOLM BRABANT: And the warm seas also have a really serious effect on making the hurricanes stronger.

JASON DECAIRES TAYLOR: Yes, of course, the hurricanes become much stronger and they become earlier in the season.

This recent hurricane, Hurricane Beryl, as the first time that a Category 5 hurricane has ever been recorded at this time of year.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Hurricane Beryl, which struck at the beginning of July, caused devastation in Grenada.

Three people were killed; 70 percent of buildings on Carriacou, the site of Taylor's newest work, were either damaged or destroyed.

It's because of such natural disasters and the fear of worse to come that the government of Grenada commissioned the sculptor.

What is the purpose of doing sculptures underwater, where relatively few people can see them?

JASON DECAIRES TAYLOR: So, there are many different purposes.

I think, first and foremost, on a very basic level, they're a habitat for marine life.

So they're designed with textures, formations, surfaces that actually attract marine life.

And so that then becomes a platform for corals, for crustaceans, for different types of creatures to actually live within.

It also helps draw people away from natural settings.

So the visitors that go to different regions, it helps take them away from natural sites and then brings them to these artificial areas.

MALCOLM BRABANT: But who's going to see it apart from the snorkelers?

JASON DECAIRES TAYLOR: Well, you would be surprised.

Obviously, now we're in a very digital era, so thousands and thousands of people see it via their screens.

We're never going to engineer or negotiate ourselves out of this ecological crisis.

That's only part of the solution.

For me, it's about changing our values and belief systems.

But watching nature reclaim its space gives me a sense of hope and a real sense of healing.

If we can reconsider our relationship to nature, to revere it, be reminded that we are nature ourselves, we might see who we really are and what an incredible world we're really part of.

MALCOLM BRABANT: And the coming few months could underscore the relevance of Taylor's work, climate experts are predicting that this hurricane season will be particularly severe.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Malcolm Brabant in Kent.

AMNA NAWAZ: Sudan has been caught in a bloody war between the country's army and a militia, the Rapid Support Forces, for 16 months, with tens of millions of Sudanese civilians caught in between.

This week, the United States mediated peace talks in Geneva.

The RSF militia sent a delegation, but at the last minute appeared to not officially participate in the talks.

The Sudanese Armed Forces refused to attend altogether.

In the first of her reports from a rare trip inside the country with the support of the Pulitzer Center, special correspondent Leila Molana-Allen sat down with Sudan's vice president in Port Sudan on the Red Sea.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Five years ago, elated Sudanese young and old danced in the streets after countrywide protests brought down Sudan's 30-year dictator and indicted war criminal Omar al-Bashir.

Democracy had arrived.

But just two years later, the Sudanese army and a rehabilitated militia, the Rapid Support Forces, united under Army Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan took power in what Sudanese civil society calls a coup against the people.

Malik Agar is Sudan's vice president and deputy head of the military junta that's ruled the country since 2021.

A former insurgent leader, he's been a leading political and military figure for decades.

Before the explosion of the conflict last April, RSF Leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti, was vice president.

Agar succeeded him after the RSF broke away from Sudan's army and began to fight against it.

The war erupted seemingly without warning, taking most Sudanese by surprise in its speed and ferocity.

The "News Hour" sat down with Vice President Agar to discuss the latest on the fighting and the prospects for peace.

MALIK AGAR, Sudanese Vice President: The attacking force was a collateral force, very huge.

And they put the Sudan government army into a position of defense.

And after one year, the Sudanese army managed to change the mood of the war, and now the Sudanese army is on offense.

So to fight them, to follow them from area to area is rather difficult for a conventional army.

This is why it's taking long.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Agar has been an outspoken critic of international attempts to mediate the conflict and encourage negotiations with the RSF, saying the only solution is the complete military destruction of the militia.

MALIK AGAR: Any leader in Sudan who can go into negotiations with the RSF is committing a political suicide.

RSF is an instrument, is a tool for the UAE and others.

Hemedti has no control of the forces here.

How do you kill people?

How do you rape girls and women and everybody and destroy the infrastructure and you want to rule?

Then you have no control of these forces.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Multiple foreign governments, including the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran, have taken an interest in the conflict, resulting in a steady flow of foreign weapons and mercenaries on both sides.

In June, Agar traveled to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin.

We asked what he hoped to achieve.

MALIK AGAR: Because I'm fighting a war, and when I'm fighting a war, I don't need pens.

I need weapons.

And who manufactures weapons?

And if I have the ability of getting those weapons, if I have the means of getting in this war, I will get it.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Attention to the conflict has been muted in the West, but news that Sudan's government had repaired diplomatic relations with Iran and signed a new weapons deal this spring raised alarm.

Agar says, if the United States is worried about where they get their weapons, it should sell to Sudan itself.

MALIK AGAR: We are not saying here, I'm not confessing here we are buying weapons from Iran, but we are ready to buy weapons from any country.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Human rights groups have documented evidence of weapons being supplied to the RSF by the UAE, Russia and Turkey, among others, smuggled into RSF territory via neighboring Chad.

The United States is a leading arms seller to the UAE.

What impact are those foreign weapons having on your ability to fight this war?

MALIK AGAR: Definitely, they have an effect, a great effect, because these are new weapons.

They are not used.

Sudanese army, they never had such weapons.

These militia are being supported by the UAE -- I mean, let me put it bluntly, by the UAE and others.

But the UAE has a lot of economical interests in Sudan.

One of them -- number one of them is gold mining in Sudan.

They wanted some sort of agricultural lands in Sudan.

They had also an interest of having an area on the Red Sea for their own interests.

So, we believe there is other interest from other countries also.

So it is a complex situation.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: What do you want the United States to do in terms of taking responsibility for the use of those U.S.-manufactured weapons being used to slaughter innocent civilians here in Sudan?

MALIK AGAR: One thing that the U.S. government can do is, one, to stop supplying the UAE.

They know, the Americans, they know that weapons are being used in Sudan.

There is no doubt about that, because the evidence are there.

So then, for them also, they have to decide what do -- do they want a war in Sudan to continue or do they want -- as they talk about democracy and human rights, do they want to preserve the human rights of the Sudanese?

And you cannot bring democracy in the middle of the guns.

And you cannot bring democracy when you are using militias.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: So you believe that these efforts on behalf of the United States to try and become involved in peace talks for Sudan are simply political posturing ahead of the election?

MALIK AGAR: Yes, yes, yes, definitely yes.

They are just political alibis, and they are not serious about it.

When these elections are over, they will change their mind.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: The U.S. is mediating talks this week in Geneva aimed at improving the humanitarian situation.

But both of the chief parties to the conflict are absent.

Leaders say they have little faith in the process.

What is it that makes you feel that this U.S. administration isn't a serious partner for peace in Sudan?

MALIK AGAR: Their behavior tells me that.

The U.S., the U.S. administration, they have never came here.

We have an envoy who has never put a leg in Sudan.

And he is a special envoy for Sudan.

And he is just talking with others.

They're from Egypt, and Uganda, Kenya and all these things.

And you just bypass Sudan in the middle here.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: U.S. engagement has been patchy.

Special envoy to Sudan Tom Perriello has never visited the country in his role.

A planned visit alongside USAID Director Samantha Power was aborted after the U.S. team refused to travel any further inside Sudan than the airport, citing security concerns.

What does that say to you about their seriousness of being involved in peace talks with Sudan?

MALIK AGAR: If you are serious to solve a problem somewhere, why you don't come and meet the president in this country?

Why you don't meet us in our country?

But this is not happening.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Meanwhile, civil political leaders say they have been cut out of the peace talks and plans for Sudan's future.

Is it the intention of the Sudanese Armed Forces to immediately give back power to a democratically elected leader when the war is over?

MALIK AGAR: Yes, they are ready to take the country to elections and hand over power.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: And that is what will happen?

MALIK AGAR: That is what's supposed to happen.

You win the war first and then you go for establishment of democracy.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: For now, as the war rages on, democracy has been put on the back burner.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Leila Molana-Allen in Port Sudan.

GEOFF BENNETT: We had hoped to bring you an interview with former U.S.

Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan about his new book, "Midnight in Russia."

But we experienced some technical difficulties, so we will have that conversation for you next week.

AMNA NAWAZ: Also next week, be sure to join us for special coverage of the Democratic National Convention.

That begins on Monday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, tonight, tune into "Washington Week With The Atlantic" for a preview of the convention and analysis of the presidential race.

AMNA NAWAZ: And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

Thanks for spending part of your evening with us, and have a great weekend.